Ten New Healthy Habits I am Thankful For

As my year studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition comes to an end, and in honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I would share some of my favorite new healthy habits that I am thankful to have learned.  I have incorporated these habits slowly into my daily routine over this past year and I have found that they help me feel great, have more energy, sleep better, and stay more focused throughout the day.

#1  Warm Lemon Water in the morning to start the day off and kick start your digestion.

#2  SIMPLE YOGA STRETCHES  because some days you can’t do a long workout, so just doing these simple stretches in the morning will help you feel good all day.

#3 A HOT CUP OF ORGANIC COFFEE   The caffeine debate will always continue, and although I have always been a coffee drinker, I have made the switch to ONE good quality cup of organic coffee in the morning. I believe that one cup, that I savor with some almond or coconut milk, in the quiet time in the morning, centers me and gets my day off to a good start. Having the coffee after I drink lemon water and eat a little something seems to work better than having coffee on an empty stomach. 

#4 NYR Organic Products  These certified organic essential oils, face, body and bath products, as well as the line of supplements and greens powder are paraben free, non-GMO, & contain no synthetic fragrances. The scents of these products make me feel uplifted everyday when I use them, and the oils and evening products help me get a great night's sleep. I love how the supplements give me energy, make my nails strong, and help my digestion.

 

 #5 Glass Mason Jars  are my new favorite storage item. I keep spices, nuts, seeds, dried beans, dressings, rice and other grains in them. I love using them in my pantry or refrigerator and labelling them so I can locate what I need quickly.  They are dishwasher safe and when the lids start to go bad you can replace them while keeping the old jars. 

#6 JOURNALING get your thoughts out of your head and onto the page, SO MUCH RELIEF, TRY IT!!!!

 #7 Health Warrior Chia Bars when you forget to pack a healthy snack, these delicious little snack bars are great to keep in your bag or desk, They give you great energy with healthy ingredients. Chia seeds help you lose weight by keeping you full longer, help hydrate your body, and are rich in Omega-3, a vital fat. There are so many flavors to choose from, but my favorite is the chocolate-peanut butter.

 #8 Kale Chips  when you need a crunchy salty treat, that will satisfy you, but also keep you healthy! Easy to make in your oven. 

 #9 DRINK MORE WATER  So many times in the past I would try to satisfy a craving to no avail. Sweet, salty, spicy, nothing seemed to work. Often times cravings are an indication that you are dehydrated. I notice such a huge difference in my energy levels, skin texture, even my mood when I am consistently staying well hydrated. Such a simple habit to incorporate with amazing benefits. 

#10 FRESH AIR  It is just amazing what a quick walk outside, or just around the block,  can do for your mental state of mind. On the days you feel you just can't get outside,  just opening your home windows and allowing some fresh air in,  will benefit your lungs, skin and whole body. 

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday with your friends, family and loved ones.
Harmoniously yours,
Suzy

Institute for Integrative Nutrition - A Community of Confidence

Imagine walking into a room, where you know at once everyone there is your soul mate. Imagine a group of happy, motivated, excited people who all want to connect with you and lift you up. Imagine a scenario where you turn to the person next to you, who you have never met, and tell them your deepest fears and dreams, and you feel no fear, only true love and support. That is how I felt when I attended my very first Institute for Integrative Nutrition Live Conference in New York City.

Ever since January of 2014 when I enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I felt as if I found my purpose, and I found a group of people who completely understood me.

Self- trust is something all of us have and it is a very powerful ability. Often it is hard to channel it and put it to use. I find that surrounding myself with fellow IIN’ers is helping me to succeed, and follow my passions, by strengthening my ability to trust myself and my beliefs. There is comfort found when you are around like-minded individuals who support your opinions, instincts and desires. This comfort is perhaps an unexpected benefit of enrolling at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition because once an IIN Conference is over you can continue to feel the love and support online through your class Facebook Group as well as the IIN Facebook Community. This comfort allows you to harness your self-trust, allowing you to feel an incredible confidence being in your own skin. You feel happy, relaxed, clear-headed and able to stand up for what matters to you and pursue your dreams.

