Here's my last Paleo post for awhile. I have a few minutes and several of my girlfriends have specifically asked about this issue, so here it goes.
Why I like Paleo for ME.
Before we switched our diet I was just like every other mom. Chugging the coffee, snacking on whatever the kids didn't eat, eating a 'guilty pleasure' snack during nap time because dadgummit, I deserve it, and crashing at about 3pm every day. It was all I could do to make it to bedtime every evening. Even during nap time most days I would pop in a movie or turn on netflix for the boys and try to catch at least half an hour of shut eye while Vivi was asleep. I was just dragging. I even went to the doctor back in the fall and had all my hormones checked. It all was more or less totally fine. No reason to think there's anything wrong. Both of my doctors said, "You're a mom of three small children. You're going to be tired."
But here's the thing. I wasn't just tired. I was anxious. I've dealt with anxiety since about the time Carter was born. I wasn't ever an anxious person as a teenager, and I never had an OCD tendencies then either. As I've gotten older, they've gotten worse though. And I had noticed both of these issues were ramping up with a vengeance. My anxiety/OCD was getting to the point were I had considered going back to the doctor and have her prescribe me something for it. I was avoiding phone calls (talking on the phone to strangers - for example making doctor's appointments, getting dog medication refills, customer service - is the worst for me) and going to functions. And I was like, this is getting ridiculous.
So, one of the first Paleo blogs I began reading was written by a mother of three small children who turned paleo and saw all of these results with her mood and fatigue (and sex life - I know, too much info!) and I was intrigued.
You always hear, "Eat right and exercise and you'll feel great!" Well, I've done the whole 'eat right and exercise' thing. And while, yes, I am generally in better shape, I have NEVER noticed a change in my fatigue or anxiety.
Also, this lady talked about how she slept so.much.better. at night.
And the best perk of all - she said her belly fat disappeared almost immediately. I am not a big person. But the one thing I struggle with is my mid section. I do not gain weight anywhere else (unless I'm pregnant!). I don't gain it in my arms, or thighs or hips, but all I have to do is eat one tortilla chip and my middle gains 5 pounds! I have the 'muffin top' and I don't feel comfortable wearing fitted shirts that cling to my belly.
Listening to this girl's perks had me sold - for at least a 30 day trial.
When we started Paleo, I had a terrible first 4 days. I was literally going through sugar withdrawals. My blood sugar was so out of control (because it was used to getting a huge spike every 2 to 3 hours!) and I felt terrible. On day 4, I actually called Cory at work (something I never do) and told him to get home, bring something with bread in it, and that I was going to bed. Luckily he was busy for another few hours and I had finished my tantrum before he could make it home. And, he didn't bring the bread.
After day 4, I started feeling good. I noticed that I wasn't dragging at nap time. I had the energy to actually stay awake and cook during nap time. Or clean. Or play with the boys.
My anxiety just about completely disappeared.
I sleep completely uninterrupted. Before hand, I had been restless and waking up for no reason throughout the night.
I LOVE MY BELLY. IT IS FLAT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. And, I immediately dropped 10 lbs without stepping foot into a gym.
I'm just not tired during the day like I used to be. This is probably the best perk of all. Feeling like I don't have to go on like this for the rest of my life. I don't feel doomed to years of fatigue just because "I'm a mom."
Now, let me caveat all this with saying, If you have small babies who do not sleep through the night, or are still nursing regularly, I don't think Paleo is going to be your cure-all. You're obviously going to be tired because you're physically losing sleep. But I wouldn't be surprised if it helped some!
The thing is, I was getting 'enough sleep', but I was just so tired still. I thought I was tired because I was just so busy with kids. But I wasn't. I was coming on and off sugar constantly throughout the day. When I stop to think about what I used to eat everyday, and none of it's "BAD" in the eyes of most, no WONDER I felt like I did.
