I first worked with Sam when we joined forces for an intermittent fasting panel for the Nourished Retreat. And now I have the pleasure of having her on my blog to chat about EATING YOUR WAY THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS.
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Sam, your a jack of all trades. Yoga teacher, dietitian, and bee keeper. Tell us more!
Sam: I am a registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist, Ayurveda specialist, registered yoga teacher, and licensed beekeeper. I love the work that I do as everyday is different! I am the founder of Sprouting Soul Wellness, which provides integrative nutrition counseling, seminars, and workshops to individuals and businesses. I am passionate about giving individuals the tools to develop a better relationship with food and I focus on an integrative approach when it comes to nutrition. Healing must occur in not just the body, but the mind and the heart as well, for true health. My line of work is special in that I am able to keep one foot in Western medicine and the other in Eastern medicine and unite the two for powerful healing and health transformation.
When not at Sprouting Soul Wellness, I work part time in pediatric food allergy at a medical practice. This keeps me abreast on Western medicine and the latest clinical research. And I love spending my days helping infants, toddlers, and children manage their food allergies and improve the quality of their lives. You can also find me at the studio teaching yoga or at home on the farm caring for our honeybees and animals.
I love the diversity of your experience. As a dietitian, what kind of struggles do your clients face during the holidays?
Sam: The biggest struggles I see this time of year are 1) guilt and shame around eating “holiday food” and 2) using the holidays as an excuse to over indulge {aka mindless eating}. These two struggles will often go hand-in-hand and form a cycle.
Let’s say, I tell myself no holiday desserts this year because I can’t control myself around them and if I eat them I’ll gain weight. Now I am giving away my sense of power and putting it instead into this forbidden food. When we forbid something, it triggers our brain and we obsess about it. That obsession (thoughts) will often then turn into compulsion (actions) and I will over-eat holiday desserts, overriding my body’s natural fullness cues, and then I will feel shame and guilt and tell myself I’m never eating these things again and the cycle will start over.
Mindless eating, restrictive eating, and overeating takes away your own power. When you eat intuitively, are aware of your natural hunger and fullness signals, and are aware of what foods are truly satisfying, it is a form of respect for your body. When you respect your body you are empowering yourself. Self-empowerment is absolutely critical to health, wellbeing, and joy in life.
EEK! I can totally relate to that. How do you work around that issue?
Sam: Health is more then just physical. Physical health is one part of the whole. We have mental, emotional, social, behavioral, and spiritual health to nurture and care for just as much as physical health. When we put all of our time and effort in just the physical aspect of health, what other areas of our health end up suffering? When one part of the whole becomes all-consuming we become out of balance which, unfortunately in our society, can further drive the focus on physical health. We need to break the cycle. And it starts with ending diets, silencing our inner critic, and developing body awareness.
My advice for individuals this holiday season is to eat when you are hungry, respect when you are full, and eat in a way that satisfies and fulfills your needs. Remember, food is more then just physical nourishment. We celebrate with food. We mourn with it. Food is deeply linked to emotional and social wellbeing. Low-fat chocolate whipped yogurt is not chocolate mousse. Sometimes when we restrict things we end up eating more of something else then if we just ate the food we forbid to begin with. And this again leads to a poor relationship with food.
I LOVE that advice!! How do you incorporate Ayurveda into your wellness practice?
Sam: Ayurveda, translated from Sanskrit as the ‘science of life’, can be incorporated in so many ways! What I pull most from this ancient practice, are self-care rituals and seasonal eating. I will recommend specific self-care practices or seasonal foods based on a client’s unique needs and lifestyle. This includes different styles of yoga, relaxation techniques, skin-care regimens, meditation, herbs, spices, and food!
So really, we all use a little bit of Ayurveda in our wellness practice without knowing it. Since you are a yoga instructor as well, how do you incorporate yoga into your wellness practice?
Sam: Yoga is a fundamental aspect of my own wellness. For myself, yoga is less about exercise (I have other ways I like better to sweat!) and more about calming my mind and developing awareness around my body, my thoughts, emotions, words, and ultimately, actions.
I find that the same way I practice yoga, is how I teach it to my clients. Practice what you preach, right? I recommend yoga to my clients to help develop those exact things mentioned above. Yoga is a tool to deepen your relationship with yourself and expand the connectedness, empathy, and action you experience and take to better the community and world around you. But it has to start within. It has to start with a willingness to show up and do the inner work we need to do with ourselves. Yoga is all about that. It’s the best resource many have found to be better themselves and the world around them.
There are so many ways to stay healthy. It really takes a lot of focus to keep on the wellness path. How do you find balance in your wellness journey during the holidays?
Sam: Balance is something that needs to be practiced daily! It’s an on-going process. For me, balance means equally caring for my body, mind, and heart. In order to do that I have several non-negotiable practices: yoga (even if it’s just 10 minutes a day!), good nutrition (based on eating intuitively), my dinacharya (Ayurvedic morning routine), sleep, time in nature, time to play, time with family, and meditation/self-reflection. These practices are what I need to find balance within myself so I can better serve my family, friends, pets, yoga students, food allergy patients, or private clients.
Practicing balance daily really is the key. What are some books the BYOK readers can pick up during the holidays for some more guidance?
Sam: One of my favorite books that I go back to read time and time again (like every year) is A Life Worth Breathing by Max Strom. His writing is engaging and inspirational. And his advice is practical and it makes sense. As of the last 5 years, this book is #1 on my fave list. And I’m skeptical that any book will ever be able to top it! I took a yoga workshop with Max back in 2014 and I remember him saying it took him 10 years to write A Life Worth Breathing. The knowledge and accessibility within those pages is reflective of that time.
I recommend Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, two fellow dietitians, to almost all of my nutrition clients — men and women! When I first started working as a registered dietitian at an outpatient eating disorders facility my counseling skills and coaching approach transformed. Much of what we taught to our patients in recovery is based off the approach in this book. And I follow an intuitive eating diet in my own personal life. This book will transform your relationship with food. And it serves as the foundation in the way I coach privately.
Your advice as been SO SO helpful. I’m definitely going to take your guidance into consideration this holiday season. Last but not least – no BYOK interview is complete without asking – what is your favorite KOMBUCHA flavor?
Sam: I have been loving GT’S 2017 seasonal flavor! It’s a combination of apple, turmeric, carrot, and spices. It’s warming, refreshing, and tastes like the holidays! “Off season” I love their Guava Goddess and Mystic Mango — I feel like I am in the tropics drinking these.
As y’all head into the holiday season I hope you all reflect on Samantha’s advice. If you want to learn more about Samantha’s wellness journey, visit her instagram or website.
Happy Holidays!
xo Erica
