It’s time to stop hiding and start living

I am on vacation this week and have a testimonial in place of a blog entry. It’s from a former client Sera. She’s wicked smart, focused and fearless, although she didn’t always know that until life tested her with a Desmoid tumor. She took the challenge, is recovering spectacularly and is now running to help others who have Desmoid tumors in the upcoming Philadelphia Distance Run (PDR).

Her story is below. I know marketing gurus tell you testimonials are only supposed to be a formuliac paragraph, but if you’ve ever struggled with your weight, body or food, you can learn so much from Sera’s story. She’s a fiesty young woman who makes you believe people are kind, honest and trying to be their best. I didn’t edit a thing. It’s all straight from the heart, and a very big and courageous one at that.

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.” ~ Benamin Disraeli

There are many people who’ve come in and out of my life in the 27 years, but  very few have touched me like Ali. I still am not sure how Ali came into my life or how I was so fortunate to gain such a valuable friend, but I know one thing for sure – I will forever live a better, stronger, happier life because of her influence.

When I first met Ali I had no idea that she would become such an influence on me. I would venture to guess that many would not know what kind of caring, knowledgeable and charismatic person lives inside that 5’4”, petite frame.

After our first consultation I knew I had met someone that understood me – finally! Someone could speak to my innermost fears and help me answer questions that I had spent 27 years hiding from. I remember leaving our first meeting so light and free with so much hope, something I had not had in a long time when it came to my body.

I reached out to Ali because I had a tormented relationship with food and my body and I was so tired from it. I had spent 27 years starving myself, binging, purging, over-exercising, winning and losing my every day battle with food and my body. I knew I had to stop this battle, but I had no idea where to start.

I was skeptical when I first met Ali. It’s true she was a jolt of light and inspiration that I needed in my life, but she asked me to do things I had been utterly opposed to for years of my life: drink whole milk (no way: skim = slim), get off artificial sweeteners (and just how am I supposed to drink my coffee??), try new vegetables (hello, I eat so many fruits and veggies – how could you possibly show me anything new)? I did not follow  every idea she gave me right away and it took weeks (and months) for some things to sit well with me.

But that’s the special thing about Ali – I have never met a more patient, yet politely persistent, ‘I know what I am talking about and can give you more info if you want it’ individual then Ali. During the process of working through some very difficult patterns in my life, that I learned were the foundation of these eating problems, Ali unwearyingly sat on the sidelines and was my coach, interjecting just the right cheers when I needed a push, but letting me blaze my own path to set myself free. With Ali’s encouragement, wisdom and patience I have set myself free.

I have become a new, courageous individual that not only has a positive relationship with food, but I have become a woman with a little more hope, a little more faith and a lot more patience. Ali came into my life to help me transform my relationship with food, but she did so much more than that. Sure, she got me drinking whole milk, preaching to others when they use artificial sweeteners (you would really put that in your body?!), picking up kale and bok choy every time I go to Whole Foods (yes – there are many, many greens and veggies I knew nothing about), but more importantly Ali showed me how to trust myself, be patient with my body instead of torturing myself, be aware and accepting of life and the “mistakes” I make or challenges I face and learn from them.

I never anticipated how important the lessons she taught me would impact my life and how quickly I would reap the benefits. Several months after I started working with Ali and began to break down the walls I had so meticulously built around food and my body image a routine doctors appointment turned my world upside down when I found out that I had a tumor in my abdominal wall.

For a girl that lived and breathed, nutrition and exercise and how I looked, the news of this tumor and the accompanying surgery that I would need to go through to have it removed was the biggest, darkest nightmare I had faced in my life. Thank my lucky stars that I had Ali as a part of my support system during this process.

Her faith, hope, support, nutritional and meditative advice through the diagnosis, surgery, and recovery were nothing short of amazing. From pre-surgery meditations, to post surgery healing recipes and to recovery chats of confidence (not to mention a heroic realization during this whole process that I had a horrible gluten intolerance) Ali was a friend, mentor, health coach and ray of light. I may never figure out how she came in my life and how she joined me on my journey at just the right time, but I will forever be changed because she was a part of it.

Thank you Ali, for being you, for always having hope, for sticking by me when I wanted to give up and for believing I had a beautiful, promising future waiting for me – you were right and I am forever grateful. ~Sera S. Philadelphia, PA

To donate for the research on Desmoid tumors and help support Sera during the PDR, click here: www.active.com/donate/sera_dtrf

Is nothing sacred anymore?

