It’s that time of the year again, where the summer comes to an end, and the kids go back to school. Even though I’m now in my 40’s, and have kids of my own I’m sending off to school, I still get that feeling of excitement each fall. It’s the promise of something new, that this year will be different than the ones before. Do you still feel that way too? For me, there’s more of a “new year” feel in September, than there is in January. I’m ready to get a couple new cozy sweaters, some fresh journals and pens, and define how I want life to look from this point forward.
One of the gifts of the fall in Chinese Medicine is the energy of finding your rhythm in routines. Bring in other gifts of the fall in letting go of what doesn’t serve you, and in finding the gems in the muck (aka discovering the gifts in the challenges that have come up for you lately or in the last year), and you’ve got a recipe for setting the stage for you to succeed. Take a few moments to think about what you really want for your life. Now ask yourself what it will take to get there. What kinds of changes will you need to make to your life? For example, if you want to start using your gym membership that you pay for every month, but the only time you can easily workout is 5 am…well, you’ll likely need to start pre-packing your gym bag with your toiletries and changes of clothes, set out your workout outfit the night before, including your shoes, and you’ll need to set the alarm for 4:30 am so you have time to jump out of bed, change into your clothes, brush your teeth and hair, and grab that gym bag and get out the door (or maybe earlier if your gym is farther away). If your goal is just to exercise more, maybe you look at the numbers and your schedule and find you’d rather cancel your gym membership, and fit in one 10 min walk in the morning, one at lunchtime, and one mid-afternoon, and see how that goes for a while.
If you want to eat healthier, you’ll need to find the best plan that works for you. Plans that set you on a routine will work especially well this time of year. The Chinese Medicine Cleanse, for example, which is my program based on ancient nutrition principles, backed up with Western medicine, guides people through 21 days of food/recipes, yoga poses, and inspiration, to do a little bit at a time and help set you up for success. If you stick with a plan for at least 21 days, and ideally at least three times that long, then it’s much more likely to become a habit. Plans like mine that also incorporate a community where you can get support can motivate you if you feel like you’re headed off-course. Knowing there are others there who are going through it as well can be an inspiration and keep you on track. Whether you choose my course or another, you’ll want to make sure that you set yourself up for success by setting up a routine.
So how can you set up a routine with your food? Here are some ideas:
- Pack your lunch (or additional meals if you’re away from home longer) the night before
- Prepare breakfasts in batches on a day you have more time, such as cooking a big pot of steel cut oats, or making chia pudding, and store it in single serving containers (might I suggest, topped with fruit or nuts, or other yummy whole foods?) that you can easily grab with a spoon as you head out the door, or you can sit and eat once you get to the office or on public transportation (if allowed)
- Check out the grocery stores in your area and see if there are sales on particular days; for example, Sprouts always has double deals on Wednesdays, or special deals on the weekends. Other stores, like Trader Joe’s, never have sales and keep their prices low year-round. If there’s a day your grocery store has sales, choose that day as your shopping day if you can. I like to set a budget for the month, and stick to that as best I can to cut down on food waste and extraneous spending. Create a list of the items you need for the week, and then stick to that list. Knowing what you need ahead of time can cut down on stress and the amount of time you spend in the store. If the stores in your area have the ability and you have it in your budget, consider ordering your groceries online. Stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Giant all have delivery options for a relatively small fee. Order your groceries the same day each week to get yourself on a schedule and ensure you don’t run out of food and are left scrounging or going out to eat.
- Batch cooking for 3-4 days at a time can be great if you do okay with leftovers, and really helps to prevent those moments where you look in the fridge and feel like there’s nothing to eat (I’m pretty sure that’s not just me, is it? lol). My favorite things to batch cook lately are soups (like my Sausage, Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Soup), this Creamy White Beans with Kale and Wild Rice recipe that I’m addicted to by Rainbow Plant Life (Nisha Voor)- like, seriously, I have a problem…, rice, quinoa and other grains, and roasted veggies that I can easily then turn into Buddha bowls or salads that are super yummy! My fav veggies to roast are sweet potatoes and beets, but I’ll also occasionally roast mushrooms (I’m usually lazier and saute them instead), other types of potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, cauliflower and more. I just started doing this again for this season and it’s been amazing being able to just grab the bowls, and throw in some kale or other greens I have in the fridge, some brown rice or quinoa, some of the roasted veggies, and then I often throw in some protein- tofu, chicken sausage, roasted chicken, or whatever we might have in the fridge, and then I drizzle it with organic tahini, some tamari, a squeeze of lemon, and some salt and pepper and man, it’s SO good! In fact, I keep eating them and forgetting to take pics of them to share the recipes because they are so good…it’s on the to do list though. 🙂
- Planning out your meals for the week can really help with the grocery shopping. I personally like the thrill of working with things I’ve got for a couple of the meals, just to mix it up, but truthfully, sometimes that does mean an extra trip to the store. Planning can be fun, though. I look forward to certain meals when I plan out my week, and I’m more likely to try out that inspirational new recipe I saw if I schedule it in, and buy the food, and now I’ve got that cabbage I have to cook so I better go ahead and make that soup I’d planned or else it will take up too much space in my fridge!
I get that routine can feel confining to some. I’m a Gemini and I feel that way sometimes myself. I don’t love leftovers either. However, I feel better when I take these steps to create routine with my food, and having a flatter stomach (I tend to bloat like crazy if I don’t eat well or take some chances at a restaurant) and more energy can be a heck of a motivator! So if you feel more trapped by this much structure, then add more variety to your schedule. Instead of batch cooking every 3-4 days, maybe you cook every night if you have the time. If you have it in your budget, you can stock more generic pantry items and fresh food and just be inspired by what you have every day. Maybe you even want to go to the grocery store every couple days. For most of us, that can get exhausting, however. I didn’t realize how much time and energy I was spending on these kinds of things until I started to add more order; so I’d implore you to try out more structure as an experiment and see how it goes.
I hope you’ve found this useful. If you are looking for a program to try out, by subscribing to my newsletter, you can get a coupon for $20 off; if you’re already a subscriber, email me by hitting reply to the newsletter, and I can hook you up. For more information about The Chinese Cleanse, click here.
Here’s to each of us having a fresh start this fall!
xo,
Jen
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