Fall is My Favorite!

When we lived in Ohio, one of our favorite fall activities was visiting the apple orchard to pick apples, drink cider and walk through the bakery and gift shop. What a scam that turned out to be!

Fall is my favorite time of year 

I love the fall season. Here in Florida we finally get a break from the humid 90+ degree days. My husband and I met in the fall over 35 years ago. When we lived in Ohio, our favorite activities usually took place after Labor Day, and "Indian summers" were a wonderful gift, last blast of summer breezes before the snow belt spanked us. We would take the kids into the "country" to the apple orchards for cider and apple picking. 

Until the day a friend revealed that one of our favorite orchards did not sell homemade apple pies at all. In fact, they were buying them from one of the national broad-line food suppliers. Ugh! It was like finding out there was no Santa Claus! Up until then we were led to believe they were hand made by Amish women from the most recent apple harvest. Heartbreaking! 

Thankfully since then, those days of gluten and sugar laden pies are a thing of the past for me. I've sustained the changes I've made to my diet because of My Why. Yes, I've developed healthier dessert options that contain grain-free flours and natural sugars, but they're definitely treat-worthy, not an everyday indulgence. Whether you've successfully completed Whole30 or another elimination reset, or you're trying to remove potentially problematic foods from your life, have you considered your reasons? Rather, the importance of Your Why? 

Your Why is an instrumental part of beginning any health journey. Why you want to get healthy is not just “to lose weight” or to “sleep better”. Your Why needs to go deeper in order to last long term. It needs to be the reason you fall back on when things get rocky. And you know, no matter how good it sounds, giving in to that pint of ice cream or doughnut will not make you feel better. Your Why is the reason you control the food, not the other way around. 

Really get into it. Think about reasons like “I want to lose weight so I don’t have stress on my joints and can walk through Europe.” Or “keep up with my grandkids at the theme parks”. Or “I want to reduce my dependence on diabetes medicines” or “get rid of that CPAP machine”, or “get pregnant and carry a healthy baby” to really get to the root of Your Why. 

One of my favorite exercises is to ask yourself “in order to” to get to the root of Your Why. Why do you need your why? In order to _______. And then In order to ________. It helps you to keep going deeper.  

Once you have Your Why established, it's your reason for everything. You can say yes -or no - when you deem appropriate. Perhaps you can eat pancakes for breakfast with a friend on Saturdays. You learned that you can feel just as good as you did during your reset. And you determined the pancakes don’t wreck you on Sunday or Monday. Can you eat the holiday cookies? Drink the egg nog? And still take your 4 mile walk in the morning? Still be focused at work? Still sleep 8 hours of amazing sleep and wake refreshed? What are you "worth it" foods? You determine what works for you and you only.

Staying true to yourself is the key. Put aside what others say or do, dismiss the sideways looks and negative attitudes at social gatherings. Don't let them get in your head, create self-doubts or instigate negative self-talk. When you take a long journey for your health, it's a commitment and an investment in time and in YOU. You're the reason Why.