Vegging Out

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I’m a bit behind this week with my veg prep. I usually try to get all of my vegetables that I’ll need for the week washed and cut by Monday afternoon at the latest. This week I’m finally getting to it on Tuesday morning. With this lovely batch, I’ll be making a big salad for my husband to take for his lunches. I’ll also have some pre-chopped veggies for quick dinners. Lastly, the scraps will be used for homemade vegetable stock. This is an invaluable time saver. I use some frozen corn, peas and spinach throughout the week too, to fill in if I run out of fresh. So take a tip from a soon to be health coach. Investing the time at the beginning of your week to prepare your ingredients, will make you life so much easier later in the week.

 

 

Oh, That’s Pinteresting!

Hey kids, it’s been a hectic few weeks here at Enlightened Nourishment headquarters. Lots of snow days, runny noses, homework, writing and filming. This morning I decided that it had been way too long since I’d updated my blog and kept you in the loop as to what I’ve been up to.

Some truly lovely things are filling up my life lately. I have 3 wonderful health coaching clients that are working their tails off trying to improve their lives, one step at a time. Each individual session that I have with them, brings new discoveries for both client and coach. I can’t express how much I love this work. Together, we set goals and week after week, continue to reach them! I am so proud of them all. It takes a courageous person to look at their life and say, it’s time for a change. It takes an even stronger person to take the steps to actually make that change. So this is me saying, “Woo hoo!!”.

My book is coming along slowly, but surly. It is a no nonsense guide to how to feed yourself and your children, creating a healthier future. Thankfully, I haven’t been short on inspiration so far. My husband and kids have been the best source of data for me. Three men with very different tastes and temperaments. My husband, a life long picky eater. My oldest, a good eater, but a dawdler. My youngest, is finicky to say the least.

Also, school is still filling my brain with so much new knowledge, that I feel it may pop. Big, scary knowledge. We are well into the business end of becoming a health coach. This is a scary area for me. Nutrition comes easy to me, the money end of it definitely does not. Going in to this program, I wanted to save the world one person at a time. Of course, I knew that I also needed to eventually charge people for this help. On top of learning how to get paid what I’m worth, I am learning how to market my business to get an edge over my competitors. This is so not me. Before I started school, I pictured myself magically having lots of clients that would somehow just transfer money into my account without me asking or even talking about the “M” word. In reality, it’s incredibly hard for me to put a monetary value on what I do. I want everyone to be able to afford my services, but I also need to make ends meet. In the end, I have decided on a rate that is slightly higher than I am comfortable with, but lower than the “going rate” for health coaches. Blech, money talk.

Lastly, I had taken a rest from pinning for quite a while. I found it to be a big sucker of my time. However, I have found a new and wonderful use for Pinterest. I created a board called “Nourishments” specifically for my clients to follow. It’s full of recipes, food prep ideas, exercises and inspirations. Sure, anyone can follow it, and I hope that they do. But this way, if a client is stuck in a dinner rut or in need of a new workout routine, this can be their go to page. Go ahead, take a gander at the “Nourishments” board and let me know what you think!

Know your MSG

No-MSG

If you are someone that suffers from chronic migraines or high blood pressure, you should be aware that consuming MSG is a major trigger for both of these conditions. It’s not enough to check that there is no monosodium glutamate listed on the box or bag you just picked up. MSG goes by many different names. Here is list of some of the aliases that the food industry tries to slide past us, never mind the health risks.

-Hydrolyzed protein
-Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
-Sodium caseinate
-Yeast extract
-Hydrolyzed oat flour
-Yeast nutrient
-Autolyzed yeast
-Textured vegetable protein
-Calcium caseinate
-Yeast food

But did you also know that MSG can be hiding in harmless looking words (spices, seasoning, artificial flavors, natural flavors and flavoring)?

Basically, the only way to tell if you are getting MSG free food is to either not buy anything that comes in a package or make sure that each ingredient is clearly listed. For example, if the box lists the spices it contains (salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, basil…) go for it. If it literally says “spices” in the ingredient list, skip it!

Wow!

What an amazing weekend this has been! The inspiration alone has been groundbreaking. My present and future have opened up to me like a gorgeous, vibrant lotus flower. This has never really happened for me before. To see my year laid out so clearly and to feel so sure about every step that I will be taking, it’s an incredible endorphin rush. I’m trying to not be too obnoxious about it with my husband. I don’t want to overwhelm him with my giddiness, but it’s so hard to hold it in.

First, there will be my vlog series that will be featured here and on YouTube. That will be starting up within the next couple of months. Then there is the knowledge that by the end of this summer I will be a certified health coach, able to lead clients to their own brighter future. And most recently, I have begun writing my first book! This is perhaps the scariest and most exciting of all my goals for this year.

I am embracing that fear and turning it into exilhiration and drive. By stepping outside of my comfort zone, I am able to reach new heights that I never dreamed could be possible! Being a published author has always been on my bucket list, but until now, it never felt realistic. Now it’s more of a need to get my message out in to the world, to create a ripple in the sea of collective consciousness. See, told you I was giddy.

