5 LIFE TRUTHS THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING

Life needn’t be tricky or confusing, although let’s face it — at times it may seem that way.

At times, it’s incredibly helpful to distill down what we absolutely need to know to live the miraculous, abundant life that is here for us. The five life truths below do exactly this, allowing you to easily connect into your truth (which is really the only truth worth following!) and live the life you came here for.

Follow the 5 truths below and get ready to be astounded as your whole life shifts into a higher frequency.

1. You are more than your body.

In Westernized culture there is a tremendous amount of focus on our bodies — from the latest food craze to losing “5 more pounds” to having “ripped abs.” The truth is that while our bodies do matter, we are so much more than our body. Our body is the sacred container for our soul, for our true essence.

The sooner we recognize this truth and begin living from a deeper, more expanded place — everything in our life transforms. Our relationships deepen, “ordinary” moments aren’t so ordinary anymore, we know the right action to take at the right time, abundance flows to us and we live in a deeper state of peace. When we engage with the magic of that deeper part of us, we begin to have a life experience that means so much more than eating the perfect diet or having a body that looks like what we see in the media.  We learn that when we live from the soul, not only does our physical body shift its appearance to be more in alignment with this truth, but our overall quality of life elevates.

2. Your body is a powerful tool of communication from your soul.

Our body works in direct harmony with our soul, serving as a honing device for our soul. Think of it as a tuning fork or a compass. Your body will let you know the messages from the deeper part of you that are unable to be translated in any other way. Your body can and does release limiting beliefs, fears and traumas, along with other toxins through deep breathing, bowel movements, tears and often that annual cold/flu you receive.

The body is an incredibly powerful guide that will give you what you need — even when you don’t realize you need it. To access this greater wisdom, you’ve got to create a strong communication system with your body.  Did you know you can use a deep detoxifying breath (inhale through the nose and exhale out the mouth) and focus on any area of pain to begin to release it?

Did you know you can talk to the parts of your body that get sick or are in pain and listen for responses to see what it is asking for? Or that you can work with a practitioner that can support you in learning your body’s communication style? Or better yet — do both?  Your body has powerful messages for you that will not only improve your physical health but will allow you to live the life you are meant to live.

3. If someone else can do what you do with ease and joy, let them.

Long-revered mantras like “No pain no gain” or “you must work hard for success” are now a dying breed. Because what truly successful people know is that if something is “hard” and feels like it’s going uphill, the best thing you can do is delegate it to someone that it is a breeze for. We all have specific talents that are unique to us — so let go of being a Jack or Jill of all trades (or to all people).

Why not love what you do, have a great life doing it and let those who are great at the things you aren’t do those things instead? Can you imagine a world where everyone did what they loved because it brought them joy and ease? You weren’t meant to do everything. So stop trying.

Having it all isn’t about doing it all, it’s about being smart enough to know when to delegate and when to sink into doing what you love. If it doesn’t bring you joy — outsource it.

In his book The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks calls this your “Zone of Genius.” And when we allow ourselves to work and live in our Zone of Genius, life is not only more fun, it’s easier which leaves us more relaxed and at peace.

4. Always follow your passion.

Passion is your indicator of alignment with your core self. When you feel enthusiasm and a strong momentum to move forward — that’s passion. Let it be a guiding force in your life. Ever go round and round in your mind about what decision to make, what you should do, what the next step is? We’ve all been there. But here’s the thing: once you’ve honed in on what your Zone of Genius is, you can make that a guiding force in your life.

You’ll always know the best decision for you because it will light you up inside, you’ll feel excited in your body and mind, and you’ll feel enthusiastic. You’ll know that when it doesn’t feel like work, but like play, that you’re on the right path for you. Passion is what gets you out of bed in the morning, eager for what lies ahead, and passion is what leads you to creating products, services, and offerings unlike anything before. Passion is what makes life interesting and enjoyable. It’s what makes life flow.

When you are continually following your passion, your life can expand in abundant ways that you would never experience if you did what everyone else did because it was the “right” thing to do. You didn’t come here for a life of mediocrity, you came here to be excited, lit up and totally inspired. When you let passion lead, decisions become much, much easier.

