Vices...is it okay to have them?

Hello all! I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday season. Now, I need to address this issue of vices. When I tell people that I am a Health Coach in training, people immediately either stop drinking their diet coke or drop their chips ahoy cookie that they were in the middle of eating and apologize to me. When I first witnessed this reaction, I thought to myself, "that's weird why did they just say do that?" "Do they think that I am perfect and I don't eat things that aren't healthy?" And then after I kept seeing the same reactions over and over, I thought to myself, "oh my god they do!"

As I sit here typing I can't help but giggle to myself because I am such a work in progress when it comes to my own health. I am still battling unhealthy eating habits, the occasional cig, alcohol etc. Just because I know all this information about health and nutrition does not mean I am anywhere near perfect.

In my six month program, when I am working with clients I emphasize the 90/10 law. What is this 90/10 law that I speak of? Well, it is the idea that  if 90 percent of the time you are eating healthy, wholesome, well-balanced and nutrient dense foods, then it is okay if the other 10 percent of the time you are  eating what I like to call 'crap.' Crap that comes in a package/can/box, on a plate or in a cup. Because it is what you do most of the time that is going to determine whether or not you look and feel healthy. So believe it or not there is room for coffee, chocolate and yes even ice cream in my program. I don't believe in any of these new age, fad, ridiculous diets of calorie restriction that are basically pure torture in my opinion. Come on, do you really expect to be able to live off of water with lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper three times a day for the rest of your life? Or to inject yourself with Human Gonadotropic Hormone  (a hormone that pregnant women produce to burn fat around the belly and make room for a growing fetus) everyday to burn your fat while eating only 500 calories a day? And you want to know something? Most people that are on these diets will fail miserably. They will then feel like they have failed themselves, when what has really failed them was the retard who came up with the diet, the publishing companies that are making millions if not billions of dollars off of publishing it, the advertising companies that are marketing them and the stores that are selling them. They will revert back to their old eating habits, gain back the weight and feel worse than they have ever felt before. Trust me, I have been to that party many many many times. It is a vicious and nasty cycle that is flawed to its core and sets the person up for failure.

My program, on the hand, sets people up for success. What I do emphasize in my program? Being self aware! I try to teach people how to listen to the many signals your body tries to tell you. A stomach ache is not just a stomach ache, a headache is not just a headache and a craving is not just a craving. The human body is perfect, it knows to breath without you telling it to and your heart never skips a beat.  Your body doesn't care what you are thinking, it loves you and wants to keep you alive even if you mistreat it by feeding it unhealthy foods, doing drugs and alcohol and not exercising it.  It is smarter than the most high tech computer that exists even in our modern day world and if you just listen, it will tell you what you need to eat, how much of it and when. Every 'body' is different, therefor everyone needs to be on an individualized diet. As they say, one person's food is another person's poison.

I wold like to conclude this article on an apologetic note. I started typing the article based on an idea and sort of took off from there. I get very worked up about certain topics and I apologize if I came off as too strong. It is based on my own personal experience as is every article I have written until now.

Blessings to all!