Attitude Adjustment

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and for many this meant a day spent with family eating lots of delicious food.   There were games, laughing, talking, joking and lots of fun but few took the time to express thanks.  Many have forgotten the purpose of the holiday and it has now become just a day to over indulge.  For some, it was an opportunity to be thankful.  Let's not leave our thankfulness at the Thanksgiving table but take this attitude with us throughout the year.

What does it mean to be thankful or to have gratitude? Webster's Dictionary defines gratitude as being thankful.  Scientist are discovering that an "attitude of gratitude"  has many benefits. Recent research has found that those who practice and cultivate an attitude of gratitude have less financial difficulties, are more emotionally stable,  are less greedy, have less episodes of depression, and have more energy.  In addition they sleep more soundly, have better immune systems, exercise more, and are less likely to be an alcoholic and are much happier than those who do not cultivate an attitude of gratitude.  Similar results were found in children.  Children who cultivate the attitude of gratitude have better grades, focus less on material things, set higher goals in life and complained of fewer aches and pains.

There are many ways to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.  One method is to develop a gratitude journal or a blessings journal.  In this journal you take the time daily to write about the things for which you are grateful,  Another method that I have heard of is the gratitude stone.  In this method one carries around a small stone and each time they feel it or remember it they recount what they are thankful for.  Writing a gratitude list, recounting ones blessings before going to sleep, making visits and thanking those whom we are grateful for are other ways one can cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

One of the most impacting ways that you can cultivate and attitude of gratitude is to practice positive thoughts.  Instead of focusing on the bad in the situation choose to see the good in it.  If you cannot find the good while you are in the situation, then choose not to say anything.  During this season of thankfulness let us pledge to remain thankful, for in so doing you are creating a healthier you so that you can be healthy for life.

Getting What You Always Got

If you always do what you have always done you will get what you always got.  I heard this saying a long time ago and it made me think of a hamster, always on the wheel running but going nowhere fast.  Many of us feel like the hamster running with no purpose in mind.  In you health journey you have a purpose, achieving a healthier life, a life lived to the fullest.  This my friends requires change.

Changes must come in life but few are prepared to make them.  Many times the process of change is not a comfortable one because it calls for introspection and honesty with ourselves and with others.  Our discomfort can cause us to become stagnant and not change and so avoiding having to deal with our baggage.  At this point along our journey some have fallen off because they were not successful.  Why you may ask? Because saying no to self was too hard.  Ultimately when making any change the person who needs to be convinced is YOU.  The voice in our heads that tells us we cannot do it.  Haven't you tried this before and it did not work?  What makes you think that it is going to work this time.  The answer to those questions is that this time you are prepared to do the work required, this time you have a true purpose are willing to do the necessary work.  The most important work is silencing the voice in you head.

Practice positive affirmations.  Tell yourself I will succeed.  I will make it this time.  I value me and appreciate the person I am becoming.  Some may say positive affirmation is psychological babble.  I disagree.  It is learning to love yourself.  Many of us have been taught that we are not lovable  not worthy, worthless and as such we treat our bodies that way.  You may not conscientiously say this but our actions show that we do not love ourselves the way we should.  It is time today to choose to love yourself because only then will the changes be made only then will you get off the wheel and do some thing different.  Some will say you are being selfish and I say to this which is more selfish? Loving myself or harming myself?  I would rather love myself because in so doing I learn to truly love others.

Doing something different begins with replacing the voices in your mind that tell you cannot succeed with ones that say all things are possible.  Have a great day and remember the purpose of the journey, health4life.

Don't Pull the Trigger!

I have often wondered why people play the “game” of Russian roulette.   A game of chance and risk in which a loaded gun with one round is pointed at the head after the cylinder is spun.   The idea of the so called game is absolutely absurd to me because of the risk involved and the possibility of death. For many of us, our lives are not much different to a game of Russian roulette.   What if I told you the choices that we make everyday play a type of Russian roulette with our health?  The bad habits that we have developed have caused us to wonder at times “Is this it?”  “Will today be the day?”  We have pulled our health triggers so many times that today indeed may be the day when the consequences of our actions are seen. 

