Hi Sugar! Bye Sugar!

Sweet, sweet sugar. The stuff of songs, and tenderness, pet names and food cravings. In present, also the stuff contributing to myiad health problems. What is your relationship with sugar? Do you eat it? Do you crave it? Could you not eat it for a day? A week? A month?

I’ve decided to play a little game… I am going to “break-up” from my relationship with sugar! However, I’m not a cold-turkey kinda girl. I tend to jump in and out of things more gradually. I’d like to create new patterns. This isn’t about force of will but rather creating a new lifestyle habit.

My plan is to experiment with a variety of time-frames. First a day. How does that feel? Then a week. A month? Can you ween yourself off this sweet, sweet substance? How would that feel? Have you done it before?

Would you like to join me? The no sweets-no sugar support group? ;D

 

Institute of Integrative Nutrition Weekend Two

Why are you not looking after yourself better every day all day?

Listen. Listen to yourself.  Listen to others. Listen to your body.

Macrobiotics: A way of living with respect for the physical, biological, emotional, mental, ecological and spiritual order of our daily lives.

Strive to learn balance in all we do.

Complementary opposites.

Cravings: The body trying to create homeostasis.

How can you think more for yourself?

Water.

Air.

Exercise.

Where do I want to live so that my body and spirit thrive?

Give generously of yourself.

View everyone and everything with gratitude.

Live happily: Focus on what’s new and good.

Sing a happy song every day.

Develop a sense of humor.

Focus on what is right.

Be Patient.

Promote food literacy.

How can I influence food policy?

Love yourself enough to make yourself a priority.

What is new and good in your life?

What are you really hungry for?

 

Sweet and Tender Love for Trader Joes

Sweet Tender Love for Trader Joe’s

Thank you Trader Joe’s for supporting my single, small- kitchen habits… I appreciate having you near.

1. Vegetarian Tamales from the Fresh Food Section

2. Organic Tomato Bisque in a Can

3. Dried Tart Cherries

4. Home-Made Corn Tortillas

5. Pacific’s  Organic Original and Chocolate Almond Milk

6. Organic Micro-Greens

7. Lemon-Ginger-Echinea Juice Splashed into Water or Tea – Served Hot or Cold

8. Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil

9. Peach Salsa

10. Organic Oatmeal Packets – Great for Travel

Do you have a Trader Joe’s in your neighborhood? What are some of your favorite healthy products? Do you have particular items you buy and use consistantly? What are a few TJ’s treats you long for?

 

Institute for Integrative Nutrition – Weekend One

Let the beauty you love be what you do.

~ Rumi

I’ve just returned from an amazing first weekend with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City!!! I’ve joined 1500 other like-minded people from around the world committed to improving the health and happiness of Americans which therefore radiates around the world.

Being healthy is NOT complicated!!!

IIN respects bio-individuality.

IIN remains neutral –  Different foods work for different people.

IIN promotes primary foods as well as edible foods.

Primary foods include the myriad ways we nourish ourselves – for example – relationships, work, intimacy, sexuality, love, spirituality, family, hobbies, etc…

IIN practices deconstructing cravings:

What is the underlying imbalance?

What is going on for me?

How is my body trying to recreate balance?

IIN values healthy, wholesome, fresh, preferrably organic foods.

Simple is best.

Cooking is an art form.

Food is for sharing.

How can your food nourish you and your relationships?

Treat everything like it matters.

Everything is an opportunity.

IIN offers excellent tools to provide wellness services for clients to recognize how food and lifestyle affect health, happiness and quality of life.

As a wellness coach I am excited to support you to identify and achieve your health and personal goals.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions…

Thank you!!!

 

New Year Goals and Resolutions

What have you committed to for 2009? Have you created a structure such that you will be held accountable for doing what you said you want to do?

It’s common for people to begin a New Year with health resolutions and to set goals for themselves. It’s just as common for people to fall off the wagon and not follow through…

I have committed to two major and exciting goals for the beginning of 2009.

First and foremost I am thrilling to be a part of another life transforming training. By the end of July 2009 I will be a Health Counselor certified through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Have you ever heard of it? They train hundreds of people every year in health, nutrition and lifestyle management. It entails 7 months of study and ten weekend visits to New York City. I see it as a personal and professional adventure.  I intend to UP my sophistication factor, learn how to travel with ease and confidence, visit and stay with a multitude of people in New York, improve my health habits, and continue to design a lifestyle based upon my dreams.

