by IcennaEmach | Nov 13, 2012 | Uncategorized
Several ago, I had a friend who relentlessly pumped me for information on diet and exercise. She wanted to lose weight very badly. She would constantly ask, “Please just tell me what to eat and drink and I will do it. Tell me what exercises to do and I will do them.” She was obviously desperate. I knew she had been on every diet plan out there and that she did lose weight on each plan. I also knew she always gained it back. I knew I could get her to lose weight, but I also knew that if we did it the way she wanted me to do it, by telling her what to eat without understanding the why’s of what to eat for weight loss and optimal health, she would gain it back. Her pleas were not pretty. Desperation never is.
Years later, I saw her at an event in town. She looked great. I mentally recalled how she had siphoned information from me. I decided to use her old technique to learn of her success. I asked her what she is doing specifically to look so good. I asked her what specific exercises she did and how many sets and reps of each. I asked her how much time she was spending exercising every day and how often and at what time of day. I asked her to be specific about what she is eating and how much she is drinking as well at what time of day she is doing her eating and drinking. In short, I was reminding her of when her highly focused attention to often senseless detail camouflaged the big picture.
I was happy for her but I wanted to magnify the point made years earlier that there is not one specific plan that is going to work for all people. Yes, many diet plans do work. Many are sensible. What tends to happen however is that once the structure of being told what to eat, without having your brain involved in the process, is weight gain. She confided to me that our conversations had made a difference in her life and that one day while alone in the confines of her own thoughts, it finally ‘hit her like a rock in the head’, her words not mine. Once she realized she had to get real, use her brain, and stop looking for the magic bullet of a special food or particular exercise, things began to take shape in her own mind.
You see, what this friend had done was combine many of the principals of the time instead of just one or two gimmicks. She instituted daily exercise adherence, portion control for all meals, protein at each meal, more water, less sugar, less alcohol and a few other time tested principals for weight loss at that time.
That was several years ago. Several years ago, science was not as advanced on best practices for losing weight as it is today. Fortunately, she lost the weight – but it took a long time because much of the then current information called for difficult behavior changes such as reducing portion sizes, and eliminating much. Today we know better. Losing weight is less about portion control and more about what we eat.
Congratulations to my friend for hanging in there and smartly combining all the principals of the time to lose the added weight and most importantly keep the weight off. She was one of the savvy ones who used the difficult to implement behavioral practices of the time to lose weight.
Luckily, today science has advanced considerably in what we know about the body and how it utilizes fat best. Fortunately for me, I have many more ways in which to help clients become healthy fit and lean. Thankfully we no longer have to embrace only difficult behavior changes like my friend did, that is, the hard way – a rock smack right to the head – knocking sense into her and giving her a will of iron. Weight loss advances now offer more than simple practices of exercise and eating behavioral adherence. Science has told us much over the last few years. And that’s good news for those aiming to lose weight quicker.
In my next post, we’ll take a look at some of the advances in science and see how you can quickly and easily implement those changes into your own weight reducing routine. One final thought. Weight loss is not about denial of foods, but in finding the foods you may eat in abundance! I like to call this “Eating Like You Mean It!”
Stay connected as I review common practices that keep people from losing weight. And guess what, they are not what you may think!
by IcennaEmach | Jan 25, 2012 | Uncategorized
A while back, I started a project called Movement is Life, which is still running and provides many of my clients with weekly progressive online cardiovascular exercises designed for healthy living and weight loss. As I look back into why it has taken off, I realize that movement is the impetus for creating a rational mindset that is open to sensible weight loss expectations. Because of that, I am ready to offer an extension of the Movement is Life program that may be helpful to you called Movement is Life-Changing the DNA of the Traditional Dieter.
This Isn’t a Lose Weight Quick Scheme
There are dieting marketers aplenty who will tell you that you can lose 21 lbs in three weeks with their time tested formulas. I’m sure some of those gimmicks work rather well, and I am not saying that some folks aren’t making that kind of success, but that’s not what I am selling. With Movement is Life-Changing the DNA of the Traditional Dieter, you and I are going to look over several things, from what affects a woman’s resting metabolic rate/what affects a man’s resting metabolic rate, to elements of a successful over age 50 weight loss plan, increasing your human growth hormone naturally, why baby boomers gain weight, weight gain and menopause, to why we overeat and how to begin the process of change. None of what I offer will fall into the camp of “lose weight quickly,” and so, if that’s the goal, you might look elsewhere.