In Monday's blog I mentioned temptation foods. Temptation foods are foods that we eat when faced with our triggers.  Today we will explore in greater detail how to avoid food temptations but also how to resist when tempted.

Temptation means to be enticed or led to do something you would not ordinarily.  This usually happens after a stressful situation.   Triggers for temptation foods include things such as stress, emotional distress, depression, anxiety and boredom. The most important thing is to recognize triggers prior to the temptation and learn ways to combat them. In our health Russian roulette, the temptation is the gun, the trigger is the stressor that causes us to reach for the food and the bullet is the foods that we eat.  Each time we give in to the temptation the cylinder spins and we are one step closer to death.  Each time we give in the risks rises.

Most of us know what our temptation foods are based on how we feel after we have eaten them.  These foods have become our enemies in that they are destructive in the way we consume them.  They cause us to feel shame, guilt, hopeless and, like a failure.  Temptation foods seem to be in control of us rather than us being in control of them.  There is usually a feeling of failure; of I can't believe I have done this again.  These are the foods we turn to when depressed, stress, anxious.  They cause you to feel temporary relief from the stress but after you have eaten them you feel even worse than when you were stressed. 

The first step in resisting/avoiding temptation is to recognize when and where the temptation comes.  Is it a particular place, person, event or occasion that stirs the desire? If so the answer may be to avoid them.  Another answer could be to develop different coping mechanisms for the stressor such as exercising, journaling or therapy.  Anther step could be learning to reward yourself with things other than food.  Get your hair done, go for a bike ride, take a walk in nature, get a message, visit or call a friend or take time to pray.  Most importantly do not give in to temptation.  James 4:7 says to resist the tempter and it will flee.  This is how you over come all temptations even the temptation of appetite. 

Don’t pull the trigger on temptation today.  Resist the urges and consider the journey you are on don’t go backwards but continue forward.  Continue your journey to a healthier you so that you can be Healthy4Life!

It's You and Me Against the World

 Battle of the Fries

Does it ever feel like the entire world is against you and that no matter what you tried, nothing worked?  Well that described my day today.  It started out on a good note and finished on a bad  note.  Through it all I think I managed to stick to my plan.  It was somewhat of a stressful day in that almost nothing went according to schedule.  I arrived at work early, parked far away, and took the stairs from the parking garage to the lower level where my office is located.  I got breakfast and made sure to make healthy choices.  I arranged my day and started working on various tasks which was when trouble started.

My phone would not stop ringing.  People stopped in to ask questions, emails kept coming and through it all I still had my regular job to to.  On top of all of this, I spent about one and a half hours waiting in line on two separate occasions to resolve an issue simply because someone would not listen.  The irony is that the issue could have been resolved in 10 minutes had they listened and to make matters worse, they were wrong and I right from the start.  It was  no wonder that when quitting time came I had to remain at work for an additional two hours charting.  I was not a happy camper.  I was hungry.  Lunch has been 6 hours earlier and my stomach was rising up in protest letting me know that it was not happy about that fact.  I wanted to eat everything that was in my way but thankfully the only thing available was chocolate of which I am not a big fan (more on that one later) and peanuts which I did not want either.

I realized that I was dangerously close to buying french fries (one of my temptation foods) and knew that had I yielded to the temptation  all the hard work for the day would have been in vain.  I had made healthy choices at breakfast and lunch and all that success would have been sacrificed if I had taken the trip to the cafeteria.  I wanted to get the fries and found reasons why I should have them.  It was the battle of the century until I realized that I was literally arguing with myself about hurting myself.  How crazy was that?  Eventually reason won out and I gained the victory.  I chose to have yogurt instead of french fries.  One hundred calories versus 380 calories.  Score one for me.

