Honoring Health

The Yin and The Yang

Christie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:44:10 +0000

A few days ago, I talked about some of my experience at the Anita Johnston workshop and many of you have had questions about the concept of inner feminine and inner masculine. Today, I am going to share with you more details about each aspect of these natures and hopefully, clarify some of your questions. Since we typically think of feminine as female and masculine as male, it may be helpful to think of these concepts as yin and yang since this isn’t about gender or sexuality. In fact, at the workshop, Anita had a large yin yang symbol in the middle of the circle to signify that really, the intent of the workshop was learning to balance the two natures instead of fighting against them since they both have important roles within our psyche.

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Here is a list of examples we came up with at the workshop to help us understand these roles:

Feminine/Masculine

soft/hard

nurture/secure

round/angular

understanding/informative

being/doing

dark/light

innner/outer

emotions/intelect

goal oriented/process oriented

inhalation/exhalation

moon/sun

As you can see from the list, none of these traits are more important than the other and striving for balance is important for each and every one of us, Men and Women alike. Imagine a world without night and day or think of the value that being goal oriented and process oriented has in our day to day lives. So what happens when we become out of balance? A condition I am now realizing I am all too familiar with. From the handout Anita gave us:

” In eating/exercise disorders, the Masculine aspect is the part of us that checkt the lable [external], the calories, weights and measures, diets, restricts, rushes through, over-exercises. In healing, this aspects takes risks, shows up, has the courage to change. The wounded Masculine: Immature male side that seek to win at any cost. Oppression and aggression, as seen in war and cultures that repress women and any other aspect of humanity.

In eating/exercise disorders, the feminine expresses through binging, devouring to balance the masculine, or express and imbalance or wound somewhere. She is the exercise resistor when wounded and the expressive dancer when not. The Wounded Feminine: Can express through passive aggressivity..NOT taking responsibility, risks or action. Consumes too much, addictive by taking in even harmful substances or amounts”

I can identify with both of these aspects but unfortunately, rarely is my understanding from a place of balance. With food, I do feel that I am finally coming into balance but overall, not in my lifestyle. I still battle with all or nothing thinking with exercise and my habits with the scale are still lingering. Since the workshop, I’ve been using a new mantra with regards to exercise that I hope will help me find some balance. Anita told us never to exercise if it doesn’t feel joyous, a concept I really struggle with but know from my own experience that she is right. I do my best with exercise when I am doing what I love instead of what I think I should be doing. So, each time those “shoulds” pop into my mind, I gently remind myself “I only exercise in ways that honors my body and my feminine spirit“. This is still a work in progress but I am excited to keep moving forward and learning more about my inner masculine and inner feminine.

What about you? Can you identify some of your masculine/feminine natures? How do you find balance?

Hungry for More?

It Doesn’t Get Much Better

Christie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:39:09 +0000

than this…

I often put carrots in my oat bran but never have they been quite like this. Now that I am in the clear with coconut, I’ve been adding it to things here and there and yesterday, when HEAB posted about making homemade coconut butter I knew that it’s destiny was on top of my beloved carrot oat bran. Making the coconut butter is easy, all you have to do is put dried, shredded coconut in the food processor just like homemade nut butter. And voila. This is pretty miraculas since the jars of coconut butter that are all the rage on the blogs these days can cost upwards of $15 whereas you can get a bag of shredded coconut for pretty cheap.

I’d say it was a success.

My bowl contained:

gluten free oat bran
unsweetened vanilla rice milk
2 finely shredded carrots
coconut oil
flax seed
cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla stevia
homemade coconut butter glaze

Now that hits the spot.

On a different note, my special treat that I mentioned last night did not 100% work but don’t you worry, I am going to try again soon so stay tuned!

Do you like coconut? What do you do with it?

Hungry for More?

Omelet Night

Christie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:23:48 +0000

Omelet night is fast becoming a favorite in our house. I much prefer having eggs at dinner instead of at breakfast because they don’t hold me over very long when my morning hunger is ripping and roaring Another reason I love them so much is because it is a perfect opportunity to use up any random veggies bits you may have on hand. Tonights omelet being a prime example of such

Our omelets were loaded with:

spinach
green pepper
onion
garlic
broccoli “slaw”
goat cheese

Delish!

We are kind of running out of evening hours but I’m still hoping to be able to do some catching up on the dvr and enjoy a special treat I have in the oven. If it turns out, I’ll be sure to share with you later.

Do you like omelets? For breakfast, lunch or dinner? What do you like inside of them?

Hungry for More?

Join Project Hydrate

Christie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:34:18 +0000

While I am super comfortable with my eating patterns and foods choices these days, one of the things that I constantly struggle with is drinking enough water. I know I always feel best when I am properly hydrated and despite carrying a water bottle with me everywhere I go, I still don’t drink enough. So, when Diana posted her Project Hydrate Challenge, I knew I wanted to participate.

My goals for this challenge are:

Drink half my body weight each day in water. This includes herbal tea, as well.
Carry the water I need to drink with me each day to work so that I can be sure I am on track with drinking enough.
Don’t chug the water all at once, drink it throughout the day to keep hydration levels steady.
Drink more water to compensate for exercise.

