Overcome a Loser Mentality

There are many people who desperately want to lead a healthier lifestyle but are not sure how to get started or are afraid to try because they have failed before. They have tried several different diets, or they keep trying to do the same one, only to end up with the same results and are now even more discouraged. This is usually when they give up and figure their lot in life is to be overweight, and unhealthy.

So what is holding them back from seeking help and moving forward? Here are some of the reasons or excuses I have heard from people:

• I don’t think I can do it

• It’s too hard

• I can’t afford it

• I don’t feel like it

• I don’t have the time

We often do things based on feelings. If we don’t “feel” like it, we don’t do it, even when we know it’s healthier. If we can learn to focus on the consequences verses rewards of not doing something or doing something, then we are more apt to follow through. For example, I don’t always feel like exercising, but I know it’s good for me and I will feel much better afterwards. This motivates me to exercise again, and I now love to do it!

Many times we defeat ourselves before we even get started. We’ve already convinced ourselves we can’t do it so we don’t even try. Set your mind to determine decisively what you will think, what you believe and what you will or will not do. Establish that you will become healthier no matter what it takes and don’t give up!

I have seen many of my clients succeed when they at first lacked the confidence to even try. Once they started they got more and more confidence, while getting encouragement and support from the group and coach, which lead to their success. This wouldn’t have happened if they wouldn’t have taken that step of faith and overcome that loser mentality.

If you seriously want to improve your lifestyle, you may consider joining my group competition – “TLS Lose to Win.” I am looking for four people to coach who need to lose weight and make a change. The group will be entered in a national competition and can win large cash prizes. Contact me by February 25th if you are interested.

In conclusion, as one of my clients so adequately put it: “Champions make decisions to birth a better future; losers make excuses to stay the same as today.” I believe God has placed champions in each of us; it’s up to us to start living it out!

Are You at Risk for Sitting Disease?

How much do you sit throughout the day? Medical experts have started referring to long periods of inactivity and its negative consequences as “Sitting Disease.” People can spend up to half of their day sitting, whether it is at their work station or on their couch. New studies are saying what has been suspected for a while; if you’re sitting for long periods of time, you may be at risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

In fact, in a study presented at the American Institute for Cancer Research’s annual conference, there have been 90,000 cancer deaths that can be attributed to the fact that people are exercising less than ever. Breast cancer has also been linked to inactivity.

Consequently, when you’re seated your muscles’ electrical activity drops, which incites a flow of unwanted metabolic effects. The body’s calorie-burning mechanisms slow and insulin efficiency drops, escalating the risk of diabetes. Obesity becomes a concern because enzymes that break down lipids and triglycerides also drop, bringing levels of good (HDL) cholesterol down with them (Dr. Neil Baum’s blog). What’s more, even regular exercise doesn’t seem to outweigh the ills of sitting through the workday.

Here are some tips to help you revamp your lifestyle to become more physically active:

• (NEAT) Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis. If you sit at a desk all day, you may consider stretching, bending and turning several times throughout the day. Also, try mixing standing and sitting.

• Take regular breaks. Most people know lack of exercising will cause weight gain, but this doesn’t usually motivate them to become more active. It helps to get moving often with small goals. Stretch out your entire body, all the muscles that are cramped. If you do it five or six times a day, you'll start to notice a difference."

• Exercise while watching television. It’s time to bring the treadmill, bike or elliptical out of the basement and put it in front of your TV. This is how a client told me they lost weight. They made the commitment to get on their treadmill every time they watched TV for at least an hour.

• End your workday with more energy. Prolonged sitting at work can tire you out, which makes you fill exhausted by the time 5 p.m. approaches. If you take a brisk, 15-minute walk in the afternoon, you'll be far more productive in your last two hours. Making time to get a little exercise in will give you more energy all day long.

Lastly, whatever you can do to move more do it! Walk, stretch, stand, ride a bike or get on an elliptical. Not only will you feel more energetic, improve your moods and decrease your chance for several diseases, you will also prolong your life span and quality of life! So what are you waiting for?

Can Supplements Help Boost Your Energy -Part Two

Last week I gave some information on supplements that may help you get an energy boost. With today’s hurried lifestyles we need all the energy we can get!

Here are some other substances that may affect energy metabolism:

• Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) - is the vital nutrient that initiates energy production at the cellular level that powers the heart and acts as a powerful antioxidant when combined with vitamin E. It plays a vital role in health maintenance. It contributes to a healthy cardiovascular system, periodontal health, healthy blood sugar levels, and maintenance of cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations.