Basically - I've never felt better. And for the first time in a long time, I am looking forward to swim suit season.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
More Paleo
One of the reasons I can't seem to get my 2nd Paleo post up is that I never remember to take pictures of what we're eating. I have the layout of this post all planned in my head. I'm going to take wonderful pictures, cite where I got the recipe, and voila! Almost like a real blog! But I just can't ever get it done.
One thing I was discussing with Cory last night before bed was that I really feel like my plate is full right now. I have a good handle on everything that I'm doing right now but I literally cannot add one more activity. A lot of that time is cooking. I spend a good amount of time in the kitchen these days. Sometimes I am fine with it, other times I really just want to thrown a frozen pizza in the oven.
I am still planning on taking pictures and showing you guys what we eat around here. I want people to know that if I can keep my family paleo, than ANYONE can. It's difficult, but it's not out of reach. In order to make this diet fit our budget we buy our pastured or organic meat, seafood, oils, nuts and other specialty items every two weeks at Whole Foods (about 1.5 hour drive away) and we buy our produce (it is not organic) from the commissary. We get our pastured ground beef and pastured eggs from the local organic co-op. We do get some fruits and vegetables with the co-op as well, but not enough to make it through the week.
Here are some examples of what we eat throughout a typical day:
Breakfast:
Eggs and bacon or eggs and sausage. We usually cut up some bell peppers or squash and zucchini and sautee those to put on our eggs. I also save the 'bits' from when I slice sweet potatoes with my food processor. You know, those little pieces that aren't quite round and not thick enough to make a sweet potato chip? Yeah, those ones. I cook those up with our eggs for some good carbs.
Every now and then I'll make a sausage, veggie, egg quiche or lemon blueberry muffins (these are made with almond flour and coconut oil instead of wheat flour and vegetable oil)
Also, paleo cereal if I have some on hand. I make this about once a month and once it's gone, it's gone. I just don't have the time to make it as much as I'd like.
Snacks:
Honestly, we eat mostly fruit and nuts. When I'm feeling extra adventurous I force the veggies. Carrots, kale chips, real pickles (not ones pickled in vinegar, ones that are fermented) and cherry tomatoes. The kids like these okay and eat them when I insist. Also, they like to eat a lot of hard boiled eggs and salami and avocados.
I usually have zero problems getting the kids to eat what I tell them. Because there are literally no other options. We have no crackers, no macaroni, no chicken nuggets even in the house. And we haven't for 4 months. They know that whatever I'm offering is probably just as good as the next option, so they take it without complaint. Every now and then I'll get some push back about fruits versus veggies, but it's not often.
Lunch:
I make my own chicken nuggets probably once a week. They're coated in egg, almond flour and shredded coconut. The kids love them. So do I. And I love to put the chicken nuggets on a spinach salad with some olive oil and a drop or two of honey for myself.
Flank Steak and bell peppers, you can also put this over some spinach
The kids also eat a lot of dinner leftovers. When I make dinner, I make a lot. I need to make enough for Cory to take at least one serving to work the next day and for the kids. This isn't exact. But it makes my life a lot easier during the day.
Shrimp salad - avocado, cilantro, shrimp, lime juice and some olive oil and salt. We all devour this.
Sausage, squash, zucchini and shallots. I use nitrate free links that I slice into little bite sized pieces. Dice it all up and cook it in a pan. We eat this probably once a week.
When we're out of leftovers and I'm too lazy to cook we eat nitrate free lunch meat, avocados, carrot sticks with almond butter and berries. We add a hard boiled egg in there or substitute an orange. But, you get the idea.
Dinner:
I love my cookbook Practical Paleo
I use these websites pretty religiously:
Deliciously Organic
Paleo Plan
Paleo Parents
Paleo Mom
We eat meatloaf, spare ribs, steaks, meatballs, chicken, some lamb and seafood mostly. I usually only make one other 'side' and it's a vegetable. Green beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cooked carrots, broccoli, sometimes a salad.
We don't eat casseroles anymore, they almost all require grains or dairy. But this week my favorite blog just posted a chicken and 'rice' casserole (It's riced cauliflower!) and I am making it TONIGHT. I cannot wait!
