grate ▪ ful
/'grātfəl/
adjective
feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful
I haven't had a laptop for the last few months. My screen cracked and while I've been contemplating buying a new laptop I've also been pondering if I should just get it fixed. Decisions, decisions. Without my laptop I haven't been able to write down my thoughts for my blog and there have been minimal blogs for that reason in the last little bit. Don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of topics running through my mind! Whether part of it has been laziness on my part or part of it has been the inconvenience of not being able to write when I want to, today I had a patient remind me again of why I said I'd write a blog (and she reminded me of my gratitude jar): to spread the word about what I'm passionate about, nutrition and educating people about nutrition. At times people have told me that I can be too passionate, but what's wrong with a little passion?! Food can be medicinal if we use it that way. I try and teach people how to eat healthy, how to combine foods with the proper nutrients, and the ultimate goal: balance, variety and moderation.
We're days away from Thanksgiving and it's always at this time of year that we're reminded of what we're grateful for. I started a gratitude jar last year and have been adding things throughout the year. If you haven't ever done one, I highly recommend doing it. While it's time consuming in the moment, reading all the notes at the end of the year is SO worth it. Today alone I have a few that I can add and here's why:
My patient thanked me over and over again today. But what I'm not sure if I communicated well enough to her was this: I was GRATEFUL to her!! Grateful for her asking so many questions, grateful for her wanting to soak up all my information, and grateful that she wanted to learn how to be healthy with food. I'm reminded daily of the fact that I'm doing what I love. While there are moments of crazy busyness and moments where I don't get a break all day, I know that I'm able to do what I love. And that's just ONE of the reasons why I'm grateful this year. Doing what I love and loving what I do, yeah, I'm grateful. (it may sound cheesy, but when you spend as many hours a day as we do working it better be something that we love).
Here are a few ideas that I discussed with my patient today that maybe you too can implement in your daily life:
- One day a week, go meatless. I post a picture each Monday on my Instagram and Facebook as a reminder to go Meatless, but also as a way to show you how delish it can be! And while I know being vegetarian ALL the time isn't for everyone, I do challenge my patients to try going meatless for at least one day a week (the health benefits are hard to deny!) The key is to balance your carbohydrates with your protein to make sure you're adequately getting the nutrients that you need (and yes, you can get a sufficient amount of protein from plants).
- Get moving! Yes, I know this one is obvious, but we all need a friendly reminder every now and then. I watched my mom's dog a while back and believe me, dogs are Nature's perfect personal trainers - loyal, hardworking, energetic, and enthusiastic. If ever there was a day that I wanted to skip her walk, forget about it. And while I'm not watching the dog anymore, I have this constant reminder of "get up and get moving". I too have been trying to add in more movement, whether it's me being more consistent with my yoga practice or if it's that I'm going for a walk after lunch. The key is that I'm being more consistent with my activity level and we can all benefit from that.
- The Holidays are here - yep, the holidays. The time of year when desserts are aplenty and waist lines grow. I recently had the chance to contribute to a few articles, one in a dietetics' journal and one for our local paper about how to survive the holidays. The articles were geared towards those with diabetes, but guess what? We ALL should eat in this manner, not just those with diabetes. Check out the links if you haven't already for some helpful tips to help survive the holidays:
I also shared with my patient a couple of websites that I've been getting some really good recipes from. I always tell people that I don't love to cook but I do love to eat good food. A lot of times we get in a rut and cook the same thing over and over. My mom on the other hand rarely uses a recipe twice (yeah, I'm grateful for all the yummy food she makes). These two websites have been my go to places for finding new recipes recently. I'm grateful for stumbling upon them and grateful for being able to find amazing concoctions of flavors in their recipes:
So while Thursday is Thanksgiving, today I was reminded every day is Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be grateful for this year.
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