fresh ground health

Hi, my name is Kelly and I’m a Sugarholic.  More often than not, when I try any amount of sugar, I cannot stop eating it until it is gone.  And I mean ALL GONE -the bag, the box, the bowl, I want to eat it all because at least then I won’t have any more sugar around to tempt me.  Stomach ache ensues.  When I am able to abstain completely, the urge to binge on sugar lessens, but it always feels like a waiting game – how long can I withstand the pressure before I cave?  It really only takes one bite to start the avalanche of sugary snacks into my body.  I am confessing this to you now, as your trusty Holistic Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach because not only is this condition common, it is becoming increasingly common in recent years.  This is an addiction which many believe to be as powerful as any other addiction in it’s ability to control our behavior and sabotage our successes.  And it is an addiction that I continue to struggle with to this day… particularly during the time between Halloween and New Years!  Sound familiar?

So, as we are now smack dab in the middle of the Season of Indulgence, as I like to call it, I have been making some really awesome discoveries in the War on Sugar!  I recently read Geneen Roth’s Women Food and God and this book has changed my life and added a whole new element to my work as a health counselor.  She has put into words and practical exercises an element of healthy lifestyle that I have known to be missing from my practice for quite some time.  I’ve been searching for years for a revolutionary approach to the “why” of our food choices and habits – the day-to-day, moment-to-moment choices we make that shape our bodies, our minds and our spirits.  It has never been enough to tell people what to do.  I want to show them HOW to do it, moment-by-moment and day after day, to create the body and the life that each of us knows deep down is possible.

This information is so powerful that I could not wait to begin integrating it into my coaching programs, my book and in my own life.  It is the perfect addition to the content I’ve been offering for years; creating a comprehensive approach that combines science and spirituality, practical know-how with behavior modification, and goal-setting with a cultivation of deep love and acceptance of self!  My private coaching clients are already experiencing major breakthroughs with these concepts and very soon, I’ll be releasing an awesome online Boot Camp program that will blow you away!  I have been so on fire as I create this content that I can hardly wait to share it with everyone.  But, this is also the Season of Anticipation… so we must wait a little longer for this present

In the meantime, if you are hungry for a little taste, come to my FREE Pep Talk and Gratitude Party at HHP on Dec 6th.  See the events page for more info.

OK, OK, so I’m not going to start airing some deep dark secrets right now, but I am going to let you in on a little revelation I had the other day while folding the laundry.  Now that we’re starting to settle into a rhythm at home, I’m getting to do laundry just once a week. About four loads is usually enough to get through clothes and towels for me, husband and son.

As I was folding the clothes, I noticed that I tend to pick out my husbands clothes first – because they are the biggest and easiest to spot.  And each time I take one item of his out of the basket, it gets visibly more empty which is encouraging.  Next, I fish for my son’s clothes, which are so tiny that somehow, they are also easier for me to spot.  Towels and Sheets – also big, easy to deal with.  I usually don’t start to fold my own clothes until the basket is empty of everything else.  What happens if I get distracted mid-folding session? My clothes end up wrinkled or piled under the next load to come out of the dryer until I can finally get enough time to take care of my stuff… at the end!

It occurred to me that this is a kind of metaphor for how so many women live their lives.  Taking care of others in our lives – family members, friends and coworkers – usually seems easier and more readily done than caring for ourselves.  We can spot the needs of others in a heartbeat but often can’t see our own needs amid the chaos of our lives.  We also think that by taking care of everyone else first, we are clearing the space to then care for ourselves – free and clear of the requests or demands from others in our life.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard we work at it, the needs of others never goes away.  And neither does our own need for nurturing.  The good news is, that if we flip our logic on it’s head, we can discover enormous healing and creative potential.  Of course, none of us want to stop caring for others. Women and those in nurturing professions are spiritually fed by serving others.  It’s a huge part of who we are.  But, what happens when we attend to our own needs first and last?

I think of self care as kind of like stretching before and after a big workout.  Let’s say that the work you do to care for others – whether you’re a mom, counselor, teacher or healer – is your big workout.  Now imagine that your self-care routine is your means of warming up and stretching before your workout, and your cool down and longer stretching at the end of the workout.  The purpose of the warm up and cool down and all that stretching insures that we 1) perform better during the workout, 2) that we avoid injury in the process and 3) that we recover quickly so we can do it all again tomorrow!

I don’t think I need to draw you a picture here.  Just think about it. Start building in your self-care rituals to be your first and last things everyday and experience a powerful shift in your life’s work.  Your service to others becomes even more nourishing because you are more fully connected to who you are.  Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• a workout or yoga
• hot shower or bath
• preparing a healthy meal or snack
• home spa treatment
• meditation or reflection
• reading a book or scriptures
• visualizing your day and how great it’s going to be
• gentle stretching
• walk or hike outside
• playing with your pet(s)
• journaling
• doodling
• painting or playing with clay
• dancing to your favorite music
• doing your nails
• add your own and keep on going! …

It’s true that I’ve never done a fall cleanse so late in the year. But sometimes, you’ve just gotta change the rules to fit you life. While I’ve been feeling a deep need to do my seasonal cleanse for a couple of months now, my life just didn’t slow down enough to make it possible until very recently. I found myself wondering if it made sense to do it now, with the weather getting so much colder and amid the holidays. But my body has continued to send me little signs that I still need to do this ritual because at the very core, it’s about healing and restoring. And it’s precisely BECAUSE my summer and early fall were so stressful and BECAUSE I didn’t have time to really care for myself the way I like to, that I NEED to do this cleanse now.

I am now at the end of DAY 2 and am feeling like a new person… or perhaps just feeling like myself again! Like coming home, returning your attention and care to your own body is unlike anything else in the world. There is simply no substitute.

Add to that, I kept getting requests from clients and friends about presenting a fall cleanse workshop this year. Although I’ve led a Spring Cleanse workshop twice now, I’ve never led a group on the Fall Cleanse – and it’s a really special and fun experience. It would just be unkind of me to keep this all to myself. SO… If you want in on the Autumn Cleanse Extravaganza here’s your chance!

I’m giving you just a few days to prepare, but to make it easier, this event will be online so you can participate in the lectures from the comfort of home or where ever!

If you’ve never done a cleanse, a fall cleanse is a great way to start because they are typically less intense and vigorous than the spring cleanse. If you did the spring cleanse with me earlier in the year, you will LOVE this one!

Learn more on my Events page.