Health Coach Update

 how many days until it's thanksgiving again? 

I've mention I started a three month program with holistic health coach Jared Vaughn from Helios Health and Wellness a while ago.  As a result of following Jared's advice to eat a more plant based diet, I've lost ten pounds in six weeks. I'm down to 135. People have started to comment on my new look, I feel great, and my shopping trip on Saturday was the best I've had in awhile. All the work and changes I've made are starting to show. But still, my motivation to eat whole plant based foods has been waning. I can even pinpoint the moment: Thanksgiving dinner.  

That night I was reintroduced to bread and butter and cream. I forgot how much I love those things. What was suppose to be a one meal indulgence, has turned into a week long affair. I'm up a few pounds. No big deal. I'm more worried about that whole who gives a damn! attitude I have about food. Plus my stomach feels heavy and bloated. I don't feel as good when I wake up in the morning.  I talked with Jared about it last night. He's so motivating. While his advice is simple, I've been so resistant to follow it.

Jared's been asking me for weeks to write a food/mood journal as a tool to connect positive and negative feelings to what I eat, and as well as be accountable to myself and to him. I've done one before, but it seems so compulsive/obsessive.  A few years ago when I was working with a dietitian, I carried a small notebook with me and wrote everything down as I ate. Six months ago I found an app and took pictures of everything I ate. Psycho.

Instead, Jared suggested I take 5 minutes to jot down my food/mood at the end of the day. Doing it at once at night seems less crazy. Plus, he lives across the country, so it's the only way for him to monitor my progress and make tweaks in my diet. I understand. I'm committing to writing everything down for a week and sending him an email at the end of the day.  I made good with my promise today, including that large handful of chocolate chips I mindless ate while talking to my sister on the phone.  I'm sure she adored listening to my lips smacking.

Have you ever kept a food/mood journal? Isn't it so weird and embarrassing?! Writing my mood comes easy to me, but food? Oh, I don't even want to know.

FYI: While Jared Vaughn is a family friend, I paid to join his three month program and enjoy telling you about my progress. I even took hideous before pictures! ha Click here to learn more about his approach, click here for a FAQ, and click here for recipes (my new favorite). 

i had one of each. my favorite was the maple cream pie on the far right. the crust omg. 

licking the fresh whipped cream out of the bowl is the best. they hit up the Chocolate Reddi Wip next. i joined them.