5 Surprising Things That Are Stealing Your Health

It has been an emotional week for me. I have battled some minor anxiety about my future, I had the feeling of emptiness and worst of all I had lost my vision. I was too busy putting out fires to keep focused on my purpose. I prayed and asked for direction, focus and the desire to continue. Then this happened! I hope you find some inspiration and some motivation to make a change in your life and finding out what is stealing your health. 

First things First…

I have recently adopted a saying “eat like your life depends on it”. As a cancer survivor nothing could ring more true for me. I have to eat like my life depends on it. I have to take measures to keep cancer from ever coming back. I have to make my body inhospitable to cancer. But that is me, I had to have cancer to shake me out of my bad food habits. I don’t wish that on anyone. So then after spending some time thinking about what it was that held me back and what is holding others back from taking that step forward into better health I discovered something. I discovered five things I could identify with and after speaking to others I knew these five things rang true for them too. So instead of getting cancer, illness, and disease how about you read this and see if you can identify with these roadblocks.

First things first, I would like to identify what IS NOT A ROADBLOCK but rather an excuse!

• Money – Poor ole money! We try to blame it for all our inabilities. The lack of financial resources keeps me from achieving optimal health is often our battle cry. It is not. I know people who live on strict budgets with large families that eat like their life depends on it. It is a matter of priority and not a lack of resources.
• Time – Let’s be honest, you will never have enough time. BUT you know that we are all given the same amount of hours in the day. Again it is a lack of priority and not a roadblock!
• I’m Picky – So what is your point? I would only eat 5 vegetables when I started eating real whole foods. I made them work for me. I got creative. Now I am a foodie. I’ll eat just about anything… Except kale, I hate KALE! Stop stressing about the foods you can’t eat and start looking at all the amazing foods you can eat. You don’t have to go all fancy pants to be healthy. Not a roadblock!

Did that hurt? Did I sting you a little bit? Wait until you read on….OUCH! 😉

5 Surprising Things That Are Stealing Your Health

1. We Think We Know It All

This is the most dangerous of the 5 so let’s get it out of the way. The “know it all” in all of us will have a hard time admitting that this is not true.   These are dangerous words… I have done it all, I have tried it all, I know how to eat, I’ve been there and done that, and nothing ever works. Albert Einstein said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” No truer words could be spoken when we are talking about our health! My dear friend Steve Dudley said to me one day “I am still very much a student of my own health!” You know what? He is a medical doctor. If anyone among us could say, I have been there and done that, I have seen it all…it is him. But he chooses to absorb as much as he can to be the best he can be. He is always learning and NEVER giving up on himself.

2. We Lack Vision for the Big Picture 

Our health is an overall long-term vision. Most of us never consider it. Were you like me? Could never imagine yourself living to a certain age, mine was 40. I could never imagine turning 40 years old. At 42 I was diagnosed with cancer so I was not far off from my premonition. Scary when I think back now.

Something unique to our modern life is the sense of urgency we have for every little thing. Our cell phone pings and we go into instant emergency mode. We have to see what has just happened, who wants to talk to us, who is mentioning me, who liked my photo…GUILTY! That is me! However this phenomenon is taking over our entire way of life. It reaches into our health believe it or not. Here is how!

When we get sick we get a knee jerk reaction. I have high blood pressure…take a pill. I have cancer…do chemo. I have heart disease…take a pill. We want a quick fix to an emergency in our lives. So we put a bandage on the trouble without asking the question “Why did I get cancer?” “Why do I have high blood pressure?” “What is the root cause of my illness?” We lack vision for the big picture. We are busy putting out little fires and ignoring the inferno burning in the background.

Now I imagine myself living to 120. With all my hair, mental acuity, sex drive, mobility, teeth, and never having cancer again. What’s your vision? How will you achieve it by looking at the big picture in your health?

3. Fear Paralyzes Us

Is fear stealing your health?  We are bombarded with major fear factors. Our media, doctors, jobs and marketing all tell us to be afraid. Are you afraid of getting in a car accident? They have made a car with special safety features to keep you safe. Our safety is made to be of the utmost importance to us. But why don’t we concern ourselves more with the biggest threat? Our health!

When considering our health we get nervous about the unknown, failure, and change. Not too many human beings are thinking, ”Yay, I love change!”   Right! It is basic human nature to reject these things and view them as negative experiences.  

What if you reversed that negative emotion attached with fear and turned it into a positive thought process. What if you were so afraid of getting sick that you used that fear to your advantage and made some changes in the way you treat your body and the food you feed it! Now I am not talking about becoming a hypochondriac. I am talking about using fear as a protector against poor eating habits! I am talking about using fear to fuel the flame of making your body inhospitable to sickness! Think of the power you can wield doing that. 

