So Whole Foods Market has finally graced this town with it’s presence. Whoo-fucking-rah. The parking lot has been like a beehive since it’s opened and to call it ‘pretty busy’ would be an under statement. None the less I am very glad it’s here. It’s been something I know many people have been waiting for for a long time as there really has been no place in town that you could get all of your groceries if shopping organic, gluten free, or vegan is something you’ve committed to. At least it’s always been a multi-stop & shop event for me. and often included trips to the city to load up on the varieties of things just not available in these here parts. So no doubt there has been a buzz around town and it includes mixed reviews, but what it’s reminded me is that not everyone was lucky as I to be raised in a health conscious home and I often take for granted the things I know about shopping, cooking and eating healthy. So I thought I would put a 6 Tips together that touch on the most common things I’ve been hearing from people. But before I do, I want to mention/remind that Whole Foods is a great resource and I hope it helps to expand the number of people who make the shift to more conscious eating since it is practically a silver spoon for health food shopping, but our local stores are still here and need our support. I believe that there are plenty of people in this town and surrounding areas to support all of our markets and can’t help but feel like if more of the people who are packing the isles at the shiny new Whole Foods could have been doing more of their shopping at the local joints all along,  but with the remarkable success of the new Golden Corral Buffet it seems there is some more work to be done on finding value in healthy over heaping. Either way I just urge us all to remember the little guys that have been here for us all along. So these tips apply to shopping at any health food store and making healthier choices in general. And as always take what you need and leave the rest for someone else.

*photo of Emma Roberts*

The issue of cost is the number one thing I hear when people are talking about shopping at health food stores, especially Whole Foods and especially if they are comparing the receipt to the last one they got from Aldi. Yeah yeah, so it’s called Whole Paycheck and there is no doubt that I’ve bagged some serious loot into paper bags in those checkout lines, but for me the value is in how I feel over all. So for starters you’ve got to determine a personal value to what you choose to put in your body. Next, shop the sales. Sales are a real thing and they do make a difference. Not to mention by using what’s on sale to determine your meals for the week it can keep things different and interesting. Now I know this next one might seem sarcastic but I mean it…..don’t buy the $10 dollar Salted Dark Chocolate Carmel Truffles. Or do buy them, but don’t bitch about your bill. I am using these as an example for how shopping novelty foods like this gives shopping healthy a bad name. So if keeping a budget is an issue, than stick to the necessities. Lastly, follow the serving sizes. Actually I think this point is relevant enough to be it’s own tip……

This seems obvious to read and yet so few of us really do it and nobody likes it when I bring it up, but it is so relevant to not only saving money, but more importantly BEING healthy. The way that portion sizes have mutated over the years is really grotesque and yet it is such a hard habit to break. I could probably do a 6 Tips on this alone. But for right now I offer this. Start with just 1 day and not only read, but also EAT the serving size for everything you eat. Get out the measuring cups and do it for all the ingredients you are using. Because although you may read the nutrition facts, those numbers are irrelevant if you are consuming 2, 3 or even 4 times the amount of food they are talking about. If you are out to eat order a to-go box when you order your meal and put half of your food in it  before you even start eating. This way you won’t leave stuffed AND you have another meal which just cut the cost in half or use smaller plates and bowls when eating at home.The first day is really just to bring awareness to the places where we are really going over board, like when I actually measured what a serving size of cereal looked like…….ey ey ey. (let’s just say I had to retire my mixing bowl) Or when I noticed that my favorite $9 drink was actually intended as 2 servings making it more bang for the buck. So once you’ve made it thru day one you probably feel hungry and that’s okay, you will survive I assure you. Have a glass of water…or eight. Make a cup of tea. These are great ways to combat hunger. because the goal is getting thru at least 3 days, but ideally a week of of this to really see how much MORE we’ve been consuming than we even realized. In this time you will be challenged no doubt, but ultimately you will be rewarded. The rewards come different for everyone but can, in a pretty short amount of time, include some serious weight loss, more energy, better digestion, healthier skin and more money in your pocket. All things I think most of us would welcome, but they don’t stop there. More and more information is circulating about the bigger picture and long term benefits of eating less. Like lowering the chances of disease, pain and premature aging. So give it a try and let me know what you discover.