We Will Talk About Motivation As Well as Actions
Wishful thinking is okay. Turning it into a vision is central. Wanting to lose weight via exercise and better eating habits is a must. If you are a person that wants to stop the process of aging prematurely because of poor exercising and eating habits, then this program is for you.
Don’t Quit Your Current Exercise or Eating Plan Just Yet
We’ll cover different topics every week, and along the way, you’ll find some things that resonate with you and others that won’t. Additionally, every single week for 10 weeks you will receive a cardiovascular plan designed specifically for you that is not a cookie cutter plan. Don’t jump into this whole hog and think that you will be changing everything all at once. Instead, let’s figure out what works well for you, how you intend to make some changes that are not drastic and keep you feeling motivated about being headed to a better way of life. Let’s see if we can find what makes you healthy, happy, and lose weight. I’m not selling desperate attempts at weight loss. BodySmartWay is selling sensibility.
If This Sounds Interesting
If you are interested in learning more, give me a call at 904 501 6002, or just sign up here on my blog at www.bodysmartinc.com and go to Movement is Life. The weekly online coaching plan, Changing the DNA of the Traditional Dieter, although not indicated on my blog here will be included free if you sign up with the Movement is Life plan by Februuary 29,2012
And if not, a new potentially useful post is coming out soon.
Our Wealth is in Our Health,
Kim Miller
BodySmartWay
by IcennaEmach | Aug 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
Many of you have been reading my blog for a couple of years now. And it has occured to me that often times I write very differently than other health writers. This may be viewed as a positive trait by some yet a negative trait by others. Hopefully you are in the former group!
The reason I mention this is that one of my readers recently brought to my attention, that although my blogs are interesting( thanks!), they often lack “step by step approaches” to bettering his health.
Well this got me thinking, and what it evolved into was a 17 hour weekend of pondering and writing on the topic of ABOUT. I asked myself the question my reader was basically asking me “What are your blog posts about? And Why do you write the way you write?
Below is what I came up with. Many thanks to my questioning reader. If it wasn’t for him I may not have done the needed work to help me, and in turn help you get closer to your vision of what your healthy life can be!
What is This Blog ABOUT?
It is about becoming lean, fit, healthy, and strong by focusing on the 5 essentials of healthy living you see on the clipboard.
It is not about focusing on the gimmicks of weight loss tactics that surround us daily in the media. It is about the The BodySmartWay of bringing health, pleasure, and satisfaction back to the way we live by focusing on keeping our health needs simple, realizing that movement is life regardless of disabilities, surrounding ourselves with positive influences that encourage our efforts, understanding the need for human help in change, and progressing through lifestyle challenges without the high stress factor of desperate attempts.
Inside-Out Approach
Most of my adult life I’ve taken an inside-out approach to living. An inside-out approach to healthy living means focusing on all the areas of our healthy lives we have control over instead of those areas we have little control over. It means paying less attention to the goal, whatever it may be such as weight loss, decreased blood pressure, decreased blood sugars, increased bone mass etc. and emphasizing only the skills we have or can acquire to arrive at the goal.
What Did I Do?
As a young adult, I had a propensity to break everything involving fitness down to the most detailed of factors. When I was 14 and planning the outline of training runs I would implement to obtain my personal best 10 kilometer run, it occurred to me that there were many things I could control in aiming to achieve a faster time.
I listed everything that came to mind that I could control to give me a faster time. Here’s a peek at a partial list as noted in my journal of May 1977.
1. Eating better to run faster
2. Inspiring articles to run faster.
3. 8 hours of sleep to run faster.
4. Daily stretching to run faster.
5. Relaxation exercises and afternoon naps to run faster.
6. Appropriate recovery days to run faster.
7. Eating less to lose 8 lbs to run faster.
8. Carbohydrate loading to run faster.
9. Running faster shorter distances to run faster.
10. Keeping hydrated to run faster.
My full list included many more details of an ideal training regime. I tell you this for two reasons. One is to say that an inside out approach with all its controllable features is a great start for bettering ourselves and our individual goals. But the second reason I tell you this is to illuminate what I learned that is even more important than simply trying to control everything in my life. What I learned about myself convinced me that although an inside-out approach is great thinking, it must be a “Focused What Matters Most Approach” that ultimately aids in achieving healthy living goals. Let me illustrate.
