Assembling Your Elephant: "It Looks Like a Fan!"

Julie Andrews is ringing in my ears right now. "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with string." Today I ask, 'What are a few of your favorite things?' Identifying what you are a Fan of is the next piece of the Elephant.

Be a fan of your food: Thirteen essential vitamins exist in nature and are required by the human body; they are are essential because they cannot be made within the body and are needed for immune function, growth, hormone production, digestion, cellular respiration and many other secret activities that take place under the skin. Getting those vitamins out of nature and into your body is key. Salads, for sure, are easy go-to assemblies of vitamins and minerals, but if you don't like the garden variety salad, it's probably not on your menu. Take a moment and think about vitamin packed foods you not only like, but will actually eat. Simplify your grocery list by purchasing fan favorites and then... eat them. (An incomplete list of Nutrient Dense foods can be found here.)

Be a fan of your movement: Interest in exercise in individual. While I like to run, my son likes to rollerblade. While Cadence likes to pedal her way around the world, Kendra likes to chase a soccer ball. While my husband is swimming and biking and running to the base and beyond, I am gardening, cleaning and walking beside the dog(s). We all know we need to move around in order to create and expend energy; it's time to stop waiting for Monday and decide what type of exercise you are a fan of. And then... go do it! Don't worry about all of the days you didn't do it, just seize the moment and work it out!

Be a fan of your work: My job is not a singular one. I am a mother. Wife. Health Coach. Teacher Assistant. Student. Friend. Family Traveler. Wine enthusiast. Just like you, I have many things I work at on a daily basis; things I have chosen and that I love to nurture (me, kids, gardens, etc.). There are also things I am not a fan of. Instead of dwelling on things I dislike (dirty toilets, bills, the post office), I have identified what I love and have willingly focused the bulk of my energy on those things. Now is the time for you, dear reader, to decide if you are a fan of your work! If you are not, ask, "What am I a fan of?" and then... be it!

Be a Fan of Your Elephant:  Dear reader, you have followed me along this path of Assembling Your Elephant with dedication and interest, and I thank you.  So far I've rambled on about walls, snakes, trees, spears and fans, and hope you have taken something away that has helped you assemble your elephant.  My final post in this series will be Wednesday.  Before then, please send me a picture (literary articulate description or photo) of your elephant.  I would love to include reader photos and comments, with your permission of course, in the final post.

While you craft or photoshop, eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  

Anna~

Comment or send your thoughts and photos to anna@infiveparagraphsorless.com.  Thanks!

Assembling Your Elephant: "It Looks Like a Spear!"

Half of your elephant is already assembled.  Walls have been recognized and established;  excuses, obstacles and roadblocks exposed.  You have decided what your tree looks like; what you stand for with respect to your individual purpose.  You have also identified your snakes; devious ingredients, poisonous menus, self doubt and the like, and life itself.  The next piece of the elephant the blind man revealed is the spear.  It's time to lance the boil, dear reader; it's time.

Too often we hide behind the 'it's the way we've always done it' mentality.  I do it.  I am sure you do it as well.  "I have always always had that."  "I have always done that."  "I am not a morning person."  "I don't do windows."  "This is the way I've always done it."  The parameters we assign to ourselves are safety nets utilized when fear or nervousness is felt.  The unknown is certainly a scary place!  But returning to the same old parameters every time you are faced with a new situation, a dangerous invitation or an elephant in the room requires nothing of you.  No growth.  No insight.  No trust.  No faith.  No intuition.  No light.  Nothing.

If that is true, then the results will never be different either.  "I wish that work wasn't so stressful."  "I wish I had more time with my family."  "I wish money wasn't so tight."  "I would give anything for a vacation."  "I don't know why I can't get things done."  "Why is this happening to me?"  To be quite honest, dear reader, the answer to it all is usually, "Because this is the way you've always done it."  You can't expect change if you change nothing.

Growth, in its simplest definition means to get bigger.  I am not suggesting you need to expand your physical presence, but it might be delicious to expand your life's presence.  How?  Lance the boil!  Grab ahold of your spear and slice through your safely placed parameters.  Instead of relying on the same old actions, delivering the same old results, give yourself permission to move beyond your boundaries.  Redefine what it is you want to become and grow into it!

Now, just as the elephant is assembled from six different perspectives, so are you the sum of your parts; a holistic being.  Whatever it is you have decided to grow into, eat real food, give yourself plenty of water, nourish your parts with vitamins and, because lancing boils can be a bloody mess, remember to wash your hands.  If this isn't the way you've always done it you are on the right track!

Happy Lancing!

Anna~

Fine tuning your life takes consistent practice.  If you are out of practice and want to break free from years of bad habits and stagnant behavior, I can coach you thru it.  Visit Anna Burrill, Your Health Coach to schedule a free consultation with me today.  

Assembling your Elephant: "It Looks Like a Snake!"

Snakes: a long limbless reptile that has no eyelids, a short tail, and jaws that are capable of considerable extension. Some snakes have a venomous bite. - Thank you Dictionary.  Snakes can be brightly colored and obvious or hidden within their surroundings.  Snakes can be beautiful and intriguing or can be defensive and dangerous.  Snakes can be larger than life or barely noticeable.  No matter their shape, size, coloration or demeanor, all snakes are sneaky.

There are several ways we can apply this to your Elephant.  Let's begin with diet.  Within your diet are sneaky ingredients that can sabotage even the most ambitious efforts.  Aspartame and the like.  High fructose corn syrup. Artificial colors and flavors. Sugar.  Nitrates.  Sulfites. Tartrazine. Sodium benzoate.  Even ingredients like E1520 and E620 are snuck in to assist with color, flavor or shelf life.  These all but invisible ingredients (dozens more exist) are found within packaged, processed foods products conveniently designed and marketed as natural or healthy.  What is E1520 anyway? 

