Look back at 2008. Take note of your accomplishments, and things you could have done better for your wellness. Use the following quote as a sort-of checklist:
"To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Make some goals for 2008. Think big broad year-long goals, and then refine them into smaller pieces. Then make some short-term goals too---not everything takes a year to achieve (i.e. making flossing your teeth a habit should take about 21 days---but that's another topic). Post your goals somewhere you can see them everyday. Why not? It has been repeatedly proven that those people who have goals are more likely to achieve things. Maybe its just because they're defining what "achieving" means, but maybe not.
Take a minute to make a list of the things you are grateful for. Don't just write the things down, feel it.
Have a happy and healthy new year. Make it your mission to do so---a positive and happy one :)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Today I Love Pine Nuts
I don't know about you, but a lot of the time my cravings for foods change on a daily basis. The standard way we think of dieting really doesn't support being able to address cravings. If you're trying to reign in your random acts of eating and maintain some sort of control....you can't possibly just go with the flow of your cravings, right?
I think that is true for some people---the people who have not really reached a good healthy comfortable relationship with food. So, the first goal, is to make peace with food and eating (remember the post about not fighting?). Food isn't the enemy, and its even difficult to explain what it feels like when you've surrendered the fight----but when you do, you'll know. I talked to someone this week who is so excited about her new perspective on eating and success at weight loss without a single bit of restriction, that she could barely stop herself from announcing it to the whole office.
If you're still trying to reach this comfort level with food, keep at it. Try new things. Remind yourself to love and forgive yourself when you think you've screwed up---and then stay positive.
For those of us who are at a higher comfort level now, don't deny your cravings! A couple days ago, I bought some pine nuts with the intention of adding them to salad---instead I ate about half a cup of them by themselves. Later, I read an article about recovering from holiday eating and one of the tips was to eat pine nuts---great! But then it said to eat about a teaspoon of them a day to stave off hunger. Oops! For about 15 seconds, I got that old guilty feeling and started to strategize about fitting in an extra workout----then I relaxed. So what if I ate extra pine nuts? I'd just eat less later, and maybe workout a little harder if I felt like it.
The point is to eat what you want, with balance in mind. Today, I had hot chocolate for breakfast because we ran out of coffee---did I really need all that sugar? No, but I wanted it! I'll balance it all out later with carrots, and I enjoyed it more by not feeling guilty about it.
I think that is true for some people---the people who have not really reached a good healthy comfortable relationship with food. So, the first goal, is to make peace with food and eating (remember the post about not fighting?). Food isn't the enemy, and its even difficult to explain what it feels like when you've surrendered the fight----but when you do, you'll know. I talked to someone this week who is so excited about her new perspective on eating and success at weight loss without a single bit of restriction, that she could barely stop herself from announcing it to the whole office.
If you're still trying to reach this comfort level with food, keep at it. Try new things. Remind yourself to love and forgive yourself when you think you've screwed up---and then stay positive.
For those of us who are at a higher comfort level now, don't deny your cravings! A couple days ago, I bought some pine nuts with the intention of adding them to salad---instead I ate about half a cup of them by themselves. Later, I read an article about recovering from holiday eating and one of the tips was to eat pine nuts---great! But then it said to eat about a teaspoon of them a day to stave off hunger. Oops! For about 15 seconds, I got that old guilty feeling and started to strategize about fitting in an extra workout----then I relaxed. So what if I ate extra pine nuts? I'd just eat less later, and maybe workout a little harder if I felt like it.
The point is to eat what you want, with balance in mind. Today, I had hot chocolate for breakfast because we ran out of coffee---did I really need all that sugar? No, but I wanted it! I'll balance it all out later with carrots, and I enjoyed it more by not feeling guilty about it.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Happy New Year and New You?
I'm not really a believer in New Year's Resolutions in general, but this year I think I'll just spin the concept into a form that I think works.
What works? Well, read some of the stuff in the previous posts about figuring out what you'd like to change, why, and how to fit it into your life. Simple, right?
I don't think it's simple when you just look at the big picture or the overall goals, but I do think there's a way to do it that helps it feel easier.
Why not make a plan for the whole year?
What do you want to accomplish by the end of 2009? Weight loss? Quit smoking? Drink less alcohol? Manage your stress better?
Determine what you want to change, and then set a specific goal. The easiest way for this to work is to use numbers---then its more easily measured at the end.
