Compare yourself to YOU instead of anyone else or where you think you should be. You will get a much more accurate progress assessment.
How to Follow Your Bliss to Get the Body You Want
Follow you bliss. Joseph Campbell first said it. But what does following your bliss really mean when it comes to getting the body you want? Is it staying under the yummy warm covers or is it getting up and doing your planned workout? On the surface, staying in bed feels better—at least for the short-term. But if you feel guilty about sleeping in for the rest of the day because you skipped your workout, you’re seriously undermining the shot of bliss you got from staying in bed. Maybe it didn’t feel blissful to get out of bed. In fact, it was darn hard. But you feel awesome about yourself for the rest of the day because you got in your workout. In that case, you are basking in the bigger bliss of following through on your goal to reduce your weight and improve your health. Now ask yourself, what feels better—to get up and do the workout, or to stay in bed? If you were truly at peace and it felt good to stay in bed, you probably needed the sleep. If you listen to your heart, you can always feel if your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions are in alignment—even if you are taking an action that on the surface seems like it feels way harder. This is true whether you are reducing your weight, improving your life, or standing up for something that you believe in. Your emotions are your direction, gauge, guidance, indicator, litmus test letting you know if you are moving towards what you want, or are taking a detour. My Mother taught me this from her example. In 1957, she was a student at Little Rock Central High School when it […]
What Your Fat Belly Is Really Telling You
Having a flat stomach seems to be the Holy Grail of having a beautiful body for women in our society. It’s something every woman wants, but that very few of even the very young have. If you are like most of the women I work with, you may judge yourself . . . harshly . . . if you deem your belly less than perfect. But what if your belly is actually your center of feminine power and a large belly can be used as a source of: Strength that will enhance how you cope with everyday tasks and sudden emergencies? Good health and healing from illness or injury? Creativity and new ideas? Effective communication in all areas of your life? Inspired action towards achieving your goals? Intimacy and love? Self-confidence? Physical and sexual attractiveness? (Don’t believe a less than perfect belly or body can be sexy and attractive? Just think of Queen Latifah!) During a recent Level 1 Reiki Training, I was fascinated to read that the Japanese believe that energy is stored in the area of your body just below your belly button and expands throughout the rest of your body. By connecting with this energy center, you will positively impact all areas of your life. According to the Shoden Manual from the International House of Reiki, “Today people are often afraid of being large and of carrying a protruding belly. The belly is culturally rejected and therefore the natural center of gravity within the body is lost.” One of the things that I discovered in my own wellness journey is the importance of connecting to your body—particularly to the belly, which I call your feminine power center. If you struggle with […]
My Personal Transformation Story
Since I’ve been out shooting a video this morning and there are lots of new readers (Welcome!), I thought I would share my weight-loss journey as a way to inspire you on yours. I’ve created a lifestyle that I love, am maintaining a lean and healthy weight that is right for me, and have more than enough energy to go after the life of my dreams. But for most of my life, that wasn’t the case. My weight and negative self-perception was an issue for almost my entire life. I became self-conscious of my body when I was 5 years old after my father told me I needed to learn how to suck in my stomach. Now at age 5, I wasn’t fat. But I interpreted his comment as him telling me I was. Like many women today, at this young age I began to believe that there was something wrong with my body. After that conversation with my father, I remember for the first time being embarrassed at my banged up tomboy knees and trying to pull my knee socks up as high as they would go to cover them up. I began hating my body. I focused almost exclusively on its flaws, and what was wrong with me. My negative self-perception—and my resulting struggle with my weight—raged for more than 35 years. Those negative thoughts bled over into all areas of my life. In my professional life, I was incredibly confident in my area of expertise . . . or behind my computer screen . . . but there was always a part of me holding back. Being on camera used to be something I dreaded, and I was reluctant to really allow […]
3 Tips to Redirect Negative Body Thoughts
One of the challenges with creating the body that you want is that you are always wearing the body that you have. It’s a constant reminder that you are where you don’t want to be. This makes sense when you think about the Foundation Principle that “Energy Attracts Like Energy,” also known as the Law of Attraction. Our thoughts are energy. If you are focused on the fat you DON”T want, or your lack of fitness or beauty, you will not only attract more thoughts like that, but more circumstances that support those beliefs. Getting the body you want requires continually tearing your attention away from where you are and focusing more on where you want to be. Only, this backfires if you don’t believe you can get where you want to be. So how do you mentally walk this fine line of being in the body you don’t want—and having to look at and experience it all day every day—but not quite believing you can achieve the body you really want? Particularly when you are so used to thinking negative thoughts about your body, you don’t even know you’re doing it? This is why a coach is so helpful. But ultimately, whether you have a coach or not, you are the one who has to navigate this mental path forward. So here are 3 tips: 1. Pay attention to your emotions. How many thoughts do you think a day? Hint: A lot! It will just make you crazy trying to monitor what you’re thinking. Instead, pay attention to how you are feeling. If you’re having negative emotions, such as frustration, overwhelment, hopelessness, blame, etc., these should be like signal flares letting you know […]
Are You Eating Too Much—Or Not Enough—To Get the Body You Want?
