It isn’t a coincidence that, as our lives get more and more connected to, and through, technology, our stress levels are going through the roof, our health is going down the tubes and we’re losing our connection to ourselves in the process. Research shows that chronic stress reduces the body’s ability to modulate inflammation, which is the underlying cause for virtually all disease.

Your body has an amazing defense mechanism built into it called the “fight or flight” response.  This allows your body, without your conscious participation, to physically remove you out of harm’s way as fast as possible by virtual of a chemical response crew answering the call of a perceived threat….you RUN!

Once the threat has passed, your body has discharged those chemicals and can now return to normal function.  The problem is that your body doesn’t know the difference between and a real and a perceived threat.  When you perpetually live in activated response mode, a state of quiet (or not so quiet) urgency, as a result of a demanding job, juggling a busy home and family life, financial concerns, or even an addiction to social media and emails, your body responds in the same way it would if you were being chased by a wild animal.

The difference is that, rather than running, you just sit and stew in your chaotic stories about an emergency that is happening only in your head!  So the chemicals released to allow you to move quickly continue to circulate instead of getting used up, and this chronic supply of circulating elevated stress hormones is what ultimately leads to a variety of symptoms of disease:

• increased circulating cortisol and adrenaline
• increased heart rate and blood pressure
• increased blood sugaràincreased demand for insulin
• suppressed immunity
• decreased digestion
• mood swings
• predisposes you to depression, angry outbursts, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, digestive issues, difficulty sleeping, more frequent illnesses…

Some other side effects of chronic stress include:

• lack of mindfulness-missing out on your life!
• poor food choices/eating on the run
• dwelling in other peoples’ drama or creating your own
• overexposure to electromagnetic waves from too much electronic screen time

We may not be able to control or remove all the stressors in our life, but we can choose how we manage them.  This is where creating your sacred space comes in.  Think of it as a time out for grown ups.  For kids, parents often use “time out” as a consequence for bad behavior but in reality it is a gift; it’s an opportunity to catch your breath, quiet your thoughts, and calm yourself down from escalating emotions so you can hear your inner voice speak its truth.

• unplugging -> parasympathetic nervous system
• slower, deeper breaths -> more oxygen to the brain
• think more clearly
• lower adrenaline and cortisol
• reduced heart rate and blood pressure
• improved immunity
• stabilize blood sugar resulting in lower demand for insulin
• improved digestion -> increased absorption of nutrients and decreased incidence of GI upset

Reconnecting with your self is NOT a time to socialize.  Social interaction is an important component of a balanced life but creating a sacred space is about spending time with YOU, something many people are uncomfortable doing.  In living such chaotic lives, we often lose touch with who we are at our core and it takes practice getting reacquainted.  Designing this space allows you an opportunity to be creative, which is important to your overall health in and of itself.  It also means prioritizing yourself.  When your needs are met, you can better meet the needs of others.  There are no rules for what your space should look like.  You’ll know you’ve gotten it right by how you feel when you’re in it.

When creating your sacred space it’s important to:

1. set aside time every day
2. set boundaries with family members/work interruptions
3. leave electronics behind
4. insist on privacy

What makes you feel good?

• music
• essential oils
• the sound or presence of water
• a comfortable place to sit or recline
• be in nature or bring plants in
• gentle movement
• color
• photographs

This is not time for list making or fretting over everything else you should be doing!  This IS what you should be doing and it needs to be a non-negotiable part of your day, along with healthy food, moderate exercise, and adequate sleep.

Recognizing that you, and your health, are sacred is the first step toward implementing lasting change on your journey to improved health.  Go ahead and thank yourself now for giving yourself this gift! 