 I came home from The IIN Conference a different person than when I left.  What do I mean by that? Well, uniting with this community transforms you. The inspiration and energy I gained watching speakers like Dr. Oz, or Andrew Weil is different than what I get from reading a book. Seeing these speakers interact with the crowd and respond made me feel and experience the power that one person has to impact hundreds.  I left feeling strengthened with a confidence to make the world a happier, healthier more welcoming place. I was bursting with joy and fantastic ideas that I could not wait to share with others.  I felt supported and united with others because I know we share a common goal. As Andrew Weil said at the conference, an important component of a healthy lifestyle is feeling like you are part of a caring community. Perhaps that is why I always feel so wonderful whenever I interact with my fellow IIN Students, it is making me healthy!!

With just One IIN Module remaining before I graduate from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition , I find myself reflecting back on this past year. It is hard to believe all of the positive changes I have experienced this past year both mentally and physically. I will forever be grateful to IIN for what I have learned, because not only have I been given the tools to start an amazing business, but this journey has done so much for my personal health and well-being as well. Thank you IIN for helping me reignite my self-trust, discover my passion, and create a ripple effect that will change the world.

Gratefully yours,

Suzy Harmon

Guest Blog Post by Kimberly Petrosino

The ‘Small Change’ Approach to Wellness

Have you ever heard about a popular new diet and thought “This sounds great! I could totally do this”. You stock up on the approved foods, you plan out every meal…then somewhere around 2pm on the first day you feel tired, maybe a little moody, and realize all you’ve thought about all day is food? Then you start jumping on the scale constantly to see if it’s working, and after a couple of days (if that!) you can’t take it anymore and you binge on a batch of brownies before officially throwing in the towel on the new diet.

Sound familiar? This is no way to live, and it’s no way to get healthy! Keep in mind that health doesn’t deteriorate overnight and so it won’t improve overnight. If you slowly begin to incorporate small, healthy changes into your life, you will notice a vast improvement in your health over time.

I suggest starting by increasing your water intake, mindfully taking more steps throughout the day, incorporating more home-cooked foods into your diet and setting aside quiet time for yourself. Sounds easy enough, right? From there you can begin adding in more healthy, whole foods, making exercise and restful sleep a priority, cutting down on stress and making more time for yourself and your loved ones. If you take it one step at a time instead of all at once, the process will feel more natural and you are far more likely to stick to it!

Harmonious Health is starting a Five Day Healthy Food Detox on Monday November 17th which incorporates many of Kimberly's small changes into a healthy eating plan where you increase your fluid intake, add clean, whole foods into your diet, and you do not feel deprived. For more information, or to sign up go to www.suzyharmonioushealth.com and click on CONNECT WITH SUZY and PROGRAM OFFERINGS. 

- Kimberly Petrosino is the author of The Small Change Solution available on amazon

Interview with Author Kimberly Petrosino

My Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) Course has given me so many wonderful things. Access to fantastic information taught by renowned teachers, a new approach to my lifestyle, and fabulous business resources. Perhaps the greatest thing I have gained from IIN has been the incredible community I have found among my fellow classmates. So many talented amazing people launching new products, creating businesses, and most recently a fellow student who has just had her book published on Amazon.  Kim Petrosino, one of my classmates, is the author of "The Small Change Solution: A 52 Step Guide to Getting the Naturally Healthy Lifestyle You Want".  I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kimberly about her book.

Harmonious Health (HH):  Thanks for joining my blog today Kimberly. When I learned that your inspiration for writing your book and changing your lifestyle was losing your Dad, I found myself immediately feeling connected to you and drawn to your story. Like you, I also was inspired to change my lifestyle and learn more about health and wellness after losing my Dad who suffered a 2 year battle with lung cancer.  I know the loss of your Dad was much more sudden and unexpected. If you don’t mind, can you tell my readers a little about your story, as well as how you were able to turn that into motivation to inspire you to make your own lifestyle changes?

