NEW YEAR NEW BLOG
Hello Friends!
It's a NEW YEAR and I am starting a NEW BLOG. All of my pre-2020 blogs are still right here linked to this website. You can find them by visiting: www.bornwonderfulyoga.com.
So, what am I going to blog about? And, what exactly do I do as the Born Wonderful® Founder?
In addition to offering in-person women's and girl's empowerment and wellness circles, I create products and online content to inspire, encourage and motivate you to be wonderful.
I started Born Wonderful for many reasons, but one of them was I wanted to be able to use my education and skill-set in a way that serves other people to live a healthier and happier lifestyle.
What's my skill set, and what is this new blog going to be about?
I fly by the seat of my pants; I create new content all of the time. I am a content machine, and I like to blog about anything that I feel an impulse to share. Usually, those things are in all realms of health, well-being, and spiritual awakening, most specifically, I like to share in the fields of the things I know the most about through my studies in Health, Kinesiology, Spirituality, Mindfulness, and Family (Parent Education). I don't won't my college degrees to go to waste and for some reason my kids don't get excited when I start talking about the anatomy of their six hundred plus amazing muscles. So, here I am using my education in a space where I can't see anyone's eyerolls.
If you stick around and check this page, you will get lots of free advice, tips, and encouragement for your Born Wonderful® Health and Wellness Journey.
Make sure to subscribe so you receive updates about both my in-person community offerings, new swag and tips on health and wellness.
This blog here, is about HEALTH and MANIFESTING YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION.
Let's get started!
How do we live a healthier and happier lifestyle?
Well, the health industry is a 4.2 trillion dollar industry. The industry has been growing with 12.8% increase between 2015 and 2017 and represents 5.3% of global economic output. What's that mean? It means there are a lot of individuals who would really like to buy a product to get fit and not only that but there are a lot of folks out there who are buying personal training sessions, life-coaching services, foods, books, and other expert advice in their pursuit of health and weight-loss. Now, that's not a bad thing. Actually, it's quite a good thing. But let's consider this stark contrast, as of 2016, 28.2 million U.S. adults were diagnosed with heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. More than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2015 were in men. 1 in about 630,000 Americans die from heart disease each year—that's 1 in every four deaths. Heart disease costs the United States about $200 billion each year. That total includes the cost of health-care services, medications, and lost productivity.
Here's the question: "If so many people are spending so much money investing on their health in the mind-blowing digits of the trillions then why are so many Americans still dying of heart-disease? Shouldn't we all be healthier?"
This is a multifaceted answer and it takes years and years for researchers to come up with a statistical explanation but being that I only have thirty more minutes before my kids wake up this morning and want me to give them breakfast, I will give you my two cents. Let me just share this sad reality about the diet industry.
The diet industry plays off of the known insecurities and hopes and desires of those folks who are hoping to lose weight and get fit quickly. Because who likes to wait for anything? We live in a world of instant gratification so why shouldn't our healthy body weight also be given to us in an instant, too?
Each New Year approximately 45 million people go on a diet. In fact, it is one of the most popular of all New Year's Resolutions. If you you happen to be one of those people planning on starting a new "diet" in 2020, don't do it! What? I thought this was a blog about health? It is. But here's what the diet industry will not tell you, one of the best predictors of future weight gain is having lost weight on a diet at some point before. You have probably heard that saying that goes, "95% of diets fail." That number is statistically questionable, but the summary is not. Most diets do eventually, fail, in that, people gain back the weight they lost and then some. Why is that? The short story is that diets fail because people embark upon them as a short term fix and not as a long-term lifestyle.
More than likely, you have experienced this phenomenon at some point in your life. Did you have a wedding to go to or maybe your own where you decided to lose weight to fit into a tiny dress? Maybe, you were uber disciplined, and you restricted your calories to only 1200 calories per day. (Crazy by the way! And, yes, I have done that for fitness competitions). You thought you looked phenomenal, right? And, to top it off everyone gave you praise and made you feel like a supermodel, but meanwhile, all you were thinking about was when you could get off of the ridiculous caloric restriction and eat that massive piece of cake. And, then one piece of cake leads to another and another and why not eat the whole thing...at least that's what I did after my fitness competitions but it was a whole pizza from CPK. (I will save that story for another blog).
