by Wellnesscookingacademy | Apr 18, 2019 | Wellness
The journey of a cancer patient can be turbulent and emotionally draining. Treatments can sap your energy and fear can bring on depression and despair. While you are focusing on your physical well-being, it’s easy to forget that your mind and spirit need care and nourishment, too. It’s time to take care of your inner self.
Taking Time to Care for Yourself
Cancer diagnosis and treatment bring a lot of stress. According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress is bad for your body as well as your mind. It can even exacerbate existing health problems. How can you combat this? By taking the time you need for self-care. Here’s how you can reduce your stress:
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- Get enough rest.
Make sure you are sleeping well and relaxing as often as you can. Talk to your doctor if you need help sleeping.
- Proper nutrition.
Eating healthy doesn’t require a lot of hard work. Simply minimize unhealthy fats, sugars, and bad carbs and increase your intake of fruits and vegetable. You can also work with your medical team to create a nutritional therapy plan that supports your treatment. In 2019, many Medicare Advantage plans added coverage for nutritionists, so if you’re enrolled in one, check your policy to see if this specialist is covered.
- Exercise, if allowed.
Again, you’ll need to ask your doctor, but the right exercise in proper amounts can actually give you more energy. It can also help you sleep better at night.
- Go outdoors.
The benefits of nature on health and wellness have been clearly researched. According to the American Public Health Association, “access to nature has been related to lower levels of mortality and illness … restoration from stress, a greater sense of well-being…” Simply being around nature, even in your own yard, can have benefits.
Work On Your Spiritual Wellness
A 2015 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer suggested that religion and spirituality are associated with better physical health as reported by the cancer patients themselves. If you’re not particularly religious or you are experiencing doubt in your spiritual walk, here are some ways to improve your spiritual wellness:
- Speak with an experienced member of your faith or its clergy, or a faith-based counselor.
- Meditate with deep-breathing exercises or pray regularly.
- Journal your feelings or create a daily list of things you are grateful for.
- Join a cancer support group to get much-needed community and emotional support.
Minimizing Stressful Treatment Difficulties
Cancer treatment itself can be taxing on the body and pose other stress-inducing problems. Address these as soon as possible.
- Managing Side Effects
Speak to your doctor or medical team right away if you are feeling unpleasant symptoms, pain or discomfort that you were not expecting after a treatment. For example, “chemo brain,” which is when your brain feels cloudy or fogging after a chemotherapy treatment, is not uncommon. However, if it continues and worsens, tell your doctor right away. Exercise and cognitive treatments can relieve this issue.
Finally, be sure that you know the side effects of the drug. Talk to your doctor if anything you are experiencing is causing you undue stress.
- Preventing Opioid Addiction
Pain treatment may be a necessary part of your treatment, but you shouldn’t fear opioid addiction. Write down any questions and discuss your concerns with your doctor. Make sure to tell your health team if you or someone in your family has a history of substance abuse or addiction.
Once your doctor has given you a script, be sure to fill and take it only as directed. Keep it safely stored away from anyone else in your family and never share your prescription. When you are done with the prescription, find out locally how to safely dispose of the drug.
If your pain is not reduced, your doctor may need to change your prescription or adjust your dosage.
During cancer treatment, you need to care for yourself. Tending to your spiritual well-being and managing stress can support your journey to health.
by Wellnesscookingacademy | Nov 20, 2018 | Business & Coaching
Sometimes, we take things for granted. I do remember a simpler time and I am sure my grandparents (God rest their souls), would remember it even simpler.
Do we really need to be such a nation of consumption? The food thrown away in our country could feed a nation! Not to mention all the clothes, shoes and unnecessary stuff we purchase. Then we are exhausted by trying to manage it all.
I’ve personally been on a mission to practice minimalism. Well, at least a version of it.
This year, think before you consume, both with food and stuff in general.
Before you buy ask yourself…
Do you really need it?
