Episode #9: Ways to Get Unstuck and Feel Better Now
INTRO: Welcome to Healthy Sexy Nutrition with me, Michelle Fox, culinary nutritionist, health coach, and your host for this podcast. I teach busy professionals how to get more nutrition in their bodies. and how to have more fun in their home kitchens. If you struggle with consistency or sometimes forget to make your needs a priority, or you avoid planning your meals, you, my friend are in the right place.
Join me each week for inspiration to increase your energy, discover new recipes, manage your hormonal woes, and so much more. You are a busy professional, but that does not mean your nutrition should suffer. You deserve to live in a body and have a life that you love. So let’s dig in.
MICHELLE FOX: So this week's episode is going to be one of my shorty episodes, and I just wanted to hop in your ear real quick to see if you've noticed yourself doing a few of the following. Have you been scrolling through social media mindlessly? Have you been drinking alcohol a little bit more than you are comfortable? Have you been on the couch perhaps binging some series and not being able to walk away when you know that your bedtime has been set at 10, 10:30, 11 at the latest? Wink wink. Okay. Well, you are in good company.
We are in the changing of seasons and with that comes the changing of the Astros. It's the new moon, it's the stars, it's the sun, it's the season. Some of us are going from hot to cold, Some of us are going from cold to hot, and that can be really upsetting to our nervous systems. And so it's natural to kind of lean into the things that you've been comfortable with.
I will share that, uh, in this past month, I've been training a beautiful group of women, actually slightly over 130. So it's been an amazing opportunity to learn more about my community and also an amazing opportunity to learn more about my coaching style and to help me dig deeper into this thing called culinary nutrition.
And so to go back to my first question as far as scrolling through social media, drinking a little bit more alcohol than perhaps you are comfortable with, binging on television or what have you, again, I just wanna let you know you're not crazy. You're not losing your mind. You are not alone. With that said though, let's just be mindful because perhaps there are other things we can be doing that will serve our bodies better.
So instead of scrolling mindlessly through social media perhaps, and especially for my friends who are dog mommies or daddies, perhaps you can take your pooch for an extra walk that day just to get that fresh air. And of course your dog's going to love you, so you're gonna get bonus points for that. Um, as far as the drinking of the alcohol perhaps, if you already know that. Yes, Michelle, you can’t take this alcohol from me. Well, don't worry. I'm not trying to take anything from you, but perhaps the next time you go out or the next time you are going out for drinks, maybe you could start with a glass of water or—Ooh. To make it super fancy, what I usually like to do is to put some sparkling water in a wine glass, and then, ooh, you can't tell me nothing.
I am fancy with my sparkling water in my wine glass. And I don't think she'd mind me sharing with you Chef Lisa recently, cuz she helped me teach this, this amazing group last month, she put a little Stevia in with her peach flavored sparkling water. And I'm like, Oh my goodness, I need to try that next. So try Stevia.
And as a side note, Stevia is a natural herb, which comes from the earth and it can be almost a thousand times, and I might be exaggerating here, but it's super, super sweet to the tongue, but at the same time, it does not elevate our blood sugar. It's zero on the glycemic index. And so for my friends who might have a sweet tooth, especially again during these changing of seasons, really lean into Stevia.
I found plenty at the health food stores. So Whole Foods, Sprouts, that's what we have here in Denver. And a lot of those Stevia companies, or excuse me, a lot of those Stevia brands have special flavoring. So you can get Coca-Cola flavor, you can get lemon flavor. One of my favs is a mixed berry flavor.
So sometimes I like to do a fruity tea. I'll steep it for a few moments, pour it over some ice, put in like three or four drops of Stevia. That's another thing I should give you a heads up on. A few drops will get you really far, cuz again, it is super concentrated and sweet.
And then I have a beautiful fruity iced tea that's caffeine free, dairy free, gluten free. So we're winning. Just wanted to plant that in your mind that if the drinking's getting a little outta control, let's just try something else. One, of course, have compassion for yourself, and again, I can't say it enough.