• B vitamins, like vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamine, niacian- these are necessary to take because they are water soluble and our bodies do not produce them. They help decrease stress and improve mood, and maintain healthy levels of serotonin.

• Creatine, carnitine - might actually decrease athletic performance in longer-term physical activity and carries some risk. Some experts say it can interfere with sweating, thus contributing to dehydration, muscle strain, and cramps.

Deficiencies in these vitamins are common. People who are deficient in CoQ10 and B vitamins can definitely benefit from taking supplements. Who is likely to be deficient? Athletes who push themselves hard might be depleted in these nutrients. Also, people who have poor diets or take regular medications, such as acid blockers, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, blood pressure, cholesterol lowering medication and several more can become deficient.

Also, we can no longer get all the vitamins in our foods any longer since our soil is depleted, and pesticides and chemicals have been added to our fruits, vegetables and meats. Not to mention the poor diet most Americans have.

Some other energy supplements that are popular with my clients are Mochatonix which contains an ingredient – Advantra Z. When combined with exercise, can help to the body burn fat, build lean muscle mass, and increase physical performance. Not only does it provide additional energy, it can help the body use more efficiently the energy stored in fat.

In conclusion, there is a lot to learn about supplementation and how it can truly help you feel more energetic and stay healthy.

Can Supplements Help Boost Your Energy

Energy supplements have become one of the most popular categories of supplements. It seems like everyone these days needs an energy boost. Hectic lifestyles seem to be one of the main reasons for lack of energy and a desire for something that can help.

But do they work? Some energy supplements may help but you need to know what you are looking for. Otherwise, supplements you buy could just leave you hundreds of dollars poorer and no less sluggish.

Here is some information that may help guide you to the supplements that can benefit you the most. It’s also important to get advice from a physician who has been educated on supplementation:

To help break it down, I will divide these energy supplement ingredients into three categories:

1. Stimulants – Can help rev up the metabolism. Here are lists of energy supplements which contain these:

• Caffeine - is a common ingredient in just about any product marketed for energy, while an energy drink might have 20 other ingredients, the one you really feel is likely to be caffeine. Caffeine can step up your metabolism and can even give you greater mental clarity. Although, most experts say to have no more than 2 cups a day.

• Herbal sources of caffeine and related compounds like guarana, yerba mate, and kola nut

• Green tea (also a source of caffeine) - also provides a related compound, theophylline, as well as the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Possibly, because of these specific compounds, green tea may have unique effects on mental and physical energy.

• Capsaicin (red pepper) - the ingredient that makes chili peppers hot; is sometimes used for its alleged stimulant properties, but more for a metabolic boost than for improvements in physical or mental energy.

• Asian Ginseng - is not a caffeine derivative, but it may also serve as a mild stimulant. There is some scientific research that shows it can have positive effects on psychological and physical health.

• Bitter Orange (specifically, the ingredient synephrine) – is an extract from the rind of a different citrus species than that used for classic orange juice, is another energy supplement unrelated to caffeine. Though it has not been studied much, some experts fear there could be some risks taking it. Its active ingredient- synephrine is chemically similar to ephedrine which was pulled off the market in 2004 because of some serious health risks.

For lack of space, I will need to continue the other categories next week. The bottom line: Will these supplements boost energy? Yes, stimulants like these most likely will rev up your metabolism temporarily, but the key is eating healthy, exercising as well as taking a superior line of supplements.

Don’t Make a Resolution – Make a Lifestyle Change!

It’s that time of year again when many of us makes a resolution to lose weight and live healthier- but why don’t these resolutions last? In this article I will give you a few reasons why resolutions to lose weight don’t work.

1. Diets don’t work. Diets are a temporary way of life. On the quest to lose weight many people try quick fix diets such as, shakes, low calorie foods, fad diets, health clubs and other weight loss attempts. Being overweight is like wearing a bull’s eye — you are a target for companies trying to make money from your condition. Restrictive diets do not work; you must make a lifestyle change.

"Lifestyle change will work if you have realistic expectations, good support, and choose a plan that you can stick with -- a plan that will give you moderate change over a long time Fernstrom tells WebMD.

2. Behaviors do not change automatically. Instead of riding the diet roller coaster up and down, you need to make a constant effort to change. If you don’t change your lifestyle behaviors, don’t expect to achieve or maintain a healthy weight. That is why most diet plans don’t work; you are not taught how to eat for a lifetime, change your behavior or incorporate exercise.