There are larger, more obvious food snakes as well. Soda.  Ice cream. Fast-Food.  Luncheon meat.  Breakfast cereal.  Powdered cheese sauce.  Minute rice.  Canned fruit.  Bagels.  Microwaveable vegetable pouches.  Bread. Turkey Bacon (I know I probably lost a few readers on that one).  Many of these foods are relatively fine all by themselves if eaten once a month or when in a bind, but if your menu is breakfast cereal and canned fruit for breakfast, a cold cut sandwich with a soda for lunch, and minute rice with steamed, microwaved veggies for dinner and ice cream for dessert, you may be sabotaging your health without even knowing it.  

Snakes mightn't be food at all but sneaky behaviors that derail even the most determined train.  Self doubt.  Complacency.  Comparison to others.  Excuses.  Denial.  Fear.  These mind sets sneak in and with considerable extension smother determination, dreams, goals, interest, passion, purpose, growth, life and possibility.  Sometimes it happens so invisibly over time that it isn't recognized until  a bottom is found.  The good news is that at any moment you have the ability and courage within you to rid yourself of the snake.  It may take more than one foul swoop, but it is possible.  

Start with real food.  Foods without labels make great snake repellents.  Give your vitamins their vitamins by eating many colors and textures and flavors.  Wash it all in with water.  And, because snakes have a musky odor, remember to wash your hands. 

How is your Elephant coming along?

Share your story, ask your questions, or report your progress below.  I would love to have a conversation with you!

Anna~

"What Have You Done For Me Lately?"

Okay, now I would never directly discourage you away from the computer, for that would lead you away from my message, but time in front of the computer hardly qualifies as exercise.  I spend about 90 minutes a day in front of some sort of screen (computer, television, e-book) and the more I do, the less motivated I feel to do anything else.  But two days ago, as I sat on my couch with my computer in my lap, my husband called and, after reporting his 40 mile bike ride and 9 mile run, suggested a blog post title:  'What have you done for your body lately?'  I could only reply with this:  "Good Question?"

I am training for a half marathon in October.  Running, for me, is no swift task.  I use my calves more than my thighs, I can't quite get my hips to swing, I have a moderately strong core and lack a competitive instinct.  So, I tabata every morning, run three times a week and focus on my goal and will to accomplish it.  But, even though it's hard and laborious and uncomfortable, I know I am doing my body good by moving toward a goal that will take me 13.1 miles around the earth (the .1 is the most important piece).

Also, for my body, I aim to balance what I eat with what I crave.  My cravings change as swiftly as the days and as gracefully as the seasons, and I listen to them.  I eat sweet things, salty things, fatty things, fried things and savory things.  I drink coffee and water and wine.  I sleep when I'm tried and linger when I'm feeling lazy.  I also recognize when my hunger has nothing to do with food.  My body and my mind don't always ask for the same things, but when I listen I can usually pick out the wiser voice and the instructions I receive are delicious.

So, I ask you the same question, as you sit on your bottom with your computer on your lap, "What have you done for your body lately?"  The defensive answers will sound something like: "I had salad!" - "I took time to read Anna's blog." - "I didn't eat the last two pieces of cake." - "I walked the dog."  I am not interested in those answers, and neither should you be.  The most interesting and informative answers won't be answers at all; they will be goals, aspirations, and attainable dreams fueled by the will achieve them.

I don't always eat real food, I don't always drink enough water, and I don't always get all my vitamins in.  What I can say is I always listen to my body and make every effort to decipher the questions and requests correctly.  I have washed my hands of what the world says I 'should do' and have successfully become aware of what my body needs and desires.  When my body asks, "What have you done for me lately?" I contemplatively respond, "Good Question!"

Anna~

A Balance of Vegetables and Common Sense

Friday; the day of the week following Thursday falling before Saturday. (I love literal definitions of words.) On Thursday I clean, on Friday I plan, on the weekend I play... Today, sitting in a tidy living room, I planned the next seven days of food.  Here's what is on our menu:

Chicken Caesar Wraps with Grapes.     
Hamburgers and Dogs with Pasta Salad
Basil Chicken over Rice with Broccoli 
Ham with Roast Potatoes, Asparagus and Burst Tomatoes
Fried Chicken with Corn, Peas, Slaw and Baked Beans
Beef Roast and Tomatoes with Carrots over Rice
Corn Chowder with Crisp Romaine Green Leafy Salad

The kids entertained me this morning with their requests and I listened to every word.  "Fried Chicken?  Sure, but you have to choose something healthy to go with it."
"Baked Beans?  Yes, but I am going to make them; we aren't eating them from a tin can."
"Corn Chowder?  Okay, but choose a veggie to eat along side so it's not so heavy," to which I got the reply, "How about we use up the caesar salad from the wraps?"  Smart kids.  Each menu selection was balanced with vegetables and common sense; a delicious combination.

There's a theory out there that eating food should be an enjoyable experience.  I love that theory~

Eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands, especially after you eat fried chicken. ;)

Break-Up With Sugar Series:

"If you are constantly receiving deliveries, you cannot relax, you cannot disassemble stored goods, and you cannot access the furniture." me 

A friend of mine recently asked me about the relationship between cholesterol and diet. She is thoughtful and contemplative about taking a Lipitor like drug to reduce elevated cholesterol. I offered a handful of advice including reading labels, avoiding dried fruit, minimizing animal based foods and watching sugar intake. She admitted her dislike toward reading food labels and examining ingredients for reasons we didn't discuss. I then simplified things: "Buy and eat foods without labels."

