Aren’t
weekends always the best part of every week?
I don’t even mind that our weather is icky. I hope you are having an equally upbeat
weekend too.
This morning
we woke up to a light blanket of snow. I would guess we got about an inch of
frozen precipitation, mostly snow. It was just enough to be pretty but not
cause any serious problems. However
there was also freezing rain in the mix so we still opted to stay home since we
knew the bridges would be slippery and many of the sidewalks in the
neighborhood would not have been cleared.
Tomorrow the temperatures are supposed to climb so all the white stuff
will be gone.
Speaking of
white stuff, I heard from Christine at the marina this morning and she wanted
me to know that she and Tim had shoveled our pier and specifically the smaller
finger pier leading to our boat just in case we came to the marina today. Wasn’t
that incredibly thoughtful of them? It
is good to remember that there are a lot of nice people in the world. It really is a shame that the people that
most of us focus on are the jerks.
*shakes head*
What have
you thought of the posts so far this month? Do you have any favorites yet? The
reason I am asking is so that I know what topics you would like me to write
about in future posts. For those of you
who are just joining us here is the recap of what we have accomplished so far
to remind us all of how much we have covered during the first 20 days of
January:
Day 1 –
Defined Success and What is/was Holding Us Back
Day 2 –
Determined our Purpose and Looked at Passion
Day 3 –
Listed Our Goals for January
Day 4 –
Listed the Things We Have Needed to Work on for a While
Day 5 – Looked
at Optimism vs. Pessimism and Fear vs. Intuition
Day 6 – Practiced
Conscious Eating
Day 7 – Hara
Hachi Bu
Day 8 –
Taking the Stress Out of Meal Time
Day 9 –
Acknowledgments
Day 10 – No
Excuses, Do it Anyway
Day 11 – Is
it True?
Day 12 –
Have You Really Connected With Someone Today?
Day 13 –
Motivation is a Decision
Day 14 -
Successfully Navigating Dinner at an Unfamiliar Restaurant
Day 15 -
What Do You Want, Have You Asked?
Day 16 –
Treating Others as You Wish to be Treated
Day 17 –
Food as a Budget
Day 18 –
Silence Your Inner Critic
Day 19 –
Replace I Have to With I Want to
Day 20 –
Identifying Your Rituals
Did the post
yesterday help you to identify your unhealthy rituals? I used to have many
unhealthy rituals back in the bad old days.
I hope seeing all the things that I used to do wrong gives you hope that
you can change too. Sometimes I get the feeling
that many of you think I came out of the womb healthy and nothing could be
further from the truth. I used to be the average American just like you. If you ever have any questions about my
transition to a healthy plant-based whole food diet please ask. I am happy to
help you any way that I can.
Face Your
Fears:
We all have
things that we are afraid of and that is good because fear is also what helps
to keep us alive. If we didn’t have fear we would do stupid things like walk
alone in bad neighborhoods or picking up strangers who were hitchhiking. Fear
definitely serves a healthy purpose in life.
However as useful as fear is it can also limit our growth if it stops us
from trying new things. I am going to use my life as an example so that you can
learn from things I have done, both right and wrong.
About a year
ago I signed up for a nutrition program which was very different from anything
that I ever thought I would do. In case
you hadn’t noticed I am extremely analytical (probably partly due to my education
in finance). Attending a program which
was holistic was the last thing that I ever thought I would do and actually I
was afraid to do it. My husband knows me
well and encouraged me to break out of my tight little analytical box. He knows just what to say to me to get me to
move. His words of advice, “What is the
worst that could happen that you don’t learn anything?” Okay so I couldn’t actually argue with that
logic so I signed up 2 days before the session started in January 2011. In early December 2011, just before all the
medical chaos starting swirling, I graduated from the Institute for IntegrativeNutrition (IIN) and now I am a health coach. What am I going to do with this? Actually that is not fully defined yet but I
am working on the specifics each day and when I know I will let you know. But one thing I do know is that I am more
convinced now than ever that I want to help people improve their health. I know that here in the US we need to make
serious lifestyle changes and if I can help anyone to improve their help I will
be thrilled!
