Emotions are the Result of Your Thinking

I once read: “emotions are the result of your thinking”. What are you thinking on a regular basis? Are you thinking things will never get better, you’re not good enough, there’s no other place to turn, you’re at a dead end? Or are you thinking, I can, I will, things will get better, things could be worse, No one can make me feel bad or hurt me because I won’t let them? 

Are your thoughts: Positive? Happy? Calm?

Change your way of thinking and you can change your emotions and your life.

This too, shall pass. Life is ever moving forward!

Prefer a little guidance or someone to talk to? Email me anytime.

Being a Light in Someone's Life

As I drift through the days the way we all do, I look for ways to inspire others. I live to help others find happiness and peace. I used to think it was my jog to make others happy but after many years of thinking that way and feeling I had failed somehow, I came to understand that other people's happiness is not up to me, it's up to them. 

We are all responsible for the way we think and the happiness we choose. Sometimes life throws us curve balls and interferes with our best thought plans and we feel depressed or angry and out of control. That's because we are out of control. I've heard and read many times that man may plan his course but God plans his steps. (Prov. 16:9) If you don't think so, just look at plans you made that didn't work out and think of how in the end, many of those changes were for the better.

We can set intentions and make plans and follow through as closely as we possibly can but if they don't work out they way you expected, don't be angry; instead, see with an open mind and look for the good that can come of the new circumstance. There is a reason for everything and you can accept that better when you believe that there are other ways to get to your destination.

Inspiration for others comes in many shapes, sizes, intentions and emotions. Be open to what can be, be aware of what is and be thankful for what never was. Everything will be as it should be. Everything changes in the blink of an eye. Be calm, be love, be open and be true. 

In light and love.
Dawn

Simply Healthy Shepherd's Pie (low-fat, low-carb)

1 lb. ground turkey
olive oil or sunflower oil for cooking the turkey
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon mixed savory seasoning ( I use Trader Joe's 21 Spice Salute)
1 can low salt or no salt cream style corn
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables



1 large head of cauliflower
3 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional, I like the nutty cheesy taste)

Steam the head of cauliflower until tender. While it is cooking:

Brown the turkey in a fry pan, add onions, garlic and spices. Add water as needed to keep it moist - simmering on low. Add the cream style corn, corn and veggies - stir well and keep it simmering.

Drain water from cauliflower pot, add butter and mash with a potato masher until light and fluffy, add nutritional yeast and gently mix well.

Put meat and veggie mixture into a casserole dish and spread cauliflower evenly on top. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.

Stinkin' Thinkin'

I'm feeling bulky, junky, chunky...I'm going to begin seriously cleaning up my diet better than I've been doing. Not to complain or bore with details but this is what is going on with me: I eat healthy most of the day, dinner time comes and I HAVE to cook for others, Dale and Ryan, who comment that there's not much meat, or this is all? etc...So, I cook enough or more hoping that there will be leftovers to build off of tomorrow and there rarely is. Really? Do you guys need all... that food?!!
Come time to eat, I usually take mine last, cook's etiquette, and I feel like OMG, they took it all, I need to take extra because they will finish it and I will starve. I know in fact that I will never starve. 

The other half of it is I'm always home, working from home. I feel somewhat quarantined from the world, especially in winter so I forage with the attitude that not many see me anyways.

This is all stinkin' thinkin'!

Even though the food I'm foraging for is usually healthy, I don't need extra.

The first steps I'll take is changing my mindset; 

• It doesn't matter how much others eat, I won't go hungry
• I'll eat only what I need and fill my time and space with a physical activity even if it's as dull as organizing a closet, pantry or the basement!
• I'll get out of the house at least one day mid-week to be around people
• Despite what others in the house prefer to eat, I'll cook only what I know is enough and healthy 

  

How is your thinking? What gets you during the winter months?

You Make Me Sick, MSG!

I posted this on my Initiate Wellness blog (http://initiatewellness.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/msg-you-make-me-sick/) and I'm posting it here because I think it's important for you to know.

