Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Skip the Chips

I. Love. Chips. Potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, you name it. Salty, crunchy things. I love salt. And while I’m grateful so many of the Epicure products I sell are low sodium, I recognize the irony in the acknowledgment that two of my favorites are salt. (SPG and Herbed Garlic Sea Salt, specifically.) But I digress.

I love chips, and in moderation that isn’t a bad thing. But recently, and again, I realized I wasn’t loving them in moderation. So I worked on eliminating them from my routines. Again. And I started to realize how many triggering events would usually send me to Casey’s for a bag of sour cream & onion or cheddar & sour cream or BBQ or...you get the idea. Tired? Have a snack. Stressed? Have a snack. Long day doing...whatever? Chips!!

I started, again, slowly working them out and redirecting my snacking to other things. I started realizing what the triggers might be and planning ahead, for example by taking a cut up apple on a long drive. I wrote down in a note on my phone every day I did not eat them. Slowly, slowly, I stopped missing the chips. I stopped craving the chips. I realized after some extremely stressful days that I hadn’t made myself feel better with a snack of potato chips. And now? They don’t appeal. Maybe I could do small servings, but I don’t even want those. And I am over one month consistently not having them, which feels fantastic! Honestly? I can’t say I’ve noticed on the scale. What I’ve noticed is how I feel, and I feel really good for having eliminated a habit that wasn’t serving my best interests.

What unhealthy habit would you love to give up? What strategies do you think will help you? Figuring out the triggers was a huge help for me!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Building the Habit of Positive Self-Talk

Lots of things have been said over the years about building good habits or breaking habits that don’t serve us well. (Including by me on occasion!)

Most of the time, we think of those habits as actions or tasks; as things we want to do on a regular basis.

How often do you think about those habits as thoughts; as things you want to think or believe on a regular basis?

During the upheaval of the past few months, I’ve been struggling to maintain routines and habits, and my thought processes have been wildly uneven. It’s frustrating, to say the least.

Several days ago, I said to myself, “Self, it’s ok. You are doing the best you can. You have a finite amount of energy on a daily basis. Give yourself a break. Accept that you’ve used your energy, be ok with what you’ve gotten done, and let go of any guilt you’re feeling. Tomorrow is another day.” 

I also said to myself, “Self, look at the things you’ve done the past few days. Maybe you haven’t done ALL THE THINGS. But look at what you HAVE done and the habits you’ve started back up again. That should feel great!”

What are you saying to yourself or thinking to yourself ABOUT yourself right now?

I have a challenge for you. Spend some time with yourself and make it positive. Pick something you’re grateful for, or positive about, and focus on that feeling. Pick a conversation to have with yourself, and do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

That habit you’re building? It’s good for you. Cheers! Here’s to your health!