Earlier this
week I signed up for Robbins-Madanes Strategic Intervention Training
(getrmt.com). I decided to do this
because I believe that where people need help making lifestyle changes isn’t as
much with the specific dos and don’ts but it is putting those strategies and
rules into practice. Like I have said on
the blog many times I think we all have a general idea what we need to do but
we don’t know how to make it happen.
This was also something that Dan had to push me to do because again I
wasn’t sure given how different this is from anything that I have ever studied
before that this was going to work for me.
Are you starting to see the fear pattern in me?
Signing up
for both IIN and RMT was way outside my comfort zone. To say that I was afraid
to do this was an understatement. However I also realized that if I didn’t do I
would remain afraid of doing things that were different from my experience to
date.
These are
not the only examples of things that I have been afraid to do there are many
more these are just fairly recent. When
we first made the jump into veganism I was also afraid. How would I know what to make for us to
eat? Would be get enough protein? What do you vegans eat? Will our friends think we have lost our last
marble? Will be ever be able to dine out
again? The funny thing is that other
than learning to cook like this everything has been fine. Now that I can make healthy food as easily as
unhealthy food we have no difficulty eating at home or in a restaurant. Sure our friends think we have gone over the
edge but I am okay with that. All I need
to know is that we both feel good and other than the recent emergent medical
event everything has been going well for us health wise. I still chuckle at the
idea that I ever worried about getting enough protein. I swear that we have all been brainwashed
into thinking we need to consume animal products. I often wonder if the beef or dairy council
is behind it.
Every time I
changed jobs in the past I was afraid.
What if I hated my new boss? Maybe
the staff I was inheriting would all quit to follow their prior boss. What if things were too messed up for me to
fix? As you can tell I was very good at
making stuff up? Why do humans do things
like this to themselves?
Many years
ago I was afraid to get into a relationship with Dan. What if he was like my
ex-husband and I ended up hurt again? It
took both of us years to actually commit to each other, we lived together but
we didn’t marry because we were both afraid that this marriage would end poorly
like both of our first marriages had. In
retrospect I can’t imagine my life with anyone other than Dan and I have no
idea why it took me so long to stop being afraid of commitment the second time.
But this is a great example of the problem with fear. Had I never taken the risk I wouldn’t be
married to my best friend today.
Do you see
how fear can limit your choices if you let it?
Like I said earlier, fear definitely has a purpose but most of the time
it isn’t our friend because it stops us from taking any risks even ones that
can be good for us. If we want to move
forward in life, to continue to grow and learn we have to be willing to take
the risk and face our fears.
What I want
you to start thinking about is what are you afraid of? I know there is at least one thing (probably
many more) that you want to do but that fear is holding you back because to be
afraid is human nature. I have designed
some questions to help you figure out what you want to do and why you aren’t
doing it. I will answer them too to give
you an idea of what I am trying to get you to think about.
Today’s
exercises are:
1.
What is something that you have wanted to do
for a long time that you haven’t done because you are afraid of a possible bad
outcome? Maybe you want to lose weight
but you think you have tried everything, except a diet like ours, and you know
that you can’t do that because it is too limiting for you. (Are you sure it is true? – you may want to
reread day 11 of this series)
Since I began taking courses at IIN I have
been talking starting a business helping people to improve their health. As you
all know health is something that I am extremely passionate about so this seems
like a natural fit for me. But fear of not being perfect has been holding me
back. Today I decided to tell you all
what is going on in my head in the hope that it will inspire you to break
through your fear too. Believe me when I
tell you that sharing this part of me on the blog is definitely scary and now
that is it “out there” all of you can, and hopefully will, hold me accountable. *eek*
;-)
2.
