Slow Down and Pay Attention to the Signs

I was biking in southern Minnesota over the weekend, and I saw small signs along the path that said things like "be choosy, drink more water" and "eat healthfully, at home, with your family" and "live balanced" with icons for food/drinks/activity.  In a bagel shop called "Tandem Bagels" there was a biking theme too.  There was lots of encouragement to ride with free maps and portable, healthy snacks.  It made me realize how refreshing it felt to get positive feedback and support (thanks to the Mayo Clinic for supporting some of these signs) to lead a healthy life.  It was my first time in this part of the state, and I was intentionally taking it all in.

Because I was on my bike for a while, I also had time to think about how much we all could benefit from slowing down and paying more attention.  Slowing down leads to destressing.  Slowing down leads to staying in the moment.  Slowing down leads to smarter choices because we have time to consider our options.  Slowing down promotes living in the moment which keeps us grounded.  This can be especially beneficial when eating meals.   Eating well means that we create a dedicated space, away from work, phones, computers and clutter to enjoy our food.  A table with a chair is most ideal! This is most satisfying when we have given our meal some forethought.  We planned something that looks good, smells good, sounds like it should (crisp veggies crunch), and of course tastes good--which is the most important part.  This positive experience can be even more satisfying when we are not in a rush.  Digestion improves when we eat slowly.  Sensing hunger signals and feelings of satiety improve when we slow down long enough to notice.  This can be accomplished by taking time out and away from work and technology to eat and enjoy.  It sounds so old-fashioned.  However, how many of us do this on a regular basis?  How many of us have meals in transit, in the car, at the desk or in between activities?  When we do this, we rob ourselves of a much needed break and a chance to just enjoy satisfying food and maybe some nice conversation with family or friends.

On this same weekend, I stayed at a Marriot Hotel that had a notecard on the bed talking about the importance of getting a good night's sleep.  It included a list of ways to do this...a warm bath, no technology at least an hour before bed, among other suggestions.  Another healthy message reminding me of things my ancestors knew on their own.  Because they didn't have the pressures of technology ramping up their days and nights, they knew how to slow down and calm down.  We have to relearn these lessons in our digital 21st century world.

There are positive messages pointing us in the right direction, if we just slow down long enough to notice.

Committing to a Healthy Lifestyle--and Recommitting to It

Everyone says they want to live a healthy lifestyle.  The fact of the matter, however, is that living a healthy lifestyle is a work in progress with varying degrees of commitment and success.

First comes the clarity that living a healthy lifestyle includes eating well, drinking lots of water, sleeping well on a regular schedule, managing stress in a pro-active and regular manner, engaging in fitness and aiming for 10,000 steps per day, practicing hobbies and engaging in interests with friends and family.  Whew.... is there time for anything else?  It's a tall order to keep it going.  

It must be said that no matter how strong the desire, the best of intentions don't always lead to success.  Life and its many distractions can be challenging and cause us to lose focus.  Frustration can cause us to lose our drive.  Negative self talk can make us feel like failures.

Second comes recommitment.  We wake up and realize things are unraveling.  Somehow, this healthy lifestyle that we'd like seems to be slipping away....which is when we have to remind ourselves that living healthfully can look a little different every day.   All-in is not possible all the time.   Perfection is not realistic or attainable.  Instead, we need to work on accepting the fact that sometimes--whatever we have to offer--as little as it may be--will have to be "good enough."  In our competitive world "good enough" might feel like a let down.  NOT SO.  "Good enough" on difficult days just might be a great achievement.

Taking the long view and knowing that we can always recommit and refocus as soon as we realize that things are slipping is key.   We are all a work in progress.  There is no end point when it comes to being a healthy, happy person.  So my advice is to focus on the positive and celebrate the successes as they come along.  Make an honest effort to be patient when things are not going well.  And then, keep going.

Mindfulness is a Lifestyle: Dieting is a Misery

There has been much said lately about how "diets don't work."  This is true.  It has always been true. Most people do not have the ability to stop eating foods they love and start eating healthy foods all the time, no matter what, from now until forever.  Who would want to anyway?  It's an impossible task and an unrealistic expectation.  Furthermore, when people suffer through restrictive diets, they lose weight in an unhealthy way.  The metabolism then goes down.  As a result, the weight that was lost is "found" again, plus more, since the metabolism has been lowered, as in permanently.

