Listening to our Intuition

That moment where you feel you just have to call someone and they tell you they were thinking of you. The time where you just know you have to check on your kids and come to find out they are getting into trouble.  The time where you have that, gnawing feeling in your stomach and you just know you aren't supposed to do  something- to take that job, to move to that city.

This is Intuition.

Do you ever say "I have a gut feeling about this".  That's using your God given intuition.  We all have it, but some of us may listen to our intuition more than others.

There may be times where we ignore our intuition.  I know I have.  I could have saved myself a lot of heartache if I just went with what my gut was telling me.

But our enemy, self-doubt starts to creep  in.... "maybe it won't be so bad after all."  "What am I thinking?  Am I crazy for wanting to change careers?"

We may end up losing out on a great opportunity.

The key is to discern if what you are listening to is truly your intuition or if it's your Ego.  It's always a constant battle.  Recently, I am trying to make a decision that involves my children.  My first thought does make me feel good.... but then all the "what-ifs" creep in.  When it boils down to it, I am afraid of what my kids would think... that's the Ego talking here.

Let me tell you something.  Your Gut NEVER lies. In fact, Deepak Chopra calls your gut your "third brain."

 Listen to your first inclination because that is your intuition.

If you have ANY doubts at all, try to decide if it's something that creeped in after you first heard your gut.  If you wrestle with your decision at all, then maybe it's time to take a step back, breathe, and wait on a different timing.

Listening to your Intuition has to do with Mindful Eating.  When we listen to that voice inside us, we become  aware of what our body is telling us.  Are we really hungry?  Is there something else I am craving? 

This also applies to exercise.  Am I pushing my body beyond it's limits?  Do I need to pay attention to this pain right now?

How can you begin to start listening to your Intuition today?  Spend a few moments in meditation. Take deep breaths. Spend some time in silence, or pray.  Pay attention to the first thought that comes to your mind.

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts about this topic in the comments below!

To your joyous health,

Kellie McGarry
Certified Health Coach
www.nourishedandnew.com

Slowing Down For Weight Loss

Let me preface this blog post by saying that I  apologize for the length of time between posts. I realized it's been about 3 weeks since my last one!  I can identify with this post as I have been pretty busy lately (a good busy though!).  So.....I am going to do something that I almost NEVER do, and repost my article from my April Newsletter that I just sent out.  If you already read the newsletter,  then you can ignore this post!  However, if you haven't then please enjoy. :)
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What if I were to tell you that in order to lose weight, you need to slow down.  Would you believe me? 

Marc David, in his book, The Slow Down Diet, talks about this very topic.  In this culture, we are so used to being like the energizer bunny (it keeps going.... and going... and..) but we really need to be more like the Tortoise in the popular fable The Tortoise And The Hare.  He was so slow at first while the Hare, by nature, went really fast.  However, he quickly ran out of steam and had to take a nap.  So we all know what  happened next.... “slow and steady wins the race.”  The Tortoise caught up and beat that Hare. 

I love that story because it reminds us that it really is good to be slow.  Now, I am not talking about teaching our children to take 10 minutes just to put their shoes on (can you tell we have experience that? lol)  or driving 30 miles an hour on the road ( forgive me, but slow drivers is a pet peeve of mine- yes, I know I need to get over that).

What I am talking about is making a conscious effort to be aware of your present surroundings,  to take a deep breath, relax and really savor and enjoy that moment. 

Let’s go back to the Tortoise and the Hare story.... why did that rabbit run out of steam?  He did not pace himself. I would compare that to today’s typical busy mom... we chauffer our children from one activity to the next because we have  become conditioned to believe that it is good to be extremely busy.  We end up eating very quickly and not really taking the time to savor and enjoy our food. 

In the end.... this constant busyness becomes really detrimental to our health!  When we are super busy, we are naturally stressed and our cortisol levels shoot through the roof.  (Cortisol is our stress hormone) Cortisol can increase our appetite, as well as add unwanted pounds to our belly area, which, in turn can increase our risk for heart disease.

So, going back to weight loss... what happens when we eat quickly is our body does not have time to properly digest our food.  When we do not stop and appreciate our food and how it nourishes our body, we end up tricking our body into thinking we didn’t eat at all!  So then we end up craving more and more food.

Marc David talks a lot about relaxing and giving our body the proper messages.  Being thankful for our body.

