10 Daily Habits to Love Your Body this Valentines Day!

Throughout my journey in energy eating I have leaned more towards a living foods diet. I did not wake up one day and decide to go fully raw, that would have been too drastic of a change for me. If you are interested in shifting your eating habits away from processed food and junk food, and more towards a healthy and vibrant eating lifestyle, it is best to ease yourself into it. Here are 10 healthy habits that you can begin implementing today to point yourself in the right direction towards vibrant health. You do not need to start all 10 at once, but what if this Valentine's Day you chose to do something loving for yourself? Look through the list and pick a few that inspire you to love yourself just a little more today :-)

10 Daily Habits to Love Yourself into Vibrant Health!

1. Set yourself up for success

• Simplify – think (real) color, variety and freshness

• Start slow - make gradual changes to your diet overtime. Celebrate each change, whether big or small!

2. Moderation and Balance are Key

• Think smaller portions

• There are debates on which foods are healthy and which are not. It can be a challenge to know what to eat, so moderation is always a good idea. That way you are never getting too much of one thing that may be harmful, while making sure to get everything you DO need

3. It is not necessarily WHAT you eat, but HOW you eat

• Eat deliberately – really chew and enjoy each bite

• Spend a moment to bless and appreciate your food before you eat it

• Regardless of what you have chosen to eat in any moment, take a moment to come into alignment with what you are eating – appreciating the nourishment it is providing for your body

• Listen to your body – by eating slowly you can know when you are satisfied. Respect your body's messages

• Eat within one hour of waking and small meals throughout the day

• Try not to eat one hour before going to bed. If you are hungry choose a healthy low sugar snack

4. Fill up on Color

• Try to have the majority of your foods be colorful fruits and veggies. It is said that if you eat a salad at the start of each meal (or a fresh smoothie) you are less likely to over-eat. This is because our body signals to us that we are still hungry when we have not received the vitamins and minerals we need. Even if we have eaten our weight in calories, our body may still signal hunger if we have not nourished it with proper nutrients. By eating a colorful salad we are ensuring that we get the vitamins and minerals we need.

• Enjoy what you eat! Pick the colorful fruits and veggies you adore most. for example:

Yellow – banana, pepper, onion, pineapple

Red – tomato, pepper, apple, red grapes

Orange – pepper, carrots, clementine, orange

Green – kale, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, brussels sprouts, green grapes, broccoli, arugula

Purple – onion, beets, cabbage, grapes

White – mushrooms, onion, cauliflower, garlic, jicama, coconut

5. Choose Healthy Grains

• Examples of whole grains: Rice, oats, barley, quinoa, sorghum, spelt, rye, popcorn

• Whole grain means unprocessed (aka not stripped of essential nutrients). Whole grains contain valuable antioxidants and phytochemicals, such as B vitamins and vitamin E, magnesium, iron and fiber.

• What are refined grains? During the grinding process grains are stripped of nutrients (ie Vitamin E). The heat milling process strips the germ from the bran, leaving only the endosperm (the starch). The bran contains 90% of nutritional content of the kernel. The remaining starch is then ground into different sizes for different purposes, resulting in “refined flour.”

• Misleading terminology: “Whole Grain” can be any mixture of bran, endosperm and germ in proportions one would not expect to see in an intact grain. The FDA says that food labelled “whole grain” must be at least 51% of whole grains by weight, however they are still low in essential fiber and nutrients. It is this fiber and nutrients that lower diabetes/heart disease. Plus sugars are more easily absorbed when the grains are not intact, whereas intact grains absorb more slowly because of the tough fiber layer, which means our blood sugar doesn't spike and we feel full longer. (Example: Steel cut vs quick-cooking oats. Quick cooking oats are highly heated and processed and triggers much larger blood sugar spikes than steel cut oats). Look for 100% whole grains!

6. Enjoy Healthy Fats

• Best to pick from polyunsaturated fats (sunflower, corn, soybean, flaxseed and walnut) or monounsaturated fats (canola, peanut, olive, avocado, nuts, seeds)

• Fish contain essential oils: omega 3 and omega 6. (Fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines).

• Reduce your intake of saturated fats (primarily from animal sources, ie red meat and whole milk). Coconut oil is high in saturated fat, however its health benefits have shown to far outweigh the fat intake when eaten in moderation

• Eliminate trans fats, ie vegetable shortenings, margarine, many crackers, some peanut butters, many store bought candies, cookies, or fried/baked foods. You will see the name “hydrogenated oil” in the list of ingredients.

7. Pick Lean Proteins

• Beans: black, navy, garbanzo (chick peas), lentils, etc

• Nuts: almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, etc

• Soy products: tofu, soy milk, tempeh, etc

• Meat: fresh fish, organic free-range chicken or turkey, organic eggs (Best to choose meat and dairy that is hormone free, free of antibiotics, free-range and organic – this will insure that there are no foreign additives. (Additives have a low vibration compared to our body's naturally high vibration.)

8. Drink Water!

• Water is the most vital resource for our human bodies vitality. We can go weeks without food, but only 5-7 days without water. No other substance is as widely utilized in our bodies processes and make up.

• Our physical bodies (including our cells) are made up of energy. As we know, water conducts electricity, and since we ARE energy it makes sense that we need to keep our water levels well replenished!

9. Limit Sugar and Salt

• Reduce refined sugar intake. If you have a sweet tooth, start by replacing white table sugar with any of these healthier substitutions:

• honey (raw/unfiltered)

• maple syrup (pure)

• agave nectar

• coconut sugar

• rapadura

• stevia

(note, except for stevia, which is zero calories, these substitutes are still a form of sugar and should be used sparingly. They are better for you than white sugar and they do have some health benefits, but still use sparingly so that you are not spiking your blood sugar)

10. Prepare and Have a Plan

• It can be easy to get caught up eating junk food when we travel or are on the road, out with friends, or during the holidays. So make a plan. Pack a lunch box or cooler full of healthy snaking options to take with you wherever you go. I never leave my house without my cooler of goodies. You never know when you will be away from home for a day, and it is best to be prepared!

• Write down your meal plan for the day either before you go to sleep or in the morning. By writing down a plan you are more likely to eat healthy balanced meals, and much more likely to eat when you are hungry and not when you are just bored! By doing this every day you will be creating a new habit, and eating scheduled meals and snacks when you are actually hungry will come naturally to you

Wishing you all love and light this Valentine's Day :-)