New office space. New contacts and opportunities coming in. Deadlines abound. Missed calls from good friends. An imminent move to a new home--something I've been needing and wanting for years. A home.
And what's keeping the machine running? Good food--both what I eat and how I live.
Right before I left for Miami in early February to attend the Immersion Conference hosted by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I did what I had done so many times in my life and decided that eating a lot of sugar was the way to deal with the stressors that were building each day. What happened? I got two back to back colds. And it wasn't pretty. And it wasted my time. I had less energy and a foggy head when I needed efficiency and productivity.
That ended my sugar fix.
What helped me come to that conclusion? Well, try spending four days with this crowd:
There was no way I could spend 4 days around such inspirational people and life-giving speakers and come home and even think about continuing to get in my own way. IIN has taught me more about making progress and making change than any education I got anywhere else in my life.
The way to progress is to set concrete goals, action steps for each one and eat healthier food. It isn't easy--grabbing donuts, muffins and pizza is far more convenient. But those choices only make things harder, slower--more arduous.
Why make an already jam-packed life MORE complicated by eating things that make thinking feel like running a marathon in jello?!
Dumb. I know better. So I did better.
Here are some tips I follow each day to work against the flow of old habits that want to bring me down:
- Say It and let it go: When I want to eat something that I know won't serve me I say, "I want a scone." and then I wait 10 seconds. I then say, "I don't really want that. I only said it because..." I honor that the craving is there, but don't feed it because I know it won't serve me later.
- Reach Out. No one does this work alone. My friends call me. I call them. We connect, we listen, we encourage one another on facebook. It works!
- Prioritize veggies: I am between apartments right now so my home-cooking is temporarily at a level I'm not lovin'. It's temporary. It will get better, like most things in life. In the meantime? I seek out veggies every chance I get and make sure I'm eating them in balance with other healthy foods. Always make the best choice of what's available.
I am grateful to be living a life that feels like a canvas. Each day I get to wake up and paint another part of the picture that is my ever-evolving life.
I will be very glad when I have a home with a full kitchen so I can store life-giving foods to create and sustain more balance in my life. Take a moment to appreciate this if you've got it--and begin to clean out the cabinets and fridge of any food that does not feed your body and rejuvenate your SPIRIT!!