Describe at least 3 other times that you
pushed through the fear that the situation turned out well. If you want to describe more than 3 even
better. The purpose to remind yourself that the little voice (the fear) is
frequently wrong. Don’t let fear hold you back from becoming the best you
possible. You can use a lot more detail
than I did I was just showing you some examples of things I was afraid of that
worked out well.
·
Marrying Dan – that is an obvious one and I
can’t imagine what life would be like now if I had not done this. *shakes head*
·
Leaving healthcare finance – This was terrifying
when I did it but one of the best decisions that I ever made. Now I have no idea why I waited 2 decades to
do it.
·
Starting the blog – Yes I was even afraid to
start the blog initially. I am not tech
savvy like my husband so I felt like a fish out of water. Also I couldn’t
imagine that anyone would want to read a blog about healthy cooking,
particularly healthy vegan cooking. I am
very glad that I was wrong on all counts.
·
Taking course at e-Cornell, IIN and
Robbins-Madanes – I can’t speak for the last one yet but I am happy that I did
the other two. Part of me thought I was
too old to learn new things and I am happy that this was not true. Additionally taking the first two courses
clarified for me that I really do have a very good grasp of nutrition and that
was huge for me. Not to mention that IIN
is pushing me out of my comfort zone and into business which I know that I will
love once I break through my fears.
3.
How would your life be different if you pushed
through the fear and did what scares you?
Darn I hate this question! Since I have thought about this so much I can
tell you all the possible pit falls and many of the benefits. However since it does no good to continue to
focus on the negatives I am only going to look at the potential upside which is:
·
I could help people improve their health and I
can think of nothing that would be more meaningful to me.
·
I would be able to show people that they can
eat a very healthy diet, inexpensively and easily and could tell them first-hand
about the health benefits of such a change.
·
Knowing that I was helping others to avoid
cancer, heart disease and diabetes through lifestyle change would make me feel
as though I was making a positive impact on the world. After all none of us want to think that our
time on earth is for nothing.
·
I would like to be an active financial
contributor to the family again. Most of
our relationship I made as much or more income than Dan so not contributing has
been rough on my self-esteem. I don’t
think anyone wants to feel like they are a net drain.
·
I believe that I am fairly good at helping
people to identify what is holding them back from making change and I think this
is at least as important as giving them recipes, menus or lists of things to
eat and to avoid.
·
I would feel better about myself if I knew I
was helping people. Although I think that I am helping people with the blog
without the interaction I am never certain.
It would be nice to have the one-on-one contact with people and to see
and hear about their progress.
4.
Whatever you identified in item 1 above now
you need to commit to taking the first step.
In order to hold yourself accountable I want you to tell someone what
you have committed to do and when you will do it.
·
I have been working on a separate website for
my new business. I will be sharing that link with you on February 10th. That will force me to get it finished and to
put it out there for everyone. I had
originally planned to share it with you on February 1 but with all the time I
am putting into writing the 31 days to better health series I don’t know that I
can get if finished and be happy with it.
Wish me luck on this one. With starting
classes at RMT I have no idea how much time I will have. Can you tell I am feeling pressure already? LOL
Are you
ready to tackle one of the things that you have been avoiding because of fear? Just pick one thing that has been on your
list for a while and jump in. As my
husband would say “what is the worst thing that could happen?” In my mind the worst thing is always failure,
but I am working hard to see that mistakes are nothing more than learning
experiences and when we stop learning we also stop growing.
Good luck
on taking your first step to breaking through something that scares you. I know
you can do it. If you want to share here
what you are committing to do I think that would be fabulous.
Progress on
my goals:
1.
Newsletters – Friday was another productive day
for me which feels great. I love being
able to see the progress that I am making.
*woo hoo*
2.
Body Bugg – I continue to wear my bugg and I
have gotten back into using the way I had intended when I purchased it. Go me!
J
3.
Date with Dan – The hubby and I have spent a lot
of time together this week. I am always
surprised that after more than 2 decades we never run out of things to talk
about.
4.
