I had a major life style change in February and since then I have struggled to put into words how I feel now. I feel so different now. I follow a Clean eating approach to my diet and I exercise pretty much everyday. This new life style obviously has changed my physical appearance- quite dramatically actually. The physical changes have been really easy to express and articulate to others. My physical shape is very concrete and obvious but it is the least important impact my new healthy lifestyle has had on my life. The “feeling” I have inside my body is the change that has the most impact on my life.
I’ve struggled to describe the feeling. I’ve thought about words like happiness- but I’m not happy all the time; energetic- but I get tired too.
I think I have found the right word for the feeling- AWAKE.

I feel awake. I feel full of life.
I like the word awake because I think this feeling has always existed inside me- and probably exists inside of you too, but I’m awake to it.
I found 3 definitions of the word:
1. to cease sleeping
2. to become aroused or active again
3. to become conscious or aware of possibilities (from http://www.merriam-webster.com)
Literally, I have “become active again” but I like the third definition the best. I think I have become conscious and aware of the possibilities that come with living life FULLY.
I also think its important to recognize that this isn’t a permanent feeling- I could “fall asleep” again. I need to work at staying awake by eating healthy and by working out.
This week while I was sick, I could feel that “sleepy” feeling coming in. I probably could have went back to my workout earlier than I did. I was growing comfortable cuddling on the couch with my dog in front of the fire. It was easier than going out in the cold, working my body, dealing with people– Boyd is very easy to deal with.

All he wants is to cuddle on the couch 🙂
I could feel the “blahs” stealing the waves of energy I can usually feel emitting from my body. I was losing that drive I normally feel to eat healthy food and workout.
I started craving chips.
I didn’t want to go to my workout class.

I decided I had to get my ass to class and stop this now!
So I made a healthy dinner in my slow cooker so I would have plenty of time and no excuses not to go to my class.
I went to class and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, stretched and felt awake again.

I realize how easy it can be to slip into old patterns.
Here’s the easy dinner I made to combat the sleepiness. It’s a Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken recipe. Super easy to make with very little ingredients. You will need:

– 4 chicken breasts
– 1 tbsp oil
– A pinch of sea salt and black pepper
– 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
– 6 tomatoes, diced (I actually used a can of diced tomatoes that I drained)
– 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
– 8 basil leaves, diced (I just used dried as I didn’t have enough fresh on hand)
– 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

You can find the full directions here:http://www.hungryhealthyhappy.com/slow-cooker-balsamic-chicken/
It turned out great! My family really enjoyed it!

I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans but it would also be great on pasta or rice.

Choose happy (and keeping working at it!) 🙂