Recipe: Asparagus and Peas

As a health coach I've noticed there is always a high demand for more ways to incorporate fresh vegetables into our diets. Having some veggie recipes up your sleeve that don't require too much cooking time or ingredients can be a great benefit to your healthy-eating efforts. With this in mind I've decided to share a recipe that makes a regular appearance in my springtime cooking routine. This recipe is my go-to for days when I know I won't have much time to cook but still want to make sure I have yummy veggies on hand for multiple meals.

Full disclosure: I am not a professional chef, cook, or recipe developer! However, after getting several requests to actually share my recipes, I've decided it's time to take the plunge. My goal is to bring you recipes that are nutritious and tasty but that also don't require too much work, time, or complicated combinations of ingredients to make. For me this one totally fits the bill.

Though peas and asparagus are both technically springtime foods, I've found opting for frozen peas instead of shelling fresh ones yourself is worth the time-saving. But if you really want to go all out and shell some fresh peas, you go for it!  And asparagus, while it is only in season for a short time, is worth taking advantage of during the springtime. Of course if you can get locally grown asparagus that is wonderful, but it is not absolutely essential for it to be local or even organic. Look for asparagus stalks that appear bright, straight, and fresh - no mushy tips!

This recipe works as a veggie side dish, an addition to a rice bowl, paired with chicken or salmon, or even as a warm salad topping. 

I hope you enjoy it! 

Recipe: Asparagus and Peas

Ingredients

 1 large shallot, sliced (1 sliced leek could work too)
1 bunch asparagus, diced into small pieces
1 1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon (or more depending on the size and juiciness of your lemon)
Sea Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Sautee the sliced shallots with olive oil over medium heat in a sauté pan, with a pinch of salt, until they become just barely translucent

Add the Asparagus and stir, let cook for 2-3 minutes

Add frozen peas and another pinch of salt and sprinkling of ground pepper. Let cook until the peas are cooked through (about 3-4 minutes). You want the vegetables to still have a hint of crispness, but if they become a little overdone it really is not the end of the world!

Turn off the heat and add the fresh lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. 

If you try this let me know how you like it in the comments. Remember recipes can always be adjusted to your taste preferences. If you prefer the flavor of red wine vinegar over lemon juice, give that a try. If you want to add some fresh greens or sprouts to give this even more of a nutritional boost, go for it! I hope that you come to love this simple little springtime recipe as much as I do. 

Stay tuned for more recipes coming soon!

The Champions of Spring Produce

I am a big fan of eating with the seasons. There are many benefits of doing this, one of the most obvious being that it wards off food boredom. We all have a tendency to get stuck in our routine. We start relying on the same rotation of easy dinners, the same assembly line of veggies that we know how to prepare. It's totally fine to have a routine, but after awhile we all can get pretty sick of the same thing over and over again. Rotating your food choices with the seasons is a natural way to snap yourself out of that routine and experiment with new foods, recipes, and flavors.

Changing up your fruits  and veggies seasonally also means that you'll be consuming a variety of nutrients throughout the year. And if you've ever tried to buy strawberries in February and balked at the high price compared to the two-for-one bundle sales that usually happen in the late spring/summertime, you already have observed that eating with the season is actually a practical way to help reduce the amount of money you spend on fresh produce. What is abundant becomes more affordable. Even if you don't have access to a farmers market or health food store, you'll probably notice the shifting season reflected in what is most prominently displayed on the grocery store shelves (and what looks the brightest and freshest!).

The Spring season is a time of transition, new beginnings, and a time for foods that do well with gentle cooking or being eaten raw. While Spring lacks the vast abundance of the summer and fall season, there are some very unique foods that peak during the spring months. It's well worth taking advantage of their brief moment of shining in the produce section spotlight.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Asparagus 

You might remember the outrage of 2015 when "Asparagus Water" somehow wound up being sold on Whole Foods shelves. No, asparagus does not make for a sexy spa water type beverage, but that is not to be taken as a diminishment of its value. I have always found asparagus to be quite beautiful. Whether the stalks are green or purple or white, thin-stemmed or thick-stemmed, the appearance of this vegetable is unique, and it has a taste to match. Try steaming it, gently roasting it with some garlic salt and lemon, mixing it into a stir fry, baking into a frittata, or blending it with cauliflower in a soup. It does not need lengthy cooking. It has a pungent, slightly bitter flavor, but to me when it's cooked well an element of sweetness still comes through. Just don't put it in your water and pretend it's trendy!

Asparagus has many nutritional benefits, including carotenoids, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, and potassium, iodine, and zinc. In traditional medicine cultures (like Traditional Chines Medicine) it has earned a reputation for being supportive of the heart, lungs, and kidneys, and may even be helpful for easing menstrual symptoms in women. Just be careful: eating it in excess can actually stress your kidneys out. As with all things, enjoying in moderation is a wise option. 

