Exercise even 30 minutes a day will keep your car- diovascular health intact, improve your sleep, reduce stress, strengthen bones and reduce fat. It is a win win.
Hormones Who doesn’t know this one? During that time of the month, pregnancy, peri-menopause or menopause there is always something hormonal going on. If you think about it, as women, this is our whole life. Unusual cravings can and do hit us, but they can be controlled or eliminated by food and lifestyle choices.
Ying/Yang Imbalance Foods have a balance that affects how our body responds. Yin qualities of food are expansive and yang or contractive. When you eat too much of one of the other, your body craves the opposite trying to rebalance itself. An ex- ample is if you eat too much sugar (yin) your body may crave meat (yang).
Seasonal or Mom’s Cooking When seasons change, our bodies may start to crave elements of the season. Like in the fall, you may want more soups, hot foods, squash, meats. This is quite natural as your body wants more warming foods that ground you. In the spring you may crave ice cream or citrus or greens…these are cooling and detoxifying foods that are available naturally after a long winter of heavier foods. This can also trigger foods that we grew up with or foods we associate with holidays like Thanks- giving. All very natural, but it is important to learn to listen to your body, achieve balance and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.
Lack of Nutrients This is probably more com- mon than we realize. If we are not getting adequate nutrition our body is going to tell us. It may be screaming for more energy and we give it caffeine when what it really wants is real food. We may have a day where we are eating more processed or refined foods….fast food, white foods, sugar loaded….and we don’t really realize it. The problem with not eating nutrient rich whole food is that our body doesn’t feel like we have fed it. It is still empty of nutrition even if we ate. You can eat nothing but calories and very little in nutrition. Our body is still saying feed me.
Celebration Cravings This is when things are going well, on top of the world and you reward yourself by overdoing something. By overdoing you throw your body off balance. To bring balance back you may have low blood sugar, more eating, or mood swings, more eating.
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No book or theory can tell you what to eat. Only awareness of your body and its needs can tell you. Of all the relationships in our lives, the one with our body is the most essential. It takes communication, love and time to cultivate a relationship with your body. As you learn to decipher and respond to your body’s cravings, you will create a deep and lasting level of health and balance.
The next time you have a craving, treat it as a loving message from your body instead of a weakness. Try these tips to respond to your body: • Have a glass of water and wait 10 minutes. • Eat a healthier version of what you crave. For example, if you crave sweets, try eating more fruit and sweet or root vegetables.
• What is out of balance in your life? Is there something you need to express, or is something being repressed? What hap- pened in your life just before you had this craving?
•
When you eat the food you are craving, enjoy it, taste it, savor it; notice its effect. Then you will become more aware and free to decide if you really want it next time. W
For more nutritional and weight loss information, Vickie may be contacted through at 704-995-1951. www.YourBalancedHealthstyle;
www.RenewWeightLoss.com
Vickie Bunzey Certified Holistic Health Coach Director, Renew Weight Loss
www.RenewWeightLoss.com www.YourBalancedHealthstyle.com www.SimpleWholeFoodNutrition.com 704-708-4437 704-995-1951 Cell
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