Here’s What I learned About Myself
I learned there are many things I can control in my life and in running faster in general.
I loved writing a grocery list each week of healthy foods that could help me run faster. I loved just going out and running at an easy pace with no regard for time. I loved consuming just the right amount of water as suggested by the Runner’s World Magazine Team; I loved stretching my limbs out under the oak tree on our front lawn after a long training run. This was all good stuff as a child growing up. It set the stage for feeling confident that I could control my destiny.
I soon realized however, that for all my hard work in controlling the above features to become a faster runner, I was really taking the easy way out. It was a rough but needed reality. I conveniently got bogged down in all the minutia of how to run faster, and chose to ignore the 2 most beneficial controllable factors on my list that could make me a faster, more efficient runner. I’ll tell you what these are in a moment.
Within 3 months of implementing these two factors from my long list, I ran my first sub- 40 minute 10 k run. Always priding myself on taking an inside out approach to running and learning I finally came to terms with what was really occurring. I focused on those things I could control that were easy. That’s correct, easy. Those articles I read about in Runner’s World Magazine that were going to take me to the next level as a runner: stretching, drinking more water, taking naps, carbohydrate loading, and running slow and long were easy to implement. I enjoyed all this detail. But….
I was derailed in my thinking. I was derailed by all the seemingly important detail I read about. I allowed all the easy to implement information to become most important while ignoring the 2 most significant items on the list that were holding me back from reaching my 10 kilometer running goal. Sadly, I conveniently ignored these two factors :
1. More intense fast short training runs.
2. Eating Less.
Leaving the long list behind and scribbling a few sentences aimed at helping me run my first sub-40 minute 10 kilometer race, I wrote:
1. What Matters Most: Run faster, harder, shorter distances in training.
2. What Matters Most: Lose 8 pounds.
How Can This Blog Help Me, I’m not a Runner?
Many of you want to lose weight, become more fit, and increase your chances of maintaining the lifestyle you enjoy currently. You are aware that high blood pressure, high blood sugar, increased cholesterol, and high triglycerides are all markers of a poor quality of life to come if you do not make lifestyle changes now. You also may realize you are tired of living in the constrained box of life that comes with increased body mass indexes. You know a change in your body weight not only reflects better on how you look, but also in how you feel about your life, your relationships, as well as your attitude about life and living in general.
We Are Inundated With Too Much Information For Real Change to Occur.
On a daily basis we are inundated with do-this-don’t-do-that kind of thinking.
• Sip this juice to rid yourself of diabetes.
• Eat this fruit to drop a size in two weeks.
• Reduce back pain with this one super exercise.
The list goes on. The “How-To” articles are endless. We do not need more dieting techniques to try out, exercises to implement, more vitamin pills to swallow, more varieties of waters to drink, or a more abundant range of food items from which to choose.
“Experts” have told us what to do and how to do it for far too long. Ironically, we are not becoming any leaner as evidenced by our government’s 2011 health statistics. And paradoxically we are becoming less happy in our desperate attempts to lose weight and become lean, fit, energetic, engaging, and satisfied with our lives people
Through the BodySmartWay’s complimentary articles, online and telephone coaching/training sessions, and products, it is my hope you realize there is a better way of being while striving to obtain a more lean and fit body image. You will hopefully see that gaining a BodySmartWay perspective, allows you to smartly de-emphasize the actual weight loss goal, better health numbers, less body joint pains, or just a more physical way of being, and concentrate on the most important behaviors that Really Matter Most in reaching your personal lifestyle goals.
Having been in the fitness fields my entire adult life, and having worked with hundreds of clients of diverse backgrounds, I am excited to report there is a definite trend in a smart direction. Savvy people do not want to be anxious desperate dieters haphazardly trying out advertising dieting tactics and fitness tips with no clear vision of how it makes sense in their lives.
What is That Direction?
People are becoming smart about exercising. They are becoming smart about eating for health, and yes, for pleasure too. And people are relaxing and working in balance, forming meaningful relationships, and realizing the value of why dieting without perspective and with too much needless information is short lived.
Worlds are Changed by Perspective. Lifestyles Can Be Changed By Perspective.