Last night, around dinner time I wasn't feeling particularly creative or inspired to cook, but I did anyway. My pantry consists of a lot of dried beans, several different types of whole grains, many non-wheat flours, nuts, seeds, seaweeds, rices, hot sauces, canned tomatoes and stuff like that; things that my kids, though grown, walk into and tell me there's no food. Most of what I have has to be pre-pared and I'm fien with that. My eldest son is staying with me temporarily and he eats like a typical guy does, a lot. On a whim I bought Near East rice pilaf so he could easily prepare it when he has to fend for himself. Well, last night, not feeling much like cooking, I made the rice pilaf to go with the local beef tips and steamed Brussels sprouts-healthy, yes? NO!

I found a few years back that I'm particularly sensitive to MSG, highly sensitive! I didn't see it on the ingredient label so I was safe or so I thought. About an hour after eating I was feeling a dull headache that within a very short time became hard hitting; it felt like my entire forehead and temples on the inside was on fire! Soon, the slightest light pierced my eyes - my head felt like it was about to explode and to be honest, the thought of my head exploding was a welcomed, comforting thought; just get it out!

I tried drinking lots of water to flush it out with no success. I tried herbal tea, laying on the floor, feet raised, eyes closed but the intense pounding continued. It was fairly early, for me anyways, but I had to go to bed; I needed to lay in a very dark, very quiet place. I ended up having to take one of my migraine prescription tablets against my personal preference but fortunately about 4 hours later it worked.

What was in this rice mixture that disguised itself as MSG anyway? Upon looking into it further I found that it contains autolyzed yeast extract, (Yeast extract contains naturally occurring glutamic acid, of which monosodium glutamate is a concentrated salt form). This doesn't have to be labeled MSG unless there is more than 78% of it in a product.

Beware. If you suffer from headaches and you're not sure what you triggers are, it could be MSG, it's not uncommon. There are many foods that are headache triggers and finding out which ones might be triggering yours can make a world of difference in your life! Find a way to make it go away. If you need help figuring out what ails you, I can help. Contact me anytime!

* To learn the many names and disguises of MSG, click here: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html

I Always Begin with Good Intentions

It seems that in most things that I do begin with good intentions from food planning to an activity whether inside or outside of the house, but then somewhere along the way it unravels. The unravelling will sometimes be slight and other times it's a complete heap of mess and confusion. It can become an emotional roller coaster.

My intentions don't always fall apart; sometimes they stay completely in place leaving a full sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. When certain intentions fall apart I can't help but think that perhaps it was because it wasn't the right intention or the right timing for it. I deeply feel that God watches over me and guides me by way of intentions and plans either happening or becoming unravelled, this feeling is what keeps me going.

I'm no different than you. I plan, wish, hope, desire, dream, feel accomplished and feel failure. I have been through terribly difficult times in my life and through happy times but the happy times don't ever come easy; happiness is a choice I needed to make. Happiness takes work, it means I have to work through the bad things that have happened or do happen, realize them and file them into the old news - I've read and heard the words too many times from many people, "get over it', "let it go" and similar advice but at this moment I find it unnecessary to let it go as long as I can file it and not let it be part of my today, everyday. It might pop into my mind because it's in my memory but I've learned to put it back where it belongs, in the past.

Each day is a new journey, a new box of surprises, ups, downs, and good intentions; each day the sun rises whether it hides form us behind clouds or shines brightly and warmly in the great blue sky. Each evening and each morning I'm thankful for the day, I set my intentions and I move forward, forgiving myself for what I might not have accomplished yesterday and pardoning others so that I can move forward. Every day lends a new chance to do it right. Every day gives me a "do over".

Think about things that weigh you down, hold you back or keep you stuck. Make a mental or physical list of them and just know what they are for now. Think about how you set your intentions and decide if you need to change the way you set them, how well you accomplish them and if they unravel more often than they play out perfectly.

Share your own thoughts on setting intentions, moving forward and where you feel weighed down.

Sprouting Makes Me Think of Spring

I love fresh vegetables that are in abundance spring through late fall. Usually around January-February I get a craving for fresh plants again; what you can buy even in the best stores don't quite measure up so I sprout lentils, mung beans, seeds such as broccoli, cabbage, and a variety of mixed leafy green seeds. I get my seeds from the local organic foods store or online from sproutpeople.org

Sprouting is simple all you need is a sprouting jar, seeds, beans,  or whole grains and 4-6 days.

