Just as I had been talking for years of getting into healthier eating and lifestyle habits, my husband had been talking for years of getting back into running. When one of our twins began running recently, it spurred him on to start too!

Did you know good habits can be as infectious as bad habits?

Three times a week now my husband and daughter head out on a run and those of us who don’t care to run. we head out for a brisk walk.

Small steps people. I truly believe this is the way to go to make changes that could last a lifetime.

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Another small step I’ve made is to switch up my coffee.
Years ago I was drinking 6 cups of coffee a day. 2 every morning, full caf.
2 every afternoon of half caf. Then 2 every evening of decaf.

You need to understand my love of coffee to truly understand how hard it was to give up.
I really enjoy savoring the simple things in life, stopping to enjoy a moment over a cup of hot coffee is almost an ‘event’ for me. So cutting out coffee altogether, just isn’t something I was, or am, willing to do. It’s more than just a cup of coffee! 🙂 However, all things in moderation and 6 cups of coffee a day was more than I should be drinking, so I was willing to make a change.

I decided to cut down on my coffee by first switching my evening decafs for herbal tea sweetened with just honey.
That was a great switch because now I wasn’t drinking coffee, cream and two sugars every night.

Then I decided to cut out my afternoon coffees, so now I was down to just 2 cups a day. This was a huge step because for years my afternoon ritual was to put my kids down for a nap, and then have my two cups of half-caf and chit chat online with a friend while I sipped and enjoyed the quiet.

So now I was just left with my two morning cups of coffee, and I decided at that point that I enjoyed those two cups of coffee so much that I simply was not willing to give them up.
I’m the type of person now who wakes in the morning when the sun begins to shine, and I immediately get out of bed because I know my coffee is just a minutes away.

However, it still bothered me that I was using 4 spoons of white sugar every morning in those two cups of coffee…

So I tried using honey in my coffee. Hmmm… really didn’t do the trick for me. I tried xylitol, it didn’t agree with me.
So I switched to organic cane sugar. Better, but still sugar. I stuck with that for years though.

Until recently.
I finally read about maple syrup as a sweetener in coffee. We have a lot of maple syrup we purchased while in Ontario while visiting family, so I figured it’d be worth a try. If I liked it, at least I already had it here on hand and wouldn’t’ have to break the grocery budget for my morning coffees.

Well let me tell you, I’m NEVER going back to sugar!
I’ve finally managed to cut that sugar out of my mornings! Maple syrup is SO good in coffee, and much healthier!

As a treat, I used some of the leftover homemade whipping cream in my maple syrup coffee the other day. I love that I can stick to eating healthy, but have great little ‘treats’ like this too, and still keep on track!
This was SO tasty!

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So there’s a couple of easy baby step changes anyone can make to their lifestyle.
The other step I’ve made is to completely change what I drink all day. I’ve never been much one for soda/pop except on treat days, but I’ve pretty much cut that right out. I’ve had one ice tea in 65 days, and apple juice twice.
I only have a small amount of milk (whole milk) in the am with my breakfast, then almond milk in my early afternoon fruit/veggie smoothie.
*(Julia makes almond milk regularly now, it’s so easy! Just soak 1 cup of almonds overnight with a pinch of salt. Rinse in the am and add 4 cups water, blend and strain! Keep in fridge and add to smoothies etc.)
For the rest of the day, all I drink is water, and herbal teas.

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And here’s a photo of some of our eggs, just for fun. We’ve got such a lovely mix of laying hens now. 🙂

*Do you have any ‘baby steps’ to lifestyle changes you’d like to share? I”d love to hear from  you!