Most of us have a lot of things we’d like to turn around in our lives, but figuring out what area to start with, and how to implement that process, can be overwhelming so we push it off until tomorrow….or the next day or the next.  Implementing lasting change in even just one area requires the intention of making our self a priority, commitment, focus, and energy, none of which we have a surplus of if we aren’t healthy.  Deciding to make a change to improve your health often begins with a health issue.  My story began that way.  My (oldest) daughter had a skin rash that popped up when she was 8 months old and for a year and a half the only “solutions” I got from our pediatrician and a pediatric dermatologist were antibiotics and topical steroids, which treated the symptoms but didn’t address WHY she had this problem in the first place.  This was the early 1990s, before people ate for health, rather than just weight loss, or food was considered to be medicine, so information was hard to come by.  I finally stumbled across a book that said most skin disorders are the result of nutritional deficiencies (or sensitivities such as wheat and dairy), commonly omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, so I started supplementing her with fish and flax oil.  I needed a way for her to be able to swallow those oils and that’s how I started creating smoothies.  Within 2 weeks, her rash was all but gone.  More on smoothies in a bit….

You literally are what you eat.  That can be a beautiful, or a very scary, thing!  The nutrients that are the result of digesting the food you eat become the building blocks for every cell in your body, as well as provide information to those cells for how they should function.  When you eat food that has been processed, and is overloaded with sugar and chemicals, not only does your body not recognize this as food, and is starved of the nutrients it needs, but the sugar and chemicals often contribute to the destruction of the lining of your gut, block biochemical pathways vital for proper physiologic functioning, trigger blood sugar instability, alter your mood and your ability to focus, and wreck havoc with your hormones.

Did you know you are not the only inhabitant of your body?  The definition of microbiome (according to Webster Dictionary and assorted scientific journals) means-“a community of symbiotic microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses and the genetic material they harbor) that inhabit a particular environment and especially the collection of microorganisms living in or on the human body, primarily in the gut”.  There is an entire world of micro flora living in your gut that is directly responsible for maintaining your vital functions and overall health.  In fact, there are 100 trillion microbes in your gut, compared to your 10 trillion human cells, making your body simply a vehicle for your microbiome.  The microbiome is responsible for aiding in digestion, producing certain vitamins, regulating your immune system, and protecting you against disease producing bacteria.  An imbalance in the micobiome has been linked with GI conditions such as irritable bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and systemic manifestations of disease such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, weakened immunity and systemic inflammation which, in turn, has been linked to heart disease, auto immune disorders, degenerative neurologic disorders (such as Alzheimer’s), and cancer.  WOW!…that’s a lot to process, I know!  Your digestive system literally provides a barrier against the outside world that you ingest every day, in every bite…and it is only 1 cell thick!  Many factors contribute to the health, or destruction, of your microbiome, and the 1 cell thick barrier that protects you from foreign matter, including your diet, stress, medications, and toxins just to name a few.  Taking care of your gut, through healthy diet and lifestyle choices, allows your gut to take care of you.  So let’s do it!

Food is so much more than calories (fuel).  It quite literally is medicine.  The human body is not designed to utilize artificially produced, or genetically modified, foods or the chemicals that color and flavor them.  The overabundance of processed carbohydrates in the Standard American Diet (SAD) has lead to your body preferring glucose, rather than fat, as its (too readily available) fuel of choice.   Glucose will allow you to move through your day but, over time, not without its consequences.  Chronically elevated blood sugar leads to brief energy surges followed by crashes, resulting in cravings for another quick sugar fix.  It also predisposes you to insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, inability to lose weight, mood swings, sleep disorders, an imbalance in your gut microbes, brain fog and dementia, systemic inflammation, autoimmunity…scary shit!

The quality and composition of the food you eat is more important than the actual number of calories (not to say you should be consuming 6000 calories/day unless you’re Michael Phelps!).  All calories are not created equal.  Obviously, 100 calories of French fries will have a very different effect on the body than 100 calories of vegetables.  Not only do you get more food when you eat 100 calories of veggies but you get a plethora of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber along with complex carbohydrates and, yes, in many cases, protein!  With the French fries, you get simple carbohydrates that are quickly converted to glucose in the blood, along with generally over-heated, over-used, unhealthy fat.

