Are you doing the right thing?

How do you calculate your progress besides just weighing yourself?

Or do you count how many days in a row you “stayed” on the plan?

Do you blame yourself for not exercising or eating “clean” enough?

Do you feel super confused every time you head to the grocery store to choose what to support your body?

If we are constantly worried that we are NOT doing the “right” thing, then we can not discern our progress without judgement and feeling like we are not doing enough. Plus, being right can be so wrong. When we are too head strong, that can disable us to be body wise. When we become the expert of ourselves, we will be wrong often, only to discover what is right for us.

I recently had a major a-ha moment while researching more facts regarding intermittent fasting. Our ancestors had to be dialed in with the environment and their reality to what was going on around them to help them survive. Now, our reality is very overwhelming with abundant information and resources and we are still searching to be dialed in. These extreme diets become “sexy” because they are actually trying to connect us to the environment, seasons, our bodies, nature and the circadian rhythm of life. When we feel motivated to take initiative of an issue in our life we need to align with all of these variables and find our rhythm.

Just think if you wake up every morning fearful that we are NOT doing the right thing. This state instantly puts your body in fight or flight and feeling in alignment is not going to happen easily. One of my friends recently lost 40 pounds by shifting her consciousness with how she approached her way to release her weight. She set a goal to release the weight by a certain time and she achieved it. This does not happen often, so why did it work for her? Besides just weighing herself, she learned to pay attention to the subtleties and how to adjust to her reality to make this goal a possibility.

What subtleties can you measure that will help your entire well being?

1. 1. What are you saying to yourself in the mirror? When my friend weighed herself or charted her notes regarding what Conscious Nutrition Meal Types she was eating, she ALWAYS said to herself, “Your are doing so great, look how far you have come”. When she told me this, I choked up. Honestly, besides her dedication to having one to two combined meals a week (Review the CN Food tree here) and no combined meals initially for the first two weeks~ I BELIEVE this affirmation contributed to 90% of her success. Why? When I asked her to review this blog she wanted to share this.  “I realized that the mind and body are connected. I don’t think I’ve ever really let myself acknowledge that I’m doing a really good job at anything and of course on a cellular level my body would know that.  So, part of this for me is saying to myself, “yes, you did do a great job, look at what you did, how amazing” — taking away the guilt, not just with food, but in general. It’s something I’ve been missing (needed) for my whole life.”–Jean R. 
   2. Connection is a whole new perspective: If you have been controlling your food intake by counting points or sticking to a diet for a whole 30 days:), you are lacking the most important nutrient of life: Intimate connection. We are emotional beings, not robots. We are not meant to stick to a stagnant way of being. When my clients start to get frustrated with the stricter meal plans they put themselves on, they start to crave new flavors, socializing with friends and a desire to let go so their mind to relax and not be compulsive. How we can stay connected and free during our relationship with food? My friend had a favorite meal at a restaurant and when she felt she was on track with her goal, she would go and have this meal with full gusto. If she wasn’t feeling connected, she chose to skip that meal for a week or so, not making that decision from a place of denial or restriction but from a place of choice and connection.
   3. Don’t try to fix yourself: When we are ready to make a shift we tend to go into over analytical mode and try to “fix” ourselves and control everything. When one thing worked the last time we tried it, we hold onto it and think it has to work forever. For example, I felt great on oatmeal, so I am going to eat it every morning. Or, if you didn’t lose weight yesterday you start dissecting what you ate that prevented your body to release weight. There are too many variables to count on why your body responds the way it does. Whether it is weight, constipation, dehydration, exhaustion and the biggest of them all, STRESS. Try to step back and look at the whole picture before you try to figure out the one thing that it could be. My favorite way practice to support stepping back is conscious journaling. You will discover subtleties about your body that will give you all the answers you need.
   4. What are your true goals?: One of my favorite stories with a new client is when she came to meet me at the grocery store during her first week, she looked ten years younger and said she slept through the night for the first time in 20 years, jumped out of bed with energy, felt full at each meal and was not craving sugar and then in the same breath asked me when she was going to start seeing results. Remember this was her first week, and I stepped back with wide open eyes and paused until she realized she had already seen the ultimate results. Her old mind set was so focused on beating up her body to lose weight that she didn’t even put it together that feeling healthy was the new route.
   5. My favorite subtlety: Mental clarity. When my nutrition is dialed in and my stress is dialed down, my mental clarity is on point. I feel a step ahead in my life and can problem solve with ease or even can prevent the problems from happening. When my mind begins to become sleepy and slow, it is time for a Jump Start. The next Conscious Nutrition Jump Start begins June 11th. I am so excited to participate with everyone. You will experiment with the Jump Start flow of eating and hydrating for 5 days, while we meet daily to support the subtle messages your body is giving you. Learn more about the Summer Jump Start here and see you every day! 

Let’s keep supporting each other to discover our own connection and we shift our perspective. Because making changes from the energy that created them is what Einstein named insanity.

Cheers to less insanity,

Heather Fleming, C.C.N.

We had an amazing gathering to welcome a new mother this weekend. Check out what I made for the brunch: What to make for a baby brunch.