2. Radishes 

If you grew up in the 80's or 90's you might remember watching the Rapunzel episode of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theater, when Rapunzel's mom becomes so obsessed with radishes that she convinces her husband to break into the garden of their not-so-friendly neighbor (a wicked witch), who promptly curses their family and plots to steal their child. Yeah, fairytales are weird, and I have to admit I always thought Shelley's crazed radish obsession was really creepy. She was after all pregnant and under a spell though, so I think we can give her a pass there.

That being said, I have over the years developed if not an obsession with radishes at least a loving appreciation of them. The radishes most commonly seen on grocery store shelves are the small red ones, bundled together with their green leaves. However, there are many varieties of radishes, including but not limited to daikon radish, black radish, and varieties of all sort of colors (purple, white, yellow, etc). If you're at the farmers market you might see some that you've never seen before at the supermarket. Give them a try!

Radishes have many health benefits, including being especially high in vitamin C, and they contain powerful antioxidants and phytochemicals that support the body's detoxifying process. These components have earned the radish a reputation as a detoxifying aid, which makes it especially appropriate for this spring season, as our bodies transition to a warmer, lighter time of year. If you're thinking about doing a detox or looking to support a lingering cold, you might just consider adding some radishes to your diet!

Try tossing some sliced radish raw into salads, gently sauteeing with some greens, or even roasting to deepen their flavor (like in Ina Garten's recipe for chicken with radishes). Just don't steal them from the wicked witch's garden!!

3. Artichokes 

A few years ago the father of one of my young violin students came into a lesson very apologetic that his daughter hadn't practiced the night before. "Daddy decided to cook artichokes," he said, the stress of that experience clearly still weighing on him. Perhaps this experience is one of the reasons I tend to think of artichokes as intimidating, and I therefore have to make an honest confession that I have never personally cooked artichokes before! I opt for frozen or jarred artichokes every time I'm wanting them. However, in reading through recipes I am very often tempted to take on the adventure of one day cooking artichokes myself. If you're feeling adventurous, I'm sure the internet will supply you with some great advice, but buying artichokes jarred or frozen is a perfectly good option.

Interestingly, artichokes are actually immature edible flowers (in the thistle family), and they are prized all around the world. They have a lovely, mildly sweet and nutty flavor. Not surprisingly artichokes are also super nutritious, containing beneficial levels of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and various minerals (magnesium, manganese, copper, potassium, etc.), and they are an especially great source of fiber (that stuff that helps keep you "regular"). Toss them into a salad, steam them and drizzle with lemon and olive oil, blend them into a dip, or stir into a stew with some green peas and lamb. And if you're feeling bold and want to cook them yourself, this recipe from Martha Stewart looks like about the simplest way you could possibly go.

4. Peas

Peas make this list because they are just so darn versatile and tasty! They have a mild sweet taste, a flavor which is associated with the spring season, and they are delicious eaten fresh from the garden vine, cooked from dried, or cooked from frozen. In fact, if you cannot find fresh peas where you live or don't have time to shell them, then frozen peas are a perfectly good option. Personally I would avoid the soggy canned variety.

Since peas are legumes rather than vegetables, they do have the highest protein content of all the foods on this list and can make a good addition to your meals if you are experimenting with vegetarianism. However, I wouldn't make them the sole source of your protein intake. They have other benefits too, including healthy fiber, B vitamins, vitamin C, and minerals such as calcium, iron, copper, and zinc. 

Their mild flavor and versatility makes them a simple and tasty addition to many varieties of dishes, like soups, stir fries, spring stews, or even omelettes or frittatas. In fact, one of my go-to spring recipes is to sautee some chopped asparagus, leeks (or shallots), and frozen peas together with salt, pepper, and olive oil. It's simple, cooks quickly, and very satisfying to eat. And I oftentimes find myself tossing some frozen peas into any dish that just feels like it needs an extra nutritional boost.  Bon Appetit has even more ideas if you're looking!

5. Rhubarb

When I think of rhubarb I immediately think of strawberries, and then I start dreaming about strawberry-rhubarb pies, tarts, summer jam, sauce poured over ice cream, you name it. Though rhubarb and strawberries are best-buds (and consequently come into season at roughly the same time!) it's easy to jump to the conclusion that rhubarb is a fruit. Actually it is a vegetable - a long red stalk with green leaves to be exact (but don't eat those leaves - they are toxic).  Rhubarb has a sour taste, which is why it's often paired with fruit and sometimes excessive sweetener. But you know I'm not opposed to treats now and then. Try finding a sweet recipe for rhubarb that doesn't pile on the sugar too much (or even better uses a natural sweetener like honey), and you'll have a better chance of actually appreciating its sour note. You can also simmer it down with some ginger and honey to make a lovely sauce. And a little bit of googling will reveal that it has its own place in more savory dishes as well (like this Braised Pork Shoulder with Rhubarb and Peas)

When not too overpowered by sugar, rhubarb can also pack a powerful nutritional punch. In fact, one cup of cooked rhubarb yields just as much calcium as milk. And rhubarb comes with some co-factors that help our bodies to process and absorb that calcium (including vitamin K, vitamin C, and other beneficial vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants). 

