I have been contemplating this statement for years because knowing your why helps set your intention and gives you purpose.  It’s like a calling and I believe that we need a “why” when we are beginning a journey to change our health for the better, lose weight, gain energy or overall feel peaceful and content with who you are in your life. It’s your deep intuition, your voice, the whisper that keeps you motivated and moving forward. And it is essential to my work and the work I do with clients.

My “why” began simmering years ago when I was a teenager, who really had no other intentions but to hang out with her friends and have fun.  My aunt came to visit my family on her way to a macrobiotic retreat, armed with tofu, seaweed and brown rice, all very exotic and new to me.  Food can heal and food can harm.  It was my first introduction into the power of food as medicine and I was hooked. Without knowing it then, I had found my calling.

Life likes to bring checks and balances and whenever I wondered why I was doing what I was doing, the universe answered.  When I began graduate school I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition that was as foreign to me as the name itself.  I was grateful that I already had a background in whole foods cooking and was able to  nourish myself with real, healing foods and that I was immersed in a program that was giving me the tools I needed to decipher this illness. Three children later, a mindless weight gain and a successful weight loss , I finally understood.  I had my why.

My “why” has answered so many questions for me and kept me focused on my purpose.  Why did food and healing go hand in hand?  Why did I want to lose the unnecessary weight from my pregnancies?  I had my vision and the “why” became easy to follow.

When I finally lost the 20 pounds I was holding onto, my reasons were this: I knew from my clinical experience that 20 extra pounds meant my risk for heart disease, diabetes and some cancers went up.  I had a father who died at an extremely young age from cancer and I did not want to be responsible for something that might be in my control. It didn’t need to be 20 pounds, I wanted to get to a healthy weight to reduce those risks.  I wanted peace of mind.

I encourage clients who come to see me to also set their intention and find their “why”.  Why are you here?  What is it that you want to accomplish with me?  How can I support you on this journey?

Too many times we are focused on the numbers, the exact amount of pounds needed to be lost, the grams of protein we need to eat, what we can’t eat, what’s good, what’s bad.  These are really all superficial reasons that don’t allow our intention to stick. Again, if we dig deep to find the why – why do you want to lose weight – our purpose becomes crystal clear. Sometimes, the answer is not always easy to face. But if we do, we are on a path to success.

Why I eat the way I do, why I feel so strongly about food and its connection to healing only helps me believe in myself, my philosophy on getting back into our kitchens and eating well and overall feeling good.

Now, tell me your “why”.