Happy

This makes me happy and that has to be healthy.

Spirituality

So many of us forget that our spirituality, no matter what that means to us, is a large part of our health.  In our interfaith family, we congregate regularly for our home Jewish/Christian School with two other families.  Here's a scene from this past weekend.  Don't rule out how your spirituality impacts your overall health.  With my health coaching clients, we talk about spirituality being one of your four Primary Foods.

I'm Back: Photo a Day

It's been 57 days.  Why the lack of posts?  I think my Primary Food got the best of me.  With two kids in school and a wife getting back into the work world, life at home is a bit different.  Time becomes challenging, and by the time a first and second grader get to bed, I'm not too far behind.  

However, I am vowing to make a change, as I enjoy the creative outlet keeping the blog provides.

In the past 57 days, I've accomplished a couple of things I'm proud of:  

1.  I'm officially certified as a Health and Nutrition Coach after a year studying at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  I'm currently working with a few passionate clients helping them increase their energy, make smarter food choices, and attain optimal healthy habits that are sustainable.  I've also had a couple of speaking engagements at a local university, and I'm looking forward to starting my first women's group with some local educators.  

2.  I'm officially a Crossfit Level 1 Certified Coach/Trainer.  Many of you know, Crossfit has become my sport of choice.  It has changed my life and my outlook on fitness and health.  While many folks think Crossfit is for crazy, young people doing crazy exercises, the reality is this could not be further from the truth.  Crossfit can be for everyone and anyone.  I'm currently coaching a few classes per week at CrossfitCarmel where I love helping others achieve their athletic goals. 

You can check out my Health Coaching page by clicking on the image below.

I'd also love it if you'd head over to my Facebook page and give my page a like.

With all that being said, I am reminded that this blog started as a creative outlet to keep myself accountable to leading a healthier lifestyle.  That was almost two years ago before I knew what health coaching and Crossfit were.  The blog was a way to keep me accountable to me. As a Health Coach, I am always talking to clients about accountability.  So it's time to practice what I preach....

I'm going to steal, lift, pilfer if you will the idea my lovely wife has for her gem of a blog.  Only I'm going to do it through the eyes of being healthy.  Starting tomorrow, I will post a picture each day for the next 30 days complete with a brief caption.  The rule is, it has to relate to living a healthy lifestyle.  Why 30 days? Because it takes that long to establish a habit, and I hope to learn more about me though this exercise as well as keeping the blog breathing.  

So I invite you to stop by daily for a peak.  My hope is that it keeps me accountable to tightening up areas of my own health journey that never ends and provides others with insight, new ideas, or inspiration to do things differently.  

See you tomorrow!

Primary Foods

So I've been off the grid so to speak.  I feel a bit like I've been living under a rock.  

 It's summer, and when you work in a school for a living, the last thing one might want to do is be inside and on the computer. At the same time, I've been working on my second career. I'm studying to become a Nutrition and Health Coach through The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Through my own path to wellness, I've come to realize that I want to relay all the tips, tricks, and hard work I've put in to me into others because quite frankly the things I've done have radically changed my life.....for the better....forever. However, I've discovered that the path to whole wellness is never ending. In fact, sometimes, it's a struggle. Shocker, huh?!

One of the many great things about the I.I.N. program is the promotion of Primary Foods

You can see the Primary Foods on the outer ring of the IIN Food Pyramid below.

I've thought a lot about my own Primary Foods throughout my training and how they impact my health and fitness.  As an avid Crossfitter, I am most interested in eating to get leaner, perform better athletically, and to be the healthiest me I can be.  Imbalances in my primary foods directly impact the food choices I make.  So being in touch with these four items (spirituality, relationships, career, and physical activity) are key.  For me, I often get overwhelmed with things and have issues prioritizing.  In turn, this impacts my relationships with others and so now I have two primary foods out of whack, my relationships and my career.  As my stress levels increase, I, like everyone else out there, will look to food to compensate:  hence, the never-ending battle.  So that's me. 

If you are interested in learning more about how your primary foods impact you, feel free to drop me a line at...

craig@cspinhealthy.com  

I am available for individual health consultations which would give you a preview of what it would be like to work with a Nutrition and Health Coach.  The consultation is free of charge and can be done in person, over the phone, Skype, whatever. 

You can see more about what I do as a Nutrition and Health Coach by clicking on the logo below.

It's all Connected

Lately I've been thinking how interconnected things are in relationship to my overall health and fitness.

Need a break from work.

Not as focused on my dietary habits as I want to be.

I want to be more flexible and want to make this more of priority.

Getting over a groin injury has set my fitness level back just a tad.

Busy times at home going in a few different directions.

Itching to get out of the house more as the weather breaks.

Overall, just yearning for a bit more balance in my life.

All of these things contribute to my health on one way or another.  Getting them working in the same direction at the same time is the key.  It's all connected.........work, home, food, emotions, family, etc.  The Institue for Integrative Nutrition, the school where I am studying to become a Holistic Health Coach, refers to this as my PRIMARY FOODS.  These are the things that impact the food we actually eat which are secondary.  

So the answer for me is to get myself registered for a series of races and adventures in the very near future.  Stay tuned for an upcoming post which will reveal my commitments.  This will force me to get more focused as I'll have something to aim for and will offer some variety to what I'm currently doing.  

This whole topic came to my conscious today thanks to our family friend Mary, educator, and life long learner who shared this video with us. It's a great visual about how things work together.  Enjoy.....