We don't recommend diets.  We recommend learning new life skills and strategies, over time, that include nutritious meals and snacks that are portion controlled, increased fitness and activity plus fulfilling hobbies, interests and social interaction to create a lifestyle of health, wellness and happiness.

One of the best ways to create this healthier lifestyle comes through the practice of mindfulness.  That simply means that we slow down long enough to pay attention to what we are doing, how we are feeling, where our thoughts are going.  By doing so, we can tap into our true hunger signals and eat to satisfy them.  We can stop and take a break when life becomes overwhelming.  We can focus our awareness on the moment without getting ahead of ourselves.  This reduces stress, decreases the stress hormones like cortisol that makes us crave junky food and retain belly fat.  This makes life feel more manageable.

Slow and steady is truly the path to life-long healthy weight loss and weight maintenance.  Managing stress in pro-active ways (like exercise, meditation, hobbies) is part of the weight loss and weight maintenance puzzle.  Promoting healthy metabolism by eating at regular intervals and drinking water often is part of the puzzle.  Sleeping well and waking up feeling refreshed also contributes to healthy metabolism.

It is all very old fashioned.  Let our expectations of ourselves be just as simple.  Expect change to occur over time.  Expect shifts to happen regularly but often very quietly.  Slow down to notice these things.  Appreciate the process, the journey and the wisdom of learning new things over time.  This is the path to a life well lived.  It always was.

Positive Self Talk

Last week I asked a group about the negative tape that so often plays in our heads.  Every person in the group shared something rather dramatic and very negative about the tape running through their heads.  As each person did this, the rest of the room listened intently and stared in disbelief.  We were looking around at a room full of accomplished people and were surprised to hear what people were thinking.  In most cases, in fact, we were thinking the exact opposite.

It got me thinking about how what we project to the outside world--confidence, positive self esteem, accomplishment and competence may NOT at all be the case on how we are feeling inside.  This matters because we do NOT want to be playing negative tapes that waste valuable energy that could be spent on positivity.

Life can be hard.  There is always something extra to do or think about or organize or accomplish. Multitasking is the name of the game.  Responding right away is also part of what others expect these days.  That can feel like a lot of pressure and stress.  Let's combat that negativity with positive thoughts which will lead to positive feelings and actions.

A racing mind is a sign of stress.  One of the best ways to combat this is to take frequent breaks from technology and work and let some positive images and affirmations in.  This could include a short walk from your desk or a moment to take some deep breaths for a minute or two.  This dials down the pressure and lets the mind recover.

Life is too short to give in to negativity.  It robs us of living in the moment--another way of thinking of mindfulness....which means one thing attention with no judging or comparisons.

I can be guilty of this too.  On occasion, I can get down on myself and feel "less than."  It is a path to real misery that serves no one.  So I work hard on bringing myself back into the moment and focus on the positive.  If I want something different for myself, then I can make a manageable plan.

A work in progress takes time, but it does not take more effort than one has to give.  That's impossible anyway.  It takes acceptance, attention, no judging and courage.  Courage to be yourself as you are today.  No more and no less.

What's Hard? What's Easy? WHY do you Care?

Throughout the day, along the way, we find that some things in life seem hard while some things in life seem easy.  The things we like to do feel a lot easier than the things we don't.  Obviously.  But, let's face it, we have a lot on the "to do" list that is required--things that we might not like and might be hard.

One way to get through the hard stuff is to dig deep first and ask yourself the all-important questions:

WHY?
WHY should I do this?
WHY is this important to me?
IS this still important to me?
WHY do I care?
WHAT do I want?

The answers to these questions makes the work of self improvement make sense.  Losing sight of the WHY, or finding yourself in a position to redefine the WHY is important as time marches on.  Things change.  So do we.  So do our goals.  So do our priorities.  So do our life circumstances.

Sometimes the things that we find hard one week can become easy another week, and visa versa.  It is easy to eat a quick, filling, protein-packed breakfast during the week.  You have to move on with your day.  It becomes a little harder to do that on vacation in a pancake house with butter and bacon everywhere.  It is easy to go out for a long walk with the dog when the weather is pleasant, and it becomes harder when the weather is not.  It is easy to dress for the day when all the clothes in the closet fit.  It is harder to dress for the day when we are frustrated because only a few of the clothes fit.