This experience has taught me that one of my  triggers to eat is stress.   They say to be warned is to be forearmed.  Now that I know that stress is one of my triggers I must make changes and develop strategies to handle my stress that does not involve food.  Things such as listening to music, candles, prayer, meditating, going for a walk, drinking water and choosing other forms of outlet are just some of the other ways to handle stress.  This is just one of my many triggers but it is one chink in a weakened armor that has been fixed.  I am ready to wage war a little safer knowing that a hole in my defense is mended.  Continue setting your goals and developing your plans.  Post a comment let me know what's going on with you.  What struggles are you facing?  Continue the journey as we choose to live healthier 4 life.

Are you S.M.A.R.T.E.R than your problems?

I know I haven't written in several days, but I wanted to give everyone time to make plans for their journey. In order to make effective plans you must take the time to think, pray and consider what you want to accomplish. Fitzhugh Dodson said “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”Today we will focus on setting your own  goals. In one of the first posts "Danger Ahead" we spoke about making SMARTER goals. The idea of SMARTER goals was developed by Paul J. Meyer for use in business but has been adopted for use in many areas.  Lets begin setting our goals!

S-Specific

Being specific means you have to be brave enough to tell the truth to yourself.  Many live in denial about the state of their health and it is not until confronted with illness that they accept the truth of their condition.  Being specific calls for us to admit that we have a problem and actually name the problem.  Unless you are specific and admit to the problem you cannot defeat the problem.  Example:  I want to lose 80 pounds means accepting and admitting that I am 80 pounds overweight and as such is at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and death to name a few.  It means coming clean not just to myself but to others who love me and want the best for me.  If you name it, it becomes real not nebulous.    

M-Measurable

Measurable goals are great because you can track them and, for those who love math, they can be quantified. It is easy to track progress when you have a measure to compare it against. For each pound I lose, I can subtract it from the number that I want to attain and see how far I have come but also how far I have to go.  As one friend pointed out to me the other day, slow progress is still progress. 

A- Attainable 

Attainable goals are goals that can be achieved. It may seem that my goal of losing 80 pounds is impossible but as a Christian I believe all things are possible with God. I also know that we must divide our goals in to bite size pieces. They say you eat the elephant one bite at a time and in achieving you goals you must also choose to take it in bite size pieces. It will be necessary to set long-term goals and short-term goals. My long-term goal is to lose 80 pounds but my short-term goal is to lost 10 pounds. The ten pound weight loss is very achievable and in a short enough time to keep me motivated. Choosing to have a short-term goal is recommended as this is useful in developing "sticktoitness".  When only long term goals are made people turn back or stop the journey because it seems they are not making progress.  Do you remember taking road trips? Designating points along the way to served as markers to let you know that the you were close to your destination.  Short-term goals are points on the journey that lets you know the end is drawing near.  

R-Relevant

Just as we strive to be relevant in our professional lives, our goals should be relevant to who we are and who we would like to become. Losing weight is relevant to me because I want to be healthier and I want more energy. I know from past experience that when I work out and lose weight I feel so much better. I remember discussing the benefits of exercise with a friend of mine and remarking that even the days seem to have more hours in them when I exercise because I accomplish more in shorter amounts of time. 

T-Time-Bound 

All goals require time limits. Without specifying realistic time limits we would set goals that are unattainable and as a result would become discouraged.  Solomon said that "to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1.  To choose realistic time limits we must carefully study to see how long tasks are supposed to take.  If you assign too little time to complete a task you will set your self up for failure.  The converse is true.  If you give too much time to accomplish a task you could waste time that could be spent working on other goals.  It is safe to lose 1-2 pounds per week.  Losing 80 pounds should take 40-52 weeks.  I need to assign myself a short-term goal of 15 pounds in 2 months and renew that goal after each 2 month period.

E-Evaluate

We should take time to evaluate our goals to ensure that we are achieving the desired results. Take time to review the goal, time limits, and plan to see if it meets the needs of what you are trying to accomplish. If your plan does not fully meet your needs, you will need to adjust your plans.  If the time allotted is sufficient, you should be making progress

R-Re-evaluate

Re-evaluate as often as is necessary to stay on course.

