Summer Pace my Challenge

Summer can be such a transition month.  I am learning to relax into transitions, a skill I have not always desired or believed I would enjoy.  My current read is titled "Search Inside Yourself" by Chade-Meng Tan of Google fame.  He is sharing simple and quick ways to practice mindfulness with the end result being emotional intelligence, and for me relaxing into transitions.  I will not go into detail here but want to share why I am enjoying it.  I continue to get resistance to cooking instruction because people believe they don't have time for home preparation and I am always fascinated with how other helpful habits are presented and how they make taking action so easy with quick and simple steps.  I can practice these easy meditation exercises in 2 minutes every day, exercising that new muscle and creating a habit.  Creating a cooking habit in 2 minutes might be a challenge, but educating people about the benefits of 2 minute meditations or 30 minute food prep times might be an answer to breaking the cycle of bad habits and creating new ones. Mr. Tan presented excellent reasons why creating his proposed new habit would benefit the person.  I will create the same compelling reasons why spending time in the kitchen getting ready for a week of meals would benefit someone.   Summer transitions are creating stress for me because I am selfish.  I don't want my friends to be busy with visiting grandchildren.  I don't want my friends to be away from our shared activities for 10 days while they travel.  I am inconvenienced by business owners who are absent or slower in response times because of summer activities.  I can hear you now saying, what a twit.  I am not a twit but I am often in fast forward so am challenged by the slower pace summer brings to many.  I plan to learn some 2 minute meditation practices that will allow me to relax into the transitions summer brings  to my world.                  

I am continuing my personal education by reading July/August 2012  issue of Well Being Journal (wellbeingjournal.com) which I found at Barnes and Nobles.  There is an informative article about gallbladder issues addressing the removal, recovery and maintaining health in the weeks and months after one is removed.  I never knew the true function of the gallbladder so didn't understand the steps necessary to stay healthy after its removal, which is an issue for many I talk to and my mother can use this helpful information.  There are healthy fats and they are vital to digestion and absorption of fat soluble vitamins .  Healthy fats are named and do not include any vegetable oils which have been promoted to consumers as healthy.  The healthy fats include saturated fats from pasture-fed animals, tropical oils, monounsaturated fats from extra virgin olive oil and avocados and polyunsaturated fats from nuts, seeds and fish.  Supplementation with bile salts is recommended for every meal since the liver will still produce bile but cannot store it for later use.  Vitamin A and D are common deficiencies for those who do not have a gallbladder and are not using bile salts.  More later.

We are Enough

A late night conversation with a friend, speaking self critical words from that place in her brain that was wounded during formative years, grieved me.  I felt grief for the years she has spent saying and hearing the limiting beliefs her young mind absorbed.  I felt grief and shame knowing I too had wounded my own children in my moments of anger, self doubt and frustration.  I felt grief because I believe everyone is wounded and not everyone knows how or why or what to do about it.  I also felt hope.  Hope for the chance to share my belief with my friend and others like her who want to know and believe what I believe... that we are all enough.  We are perfect in our individuality.  We are enough when we allow ourselves to stretch and search for that lost innocent child that existed before the world put its expectations on us.  We are enough and deserve everything good that our hearts and souls desire because when we are there, the world will be safe.  When we are safe, we can afford to be generous, kind, respectful and so many other things that serve us and humanity.  Is it possible to be part of a generation that is never wounded?  Is it possible for a generation of new life to exist that doesn't hear negative, limiting, hurtful or demeaning words that shape their belief in themselves in a way that years are wasted believing the lies?
If this is not possible, how long will we wait to teach these wounded souls the truth that they are enough?

Longevity and Vitality

CLASSES

Fight the Fat Fenomenon

Are you doing all the "right" things and still can't get your weight under control?

Are you thinking your problem is because you have no "self control"?

Are you drastically cutting calories, losing weight and gaining it back?

Are you feeling like there is no hope of ever getting to a comfortable weight?

Are you worried about your health more than your weight?

One Hour Presentations RSVP if you want snacks

Saturday February 16th, 11:15 or

Monday March 5th @ 5:30 or

Monday March 19th at 5:45 or

Thursday March 8th @ noon or

Tuesday March 13th @5:30

Legacy Bank Community Room, 730 Desert Flower Blvd 81001

Questions?: Kris @ 719-251-8310

I have picked after work hours, lunch hours, a weekend day and AVOIDED Friday and Sunday. If these don't fit you at all, call and we can talk.

Around The Town

My daughter does blog research and is frustrated looking for a Pueblo site. She wants me to share some things, especially about food, but there are so many cool things to see and do that are not listed on the Chamber calendar or published in the local "rags".

I will start with the "green" scene of food. Pueblo County has one better known source of raw milk at Larga Vista Ranch www.largavistaranch.com along with better than organic standards for beef and pork. Check out www.rawmilkcolorado.org for a listing of raw milk farms in the state, including maps and directions.