Food isn’t different colors just for show. Color represents nutrients and every color has a variety of benefits. Keeping in mind that you want lots of color on your plate and it starts with what you put in your cart. Here is a really great article on Eating the Rainbow from Wholeliving.com

Shopping from the outside in was a tip I learned in the nutrition portion of the Natural Health Practitioner program I did a few years ago and I think it’s the best way for someone who wants to eat healthier to get started. It means, do the majority of your shopping from the perimeter of the store as this is where all the fresh food is and really only enter the maze of the food isles if absolutely necessary. It’s in the process of packaging and preserving that food really gets messed up and typically the shorter the shelf life, the more straight forward and nutrient rich it is.Typically. Which leads us right into tip four.

The assumption that if you buy it from a health food store, or it says ‘All Natural’ on the package than it’s good for you is, to put it plainly, wrong. It is unfortunate both that, this is not the case and reversely, that we’ve become so lazy or gullible (maybe one comes with the other) to believe such a thing exists. But I do understand that if you just don’t know, then you do the best with what you do know. I’ve been there. Both naive and lazy, so I get it. But common sense would tell you that a cookie, is a cookie is a cookie. Buying it from a health food store might mean you are getting higher quality ingredients, or that it fits within an otherwise restricted diet due to allergy, but unless you are really paying attention to the contents of these items than you’re not necessarily ‘eating healthier’. In fact, outside of the time I’ve spent being drunk and using drugs, the time that I spent as a vegan in my early 20′s maybe the most unhealthy I have been. I was uneducated and lazy and ended up just eating a bunch of shit because it was ‘vegan’. Oh the irony. So be sure to educate yourself and use your integrity when making the switch to a more natural diet. It’s sad but true, we just can’t trust everything. So seek out information from multiple sources and see what matches up and always run it past your common sense. You know more than you think you do.

This is one that’s hung me up multiple times and often takes trial and error to really figure out. But as far as I am concerned, the most valuable resource for knowing what is good for us is our own body. One of the other very important pieces of information I’ve gained through my education, is the holistically based idea that symptoms are the bodies request for a change. And much like the way we learn to understand our pets by the way they move around or to be able translate whatever the hell it is a crying baby wants, we need to be able to do this with our own bodies. The power of knowledge that is gained by understanding what it is that causes negative reactions and positive responses within us is immeasurable. The tricky part is finding the baseline for what feeling good even is. You know it in hindsight, after giving up soda or quitting smoking. But what about the things that are intended to be good for you? Carrot juice gives me a headache, too much sugar. But how many times did I drink it because it was ‘good for me’? My mom is allergic to mangoes. Near death experience allergic, so it didn’t take repetition for her to name them not good for her. But still I am amazed at the number of people who choke down gross shit, get a stomach ache, feel bad and then do it again because it is supposed to be good for you. Pushing your comfort zones and torture are totally different things not to mention using something that your body doesn’t respond well to, good or bad for you, is abuse. So as you introduce new habits and foods into your life pay attention to what it is actually doing, not just what it’s supposed to do.