When reducing sugar, just like reducing cholesterol, eliminating foods with labels is quite possibly a most effective practice. Instead of a boring science lesson, imagine you've moved. On the day the truck arrives with all of your belongings, multiple people scurry in and out of the truck and deliver goods to different rooms of your house. There is a rush to unpack the kitchen and the coffee maker, a scramble to find the kids underwear and favorite stuffed animals, and a last hoorah at the end of the day to make the beds with at least a fitted sheet if the flat can't be found. 

Back in context, the moving truck is your meal, the coffee maker, sheets and underwear are the sugars, and the rush, scurry, and scramble is your insulin response. Sugar, especially refined, easily accessed, high glycemic load sugar, requires a long and fast insulin response from your pancreas. Simplified, insulin moves fuel, sugar and nutrients to the cells of your body for storage or for consumption during and after meals. 

Only when insulin is turned off and inactive within the body, can other hormones access stored sugars and fats for fuel ~or~ Only when the moving truck pulls away and you are sure all of your belongings are back in your possession can you relax and slowly disassemble the boxes and access the furniture. The problem with sugar is this: If you are constantly receiving deliveries, you cannot relax, you cannot disassemble stored goods, and you cannot access the furniture. 

Real foods offer a diverse amount of sugar, fat, carbs, nutrients and protein in tasty, recognizable packages. Chips, breakfast cereal, soda, Aunt Jemima, Hamburger Helper and Skippy aren't real foods. Instead choose roast sweet potatoes, eggs, water, maple syrup, grass fed beef tips and peanuts for all of the flavor, a fraction of the sugar and thrice the benefits. While you're at it, make sure to give your vitamins their vitamins, wash your hands and think of this:

“Some of the largest companies are now using brain scans to study how we react neurologically to certain foods, especially to sugar. They've discovered that the brain lights up for sugar the same way it does for cocaine.” ― Michael Moss


Anna~

Throw Back Thursday: Sweet Information

Sweet Information from August 22, 2013

My sister tried a few recipes and suggestions from this week's posts and the results were not 100% satisfactory.  To be completely truthful, I don't eat yogurt.  I love to smear it on my face to eat away dead skin and moisturize like none other, but to eat?  My taste buds are not of the yogurt loving variety. So, when I suggested eating plain, unsweetened yogurt and adding real fruit, my sister took my advice (for on that matter I can't take my own).  "It was very bitter," she reported.  "I think next time I will add some honey."

Honey.  Other than a sweet, sweet flavor, did you know that honey has benefits? (If you saw The Rachael Ray Show yesterday, you do.)  Natural news sums it up beautifully:

"Raw honey has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. It promotes body and digestive health, is a powerful antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, eliminates allergies, and is an excellent remedy for skin wounds and all types of infections. Raw honey's benefits don't stop there. Raw honey can also stabilize blood pressure, balance sugar levels, relieve pain, calm nerves, and it has been used to treat ulcers. Raw honey is also an expectorant and anti-inflammatory and has been known to effectively treat respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and asthma.

Raw honey is an alkaline-forming food that contains natural vitamins, enzymes, powerful antioxidants and other important natural nutrients. These are the very nutrients that are destroyed during the heating and pasteurization process. In fact, pasteurized honey is equivalent to and just as unhealthy as eating refined sugar."  (Learn more at Natural News.) 

Not all honey on the shelves is the same.  Look at the bear in your pantry for words like 'unprocessed', 'raw', 'unfiltered', 'natural' and 'unheated'.  Not there?  The shelves of your supermarket will have the refined and raw varieties; next time you shop, take a look.  You'll find raw honey from select flowers and bouquets.  Then, when you add fruit to plain yogurt and it's still a bit bitter you can drizzle in the benefits of honey!  Isn't that sweet?

Enjoy real food. Drink plenty of water.  Give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.

Anna~

Break-Up With Sugar Series:

It's not the Sugar we Battle - It's the Cravings!

Sugar.  The plain simple truth is this: the human body needs and runs on sugar.  We have already decided, along with the good advice of the AHA, that women should consume 25 grams, men 37, or less on a daily basis. One soda, a fruit juice box, one thick and creamy yogurt, one fudge pop tart or a single serving of Mott's applesauce rings the bell.  Because that much sugar resides in such small packages, and because the human body runs on sugar, it takes a conscious effort to break out of the sugar cube fortress.

Sugar cravings come from many places.  Mental anguish.  Physical exhaustion.  Emotional stress.  Sleep deprivation.  Joy.  Routine.  Convenience.  Ancient History.  There are no known sweet foods on the planet that are poisonous, which means we, as a species, evolved with a common thread; the proverbial sweet tooth.  Craving something sweet is inherent, but craving Mountain Dew for breakfast and seeking an afternoon sugar buzz is something else.

You and I both know how to reduce our sugar intake; simple math on that one.  The trouble comes in when we have to battle our sugar cravings.  I rely on the saying, 'nothing changes if nothing changes'. If you buy the same treats and place them in the same cabinets; if you purchase the same sugary drinks and fill the same shelves in the fridge; if you pattern your day with the same old sugar dependent rhythm, your sugar cravings will not change.  Cravings can only be undone when something changes or something new is introduced.  Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.

Today you can change one thing.  You can replace one soda with an herbal tea or lemon water.  You can go for a brisk walk to invigorate your body to replace the afternoon candy bar.  You can replace one treat for a banana.  Instead of saying 'can't have,' replace those words with 'why do I want?'  Have a conversation with yourself to decide what is worth your 25 grams in sugar and what is not!

