February was honestly a bust for us in multiple ways. Especially with both of us being sick at different times causing us to be miserable and even missing Valentine’s Day, keeping on our healthy track was  not in the forefront of our minds. In complete honesty, I’m pretty sure we ate out more than we ever have in one month. I’m not even kidding when I say I think we ate Chinese food 4-5 times this month.

It’d be easy to give up now, but January was such a strong month for us that I was determined for us to get back on track. After all, we had already proved it to ourselves. There’s no going back. Plus, despite our straying, we managed to keep off the weight (well, Addison did better than me…but men have metabolism luck like none other).

So we started our March off with a simple strategy– we cleaned our house. I know that doesn’t sound like a health-related thing. But honestly, clutter does clutter the mind and can have a huge affect on your mood. I mean, how are you going to chop vegetables for your salad if your kitchen counters are cluttered? How are you going to work out when you get home if your workout gear is in the laundry or there’s piles of things on the floor, limiting your space?

For the first time in a couple of months, we finally caught up on our house and it feels great! We can breathe! It’s awesome!

But oh boy, it doesn’t stop there. The day we started this endeavor, I asked Hubs to watch my favorite health documentary with me. I had been asking him for some time, but we just never made time to do it. Finally, he agreed and we turned on Netflix to watch “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.”

If you haven’t seen this for yourself, you’re missing out. It’s my favorite documentary, mainly because it’s down to earth and not condescending like others out there, and it presents facts in a straightforward, easy-to-understand way. Plus there are hysterical cartoon illustrations to help you understand some of the more medical components.

The premise of the film is an Australian man, Joe Cross, who is overweight and has a rare disease. He does a juice fast for 60 days which helps him lose tons of weight and reverse his disease. That’s right– he doesn’t have to take any medication anymore. It’s quite miraculous how the body works when we treat it right and with respect.

On his journey he meets a truck driver who is more overweight than he was, but also has the same rare disease. Joe offers to help him reverse his disease too with the same juicing technique.

My main reason I wanted to show Addison this documentary was just so he could see why I wanted to include more veggies and fruits into our diets. His response to the film was better than I could have imagined. It actually hit home for him and he was like, “So…when can we get a juicer?”

Because we didn’t have one, we went out and got Kale and made a Kale, strawberry, yogurt smoothie for him. I did not like it. He thought it was okay. I mean..what do you expect from a small Walmart blender? But it made him want a juicer even more.

Luckily for us, someone was selling a used one at Samaritan’s Purse and Addison talked them down to $40. Not a bad way to start a new endeavor. We just didn’t want to go full force into something we weren’t sure we’d even like by buying a $100+ piece of equipment.

We’re not going to do a 60 day juice fast– that would take a team of doctors monitoring us so we don’t end up with a medical issue later on. But juices for breakfast or snacks? Game on. Maybe a three day cleanse is on our future. We’re not too sure yet. But we’re definitely taking it home today and trying it out. One step at a time, right?

So this month is only 5 days in, but Spring is almost here, so why not start fresh? So far we have a clean house, a renewed commitment in health and a juicer to try something new. Addison’s so serious about this, he said he was okay increasing our food budget to allow for juicing (and if you know my husband, he’s a bit on the frugal side). But as we talked about it, he really made the point to say that when it comes to our health, why wouldn’t we spend extra money?

I couldn’t agree more.

As Americans, we often pay extra money for added convenience. Prepackaged foods, faster foods– but how much does it really cost? A few extra dollars… or years on our life?

Our health journey isn’t just about weight. It’s about our quality of life. It’s about our life together.

What does health mean to you?