5. What you do matters because we are all connected.

Imagine a set of dominos and what happens when one gets pushed — they all fall down. It’s easy to get into our own worlds and forget about the billions of other humans that we share this planet with. But when we forget this, we forget one of the most important truths in this life — we are all connected.

We are all connected in a quantum-physics-everything-is-energy-and-energy-cannot-be-destroyed kind of way. We are sharing this planet with billions of others who just like us desire love, who want to be happy, who worry at times and who love their children and family.

We all have the ability to live our lives with the inherent knowing that what we do — whether we recycle, let the car in front of us merge, let the guy in the grocery line go ahead of us, bring reusable bags to the stores we shop at, say “thank you” and mean it, make eye contact with every person we pass on the sidewalk — is literally creating a better world to live in. When we hurt another, we hurt ourselves and we hurt many others because the ripple effect is not only real, it spreads to everyone we come into contact with.

How many of us have read a heartwarming story about people helping each other out — whether after a crisis or just a “random” act of kindness — and we end up with tears in our eyes or a big smile on our face? Doing good reaches the human spirit and the human heart in powerful ways. If we all made a commitment to living this truth there would be far less pain in the world and far more joy.

In fact, if you follow the above five life truths to the best of your ability, you’ll notice not only your own life improving —  everything from feeling better in your body, to understanding why life works the way it does, to improved relationships to greater wealth NS abundance – but you’ll also notice that the people around you are having similar experiences too.

You see, we are all powerful creators and our energy — good, bad or otherwise — affects those around us deeply. When we consciously and intentionally connect to the soul within us, follow the messages from our body, stay in our Zone of Genius, let passion be our guide and treat everyone as though they are someone we love — our world and the world around us gets to be a better place.

And isn’t that what we all truly want?

Many people spend years pondering the question “What is my life purpose?” For some it can be a lifelong journey to discover.

This is now such a common topic of discussion among people from all over the world and one can find thousands of pages of information online and in books with suggestions of growth and encouragement to help us on our path.

During this journey myself, at times I felt so isolated and discouraged as though I wasn’t getting clear fast enough and that others seemed to have it all figured out.

Instead what I discovered was that I wasn’t alone and each path can be so unique.

The 3 biggest misconceptions I discovered while sourcing out my own Life Purpose:

1)   My Life Purpose will hit me like a lightning strike.

I read so many books and articles, took quizzes, challenges, and mediated for months in hopes that a light bulb would turn on and bells would ring when my life purpose suddenly came to me. It didn’t. And it may never hit like a ton of bricks. In fact, most don’t have it occur that way.

Instead what many notice, is that a flicker of a small flame may light something inside and help move you to the next step. And with each step, that flame may get brighter and brighter, all leading you on the path to find your ultimate true purpose.

Pay attention to those flickering lights and notice when they start to fade. That may be a sign that a small change in direction is required.

2)   The more effort and focus I give it, the quicker it will reveal itself.

I found that the harder the tried, the less I observed. After all, what you resist persists, so I challenge you to allow yourself to go deeper into the stillness and silence and be patient and for it to surface on it’s own time.

If you can, stop thinking about it consciously and allow yourself to create an open awareness of what is happening around you.  It is through the waiting and allowing that I discovered the most significant parts of my life purpose.

3)   I only have one unique Life Purpose.

There could be many and it could be an evolution uncovered over the span of your life. A Life Purpose may not even be obvious or what we think it might be.

As we grow in different areas of our life, we may feel a stronger unique calling in one particular area but notice that it changes with our relationships and interests.  What a purpose is at five years old can be very different then what it is at fifty. However all aspects of it may ultimately lead to one point.

The most important part is to realize who or what is of more value to you at this point in your life and how those values can contribute to your current purpose.

Today and right now is the most important part of your journey, so choose to live your life ON purpose and to make the journey part of your purpose.

Overcoming Your Fear of Failure

Imagine.

You risk everything on that crazy dream of yours.

