Would I do it again? Absolutely. Just not right away. 😉
End of Day 3, and the experiment draws to a close. Other than 4 kalmata olives (who can resist, when you're eating the same soup for the third time), I suppose you'd say it was successful. Maybe it's the protein-deprivation (or the caffeine or the alcohol or the sugar) but I'm feeling rather ambivalent. I suppose I should be excited that tomorrow will open up with new menu choices, but actually I'm going to miss the ease of approaching a meal without having to think it through. Eating healthfully and well is work. Period. It requires commitment, dedication and planning. The best options are not always the easy options, especially when eating out or shopping in Berks County or even just living through the holidays. But we do what we can, when we can...and let go of the rest, including the guilt. Tomorrow, it's back to reality, to listening to clues about what I need AND want, and setting the intention to make the best possible choice in any given moment and situation.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. Just not right away. 😉
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As we speak, I'm chomping down on a most-succulent salad that tastes better than any steak ever did. But let me explain.
I am, generally, a healthy eater and more so since I discovered the effect that real food has on both my mind and body. Like the rest of us, I have my moments. But this year, the holidays - aka decadent desserts, caffeine, yummy cocktails, fun and family and way too many animal products and grains - have taken a greater-than-usual toll on my physical and emotional well-being. Having found them to be counterproductive and a source of anxiety and guilt, I don't do "resolutions" any more, but I was looking for a way to start the year with freshness, a reset for both my taste buds and my habits. So on Saturday, I gathered my schedule and my resolve, my recipes and my grocery list, and headed to Giant. For ~$55, I purchased everything I needed to embark on the 3-day adventure. The truth is, at that point, I even built in an escape hatch: the option to bail if it got just too difficult or uncomfortable. Sunday morning began with a filtered water-ginger-lemon-tumeric drink (great for detoxifying but certainly not up there with mint juleps for taste) and some light-hearted teasing from my family. I was concerned with the preparation of the green drinks, since I do not own a juicer, but breakfast was easily prepared with a Vitamix and some cheesecloth for straining. Lunch - the same salad I'm enjoying today - is actually one of the best I've ever had, a mix of sweet and bitter greens, plentiful avocado, english cucumber, parsley, cilantro and cider vinegar-lemon-olive oil dressing. Mid-afternoon snack, fresh vegetable soup for dinner and lots of water and camomile tea brought Day 1 to a close. I can honestly say that deprivation was not a feeling I experienced. This morning, I awoke lightly, clear-headed, and feeling just a little shaky. Teaching a couple of fitness classes was challenging, lacking somewhat in my usual stamina. I won't bore you (or gross you out) with the details, but already there is an unusual and amazing detoxifying that is taking place, manifesting in a variety of ways. All symptoms easily manageable. What is surprising even to me is how really good I feel. I have no desire to attack the pile of Snickers bars that somehow ended up on our dining room table. There is a sense of calm yet energetic centeredness in my body that is similar to that which accompanies the end of a deep meditation. My stomach is definitely flatter, and I'm down a couple of pounds and I'm certainly not missing the unpleasant sensations that often accompany indulgences… and while all of these perks may or may not last, they pale in comparison to this feeling of well-being. Will I make it through Day 3? Will the feel-good last? Yet to be determined… keep you posted... What are the goals that you've put on a shelf? What dreams have been tucked away for way too long? It's NEVER too late, and with the dawning of a brand new year, time to start fresh… let's bring them out, dust them off and find the support and the tools to make them a reality!
It's been an amazing summer, hasn't it? Back now in the reality of workshops and and wellness fairs, last night I took a few moments to myself and indulged in a bit of nostalgia. I began wondering how many more of these gentle turns of season I have left to witness. It always catches me off guard, somehow: the realization that it's just too cool to step out without a sweater, or that the lushness of summer has magically been replaced by the crisp golden of autumn. And, after a time of incessant goings and doings, trying to make the long warm days last forever, the shift never fails to cause me to turn my gaze inward. My meals become heavier and earthier, my clothing more snuggly, and I yearn to create yoga practices that are more subtle and deeply nurturing.
If you are also feeling the need for some autumn TLC, please check out my newest offerings. Under the tab "infusion workshops", I'm sure you'll find something to enhance your already divine spirit, or to cultivate some new and lasting healthier habits. Spread the love, share the experience with family and friends, and let's make this inward turning one that extends beyond the season. Best in vitality, integrity & excellence, 💖Valerie Maybe it's my Canadian upbringing (conservative, British influence, thrifty, you know what I mean), but I have been known to love fine things at a great price; thrill-of-the-chase and all of that. So... it's been a while and I've been busy but today marks the day I deliver of the first orders of Symmetry Essentials (for the full story, see the Symmetry Essentials tab on this website). I hope you get a chance to try these amazing, high quality, plant-based essential oils that have become such a part of my life. Last chance to register for an hour of fun and learning - registration deadline has been extended - look forward to seeing you there!
Whether you want to lose weight or boost your health, discover how to Swap Smart, and how good, clean and delicious food choices can crowd out the bad. Swap Smart foods are less caloric, more nutrient dense and contributors to sustained weight loss and well-being. To maximize the benefit of this workshop, participants are encouraged to carry a small notebook for one week prior and, without changing regular routines, log all dietary intake. Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013 Time: 6:30-7:30 pm For: Members - free Non-members - $5 (payable at program) Presenter: Valerie Willms, Wellness Coach Special feature: Gift package of featured Swap Smart whole foods ranging from grains to a delicious sweet treat available for $10. Please reserve at time of registration and pre-pay by April 17. Register: By April 17 to Kathi Gassert or in person at Body Zone’s 2nd floor Wellness desk For more information: Kathi Gassert Assistant Director of Wellness & Aquatics 610-376-2100 x284 Many of us are trying to do the best we can for our health and well-being, more of us these days it seems, and especially when it comes to our diets. And most of us on this quest are wise enough to have discovered that there is no single superfood, no magic bullet to good health, and no perfect eating plan. It is our intention to make the best possible choices each day that takes us closer to our goal. However, the fruits of those intentions are all predicated on access to good information and solid science from which to make the choices that are best for our unique body and needs.
