In recent months I’ve been focused on editing my life to create a life I truly love. This has meant a lifestyle switch in the way I conduct myself in relationships, the food I eat, what I prioritize in my day-to-day life, and the people I keep in my life.
Changes In My Daily Routine
Social Media
I decided to go through and unfollow anyone that I wasn’t excited to see on my feed. It caused me to unfollow about 200 accounts and now when I open the app, I feel more inspired.
A few weeks ago I put Instagram and Vsco into a folder on my phone and it’s been out of sight out of mind. I check these apps once a day now and they usually took up about an hour of my time. Since I’ve done this, I’ve been feeling much more productive and loving not seeing other people’s highlight reel constantly.
Nutrition
I’ve known that coffee was a huge trigger for my migraines for a while but I think I’ve finally come around and decided to just not have it. I’ll maybe have a cup every few weeks but it’s no longer a daily or even weekly thing for me.
Lately I began to notice that eating red meat had me feeling pretty sluggish so I’m working on reducing that. I don’t like cutting out any foods but I’d like to make meat more of an occasional food in my diet. I’ve been eating meat maybe once a week for many months now but recently it’s been much more common and I’d like to get back to that frequency.
Listening to my body for when and how much to eat has been key in feeling really good about the food I’m eating. I still eat 3 meals a day but the size of those meals is much more governed by how I’m feeling that day. If I’m just studying for most of the day, I’ll have a salad with roasted veggies and quinoa but if I’m going to be working out or going to work, I’ll make a pasta dish with tons of veggies and chicken sausage with a salad on the side. I’ve started treating food as fuel more than I have previously.
Hobbies
This year I started spending a lot more of my downtime reading instead of on my phone or watching Netflix. For the first few weeks of the year I didn’t watch any shows and finished 3 books. It felt amazing to be disconnected from everything for an hour or two a day.
Finally, I started writing posts for my blog again. I’ve had this blog for 7 years now and I’ve been pretty consistent with posting except for the past year. I love having this space and being able to post on it as much or as little as I like. The blog is a constant place I can express myself.
I’m still making a point of being active through yoga, HIIT, or cycling at least 3 times a week. Yoga has been so therapeutic for me and I’m so happy I finally found a form of exercise that doesn’t have me feeling burnt out. I always feel so empowered and strong when I leave my yoga studio; it’s such a motivator for me to continue.
Bigger Changes
Relationships
Especially the last few weeks I’ve been a lot more genuine in my relationships. I have been quite a people-pleaser since I can remember and have just tried to keep the people in my life happy with me over speaking my mind and making the relationship work for me. Once I realized that I could never get what I wanted without verabalizing it, I’ve been so much more vocal about what I need. I feel like my relationships are more open and honest than they have been before.
Removing people from the life that aren’t bringing anything positive into my life has been hard but important. There were so many acquaintances I held onto to be polite or not make group gatherings awkward but I’ve learned that I need to prioritize myself first. There are ways to be honest with people that can make for a pretty drama-free break that can remain civil.
Self-Reflection
Since I began writing in my journal over the winter, I have also become way more honest with myself. I’ve released a lot of judgement and allowed myself to feel emotions and work through them before trying to move on with my day. This has helped me learn a lot about myself and find patterns in my thoughts and in my life that I’d like to work on. Writing has become a daily habit that spurs a lot of growth for me. I wrote an entire post about how I journal here.
Hopefully we can all take some time this wacky spring to reevaluate some aspects of our lives that need some changes.