This last one is another one I could write a solo piece about as this one applies to so much more that just food but for the sake of this that’s what I will focus on. The tip is to rewrite what we consider a reward. Our personal reward systems are, in my opinion, one of the biggest mind fucks that exist. The things we tell ourselves we ‘deserve’ and the steel cable of attachment we create with these things is really remarkable. But to do the work to rewrite the mental code for what we consider a treat or reward, so that it reflects and honors whatever it is we just worked so hard  to do results in such a better feeling of accomplishment. There have been so many deals I’ve made with myself over the years it’s absurd, but some that I know are common for other people too are things like ” I worked out so hard this week, I EARNED this piece of cake” or “I had such a stressful day at work, I DESERVE to get drunk tonight.” And in the moment it might feel like a kind of victory, but if we are really honest with ourselves I think it pretty likely that after it’s all said and done we feel far less rewarded. So where does one even start? What we buy while shopping can play a huge part in starting to make these changes. Now I can only speak for me, but if it is in my apartment I will eat it and so if I don’t want to eat it, than I just don’t buy it. Even if I had ‘special plans’ for something, if I come home tired and hungry and seeking comfort I will eat what ever is easiest and seems most satisfying in that moment. So it is while you are shopping that you must think about not just what something tastes like, but what you will feel like AFTER you eat it. It’s like taking care of your future self. This is why I stock up on fruit and veggie juices, healthy food bars, nuts and fresh fruit. Things that are easy to grab not feel bad about later. Changing compulsive habits takes time and to expect yourself to change your habits without changing your environment is torture and self sabotage. Be good to you.

We are most effective in our lives when we live them moment by moment…..

I really hadn’t realized how far off course my mind had gotten. Priorities all switched around, tricks, lies and this bartering system I have been working on myself is really something. I’ve also made a pretty good mess of some more tangible things that are going to require some mending, so really a minute is all I can handle before I start to stress out.

So living in the moment eh? Taking each moment as it comes, savoring the small things, working through the tough stuff. Giving no Fucks, being untethered from the past and worry-free about the future. Sounds pretty damn good to me, but does anyone actually LIVE like that? I mean is it humanly possible to remain in such a ‘present’ state as not to get caught up in the traps we set for ourselves and each other? Hell no, I call that bluff. I mean there are definitely those who seem to be with it more often than others, and some who can stay longer than most but it’s inevitable that at some point, everyone falls outside of the moment. So it seems it’s really less about staying and more about returning. Over and Over.

Now I’ll be damned if that doesn’t seem like a lot of work, to always be paying so much attention. But I figure it’s like most anything else, the more disciplined and consistent you are with your practice the better you become at it and the less like work it seems. As of late, one moment at a time is the only way I am currently making it thru my days, and it’s working great.

*Not to mention, that whatever staying power made it possible for me to make it through ALL of Bad Lieutenant with Nicholas Cage should be more then enough to keep me alive and awake during 60 seconds of my own life a few times over*

So I’ve put together a few tips to share that I find most helpful for bringing myself back to the moment I am in and as always just take what you need and leave the rest for someone else.

Seriously do it right now. Breathe all the way in, hold it for a second and let it all the way back out. It always feels good and is one of the easiest things we can do to get back in the moment, but making sure we actually do it is another story. Basically our bodies and brains require oxygen to survive therefore making the basic act of breathing practically involuntary, but the breaths that our bodies take without conscious effort are enough to do only that, survive. Not thrive. Truly full and deep breaths will bring your posture upright, bring relief to areas of tightness in your body, calm stress, clear your mind and give you energy. I could go on but ultimately the point is that the simple act of intentional breath, full and slow until your belly and lungs are full, bringing your body up right and even letting your eyes close is often all it takes to bring you right back to solid ground. If you are feeling anxious, sad or angry a deep breath can be the difference between feeling strong enough to move past it or responding badly…..but even when you feel good, taking a deep breath is a great way to relish in and savor the feeling.

This is some elementary school shit but ironically seems even more relevant as an adult. The lesson is of bringing yourself back to the moment and what’s most important in it. YOU. How much time is spent wondering what someone else is doing, or worse, feeling jealous or competitive of what they are doing rather than just doing things yourself? How much energy gets exerted either judging other people’s choices, or trying to fix their problems in order to justify or avoid your own? Well cut it out. Consuming yourself with other people’s bizznass is one of the quickest ways to get caught up where you don’t belong. At the end of the day the only person you have any real influence over is yourself. If you catch yourself talking shit, obsessing, feeling out of control or over extending on someone else’s behalf take it as a gentle reminder to turn your attention inward. Even one moment spent attending to your self is more productive and effective than hours spent focusing on someone else.