Here's one of the NUMBER 1 Reasons People Eventually Fail At KEEPING THE WEIGHT OFF (*HINT: It has to do with psychology).
When we deprive ourselves of the things we love for short-term gain, we will end up eventually binging on all of the things we missed during our deprivation phase.
In order to be successful in your weight loss story, you have to change your relationship with food. YOU have to change how and what you love. And, you need to think in terms of fulfillment rather than deprivation.
CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS:
What brings you joy? What helps you to feel good inside your body for your whole long life span? What will sustain you years from now?
Part of that relationship change that you need to commit to entails changing the way you think about food.
Think of it like this, sugar is like a hot sexy flame. Sugar romances you and makes you feel oh so good! But what sugar is really doing is raising your dopamine levels in your brain and then making you want more and more sugar. (The same can be said about that Diet Soda or name your guilty delicious pleasure here) This craving would be fine if your goal was to simply pleasure yourself. But the problem is that sugar is going to have a really bad effect on your heart, your liver and of course, it's going to lead to long-term fat storage so, you have to ask yourself, "Is my relationship with food (i.e. sugar or insert other unhealthy foods) really good for me. Can I marry this food program I am on?" You have to think about your foods like you would your boyfriend or your husband. Ask yourself, "Is what I am eating good for me?" If not, "Divorce it." And then, you commit to your wellness plan for the long haul and marry it.
If you cannot envision yourself staying in the relationship for the next twenty years, then it's not going to work. You have to think in terms of "Can I do this every day for the rest of my life?" Now, that probably sounds like way too big of a commitment for you so here's where the AA, one day at a time mentality can also be implemented at the same time.
HOLD A VISION OF BOTH YOUR LONG-TERM GOAL (20 YEAR PLAN) AND YOUR SHORT TERM ACTION STEPS (ONE STEP AT A TIME). You can do it!
Now you have a little hindsight and foresight for 2020!
Rather, than jumping on the bandwagon New Year's Deprivation Regime, consider instead, changing the game.
Begin to focus on shifting what you love.
Rather than loving the taste of that 300 calorie Chai Tea Latte, focus on the feeling and the fact that your Chai Tea Latte has 31 grams of sugar. The American Heart Association (AHA) advices that women should not have more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. So, even though the Latte tastes good on the tongue, it's going to cause a spike in dopamine in the brain (the feel good chemical), which will cause you to crave more of that yummy sugar drug. And, then having a little more will cause a spike in insulin which is not good for the heart or liver. In fact, an increase in insulin will train your body to hold onto any extra junk in your trunk. Talk to the Latte like you would want to talk to that old flame who broke your heart, "YOU ARE NOT GOOD FOR ME AND I AM BREAKING UP WITH YOU." Go so far as to envision what the food will do to your insides. This way you are psychologically rewiring your brain to break the bad habits and then, eventually you won't habitually crave what doesn't fulfill you. So, while you might love the sugar, the way to wellness is to learn how to love your heart, liver and other body parts more than the added calories and extra spoonfuls of sugar that are only going to make you need more medicine not help it go down.
When you learn to love your body more than the taste of the food that doesn't serve you, you can learn to live in alignment with what's best for your overall health and well-being, not just for your tastebuds.
So, as you embark on your New You plan consider not starting a new diet but rather, breaking up with any behaviors and relationships with food that no longer serve you.
Go slowly, and be more like the tortoise, because slow and steady wins the race!
So, if that's you, remember that one of the essential components of a fit lifestyle is prior planning.
Stay tuned for my next blog which will be a brainstorming session for you to figure out where you are starting from and where you want to go next!
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P.S.
If you need a little companion to help you take one step at a time, check out this WON'T QUIT UNTIL I'M FIT little diet and fitness diary to ensure you are being accountable and logging your daily and weekly meal and fitness goals.
P.P.S.
I created the Manifesting Magic Card Deck to help you release what no longer serves you and to remember just how wonderful you are. If you like journaling and little prompts to help you then look no further. You can get an e-deck to guide you.