The best way to remove added sugar from your diet is to eat foods without labels.  Real foods not only offer the blood sugar our bodies so readily require (especially us busy moms and military wives), but they provide nourishment as well.  You can't find nourishment in a sugar cube.

You know what to do.

Anna~

'Break-Up with Sugar' Series:

First Thing's First:  How Much Sugar Are You Eating?

Today, a hot lunch served in the lunchroom at my school, a lunch lunch containing only cold food items, ironically enough, contained 66 grams of sugar.  Sixty-Six.  A single strawberry Dannon yogurt, a 1% milk fat string-cheese stick, a single serving bowl of Total Raisin Bran with a cup (8 oz) of 1% White or Nonfat Chocolate milk, and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Giant Grahams for dessert. Sixty-Six grams of sugar for lunch.

How much sugar should you be eating?  The answer, of course, depends.  There are natural sugars, like those found in bananas, honey and milk, and there are added sugars, like those found in Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Giant Grahams.  Real food deserves consideration for balancing sugar intake on the whole, but processed foods are the real culprit when it comes to a diet too sweet to be true.


"The maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are: Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons). Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons)." Dr. Oz, CNN, AHA, Men's Health, Woman's Day...  you name it, they all refer to the American Heart Association's recommendation.  Surpassing the recommended sugar intake limit is awfully easy to do.

Where is added sugar found?  Everywhere.  The spoonful in your coffee, the syrup on your pancakes, the popsicles in your freezer, the peanut butter in your pantry, and in every other processed food package marketed with cheap prices and coupons to boot.  Look on the label or for words that end in 'ose'.

While you are raiding your pantry to add up your sugar intake for the day, grab an apple.  Drink some water or herbal tea.  Eat foods that give your vitamins their vitamins.  Wash your hands of marketed, mass produced, pre-packaged food stuffs and get back to what nature knows best.

Tomorrow, the break-up process begins!

CRAP? No. FOOD? Yes!

Lunch has always been a slight point of contention around here.  Three kids packing their lunch at 6:30 in the morning while I am cleaning up breakfast dishes and Scott is trying to make eggs hasn't been working for awhile.  So we have been gradually reorganizing the process of packing lunch.  Along with that, we have been dividing kitchen chores as elementary as possible.   All in all, I think we have made about 5 essential changes to make our kitchen run without a hitch in the 'giddy-up!"

1.  Eat family style meals together and at the same times everyday.  Easy, right?  Not in our house.  Making an effort to eat a 6:20am, 11:30am, and 5:30ish in the evening takes a coordinated effort, for sure, but the benefits of doing so are life changing!  Hunger rhythms and blood sugars regulate, family hunger patterns and moods coordinate, meal preparation is predictable, and more is shared than meals.  

2.  Empty the dishwasher at the same time every day.  My in-laws empty theirs first thing in the morning, I empty mine just before dinner, my parents empty theirs after breakfast.  Utilizing the dishwasher relieves the kitchen of clutter making meal prep and clean up a much simpler, more concise act.  

3.  Assign chores to make coming to the table less complex.  At meal time, one kid pours the drinks, one kid sets the table, one kid puts the dog in the kennel (almost) like clock work.  After meal time one kid clears the table, one kid stores leftovers and one kid loads the dishwasher.  Breaking apart multi-step chores gets everyone involved and relieves the cook of multiple tasks as the roast is coming out of the oven or the pots are being diligently scrubbed.  

4.  Pack lunch after dinner.  We have recently adopted the brilliant idea of dividing the leftovers into lunch sized containers immediately following dinner.  Everything gets plunked in the fridge, sticky- noted, and paired with a fruit; morning lunch prep is reduced to filling a water bottle with fresh water and grabbing something crunchy for a snack.  (Plunk is also one of my favorite words.)

5.  Make the available foods 'Yes" foods.  Almonds?  Yes!  Goldfish?  No.  Clementines?  Yes!  Cheese Doodles?  No.  Apples and Peanut Butter?  Yes!  Doritos and Mountain Dew?  No.  High sugar, highly processed foods cause mood swings, hunger roller-coasters, and addicted tastebuds.  Get rid of the C.R.A.P. and get real F.O.O.D.  

You know what to do~

Anna~

Rut Repair

Today is the day to get out of your rut.  You know, the same old routine and the same old results.  Repairing ruts is a typical spring task so today, begin your own personal rut repair with these five easy tips~

1.  Brush your teeth with the other hand.  Studies show that switching up basic movements like brushing your teeth, create new neural pathways in the brain.  Stimulating your brain can create happiness, efficiency, and spontaneous joy!

2.  Breathe deeply.  Take a moment 4 or 5 times today to breathe as though your life depends on it.  Shallow breathing may be sustainable but your body suffers from it.  Take some giant yoga breaths when you wake, before each meal, and before you sleep-  deep breathing can also thwart stress.  (Thwart is one of my favorite words!)

3.  Eliminate the words 'like' and 'um' from your vocabulary.  If you wish to compare two things, the word like is permissible; otherwise, remove them altogether.  Speaking without filler words will not only challenge your brain to exercise a broader vocabulary, but your posture will improve as well.  Give it a try today!  As you speak as your smarter, well spoken self, your confidence and posture will certainly perk up!

4.  Don't react.  Instead, take action.  If you are stuck in the "That is the way we've always done it but it really pisses me off" rut, change something.  Write a memo, conduct a proposal, constructively state your claim, or keep it to yourself.  If you are unwilling to be part of a solution, you too may be part of the problem.  (That sounds a little harsh, but I too fall into this rut more often than not.)

