Articles
Consistency Over Time: Making Change Possible
Consistency over time. I was just talking to somebody today about choosing your hard.
It’s hard to feel uncomfortable in your body and not have energy to do the things you want to do.
It’s hard to workout consistently each week. It’s hard to have heartburn and poor digestion and inconsistent bowel habits. It’s hard to try to eat nutritious foods 80% of the time and limit the foods and drinks that cause stomach problems.
It’s hard to feel uncomfortable in your body and not have energy to do the things you want to do.
It’s hard to workout consistently each week. It’s hard to have heartburn and poor digestion and inconsistent bowel habits. It’s hard to try to eat nutritious foods 80% of the time and limit the foods and drinks that cause stomach problems.
New Year’s Resolutions: A Waste of Time?
Where do you stand on New Year’s resolutions? It seems like people either love them or hate
them.
I used to be the person who thought New Year’s resolutions were stupid. I knew you shouldn’t
wait for the mark of a new year to start on your goals. If you really wanted something, you
shouldn’t need a new year to get motivated, you’d just start no matter the date on the calendar.
them.
I used to be the person who thought New Year’s resolutions were stupid. I knew you shouldn’t
wait for the mark of a new year to start on your goals. If you really wanted something, you
shouldn’t need a new year to get motivated, you’d just start no matter the date on the calendar.
From Chaos to Calm: Healthy Habit Tips From a Former Hot Mess
This article is coming at you from a former hot mess of a non healthy habit person. In my past life I was a smoker who also loved to drink. My social life, much like the rest of Americans, revolved around food and alcohol. I enjoyed myself and had fun. In hindsight, I realize now that I didn’t really know how to eat healthy. Maybe there were too many contradicting studies and articles about which diet was the best for overall health. At some point I just quit caring. I did in fact spend a few years subsisting on not much more than coffee, Diet Coke and fudgsicles while wondering why I had no energy. I exercised in brief and infrequent bouts, but the habit just never stuck.
Consistency Over Time: Making Change Possible
Consistency over time. I was just talking to somebody today about choosing your hard.
It’s hard to feel uncomfortable in your body and not have energy to do the things you want to do. It’s hard to workout consistently each week.
It’s hard to have heartburn and poor digestion and inconsistent bowel habits. It’s hard to try to eat nutritious foods 80% of the time and limit the foods and drinks that cause stomach problems.
It’s hard to see your dreams and goals die because you feel like you’re too old now or feel like you’re not able to physically do them. It’s hard and uncomfortable and scary to go out and try to achieve your goals and dreams.
We all choose our hard by what we consistently do over time. Whatever habits you’ve had that you’ve consistently done every day and every week led you to where you are now.
I am impatient and rash and want what I want yesterday. Being patient and consistent is not in my nature. And yet I’ve managed to be patient and consistent with weight training. It’s almost like a miracle.
I lift weights so that I feel good physically and mentally. I lift weights because I want to be strong, capable and resilient. I lift weights to remind myself I can do hard things and to remember that no feeling is final. I lift weights because I want to hike and ski and climb and do whatever the hell else I want to do. And the byproduct of that is that I actually feel really good in my body and I am proud of what I have accomplished.
It is simultaneously the easiest thing ever to walk in and start methodically ticking away at the workout and lifting a weight for 30 seconds before resting, and the hardest thing ever to try to lift heavy and be temporarily uncomfortable 30 seconds at a time to reach my personal goals.
What you want for yourself is possible. I’m proof of that. I went from feeling weak and helpless after inflammatory breast cancer treatment in 2009, to crying on the floor of my shower when deciding to give up alcohol and pain pills in 2018, to barely being able to get out of bed because I ate nothing but Diet Coke and fudgesicles, to hiring someone to teach me how to nourish my body, to hiring someone to teach me how to train my body with weights, to becoming a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, to getting into the best shape of my life at 53, to climbing mountains. If there is something you want to change or something you want to do, you CAN do it! Consistency over time, I’m rooting for you.
It’s hard to feel uncomfortable in your body and not have energy to do the things you want to do. It’s hard to workout consistently each week.
It’s hard to have heartburn and poor digestion and inconsistent bowel habits. It’s hard to try to eat nutritious foods 80% of the time and limit the foods and drinks that cause stomach problems.
It’s hard to see your dreams and goals die because you feel like you’re too old now or feel like you’re not able to physically do them. It’s hard and uncomfortable and scary to go out and try to achieve your goals and dreams.
