How's your Relationship with Food?

We all know that some relationships in our lives cause stress. If you had to make a list, which five relationships in your life can be stressful? Does your list have five people on it? Maybe there are only three. BUT, are you forgetting anything? While practicing as a health & nutrition coach and a personal trainer, I have discovered that most people have a stressful relationship with food.
Food literally causes stress in multiple ways. Food can cause emotional stress, mechanical stress, time stress and digestive stress. In reality, FOOD PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN YOUR HEALTH. Food can help to keep you healthy but also make you sick.
It is so much more than something to grab when you are hungry. If you are not sure where to start when you decide that you want to lose weight, you should begin with your relationship to food.
Most of our food habits are formed when we are young. Most of today's adults were taught not to leave any food on their plates, and that they should eat everything. (this could have been due to money fears or sympathy for people that had nothing, so we should not waste, or simply because that's what their parents were taught. Another issue is our need to have everything (including food) immediately. We live in a world of immediate gratification, but that is not always a benefit, is it?
I know some people who feel that if they are at a buffet, then they must taste everything, even if they are already full. Is that a mental thought or is it because they love food? Can they really be that hungry? Maybe it's because they paid one price so they want to get their money's worth. What is their intention going into the buffet? The only consistent reason for the above examples comes back to the premise of: the person's relationship to food. I think you get my point.
So, how do we change our relationship with this small four letter word which can control our lives?
First, define yourself. Do you live to eat or Eat to live?
Next make a list of your five favorite meals and how often you eat them. Do any foods on that list appear there because there is an emotional tie? Can you identify what triggers you to eat or reach for a cup of coffee, an ice cream cone or a bagel. I know all of those foods taste good and are easy but they all have other emotions and needs attached to them.
Add a section for when you eat. Do you skip meals (maybe breakfast?), eat all day (a grazer) or only eat at designated meal times? (because it's in the schedule.) Listen to your body. Know your intentions before you eat.
Next, write down all of the positive things in your life. What is going well? Think about all aspects such as work, family, friends, exercise, spiritual, children, parents, financial, goals, etc...
When you have completed the list of positive points in your life, look at the list more thoroughly. Are there any specific parts to the positive categories that may not be exactly how you would like? Are there any parts of your marital relationship that may be lacking? How about exercise? Have you reached all of your financial goals that you set for yourself? Do you set aside time each day for your spiritual self? Do you meditate, keep a gratitude journal or even sit outside with your thoughts each day.
I bring this to your attention for a moment, because when parts of the positive list are not exactly hoe we had imagined them to be, People sometimes fill the voids with food.
In order to get a healthier relationship with food, you need to get a healthier relationship with yourself. Sometimes, it's in the layers within ourselves, where you will find true healing and acceptance. When we take that hard look at our lives, how we had imagined them to be and how they actually are, that we find reasons for our eating patterns. As you clean up the food, you will reduce the stress and as you reduce the stress (and create more outlets for the stress) YOU WILL MAKE HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES, which will in turn lead to better health and better thoughts.
Your Food Cravings may actually be emotional cravings.

My Tip for you, is to start creating the list of all the good in your life. Review your list and decide which aspect of your life is the most important to begin to work on. Fill any void or talk about any issues you may be holding in. If that is to hard, get a journal and write a letter about your feelings. You don't have to mail the letter, but you need to release the feelings onto paper to get it out of your psyche. Once you release the feeling, it will no longer have a hold on you. Most likely, you feel feel lighter and happier, enabling you to make one better food choice in the upcoming week. CHANGE YOUR INTENTIONS BEFORE EACH MEAL. Another tip is to get a massage when you have completed that task.

Check back with your Stress-O-Mom-oter for more ways to reduce the stress food has in your life. It's just too much for one blog.

www.coreandmore-fitness.com

Is Stress getting the Best Of You?

It's that time of year again. The days are getting shorter (literally) yet our lists of "to do" is not getting smaller. Holidays can be stressful on so many levels for people.
These last 6 weeks of the year come and go like a whirlwind , and while they are blowing through, they may be stirring up many feelings.

Stress starts coming at you as you spend money on gifts and/or worry about not having enough money to spend on gifts.
-A lot of unhealthy foods are served
-Many Holiday parties lead to too much food and alcohol
-Time constraints are heavy. We become even more over-scheduled at this time
-Parents of Teens may feel the pull from school sports, which don't allow for to much vacation time
-Memories of Loved ones that are not with us can become a focus, causing you to feel sad
-Thoughts of what you don't have may surface
-New Year's resolutions come full circle, and if you fell off the path to yours, feelings of inadequacies may surface.
-Weight Gain through this holiday also may cause depression
-People tend to be very hard on themselves for lack of restraint

These above stresses are just some of the conscious causes of stress. Hidden stresses are present too. These are things such as exercise, what and when you are eating, chemical stresses , sleeping patterns and many other things that also add to the pot.

I could go on and on, but the list will change depending on who's reading this.

