eat well, lose weight

I think I can, I think I can.

Yes you can DO EITHER: Gain weight for the holidays or not gain weight for the holidays. In fact I think you can lose weight for the holidays and the reason I think this is because I have has clients do that very thing!

So , we are going to start a quick plan to help you stay lean, get leaner and stay on track. How are we going to do this. We are going to decide what we want and we are going to WRITE out a plan. And with God’s help we are then going to commit to the plan, submit to the Holy Spirit our bodies – more about that later, and execute what we intend to do. Fair enough?

Ok so here we are day 1. Get your calendar or pda. I personally need to write it out, I think there is something very important to writing and remembering. I am looking at the next 6 weeks and I writing out big holiday EATING days and I am highlighting them. Then starting tomorrow, we will together create a plan to eat the food we love on those days, but work hard until those days so there will be no weight gain. Heck, you may even lose unwanted fat!!!

Fit Thought:

Why do you want to stay lean or lose unwanted fat? Why does it matter to YOU? Think about it and put that somewhere on your calendar so you can see it this week. Remind yourself why you are getting started and why it matters to stick to it.

I have had some recent interactions with people I know and LOVE. GOOD people. Kind people. Caring people. AND these same people judge and gossip about others. I do not 100% understand it. But, what I think, honestly, is that because they are hurting and have been hurt, they use this as justification to say less than nice things.

My awareness is HOW detrimental this thinking is to both the person DOING the thinking and to others who have no clue why someone else doesn’t like them. One of my friends who struggles with her weight gets offended if the “skinny” client at the gym tries to help others be fit.  The “fit” client makes specific choices, including eating healthy, fresh food and she choosing to spend her time working out. She enjoys running and lifting. It’s part of who she is and what she loves. She makes these choices FOR HER.

In the same vein, my overweight friend, although making huge strides, making better choices, and having come a long way, feels that this thin gal cannot “relate” to her and therefore has no place in expressing her opinion on what it is to eat right and exercise. The very act of being thin,  and sharing the success, hurts the others’ “feelings”.

It is not right to judge someone who is overweight. But, neither is it right to judge someone who is thin and perceived as attractive. In acutuality, despite one’s WEIGHT, one can ALWAYS put their BEST FACE FORWARD, get dressed nicely, do their hair and make up. Both types of people, make choices – EVERYDAY – that reflect their individual value systems. Is one wrong, the other right? Not at all. But, the misperception of my overweight friend that somehow the underweight client, isn’t or can’t be helpful is absolutely the judgement of the thin client and NOT the thin one.

I guess I never SAW this before. I think it is time that we OWN our STUFF. No one does anything TO US. No one can make us feel fat unless WE feel fat. No one can make us feel ugly, unless we already BELIEVE THIS to be true! So the question must become:

“WHAT DO I BELIEVE OF MYSELF?”

“WHAT DO I BELIEVE ABOUT MYSELF?”

“WHAT DO I WANT TO BELIEVE OF MYSELF – AND HOW WILL I CHANGE MY THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS TO GET WHAT I DESIRE, NO EXCUSES.”

One time a good friend of mine made the off comment “The way you look is very important to you.” She did NOT say this in a supportive way. It was more like a swipe. I thought about it a lot. “Do I come across self absorbed? Is that what she thinks is the ONLY thing important to me?” At the time I know she was struggling with the way SHE looked and felt.

I thought about that statement. I try and workout everyday. I have taught myself after YEARS of self discipline to eat only healthy stuff and never eat garbage. I am 5 foot NOTHING and have almost no room to “cheat” without gaining an immediate 5 pounds. I could bemoan the fact that I can’t eat what others eat in the portions others do. But, instead I do the best I can with what I have. I do care about what I look like, I think everyone should. Your body is a temple. But, I personally don’t think about it all the time and certainly don’t judge others for the way they look.

It took me awhile to dispel the judgement that my friend put on me – but why did it bother me? I thought about that. Because I make the CHOICE to workout everyday, and make healthy choices – which is TIME CONSUMING and because our society tells us that somehow spending time taking care of ourselves is EGOTISTICAL, I realized BOTH she and I had a subconscious judgement. I spent more time then she did therefore I was more concerned about my looks then she was. However, I have NEVER seen my friend without a GREAT outfit on, and her hair looking fabulous. So, who in this situation is MORE concerned about their look? AND does it matter? And IF it does matter to me, and it DOES MATTER to me, because I am a personal trainer and weight loss coach – I BETTER WALK MY TALK – why is it “negative” to make sure I look my best while I’m helping others look their best?

So, why belabor this point. It is simply this: When we judge OTHERS we waste VALUABLE TIME AND PRECIOUS ENERGY! We are all called to do and be something. These callings are different! We need to get SO OK with who we are, whose we are, and why we are here, it doesn’t matter for a minute WHAT someone else does or doesn’t do with their life.

Let freedom ring – in your heart and mind. It’s time to stop judging ourselves, and others. We must ask ourselves, am I doing the best I can, with what I have, from where I am….

I am also a huge believer in WRITING IT DOWN. I say this over and over and over. There is something extremely powerful in writing down your goals. They will manifest. I cannot believe how this always works. SO, if you want to spend more time with kids write it. Want to eat better? Write it. Want to make more money, write it! I schedule everything from eating to sex. I’m not kidding! If you don’t, well it just may not happen, and there are certain things you just shouldn’t take for granted!

The more I read the more I believe that it is the little daily things that create success or failure in our life. So, I am on a personal mission to do the small things daily that will manifest BIG things in my life. The most important one thing, that I do think is a constant and would constantly recommend is prayer: Constant, chronic, praising prayer. If you don’t know where to start, start here and see what happens.

