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How to Have New Year’s Resolutions and Goals – And Be Nice to Yourself
It’s that time again–the time when millions of people make New Year’s Resolutions for their bodies and health. For the past week, as is typical every year around this time, I’ve seen slews of articles about how to make new years resolutions, what you should make them for, and even, many articles saying, “screw New Year’s Resolutions–they just make you feel bad about yourself.” I don’t have any strong opinion on whether you should have them or not. My feeling is that the most important thing to examine is whether or not you’re being kind to yourself if you’re going to have them.
Health & Compulsive Eating: How to Get Through the Holidays, Part 1
Happy Holidays! Holidays bring mixed feelings for many people who struggle with eating and weight. Many of us look forward to the holidays in some ways, but simultaneously feel worry (or even dread!) about the possibility of overeating, junk food, and how it will affect our weight. By exploring why we go off the deep end, and what’s behind that behavior, we can prevent a great deal of stress and suffering during the holidays (and any time of year). So, let’s dive in!
How Anger and Compulsive Eating Are Related
This quote rings true. Suppressed emotions cause problems. One problem they can cause is compulsive eating. We overeat, compulsively eat, or eat too much junk food because we are trying to avoid, suppress or minimize an emotion in that moment. And so, in the process of healing compulsive eating, we all have to face these emotions we have been avoiding, and often haven’t been aware we even have. If these emotions are ones we have wanted to avoid so much that we use food to suppress them, we can imagine they’re not going to be easy ones for us to feel. These emotions can include sadness, grief, fear, pain, loneliness, insecurity, unworthiness, sorrow–anything really. And they can be about “big” things or “little” things. And they can be about the past, the present, or the future.
David Rainoshek Interviews Me About Juice Cleansing
One of my mentors in plant-based nutrition and juice cleansing is the amazing David Rainoshek, M.A. whom I studied with to becomig a Juice Feasting Coach. David hosts the website JuiceFeast.com and is a great friend.
My 8-Year Vegan Anniversary!
Well, it’s almost over, but this month marks 8 years eating vegan for me! In honor of this anniversary, I decided to ask all of you via Facebook and Twitter if you had any questions for me. I received some great questions and am looking forward to answering them, Q&A style, right now!
My June Juice Cleanse, Days 5-7
Well, another week of juicy deliciousness is in my health queue! The last few days went very smoothly, as the latter half of a weeklong juice cleanse usually does for most people. I enjoyed making some delicious juice to enjoy with a lovely view. Above is a simple strawberry parsley lemon juice I made and enjoyed in the sun.
My June Juice Cleanse, Days 1-4
Happy and thirsty! This is how I’m feeling on Day 4 of my Juice Cleanse! I do a juice cleanse seasonally, and though I always love and appreciate it, it sure is so nice to do one when it’s warm outside. Philadelphia, where I currently reside, is not only warm but humid, which makes it all the more easy to eat/drink lightly.
Luckily for me, I adore parsley and cilantro so much that getting in lots of leafy greens for my juice is quite easy. For my higher-glycemic allotment, straight-up fresh orange juice is by far my favorite. When I want to go a bit lower sugar, I’ll mix some grapefruit and orange together. I did make a strawberries and fresh mint juice for my fruitier juice one day! Now that’s decadence.
Your Career Might Be Making You a Compulsive Eater
“When I’m at work, I can’t help but eat the doughnuts and cookies people bring.” “I get so stressed at work that I eat to get through it.” “When I get home from a long day at work, I’m so stressed and tired and I end up eating a lot at night.” and sometimes people say, “I eat much better on days off.”
These are common things I hear from my clients when they describe the terrain of their compulsive eating patterns. Of course, not everyone who compulsively eats does so in relation to their work or career, but a great percentage do — enough to make me want to write a blog post about it.
My March Juice Cleanse, Days 5-7
Greetings, blog readers! I have finished my Juice Cleanse, which I decided to just have be one week this time around. I am feeling physically amazing as always happens when you drink a lot of green juice, and am very glad to have this spring cleaning. I’m looking at this lovely spring bouquet in my window. It’s sunny outside and nearly 50 degrees!
Days 5-7 were great and fine. Physically, there is not much to say other than that I felt fantastic and productive – I almost always feel even more productive and efficient on Juice Cleanses than otherwise – and grateful for the bounty which allows me to make fresh juice!
My March Juice Cleanse, Days 1-4
I am chuckling at myself because every time I post the first blog of my juice cleanses every few months, I am always compelled with starting off by talking about the weather. Sigh… Anyways, the weather is gorgeous and has been in the 50’s here in Philadelphia. It really feels like Spring and this feels like a Spring Juice Cleanse!
