So I have spent the past month or so (5 weeks to be exact) trying new foods and eating habits to see how they effect me in body, mind and spirit. I have learned a few things about myself, including that I do not need a lot of fat in my diet (even the good kinds), so I have begun eating less nuts and avocados. Also I am tuning into my body, what it needs, and what it tells me, and have realized that what i have been eating is likely what my body needs, without all of the sugar, so my body already knows what it needs and has been guiding me the WHOLE time. It really is amazing how our bodies are created to do the work of maintaining and nurturing without our even needing to THINK about it. We were created to be fully self sustaining, but have just gotten so far from knowing, trusting and believing in our inherent human instincts, but they are still there. I am so appreciative of how this process is bringing me closer to myself, my nature and the world i live in!
I also notice with whole food eating, adequate water and sleep that i have more ENERGY, a better ATTITUDE and improved MOOD along with better digestion and no stomach pains! How wonderful that such basic steps can make life that much better! Needless to say I will likely continue to eat healthy JUST BECAUSE I feel better! How awesome is that? I will continue to share healthy recipes and adventures in healthy cooking with you, but have also decided to move on to other areas of my life that may need more attention. Like what, you may ask??
As part of my Integrative Nutrition education we are learning to look at nutrition as the things in life that feed us emotionally. Food is a piece of this, but so are many other aspects of life such as work, relationships, exercise, finances, positive activity, spirituality etc. Since I am working to try new things, this too extends to these “primary foods” in my life.
When asked about what I desire to change in my life, the first thing that arises is WORK. However I am taking EVERY STEP POSSIBLE to address this area of my life and so I don’t plan to focus on this at present. The second aspect of life I WANT to change, but have been struggling to change is EXERCISE. I know what I like to do and have been successful in taking action to exercise in the past, but at present this feels like the one part of my life I cannot get control of and so THIS is what I am going to work on this month!
I love Pilates and I love taking walks, but find the weather and all of the energy I put into the rest of my life to zap my motivation. BUT I hope this can motivate me, as I already know the benefits and rewards of a consistent workout routine! We MUST make sacrifices to achieve, and so I plan to make exercise a PRIORITY and let other things be less important for a while as positive physical feeling do wonders for my life, body, mind and spirit. Thinking next month to focus on my spiritual life, but for now its exercise. Id like to start doing pilates 3-4 times a week… Let the motivating begin…