You are not losing your mind. You are not going crazy. But then two, let's just be curious about perhaps other options. So maybe if you're not crazy about Stevia or you're not crazy about my sparkling water idea, maybe you can make some hot tea. Maybe you can look up some fresh new mocktails on the internet. That in itself will just get your mind thinking more creatively and who knows what you might find on Dr. Google.
There are thousands of recipes that includes food as well on Google. So just do a search and just stay curious. And lastly, as far as binging television shows before you go to sleep, I will tell you, just so you understand what's happening, cuz I want you to have the information that you need. Again, I'm not gonna try to take your television away from you, but I do want you to understand that if you get those beta waves, that the TV is emitting, that your laptop is emitting, that your iPad might be emitting, that your iPhone is emitting.
If you get those in your system, it's gonna be really hard for you to stay asleep at night. I'm begging you if you're gonna watch these shows, please turn off anything that's emitting these blue rays at least an hour before you go to bed. With that said, again, I'm going to invite you to be curious and be curious about other options besides watching that show.
So perhaps if that's your treat, at the end of the day, maybe just watch one show and then perhaps take yourself for an evening walk. I will tell you, Steve, this very romantic gift that my husband gave me, he got me a head flashlight. And before you laugh too hard, because I will tell you when I received it, I'm like, Uh, yeah, not romantic.
But now he, you know, jokes on me. He gets to tease me because I use that headlamp so much. I love taking evening walks with the dog. I love going out with the family and looking at the stars and yes, it gets really dark and that headlamp shows me the way. So thanks babe. If you're listening, I appreciate you.
So I wanna check in with you, like what is it for you that has you checking out?
I don't mind sharing that red wine used to be my go-to. I mean, who cares that it bloated me? It gave me hot flashes and it layered on the pounds. Psychologically, I believed that I deserved, and that's definitely a quote unquote deserved to check out after a busy day or after an upsetting encounter.
What took me a while to understand is that, yes, red wine might be delicious in the moment, but I was not doing myself any favors by indulging. Also my emotional challenges that I used as my excuses were still there the following morning. So how about we check in and ask ourselves, What am I really trying to escape from?
I invite you to hit the pause button on this recording and honestly ask yourself. “What am I trying to escape from?” Is it a relationship? Do you hate your job? Are you carrying too many responsibilities? Are you attached to old stories? Okay, this time, yes, for real. Hit the pause button.
I invite you to create a life that you do not want to escape from. And I know this is easier said than done, but perhaps you might be willing to take one step today. Can you find the courage to have that difficult conversation with a friend? Is it time to polish off your resume and try something new?
Are there people in your life that you can delegate certain responsibilities to? Let me know. Look me up on Instagram. You can find me at michellefoxlove, and I would love to hear from you. So I want to truly invite you to check back in.
One of the things that helps me come back to center is affirmations. I love creating my own affirmations. I love looking up some of Louise Hayes' affirmations. When an author I follow has an affirmation, I'm usually right on it, and I save these, so the in times where I'm perhaps down and or just not feeling myself.
Affirmations have a really strong hold on me to lift me back up and bring me to the light. So an affirmation I'd love to share with you for this week, for you to hold onto and to cherish. Feel free to write this down, or, of course, gonna re-listen to this podcast episode. I like to put affirmations in the header of my calendar so that when I wake up I see it every day and all throughout the day.
So today's affirmation is, “I have everything I need.”
All right, so that is the end of this shorty episode. If there's one thing I can leave you with is just to stay curious. The second one is, have compassion for yourself. We are all going through a transition of one kind or another right now.
We have plenty of evidence this shows us. We're gonna get through this one, so hang in there. Know that I am rooting for you big and keep an open mind.
Thanks so much for listening to Healthy Sexy Nutrition.
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Big love from your favorite culinary nutritionist and health coach, until next week.
Keep showing up for yourself and know that you and your health matter. You deserve to live in a body and have a life that you love.