Kimberly Petrosino (KP): First of all, I’m so sorry about the loss of your Dad and I think it’s wonderful that you were also able to turn that into a learning experience and make positive changes in your lifestyle. For me, I think even more shocking than finding out that we lost my dad was finding out that we lost him to a heart attack. Five days earlier when I saw him last he was happy and laughing, the life of the party at St. Patrick’s Day dinner. Even on that day his coworkers said he seemed fine. So after things started to settle down I hit the Internet hard, searching for information on exactly how one goes from being “fine” to gone just like that. What I found changed the path I was on completely. I knew that heart disease was a serious problem; what I did NOT know is that by implementing certain lifestyle changes, heart disease is not only preventable but it’s actually reversible. I made it my mission to start spreading the word about the importance of healthy living, which led me to IIN and then to writing this book. As for myself, now knowing that I have a history of heart disease in my family, my health is a top priority. And, as I emphasize in my book, that goes way beyond what I eat! I make sure I make plenty of time for myself and my loved ones, and I don’t allow myself to get too stressed out. I know what’s good for my soul and I do it often.

Harmonious Health (HH):  I am the type of person who can often be found reading multiple books at the same time!! One of the things I just love about your book is that it is the perfect book to always keep on your nightstand. You can just read one or two chapters, and then take time to implement your changes into your life slowly so they become habits. In this way the reader does not become overwhelmed or discouraged. How did you decide to write your book in this style, and was this similar to the strategy you used in making your own health changes?

Kimberly Petrosino (KP): Thank you for saying that! This was absolutely my strategy, although I didn’t know it while it was happening. My health journey has always been a progression, and I would have these moments where I would look back and say “wow, I remember when I didn’t even dream of running this far” or “ah I used to hate making these smoothies and now I do it every day”. I originally incorporated lemon water into my routine because I heard it helps you lose weight. Now I know that for me, hot lemon water helps me digest a heavy meal and it relaxes me at night. You learn as you go. I thought breaking the book down into one week increments would give the reader enough time to start making it a habit while keeping a good momentum going; however, I do stress that each person is different and may want to take more or less time before implementing a new change, and that’s okay! There’s no right or wrong way.

Harmonious Health (HH): Something I have always dreamed about and set as a goal for myself is to one day also become a published author. What strategies or skill set did you tap into to create the discipline necessary to write your book? Do you think there is a correlation between the health changes you made and your ability to accomplish such a monumental task like writing a book and having it published?

Kimberly Petrosino (KP): There were definitely some days I didn’t feel like writing! But just like I talk about in the book, I set goals and deadlines for myself, and when I met them, I set more. I also had a phenomenal support system surrounding me, in my friends and family of course but also in the other authors along this journey with me. I think most people writing a book probably don’t have a gang of a hundred other people writing books too! They are all Health Coaches as well and just the most inspirational group of people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. I’ve always dreamed of writing a book, even as a little girl. My healthy lifestyle changes inspired the content for the book. The experience of losing my Dad gave me the ambition to go after my goal of writing it and having it published.

Harmonious Health (HH): One of our recent lecturers at IIN, Dr. Daniel Amen really resonated with me. He said everyone is always looking for that “ONE THING”. What is the “ONE THING” I should do to get healthy? His response:” THE ONE THING PEOPLE SHOULD DO IS TO STOP BEING STUPID AND REALIZE THERE IS NOT ONE THING BUT LOTS OF LITTLE THINGS DONE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.” What do you think about this statement?

Kimberly Petrosino (KP): Well I wouldn’t go as far as to say that people who think there is one magical thing you can do to get healthy are being stupid! Haha but I absolutely agree, healthy living is a series of habits. It’s about what you do every day, not once in a while. Take going to the gym, for example. If you go to the gym once or twice a month for a couple of hours, it’s not going to have the same effect as if you go a few times a week for 30-40 minutes at a time. That’s why I think it’s so important to incorporate changes slowly. If you try to make too many changes all at once, they won’t last and you’ll miss out on all of the benefits.

Harmonious Health (HH): I want people to understand that this healthy, active, amazing lifestyle has not come easy for you. You had to work hard at this, and I think that is why readers will find your book so relatable. I recently listened to your interview with The Wellness Junkie Health Coach where you talked about running a half marathon. Can you tell my readers how your running began?

