​This is one of my favorite times of the year, because it’s all about reflecting on what we are grateful for in our lives.

Although, for the last four weeks I've been writing out five things I'm grateful for every single morning as part of my journaling routine.  It definitely gets more press on this one day of the year!
 
Taking the time to really FEEL gratitude is actually good for your health.

It’s here. We’re officially heading into one of the busiest times of the year!
 
Before everything ramps up … let’s take some time to get prepared NOW. 
 
A little bit of effort now will help you cruise through the holidays without the stress.
 
It all starts with taking care of YOU. 
 
When life gets hectic, one of the first things to drop off our to-do lists is our self-care routine. Which is ironic, since taking a little time for yourself each day will help you do everything else better.

Before I start work with a client, whether it's one-on-one or in an online program, the very first thing we do is figure out is "why do you want to do this program or work on yourself?" 

Without Clarity,  you'll likely find yourself lacking energy, productivity, courage, and influence.  These five were shown to be key traits of the most successful people in the world and maybe you don't aim to be among the most successful people in the world, but you probably have your own success you'd like to achieve.

We're midway through the year, and you may have lost track of your goals completely, or they've shifted through the year.

A woman in a Facebook group I belong to posted a question about how while ​she feels much better when she eliminates gluten from her diet, she has trouble sticking with it past six weeks.

Initially, she said it's because she craves the density of foods like breads, and get really hungry, but ​with more investigations, it seems like she's just getting bored with what she perceives as a limited selection of foods that she can eat.

This really make me think of how when you change the way you eat, or eliminate certain foods from your diet, you really do feel like there's nothing to eat.

Read on.  It doesn't have to be that way!

Did you know that research shows that people who feel loved are more likely to enjoy healthier hearts than those who feel unloved?  Love is the healthiest of all emotions, yet it takes effort to stay in love once the infatuation stage ends.

In fact studies in positive psychology show that the quality of your relationships can make you happier, perform better, and feel better.

So how do you make that a reality in both your intimate relationships, friendships, and family relationships?

When you interact with others are you intentional?  The most successful people make a conscious choice on who they're going to be and how they are going to interact with people.

​First of all, why should you go to all the effort to meal plan?

I’ll share my story first, because I definitely haven’t always been a meal planner, unless it was one big meal, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or for a party of some kind.  And I really needed some help.  I couldn't manage to come up with a weekly meal plan on my own.  

​*If you want resources for meal planning on your own, click here. 
 
I’d usually go to the store with a plan for that night’s dinner, then fill in with items I knew I was out of (I would make lists for those kinds of things) and staple items that I used all the time, like onions, carrots, lettuce, bread, cheese, rice, etc.

Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of days here in the United States.  

It's one of my favorite holidays because it's purpose is spending time with friends and family, eating a nice meal, and ideally expressing gratitude what we have in our lives.  It's an innately positive experience, even when we factor in the family dynamics we might be dealing with.  (-;

While it's nice to have a day focused on expressing our gratitude, practicing gratitude on a daily basis has many positive effects, some of which you may surprise you.

First, though, I'd like to give a little explanation about practicing gratitude, while understanding that it can take many different forms.

I just spent an hour making dinner.  It's one of my favorite new recipes, chipotle butternut squash and black bean tostadas.  I've also made my favorite kale and strawberry salad.  The meal checks all the boxes for me.  It has plenty of vegetables, it's flavorful, and it's filling.  Not only that, for my lunch the next day, I'll reheat a tostada and plop a fried egg on top.  Delicious!

I set the table, since everyone's been in other parts of the house doing their thing.  I'm fine with that, since I go into a meditative state when I cook, or sometimes I listen to podcasts or my music.  I'll add one more thing:  I'm sort of messy when I cook and my husband almost always cleans up after dinner.  And we both want the kids to help more with the clen up.  We agree on that point.

I call everyone to dinner and the first thing that happens is my husband states adamantly, "You kids are cleaning up tonight."  Chaos ensues.  My daughter has homework, my son already took out the garbage, plus he "always helps," and I get irritated because I just want everyone to enjoy the meal, especially me.  Figure out the clean up later, after all, even if it's a mess, it doesn't take nearly as much time as making the meal.

And the worst part is that I know stress and conflict isn't good for digestion!

This week, I am presenting several stories, or case studies of how food can impact the behavior of children.  

The reason I'm talking about children is first because that's how I came to focus on the impact of food choices and second because the gut-brain connection is more obvious in children because they are less capable of filtering their what they're feeling.

I begin with my story, but be sure to scroll down to my interview with Matt Wright.  It's interesting to here his story of how his childhood behavior issues were solved by food changes from his perspective as an adult.

I'll go deeper into the gut-brain connection in a future blog post, but I want to provide some background for the stories I'm telling now.  

The gut is being considered the second brain.  It has more neurons than the brain and the spinal cord put together.  Neurons communicate and transmit information throughout the body.  It was thought that the brain controlled the action of the neurons in the body, but now we know that they are controlled in the gut as well.

Before I move on to intimate and romantic relationships, I'd like to write more about our social needs, both in our friendships and in our intimate lives.

Communication of our needs is an important skill and our needs with regard to the quantity and quality of time we spend with others can differ quite a bit.

There are many common misconceptions about introverts and extroverts.  The first definition that popped up in my search for the definition of an introvert was that an introvert was a shy, reticent person.