I started mung beans and lentils 2 days ago, I used about 1/8 cup of each, I don't measure, I just fill the bottom of the jar about 1/4 inch or 2 layers of beans, fill the jar about half-full with water and let soak for 12-18 hours. Drain, rinse and drain again leaving the jar upside down for about 5 minutes. Then turn jar slowly to spread seeds or beans and lay on its side. Rinse twice a day for 4-6 days until they have sprouted fully and there's no room left in the jar. Transfer to a seal-able container and store in the refrigerator and use in sandwiches, salads, raw on top of soups & stews or eat plainly for snacking.

This is how they look today - I'll post more photos as they grow. I use a mason jar, I usually use the metal screw top that comes with the jars, I buy mesh squares that you use for needle crafts at the local craft store and cut circles to fit inside the lids - this is how you can easily rinse and drain twice daily.

Day 5 my sprouts are ready to enjoy. 

             

                 I spread them on a towel to dry, put them in a container
                 and stored them in the refrigerator. - of course I snacked
                 on a few good handfuls!

Still Plugging Along

It’s been nearly a month since I last posted and to be perfectly honest, it’s because I have been focusing on my main blog, Initiate Wellness, and of course Christmas.

I had a little fun creating and posting 15 healthy dips in 30 days for the month of December, check them out-click 15 Dips. I’m a huge fan of dip, I’ve been known to mash a bunch of healthy foods together to create something smooth to dip veggies, tortilla chips, potato chips or pita chips into; most of the time it’s pretty good but sometimes, not so much.

For this new year, 2014, I’ve decided to adopt 26 new good habits – that’s one new habit every two weeks. While I usually drink plenty of water, I find myself drinking less in the cold months, and wow, has it been cold recently! So, for the first two weeks of January, I’ve made my intention clear, drink more water daily. By giving myself 2 weeks to practice a habit I’m usually used to doing, it will help reset my body and brain to grab a glass of water instead of coffee, tea or wine. I usually only drink 1-2 cups of coffee in the A.M. but I sometimes find myself making one between 1 & 3 pm. I’ve been making myself drink a glass of water first, then if I still want something hot, I’m allowing myself either green or herbal non-caffeinated tea.

The flu virus is going around the country pretty hard right now so I’m taking all the steps I know of to keep my immune system strong. This means citrus fruits, lots of vegetables, lean proteins and warming spices as well as plenty of water to flush out my system regularly.

What have you been up to lately?
If you were to choose a new habit, what would you choose and how would you go about it? Let us know – share your story!

My Weakness with Portion Control

Like many, I love food, for me it has to be good food; not processed and not junk food.
I usually have good self-control but sometimes I find myself going back for seconds because it merely tastes so good! That is a poor excuse for overeating especially when my stomach has been satisfied the first time around.

This poses the question, do I want seconds because it indeed does taste so good that one serving isn’t possibly enough or is there something missing in my life? If it’s the latter, what is missing? What is it that food is satisfying for me? Why does food make it somehow a little better?

Do you find yourself going in for more than you need? Do you feel uncomfortably full sometimes after you eat? Do you sometimes feel frustrated about where you are in your life, or about not being able to reach your goals as easily or quickly as you wish, do you feel like something is missing or off? The we you feel is often the reason we eat more than we should, or why we eat sugar, carbs, crunchy, chewy, gooey things, or soft, cold, or warming foods and drinks.

Assessing your feelings, writing them in a journal and getting in touch with your innermost feelings will help you to move forward. If you don’t quite know where to start, as a health coach, I work with individuals with exactly this type of behavior, help is always available and affordable. You are worth feeling good, looking good and being healthy.

Gaining control over what and how we eat is something we need to accomplish. When we accomplish that goal first, it makes our big goal easier to reach and new goals more exciting to set….and reach!

Where Do You Find Comfort

Comfort comes in many forms and for each of us comfort means something very different from the next.

