Nourish Your Body and Mind in 2014

Two thousand thirteen was a year of tremendous change and growth for me. Both of my sons graduated: my oldest from college and my baby from high school. These graduations marked a huge transition, both inspiring me to think about what my “new” life would look like. Being a part-time, work from home mom for all of my kids’ lives was no longer necessary. It was now time for me to think about what I wanted next.

It is funny how sometimes freedom to do what you want can be both exciting but also a bit scary.

It took me months, but eventually the light bulb went off in the middle

of the night and I realized exactly what I wanted to do, what I had always loved and was passionate about. I decided to go back to school to formally study nutrition with the goal of becoming a health and wellness coach. I have always loved both people and healthy food. In looking back, it surprises me that it took so long for me to realize what is now an obvious step.  

I started a year-long course at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. At first it was hard to add another ten to fifteen hours of school work into my already busy schedule, but I loved it(!) and so, like all of us, found time for what I wanted and was motivated to do. The material I studied was fascinating, and I could not wait for each new module to be presented to learn more and more.

It is now mid-January, 2014 and my year of schooling is nearing an end (I graduate in February). I am beyond grateful that I already have the beginnings of an amazing health  coaching practice. My clients are strong-minded, intelligent women who are inspired to improve their lives and their health, and who are willing to do the work to get there. Each one has added so much to my life…it has been nothing short of a joy! One of the best facets of teaching is that it keeps one a perpetual learner, and I learn much about the human spirit from my clients.

As I continue down this path, I invite you to join me. Come along! I would love to hear what you are doing to fulfill your dreams, to become the best you possible.

Here’s to an enlightened, healthy and exciting year!

Hear This Veggie-Loving Mama Roar!

I l-o-v-e food.  I always have.  There is no getting around it -- I am a serious Foodie!  One of the biggest misconceptions about eating healthily is that you have to sacrifice flavor and the pure indulgence of savoring a meal. Not true!  Food, especially good food, can be sensuous and deeply satisfying. It took  me several decades to realize that my love of food actually satisfies the artist in me.  When I walk through the bountiful rows at the farmers market, I find myself surrounded by the palette of bright yellows, oranges and reds of ripe peppers, the deep greens of fresh leafy kale and spinach, and the glistening of yellow-green apples. The smell of fresh coffee permeates the air and fills my senses while the cup I hold warms my hand.  I can almost taste the sticky sweetness of the freshly baked cinnamon rolls, and  I cannot help but smile as I pass the gnarly celeriac root and the other wild-looking oddities the plant world provides us for humor as well as good health.

Once I became a mother, I became a Foodie Mama Lion! A hunter (and gatherer, in my case), protectress and provider.  I wanted my boys to be as healthy as possible, to eat more fresh fruits and veggies and less candy and processed foods and no-way, no-how fast food.  This was no small feat. Like all kids, they wanted the Happy Meals advertised incessantly on TV and to eat the same foods their friends ate.

To entice them, I decided to make plated art every morning.  This process involved fresh veggies and fruit and cutting them up in unique manners and creating patterns, images and designs.  I would depict scenes and sometimes their favorite characters with food as my medium. For instance, I would fill a plate with small cucumber houses surrounded by rivers of thin zucchini strips and bumpy blueberry roads.

They LOVED it! They started telling their friends, and their friends would beg me to make plates for them, too. It was fun both for me and the kids, a great combination of creativity and playfulness.  I then needed to come up with an alternative to candy. I wanted to buy dried fruits but did not like how they were loaded with sulfurs and dyes. I bought a relatively inexpensive dehydrator and began to make my own fresh dried fruits: bananas, mangos, pineapples, and more.

In the end, the kids loved these treats while I had the satisfaction of knowing that they were putting nutritious food into their growing bodies and minds. Perhaps even more importantly, they were unknowingly developing the willingness to try new things.  In them arose an appreciation of food, an awareness that food could be a pleasure. They learned to savor and appreciate the different tastes, textures and flavors of a broad variety of foods.