5.  Ask for what you need.  This may sound simple, but standing in the middle of the room passive-aggressively lamenting on how you wish you had help in the house, in the office, in the bedroom, in the garden, or with the trash isn't the same as directly approaching a usable tool and asking for what you need.  None of us are mind readers.  If you need help, ask for it.

If all else fails, eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  Repairing a rut can be very dirty work.

Anna~

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes!

Preparing dinner nightly is something I truly love.  Our kitchen is separate from the rest of the house, allowing me some time for creation, quite, and a glass of red while I assemble a meal meant to nourish those at our table.  This last 12 days have tried my culinary abilities due to the fact that an elimination diet has outlined our dinner ingredients.  More than resetting the system and allowing for good elimination, an elimination diet calms inflammation throughout the body allowing the body to function, heal, and metabolize properly.

To explain, an elimination diet removes dairy, gluten, soy, eggs and corn, as well as stimulants, sugar, and meats, fruits and vegetables that can cause inflammation within the body.  We mostly followed the below chart for 7 days:

my-clean-diet-experiment

Scott has allergies to many of the foods on the 'can eat' side of the diet, but he willfully refrained from most of the restricted foods.  Because he has never had any problems digesting red meat (O-, Eating Right 4 Your Type), we did have steak tips over greens, onions, broccoli and red cabbage as a meal. 

Inflammation is the body's natural response to space invaders.  Viruses, damage, bad bacteria, poorly digested food, or a highly acidic environment can cause inflammation.  Low stomach acid, high sugar intake, caffeine, alcohol and/or a sedentary lifestyle can also cause inflammation to sneak around inside the body.  Inflammation is commonly mistaken for fat, for tiredness, for sleeplessness, for headaches, for allergies, for constipation, for diarrhea, for unpleasant periods, for arthritis...  the list goes on.

I did not follow this diet as strictly as Scott did (and still is after 12 days), but as I watched his allergies calm, his waistline decrease, his sleep improve, his complexion brighten, and his mood hover over a more even keel, I encouraged him to keep going based on results.  After 7 days of strict food selections, we moved to no eggs, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, no corn, no sugar, no stimulants, opening up many of the fruits and vegetables we had avoided per the chart's suggestions.

Now he is slowly reintroducing foods.  He has had raw cheese and eggs to find they do not  cause stomach upset, irritable bowels or cold symptoms.  He has not reintroduced gluten, corn, soy or sugar, for these are the foods he fears cause inflammation in his feet, in his face, in his body.  He has lost 12 pounds of belly fat in 12 days and has had increasingly successful workouts; higher output, less pain and soreness, shorter recovery times.  His allergies are not completely gone, but the results we've witnessed is worth avoiding inflammatory foods.  

My advice to you is the same as my advice to him:  Nothing changes if Nothing Changes~ If you are experiencing symptoms that you dislike, instead of taking an allergy pill or a sleep aide, try changing your food.  Listen to your body as it tells you what it can tolerate and what it can't.  There are so many resources to help you find what real foods you should or shouldn't eat~  I am one of them.  Make sure to drink plenty of water while you research, give your vitamins their vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands -  you eat with those things!

Anna~

Contact me if you would like more information.

There is Always a But!

Spring; to originate or arise from - or  - to move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward.  The anticipation of Spring is all but overcoming me.  I find myself looking for green evidence, measuring the length of the day, and giving myself permission to calm down.  This may be my most transformative season yet and I welcome it with sneakers tied and a smile upon my face; my hope is for a clam, smooth transition into the forward movement of Spring.

The phrase 'forward movement' has been ringing in my ears for weeks now.  Our pantry remains scantily stocked as our refrigerator becomes increasingly full of fresh food and clean water.  We have signed our names on lists of willing runners committing to push three miles of pavement away from our feet.  We are setting loftier goals for the summer and fall, both individual desires and family commitments.  We have all decided, in our own separate ways, to move forward from the places we were and to achieve the places we admire.

Forward movement has also given a name to my health coaching practice; Nutritional Cadence.  Health is not a one dimensional, unilateral, universal state or application. Health is a balance of movement, communication, food, love, joy, work, water, nutrition, education, and spirit.  The human body cannot make what it cannot make; also true, it cannot become something more or less without a constant effort toward growth.  But (and there is always a but), just as the seasons move and change rhythmically, so too should self care, growth, nourishment and movement ~ Nutritional Cadence (Thanks to Sue Plunkett for the conversation.)

There are many disrupters of forward movement.  Fear.  Comparison.  Career.  Failure.  Habit.  Choice.  Knowledge.  Location.  Money.  Life.  This last two weeks I have been intent on encouraging those around me (and myself) to commit to small changes with goals in mind for the ownership of forward movement.  I believe it is better to be afraid and moving forward than afraid while standing still.  Because you are in control of everything you eat, everything you say and everything you know, you are in control of everything you want.

This week, I encourage you all to plan.  Shop mindfully.  Eat real food.  Commit.  Drink plenty of water.  Laugh.  Cook.  Think.   Wash your hands of 'this is the way I've always done it' and ask yourself, "Does this help me achieve my goal?  or Not?"  That, dear reader, is forward movement.

Spring!

Anna~

You Don't Need to Wait for a Monday to Move!

