I know that it's been ages since I last wrote a blog but here I am now and what stories do I have to tell! It has been an incredible whirlwind of a year so far. In January I began taking classes through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. It has been an absolutely incredible experience. In my time at IIN I have gained more than I ever thought possible - I started my own business, I am working with clients (counseling others to live healthfully and happily is the most thrilling thing I've experienced in a very long time), and learned a lot about myself in the process as well. In the aftermath of my drama from 2008 I was falling into unhealthy patterns- feeling lost, angry, hurt- the normal feelings of heartbreak I suppose. The course at IIN has not only helped me to find a career path and direction I enjoy it also pushed me to work on my own life and really find what was important to me - in doing so I was able to break from the anguish I was trapped in and find joy in the amazing life I have around me.
I've spent a lot of time over the last 7 months experimenting with my diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle choices to find what makes me feel the best and most productive. I have made a lot of changes - I am able now to speak my mind about my opinions and living a healthy lifestyle is something I am more passionate about now than ever. One big change that has come from all of this is that I have decided that for me eating meat simply is not for me. I made this choice after several months of experimenting with my diet and have come to the conclusion that it's not worth it for me to have meat in my diet. I first began experimenting by taking meat out of my diet for a week or two at a time - when I did so I found that I had more energy - I felt lighter, happier, and just overall better. After a two week experiment I decided to integrate meat back into my diet amazingly enough all of the things I had felt relieved of came back - I was moodier, felt heavier, and just didn't feel as strong. So I took it back out - and voila! after a day or two I felt better again. Lighter, happier, and clearer than before. So this time I took it out for two months and I consistently felt better - the change in my moods was the best thing I ever could have felt, I also found that my skin was better, and overall it was easier to make healthy choices while living this lifestyle. BUT being the scientist that I am I decided to slowly integrate meat back in again just for a little bit - that angry, moody, cloud came over me yet again and I just didn't feel very good - more lethargic and definitely less driven. So out went the meat.
It is with all of that that I have come to the decision that it simply isn't worth it to me to have meat in my life. I like the lifestyle choice I have made and I don't feel the need to go back. Now this is my experience and my experience only - there are some people whose bodies simply don't function well without animal protein but I am not one of them. I have so much fun finding healthy alternative proteins and I thoroughly enjoy this lifestyle. I also feel that in this day and age the way animals are treated is so unbelievably bad I can't in good conscious support the system that promotes that kind of cruelty (see Food, Inc. if you want to see what I am talking about). So there you have it - I am finally announcing to the whole family my choice to be a vegetarian. I am happy with my choice but in this I wanted to make clear that I made the choice from an incredibly individual standpoint and for my own health.
Now with all of that said I am off for a run in Central Park before I have to go to work. I will write more very soon. I am graduating from IIN next weekend and am so excited!!! For any of you who have not had a chance to check out my website or read my newsletter go to www.sharonstevenshealth.com send me a message and I'll make sure to put you on my newsletter mailing list. :)
Love to all.
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