A great choice for healthy "fast" food is Bingo Burger [www.bingoburger.com] on First Street, between Main and Court streets. They choose local beef, produce and vegetables which not only provide quality products but keeps more dollars in the community. If you have not tried their lamb burger or sweet potato fries, do so quickly. Richard offers a variety of dipping sauces for all the fries which make the meal unique. Happy staff also makes my dining experience relaxed.

Knowing that we are what we eat, why not eat foods grown close to home and as close to organic as possible? This is a Pueblo option at Country Roots Farm [ www.countryrootsfarm.org] at Everett Road and 29th Lane in Pueblo County, just past Milberger's Farms @ Peppe's [www.milbergerfarms.com] Country Roots farm will soon be taking reservations for CSA produce shares. Free range eggs are often available so check them out before the season is upon us.

A new option for Pueblo is Farm Fresh Market www.farmfreshmarketonline.com This is a new healthy food option started by Nutritionist Jo. Jo is well known in the community for her educational presentations and now will be one new source for healthy home meal alternatives and some food gifts like her homemade jams.

This is just a small sample of some of the food choices we have. Please check out the web sites and consider making them your new favorite places to support healthy eating.

Personal Chef

You're busy and I love to cook.

If you are like me, at times of my life, eating out or buying processed foods is a way of life.

My family did not get the meals they desired or needed for staying healthy.

Our lifestyles don't always allow for doing many of the things we know we could do, including making healthy meals for the family table.

Whether you want an intimate meal, something that pampers you or daily domestic meals, this service can accommodate you.

Moving Forward

Time to accept the changes that have been happening with each breath from the moment of my divorce. I have been good at accepting most of the changes life has provided. I never was very good at playing the "victim" role and only occasionally allowed myself a pity party. In the recent years I lost a father and an elderly friend to death. I lost my husband to divorce, my children to maturity and their need to move away and several beloved family pets. I suppose I lost some aquaintances because of the new "single" status but I hadn't felt that as deeply as some might imagine. It is now the luxuries I miss. I miss being able to contribute to local organizations I had been able to faithfully support. I miss generously supporting my church, local functions, birthday and graduation notices. I want to afford the gift of spontaneity in responding to needs and wants of my children, friends, neighbors and community.

Like many in this nation and world, I miss feeling confident about supporting myself financially. With minimal work experience outside motherhood and marriage, I often feel inadequate. The skills I have seem insufficient to answer most job postings and while I pursue work that will eventually provide passive income, I so desire to regain the ability to pay basic expenses and regain the generous spirit and means to follow through.

At a recent function with lady friends from my past life, I realized that while they wanted to talk about luxuries....travel, retirement and projects... I wanted to talk about what I do (my business venture) and how it might be of service to them. The worlds didn't seem to connect that night. I realize I fit in better at business networking events and not future black tie events. My world has changed, sometimes slow enough to "cook the frog" and at other times with lightening clarity. I still love my past-life friends. They may still like me, yet I didn't feel like I belonged and that made me sad and wise at the same time.

Giving a 30-60 or 90 second commercial at network events is always a challenge for me. Not because I don't know what to say but because I want to share so much. Today I followed the lead of last weeks informercial by the portable toilet business. He talked about how his toilets were in demand because they we cleaner than others and didn't smell. So he talked about enzymes. This week I talked about enzymes too, only the kind that are in, or were in, our foods. The kind of enzymes that help us break down and digest food for the nutrients found, or were found, within those knife and fork foods. Enzymes are vital to good health and too many of us are not getting enough from our raw foods because we are not eating anything raw. Without the food source, the body has to supply all the needs and it cannot keep up. When it can't keep up, the body breaks down, the functions don't function so well and the energy we need to be vital is not being produced. Do You get it. Your diet is crucial to your good health. When you get tired of being sick and weak. When you get tired of having friends and family go through cancer treatments and when you get fed up with high health care costs, you might consider what you can do to help yourself by changing your foods to a healthier form. The tone of this post might seem angry but it is just my frustration with how slowly this connection between good health and quality food is being recognized. Pharmaceuticals are not going to cure any of what ails you. It is a bandage. Nutrients that your body recognizes and was designed to process efficiently are what will get you on the road to vital health and longevity. Knife and fork foods might not be the best answer either. Consider where those foods were created, processed and treated. Consider the purity and nutrient density of the foods you choose and the water you drink. More later....