They say never to talk politics or religion, especially if you are in business for yourself. Considering I’m in the holistic health field, that is tricky. Food and health care are all about politics. Spirituality (not religion but along the same vein) is something intrinsically tied to well-being and a personal fascination of mine. On top of all this, I grew up in family where we regularly discussed world affairs as my Dad is and has always been his own self-constructed news center – reading, listening and watching anything he can get his hands on.

And, I just happen to have a big mouth.

So while I’ve never been good at shying away from controversial topics, I was always told and thought sports were a safe spot. It’s especially easy when you hail from Pittsburgh, the city of Champions. I love the Steelers and who doesn’t? But now comes along Michael Vick and his signing with the Eagles. Seems I’m doomed.

Despite there being plenty of other athletes who have done equally reprehensible things, this seems to be the controversy that won’t go away here in Philly, kind of like Vick himself. And while I’m not sure how I feel about the entire situation, I KNOW many people support animal cruelty everyday with the food they eat, the pharmaceuticals they use and even as Alex Baldwin pointed out in a recent blog, the cars they purchase as live animals are used by some Detroit car makers for testing.

So while it’s easy to point the finger at Vick, and rightfully so, I believe a more constructive route would be to be the change we want to see in the world and start making more humane decisions ourselves.

I think Peter Singer, the founder of animal rights,  said it best in an article with the Philadelphia Inquirer, “…people who are very quick to jump on Michael Vick maybe could spend some time thinking about how they participate in the cruelty to animals just by walking into the supermarket, spend some time thinking about what happened to that animal before it was turned into meat. There are pigs, probably millions, on factory farms,” he said, “who are having a worse time than Michael Vick’s dogs. That’s what I find a little incongruous about the response to what he did.”

He goes on to discuss how cruel pigs are treated but for some reason, people care more about dogs. And given my own knowledge in this field, I know it’s not just pigs who are abused in the food industry. It’s every animal you eat that is at your favorite fast food joint, most restaurants and in your grocery store. If it isn’t organically, pasture/grass-fed or raised on a small farm, it’s probably been inhumanely treated.

I’m not saying don’t eat meat. I do myself. But I pay the extra couple of dollars at my farmers market because I know the animal has been raised humanely and in a win-win, tastes better and is healthier for me.

So if you are outraged with the whole Vick situation, remember that cheap meat is all about profit too. And here’s what you can do to be part of the solution and not the problem, in terms of food purchases:

1. Go see Food, Inc.

2. Read or watch Fast Food Nation

3. Purchase meat from your farmers market or meat labeled grass-fed, pasture-raised or organic.

4. Stop eating fast food and at restaurants that don’t offer humanely treated  meat

5. Become a Steeler fan

August Newsletter

August already? The summer has flown by without much relaxation and I’m feeling the effects of maintaining such a crazy pace. The antidote? A week this month in Pittsburgh for organic food straight from Mom’s garden, workouts with Dad at the YMCA, yoga with old friends, and simply soaking in the suburban quiet.

Relaxation and time-outs may seem unproductive, but they help preserve energy and enthusiasm for life, but more on that when I debunk Myth #3 around health: I’m always exhausted and drained, but that comes with getting older.

First, a couple of updates:

1. My new Lounge & Learn teleclass series kicked off in July. What a success! DailyCandy.com picked up the new offering and the feedback on the “Living Gluten-Free Happy Belly” teleclass has been phenomenal. The recording and all the handouts are available for purchase on my website here. The second call, “Get Up, Wake Up, and Stay Up” will be August 17 from 7:30pm – 8:45 pm. If you have trouble sleeping and need more energy, this call is for you. The last teleclass sold out, so I strongly suggest signing up today.

2. My new website www.alishapiro.com is about to be launched (the old site is up now). I’m so excited! If you’d still like to receive my newsletter, you’ll have to sign up through this new site. I’ll let you know when this happens, but please note you’ll need to take action if you want to keep receiving my monthly health insights.

So, upward and onward to dispelling Myth #3: I’m always exhausted and drained, but that comes with getting older. That life is supposed to be one big energetic and health decline after your 20s is simply not true. In all honesty, walking around the city each day, I rarely see people who look healthy, energized, and alive. Without a doubt, life is hectic. Believe me, between juggling being a health counselor, running my own business, and being in graduate school, I can sympathize with you. But what I also know is that I have more energy than I’ve ever had in my entire life because I’m doing what I love. You maybe thinking, Yes, Ali, but you are one example and being healthy is what you do.

Both of these sentiments may be true, but they aren’t excuses for you not to be energized and excited about your life. I’m going to get a little harsh here—yes, many of you like using this myth as an excuse to justify how you feel and not to change. Well, I’m not going to let you and here are five problems and solutions to not let your age become an excuse for declining health.