We all choose our hard by what we consistently do over time. Whatever habits you’ve had that you’ve consistently done every day and every week led you to where you are now.
I am impatient and rash and want what I want yesterday. Being patient and consistent is not in my nature. And yet I’ve managed to be patient and consistent with weight training. It’s almost like a miracle.
I lift weights so that I feel good physically and mentally. I lift weights because I want to be strong, capable and resilient. I lift weights to remind myself I can do hard things and to remember that no feeling is final. I lift weights because I want to hike and ski and climb and do whatever the hell else I want to do. And the byproduct of that is that I actually feel really good in my body and I am proud of what I have accomplished.
It is simultaneously the easiest thing ever to walk in and start methodically ticking away at the workout and lifting a weight for 30 seconds before resting, and the hardest thing ever to try to lift heavy and be temporarily uncomfortable 30 seconds at a time to reach my personal goals.
What you want for yourself is possible. I’m proof of that. I went from feeling weak and helpless after inflammatory breast cancer treatment in 2009, to crying on the floor of my shower when deciding to give up alcohol and pain pills in 2018, to barely being able to get out of bed because I ate nothing but Diet Coke and fudgesicles, to hiring someone to teach me how to nourish my body, to hiring someone to teach me how to train my body with weights, to becoming a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, to getting into the best shape of my life at 53, to climbing mountains. If there is something you want to change or something you want to do, you CAN do it! Consistency over time, I’m rooting for you.
Are New Year’s Resolutions a Waste of Time?
Where do you stand on New Year’s resolutions? It seems like people either love them or hate them.
I used to be the person who thought New Year’s resolutions were stupid. I knew you shouldn’t wait for the mark of a new year to start on your goals. If you really wanted something, you shouldn’t need a new year to get motivated, you’d just start no matter the date on the calendar.
All that changed last year, when on January 2nd, I got out a pen and a paper and I made a list. It was a long and detailed list. I started to imagine what it would feel like to accomplish and experience the things on my list. I closed my eyes and saw and felt my body doing the things. I identified as the type of person who accomplished them. Things were set into motion, opportunities presented themselves, and I took initiative based on the goals I had identified. I felt the fear and did them anyway. By the time February hit, I looked back and honestly couldn’t believe how many things I had already ticked off the list. The rest of the year followed suit with me realizing so many of the goals and making changes to others. If I hadn’t taken a few minutes to identify what I wanted with a pen and paper and visualized it, I would not have had the experiences I had last year. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Maybe you’re still on the fence about making some resolutions. To this I would say, there’s never a bad time to want to improve your life.
Really, it’s that simple.
Resolutions are useful because they help you clarify what you want. If you don’t identify and clarify what you want, it is so easy to be aimless and just live day to day without taking in the big picture.
Imagine friends Annie and Veronica. They are almost 50 and wish they had more energy, strength, and endurance. They’ve talked about backpacking the Grand Canyon for years but haven’t made it happen yet. Now they know they would need to get in shape before attempting it. Annie made a New Year’s resolution to work on her health and fitness. Veronica didn’t make any resolutions, because they are stupid.
Annie hired a personal trainer to guide and coach her with a plan specific to her goals. Veronica went to the gym a few times in January but didn’t really have a plan, saw no results, and eventually quit. Annie just got back from a vacation of a lifetime where she backpacked the Grand Canyon rim to rim. Veronica was disappointed that she didn’t have the physical strength and endurance to go with Annie, but she did get to look at the pictures.
Your life is what you make it. You get to choose how to live and what to spend your time and money on.
I used to be the person who thought New Year’s resolutions were stupid. I knew you shouldn’t wait for the mark of a new year to start on your goals. If you really wanted something, you shouldn’t need a new year to get motivated, you’d just start no matter the date on the calendar.
All that changed last year, when on January 2nd, I got out a pen and a paper and I made a list. It was a long and detailed list. I started to imagine what it would feel like to accomplish and experience the things on my list. I closed my eyes and saw and felt my body doing the things. I identified as the type of person who accomplished them. Things were set into motion, opportunities presented themselves, and I took initiative based on the goals I had identified. I felt the fear and did them anyway. By the time February hit, I looked back and honestly couldn’t believe how many things I had already ticked off the list. The rest of the year followed suit with me realizing so many of the goals and making changes to others. If I hadn’t taken a few minutes to identify what I wanted with a pen and paper and visualized it, I would not have had the experiences I had last year. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Maybe you’re still on the fence about making some resolutions. To this I would say, there’s never a bad time to want to improve your life.