Though it's only on grocery store shelves for a short time, rhubarb deserves a place in your veggie rotation, and if you're feeling very bold you can even explore turning it into jam, preserves, or other methods to ensure you can enjoy it year-round. 

Honorable Mention:

• Herbs - dill, lavender, chives, rosemary, mint, and marjoram make this a very flavorful season!
• Strawberries (you don't have to eat these with rhubarb if you don't want to)
• Greens - arugula, mizuna, dandelion, kale, sorrel, tatsoi, bok choy - this is a great time of year to add some greens to your diet
• Leeks - looks like an excessively large green onion, and it is a kind of onion - an absolutely delicious kind!

Wanting More??

You can find more recipes for spring produce on my Spring Recipe Pinterest Board!

Sources

• Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods, 3rd edition
• Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions
• Edible Rhody. What's in Season?
• foodfacts.mercola.com

Welcome to Spring!

I have to admit it's taken me awhile to write this. While the spring season officially began two weeks ago, I have been feeling a bit like a sleepy bear, unwilling to leave the safety of my winter hibernation cave. I'm not sure if bears actually feel this way, but that is nevertheless the analogy I'm coming up with. Our unpredictable Rhode Island weather has not helped matters at all! The weather has been pulling us back and forth between winter and spring relentlessly, and even though I relish the increasing hours of daylight and squeal with excitement at the sight of sprouting purple crocuses, I somehow can't quite trust that spring has truly arrived. 

That's the thing about Spring though. It's a time of transition, and transitional times rarely announce their presence with a lightning bolt. Transition is more often than not slow, inconsistent, and bumpy! It involves some back and forth, some bumps in the road, some forward momentum and some steps backwards, some awakening and some lingering sleepiness, some overcoming of old challenges and some encountering new ones. But when it comes to Spring the overall trend is usually forward and upward.

Maybe that's why I love this time so much. There is nothing like a time of transition to open our eyes to new perspectives and ask us to meet life in a new way. Whether it's in noticing how as the snow melts away the ground begins to slowly turn green, or seeing the light hitting surfaces in your home differently than it did during the winter, or looking at your new year's resolution and realizing it's not quite working out according to your plan (maybe not at all!), Spring is always asking us to wake up, to adapt to the changes around us, to put our marinating plans into action, and to start to bring our dreams for ourselves into reality.

If we view the cycle of the seasons as a kind of metaphor for the cycle of life, Spring equates with the time of childhood. It's the time of birth (or perhaps rebirth) and creation, of newness, of beginnings, of awakening creativity, and fresh starts. Perhaps this is why I feel springtime is much more conducive to acting on "new years resolutions" than January, when we are in the depths of winter (the season that equates symbolically with the time of death or sleep). If you've been struggling to put your new years goals into action, now is a great time to reflect on those goals and either rewrite them or try to put them into action with renewed energy.

As the seasons change the foods available to us change too! Those luscious starchy winter squashes will gradually be replaced with crisper roots (think many varieties of radishes, kohlrabi, carrots, and beets). Beautifully vibrant green foods (think spring peas, asparagus, dandelion greens, or herbs like parsley or dill) will also start to come into greater abundance, making this a great time to incorporate more green foods into your diet. Symbolically the color Green represents healing and renewal (sounds in keeping with the themes of Spring, right?), and not surprisingly many of these seasonal green foods are incredibly well suited to supporting our body's healing and renewal. They can even be helpful in our efforts to shed a few pounds of the weight that our bodies held onto for warmth during the cold months.

This season also asks us to transition to new methods of cooking and preparing foods. Those warm winter soups and stews might start to feel too heavy and hot for the season. You might start to feel the urge to eat foods that have been more gently cooked or are still in their raw state. You might notice that dessert cup of hot cocoa suddenly sounds less appealing than a simple bowl of strawberries with cream (or coconut cream if you're dairy-free).

On all fronts, the Spring season can be a great time to try something new. That could be going caffeine-free (or swapping out coffee for black or green tea), experimenting with a new dietary theory like vegetarianism or paleo, signing up for a new exercise class, or simply getting into the great outdoors more. What feels right to you?

