Story Time. Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a woman who had just moved to an island with her family.  She had five children ranging from the ages of 9 years old down to 1 year old.  They lived in a small town near the ocean where roses bloomed on Christmas Eve, deer and rabbits often visited their backyard and bald eagles nested in trees nearby.  The children were homeschooled, happy and had made some good friends.  Everything was well until one day when the telephone rang.

The woman was asked by her former doctor, from the city they had just moved away from, that she should seek a new doctor immediately in order to have further tests done following a biopsy that had occurred a few months prior.

The new doctor's office was sent all the files and tests were ordered.  After many procedures, some of which were extremely painful, the woman was finally diagnosed with Stage IV T-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer.  There were many lymph nodes that were becoming larger all over the woman's body as well as her spleen was enlarged enough that it could be felt under her rib cage.  The oncologist informed her that the cancer was too advanced to be able to offer her any treatments.  He then sent her home saying that symptoms of fevers, night sweats would be increasingly occurring in the next while and he figured she probably had about five years left to live.  She made an appointment to see him again six weeks later and went home. 

After one week of daily tears and heartache, she woke up one morning, looked at her beautiful children and decided that no matter what anyone said, she was going to find a way to live.  It did not take very long, doing research, to find close links between cancer and nutrition and lifestyle. With all this new information, the woman made several radical changes to her diet and added specific supplements to cleanse her body and boost her immune system.

The oncologist's follow up appointment came only three weeks after starting this new lifestyle.  Upon examining her, he found all the lymph nodes had shrunk by at least one third and the spleen had returned to its normal size so it could no longer be felt.  Needless to say that the oncologist was perplexed but the woman knew then that she was on her way to winning this war. 

More than twenty years later, after one more pregnancy (my miracle baby), healing my hypothyroidism, having gone through menopause, balancing my hormones through nourishing my body and counselling many people with different health issues; I have total confidence I can continue on this path I am so passionate about for years to come.

Above all, enjoy life, have fun and laugh often.  :)

Healthfully yours,

Diane :)
Certified Holistic Health Coach & Natural Foods Chef

Who are you.... truly?

My inspiration to write this post today came from two sources.  One was a lecture I listened to recently from Cynthia James, who is an amazing woman.  The other was from a conversation I had with a very good friend of mine.

Who are we?  Or more precisely, who did we come here to be?  It has taken me until about one year ago to figure that one out for myself.  I finally was able to pinpoint my purpose in life and find my own voice, just in time to squeak it in before my half century mark.  Oof!

Some people, I am certain, find it long before I did.  I also know for a fact that even though many folks figure it out, they seem to be afraid to feel it, express it and live it.

Let's look at it from this perspective; what if, by not being who you are meant to be, you are doing the world a disservice?  What if, by hiding yourself in the shadows, there may be dozens, hundreds or perhaps even thousands of people who will not receive the benefits from your gift?

Also keeping in mind that our thoughts have a powerful impact on our health and by helping others, we more often than not, find golden nuggets for our own life.  Isn't it funny how the "right" people show up for us at the "right" time.  Coincidence?  I think not.

There certainly seems to be a huge advantage to having someone we trust drawing us out, cheering us on and standing by our side when the spotlight is shining right on us. 
  
Try something new today... Stretch out.  Take several very deep breathes.  Step out of your comfort zone for two minutes.  Laugh at yourself out loud.  Silence that inner critical voice.  Be larger than life.  Find your purpose and hold on to it until it becomes who you are.

Above all, enjoy life, have fun and laugh often.  :)

Healthfully yours,

Diane :)
Certified Health Coach & Natural Foods Chef
TotalCareNutrition@gmail.com

People, chocolate, pets... what do they have in common?

The common factor between people, chocolate and pets is our relationship with them.

"A Health Coach focuses on nutrition, physical activity, relationships, lifestyle and other elements of life that can impact markers of health such as stress, weight and energy levels."

What is a person without relationships?  For most of us, our first relationship was with our mother.  It is also one of survival, as we totally depend on her for food.  These first relationships often shape the rest of our life, as well.

There is a poem that speaks of certain types of relationships.

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do."

Now the tricky part of this is figuring out which of the three it is and that is not always an easy task.

We all have a relationship with food, as well.  For some, it is a fairly indifferent one, for others it is very intense.  Positive or negative, it can seriously affect our physical health.

One relationship that quite often gets pushed to the side and neglected, is the one we have with ourselves.  We tend to forget about our own needs and the importance of self-care.  Not to mention that little voice that is rarely quiet and reminds us that we are not enough.

Can this voice be muted or become our biggest fan?  Can our relationship with food be healthy and nourishing?  Can we heal broken relationships from years past?

Of course we can.  It may be a road less traveled but it certainly is possible, if we so desire.

Are you ready for that journey?  Let's find out where this new adventure takes you.

Above all, enjoy life, have fun and laugh often.  :)

Healthfully yours,

Be kind to yourself and stay grounded! 💜

Diane 🌞

We like to move it... move it. We like to, move it.

Ah yes, the importance of physical activity.

"A Health Coach focuses on nutrition, physical activity, relationships, lifestyle and other elements of life that can impact markers of health such as stress, weight and energy levels."

  Last night I had to do some banking with two different establishments that are about one small block away from each other.  After coming out of the first one, I had the very sudden urge to run.  So I did.  I ran to the other bank and then back to my car.  What makes this odd, is the fact that I very much dislike running/jogging, yet I really enjoyed this brief exercise.  It felt good.   Mental note here: "Let's move more."

We all have good intentions of going for daily walks, weekly yoga classes, putting our gym membership to good use, etc. and then life gets in the way and somehow we "forget".  It is so very easy to say, "Oh well, I will do it tomorrow."  And for many of us tomorrow gets pushed away.  This is where having support or a buddy you have to be accountable to comes in very handy.  It truly does not take long to form a habit, good or bad.  I believe this would fall under the "Very good" ones. 

It is also no breaking news that keeping our body moving has many health benefits.  What can be a little tricky is finding out which physical activity will work best for us.  Whether it is one that will fit into our very busy schedule, something we will enjoy enough to look forward to doing, or one that will not aggravate any health challenges we are already facing.

Once again, with a little support and coaching, we can easily figure out what the ideal exercise(s) would be from running, to Tai Chi, or even start by improving our posture along with breathing exercises; as so many of us do not breathe deeply enough.

Let's keep moving.

Above all, enjoy life, have fun and laugh often.  :)

Healthfully yours,

Be kind to yourself and stay grounded! 💜

Diane 🌞