Really, it’s that simple.
Resolutions are useful because they help you clarify what you want. If you don’t identify and clarify what you want, it is so easy to be aimless and just live day to day without taking in the big picture.
Imagine friends Annie and Veronica. They are almost 50 and wish they had more energy, strength, and endurance. They’ve talked about backpacking the Grand Canyon for years but haven’t made it happen yet. Now they know they would need to get in shape before attempting it. Annie made a New Year’s resolution to work on her health and fitness. Veronica didn’t make any resolutions, because they are stupid.
Annie hired a personal trainer to guide and coach her with a plan specific to her goals. Veronica went to the gym a few times in January but didn’t really have a plan, saw no results, and eventually quit. Annie just got back from a vacation of a lifetime where she backpacked the Grand Canyon rim to rim. Veronica was disappointed that she didn’t have the physical strength and endurance to go with Annie, but she did get to look at the pictures.
Your life is what you make it. You get to choose how to live and what to spend your time and money on.
From Chaos to Calm: Healthy Habit Tips From a Former Hot Mess
This article is coming at you from a former hot mess of a non healthy habit person. In my past life I was a smoker who also loved to drink. My social life, much like the rest of Americans, revolved around food and alcohol. I enjoyed myself and had fun. In hindsight, I realize now that I didn’t really know how to eat healthy. Maybe there were too many contradicting studies and articles about which diet was the best for overall health. At some point I just quit caring. I did in fact spend a few years subsisting on not much more than coffee, Diet Coke and fudgsicles while wondering why I had no energy. I exercised in brief and infrequent bouts, but the habit just never stuck.
So what changed?
Over time, my sense of well-being started to slowly roll downhill. Waking up hungover, low-energy, anxious and bloated made me reconsider how I wanted to live this one wild and precious life. I am a stage 3C inflammatory breast cancer survivor who thought for sure she was going to die back in 2009. So many of the amazing women in my online support group passed away. Several had recurrences years after initial diagnosis. It wasn’t lost on me that it is a privilege to live.
There was a soft voice in my head that got louder over time, reminding me what I already knew. I wasn’t living up to my full potential. I needed to find a better way to live and I desperately wanted to feel physically and mentally better. I’d occasionally see a post on social media from someone who had quit drinking and was absolutely thriving. I’d see another post about someone who took up weight lifting, looked amazing, and said that it made them feel amazing, energetic, and strong. I knew I wanted that!
Painstakingly slowly I made changes. The first change I made was to think about making changes. This phase lasted A LONG time! So long! I wondered how I could possibly ever live without drinking or how I could possibly be disciplined enough to learn how to lift weights and then do it consistently. And then I wondered about it some more, over and over and over.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve had really good intentions more times than you care to count but most of your attempts to create a new healthy habit have failed regardless of how many articles or health professionals say we need to do what we can, within our control, to take care of our health.
My experience with making healthy habit changes were years in the making. In fact, there were a few years where a seed had definitely been planted, and even though I watered it from time to time, nothing appeared to be growing. Until one day, the first little leaf poked up through the soil and slowly unfurled itself. It took patience, consistency, and dedication to yield that crop. I tended to the crop by starting to walk every day. I hired a health coach to sort out my nutrition, and a personal trainer to teach me how to lift weights. I spent hours in the gym, consistently ticking off one workout and then the next in structured weight lifting programs and tried out different muscle endurance and cardio plans with different coaches. I learned how to fuel my body so that I had sustained energy all day. I learned the nuances of fueling my body on hikes, backpacking trips, and mountain climbs. I sought out people with more experience than me and learned more from them along the way. I fell in love with the process and the transformation. This former hot mess became a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who writes article about healthy habits. Anything is possible.
Here are my top tips on how to create healthy habits.
Meet yourself where you’re at. Coming from a place of awareness and acceptance is so much more productive than bemoaning that you aren’t further along. Which leads right into the next tip.
Have patience. You’ve likely spent years living your life the same way. It takes time for changes to stick. Studies conclude that it takes time for new habits to solidify. The time frame varies depending on what study you read ranging from 1, to 3, to 6 months. The truth is that no one knows with absolute certainty how long it will take. If you’ve spent a number of years engaging in less than optimal habits related to your health, it seems reasonable and logical that it may take some time to rewire your neural pathways and your mindset.