As we travel through this transitional time of Spring, try asking yourself: 

• What's calling to you?
• Which winter activities, foods, habits, or thought patterns are you ready to let go of, and what are you wanting to put in their place?
• Where are you wanting to shift your focus during this transitional time? 
• What's something you've been wanting to do but haven't quite been able to do it yet? Have you been dreaming about starting a new project, or have you put creative pursuit on hold for the winter months? What steps, however small, can you take to get started on your project today?

As always, I'm going to remind you that you do not have to do this alone! Is this blog post resonating with you, but you're feeling unsure of where to start? Perhaps you've already begun a new health initiative but you're realizing you need more in depth guidance. That's why I am planning a Spring Wellness Workshop for Sunday, April 22nd! In this workshop we'll be exploring the topic of Spring and learning how to tap into the energy of this season to fuel our wellness goals. If you are in the Providence, RI area and interested in attending, you can learn more about the workshop on my Events page and register by emailing me at lisa@lisabarksdale.com. Seating is very limited, so register soon!

Perhaps group workshops aren't for you, but you're ready to take the deep dive into health coaching with me! If so you can set up your free initial session through my Contact page. 

Whatever is right for you, I'm looking forward to supporting you through this exciting season of transition! Keep an eye out for more blog posts and updates coming to my website soon!

My Word of the Year 2018: Sustainability

Happy New Year!

As we are powering through the beginning of 2018 (some of us plowing through snow), I'm seeing signs of that new years energy all around! It seems like almost everyone is making resolutions, setting goals, and deciding on projects to pursue during 2018. Filled with hopefulness for the possibilities the new year holds, many of us are starting new dietary or exercise initiatives, taking deep dives into The Whole30 (or other nutritional change based programs), signing up for gym memberships, or buying home exercise equipment. How sustainable these resolutions will be for us remains to be seen, and I admit that I sometimes sigh when I see a fellow human being announce that they will be changing their entire selves during the year of 2018 with no help whatsoever, sheerly through their grit and willpower! 

Don't get me wrong, New Years Resolutions, nutritional resets, and exercise initiatives are all worthy endeavors, and the new year can be a great motivator for pursuing new things. However, last year I found myself rethinking the concept of a New Years Resolution. In the past I definitely used my New Years Resolutions as self-punishing tools. Through my resolutions I tried to force myself into changes that actually didn't make much sense or were unsustainable in the long-term. In short, my resolutions were based on a sense of how I thought I should be. They were also based around a conviction that the only way to change my life was to do a complete overhaul of my life, rather than to look for what changes would likely lead to the most sustainable and meaningful change for me.

In making my resolutions I also sometimes (often!) ignored the signals of the natural world. January, while it has the advantage of being widely acknowledged as the start of the year, has the disadvantage (at least up here in the northeast) of being bitterly cold, almost unbearably bleak, dark, and reliably snowy. So while I might feel the pressure to begin a new exercise regimen during this time, the signals from the natural world will inevitably be telling me to get inside and bundle up by the fire with some hearty chili or rich hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows. Even though thousands of people might be hopping on the latest raw food cleanse, the idea of eating long-braising stews and soups seems much more appealing to me during these cold times. I wondered if it's more worthwhile for me to tune in to those signals of winter and view January as a more contemplative time. This wondering led me to a new years practice that I really enjoyed in 2017!

Last year I finally found a way to marry the concept of a New Years Resolution with my introvert's never-ending quest for inward reflecting, pondering and self-evaluation -

I discovered the practice of choosing a "word of the year." 

Just to be clear, I did not invent this concept myself! I'm pretty sure I first encountered it while listening to Gretchen Rubin's podcast (here's the episode for those interested). 

Choosing a word for the year is exactly what it sounds like - you choose a word for your year! This word encapsulates a kind of energy, spirit, or intention with which you want to go through the year. It brings your attention to something that you want to be mindful of through the coming 12 months.

Last year my word was connect. I wanted to go through my year with the value of connection at the heart of my actions. I loved the word "connect" because it could apply both outwardly (to connecting with other people) and inwardly (to connecting with my own inner needs and purpose). When I chose my word I wrote some general intentions inspired by my word, and I posted those intentions on my wall so that I could refer back to them throughout the year. As a result, 2017 truly did feel like a year of connection! The word guided my actions, and whenever I was feeling down or directionless or unsure, I referred to my word and asked myself "Which action is in the spirit of connection?" 

Rather than being a rigid set of rules that I either had to adhere to / succeed or completely abandon / fail, my word served as a gentle guide and reference point, almost like an internal compass that helped me to steer myself in the direction I wanted to go. I wasn't always the perfect connector, but my word helped move me in the right direction.

I loved this practice so much that I've chosen a new word for 2018: Sustainability.

