You’ve finally found it…

This resource is designed for those who are beginners in healthy eating — and for those healthy eating veterans who struggle to stay consistent.

It’s also the foundation of how I became a lean machine at age 44 and became medicine free after 30 years of relying on steroidal medicine.

The Hungry Gopher (HG for short) Tribe took the survey of “What’s your biggest struggle to eat healthily?“. The responses from the survey made me realize that I needed to lay a foundation before I teach you what to build on top of it.

So here goes…

The Power of Emotions

When I began my journey to regain my health at age 40, I started from where I didn’t want to end up. The change seemed necessary because my health and my life were no longer under my control.

The rapid decline of my health, compounded with insomnia and raging inflammation in my body, pushed me to take action to change my course. ( You can find more about my journey here in this video)

This post is to share with you what I have learned through my research and experience. I’ll do my best to teach you this information in a nutshell, but the nature of it is complex. So, it’s likely that I’ll make a series of posts on, Healthy Eating Basics. If you want to receive more information about healthy eating, follow this link to sign up for the HG newsletter.

In the course of 4 years, my research and experience have led me to believe that we as a society have been misinformed and misguided about healthy eating. Also, we grossly undervalue the power of emotions. Emotions are not your weakness. Emotions are your power, when you understand how to use them for your benefit.

For 30 years, I was advised to use steroidal medicine, which suppressed my immune system. Part of the reason why this is a common approach in our current culture is that we view our own bodies as our enemies.

When I started learning more about the body and mind, I finally learned to work with my body and mind, not against them.

…I am getting a little ahead of myself here.

Let’s begin with…

Step 1. – Determine What Your health Means To You

When you travel, you have to know where you are and where you want to go. The same goes with achieving your health goals.

Take a nice slow walk (or find a quiet place to sit if you can’t walk due to pain – preferably outside).

• Give an honest assessment of where you are in your health on a scale from 0 to 10. 0 being – Unable to do anything you want to do, because the physical or emotional challenge is too great. 10 being – You have vitality and a spring in your step.
• Imagine yourself in 10 years. Where will your health be if you don’t change your course? Really picture yourself in your mind.
• If you look great in 10 years, stop reading this. You already got it ;P
• For the rest of us, if the picture is grim, think about what “health” means to your life. Again, look at the long-term, big picture.
• Determine what you want to become in 10 years. Write it down. And keep reminding yourself on a daily basis.
• Write down a challenging but achievable goal to change the course of your health ( this is very individual based on your mental and physical fitness level – there is no right or wrong goal. The goal should be right at the edge of your comfort zone, challenging yet realistic. This is where growth happens)
• Write down tiny steps you can take today to achieve your health goals. And Do it. Start with one tiny step today.

For example, here is what I did:

• My honest current assessment:
  • “I am really sick and depressed now. I can’t even sleep. My scalp and my face are so red, raw and itchy. I can hardly think about anything else when I wake up in the morning. My joint pain is getting worse every year. And there is ever increasing the number of symptoms as the year goes by. I am so tired of being sick. What is the point of life if I am sick all the time?”
• Imagine myself in 10 years;
  • ” I am sick as a dog. My scalp and face are so raw and red that I am embarrassed to get out in public. Everybody said life is all downhill from 40, and they are right. I am 50 years old now. I don’t even want to imagine how bad my knee and back pains will be when I become 60. Is it worth living when my days are filled with suffering and pain? I can’t even do small things I enjoy. Gee…I really miss going hiking. I feel ugly and shameful of my body. I don’t even know if my husband finds me attractive anymore”
• Define what “getting healthy” means to you from point A (current) to point B (10 years in the future).
  • ” Getting healthy means life to me. If I don’t feel well and am depressed most of my life, this is a slow death. I would rather want to die instantly than go through a painfully slow death. Therefore, I am going to make changes in my life to live. Because I choose to live, I am going to try the new tools I learned from the book I recently read. These changes align with my long-term goals. So no matter what, I am going to stick to my decision.”
• A challenging yet achievable goal I wrote down
  • “I learned that gluten and dairy are raising inflammation in my body by studying the current science. I am going to remove them for the next 3 weeks and see how my body responds.”
• Tiny steps to take today:
  • “Eat sweet potatoes instead of noodles for dinner tonight.”
  • “Use coconut oil instead of butter to pan fry some squash for dinner tonight.”

When you write down tiny steps you can take TODAY, that align with your long-term health goal, you will propel yourself forward to take action.

Then keep repeating the same process. As you improve, your list will grow and change. The next thing you know, you will be off the harsh medicine you were on for the majority of your life. Voila!

The next steps you’ll learn from the future posts:

Step 2. Change Your Inner Dialogue

Step 3. Learn From Your Mistakes

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