This is the other side of the ‘focus on yourself’ coin, which protects us from wasting energy on others. But giving no fucks protects us from worrying about if anyone cares what we’ve chosen to do with said energy. I am a big fan of giving no fucks and there is plenty of information to support why. There’s a quote to the effect of ‘no matter what you do, someone won’t like you for it’ so why end up just driving yourself mad trying? We’ve all had experiences with how trying to impress or please others really only gets us stuck either reliving things that are already done, or anticipating the future. But even with how much better it can make us feel it is still difficult to do since the risks of carrying the attitude of giving no fucks include loosing some ‘friends’ when they no longer receive your attention, feeling lonely and the worst of them all……. just becoming a cynical asshole (which seems to be a growing trend among people who use the term). Ultimately the goal is to be able to surround yourself with people who support your personal endeavors but ALSO give no fucks because they are focused on working on their OWN lives, to feel less need for validation from outside sources because you’re providing it for yourself and to be realistic about human nature but not hardening to the point of loosing hope that there are still great things happening in the world.  It should feel more light hearted and care free than bitter and jaded.

This tip expands on the coat tales of the previous two, because whenever I think of how much time I spend just staring at a computer screen, be it on my laptop or phone I get downright queasy. It’s gross how addicted I am to checking updates, just scrolling through random shit and being totally enthralled by the manufactured windows into other people’s lives. I just keep waiting for someone to DO something. There is a thin line between how helpful and hurtful technology is. For as easy as it’s made it to connect with one another, seek out information and help us to accomplish amazing things it sure does seem to be misused to avoid our realities and waste time. Have you ever thought about how many minutes you spend online instead of outside? How different would your days look if you had only limited access to a phone, the internet, or even none at all. Spending quality time with ourselves, friends and family and being inspired by and experiencing what is real and tangible in front of us is what makes our lives full and gratifying. So try it out. Start with just going for a walk without your phone, or not getting on the computer for an entire night. Eventually you might even enjoy regular blocks of time when you are just totally signed off and completely tuned in.

Stuff, stuff, stuff. I am a collector of things, but clutter distracts the shit out of me. I have really had to get organized so all the treasures I like to keep around remain inspiring and not suffocating. I can also be very forgetful, easily distracted and a procrastinator making  important “Must Do” things easy to get lost in the mix & making it that much easier to fall behind. Stress Central. When getting started, it helps to not think about it as minimizing, or having to ‘get rid of’ anything. Simplifying is a natural by-product of just putting things in their places. Sort of a survival of the best and most important theory, if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t stay. What can start with fixing up the pile of random shit on your desk could turn into a whole new way of managing the things in your life. Using a hanger for your coat instead of the back of the chair, setting reminders in your calendar for places you have you be, or even just things you want to do so you don’t have to remember. What ever getting organized looks like for you, let it help you to not feel like you have to juggle a million things. Put a system in place that you can trust so you can clear your mind of it.

This is a big one, rituals are sacred things, but they don’t have to look like a seance, or take up hardly any time. By definition, a ritual is an act or set of actions performed mainly for a symbolic purpose. So for the sake of this list and the purpose of bringing yourself back to the present, the act could be just about anything since what it reminds you is what counts. Initially I got all caught up in the ceremonial idea of this, adding things to my days that, although were well intentioned, were too complicated so I often ended up overwhelmed, or not following thru and defeating the whole point. Then one day I was inspired to just make things I do anyway, everyday, mean more. Stopping at stop lights became my reminder to breathe deeply. Stepping up my skin care regime when washing my face in the morning and before bed became a time to feel loved by myself for taking such good care. Even just these subtle changes have made such a difference. Essentially setting rituals thru out your day gives you check points, that remind you to check in. Whether it’s giving symbolic reason to which of the side of the bed you get out of, letting the cup of coffee or tea you drink every morning anyway, represent spending time with yourself before anyone else, or your making your commute to work a time of quiet and solitude, it will make a difference. It’s a very rich and empowering feeling to do things with intention and in your own honor. Treat yourself……it will only take a minute. xo