What will be your metamorphosis in 2014?

 So long 2013.  As I look back to the last 12 months, I have a lot to be thankful for.   Now I look forward to seeing what 2014 has to offer.  Each New Year is a birth of possibilities.  We get a fresh, untarnished year as a blank slate on which to create.   Most people make New Year’s resolutions.  This year my resolution for the New Year is simple.  I want to stress less and be good to myself more.

We wear stress like a badge of honor.  We believe we aren’t really working if we aren’t overwhelmed.  Life can come at us from every direction.  There is the family, the kids, the messy house, the demanding boss, the horrible bumper to bumper L.A. traffic and a million deadlines.  On top of that, there is the voice in our heads telling us that we aren’t doing enough, we aren’t trying hard enough and that if we only could work a little bit more we wouldn’t be letting everybody else down.

All this stress is downright unhealthy.  As a food and weight loss coach, my job is to help people live a healthier lifestyle.  Yet I struggle with one of the unhealthiest habits.  Stress is bad for the entire body.  It causes inflammation and puts us into fight-or-flight.  The whole body from our immune system to our digestive system to our metabolism shuts down creating a disastrous situation.

I want to be good myself and forgive myself for not having everything under control at all times.  I want to appreciate taking time for myself to just enjoy moments.  I want to stop during the day and just feel myself breath.  Conscious breathing is good for our health and reminds us that we are so fortunate to be alive at this very moment.  Because no matter how many stressful things are happening in the moment, we only get one life. 

I urge everyone to make improved health one of their New Years goals.  This can mean handling an illness, eating better, exercising more or being supportive of yourself emotionally.  Making yourself a priority declares to the universe that you matter.  It is finding the greatness that already exists within.

Now that seems like a great way to fly into the New Year, don’t you think?

Knocking out your Cold like a Heavyweight Champ

It is a normal hectic day.  In the midst of juggling your report for work, the traffic, the kid who forgot  her school lunch and the dog who got himself wrapped up in toilet paper, you feel a tickle in the back of your throat.  It is ever so slight but persistent.  Then the congestion builds up.   It’s probably just allergies.  Then there it is…a sneeze!  And you think to yourself, “Nooooo…I don’t have time for a cold!!!”

For many people the start of a cold also translates to the end of their diet.  Either they stop eating, or they resort to comfort food to get them through.  My favorite part of being sick as a kid was soda!  When I was sick my mother would pull out the sacred two liter that was out of my reach on most days.  Soda was my reward for feeling miserable.  This has translated today to me wanting to drown myself in Venti sized sugary fun as soon as I get the sniffles.

The problem is that it is even more important to eat healthy during times of illness.  You need lots of vitamins and minerals to fuel your immune system.  That way it can go nine rounds with the pesky virus until it is thrown right out of the ring.  Antioxidants, which are found in highest concentrations in fruit and vegetables, are especially important.  So if you eat a colorful salad, you are basically giving the virus invader a one two punch.  On the other hand, processed, refined fatty foods like a bagel with butter and jam, a greasy hamburger or cheesy nacho chips will actually deplete the body of the vitamins and minerals it needs to stop the virus. 

Do you know the ingredient that really depresses your immunity?  It is lurking in the tea with honey, cough drops and orange juice that for many are the main line of defense.  Give up?  The answer is sugar and it will actually reduce the reactivity of your immune cells.  These cells have the job of fighting off the virus.  When you consume soda, honey and a pint of ice cream, you are basically welcoming your virus to give you a smack down!

So the bottom line is you should eat healthy fruits and veggies, good quality protein, lots of whole grains and plenty of water.  You can pop vitamin C pills, take Echinacea as well as Astragalus.  Supporting your body and your health during times of illness will keep you on track to continue on your diet once you recover.  

And now you that you've recovered like a champ, you'll be ready to fish your iPhone out of the toilet, finish that unexpected work project, avoid that drunk text from your ex and deal with all the other craziness that enters the ring.

Losing at the Game of Perfection

I meant to start this blog entry 2 weeks ago, then last week, then a couple of days ago and it was still on my to do list today.   I was waiting to find a time where things would be perfect.  I would have the best idea, be well rested so my writing would be sharp and have my words flow onto the page as if Maya Angelou herself were dictating them to me.

The end result of my trying to be perfect: I never even typed my first word.

Where did this idea originate that things have to be flawless to be worthy?  When did we start thinking that success meant a straight path from point A to point B?  When did a small pebble in the path translate into an inescapable avalanche of rocks and boulders?

As a weight loss coach, I see so many people label themselves defeated from one day or week of eating “bad foods”. To me, foods shouldn’t be labeled as good or bad anyway. There are better choices and less good choices but no food should be completely off limits.   Too bad many people consider their diet a failure after one less than ideal day.

Here’s a novel thought.  What if the first step of any diet would be to write ourselves a forgiveness letter?  This letter would give ourselves permission to stumble, eat a fattening food, and have a bad food day.  We would promise to pick ourselves up, love ourselves, and keep going in the morning. 

At the end of the day, a mistake, failure, hiccup or whatever else you want to call it is a valuable gift we give ourselves.  Anyone who has achieved greatness has fallen many times first.  Failure allows you to learn from your mistakes.  Think of it like airplane turbulence.  Just because your ride is bumpy doesn’t mean you don’t get to your destination.

For better or worse, I finally wrote this blog entry. Surely there is a typo somewhere.  Maybe a fragmented sentence. It might not be perfect, but who said it had to be?  I kept going, and that is the true sign of victory.