Yesterday I saw a very clever cartoon of a hefty cheer leader rallying a group of ready and willing winter weight wearers to work off the pounds. "When are we gunna start?"  the cheerleader motivates.  "On Monday!" replies the rally.  The motivator goes on to inform the group, "Today is Monday!" and the group enthusiastically responds, "Next Monday!"  Monday is the easiest time to assign yourself a task, for it's after the weekend and is followed by Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday incase Monday doesn't work out.  If the action in question is put off until Friday, the next Monday is just around the corner, so you can start then.  My suggestions: Stop waiting for Monday~

Waiting until Monday does two things: one, puts further distance between you and your goal, and two, creates distrust for yourself.  If you are telling yourself you wish you accomplish any specific thing, avoid the self distrust and begin now. Right Now.  If you have a goal to loose weight, get up and take a walk right now.  If you have a goal to clear the clutter, take 7 minutes and clear off one table top right now.  If you have a goal to run a marathon, find a program and sign up for a race.... right now.

Because you have brains in your head and feet in your shoes, you know health and wellness isn't automatic.  Environmental invaders, like pesticides, the bird flu and pet dander invade the human body and interrupt the harmonies within.  Stimulants increase normal body pressures and decrease hydration levels.  Processed foods strain the digestive system and saturate the blood, brain, and liver with toxins.  Stress unbalances hormones.  Sugar taxes organs.  Sleep deprivation adds to stress, blood toxicity, dehydration and hormone imbalance.  Your health and wellness is underneath the environmental crud; after the stimulants wear off; above the stress; in the wake of sugar; inside of a deep breath; beyond a good night's sleep. Are you really willing to wait until Monday?

My goals this week included thinking of a name for my health coaching practice.  I took my dilemma to work today, and through a conversation with a few very clever women, a potential name was created.  I have also been trying to identify specific areas my health coaching practice will cover in order to deliver results to my target market; from that a Grocery Cart Curriculum was born.  I still may have arrived at a name and I still may have come up with a curriculum, but not until Monday if I had waited.  I am glad I put my fears aside instead of feeding them for four more days.

We are having Chili for dinner.  Kendra is in charge of the corn bread, and I have the beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices all stewing away on the stove.  Plenty of clean water will fill our cups as we sit down to discuss the daily events in our different corners of the world.  We will feed our vitamins with vitamins found in our food and by thoughts of accomplishment and feelings of satisfaction.  I encourage you too, dear reader, to wash your hands of fear and waiting and begin nourishing yourself right now...  Monday isn't worth the wait!

Anna~

Share your goals with me!  I would love to applaud your efforts!

One Small Change

We are nearly into the 3rd month of the year and Spring is arriving.  Days are a touch longer.  The sun is casting a warmer blanket directing a longer shadow.  I can feel the anticipation of the changing season within me just as I can see it on the world.  Change, evolution, doesn't happen all at once; instead it is a series of small changes connected together that wow observers and beholders alike.  One simple change can align your efforts toward accomplishing your nutritional or lifestyle goals, just as the warmer sun coaxes the trees to bud.

Again, I ask, "What is your goal?"  All of us have plans.  Weight loss.  A Marathon.  Reducing Sugar cravings. Balancing the check book.  Clearing clutter.  Starting a business.  Goals are individual aspirations that deliver a sense of belonging in the world; aspirations should not be ignored or discredited for aspirations come from intuition.  Intuition, by definition, is the ability to understand something without the need for conscious reasoning.  As you identify your goals, listen to your intuition- you will then realize a path of least resistance to deliver you to your desires.

I have much going on in my world these days.  I work 4 hours a day during the school week.  I am in module 14 of 40 perusing a health coaching career through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  Because of my commitment to achieving my certificate, I have morning meetings, lectures to absorb, health history practices to schedule, and a program to structure.  I have a goal of delivering a healthy lunch lecture to the Middletown Public School System, possibly in March, which I need to construct and have approved.  I also have kids, a husband, a dog, a puppy, a cat, bills, a household to manage and myself to take care of.  No one ever said perusing goals was easy.

Following a path takes energy.  Positive energy, physical energy, emotional energy, mental energy, love, and intuition.  Energy is derived from water, sleep and the food you eat.  I believe that food is the foundation of all other things; if your body is nourished, your mind is hydrated and your soul is fed, then all things are possible through defining desires and demanding them to be true.  Each of us is worth living in our purpose, dear reader, and each of us has the power to evolve into ourselves!

While you describe your desires and tune in to your intuition, grab some real, whole, naturally occurring food.  Wash in the nutrients with plenty of clean water.  Pick your foods from colorful produce, crunchy nuts, soft fruit, tart berries, sweet honey, deep roots, delicate greens and local meat to ensure your vitamins get their vitamins.  Wash your hands of fear and take one small step into the familiar unknown of your intuition.  As you bud, and then bloom, you will coax those around you to do the same...  all it takes is one small change...

Anna~

Throw Back Thursday: Are Labels Healthy?

From April 9th, 2013, which was actually a Tuesday, but I like the message so much it is worth tagging in a Thursday Throwback~

Let's be realistic.  There is no need to sugar coat or complicate the fact that we all apply labels to the people around us and to ourselves.  They are automatic.  She is beautiful.  He is Successful.  She is a Failure.  He is a Con Artist.  I am Angry.  You are Perfect.  My sister is a Health-nut!  All of theses thoughts and words go through our heads and out of our mouths daily.  We are Labelers!

Labels are one of three things: harmful, helpful, or indifferent.  If you keep your labels to yourself they probably fall into the indifferent category, but you may be placing these labels in order to empower or disempower yourself; harmful.  "I am thinner than her, so I'm okay."  "She is much more successful than I, so I must be a failure!"  We label to quantify and categorize objects (in this case, people) in order to rhetorically place ourselves between them on an imaginary, ever changing totem pole of assumption.

