Re-evaluate Your Nutrition & Health Habits!

 Nutrition and exercise is something we hear a lot about and yet the information keeps changing. This is why it’s good to re-evaluate your habits and continue to incorporate new information.

While instant messaging with a friend earlier today, I learned of some amazing health information on the way hormones effect weight loss that I’d like to share from Dr Oz.  I found it fascinating and so will you. Check out the link below for the full episode and more information.

http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/melt-fat-fast-how-reset-your-secret-fat-loss-hormones

 

Need an exercise plan that doesn’t require a gym membership, any equipment, or even going out of the house? I found out about a 10 minute workout that’s simple, fun and manages to work out your entire body in the privacy of your own home. I also tried it myself and found that it can easily be extended to 20, 30, 45 or even 60 minutes for an even longer workout! Put your sneakers on and click below for a feel-good boost you can do anywhere.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/tony-hortons-10-minute-workout

So my fellow readers, I invite you to continually incorporate new information into your daily health habits. What do you have to loose; boredom and excess weight?

 

 

Putting Your Body First!

 

What does putting your body first mean? Eating a balanced diet? Exercising? Drinking lots of water? Getting plenty of rest? Perhaps all of these things. Maybe even a few more. I’m learning that putting my body first means doing what my body needs to live a long and healthy life; not what ” I feel like doing”. It means being active and eating nourishing foods rich in vitamins and minerals. It means listening to my body’s signals and paying attention to it’s warning signs. It means making a personal commitment to my health and well-being. What does it mean to you?

We’re all different in this life; with different bodies and different lifestyles, yet we all have the same physical needs as human beings. We need oxygen to breathe and food to live. We need clean water and shelter to protect us from exposure. We need regular exercise/movement in order to maintain our muscles, flexibility, protect our bones and stay strong. These are the more primitive, physical requirements, of our species.

How often do we think about these basic requirements that our body needs to survive? For me, not enough. How about you? I know I’m not alone in body rejection, self-sabotage, and bad habits. Yet, I keep doing it… even when I “know better”.  After years of diet and exercise education I “know” what to do and yet mustering up the motivation…determination…and energy to do it ebbs and flows. I’ve gone through periods of being a health fanatic, exercising daily; sometimes twice or more a day and eating restrictively. I’ve also gone through periods of overeating, not eating enough, little to no exercise and eating all the “wrong foods”. Neither is a good place to be and both cry of self- rejection and hatred.  Being 36, I’m realizing this battle isn’t working for me and I’m fighting the clock. We all are, because life is short and to live it halfheartedly; disconnected from our bodies and rejecting its very needs. This only speeds up the aging process, causes dis-ease, health problems, and reduces energy as well as our life expectancy! It also causes great unhappiness, shame, and depression. Seeing the big picture now? Ask yourselves, “What things are you doing to self-sabotage your body?”. What messages are you sending it and thus yourself?

Putting your body first is about making a decision to make peace with yourself and make you a priority in your own life! Will you join me in this decision? Will you value your life enough to put your body first? Because the truth is, we can’t be on this physical plane without a body. It’s kind of a requirement for being human. Although we are Spiritual Beings, we are also human; with a body that needs focused attention and care. All those pesky preventative healthcare screenings and exams are to maintain our health and help us live longer. When we ignore them, we’re likely to miss signs of declining health. When we half-heartedly take care of ourselves with the bare minimum, we feel run-down, tired, confused, depressed, lethargic and physically weak. We get sick more often and have re-occurring illnesses. We miss work. Our moods are wild and unpredictable due to unstable blood sugar spikes. We can’t problem solve as well. Life gets overwhelming and sometimes too much altogether. I think this is why many people drink alcohol, use drugs, and even commit suicide. This cycle causes great upheaval and pain. It’s like the chicken and the egg scenario; which came first… the chicken or the egg? Does the emotional pain cause this body-rejection and self-hatred, or are poor habits or little to no self-care the culprit? I really don’t know. What I’ve learned for me, is that it doesn’t matter.

Putting your body first means taking a good look at your everyday habits and noticing all the little choices we make every day that add up over the months and years. I don’t think any of us want to have a heart attack or stroke as a wake up call before we begin to put our bodies first. Just like the instructions stewardesses give on airplanes about putting on your own oxygen mask first, then helping your child or another person;  we need to take care of ourselves first and foremost. This isn’t selfish; it’s survival. We can’t be of real service to anyone if we don’t attend to our physical needs first.

Will you join me in this choice? We can do it. We must do it. What’s the alternative? How well are you living now? Trust me, life has a way of catching up to our habits and actions sooner or later. My mother was a work-a-holic all her life and suffered 2 strokes at age 54 that made her disabled forever. She lost her ability to talk, read, write, and use her right hand. What have you lost? What are you willing to lose in order to stay on your current path? I’m done. I surrender and I choose to put my body/health first. Join me today.