Measuring
calorie dense food – I am making a little progress on this but I really need to
focus on it with every veggie meal to help my body absorb the fat soluble
vitamins.
5.
Working on my business – I spent a little time
on my other website yesterday. I am making progress on it but I know that I
need to just let it go as is at some point and stop trying for perfection which
isn’t possible.
How are you
feeling about your progress so far? I always
feel like my progress is slower than I would like it to be. However I trying to
focus on the fact that there is progress and that Rome wasn’t built in a
day. ;-)
Are you starting to see how my little inner perfectionist creeps into
every facet of my life?
Random
Thoughts:
I am always
surprised by some of the Google searches that bring people to the blog. One
that I saw last night seemed particularly relevant so I wanted to write a
little something about it. The search
was “how long after going vegan do you see results”. Since I am not certain which specific results
this person was wondering about I will simply tell you about our experience.
We made the
transition from omnivore to vegan but it wasn’t vegan like we are now.
Initially when we went vegan we still ate oil (but in moderation), salt (again
in moderation) and we consumed a lot of starchy carbs like pasta, bread,
etc. Even with this less healthy diet
there were tremendous results in three weeks.
My husband total cholesterol dropped from approximately 260 to 160 in literally
three weeks. I would have thought this
was a fluke but Dan’s cholesterol has remained at this level or lower ever
since.
In addition
to the rapid drop in cholesterol there were other changes which we experienced
these included: blood pressure
reduction, elimination of seasonal allergies, weight loss and dramatic
improvement in our gastrointestinal health and all of them happened in a matter
of weeks not months. The first couple of
weeks there were headaches and an increase in skin problems (rashes and acne)
but those went away in less than a month. None of these side effects were bad
enough that I wouldn’t go through them again.
The headaches were mild and did not impact my ability to function. I am not certain but I suspect the headaches
and skin problems were how my body was eliminating accumulated toxins. I hope that gives you an idea about what you
can expect from dietary change like ours.
Acknowledgements:
Have you
made any progress writing acknowledgements?
I hope are working on this exercise. I find that it helps me stay
positive and recognize the things that I do every day. Here are my acknowledgements:
·
Friday was productive at my house and that felt
good. I got a little cooking done which
was nice. I also spend some time studying
and I love to do that so it was a very good day all around for me.
·
Yesterday (Friday) was the first day Dan was out
of my sight other than when he was sleeping at the hospital and I was
home. I was surprised that I was able to
stay as calm as I did. Apparently my meditation has more of a calming influence
over me than I ever expected.
·
I was very happy to see the comment from Susan
yesterday about sticking with her healthy eating goals this year. I love to hear that people are making
progress and I am thrilled to play a small part in that progress. Thanks for
sharing that with us Susan. You can expect me to write a post about cheese very
soon just for you. ;-) I used to ADORE cheese and considered myself
a “cheese-aholic” so I can definitely relate to your dilemma. Trust me you can give up cheese as impossible
at that seems. I never thought that I could
and I have gotten to the point that I not only don’t miss it but I wouldn’t eat
it unless there was literally no other food on earth. How is that for a turnaround? There really is
hope for you too. J
·
I made smoky mushrooms yesterday without an
indoor smoker and they turned out fine. I love it when I take a recipe and
simply the method so anyone can make it.
Go me!
·
It is wonderful to know that we have a big jar
(literally 64 ounces) of split pea soup in the refrigerator. There is nothing more comforting that bean
soup on a cold snowy winter day. Yay me
for planning!
Friday:
Breakfast
for Dan was his favorite smoothie with frozen banana, frozen cherries, raw
kale, walnuts, ground flaxseeds, cocoa, cinnamon, stevia and enough water for
it to process. As cold as it was outside I was surprised the he wanted this but
he did.
I made
myself a salad that was very similar to the pasta dish we had for dinner the
night before. The salad included: baby
spinach, shredded carrot, walnut sauce with sriracha, and cilantro.