Next, chop the year up into sections, and set mini-goals for each section.
The last part (for now) is to look at your first mini-section goal and make a plan on how to reach it.
Let's say you decided you want to lose 35 pounds in 2009. That's a big goal, right? Now let's chop up the year into mini-sections, or in this case, months. You have 12 to work with.
Take mini-section 1 (January), and break down what you need to accomplish in order to be on track with your overall goal. 35 pounds in 12 months means you'll need to lose 4 pounds in 1 month. Each week you'll need to lose a pound. So your plan will address how to lose one pound per week, or decrease your caloric balance by 3500 calories (3500 cal=1 pound fat).
It doesn't seem so bad when you set mini-goals, does it?
The word for this year is patience. Normally, we (Americans) have no patience. If we decide we need to lose 35 pounds, we want to do it NOW. But why? Won't it be easier and more realistic (and more likely to stick) if we give ourselves a year?
Start with the steps above, and then if you need help with your mini-goals, ask for help!
What works? Well, read some of the stuff in the previous posts about figuring out what you'd like to change, why, and how to fit it into your life. Simple, right?
I don't think it's simple when you just look at the big picture or the overall goals, but I do think there's a way to do it that helps it feel easier.
Why not make a plan for the whole year?
What do you want to accomplish by the end of 2009? Weight loss? Quit smoking? Drink less alcohol? Manage your stress better?
Determine what you want to change, and then set a specific goal. The easiest way for this to work is to use numbers---then its more easily measured at the end.
Next, chop the year up into sections, and set mini-goals for each section.
The last part (for now) is to look at your first mini-section goal and make a plan on how to reach it.
Let's say you decided you want to lose 35 pounds in 2009. That's a big goal, right? Now let's chop up the year into mini-sections, or in this case, months. You have 12 to work with.
Take mini-section 1 (January), and break down what you need to accomplish in order to be on track with your overall goal. 35 pounds in 12 months means you'll need to lose 4 pounds in 1 month. Each week you'll need to lose a pound. So your plan will address how to lose one pound per week, or decrease your caloric balance by 3500 calories (3500 cal=1 pound fat).
It doesn't seem so bad when you set mini-goals, does it?
The word for this year is patience. Normally, we (Americans) have no patience. If we decide we need to lose 35 pounds, we want to do it NOW. But why? Won't it be easier and more realistic (and more likely to stick) if we give ourselves a year?
Start with the steps above, and then if you need help with your mini-goals, ask for help!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Don't Forget the Point!
Today at work I had to say goodbye to a lot of people who I won't see again. I feel kind of sad about it because I've spent months getting to know them, and helping them on their journey toward wellness. However, life is full of beginnings and endings, and well, that's just the way it goes! Later in the morning, I was at another work location, and got into a conversation with someone who wanted to tell me all about what is wrong with the US government and why it's so bad (I do have issues with taxing regular soda and not diet, but that's another story). I could practically see his blood pressure going up as we talked, and it made me think about how worked up we can get about things we have strong opinions about even if they are out of our control.
I ended this conversation using one of my handy wellness coaching exit strategies, and then said happy holidays before moving on.... WELL, this really set him off onto another rant about how Happy Holidays is the stupidest saying ever. If he hears one more person say it, he's going to blow up (seriously?!). Apparently, it bothers him to not be able to say Merry Christmas, and he doesn't want to say Happy Holidays because that includes holidays like Kwanza and Hanukkah. As I watched his blood pressure go through the roof, I thought about how badly this person was really just missing the point! He was missing the point that it doesn't matter to him or anyone else what Happy Holidays means. He was missing the point that he was negatively impacting his health by perseverating on whose fault it was that the government is a mess (his words).
In the name of our health and wellness, when we focus on what the real "points" are in life, we are much better off. We can only control certain things, and this includes how we control our reactions to those things in life that we have no control over. Getting all worked up about things does not help our blood pressure, and negatively impacts our bodies and minds in many ways. Cortisol is a hormone released when we experience the stress response, and this (especially over time) has many negative effects on the body.
Why should you care?
In terms of whatever wellness issue you are working on, take a moment to remember the point. Once you are aware of the point, ask yourself if it makes sense. Ask yourself if you might want to change anything about what you're doing, or how you're looking at your issue.