You can eat all the brown rice and spinach in the world, but if you are still stressed, you are not going to lose those last stubborn pounds. 

Tips:

1.Take deep breaths before you eat.  Get your kids involved if they are eating with you.

2.  Show gratitude for your food.

3. Chew S-L-O-W-L-Y .

4. Focus on the taste and texture of your food.  Put your fork down half way during your meal and ask yourself how full you are. 

5. Eat at the table, with your food on a plate (not at the computer or TV)

I know a lot of these things sound so simple but  they are easier said then done!  Just remember, that it takes time to start a new habit and there will be good and bad days.  I am not perfect either!  But staying mindful of our food and our body can really help us to learn how to slow down... which helps increase our health and maybe even aide in losing those last 10 pounds. :)


Need support in this area?  GOOD NEWS!  I am starting a Virtual Support Group called “Body Aware”, featuring Marc David’s book, The Slow Down Diet.   Included in the program are the book, handouts and recipes, 4 group phone sessions, and two private sessions with myself! 

I will be talking about this new group at the end of my  next Teleclass!

Join me for A FREE TeleClass on Mindful Eating 101! 

Register HERE to reserve your spot.  Thursday, April 11th from 12:00 p.m.-12:45 p.m.  The call will be recorded but you must register to receive it!


Kellie McGarry
Certified Health Coach
www.nourishedandnew.com

Finding Joy In the Little Things

So, you are having a bad day.  Work is stressful, you come home and your kids hate the dinner, and your cat just threw up.  You are just about to give up for the day when what seems like out of nowhere, your kids just start giggling.  For a moment, your heart feels happy and you feel an inner peace. 

Aren't those moments the best?  How often do those moments come and go before we even begin to feel grateful and bask in our joy?  I'm sure more often than we care to realize. 

Being joyful is not a by product of eating kale and spinach.  Yes, eating "clean" can make us feel good, have more energy, and not get sick as often.  But joy is not found in our food. It's not even found in our career.  Joy dwells within us and we notice it when we take the time to really zero in on those little things that make us happy. 

We all know (and see on TV) about the African orphans who can't stop smiling no matter how little they have.  On the flip side, we all hear the sad stories of millionaire celebrities who take their own life. 

So, just for fun I wanted to write a list of all (well, not ALL- just 10)  the so called "little" things that I know bring me joy.  Then, I encourage you to do the same!

(In no particular order)

1. Dancing with my kids
2. Singing in the car to an uplifting song (especially when my kids sing along)
3. Seeing birds (even if the joy lasts a few seconds)
4. Clouds and rain! (yes, I think I was meant to live in Seattle-lol)
5. A purring cat in my lap
6. Having deep discussions at night with my husband
7.  A hug from a friend
8.  When my husband does all the dishes (hint hint :)
9. Sweet bedtime hugs and kisses with my kids
10. The joy I hear in a client's voice when a lightbulb goes off and they are figuring out their relationship with food

There you go... just ten things which is not exhaustive at all! 

What would be top on YOUR list?  Please share in the comments!

To your Joyous Health,
Kellie
www.nourishedandnew.com

Breathe.... Just Breathe.

Do you guys know the song by Anna Nalick?  "Breathe.... just breathe."  I love that song.

Breathing is as essential to our bodies as food and water.  We can go three days without water but we can't go three minutes without breathing.

Yet, what happens when we are stressed or nervous?  We start to breathe really shallow or we tend to hold our breath.  This denies us oxygen and can mess up our metabolism.

Conscious breathing is being aware of your breath.  It's purposefully taking deep breaths in and out. When we focus on our breath, we become more in tune with our body.  It helps to reduce our stress, which in turn effects our minds, as well as our bodies.

How about when you eat in a hurry or under stress?  Notice your breath.  Are you breathing deeply?  Remember that when you deprive your body of oxygen, your metabolism slows down.  You will also not fully digest your food which could lead to indigestion, bloating and other digestive issues.

Slow down.  Even as you sit at the computer, take a deep breath and slowly let it out.

This culture is all about doing things fast.  We almost worship the busy, stressed mom.  We tend to think the busier the better.  Where does this get us in the long run though?  Being busy and not taking the time to slow down and breathe could ultimately result in health problems down the road.

As I write this, it is a beautiful rainy day in Phoenix.  I went to a wonderful yoga class at One Love Yoga, in Scottsdale.  The teacher reminded us the importance of breath work.  It helps to quiet our mind and detoxify our body.  I'm sure that she could talk with you more on that subject!

