Friday, December 7, 2012

Do something Friday -- Priorities

Hi, all!

It's with very mixed emotions that I am here to tell you this will be the last post for the Eating Coach blog.  After just under 1000 posts, it's time for me to pull back and retool a little bit.

We've talked before about the importance of priorities and recognizing competing responsibilities in our lives -- how sometimes active weight lose needs to be put in the back seat because life happens and something else takes the front seat -- well...that's where I find myself.  These days, I am doing a LOT more social media posting for my Fitness Center** and for the Borgess Athletic Performance blog.  All of that is keeping me HOPPING!

I appreciate all of you spending time with me!  It has been fun to connect with you!  I hope you've gotten value out of some of the posts I've written :)

If you're interested, I'll still be around.  I'm thinking I will reactivate my other blog after the holidays but won't be committing to post there everyday-- just when I find things that are interesting (to me at least).

I wish you all a super Holiday Season with friends, family, and yes....great food (mindfully eaten)!

--Kristi

**I don't sign my posts for the FC but because you know me so well by now, I bet you'll be able to guess which ones are mine :)

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Bad Things Happen

Even though we struggle to doing the right things....all the time...effortlessly...sometimes we drop the ball.

Or the ball gets knocked out of our hands by well meaning friends, getting sick, a wonderful new promotion, baby, or some other unexpectedness that life throws at us.

The train goes off the rails despite our best of intentions.

"Yet we mend. And then we can look back and laugh, smile, and think of all those little things that seemed like errors…but somehow, they were seeds for smiles we hadn’t yet recognized."

We live through the situations that test us.  We learn.  We find new and better ways to deal so next time something similar happens, we have skills to draw on (and we start the whole cycle over again).

We are meant to struggle because we'd never evolve as people without the struggle.  I know you probably don't count your weight as the blessing that it is but maybe you should.  You're learning and growing (seriously, don't make that face....I meant emotionally growing and you know it ;)

Embrace the struggle and the lessons you learn -- they mean you're alive!  And, especially this time of year, we should be grateful for all of our blessings....not just the ones that come easy.

**the quote is from Erika's Thanksgiving post -- no swearing in this one although the title may give you pause.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Exercising for the Right Reasons

Here's one of the better explainations of exercise I've ever read -- hope you enjoy1!

Are You Exercising for the Right Reasons?


When most people set out to get some exercise, it's for one reason: to look better. Whether our end goal is weight loss, toning up, or building muscle, we tend to be motivated to exercise by external benefits. However, recent research on willpower hints that this external focus may be counterproductive to our overall success.

The theory is this: Our willpower is an exhaustible resource; we have a certain amount, but it does get used up over the course of the day. Think of it as a bank account that you tap into, as you try to make choices that differ from what you really want to do in order to achieve your weight loss goals:

Order the skinny latte instead of the regular with whip, 10 willpower points.

Eat your home-packed lunch instead of hitting the drive-through, 15 willpower points.

Snack on an apple rather than a bag of chips from the vending machine, 20 willpower points.

It may not take long to end up with a low balance in your willpower bank account, and not have enough energy to resist that tub of ice cream calling your name. And here's the rub: Some researchers speculate that exercising for external reasons only—that is, to lose weight—taps into your willpower bank account much more than exercising for internal reasons, such as relieving stress.

You've probably witnessed this happening. Consider the friend who orders dessert because she "earned it" by going to step class, for example. It's this type of self-sabotage that derails weight loss, no matter how good your intentions.

The trick is to find those internal motivations to exercise, so you actually want to do it, regardless of the external outcomes. Working out should be something you do to be happy, not skinny.

Of course, we've all heard that in order to be consistent with exercise, we should find something we actually enjoy doing. What goes unsaid, however, is that when you first try something, you aren't very good at that thing, so it likely won't be enjoyable. Someone who loves yoga probably didn't love it from day one, when she was awkwardly fumbling through poses that seemed foreign and odd. So, as you try different activities, I recommend focusing on internal benefits like these:

1. Exercise makes you a happier person. This is because our bodies go through a hormonal change when we pump up our heart rate. We burn cortisol, the stress hormone, and release endorphins, the happy hormones.

2. Exercise makes you smarter. Research suggests people who are fit may have higher IQs. Even sedentary folks show a boost in brain performance after an exercise session, and people do better on some aspects of critical thinking immediately after working out.

3. Exercise boosts confidence. "Feeling fat" is commonplace in our society, and it's also destructive—it hurts body image, decreases self-esteem, and can even provoke further weight gain. Research indicates exercise can help boost self-confidence, helping us feel more comfortable in our own skin. Exercise can mean the difference between "feeling fat" and "feeling curvy"—which would you rather feel?

Monday, December 3, 2012

A Thought for the Day...

Everyone faces defeat. It may be a stepping-stone or a stumbling block, depending on the mental attitude with which it is faced. --Napoleon Hill