For a really, really long time, I was a huge fan of doing the very least amount of work to yield a result. It was like my life was a microwave and as long as I pressed the Easy Pop button, something fragrant, buttery, and vaguely satisfying came out of it. And like when eating microwave popcorn, I was always left wanting more - never satisfied with life or the too easily obtained fruits of my efforts. I tried an antidepressant to lift me out of my blues, and after a couple years of that not doing it for me (the operative word being for), I ventured into alternative wellness in search of a "cure" for life's challenges.
When I first began my personal wellness journey, I spent a couple thousand dollars on classical homeopathy over the course of five years. In that time, I learned that the body is capable of healing itself (I was able to stop taking antidepressants), but I still had anxiety, fatigue, and a generally negative outlook on life. I felt like a huge piece of my life puzzle was still missing, and when I was introduced to
Total Body Analysis and
Energy Healing, I knew that becoming a practitioner would help to fit the components of my life together.
All of my choices and experiences have led me to where I am now, and they've helped me realize deeper issues and identify how they were influencing my life. However, if I could have had a guide to owning my health, I would have snatched it up and followed it step by step because I knew I wanted to heal mind, body and "spirit," I just didn't know how to navigate that path. I have always been food-centric, so to know that my approach to what I put into my body can positively influence my entire life is hugely empowering. Food is the common denominator for living things, and it's a great place to start a guide on owning our health and our healing. Today's post begins a series of steps toward building a commitment to holistic health, and you are ready to leap forward!
Giant Leap #1: Leverage Your Veg
Since we all have to eat, and all food contains energy (not just calories, but frequencies that can be highly positive or negative for our bodies), put only what you know is good for you into your gas tank.
How do we know what the best foods are for our individual bodies and metabolisms? Without a TBA consult, most people have trouble pinpointing exactly what will be most beneficial (or harmful) as far as diet, but two things we know for sure are that (most) fruits and vegetables are good and pesticides are BAD.
So for this first month of summer, your mission is not only to eat as many fresh (or freshly juiced) vegetables as possible, but also to select only organic incarnations of the produce on the following list from
www.ewg.org. You can buy all other produce conventionally grown.
The Dirty Dozen Plus
Apples
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Grapes
Nectarines (Imported)
Peaches
Potatoes
Snap Peas (Imported)
Spinach
Strawberries
Sweet Bell Peppers
Plus:
Hot peppers
Kale and collard greens
Time investment: Minimal (assuming you go grocery shopping anyway) - just wash and chop, add some organic, first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and you're all set.
Monetary investment: $5-$10 increase per week (per person).
Hold the phone, Hann!!! You expect me to spend FORTY dollars more a MONTH on groceries? Next you'll be telling me to give up Netflix to cover it.
Please, don't cancel Netflix! What grocery items are you regularly buying that aren't clean fuel for your engine? Orange juice or any other pasteurized juice is a great junk-food-in-disguise to omit from your shopping budget. Try suspending the purchase of just one of those items if you're looking to save some dough.
Where will you be one month from now if you haven't tried this? By avoiding the toxins stored in conventional versions of the above produce, you can actually allow your body to start getting rid of any from past consumption on its own. Who knows what benefits you'll already start to feel when neurotoxic pesticides are no longer splashing around in your bloodstream?
Where will you be one year from now if you don't make the leap? You will continue to fight a battle with the negative energy of chemicals having full run of your body (on top of anything else that might be overtly bothering you). You might have $500 more in your checking account. Or you might not.
What will you have accomplished by buying and eating only produce that will give you nutrients and not pesticides? A sense of completing a small challenge. You'll feel those good neurochemicals that bust out when you've taken on something positive. Most importantly, you'll have a strengthened commitment to your health, and you'll be ready to take our next action leap.
If you already abide by the Dirty Dozen list, incorporate a fruit into one meal a day and different vegetables raw into the other two. You'll get a wide variety of nutritional benefits by doing this every day!
