I just wanted to share a great article that I came across from Happy Black Woman Entitled
3 Powerful Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself This Year. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. If you would like to see Rosetta's Website her is the link: http://happyblackwoman.com/3-powerful-ways-to-take-better-care-of-yourself-this-year/
“Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort. ” – Deborah Day
I have to admit, I still can’t believe it’s the middle of March already! Is it just me or does it feel like 2017 is literally FLYING by?
In October, I relocated from Honolulu, Hawaii to San Diego with my partner. He’s stationed here with the Navy and I decided that I didn’t want to have a long-distance relationship. Instead, I chose to move to California and start a new adventure. We now live in a sunny 3-bedroom condo on Coronado, just a few blocks from the beach!
I’ve spent the past few months adjusting to our new home, all while pulling off two sold out events in Florida and New York with my incredible team.
And to be honest, I’ve been tired.
Last year, my doctor ran some blood tests and I was diagnosed with anemia, caused by iron deficiency. My symptoms included fatigue and loss of energy.
In fact, when I came back from our January Black Women of Power event in New York, my body pretty much shut down and made me sit down somewhere.
I knew it was time for a lifestyle change, so I began looking for ways to uplevel my diet and overall daily routine – beyond just taking iron supplements.
Here are three practices that have helped me get back on track recently. I hope they spark some new ideas for you to take better care of yourself this year!
1. DETOX YOUR BODY
Take Better Care of Yourself - Happy Black WomanIn February, I began a 5-week detox with a nutritional consultant, which included daily green smoothies and lots of vegetables to cleanse my body. During the detox, I ate mostly a plant-based diet. I could feel all the toxins being released and it felt great! I also lost the 5 extra pounds I had gained over the past year.
The structure I had to create for myself during the detox was exactly what I needed to update my morning routine. One of the best habits I’ve learned is to drink a ton of water throughout the day. I start first thing in the morning, with a tall glass of warm water with the juice of 1/2 of a fresh, organic lemon.
Post detox, my diet consists of mainly clean protein and vegetables. My typical breakfast is a green smoothie with spinach, almond milk, banana, celery and pear and cinnamon. Sometimes I mix it up and thrown in some romaine lettuce, cucumber or frozen pineapple as well. For lunch, I have a light protein like a veggie omelette or wild-caught fish or shrimp and sautéed kale, roasted broccoli, brussels sprouts or a salad. At dinner, that’s when I have my chicken or grass-fed beef and more veggies. For snacks, my current favorites are roasted sweet potatoes, organic popcorn, raw almonds, pecans, dates, green apples with almond butter, pears or organic tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa. Of course, I still love my wine and desserts but they are now “treats” instead of an every day thing.
No matter what kind of diet you choose, it’s important to make sure that you are giving your body more of what it needs and less of what it doesn’t! I’ve learned that it really does take at least 21 days to build a new habit, so give any changes a few weeks to truly take root.
Below is a video tutorial from Youtuber Makeba for how to make a simple, tasty green smoothie if you’re just starting out with this practice.
2. DO LESS, BETTER
The irony is that the reason I did the detox was because I thought I needed to increase my energy for this next phase of growth in my life and business.
While the detox definitely helped me and I feel great, I made the mistake of thinking I needed more energy so that I could do MORE work!
But what I learned was that if I want to prioritize my health, I actually have to do LESS. Instead of adding a ton of new plans to my to-do list for the year, I am being called to slow down. Rest. Simplify. And adjust to this new season of my life.
For years, I’ve loved the hustle of working for myself. I enjoyed the “grind” of being an entrepreneur. I looked forward to the adrenaline rush of getting things done and I stayed up many a late night, burning the midnight oil.
But now, although being slowed down by anemia is a bummer, deep down, my desire was for a more relaxed approach to my life anyway.
I still get super excited about accomplishing and achieving my big goals; just in a more feminine way. For me, this means doing less, BETTER.
It may be time to whittle down your long list of items you feel like you “have” to do in order to be successful, and focus on just a few projects you truly WANT to do instead.
3. GET MORE SUPPORT AT HOME
I had fallen back into the bad habit of having too much on my plate and just doing whatever it took to get it all done. But this year, I am committed to getting even more support at home so that I can show up fully for everything that lights me up. As an entrepreneur, it has been critical for me to ask for help with the household stuff (and not just put it all on my partner) so I can spend my time on the things that actually make me money.
For example, I recently hired a personal assistant here in San Diego. She works for 8-10 hours a week, does all the grocery shopping and preps all my healthy food for the week according to my dietary preferences. She also folds laundry, makes my doctor appointments and performs administrative tasks as needed. In addition, I have a housecleaning service that comes once a week to tidy the house from top to bottom. Saturday morning massages are now on my calendar, too!
I have listed some good resources below for where to find household assistance. If you’re on a tight budget, this is the time to enlist family members and friends to help support you in your goals!
Housecleaning Service – Merry Maids (U.S. & Canada)
Housecleaning Service – Yelp (search for local reviews)
Grocery Delivery Service – Amazon Prime Now
Grocery Delivery Service – Instacart
Where to Find a Personal or Virtual Assistant – Hire My Mom
Where to Find a Personal or Virtual Assistant – Craigslist
I am giving myself permission to take better care of me than I ever have before, from my diet to my workload and household tasks all the way down to how I spend my weekends.
Of course, we have several big projects coming up for Happy Black Woman that you’ll be seeing come to life very soon. But as I was sharing with some of my clients recently, what good is it to work, work, work, work, work (shout out to Rihanna) if you never get to fully enjoy the fruits of your labor? Or even worse, make yourself sick in the process?
Because the truth is, no one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I spent more time working.” It is more important for us to do the RIGHT work, than to just be working hard for the sake of it. And sometimes, the “right” work is actually the inner work we need to do on ourselves. Is it time for you to take better care of yourself this year?
And as always remember to...live Blessed
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