Desserts:
We do eat dessert! Probably twice a week. My cookbook has several great ones, and Deliciously Organic has the best ones in my opinion. Her coconut tart and grain free cookies are my favorite!
The difference with most of our desserts is that instead of sugar we use honey or maple syrup.
We do have a few recipes we use on occasion that use sugar but are still grain and dairy free.
Other Random Things I Make:
Mayonnaise
Garlic Lime Dipping Sauce for my
Sweet Potato Chips
Bone Broth
Chicken Stock
Bacon wrapped dates
I am still learning and trying to add new things to our Paleo diet to make it more well rounded. We still need to incorporate more fermented foods and it's my next 'thing' I'm going to attempt. But it's just seemed more intimidating (fermenting my own food - because buying real fermented stuff is expensive, Sheesh!) than other items.
I know there are many more things to add and discuss, and I'm still planning on writing a post about just the benefits that I've seen so far. And I WILL post pictures.....one day.
One thing I was discussing with Cory last night before bed was that I really feel like my plate is full right now. I have a good handle on everything that I'm doing right now but I literally cannot add one more activity. A lot of that time is cooking. I spend a good amount of time in the kitchen these days. Sometimes I am fine with it, other times I really just want to thrown a frozen pizza in the oven.
I am still planning on taking pictures and showing you guys what we eat around here. I want people to know that if I can keep my family paleo, than ANYONE can. It's difficult, but it's not out of reach. In order to make this diet fit our budget we buy our pastured or organic meat, seafood, oils, nuts and other specialty items every two weeks at Whole Foods (about 1.5 hour drive away) and we buy our produce (it is not organic) from the commissary. We get our pastured ground beef and pastured eggs from the local organic co-op. We do get some fruits and vegetables with the co-op as well, but not enough to make it through the week.
Here are some examples of what we eat throughout a typical day:
Breakfast:
Eggs and bacon or eggs and sausage. We usually cut up some bell peppers or squash and zucchini and sautee those to put on our eggs. I also save the 'bits' from when I slice sweet potatoes with my food processor. You know, those little pieces that aren't quite round and not thick enough to make a sweet potato chip? Yeah, those ones. I cook those up with our eggs for some good carbs.
Every now and then I'll make a sausage, veggie, egg quiche or lemon blueberry muffins (these are made with almond flour and coconut oil instead of wheat flour and vegetable oil)
Also, paleo cereal if I have some on hand. I make this about once a month and once it's gone, it's gone. I just don't have the time to make it as much as I'd like.
Snacks:
Honestly, we eat mostly fruit and nuts. When I'm feeling extra adventurous I force the veggies. Carrots, kale chips, real pickles (not ones pickled in vinegar, ones that are fermented) and cherry tomatoes. The kids like these okay and eat them when I insist. Also, they like to eat a lot of hard boiled eggs and salami and avocados.
I usually have zero problems getting the kids to eat what I tell them. Because there are literally no other options. We have no crackers, no macaroni, no chicken nuggets even in the house. And we haven't for 4 months. They know that whatever I'm offering is probably just as good as the next option, so they take it without complaint. Every now and then I'll get some push back about fruits versus veggies, but it's not often.
Lunch:
I make my own chicken nuggets probably once a week. They're coated in egg, almond flour and shredded coconut. The kids love them. So do I. And I love to put the chicken nuggets on a spinach salad with some olive oil and a drop or two of honey for myself.
Flank Steak and bell peppers, you can also put this over some spinach
The kids also eat a lot of dinner leftovers. When I make dinner, I make a lot. I need to make enough for Cory to take at least one serving to work the next day and for the kids. This isn't exact. But it makes my life a lot easier during the day.
Shrimp salad - avocado, cilantro, shrimp, lime juice and some olive oil and salt. We all devour this.
Sausage, squash, zucchini and shallots. I use nitrate free links that I slice into little bite sized pieces. Dice it all up and cook it in a pan. We eat this probably once a week.