Lunch for me
was leftover veggie sushi which Dan brought home from Jesse Wong’s. My hubby knows how much I love veggie sushi
so he brought it for me even though he didn’t know that I wanted it. Dan is a good husband. J
Before
dinner Dan and I went for a nice walk through the neighborhood. It was great to
get outside and enjoy the fresh air. I
always enjoy how different the neighborhood looks by foot instead of by
car. Here in America I don’t think that
most of us spend enough time walking.
Dinner for
us was a very simple meal of whole wheat pasta, frozen organic veggies (corn,
carrots, peas and green beans), topped with tomato mushroom sauce and finished
with pine nuts. This meal came together in the time it took to cook the pasta.
Sometimes even I am not in the mood to cook.
;-)
Happy
thoughts:
Have you
gotten into the habit of writing your happy thoughts? I find it helpful to remind myself how often
things go well and that I shouldn’t take these things for granted. Here are my happy thoughts:
·
Dan’s temperature is still normal and he
continues to feel more like himself. He was even out shoveling the sidewalk this
morning after our overnight “snow event”.
Things are definitely returning to normal around here. When he came in
from shoveling I did make him a triple earl grey green tea with fresh orange
juice to help him warm up. I wanted to
go outside and do the shoveling but he wouldn’t let me. Sometimes my hubby can be as stubborn as
me. ;-)
·
Dan really had a good time with Dan Jr. at
lunch. The boys are going to try to get
together for lunch at least once a month going forward which I think sounds
great.
·
I am also happy for sushi for lunch
yesterday. It wasn’t only because I love
sushi but because my husband proactively thought to bring me sushi. I really did marry the right guy for me didn’t
I?
·
I have been enjoying the first four videos on
the RMT training. They are definitely outside my comfort zone but I think that
is great. I was telling Dan last night
that I will need to watch them a few more times so that I can “embody” what
they are trying to teach me. However I love to learn so I don’t mind a bit.
·
I am also looking forward to part 2 of the IIN
training starting in March. Yes I will
be doing two programs at once (RMT and IIN Immersion), daily exercise, daily
meditation, daily uplifting reading, staying current with nutrition research,
starting a business, continuing to work with my current clients, taking care of
my family (Dan, fur children and my parents), working on the blog, developing new
recipes and getting in some much needed boat time for R&R. You did know that
I was a glutton for punishment didn’t you?
If anyone tells you that retirement is boring don’t believe them! I have heard it said before that if you are
bored it is because you are boring and I think there is a measure of truth to
that. I hope that seeing what I do every day will
inspire a few of you to get into the kitchen and cook a little more often. While I may not have a “traditional’ 9-5 job
I am definitely not lounging around either.
·
Dan is going to work on putting together a
walking desk for me so that I can study and get exercise. Isn’t he a sweetie
pie? I really do have the best husband in
the entire world. Of course I am not the
least bit biased. LOL
Signing Out:
I love how snow makes everything look so clean
and bright. Snow is really beautiful
especially when you can enjoy it from inside the comfort of your warm
house. I thought we weren’t going to get
any measurable snow this winter so I was happy to see it finally arrive. Winters here are always late. We tend to get most of our snow in February so
there is still time for us to get a little more. I would like to see that happen but I would
prefer it to happen on the weekend so that I didn’t need to worry about hubby
trying back and forth to work in it.
If any of
you have any questions about IIN be sure to ask. You can send me an email at veganepicurean@gmail.com or you can
comment here. It would probably be
easier for us to talk by phone so that you can get all your questions answered
if that works for you. Send me an email so that we can exchange phone numbers and
set up a time to chat.
For now I
have to run, I have lots to do. It is
time for me to get productive. As you now know I have many things on my to-do
list and there never seems to be enough time in the day to get to all of them
the way that I would like to. I think
there is truth to the saying that if you need something done give it to the
busy person since they always find time for things.
Enjoy the
rest of your Saturday! If you have anything
fun planned I would love to hear about it.
My weekend will be a lot of work.
Talk with you again soon!
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