Become Empowered!
October is the month to become empowered. It is the time to get your mental game on with food. Once we celebrate Halloween, many typically begin the season of the “mucous mess.” It is all downhill from that point. 
“Mucous mess” refers to the season between October 31st and January 1st. Sugar consumption is at an all-time high; there are severe temperature swings here in the Midwest, often within a day. Add to the mix a lack of exercise–because there is no time for such a luxury—the stress of daily life, and it happens: people start getting sick. Immune systems are a wreck and this dreadful cycle continues for months. The coughing, sneezing, and runny nose syndrome becomes like family that repeatedly visits for the holidays. Oh, not to mention those extra 5, 10 or 20 pounds. Why begin healthy habits in November with all those eating fests on the horizon?
October is my month to boycott this nonsense to the best of my ability and set myself up 
for a healthy holiday season. I practice the art of clean eating, since I am a bit lax in the summer. (Yes, even I sometimes take a healthy food vacation. It’s why I follow the 80/20 rule, 20 being the non-healthy selections. 🙂 ) My mainstay foods are vegetables, fruits, lean protein, good fats and plenty of water. I avoid refined sugars and excess carbohydrates, which translates to ice cream, bread, cookies, etc. I eat REAL food and avoid those foods that do not serve me in a positive way. EVERYTHING we eat leads us toward better health or away from better health. There is no such thing as neutral when it comes to food.
Choosing to eat this way is a very empowering experience, in addition to the health and weight benefits. Think about it: there is very little in this life that we are able to control. What you CAN control is how much you exercise and what (and how much!) you eat. YOU DECIDE!
By practicing the habit of making good choices—not perfect, but BETTER—you may not 
need a resolution January 1, 2017 that concerns losing weight and getting in shape. What if you could begin the New Year with your focus on achieving your lifelong dreams, instead of avoiding the cookies?
That, my friends, is empowering!
“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”
― Plutarch