A good example of this is regarding weight loss. Ask yourself why you're trying to lose weight? Is it for your health benefit? Or is it for some other reason (i.e. so you'll be happier, someone will respect you more, you'll look better than your neighbor)? If it's for some other reason, look into it----a lot of times what we think is the issue (or the point) really isn't. If your reason for losing weight is to fix a relationship, it's probably not the weight that you would be best off focusing on. Alternatively, sometimes you are right on target.
So The Point is------awareness, open eyes, empowerment to be improving your wellness on purpose in the way you intend, for the reasons you value.
I ended this conversation using one of my handy wellness coaching exit strategies, and then said happy holidays before moving on.... WELL, this really set him off onto another rant about how Happy Holidays is the stupidest saying ever. If he hears one more person say it, he's going to blow up (seriously?!). Apparently, it bothers him to not be able to say Merry Christmas, and he doesn't want to say Happy Holidays because that includes holidays like Kwanza and Hanukkah. As I watched his blood pressure go through the roof, I thought about how badly this person was really just missing the point! He was missing the point that it doesn't matter to him or anyone else what Happy Holidays means. He was missing the point that he was negatively impacting his health by perseverating on whose fault it was that the government is a mess (his words).
In the name of our health and wellness, when we focus on what the real "points" are in life, we are much better off. We can only control certain things, and this includes how we control our reactions to those things in life that we have no control over. Getting all worked up about things does not help our blood pressure, and negatively impacts our bodies and minds in many ways. Cortisol is a hormone released when we experience the stress response, and this (especially over time) has many negative effects on the body.
Why should you care?
In terms of whatever wellness issue you are working on, take a moment to remember the point. Once you are aware of the point, ask yourself if it makes sense. Ask yourself if you might want to change anything about what you're doing, or how you're looking at your issue.
A good example of this is regarding weight loss. Ask yourself why you're trying to lose weight? Is it for your health benefit? Or is it for some other reason (i.e. so you'll be happier, someone will respect you more, you'll look better than your neighbor)? If it's for some other reason, look into it----a lot of times what we think is the issue (or the point) really isn't. If your reason for losing weight is to fix a relationship, it's probably not the weight that you would be best off focusing on. Alternatively, sometimes you are right on target.
So The Point is------awareness, open eyes, empowerment to be improving your wellness on purpose in the way you intend, for the reasons you value.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Get Excited!
Sometimes when we look forward at making a lifestyle change it just feels like a drag. It might be hard and make us feel like we're missing out on something. We might fail.
All this is true! BUT---much of our chance for making our improvements into a sustained lifestyle depends on our perspective. Can you possibly get excited about changing?
It makes me think about when I was 16 and worked in a grocery store for a year. I HATED it. Every second of cashiering, stocking, (illegally) clipping coupons for the manager, sorting empty bottles and cans.....it was terrible. Usually I worked from 4-8:30pm, and sometimes from 7am-1pm on Sundays. The Sunday shift sounds worse, but the problem with the afternoon shifts was that I wasted the whole day before I went to work dreading it. For an entire summer, I had this feeling of dread about going to work. I did nothing all day long, and then dragged myself to the store. The point is that it really wasn't that bad. I was getting paid minimum wage (which at the time was about $4.25 an hour) for 4.5 hours, but I was wasting an additional 8 hours everyday hating my job.
One day, I heard something on the radio about tricking yourself into being in a good mood. They said if you force yourself to smile and pretend you are happy, you will feel better. So I tried it while I was cashiering one day. And it worked. Not enough for me to like the job, but enough for me not to be miserable while I was there.
I think there are two layers of this related to lifestyle. First, if you are dreading making a change (giving up fast food, cigarettes, starting a workout plan, etc), pretend you're excited!
The second thing is to actually find ways that will help you feel some real excitement. Make a list of the reasons why the change is worth it. What will it feel like when you succeed? What are the benefits of change?
It's just another strategy for inching closer to lifestyle change without making it a struggle or a fight.
All this is true! BUT---much of our chance for making our improvements into a sustained lifestyle depends on our perspective. Can you possibly get excited about changing?
