I’m of the mind that we should all slow down and tune in, reflecting a bit more on our food choices. I’m not suggesting that you always need to choose the food that’s perfectly healthy (that’s why I like to employ the 80-20 rule — most of the time I make healthy, clean eating choices) but some forethought goes a long way to feeling good about your decisions, avoiding food guilt and managing your weight.  String together a few days of poor food choices and I bet you can easily beat yourself up over the pound or two you’ve gained.

This begs the question of how one becomes more mindful about what you choose to put in your mouth.  For me, it goes back to the notion of slowing down and tuning into the messages my body is sending and what feels right.  Whether you’re in your favorite restaurant with a bevy of menu choices before you or you’re at home planning tonight’s dinner, here are five questions to ask yourself that will help you become more aware of your body.

• How hungry am I?
• What food looks or sounds inspiring to me?
• What does my body most need right now?
• What, if anything, am I craving?
• Can I choose/make a clean eating meal (not full of fat, sugar or salt) that tastes good and will be just as satisfying?

I like to ask myself these questions because it gives me time to pause and reflect and determine what feels right. Usually I end up making a healthy, clean eating choice but sometimes I don’t. But I feel a whole lot better making my decision and enjoying the food from a place of self-awareness.  And when I’ve already slowed down to reflect on my choices, I often eat with greater awareness to the tastes and flavors and don’t rush through my meal at a breakneck pace.

Do you mindfully think before you eat? How has it helped you make better choices in the past? When can you start practicing it to support better health and awareness?

I don’t know about you, but I was seriously dragging on Monday and that’s pretty unusual for me.  The kind of tired where I feel like I need a caffeine boost — always a tell tale sign something is off since I hardly ever drink caffeine.

But science does suggest that we’re not making these ideas up, our body does need time to adjust.  And in fact, it can take a few weeks to adjust to a one hour time difference. I loved the post my friend and colleague Paula talked about earlier this week about the importance of really nurturing ourselves during the transition. She mentioned some great tips for taking care of ourselves, like getting extra sleep, going to bed early and being more patient with ourselves and others.

I couldn’t agree more and I like to think of the time change as an opportunity to slow down and take better care of ourselves, literally, protecting our health. It’s a fact that most people are sleep deprived — just too much to do and handle and sleeping takes a back seat.  So the time change offers up possibility to listen to our bodies and take note about what we need — more sleep, less activity, and more nurturing and self-care.  And ultimately, it’s about how we choose to treat ourselves.

In essence, it’s one more way to tune in, something I mentioned in Monday’s post about shifting your health priorities — this is a perfect example.

How have you been handling the time change? Do you feel noticeably more tired? What specific steps will you take to take better care of yourself this week?

We tend to think of a meal as something that’s big, often heavy and has to come at certain times of the day. But I when I think healthy meals, I’m of the mind that less is more, eaten when your body tells you it’s ready.

Here’s what I mean specifically.  Less food that’s higher quality and more satisfying.  Smaller portions eaten slowly that fill you up.   Eating until you feel comfortable, not to the point of bursting as you mindlessly watch TV.

Simplicity and greater pleasure come from increased self-awareness and turning our radar ON. And when we do, the possibilities for more pleasure and great health increase substantially. Not to mention the fact that we increase the likelihood of losing weight in a natural way.

I often teach a class called “The Ecstasy of Eating: 6 Steps for Satisfying Self-Nourishment.” It’s all about helping people slow down, tune in and get more enjoyment from their food.  We actually get to practice the six steps during the class, like breathing deeply while eating, and people begin to tune into what they notice about themselves and their food.  Even the most basic of foods, a piece of bread, a carrot, an apple can be more enjoyable when we get slow.

How do you find simplicity in your meals and how does that support your health? What helps you feel satisfied?

Creating a healthy lifestyle, having sufficient energy, avoiding illness and feeling our best requires a mix of various ingredients and often a degree of experimentation to get it just right.  Healthy eating and exercise are part of that equation but not the entire solution.  For me, one of my favorite elixirs to support great health is all about doing absolutely nothing and that’s just what I did today.

I slept in until 10 — way late for me.  I sat in bed and read.  I talked at length with my husband.  I didn’t run around, I even skipped the gym.  For me, the above things amount to doing nothing because I was still and present..and I absolutely loved it.   I let the day unfold and totally enjoyed it.

Usually, I’m wired to go, go, go. I have to consciously stop myself and work on relaxing. And because I seem to be constantly in motion with all the things going on in my life, it’s rare that I’m just still, barely moving, simply being. This is exactly why I love a big snowstorm where I’m holed up inside and now tempted to go anywhere or do much. But who can wait for a snowstorm to do this, I need to be proactive in by doing nothing much more often!

Doing nothing boosts our immune system and helps prevent illness.  It gives our body a chance to rest and recharge. Getting quiet like I did today helps us tune into our body and notice when something may be a bit off. It also helps us use our intuition to support what’s best for us — getting clear about when to do more and when to do less, or what actions are most beneficial.

After a super busy week, today was just what I needed to recharge and support optimal health.

What’s your idea of doing nothing? How does it support your health and when was the last time you did absolutely nothing and totally enjoyed yourself?

Here’s how I know. The last several weeks I’ve been detoxing. If you’ve read some of my posts over the last three weeks, you know that I did a raw food juice cleanse for 5 days that was absolutely fabulous.  Afterward, I felt refreshed and lighter both physically and emotionally. Coming out of the cleanse, I’ve been focused on eating the cleanest diet I can – no wheat, no dairy, no sugar, only small amounts of high quality meat, lots of raw fruits and vegetables as well as some cooked. Interestingly, it hasn’t been hard. I’m a meal planning guru and with some forethought, it’s gone quite smoothly.