Kimberly Petrosino (KP): Absolutely! It’s one of my favorite stories because it is a measurable testament to how far I’ve come just by implementing small changes into my life. I was at a point where I was really unhappy with myself. I decided one day that I wanted to go for a run and I just couldn’t do it, that’s when I realized how bad I had let myself get. I downloaded a beginner’s running app on my phone and started running about 90 seconds on, 90 seconds off. Those were the longest minute-and-a-half increments of my life. Every week I ran a little bit more, and three months later I ran in my first 5k race. I loved the energy among the other runners so I kept looking for more races. A year and a half later, I ran my first 10k! It was when I was picking up my race packet for my second 10k that I saw the sign for the Long Island Divas Half Marathon and decided it was time to take the plunge. Crossing that finish line was such a happy and proud moment, because I have NOT forgotten that girl who couldn’t make it to her street corner without losing her breath. When I first started, I never thought of it as training to eventually run 13.1 miles. I thought, I want to run one mile without stopping. Then two. Then 5k, then 10k, and so on. I celebrated myself every step of the way.

Harmonious Health (HH): Thank you so much for joining us today Kimberly. I am so excited to have you as a guest blogger here on my page in November where my readers might get a little peek into one of your “Small Change Solutions”. Until then, is there anything else you would like my readers to know?

Kimberly Petrosino (KP:)I love the quote “Life is a journey, not a destination”. If you're too focused on the end result, you’ll miss the ride getting there! I think that’s the beauty of the Small Change approach. Healthy changes become habits, part of your life, unlike fad diets which have you obsessing over every calorie and gram of fat. That’s no fun! My secret is to eat clean, stay active, stress less, laugh often, and do things that are good for your soul. It can really be as simple as that! 

Book Review: The Small Change Solution

I just finished reading Kim Petrosino’s book "The Small Change Solution: A 52 Step Guide to Getting the Naturally Healthy Lifestyle You Want". Kimberly is a fellow Holistic Health Coach at Happy Healthy Heart, who I met at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Even though I finished the book, I will not loan it, or put it back on my bookshelf. It is the type of book you want to keep out forever on your night table, and refer back to it whenever you “mess up” on your healthy life journey. I would compare it to how a young child feels having a security blankie! Its there for you to remind you that you will be OK and you can do anything. It will keep you motivated and on track. The great thing about Kimberly’s book is that it is written in such a simple, honest and clear style. You feel like you are talking to your BFF while reading it. I believe this is because Kimberly wrote about changes she actually lived and implemented herself, so it is real, and doable. It is also very easy to read because you can read just a few chapters at a time, and try to implement them into habits before you move on.  

While you might think this book is all about buying quinoa and eating vegetables, it is not. Kimberly addresses both primary and secondary foods in her book. Tips like creating goals, creating nighttime rituals, and revamping your social life all affect your secondary food choices. For most people until they can get their primary food choices (career, spirituality, relationships, self-care) in order, they will never be able to control their secondary food choices (actual food which they eat). Kimberly’s ability to address both of these types of foods is what makes her Small Change Solution so effective and so different from many other Health Books.

I think my favorite line in Kimberly’s book is “Stop comparing yourself to others. The only person you need to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.”  I will surely be giving all of my Harmonious Health Coaching Clients a copy of Kimberly’s new book. The Small Change Solution is available in paperback and kindle on AMAZON.

Stay tuned for my interview with Kimberly coming soon on my  Harmonious Health Website www.suzyharmonioushealth.com  as well as a guest blog post written by Kimberly in November which I will announce on my  Facebook Page

Creating Time You Can Count On

CREATING TIME YOU CAN COUNT ON

Over the past few weeks it seems like everyone I know is becoming super busy. For those with kids, the school year is in full swing, homecoming dances, fall sports competitions, exams looming.  As the weather begins to cool off, visions of Thanksgiving and winter break begin to tease everyone’s mind and put them in planning mode. College students are settling in to the start of mid-term exams, and some of my health coaching college kiddos are emailing me for “help!” because they are starting to notice their clothing getting snug around the middle. Friends are telling me how work is suddenly so busy and they are the heaviest weight they have ever been. What is going on? This is stress people!