Money, time, energy, stability, pride. And you’re not even guaranteed to succeed.

You know that if you do reach success, the doorway to everything you’ve ever wanted will open up. But . . . what if you fail?

What if you don’t have what it takes and all your best-laid plans go awry? What if you lose your steady income, your house and ultimately your friends and family?

You could end up living in a cardboard box, sitting alone on the side of the street, begging people for pocket change.

Nah,says your mind. The risk is too great. I’d better settle for what I have. Compared to the cardboard box alternative, it’s not so bad.

You might tell yourself that the timing isn’t right, or that you’re no risk-taker. But whatever the excuse, deep inside you know the real truth: you’re afraid of failing.

Fear of failure makes you play small in life. It stops you from chasing your dreams -and it needs to be dropped once and for all.

Ready to do just that? Good.

7 Mindsets to Overcome Your Fear of Failure

Your fear only goes as deep as your mind allows it. That means you’re in control. Here are 7 mindsets to help you look at fear of failure from a perspective that will serve you.

Fear Is Your Guidance System

What you fear failing most in life is often what you care most deeply about. It’s a clear message of a true desire. The stakes are higher when it comes to your dreams, so your fears are also naturally amped up. Use your fear as a source of guidance about what to go after.

Life’s Already Dangerous 

Life is inherently risky. Loved ones can leave us, bosses can fire us and the car we drive can hit another and abruptly end it all. But you’ve made it this far. Instead of protecting yourself from the possibility of future pain, wouldn’t you rather enjoy full aliveness and exhilaration now? Stop holding yourself back. Life is full of experiences, opportunities and chances that are yours to claim.

Playing It Safe Is the Real Danger

Playing it safe is settling for mediocrity. It means making decisions based on fear and thereby not living up to your full potential. By not following your dreams, you are robbing yourself and the rest of the world of your unique greatness.

Failure Is One Step Closer to Success

Failing at something gets you one step closer to what you want. By taking action, you differentiate yourself from the majority of people. You also gain insight and clarity that can bring you closer to your dream.

Each mistake teaches us something. Before finally succeeding with the light bulb, Thomas A. Edison said, I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

Failure Never Makes YOU a Failure

Failing at something doesn’t mean that you are a failure. It means that what you tried didn’t work. Who you are and what you do are two different things. Never confuse the two. Failing is a practical matter; don’t let it become an emotional one.

Fears Are a Figment of Your Imagination

The job of the mind is to protect you. Anything unknown (including success) is scary to it. To keep you “safe,” it will do just about anything to make you listen to it, including projecting a parade of fears in front of you.

But reality is rarely as bad as you imagine it will be. The majority of all fears exist only in one place: your imagination.

Regret is the Biggest Failure of All

Regret is an ugly emotion. It doesn’t show up like other emotions, as a direct response to something that has happened. Instead regret creeps up slowly, in response to what hasn’t happened. Years can go by before it reveals itself to us, but when it does, we know it’s there as a reminder of something we didn’t do.

Fear Often Disguises Itself

These mindsets will help you keep the fear of failure at bay. They’ll help protect you, but you’re not scot-free just yet.

Even if you use them to prepare yourself mentally, the fear of failing can still arise. Like an unwanted guest, it can come knocking on your door unexpectedly – and in disguise.

This disguise might look a lot like reason. It could also resemble blame or excuses.

At a first glance, it might look smart and even sensible. Reason is so logical, it’s hard to argue with. Blame says it’s not your fault. And our excuses can seem valid as to why we aren’t taking action toward our dream. Other people will even validate them for us.

It’s easy to point the finger. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe you don’t have enough time, money, experience, support or skills. Maybe it’s too late or too risky. It’s easy to come up with excuses or reasons and say, See? This is why I can’t pursue my dream.

But when you look deeper, behind the thoughts telling you not to pursue something, ask yourself what the dominant emotion is.

Could it be fear in disguise?

