Tag Archives: Eating Right

You Are In Control!

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Have you ever been tied down and force-fed cookies, crackers, brownies, or cakes? Nah, me either.

The only time I was ever forced to eat anything was when I was a kid, and it was my mother making me eat something healthy. And even then, I often found a way to sneak it under the table and feed it to the dog.

I suppose school-yard bullies might make you eat dirt or something awful. If that happened to you, I’m sure it was a horrible experience, but probably wasn’t likely to make you gain weight.

My point is that nobody is forcing us to eat anything.

Even when it feels like that cookie is moving towards your mouth against your will, it is still you doing it to you. Even if those bullies stressed you out and you are comforting yourself with food, it is still you putting the food in your mouth.

When you can take full responsibility for the foods you eat, the exercise you do, and the thoughts you think, you truly being creating the life you want.

You have more power to create the life of your dreams than you can possibly imagine. Truly.

Together we can do it!

Believe It’s Possible!

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Do you believe that optimal wellness is achievable?

How likely are you to achieve something if you don’t even believe it’s possible?

In order to achieve it, you have to be open to the idea that optimal wellness can absolutely be your natural state of being.

What does optimal wellness mean to you?

To me, optimal wellness is feeling good—mind, body, and spirit. It’s being at the right body weight for me. It’s moving with ease and flow, and being fit, strong, and lean. It’s allowing every cell in my body to thrive, and having a super-charged immune system and metabolism. It’s having every system in my body functioning properly. It’s nurturing my body’s own wellness abilities. It’s treating myself—and others—with love and respect. It’s experiencing chronic feelings of appreciation, eagerness, and joy. It’s a lasting state of wellbeing, and a confidence in who I am and what I am capable of.

Am I always in that state of optimal wellness? No. My wellness journey will never be “done.” I will never be able to slap my hands together and proclaim that I am there. Now I can sit back and relax. It is always my goal, and where I want to be. It is my aim.

When I am in that place, it feels amazing. It makes me want to be in that state of being more and more. That feeling makes taking care of me my highest priority, because when I am in that state I’m a better wife, friend, and daughter. I’m the best possible version of me.

How important is eating healthy foods and moving your body towards achieving optimal wellness? To me, it’s pretty darn important.

Consistent exercise can:

  • Double survival rates of breast cancer patients, and can significantly reduce the chance of developing breast cancer in the first place.
  • Strengthen the body’s immune system.
  • Help relieve the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
  • Boost blood flow to the brain, which increases the energy of brain waves that are responsible for quick thinking, focus, creativity, and problem solving.
  • Prevent and treat osteoporosis.
  • Help manage diabetes.
  • Reduce the risk of addiction and relapse.
  • Slow premature aging of the skin.
  • Promote healthier digestion.
  • Reduce aches and pains.
  • Contribute to optimism and a positive mindset.

Study after study shows that exercise plays an important role in promoting sound mental health and emotional wellbeing. If the effects of exercise could be put in a pill, everyone would be taking it.

And what you eat is just as important. When you eat nutrient rich foods, your:

  • Mind becomes more alive, and you’re happier
  • Immune system is stronger
  • Body feels younger and healthier

No matter what your goal is, if you’re trying to create the life of their dreams, exercise and eating healthy foods might need to be a part of it. And if they’re not, why not?

Each moment describes who you are and gives you the opportunity to decide if that’s who you want to be. I encourage you to include optimal wellness in your vision, and to decide to take the actions that move you towards being that best possible version of you.

Together we can do it!

Be Merry, and Then Eat and Drink!

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“Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.”

[Translation: Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.]

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, “Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante,” 1826

The idea that to be fit and healthy you need to eat good food has been around a while. But an even older concept is the idea that we are what we think.

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.”

Buddha (c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE)

What if both are true? In yesterday’s blog I shared how our thoughts are the foundation of every part of our lives. What if the food we eat—and what we think about it—impacts not only our body, but our state of mind?

For many people there’s a vicious cycle with thoughts and food. You have a stressful day or feel badly about yourself and you reach for the chocolate chip cookies to find some comfort. But then you feel guilty about eating the cookies, which adds to your stress and self-criticism, and the negative pattern repeats.

There are a number of things that have to happen to break that unpleasant and unhealthy spiral. You have to figure out how you can comfort yourself—or fulfill your emotional need—in more healthy ways. You have to decide who it is that you truly want to be and the actions you want to take to move you towards becoming that person. And you have to break out of the victim mode and become empowered to handle any situation in your life.

Really, it boils down to thinking about your life differently, and then aligning your actions with your new thoughts to move you towards creating the life of your dreams.

What new thought can you think today?

Together we can do it!