When you feel under pressure, and you have stress, your body starts releasing “fight-or-flight” stress hormones like cortisol, that are produced in the adrenal glands. When your stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss. Your body is smart, it wants to provide you with extra energy and strength to compensate for this stress, so it hoards the fat you eat or have present on your body.  In addition, with increased levels of cortisol, our body also does not respond as well to leptin, the hormone that makes us feel full, so we eat more. That is what is causing that “belly bulge”.

Diet, exercise, relaxation, yoga, proper sleep….all of these things can help you reduce your stress levels, calm your body down, reset your hormones and help your body end this cycle of hormone imbalance so you can regain control of your life, your weight, and ultimately your health. However, in order to incorporate any of these positive strategies step one is: CREATE TIME YOU CAN COUNT ON.

We cannot be available to our clients 24/7. We cannot be the only person on call for our children day and night. We cannot internalize our responsibilities and believe that we need to do everything ourselves. We need to rely on others. I will say it again, in order to create balance and take back control of your health, you need to CREATE TIME YOU CAN COUNT ON.

What does that mean? Well, it looks different for everyone. For a stay-at-home Mom or Dad, maybe it means dedicating one weekday while the kids are in school where you create “ME” time. No volunteering in the classroom, no room-parent meetings, no bake-sales. Instead find time to address your physical and emotional needs. A nice long walk in nature, take an exercise class, go to a museum, read a book. Reconnect with who you are as a person, not as a Mommy or Daddy.

For the busy executive, maybe it means choosing 2 days a week in 2 hour time intervals, where your clients know you cannot attend meetings, respond to text messages, emails, or calls. This is time where you address your own needs, in whatever form that looks like. For some, a mid-day massage. For others, 2 hours to write the proposal you need to get out, with no interruptions. When you learn to set boundaries on your time with your clients, they will not be angry. On the contrary, when you take control of your schedule you earn respect of others.  Developing personal boundaries sends a message to others that you know how to examine your priorities and do what is important. Clients see you respecting your own priorities, and incorporating structure in your personal life and they develop a trust in you that you will do the same when it comes to their business needs.

You will never find an exercise routine that will work if you cannot count on a set time frame each day when you can do it. You will never get your eating under control if you do not have a set time weekly to do your meal planning. You will never feel fulfilled, and you will continue to use food to compensate, if you do not create time you can count on to ponder your hopes and dreams and plan for them. You will never get a good night’s sleep if you are struggling to put away that laptop, stop replying to emails, and create good bedtime hygiene. In order to accomplish any of these health building activities, you need to CREATE TIME YOU CAN COUNT ON. (Have I said that enough yet?)

One of the best ways I have found to help my clients to do this, is to start by working with them in my 6 month Health Coaching Program. I schedule appointments with them twice a month at the same day and time each session. Eventually this time slot becomes a TIME THEY CAN COUNT ON, to address their health concerns, and create a plan to take back control of their health. My hope is that they will continue this habit when they have completed my program. My goal is to help my clients to “crave” that positive feeling of well-being so they will feel a need to carve out time each day to focus on their health and well-being.

If you would like to learn more about my Coaching Program, and learn ways to understand that CREATING TIME YOU CAN COUNT ON is not selfish or wasteful, but a necessary step to achieving weight loss, lower stress and overall well-being please email me at harmonioushealth@sbcglobal.net or to schedule a complimentary initial consultation SIGN UP HERE 

Harmoniously yours,

Suzy

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!

Change. Do you like that word? I am beginning to embrace it. It used to sound like a command to me, change your behavior, change your tone of voice, change your evil ways!! These days, I hear the word less as a command and more as a kind suggestion from a friendly motivator, a gentle advisor, helping me to live my life more authentically, and more "harmoniously".