This word started to come bubbling up to the surface even as early as November. As I kept tossing around possible words for 2018, I couldn't get it out of my head. Sustainability is challenging, and that's exactly why I've chosen it. It's challenging in the sense that it's less active than "connect" (it's a concept rather than a verb), and it's challenging in the sense that one cannot look at sustainability without also looking at uncomfortable factors like time, resources, energy, and money. Sustainability also challenges that part of me that still somehow believes that in order to change my life I have to take drastic action and change everything. That part of me believes that the only way I can accomplish anything is to set unattainable goals and work myself until I'm tired beyond tired in the attempt of achieving them. That part of me needs some help! That part of me needs to learn the lessons of sustainability.

If you'd like to join me in choosing Sustainability for your word of the year please let me know! It would be wonderful to be pondering this among friends. If this word doesn't feel quite right to you, choose what resonates with you. The sky is the limit. 

Tune into your intentions. What is the way you want to go through your year? What do you want to focus on? How do you want to be spending your time and energy? Which inner values do you want to guide you through this year? What word comes to mind when you imagine yourself going through your year in a way that resonates with your values?

Whatever emerges for you is what is right for you.  Maybe it's a word or maybe it's 5 words. Maybe it's a phrase or maybe it's a list of intentions. Maybe resolutions do work for you and you're already energized about them! Maybe you're perfectly content with where you are right now and don't feel the need to change anything. What a beautiful place to be! 

Have you chosen a word for the year? Or have you found something different that helps motivate you to make changes during this new years time? Please share with me in the comments. I'd love to know what you find helpful!

Why Be Thankful?

What are your traditions around eating food? Did you grow up in a family that said a blessing before meals? Do you take a moment for a family or personal prayer before holiday feasts? Perhaps these days you take a photo of your meal to appreciate its beauty before eating. Or maybe you take a moment to inhale the scent, take deep breaths to relax into the experience of eating. In my family saying a blessing before a meal was a regular tradition while I grew up, especially at holidays. We were not alone. Around the world, across different cultures and religious traditions you can find many ritual practices of saying grace. Whether those traditions invoke a deity or not, they reflect a deeply ingrained evolutionary impulse to give thanks for that which nourishes us.

Lately gratitude practice has become the focus of more attention when it comes to happiness research, and not just as it applies to food! Research shows that practicing gratitude comes with a whole host of benefits, including increased happiness, better sleep, reduced stress, and increased compassion for others. (Here's an article that briefly sums up some of the scientifically proven benefits) In Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant's new book Option B, gratitude is mentioned several times for the role it can play in coping with devastating loss and instilling resilience. Sandberg cites this study (among others), which found that participants in the "gratitude group" of a study reported increased happiness and fewer health problems. This video also presents a recreation of another scientific study, which demonstrates that calling a person to thank them can improve happiness. In fact, the conclusion of this experiment seems to indicate that the more unhappy you are the more benefits you will see from gratitude. 

Of course we don't need to wait for a tragedy to strike or for someone else to do something for us in order to experience the benefits of gratitude practice. Many authors from a wide variety of backgrounds (whether it be in research, science, psychology, spirituality, faith traditions, etc) have spoken and written about the benefits of a daily, ritual gratitude practice. If you're interested in learning more you might want to check out authors/speakers like Brene Brown, Brother David Steindl-Rast (I highly recommend watching his linked TED talk!), Gretchen Rubin, The Dalai Lama, to name a few (I know this list is far from complete!). 

When you start digging into the research on the subject of gratitude, the overwhelming truth that emerges is this:

Gratitude creates happiness. Not the other way around. 

It's a truth that might be counterintuitive to us. How many times have we all thought "as soon as I [lose weight] [get rid of this disease] [have a boyfriend] [get my dream job] [get out of debt] [insert desire of choice here] I will then and only then be happy"? We all have these thoughts. I recognize them within myself weekly! I am not saying that we shouldn't strive for our dreams and goals, but the truth is that happiness is not something to be achieved only in the future when x or y happens. Happiness can be created in the here and now, whether we have fulfilled our life's purpose and achieved all of our dreams or not. In fact, I would argue that creating happiness in the now can only help energize us to reach for those dreams and goals. 

It's possible that gratitude creates happiness because regularly practicing gratitude actively rewires our brain for appreciation. Much like practicing a musical instrument gradually improves our abilities on that instrument, regularly practicing gratitude improves our ability to see the positives in our experiences. The word "appreciate" can literally mean to "raise the value" of something. When we draw our focus to the things we are grateful for, we increase their value and presence in our minds, and I believe that is all for the good!

Whether you are convinced by the evidence for gratitude practice or not, to me the single most convincing argument for being regularly thankful really comes down to this - That life is short, fleeting, precious, and relentlessly unpredictable. When I think about this truth, the question that then arises is - Why not be thankful? Regardless of the challenges or hardships I am facing in my life, what do I have to lose by taking stock of what matters to me in this world and in my life? What's stopping me? 

