You are what you eat - Usted es lo que usted come

No better time to discuss FOOD then in the middle of the holidays.  My plan is to bring awareness to the community with regards to Health and Wellness, and to do that I will have to write on topics that might make people squirm or curse or hopefully finally go AHA I get it. You are what you eat.  That is it in a nutshell.  Our bodies have memories and what we do today will definitely effect how we feel tomorrow or even a year from now.  The good thing is at anytime you can stop what you are doing and do something different and this will have a direct effect on your health, and truly your overall wellbeing in the future.  I am going to use me as an example.  I think to qualify myself and to maybe get a few of you to stop and listen to even a little of what I have to say, I better disclose a little of where I was and where I am today.  

Ten years ago I was 50lbs heavier than I am today and a daily smoker.  I do have before pictures and you can see them on my blog at http://axislifecoach.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-journey-of-loss-and-gain.html .  I will be doing a whole other article on smoking so stay tuned.  I was inactive, eating late, eating junk and not at all looking at nutritional value of what I was putting in my mouth.  I was not always 50lbs overweight.  In fact it seemed like overnight I was into the plus sizes.  What happened was, I started hearing the comments when people didn't think I was listening. I started to feel twice my age, and I one day finally took a good look at myself in the mirror and said today was the day I was going to do something about it.  I took baby steps.  I first began eating at proper dining hours.  Breakfast in the morning, lunch between 12 and 1:30 and dinner no later than 8pm.  If you eat when you are supposed to eat, you won't crave snacks before bed or bags of chips at 3pm which is my weakness.

My Health Tip for this week is Awareness. I want you all to take stock of what you eat and when you are eating and write it down for 5 days.  That is it, just make a quick journal for 5 days and see where you are it.  This includes alcohol, water, pop, juice and everything you eat and when you are eating it.  At the end of the 5 days take a look at what you can change or are willing to change and try the new schedule for the next 5 days.
  
For example. Monday you had cereal and coffee for breakfast, and for lunch at 1pm you had a hotdog and french fries and then went to Cholo's for dinner which included dessert and 4 beers.  Why not try altering your lunch.  Do not give up Cholo's, never give up Cholo's or Picasso Pizza or any of your favourite dining establishments.  Instead, have a lighter lunch and definitely skip the fries.  Eat a huge salad or a sandwich, make it as big as you want.  Go to Cholo's enjoy want you usually enjoy and presto you have now done something to change your eating habits. It truly is that simple and you will be amazed at how a slight change can make such a difference in how you feel.  Over the holidays we pretty much know when and at what time we will be attending our fiestas. We can therefore plan accordingly.  Never skip breakfast, take it easy on the lunch and enjoy the snacks at the fiesta.  Remember to drink lots of water, exercise when you can and I will see you at the food table, my favourite spot and don't you dare get in my way of the shortbread.

Happy Holidays

Karyn

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Karyn Saunders is a Life Coach who lives in Hacienda Pacifica with her
partner; Allan,  their 2 cats and Nina their Panamanian Puppy.  Karyn has
been on the road to Health and Wellness after she made some crucial life
changes over 12 years ago.  Karyn admits: "I was 50lb overweight, a daily
smoker and I knew something had to change".   Karyn quickly became active.
She has completed a marathon many triathlons, and you will often find her
out on the golf course, tennis courts, running on the beach with  the 6:30am
boot camp crew, or battling the surf with Allan at Playa Serena.  Her
passion to living a an active lifestyle has taken her on some fabulous
adventures.  "My goal is to help our society see the forest through the
trees when it comes to "Health and Wellness",  physically and emotionally. I
have a quality of life that is second to none, and my goal is to help those
that want it too"

Karyn Saunders

www.axislifecoach.com
karyn@axislifecoach.com