I want you to know that you can still have vibrant energy despite the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.  One of the energetic pin downs can be seasonal weight gain.  Weight Gain can make you feel sluggish and let’s not mention the emotions that are felt when the belly bulge doesn’t allow you to zip up your pants comfortably.  The good news is the average person puts on an extra pound during the holiday season from consuming cookies, cakes, and some of the fattening foods that seem to be part of celebrating the season.  In retrospective, that’s not bad at all, but the issue is the accumulation of these extra pounds annually.  If you don’t do anything about it, the weight shows up physically on your body and you get to decide if you want to embrace it or let it go.

I personally have given myself permission to eat as much as I want during this season as l believe have mastered the art of managing one’s weight.

During the course of the last 20 years, my weight has yo-yo’d from 126 pounds soaking wet to 170 lbs with baby on board.  After giving birth to each of my daughters, I had found shedding pounds to be a challenge.  Along the joy of watching my girls become adults, I have learned some simple yet delicious ways of eating that I practice in my daily life, how to sculpt my body with fun exercise, and how to energetically release baggage, which I have found to be effective tools to feeling and looking my best.

Healthy ways of Eating-

• Follow the macrobiotic food combining chart
• Eliminate cooked oils when preparing food unless you are using coconut oil, olive oil is fine to drizzle on veggies and some prepared foods after they are cooked – when I eat at restaurants I have to be a little bit flexible with this one.
• Get 5-6 servings of green leafy vegetables daily
• Eat quality protein
  • Organic and free range poultry
  • 100% grass fed and organic beef, lamb, etc
  • wild fish (stay away from farm raised)
  • organic Omega 3 eggs
  • Never drink when I am consuming food unless it hot tea or wine (in moderation) – because it dilutes your digestive enzymes
  • Avoid Hydrogenated fats and refined oils – which most commercial packaged foods contain even the ones from health food stores .
  • Make sure that I get my daily dosage of  Omega- 3  via flax oil
  • Gluten-free – clears congestion in the body
  • Dairy-free – Keeps my body clear of congestion which may show up as phlegm or extra body fat ( excess weight)
  • Sugar-free (and yes that means minimizing your consumption of fruit to only 1 or 2 pieces per day)
  • Drinking alkalized water (ph of 7.0 -9.5)  – (see my blog for options)
  • Soaking all of my produce in a grapefruit extract solution with water for at least 10 minutes

Sculpting my body with exercise

• Internal healing arts –  I love recommending them because you get an internal workout as well as an external one
  • Yoga- most yogi’s are thin besides stretching keeps the body young
  • Tai Chi- great way to incorporate balance in your body
  • Chi – Gung

• Dancing- my version of getting my cardio-vascular system up and running, but ideally it also incorporates stretch, thus sculpting the body and keeping it young (I encourage everyone to find and practice a form of exercise that lifts their spirit and moves their body.  When you enjoy your activities, it creates a different chemical reaction in the body rather than engaging some activity that may be more work than you want.)

Energetically releasing weight

• Shamanic practices that include Chakra cleansing (seven energy centers of the body) – where you carry your weight is the one that is congested and needs some work
• Asian Bodywork and Healing Arts- yes – meridians (energetic rivers that run through the body get stuck and thus will stagnate – thus this is where your weight gain is)

I have to admit that I am a chocoholic. Chocolate contains sugar and that wonderful antioxidant – cocoa bean.  When you eat quality chocolate without all of the preservatives in it, you will find that your body will feel different.  Yes, I’m talking about organic chocolate like Black & Greens vs. Hershey’s compare the different ingredients yourself.

I understand that these practices might be radical for you. For me, it has been an evolution of 20 years of searching for the right practices and habits as I was challenged with some health projects.  Because of this, I have embodied these practices into my daily lifestyles and I would like to encourage to start somewhere as it is a gradual change that becomes a way of life.  I challenge you to be conscious of your lifestyle healthy habits so you may have more vitality to do the things that are important to you.  Check back daily during this month (December) for details on why these options work.