Stop the mindless eating
inspiration, mindfulness, self care
13th Dec 2011
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Isn’t it so easy to get a snack when you are bored or want to avoid cleaning, doing the dishes, or some sort of work or homework assignment? The snacks always used to beckon me to the kitchen, no matter if I was hungry or full.
These days I do a lot less mindless eating, though I have to confess that sometimes I eat in front of my computer. I know, this is not a good habit to have.
So, how do you break it?
First thing, make it a rule that you eat at a table, sitting down, away from the computer, TV, or other distractions.
Then, take a breath before you begin eating. Look at the food that you’re about to eat. Enjoy the aroma of it before you put it into your mouth. Sit there and give a silent thanks for the gift you’re about to receive.
When you take your first bite, savor it. Chew it well. Let the texture, flavor, and sensation take over your mouth. Focus on that only. Notice how the flavor changes as you chew.
Pause before your next bite. And pause after each bite. After you’ve eaten a few bites, check in with yourself to rate your hunger level. You might find that, if you keep practicing this, you don’t need as much food as you thought to feel satisfied.
Try it out for a week and see what happens. The new habit will feel strange and inconvenient when you start. But as you practice, you’ll see how much more enjoyment you get out of your food, and how much you were missing all of this time.
Five breakfasts to boost your energy
spices
12th Dec 2011
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Ever since I took the ALCAT test, I’ve had issues with breakfast. The ALCAT is a blood test that shows you any food sensitivity issues you have, and then provides you with a list of foods that you need to eliminate for anywhere from 3-6 months. Once that time is over, you can add them back one at a time and see how you feel.
Most people don’t realize they have food sensitivities until they cut the offending foods out. As I discovered over Thanksgiving, when I slid off my ALCAT regimen, I am definitely sensitive to several different foods.
So, one of the foods that I’ve had to give up for the past several months is eggs, and as you know, it’s a staple on most breakfast menus. And it was one of my staples, too.
So what do I eat for breakfast now? Here are a few different options that I’ve been enjoying:
Apple with peanut butter – strangely, I can eat peanut butter without a reaction. An apple with peanut butter is one of my favorite light breakfasts.
Usana whey protein shakes – The key ingredient to my Skinny Jeans Sexy Detox Cleanse, these are tasty, easy to make, and sustain me until lunch.
Oatmeal – plain, no added sugar, with a handful of nuts and raisins. This keeps me going pretty well, and it’s gluten-free, too.
Leftovers – Who says breakfast needs to be sweet? Sometimes I’ll have a bowl of soup or some leftover vegetables and chicken.
Gluten-free toast – one slice of millet or rice and almond flour bread with peanut butter and a shake of Breakfast Fixer is ok in a pinch – I’d rather eat something less refined, but sometimes it’s all that’s available.
What do you eat for breakfast? Does it keep you going, or do you feel hungry before lunch?
Melt your stress now
inspiration, mindset
7th Dec 2011
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The holidays are here! Are you having fun or stressing out?
If you’re feeling stressed, and you don’t want to be, what would you rather feel?
I say, be unreasonable. Let me explain…
I was sleeping soundly at 5:30 am this morning until my alarm went off. Yes, that’s an unreasonable time to get up. But I had already decided that I wasn’t going to let my excuses get in my way of doing what I need to get done. One of which is an exciting new project that I will tell you about soon…
So, I needed to get up extra early to write. My best hours for writing are really early in the morning.
I could have used many reasons for staying in bed, like:
- The sun isn’t even up yet, why should I get up?
- It’s so nice and toasty in here
- I didn’t quite get enough sleep
- Maybe I can do it later when I’m more awake
- You know, I don’t really feel like it
But guess what? I decided not to let my reasons (which are perfectly good ones) keep me from doing what I wanted to do. So, I let go of them and became “unreasonable” i.e., without reason.
You know how much easier it was to write this blog post once I decided to just sit down and do it? The writing seemed to flow out of me as naturally as if we were talking. It feels good to just write and tell you exactly what’s on my mind.
Here’s the thing. You probably have lots of reasons (and good ones, too) of why you are stressed. They might be things like:
- There are too many people in the stores
- There’s too much work to do at work
- My family is driving me crazy
- I have to make all this food for all these people
- I don’t have enough time to get it done
- There’s no time left for me
But what if it was the reasons that were keeping you stressed? Then imagine what life would be like if you could let go of all of those reasons.