When we're out of leftovers and I'm too lazy to cook we eat nitrate free lunch meat, avocados, carrot sticks with almond butter and berries. We add a hard boiled egg in there or substitute an orange. But, you get the idea.
Dinner:
I love my cookbook Practical Paleo
I use these websites pretty religiously:
Deliciously Organic
Paleo Plan
Paleo Parents
Paleo Mom
We eat meatloaf, spare ribs, steaks, meatballs, chicken, some lamb and seafood mostly. I usually only make one other 'side' and it's a vegetable. Green beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cooked carrots, broccoli, sometimes a salad.
We don't eat casseroles anymore, they almost all require grains or dairy. But this week my favorite blog just posted a chicken and 'rice' casserole (It's riced cauliflower!) and I am making it TONIGHT. I cannot wait!
Desserts:
We do eat dessert! Probably twice a week. My cookbook has several great ones, and Deliciously Organic has the best ones in my opinion. Her coconut tart and grain free cookies are my favorite!
The difference with most of our desserts is that instead of sugar we use honey or maple syrup.
We do have a few recipes we use on occasion that use sugar but are still grain and dairy free.
Other Random Things I Make:
Mayonnaise
Garlic Lime Dipping Sauce for my
Sweet Potato Chips
Bone Broth
Chicken Stock
Bacon wrapped dates
I am still learning and trying to add new things to our Paleo diet to make it more well rounded. We still need to incorporate more fermented foods and it's my next 'thing' I'm going to attempt. But it's just seemed more intimidating (fermenting my own food - because buying real fermented stuff is expensive, Sheesh!) than other items.
I know there are many more things to add and discuss, and I'm still planning on writing a post about just the benefits that I've seen so far. And I WILL post pictures.....one day.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Easter
Here are some pictures of our weekend so far. My parents are in town and we've been having a great time.
 |
| Vivi and Grandpa |
 |
| Vivi and Grandma |
 |
| Clay, Grandma and Viv |
 |
| We attended church last night. Here's our obligatory family Easter photo |
 |
| Everyone was excited that the Easter bunny came! |
 |
| Clay checking out his haul |
 |
| Vivi got some gardening accoutrements |
 |
| Ready for the egg hunt! |
 |
| Clay found one! |
 |
| Vivi found a magnifying glass and thought it would help her odds.... |
 |
| Round 2 of egg hunts |
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| Everyone was glad we did real eggs this year. We didn't have to worry about candy, and everyone had an insta-snack! |
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| Giving Viv a hand |
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
We were almost on CNN today
We were running late picking Carter up for Kindergarten today. As we were hurrying out of the car and across the road to where we pick up the kids I noticed that Clay had brought with him a toy gun.
Now, it's very obviously a toy gun, it looks very much like this:
At first I thought nothing of it because...whatever, the boys are rarely without some sort of weapon. But then I was like, "OH MY GOD, WE ARE AT A SCHOOL AND MY SON HAS A TOY GUN AND WE ARE ALL ABOUT TO BE ARRESTED HERE."
So before I could have any sort of rational thought I grabbed it from him and SHOVED IT INTO MY PULLOVER. Because that was also a super smart move. Then, I was all paranoid because what if someone saw me slip a GUN into my jacket. What if they didn't see the orange tip? What if they thought I was concealing a real weapon. OHGODWEAREINFORITNOW.
This whole time, we are walking briskly towards the playground to where we pick up the kids and I might have been able to run the gun back to the van. But we were late. They were already releasing kids. Aaaah! I didn't have time to think of turning around to put the gun back into the van. I only had time to continue jogging towards the school in my black hoodie with a gun hidden underneath it and freak out about the situation at hand.
The next big question was, "Oh crap! What if it falls out of my jacket? Then I look even MORE suspicious because who conceals a toy gun?"
I didn't chit chat with my friends this afternoon at pickup. I grabbed Carter and high tailed it out of there.
LESSON LEARNED.
