We moved from San Diego, California to Bend, Oregon on Thanksgiving Day.
Derek began working from home in September, which is when we started to consider moving to a city that was a bit less crowded, had more of a community feel, where we could afford a house, and where we had easier access to outdoor activity. A nearby forest would be a bonus.
Bend quickly came to mind, and just a month later, we made an offer on a home while on a week-long scouting trip.
The new home!
We increased our square footage by about 1200. You can imagine what this did to me, given my minimalistic desires (I have since decided that it will be even easier to look minimalistic now that I have so much space, haha).
We did not have a refrigerator, pots/pans, washer, or dryer the first week we were here. Boxes were steadily being unpacked…and Derek had two trips on the calendar that week. Having arrived here right after a big snow, purchasing and installing snow tires on both cars quickly became top priority. You can see that I had my hands full.
I live a pretty healthy lifestyle. In San Diego, I had my routine down. Even when it didn’t appear to be routine, it was routine. Running or working out early morning. Plant based meal prep, all the time. I could grocery shop with my eyes closed.
Things are a little different now. First, it stays dark until around 7:30am, and dark again around 5pm. I’m not really ready to go for a run at 6:30am when it is dark. Second, it is cold! Everything is relative. It is colder than I am used to, which is another thing to keep me from working out too early…or late (this is going to be VERY different in the summer, yay!). Interestingly, the cold also affects my hunger, as many mornings I don’t eat until 8 or 9am (which is really late for me). I also feel ever dehydrated. The air is pretty dry here.
There are some great trails here for running, hiking, snowshoeing, etc., and many we’ve checked out so far are a 20-30 minute drive from the house.
On the diet front, I pretty much ate out the entire first week here. Sure, there were some salads, but there were also many pastries, sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, and beer. It’s easy to get caught up in it when you are exploring your new town.
Eating out the first week :-)
For a bougie food person, such as myself, figuring out the grocery store situation is a project. A project that entails driving distances, times, and routes, cost effectiveness, product selections (which drastically differ from store to store), waste control, and store visit combinations. Until I find my grocery shopping groove, I just feel like a mess. This means that we still have been eating out plenty, the last three weeks. It’s starting to come together, though.
Natural Grocers run
So, what is the moral of the story, here?
Lifestyle and environment are everything. They will both greatly influence your actions.
I live a healthy lifestyle. It remains a very important value to me. Because of that, even though my environment has completely changed, I will have the motivation and follow-through to find my new healthy lifestyle groove. What might that look like?
1. In winter, outdoor runs will likely start around 8am, if I do a morning run. I know that in a worst-case bad weather scenario, I can run the treadmill at the gym.
2. I’m going to become more involved in outdoor activities, both familiar, and new (like snowshoeing!).
3. Gym workouts remain the same. We joined a great gym just 6 minutes from the house.
4. There is a lot of good alcohol available in this town. In addition to the many great breweries, bars and wine, they have gas stations (and several grocery stores) that do growler fills, and several coffee shops that also serve alcohol. Since I enjoy beer, wine, and bourbon, I just have to be more cognizant about limiting myself.
Growler fills at the gas station
5. I will eventually find my grocery groove. This may mean different go-to meals in the future, and cooking with different products.
6. It is really easy to eat out a lot, here. Lots of places that are easy to get to. We have already found some addictive favorites. Again, it will be about balancing eating out with eating at home. It is REALLY easy to over eat if you eat out often, as most take-out food is rich in calories (especially pastries and desserts). So, just like we should drink responsibly, also eat responsibly.
7. Connecting with the land here will be a treat. I am so excited to continue to explore the area…the trees, plants, mountains, river, trails, buttes, etc.
Shevlin Park
Adaptability is key here. I am so excited to be in my new house, in my new town. I love it here. There will be an adjustment period. As a good friend of mine recently mentioned, we are all a constant work in progress. Enjoy it!
The next time you have a transition, just keep your top values in check. If good health is important to you, understand that so many things can rustle your routine (new job, new place, break-up, new relationship, family stuff, friend stuff, travel, sickness, new diagnosis, etc.).
This is especially important if you are trying to make changes to live a healthier lifestyle. It is really easy to fall back into old routines, sometimes even 6 months – 1 year after you’ve implemented healthier habits (darn those neural pathways!). This just means that you need to stay aware and keep your healthy habits at the top of your priority list. I sometimes hear the “life gets in the way” excuse when someone tries to incorporate new healthy habits. If you make those new habits your life, it won’t get in the way.
Until next time…
Yours in health,
-M