Everyone is selling something and we are all buying. The problem is all the excess. We really do buy more than we need. Why not try only buying what will make your life better!
This upcoming year try to keep it simple.
One of my greatest achievements has been creating a program with a roadmap for coaches to stay on track and grow their businesses.
The program includes EVERYTHING you need, done-for-you cooking classes, questionnaires and check lists to keep you FOCUSED, growing your list and making more money.
The cooking class kits are complete with everything you need to be organized and look like an expert from day one, you just plug in your information and get to work. This gives you the ability to get in front of a lot of people and make more income.
Make this the year that you KEEP IT SIMPLE and only have what you need to grow your business and create a sense of calm in your life.
Make it simple, but significant.
-Don Draper
Stop consuming excess and buying products and services that only sit in your computer. This course will change your life. Even if you are not a health coach, everything you need to become a certified wellness cooking instructor is included.
The course is now available throughout the year! Only at 1/3 of the price! And it includes a FREE MONTHLY MASTERMIND.
Extra income, FOCUS, and more joy.
That is my wish for you for the coming year.
by Wellnesscookingacademy | Oct 28, 2017 | Recipes
These Black Bean Brownies are one of my favorite go to deserts!
So healthy you can actually eat them anytime and not feel guilty.
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups carob semisweet chips or dark chocolate 70% cacoa
2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
2/3 cup agave nectar or 1-1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
chopped walnuts (optional)
shredded coconut (optional)
Directions
1. Place carob chips in a heat-resistant bowl on top of a boiling pot of water until melted.
2. In blender or food processor, combine beans and eggs.
3. Add sweetener, baking powder and melted chips, process until smooth.
4. Pour batter into an approximately 9-inch nonstick pan or into cupcake papers
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes for pan, 18 mins. for regular size cupcakes or 12 mins. for minis
6. Top with walnuts and coconut, and sprinkle with a few extra chips if desired
7. Allow to cool cut and serve.
These are surprisingly delicious, and nobody will be able to guess that they are made from beans!
by Wellnesscookingacademy | Sep 21, 2017 | Business & Coaching
Sherri Mraz teaching a cooking class
Mostly everyone I know likes cooking classes. I watch them on TV all the time but quickly get frustrated because most of them are not healthy.
Being a health coach it is important for me to keep my recipes and classes in alignment with my beliefs and health goals. I started teaching classes with the message that, “Healthy Begins in the Kitchen.” We all know, we are what we eat, but most people don’t know how to change that. You have to give people simple ways that they can make food changes on their own.
For me every class becomes an opportunity to build my brand. Here are a few quick tips for you to create a following of your own using cooking classes.
- Know what makes you, YOU, turn it into a BRAND
You don’t have to be so different from everyone else you just have to be authentic. We are all here for a purpose, let yourself TRUST your unique gifts and let them shine. If you are vegan, raw, Paleo or just healthy family style then teach that. Don’t overcomplicate it, just teach what you do.
- Create a program roadmap
You can earn a living from just teaching classes, but if you want to build up a coaching practice you must learn how to map out your programs and services. The class may not be the final destination. Where do you want your people to go next, always sign them up for the next step.
- Grow your list
Use a sign up sheet at every class and event you do and create a free offer for your website. Learn how to create valuable content that creates loyal followers and how to deliver it.
- Become credible, get known as an expert
All successful entrepreneurs and wellness guru’s have a book. I feel so strongly about this that I added an entire section to this in the Academy. We show you how to get this done super efficiently. This will build your brand like nothing else. It will get you booked and become the base for your brand.
- Website as your Hub
Create a website that let’s people know who you are. Your website should match your personality and become a center point that all your information feeds to.
Are you passionate about teaching others how to eat healthy food? Does it seem that people are always asking you what they should eat? Maybe you are really good at hacking recipes and making them healthier. Why not make a business out of it? And, if you are a coach this is the perfect way to grow your business.