The Habit of Blogging

While many are finding the discipline of journaling online in a blog very natural, as can be seen from my entries, this method of communicating is not natural to me, yet. I have many things to say but don't always get them out of my head and into readable formats. So to bring people up to date, I began my term as president of the Pueblo Business Women's Network in June. This organization is 25 years old and still going strong. Each year brings the same challenges that other organizations face, like where to recruit new members, what programs to present to add value and hold interest and what's for lunch. Some of the answers to these questions still elude me but the board is open to hearing from members and interested businesses about what they seek in a networking group and what they want to learn in educational presentations. We are getting back to basics and hope there are others out there that want to join us each month to meet business owners like themselves who understand relationship networking.

Collective Awareness

The more I read and listen to tapes, the more profound it seems that we are thinking as a collective. More and more people are getting grounded and sensing the desparate condition of the health of our nation. People are seeking answers to the question "What can be done to stop this downward spiral of poor health and the rising costs associated with treating all this illness and when will we get back control of our wellness?" There are answers and have been for some time. Now is the time to revisit the answers proposed by thinkers and progressive scientists who were dismissed years ago for outlandish theories.

Permission to Rant

A lengthly conversation observed at a beauty salon struck me as wasteful. A waste of breath, a waste of time, a waste of energy and money. The time spent on a conversation about fingernail polish involved immediate color coordination and extensive concern that polish would not last long enough for the foreign travel cruise planned for the near future. The number of weeks, the exact color best for the cruise plans, etc, etc, etc. This conversation lasted for 15 minutes. To those of you who might read this and are prone to the same kind of primping, I apologize. That is why this is called a rant. Rants occur when the ranter JUST DOESN'T GET IT.

Girl Talk

Today's breakfast club talk turned to relationships and why some people, especially women feel the need to be in a relationship rather than be "alone". Those who don't feel alone often have a great group of friends to meet their social needs. Even those who were once almost desparate to be in a relationship now are finding that the urgency has disappeared as they grew more comfortable with knowing themselves. The wisdom of this group of women, with varied histories of relationships, is that there is a difference between needing a relationship and wanting to be in a relationship and the difference is how comfortable they are with who they are, how well they recognize the patterns that didn't serve them well in previous relationships and being true to themselves first. We all agreed that being around people who are honest, kind and compassionate really makes our lives rich.

Lifestyle Class

Beginning November 4, 2010 I will be offering a 4 week, Thursday night class titled Lifestyle Choices, Changes and Comittments. We will be discussing current media information that is calling for changes in lifestyle to insure longer and more vital lives. This includes the call to reduce consumption of sugar, processed foods, impure water and animal products that contain unnatural additives, like hormones and colors. Contact me at KrisHulet@hotmail.com for details.

Fired Up

When was the last time you attended a meeting or conference or event that really got you motivated? I hope it has not been too long because these kinds of events are so vital to keeping your passion fueled.
If you don't have a passion yet, ask yourself some questions about what that would look and feel like.

Search your heart for a goal to work on, for and towards that gives your life purpose. Lofty goals are great but for beginners a simple goal like "declutter the kitchen" is big enough. Set manageable goals and give them a manageable time frame of hours or days in which to accomplish them. WRITE them down, look at them the night before and again in the morning and through out the day. I have some lofty goals and one is to change the food belief system of thousands of people. The current belief system is not serving our health. I had to ask myself WHO influenced my beliefs about food and what was their motivation. I chose to ask myself who I want to believe, why I want to believe them and what is the truth behind their information.

In Summary: Find a purpose for your hours.
Write down some steps to reach a goal that fulfills that purpose
Check your belief systems agains truths you already know or can research
Who or what taught you your beliefs about health, food and wellness?

Be open to the ideas you have not yet considered and find truth or lies. Choose what you believe and live it.

Pop the Saboteur

Reducing the effects of acid and the damage it can do to your body is as simple as reducing or eliminating soda pop from your diet. How dare I ask you to do this? How dare I care about your health. I wouldn't ask anyone to do anything that I didn't think would benefit them. If you can't eliminate can you reduce your consumption? If you don't drink soda pop do you drink any carbonated beverages? Would you give those beverages up to improve your bone health? The best question we can ask ourselves is how far will we go to sabotage our health and how far will we go to improve our health with inexpensive food choices and by eliminating items from our diet for a time to prove to ourselves the benefits of such a disciplined choice.

Acidity Coaching

Currently there are many people in the know encouraging people to decrease the acidity in their diet. Many of us would say "What acid?" and others would say "I have already reduced acid in my diet by giving up pop." Both levels of awareness about acidic diets are valid. What is necessary for those wanting to improve their health is an attitude that "there is always more I can do." As a health coach it is very frustrating to always politely play one upmanship with those who say they are seeking information that will help them change some habits for the better. If constructive suggestions are not really desired by you, then please keep your current diet and I hope that works for you. Coaching will work if you are open to some ideas, open to looking at your current habits and open to trying some changes. Coaching is for those willing to be open to new ways of doing things and trying those ways long enough to allow changes to occur. Changes to your diet usually do not show positive results in just a few days. Allow healthier habits to work at a cellular level and be ready for amazing results.