Digestion is hard work.  In order for your body to effectively digest what its been fed, it needs to be able to focus its attention on doing just that.  Too often you’re eating on the run, or eating while multi-tasking, or you’re snacking all day so the body never gets a break from digesting.  Don’t start shaming yourself….we all do it.  But when you know better, you can do better!!  As a result, the food isn’t thoroughly digested, resulting in decreased extraction and availability of the nutrients from the food.  In response to your resulting low energy and brain fog you reach for more caffeine and sugar and energy drinks, am I right?! (P.S.- those pre- and post- workout supplements will NEVER give you the results you’re looking for if you aren’t feeding yourself well to begin with and allowing your body time to digest!  You can’t get blood from a stone!)

Providing your body nutrient-dense food, and maintaining a stable blood sugar, are the foundations for gut health, and allows you to function optimally every day so you have the energy and motivation to make better choices in other areas of your life.  Who wouldn’t benefit from more of that?  How you start your day is how you live your day.  By sacrificing yourself right out of the starting gate, you’re setting yourself up for a day of nutrient deficiency, energy depletion, and mood swings, not to mention the fact that you’re not making yourself a priority in your own life (which is a whole other topic!).  Starting your day off with a nutrient packed breakfast can make all the difference-in how you feel, how you perform, how you interact-and it doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming.

When Jamba Juice appeared on the scene in 1990, launching the smoothie revolution, their mission was “leading people in the world to healthy lives”…with the priority “to provide healthy food and bring happiness to everyone”.  News flash!—not all smoothies are created equal either! A “small” (16 ounce) JJ may contain more than 40gms of sugar, and total carbs up to 43 grams!  For women, the recommended MAXIMUM amount of sugar/day is 25gms, so in just that 1 smoothie you have consumed almost double your sugar intake for the day.  Although JJ smoothies may have “real” ingredients, the most prevalent ingredient is fruit juice from concentrate.  This adds a lot of sugar your body doesn’t need.  All this to say that smoothies made from juice, an overabundance of fruit, and flavored yogurt are not what your body needs!

There are many healthy ways to start your day but I love to start every day with a homemade smoothie.  The dry ingredients can be laid out the night before so the morning prep process only takes a few minutes.  You get an easily digestible, moderate calorie, powerhouse that will fuel your body for hours, and maintain your blood sugar so you don’t hit that mid-morning slump, and embarrass yourself at work!  If necessary, you can take it on the road, although I recommend taking time to enjoy what you’ve created for yourself before heading out the door.  Remember, making yourself a priority is part of this process!

Here is my foundation for a nutrient dense smoothie:

• Protein powder: I suggest staying away from soy or whey based powders because dairy and soy are among the most common food intolerances. If you’re vegetarian, choose a plant based protein powder from organic, non-GMO ingredients; if you’re not vegetarian/vegan you might choose a collagen based powder, but make sure those sweet cows are free range, humanely raised, and haven’t been loaded up with antibiotics or other chemicals against their will.  Look for a powder that delivers at least 20 grams of protein/serving.  You should be able to recognize the ingredients on the label without the use of a dictionary…if not, shop on!  Beware of added “natural flavors” and sugars/sweeteners…Stevia is common, and fine, but some people don’t care for the after taste.  Try using an unflavored protein powder and sweeten it with Lucuma or monk fruit powder, both of which are plant based, completely natural sweeteners that won’t affect your blood sugar or leave a weird taste in your mouth.
• Nut milks or coconut water: Great options for your liquid. They all contain significantly less sugar/carbohydrates than juice, so won’t affect your blood sugar, and the milks contain varying amounts of protein and healthy fat.  Buy organic or make your own.  It’s simple to make but you need the right tool for the job! Many people have strong opinions about their blenders.  I love my Vitamix and it was worth every penny!  I’ve tried a variety of other “high performance” blenders and none compare to the Vitamix…just sayin’ (I have no affiliation with Vitamix…this is just a personal opinion.).
• Fruit in small amounts: I suggest using a low glycemic fruit such as 1/2 cup of organic berries. **Keep in mind that, although fruit in and of itself is not harmful, it is high in naturally occurring sugar so should be limited to just 2 servings/day. You definitely don’t need an entire fruit salad in your smoothie!
• Veggies/greens: I like to put spinach and cauliflower in mine. The cauliflower is high in fiber, and provides antioxidants to defend against cancer, choline that is essential for learning and memory, and is absolutely undetectable in color and flavor.  I buy organic and lightly steam it before freezing it, so I always have some on hand; the spinach adds protein, antioxidants, calcium, magnesium, iron, and has other health benefits, without changing the flavor of the smoothie…but it will turn the smoothie a lovely light shade of green.  Lots of people enjoy kale, celery, or cucumber in theirs as well.  Spirulina or Chlorella is also great to add.  These are algae that are considered to be “super foods” because of the nutrient blast they pack-protein, vitamins, minerals, omegas, fiber-they’ve got it all!  Beware that a little goes a long way!
• Herbs and spices: Such as cinnamon, cayenne, cilantro or parsley (depending on whether you prefer sweet or savory).
• Healthy fat: adding part of a whole avocado, or a Tbsp of coconut oil, will give a creamy consistency to the smoothie while helping to protect against heart disease and reduce inflammation.
• Fiber: Chia, flax, and psyllium. Most people don’t come close to getting enough fiber in their diet each day.  Fiber helps regulate your appetite and aids in elimination.  Constipation should never be the reason you’re having a bad day!  While you’re learning to add in more vegetables, try sneaking some fiber into your smoothie as a baby step.  One suggestion if you do–you may need more liquid and want to drink your smoothie right away, as it will thicken quickly.
• Ginger or turmeric: Can spice things up a bit and have potent anti-inflammatory properties. I use a curcumin (the active ingredient in Turmeric) supplement that is blended with black pepper and a fat because it is more bio-available than raw turmeric.
• Medicinal mushroom powders: (Such as Turkey Tail, Maitake, Shitake, Cordyceps, Reishi, and Chaga) are anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-aging, immune boosting, and have regenerative properties.
• Matcha green tea powder: Offers potent antioxidants without the caffeine buzz, thanks to l-theanine. **This is also delicious as a warm beverage.  Less than half of the caffeine in a regular cup of coffee!

Smoothies are a great way to sneak several servings of veggies in at the beginning of your day.  People grossly overestimate how many veggies they eat in a day.  One salad at lunch is not enough, especially when most salads consist of iceberg lettuce, and fewer veggies than cheese and unhealthy dressing.  The recommended daily servings of vegetables are conservatively 7-9 (up to 13!) depending on age, gender, physical activity and the overall health of a person.  If you measured that many servings into a bowl you would be amazed at the quantity!  You’ve got to eat veggies for breakfast too…

What does 1 serving look like?

• ½ cup raw fruits/veggies
• 1 small whole apple, orange, or banana
• 1 cup leafy greens
• 1 small bell pepper
• ½ cup berries
• ½ cup cooked squash

A lot of people wonder about the difference between blending (smoothies) and juicing.  Juicing can be a delicious way to occasionally enjoy some veggies, and fruit, but the quality of the juicer determines the nutrient content of the juice.  Also, juicing removes the fiber from the vegetables and fruit, and the fiber is beneficial to your microbiome, while helping to slow the absorption of the sugar from the fruit, which in turn helps to stabilize your blood sugar.  If you’re doing a short term cleanse, or just giving your gut a rest but still want some high quality vitamins and minerals, juicing can be great but eating whole, or blended, vegetables and fruit gives you the whole food, and all those magnificent micronutrients that work together.

How you start your day can have a powerful effect on your entire day, from a nutritional perspective as well as a personal one.  Making yourself a priority is the first step toward making lasting changes in your health and, by feeding yourself in a way that provides the essential building blocks your body needs, you’ll have the energy you need to successfully navigate through your busy day.  Pick and choose from the building blocks I’ve suggested and see what works best for you.  If you’re completely new to smoothies, start simple.  If you’re already doing smoothies, mix it up a bit with some new ingredients.  Don’t be afraid to experiment!  As long as you’re using high quality ingredients, and fresh organic fruits and veggies, you can’t get this wrong.  Congratulate yourself for making YOU, and your health, a priority, and celebrate the fact that one small step can lead to amazing possibilities.

