HEALTH/ALCOHOL FREE COACH
Let's Meet
I was very conditioned to the belief that I needed alcohol to have a good time! Does this sound like you? Fortunately, there's hope in knowing that's not the case. If you want to change your relationship with food or alcohol, I am here for you. I'd love to hear your story.
Binge drinking and emotional eating were my go-to for coping with feelings I wanted to ignore. Changes started to happen when I stopped drinking for the first time in January 2010 after watching myself in a video and deciding that wasnt the person I wanted to present to the world. After a few years of staying away from drinking and enjoying life, my late husband died by suicide. Another year passed of staying off the booze but then I fell into depression and fell back into drinking. Fast forward 10 years later and in May of 2021, I was able to find my joy alcohol free once more! And now, working with others that want the same freedom is a dream come true.
Nutrition and wellness are other aspects to this health journey that can be overlooked. What is your relationship with food and eating? Do you feel you're in a healthy place? If you question your habits around food, there is help. My niche is emotional eating and guiding clients toward a whole and peaceful relationship with the food in their life!
DARE TO CHANGE
Nothing you have done in the past has to define you.
Do you want to release your story, reclaim yourself and live the life you envision for yourself? How about writing a healthy story of a FUTURE you?
My core values:
Integrity
Honesty
Kindness
Generosity
Dependability
It's not the destination but the road we take getting there. As Jean Kirkpatrick said, "All we take when we die is what we have become."
Where are YOU going?
My formal education which is always expanding:
Institute of Integrative Nutrition (2011)
This Naked Mind Institute (2022)
Studied Cuisine in Paris, France at
Ecole Superieure De Cuisine Francaise Centre de Formation Technologique des Metiers de L'Alimentation (1993)
📆 Schedule an appointment with me
About Us
Let's live in health!
Hello!
In my 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, I thought a person in their 60’s was OLD! My name is Colleen and in June, I will be 60. But hey, I don’t feel old, and I certainly don’t feel like I am turning 60. How did that happen so fast? Do you know what I mean?
Choices.
How to get the best out of the years left. There are so many ways!
One choice and passion I have made is becoming a Health/Alcohol Free Coach. I work with others who are interested in making healthier choices for themselves but might need a little direction or encouragement. I am here to share some of what I know and find out more of what I don’t know so together we can all evolve, have fun, be healthier, happier, joyful, wiser, older people. One of my other passions I’d like to share is my love of cooking. As a kid, I started copying recipes on 3 x 5 index cards (now I am showing my age) from my favorite dishes or baked foods and kept them in a box. As my recipe collection grew so did my love for preparing food for the people in my life I loved so feeding people grew into a profession. Culinary school in Paris was one of the best years in my life! And so have been the 30 odd years of cooking on commercial fishing boats which has gifted me a unique life full of hard work, connections, and experiences I never would have imagined.
Time.
How much do we have in life?
As I don’t know when my time will run out, how will I use it? How will you? Rather than dread my increasing age, and as it is inevitable should I be blessed with a long life, I want to embrace it. Turning over my lessons in life while looking forward to the future gives me a lot to think about. But enough thinking, it’s time for me to get on the bandwagon with those who are rewriting the stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination towards others based on age, (ageism). Do you want to join me? Let’s dare to change and see what our fullest potential is!
An Easy Quinoa Meal
EQUIPMENT
- small rice cooker
INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 cups brown rice
- 1/3 cup quinoa I used mixed in this batch
- 1 tbsp chicken concentrate optional
- 1 clove garlic chopped or sliced
- 3 cups water
Vegetables
- 1/3 cup spinach sliced
- 1/3 cup carrots sliced
- 1/4 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1/2 lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Rinse rice and quinoa. Add the rice, quinoa, garlic and chicken concentrate into the rice cooker. Put on the lid and cook.
- After it has completed cooking, let it sit for a while before removing from rice cooker so it can fully absorb and fluff.
- Empty into a bowl. Add juice of 1/2 lemon and additional seasoning if you choose. For example, more salt, cumin if you like, chili powder, curry, whatever flavor of your choice. I added the seasoning from the bbq and a little more salt.
- Then add the vegetables so they can wilt a little. You can add cooked corn kernels if you have them on hand. Black beans are also nice. I like to add the herbs after it has cooled a bit so they don't wilt.
- This filling can be used to stuff peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, quesadillas. Or you can put it on top of salads, mix it with scrambled eggs...wherever you mind takes you.
What are some of emotional eating patterns?
Emotional Eating Defined
Let me introduce to the term emotional eating. Who hasn’t, on occasion overindulged in too much food, dessert or alcohol? That’s okay but when those overindulgences become a habit or are out of control, there could be an emotional eating pattens developing.
Possible signs are:
- Eating alone or eating in secret
- Eating foods that you wouldn’t eat around others
- Hiding packaging
- Feelings of sadness, anxiety, guilt, shame, worry, or powerlessness
- Digestion issues, difficulty sleeping, and weight fluctuation
Wow, so you may say to yourself, some or all of that sounds like me! Be assured you are not alone. There are many of us out there who have either had emotional eating patterns or have emotional eating patterns but don’t know how to change. There is hope.
Change is possible. But first, what are some of the factors that drive these patterns? Some include:
- Bio-individual considerations which mean that we are all different and food means different things emotionally to each of us.
- Cultural norms – Our culture in the US is fast paced and we all want quick fixes. Eating on the run, fast food drive by, late night eating as there was no time during the day. Waking up late night or unable to sleep with too many racing thoughts. The list can go on. There are many different cultural norms that affect emotional eating.
- Social influences – who we are spending time with affects what we may eat or drink.
- Personal coping strategies – one example is do we use food for a purpose other than satiation?
- Ability to regulate emotions – are we using food as a crutch? Are we disconnected from our emotions?
- Sleep habits – sleep deprivation adds fuel to this fire. Eating high carb foods for energy we lack from not enough sleep the following day.
Getting to the root of your relationship with food, your biases, assumptions and finding strategies to change are all possible. And so is freedom from feelings of will this ever stop?! Can you have a “normal” relationship with food. The answer to that is YES! If you are looking for some guidance on how to change, please reach out for a free confidential discovery call.