We all seek comfort. We look for it in our family members, our friends, sometimes strangers, nowadays we can reach out and find it through social media, we seek it from our pets, some look for it in cleaning, shopping, going to the gym, finding distraction in a movie; we also look to food for comfort and some look for it in a glass of wine, a bottle of beer or other alcohol. I’m sure there are hundreds more ways people look for and sometimes find comfort.

Along with looking for comforting situations comes the reason we seek it. Those reasons are endless and among them is stress, sadness, boredom, depression and loneliness.

Too often many comforts lead to less than healthy choices. We crave certain foods when we seek comfort. Particular textures and tastes have much to do with how we are feeling. Common cravings are sweets, carbs, junk foods and alcohol. Giving in to these cravings leads us into a downward spiral often leaving us feeling worse.

If you find yourself seeking comfort on a regular basis and turning to foods or activities that you know deep down isn’t doing your body or lifestyle any good, take a step back and make a decision to finally take care of YOU. Self-care is not selfish. Self-care is important for a healthy, happy and long life.

As a holistic health coach, I’ve helped people overcome their overwhelming desire to give in to self-sabotaging choices for seeking comfort. Is seeking unhealthy comforts getting you down? Let’s talk!

Mealtime Inspirations

I decided that while my son is staying with me for a while, he has to cook at least one dinner a week-more if he feels the desire. He didn’t object. One thing he learned though was that because I don’t use processed foods, he had to be a little more creative. I have more than 100 cookbooks [yes, I'm one of those, but I use them all], he used the internet instead though; I was ok with that-I do it too. Last night was his night and it turned out pretty good.

He made a sausage, potato, sauerkraut skillet with onions, garlic and carrots. It was fast and simple and filled our bellies perfectly. If you want to give it a try, all you need to do is slice and brown smoked sausage or your favorite kind of sausage, or use chicken or for meatless use beans in place of the meat. Add diced potatoes and stir fry until golden, add sliced carrots, onions and chopped garlic and 1 cup of broth-simmer until carrots are tender. Enjoy!

Hope and Inspiration

Hope in my opinion is when you make a heartfelt decision to make changes, personal changes in this case, and expect positive results no matter what the price. Hope is when you don’t give up. Hope is keeping your chin up and always having a foot forward despite the speed bumps and road blocks that you may encounter.

Inspiration-the energy you feel when you decide on something, read something, hear something or see something. Inspiration brings energy that catapults you toward something you’ve dreamed about doing.

My hope is to inspire you to reach out toward your deepest, innermost goals and dreams.
With a little guidance you can begin your journey to your own personal hopes and inspirations

Crawling Under the Table

Well, I didn’t necessarily crawl under the table but I feel like sometimes that’s where I am. For the most part, for the past week plus I’ve done pretty well food-wise, I haven’t snacked at night or much during the day either; but I don’t feel like I’ve made a lot of progress. Progress though isn’t only a physical aspect, progress comes in many forms and one form of progress I have made is no nighttime snacking. It may not feel like much of a feat today but as time passes and days and weeks go by it makes a difference-so that in itself is progress.

I’ve eaten breakfast every morning and it has felt good. I’ve eaten a healthy lunch for this entire week of homemade chicken soup, loaded with a variety of vegetables- that helped me eat less at dinner time and I didn’t feel the need to snack while watching TV unwinding for the night.

Weight loss isn’t easy but it doesn’t have to be difficult either; all you need is true commitment-you’ve got to truly want it. When you get honest with yourself and decide that you’re ready to make changes, weight loss will follow. Don’t look for a weight loss plan that will melt pounds away immediately because they’re not usually a healthy plan. Learning how and what to eat for you personally is what will lead you to long lasting changes and goal success.

Want to know what will work for you or how to get started? Ask me! Dawn@InitiateWellness.com
Here’s to our good health!

Daily Grind

I posted an article about the daily grind in my business blog, it’s more about how to get out of the feeling of being in the daily grind. Today though, due to a few reasons that I’m aware of, I feel in that exact fog.

Things on my mind right now are in this order:
1- Life is often too short
2- It’s up to me to do everything I can to keep my body healthy
3- It’s up to me to follow my dream, my passion, and my wishes because no one will hand them to me-never mind a silver platter!
4- Help as many people as you can with whatever your strengths are
5- Love Deeply

I want to be here for a long time, a very long time. While I’m here I want to live, love and laugh. I want to be helpful in every way I can and I want to inspire as many people as I come in contact with.
What are your aspirations? What do you hold close as your deep passion?