It makes me think about when I was 16 and worked in a grocery store for a year. I HATED it. Every second of cashiering, stocking, (illegally) clipping coupons for the manager, sorting empty bottles and cans.....it was terrible. Usually I worked from 4-8:30pm, and sometimes from 7am-1pm on Sundays. The Sunday shift sounds worse, but the problem with the afternoon shifts was that I wasted the whole day before I went to work dreading it. For an entire summer, I had this feeling of dread about going to work. I did nothing all day long, and then dragged myself to the store. The point is that it really wasn't that bad. I was getting paid minimum wage (which at the time was about $4.25 an hour) for 4.5 hours, but I was wasting an additional 8 hours everyday hating my job.
One day, I heard something on the radio about tricking yourself into being in a good mood. They said if you force yourself to smile and pretend you are happy, you will feel better. So I tried it while I was cashiering one day. And it worked. Not enough for me to like the job, but enough for me not to be miserable while I was there.
I think there are two layers of this related to lifestyle. First, if you are dreading making a change (giving up fast food, cigarettes, starting a workout plan, etc), pretend you're excited!
The second thing is to actually find ways that will help you feel some real excitement. Make a list of the reasons why the change is worth it. What will it feel like when you succeed? What are the benefits of change?
It's just another strategy for inching closer to lifestyle change without making it a struggle or a fight.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Hiding and Seeking
A lot of times the reason we can't conquer our issues (did I really just say that after encouraging people not to "fight" their issues??!!) is because we play a complicated game of hide and seek with them. We hide our issues from other people and ourselves. We seek to find out what causes our issues, and sometimes we find the answers!.....but then we hide from the solutions. Or we even experience success (i.e. weight loss, quitting smoking, getting in shape, reducing our stress), and then we slide back into our old routine. We rationalize and deny the truth so we can stay in our comfort zone, even if it's not somewhere we want to be.
Why?
Think of yourself as two people. One is the person who wants to be the best you can be and knows how to do that. The other is the person who desperately wants to KEEP EVERYTHING THE SAME. We are creatures of habit, and our ego, if you will, thrives on these habits. Your ego "protects" you from seeing the truth. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror one day and had some major revelation about yourself ("Oh my God, how did I get so fat....old....out of shape....etc)? Why didn't you realize it while it was happening? The perfect example is a person who is 20-40 pounds overweight, and all of a sudden is in a panic to lose the pounds instantly. But----those pounds gradually accumulated over time, they can't go away instantly. Why didn't we see the extra pounds when we only needed to lose 5? That would have been much more manageable, right?
The answer is complicated , but your brain (a very general term) protects you from seeing change. A study was done on weight gain, and showed that people literally could not see a difference in their appearance when they lost or gained 5 pounds. If you think about anorexia, it's almost like this phenomenon gone haywire. Then consider how gradually most people gain weight---your brain is going to be very slow at realizing how different you actually look.
In my personal experience, men are much more likely to not "see" their weight gain. In fact, I've had 300+ pound men tell me they know they could lose a couple pounds, but they're not fat or anything.
The bottom line here is that you have a few physiological things going against you when you're working on improving your lifestyle because your body/brain is preventing you from fully grasping your current status and also is trying furiously to keep you just how you are. What can you do?
1. Look at yourself in pictures---it's easier to see the truth when you're not looking in a mirror
2. Be honest with yourself when you feel yourself rationalizing behaviors---even if you don't change that time, acknowledge what you're doing.
3. Don't beat yourself up for having a hard time sticking to a plan
4. Make really small changes, experience small successes, and build on them.
5. ASK FOR HELP!
Why?
Think of yourself as two people. One is the person who wants to be the best you can be and knows how to do that. The other is the person who desperately wants to KEEP EVERYTHING THE SAME. We are creatures of habit, and our ego, if you will, thrives on these habits. Your ego "protects" you from seeing the truth. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror one day and had some major revelation about yourself ("Oh my God, how did I get so fat....old....out of shape....etc)? Why didn't you realize it while it was happening? The perfect example is a person who is 20-40 pounds overweight, and all of a sudden is in a panic to lose the pounds instantly. But----those pounds gradually accumulated over time, they can't go away instantly. Why didn't we see the extra pounds when we only needed to lose 5? That would have been much more manageable, right?
The answer is complicated , but your brain (a very general term) protects you from seeing change. A study was done on weight gain, and showed that people literally could not see a difference in their appearance when they lost or gained 5 pounds. If you think about anorexia, it's almost like this phenomenon gone haywire. Then consider how gradually most people gain weight---your brain is going to be very slow at realizing how different you actually look.