We are gaining a new perspective and it shows. We know we need more inspiration, and less ineffective information. We know we need more people helping people make sense of living a life of health, pleasure and satisfaction, while improving in a meaningful manner that is sensitive to individual lifestyles, ways of learning, and ways of being. Fortunately, the more I engage with people, the more hopeful I am they are becoming increasingly savvier in their lifestyle approaches. They are realizing the old ways of dieting and striving to live a healthful engaging life are old style thinking. Increasingly, today’s consumers, I am happy to report are refusing to get inundated with all the healthy living hype and are focusing on What Really Matters Most in achieving healthy, fulfilling, more fit, lithe lives!
This Blog is about What Matters Most
I Hope it Helps.
Best Regards,
Kim Miller
by IcennaEmach | Jul 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
Do you ever wonder why you are successful at managing your career, your kids, your budget, and your often crazy social calendar, but for some mad reason, you can’t manage your weight? You’ve got what it takes – you just need a little coaching.
“Do not look for expensive cures, new age fads.
Examine your thinking.”
~ © Alison Stormwolf ~
This Advice from poet Alison Stormwolf, is projected on a screen before each health seminar I host. This candid saying serves as a reminder that healthy living is about controlling our minds. On first appearances, it seems out of place in a healthy living seminar. However, as the weeks progress, members within the group are not only more aware of the mindset needed for healthy change, but are more capable of producing the actions needed to live a more healthful, energetic, and carefree life.
With no mention of weight loss as an outcome of the group health coaching seminar, you may be thinking, “So…. tell me ….how much weight do the members lose?” Good question, since losing weight is on many people’s minds as we enjoy mid summer activities. Let’s revisit this question of weight loss for a moment though, as some perspective needs to be shed in order to get up to speed on why focusing on health living perspectives vs. dieting information results in not merely a leaner, lighter, stronger and more beautiful body, but is a more effective and savvier approach than the old school mentality of “munching on celery while secretly craving corn bread.”
A little healthy living perspective on information overload
“I Can’t Think!” is the title of a recent health article by Sharon Begley in Newsweek magazine. Decision Science has only recently begun to make sense of research on how the brain processes information, but scientific evidence is suggesting we are living in an age of info-paralysis that is very difficult to prevent. Scientists repeatedly show that increased information leads to objectively poorer choices, and often times down – right bad decisions. In our health information overload society where we’re inundated with “do this – don’t do that, eat this – not that” kind of logic, it seems we are doomed for failure when it comes to healthy living and weight loss attempts.
What is a person to do? Psychologist Joanne Cantor author of the book Conquer Cyber Overload and Professor emeritis at the University of Wisconsin, says, “it is so much easier to look for more and more information than sit back and think about how it fits together.” When it comes to dieting, you’ve probably surmised, this is what’s happening to many of us who read countless articles online, in our e-mails, in e-books, paper books, not to mention( sigh) all the dvd’s, cd’s and I pod downloads we listen to in the hopes, by osmosis, we’ll lose weight, get fit, and live happily ever after. If our busy lives could be that easy!
Growing body of evidence
There is a growing body of evidence concluding that a more reasoned, mindful behavior style approach is not only more effective to weight loss, but most effective in keeping weight off for good. Increasingly, many coaches today trained in the area of positive living and healthy weight loss are turning their clients on to a behavior style approach for lasting change.
Coach Kellie hall of Atlanta, Georgia explains to her clients how behavior change is most difficult initially, but that the results can be life altering . “Change is most difficult in the beginning, in large part due because our habits are ingrained in the neural pathways in our brain. By repeating a new behavior over and over, and in small increments, such as eating fruit for dessert instead of pie, we are forging new pathways in the way we think and act.” Thanks to neuroplasticity which is the ability of our brain to change in response to new experiences, we have the capacity to change our habits, creating new neuropathways, and experiencing life in a whole new, more engaging, more meaningful, and more effective manner.” This new behavior which was once monumental, she explains, “becomes automatic when a behavior style approach is fostered.”
In my field of health coaching, potential clients are coming in restless. They know they need to lose weight, but they also realize changing behaviors is no longer an option. This is a good thing however, as it signifies a needed mind-shift that is necessary for real and lasting change to occur. In the past I would have to convince people of the merits of losing weight through behavior change, but now they are increasingly coming in with a driven sense of purpose for a smart plan that compliments their lives but yet is inspired by their own talents, strengths, motivations, and desires. I like to kid my clients and say what I do is make them smart. In reality, they are the smarty pants. I just nudge them along until they see how to make sense of applying the most personally meaningful health information smartly, just as they do with their own careers, families, and social affairs.