Know that it is ok to feel uncomfortable. It’s like mobility workouts. The more time you spend in a limited end range of motion, the easier it will be to increase and improve that range of motion. The discomfort is a necessary step. It doesn’t need to hurt terribly or knock the wind out of you. If it does, relax, back it off a bit, and breathe into it slowly.
It’s ok to start out small and slow. Sustainability and adherence is crucial to lasting change. Starting out small and slow allows you to collect some wins and feel good about them. If what you’re attempting to do is not sustainable, you won’t continue on the path. Make the goal reachable! You can always reach higher as time goes on.
You don’t have to figure out how to do it all on your own. The process may benefit and proceed so much smoother and quicker by utilizing: a life coach, a therapist, a 10 step program, a health coach, personal trainer, or nutrition coach. When things feel overwhelming, you can find someone who has the information and help that can make a lasting and positive impact on your life, health, and in turn, ripples out to your relationships and community. Investing in yourself can pay off in far reaching dividends. You are worth it.
Be kind to yourself. Mindset is so important. We tend to beat ourselves up inside. Now is not the time for negative self talk. Support yourself the way you would support your best friend. If they slipped and fell you wouldn’t think they were a failure. You’d simply know they are human. So are you.
Believe in yourself. You must first believe that it can be true. If the change you are trying to make doesn’t feel believable, scale it back. Instead of trying to leap across the Grand Canyon of self doubt to get to the other side of change in one impossible jump, just decide what the next right step is. The one that is right in front of you on the trail, not across the canyon. You can get all the way from one rim of the canyon to the other one step at a time. All you have to do is keep taking the next step in the right direction.
Visualize it. You know, like an Olympic athlete visualizes themselves racing down the ski run and winning the gold medal, or visualizes themselves clearing the bar on the high jump for a new Olympic Record while taking their team to victory. Visualize yourself as the person who has the habit you are trying to create. Close your eyes and picture yourself as the embodiment of future healthy habit you. If you want to, close your eyes and imagine walking into a room and seeing your future self. They haven’t seen you yet, so scope them out closely. What are they wearing? What is their posture like? What do they look like in the room that day? What are they doing? What do you imagine they feel like? They slowly turn and catch sight of you staring at them. Imagine they smile as wide and as bright as when someone runs into someone they love and adore. They scoop you up in an embrace and whisper in your ear, “You’ve got this. This, what I have right now, is waiting for you.” Open your eyes knowing your future self lives within you. You do have this. Embrace the feeling of knowing this is your future.
Believe in yourself. You must first believe that it can be true. If the change you are trying to make doesn’t feel believable, scale it back. Instead of trying to leap across the Grand Canyon of self doubt to get to the other side of change in one impossible jump, just decide what the next right step is. The one that is right in front of you on the trail, not across the canyon. You can get all the way from one rim of the canyon to the other one step at a time. All you have to do is keep taking the next step in the right direction.
Coming from a former hot mess of a non healthy habit person, you’ve got this!
So what changed?
Over time, my sense of well-being started to slowly roll downhill. Waking up hungover, low-energy, anxious and bloated made me reconsider how I wanted to live this one wild and precious life. I am a stage 3C inflammatory breast cancer survivor who thought for sure she was going to die back in 2009. So many of the amazing women in my online support group passed away. Several had recurrences years after initial diagnosis. It wasn’t lost on me that it is a privilege to live.
There was a soft voice in my head that got louder over time, reminding me what I already knew. I wasn’t living up to my full potential. I needed to find a better way to live and I desperately wanted to feel physically and mentally better. I’d occasionally see a post on social media from someone who had quit drinking and was absolutely thriving. I’d see another post about someone who took up weight lifting, looked amazing, and said that it made them feel amazing, energetic, and strong. I knew I wanted that!
Painstakingly slowly I made changes. The first change I made was to think about making changes. This phase lasted A LONG time! So long! I wondered how I could possibly ever live without drinking or how I could possibly be disciplined enough to learn how to lift weights and then do it consistently. And then I wondered about it some more, over and over and over.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve had really good intentions more times than you care to count but most of your attempts to create a new healthy habit have failed regardless of how many articles or health professionals say we need to do what we can, within our control, to take care of our health.