3 Ways to Not Let Fear Guide Your Choices 

Making fear-based decisions never takes you in a desired direction. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult to distinguish when fear is guiding you. Here are 3 ways to avoid that:

Tell Your Story in Advance

Imagine telling your children or grandchildren your life story. You start with the sentence: “ had a dream, and then I . . “

What is the story you would like to tell? Did you go for it, or were you too afraid? Will it be a story worth telling? Make it so, and tell it to yourself now. Frequently.

Stop Analyzing What Can Happen

Failure is something we project that might happen in the future. But the future is out of our control, so placing our focus there often leaves us feeling stressed, worried and powerless.

Instead of directing your attention toward what you can’t change or control, focus on what you can. The present moment is where your power lies; this is where your attention should be.

Ask Your 90-Year-Old Self

Imagine being 90 years old and guiding the younger version of yourself.

What advice would you give, knowing what you know now? How would you want your life to be and what do you want to look back on?

Now, listen to this older and wiser version of yourself.

Rising Above Your Fear

Let’s face it. Stepping into the unknown and risking the chance of failing is scary. But remember, it’s this way for everyone.

Taking action toward your dream doesn’t mean you won’t experience the fear of failure; it means you rise above it. You overcome the fear of failure once and for all when you realize that you are bigger than your fear.

Imagine waking up every morning full of empowerment, determination and clarity. Nothing and no one can stop you.You know that you’re moving in the direction of how you want your life to be. Now that’s a pretty nice feeling to wake up to, isn’t it?

Make a slight shift in your mindset, and your perception of failure can change dramatically. And if you ever feel your fears get the better of you again, just get your 90-year-old self to set you straight or use any of the other techniques you just learned.

Don’t play small in life. Don’t end up somewhere you didn’t want to be just because you didn’t want to take risks. Don’t be afraid of failing; be afraid of not giving your dream a chance to be born.

It will be worth it. Promise.

Why You Should Not Count Calories…Myths Busted

Many people think weight loss is simply about cutting calories. They believe that to lose weight, you must reduce calories (either eat less or burn more), to gain weight you must add calories, and to maintain weight you keep calories constant. To these folks, calories in, calories out is the only thing that matters. They usually oppose my program because they assume that I “deny” the importance of calories in weight loss.

Well, they’re wrong. I don’t deny the importance of calories. Calories absolutely count. And if someone has lost weight, they have necessarily expended more calories than they consumed. That said, there are some major misconceptions about calories, body weight, fat loss, and health. These calorie myths are often rooted in truth but presented in black-or-white terms that are useless at best, harmful at worst, and do little to help the average person lose body fat.

Let’s dig right in.

Calories in, calories out is all you need to know.

Simple is nice. Simple is good. But overly simple is dangerously inaccurate, so let’s break this statement down.

What does “calories in” refer to?

Calories in — what we eat. We can’t metabolize sunlight or oxygen. We can’t feast on the souls of the damned. The food we eat determines “calories in” entirely. Simple.

“Calories out” is where it gets confusing. There are several components to “calories out”:

1. Resting energy expenditure — the energy used to handle basic, day-to-day physiological functions and maintenance
2. Thermic effect of food — the energy used to digest food and process nutrients
3. Active energy expenditure — the energy used during movement (both deliberate activity like lifting weights, jogging, and walking plus spontaneous activity like shivering and fidgeting)

Not so simple, is it? There are a lot more variables to consider.

Oh, and about those variables…

Calories in and calories out are independent variables.

That would be nice. You could drop energy intake and maintain your resting metabolic rate while burning the same amount of energy digesting food (even though you’re eating less of it) and working out. The fat would melt off at a predictable, constant rate. Anyone with basic arithmetic skills (or a calculator) could become a successful weight loss coach and very few people would be overweight.