If you're thinking about embarking on a healthier way of eating, if you've been battling weight gain or even obesity, if you've been told you are at risk of a heart attack, if you're taking or are about to begin taking statins like Lipitor, and even if you think you know the whole story based on government guidelines and your physicians recommendations, PLEASE give up an hour of TV today to watch this presentation by Dr. David Diamond, a neuroscientist at the University of South Florida. In 2011, he presented his research findings summarizing a hundred years of independent nutritional science in a presentation entitled How the Government and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic. In my opinion, it's not the "whole story" of eating well, but it is certainly an eye-opener when it comes to the mischaracterizations and falsehoods that many of us grew up accepting as fact - and the reasons why they were fed (no pun intended) to us in the first place. Watch, learn, talk to your friends and please leave your comments below... let's keep this conversation going... http://www.cas.usf.edu/news/s/169/#VIDEO:%20Bad%20science,%20big%20business%20created%20obesity%20epidemic Do you sometimes have a tough time choosing? I had this conversation with a woman in the grocery store last week, as we stood in the cereal aisle (with overwhelmed looks on our faces, I'm sure) pondering the literally hundreds of available options. According to chacha.com, there are currently 387 different kinds of breakfast cereal on the market, each pulling your eye and your stomach in a different direction. Exponentially multiply this scenario and you have life in our country in 2013. Any wonder you experience some indecision?
The day-to-day, mundane choices are difficult enough, let alone the ones with greater implications, but a moment of clarity a few years back led to a realization that, for me, was an aha of some magnitude. What I realized was that what had previously felt like a lack of clarity and indecisiveness on my part was arising from the fundamental nonexistence of a "framework" from which to make my choices. I had no idea of just what the point was... and how can you possibly decide which way to go when you don't know where you want to end up? Armed with this new awareness in the grocery store, I made some decisions. My framework became highest nutritional content which, after some information-gathering, then made my selection a fairly simple one. So what was my framework going to be when making choices with more far-reaching consequences? Quite simply, for me, it was to redefine the purpose - the framework - of my life. I discovered it, summarized eloquently as always, by Deepak Chopra in his assessment of the true purpose of each of our lives: "we are alive to love and be loved, to seek our highest calling, and to seek enlightenment". In light of this framework, every challenging decision now becomes an opportunity to ask, "Is it loving? Is it advancing my path? Is it leading to growth and understanding?" This doesn't always mean that decisions (or their consequences!) are easy, or that I always make them well, but it sure does pare down the mind-blowing array of options. And Lucky Charms are quite simply no longer an option. Why is it such a struggle to just give our attention to the most important person – the one in front of us right now - and to give that same affirmation of value to the moment we’re in?
What a high price we pay, when we get so caught up in our heads that we forget how amazing the moment can be, a moment just like this morning… Here was the reality: Warm and cozy in my car, on the country road that I could navigate with eyes closed, with the world all around me – every tree, leaf, yard, rooftop - of the purest white and breathtakingly beautiful. You know, you saw it: each flake it’s own unique size and shape, dancing thick and floating on the deep silence that only that kind of snowfall can bring. How absolutely magical in end March, the last hurrah for another two or three hundred days… And here’s where I was: First, in the past: “I hope I locked the door; I wasn’t expecting this; I can’t believe I had to get out my boots; yesterday was so busy I know I’m forgetting something…” Then, in the future: “I know this is going to make me late; I wonder if anyone will show up today; I have to remember to pick up bananas…” Bananas? Really? I missed it, and now it’s gone. I was profoundly touched this morning by Deepak Chopra's wisdom, which began with a quote from noted physicist Albert Einstein. "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant." Deepak goes on to comment, "we have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
I can tell you of the moment when this sacred truth hit me like a tanker truck crossing the highway. For years, I had struggled with the nagging sense that there was more, another way perhaps, something bigger than the life I was living. Never did I expect that the "bigger" had more to do with an interior expansiveness than it did with any exterior circumstances. By all objective criteria, I was living the dream. I was a "good girl"; had always played by the rules and other than the occasional rebellious moment, had pretty much done exactly as the voices in my head - culture? society? family? - instructed. This day, I was lying on the floor (on a yoga mat, surprise, surprise!) half-tuned to the gentle voice of a master trainer when suddenly I realized that I could feel - literally feel, in a physical way - the essence of myself. I love words, and yet have been unable to find any that adequately describe the experience, other than perhaps mind-blowing. Nothing like it had ever happened to me before, and hasn't since, and it was months before I spoke about it for the first time. Everything changed for me in that moment. It was confirmation, I suppose, that all that for many years had danced around the edges of my consciousness, all that was not "rational" or "intellectual" was, in fact, valid. Since, life has not been easy, but it has certainly taken on a much simpler quality, like an inner whisper that says in every moment, "everything is exactly as it should be". Right now at oprah.com, there is a basic meditation series - 15 mins a day, no commitment (complete with Deepak's daily insights) available for free for 21 days. Wishing you your own experience of the validity of your intuitive self! |
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