Happy Memorial Day!

I just returned from Las Vegas, where I really indulged - need I say more. I am now excited to eat some healthy foods and get back into my "physical activity" routine. We had house guests for the last  month - so needless to say I wasn't really in the healthy mode for the last month. But, now I am ready to rock and roll!

Concept of "Crowding Out " and a Kale Chip Recipe

One of the concepts that the Institute for Integrative Nutrition teaches is the theory of "crowding out," as an effective way to overcome habitual consumption of unhealthy food. The principal of crowding out suggests that you add more to your diet, instead of taking away. By adding healthy, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and grains, you will crowd out the unhealthy foods. The body can only take so much food. If you fill the body with healthy, nutrient-dense food, it is only natural that cravings for unhealthy foods will lessen substantially. The key to the crowding out theory is to drink lots of water and eat nutrient-rich food early in the day, to crowd out cravings later in the day. 

So, today I will be adding Kale Chips to my diet to crowd out some other unhealthy foods I might crave. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions:

1.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2.	With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3.	Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Primary Food

All that we consider today as nutrition is really just a secondary source of energy.

Think back to a time when you were passionately in love. Everything was exciting. Colors were vivid. You were floating on air, gazing into your lover’s eyes. Your lover's touch and your shared feelings of exhilaration were enough to sustain you. You forgot about food and were high on life.

Remember a time when you were deeply involved in an exciting project. You believed in what you were doing and felt confident and stimulated. Time seemed to stop. The outside world faded away. You didn't feel the need to eat. Someone had to come by and remind you.

Imagine children playing outside with friends. At dinnertime the mother reminds the children, "Time to come in and eat." "No mommy, I'm not hungry yet," they respond. At the dinner table, the mother feels that her role is to enforce the rules of good nutrition and instructs the children to eat their food. Eventually, the children force down a minimally acceptable amount of food and rush out again to play. At the end of the day, the kids return, exhausted, and go to sleep without thinking about food at all.

As children, we all lived on primary food. The same as when deeply in love, or working passionately on a project. The fun, excitement and love of daily life have the power to feed us so that food becomes secondary.

Now think of a time when you were depressed, or your self-esteem was low; you were starving for primary food. No amount of secondary food would do. You ate as much as you wanted, but you never felt satisfied. Even in good times when we come home at night, we often look into the refrigerator for something to eat, when all we really want is a hug or someone to talk to.

Primary foods feed us, but they don't come on a plate. Elements such as a meaningful spiritual practice, an inspiring career, regular and enjoyable physical activity and honest and open relationships that feed your soul and your hunger for living all constitute primary food.

The more primary food we receive, the less we depend upon secondary foods. The opposite is also true. The more we fill ourselves with secondary foods, the less we are able to receive the primary foods of life.

Every spiritual tradition encourages people to fast during the year so that individuals have time to reduce secondary foods, thus allowing for a greater awareness of primary food.

From Institute of Integrative Nutrition

BElieve

What do I mean by BElieve? Let's look at the definition of Believe and  BE.

Believe -

1. To accept as true or real

2. To credit with veracity (reality)

3. To expect or suppose; think

BE -

1. To exist in actuality; have life or reality: I think, therefore I am.

2. To take place; occur

After years of searching and trying to lose weight, I have come to the conclusion that the reason I have not yet reached my goal is not because I don't know how to prepare, cook and eat nutritious healthy foods, or that I don't know know how to exercise (I really know how to do that!), but  the fact that I never really believed I could lose weight or lived in actuality. Over the last year of so I have read numerous books, listened to many CD sets, attended many lectures, and study groups that all point to the fact that what we think (BElieve) in life is what we get in life. As I look back on my life is see this to be very true - I never doubted that I would graduate from college and graduate school, I never doubted I would live in exactly the house that I live in complete with the snow capped mountain in the background, I never doubted that I would be successful in marketing, or that I would become a college professor. But, I did doubt in other areas of my life - some came true and some didn't (That's another story for another time). I doubted and never really believed I would lose weight. I'm not sure why this particular area of my life is filled with such turmoil (Probably some emotional eating involved, but that is another story I will talk about later too.), but I believe I have now found the solution. I need to believe I can do it, and then it will BE so. I think part of the problem in the past has been that I was always going for the big loss - the big picture, but that was off my radar so I never believed it would happen. It was too much of a stretch for my imagination. Now I am going for smaller goals. I BElieve I will lose 10 pounds by June10th. There I said it. I really do BElieve now that when I am done with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition Health Coaching program I will be at my ideal weight.

Welcome to BElieve, Eat, Move

I am so excited to be starting this new blog that will chronicle my journey toward being a Health Coach. I will be posting about my experiences along the way in my ten month program with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I will also be sharing what I learn while in the program, and at some point actually be offering Health Coaching sessions utilizing what I have learned from the program, combined with what I have learned so far in my health and fitness journey.  This blog will also encompass what I think are the three components of successful weight loss, weight management and a happy, healthy life - Believing, eating, and moving. (I will explain in detail along the way.) So, enjoy and I look forward to hearing all your comments, suggestions and thoughts as you travel with my on my inspiring adventure.