Myths About Healing Compulsive Eating
Throughout my years of healing my own relationship with food and letting go of compulsive eating, and also talking with many, many people on their own journeys doing the same, I’ve identified some common myths about healing compulsive eating. These were myths that I believed and many people with whom I work also believe(d).
Recipe: Dessert Spice Superfood Smoothie
Happy February, juicy ones!
I’m enjoying the slightly warmer weather and more frequent sunny days here in Philly, which received approximately 1/348874th an inch of snow from storm Nemo. But no matter how cold or warm it is, I love my superfood smoothies. I have a smoothie almost every day, usually as breakfast but sometimes as dinner, particularly if I’ve just finished a workout and don’t want to eat anything very heavy before heading off to bed.
My Holidays in Utah
I am back in Philadelphia from my holiday vacation! I went to visit my immediate family, all of whom live in the Salt Lake City and Park City area of Utah, where my family moved for my dad’s job when I was a teenager, but then everyone stayed, realizing that outdoor sports were more epic and diverse in Utah than they were in Vermont (read: powder vs. ice). We are outdoor sports obsessives and enthusiasts, partaking constantly in activities including but not limited to snowboarding, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, water skiing (southern UT), wakeboarding, mountain biking, and dirt biking.
My December Juice Cleanse, Days 6-7
My recap of the last couple days of my Juice Feast is clearly delayed. Lots of holiday activity and business!
The last 2 days went well. I enjoyed some delicious beet juice, as you can see in the photo, and more green juice and coconut water and other delights. It was uncharacteristically warm in Philadelphia, making it surely one of the less chilly December Juice Feasts that I’ve done.
My December Juice Cleanse, Days 1-5
Hi, readers! I have begun my next juice cleanse. As you’ve likely read before, I do a 7+ day juice cleanse ever 3 – 6 months. This one is just slightly prior to my 3 month mark, but I’ll be traveling back home for the holidays soon and wanted to get it in before then. The first couple days were quite smooth, with some minor classic detox symptoms, such as energy swings and cravings, that usually subsided after a trusty enema. These days, when I cleanse, I start to feel the “fasters high” very quickly. I have rekindled my obsession with parsley juice this time around, too. I just adore parsley. Cilantro is another favorite, but the smell and taste of parsley makes me want to write poems of herbalicious passion.
Eating in the Dark
During my recent trip to Montreal, Sarah and I went to an internationally famous restaurant called O.Noir. At O.Noir, diners eat in complete darkness. I mean complete darkness — the kind where you can’t see your own hand if you wave it 5 inches from your face. According to O.Noir’s website, there are multiple purposes for this experience. One is that when you can’t see your food, the people with whom you’re dining, or anyone around you, you tune in more than ever to the taste and aromas of food. Additionally, it gives one a beginning understanding of what it is like to be blind. All of the wait staff are legally blind, and serve as guides to sighted folks who visit.
When We Heal Compulsive Eating
When I was a junior in high school, I had a Government teacher that looked like a brunette version of Keith Urban. He was a kind-hearted jokester, was smart, and overall a favorite teacher. All of the students respected him, yet we all thought he was super cool, as is usually goes with favorite teachers, and he somehow transformed the subject of Government into one of the most fun and fascinating courses I took.
My Fall 2012 Juice Feast – Days 6-9
I am finished with my Fall Juice Feast! The last couple days were stellar and delicious in so many ways. I feel more harmonious in my body, and I love to emerge out of the Juice Feast on the other end with that feeling. It is always my intention to carry over all I learned about myself and my body and all that I experienced into my “normal” eating mode.
My Fall 2012 Juice Feast – Update on Day 5!
Yes, I have been Juice Feasting for the past 5 days! I like to do some Juice Feasting every 3-6 months as a tune-up. Much like tuning up your car or your instrument, the body needs some tuning and maintenance. Though we may eat very well, we still take in toxins through the air, water, things we put on our skin, things we touch. Beyond that, even, our organs need some rest and deep-cleansing here and there. How long will I go? I haven’t decided yet — I like to leave it up to intuition, but for at least 7 days.
Why I’ve Stayed Vegan: My 7-Year Veganniversary
Following my blog last week on how I went vegan, I’m continuing to celebrate my 7 years vegan with a new post: why I’ve stayed vegan.
Has staying vegan for 7 years been hard?
The choice to go vegan was a deep one from the start and that has never budged. So in the broadest sense, no, it hasn’t been hard to stay vegan for 7 years. The curious thing is that the beginning of my vegan journey had to do with my own health and well-being. At that point in my life, choosing to act in a loving way to my body by eating better was a radical move. Just choosing in my own best interest was revolutionary in my personal growth.