Healthy Choices Every Time (Part 1)

What would life look like ifyou were to dive in, be all in to make healthy choices a way of life? And not just with a stick-your-toe-in-the-water kind of mindset. I’ve always been a little more adventurous than the average person. I love doing unconventional things, from skydiving to scuba diving. Interestingly enough, both examples contain the word…diving!

Diving Is what miraculously propelled me into my passion. Although this wasn’t a planned or expected spill, it was a life-changing one. Plunging headfirst through the windshield of a snow-mobile clipping at 55 miles an hour, only to be stopped abruptly by a tree (so I am told) can warrant a wakeup call to a new mindset.

Getting a better understanding of health is important. Unfortunately, health often gets compartmentalized rather than seen as a unified, meshed reality of the accumulated effects of choices. ALL choices. The choices we make impact our mind, body, and spirit. They all work together in unison, creating either balance or imbalance. It’s obvious when you’re out of sync, but not as clear on how to correct the issue. After my accident, I could have gone into a downward spiral of sedentary, woe-is-me living, but that wouldn’t have solved the problem. Instead, I decided to choose gratitude and make healthy steps to heal quickly.

Every day I was disciplined in practicing healing exercises and eating a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. I infused my mind with positive messages, practicing prayer, and meditation. The consistency of my choices and actions led to a speedy recovery. So often, it’s a moderation mindset that can keep someone stuck. Moderation kills momentum. Why? This occurs because unhealthy choices in moderation can open the door to more of the same.

As a fitness expert, naturopath, and health and healing coach, the clients I work with are typically looking to just lose weight. But they end up accomplishing so much more. They learn to release the emotions attached to their weight. They confront the unhealthy triggers that cause the reach for harmful self-medication and instead learn a healthy replacement and release of negative emotions. This keeps that vicious cycle of poor choices from showing up again and again.

Emotions from past and present hurts (physical and emotional) adopted from lies believed don’t always speak the truth. Neither do feelings. Both can keep a person stuck and stagnant. Understanding the emotional depth of choices and correcting the course through new patterns, rewires the mind; thus, the actions. Addressing the emotional choices of others, as well as yourself, helps begin the shift. This shift might not be one that is prescribed by many, but it’s the shift that unlocks the door to fitness and best health. The shift? Forgiveness.

Here’s how forgiveness plays out as it pertains to health and fitness. One of my clients, Kayla, had plateaued with her weight loss. After talking through some of her past emotions, I guided her through a forgiveness exercise. She released six pounds that week, and she was elated. Not only did she feel lighter on the scale, but she also felt lighter in your soul.

Unhealthy thoughts and emotions can be a root cause of serious inflammation. This chronic inflammation keeps cells hanging on to excess fat and toxins, thus causing “dis-ease” in the body. This “dis-ease” can obviously show up in a multitude of manifested ways, mainly diseases that have names we hear all too often.