Have you tried to eat healthy and failed have you wondered if there are enough foods to keep you happy eating healthy were you influenced as a kid by your parents style of eating like clean your plate club or eat everything to get dessert beliefs that restrict our ability to change are many times under the surface and if we don't address them it can be an obstacle or stumbling block to try to eat healthy or make any change in our habits.

By incorporating these strategies into your daily routine, you can cultivate a healthier relationship with stress and build resilience to navigate life's challenges with greater ease and confidence. Stress is not the enemy it is a God-given emotion that helps us act and do. By preparing our body physically to react to the stressor, and believing it is helpful prepares us for action. You can do hard things.

Stress can be a motivator, and it can even be essential to survival. The body’s fight-or-flight mechanism tells you when and how to respond to danger or a perceived threat. However, when the body becomes triggered too easily, or there are too many stressors at one time, it can undermine a person’s mental and physical health and become harmful. The ability to regulate emotions, manage stress and use effective coping tools is vital to your health.

Relaxation Techniques fill your toolbox with effective stress management techniques. When you practice one or more of them daily, you lower your set point for stress and develop resilience to bounce back when stressors show up. Effective stress management will improve the quality of your life, and the longevity of your life, as well as free you from the effects of chronic stress, which is harmful for your health.

… if you start your day at a high set point, like 5 because you stayed up to late and now what to snooze, you can increase that number significantly with the other foibles life tosses at you.  This is one way to live, reacting verses being pro-active about dealing with stress.  The person in the example doesn’t view stress as a motivator (Kelly McGonigal TED Talk) and doesn’t practice any tools for stress management.  They simply take the temperature of the “room” and see it that is going up, knowing at some point, they are gonna blow. 

What you eat is important.  Where it came from is important.  How it grew is important.  Why?  Chemicals typically cause cancer…there are enough in the air, and in so many products – you should care not to eat them.  Food can be healing; it should be nutritious, and it can restore health!  It is up to you, and your choices.  That is why Lifestyle Medicine was born.

If you need help with your nutritional goals (or any goals), I’d love to help you 1:1 with health coaching. Most of you know what you want to do but cannot bridge the gap between you and your knowledge and the healthy eating habits or lifestyle you want to achieve. Health coaching assists you in adding “boards” to build that bridge from “here” or where you are currently at over the chasm of overwhelm, not knowing where to start or lack of an action plan. Each person has a unique way of getting to the other side, and that’s where a NBHWC comes in, like myself.

Starting the day with good fuel (food) helps you with the rest of the day’s choices. When you make one good choice it fuels the next one.

Starting the day with protein and complex carbs, not only will this keep you full longer, but you will also be feeding your brain as you fuel your body. Eating protein and complex carbs helps keep blood sugar levels even through the day so you are not ravenous for your next meal or need a between meals snack to keep blood sugar levels up after they plummet from a simple carbohydrate choice.

Eating a meal together is an intimate time where life is shared. Deep bonds, times of sharing, and even laughter knit people to dine together closer. There are emotional and physical benefits of eating a meal together.

The second foundational habit is that of meaningful connections. Over the next few blogs, I am challenging you to focus on the basics of connection. When our relationships have structure, function, and quality they promote good health and can prevent chronic conditions like stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and a high BMI.

This path made me think of our path in life…sometimes we must face the drizzle and take a step. Today I was hyper focused on the path, making intentional choices.

If you’re struggling with your health and want to make changes but now sure where to start, or failed in the past, I feel like this year many experts agree, including me; that focusing on these 5-8 essential/foundational behaviors will give you the framework to get started no matter where you are at. In my event, I provided education, the focus, and the framework.

Adding stairs to your workout or as part of a quick movement break for 10 minutes is beneficial in so many ways. It can take your walk around the house or workplace from blah to yeah! You can boost your endurance, heart rate, and do more in less time by adding stairs.

Take a walk, dance in the house, or maybe try something new like stretches, yoga, or swimming.  You will build confidence if you do “something”, it will help build the habit and you will feel success. Take January as a time to keep it simple, verses diving all in. Start small like I discussed in January 8th’s blog post and over time build the habit.

By now the reality of a new year is here.  You’re back to work or routines and need to re-focus after the holidays. I am challenging you to COMMIT 10 minutes of activity each weekday for the next 4 weeks.  Weekends are optional and can be your “break/rest”.

Will this be the year you win the war in your mind? Are you ready to make changes but don’t know where to start because you’ve failed before and aren’t sure you can do this alone?

The basic needs we have must be met to raise higher on this graphic, but with joy, we can have this at any level. Joy is not dependent on circumstances or what happens externally to us. I’ve seen it in the lives and faces of people in third world countries who by American standards “have little to nothing”. They are content, despite their basic needs not being met. They have tight families, villages, and community support.

By practicing particular emotions – like joy, calm, gratitude, and positivity - you can "rewire" your brain. Lisa Feldman Barret says, "Your brain grows new connections that make it easier for you to automatically cultivate these emotions in the future." So when you start to feel a negative emotion, such as sadness or frustration, you can more easily swap that negative feeling for a positive one, such as awe or gratitude.”

Belonging is the sense of ease and joy that you feel when you are truly present, and this is possible in any moment alone, or with others. Often, you don’t feel like you belong because you’re caught up in your personal feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and doubt. These all steal your joy. You are pre-occupied and unable to be mindful, present, and engaged with others. Your mind is racing in a crowded room, you feel alone even in a crowd.