Stop the Busy work
In your desire to lose weight you may have found it easier to keep reading the vast amount of information, than to process what appears to be most important. If this is you, here’s where to begin. Make no bones about it, smart savvy readers know traditional dieting is not the answer to losing weight. We are looking for solutions to lose weight, feel better, and look better, and know that ultimately changing behaviors is a definite must do. Here’s how to begin. Read the following.
Note the mind-shift needed and start putting healthy living into action today!
Step One: Use movement to inspire you
Mind-shift needed
Movement has the capacity to inspire a vision of how we want to live and feel.
Action
Move more daily. Tell someone. Start today. Worry about the details later.
On the opening day of my healthy living seminars, I encourage clients to begin their daily routines with exercise. The act of moving our bodies makes us feel better about ourselves, has the capacity to inspire a vision of how we want to live. And it makes us feel better about our lives in general. Movement sparks in us a desire to do better at whatever we do!
One client of mine illustrates this ability of exercise to enhance her life when she tells the group, “I went for a walk yesterday and without even trying I ate less at dinner.” This is the power of what exercise can do. “It makes me feel more alive”, says another member, “It makes me realize there are other things to do besides eating.” Don’t get me wrong”, she continues, “I still enjoy eating, and I know it’s ok to like to eat, but I am beginning to feel more satisfied and in control of how much I really need to eat. Eating is more enjoyable when you know you did a little work for it.”
As a health coach I encourage people to expand on these thoughts. Talking cements these connections in place so we’re more apt to continue healthful ways. We don’t get all emotional. We simply tell it like it is and carry on. This, to me, is the beauty of how others who are in similar situations can propel themselves forward. Exercise, combined with articulating connections undoubtedly helps us to see more clearly the possibilities of how we can, and will lose weight. Tell a friend. Tell a spouse. Your life is important. But just go out and exercise! We’ll work on the details later.
Step Two: Seek Progress Not Perfection
Mind-shift needed
Seek progress not perfection. Do not use perfectionism to quit trying.
Action needed
Take baby steps. Start small with exercise and healthy eating changes.
Coach Kate Larsen said it best in her book, Progress Not Perfection: Your Journey Matters, when she illustrates the importance of progress as a means of measurement instead of perfectionism Too often it seems we get caught up in this all or nothing attitude. You’ve heard it before, “I’m going to lose weight; I do nothing half way and this includes weight loss!” These people typically fail, and often are the ones that use this approach as an excuse to stop trying to lose weight and get healthy. “I’m a capable person. If I’m going to do this it will be with gusto – exercising 2 hours a day and eating nothing but clean food. That’s just the way I am!” It may sound heroic, but the truth is, ironically these actions reflect the opposite. They have used perfectionism as an excuse to stop trying.
Don’t let this be you. Weight loss is not about being perfect. The true heroes persevere, and do not use this mindset as an excuse to give up. A persevering mind is a strength. Let this be you.
Step Three: Focus on what really matters in weight loss
Mind-shift needed
Savvy people don’t get caught up in all the hype of dieting tactics. They get down to business and get the job done.
Action needed
Stop reading expert advice tips. Get real. Eat less of whatever you eat and get started now.
“Should I eat only protein and vegetables at dinner time? Should I eat fruit with every meal or just in the morning?” Here’s my best advice to you if you feel inundated with do- this not- that kind of information – stop reading. It’s paralyzing you into inaction. Here’s what you need to know. You will lose weight if you eat three quarters to half of what you normally eat during most meals of the day. That’s it. “Really”, says one client, “I am so tired of all the information out there.” When asked to describe what he feels is holding her back from losing weight, she pauses and says, “I just eat too much. But then sometimes I hardly eat, and then I eat again too much.” I can’t tell you how often I hear this in training and coaching clients. It’s ok though. Awareness is the first stage of weight loss.
We all know what to do. We’ve just allowed ourselves to get consumed with tidbit dieting techniques because that is how advertising affects us. However, advertising cannot get all the blame. Too often we use dieting techniques as a diversion to keep from doing the real work of eating less.