What I’ve loved is that I haven’t been craving anything, especially sugar. There’s something about breaking that addiction that makes all the difference in how you feel — simply put, it’s totally freeing.  And because wheat and dairy doesn’t agree with me either and contribute to periodic flare ups of eczema (especially the wheat), that’s on my banned list too.

We decided to forego a Superbowl party specifically so we could avoid eating a lot of junk and having pizza didn’t seem so bad, in a relative sense.  And because Bruce has been on a serious mission to banish sugar from his diet (he loves it but allows himself a small treat every three weeks — a great strategy for him), and since there’s a whole host of things I’m not eating, missing the party was a great way for us to stay on track.

Except for that pizza of course.  But here’s the thing: the pizza was so heavy I could barely sleep even though I’d digested it hours before.  And when I woke up today, I was totally congested — itchy eyes, runny nose — and seriously bloated and tired. And because I haven’t been eating these things, it was all the more noticeable that these foods just don’t make me feel good. I certainly knew it before, but this was one of those really big “aha” moments — I totally got it.

In the end, my experiment with the pizza was all about tuning into my body and trusting it to lead me in the right direction.  As much as I like pizza, it’s not worth the discomfort and side effects.  But tuning in gave me great insight into my body and what I do and don’t need.

Are you a food sleuth? Are there certain foods that make you feel your best or worse? When was the last time you listened to your body for wisdom and what did you learn? Please share your thoughts below.

This spring I was so wrapped up planning my wedding and working with clients that I just didn’t do what I needed to. It was in the back of the mind, I’d occassionally glance at the reminder card, but still, I let my health take a back seat.

The truth is, no one’s going to do it for us. If we’re serious about being in optimal health, preventing chronic diseases like diabetes, and having the energy to achieve our dreams, doing what we may have always done, just won’t cut it. It’s up to us take responsibility for our health. And the key is to get to it before one day it really is too late.  Something as simple as making an appointment for a routine visit to the doctor says volumes about how we value ourselves and our health.

Take a listen to this week’s audio tip about how I’ve been dragging my feet and what I’ve done to get into action.

What about you? Is there an appointment you need to make but you’ve been putting it off? What will it take for you to get into action?

A dear friend of mine, Karen Batchelor, has a totally cool job. She helps women navigate midlife.

That may sound a little funny but midlife, as I’m beginning to discover, can be fraught with all kinds of issues I never imagined in my 30’s – aging parents, looming retirement, your body changing and resettling (oh dear!), deciding what you really want to do when you grow up – and other stuff that makes you marvel (and perhaps helps you get your head out of the clouds).

I like to think I’m on the periphery of midlife, approaching it at 43, but not solidly there yet. Part of it, I think, is that midlife is a state of mind, just like any part of aging. And we can go kicking and screaming or we can embrace all its possibilities and have a great time. I’m definitely of the mind that the latter sounds like a lot more fun.

Karen helps women like me navigate that sometimes bumpy, unpredictable road. What I love is that she’s fun, funny and authentic and being in midlife herself –  having changed careers, dealing with a sick parent and on her own journey - she totally gets it.

Check out Karen’s website and blog, Midlife’s A Trip,  and see what cool things she’s up to. Plus you can get her Interactive Wheel of Midlife.

And let me know how your own midlife is going. What are your biggest challenges and what do you love most about midlife?

What she said really resonated with me. Many of you know that I’m a big fan of slowing down and tuning into one’s body – I feel like it’s one of the most important things we can do to sustain our health. So walking as meditation is really an extension of that and a way to get exercise too. Interestingly, I decided to forgo my trip to the gym yesterday in favor of getting outside and going for a walk. I’d been holed up in my windowless office all day and with Deb’s inspiration I set off for home to change my clothes and get into action.

I often do a lot of walking but typically I walk with my fiance. We look forward to connecting at the end of the day and getting some fresh air, and we have several different routes we like to take through the neighborhood. It’s always something I look forward to, especially now that the weather is warming up. But walking by oneself is a whole other experience that I love just as much. As I hit the streets yesterday, I really reveled in getting quiet, listening to my footsteps, the birds, feeling the crunch of dead pine needles beneath my feet. Not only did I slow down but I tuned into my body and felt what was going on – I was totally present in the experience, not just in my head. And as I went, I naturally forgot about my long list of things to do and just really enjoyed some time to myself.

I love this concept of walking meditation as a tool for better health. Do you ever practice walking meditation? What’s it like and how does it make you feel? I invite you to share your thoughts here.

As I listened to participants talking, they shared simple things – finding ways to get to the gym regularly, eating more leafy green vegetables and slowing down a bit to figure out what their body is really saying. It sounds simple, yet at the same time it’s profound. There’s nothing like that aha moment when you recognize that you’ve found something that works and it’s making you feel better.

 I know that by making small changes over time I got into an easy rhythm with food planning and preparation as well as some other healthy habits. What has worked for you? What do you do consistently to improve your health?

So even though I knew I’d have to get up earlier than usual, I already sensed that it would not only be worth by time, but also set the tone for the day. Boy was I right! Kundalini yoga is all about the breath and tuning into your body. I love it because it doesn’t require any athletic prowess or ability to hold long postures. It’s gentle, effortless and completely relaxing. What a fantastic way to start the day.

Just making that simple effort reminded how easy it is to be healthy when we want to do it. Instead of feeling like drudgery, it was pleasurable. Instead of feeling like I should do it, I really wanted to do it. When that’s the case, it’s so much easier to get into action about our health. And the great news is that I’ll reap the benefits of this morning class all day – calmer and more focused, in tune with my body, less stress, taking deeper breaths, slowing down and not rushing through my day. What a gift to receive this at 6:00 in the morning.

I hope you’ll make it a great day and tune into what your body and health most need.