***First and foremost, I want to say THANK YOU for all your sweet comments about the earrings I’m giving away. You are all so kind and I appreciate all of your compliments.  Seriously, I’m grinning from ear-to-ear!  And I think the consensus is that the ‘go-to’ holiday outfit is jeans, a fancy top/sweater with a pair of great boots!  That’s exactly what I’ll be wearing!***

If you read my post from last week, you’ll know that I’ve been operating at a lot a bit less than tip-top shape.  While I haven’t been completely bed-ridden, I haven’t been a ball of fire either.  If you’re a Healthy Chow follower, you’ll know that I love yoga and that I try my best to go to class just about every.single.day.  In the past seven days, I’ve only been to class twice.  Yeah.  I told you I was sick! Other than blogging and keeping up-to-date with my bloggie friends, all I’ve done is eat, rest and sleep.  I haven’t been this sick in years (coughing, sneezing, headache, body aches).  To say the least, it hasn’t been fun.  But instead of wallowing in self-pity, I’ve decided to be productive.  Instead of asking myself why I’ve been so sick, I’ve decided to ask myself what I’ve learned from my trip to the land way, way under the weather.  I was quite surprised as to what I discovered and for that reason, I wanted to share my revelations with you.

Revelations From a Less Healthy Chow:

• Life doesn’t always go as planned…
  After vacationing in Orlando and Miami and shortly after going to New York City for the weekend, I’ve been a tad lax with my eating habits.  Actually, I’ve been slacking more than I think I should for the past few months and it’s starting to catch-up with me.  That said, my plan after New York was to get back to my better eating habits and to really kick my butt hard with many hot and sweaty yoga classes.  I had it in mind that I was going to do as many double sessions of yoga classes as I could.  But when my throat started getting scratchy and my head was a throbbin’, I knew my plans would need some re-evaluating.

Image Credit – acupofjoy.wordpress.com

• We need to listen to our bodies…
  When I overeat and indulge on too many of foods/treats I should probably only have every now and then, my body feels crappy.  My skin doesn’t look so healthy, I feel bloated and my attitude on things is even affected.  I guess you really are what you eat! I’m not sure where and when I caught my cold, but I’m sure my overindulgent eating ways had something to do with my less than stellar health.  I haven’t felt like my usual Healthy Chow self, which should have indicated to me that something was on the horizon.  I’m not trying to say that we shouldn’t be allowed to have our favorite treats.  Life would be a bore if we deprived ourselves of a little indulgence.  However, with that said, we need to balance our eating by going back to our healthier eating habits after a few ‘vacation’ days (I like to think of my eating being on a balance scale – you can’t have too much on either side or else you will tip over!).

Image Credit – ehow.com

• Take the time you need, your body will thank you for it…
  Every morning I set the alarm to get up for my yoga class.  But for the past few days, instead of getting out of bed to greet the day, I’ve been shutting off the alarm (I usually hit the ’snooze’ button a few times) and pulling the covers over my head for an extra couple hours of sleep.  Instead of ignoring my symptoms and pretending I’m not that sick and going to yoga, I’ve let my body and mind rest.  And you know what happened?  All of the aches that I usually have from pushing myself in class seven days a week have suddenly disappeared.  The soreness that is usually in my left knee is completely gone.  Because I gave my body the chance to rest and heal, it rewarded me by taking away my pain.

Image Credit – lighterfootstep.com

• If you stop trying to put things in place, they will eventually fall into place…
  Before I came down with my cold, I told myself that I wanted to get my nutrition back in order and that I needed to be more intuitive with my eating.  Instead of just eating what is in front of me and what was easiest, I wanted to do a better job of giving my body what would make it the healthiest and what would make it run the smoothest.  But once I came down with ‘whatever I have’, my taste buds became dull and my appetite changed.  I no longer wanted to eat all the carbs I could get my hands on because my body told me I didn’t need them.  Instead, I craved fresh produce, healthy proteins and unprocessed whole grains.  My body wanted the things that would nourish me and help me recover from my cold.  My desire to want to eat more intuitively happened without me trying and without me even worrying about it happening.  I simply let nature takes its course and everything fell into place.  I guess that’s just what happens when you go with the flow!

Image Credit – ehow.com

So while I’m still not 100% recovered from my chest cold, I know my mind is in a much saner place.  I’m used to my body operating at full capacity and being able to take on anything to which I set my mind.  That said, when I’m sick and my routine is completely thrown off, I’m thrown off.  This time, I decided to not let my being taken off course derail me from everything in my life.  Instead of freaking out over not being able to exercise and not having the energy to do anything but sleep, I decided to make the most of my ‘down’ time.  And by accepting the fact that I was sick and that there wasn’t too much I could do about it, I was able to take better care of myself.  Our bodies have a unique way of telling us things and it’s our job to listen.  It’s just too bad that sometimes it takes a little bacterial infection to get our attention.  Or maybe a little bit of phlegm to save you from the bedlam? (boy, my rhyming is getting good!)

Has your body ever given you a sign or indication of something worse to come?  If so, what did it tell you?

***Techie WordPress Question: Why is it that sometimes I get notified of pingbacks/linkbacks to my blog and sometimes I don’t?  I don’t always get an email or notification in my WordPress.  Does anyone know why?***

Namasté,
Nicole