Food and Health Issue 4: Eating and Health Go Hand in Hand
Read First Issue Here: https://inlovewithme.com/food-health-issue-story
Read Second Issue Here: https://inlovewithme.com/food-health-issue-2-change-course
Read Third Issue Here: https://inlovewithme.com/food-health-issue-3-completing-journey
This was a huge journey of loving myself.
Wow life has changed, eating has changed and they go hand in hand. Sometimes I fall off the wagon but each time I get back on the wagon and commit to my health, it gets easier and easier. Eating healthier is a way of life now. Do I emotionally eat once in a while, of course but it is nothing like it used to be.
I do not do low-fat, I have learned that the right fats are actually so healthy for our bodies. High fat (good fat as in greek yogurt, grass-fed beef, avocado) is good for us. This also is a new fact that we have not previously had the correct knowledge about. It is all about eliminating the things that are not good for our bodies – sugar, wheat, processed foods and chemicals, and bad trans fats (think deep frying). I also have started a green smoothie in the morning, while it may not taste amazing, I know my body loves it. I find I crave sugars even less eating this healthy smoothie each day. It also keeps me full for hours! It has the nutrients my body really needs.
As we journey together I will share my thoughts, ideas, recipes and remedies. Food is crucial to our health and our overall life experience. In all my life coaching and executive coaching, food and nutrition is a large aspect. Follow my “Love Yourself with Food” blog here:
Stay tuned for Issue 5: What Can You Do To Get Started? – Next Week!
Always remember you are a mirror for your child. They model your behavior. You are the person they will learn the most from in their life. They spend the first 18 years with you learning how to be successful in life. If all you demonstrate is fighting and conflict, this is all your children will learn. They learn no appropriate conflict resolution skills. They will not learn how to functionally express their feelings and emotions in a healthy manner… Children learn from their conflicting parents to deal with problems with verbal and physical aggression. In my home growing up, the conflict felt non-stop. My parents lived in continuous fighting and anger without ever issuing an apology. When I went off to live at college, what do you think I created with my roommates? I created all that I had ever known, fighting and conflict. I could not get along with anyone I lived with. I cannot even explain to you in words the heartache and pain this caused me. All I wanted was to live in peace after all the fighting I had experienced at home, yet I had no idea how to live this way. I had never been taught the skills to effectively resolve conflict. I still gravitate towards just one good friend versus a whole group of people. The dynamics of many people together as friends can still overwhelm me. I was and am an amazing person; however, I did not know how to effectively live with anyone.
Recently, I read about a 10-year-old child whose parents were in the middle of a terrible divorce. The book’s author had interviewed the child due to parental allegations of abuse. The author revisited the child 2 weeks after their initial meeting; this time in the hospital after the child had surgery to remove cancer. The sobbing child said, “I need a rest. Can I stay here?” I’m not saying that her cancer was directly related to her parents’ divorce. What I can tell you is that this child preferred being in a hospital to being in the middle of her conflicting parents’ divorce. She was crying out and clearly the stress was negatively impacting her life. Don’t allow this to be your child. I know you love your child. If you are in conflict with your former partner, make the changes you know are necessary to end the conflict now and improve your child’s environment, before it is too late.
Then one day a friend recommended I go to the Green Herb in Wheat Ridge CO (http://www.thegreenherb.com/). They did a blood test and discussed Candida overgrowth with me. It made so much sense. At that point my body was so sensitive I could hardly drink a glass a wine before going into a bad mood and feel completely unbalanced. And I can assure you this reaction to alcohol had changed as I had gotten older. I also knew I was truly addicted to sugar, I loved to eat sugary foods. Candida overgrowth also leads to hormonal imbalance. I had all the symptoms. I also was tested by another Chinese medicine doctor who did a stool and saliva sample. He also confirmed the high level of candida in my body, along with inflamed intestines.
I used the word “stuck” in the past two headings for a reason. Children feel stuck or paralyzed when they are put in the middle of their parents’ divorce. This can have long-term effects. Growing up with parents in conflict, I was always worried I would make the wrong choice. I felt paralyzed as a child. It wasn’t until I traveled solo to Guatemala that I realized there really is no wrong choice. When children grow up in an environment of conflict and anger, they fear the repercussions of making a “wrong” choice. Your child also can feel so out of control, and may seek to control whatever they can in their life. Putting your child in the middle is a lose-lose situation for your child and you. It can lead them to feel helpless in their life.
Why is this true? Because your child loves this other person. They are physically and emotionally related to him or her or has a history with their other parent. They identify with their other parent on a physical and/or emotional level. What this means is that every time you lash out at their other parent, they feel that what you are saying applies to them, too. Your behavior directly effects your child’s self-esteem. If your child hears again and again how horrible their other parent is, this person who they are half of, over time, the child will begin to believe they are also bad. It also makes your child feel very sad inside to hear a person they love talking negatively about another person they love. This hinders their ability to feel they can freely love both of you.