My second goal that I just spontaneously committed to is to run my second marathon. I ran the Big Sur Marathon in 2001. On May 31st, 2009 I will run San Diego’s Rock N’ Roll marathon. Already this has been one of those BIG commitments that feels SO good. I feel energized and excited to plan and work toward such a positive and motivating event.

What is one big goal you could commit to this year?  What excites and inspires your passion and makes you feel alive? How can you make this the best year of your life?

 

Holiday Season 2008

I’ve been blogging for a year now and what a year it has been! This has been one of the hardest and yet at the same time THE  MOST wonderful year of my life!!! In 2008 I traveled to Spain with my sister. I sold my Pathfinder, bought Penelope the Prius, and put almost 30,000 miles on her. I drove to Maine and back. I visited with friends and family up and down the California coast and across the country. I reconnected with long-time friends. I made new ones. I experienced some of the deepest, dark depression and recovered my sunny sense of self. I’ve grown and stretched and opened like never before… I’m full of gratitude… ready and eager to unwrap 2009!!! Thank you for your love, support, kindness, understanding, presence, forgiveness, caring, sharing, and multitude of other gifts.

This holiday season I’ve chosen to abstain from mainstream gift giving, socializing and other hoopla. My priorities are work (I realize I took a cumulative FIVE months off this year!!!) and family. I ducked briefly into stores the last few weeks and found wild-eyed people anxiously fighting for parking places, navigating aisles, and loading carts full of stuff. I smiled gleefully thinking of my non-existent gift lists and my well-paced calendar of events. I feel light and unburdened by obligations. Don’t get me wrong. I love gift giving and take great pleasure in thoughtful acts. I certainly plan to give a few… Gifts that are easy and meaningful. Gifts that feel good. And I plan to celebrate. I look forward to shared meals and time with friends and family, but I won’t miss party after activity after party. This year is about simplicity, gratitude, joy, nature, eco-conscious choices, sharing time with people I love, financial responsibility, and extreme self-care. This year is about supporting local, staying close to home, relaxing, and appreciating the simple abundance of my life.

The 2008 holiday season is all about values. It’s about quality of life. What does that mean to you? How can you practice more quality and less quantity this year? What do you value most about the holiday season? What can you do differently to ensure you are living those values?

 

Wellness Tools

The new year is almost upon us… 2009!!! Do you find yourself mulling over the last year? What did you set out and create? What did you want to create for yourself and didn’t? With the holiday season stepping up full force many are grappling in particular with health and weight issues. Are you comfortable in your body? Are you taking good care of yourself? What could you do differently in 2009? Are you willing to establish new and healthy habits? What is one thing you could do starting today to take better care of yourself?

This link provides a variety of fun, easy tools to calculate healthy body weights, body mass (BMI), caloric intake and more… Check it out!

Keep me posted on affirmative New Year resolutions… not what you aren’t going to do… but rather… what ARE you going to do…

What do you want more of? What sort of experiences do you want to have in 2009? How do you want to feel? What habits do you want to have as a part of your daily life? What sort of conscious commmitments to your health and well-being are you willing to make for 2009?

 

He That Cannot Ask Cannot Live

“He that cannot ask cannot live.”

~ Old Proverb

Inquiring minds would like to know… Do you question life? Do you question others? Do you question yourself? Are you willing to consider these questions?

What are you grateful for?

What are you afraid of?

What can you do to face one of your fears right now? Today?

What is one new thing you would like to do?

What are your greatest qualities?

How can you make someone else’s day a little brighter?

What are your life goals?

How can yesterday’s problems be today’s motivations?

Are you making the most of your one wild and precious life?

What is the craziest thing you want to do?

Who/What has had the greatest impact on your life?

What do you really want to be doing?

Who do you want to be with?

What inspires your passion?

What is missing in your life?

Are you willing to take risks?

Who do you love?

What do you love?

How can you be a better listener?

Do you surround yourself with good and like-minded people?

Do you listen to your heart?

Please add to the list!!! What is a favorite question of yours? What do you regularly ask yourself or want to know of others?

“A man is what he thinks all day long.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

…this post was inspired by lyved.com…

 

Monterey Green Building Expo 2008

Monterey’s own Green Building Expo will be held at the Monterey Conference Center on Wednesday, December 3rd from 2pm until 7pm. Come by and hobnob with stars in our community who are leading our local, creative, green and sustainable revolution. There will be speakers, booths, refreshments, free goodies, music and endless possibilities for education, inspiration and a general all-around good time!

 

Metta = Lovingkindness

May I be happy.

May I be well.

May I be safe.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

May you be happy.

May you be safe.

May you be well.

May you be peaceful and at ease.