Week 1: #NEWYOUNOW Challenge: MIND

Welcome to week one of the #newyounow challenge! The challenge where you don't wait for the "perfect" time to make positive health changes; you just #startnow! One small step at the time!

The first week of the challenge is going to focus on changing your #MINDSET about healthy eating and balance. I could talk until I'm blue in the face about why spinach is better for you than pie BUT that is not going to help you! You already know that! BUT what you might not know is how to change your mindset around food and treats so you don't feel like a #failure when you eat that piece of pie... you just feel like a person who ate one piece of pie and moved on with their day, no judgment, no hard feelings, no detox tea.... just #blessed. This comes to our first goal of the challenge:

I want you to focus on #progress and NOT #perfection!

The reason why this is the first goal is because we often live in an "all or nothing" perfectionist society where we wait for the perfect time to start. Unfortunately, if we focus on diet perfection we set ourself up for a pendulum of dieting. Where we sway from extreme food restriction or guilt to over eating. Try to be like the pendulum in the image below.. calm. Of course some days we are going to sway and eat a little more or a little less but at the end of the day you are maintaing #balance and not #perfection.

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The second challenge this week is to focus on #mindfuleating

When I first pictured mindful eating I envisioned someone eating an avocado in a yoga pose... well thats not it... don't worry. Mindful eating is eating without distraction or judgment but with awareness on the food and how that food makes you feel. How many times do we eat while writing emails, looking at our phones, driving our kids to soccer practice, or wondering aimlessly in our kitchen... I would say its probably more often than we think... however we aren't being mindful so who really knows ( #ironic ).

People often tell me they don't have time to eat... and I understand... life is busy...but nutrition and water are one of the most fundamental of human needs... so if you don't have 15-30 minutes to sit down and eat without distractions... you don't really have a life.

When we eat with distractions we tend to overeat and feel guilty without even really enjoying the food. So what are we doing to do about it...

You know you more than anyone else, I want you to think of one thing you could progress on this week around health and nutrition. I want you to think of one part of your day you want to work on... is it breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, exercise???

Now I want you to envision your ideal lunch for example...would you pack a budha bowl for lunch and eat it in the cafe with your work BFF? Now write down your goal! I know you have probably heard this 100 tines but writing down a goal helps you stay accountable! comment below your goal!

Tip of the week!

One good trick is to make sure you chew your food at least 32 times before you swallow! You heard it 32X! Chewing your food not only helps you eat mindfully but it helps with digestion. More on this soon :)