What's stopping you? What have you got to lose from just giving it a try? You don't have to wait until tragedy strikes or until it's too late. You can start today. Whether it's saying a blessing at dinner, saying a prayer at night, saying a word of thanks out loud in the morning, or taking a moment during the day to write down 3 things you are grateful for, there is no wrong way to do this. Food offers us a very tangible way to appreciate our opportunity for nourishment, but its certainly not the only thing we have to be grateful for. Take a moment to think about what nourishes you in your life right now. There's no right or wrong answer here, only an opportunity to give thanks for the things that mean something to you.

If you would like to join me I am openly practicing thankfulness for the entire month of November. Each day I'll be posting something I'm thankful for on my Instagram page (follow me at handle @LisaBarksdaleHealthCoach). I invite you to join me, whether it's in the comments or sharing a private message or taking a moment to reflect on your own, please join me this month in reflecting on the things we are thankful for.

You can read more about my 30 Days of Thankful project in my previous blog post. 

November: 30 Days of Thankful

Think back to a moment in your life when you were deeply grateful for something or someone. What do you remember about how that felt? How did it affect your actions during the day or even the weeks or months following that moment? Did you feel energized? More alive? Perhaps more connected to someone or even more connected to your own personal values? Take a moment to just think about this. You can pick a big or small moment, a memory from years ago or a memory from yesterday. You can even just pick something you're grateful for right here and right now. If you're like me you might enjoy journaling about it. There's no right or wrong answer here. What is true for you is true for you.

For me one of the most profound periods of gratitude that I remember is when I first started dating my now-husband. I was so thrilled and just so deeply grateful to have found this person. I remember taking walks and noticing how beautiful the entire city looked. Every tree, every flower, every squirrel filled me with energy and appreciation for life! Not every example of gratitude has to be something dramatic like falling in love, but I like this example because when I remember that time I just remember how my deep appreciation for this person filtered into everything else that I did. It literally colored the way I saw the world at that time. Not only was I grateful for the love he brought to my life, but I also found a zillion more things to be grateful about in the process. Those feelings energized me in my work and in my efforts to care for myself. They made me embrace life.

I believe this is partly why the practice of gratitude is becoming more and more acknowledged to be fundamental to human health and happiness. I won't get into the science and research behind this today (I hope to in a later post), but if you can remember those moments of gratitude and how they made you feel, then the connection should be somewhat obvious. If it's not, then that's okay! Just bear with me here. 

When I talk about gratitude I don't mean it in a condescending way - like when someone uses the word in order to guilt you into belittling your feelings (like "Hey, well at least you still have a job [a grandmother] [a father] [a dog] [a limb] [insert choice guilt trip here]"). This is also not when someone tries to guilt you into overlooking their poor behavior ("Well, you should just be thankful I wasn't as bad as that other person" "You should just be grateful I didn't do something worse"). There are many ways that gratitude and thankfulness are misused terms in our world. I am not talking about those instances. I am not talking about using gratitude as a weapon of guilt.

What I am talking about is a practice of gratitude - a regular, intentional practice of taking time to appreciate the things you are grateful for. That doesn't mean you have to dismiss or ignore the negative things, but let's be real our minds do a fair amount of thinking about the negatives all day long. That's what minds do! They can't help it. They're trying to protect us from the things that are going wrong or could go wrong. It makes a lot of evolutionary sense for our minds to function this way. However, as a result, a lot of our mental energy is frequently absorbed in the pursuit of getting rid of that problematic stuff and less in the act of appreciating what we have and love already. When we allow this worrying part of our minds to fully dominate we wind up taking for granted the things that truly matter to us. We forget about how much we value that [toy] [car] [girlfriend] [husband] [house] [job] [coffee grinder] and move on to the next pursuit. 

There are many ways that I have tried to bring a regular gratitude practice into my life. One of them is gratitude journaling. When I find that my mind is tipping too far in a negative direction (oftentimes for me this actually leads to depression), I make sure to take out my journal and write 3 things that I'm grateful for. Usually what happens is that once I get 3 on paper, I suddenly remember more and more. Suddenly I have a list of 20 things that happened that day that I'm thankful for, and I wouldn't have even remembered them had I not taken a moment to write them down. Just as in my memory of falling in love, the act of acknowledging gratitude for 1 thing leads to many many more. If I'm doing this regularly I gradually find myself actively looking for the things I'm grateful for throughout the day. My attitude walking through my day shifts not so that I'm walking around in a daze but rather meeting the day with more energy, presence, and openness than I might have otherwise.

The practice of gratitude has made such a valuable difference in my health and happiness that I am making November the month of gratitude. Since November happens to be the month of the United States holiday of Thanksgiving (one of my favorite days of the year!) it seems like a very appropriate time to take regular stock of what we are thankful for in our lives. 