Helpful labels encourage others while they encourage ourselves.  If you are placing labels on others to make them feel better while making yourself feel worse, stop.  Compliments and positive observations are important.  So is constructive criticism.  Give others a boost.  Pay others compliments.  Be observant of an other's abilities and empower them to expose their talents to the world.  But, while you lift others up, do not compare your own abilities and talents to theirs.  If an other possesses a talent or ability it is worthy of recognition.  Period.

Harmful labels are completely unnecessary.  Assigning a detrimental label to another  in order to control or contain an other's success or happiness is just plain mean.  Placing limiting labels on yourself that contain or inhibit your own happiness interrupts growth!  Don't do that!  We all, at one time or another, succeed.  We all fail.  We all lie, we con, we help, we dream, we yell, we soar.  Does that mean I am a Liar?  No.  A Failure? No.  A Dreamer?  I don't think that applies either.

Remember, the labels we apply to others and to ourselves allow a behavior to be acceptable.  If you have labeled yourself as Shy you have given yourself permission to be Shy.  Don't like the label?  Undo it by choosing to be more out-going when the opportunity presents itself.   Wondering how your label reads?  Introduce yourself to someone new...  and listen to the words that come out of your mouth.  You will be face to face with the labels you wear and you can then decide if they fit or if they don't.

You know what to do...  and remember to wash your hands.

Anna~

Give your Vitamins their Vitamins!

At the bottom of every post I offer some very simple advice:  eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins, and remember to wash your hands.   Offering advice and following advice are two very different animals.  Even I, the knower of many food-y, nutritional things, have trouble following simple, sound, sensical advice even though I know why I should.  I, just like all of you, only try to make today healthier than yesterday.  So, today I would like us all to take our vitamins!

No.  I don't mean wander out to Walmart to find cheaply made and nutritionally defunct vitamins in pill form.  Our bodies need dozens of vitamins and minerals to assist the vitamins we already make and to replace the vitamins our bodies continually use up.  Hormones, gastric juices, connective tissues, hair, teeth, gums, skin, and everything in between is made up or supported by the vitamins we eat.  If we loaded up the cart at wally world with all of the nutrients our bodies need we would be swallowing pills all day long~  multivitamins are none the wiser.

So how, then, do your give your vitamins their vitamins?  This may sound redundant, but the answer lives in real food!  The key is diversity and the clutch is we actually have to eat it.  Looking at great spinach recipes online for food inspiration is a fantastic way to diversify your diet, but if instead of spinach leaves wilted in clean, steamy water you use frozen spinach, thawed and drained, you are depleting the recipe of it's vitality.  Don't care for spinach?  Find foods that sound good to you and eat them~  but stick to the real version instead of the imitation, processed, fortified variety.

Why not fortified foods?  Fortification of food happens after a real food ingredient has been processed or heated in a way that diminishes its original nutrients.  The vitamins and minerals that are added back to the food are in lesser amounts, and typically of a man made or synthetic variety.  Vitamins are not regulated so if you are depending on a manufacturing company - that processes food in order to make a large profit and gain repeat customers - to ensure you are getting your vitamins, you will get less than you bargained for.

We all eat.  More importantly, we all eat differently.  Finding vitamins amongst the vast food markets we have at our fingertips is greatly more flavorful than fish oil capsules and vitamin tabs from manufacturers.  My advice?   Write down what you eat for a few days so you may easily identify which vitamins are in abundance and which are missing.  Find whole food recipes that supply those vitamins and follow the directions.  Remember to wash them in with water and, as always, remember to wash your hands.

Good advice?

Anna~

A Week in Review:

Within a week we will all be in full holiday madness.  Immediately following the Thanksgiving feast we will likely spend 30 days shopping, gifting, decorating, cleaning, hiding, seeking, baking, traveling and eating.  Stress will come upon us in all shapes, wrappings, and sizes.  Stress causes all sorts of internal damage...  and...  can be addicting.  Here is my overview on how to interrupt  stress.  May it be a useful reminder to enjoy the holidays and digest them slowly instead of letting the stress of the season consume you.

From a Monday, even though it's Wednesday... January 28, 2013:

You Control Your Stress!

Mondays have been a 'day off' for me for years.  We spend the week managing homework and activities and we spend the weekends managing free time and idle minds; Mondays are a great day to keep all thoughts on recuperating.  The kids get on the bus, my husband goes to work, and the house falls into a hush.  Monday's are my stress management, time management, me management day!

I am not great at time management.  This concept may not seem important as far as health is concerned, but I believe it to be directly related to stress management.  I have already noted stress affects blood sugar maintenance, but stress affects all areas of our health; hunger, digestion, sleep, happiness, blood pressure, the nervous system, hormones, etc., etc., etc. I cannot, in five paragraphs or less, explain how stress wreaks havoc on all ten body systems, but I can tell you a few tips on how to undo the damage!

Breathe and Eat!  As I have touched on before, the body can become addicted to stress, especially if you do not eat often (at least at regular intervals).  Stress causes that release of blood sugar from stores throughout the body and that can cause a temporary 'high' and subsequent 'low'.  This confusion throws our hormones out of whack!  When we feel the first signs of stress, instead of giving in to the adrenaline surge, take some deep breaths and eat something real!  Real food is a much better source of sugar for blood sugar and can interrupt stress before stress interrupts your systems~

Sleep well and wake up without an alarm!  Water can be a great alarm clock~  drink some before you go to bed...  If you do not wish to use ancient sleep management methods, just switch your alarm from the buzzer to the radio.  Use a pleasant ring tone or jingle instead of a sound associated with urgency or emergency.  Instead of waking up by a 'flight or fight' hormone, wake up by way of a joyful noise; it will effectively reduce your likelihood of responding to other external factors with a stress response.