My experience with making healthy habit changes were years in the making. In fact, there were a few years where a seed had definitely been planted, and even though I watered it from time to time, nothing appeared to be growing. Until one day, the first little leaf poked up through the soil and slowly unfurled itself. It took patience, consistency, and dedication to yield that crop. I tended to the crop by starting to walk every day. I hired a health coach to sort out my nutrition, and a personal trainer to teach me how to lift weights. I spent hours in the gym, consistently ticking off one workout and then the next in structured weight lifting programs and tried out different muscle endurance and cardio plans with different coaches. I learned how to fuel my body so that I had sustained energy all day. I learned the nuances of fueling my body on hikes, backpacking trips, and mountain climbs. I sought out people with more experience than me and learned more from them along the way. I fell in love with the process and the transformation. This former hot mess became a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who writes article about healthy habits. Anything is possible.
Here are my top tips on how to create healthy habits.
Meet yourself where you’re at. Coming from a place of awareness and acceptance is so much more productive than bemoaning that you aren’t further along. Which leads right into the next tip.
Have patience. You’ve likely spent years living your life the same way. It takes time for changes to stick. Studies conclude that it takes time for new habits to solidify. The time frame varies depending on what study you read ranging from 1, to 3, to 6 months. The truth is that no one knows with absolute certainty how long it will take. If you’ve spent a number of years engaging in less than optimal habits related to your health, it seems reasonable and logical that it may take some time to rewire your neural pathways and your mindset.
Know that it is ok to feel uncomfortable. It’s like mobility workouts. The more time you spend in a limited end range of motion, the easier it will be to increase and improve that range of motion. The discomfort is a necessary step. It doesn’t need to hurt terribly or knock the wind out of you. If it does, relax, back it off a bit, and breathe into it slowly.
It’s ok to start out small and slow. Sustainability and adherence is crucial to lasting change. Starting out small and slow allows you to collect some wins and feel good about them. If what you’re attempting to do is not sustainable, you won’t continue on the path. Make the goal reachable! You can always reach higher as time goes on.
You don’t have to figure out how to do it all on your own. The process may benefit and proceed so much smoother and quicker by utilizing: a life coach, a therapist, a 10 step program, a health coach, personal trainer, or nutrition coach. When things feel overwhelming, you can find someone who has the information and help that can make a lasting and positive impact on your life, health, and in turn, ripples out to your relationships and community. Investing in yourself can pay off in far reaching dividends. You are worth it.
Be kind to yourself. Mindset is so important. We tend to beat ourselves up inside. Now is not the time for negative self talk. Support yourself the way you would support your best friend. If they slipped and fell you wouldn’t think they were a failure. You’d simply know they are human. So are you.
Believe in yourself. You must first believe that it can be true. If the change you are trying to make doesn’t feel believable, scale it back. Instead of trying to leap across the Grand Canyon of self doubt to get to the other side of change in one impossible jump, just decide what the next right step is. The one that is right in front of you on the trail, not across the canyon. You can get all the way from one rim of the canyon to the other one step at a time. All you have to do is keep taking the next step in the right direction.
Visualize it. You know, like an Olympic athlete visualizes themselves racing down the ski run and winning the gold medal, or visualizes themselves clearing the bar on the high jump for a new Olympic Record while taking their team to victory. Visualize yourself as the person who has the habit you are trying to create. Close your eyes and picture yourself as the embodiment of future healthy habit you. If you want to, close your eyes and imagine walking into a room and seeing your future self. They haven’t seen you yet, so scope them out closely. What are they wearing? What is their posture like? What do they look like in the room that day? What are they doing? What do you imagine they feel like? They slowly turn and catch sight of you staring at them. Imagine they smile as wide and as bright as when someone runs into someone they love and adore. They scoop you up in an embrace and whisper in your ear, “You’ve got this. This, what I have right now, is waiting for you.” Open your eyes knowing your future self lives within you. You do have this. Embrace the feeling of knowing this is your future.
Believe in yourself. You must first believe that it can be true. If the change you are trying to make doesn’t feel believable, scale it back. Instead of trying to leap across the Grand Canyon of self doubt to get to the other side of change in one impossible jump, just decide what the next right step is. The one that is right in front of you on the trail, not across the canyon. You can get all the way from one rim of the canyon to the other one step at a time. All you have to do is keep taking the next step in the right direction.
Coming from a former hot mess of a non healthy habit person, you’ve got this!
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Serving Silverton, OR
(503) 428-0077
Serving Silverton, OR
(503) 428-0077