You can even practice deep breathing with your children as you put them to bed at night.   It seems to help quiet down my kids as they are in bed.

Choose today to slow down, take deep breaths and enjoy the day the best that you can!

Kellie McGarry
www.nourishedandnew.com

Cravings: Good or Evil?

Cravings.  We all have them.  Some of us may be more prone to food cravings then others.  However, unless you lose your sense of smell or taste, you are always going to have them.

We can all relate to the pregnant woman who craves pickles and ice cream.  Okay- maybe that’s just in TV shows, but admit it-- us women probably had some kind of craving during pregnancy.  For me, I craved hamburgers, pretzels and cheese.  Do you ever stop to think about exactly where cravings come from? 

There are a few different reasons for cravings.

1.  We have become conditioned to craving a certain food, based on our child hood.  Say, whenever you were sick your mom made you chicken noodle soup, so now when you get sick,that is what you crave.  Or maybe you had cookies every day after school, and now you are wondering why you are eating sweets every afternoon.  Maybe you grew up eating pretzels all the time like me.  So my pretzel craving is more out of habit. 

2.  There is an emotional component. We crave creamy foods when we are depressed. Ice cream is a typical go-to comfort food.  Carbohydrates (especially baked goods) also aide us in depression, as eating it actually increases our feel good hormone, serotonin.   Craving crunchy, salty foods may mean we have some anger to deal with. The act of crunching is our subconscious way of soothing our anger.

 3. There is a physical reason.  Did you know that a major salt craving could be due to lack of mineral, specifically magnesium?  If salt is your weakness, try taking a magnesium supplement and see what happens.  Craving sweets or carbs could be due to a lack of serotonin.  (the feel good hormone I mentioned)

Now that you know that there are real reasons for cravings, how would you feel if somebody told you that your cravings are bad?  Being made to feel less-than for having a craving is like telling someone that they are a bad person for breathing.  Cravings are as natural as breathing. 

So what do we do?  We fall into the trap of thinking that we need to suppress our appetite with pills.  We think if only I didn’t crave a certain food in the first place, my life would be wonderful.  Sure, maybe losing your appetite for a certain food will help you to not eat as much and even lose weight, but what happens when your favorite tool gets taken away? 

I am all for trying things that don’t seem like punishment.  I admit to have not tried this but some people swear by a tongue cleaner.  They are not just for dental purposes-- they can actually help with cravings by removing some of the left over food from before.  However, what if your cravings are due to a mineral deficiency?  You are not getting to the root of the problem. 

Look, I get it.  I have both starved myself, and binged on food.  My craving has always been for chips and pretzels.  However, I have learned to stop and ask myself before hand if it’s something I really need.  If I feel that it’s okay to eat at the time, I am mindful of my food and I put it on a plate and eat it slowly. I savor every bite so that i feel satisfied when I am done eating.  I enjoy the food because pretzels are not evil.  (maybe not a health food, but I practice the 80/20 rule... strive for mostly “clean” foods) 

The mind is a powerful thing and I feel that before we try to suppress our cravings, we need to learn tools for handling them, as well as figure out if there is a deeper reason, weather it be physical or emotional. 

By the way, I focus a lot on Mindful Eating with my clients, and this is a lot of what we talk about.   I am so excited to have my friend from Your Photo Solutions  helping me make a “Mindful Eating Journal” for YOU.... stay tuned for more details! :)

Kellie McGarry
Certified Health Coach
www.nourishedandnew.com

Does Dieting Advice Confuse You?

Atkins diet, Raw foods Diet, Macrobiotic Diet, Green Smoothies Diet, Plant-based diet, South Beach Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet.... what do all of these "diets" have in common?  

Each comes complete with a resident Expert... usually a Doctor or Nutritionist who claims that he/she has the answer to weight loss.  Sometimes the "expert" is just an ordinary person who found "the answer" based on her own experience.

Have you tried a diet and failed?  If you did, what did you tell yourself?   Did you say, "I'm worthless. Why even bother.  I can't do one thing right.  I can't even stick to one diet." 

When I attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a Certified Health Coach, I had the opportunity to study over 100 different dietary theories....they joked saying their mission was to confuse us.

I think after each class, I told myself, "That's it!  I"m going ALL raw."  Or... "maybe I should cut out all meat."  (by the way, I am *mostly* vegan now)... or maybe I should go Macrobiotic (lots of cooked foods such as soups and grains).