Make it your job to focus on decreased food consumption regardless of what you typically eat. As with exercise, we can work on the details later. It’s not necessary to change everything all at once. Eating less works! And it works with whatever foods you are familiar with eating. You will see beautiful results. You will feel beautiful results. Think about this. Really! We are silly. “We must start thinking rationally again!” By the way these are not my words, but the words of one group member that lost 17 pounds in 11 weeks.
Step Three: Weigh yourself to keep awareness
Mind-shift needed
Don’t be afraddy cat of the scale. It’s a valuable tool that keeps you aware. Recognize the power of accountability.
Action needed
Weigh yourself daily; naked if you must. Record to further cement your conviction.
Awareness is Key Factor to Weight Loss
Weigh yourself. It’s ok. A daily “weigh in” compels us to be aware. You will hear different opinions on this, but those who weigh themselves daily hold themselves accountable increasing their resolve. Weighing ourselves helps because it compels us to be aware. If you don’t think this is true, then consider if you ever purposely did not weigh yourself after a day or two of eating too much. You did this because you did not want to deal with reality. Getting on the scale daily is a tough discipline to establish, not physically of course, but mentally.
We love to be weighed when we know we’ve lost weight, but the challenge is to weigh ourselves after a full day of eating too many calories. This is where most people stop.
Go ahead, get on the scale. Let reality set in and get going again. Keep in mind that it is all about progress not perfection. You will lose the weight you need to lose to feel better and look better if you keep this mindset and commit to simply continuing on. “Think of it this way”, says one client who lost 42 lbs, “It’s not like you are starting all over again when you get on the scale and your weight is up, you are just continuing with trying to reach your goals and life goes on. If I got upset about a weight increase every time it happened, I’d never lose weight. I have to keep on moving. It’s the only way. And the sooner you realize it, the better. “
It is insight such as this that has helped me as a health coach and trainer realize that weight loss is best done in the context of joyful living. And this is the 5th mindful connection that if acquired can help you not only lose weight and keep it off, but will elevate your life in ways you’ve never imagined.
Step Three: Live joyfully while losing weight
Mind-shift needed
We change best in the context of positive living.
Action needed
Exude confidence and good cheer as you go about your weight loss journey.
Live joyfully while losing weight. Sounds a little hokey I admit, but this field of health coaching changes not just those who I assist, but it has changed me as well. Years ago, I never fully realized the impact positive living and attitude had on our ability to change. Like everyone else, I did not discount its significance, but I never gave the idea that we change best in the context of positive living the status that it deserved.
Since the time I began coaching, I’ve learned much about what positive living really means, and especially what it means in changing some of my own behaviors. What prompted me to include positive living into my own seminars is that I was seeing a pattern of how people dealt with weight loss.
Many people literally tried to make their life miserable while striving to obtain a desired weight. One 40ish male said he was going to work out 3 hours a day until he lost 20 lbs. I thought to myself at the time that reality TV was making his life miserable.
Another woman said she was not going to go out with friends until she was thin. Another client admitted that in years past she would punish herself while dieting by not letting herself go on vacation until she weighed a certain amount. Maybe these extremes are not indicative of how you lose weight, but what I know is that we have to stop the insanity of punishment as a means to better ourselves.
During times of behavior change we need to be driving ourselves in the opposite direction. We need to ask ourselves how to establish an environment that is conducive for healthy change.
Scientists know rewards are central to continued behavior change. We should be rewarding ourselves after a day, week, or month of behavior changes. Our brain functions best with a reward system and scientists have unlocked the secret that cements the newly learned brain connections so necessary for lifelong change. I tell my clients, “Go ahead. Make your environment beautiful. Reward yourself for doing a fine job. Go to the movies. Go out and enjoy your vacation. Have a party for friends and enjoy it all. What really is the point of losing weight if we are not experiencing life as it is now?”
In essence, whether our goal is to lose a few pounds or many, waiting to be happy and content with all things in our life before we begin a plan of healthy living should not be a prioroty. Go ahead and begin today. Follow these five mind-shifts, and get moving with a more enlightened, smart, and savvy weight loss approach illustrative of today’s new generation of smart weight loss losers!
