Have you all tried Coconut Butter? You simply must, must try this. It’s my new favorite super food.
I often call food “My last frontier.” It’s the thing that’s been slightly out of reach of my healing powers. Addicted to sugar and caffeine, I go along my merry way keeping fit with serious exercise and doing the psychological, emotional, mental and spiritual healing work I need to do to feel good and healthy. All the while knowing that if I don’t “do the food” I’ll be doomed in some way or another probably sooner rather than later.
You know that saying “When you’re ready, you’re ready?” Well, I guess I’m ready to do the food. When Melissa Brooks posted her Summer Detox program on Facebook I thought, here’s my chance to give myself an overhaul, get off the sugar and processed foods, and shed the 6 1/2 pounds that seemed stuck to my thighs since last year.
I’m getting older, I would tell myself, It’s a hormone thing. And I continued to say things like this to justify my inaction. I’ve been resigned to being forty something and going through certain inevitable changes, but not really willing to do the food. Too hard. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are just too many miles down the road to make it work. Plus Peapod has them beat by a million because who can beat your grocery bags ending up on your kitchen counter all by themselves?
I’ve had so many great excuses not to do the food. My kids…yes I used them as an excuse – their picky eating making it too inconvenient and expensive to shop and cook separately. My husband – his travel and work schedule allowing me to just eat the mac ’n cheese I cooked for the kids rather than make a real, healthy meal just for myself.
Oh the excuses.
I’ve known I needed to do the food for years. I’ve done it successfully in the past with books, plans and workshops, but always fell off the wagon with cheese, chocolate, pasta and bread creeping their way back into my gut.
The day I saw Melissa’s post I was ready. I was just waiting for the structure…and she provided it. I recently spent hundreds on a full workup at NIHA – an integrative health center here in the D.C area. I had a growing list of food sensitivities that was making eating a bummer, and it seemed to be getting worse and worse. The doctor there helped put me on a regimen of digestive enzymes and other supplements that I have to admit have helped tremendously…but if you continue to eat cheese for dinner more nights than not all the supplements in the world aren’t going to make up for you not doing the food.
So it was time to do the food. I jumped in with the Summer Detox full force, going cold turkey with coffee, sugar, and processed foods. While she pulled everyone along in the “pre-detox” stage, I was already following the week 1 recipes and moving through the expected withdraw symptoms. Jumping with two feet is the way I roll. Rip the Band Aid off, you know? It’s not everyone style, I know.
And here’s the miracle. This time I’m ready. I care. I don’t mind skipping the brownies at a dinner with friends. I don’t mind ordering the salad when I go out. The Cacao Bliss Balls satisfy my sweet tooth enough and working through the cheese withdraw seems manageable. Something shifted this time. It’s like I know how good this will be, how important. I know that I need the energy. I know that the crap I’ve been feeding myself isn’t helping and probably is hurting me. I finally have the willpower (or whatever magical power that is) to say no, and to make really kick-ass healthy choices for my body.
This time I’m ready to do the food. You know that little thing I say, “I write to Feng Shui my soul?” Well, I am eating to Feng Shui my gut and clear a space in there for healing. The food has to match the rest of me. Otherwise it just doesn’t make much sense. Doing the food has empowered me. Finally the old excuse of “I have no willpower” has no weight. Warriors have way more than willpower.
A warrior does the food and doesn’t whine (too much) about it.
What struggles or successes have you had with food? Tell me in the comments, I’m dying to know your secrets!
Looking for an amazing online course to jumpstart your healing? Please check out From Awareness to Creativity – Part 1: Writing as a Healing Practice HERE. I’ll help you with some of my secrets to getting in touch with your inner warrior and healer – the thing that helped me start doing things like The Food! Starts August 24th! Early birds are getting a special price!
Special thanks to my recent inspiration, Melissa Brooks and her Summer Detox program. And to Jeff Jones, my resource for Dale’s Raw Protein Bars and COCONUT BUTTER!
Laura is a warrior healing expert, published author and teacher for people who are fed up with pain and fear. Her game-changing blogs and integrative classes redefine healing and help you wake up, be brave, heal your shit and do what you love. Her writing has been featured in tinybuddha.com, mindbodygreen.com, elephantjournal.com, and BlackBelt Magazine. Find her books, Living, Healing and Taekwondo, Warrior Love and Warrior Joy, a Journal to Inspire Your Fiercely Alive Whole Self, on amazon.com. When she’s not teaching others to overcome fear and pain and inspiring them with the truth and how’s of healing, you’ll find her petting her dogs or a horse, practicing her axe-kick, taste testing cheese or dark chocolate (occasionally), or creating her next book.
Connect with your inner warrior and start your healing journey at www.LauraProbert.com