The reality is though, that we are all different and what works for one person may not work for another.  This concept is called Bio-individuality.  Joshua Rosenthal, the founder of the school likes to say "One person's food is another person's poison."

There is NO ONE DIET THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE.  Lots of factors are involved.  Are you sensitive to certain foods (without even realizing it) ?   You may be gluten intolerant like I am.  Or, can your body not handle meat very well?  (for the record, I do disagree with the Atkins diet... but I think that fad has faded out anyway).   What about Green Smoothies?  Surely, drinking fruits and vegetables would help me lose weight, right?  Well, not for everyone!  Some people may not be able to handle consuming  "cooling foods" all day (such as raw fruits and vegetables)  Or they may be hypothyroid (again, sometimes without realizing it) and may need to cut back on raw greens such as spinach and kale. 

In fact, even though the word diet, in and of itself is not a bad word (we are ALL on some kind of diet),  in the media sense of the word, let's just THROW OUT the word "Diet".   As a health coach, I am not here to put you on a Diet. 

My goal is to empower you to ENJOY food WITHOUT  restriction.  (Granted, based on sensitivities, there may be foods you need to eliminate, such as some grains)  .  When we restrict food without good cause, we are punishing ourselves. 

Why do we tend to punish ourselves? We don't love ourselves at a soul level.  We have become our own worst enemy and we use food as a tool for punishment. 

So let's throw away the notion that we must find a certain "Diet" to make us happy.  And know that you are NOT a failure if you tried a diet and it backfired. 

Together, we can figure out what works best for YOUR unique body so you can find true, lasting healing! 

Have an awesome weekend!!

Kellie McGarry
www.nourishedandnew.com
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Love Your Body!

If I have seemed a bit quiet lately, it's probably because I have been focusing my energies on two things:  one is my Ladies HEALTHY Happy Hour program.... free fitness and nutrition classes throughout the valley (click Here for more info).... as well as my talk at my old college... AZ Christian University (used to be called Southwestern College which is what i will always call it!). 

This talk is very important to me because I will be sharing with the girls about how I had an eating disorder during college, as well as my victory, and talking about how we see ourselves and how we need to focus on our True Worth. 

The talk is called Love Your Body-- Nourish Your Soul.

Body image issues isn't just a problem for young girls and college students.  In fact, studies show that about 80% of women hate how they look and have been involved in some kind of disordered eating because of it. 

Here is a definition of disordered eating:
"To me, disordered eating means having an unhealthy relationship with food and/or your body, one that diminishes the quality of your life and affects your overall health – physical, mental, and/or emotional."
(quote from here: http://www.healthforthewholeself.com/2010/10/what-i-mean-by-disordered-eating/)

So the good news is that you are not alone!  Most women have some kind of negative image about their body.

However, to me, that is not an excuse.  I love my friends and clients enough to not allow them to stay in that rut!  Dare to stand out and be different!  I know we will never 100% fully accept ourselves because we live in a fallen world.  However, there are steps we can take to start loving ourselves, no matter what size or shape. 

1. Post Affirmations around your house.  Get index cards and write things such as "I am beautiful just the way I am."  or " I am confident in my skin and I radiate that to others." 

2.  Practice Gratitude every. single.day.  Be grateful for the so-called "little things" (which are really big) such as your toes, legs and hands.  For the ability to think with reason.  For your stomach that tells you when you are hungry or full.  For the capacity to love.

3.  I know I've said this before but I will say it again.  THROW AWAY YOUR SCALE!  Some of us may need a deadline... so how about you do this by Feb. 14th?   Instead of worrying about your weight on Valentines Day.... focus on how you can show love to others. 

I know many, many women want to lose weight, and that is partly why I am a health coach.  Losing weight does have positive health implications..... but losing weight is not the end result.  You are not going to lose weight and all have a sudden have a wonderfully, perfect life.  You may not even feel the confidence that you were longing for.  You may start to hate other things about yourself once you lose weight.

Being healthy and enjoying life is not about your body!  It's about accepting yourself for WHO YOU ARE.  We must be willing to dig deep and do the dirty work before we are ready to lose weight. 

Remember, I am here for you!! 

Who is ready to take on the challenge with me?  I love to help other moms form a new relationship with food and with their bodies. 

Visit my website at www.nourishedandnew.com for more information. :)

Kellie McGarry