I'm calling this project 30 Days of Thankful. ("Thankful" seeming like the appropriate word to use during the month of Thanksgiving)

I'm inviting you to join me in giving thanks every day this month. You can do so in whatever way you prefer, whether that's journaling or saying a prayer, do what works for you. 

If you'd like to join me, I'll be posting something I'm thankful for on Instagram every single day for the month of November. Feel free to join me and respond to each post. You can also comment here, write me a message, or just reflect on your own. While you can certainly practice and respond privately I would truly love to know what you are feeling grateful for! I can't wait to hear from you!

Follow my Instagram page at the handle LisaBarksdaleHealthCoach (https://www.instagram.com/lisabarksdalehealthcoach/)

My Personal Health Story Part 2 - The Obsession

If you read part 1 of my story you know that I spent my college years involved in 3 very negative relationships - a toxic relationship with a boyfriend, an unhealthy relationship with food, and an unhealthy relationship with myself. All of these relationships fueled each other and contributed to the downward spiral of my worsening health. By the end of college I was struggling with chronic cystic acne, fatigue, depression, and my weight had fluctuated up and down and up and down. I had taken some steps to try to eat better. I had dabbled a little bit in different exercise regimens. I had eaten salad during the week and then splurged on pizza on the weekends (which Carmen Electra had advised in a women's magazine that I read - if super hot Carmen Electra ate that way then it must be healthy, right?). I certainly knew something was wrong, but I didn't exactly know how to fix it or which way to turn. 

Just as a combination of factors drove my body to feel its worst, it took a combination of factors to turn my health around, and the path did not go in a straight line.

After I graduated I took a year off. I ended my toxic relationship and began a new one with someone who made me feel loved and appreciated. I found a musical environment that was more nurturing for me and helped me to explore new ways of thinking about playing the violin and reevaluate how I was using my body to make music. I took an acting class. I started to experiment with cooking, with different exercise programs, with different types of healers and therapists. I started to read books about diet and followed nutrition blogs, and I gradually made the connection between my skin, my weight, my diet, and my overall health.

In many ways I started to feel better. I started to feel that I was worthy of health. I even lost weight and was able to sustain the weight loss at a place where I felt more comfortable in my skin. However, my skin was still waving a red flag at me that something was wrong. Though I had tried all kinds of creams and face washes, all sorts of antibiotics (cycling on and off different strains for almost a full year!), tried taking the birth control pill, tried going off the birth control pill, tried having steroids injected into my face, tried taking cycles of steroids, tried getting chemical peels and facials and masks of all varieties, and NOTHING WORKED! The cystic acne continued to persist. 

At one point during a facial an esthetician told me "You don't have bad skin. I've seen this before, and this is happening because of something you're eating." I wish I could tell you that from that point on I learned exactly how to eat healthy, and everything got better. Unfortunately that's not what happened. The truth is the more this idea manifested, the more I started to view food as the enemy. Food was the thing causing me pain and making me unattractive. For a woman walking through a culture that makes us believe our beauty is inextricably linked to our lovability, this idea quickly translated into "food is making me unloveable." Deep within me there was still the voice of my ex-boyfriend saying "you know you would look much better if your skin cleared up and you lost a few pounds." Suddenly that was translating in my mind to "You will only be beautiful and lovable if you eat the right foods."

I want to make sure I am careful to say that all of this is not meant to say that my esthetician who alerted me that food might be causing a problem was wrong. Food was influencing my skin and still does to this day. In fact, therein lies the crucial complication that has made my story so challenging. Eventually I would learn which foods made matters worse and which made matters better. But viewing all foods as potential enemies was just as bad for me as eating the "bad" foods!

In fact, it might have even been worse.

Step by step I became obsessed with those potential enemy foods. I started cutting foods out of my diet. I tried starting every single morning with a bowl of oatmeal mixed with spinach and blueberries. Three really healthy foods mixed together should be an automatic win, right?! I tried only eating salad all the time every day. I tried going gluten free, going dairy free, going vegetarian (without gluten and dairy), followed by vegan, followed by raw vegan, followed by a green smoothie phase, followed by a juice cleanse phase. I gulped down Chinese herbal remedies that tasted DISGUSTING! I spent way too much money on Kombucha. I ate things like wheatgrass and spirulina because a book told me they were "superfoods" (never mind that they tasted gross to me, and my stomach made strange noises, and I felt nauseous after I consumed them). I juiced raw garlic to the point I constantly had garlic scent radiating from my hands (that was a relatively short-lived phase). And of course there was the kale. So. much. kale.

No matter what I did my skin still did not improve. In fact, some even weirder things started happening, and some of the digestive symptoms that I had always had trouble with actually started to get worse. Or were they just getting more noticeable because I was paying more attention? It was hard to tell, but the point is not only was I driving myself crazy but my health problems were worsening. 