That is the true meaning of EATING LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.

4. We Lack Self Value

This is an epidemic! It is a common belief that if we practice self love or self care we are selfish. WRONG WRONG WRONG! I am not saying become a self-centered jerk! I am saying we put everyone else ahead of our own needs. It is such a problem that Self Love Guru’s are popping up everywhere to help us find our way back to caring for our greatest asset, ourselves.

The best way to show love is to love YOURSELF first. The best way to show care is to care for YOURSELF first. The best way to teach is to take the time you need to learn. You must take some priority over others in your life. I am not talking about going out and getting a message or shopping. I am talking about the kind of care that keeps illness at bay. Taking time to feed your body right, taking time to exercise with purpose routinely, choosing who you allow to influence you, spending time to find out what makes your body well and whole. Being the CEO of your health and your life. You know what that kind of self care causes? Confidence! Confidence is sexy, its powerful, its purposeful and its allows you to love like you have never loved before!

Just think of it like this, if you don’t love yourself it makes it really hard for others to love you! You are number one and yes, you can balance it and still be a giver, a servant and a partner. Turn up your self-value and watch your health journey soar!

5. I’ll Miss Out

There is a new term that is popular with the millennial generation, FOMO, fear of missing out. We have a deep desire to not miss a thing. This actually used to be a problem for me, but not with food, instead it was with the news. I was addicted to the 24 hours news cycle. I loved that if I could not sleep I could wake up and find out what was happening around the world in real time.

This “fear of missing out” also applies to our food culture. Here is what happens.

You Think: “I’ll miss out on family meals. They get to eat the good food and I have to eat a salad!”

Why I Call BS: If you make a change to eating real food it does not mean you have to eat something different than your family. In fact it means you can get creative in the kitchen with Real Food fake outs. Check out my recipe for pizza, mac-n-cheese, meatballs, and brownies! They are all Real Food and trust me, your family is going to love the care you put into the meal.

You Think: I’ll miss all the social events that involve food

Why I call BS: The best way to combat fake food social events is to not go! LOL, totally kidding. You know what I do? I take a dish even if I am not asked to. I don’t ask if I can bring anything I just take something along. I have never had anyone give me the stink eye for it and I always get invited back because I take a Real Food dish that is basically licked clean at the end of the night. This gives me a Real Food option and makes me look like a food super hero

You Think: I’ll miss junk food!

Why I call BS: You can eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it yourself. All junk food started as real food at some point. Potato chips, French fries, milkshakes, chicken strips, pizza, ice cream, and more all started as Real Food. So make your own junk food with Real Food ingredients. I’ll give you a little secret…once you ban the fake food the desire for junk food starts to fade a bit.

You Think: I don’t like restrictions!

Why I call BS: Good! Real Food is not restrictive. Unless you are trying to heal a sickness you can eat anything you want as long as it is not in a box, package, pouch, bottle, jar, can, or drive thru. Use you imagination. Finding out what you like to eat in Real Food is the key that opens the door into wellness.

Now What? 

Want to move things forward? Ready to dump the roadblocks and make some changes in your life? Good! Here is a roadmap to get you started!

Task 1 – Write down all your roadblocks in one column. Then in a separate column disarm those roadblocks. Maybe your roadblock is “you don’t know how to eat real food”. You disarm it by saying “I will read books, take classes and educate myself on how to pick out and eat Real Food.”

Task 2 – Find a group, take a challenge, or hire an expert to get you on the path of eating Real Food. It is helpful to have accountability. Find someone that motivates you. That makes you feel like a Real Food Rock Star!

Task 3 – Get real with yourself! Don’t kid yourself that this is going to be easy. Anyone that promises you quick fixes and easy solution, you should think twice about. It is work, but you are worth the work! In that vein it is not rocket science either. So don’t over complicate it.

Here at go2kitchens we have a few solutions to help you get started. If you liked this article you will love these options.

27 Day Real Food Challenge – Designed for accountability, community and to fit right into your day. It teaches you the principals of Real Food eating and puts you well on your way to eating more Real Food in 27 days. Only $27.00

Kitchanatomy 10 Step Kitchen Detox – Our flagship class! This is a classroom format that is designed to help you fall in love with your kitchen again. Maybe your healthy roadblock is that you hate to cook or you are frustrated with your kitchen. Kitchanatomy can help you with that. As a kitchen coach I write with you in mind. It is a more robust class full of worksheets, videos, textbook and helpful links. It is self-paced and easy to navigate. $149.00