3. Diet is affected by social issues. This happens when you are with your family and friends. In the American setting, unhealthy eating and dietary patterns is often encouraged. This makes it very difficult to keep healthy lifestyle changes going. Don’t allow others to discourage you and cause you to give up; keep your focus to accomplish what you set out to, no matter the cost.

4. Lack of accountability. Many people try to reach their weight loss goals on their own. Usually, they quickly give up because no one is there to inspire or encourage them to press past the challenges. Having a coach is crucial for success. Just as a good coach helps their team win the game with education, encouragement and inspiration, so a Lifestyle Coach can help you achieve your goals of weight-loss and a healthy lifestyle

It’s time for a different approach. It’s time to find the answer that’s right for you. That answer is making a lifestyle change that will last, not a temporary solution that will fail. Start with a positive attitude and determination to stop the diet roller coaster!

Obstacles to valuing your health

In my last article, I listed several reasons why we don’t value our health or for that matter our lives. My hope in this article is to cause you to think about how valuable you are. My number one frustration as a coach is that my clients don’t take their health seriously until it’s too late and they have a major illness or disease.

Here are some more reasons we don’t invest time or money to take care of ourselves:

• Lack of a support system. If you don’t have others in your life that will support you, it is very difficult to develop a healthy lifestyle. Many times my clients sabotage themselves or allow others to sabotage them. They start off excited and ready to make a change and then someone plants a seed of doubt in them, and because they don’t value themselves, they give up.

When having the accountability and encouragement of a coach and good social network a person is twice as likely to succeed. This is why my groups are more successful than one on one coaching clients. It’s very important to position others in your life that have a positive outlook and want to help you succeed.

• Lack of commitment. One thing I always say before my client begins my TLS Weight Loss class is “Are you ready and committed to making a change?” If they hesitate, I encourage them to really think about how important their health is to them. Many want to be healthy but are not willing to make the necessary changes it takes to become healthier. If this is the case, I recommend they wait until they are ready.

• Lack of willpower. Willpower can be a great thing if you have it but the problem comes when you begin to Reason. For example, Reason can talk you out of going for your morning jog when it’s cold and gloomy out. “Your right, it says, it’s too yucky to jog.”

I’m sure you have found that when you really don’t want to do something, you can talk yourself out of it! Willpower and discipline are critically important for a successful life, but willpower alone is not usually enough to bring you across the finish line. Drawing your strength from God can help you do all things.

Finally, valuing your life and investing in yourself is vital to become happy and healthy. My hope is that you will realize how valuable you are!

Why We Don’t Value Our Health?

Taking care of your health is not an indulgence, its respecting yourself, others and God. When you don’t take care of your health, you can end up sick and debilitated while putting a burden on others who must take care of you.

Throughout my coaching practice I have come to discover several reasons why people don’t value themselves as they should. My passion as a coach is to educate and help people to grasp how valuable they are in hopes they will invest some time in their health so as to lead the life God has intended for them.

Here are some reasons we don’t invest time or money to take care of ourselves:

1. Lack of knowledge - Many people don’t realize how foods impact their body. They have never had any education on nutrition. They rely on fast food and prepackaged meals that have no or very little nutritional value. Their lives are so hectic; they don’t take time to eat sensibly. Once they can understand how easy and affordable it is to eat healthy many adjust their eating habits.

2. We have a distorted image of how we are to look – We have been inundated with media telling us how we should look, but on the other hand, obesity is so prevalent -it’s almost the norm!

3. We don’t recognize the importance of exercise – Being too busy to exercise is one of the common excuses I hear from my clients. Exercise is essential to our overall well-being. Here are just a few of the benefits: stress reliever, improves moods, and boosts energy, plus many more! Exercise needs to be a priority in your life so that you can accomplish the things that are important.

4. We don’t enjoy our lives – I am dismayed by a number of my clients that fall into this category. They are so busy; they cut everything they enjoy out of their lives. God never intended our lives to be mundane and stressful. Once you can learn the impact stress has on your physical and emotional well –being, you can begin to understand what a crime against yourself this is. Life is too short not to be enjoyed!

5. Some have become addicted to selflessness – Yes, it’s important to help others and it should be a major part of your life, but not to the extent of ignoring your basic needs. For some, the only thing that gives them meaning is doing for others. Everything in life must have a balance or something breaks down and often it’s us.

There are several other reasons why we don’t take care of ourselves so make sure you read my next article. Above all, value your life – it’s the greatest gift you will ever receive!