In reality, the amount and type of calories we eat affect the amount of energy we expend:

• During calorie restriction, the body “defends” its body weight by lowering resting metabolic rate and reducing spontaneous physical activity. To keep weight loss going, you often have to lower food intake even more (to counteract the reduced metabolic rate) and remind yourself to fidget, tap your feet, twiddle your thumbs, and shiver (to recreate the missing spontaneous movement). And you have to do it again when the body readjusts.
• Whole foods take more energy to process and digest than processed foods. In one example subjects either ate a “whole food” sandwich (multigrain bread with cheddar cheese) or a “processed food” sandwich (white bread with cheese product). Both meals were isocaloric (same number of calories) and featured roughly identical macronutrient (protein, fat, carb) ratios. Those eating the multigrain sandwiches expended 137 calories postprandially (after their meal). The white bread group expended only 73 calories, a 50% reduction in the thermic effect of food.
• Protein takes more energy to process and digest than other macronutrients. Compared to a low-fat, high-carb diet, a high-protein diet increased postprandial energy expenditure by 100% in healthy young women. And in both obese and lean adults, eating a high-protein meal was far more energetically costly (by almost 3-fold) than eating a high-fat meal.

Calories in affects calories out. The two variables are anything but independent of each other.

Weight gain is caused by eating more calories than you expend.

Calorie fetishists love pointing out that weight gain requires overeating. That is, everyone who gains weight necessarily ate more calories than they expended. Okay. We’ve established that everyone agrees on this. But it’s just restating the issue. It doesn’t tell us anything new or useful. It’s merely descriptive, not explanatory.

To show you what I mean, let’s do the same thing with other phenomena.

Why was Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated? Because someone pointed a sniper rifle at him and fired it.

Why did Usain Bolt win the 100 m final in the Beijing Olympics? Because he crossed the finish line first.

Why is the restaurant so crowded? Because more people entered than left.

These are technically true, but they ignore the ultimate causes In King’s case, they fail to discuss racism, the civil rights movement, or the motivation of the shooter. They don’t mention Bolt’s training, genetics, or his childhood. They don’t discuss why the restaurant has attracted so many customers — new menu, Valentine’s Day, graduation? They simply restate the original statement using different words. They just describe what happened.

I’m interested in what truly causes us to eat more than we expend and/or expend less than we eat. I don’t care to merely describe weight gain because that doesn’t help anyone.

A calorie is a calorie.

Look. I loved Carl Sagan. Like everyone else, I got chills when he’d wax poetic about our place in the universe and our shared origins as “star-stuff.” But just because steak comes from the same star-stuff as a baked potato, isocaloric amounts of each do not have identical metabolic fates in our bodies when consumed.

We even have a study that examined this. For two weeks, participants either supplemented their diets with isocaloric amounts of candy (mostly sugar) or roasted peanuts (mostly fat and protein). This was added to their regular diet. After two weeks, researchers found that body weight, waist circumference, LDL, and ApoB (a rough measure of LDL particle were highest in the candy group, indicating increased fat mass and worsening metabolic health. In the peanut group, basal metabolic rate shot up and neither body weight nor waist size saw any significant increases.

Does this invalidate the relevance of energy balance? Of course not. Since the peanut group’s metabolic rate increased, they expended more calories in response to added calories, thus remaining in balance. But it does elegantly and definitively invalidate the simplistic notion that all calories, especially added calories, are treated equally by the body.

Weight loss and fat loss are the same thing.

People don’t want to lose weight. “Losing weight” is common parlance, but we really want to lose body fat and retain, or gain, muscle. And studies indicate that the macronutrient composition can differentially affect whether the weight lost is fat. It’s not just about total calories.

Take the 2004 study from Voltek that placed overweight men and women on one of two diets: a very low-carb ketogenic diet or a low-fat diet. The low-carb group ate more calories but lost more weight and more body fat, especially dangerous abdominal fat.

Or the study from 1989 that placed healthy adult men on high-carb or high-fat diets. Even though the high-carb group lost slightly more body weight, the high-fat group lost slightly more body fat and retained more lean mass.

Just “weight” doesn’t tell us much. What kind of weight? Are we losing/gaining fat or muscle, bone, sinew, organ? Are we increasing the robustness of our colons and the number of  bacterial residents (who, though small, carry weight and occupy space) from added prebiotic fiber intake? These factors matter for health. I’d argue that they’re the only factors that actually matter when losing or gaining weight because they offer insight into our health and body composition.