In my personal experience, men are much more likely to not "see" their weight gain. In fact, I've had 300+ pound men tell me they know they could lose a couple pounds, but they're not fat or anything.
The bottom line here is that you have a few physiological things going against you when you're working on improving your lifestyle because your body/brain is preventing you from fully grasping your current status and also is trying furiously to keep you just how you are. What can you do?
1. Look at yourself in pictures---it's easier to see the truth when you're not looking in a mirror
2. Be honest with yourself when you feel yourself rationalizing behaviors---even if you don't change that time, acknowledge what you're doing.
3. Don't beat yourself up for having a hard time sticking to a plan
4. Make really small changes, experience small successes, and build on them.
5. ASK FOR HELP!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Does Beer Make You Fat?
Lots of people tell me they know they could lose weight if they stopped drinking "so much" beer. I'm not sure how much "so much" is, but it probably depends on the person. The effects of stopping drinking it are individual too. In fact, women are often quite bitter towards the men in their lives who seem to be able to declare on a Sunday that they will stop drinking beer......and then by Friday, they've lost 5 pounds. That would never work for a woman!
This is why:
1. it is metabolically easier for men to lose weight than for women.
2. beer has a certain number of calories in it, and if a guy is drinking a few days worth of calories in beer each week and then stops, he'll easily lose a few quickly (remember one pound of fat=3500 calories).
3. women don't (generally) drink as much beer as men do, so even if they quit drinking it at all, it wouldn't be creatng as drastic a decrease in caloric intake.
Ok, so back to the concept of beer as a promoter of being overweight. It's not actually beer itself that causes people to become fat, its the carb-y caloric intake in conjunction with the other foods that are often consumed with beer. Think: fried foods, junk food, pizza, wings, etc., etc., etc.....
If you consume a lot of beer (or other carb), and the carbs are broken down and enter your bloodstream, AND you are not in need of using them for energy.....insulin levels will remain high, and will tell your body to store fat. Thus, you gain weight.
When you have this beer-carb-high going on, and then you eat more carbs combined with lots of fat.....you're just overloading your system with yucky stuff it doesn't want to process. You get bogged down, and your body stores fat.
So beer can be considered a sneaky accomplice in the journey toward weight gain. Nutritionally, it's not horrible for you---it's high (ish) in antioxidants, helps increase blood flow to the heart, and has even been touted as having prevention properties for certain types of cancer (however, that's really hard to verify).
The point is that beer itself has a bad rep, and this may not be totally fair. As in most wellness decisions you make, you will be able to justify whatever actions you take: If you choose to overindulge in beer in the name of increasing blood flow to your heart, you are only deluding yourself. Moderation is key, and if you choose to drink beer, moderate drinking in conjunction with a healthy diet is the way to go.
This is why:
1. it is metabolically easier for men to lose weight than for women.
2. beer has a certain number of calories in it, and if a guy is drinking a few days worth of calories in beer each week and then stops, he'll easily lose a few quickly (remember one pound of fat=3500 calories).
3. women don't (generally) drink as much beer as men do, so even if they quit drinking it at all, it wouldn't be creatng as drastic a decrease in caloric intake.
Ok, so back to the concept of beer as a promoter of being overweight. It's not actually beer itself that causes people to become fat, its the carb-y caloric intake in conjunction with the other foods that are often consumed with beer. Think: fried foods, junk food, pizza, wings, etc., etc., etc.....
If you consume a lot of beer (or other carb), and the carbs are broken down and enter your bloodstream, AND you are not in need of using them for energy.....insulin levels will remain high, and will tell your body to store fat. Thus, you gain weight.
When you have this beer-carb-high going on, and then you eat more carbs combined with lots of fat.....you're just overloading your system with yucky stuff it doesn't want to process. You get bogged down, and your body stores fat.
So beer can be considered a sneaky accomplice in the journey toward weight gain. Nutritionally, it's not horrible for you---it's high (ish) in antioxidants, helps increase blood flow to the heart, and has even been touted as having prevention properties for certain types of cancer (however, that's really hard to verify).
The point is that beer itself has a bad rep, and this may not be totally fair. As in most wellness decisions you make, you will be able to justify whatever actions you take: If you choose to overindulge in beer in the name of increasing blood flow to your heart, you are only deluding yourself. Moderation is key, and if you choose to drink beer, moderate drinking in conjunction with a healthy diet is the way to go.
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