Gift
I wanted to tell you my testimony but I wanted to change the word “testimony” to the word GIFT. The reason I need to change the word is because what Dasha has done for me is truly a GIFT. By you following through with the opportunity to join Dasha in this, it will be a GIFT for YOU.
I really thought I had things together. I thought I managed things really well. I thought I was connected…but, what I learned was that I was completely disconnected, exhausted and emotionally blocked. I was being held back by my imbalance which in turn prevented me from reaching my greatest potential. To make this as clear as possible, my insides did not match my outsides. My mind, body, spirit, heart, emotions, self-esteem, thought-process and nutrition were not communicating with each other at all. I was ready to do something…to change something. I had no idea the individual progress I would make with guidance from Dasha and her trustworthy, kind and unconditional support. When I would unlock one door of realization, five more doors of clarity would open. These stunning changes have now infiltrated into my whole entire family with the effects rippling two and three-fold. I was becoming free and emotionally lighter every day because I was taking care of ME, attending to ME. I now know that I can do both; take care of ME and OTHERS in a beautifully balanced way. There is no better feeling that being in the NOW and feeling JOY that life has to offer.
By taking this opportunity for yourself you are helping all those around you in your life, helping people you have never even met and most importantly, helping take care of YOU, that is the most important GIFT. My name is Erin Achilles, wife of the hottest man alive, mother of four incredible children, daughter to an amazing mother, great friend, helper, lover of life, appreciative of all opportunity the next day provides and…I am a Balanced Life DASHA-HOLIC.
Do this for yourself, there is no greater reason.
Erin Achilles
Old Dogs
They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I never really bought into that. Sometimes “old dogs” are pliable and ready to learn….sort of fed up with the way they’ve wandered for 50 years and looking for a spurt into a new direction. I’m an old dog. I’ve done the same thing over and over.
If there is something I did not want it was another diet. I’ve been dieting since the 1970’s. Really! WHY? I am as large as when I started. But the “weight” isn’t so much the issue. It’s the lifestyle of fast food, no time, laziness and more fast food. I did better when I was raising my family but when those last two boys were in high school I stopped cooking and I’ve never looked back.
Fast forward 20 years. My habits are worsening. Life is stagnating. Time to give the old dog a kick in the butt and let her know there are some good years left. Nice thought, but how does one actually DO this? Put the coke down, step away from the fries! Listen to your own body tell you what feels good and tastes good. Let it tell you what it would like to eat and what will help the most to forge through the next 20 years. It speaks to you. You just aren’t listening.
We get up each day and we put on the familiar. Why not? It’s easy, there’s comfort in it, but there is no growth in it. When someone tells you that your diabetes is going to kill you it may shake you up a bit. But again….oh yeah, my food should be the size of my palm, eat a hundred veggies and a piece of fruit and throw in a little exercise. I think I need more direction than this. I don’t need a group weigh in. I don’t need to count points and hang out with people that are as disillusioned as I am. I need some knowledge. I need to know about food and not in a don’t eat this, don’t eat that, sort of way.
Enter Balance – Balanutrition Coaching. It’s lots of knowledge about things you think you know, but don’t. As a counselor, certified in her field, Dasha brought an abundance of ideas and things to ponder. I could accept or reject anything. Some things I sort of rolled my eyes at, but tried anyway and have now incorporated them into my life on a daily basis.
I LIKE drinking water. Whoa…..what? I was a three coke a day girl. Wasn’t that hydration? Seems, not so much. To be perfectly honest I thought when I started to drink water I would lose 50 lbs immediately. I erroneously thought it would flush my system and I’d be lighter than ever. Also a myth….lots of those are out there. What I did feel was a wonderful cleansing. I started drinking it slowly, added to it and now am a regular water girl. If I don’t drink it, my body demands it and I can actually hear the call……drink me, drink me. I have felt the blessing it is to my body. The greatest of which is the total elimination of stomach pain that I have suffered for years. I had a stomach pain every day of my life. That couldn’t have been a coke related issue, right? I’m coke free, water driven, and free from abdominal pain. If I had no other result than that I’d walk away a happy woman.
I also LIKE veggies. I didn’t eat them, but I liked them. Again, too much of a pain to cook some fresh food. Really, don’t you just go to the frozen food section and stock up? Frozen has to be better than canned and maybe it is, I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that FRESH is better than anything. There is nothing that Dasha has shown me in the vegetable garden of life that is offensive. I like it all. Once again, my body demands it. It tastes so good and it isn’t expensive and it is simply the best way to eat. Fruits included. There’s nothing I don’t like. Everything my body craves and loves is available to me and I’ve been passing it by heading down the middle isle of grocery stores, stocking up on all that frozen stuff. Does anyone really like frozen pizza? I’ve tried all of it. It’s cardboard and there is no denying that. I’m now an outside isle shopper. Tossing veggies, fruits, some meats and nuts for a feast of goodness into your shopping cart is empowering.
I am in embryo. I am a slow starter and just finding my way. But my way is really interesting and I have learned so much, continue to learn and continue to make my life healthier and better. Have I had set backs? Of course. There’s a burger with my name on it on every corner and sometimes I just eat one. I’ll add fries too. But I don’t do it every night. And funny thing, they don’t quite give me the ever elusive “satisfaction” that they used to. I’ll have an egg omelet and enjoy it just as well. Ok. Maybe better.
Support yourself by gaining the knowledge and appreciation for a more abundant life. Take your body more seriously and listen to what it says. It will take you on this amazing journey. The time is precious.
Jo Hartnett
Being obese is hard on anyone. But it was especially hard for me considering I was only seven years old. It had gotten so bad that I had to struggle to stand up. I couldn’t see my feet. It hurt to look down because of my massive double chin. I didn’t realize that I was obese until the bullying started. Everywhere I went people stared. I was embarrassed to leave the house.
When I got a little older, I tried diets and exercise but they never worked and I just ended up becoming more and more depressed. It was a vicious circle because the fatter I got, the more depressed I was and the more depressed I was, the fatter I got. I was ready to give up and I tried. But then, Dasha came to my rescue and told me that there was a way.
She pointed me in the direction I needed to go and enlightened me all about nutrition and health. She designed different exercises for me and we both tried different diets until we found ones that worked. She helped me both physically and mentally. I began losing weight and becoming less and less depressed. I started to look forward to my daily exercises and I came to really like the food I was eating.
I started to have more fun in school and I made more friends. I’m not saying that my depression was completely cured; I had little fits of hopelessness from time to time. I started to participate in the theatre program and I found that I love to act. My name is Caia Ross, I’m fourteen, I started at 210 pounds and now I’m 160. Oh, and by the way, Dasha Ross is my Mom.
Caia Ross