Love and Passion

A title most fitting for the month of February,,, but what does it have to do with health?

Well, I came across a scripture in Alma 38:12 that says "see that ye bridle your passions, that ye may be filled with love..."  I read it almost a month ago, and it keeps coming back to me...I know this to be a true principle but had never related it to food and exercise before.
Passions are like fire and water, good servants but bad masters —Alexander Pope
I feel that before I learned how to eat healthy this year, my passion for food had become my master, and it affected my ability to love food,,, and myself.

Now that I've learned to "bridle my passions" for food, I have felt myself filled with love. I've learned to love taking care of my body by giving it the nutrition it needs, not the sugary junk food to which I had been addicted.  I've learned to love whole foods and taste the junk in junk food. I've learned to control my portions which in turn makes me feel better.  When I feel better I am more apt to do good things, so life overall has improved in my home, in my relationships, in my ability to reach goals in all facets.

I am grateful to my personal coaches Georgia and Luanne for sharing their insight and giving me the tools to learn how to treat my body with love by giving it the food and exercise it needs to perform to it's best ability.  I have shared these tools with my family and hope that by instilling good habits while young it will help them to always keep their passions with food bridled, thus allowing a healthy love of self to develop.

What's that you say?

You're busy, stretched to the limit, stressed, and tired....sounds like a recipe for disaster for many things including staying on track for your healthy lifestyle goals, but as you run out the door you grab a cheese stick, apple and water bottle which means as you drive past McDonalds, you drive past, not in. Sucess! Small but great on many levels:

1. You just saved money.
2. You fed your body good stuff that won't make you feel sick in 20 min.
3. You have saved yourself some time.
4. You set a good example for your kids.

These are all good reasons, and all of them are reasons why I like sticking with it.  I like to remind myself of these reasons on a regular basis. By telling yourself  methodically the reasons for what you're doing, you establish positive self-talk which creates a healthy environment for yourself to continue making changes. 
What would happen if you told yourself:

I have to have fries or I'll die.
I don't have time to learn how to eat healthy.
I can't afford to buy healthy food.
I can't plan ahead my meals it takes too much effort.
My husband and kids will never support me in my changes.

Well,,,what would happen?  Nothing's going to change, that's for sure.  You got to start with changing your thoughts before you can change your behavior.

Here's your challenge:  take note of the internal conversations you're having with yourself, the labels you have given yourself, the unrealistic ultimatums, and negativity that you describe yourself to others. Put a stop to it, but not only put a stop to it, replace it with realistic positive statements. Make it a personal goal, and see the power of positive self talk in your life.

Healthy Cooking/Nutrition Class Review

Well I had to write a post in regards to the nutrition/cooking class that was put on by my head personal trainer Luanne Cobb.  She was wonderful and gracious to drive down to help out our little group get a grip on some healthy cooking skills.  She presented over 20 meal ideas!  Luanne showed us how to prepare many meals by taking the time once a week to get your meat ready.  When you have your protein prepared you're more likely to integrate it into your small meals. 

I can get a copy of the meals on the blog, but I need to type them out so give me some time. I thought the most valuable opportunity of the class was to see, taste, and touch the different ingredients. She handed around her favorite spices to smell, reminding us that you can cut back on salt if your food is seasoned properly. 

We had a tasters table with quinoa, basmati rice, diced artichoke hearts in a vinegar solution, sundried tomatoes in an olive oil, dried cranberries, and pomegranates which she uses to flavor her food.  I cooked up her daughter's recipe of dill crusted salmon and for those of us who enjoy fish we couldn't stop snacking on it!

I made up Georgia's healthy muffins for the first time and loved them and more importantly my kids did too! Hopefully I can wean my baby off his cookie addiction ;o) I did cook one batch with Truvia and agave syrup to sweeten and I could taste the truvia, but it wasn't that bad and the batch I cooked with just sugar and agave syrup you couldn't tell at all! I really am liking the agave syrup on my french toast, cottage cheese and plain greek yogurt, just a little bit though, it's not calorie free.

Valeen made a yummy apple chicken salad that was so simple and balanced, Luanne gave the recipe 2 thumbs up! She also made banana bread using blended white beans to replace the fat and it was so moist and tasty you would never guess was made with beans. 

Every shared their favorite balanced small meal which I'll be posting on the meal ideas soon and lastly we got to sample Melaleuca products to see which ones we liked. This was very helpful for me as I was hesitant to try some things for fear I wouldn't like it, even though everything is returnable, just tasting the Ruby red grapefruit Sustain electrolyte drink convinced me to order that next month! I also liked the Access Shake hot, like a hot chocolate drink, first thing in the morning before you exercise, just perfect for winter.

Luanne explained that while some of the ingredients she showed us may seem expensive, you only use a little bit to flavor your food and they'll last for months in your fridge so it really pays off.  This cooking class really helped open our eyes to different things to try to get us out of our cooking ruts.  There will be another class like this in Layton the end of January, so contact me if interested in attending!

When life gets busy...

