I hit the age of 60 and was seeking a calmer, slower, more heart-centered life. I felt like I had gotten good at helping people, and working hard, but not at living a full life. It was time to make a change.
The idea of moving to Mexico was something I had considered for some time and, as I hit that milestone birthday, I decided it was time to really shake things up in my life. I was going to go for it.
Can you imagine the number of things I had to do to make it happen?
- Sell my house
- Pack, store, and move my stuff
- Find a place to move in Mexico that meets my needs and desires
- Plan the move, to get me, my stuff, and my German Shepherd Obi Wan Kenobe safely moved
Each of these was a complex project in itself, and each required months of effort, working through each step and onto the next.
For example, I had felt overwhelmed and paralyzed about the idea of selling my house. For a long time, I have to admit that downsizing felt impossible.
It took me about 6 months to do it all. I had to break it down into a series of projects and work through them in a logical order.
Some of it was painful, going against my instincts to “hold on” to stuff that had emotional importance.
Some of it was confusing, such as discovering that there is trash you need to get rid of, but the city won’t take it away with the trash and you’ll have to pay to get rid of it.
Some of it required learning something new, such as what to do about immigration, visas, and importing a car from the US to Mexico.
I can tell you from my own experience, and from helping my clients, that transforming your eating, your weight, and your health can be viewed from a similar perspective.
At first, as you learn about some of the eating changes that work, implementing them may seem impossible.
For example, eating plentiful fruits and vegetables is a difference that makes a real difference. When you’re eating ENOUGH of the highly nutritious foods, it’s easier to eliminate the non-nutritious food-like substances.
Eating ENOUGH highly nutritious foods and seriously reducing the cravingful, non-nutritious, food like substances are 2 of the big keys to releasing excess weight and regaining your health and vitality.
But, we quickly realize that it’s not going to work to try to just “choke down” a giant plate of lettuce every day.
For most of us, it takes some effort to figure out just how we’re going to eat plentiful nutritious foods in a way we can enjoy and sustain.
I am inspired by one of my clients who is approaching this transformation in her eating and her health as a series a projects— figuring out how to eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, in a way she can enjoy and be able to sustain long-term.
One of her challenges is that she had a sugar habit worked into her day, from the sugar in her morning tea to an evening “adult beverage,” and she felt it would be painful if not impossible to get away from these things.
However, like me, she has experienced serious pain and inflammation for years and understands that avoiding sugar and alcohol may make all the difference in her weight, her energy, and her health.
So, she decided to go for it. She has found a different tea that she enjoys without sugar. She is amazed at how much better she feels without alcoholic beverages in her diet.
She loves her breakfast and how it makes her feel. She looks forward to breakfast each day and enjoys her feelings of mastery over this meal.
Her next project involves finding a variety of delicious nutritious lunch and dinner meals that she can also enjoy and anticipate with pleasure like she does breakfast.
At this point, she recognizes that the world we currently live in is not going to present her with such meals by default. So, she is committed and she is tackling these projects one step at a time, building success upon success.
Once you decide it’s important enough—you’re DOING this!—you can transform your eating in a healthy and sustainable way.
Just like making a life-changing move to a new country, you can make a life-changing move to a truly healthy way of eating, and your slender, vital, right-sized body, by tackling it as a set of projects.
At first, changing your eating may seem daunting. In fact, some people have advised me to avoid suggesting there is any challenge to it at all.
But, I can admit that there were moments, especially early on, when I found the changes a little challenging.
Just like with my downsizing, I needed to get past the feeling that I would miss certain things too much.
And I needed to accept the idea of doing some things differently, such as learning to prepare more of the nutritious things in a way I could truly enjoy them.
I had to change my eating enough to get great results. And I needed to manage my expectations, so I wouldn’t give up before I got all the way to my goal.
But I found, and my clients tell me all the time, it’s not as hard as we thought it would be. You end up really enjoying eating the nutritious foods, and loving the results. And the rewards keep you going, making changes that truly change your life.
So, I wanted you to know that, as with any transformative life experience, whether it’s starting a new job, writing a book, moving to a new country for a more heart-centered life, or deciding to change your eating and your health, you can break it down into a series of projects and work your way through, step by step, to your desired results.
Once you get truly committed to the life change you seek, and you get clear guidance on what and how to eat and make that work for YOU, I think you’ll find it’s so much easier and more enjoyable than you thought.
Warm regards from Mexico,
Dr. Ginny
