Lose the guilt....lose the weight

Are you or do you know someone who says " I just have to look at cheesecake and I put on weight". Well that just might be true!

How the body digests and assimilates food is significantly effected by the levels of stress being experienced. Stress is the body's response to any real or imagined threat. In evolutionary terms the threat was probably always real but in modern life a lot of the stress is created not from physical threat to our survival but by fears, change, worry, anxiety or negative self talk ( I am too fat, I am not good enough).

A threat kicks off an amazing physiological stress response in the body to allow us to flee or fight the threat. Blood flow is directed away from non- essential functions like the digestive system and sent to the major muscles and the brain. When stress is turned on... Digestion is turned off.

Cortisol surges through the body to put us on high alert and peak performance. Cortisol has strong associations with weight gain, especially around the stomach. 

Insulin levels increase so as to metabolise glucose for energy. One of insulin's main roles is modulating the storage of glucose as fat. When there is too much glucose being consumed insulin increases and shuttles the glucose into fat cells for use later. Chronic stress means chronic high production of insulin which the body evenutally becomes resistant to....a precursor for diabetes and weight gain.

So you can see why stressing out about what you are eating, feeling guilty about what you are eating, or even the stress associated with sticking to an overly restrictive, low calorie, low fat diet can actually contribute to weight gain independent of the amount of calories you are consuming.

Conversely a potent and free metabolic enhancer is pleasure. Pleasure actually activates the same part of the brain that stimulates digestion and shuts down appetite. That's right, the same chemical that is triggered by satisfying levels of fat and protein in a meal also stimulates enzyme production to increase digestion and sends a message to the brain that we are satisfied....stop eating now.

Now the point I am trying to make is not to stuff yourself with ice cream or hot chips, but for you to think about how you stress about food. Being on diet can put us into a pleasure-denying mentality where we not only physically deprive ourselves of calories and good fats but where we don't allow ourselves to enjoy food....food becomes the enemy.

This no-pleasure, high stress approach almost guarantees failure. So this weekend rather than focusing on calories, focus on eating what makes you feel good (most often that is healthy nutritious food) but if you choose that to be ice cream, make it the best, creamiest, most fabulous ice cream you can get. And eat it slowly, enjoy it, and don't be guilty.

Don't ruin the pleasure you feel with lashings of guilt.....because guilt is fattening!

Have a groovy guilt free weekend.

Kim

Happy Healthy Groovy

Contact Kim

Pleasure

Are you or do you know someone who says " I just have to look at cheesecake and I put on weight". Well that just might be true!

How the body digests and assimilates food is significantly effected by the levels of stress being experienced. Stress is the body's response to any real or imagined threat. In evolutionary terms the threat was probably always real but in modern life a lot of the stress is created not from physical threat to our survival but by fears, change, worry, anxiety or negative self talk ( I am too fat, I am not good enough).

A threat kicks off an amazing physiological stress response in the body to allow us to flee or fight the threat. Blood flow is directed away from non- essential functions like the digestive system and sent to the major muscles and the brain. When stress is turned on... Digestion is turned off.

Cortisol surges through the body to put us on high alert and peak performance. Cortisol has strong associations with weight gain, especially around the stomach. 

Insulin levels increase so as to metabolise glucose for energy. One of insulin's main roles is modulating the storage of glucose as fat. When there is too much glucose being consumed insulin increases and shuttles the glucose into fat cells for use later. Chronic stress means chronic high production of insulin which the body evenutally becomes resistant to....a precursor for diabetes and weight gain.

So you can see why stressing out about what you are eating, feeling guilty about what you are eating, or even the stress associated with sticking to an overly restrictive, low calorie, low fat diet can actually contribute to weight gain independent of the amount of calories you are consuming.

Conversely a potent and free metabolic enhancer is pleasure. Pleasure actually activates the same part of the brain that stimulates digestion and shuts down appetite. That's right, the same chemical that is triggered by satisfying levels of fat and protein in a meal also stimulates enzyme production to increase digestion and sends a message to the brain that we are satisfied....stop eating now.