Let’s talk portion size. If you are struggling with your weight, chances are you are eating too much. But you also may not be eating enough! And in either case, you may be left feeling hungry and not seeing results—the two biggest reasons women give up on their efforts to create the body they want. Really? You can eat too much and still be hungry? Yes! If you aren’t eating the right foods. If you are confused about this, it’s no wonder. If you do a search on Amazon for diet books there are 71,727 results! Suffice it to say there are many different expert opinions about how you should be eating. So there is no way I can wade into this topic without ruffling someone’s feathers. But here’s what I believe. You have to find the right eating plan for you! I know it’s not sexy. It’s not the silver bullet you may be looking for. But until you begin to listen to your body and value its information above what any expert is telling you, chances are you will struggle with your weight or wellness. Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t value expert advice. I do! There is valuable information to be had that will help you find what is right for you, and I’m constantly reading and learning more. (And I can give you some referrals for some fabulous nutritionists.) But you still have to use your body wisdom—and a little trial and error—to determine what is best for you. What I really encourage you do to is to find a healthy eating plan that feels like you could make it a life-style and try it. And then listen to […]
Love Your Body—and Life!—At Any Age
Do you believe that you will be loving life at 90? Pay attention to your reaction to that question. That is the life you are designing. If your goal is to lose 10 or 100 pounds, recover from an illness, or to climb a mountain, at the core of achieving anything is the belief that it is possible. Here’s where the challenge comes in. When you have a strong belief—such as that most people decline with age or that decline is inevitable—you will see lots of evidence to support that belief. It is the same thing that happens when you decide to buy a car. All of a sudden you will see that make, model—and even color that you want—everywhere you go. How in the world did you not see them all before? When you begin to look for examples of people thriving in their 70s, 80s, 90s—and even 100s!—to support your belief that you can love life at any age, you will begin to see those examples. And I love the example that I saw this morning. Phyllis Sues, a dancer and musician who will turn 90 on April 4, wrote this blog for the Huffington Post, “Loving Life at 90.” Sues writes, “Numbers and dwelling on age is a trap. There is no age, it’s living each moment to its fullest.” This is the key! Because if you believe in decline, at the subconscious level you will stop trying. You will make decisions that support decline. You won’t exercise regularly, you won’t eat healthy foods, you won’t fully engage in life—all of which leads to decline. And you will blame it on aging. You will create this reality for yourself because a […]
Change How You See Yourself to Change Your Body
What if you are already perfect? Bruce D. Schneider defines perfection as “unique until itself and unlike any other.” You are uniquely perfect in your own way. No one else has had the exact same experiences as you. No one else sees the world exactly as you do. No one else has your same desires and cares. You are important to the whole. Your uniqueness is important to the Universe. Your value is intrinsic. Most women are trying to be something other than who they are because you have forgotten that you are already perfect at your core. When you know and thrill in your perfection, you are at the height of Who you really are. This is because that is how All-That-Is (The Universe, God, Source Energy, Higher Self—whatever works for you) sees every single one of us. Each person is unique, beautiful, and perfect just as they are. To Source, you are amazing, just the way you are. This may be hard to wrap your mind around. Somehow along the way, you were convinced that the perfect you that came into this world is somehow flawed. Maybe even bad. You were, in fact, convinced by people who had themselves been convinced of their own imperfection. You may spend a lot of your time beating yourself up or using a verbal lash to try to get yourself to work harder, or be smarter, or somehow . . . better. But this mindset is not serving you. In fact, it’s one of the primary ways you are sabotaging your ability to release the weight—and keep it off. What would be different about your body—and life—if you did let yourself believe in your worthiness, just […]
Change Your Beliefs to Change Your Body
How likely are you to even try to achieve something if deep down you don’t even believe it is possible? What if the thing holding you back from experiencing optimal wellness is your belief that you don’t have it? “Wait a minute,” you might say. “I don’t have optimal wellness. How can I believe anything other than the fact that I don’t have it?” And there is the problem. Most people approach life with the expectation that they will “believe it when they see it.” They want hard facts, statistics, and reality to back them up. “Show me the money,” they say. But this defies every spiritual guidance and practice. What is faith other than believing that all things are possible? That when you ask, it is given, and that it is up to you to “believe it and you will see it?” Often people pray by continually asking for the same thing over and over again. By asking more than once, you are essentially telling All-That-Is (God, the Universe, Source Energy, Higher Coach—whatever works for you) that not only do you NOT have what you are praying for, but that you don’t believe or have faith that what you are asking for is coming. The first step to creating optimal wellness is then to believe that it is even possible. You have to disregard the evidence around you and trust that the wellness you have asked for can—and is!—yours. It is truly a leap of faith. But for most women, that leap is a precipice too large to jump. Instead, it is far easier and more successful to build a mental bridge to the belief that not only is optimal wellness possible, but it’s yours if […]
Wellness Tip of the Weekend
To create optimal wellness you must first believe it is possible. Not only is it possible, but it’s yours if you just reach for it.
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