Identifying Your Hang Ups

Whenever we start one of our clean eating challenges, which we now call “resets”, it’s an educational experience.  I already have a strict nutritional protocol that works for me so this challenge is not really a challenge.  However, I love the resets because I always learn something about myself that ends up getting me closer to feeling my best and I fall in love with cooking every time.  It’s a win win and the reason why Paul and I still encourage them.  What we should really call them are mental resets.  

I have become a little jaded over the years with trying to help clients and friends reach their goals especially when I know in my heart that their nutritional practices are such a big part of what is holding them back and slowing them down. 
 
I used to be over zealous and bombard people with nutritional information only to find that the person was not in the right mental space to hear any of it.  They would try it…fight against it….try it….fight against it…repeat.  I would get so frustrated and eventually decided to stop offering any nutritional advice.  It worked for a while, but my intuition was telling me that there is more to it.  I decided to take a different approach and focus on WHY it’s so hard for people to stick to a good workout routine and eat healthy.  I started reading phycology books and listening to podcasts and found that much of the research shows that a lot of our “hang ups” about food are deep rooted in us. It could be a trauma (accident, loss of a loved one, abuse in any way shape or form, childhood angst or, family upbringing,) the list is endless.  
 
To approach food with an open mind, people must heal from the inside out and find what triggers them to fight against what they know can help them lead a healthier more prosperous life.  Some people get scared of the person they are becoming. The new-found confidence and change it brings with it will cause them to deliberately sabotage themselves.  For others, it’s just plain hard and life is already hard enough so why add more to their already full plates. 

I just listened to an amazing podcast on The Goop(a shout out to Celeste for turning me on to it!)  It is an interview with Geneen Roth called, Why We Use Food to Shame Ourselves.  I have already listened to it three times, picking up different bits of information every time.  One thing she said that resonated with me is how she learns so much about people when she studies their eating habits and mindsets towards food. She gives the example of a client complaining about how she eats so fast and furiously without any thought to what or how much she is eating.  As they began to unpack what was going on, they found that she was rushing through everything in her life especially time with her kids and husband and was missing precious moments.  She had to shift her mindset and make one small step towards slowing down which caused a cascade of changes.  It’s so fascinating to me and I have seen it play out in my own life. 

I have will power that has served me well, but with that will power comes major control issues.  This is one of my “hang ups” and recognizing and acknowledging it has been a blessing. I have been slowly unpacking my deep-rooted need for control and desire to take on everyone else’s problems and I have begun to heal physically faster than I have ever imagined.  I have forced myself to slow down and spend more time doing the things I love with people who lift my spirits and reach an understanding that it will all work out. 

​This slowing down has helped me recognize that there are things that I can control and things that are completely out of my control and that is OK.   It’s not just about exercise and nutrition.  Even if you are not doing our 30 day reset, take these 30 days to try and find your “hang ups” they could be a piece of your health puzzle that could fast track you to becoming the best version of yourself.    

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