I have decided to truly embrace the philosophy of the infopharmacy, and take on a great health project. Every week, I will update you on my nutrition makeover, which is a six-month health program I started today. I have enlisted the help of a Certified Health Counselor, Michelle Mahlman, who trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and is using a standard program developed there.
Some background: Since turning 30, I have noticed the weight creep on (not helped by eating out often). In the past year I have also stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, two vices that carried me through my 20s, but no longer work for me. Lastly, I am getting married in March. Vanity prevails. I decided that I needed someone to guide me healthfully through dropping a few pounds and also help me maximize my own mind-body health.
Tonight was our first official meeting. I admit, I was nervous that Michelle would scold me for some of my bad habits (diet coke, the occasional moo shoo pork, candy) but instead she asked me a lot of questions: what are new and good things going on in my life, what a typical day is like for me, and what my health goals were. Then we worked on my first step: eating more green food. I thought I ate a lot of vegetables, but nope, not enough. She eats her greens at every meal. The secret I found out is powdered greens first thing in the morning. I will try it. I purchased a 30-day supply of Green Vibrance ($40).
She also asked me to pick a green - I picked kale - and then try to experiment with it for the week. When I got home after our meeting, I steamed two bunches, one red and one green, and divided into four lunch containers along with broccoli, cauliflower and yams. I have some amazing "Kamikaze" Japanese carrot dressing from the Sunshine Mart. I hope this way I can get more greens in this week.
The other glaring red flag that popped up in our conversation was how much caffeine I drink. I drink 16-24 ounces of coffee every morning and then a 12-16 ounce diet coke in the afternoon. It's true. I love coffee and I love being caffeinated. But instead of taking it away, we added some things: drink my Green Vibrance first before my morning cup; drink a glass of water for every 8 oz. of coffee and lastly, I think I will try and have a cut off: no more caffeine after 12 p.m.
On a side note: I read this amazing passage today about consciousness and self-realization that seemed an apropos kickoff for my mind-body program. It was written by Evelyn Underhill in 1911, and re-printed in the Mountain Record from the book Mysticism:
There are no words in which this realization can be described. It is of so actual a nature that in comparison the natural world of past perception seems twilit at the best. Consciousness has suddenly changed its rhythm and a new aspect of the universes rushes in. The teasing mists are swept away, and reveal, if only for an instant, the sharp outline of Everlasting Hills. "He who knows this will know what I say, and will be convinced the soul has another life." [Plotinus, Enneads]
2 comments:
Go Cath Go!
Where is my next
installment??
Post a Comment