Next Stop Health Coach

This will be my last day posting on this blog. I started the next leg on my health and fitness journey yesterday with the first day of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition Health Coach program. The program is ten months long, and at the end I will be a Health Coach.WOO HOO! I am so excited to be taking this next step in my journey. It just feels right! I have started a new blog called Believe, Eat, Move where I will be posting about my health coaching education, and my experiences along the way. I think the last year was a prelude and warm up for this year - which I BELIEVE is going to be awesome. So, come on over to BElieve, Eat, Move to continue to follow me on my journey. See you there!

It's our responsibility to find a new way to respond to those who consistently react to things in an irrational or unhealthy manner. You are not here to change them. Your job is to change your response to them. This shift in perspective can truly change your life. You don’t ever have to be bothered by that person’s consistent reactions to life again, you just let them be them. ~ Healing w/ the Masters

Addicted to Cheese?

Hmmmmm....why do I like and crave cheese so much? This article explains it well. I need to break this addictive cycle.

From CNN online.

Many people say they could never be vegans because they can't give up cheese. Why is cheese so addictive? Dr. Barnard explains that a major source of addictive compounds in cow's milk is casein. Casein is a protein made from a long chain of amino acids. About 87% of the protein in cow's milk is casein.

When we digest milk or other dairy products, not all of the casein is broken down into individual amino acids. Some of it breaks down to short chain proteins, each containing several amino acids. These short chain proteins are called casomorphins, and they are addictive compounds. Nature designed it so calves would be addicted to food: to their mother's milk.

Cheese is basically concentrated cow's milk. When we eat cheese, we get a big hit of these addictive opiates. Have you ever eaten a large amount of cheese and been constipated afterward? The constipation was caused by the narcotic effect of the casomorphins. We are not calves, and we should not be drinking cow's milk or eating cheese.


Think about the foods you can't resist. Are they whole plant foods? Probably not. Nobody ever got in the car and drove to the 7-Eleven or a fast food restaurant at 11 pm to buy a head of cauliflower or a can of black beans, did they? 

Think about the foods you can't resist. Maybe you are addicted. Hmmmm....like I said I know for me it is Cheese and probably Sugar too. For my husband I know it is Meat. I think we may be eating a lot less cheese, sugar, and meat soon in order to propel the health journey along. 

Neal Barnard, MD, author of Breaking the Food Seduction, names four common foods or food groups that are addictive:

• Chocolate
  
  
• Cheese
  
  
• Sugar
  
  
• Meat

Do any of those ring a bell for you?

It is official....I am going back to school again...But not for what you would think!

No. I am not taking a real estate or marketing or business class. Believe it or not. LOL! This time I am going to be getting my Health Coach Certification. Yes. That's right. Me - a health coach!! I have enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition's  online Health Coach Certification program. The program starts in mid-May and lasts 10 months. And, when I am done I will be a Health Coach.Woo Hoo!! I am feeling that this will be the next step in my journey. I also plan to get a Personal Training Certification, as well. I think I may just be on my way to a new career. Not, that I don't like real estate and teaching. I just feel like I want to combine my love of helping people, teaching, fitness and food, gardening, with a little mind/body work thrown in for good measure in this new turn in my life. I am going to be living life as if... as if I am already there. I think being in a program with many like minded people who are all interested in health will propel me to my goal. BELIEVE! I must believe. We must all believe we have what we want even before we have it physically in our lives. Soon I will be starting a new blog too - more about the principles I have learned along the way and will learn in my certification programs about health and fitness, mind/body and spirit. Oh boy! Things are going to get exciting now! The next step in my journey begins....and I am excited!

The Law of Intention and Desire from Deepak Chopra's website

I have been meditating every day this week - using mostly guided meditations from The Chopra Center Website. I really feel great after doing my meditation. I guess that means I am shifting my spirit, my path, my purpose. I have some ideas of things I want to do now that will propel me on my journey and I am excited.

Inherent in every intention and desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment . . . intention and desire in the field of pure potentiality have infinite organizing power. And when we introduce an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, we put this infinite organizing power to work for us.
I will put the Law of Intention and Desire into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
1. I will make a list of all my desires. I will carry this list with me wherever I go. I will look at this list before I go into my silence and meditation. I will look at it before I go to sleep at night. I will look at it when I wake up in the morning.
2. I will release this list of my desires and surrender it to the womb of creation, trusting that when things don’t seem to go my way, there is a reason, and that the cosmic plan has designs for me much grander than even those I have conceived.
3. I will remind myself to practice present-moment awareness in all my actions. I will refuse to allow obstacles to consume and dissipate the quality of my attention in the present moment. I will accept the present as it is, and manifest the future through my deepest, most cherished intentions and desires.

Whacked hormones and being an Empath - where is my bubble?

I didn't quite make it to workout on Monday, Wednesday or today. I did go to my workout with my trainer on Tuesday though - only because I had to. Monday I said I was resting because of the run on Sunday, but that was a lie! And, of course I haven't been sleeping well at all! The motivation is just not there. Not sure if because I am such an Empath (empathetic person that picks up on the energy of others) I am just in a funk because of all that is going on around the world - the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation in Japan; all the turmoil in the Middle East, gas prices here....I could go on and on, which is so not like me. Usually, I am pretty good about not focusing on the bad. But, I really feel like I am picking up on the feelings these occurrences are bringing out in others. I am trying to stay in a good emotional state, but it is hard for me when I see the news and read things on the Internet. Maybe I just need to live in a bubble. I know that sounds unrealistic and self centered to live in a bubble, but I just can't take all the pain in the world right now. I've got to snap out of this. Plus, I just found out that my hormones are officially out of whack. In a way this is good news because the doctor said that my out of whack hormones could very well be the cause of my not sleeping well, my evening cravings, and my not releasing weight like I would like to.  So, I am doing something about it and I’m going to get my hormones working for me and not against me!  We shall see – I start on my new regimen tonight. I am optimistic that this will be the big turning point for me in my journey.  I’ve read that hormones not being in line can really wreck havoc on a body and its systems. I may well be living proof of this. The good news is that hormones can be regulated and get back to normal.  All I can say is that I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday and that I am seeing my former Prosperity Princess ladies tomorrow to talk about some positive manifesting. I really need that now.

Up at 5 a.m......

Actually, 4 a.m. without the time change - to get my coffee and drive to the Grunion Run 5K in Dana Point. It was mighty early to drive down there to participate in this run! I was one pooped girl when I got home. And, I didn't even see one Grunion. hahahaha!  I know they are only out at night. I think I was tired mostly because it was soooooo early to get up and on a Sunday too! Well, I mostly walked with a little jogging, but it was a nice time - beautiful scenery along the coast. Then my friend, Sue, and I had a a little breakfast at the Dana Point Harbor. The plan is to do more of these runs - and to get more proficient at the 5K's before moving on to the 10Ks. The next one we have planned is the beginning of May at the Orange County Marathon. Oh no I'm not doing the Marathon - not yet anyway. LOL! We will be doing another 5K that day. That event I'm sure will  have some very serious runner types attending. LOL! Not me...I'm happy with myself and with completing the run/walk this morning. Needless to say I didn't do my meditation this morning because I was up so early and rushed to get out the door - and I feel it. Or could it just be that I got up so early? LOL!  Seriously, I am really getting into the vibe of meditation. I know it sounds cliche, but I am serious. Meditating in the morning is really helping to shape my days - in a good and fabulously joyful way.