Davis Shea Coaching Studio

Totally agree!

“A phrase I heard recently and found useful: I agree with the idea, but I disagree with the tone.

Many ideas get dismissed because they are delivered in a cocky or hostile or dismissive tone—or because of who delivers them.

Separate substance from style."

–

This week's spotlight: Serotonin — The Happiness Hormone 😃 -

Serotonin: The Happiness Hormone 😃 Unfortunately, it's not just a figment of our imagination: many of us feel tired and sad in the dark winter months. According to studies, more than 5% of Americans experience seasonal depression due to the lack of light and thus a serotonin deficiency in the brain.

Sharing a great check list from my peeps at Metabolic Balance. I am totally in need of a tune-up myself. I now keep water at my desk in a beautiful decanter and crystal glass, and no coffee mugs after noon allowed.

My favorite takeaway below: "Frequent low energy, irritability, sleep disorders, nervousness and… back pain are warning signs that your stress may be getting too much.”

Checks all of my boxes, so off I go to eat lunch. Away from my desk. Reach out if you need support. And have an awesome week!

XO, Theresa

____________

During a long day of work it can be hard to incorporate habits that help support your health. Below are a few tips to help you feel your best during a long work day.

1. Start your day with a nutritious breakfast rich in the right proteins, vegetables and complex carbohydrates - see the options in your Metabolic Balance plan.

2. Avoid short-term “energy boosters” such as coffee, energy drinks and snacks in between meals.

3. Drink 8 oz of water every couple of hours can help you maintain your concentration.

4. During your lunch break, choose a lunch that will supply sustaining rich nutrients and fiber. (Your plan will have really good options for you).

5. Eat your lunch mindfully and not working at your desk. It's ok to take time to nourish yourself and then get back to work. In this way you're far more likely to be productive and ultimately get so much more done!

6. In our world, it is inevitable that we have some form of stress on a daily basis. So even if stress cannot always be avoided, be gentle with yourself and listen to your body. Frequent low energy, irritability, sleep disorders, nervousness and physical complaints such as dizziness, high blood pressure, stomach and bowel complaints and back pain are warning signs that your stress may be getting too much.

Possible ways to achieve more tranquility and balance can be regular walks, reading and taking part in physical activity or sports. (shared from Metabolic Balance USA)

Recipe for the week: Italian Wedding Soup -

Recipe for the week: Italian Wedding Soup This is perfect for my clients’ Metabolic Balance Plans, but also fits well into any whole-food lifestyle. I make my own stock, but you can choose any no-sugar-added (organic also good) stock from the grocery.

Eating Food for Thoughts? - https://mailchi.mp/321225df56e3/my-3-new-year-wishes-for-you-14496667
A great "how-to" for interrupting thoughts and stress that trigger sugar or comfort foods.

Eating Food for Thoughts?

Functionally, when we look at nutrition, it is so much more than about food. If it was as easy as following your food plan, we’d be gold. Like, all the time. But we are so much more complex than that.

Functional nutrition also focuses on:
Sleep / relaxation
Exercise / movement
Nutrion / hydration
Stress / resilience
Relationships / networks

And most of the list above can be viewed through the lens of “self-care” – taking the time to review and include a little attention into the ones that are falling off of your list.

So, set a goal to look at each of these things as a factor of your “self-care” plan. Rate each one, 1 = non-existent to 10 = I’ve totally got this. Think of 1 crazy-easy-to-do thing you might try to improve each one's 1-10 rating… even the 10s. What would make them 11s?

Then pick 1 to play with first. Pick the easiest, most fun one.

Which one would you start with?

Here's a great breakfast option: Mandelade. Kind of like a grain-free version of cereal.

"Mandel" means almond in German. Try this for breakfast using almonds with the brown skin to add dietary fiber to your diet and extra vitamins and minerals. Almonds and sunflower seeds together make a particularly high-quality source of protein. With this protein power pack you can start the day.

Ingredients:
40 g almonds
30 g sunflower seeds
1⁄2 apple
1 pinch of cinnamon

Preparation:
Soak the almonds and seeds overnight. Next morning, combine all ingredients and chop or puree together and enjoy.

The Fear of Gaining Weight

Before even starting a nutrition plan, almost all of my clients have the fear of gaining the weight they haven’t yet lost. Or, more truthfully, the weight they had lost, then regained, and now are trying to lose again – and, boy, do I get it.

I have no idea how many times I was stuck in this cycle. I was a chronic loser, so to speak. Annual diets, with some bi-annual diets the older I got. I lived in “fear of gaining weight.”

I realized the fear was masking other things I wanted MORE than not gaining weight. Fear of losing my favorite foods forever. Fear of being unhappy. Which lead to fear of being fat, and it’s friends… fear of being unlovable, unattractive, and alone. All these fears I knew were untrue in my heart, but in my head… they were TRUE. And loud.

So I diet. Then I tried to add “cheat” foods in to combat diet fatigue. It works for some. For me, it’s permission to eat my happy foods. And happy foods mean ONE thing for me: more happy foods, or a state of thinking about, missing or craving them.

In the past, I’ve deemed sugar-free, low-carb and low-fat foods diet-worthy. Engineered foods that circumvented the rules so I could eat my happy foods that were close-enough to the original. But instead, I obsessed about finding more and better tasting options. My body stopped losing weight, so I exercised more. Which gave me permission to eat what I was craving. I was headed back to the foods that I thought would make me happy because I was really unhappy. I once again experienced the fear of gaining weight and its partner, the shame of gaining weight. I realized that those foods had become my “trigger-happy” foods into another diet ritual: unhappy to numb to gain weight to looking for another diet to lose weight to eating around my feelings with diet foods to unsustainability and then back to unhappy once again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

That’s why my ritual had to change. Nutrition now means feeding all the processes that support the choices that make me happy. Including figuring out what being happy really means to me. The balance I had to create includes networks, relationships, sleep, resiliency, mood, hydration, habits and finally, what nutrition will support me within that balance. I added evaluating that balance along the way. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I’m still evaluating my balance. I became aware of diet-tinkering and started defining and choosing a life that supported more of me, not just my weight. And when I step outside of that balance, I know how to go back to where happy lives, most of the time. I occasionally revisit my trigger-happy foods, but the obsession is muted. Sometimes the old fears visit, but they don’t get invited to dinner anymore. I am forming a new ritual that supports me before I become trigger-happy with food. And I get to help others do that, too, which makes me very happy, indeed.

If you’d like support in finding your new ritual, please reach out or grab a time here: bit.ly/DavisShea. I’d be truly honored to start that conversation with you.

XO

Theresa

I found this very cool, 24” x 24” snowman on a bow in a thrift store in Bowling Green recently. Anybody know the back story? It looks old, maybe 50s, papier-mâché and we’ll built. I absolutely love it.

"Just start. Start slow if you have to. Start small if you have to. Start privately if you have to.

"Just start."

I love all of these choices. (This great quote from James Clear.) Slowly, small, privately. And if I may add... with a breath, a thought, or even with an ask. Lean in.

Just start. You can always change your mind later, but my hunch is that you won't want to.

FB made me a rising creator!