Now, it's very obviously a toy gun, it looks very much like this:
So before I could have any sort of rational thought I grabbed it from him and SHOVED IT INTO MY PULLOVER. Because that was also a super smart move. Then, I was all paranoid because what if someone saw me slip a GUN into my jacket. What if they didn't see the orange tip? What if they thought I was concealing a real weapon. OHGODWEAREINFORITNOW.
This whole time, we are walking briskly towards the playground to where we pick up the kids and I might have been able to run the gun back to the van. But we were late. They were already releasing kids. Aaaah! I didn't have time to think of turning around to put the gun back into the van. I only had time to continue jogging towards the school in my black hoodie with a gun hidden underneath it and freak out about the situation at hand.
The next big question was, "Oh crap! What if it falls out of my jacket? Then I look even MORE suspicious because who conceals a toy gun?"
I didn't chit chat with my friends this afternoon at pickup. I grabbed Carter and high tailed it out of there.
LESSON LEARNED.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Paleo
Back in the good ol' days of my blog (when we lived in Korea) I used to blog about everything we did. Almost on a daily basis. I credit this to having only 1 or 2 children and having a house cleaner who did my laundry every week. Also, the fact that I did not have a car most days. I had a lot more free time on my hands and I kick myself every time I think about it for not taking more advantage of that time. Okay, maybe that's the wrong word. I kick myself for not appreciating it at the time.
But, here in America our schedules are busy and my time is a little more limited. (I'm plus one kid and down one house cleaner.) I used to especially look forward to something BIG to talk about. You know, any kind of big changes.
Now, I look at something BIG and think. Ugh, that's going to be a long post. I don't want to get into it tonight.
But, I've held off long enough and ready to talk about the fact that we made a big change in our lives this year.
We went Paleo.
I'm sure most of you have at least heard of the Paleo diet, or caveman diet by now. It seems to be in style these days and I'm totally getting why. Our whole family has been Paleo for about 10 weeks now, and we've never felt better.
It all started with our friends Bob and Karen who had started Paleo several months back and lent Cory the book The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolfe.
I hadn't been completely convinced because I hadn't read anything about it. To me it sounded like the old Atkins Diet (Not healthy!) and I wasn't interested in reading anymore about it. I wasn't motivated to diet, and I just wanted to eat chips and salsa for the rest of my life thankyouverymuch.
One night when Cory was reading the book, he was reading a particular chapter and woke me up to read it. Whoa, let's back up here. NO one WAKES ME UP unless there is blood, or puke, or someone is on fire. Otherwise, I am OFF LIMITS. And Cory knows this. So in retrospect, I have to realize how important he thought this was, so important that he woke me up to read a chapter of a book I didn't care about.
And It was like Robb Wolfe was describing Clay.
I'm sure all of you know the trouble we've had with Clay. He has no serious diagnoses, but he has a sensitive and mysterious gut that has lead to numerous procedures, several hospitalizations, minus a gallbladder and years of his life spent in gastrointestinal agony. If you want to read about Clay's previous GI issues you can basically search my archives for anything I wrote from 2009-2010. We thought we had it all figured out last spring when he was diagnosed as lactose intolerant. But as the fall approached in 2012, he started to get worse again and had recently started choking and not being able to swallow his food. (This is a brand new symptom he's never had before.) We were in the process of getting a new GI referral, but specialists in the state of CA take 3-4 months for new patients. So at the time, we were looking for SOMETHING to do to help Clay so he could eat.
This chapter that Cory was reading was it. This person he was describing was Clay. And I remember the last part of the chapter was something a long the lines of, "...If let to continue the person may even began having trouble swallowing. They may begin to choke at meals as swallowing becomes difficult." And it was like he had described Clay's symptoms to a T for the entire chapter and then culminated with his brand new symptom. It felt like maybe this guy was worth a shot.