Another great stress management idea is to rearrange your routine.  If you notice, as I do, that stress creeps in around 2 pm, move a few things around to thwart the need for sugar, for anger, or for caffeine.  You are in complete control of your day, of your food, of your water intake, of your vitamin choice, and of your schedule.  If something is not working, change it.  If life feels cramped, eliminate something.  When stress shows its ugly head eat real food, drink a big glass of water, chew on some vitamins, and wash your hands of it.

Have a wonderful, relaxing, stress reducing Monday.  Yoga?  Eggs?  Prayer? Board game?  Chic Flick? Insanity? All of the above?  Enjoy~

Anna~

A Week in Review: Where Do You Invest?

This last month I took a course on medication;  how it's made, the process of approval, what it does inside the body, patient compliance, side effects, the role of the pharmacist, and how to spot a counterfeit pill.  What I learned is this: There is no safe medicine.  There is only a positive measurement if the benefits of any medicine out weight the side effects.

As a family we take very little medications; we are young, active, good diet, middle class, health insurance, extremely fortunate, and we spend money investing in our health.

From February 27, 2013:

Where Do You Invest?

My shopping habits have been continually evolving from filling the pantry to filling the fridge; from shopping twice a month to shopping once a week; from making semi-homemade meals to making homemade meals with food benefits in mind.  I have also examined cost as factor when it comes to food in several posts since the beginning of this investigation.  With my fridge full and my pantry empty, my wallet isn't taking the impact I thought it would, but my health and my family's health is!

How much money do you spend monthly on medication?  Pain medication?  Heart medication? Diabetes, edema, cholesterol or headache medication?  If you had that money instead to spend on vitamins and food instead, would you buy better food?  What if instead of waiting for more money or less medications you just made a decision to invest in your health instead of investing in your symptoms?  The way to do that is through food; there is a food designed to heal everything~

I do not disbelieve in medicine.  What I disbelieve in is eating fried, saturated, fatty, starchy, sugary foods and then using medication to treat the symptoms of conditions that occur due to diet and exercise choices.  If you purchase a shirt at Kohl's and wear it while hiking and it tears, then wash it against the directions on the label and the shirt shrinks, you should not return it to Kohl's claiming a defective shirt.  If you treat your body like a garbage can, you can not claim your body is defective to justify medication  use.  Medication only treats the smell, the discharge and the infections brought on by the garbage; medication does not undo the damages, it only disguises them.

Medication for certain short term conditions is necessary for sure.  Some would argue long term medication is necessary for chronic conditions and I will not argue those beliefs; they are just not my beliefs.  What I do believe in is food as Hippocrates defined it: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."

So, again, I ask, 'What if you just made a decision to invest in your health instead of investing in your symptoms?' While you digest the question and form an answer, please eat real food, drink liters of water, give your vitamins your vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  'What if?'

Anna~

What Does it Cost?

Mixed among the staples in the refrigerator and pantry are hidden treasures and poisonous gems.  A grand bowl of seasonal greens and nuts are more valuable than gold, while the tub of spreadable margarine isn't worth the plastic it comes in.  The loaf of whole wheat manufactured bread is a mediocre source of whole grains, and the condensed soup and its round bottom can can be a sodium and sugar pitfall.  We all know white bread is not made of whole grains, that condensed soup is a poor excuse for soup, and we even know margarine is a poor choice of added fat but we purchase the little bastards anyway.  Why?  Say it with me, readers...  "They are cheap!"

Shopping for real food is not only time consuming, but costly.  Real butter is more expensive than margarine.  Making chicken stock is time consuming and the soups on the shelves are cheap and ready made.  Organic is more costly than conventionally grown produce; frozen is less expensive than fresh; canned is less expensive than frozen.  Hormone free milk is more expensive, and grass fed beef can break the bank when feeding more than one.  To add insult to injury, there aren't very many coupons for fresh produce and cage free chickens.

So what can be done?  First, it takes a plan.  What days of the week are you going to be home?  How many meals do you anticipate eating out?  How much money can be allotted for food?  How many people are at your table?  What season is it?  Knowing the answers to these questions can help you realistically shop and can eliminate wasted or unused produce.  I shop for 5-7 days at a time for 5 (including growing children) so I understand that it is no delightful task, but throwing away something that costs more to buy fresh is even less enjoyable.  Fruits and veggies are necessary staples in any diet; the benefits of fresh certainly outweigh the cost.

Take it one step further and plan for multipurpose meals.  Roast a great looking' chicken on Monday and use it for chicken soup, quesadillas, enchiladas or on a garden salad throughout the week.  A good roaster can cost anywhere from 8 to 20 bucks~  use every bit!  Boil the carcass with onions, garlic, celery, carrots, salt and herbs and freeze the yield so when a recipe calls for chicken stock/bouillon you have it on hand.  The same with pork roast; roast and root vegetables on Tuesday, bbq pork sandies and coleslaw on Thursday.  Beef roast on Wednesday with tomatoes and wild rice, then beef and broccoli over egg noodles on Saturday afternoon.  Utilize leftovers by repurposing the main dish!  If the budget doesn't support the grass fed varieties, choose good quality meats that fit your budget. Remember, you don't need meat at every meal.

Another tip?  Make some bread.  This week I made bread with my daughter via my mother's 'beginner's' recipe.  Whole wheat and white flour, milk, yeast, water, sugar, real butter, a bit of olive oil and a little bit of time produced great bread and much fun.  Because I had all of the ingredients and because I purchased all of the ingredients to support other recipes, the bread didn't really cost us a thing!  I encourage you all to eat as much real food as you can, to wash it in with water, to give your vitamins their vitamins, and to remember to wash your hands (especially if you are going to make bread).

Anna~