By the end of graduate school I was at a point of desperation. I had found an Integrative Dermatologist whose approach was more holistically oriented, but nothing we were trying was working. One day I sat in her office almost in tears, hopeless and desperate. If you know me you know that it's pretty rare for me to cry in front of other people. Actually I tend to stifle my tears even when alone (a story for another time!). But I was at a breaking point, and the tears started coming. I knew that I couldn't do it. I couldn't obsess over my food anymore. It wasn't helping anything, and it was making me crazy and unhappy. It seemed like I was just doomed to be unloveable or unhappy no matter what I tried. I didn't know what else to do or where else to turn.

And just when I was at my lowest point, I finally found the help I needed...

Learn what happened next and where I am now in Part 3!

My Personal Health Story, Part 1: The Spiral

For my first blog post EVER on my brand new website I have decided it might be helpful for me to tell my own health story, the evolution of my personal health journey, at least as far as it's taken me. Hopefully this story will convey who I am, how I got here, and what I'm hoping to do as a health coach. This won't be the complete story (because ya'll don't want to read all of it, trust me!). All the problems of the story will not be solved by the ending either. That's because "health" is a process. It ebbs and flows with our lives as we encounter new struggles and successes. I'm still learning and changing my approach to my own health as my life unfolds. I hope my story helps you or inspires you in your own health travels. 

So here goes... 

To set the scene, it was more than a decade ago. I was in college studying music performance at one of the largest universities in the country, a place far away both in miles and character from the very nurturing, tiny private school home environment in which I had grown up. I was excited for this new step in life but also completely insecure and totally out of my element. Three months in, and I found myself involved in three very unhealthy relationships.

The obvious unhealthy relationship was the one with my boyfriend, who frequently put me down for my looks, for my privileged background, for things that were fundamental to my being. In short, he just made me feel like crap about myself. There's nothing that will rock your world more than someone you love making you question everything about yourself, including the things you can't change, and this boyfriend did that for me in spades.

Which brings me to the next unhealthy relationship - the one I had with myself. I just plain did not know how to care for myself! I had unreasonable expectations for myself (like thinking I should be able to get by on little to no sleep). I compared myself relentlessly to the other musicians around me inevitably falling short every single time. The things my boyfriend said to me were nothing compared to the thoughts I had about myself. On top of all of this I had absolutely no idea how to feed myself in a healthy way.

Which brings me to the final unhealthy relationship - the one I had with food. My cooking knowledge was, well, almost nonexistent, and after growing up on home-cooked meals with junk food being relatively rare in the house, I became OBSESSED with the terrible junky food in the college cafeteria. Every day I was gorging on the all-too-available pancakes, pizza, mozzarella sticks, soda, coffee, cakes, sugar, sugar, sugar. I was completely shocking my system. (And let's not even talk about the alcohol!) I was eating erratically, using sugar and coffee to fuel my violin practice sessions, and gorging on pizza with friends (and the TV show Friends) for all night long study sessions.

These unhealthy relationships all showed up in and on my body. They showed up in my increased weight, in the painful cystic acne that took over my face, in the excruciating and irregular periods I was having (until I went on birth control), in my inability to sleep at night but extreme difficulty keeping myself awake during the day. It also showed up in my violin playing. I was tense all over, constantly clenching my jaw, neck, and shoulders, having fits of shaking while performing, and just saying downright mean things about myself in the practice room. 

None of these relationships stood alone. They all fed into each other, fueling and contributing to a spiral of unhealthiness that just kept getting worse. My unhealthy eating habits caused unwanted weight gain and contributed to my worsening skin troubles. This led my insensitive boyfriend to say things like "You know you'd actually look okay if you lost a few pounds and cleared up your skin." (charming, right?) My boyfriend's criticisms led me to feel even worse about myself, which in turn fueled even more binge-eating junk food and negative self-talk, which fueled the skin issues even more, and around and around it all went. 

What I've noticed in my own story I've noticed in the stories of others - our health problems are not usually the result of any one thing. As was the case for me, there are many kinds of barriers in the path to health. Sometimes those barriers self-reinforce and fuel each other. The things standing in the way could be simple factors like time, convenience, knowledge, sleep deprivation, and stress, but they can also be more complicated factors - like unhealthy relationships, unsatisfying career life, insecurity in one's body, or unhealed emotional wounds. 

The good news here is that often a positive step in one area can lead to positive steps in the other areas of one's life. A shift in the balance can lead to other shifts down the line, and that entry point can happen from multiple angles. Looking back, I can't spot any one moment when I completely reversed the track I was on with my health. It was a combination of changing circumstances, decisions, and action steps I took for myself. It involved other people coming into my life who gave me support and unconditional love. Yes, it also involved work. It's still taking some work now to be honest, but taking those steps has been so so worth it. 

More on that in part 2!