My advice is to try and focus on the positive of each and every potential stress causing event. There can't be bad in the world or in your life, without good. Both exist with each other in balance. It's Yin and Yang. It's all a matter of how we deal with our own circumstances.

Here are some suggestions for keeping yourself calm and grounded through this season.

Be thankful for challenges and general conflict. These problems are usually temporary, and if not, there are many ways to learn from them. Optimally, you will want to learn from a challenge, and if necessary make changes from your inner core. There will also be many beautiful and perfect days. The key is keeping a balance in your mind and heart, knowing that you can overcome anything through your intention to change.
Tips to deal with stressful situations:

1. Breathe Deeply - taking a deep breath naturally relaxes your body and mind. Breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale with small force, through slightly parted lips. 10 of these breathes literally resets your nervous system, helping you to reground yourself.
2. Remember that your situation is temporary moment in time and will pass. You may feel more control realizing you have the power to change it. Change your thoughts on the subject, WILL CHANGE THE OUTCOME too. At least it will change your perceived stress level of the problem.
3. Take a walk, run, or include other methods of exercise into your life. This will allow your body to release tension.
4. Remember to take care of you. Nothing makes a stressful situation worse, than being run down and being on automatic pilot. Life takes thought. Write down your goals for your sanity and what steps you will take to accomplish them.
5. Take a moment to find some quiet every day. Take time to set your Intentions for the Day. Doing so will help you to refocus and feel more in control of your life.
6. Listen to relaxing music, be outside or use a guided meditation CD.

Despite how you may feel, you are in control. In the end, it is you who controls the elements of your day, week, month, and year. Your thoughts drive your actions and eventually lead to the outcomes you experience. Change your thoughts to the positive side of every situation. Remember to be THANKFUL for what you have and what you want to have. If you can remember this, when problems seem to be too big to handle, you may have an easier time making changes in your life. You will gradually begin to feel less stress in your life.

So, tomorrow, remember....take a deep breathe, step back, and remember YOU ARE IN CONTROL. Visualize the end, recall it's only temporary and that you can do things to make it better. And most importantly - Smile!

Do you eat the same 7 foods in different ways?

7 Foods and 7 Exercises are what most of us fall back on, all the time!!!!! Did you know there are actually over 400 edible fruits and veggies in our world? I bet most of you just rotate your basic 7 foods and eat them over and over, but just prepare them using different methods.

You are in a rut, but more importantly you are not giving yourself enough of a variety of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to keep you at your peak HEALTH. Try something new...be DARING!!! It will take you between 3 and 5 times of tasting a new food before you will like it and really want to eat it again. You will be happy you branched out.

Another suggestion would be to try and eat seasonally, in other words, primarily focus on the foods that are grown in the current season. There is a reason you may crave apples, cider or fresh apple pie in the fall. The same can be said for squash. Do you look to eat more strawberries, blueberries and melon in the spring and summer? How often to you want to eat something ice cold during the winter or want a hot bowl of soup during the summer? Our bodies are inherently smart and know what they need. The problems arise when our Minds lead the way. We are so influenced by advertising and yummy sounding foods that we ignore our inborn food wisdom. Think about it, how can a blackberry be fresh in NY during December? Are they growing in your backyard? They are not in mine, under the ice. Get it???

Pay attention to your body and try to quiet your mind when choosing foods. Try new things. I recently tried a protein source, Bison Strip Steaks, which I never thought I would eat and they are amazing. It was not until the 3rd time, that I tried it that I truly loved it.

Try this Recipe:
Brush a small amount of olive oil, sea salt, garlic powder and pepper on the steaks.
Pan sear the steaks in a very hot pan on the stove for about 3 minutes per side.
Keep steaks warm on a plate when cooked. Add some ghee or butter to the pan, with shallots and some red wine and saute the sauce.
Add steaks back to the pan and finish them in the oven at 375 for an additional 10 minutes. You can add sauteed onions to the steaks before adding finishing int he oven.

Bison is a healthier meat then traditional sirloin. It is rich in Omega 3 and CLA. Whole Foods sells the steaks or you can buy a high quality at U.S. Wellness Meats.

The same principle is applied at the gym. Most people do the same 7 exercises at the gym. You can probably find at least 207 exercises to do perform. If you are an exercise repeater, ask a trainer at your gym for some suggestions. Maybe you want to find a trainer with online access to programming. For a nominal fee, you should be able to find a qualified trainer to help design programs for you with animation on how to perform the exercises in a safe way. If money is limited for this, look online, ask a friend or buy a high quality dvd and switch with a friend. Whatever you do, pay attention to your Core and Total Body movements and not just your chest, biceps and triceps. Learn to do a squat and lunge and then combine them with other movement patterns.

Good Luck!!!

Tip of the Day: Get beyond the number 7 and reach for 8, 9 and 10 (to begin with) One small step to change in food and exercise will eventually open you up to more small changes in your life and opportunities.