The next morning I spent all morning online researching the Paleo diet and if it was possible or even advisable for kids to be on it. The first thing that scared me (and I'm sure any adult) is the word "DIET". I don't need to put my kid on a diet. He has a hard enough time keeping the weight on. But as I read on....this "diet" has nothing to do with restricting calories or losing weight. It has to do with the quality of the food you consume.
When Cory came home from work, I still wasn't head over heels convinced that this way of eating was "better" or if this way of eating was even sustainable for a family of 5. I'd heard it was really expensive and it's not like we live in a booming metropolis with lots of fresh meat and produce choices. I didn't even know if we could make it work. But I thought that for Clay, we at least owed it to him to give it a try. What if this relieved even some of his symptoms? Didn't I owe it to him to give it a shot?
And so that's what we did. We gave it a shot for 30 days (This is how long Robb Wolf suggests giving it a go) and we never turned back.
I don't even care or know if I believe we were made to eat 'like cavemen'. That doesn't concern me at all. All I know is that Clay has had remarkable improvement and I have never felt better.
I'm going to write an entire post just dedicated to my transformation with switching to Paleo, (along with some examples of what we eat during the day) but I don't want to make this post any longer than it already is. But let me tell you. I've noticed more changes than I ever thought I would. And the best results aren't even the pounds lost. It's my mental state. It's my energy. I can't wait to tell you about it.
But, here in America our schedules are busy and my time is a little more limited. (I'm plus one kid and down one house cleaner.) I used to especially look forward to something BIG to talk about. You know, any kind of big changes.
Now, I look at something BIG and think. Ugh, that's going to be a long post. I don't want to get into it tonight.
But, I've held off long enough and ready to talk about the fact that we made a big change in our lives this year.
We went Paleo.
I'm sure most of you have at least heard of the Paleo diet, or caveman diet by now. It seems to be in style these days and I'm totally getting why. Our whole family has been Paleo for about 10 weeks now, and we've never felt better.
It all started with our friends Bob and Karen who had started Paleo several months back and lent Cory the book The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolfe.
I hadn't been completely convinced because I hadn't read anything about it. To me it sounded like the old Atkins Diet (Not healthy!) and I wasn't interested in reading anymore about it. I wasn't motivated to diet, and I just wanted to eat chips and salsa for the rest of my life thankyouverymuch.
One night when Cory was reading the book, he was reading a particular chapter and woke me up to read it. Whoa, let's back up here. NO one WAKES ME UP unless there is blood, or puke, or someone is on fire. Otherwise, I am OFF LIMITS. And Cory knows this. So in retrospect, I have to realize how important he thought this was, so important that he woke me up to read a chapter of a book I didn't care about.
And It was like Robb Wolfe was describing Clay.
I'm sure all of you know the trouble we've had with Clay. He has no serious diagnoses, but he has a sensitive and mysterious gut that has lead to numerous procedures, several hospitalizations, minus a gallbladder and years of his life spent in gastrointestinal agony. If you want to read about Clay's previous GI issues you can basically search my archives for anything I wrote from 2009-2010. We thought we had it all figured out last spring when he was diagnosed as lactose intolerant. But as the fall approached in 2012, he started to get worse again and had recently started choking and not being able to swallow his food. (This is a brand new symptom he's never had before.) We were in the process of getting a new GI referral, but specialists in the state of CA take 3-4 months for new patients. So at the time, we were looking for SOMETHING to do to help Clay so he could eat.
This chapter that Cory was reading was it. This person he was describing was Clay. And I remember the last part of the chapter was something a long the lines of, "...If let to continue the person may even began having trouble swallowing. They may begin to choke at meals as swallowing becomes difficult." And it was like he had described Clay's symptoms to a T for the entire chapter and then culminated with his brand new symptom. It felt like maybe this guy was worth a shot.
The next morning I spent all morning online researching the Paleo diet and if it was possible or even advisable for kids to be on it. The first thing that scared me (and I'm sure any adult) is the word "DIET". I don't need to put my kid on a diet. He has a hard enough time keeping the weight on. But as I read on....this "diet" has nothing to do with restricting calories or losing weight. It has to do with the quality of the food you consume.