Lastly, when logging in to write this post, I was greeted by a notice that traffic to my blog has exploded beyond anything it’s had before. Now, I’m not one to usually care or even notice how many views I get a day. I like to stay grounded and write because I love to write. However, I must admit that seeing the stats today gave me a rush of pride and a renewed conviction for my life’s direction.

So, thank you everyone for making a glorious weekend even brighter. I hope that you are feeling even a fraction of the excitement for life that fills me today.

I’d love to hear what is new and good in your life that is making you feel like dancing today!

New and Good

One of the first questions that we are taught to ask while training to become a health coach is, “So, what’s new and good with you?”. It starts the conversation off on a positive note. It gets the client thinking about accomplishments and blessings in their life, as apposed to all the things that they feel are dragging them down. Though I’m not one to follow a script while meeting a new client, this question feels like a great way to start a coaching session.

So, what’s new and good with me? Everyone in my little family is relatively healthy and happy. I have completed the first quarter of my health coach certification. I recently quit my part time job in order to spend more time with my family in New York and concentrate more on my future career. My family and circle of friends is filled with smart, talented, hilarious and incredibly creative people that enrich my life daily.

What’s new and good with this blog? Well, the look is new and I think that’s good. This theme is a bit more simple and sleek looking than what it was previously. The other thing that I’m getting pretty excited about, is that I am planning to do a weekly vlog. I will be answering your questions (one or two a week) relating to nutrition and general health concerns. So, if you have a question for me, please e-mail it to enlightenednourishment@gmail.com. If I don’t answer your question here, I will respond by e-mail. Please limit your questions to health and nutrition. I can’t tell you if that mole looks weird or why your friend has daddy issues. See disclaimer below.

*I’m not a doctor (or a certified health coach yet), but I do know bucket loads of information related to these topics. The answers I give to your questions will be meant as suggestions or opinion only and are not to replace a doctor’s treatment.*

That’s it for today, kids. Can’t wait to hear from you and start vlogging. See you soon!!

The Religion of Food

Being a student again is amazing. I love being in a program that is so well rounded. I will be learning over a hundred different nutritional theories as well as learning how to become an effective certified health coach. It’s only been a little over two weeks and I feel like I’ve already learned so much. Most recently I’ve learned that to be a good health coach, one needs to just get over themselves.

The goal of a health coach is to guide the client in finding their best way of nourishing themselves. Each individual has their own needs nutritionally. They may have a history or family history of heart disease, diabetes, anemia, cancer, hypertension or thyroid issues to name a few. Ethnic background plays an important roll as well. So to guide someone in the direction of your own personal nutritional beliefs is misguided and potentially harmful to your client. The goal is to listen to the person in front of you and encourage them to listen to themselves to reach the best version of themselves. Not another version of you.

I’ve been witnessing several heated debates in the online discussion groups for my fellow classmates. One person will bring up a topic such as: How anyone can advise a client to get their protein from an animal source, when it is so clearly wrong and cruel to do so? Yes, this is a topic that is going to ruffle some feathers. Yes, there are people that have gone from meat eater to vegetarian and back again (myself included). For the most part though, people (especially health nuts like myself) have uber strong opinions on what is the best way to eat. However, forcing these opinions onto others won’t work as a health coach. If the goal is to turn everyone on the planet in to a vegan raw food-ist, you might want to consider a new career. The same goes for any other heart felt nutritional belief. It’s not about you anymore, it’s about that one person in front of you that is absolutely desperate to be healthy. That’s what we are signing on for.

The other day I was discussing this with a couple of friends and the connection was made that nutrition is like a religion to many people. They think they have the one true way of eating and everyone else just hasn’t found the “Truth” yet. Not to get too down on organized religion, but there have been a lot of wars and death in the name of “I’m right, you’re wrong”. The key is to respect the views of others and maybe try to find a common ground if possible. Get down off your veggie crate or stack of porter house steaks and try to look outside yourself and into the eyes of the person in front of you.

Back To School

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Today I started my new journey to become a certified health coach. I’ve finally begun my online courses at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. They have started us out nice and easy as to not scare us away with a heavy work load all at once, but we’ve been assured that very soon we will very busy little health nuts. We’ve been advised that we should consider ourselves to be entering medical school. Tell friends and family that they won’t be seeing as much of us and that we won’t have as much free time for social engagements as we use to. This is both scary and exciting to think about. This has been my dream for so long that I do want to go all in. Now, I just need the courage and stamina to get it done and come out the other side ready to inspire others.

Last week I created a daily schedule for myself so that I can stay on track and get everything done. Cooking, child rearing, car pooling, studying, exercise, meditation and yes, the occasional social engagement. Today got off to a bit of a rocky start as just at the beginning of it I learned that a dear friend’s mother passed away. It threw me. I lost my footing for a couple of hours as I have known and loved this family for 20 years. As I did eventually get back to my tightly made schedule, she and my friend remained constantly in my thoughts. I was able to get a large chunk of this week’s module done and have determined how much time I will need to dedicate to the remaining assignment.

Other than mourning my friend’s loss, I am feeling pretty solid about today. To all the children and adults going back to school this fall I say, stay focused. There will always be outside forces that can easily knock you off course. Just remember what your goal is. My goal is to graduate a year from now with more nutritional knowledge and a greater ability to guide others to a longer, happier life.