Imagine what the holidays could be if you were “unreasonable.” Maybe you could choose to ignore the shoppers in the stores, go to less crowded places, shop online, or shop at local stores.
Or, you could see your work as a blessing – because you do love your job and you’re now working on projects that are stimulating, challenging and make you think.
Or, you could realize that you’re doing the cooking because you volunteered to do it and you really do love preparing foods for your friends and relatives. And it’s fun to finally get to slow down and share each other’s company for a while.
Or, you could choose to make time for yourself and do something that you really want to do. Just because.
I encourage you to try something without reasons today. See what happens if you just choose to do it. Then ask yourself, “Am I feeling stressed now?” You probably forgot all about the stress that was plaguing you.
I’ve been nominated as one of the best health bloggers of 2011 – but I need your vote to win!
Here’s what to do:
Go to this page
Search for Live A Delicious Life if not in the top 10
Click the Vote button next to Live A Delicious Life
You can do this once per day until the end of voting. Please vote often!
How to start every day with more energy
food
28th Nov 2011
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Monday morning after a long weekend – are you ready to spring out of bed and into action?
If not, don’t worry. We can fix that easily.
First, let’s start with a healthy breakfast. It will keep you going throughout the morning.
If you find that you’re not hungry when you wake up, it might be that you’re eating dinner too late or eating too much at dinner. If you skip breakfast, you may end up ravenous by the time it’s lunch. Better to even out your hunger and your blood sugar with small meals throughout the day – it will keep you in fat burning mode and out of fat storage mode.
What should you eat? Check out my special report – the 3 mistakes women make that keep them prisoner to the pounds. Because tip one is all about breakfast and will give you a number of quick and easy recipes that you can use every day of the week. You can find it and get your own copy for no cost on my website – just look in the upper right hand corner for the link to download it.
Stay tuned all week for more tips on how to jumpstart your health and life with your own anti-diet.
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Happy thanksgiving
happiness, love, mindset
24th Nov 2011
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I’m so grateful for all of the gifts I have in my life right now – the wonderful family, friends, love, play, work, health, and fun.
Enjoy your thanksgiving. And take a moment to appreciate all that you have today – whatever it is you appreciate in your life.
What’s your wish on 11.11.11?
inspiration
11th Nov 2011
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Yesterday in downtown Brooklyn, I passed by an empty lot that inspired me. The wood fence around it was painted with black chalkboard paint, and there was a basket of colored chalk attached to the wall. Painted on top of the black paint were several lines that started:
Before I die I want to____________________
A few hours later, I walked by and the wall was completely full of wishes.
Dreams scrawled over each of the lines, about travel, falling in love, living with purpose.
What does this have to do with 11.11.11?
Many people see this as a lucky day – sweethearts are lining up in Vegas to get married, moms-to-be have scheduled C-sections, and gamblers are hoping to hit it big in Lotto.
But whether you think it’s a lucky day or not… or a sign or not…
…waking up and noticing that you have dreams that you want to achieve is enough to start you on the right path to making them a reality.
AND – writing them down is a great first step to making your dreams into reality.
What are your dreams? How are you planning on making them a reality?
We are already almost halfway through November. Less than 60 days to the New Year. If you’re feeling stuck, or like you didn’t get to do everything you planned this year, it’s not too late to start.
And… you don’t need to wait until New Year’s Day to make a resolution.
If you’ve been feeling stuck – whether it’s with a health goal or some other area of your live – I’d like to help you get unstuck and share a few techniques that I have used to get unstuck.
And, I want to introduce you to Chernise Spruell, a powerful healer and advisor that has helped me quite a bit. Chernise is also an expert on getting the clutter out of your life so that you can have space to let in more of what you want.
Stay fit without militant exercise
exercise
19th Oct 2011
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I used to be an all-or-nothing exerciser.
It was either that I was working out all the time or not at all. It started with running, aerobics, weight training. Later my workouts evolved into hard-core endurance training for longer runs, century (100 mile) bike rides, and triathlon training.
And then, if I got injured or sick, I’d stop – and go for days without moving.
I didn’t think that you could be healthy without working out all the time and really hard.