Let's remember that not living the life of our dreams costs us something.  It may cost us disappointment, sadness, stress, frustration and limited opportunities.  That life feels hard.  The cost of a life well-lived will include sacrifices and effort, no doubt.  It will also come with the priceless gift of freedom.  Freedom that is earned, little by little by redefining what's hard and what's easy and revisiting the many reasons WHY that matters.

Being Mindful With Hidden SmartPoints

There are lots of hidden SmartPoints lurking in juice containers, coffee mugs, cocktail glasses and "pint" beer glasses.  One of the problems is that these SmartPoints go down so easily and are so forgettable.  Our challenge is to right size our beverages the same way we right size our food choices. Of course, that really means down size.

While plates and bowls have gotten so much bigger over the years, drinking glasses have gone the same route.  A can of coke at 12 ounces used to be the norm.  Now, that a 12 ounce can of coke is 9 SmartPoints, we have to reconsider the options and look at coke as a treat--not a beverage that slides down along with a meal.

The same is true with juice and sports drinks.  Juice is a pointy beverage that we need to choose--not just let happen.  As for sports drinks, they are not necessary.  Water will rehydrate just the way it is supposed to.

The coffee shop can be a minefield if we aren't savvy.   Small drinks are called "tall."  If there is anything like cream, whip, half and half and flavor shots, SmartPoints are running down the drain.

When it comes to alcoholic drinks, we need to be informed and make choices before the drinking happens.  Once we are drinking alcohol, our inhibitions may start to evaporate.  We might not make as many healthy choices that we would otherwise.  A big part of our success is to stay focused on what we really want, no matter where we are or what we are doing.  Furthermore, drinks are larger than they used to be.  Technically speaking, there might be two mixed cocktails in that martini glass. A "pint" in a brew pup is actually 20 ounces not 16.  That means more points.  Darker, thicker beers are even more points than lighter (as in color) beers.

So how can we down size our beverages without skipping them altogether?  Practice.  Practice. Practice.  The more we acquaint ourselves with right size portions and the more aware we are of our coffee shop/restaurant/bar behavior, the more likely we can approach these settings with the confidence that we can get what we want--and no more.  Enjoy it.  Be done.  Count SmartPoints wisely.

With summer weather here, be especially savvy.  Oftentimes, we are even more inclined to relax into the casual nature of the season.  Stick to your goals!  Drink lots more water and decide in advance when and where and how much any alcoholic beverages will be consumed.  Then, stick to the plan and enjoy.

It Takes a Village

In the game of life, we know that we are not alone, nor do we want to be alone--especially when tough times come calling.  Even our introverted friends need valuable connections with others to keep them feeling vibrant and part of a bigger picture.  When we start something new, pursue a new venture at work or home, take on a new responsibility or role, we usually ask others who have done this before for their help.  Help can come in the form of advice, personal experience, testimony and sometimes a sounding board.

As we evolve and set the bar higher than it was before regarding weight loss, healthy habits, fitness and fulfillment, we are walking down a path that many have gone down before and many continue to go down.  We will have lots of company to keep us supported and inspired.  There is so much information, advice and how-to's in the world nowadays, that we don't need to look far for a bright idea to try with a new recipe, exercise technique or social group to keep us interested and curious.

But what about the people closest to us?  What about the ones who "should" be supporting us from the very start and all the way through?  Why do those people sometimes seem like saboteurs instead of cheer leaders?  Who knows is the answer to that question.  Unfortunately, even our nearest and dearest do not always "show up" for us the way we'd like them to.  Maybe they don't believe our self improvement efforts are real (this time).  Maybe they are secretly jealous of us.  Maybe they wish they could do things like say NO to chips and salsa on a Mexican vacation or say YES to the gym at 6AM.  Maybe they fear that if we change, then we might be expecting them to change.  Whatever the reason, we know that when we don't get positive feedback from the ones we love, we need to move on to other people for that kind of support.

It does take a village to keep going.  It takes people from all circles who are working on bettering their lives, one day at a time, to keep up the energy and enthusiasm for the work that's involved. Sometimes by seeing a complete stranger with a lot of weight to lose, working out at the gym, inspires me.  I realize that we are all in this together.  No matter where we are in the journey, we all have the same job to do.

Get up every day.
Show up for your life.
Be present and mindful of your behavior.
Make a small change at first and then let that grow into a bigger difference.