Feeling Reborn With the Power of Smoothies

As of today, I am one month sugar-free. Or to be exact, refined sugar free. Regardless, I feel wonderful.

As a Health Counselor, one of the most common things I support my clients on is getting off sugar. It’s in everything so it can take time to help people convert their eating habits. I find that they don’t think the process is nearly as difficult as they thought with one exception: the night time treat.

This has always been my challenge. I do eat a whole foods, home cooked diet 95% of the time and know what foods work for me so my sweet cravings are minimal. What has always been the challenge for me is having something sweet after dinner. It’s my time to exhale from the day and relax.

Many people also find this time challenging because they too are living busy lives and  come home exhausted, to an empty home or more work so a sugar snack provides something to look forward to.

So the reason that this is one of the more challenging sugar habits to break is because it’s not about eating differently, it’s about living differently. It involves slowing down, doing less and being more, finding more joy and learning how to remain calm in the midst of chaos.

After the detox Carlos and I did a month ago, we felt amazing. And we also knew that we had done detoxes before, felt amazing and then went back to our old habits (which really aren’t bad but one can always improve). So we decided to focus on one thing each that we would change and hold each other accountable. His was giving up coffee and me sugar. At the time I said this, I said I’d have to be allowed to have it at least once or twice a week because as a former binge eater, I know if I have too tight restrictions, I’m going to want that food even more.

But what has happened has shocked even me. I haven’t touched sugar once. I’ve had  some home made things with agave or maple syrup in them but no chocolate or anything sweet enough to wipe out this clean feeling I’m experiencing. I’m sleeping less, feeling optimistic and been able to handle the stress (good and bad) of life magically.

I’m still in amazement what a minor tweak like this can do. I say minor not because getting of sugar is minor, which it is not (I’ve been working on this for two years!) but what eliminating the night time snack can do.

What has helped are fruit smoothies (and I’ve committed myself to four days of yoga to help with staying calm). They are my magic bullet. Carlos is the smoothie master. I’ll post the simple recipe on Wednesday so you can try and see if this helps you too. I bet it will. If I was wanting something sweet, we’d have one of these after dinner. It was enough to knock any cravings out…and really healthy at the same time.

This reminds me of three things: First, how helpful it is to have support – whether it be from a boyfriend, partner, friend or Health Counselor. Second, the power of making gradual, simple changes. I do it everyday with my clients and see miraculous results but sometimes forget the power in simplicity. And third, that we can achieve powerful levels of health if we continue to try,  even if we cannot imagine ever getting there. We will if we keep on, keepin’ on.

Carlos is still coffee free. He’s also gradually phasing gluten out of his diet after he saw how much his “allergies”, lower back pain and morning alertness were affected by gluten.

So onward and upward. I know I’m never not going to eat refined sugar again but I’ve had this experience long enough to know I’m never going back to where I was, even though it wasn’t that bad. This is better!

Chris’ Story: Getting her Life Back, Pain Free!

I wanted to write you and let you know how my five-minute conversation with you changed my life. We discussed my back pain, which you told me could be due to my digestion and how a wheat allergy could be causing the pain I was experiencing. I told you I had been to 20 different doctors and had almost every test under the sun. I was frustrated and taking lots of meds which I really did not like or want in my body.

After starting to incorporate bread back into my diet after my Lap Band surgery, all of my pain came back. I remembered our conversation and cut all the wheat back out of my diet and my pain levels went way down. I re-added the wheat and the pain came back. I did this about three times and started to read online about wheat intolerance. I have since asked my doctor to run more tests along those lines to see if this food allergy could be the reason my body has been in such pain for the past eight years.

I cannot thank you enough for giving me my life back and putting me on the right path. Everyday is a new day with no pain and I finally did aerobics last week (it had been eight years since I had attempted that). Thank you for that five-minute conversation that changed my life. I would highly recommend you to anyone with nutritional issues.

~ Chris Taylor, Bucks County, PA