What Does Food Mean to You?

Food means something different for each of us. For me it means satisfaction, indulgence, self-complimentary ( I think I’m a pretty good cook), savory as in savoring the positive moments in life because I had many negative moments throughout my life, gorging on second helpings because of past limitations, my excuse for eating more than I need is often ‘because it tastes good’ the real reason? I’m not quite sure yet but I plan to work it out, and I”m sure if I keep thinking about it I will come up with more examples of what food means to me. The answers I gave so far are almost certainly a result of my past; food becomes comfort, memorable, self-sabotage, it’s social, it’s personal, it’s public, it pleases, it displeases, it even simply fuels our body but it’s rare that we think exactly that when we are eating.

We relate food to who we are, who we were and who we want to be. We use food as a tool to bury feelings, to celebrate feelings and to blame our shortcomings on. We often rate ourselves by our commitment to what we eat, how we eat, why we eat and we let food define us.

Once we can understand and accept the reasons we treat food the way we do, once we really get to the bottom of our relationship with food we can develop a new relationship with food; we can let food be our friend instead of our enemy. Food feeds our cells, it fuels our body giving us energy, balancing our moods, our blood levels, sleep, making our health the best it can be given that we eat the right foods and the proper amounts on a regular basis. As Hippocrates said many years ago, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”.

The next time you feel particularly connected to a certain food in a sort of disconnected way, stop yourself, go deep inside and try to relate how the particular food makes you feel when you eat it. There’s no right nor wrong about it, it just is and that’s okay. Slowly you will be able to better control the way you relate to and treat food.

Self control is easier when your mind and body is busy...

I was deep into my work today and didn’t think about food until my stomach growled ‘feed me’. Hunger felt good. We too often eat for several reasons from it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner time-even though we ate a big snack 10 minutes ago or because we’re meeting friends and that always involves food; a restaurant or at someone’s home, because we’re bored, watching TV, and many more so-called reasons.

I skipped breakfast, bad practice, because I was running a little close for work so decided I’d eat after my first client. Immediately after the client I began more work putting food off again until the growling began. I made a sandwich of ham and loaded it with spinach. That was my lunch which held me surprisingly until dinner. Remember, my mind was pre-occupied with work all day and it was a welcomed relief.

3:30 PM came around and I knew I needed to make a dinner plan. I rummaged through the refrigerator, reached for organic stewing beef I had, browned it in a large Dutch oven, added a dark locally brewed beer and some Italian herbs and simmered it for a few hours. It smelled delicious and warming. About 1/2 hour before serving I added potato chunks, carrots, celery, onion, 6 cloves of garlic, and simmered until the potatoes and carrots were tender; I tossed in a half bag of peas, warmed them and we enjoyed a warming, healthy hearty meal. The beef was fall apart tender and the entire meal was fast and simple to put together; I could continue working while it simmered gently.

Another day comes to a close with food choices under control and satisfaction with myself. I look forward to tomorrow, I look forward to inspiring you to follow your dreams, your goals and intentions and find great success and self-satisfaction too!

A New Week _ My New Attitude

After a busy weekend away I’m back and ready to go; as a bonus, I gained an hour if only for a day!
I took time to catch up on chores and writing for my business today but I didn’t let my intentions get lost in the shuffle. I had a healthy breakfast of 2 eggs and pumpernickel toast; I could have done without the toast but I didn’t. I ate a small lunch-a sandwich, that means 2 more slices of bread and I drank a good amount of water all day. You’re waiting for my dinner confessions right? Ah well, nothing bad there, I stuffed boneless chicken breasts with chopped parsley, chopped dried apricots and crumbled Brie, baked them with potatoes and steamed Brussels sprouts. I had one small portion of all except the sprouts.

I’m planning on having a simple chicken veggie soup for lunch and with dinner for the rest of the week. I’m also planning on doing a detox as promised to you and myself; join me or ask how you can do a simple detox, I can guide you.
Smile, share some love!