Often when people think about health they automatically think in terms of measurable specifics:

weight
blood pressure
blood sugar
cholesterol
how often they get sick
what chronic illnesses they have
medications they take
what they eat

However, health is more than a collection of numbers, more than the presence or absence of disease, more than the food we consume. We are our thoughts; we are our relationships; we are our career and our hobbies and interests. It’s tempting to search for that “one thing” we need to do, or change, in order to improve our health but unfortunately, it’s not that simple. So many factors directly impact our physical health so where do we start?

Focusing on a single component like losing weight, running more, or eating kale every day cannot transform our health. It requires taking a step back and looking through a wider lens, taking an inventory of all the areas of our life and deciding what IS working for us, and where change may be beneficial. Change can be scary and uncomfortable so, to avoid the fear and discomfort, we choose to live in denial instead, fearing “what if” we admit something isn’t working. “Dis-ease” often manifests in ways seemingly unrelated to the condition/situation it stems from. Getting to the root cause is the only way to truly treat what “ails” you in order to allow you to live the way you want, and often the root cause is multi-faceted.

Research has shown that health begins in our gut. Not only is our gut our 2nd brain, it is also the throne of our immune system. The microbes that comprise our microbiome set the stage for our health performance. If our microbiome is thriving and active, our health will be a Broadway smash…if our microbiome is unbalanced and malfunctioning, our health will look more like a children’s backyard skit. There are more microbes living in our gut than all the other cells in our body combined. They are responsible for aiding in digestion and manufacturing the cells that make up our immune system, vitamins, and hormones; they produce an array of neurochemicals used by the brain to regulate learning, memory and mood; they can influence weight gain/loss and, when not working properly, can lead to autoimmune conditions and cancer, just to name a few. Many factors can negatively impact the microbiome including:

whether you were breast or bottle-fed
poor nutrition
lack of sleep
chronic stress
antibiotics
exposure to chemicals in our environment
even the way we think.

So while health is initiated on the gut “stage”, the answer to restoring health may be out in the audience. It’s necessary to look at all the contributing factors and not just focus on one ingredient.

We are greater than the sum of the parts of our physical body. We have an indisputable connection that links our body with our mind and our spirit. Focusing our attention on, and balancing, all three areas is the key to overall wellness. So where do we start? First of all, we need to (re-) learn how to actually reside in our body. We are born with that knowledge but lose that ability quickly. Our body is an amazing machine that functions automatically, with very little input from us. We grow used to taking it for granted and therefore lose touch with the fact that our body communicates information and messages to us 24/7. We just aren’t listening, and no longer speak the language. In order to reconnect with our most important messenger, we need to BE QUIET. That means unplugging, and eliminating stimulation and distractions. It means getting comfortable being by ourselves. If we’re willing to make this a habit, gradually we will learn to interpret what our body is telling us about what it needs and wants…and the messages your body sends you will be entirely different than what my body tells me. It also means learning to change the way we think about, and speak to, ourselves, because we’re listening…and in time we believe what we hear! That can work for us or against us.

Achieving overall wellness is like following a recipe. There are NO short cuts and, if you leave out a key ingredient, all you end up with is an inedible mess. This is where the inventory comes in. If all we focus on is making a few obvious, “short term” changes, we aren’t going to improve our health. Feeling, and being, healthy is not the end goal but rather the vehicle through which all the other changes we want to make in our lives are attainable. It’s hard to imagine finding a new job that we love if we’re so exhausted we can hardly get out of bed. If we’re depressed, it’s hard to find the energy and motivation to communicate our needs to our partner. You get my drift…. So it’s important to gather all the necessary ingredients for this recipe. By taking an honest inventory of all the areas of your life, you can decide which areas are currently satisfying you, and which areas need to be nourished. Yes, this includes evaluating how you nourish your body, but it also means identifying what nourishes your soul. Then you’re in a position to establish goals and prioritize how to meet them.