Exercise helps you lose weight only by burning calories.

Most people think of exercise as a way to mechanically combust calories. And that’s true, to a point. Exercise does “burn” calories, and this is a factor in weight loss. But it does lots of other cool things to our physiology that can assist with improving body composition, too.

Compared to something high intensity like burpees or something aerobic like running a 10k lifting free weights doesn’t burn many calories when you’re lifting them. But it does improve insulin sensitivity, which reduces the amount ofinsulin we secrete for a given amount of carbohydrate and increases our ability to burn body fat. It increases muscle mass, which uses calories (protein). It strengthens connective tissue, which also uses calories. It even preserves metabolic rate during weight loss and boosts it for up to 72 hours post-workout. All these changes affect the fate of the calories we ingest.

If calories burnt were the most important factor, then the best way to lose weight would be to hammer it out with as much endurance exercise as you can withstand because that’s the most calorie intensive. But studies show that combination training — aerobic and resistance training — leads to greater reductions in body fat than either modality alone.

Even aerobic exercise isn’t just about mechanically burning calories. It also targets the reward regions of out brains ucing the allure and spontaneously lowering our intake of junk food.

Counting calories allows us to accurately monitor food intake.

You’d think that, wouldn’t you? Most foods at the grocery store have labels. Even restaurants are beginning to emblazon menus with calorie counts for each item. As humans, we implicitly trust the printed word. It looks so official and authoritative, and it spells out with great specificity exactly how many calories we’re about to eat.

Except studies show that’s not the case. Whether it’s the nutritional information provided by restaurants, the calorie counts on supposedly “low-calorie” pre-packaged calorie counts are rarely accurate. Food manufacturers can even underreport calories by 20% and pass inspection by the FDA.

Maybe that’s why people have so much trouble sticking to their allotted number of calories. If only reality would bend to the will of the label!

You may roll your eyes at some of these ideas because they’re so preposterous, but consider where you’re coming from, where you’re reading this. This is how the general public – and, often, the experts and physicians advising their patients and writing policy — approaches the question of fat loss. Sure, not everyone immersed in conventional wisdom holds every one of these myths to be true. And when they’re actually faced with the statement, few will claim that a calorie of steak is metabolically identical to a calorie of white sugar or that weight loss is the same as fat loss. But when calories in, calories out is the first line of attack against excess body fat, these are the kind of myths that become entrenched.

It’s important to take them head-on.

No one wants to be fat. The obese know they’re obese. They’ve had “calories in, calories out” drummed into their heads for years. If it were really as simple as eating less and moving more, they wouldn’t be obese. And yet here we are. That might be the biggest danger of the continued propagation of these myths — they convince people that they’ve failed at something simple, basic, and central to being a healthy, moral human being.

One Proud Momma

Tonight was Brandon’s Boy Scout holiday dinner. Fun, festivities, and lots and lots of cub scouts. It’s been a while since I’ve had young children. Three of the. Boy Scouts disappeared – my son included. I later heard that the boys were being “reprimanded” and really, there’s no telling what for. I later learned that Brandon was actually getting a “pat on the back” as a conflict resolutor (not sure if that’s an actual word). As it turned out, two of the other scouts were arguing and bickering and Brandon just couldn’t take it any longer. He called them into a side room and basically told them enough is enough and made them work through it. The Scout leader overheard the conversation and thanked Brandon for being able to resolve conflict. I was definitely one proud momma tonight. There are many things in my life that I’ve totally screwed up, but one thing is for certain, I did well in raising my kids. My oldest is living on his own and engaged to an amazing young lady who is going to dental school. My daughter is in nursing school in Jonesboro and my youngest is an A-B student, in the gifted & talented program, on the chess team, in the band, stands against bullying, and is an all around great kid to be around. I feel amazingly blessed to have such great kids. No, they’re not perfect but they’re close enough for me

Ya gotta know when you’ve had enough

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I have had some serious struggles. I’m typically a happy go lucky glass half full kinda gal, but it just seems that everything is out of control. The grief I’ve suffered over the loss of my beloved Dixie Mae has been insurmountable. I’m not one to go to see the doctor, but I finally gave it. It was just to much to bear. So I saw my primary care doctor and got something for anxiety. It seems to be helping. I’m not as strong as I thought I was. Maybe this trial is to remind me that I’m weak….that I can’t be strong all the time. Then again, maybe there’s no lesson to learn here. Only time will tell.