Yeesh. It is time to get out of our own way. This requires us making SPACE, which requires us to

1. Know what is important
2. Determine where we are currently
3. Dedicating the time accordingly. The trick is learning to let go – of expectations, both ours and others.

A great exercise in priorities.

1. Make a list of what is important to you. Write it ALL down and not just what you think it should say. Be truthful, ultimately this is your life and your list.
2. Now put them in importance of order how you truly feel about them. Mine goes something like this:

• God
• Self care
• Husband
• Children
• Career
• Friends/family
• Finances
• Community

Now these are big picture things. Within each category, there may be a further breakdown – and certain times in life may call for a shift, like having a sick or elderly parent to care for.

Now, here is where push comes to shove. If these are your priorities. What does your calendar and money say your priorities are? We put our precious resources where we find importance. I did this years ago. And was shocked because although in my head, my priorities said one thing, my calendar said something else.

This is a question I’ve been mulling over recently. There are things I do exceptionally well at. Then there are things I simply seem to stink at. Whether it is just perception or truth, that remains to be seen. The thing I realize is that I seem to be able to do less then I used to, and it takes longer. Am I simply becoming dumb? I do not think so. The prediction that the amount of information that we have to process in any given moment would EXPLODE and an exponential rate has happened at the solid truth is our computers are full. And like a full over used computer, we tend to run SLOWER.

So what can we do about this. I think the best and most humbling decision that I have had to come to is a simple cannot do it all. Nor should I. Letting stuff go, is NOT giving up. It is simply putting it down, in order to accomplish the most vital and important choices of the day.

Awesome: Makes sense. But then how do we prioritize this. This is one of the million dollar questions, that I believe successful, happy people regularly ask. It’s not dumb luck, although some are more gifted in this area than others. I personally hope that I can continue to develop the understanding on how to do this.

The next few blogs will be a serious of exploring the concept of prioritizing and what gets in our way of doing this! So, hang on help is on the way!

So what gives? I always see the parallel – to health. Those who CONSISTANTLY eat well and exercise are CONSISTANTLY healthier than those who do not. It is that simple. BUT NOT EASY. If it were easy, everyone would do it!

Steps to be consistant:

• Resolve to never give up.

• Allow NO excuses – everyone is busy and has a reason why they can’t fill in the blank. The question becomes how can I……?

• Know what you want the end result to look like. Make a plan. Work the plan.

• Check in with yourself – how is it going?

• Although simple, the DICIPLINE to not allow distractions to derail you will likely be the hardest next step.

PS. Start small – dream big, but start small. Go for the small win – it will give you confidence for the big ones.

What do you do to be successful in your health, exercise, and business?  Let us know below!

This was the very behavior that drove me to the point of seeing a therapist! I was tired of being disappointed with myself, and others for not being perfect or at least making me feel like I was imperfect. Let’s just say this was the beginning of the beginning. I would get angry at little things, and although I KNEW I was being unreasonable, it was like an out of body experience.  And as much as I wanted to control the feeling, I would get out of control. I did not want my kids remembering this ranting lunatic, where yelling was the norm.  “If you do not change the way you THINK, this will end tragically.” THAT is what my therapist said. What did he mean? For me? For my kids?

You are like the energizer bunny he said, But the problem is you are so afraid, of not having an arena to perform, the minute you begin to slow down, you ramp yourself back up. You need to change….. to be cont’d

Women in this day and age are diseased with perfectionism. It is the plight of the 21^st century woman – and I for one would love to see this paradigm smashed! The great thing with the absolute personal and economic unrest right now, is that we get to look closely at ourselves and I get to ask “Do I like MYSELF?” If I don’t like myself what can I do about it?

Are you a perfectionist?  Do you enjoy being a perfectionist or don’t like being considered one?  Let us know below!

This is absolutely heartbreaking to me, that our societal message has been to people that they can and should go at it alone – that Weight Watchers, and the next latest greatest program should cut it, when eating and exercise habits are SUPER DIFFICULT to recognize, and deal with.

In a perfect world we would all have the “biggest loser” advantage. Stop everything. Take away everything and everyone that contributed to us getting fat in the first place. Wouldn’t it be great to have a TEAM of professionals monitor our every move and every morsel that enters our mouth – well then we would all be 10x more likely to be successful. But, that is not reality. And when the “biggest losers” reintegrate, it is an uphill battle to keep it gone – as it is for all of us. Remember, slow weight loss is more permanent weight loss. And losing the weight is not as hard as keeping it lost. “REALITY?” Give yourself 4 years to lose weight, change habits, integrate true lifestyle change and THEN, and only THEN will you feel and understand TRUE weight loss.

Leave a comment below and let us know how you are losing your weight, how you are maintaining your weight….what about any battles you are confronting to lose that weight!

So often we take for granted, “the server.” We treat them instead like a SERVANT. Well, the fact that someone is choosing a position to bestow honor, or service to another is not lowly, but rather an elevated position.

I truly believe that there is NO GREATER calling, than to serve another. But what kind of customer are we? What kind of person? Do we act indignant? Better than? Entitled? These behaviors are less desirable, I would say even  detestable. No One person is better than another, and for us to act in a manner as if this is the case, is to demonstrate that we do not think much of ourselves. Comparing is never ideal, nor does it make sense/ it leads to arrogance or lack of self confidence. Neither state is ideal or helpful. But loving where we are, how we are on the road to getting there is the TRUE MEANING OF SELF LOVE.