You look in the mirror and  you don’t see yourself anymore. You see a stranger who needs help. She/he is a mess, they’re overweight, underweight, they look tired, bloated, dulled complexion, sad, lost, and defeated.

Sometimes it takes hitting a brick wall in the hypothetical sense in order for us to make changes. We get to a point where we just can’t take it anymore, we get sad, mad, then determined and that determination can drive us back to the person we know and love.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of new fads, a different way of thinking every two weeks, or the latest train of thought in someone else’s opinion of what is good for the body such as gluten-free living, Paleo dieting, raw foods diet, vegan, vegetarian, supplemental dieting, etc. etc. etc. – the storm of latest-greatest just keeps flowing until POP! You feel like you hit a brick wall and you’re feeling overwhelmed. You might hit so hard that it throws you backward onto your butt leaving you staring at the blank wall, speechless. My suggestion is to thank that brick wall for stopping you in your tracks giving you time to re-assess your situation and intentions and to decide if you want to continue or to change course.

Each of us is different and that is a beautiful thing. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for the next and I know that it’s absolute truth. Step back, take a deep breath and reset your goal. When you are at a complete stop and want to make changes in your life is when you will be able to find what works for you best. Make a move to whole foods as often as possible. Let go of your past  since it no longer matters and it doesn’t serve you. Change your focus to those things and people that do spark your energy. Freedom is a clean start!

I would LOVE to help you reach your ultimate-self. It doesn’t matter how far away you are, we can work together from any distance.

• Want to know what foods help you best?
• Want to process and discard any past pain?
• Want to find out what lifestyle improvements fit you?

Let me know why you’re fed up, what you would like to change, what is holding you back or anything else that;s on your mind; begin your change now…why wait? Email me, it’s always confidential.

I’ve heard it said, ‘what you resist persists’. I believe that to be true. I’ve seen it in others and I’ve experienced it myself. Like waves on the shoreline, they persist to reach you.

How often have you searched for an answer to something or direction in your life’s path and felt your subconscious knew the answer but you resisted or just didn’t see it? Sometimes we can search so hard for something that has been in front of us all along. We find excuses why it’s not the answer, we might think it’s too obvious or not a big enough task to undertake; how can something so small or so simple actually be the answer? Isn’t life supposed to be harder than that? If it seems too simple or too obvious, clearly it cannot be the right answer so we resist and keep searching, ultimately making our lives more stressful and difficult than is necessary.

If you’ve been searching for the answer to something and you can’t seem to get results that make sense, it’s time to step back and take inventory of what thing or things keep coming back at you. Maybe it’s a thought, an idea, an item or a person or business; whatever it is, find the one thing you have in common with that thought, idea, item, person or company. If you find something attractive with that thing that keeps presenting itself to you, no matter how silly or impossible it may seem to you, try it out. Go with it and see how it may work. That might be the key that opens a bigger door for you. Everything begins with small steps before it takes flight.

Resistance sometimes is your comfortable place and it’s often necessary to stop resisting and run with that thing that keeps showing itself to you in many different ways. When you keep searching instead of noticing it you miss out on enjoying your own success. Break your bond with resistance and see how far you can go when you open your mind and heart to even the tasks that seem feeble.

In the same notion of your resistance, choose to be more persistent in what you want. Persistence can work for you as well! Never give up despite how difficult your dreams, goals, work, plans or what-have-you may seem.

I’ve never been a stress eater, in fact, I’m more of a stress non-eater. I forget about food, I’m not even hungry during stressful situations. We all react differently to stress and we can react differently to each type of stress we encounter.

For some of us, frustration or feeling lack of control in a situation will cause us to eat, and often we will choose hard, crunchy items – things that make noise to get our non-verbal point across or to simply ‘vent’ in solitude.Maybe you’re bored, so you eat. Maybe you lose hope, care or interest in your best health and/or goals so you sabotage your ‘diet’; only to feel regret later. Other times we might feel lost, lonely, and out of touch and so food becomes our friend, our comfort.

Recently, I have noticed a pattern with my own behavior. Winter brings long and sometimes lonely nights, lonely days and some kind of sadness for me for several reasons that I’ll get to another time. Recently, having accepted the winter routine, I found myself at peace with it and with my mealtime habits. I wasn’t eating as much, I didn’t snack much at night and I was feeling pretty good, inside and out. I felt an energy inside and a positive I can do anything attitude; then came what many people feel is their own special day, my birthday; it came and went, barely noticed by the one person I’d expect to celebrate my day. It brought me down. I worked on letting it go but it wouldn’t let me go. The words “do unto others” keeps running through my mind. The week following, our schedule has gone back to normal due to no snow storms this week. The unsettling thing I have noticed is that all I want to do is eat at night I eat three meals a day plus healthy snacks throughout the day but when night comes and my S/O is home, I look for food. I feel my stomach turning, growling and my mind is filled with thoughts of food. I forage through the pantry only to find things I don’t want but eat anyways. I regret it later. I know that I have sabotaged myself.

