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?