So, it was to my delight that I discovered that I’m actually in better shape now that I don’t work out so hard, but still do more moderate workouts. Or, if I want to get super-fit, that the shorter, intense workouts actually work better than long, boring cardio.
In between the harder workouts, here’s something I do that works well and makes me feel fantastic:
Your turn: what’s your workout style? Do you workout hard or avoid it? Leave me a message in the comments section below.
Choose loving thoughts
magnificent mondays
10th Oct 2011
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How much of what you do each day is your own choice? Or even your own idea?
Or, let me put it this way: How often do you find yourself humming some song because you just heard it on TV or in the last store where you were shopping? How many billboards, online ads, or commercials do you hear or read per day? How many messages are you unwittingly being exposed to each and every day?
Even the things you heard your parents, teachers, or siblings repeating make an impression on you. How does it affect the way you see the world or your view of yourself?
For years, I would get anxious over thoughts of not being good enough.
The crazy part was that I really believed that all of those inner voice thoughts were true. There’s no saying where all of those nasty things came from, and in the end it doesn’t really matter. What did matter was that I believed them, and then I would become upset about what they told me. And they just weren’t true.
Here’s the real truth: I have the power to control my own thoughts and what I pay attention to.
This may sound pretty obvious. But the truth is that many of us don’t realize how much our thoughts are influenced by sources outside of us.
It is so liberating to know that you don’t have to pay attention and don’t have to believe these voices in your head. They’re meant to keep you safe and protect you from risk. Maybe at once time they really did help, but now they just don’t.
The easiest thing you can do is just say, thank you for sharing and move on.
You can also practice using affirmations. Practice saying to your face that you love yourself or that you’re beautiful and look in the mirror when you say it so you can see how you react. Over time it will get easier and easier to shift your thinking to more positive thoughts.
Choosing better thoughts creates the future you desire.
Where are you getting stuck in your thinking right now? How could making this shift change your life, starting today?
Life is right now
happiness, inspiration, mindset
3rd Oct 2011
2 Comments »
It’s Monday. Are you starting your diet or workout routine (or anything) over again?
You don’t have to wait until Monday to start living the life you know you want. Every moment is your new day.
You don’t even need to wait until tomorrow when you know that you’re going to be “better” or more disciplined or well rested or smarter or prettier or have a better hair day.
You don’t even need to wait until the next hour to start your new day. You can start right now.
Or right now.
Or right now.
As a wise teacher of mine likes to say, “Life is not a dress rehearsal.”
It’s up to you what you choose. You can choose your own thoughts, which influence your feelings, which influence your actions, which produce your results.
What thoughts do you choose now, in this moment?
Ask yourself: What kind of future do I want? What can I do right now that will move me powerfully in that direction?
Tell me what answer you get by leaving a comment at the end of this post. 
Fall IINto Action at Integrative Nutrition
career, news
19th Sep 2011
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I just finished up a weekend surrounded by 4000 health coaching colleagues, friends and family. It was so cool to be around this group of healthy, happy people and to have that experience again like I did when I first started my journey as a health coach.
My school, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, had a massive wellness conference called Fall IINto Action! on Saturday and Sunday, and it included many of the leaders in the nutrition and wellness field. You can get a little peek into what it was like in this video:
Some of my favorite moments:
- Joshua Rosenthal, the founder of the school, gave lessons on how to be a better coach, building your dream life, and stepping up as a leader.
- Deepak Chopra, author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old
, shared his wisdom on consciousness and leadership. My favorite part of his speech? The part about where your soul is located, and the quote he used – “I’m not in my body, my body is in me.”
- Dr. Mark Hyman, Author of Ultrametabolism
, talked about food as pharmacology and how healing at the cellular level can happen in a matter of days if given the right nutrients.
- Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
And of course, all of the amazing graduates who have gone on to build wellness centers, write books, even create healthy chocolates.
Each and every speaker contributed so much interesting information. It was truly inspiring. And I was so happy to have a few guests be able to come with me to see Deepak Chopra and experience what it’s like to study at Integrative Nutrition. If you’re curious to learn more, send me an email. I’d be happy to tell you about my experience and how it changed my life.
In fact, I just started writing down my story of my health journey, and I’m slowly adding it to my blog and into my video series. The last video I did was about how 9/11 changed my life – that’s really the beginning of my journey.
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