• Example: I want to lose 15 pounds in the next 2 months so that I can walk with less knee pain. After 1 month evaluate your plan. You should be half way to your goal. If you are not making the progress that you desire, re-evaluate your plan and adjust your work out or your diet to ensure its effectiveness. 

In future talks we will discus how to stick with the plan, how to achieve long-term success, and many other topics. Congratulations in taking the next step in becoming a healthier you so that you can be healthy 4 life!

Planning Makes Perfect

I  heard a story once about a guy who sketched the plans for his house on a paper towel.  He ordered the necessary materials and began to build.  After digging the basement, work began on the foundation.  As the foundation progressed, he realized that his plans were way off.  If he were to continue, the house would not be able to support the weight of the walls and roof.  He consulted professional plans, a contractor, adjusted his plans, and was able to build a very beautiful and safe home.

As we make our plans today, lets remember that plans are subject to change and require flexibility.  It is not uncommon to make plans for the future and find out that the time needed to accomplish the task was more than anticipated.  It is also not uncommon to learn that you could accomplish a task in less time than was previously planned.  Planning is not just about the destination it is also about the journey.  How you handle the bumps along the road (setbacks) will determine how successful your plan will be. 

The first step in any planning process is to determine what you are trying to accomplish and how best to arrive there.  Let's take for example weight loss. If you are trying to lose weight you would need to determine the necessary steps to lose the weight.

1. Determine how much weight you want to lose
2. Determine what steps you are going to take to lose the weight
• change eating habits
• drink more water
• less fat
• more fiber etc.
• exercise
• what type?
• how often
• when will you exercise?
• where will you exercise?
• Will you have a partner? If so who?
• get enough rest
• set a bed time
3. Determine length of time to accomplish the goal
4. Set short term and long term goals (we will be dealing with goal setting in our next post)
5. Determine how you will reward yourself
6. Develop a contingency plan:  what will you do if you have a bad day?
7. When will you begin?
• Begin today. Even if you only change one thing, it will bring you one step closer to accomplishing your goals

To succeed you must take the time to develop a plan.  Luke 14:28-33 says that in order to build a tower (building) you need to first count the cost (make a plan).  Your assignment today is to work on a plan for what habit you are trying to overcome.  If you have questions post a comment and I will respond.  We will be talking about goal setting in our next session.  Until our next session happy planning!

The Thousand Mile Journey

How many remember taking trips as children with our parents and asking the age old question are we there yet?  Or getting lost prior to the days of GPS? Did your parents give up?  Absolutely not, they stopped asked for directions, consulted a map and continued to their destinations.  When you were learning to walk, did you fall?  Certainly.  I am sure many times but did you give up?  No, you are walking today.

 Confucius said that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" and I believe this is true.  It is also true when it comes to making lasting changes in our lives. It is best to approach it as a thousand mile journey with each step bringing you closer to the destination.  But it is also true that you must take the first step.   The first step is choosing to change.  Choosing a better way.  Today you have chosen to give up some habit and take a step in a different direction.  I rejoice with you that you have made that decision.  It will not be easy but, with hard work you will achieve your desired outcome.

 Aesop in his fable the tortoise and the hare said the race is not given to the swift but he that endures till the end.  Many times in the past we all started journeys but became discouraged when we did not arrive at our destination fast enough.  We also became discouraged because we did not see immediate results.  Hold on don't, give up even if you have a bad day, remember there is always another opportunity to do better the next day.  1 Corinthians 9:24 says we all run a race but not all receive the prize, run so that you may receive the prize.  What is the purpose of making changes (running) if you do not expect to see a reward (prize).  The reward we desire is to be healthier, thinner, fitter spiritually connected and psychologically healthy.  These things will not happen by themselves you must cultivate them.

Today you have taken you first step in your thousand mile journey to a healthier you so that you may be healthy 4 life.  Tomorrow we will talk about making a plan.  Until later journey safely.