Have you ever punished yourself for someone else’s actions or in-actions? Have you thought to yourself, “why should I try? why should I care? no one else does”? My guess is yes, you have. I have thought those same words and on the inside I know that statement isn’t true’ ‘no one’ else cares – no one is usually that one persona who is closest to you, that one persona you expect would care the most; ‘no one’ isn’t everyone, he/she is the only one in our eyes though. Don’t let this ‘no one’ allow you to treat yourself with less love and respect than you would give them.

When you’re eating from emotions rather than to simply fuel your body with healthy nutrients, step back and assess your situation. Write notes on your mood, your inner-most feelings, your actions, words, and self-thoughts. Make note of how your view yourself on the inside and on the outside. Do you see yourself as wholesome and worthy of self-respect? If you’re not respecting yourself, others won’t think you need or deserve it either.

Show yourself the kindness and nurturing that you wish for from others. Stop using food as your weapon of self-destruction. Don’t give others satisfaction of believing their actions/in-actions toward you are deserved.

Treat others as you wish to be treated; treat yourself as you expect to be treated.

Citrus fruits have many benefits including of course high vitamin C. Vitamin C plays a key role in the formation of collagen: a primary component of the connective tissue in the body strengthening ligaments, tendons, dentin, skin, blood vessels and bones. It aids in wound healing, tissue repair and helps against cell damage.

Citrus fruits are good sources of folate for new cell growth, helps the production of DNA, RNA and mature red blood cells helping prevent anemia.

Potassium, a mineral that helps maintain body water, acid and plays role in transmitting nerve impulses to muscles in muscle contraction. It also helps maintain normal blood pressure.

Phyto-chemicals (Phyto=plant in Gr.) in fruit and vegetables protect against various diseases including heart disease, cancers, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.

How much do we need to eat daily? 30-200mg./day. That equals roughly 5 servings of fruit per day.

Try This Recipe

Sweet & Tangy Citrus Salad

• 4-6 cups greens, arugula, spinach, baby lettuces
• 3 cups assorted favorite citrus fruits, Clementine, orange. Grapefruit, lime, lemon,
• ½ cup Strawberries, sliced or blueberries or both
• 2 Tbs. seeds, such as Chia, Flax, toasted sesame, pumpkin, toasted sunflower

Dressing:

• Juice of 1 lemon and ½ lime
• ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
• Combine and mix with whisk or in a jar until well blended. Pour over salad.

Are you working toward your goals and succeeding? If not, what things are getting in your way? What stops you from reaching your destination? Are you eliminating the unnecessary things in your daily routine or are you doing the same thing over and over thinking that eventually you’ll get the results you’re looking for? And an even bigger question, do you know exactly what your goal is, or is your vision a little blurry?

In today’s world of great distractions it’s easy to lose focus, to fail to complete your thought or intentions; it’s easy to procrastinate. The thing is, and you know it without me telling you, procrastination doesn’t bring us to our goal. Procrastination and distractions will eventually carry us farther from our goals. Don’t let these things lead you to failing to reach your dream.

Grab a pen and paper and write down your answers to the questions I posed above. Be truthful with yourself; open and honest. Write it, see it, read it…read it aloud so you can hear yourself say what your goals are. Keep your answers handy so that you can remind yourself of what you truly want daily so that you can reach them.

Here are a few steps you can use and should put into practice on a regular basis:

1 – Make a date with yourself. Once a day would be ideal but if you don’t think you can ‘fit yourself in’ start with once or twice a week. For daily, take just 10 minutes each day to focus on your desired goals. Sit in silence with eyes closed and have a mental conversation with yourself, to just breathe and be, and take time writing about your goal and how you will attempt to reach it today or what you did do to reach it today. If making time once or twice weekly, take an hour for plan your week ahead, to find peace within yourself and to dust off the old.

2 – Eliminate one thing you do that doesn’t serve your destination. All of us do things that we claim is for our own greater good but in reality it has gotten us nowhere; what is your thing(s) that has you spinning your wheels while staying in one spot?

3 – One day at a time. One of my most common pieces of advice is to set your intention every day; have a big goal in mind but break it up into daily goals – by doing this, you will be less overwhelmed and less discouraged and more likely to reach the big picture.

Always have a goal and always revive and renew your goals. Breathe new life into your dreams and do whatever it takes to reach them!