The first step in the journey to restore your health is a willingness to look at the big picture and be honest with yourself. Change is necessary in order to grow. It is scary…and it takes time and a commitment to yourself. No one can do that for you. What are you willing to do to feel better and live better? Are you worth it?

Once we accept that we need to create change in our life, where, and how, do we find the motivation, strength, and perseverance to take on the challenge of restoring our health? When the desert of dehydration and “dis-ease” stretches out in all directions, which direction do we point ourselves in? Often it feels easier to continue to suffer than to take that first step. Believe me, you are not alone in your confusion and overwhelm!

As a society we have come to value grand gestures, unrealistic expectations, sleepless nights, and overwhelming stress as measures of how hard we’re working, our level of success, and how full and important our lives are, rather than as pillagers of health. We forget that we cannot walk a mile without taking that first step. If we want to be successful in whatever it is we’re hoping to accomplish, we have to set ourselves up for success right from the start. That requires setting realistic goals that are attainable so we get the win…every single day…even if these goals seem too insignificant at first to amount to anything.

We are bombarded with so much information, from so many sources, instructing us on the “best” ways to lose weight, “how to be healthier in just 10 days”, what to, and NOT to, eat. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about how WE should go about achieving our goals. Often it is contradictory and confusing, and what’s missing? YOU, and the fact that YOU are not everyone! So let’s start with the basics…WATER. It is imperative that we are hydrated, and implementing just THAT into our daily lives can often, all by itself, have amazing results.

Why do we need water? Our body is comprised of up to 60% water, our brain and heart over 70%! Water is a vital component of every bodily process, from aiding in digestion and bowel function, to lubrication for our joints, cushioning for our brain and spinal cord, elimination of waste products through our kidneys, synthesizing hormones and neurotransmitters, regulation of body temperature, improving circulation and delivering oxygen to our cells, enabling all the body’s cells to grow, reproduce and function optimally, and maintaining the integrity of our skin (the body’s largest organ).
The human body can’t make its own water so we are responsible for replenishing its supply every day. People often overestimate the amount of water they drink, so it’s helpful to measure your daily water intake in order to have an accurate starting point. You may be surprised by how little water you actually drink, but that’s OK. Start where you are! If we wait to drink until we feel thirsty we are already dehydrated, and then we need to play catch up, so don’t rely on thirst to remind you to drink. Set an hourly reminder on your phone if you have to!

Signs/symptoms of dehydration are common, and can often be over looked, or attributed to other causes:

1. headaches
2. dry eyes
3. dry skin/poor elasticity
4. concentrated urine
5. bad breath
6. fatigue
7. hunger
8. your body overheating
9. muscle cramps/joint pains
10. constipation

How many of these symptoms have you considered “normal” for you, and treated with various over-the-counter medications? If these symptoms are related to inadequate hydration, simply drinking enough water every day can resolve them…how easy is that?!

How much water should you drink every day? A general guideline for adults is half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces of water daily. Most adults should drink a minimum of 64oz/day, up to a gallon/day. High temps, low humidity, excessive exercise (sweating), and caffeine consumption all increase the amount of water you need to drink. Caffeine is a diuretic, as is alcohol, so, if you consume these beverages (beer, wine, hard alcohol, coffee, certain teas, sodas), you will require more water daily than someone who does not. It is possible to drink too much water so listen to, and observe, your body since everyone is different! If you’re well hydrated your urine should be pale, clear yellow, and you should be urinating every couple of hours.

How do you get from where you are today to where you need to be? Start slowly, and measurably, and cheer yourself on! Don’t minimize the significance of the task you’re undertaking, and be proud of yourself for starting. Once or twice a week, increase the amount of water you drink every day by 2-4oz. Start drinking first thing in the morning, and try to reach your goal for the day several hours before you go to bed so you don’t have to use the bathroom frequently during the night. This isn’t a race and there’s no sense making yourself miserable with multiple trips to the bathroom. Uninterrupted sleep is important for health too!