Popular Cook Books and Magazine Food Suggestions

On a recent trip to the library I glanced quickly at cookbooks in the New Releases section and was amazed to still see that the recipes, although quick to produce, still promote less than ideal ingredients. If you want to disrespect your insides with quick food just buy from established fast food restaurants and support business in your community. These recipes contained so many processed products, few fresh ingredients and completely ignore the basic principle that to be quick and easy and FRESH, simple advance preparation is necessary. The answer is not to create fast and quick meals using processed foods but to learn some simple recipes containing fresh ingredients and to discipline yourself to think ahead a bit and have ONE prep session a week. A prep session includes pre washing fruits and vegetables, chopping some veggies, thawing some meat or cooking some meat to be used in recipes for the week. You don't even have to have specific recipes in mind to be ready for the week. Having fresh things ready to go allows creative meals to occur, like an impromptu stir fry or saute something to nutritionally compliment an omlet or frittata. Don't know how to do any of these...take a class. Respect your one and only body enough to fuel it with quality as often as possible.

The Soul and Food

According to Thomas Moore in "Soul Mates", the souls innate tendency is towards attachments, particularly things of the past and is resistant to change. Do you see parts of your life that are like that? I do. Ever heard of Soul Food? How about Comfort Food? A deep part of us has become attached to food from our youth, from our culture and from our experiences. That is not all bad but it could have some negative impact too. If food choices are so ingrained with our deepest memories and comforts I understand how difficult change from those comfort foods can be. A very deep part of us is unwilling to give up those foods but no one should be asking anyone to forever give up their comfort foods. There may be a time when we need to choose other food options for a period of time but forever is not part of most smart equations. Restraint and portion control might be new to your vocabulary but there is no need to add forever to that vocabulary list. The only thing I know to be forever is death and we are not there yet.

Retirement Food

What does one do when reaching the place of being single, older and living alone? My mother has been widowed nearly 2 years now and is over 80, living alone and not interested in cooking. Should she continue struggling with feeding herself, feeling guilty when she doesn't do it well, spending money on take out food and eating nutrition pool frozen meals? What have others done when their parents or elderly relatives reach this critical point? If your senior doesn't live with you they face the challenge of grocery shopping and cooking. Too many low income seniors are living on canned soup, cheap meat like pork and probably not eating enough fresh fruit or vegetables because of expense. If your senior is not low income, they are still probably not eating organic and hormone free choices. With their choices decided by habits formed over the years, their nutrition and health are already in a compromised state. Should we ignore the poor choices our beloved seniors make, knowing it contributes to the fragile mental state we have already noticed? I don't know that we have any say in what our precious seniors eat or drink. My siblings and I have tried to encourage Mom to take some supplements and to drink more water. We have hoped she would eat a little breakfast each morning to stimulate her metabolism which might encourage her body to burn those excess pounds that contribute to her inactivity. We have hoped that by encouraging her to make a few healthy choices, the quality of her life will be improved and her years ahead greater in number. We want her to stay with us but with quality in her days. She has made a choice to leave her independent living and join the ranks of a retirement facility. Meals are provided and plentiful and it has only taken a few weeks to get programed to the meal schedule. Granted she is eating regularly but probably too much and too often. The up side of retirement living is the social component. There is something to be said for not living too solitary a life in our later years. Be patient with your seniors who continue to say "I'm doing fine" even when we know they are not.

Obsolete Habits

I check myself as getting up from my desk, to avoid stepping on the elderly dog who parks herself at my feet. I worry that I have forgotten to let her in from the backyard when I don't find her in her usual places. I check to see that the inside water bowl is full before retiring since she always gets up in the night for a drink. Alas she is not there because old age and disease took her from us. The habits mentioned above will be there for a long time, they will be an effort to change. So what about our food habits? Are they ingrained too? Do we automatically reach for comfort foods created by habit? We all have those habits that are controlled by our subconscious mind, some good, some old and outdated and always an effort to change should we choose to change them. Frustration with many who mouth the words "I would love to learn some new food habits, some new recipes and eating theories" but don't put in the effort behind the words expressed. Improving eating habits is a choice and one that requires a bit of effort. Small changes make that improvement managable so try one thing this week. Reduce or eliminate your soda pop consumption and choose water or natural juices. Reduce or eliminate your white bread or white rice and choose some full grain options. Incorporate one more vegetable each day, then each meal or if you are like many, incorporate ONE VEGETABLE into your diet this week. [Yes there are many people out there that do not consume even one vegetable each week. They won't be with us for very long because their body chemistry will eventually crash their system but that is their choice] Reach for something besides margarine. So I will unlearn all those habits my old dog taught me and learn some new ones that the cat will probably teach me. Allow yourself to learn one new healthy dietary habit this week. Live long and prosper because of it.