I recently went back to school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I am in the process of changing my career from being a CPA to a Health Coach. This was a change that was by choice, a decision I made, to live my purpose and my passion. While all change is hard, this change has not caused me too much discomfort. I believe that is because when you truly have realized what your purpose is, you wake up excited everyday to figure out how to make it work. While I know I have a long road ahead of me to build my Health Coaching Practice, the challenges and obstacles I encounter each day do not scare me, they motivate me.

This past weekend however, I experienced a very different type of change. My husband and I moved my middle son to Austin, Texas for his Freshman year in college.

Now this is the second time I have done this, moved a kiddo into college, and while it is another change in our family's journey,  I thought to myself, "I got this! This time, second time around, piece of cake". Nope! 

This change did not feel exactly like a choice in my mind. This felt like something I "had" to do, more along the line of the command. Maybe because the school is so much larger than my older son's school, maybe because we were moving him in "early" due to my husband's upcoming business trip, or maybe because having 2 kids in college seemed really scary. While I still have my daughter in high school at home, somehow this change felt very uncomfortable to me.

Yet I embraced it, bravely went to Bed, Bath & Beyond (with years worth of saved coupons), Target, and Staples to get all the necessary items to set up the dorm room. I methodically made the bed... bed topper, bug protector, mattress pad, sheets, blanket (still not sure I did it in the right order, but it worked). All went well, a good meal with the new roommate and his lovely parents, some parting words of advice, "eat well, work hard, make good choices" I think I sounded like this,( Momisms (The Mom Song) , a long tight hug goodbye.  And then the long drive back to Dallas. My husband and I chatted, he talked mostly about his upcoming trip the following day to Australia for business, I listened to songs while fighting back the tears, like Cat Stevens, "It's not time to make a change", "hope you make a lotta nice friends out there",  Green Day, "I hope you have the time of your life", REO Speedwagon "I know it hurts to say goodbye, but its time for me to fly", Lee Ann Womack, "if you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you'll dance".......you get the drift. 

Then, the next day, the "change" hit me. Instead of engaging in my usual routine, I blew off my morning workout. "Well, I am tired from getting home at 1:30am last night so I can skip just today", I thought. Instead of eating my usual healthy breakfast, I snacked on some out of the box processed cereal, drinking way too many cups of coffee, while staring at my cell phone looking at all the photos I took of his dorm room. Instead of grabbing my calendar, seeing what was coming up this week and starting the day, I buried myself back in bed under the covers and wasted a lot of the morning on Facebook. 

I will pause here to say that his school has an awesome closed Facebook group for Parents Only who provide incredible support to one another, and my post about not wanting to bug him and text him did receive over 130 likes and about 35 posts of advice for me!! But I am digressing.

The day lingered on, my husband left for the airport, I drove my daughter to an overnight party and came home to just me and the dog. (The dog who by the way has an ear infection, poor thing!). It was then that I thought to myself, I have wasted most of this day fighting this change. I need to embrace it. I need to hear it as that gentle guide, that kind motivator. SO I pulled out a book I have been trying to read on how to build your health coaching practice. I made a list of things I needed to do this week. I wrote in my journal. I stretched. I munched on cacoa nibs instead of cookies and drank herbal tea. I promised myself I would finally get my BLOG started. I did all the things I tell my clients to do when they feel stressed. And you know what, it helped. I felt better. I still felt uncomfortable, but leaning on those things that are good for me helped me to feel good and embrace this new change.

As a new season gets underway and a new school year starts, whether you have kids starting college or preschool, or no kids at all, I encourage you to look at change in a new way. Not as a threat, not as a command, not as something mean or evil, but as something new and exciting that will lead you on a fantastic adventure. When you look at change in this new way, you stop fighting it and you begin to embrace it, and in doing so, you will add harmony and purpose to your life. 

So here it is, I am proud to say, my very first blog post, that was inspired by change! I hope you enjoy it.

Please share your comments with me and let me know what you would like to hear more about on my blog. Also check out my website Harmonious Health and like my Facebook for more great health tips, recipes and ideas on how to improve your well-being. Remember, your greatest Wealth is your Health. 

Fondly,

Suzy