I think this will be a great challenge and knowing that I have so many other bloggers with the same goal will help keep me focused on the goal.

Interested in joining the challenge? Get on over to The Chic Life and sign up! You don’t have to be a blogger; just leave a comment on her post!

How about you? Do you feel that you drink enough water each day? How much do you drink?

Hungry for More?

Further Explanation

Christie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:48:14 +0000

Happy Monday, my friends! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and thanks for all of your comments on my post about the divine union. A number of you had questions, didn’t really understand the concepts of masculine nature vs. feminie nature or even suggested you want to read Eating in the Light of the Moon to understand it more. I wanted to tell you all that I do plan to write further and get into more detail as time progresses but for now, it may be helpful to think of it in terms of yin/yang or polar opposites like soft and hard. These traits are not gender specific and nor is one good or bad, right or wrong. Balance is the key for recovery and getting in touch with each side was the purpose of the workshop. Anita’s amazing book is not based on these principles and my post yesterday was not a review of her book; it was me in the beginning stages of processing all that I experienced in her workshop.

I am sorry if I somehow misguided you to believe that the post was about her book. Her book is an amazing journey into our feminine natures as females and how that relates to eating disorder/disordered eating recovery. As I have mentioned a number of times in the past, her book was an essential part of my recovery but it is not based on the masculine/feminine principles I discussed in my post yesterday. So, stay tuned for deeper discussion on these principles of nature. If you want to learn more about how I feel specifically about her book, you may want to check out the therapy tag as I go into more detail about the book when I was actively working with it.

Now, onto breakfast.

Today, I had butternut squash in my oat bran. I had a piece of a bag of organic chopped butternut squash in the freezer and thought it would be a great way to use it up. Indeed, it was.

My bowl contained:

1/4 cup gluten free oat bran
1 cup unsweetened vanilla rice milk
butternut squash
coconut oil
cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla stevia and flax seed.

It surely hit the spot and I am ready to go back to work. I’m planning a complete overhaul of the way I run the flow of my work and I am anxious to get started.

I hope you all have a lovely Monday and please feel free to email me or leave a comment if you want to discuss the Anita Johnston workshop further.

Hungry for More?

The Divine Union

Christie — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:07:00 +0000

I went to my first Anita Johnston workshop yesterday and it was pretty incredible. If you have read her book, Eating in the Light of the Moon, then you know that Anita weaves the world of recovery from disordered eating with beautiful fables and she really encourages us to embrace our feminine nature. When I went to the workshop, I did not know what to expect but I was completely blown away by the way she was able to portray her message and impact each and every woman that was in the room. I personally cried more than once and each time tears sprouted up in the room, she encouraged us that tears were the catalyst for change.

Yesterday, we talked about the divine union between our masculine and feminine nature. She reminded us time and time again that these natures are not gender specific and that they are energies that flow within each and every one of us. We talked a bit about the masculine energy of our culture and how it is very out of balance. And don’t worry, for the gentlemen reading out there, this was not a man bashing session. It was about learning the divine marriage between what is masculine within us and what is feminine within us and it made me realize that I am out of balance and that I have been for quite some time.

Lately, I’ve let my masculine energies take over and the way it has gone down has been pretty classic to what Anita was saying. A few months ago, my feminine took over. I had squashed her down for so long she finally felt free and she sort of took over. And then, one day, something changed and I started to crave balance but instead of balance, I went in completely the opposite direction. It was amazing to me to recognize the differences between my masculine and feminine nature and to see how they play out in my life and how much I really need to learn to balance the two. You see, neither way is right or wrong, they just are what they are and each side has an important role in who we are.

We were really encouraged to just be aware of these natures and recognize the patterns as they come up. For example, rebelling against exercise is completely feminine. When we force ourselves to exercise in ways that don’t bring joy to ourselves, she cuts us off and our desire to exercise is completely diminished. But when we move with joy and in a way that delights our spirit, we want to just move and move. My desire to move has been almost non existent for quite some time now and I realize it is because I have squashed the inner feminine voice that wants to practice yoga with the masculine voice that tells me to burn x number of calories or that if I don’t exercise for a certain amount of time, it isn’t worth it. Yoga isn’t exercise for me. It is a time to connect with myself and the world around me so when I tie that to calories and minutes, she rebels.

I’ve got a lot to say about yesterday and the things I learned about myself and even the people I go through my life with but for now, I need to just sit with this awareness that what I am going through is normal and that I need to really work on allowing the balance to happen by honoring both the feminine voice and the masculine voice. They deserve equal time in my life and to feel complete, I need to honor that.

How about you? Are you in touch with your feminine and masculine voice? Do you struggle with the balance between the two?

Hungry for More?

Crazy Glad

Christie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:37:30 +0000

Anyone else crazy glad it is Friday night? I sure am. It has been a really long week in the land of golf; we are gearing up for the season to start next month and that always means I am super busy. I don’t think I have ever been as happy to see 5pm as I was today. The weekend is here, Hoooray!