Write your comments or questions.  I’d love to hear your story/journey and especially your pledge to put your body first in whatever way suits you.

Blessings,

Lisa

 

 

Listen to Your Body!

                Listen to your body or it will get your attention, one way or another. Lately, I’ve had a host of physical challenges from twisting my ankle to catching a nasty cold and now hurting my back.  Apparently, I haven’t been listening to my body’s message for some attention.  Like many of us, I have been ignoring a call for more exercise. Of course January is the time of year many people resolve to lose weight and be more active.  I am no exception and because I haven’t followed through, my body has gone to extremes to get my attention. How about you?

          What message is your body trying to send to you?  Perhaps a plea for movement, more vegetables, or just some good old fashioned rest is in order. Maybe your body is sluggish from junk food and simply wants to detox with lots of water and fruit. Whatever your intuition is telling you to do, your body is constantly trying to communicate with you. The key is to plug into your body and heed it’s innate wisdom. See, the body only wants to be healthy and in balance. It’s main objective is to keep you alive and well. When we don’t listen, it gets our attention in other ways like illness, aches and pains. When we don’t pay attention to these, the body sends even stronger messages with digestive disorders, heart problems, ulcers, or even cancer. The bad habits we engage in regularly, sabotage our body’s ability to maintain optimal health. So why do we do it?

         The majority of human beings use food for emotional comfort or to cope with stress. This habit inhibits the ability to listen to your body clearly. Sugar and white flour adversely effect many people, similar to alcohol intoxication. Millions of people have gluten and other food allergies and struggle with diabetes. Most people aren’t even aware of the correlation between food, beverage choices and negative lifestyle habits that cause a host of physical and emotional symptoms. Some research says the pesticides in our food and water are to blame and claim organic is the best option.  Listening to your body requires slowing down enough to really pay attention to the physical messages that are being sent to you all the time.  So how do we do it?

      Try this simple exercise… Close your eyes and take several deep breaths scanning your entire body for any discomfort. Start from the tips of your toes and move up all the way to head, not forgetting your arms, hands and fingers. Notice your lungs filling with oxygen and your diaphragm exhaling carbon dioxide.  Listen to the sound or rhythm of  your heartbeat. Pay special attention to any aches or pains you may be experiencing. Breathe into them and ask yourself what their deeper message is for you. Allow the answers from your body to bubble forth. Be open to it. Stay with it for at least five minutes. Afterwards, journal your experience, paying special attention to whatever messages your body has just revealed. Repeat this process at least once a day and try extending it gradually to multiple times per day.  This process will help get you in touch with your body in a positive and loving way, communicating often so that it doesn’t have to grab your attention in negative or unexpected ways. If this process is challenging for you, good, that is to be expected. Rest assured however, this process will get easier the more you practice.  Soon you will develop a new relationship with your body. The next step, is following the message.

I will talk more about this in my next post… Meanwhile, see the miracles unfold before you…within you. Listen to your body for once and give it a voice. You will be astounded!

Hate your physical flaws? Acceptance is the Answer!

Have you ever noticed that the more one focuses on what they don’t like about themselves, it seems to magnify the situation? Take weight for instance. I’ve battled with it my entire life and so I can attest to detesting various parts of my body that seem to bulge or sag. Even so, the more I focus on it, the worse the problem became. We’d think that with all the diets floating around out there in the world we’d be a nation of skinny people; but we’re not. Why? My reasoning is that because self-loathing doesn’t equal positive changes or acceptance. Despite all the research, surgical options, fads or exercise options, people still aren’t finding lasting solutions or peace in their own skin. More Americans are overweight than ever while we have all this information to lead us on the path to health. What do we do?
I’m learning that acceptance is the answer. Acceptance of the body I have right now. Acceptance of my feelings in each and every moment. Acceptance of what “is”, instead of what I’m told “should” be. Acceptance is the path to freedom and even weight loss. I’m finding that the more I love & accept myself…my body and my life, the happy and more apt I am to make necessary changes. Certainly years of berating and self condemnation didn’t work. This is my new approach for the 21st Century. How about you?

Are you tired of being told what “healthy” is/looks like? Are you fed up with comparing yourself to “air brushed” models on tv, the movies or in magazines? Are you depressed over feeling like an outcast? Then stop abandoning yourself and stand up to self love & acceptance by holding your head high, wearing clothes that fit, and moving on with your life. Show the world and yourself who you’re made of by not waiting to live your life until you loose x, y, or z pounds. Be a role model for your children, family, and friends of what “real” self- love looks like by using positive language about yourself and others; start accepting compliments instead of deflecting them. In order for any lasting changes to occur on the outside, we have to learn to get real on the inside by becoming comfortable in our own skin and with ourselves.

