Are you feeling like a plant-based drop-out, especially when you read testimonials from others who have had easy success? Why is it that some who are plant-based beginners see that their weight is just falling off, their arthritis is gone, and their blood work is better than their doctors in a matter of weeks? What gives? You may no longer be a plant-based success story. What is getting in your way?
I love analogies so let me share one that might help explain what might be getting in your way.
Sometimes, we have to first go backward to go forward.
You know those spring-loaded toy cars many of us played with as children? In order to get them to move forward, first, we had to do something counter-intuitive. We had to drag them back to add tension to the spring and then aim them in the right direction before they could purposely cross our imaginary finish line.
What does that have to do with eating plant-based and changing our lifestyle for good?
Sometimes, we may run out of steam. It can be hard to be the only one among our family or group of friends to eat a plant-based diet in a world that mocks vegetables, processes everything, and has even hijacked the healthy plant-based concept to include unrecognizable ingredients. It is especially hard when our own doctors don’t at least try to offer a food-first remedy for food-caused illnesses. So sometimes, stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, busting myths, and trying a new vantage point might be the best way to add the fuel needed to move forward.
Alternatively, sometimes we are fully committed but our aim is off so we still don’t reach our finish line. Processed foods get the better of us. The convenience of a box, a jar, or a takeout menu is the siren song distracting us from our goal of taking back control of our health for good. By knowing what and how to eat and mastering self-awareness, self-care, and self-confidence, your finish line can be back in sight.
Baby Steps.
Let me keep with the child’s toy analogy to make one more point.
Before toys became so disposable, we hung on to the ones we had for years and even passed them along to siblings. I don’t even want to tell you what my Barbie doll lived through. When toys broke or bent, we found the tools we needed to repair them and not toss them aside.
What if we did the same thing and didn’t give up on our first try making healthier food choices as part of our plant-based lifestyle, and found the tools and resources we needed to make them work for us?
What if we took a step back, added the right fuel, and then aimed once again in the right direction? And did it again, until we crossed our finish line?
It works!
How do I know? I spend much of my time as a coach working with those who are looking for the right tools to fix their food issues so they can cross their healthy finish line with the right fuel. It is so worth it. Think of what we might be able to pass along to those we love this time, a healthy lifestyle and living legacy that breaks the patterns that ‘run’ in our family.
Gives new meaning to the expression, play with your food. You got this.
ps. I can help.