When I planned our meals this week, I intentionally planned something super easy for tonight. I knew I didn’t want to be in the kitchen all night so I made a simple local tofu tomato sauce over brown rice pasta and spinach. The sauce is just a large can of organic crushed tomatoes with basil plus some onions, garlic, carrots, italian seasoning and a drop of stevia to balance out the acidity.

Simple, comforting and delicious Friday night meal.

Now, I am off to snuggle on the couch and catch up on the DVR. I have an early start tomorrow!

In honor of Friday night, what is your favorite movie? Do you prefer to go to the movies or stay in and watch a dvd?

My favorite movie is probably The Shawshank Redemption; I know I am telling my age with that but I love it. I also like girly romantic comedies as well and nothing is a great as Dirty Dancing or Steel Magnolias

Hungry for More?

Almost the Weekend

Christie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:43:49 +0000

Happy Friday, loves. I, for one, am especially glad that it is Friday. I am going to an Anita Johnston workshop tomorrow and I am very excited about it. Anita is the author of the book Eating in the Light of the Moon which was the guide for the group therapy I did last year and it was an essential part of my recovery from disordered eating. I am going with my dear friend, Susan, the one I went to Dallas with, and I expect that it is going to be an amazing experience.

But for now. I have to go to work. Bah.

I should be really busy all day today so I fueled up with a big bowl of carrot oat bran. I was out of the sweet potatoes I baked over the weekend so carrots it was.

Today’s mix contained:

1/4 cup gluten free oat bran
1 cup unsweetened vanilla rice milk
2 large carrots, finely shredded
1 tbsp coconut oil
cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla stevia and flax seed

All I have to say is, Yum. A lovely way to start a Friday.

What are your plans for this weekend?

Hungry for More?

Deprivation vs. Choice

Christie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:57:37 +0000

A couple of days ago, I posed the question “Is there a particular food you would hate to give up? What is it and why?” . I also recieved this question on my ask me anything page, “You’ve probably mentioned this on your blog and I missed it, but why did you decide to go gluten free? Do you have celiac’s disease or a sensitivity? Or was it more of a personal choice?”. Both of these questions, along with your responses, really got me thinking. I’ve have given up a ton of foods in order to honor my health and interestingly enough, I don’t really feel deprived. I’ll admit, I do get the occasional hankering for chocolate, something gluten filled or even a greasy cheesy pizza. But really, for me, it all comes down to a matter of choice and most of time, the choices are easy to make.

As a matter of choice, I eat a pretty limited diet. I don’t eat gluten because it causes severe inflammation that leads to acid reflux, joint and muscle pain, bloating and water retention, chronic fatigue as well as brain fog and irritability. I don’t eat dairy because it aggravates my allergies and I don’t eat sugar, caffeine, alcohol or fruit because it aggravates my candida. I only eat meat occasionally and I typically pay attention to the rules of food combining because of my digestion. So, what in the world does that leave me with? Lots of veggies, gluten free grains, beans, nuts and seeds.

Two years ago, you could have never convinced me that I would eat a sugar free, plant based, low grain diet. But you also would not have been able to convince me that I can stand on my head or stand up to my parents. All of these changes in my life have been slow, steady and gradual changes. I didn’t do it overnight and I didn’t do it because someone else told me to. I did all of these things in order to feel my best. At one point in time, I took 8 prescriptions each and every day for various ailments and now, with the exception of digestive enzymes and probiotics, I don’t take anything. My cholesterol has come down, I don’t have stomach issues and my weight is dropping without a second thought. Most importantly, I look and feel healthy and happy.

In the land of diets, none of this would have been possible and I would have felt incredibly deprived. Instead, I feel nourished by my food and don’t walk around starving all day long. I haven’t binged in ages and I rarely associate food with guilt. I also do really well with honoring my bodies hunger signals and knowing what foods it really wants. I even make choices sometimes that don’t follow along with what will make me feel the best but I do so with awareness. I’m honoring my body in a way that feels right and ironically, there is no food on this planet that I feel is “off limits”. And that to me is an awesome feeling.

How about you? Which choices do you make that might make others feel deprived but make you feel your best?

Hungry for More?

Barney Oat Bran

Christie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:36:11 +0000

Oh yes I did.

Remember that purple sweet potato I baked over the weekend? Well today, part of it landed in my oat bran. See how pretty?

Not only was it a gorgeous shade of Barney Purple, it was really tasty, too. The purple sweet potato is not as sweet as a regular sweet potato though it did have a creamier mouth feel. I really loved it and hope that I can find more once I run out.

My bowl contained:

1/4 cup gluten free oat bran
1 cup unsweetened vanilla rice milk
purple sweet potato
1 tbsp coconut oil
cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla stevia, flax seed

To make matters even better, I seem to be doing fine with the coconut oil so far. No adverse reactions and I am loving every minute of it. A few of you mentioned in the comments yesterday that you had never tried coconut oil, I really love it and highly recommend it. It doesn’t taste like coconut, at least not to me and it is even great for your skin.

Have you ever tried purple sweet potato? What did you think?