Foods that harm, foods that heal

               Bombard with to much information regarding food? I am really interested in how food effects our emotions. As a coach I have seen clients who are feeling low, tired and lacking in energy. Besides tweaking their thought patterns and helping them to plan and organise their lives better, diet and exercise are imperative to seeing improvements in one's life. When a client adopts a healthier diet, the benefits reach far beyond the scales. They are more focused, confident and generally happier. Therefore I urge you to think about the food you are consuming.

The foods highlighted in brown are the one's that you should really limit. Start to be mindful of what is added to your food next time you are in the supermarket. You may think that you are buying a tin of tomatoes, but do you realise how much sugar and salt is added?

Wheat
Caffeine
Sugar
Dairy
Vegetables
Fruit
Wholefoods
Beans & pulses
Lean meat & and fresh fish

For more information I recommend the books listed. I have a copy of each and found them really helpful. Joshi's book really does live up to it's claims, one of which says "If no-one comments within two weeks on how great you're looking - you must be cheating."

Stop trying to change your past..

Sounds strange, but many of us try and do this again and again. We endlessly obsess, re-live, revisit or replay scenes from our past in the hope we will gain a better understanding or clarity about our present lives. Some things are best forgotten and to waste more of your valuable energy revisiting them makes no sense.

For instance someone may have upset you that you do not particularly care for, so why then do you give away more of your valuable energy discussing it with anyone within earshot? We all fall into this trap sometimes, but the key is to become more aware of when you are doing this and stop yourself. Change the topic, no matter how difficult it is. This may seem hard to do in the beginning, particularly if you are having a juicy venting session with a friend, but think about it, does the person you are discussing deserve more of your precious time? Move on and let it go.

We also fall prey to trying to change our past. For instance you may feel that your parents did not do their best for you whilst you were growing up. Acknowledging and exploring this may be important, but be wary of letting it dominant your present life. As Dr Robert Holden puts it

"To be really happy, you have to give up all hopes of having a perfect past."

What a powerful quote, none of us have had a perfect past, but that does not have to dictate our present or future life.

Focus on all the things that are great in your present life and whilst you're at it show yourself some serious care and acknowledge how well you have coped with things in your past that were difficult.

Who is the Real YOU?

How do you view your real self? Is it in a way that you would not share with others openly or frankly or are there certain parts of you that you would not openly verbalise to anyone? In order to have the life you want you must get honest about the person you are and celebrate being you.

Get clear about what you really want, not what you think you should want or what others want, but what things come back to you again and again and will not be silenced unless you act on them. We all have a sense of what we would like our ideal lives to look like, but all to often this is where it stops and the excuses begin. Take a baby step today to living your ideal life and you will be surprised by how much better you feel just by doing something, rather than talking or thinking about it.

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” Margaret Young

People, things and situations gradually unfold to guide us further along our path once we commit to honouring what we truly want and who we truly are. The well known humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers spoke about our real and ideal selves and said the greater the gap between the two the more suffering we will experience. Therefore it is imperative to be honest with yourself about your limitations and most importantly your potential. If you make disparging remarks about yourself, stop it. Whether it is in the form of self talk or how you describe yourself to others it is very damaging and works by reinforcing those feelings about yourself (that are often untrue). Start today by honouring who you are and start to try and embrace the parts of you which you have trouble liking. Go on, you are worth it.