But life must go on. I’ve had to put on my big girl panties and face every day. A candle burns outside my bedroom window where my precious Dixie Mae has been laid to rest. Today I managed a health fair at the hospital and was able to put on a fake face. I wear a fake face more often than I care to admit. I’m a firm believer in “fake it till you make it.” So pushing forward is what I will do. Everyday is a new beginning. I’ll throw myself I to my work and maybe I’ll hit my six figures next year. Thank you to each of you who have been thinking of me as I’ve struggled through this trial.

Confessions of a personal trainer

So…. Some days I love what I do….but not everyday. Not only do I do nutrition counseling and one-one-training, but I also teach a group fitness class 4 days a week. I’ve had several out sick so we haven’t had a group class in over a week (we’ll be back on schedule next week). So…I haven’t worked out since then. I know. I know. That’s pretty bad huh? I’ve just kinda felt like my body needed a recovery period. Our group class is INTENSE and it’s 4 days a week. Do I feel guilty? Maybe a little. I’m more concerned about how hard it’s going to be to get back in the groove next week. I’ve still maintained my healthy eating habits so it’s not like I’m going to gain any weight from not working out, but still. Sometimes I feel like I’m not setting a good example. It’s sometimes hard to be a leader in the field I’m in. Some days I just don’t want to. It’s not like those days are frequent but I still have them. Maybe that’s part of normalcy. I’d like some feedback about your struggles. Are you able to go and do every time you’re supposed to, or do you sometimes need a break?

Shhhh…..it’s a secret

Why don’t you know what it is that you don’t know? Why is it that there is so much conflicting information about health, wellness, and nutrition? The answer to that question goes way, way back. In the past, physicians referred overweight and health challenged patients to nutritionists and dietitians. After all that is their speciality. So if that is the case, why do we have this pandemic of obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases? Shouldn’t the dietician sand nutritionists have a handle on this? The truth of the matter is at the very core of the healthcare system….money. Always follow the money. Nutritionists and dietitians are licensed by the American Dietetic Association (ADA). That makes sense, right? The problem lies in where the ADA gets their “funding.” You see, the ADA has sponsors, you know those people who “donate” money in exchange for what is most often good publicity. Now, what if you knew that a key sponsor of the ADA was the American Cattle Rancher’s Association? How would you feel about that? So if the ADA gets funds from the ACRA, then we know that there is a conflict of interest in that the ADA cannot possibly say anything about negative about the cattle industry, or the meat industry, or the dairy industry. So that makes discussions of these topics off limits for these “registered” practitioners. Let’s not leave out some of the other sponsors such as the National Dairy Council, the Coca-Cola Company, Kelloggs, General Mills, and PepsiCo. Now can you see the problem here? The ADA, or A.ND. as it is sometimes called, is a tainted entity. The allegiance of the ADA is not to consumers or the patients of the “licensed” practitioners, it is to the companies who funnel money through their organization. The truth is, the ADA does not care about your health, wellness, or nutrition. They simply exist to funnel money into the broken healthcare system. So, this is exactly why “you don’t know what it is that you don’t know.”

