This is our second of three installations addressing the topic of healthy parents by healer, stylist, and nutritionist Stella Metzner. Enjoy!
PRACTICAL EVERY DAY PRACTICES
Eat Organic: This is extremely important. You do not want Pesticides and GMO’s in your body. I know that organic produce is expensive. I know that sometimes it is hard to find it where you are, but just make the effort. If you can’t get it all the time don’t beat yourself up about it, but it is really a big deal. If you read about what non-organic produce does to your body you will not want to ingest it. Many of those “fresh cold pressed” juice places that you think are offering something healthy are not. If it’s not organic, you are basically pouring chemicals into your body. There are times when I have been living off of my credit card and not buying new clothes or shoes for me or my son, but I am buying organic produce. One way to offset costs for this is to join a CSA, Join a Co-op, buy from a farmers market, or www.thrivemarket.com, or other places that care about the planet more. Check out local or small farms near you that you know treat their animals well and see where you can buy their products from. More importantly, don’t beat yourself up about it. If you can’t do it every meal, at least you are trying for the majority. Sometimes, we eat out and we have no idea where the meat or vegetables are coming from. At these times I just let it go and don’t stress about it. I’ll get to this more later, but sometimes it’s the stress and anxiety that can lower your immune system and mess up your digestion more than what you are actually eating.
Do Exercise that makes you feel good: Most people tend to think that if they do an exercise that hurts and makes them sore that they have to suffer through that they will be skinny and happy. This does work for some people, the majority being men. However, a lot of people out there are forcing themselves to complete exercises that not only hurt their bodies, but don’t help them lose weight and also eat up a significant part of their life. You are only on this earth for a short time. Enjoy it!! Move the way you want to move. Move in the ways that make you fell good. Dance, go for walks, do yoga, do Pilates, ride your bicycle. Whatever it is, make sure you are enjoying it. When we force ourselves to get through an intense workout that we don’t enjoy, we are literally putting our bodies into a stress response. Our sympathetic nervous system is in control and we are running from danger. This stops us from digesting and metabolizing, makes our bodies hold on to fat, makes us unable to absorb nutrients, makes our blood cholesterol go up, etc… Who wants that?
And again, just don’t beat yourself up! Sometimes in one day I will go to yoga, do Pilates at home, go for a hike and somehow maybe even meditate that same day! Because I love it! Other days I can get a 5 minute stretch in or maybe even nothing, and I eat a piece of chocolate and watch a movie. I try to give myself 10 minutes a day to do something for myself. If it’s not yoga, I meditate, if I can’t do that, I journal, or read a book I’m into. As parents we lose sight of ourselves because we want to give our children everything, but we can’t. I know that when I give my kid everything and don’t take 10 minutes to myself I become a “mean mommy.” I don’t like my kid or myself very much. A nice way to get back into an easy flow is to try 10 minutes for yourself once a week. Then try 3 days a week, then before you know it you will be giving to yourself every day. I do a lot of my exercise at home by finding videos on youtube. I really like “www.yogawithadrienne.com, her 30 day challenge got me back on my yoga feet. I love http://www.decompressionproject.com/decompression-library. Sharon Salzberg has a great meditation podcast. I like the videos of Sadie Nardini–
I like all of these because I can do them on my own time. I can wake up at 5:30, do 20 minutes of yoga, meditate for 10 minutes, take a shower and then wake up my kid and get him ready for the world, knowing that I have already done something for myself today. Last but not least, sometimes doing something for yourself is doing nothing. Sometimes it’s sleeping in, or watching a movie, or eating ice cream. And remember, everyone is different, so what works for you may not work for everyone else. Your 10 minutes of heaven for yourself might be someone else’s hell. Your body is different from your friend’s body. Your friend might be skinny but terribly unhealthy, while you have a bigger butt, but have a stronger digestive system. You just don’t know and you can’t compare yourself. Do what feels good for you and your body.
Eat Slowly: I could talk about this one for hours, but I’m just going to touch on a few important points. Having children may be the best gift ever, but it is not easy. It adds a lot of lines to your “to-do” list, and a lot more getting up and sitting down and getting up and sitting down then we would prefer. Sitting down and eating slowly is not something that parents are often able to do. Nevertheless, eating and standing or eating and walking, or just mindlessly shoving scraps in your mouth while you pack backpacks and teachers notes is not good for you. It causes the same Sympathetic Nervous system response that I was talking about earlier. In other words, it stresses your body and lowers your immune system while also not making you feel full or satisfied whatsoever. If you can somehow find a way to give yourself 10-20 (I really want to say at least 30 but I am being a realistic New Yorker mom here) minutes a day to sit down and savor your meal. Take 10 deep breaths before you eat. Settle your body down into somewhat of a relaxed state and acknowledge what you are eating food, or drinking a drink. You are metabolizing something. Chew it, squish saliva around it, enjoy it, and swallow it. If you can do this as a family and ritualize it, then you are 100 light years ahead and truly helping your body to digest, assimilate, and heal. But if you can’t do that, then just start with yourself. Try once a week again, then try 3 times etc…I promise you that this alone will make you feel so much better, and it will teach your children a super healthy practice as well. If you need some more information about this you can read “The Slow Down Diet” by Marc David. It’s a life changer.
Stella Metzner has worked as a fashion stylist for almost 20 years. In 2008 she developed health issues which inspired her to learn several healing modalities. She became certified in Reiki level 1 and 2 and has practiced it now for 5 years. She is also a certified Eating Psychology Coach after graduating school for Dynamic Eating Psychology and mind Body Nutrition and Coaching from the Institute for the Psychology of Eating http://psychologyofeating.com/