From Diet to Healthy Lifestyle

The alarm goes off.  5am. Instantly, the snooze button is tapped like the send button on a passionate Facebook reply.  “Nope. Not today. I’ll start tomorrow.” Why? Why is “not today” our reflexive response? Simple--it’s what’s always been done, it’s habitual behavior.  

However, the relief of the “not today” finds itself mixed with “But, I really do want to change! I’m ready!  But, I’m not a morning person. I don’t like vegetables. There’s no time to cook healthy food. And, I can’t do it-” all in the same string of thoughts.

Here. This is where I lived, and it was misery. At 17 I gained 20 lbs in one summer due to a dramatic, yet sneaky, change in my lifestyle and habits.  Feeling puffy, depressed, exhausted, and incredibly frustrated, I turned to extremes rather than reflection. Taking a single moment to reflect on the major changes in my life: quitting basketball, taking on two jobs, and partying the stress away-why think about that? 

Instead I turned to the most logical, given RESULTS is what I was after and as QUICKLY as humanly possible: the Slim Fast Diet! Calorie and fat restriction-- like it’s 1999!  As someone who gives 110% of herself to every commitment, this diet is no exception. In about 8 weeks, the weight was down, while running was constant. The “success” of it fed my unhealthy desire to control things in order to avoid the root cause of gaining the weight in the first place.  While red flags signaled me all the way, the one that flapped the loudest was the belief that the only way to stay thin(and therefore healthy) was to stay addicted to the control of the diet.  And the diet consumed me like a full-time job. When not followed perfectly, the resulting guilt and shame became overwhelming and would even determine my value and worth. The result was an odd and unbalanced attachment to food.  It was all I could think about--I was either on it or off it--both were very extreme and unsustainable.  

It took far too long to realize that the diet didn’t and couldn’t change my unhealthy habits--the root cause to my weight gain in the first place.

So, what makes  living a healthy lifestyle so different than dieting?  Here are the top twelve signs I noticed as I ditched the diets and healed my body and mind, then sustained for more than a decade:

1. Food is no longer good or bad. Everything is consumed without guilt. My body responds to true hunger.

2. Food choices are made out of a strong desire to feel physically and mentally AWESOME which are natural, whole foods, in balance, when hungry.

3. In life situations where I have no control over the food, I just eat what is available, appropriately responding to hunger and making the most balanced decision possible.

4. My meal plans, grocery lists and home are filled with food that makes me feel awesome.

5. Junk food cravings and consumption is rare because of the physical and mental side-effects.

6. The eating experience is pleasurable every time.

7. Exercise is habitual, treasured, planned.

8. I crave real food, especially vegetables.

9. Total elimination of allergenic foods is non-negotiable: for me, that means no gluten, no dairy, shellfish…

10. Quality sleep, 7-8 hours, is a top priority.

11. When an emotional or physical need is not being met, I find ways to fill that need in a non food way (non-food nourishment or NFN)

12. Cooking from scratch is always the norm alongside meal planning

    It took some time to relearn my body’s signals and what it was originally created to do.  This is the case for people who struggle as I once did. Society sent the lie-filled messages long ago: “Food is love! Treat yourself! You deserve it! You earned it! You can’t resist! You can’t trust yourself around food!”  WRONG: food is food. It is a pleasure while also necessary to sustain life, but not to fulfill non hunger or thirst needs. The quality of life that comes from making healthy choices every day is, truthfully, one of the most loving actions we can take for ourselves and anyone we care about!

Six Weeks of Bowl Meals: Italian Broth Bowl

Um, what the heck is a broth bowl and how is it not soup? is the question I asked myself around a year ago at this time.  It seems the foodie term is trending at the moment—thanks to Panera Bread, but likely existed long ago and was derived from asian cuisine or soup containing mainly flavor-intense broth. Regardless of where it truly came from, and what sets it apart from soup, this week I chose to create my own version in hopes to improve upon the lack-luster dining experience I’ve had with it thus far. A broth bowl appears to be a balanced plate of food added to a bowl with broth ladled over top. I’ll go with it!

One of the core concepts of holistic health is the need to feed the human desire to be creatively expressive. I can’t help but applaud the individual who came up with the term “broth bowl”, which gets me thinking…As children we develop an internal belief system based on our experiences and influences in our lives. Much like many of the clients I work with, at the age of five, I can remember adding “not an artist”, “not creative” to my exponentially long and growing list of beliefs. My mom went to art school and my sister was following in her footsteps. Based on comparison, I wasn’t an artist or creative.

So what do you do when you crave creativity but believe you are not creative?

Just about a decade ago, I wrote down all the beliefs I had about myself—the limiting ones holding me back from living a joy-filled and authentic life. I burned the list then stepped into the kitchen. Yup, burned it. To hell with “I’m not creative” and the crap that followed…

It took four trials of creative expression to share this recipe today. Six if you count writing about it. It’s really good. My version of a broth bowl is not soup, but you may call it that or something different—whatever makes the most sense. My husband, Levi, has become my go-to judge for the majority of the dishes I come up with. His opinion serves to spark my creative process even when it’s what he calls “constructive criticism”. He loved the final two versions pictured, which happen to be extremely quick and simple to prepare—a balanced meal with broth ladled over top—or not if you haven’t embraced the trend quite yet.

My hope is mass amounts of people hit the kitchen to create this recipe all while burning the limiting beliefs on their list. By the time the cauliflower is done steaming, the whole process could be finished[write. burn. release. start over].

Italian Broth Bowl

By Audrey Byker Health Coach

Serves 4-6

For the veggies fat and protein

-1 pound Italian sausage(know your farmer)

-1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

-2 heads cauliflower florets, sliced

-2 cups kale leaves, stemmed and roughly chopped

-1/2 Tbls avocado oil or ghee

-Kalamata olives, sliced (optional garnish)

for the carbs and flavor

-1 tsp Italian seasoning

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-Sea salt, a few pinches

-Fresh ground black pepper to taste

-2 cups cooked rice noodles, potatoes or brown rice (optional)

-1 batch chicken bone broth or two cartons chicken broth heated

-Green onion, sliced(optional garnish)

In a large non-stick saute pan with a lid add sausage and begin to brown over med. heat. Add oil, peppers, and cauliflower after a few minutes. Stir frequently and brown over med. heat. Add the salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Stir together then add lid. Turn heat to low then simmer and steam for 10-15 min.(preferred doneness). Heat chicken broth. Remove lid from large saute pan then add kale and garlic. Turn heat to med-high and stir and saute until garlic is fragrant—1-2 min. Remove from heat and dish into bowls. Pour warmed broth over each serving and garnish with olives and green onion(optional).