Stuck in a Mind-Body Discnnection

In the recent few weeks I’ve sort of disconnected my mind and body from each other-yogis understand what this means; in general it means that your mind isn’t relating with your body as it would when you’re fully balanced. When your mind and body are in sync, it’s a pretty great feeling.
Today is Friday. This weekend I will be busy helping family so meals and self-care will not be in the forefront [meals and food in general not consuming my thoughts might be a good thing]. Sometimes distractions are useful as I mentioned in my last post! While busy, I’ll do my best at making healthy choices and portion control and I will absolutely focus on drinking lots of water as my one healthy constant.

Starting on Monday I’m going to buckle down and refocus my work, my mind-body connection and change my food habits for the better. I’ll make an outline for daily do’s and don’ts, food lists, exercise, yoga and meditation. Meditation is a powerful tool and easy to learn-the key is to keep doing it.

I’ll check in during the weekend when I can and in the mean time, consider what changes you want to make in your life and let’s create change together!

Time to Clean It Up

Cleaning is an indoor outdoor and inside outside body chore. Well, maybe when it comes to your body, chore isn’t the right word, clean inside and out is necessary for good health.

I was busy outside cleaning leaves and getting my vegetable garden ready for winter today so eating wasn’t on my mind much; not until I was finished with yard work and preparing dinner. Suddenly I needed food and I wasn’t at all in the mood to cook. Take out crossed my mind more than once but that thought didn’t win. While I repeatedly said aloud that I don’t want to cook, I cooked anyway.
I had a small bottle of General Tso’s sauce from Trader Joe’s, organic chicken breast, onion, red & green bell peppers, broccoli and my own home grown garlic. I made a stir fry. I simmered rice while I chopped and sliced and served the stir fry alongside it.

While I wasn’t in the mood to cook, I did it anyway and in the end I was glad I did. I knew it would be healthier for me and I saved money. If you don’t have time to cut up veggies, try purchasing them already cut for you; while some of the nutrients can be lost when veggies and fruits are cut too far in advance, it’s still a better choice than takeout. You can find stir-fry veggies in the produce section. You can also buy your favorite veggies and spend a little time one day early in the week cutting and bagging different vegetables that you will use during the week-this will make meal time a breeze.
While I did pretty good food wise this week, I feel the need, the want to clean up my diet a little more. I have this guilty habit of snacking on things that I don’t need-things like cheese, chips/dip, bread…while I don’t have a lot of these things at one time, I don’t actually need it. It’s time to reboot my system. It’s time to plan a time for my bi-annual 3-day cleanse.

Here’s my version of a fast,easy stir fry which totally beats take-out, especially mid-week!

Hearty, Healthy, Satisfying

When you eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, do you feel satisfied? Do you savor the moment and the flavor and do you give yourself time to slow down and enjoy your meal? I try to but I don’t always succeed.

Most of my dinner time meals are relaxed and wholesome. My breakfasts and/or lunches aren’t always slow and enjoyed. Sometimes I even make an odd choice for breakfast, I often do it backwards; remember I mentoned I love sandwiches? Too often a breakfast choice for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s usually a healthy sandwich filled with spinach or a lot of green leafy lettuce and leftover meat or sometimes completely vegetarian-it depends on leftovers. For lunch I’ll often make a hummus or avocado dip and eat that and carrots, celery, broccoli or cauliflower. Sandwiches and dips…my favorite foods.

Last night I had the desire to make split pea soup since there was a mild chill in the air and nothing smells better than a homemade soup simmering slowly. I didn’t follow a recipe, I rarely ever do-I’m not sure then why I’m addicted to cookbooks! The soup came out so delicious and it was simple to make so I thought I’d shaer the recipe with you.

Dawn’s Split Pea Soup
2 cups split peas, rinsed & drained
2-3 qts. water
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/3 lb. bacon diced small ( I used bacon raised locally, Hollis Hills Farm)
Simmer low 1 hour, add
1 onion, chopped
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2-3 stalks celery sliced thin
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
more water if needed-it should be thick but smooth
Simmer for 40 minutes longer. Add freshly ground black pepper & enjoy!