Inevitable Change

Some people hate change. Others live for it. I reside somewhere in the middle of that. Sometimes I need change but fail to accept it. I fail to accept that what I had always been doing is no longer working. I refuse to accept that my “plan” is now failing. The problem with that mentality is at it’s core. Changes happen around us whether we like them or not. When changes outside ourselves occur, we have to be willing to make changes in ourselves that better serves us. I have to be willing to make changes that better serve me. Since beginning my journey of wellness, my lifestyle has changed. I’m putting all of my energy into teaching others what I have learned and my life schedule is no longer the same. After a few weeks, my body began to tell me that I was no longer balanced. I was physically exhausted. I had no appetite in the evenings. My face began to breakout. And I knew something was off. So I did with myself what I would do with a client, I sat down with myself and said, “self, what’s new with you?” I began listing the new things, all of which were good, but we’re affecting me in a negative way. My wellness program needed tweaking. I had to change the times of day when I was filling my tank, so to speak. My largest meal has always been after my 6:15 workout in the evening as I was famished by the end. With the new things on my plate, I can’t always work out at 6:15 and I exercise in the morning instead. So my fuel fill up needed to change on those days to a larger, more nutrient based lunch and smaller nutrient dense dinner. Just this simple reflection changed my life immensely. I now have the fuel I need to get through the day everyday. As you can see, things change….even for me as a Wellness Coach. I had to make changes. Maybe it’s time for you to sit down with a Wellness Coach to see what’s new in your life that needs to be addressed so that you are balanced and fueled properly. Maybe you need a simple change, or perhaps you need a over-haul…either way, working together, we can get it done.

The BIG lie

I hate it when people lie to me. There are some lies that almost seem like a necessary evil, but others……unforgivable. When I seek advice, I go to the experts for information. Don’t you do the same? When I seek out these “experts,” I want to be certain that they have at least SOME knowledge of what it is that I need to know. If you have a busted water pipe, you call a plumber. If your car won’t start, you call a mechanic. If you have an issue with your health, you call your medical doctor, right? WRONG. For years the population of America has depended on our “licensed” physicians to take our health issues away. How well has that worked for us? We are the most unhealthy country on the planet. Even third-world countries have better HEALTHCARE than we do. Every day new drugs are being pushed on Americans in hopes of treating this illness or that disease when in fact, everything we’ve ever known about healthcare is a lie. There is so much misconceptions about what type of “doctor” or “specialist” you should see. Should you see an endocrinologist for diabetes? A gynecologist for polycystic ovary disease? A neurologist for migraines? You could, I guess but you’ll never get better. These “licensed” doctors are not healthcare providers. They are sick-care providers. You have a problem, you go to your sick-care provider, they give you a diagnosis and prescription to treat the symptom or by-product of your illness. These “doctors” really do not care about your illness. As a matter of fact, it’s better for them if you keep your illness so they can continue to receive payment from you and your insurance company. I worked in sick-care. I’ve witnessed it. If you want HEALTHCARE you need to see a HEALTH professional such as a wellness coach or Holistic Health practitioner. You should see your sick-care provider when you are actually SICK. Diabetes is not a sickness. Hypertension is not a sickness. PCOS is not a sickness. Heart-disease is not a sickness. Obesity is not a sickness. Somewhere in the past, these two professions have been skewed. There are most definitely times when you need to see your sick-care provider, and if you have a trained HEALTHCARE provider, he or she will tell you. It’s time to STOP pumping our hard earned money into this sick-care system. We’re feeding the monster and it’s just getting bigger and BIGGER!! The sick-care providers have forgotten who it is they work for…..the patient. When you leave your “licensed” sick-care doctor’s office, you STILL don’t know what’s wrong with you but they’ll happily take Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. More people die every year from physician errors, medication side-effects, and hospital malpractice than ALL diseases combined!! I actually had a “licensed” sick-care professional ask me about my “malpractice insurance” and “state license”…..I’m a certified health coach. In HEALTHCARE those things are not required. Not ONCE have I EVER heard ANYONE say “My husband’s health coach told him to eat more kale and it killed him,” NOT ONCE. However, my mother took a prescription that was advertised on television to be such a miracle drug and she bled to death from the inside out right in front of me. Her sick-care provider was happy to write the prescription for her. For the rest of my life I will regret the fact that I did not find health coaching prior to my mom’s death. We believed the big lie. Doesn’t everyone? Yes, you need a sick-care provider for when you are acutely ill. But more importantly, you need a HEALTHCARE provider whose passion it is to get you to Wellness NOT to the pharmacy.