Problem: You eat like crap (and have been for years). What you put in your mouth becomes the building blocks for your cells, blood, bones, and tissues. Your body cannot regenerate and run on high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and hydrogenated oils. Would you expect your car to run on sludge? You may get a temporary surge of energy, but gradually it wears down and eventually kills the motor.

Solution: Eat real food, not imitation food…now. Real food doesn’t come in packages and doesn’t have an advertising team convincing you to eat it. Real food has vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins and carbohydrates that regenerate your body and talks to your DNA about whether to turn disease on or off. The body is resilient and with a commitment to eating whole foods, you’ll feel better than you ever imagined.

Problem: You don’t understand your medication. While many medications are helpful in masking symptoms, most of them do not get to the root of your health problem and meanwhile are causing you all kinds of nasty side effects. According to the Archives of Internal Medicine, eight million people are hospitalized annually for disease brought on by prescription drugs and 17 percent of all hospital admissions are caused by the drug side effects administered by an MD.  For example, inflammation often causes high cholesterol. So, while a drug may lower your cholesterol, your body is still inflamed by your diet, lifestyle choices, or an infection. So while your lab numbers may go down, there’s still a fire going on inside your body.

Solution: Work with a healthcare professional trained in functional medicine who can get to the root of your problem and not just mask the symptoms. Even diagnoses that seem irreversible like Lupus, IBS, and Chronic Fatigue can be corrected with cleaning up your digestive system. To find a doctor trained in functional medicine, click here. If it’s something diet and lifestyle related like IBS or high blood pressure, find a health counselor who can help you make better choices that’ll give you quality and quantity of life.

Problem: You can’t sleep anymore. Many people seem to have a difficult time falling asleep the older they get. Why? Added stress, poor diet and lifestyle habits make it more difficult to absorb the nutrients that help you sleep.

Solution: Watch my NBC clip on sleep tips here or join my teleclass on August 17. You’ll feel invigorated with new ideas and all the sleep you’ll finally deserve.

Problem: You never relax. You can try and fight your body, but it’ll always win. Unlike man-made laws, nature’s laws never change. You cannot go, go, and go and expect not to burn out. The body needs to rest because that’s when it’s repairing itself (rebuilding tissues, regulating blood pressure and blood sugar, and other maintenance work) in order for you to perform at your peak. Plus, what’s the point if life is one fire drill after another?

Solution: Reframe how you view downtime. We all have 24 hours in the day. Time is the great equalizer. How we manage our time is what defines us. If you think of life in terms of energy management versus time management, you’ll see why others seem to have it all while you are spending two hours a night exhausted in front of the TV, your lunch break at the doctor or weeks battling a cold or allergies. When you relax, you recharge. Taking an hour for yoga or 30 minutes to read a great book will give you a fabulous return on your investment in quality of energy, less sick days, and peace of mind (remember, quality of life matters as much as quantity!)

Problem: You are boring. Think about it, when was the last time you experienced pure bliss? Or when you were working hard at something you believed in? When’s the last time you laughed so hard almond milk came out your nose? Here’s a little hint: you can eat all kale in the world, but if there isn’t something in your life inspiring you to get out of bed in the morning, who cares? Who wants to live longer when you aren’t enjoying the life you have now?

Solution: Build a life that matters to you! Think about what feeds your soul. Somehow along the way, many of us traded in fun and free time for possessions and jobs that pay for stuff we don’t need. Having a life you love is like a sugar high that doesn’t end. Start with easy things: who can you spend more time with in your life that energizes you? What hobbies have you dropped or would like to try? Pretty soon, you’ll realize the Puritan’s had it all wrong and this fun thing matters if you want to be a better person. And who knows, you may be so giddy you move onto a job that reflects this new found happy person. To get inspired, check out KT’s success story, a client who realized her emotional eating was a spiritual journey to find a life aligned with her strengths and values.

When I work with my clients, they often realize by changing over to a whole foods lifestyle, their lives become more whole in the process. They want to relax and fun seems to find them and with the clarity, energy, and confidence that comes from firing on all cylinders, their lives match how they feel, not their age. Don’t become a victim of low expectations: Getting older really means getting wiser if you take care of your body and soul.

Ezra Taft Benson, a devoted farmer and steward of the land said, “When you are tempted to look elsewhere for greener pastures,  just remember someone else is probably looking at yours. And if another pasture looks greener, perhaps it is getting better care and attention. Grass is always greener…where it is watered.”

I’m off to take my own advice. Lots of rest, relaxation, and fun exploring Pittsburgh with great family and friends. The fall will certainly be busy, so if I rest up now, I’ll be in shape for all the excitement life has to offer.

Be Well,

Ali