I’m Sherri Mraz, President and founder of the Cookin’ Yogi and the Wellness Business Academy. I teach people how to improve their health through better food and lifestyle choices. I have put together a team of experts who are on the same mission. We believe that “Healthy Begins in the Kitchen.”
I invite you to check out the Wellness Cooking Academy. This course is more like a business in a box that comes complete with live guidance. No longer will you struggle on your own or stay stuck in overwhelm. .
by Wellnesscookingacademy | Jul 24, 2017 | Business & Coaching
To quote an old Grateful Dead song… ”What a long strange trip it’s been“!
I have been a health coach for nine years and although I have loved every minute of it, some of the hard lessons I could have done without.
Our children are our mirrors
I think it’s like having children. Often times I think that our children are our biggest mirrors, we learn so much about ourselves by looking at them.
Like the time my little two year old stormed across the floor saying; “sh#*, sh#*, sh#*!”
I would have told anyone that I didn’t curse, up until that day. Pretty sure I was the only one she was mimicking.
Your business is your mirror
Our businesses are like our kids in much the same way, as they are also mirrors.
The biggest thing that I learned about myself through the journey of creating my business was that sometimes I am not balanced. If I spent too much time in “give mode,” I would eventually become burned out and even resentful if I wasn’t charging my clients enough. I would also start overdoing, feeling like I needed to do more, (pleasing mode).
On it’s own giving is a good thing, but it doesn’t always build your bank account if you are not in balance.
Creativity can be a blessing and a curse
The other thing that I learned about myself was that I am too creative for my own good. I tend to go from one thing to another, never staying rooted in one project long enough to see it bloom.
It’s great to create, but you have to then shift to promotion mode. While promoting you must shelve all creating of other projects or you will never get anywhere.
Let me repeat that, you must do nothing else but promote after creating.
If you feel like an octopus going in all different directions at once, it’s probably because you are switching back and forth between create and promote. You have to be in one place or the other… PERIOD!
Your career is a reflection of your inner story
It’s hard to digest that our career and how we handle it is a reflection of our inner selves.
Maybe you keep changing directions, always trying to figure out how you contribute to the world and then never seeing anything to completion.
The truth is your career is not separate from the rest of your life, it’s a part of your life. We all want to make a difference in the world, we want to spread love and understanding. The sticky part can be when you feel this passion, but haven’t a clue how to get your message out to the world.
We need to check in with ourselves and see where our resistance is. If you are hiding a low self esteem you may not think your work is good enough. Or maybe you have always had a money struggle so now you don’t know how to charge.
You need passion and business skills to succeed
Your career is meant to connect with your passion, but business is business. So many health coaches just don’t know the steps. They have more passion than business going on and this is keeping them in lack.
You need a system to follow, like a road map that brings you to success!
It’s really important to have a system and stick with it. I learned the hard way what to do and not do when it comes to promoting your business.
When you finally get it, you will feel like the clouds parted and you can see straight to the sun.
You don’t need to go through years of struggle to see the sun, your mission will be crystal clear and focused if you follow a set plan.
Each and every one of us is put here for a reason
I do believe that each and everyone of us is put on this earth for a reason. Deep down I know you believe it too, but you may be trying to quiet that voice in your head. You may be going through the motions of working but not feeling fulfilled.
Write down a list of what you love and what you’re passionate about. It doesn’t have to be about work but it will help. Then write down where you are now?
Do you love what you do, but you are just not making enough money at it? Or are you feeling stuck and in a rut?
I think work should look like a yoga pose. You learn how to find your edge, we call it “gentle discomfort.” You won’t progress unless you are pushing just a little past your edge. Oh and then you breathe..
Stay tuned for our next live Academy launch and if you can’t wait, or are a super self starter, register for the Self Study course. This course will take you on a linear journey, uniting your passion with business skills and done-for-you content.
Who says you can’t have it all?