When Cory came home from work, I still wasn't head over heels convinced that this way of eating was "better" or if this way of eating was even sustainable for a family of 5. I'd heard it was really expensive and it's not like we live in a booming metropolis with lots of fresh meat and produce choices. I didn't even know if we could make it work. But I thought that for Clay, we at least owed it to him to give it a try. What if this relieved even some of his symptoms? Didn't I owe it to him to give it a shot?
And so that's what we did. We gave it a shot for 30 days (This is how long Robb Wolf suggests giving it a go) and we never turned back.
I don't even care or know if I believe we were made to eat 'like cavemen'. That doesn't concern me at all. All I know is that Clay has had remarkable improvement and I have never felt better.
I'm going to write an entire post just dedicated to my transformation with switching to Paleo, (along with some examples of what we eat during the day) but I don't want to make this post any longer than it already is. But let me tell you. I've noticed more changes than I ever thought I would. And the best results aren't even the pounds lost. It's my mental state. It's my energy. I can't wait to tell you about it.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Happy Birthday to Me
My birthday was actually a few weeks ago and my parents, in laws and husband all gave me great gifts. Gift cards! I actually LOVE gift cards. I am indecisive and hard to fit clothes wise. So I love being able to have a gift card to pay for the *thing* when I find it! It's the gift that keeps on giving. Because I forget about it until I think, 'Eh, I shouldn't buy this. I should save the money." Then I remember, "But, I have a gift card, yay!"
But here's my predicament. I have all these gift cards (they are almost all generic, meaning I could use them anywhere.) but I can't decide what to use them for. It's not even what item I should use them for. But what kind of purchase I should use them for.
Like, should I go out and buy something really nice. Something I probably wouldn't buy at all. Maybe a nice purse? Maybe a nice dress from the full price clothes rack? If I buy something expensive and luxurious, I'll probably only be able to buy that one item.
Orrr, do I go to someplace like Target and buy several items, but not as good quality? Which do I want? One really nice thing? Or a few still kinda nice things?
Should I go in search of these items without having something in mind that I really want? I'm not 'in the market' for anything in particular right now. There's nothing that I've been thinking, "Oh, I really want that I just don't have the money." Or should I wait until I happen upon something I really, really want.
I think that's one thing I'm afraid of. That I'll spend it on something nice but nothing I had planned on actually buying. But then a week later, I'll find something I feel like I can't live without and be mad at myself.
Should I spend it on things for the house? I've been wanting to switch over to glass 'tupperware' and I want some canisters for spices and bulk items. I need some new spatulas, or I could get a dehydrator!
Or do I spend it on fun things like clothes, shoes and sunglasses?
I know, I know, what a horrible problem to have right?
But here's my predicament. I have all these gift cards (they are almost all generic, meaning I could use them anywhere.) but I can't decide what to use them for. It's not even what item I should use them for. But what kind of purchase I should use them for.
Like, should I go out and buy something really nice. Something I probably wouldn't buy at all. Maybe a nice purse? Maybe a nice dress from the full price clothes rack? If I buy something expensive and luxurious, I'll probably only be able to buy that one item.
Orrr, do I go to someplace like Target and buy several items, but not as good quality? Which do I want? One really nice thing? Or a few still kinda nice things?
Should I go in search of these items without having something in mind that I really want? I'm not 'in the market' for anything in particular right now. There's nothing that I've been thinking, "Oh, I really want that I just don't have the money." Or should I wait until I happen upon something I really, really want.
I think that's one thing I'm afraid of. That I'll spend it on something nice but nothing I had planned on actually buying. But then a week later, I'll find something I feel like I can't live without and be mad at myself.
Should I spend it on things for the house? I've been wanting to switch over to glass 'tupperware' and I want some canisters for spices and bulk items. I need some new spatulas, or I could get a dehydrator!
Or do I spend it on fun things like clothes, shoes and sunglasses?
I know, I know, what a horrible problem to have right?
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