April 11 – Mindful Mondays at the Howard County Holistic Center at 8am

Join me, Lisa Karasek, CEPC this Monday for a Holistic discussion around your personal relationship with food.
As we move into warmer weather and shed bulky, protective clothing, and move into our more active lifestyles – Becasue Everyone Deserves A Healthy Relationship with Food.

Full description from Holistic Living: Contemplative Practices provided by host Patti Taylor of Integral Life Solutions …
Mindful Mondays have become even more interesting in April. Arrive: 7:45 am. Meditation: Setting Intention for the Week,
8:00-8:20 am. Meet and Greet: 8:20-9:00 am. Holistic Presentation: In Breath, Out Breath, New topic each week.

Fee: $20.00. RSVP required: ptaylor@IntegralLifeSolutions.com
*Please contact Patti to reserve your spot today, space is limited.
*Located behind the Wendys and Pizza Hut on route 108 in Columbia MD.

April 14 – Class 4 in my Introduction to The Psychology of Eating Workshop at 7:30pm

The Introduction to the Psychology of Eating Workshop is designed to guide you through your own personal exploration of your Relationship with Food. This workshop is inspirational for anyone looking to gain weight, lose weight, maintain their weight, or who deal with the demons or strengths of body perception. This workshop is ideal for anyone who is struggling with balancing lifestyle choices with meals and having a career. This workshop is suited for heads of households and the grocery shopper. This workshop will help people who eat at restaurants but prefer to be in their kitchens. This workshop is designed to lift the stigma of diet and how it affects you.

For more information visit the Announcements page

April 23 – Barefoot walk at Fort McHenry National Monument at 10am

Join us for a Spring walk at Fort McHenry.  We will have coffee to share. Please bring a travel mug to fill with coffee (we may have some extra cups available).

Here are some of the benefits of walking barefoot in the grass: The entire environment in the morning; the fresh air, sunlight and peaceful atmosphere helps you in innumerable ways. Fresh oxygen helps your body work better, sunlight helps you keep warm, replenishes your vitamin D stores and the calm atmosphere helps relax your entire body and mind, allowing you to let go of all your stress. Apart from that the green color of grass, helps stimulate your body to produce calming hormones that help you relax.Regular walking, as little as half an hour a day can improve cardiovascular health, moderate weight. In addition, it improves blood oxygenation, circulation, and immune response, removes toxins, and relieves stress. Our breath starts to synchronize with our motion. Ultimately, walking on grass becomes a form of healing meditation, removing our stress and replacing it with wellbeing on all levels.

Fort McHenry National Monument at 2400 E. Fort Avenue Baltimore, MD

I look forward to seeing you!

March brings with it many exciting things, primarily warmer weather, and that usually makes everyone feel pretty stoked – what with the jackets and bulky sweaters being shed and all. We see more people out – gardening, with children at the playgrounds, running groups, bicyclists, walkers, outdoor seating at the cafe’s. It’s great to be alive!

This brings the realization that we are exposed – in public – our true form – out there for all to see, and judge. E-gads, your running and cycling gear is form fitting. But who is the person judging your body the most?

Most people get caught up in this “must – have – now” mindset. They look for opportunities that bring immediate results, and minimal resistance. People push themselves like they’ve never pushed before. Larger than life personalities guarantee success with minimal effort. Quick fixes are attractive, they are exactly why fad diets are extremely popular with their promise of dramatic results. According to a new, healthcare market research report, Global Weight Loss and Gain Market is worth $586.3 billion dollars annually, growing at 10.9%.

People buy into “lose weight now!”  Effective marketing strategies lure in the unsuspecting prospects that are vulnerable and, often, desperate. The advertising is something with which we can relate to, and the (seemingly overnight) changes the others experience are what we must – have – now. But multiple failed attempts go unrecorded, and the next  “latest and greatest” plan is born.

Sadly, we fall into this vicious cycle time and again, year after year – and once more we are left scratching our heads as to why it didn’t work long-term. Don’t fall prey to the temptation of the quick and easy  path. Instead, create a very deliberate and well thought-out plan. Consult the professionals, and enlist a few close friends and family members to hold you accountable. As a Lifestyle Coach with A Focus on Nutrition I am right there with you, step by step – on that trail to a healthier, sexier, and fit You.

*Healthcare report statistics provided by Aaron Walker of A View from the Top*

Did you know that I am currently offering an Introduction to The Psychology of Eating Workshop!

It’s a series of classes where I help you to identify with, and strengthen your personal Relationship with Food.

This workshop is inspirational for anyone looking to gain weight, lose weight, maintain their weight, or who deal with the demons or strengths of body perception.

This workshop is ideal for anyone who is struggling with balancing lifestyle choices with meals and having a career. This workshop is suited for heads of households and the grocery shopper. This workshop will help people who eat at restaurants but prefer to be in their kitchens. This workshop is designed to lift the stigma of diet and how it affects you.

My first Workshop began in January and is meeting once monthly – we’re half way through! We have some great people coming together and really great discussions are being explored. It’s been very cold and I truly appreciate those who braved the weather to come!  I am excited for my students as they move into the next phase in the workshop. Everyone agrees they are learning a lot, and I am Happy for them as they are on the right path to creating Healthy personal Lifestyle Relationships.

If you missed this first Workshop, have no worries – I am offering more Workshops! Just head over to my Announcements page to learn all about it. And Please, Tell your friends!

Because Everyone Deserves A Healthy Relationship with Food

One of my jobs as a food coach is to figure out who the eater is.

As humans we cannot help but to think. But when thoughts – conscious or not – hinder your health, then I become a key component in the equation.

If you are entertaining negative inner dialogue when you sit down to your meal, you reduce the value of that meal by 60%. It can be the healthiest meal of your life, but you won’t digest or assimilate it properly.

What are you holding on to?        

When you look at pictures from your 29th Birthday, what memory sticks with you the most? Did someone in 9th grade years ago make a side comment that hurt your feelings? Did a co-worker say something insulting and inappropriate? What we remember and how those memories make us feel is what we hold on to. No one else feels the story like you do. It’s deep, and its part of your bodys cellular and muscle memory too. The why and how it stuck with you can inhibit your vitality.

Are you carrying yesterday’s baggage? is an article I found that puts a perspective on this baggage concept that I hope you find helpful. However, the author did not consider a coach in the options. As you read this article, if there is anything you identify with and think that maybe it might be a reason your health practices, your food behaviors, or your body image struggles are negatively directing you – remember that you do not have to do this alone. The author herself says you may not understand or know how. Knowing who you are as an eater is where your direction finds energy. Exploring your thoughts, accepting the need for change, identifying the challenge, and embracing the choice is how you manage the direction. If you are ready to let go of your baggage, as your coach we will explore your lifestyle desires. Together we can create a supportive and sustainable life management guideline, bringing you closer to a Healthy Relationship with Food that fully supports the lifestyle you Deserve.