Our Wealth is in Our Health,
Kim
[email protected]
904 501 6002
by IcennaEmach | Feb 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today is the end of our 6 week healthy living and weight loss series designed to put you in charge of your own weight loss journey. Non gimmicky and geared to today’s savvy consumer, you now have valuable tools and insight, that when applied, will propel you not only to significant weight loss but a more healthy, energetic and carefree lifestyle.
Not seen in traditional weight loss programs, these 5 principles, when applied, are more effective and long lasting than traditional dieting practices we read and hear about in mainstream media today.
A review: Five mind connections for weight loss.
1. Use movement for inspiration
2. Think progress not perfection
3. Focus on what matters
4. Stay aware. Weigh daily.
5. Live life joyfully
We end our series by exploring this last connection-live life joyfully.
How our realities are shaped. The NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art has an exhibit on how movies affect our reality. I have not seen it yet, but can only imagine that it has to do with how our realities are shaped by what we see, and in turn how we interpret these realities into our own lives.
Today, an increasing number of consumers are choosing to limit their viewing of today’s news and instead are opting for more favorable activities that emote positive emotions. And many people, including myself, believe the creation of positive living environments is essential to initiating changes in our own lives.
In the past, I disregarded this type of thinking and instead opted for a more staunch position that no one can alter my emotions except myself. Some people today have a similar stance. Unfortunately, such an uncompromising demeanor places one at a severe disadvantage when aiming to live a more lean and energetic lifestyle.
Emotions are affected by environment. Scientists know emotions are affected by surroundings. It’s now clear scientifically that we can alter a healthier state of mind through positive thinking, and brain rewiring. I am not referring to Pollyanna behaviors where one may get run over by a truck and instantly see the positive points of being flattened by tons of metal! I’m referring to scientific data indicating how we may rewire our brain circuits to alter a multitude of habits. As of lately with books like The BrainThat Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, M.D. and Perception, Memory and Emotion: Frontiers in Neuroscience edited by T. Ono, health professionals, including myself, are taking the brain circuit and positive emotion behavior change theory more seriously.
I’ve implemented positive emotions and joyful living successfully not only on myself, but on people I coach in creating more healthful meaningful lives. It now forms the basis of my coaching. I no longer avoid the idea of positive psychology and joyful living as a gimmicky self help approach, but instead have learned this is the best approach for bringing about change.
Positive psychology gets a bad rap. Some people still believe adherents to positive psychology simply add positive words to their vocabulary, and eliminate negativity in their environments to invoke behavior change. Perhaps this is why positive psychology advocates often receive a bad reputation. Positive psychology like many concepts is part of a much broader manner of being. It may start out as simply changing thoughts from the negative to the positive, such as replacing the words, “I cannot pass up a donut at the office because everyone is eating them” to “I can pass up this donut at the office because I have the capacity to do so.” In actuality, the use of positive psychology is constantly evolving as the person is able to handle more difficult challenges.
Weight loss is about engaging the right brain. Here, an example of how positive living can play an instrumental part in weight loss success. One client of mine that has made rapid strides in weight reduction was at a standstill. He was intuitive and knew what was getting in his way of continuing to lose weight, but he wasn’t taking the leap to the next level. A positive approach to this as a health coach is to be patient and stay with him as he figures it out. The best approach at his particular stage was not to offer analytical left brain-advice (he has heard all the dieting techniques and has followed the advice) but to offer inspirational right-brain thinking.
Living joyfully regardless of starting point.
Allowing this client to figure it out in an environment that doesn’t dampen his spirit is best. This is where living joyfully regardless of where we are starting from is most important. As a coach, positive approaches might include filling the gaps of information but more often they include approaches that initiate right- brained creative thinking, and less analytical left- brain thinking. It is true, weight loss requires analytical thinking, but to move beyond sticking points in our weight loss journey, we must engage the more emotive right brain side. Helping this client to connect with successful people similar in age and circumstances was all he needed to move to the next weight loss level.
You can do this! In the next few years, rewiring neuropath ways for weight loss through joyful living and positive behavior changes is going to stand apart from all the quick fix dieting regimens that consumers are inundated with in today’s information overload society. My challenge to you is this: Can you make this the year of living smart by jettisoning dieting hype and reverting back to the basics of weight loss and healthy living by practicing the five mind connections developed in this weight loss journey series? If you get a chance, let me know how you are doing. I’d love to hear! Best to you.
Kim
