I am sitting outside on my front porch after watching a beautiful sunrise.
White puffy clouds floating across the sky amidst Carolina blue and purple hues
I have gotten into some good routines again:
walking
Scheduled time for:
academic time with my 13 year old
Working with Don to grow Focused Healthy Family
And…
I am participating in an amazing nutrition, detox program: Restart that is run by a wonderful friend of mine
I am eating relatively clean, eliminating sugar, processed foods, hydrogenated oils, grains.
Choosing Whole Foods with a balance of good fat, protein and complex carbohydrates from vegetables
It’s a 5 week program. We meet weekly for 5 weeks via the magic of zoom and learn amazing things about nutrition and how our bodies work and how food can work for us.
Tonight is the third week of our class and our instructor and 5 other women plus me are on this journey together. We text each other and communicate via Marco Polo and call each other.
If you don’t know what Marco Polo is, it’s a video chat app. Check it out. It’s brand new to me.
I have never participated in a group like this before.
The only time I have tried a nutrition or diet program of any kind was last year when I tried Noom. I liked parts of that program, mostly the psychology education element and being able to easily track my water consumption. It was the first time I counted calories and I didn’t really like that part. I did loose some weight initially and thought it was working until a family gathering and an oversized gluten free cupcake happened.
Yet, I questioned the nutrition philosophy provided in that course. It allowed you to eat as many fruits and vegetables as you wanted and said that foods with more water content were what helped you feel full.
I had learned different information on food and nutrition including the importance of protein and fat. I tried to follow the Noom program yet kept questioning how lots of fruits and vegetables were going to help me feel full. Slowly, I moved away from the plan.
So here I am, day 8 of following the Restart food plan and I have so much more energy and have even lost a few pounds. This program does not focus on weight loss and we are instructed to not count calories. It is about sugar detox and clearing and giving your body the opportunity to function the way it is designed to bring better health.
Today I came outside for my front porch meditation for the first time in about a week. I worked the past 4 days at the continuous care retirement facility where I work as an Occupational Therapist in adult and geriatric rehab.
I am home today and there are no appointments for me our my children. This is my favorite kind of day.
I will do meal planning and food prep including making muffins for my 20 year old who is heading out of town for the weekend. And I will not eat any of the muffins, nor lick the spoon. Hmm…
And I am writing.
It is 7:40am and I am sitting outside writing.
This is the missing piece in my daily routine.
The part of my life that is essential for my mental health and also a creative outlet as well as how I live my divine purpose.
The Restart Program focus is on nutrition information, education and support. And it is so much more than that.
I have more energy with less caffeine. Today, I discovered that I didn’t “need” my cup of chai tea to give me energy. I woke up at 5:30am and choose to get up to enjoy time before my kids wake up. I stretched and went outside for sunrise and posted an Instagram video.
Detoxing my body from sugar and all the other ingredients that my body does not need, many of which lead to inflammation, I now feel better.
I have more energy and more energy means more time to do the things I need to as well as the things I want to do.
Writing
My goal for weekly blog posts for Focused Healthy Family
Now is the time
As always, thank you for being a part of my life journey as I write my way to better health, improved writing skills and intentional empowerment for myself and others.
Ginaslifejourney's Blog 