Does this sound like you?
First of the year, you vowed to lose a few pounds – and transition to a healthier way of eating.
But nine months later, you’re exactly where you were on Day 1.
To make matters worse, you just got back from vacation – and all your health goals seemingly fell by the wayside.
You’re beyond frustrated (yet again) that you ate all this junky food and now feel like crap from the over-indulgence – too many desserts, snack foods, and alcohol.
Now you’re regretting it big-time!
Chances are your digestive system is also out of whack because you’ve been eating things you wouldn’t normally eat. You’re paying for it with daily heartburn, indigestion – and an extra 10 pounds.
All this despite your goal this year, to do at least ONE of the following:
- Make healthier food choices
- Transition to an anti-inflammatory diet, by removing gluten & sugar (because you know you’ll feel better)
- Identify which foods you’re sensitive to – to help calm your immune system
- Lose weight
- Mange stress by focusing on self-care (e. all of the above)
Vacations and travel are supposed to be fun!
However, if you’ve recently given in to temptation – chances are you aren’t feeling that great. And when you don’t feel that great it becomes that much harder to reign in your appetite – and get your health back on track.
What if there was a way you could maintain this year-round, without resorting to diets, detoxing or the latest fad?
Would you go for it?
Ultimately, it’s about developing better habits so you no longer give much thought to those foods which you know don’t serve you well.
If you think this approach translates to deprivation, or punishment – it does not.
Not by a long shot!
Non-Negotiables
Finding your “path” and being able to stick with it might look something like this:
- You will NOT intentionally eat foods containing gluten – because of your autoimmune disease (such as Celiac), Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity – or a related condition
- You will get adequate sleep every night.
- You will find ways to keep stressful events from taking over your life – be it meditation or something else
- You will engage in gentle exercise, and other lifestyle practices that support your mental and physical well-being.
My coach and mentor, Andrea Nakayama calls these your “non-negotiables”.
In other words, be it a family vacation, celebration or holiday party – these are the lifestyle and food choices you’ll stick to no matter what, because you know that doing otherwise will make you sick.
And it’s just not worth the pain and suffering.
You Bike Path
When it comes to choices around diet, your “bike path” consists of foods that are OK to eat once in awhile – usually dictated by mood and availability.
You might think of this as your typical “I had a bad day” mentality – or “I’m on vacation.”
Things like snack chips would likely fall in this category. (The “healthy” kind, of course.)
Or, perhaps a decadent piece of homemade – or Paleo-approved chocolate.
What this means, is that even if a particular food isn’t ideal, it’s not going to do significant harm, either.
(This is why gluten isn’t an “I’m on vacation” option – because it’s never ideal for anyone with a sensitivity, let alone Celiac Disease to give in this; doing so can cause undue harm – not much of a vacation, in my opinion).
Your “Path”
This leaves you with your ‘Path” – those foods which you’ll be eating 24/7, day in and day out.
They’re the ones you can always rely on, because they’re packed with nutrition and your body thrives on them.
For you, these foods are ‘safe’.
You’ll build your entire eating plan around this Path.
And when you opt for private coaching, it’s completely personalized to YOU – with a customized eating plan based on you unique physiology, your genetics and your sensitivity to specific foods.
Poison Ivy
As the name implies, this category is the exact opposite of your Path – as this is where inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy and sugar reside.
Inflammatory foods can also include anything else that you happen to be sensitive to – be it almonds or pickles, or something else entirely.
In other words, the poison ivy patch consists of those foods that absolutely don’t serve you, and will only cause further inflammation and illness – the exact thing you’re working so hard to minimize so you don’t end up old and sick.
Remember your goal, here – to help you look and feel better than you have in years!
Does this mean a lifetime of deprivation?
That depends.
By removing these inflammatory foods – and sticking with it – along with the right nutritional support and targeted probiotics, you’ll be giving your digestive tract a chance to finally heal.
To learn more, & receive the most up-to-date, in-depth information regarding all things related to Gluten Sensitivity, Autoimmune Disease, Inflammation & more – be sure to watch my educational video series “A Gluten Primer – Everything You Wanted to Know From A – Z“. It’s available FREE on my bi-weekly newsletter, but you can have immediate access to all 26 videos – plus a full, 2-hour Tutorial here.
Follow
Speak Your Mind