This is my intention personally and professionally. Confidence is created by authentic communication that comes from within. What messages are you sending? I’m determined to send messages of love and acceptance as well as hope and healing. Regardless of the outcome (weight loss or not), the world needs to stop judging acceptance by the size of our clothes or shape of our bodies. If we don’t start with our personal views then who will?

Welcome back to loving yourself like you did when you were a child. Welcome back to smiling with confidence and the freedom to participate in all of life’s activities. Welcome back to recognizing the individual beauty that is YOU!
Welcome home to your body~

Peace is Love & Acceptance of our Bodies

We all struggle with body image challenges in light of today’s media propaganda to be “thin” and remain “young” forever. This isn’t possible as we are all aging and have different body frames.  Additionally, this is unrealistic since every body is different and feels best at a specific weight that is personal to the individual.

Author Geneen Roth of Women, Food, and God, talks about our need to relinquish “dieting” and turn toward mindfulness with our food. When we practice her 8 guidelines for eating, we find that peace, love, and self acceptance increase while our appetites and self-loathing diminish. Instead we learn the many reasons for our hunger and practice filling those needs in more appropriate ways; without mindless eating.

Wouldn’t it be great to live in a world without deprivation? How about radical self-acceptance of our bodies? I for one, am tired of rejecting myself in hopes of motivating changes in behavior. This has never worked for me, never brought me peace or increased my self-esteem and yet I still find myself doing it. Why? Because I have been conditioned to think of myself as “unacceptable” due to my weight. For everyone out there who can relate, I proudly declare that “I LOVE AND ACCEPT MYSELF, AS IS”. I encourage all my readers to affirm this statement as well and or write your own affirmation of truth and say it DAILY in order to combat this negative conditioning.

Truth: We are all okay. We are enough.  We are beautiful. Loving ourselves will bring forth greater health and body acceptance.  Love equals peace and ends the war.

Join me in saying NO to dieting. Join me in becoming mindful to all the ways we hunger for our needs to be met. Join me appreciating the wonderful, magical, and sacred temple our body really is and STOP punishing yourself with food, starvation diets, disparaging language, negative thinking, and critical or judgmental actions. I look forward to hearing from YOU and your journey of body self-acceptance.

Detoxify your Temple

Wish you had more energy and less physical ailments? Do you have trouble falling or staying asleep? Ever  struggle with depression, anxiety, confusion, or forgetfulness? The stress of consuming poisonous food and  drink via tap water, processed/fast food, and non-organic meat/fruits & vegetables, can wreak havoc on our bodies causing all kinds of health problems. Detoxing our diet, thoughts, and lifestyle can go a long way to rejuvenating our physical and Spiritual Temple.

There are many simple ways to detoxify your body and your life. Here are some easy tips that make a dramatic impact, according to the experts.
– Drink distilled water…did you know that Fluoride in tap water is nothing more than agricultural waste?
– Eat only organic fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish since they will be free of pesticides, mercury, growth hormones or antibiotics and digest easier in the body. Reduce/ limit meat, poultry and fish as much as possible combining vegetables to counterbalance their acidity.
– Drastically reduce or better yet avoid all dairy products; they are highly acidic and contain mucus that are breeding grounds for bacteria and viruses.
– Avoid all fast food or processed foods. Read the labels on everything and ask lots of questions when dining out in restaurants. Stick with raw, whole food, as much as possible.
– Bathe in Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and Epsom Salt nightly to increase relaxation & clean away environmental pollutants.
– Purchase water filters for all faucets (including shower heads) to remove toxic minerals and other chemical additives
– Eliminate all diet drinks and foods since they are chemically processed and usually contain more unhealthy chemicals (fake sugar), sodium, preservatives, than their real counterparts.
– Exercise daily in moderation and not to the point of soreness the next day as this only produces dangerous lactic acid which is the very thing causing joint/muscle stiffness, pain, fatigue, & weakness.
– Eat & drink lots of organic green vegetables. Juice them and don’t mix fruit with veggies as one will cancel the benefits of the other due to differences in digestive timing. Fruit digests quicker than vegetables!
– Don’t over-cook your food as this bleaches all its nutrients away leaving little to no nutrition. Instead, steam or better yet eat raw!
– Think positive thoughts and practice yoga or Tai Chi to reduce stress and promote relaxation 🙂
– Stop smoking or drinking alcohol
– Test your pH levels in urine and saliva daily to see where your acid/alkaline balance is. (Home Test pH Kit// http://www.feelgoodfood.com )

For more information call (630) 355-7746 or http://www.feelgoodfood.com, or read The Feel Good Food Guide by Deborah Page Johnson, BFA; The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto; Alkalize or Die by Dr Theodore A. Baroody