This morning I woke up, did my meditation and then headed to the kitchen for breakfast. I walked into the kitchen & I saw that I had bought my favorite organic milk. There it sat in the fridge, starring at me and immediately I thought CEREAL! For those of you who have followed this newsletter you know my relationship with MR. CEREAL. (Click Here if you want to read that story).

Anyway, that's what I THOUGHT I wanted, not necessarilywhat I needed.

I slowed down the impulse by noticing the thought and KNOWING cereal is a trigger food. I looked around the fridge; how about the leftover barley. I can add sunflower seeds, raisins, agave, the delicious organic milk and sprinkle some cereal on top for the crunch factor. I know this breakfast satisfies me and is more sustainable for my mood and health a few hours from now. I continued to check out the fridge. Eggs? Too yang, tightening and heavy for my current mood.

Then I glared over to another shelf. Left over black beans and rice with steamed veggies and flax oil.

I wasn't feeling excited about it and it certainly wasn't the sexy, sweet breakfast my mind wanted me to have. The rice, beans and veggies just seemed…well too sensible, centering and stable.

But I knew I would feel GOOD after eating this breakfast. I knew it would meet all my needs even if it wasn't as "exciting" as my "treat" breakfasts.

AND WAS I RIGHT. After I took the first bite I could feel my insides say THANK YOU. I had enough energy to carry me through lunch and the irony was that it was sweet, the veggies were crunchy and the flax oil brought a delicious creamy taste and texture to the whole experience.

But before that first bit-
I HAD TO NEGOTIATE

What does that mean? Let me explain by reviewing the words underlined above.

NOTICE THE THOUGHT
Are you able to slow down enough when the first thought comes to mind about what you want to eat or is it think and grab?
I want (blank)! NOW!

I call this watching vs. reacting. I'm not saying this awareness is going to happen over night, it's something to develop but the thing to get now is that IT CAN BE DEVELOPED.
Start noticing when you have impulses, grab a food and later think—"why did I choose that?" Can you slow it down? What tools do you already know that can support you to notice and slow down?

TRIGGER FOODS
We all have them. Mine are cereal, popcorn, yogurt covered pretzels and trail mix.

When I hear myself say let's have popcorn I immediately have to stop myself. I already know SOMETHING ELSE MIGHT BE GOING ON. It's not always the case but if I notice I want to start going to the movies more just so I can have popcorn I know I'm headed for trouble.

Make a list of your trigger foods. That way when you notice yourself wanting them you can check in and ask yourself, "is this what I really need right now?"

LEFTOVERS
Some clients say—"But I don't like leftovers."
Well no one likes soggy, mushy, day old or a few days old food.

Learn to work with your leftovers. Put grains in a freshly made soup to thicken it, add the left over chicken, tofu or beans to a home made burrito, put the left over veggies in an egg or tofu scramble.

There are TONS of ways to use leftovers. It's a huge time saver and I think a crucial skill to learn if you want to be healthy. If you have the time to make food fresh for yourself every day, every meal - hats off to you, but most of us, including me, don't have time to do that.

Start to notice if your comment "I don't like leftovers," is an excuse to have your treat foods or not take care of yourself.
There are ways to make them DELICIOUS. What did you come up with?

CRUNCH FACTOR
We all have specific textures we like in food more than others. I lean towards crunchy foods.

Figure out what textures of food you like (and don't like) and then make a list of the healthy versions of that texture.

As you can see my trigger foods are also crunchy. If I don't find crunchy healthy foods –well I'm in trouble because I will go for my trigger foods. Therefore I have salads, raw veggies, nuts, seeds, pressed salads, blanched veggies. What texture do you like? Do they match your trigger foods? What are the healthy alternatives?

YANG and YIN
FOOD AS ENERGY.

Yang foods tend to be foods that are more contractive, yin foods are foods that are more expansive.

Contractive foods (yang) would be things like salt, meats, chicken, eggs, dairy. Expansive foods (yin) would be things like sugars and alcohol.
Then there are less extremes: like grains, beans and veggies. But even veggies are yin and yang; root veggies are more yang and leafy greens are more yin.

When we eat certain types of foods it creates a certain effect on our bodies. When we learn the value of eating (and living) in the yin / yang theory we are bound to find balance. But first we want to know which foods have which qualities.

As you can see negotiating with food and your body will deepen and enrich your relationship. It starts with learning to listen to your body, knowing what it's asking for and then answering. But its not always easy.

This morning, if I didn't listen, I would have had brown rice crispies and milk. Not the worst breakfast but I do know how I would have felt 1 hour later- a bit lethargic and hungry again. I didn't have time for that today. I have a full morning of writing and afternoon clients. I'm glad I know how to negotiate with what my mind wants and my body needs.

Here are some of questions you begin to ask yourself as you learn the skills on how to negotiate with your thoughts about food.

I think that's a good start when it comes to negotiating your body conversation.  

Of course there is more to learn and things we can do to improve the negotiation. And let’s not ignore that sometimes we are overwhelmed by emotions. Everything from shame, guilt, denial and more. I promise we will discuss the emotional component in upcoming issues but in the meantime start with these questions and action steps.

If you are eager to begin working on the conversation with your body and your over all health why not join me for lunch.

That's right—have lunch with me.

For 6 Tuesdays starting in September, I will be leading the FWH CREATE YOUR HEALTH PROGRAM during the lunch hour (1:00-2:00pm PST).

All of the principles discussed in this article AND MORE will be explored in the program. To learn more about LUNCH WITH DARSHANA or our individual program see upcoming events and what is fruition health?

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PREP FOR THE WINTER

Winter is definitely a time when we want to eat more rich and delicious foods but do we need to go overboard? NO! This fall why not prepare yourself for winter in our
CREATE YOUR HEALTH PROGRAM.

Be coached directly by Darshana Weill, FWH founder. Join her and a small group of women for this experiential life changing program this fall.

The fall class with focus on supporting each participant to create the health plan right for the person they are. We will also include some cleansing for fall and a specific plan for how to prepare for the 2008 holiday season.

Begins Tuesday September 16, 2008
Sign up by September 5th and save

CLICK HERE to learn more…

"Darshana helped me change my life. It's that simple! When I first came to see Darshana, I was skeptical. I knew I wanted to find a healthier way to live, but I thought she would tell me all the things I couldn't have. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Darshana taught me expansion, not deprivation. She taught me how to make healthier food choices without feeling deprived, how to really connect and listen to my body, the importance of exercise and self care. But most importantly, through her compassionate and caring support, she helped me discover myself. And that is no small thing! I would highly recommend Darshana to anyone. She is an excellent nutritionist and an amazing teacher."

-Eileen - former FWH client

Fruition Women's Health is a holistic approach to wellness that includes:

• FOOD COACHING to help you shift your relationship to food and your body for the rest of your life!
• SKILLED COUNSELING that supports you to work through emotional blocks in your personal relationship to food &
• INSPIRING COACHING to transform your ideas into practical action steps

Both in person and phone health counseling programs available. Find out more at www.fruitionhealth.com

Contact us for your FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION. During your free initial session, we will review your health history in detail and discuss your goals. Then we will work together to design a program that focuses on your specific health goals.

Click HERE to tell us more about you and your health or email info@fruitionhealth.com to set up your free consultation.

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