Life is always busy isn't it?  If it isn't one thing, it's another. Not that it's a bad thing, but learning how to not let the stress of it all ruin your goal for healthy living can be a challenge.  This past week I struggled with poor health and with my healthy living challenge I only got one point for keeping my personal goal which was to not let myself give up when I made a poor choice.  So to clarify, when I knew that I missed my point for the day, I did not stop trying to make healthy choices just because of my one mistake.  In this challenge we're focusing on portion control, balanced meals, getting our water, and exercising every day.  You have to get all 4 items focused on done well for the day to get your point.  Well, it seemed that for whatever reason, I messed up on at least one of those things every day so I didn't earn one daily point.  It wasn't for lack of trying though, I had every intention, but when push came to shove when I had the choice between healthy or not I rationalized in the moment that it wasn't a big deal.  You know all those "it's not a big deal"'s add up! Whether your just starting out on the healthy living journey or you're an old pro, that thought process can really nip you in the bud. One thing leads to another and before you know it you find yourself at the drivethrough ordering a double cheese with large fries and a shake (and it's not your day off ;o). 

My point is to encourage you to not minimalize the little choices you make everyday, and if you do make a poor "little" choice, don't give up, just move on and make the next choice a good one.  Planning ahead makes a big difference, especially when you're getting started, having good choice options in the house, car, and work, and schedualling in your exercise will all pay off in the long run. 

My favorite things on the run are an apple and cheese stick, a Fiberwise bar or Attain bar, and a water bottle to carry with me full of Sustain electrolyte drink (the products are Melaleuca). 

So here's to a new week and opportunity to make good choices even when life is busy!

The Journey of learning a new healthy lifestyle has been a beautiful one for me.  There have been many breakthroughs of mental brick walls that have been keeping me from getting on the road to health for many years.  I finally am gaining an understanding of what a healthy perspective towards food looks like.  I'd like to share one walls I'm currently knocking down:

For years I honestly didn't know how people could turn down seconds when it came to dessert. I have friends and family who are able to do so and I've watched them carefully and observed that it wasn't a painful decision, or one that was done because of social pressure, it was just because they "weren't hungry", or they
"just ate".  I am just now understanding that they were able to say no to food because they knew how to listen to their body.  What a wonderful skill to acquire!; one that children are born with but often lose somewhere along the winding road of life. 

I am working hard to relearn this skill of listening to my body, and to help my children not lose this skill!  Learning to listen to my body requires desire to change, and a love of self. 

The desire to change is necessary if the skill has been lost because you can't learn something new if you're not ready to let go of old habits.

Yagottawanna :)

The love of self is a necessary key.  Think about it:  You're full and contemplating eating more, if you love the food more than you love yourself, you are going to choose food, despite the consequences of overeating. It requires a desire to take care of your body and not cause pain and discomfort to self to turn down the food. I guess this could work the other way around too if you struggle with allowing yourself to eat food when you're hungry (anorexia), but I've personally never had a problem with that : D

The guidelines that my personal trainer is teaching me are directions needed to get back on the right road toward healthy living.  Sometimes it's hard to follow because I've been off the beaten path for too long, but the closer I get, the easier it becomes because I can finally see the road I've been trying to reach. I understand why people choose to go on this road of healthy living and know it's worth it because the journey just keeps getting better!



"Everyday is a winding road,,,I get a little bit closer"

just a thought....

I've been sick for 16 days, and I've got several weeks to go.  I spent the evening on the porch swing. Grateful for the opportunity to heal, but longing to go on a walk, or jog, or do a strengthening workout. 
(Those Access "candy" bars keep calling my name:)
I reflected on how thankful I was for the time I did get to spend improving my health before I got sick.

I just wanted to plant a seed in the mind of my readers tonight:

As busy as life is, and as many directions we get pulled, consider not neglecting your health. You owe it to yourself and those who depend on you and love you to take care of yourself. 

When you do take care of yourself, you send a message to yourself and those you love that you want to be the best person you can be. You also demonstrate to God the gratitude you feel for the body He gave you.

Every day is a new day, a new opportunity. There is time to eat healthy, and exercise, just make it a priority.  It's something you won't regret. 

And while you're at it, do an extra exercise count for me!

Open the Bag!

Well, I've been recovering from my illness up at my mom's house. I took it upon myself to be my mom and sister's live-in personal healthy lifestyle coach.  (Even though they say they are excited about that, I'm not sure how long the excitement will last :o)
Sooo, I'm sure you can imagine my shock and horror when I looked into their cupboard and saw the Attain Shakes had NOT BEEN OPENED YET, and had sat there for a SOLID MONTH!!!!
My mom said they didn't want to open them until they were 100% committed to eating healthy.
Uh, okay, I've got a problem with that!
Now let's be honest now friends, how many of you are just like my mom? Worried about taking that first step because it represents a committment you're not sure you can keep yet?
Here, let me figuratively hold your hand for a minute and tell you it's OKAY.  It's okay to not be perfect on the first day you decide to make some positive changes in your life.  Consider that making the positive changes in your life are like pushing a big boulder down the top of a steep mountain.  The first pushes are going to take some effort, and some of your pushing is going to feel futile and non-effective, but as the boulder starts to build momentum it gets a lot easier, and soon it starts to roll on it's own.  If your goal was to get that boulder rolling, the only way to get it started was to start pushing, even though those pushes were not 100% perfect. 
Don't beat yourself up if you don't eat every meal perfectly balanced and portioned. Don't stop trying to learn  how to develop lean muscle just because you didn't figure out how to breathe perfectly on the first day, (that can be quite confusing, but soon enough it becomes second nature).
DO take those first steps. Use the tools that make taking those first steps easier, like wedging the boulders with levers to unearth it, the Attain Bars and Shakes and Access Bars and Shakes are tools to make those first pushes and steps more effective. 
Now seriously if you have not opened your bags or boxes yet, please call me, I'll help you take that first step,,,OPEN THE BAG!