Not all water is created equal. First, there is NO substitute for water…not juice, not “clear” soda, not canned bubble water. Just drink plain, filtered water. Avoid water in plastic bottles, as the toxins in the plastic can leech into the water when the plastic is warmed (and who knows how long the palettes of water are left sitting in the sun on loading docks or how hot the delivery trucks get? In the summer, my grocery store stacks them outside in the sun!) These toxins can cause all sorts of problems, including increasing your risk for various cancers. Use a reusable glass or stainless steel water bottle—good for you, good for the environment! You can also have fun with your water by infusing it with fresh herbs and fruit. You can buy glass counter-top water dispensers, or individual infusing water bottles, and use organic herbs, like basil and mint, and slices of organic citrus or berries. Playing with your water allows you to be creative and it and adds fresh flavor and color, not to mention vitamins and minerals, to the water. It’s eye candy in a bottle.

Remember, restoring health is a journey and requires time, patience, and commitment. It took a long time to get to this point and turning things around isn’t going to happen overnight. There are no short cuts. One small, positive change begets another, and another. If we only focus on the end result, the distance to be covered getting there may be daunting, so focus on each small step as a step in the right direction. Enjoy the added benefits that come from deciding to make yourself a priority, and start walking yourself out of that desert sip by sip today!

Today’s the day! Welcome to my first blog, and thank you for joining me here. As a nurse and holistic health coach, I’m my own client. This blog will not only document my personal health journey, but will hopefully provide you with the motivation, support, and information you need to help you set out on your own journey of self-discovery and health recovery.

People equate weight with health, and visa versa. This is a misconception and yet many of us struggle every minute of every day with what to eat, or not eat, in order to lose weight because “when we achieve that goal of the perfect number on the scale, we’ll be healthy (and happy)”. We physically and emotionally starve ourselves in our pursuit of health. How messed up is that?!

Health is NOT a number on the scale. In fact, there are people who are seriously unhealthy by virtue of being “skinny fat”. Their “numbers” look good but their health is poor. They don’t understand that “bikini does not =health”. I’ve played the numbers game (sizes, pounds, calories, portion size) my entire life and I have finally realized IT’S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS!

Don’t misunderstand me. Carrying excess weight does not promote health but I’m overweight because I’m unhealthy, I’m not unhealthy because I’m overweight. My (over) weight is a symptom of multiple health issues that have been brewing for many years, while I ignored the cries for help my body had been sending me. One day I realized that doing things MY way wasn’t working so I decided I was going to start working with an expert on my body-my BODY!

The inability to lose weight, frequent illnesses, sleep issues, depression, anxiety, irritability, joint pain, skin rashes, GI disturbances, uncontrollable cravings-these are just a few common complaints, but “common” doesn’t make them normal. Do you suffer from any of these? I did. Do you just manage the symptoms? I did. Caffeine and sugar to combat fatigue from poor sleep, creams for rashes, laxatives for constipation, Ibuprofen for pain? Are you too depressed to give yourself, and your life, the attention they deserve? These are messages from your body, symptoms of systemic “dis-ease”, that often times are directly related to the food we eat, and how we eat it. Not only is food fuel for our bodies but it’s also information. Every cell in our body bathes in what we eat, extracting information about HOW to function from those “nutrients”. This is also how cells mal-function, from soaking in misinformation from the overload of sugar and processed food we feed ourselves.

I was sick and tired of feeling like crap. I was sick and tired of food being the enemy. It’s not. Real food is medicine, with ZERO adverse side effects. We’ve lost track of what REAL food is, and isn’t. There are “foods” NO ONE should eat, but there isn’t one right/best way to eat that works for everyone. The trick is to listen to your own body and feed it what it’s asking for…unless it’s asking for sugar or junk food!
What are you hungry for? Do you literally feel weighed down? It can be overwhelming figuring out where to start, once you’ve decided you’ve got to do SOMETHING. Come along with me on this food journey. Let’s talk about how to eat to live, and let’s restore our health so we can finally feel better, and live better.