Now the point I am trying to make is not to stuff yourself with ice cream or hot chips, but for you to think about how you stress about food. Being on diet can put us into a pleasure-denying mentality where we not only physically deprive ourselves of calories and good fats but where we don't allow ourselves to enjoy food....food becomes the enemy.

This no-pleasure, high stress approach almost guarantees failure. So this weekend rather than focusing on calories, focus on eating what makes you feel good (most often that is healthy nutritious food) but if you choose that to be ice cream, make it the best, creamiest, most fabulous ice cream you can get. And eat it slowly, enjoy it, and don't be guilty.

Don't ruin the pleasure you feel with lashings of guilt.....because guilt is fattening!

Have a groovy guilt free weekend.

Kim

Midweek self care

Just a quick midweek blog on self care, taking the time to look after yourself, be that physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. 

Many of us are juggling multiple things and fail to take the time to recharge the batteries. This recharge doesn't have to be huge but can be something simple that you enjoy. Maybe you feel it is self-indulgent to have a massage, get a manicure, or lay on the couch reading a trashy romance novel. 

Maybe you feel that you simply don't have the time. Rubbish! There is always time. It is a matter of prioritising your needs. A bit like the airline safety talk - 'please fit your oxygen mask before helping children or others'. Taking 30 min or 2 hours out of your week, to stop, recharge, regroup and relax is not a waste of time but will allow you to perform better and have a fresh outlook.

Tonight I knew I needed something to relax so as soon as I walked in the door I started a hot bath running and put on some chill out music. Of course I fed the cats first....cat people will understand this is the number one priority. 

I used wonderful ingredients from http://www.n-essentials.com.au/?Click=2760 to make a nourishing relaxing bath with Epsom salts and Ylang Ylang essential oils. Epsom salts provides magnesium...great for relaxing tight muscles and promoting sleep. Ylang Ylang is also relaxing and is a luxurious and sensuous fragrance and softens the skin. 

Much better 

Sleep well and stay groovy

To Push or Not to Push

Good morning groovy people!
What a beautiful morning on this public holiday in Queensland.

And no, this is not a post about natural childbirth vs caesarean birth.

I woke up at some ridiculously early hour with multiple decisions floating around in my head. I will be sharing consulting space at a local pilates studio (Akala Active, Coorparoo) starting in a couple of weeks so need to get the marketing machine going. So many decisions that need to be made to support my goals and I am unsure which way to go. 

I am trying to balance my belief in synchronicity and a universal flow with my task oriented, goal setting mentality. On the one hand I truly believe that life events seem to connect in a magical way that that has meaning. Coincidence....I think not.

On the other had I believe in setting goals, making decisions, pushing your cause, being focused, steering your own course. I like to be in control and forge ahead with my plans. I like to take action, not just wait for things to happen. 

For example, I had been trying to find office space in one suburb but having no luck and hitting brick walls at every turn, then I happened upon an advertisement for space at Akala in a suburb that I had not previously considered. Virginia answered my call at first ring, was available the next day, turns out she used to work for the same organisation that I currently work for, has similar colour scheme to her business that I have, etc, etc. 

Another example was last week when I was struggling with my natural introversion and the need for me to start putting myself out there, telling people about my business and spruiking my wares. It terrifies me and I had the perfect opportunity twice in one day at social events with women who could be my target clients. And what did I do... smiled sweetly and said nothing. I was so annoyed at myself.

So the very next day I was walking along and the owner of a beauty salon randomly spoke to me through her doorway so I went in for a chat and found she was just starting her new business so said 'me to' and told her about what I do. Not only did she react positively but offered to take some flyers and suggested the possibility of consulting space in a room she doesn't use. WOW! I came out of there feeling so confident. It was like the universe provided a situation to show me that yes, I can put myself out of my comfort zone and I never know what might happen. 

I am trying to make decisions that balance 

• my will vs letting go
• forcing vs trusting
• goal orientation vs spontaneity
• personal desire vs the cosmic plan
• pushing vs relaxing
• intuition vs logic
• being vs doing

How do you balance these? 

How do you know when a blockage is to be pushed through or a sign that maybe that is just a sign that you need to stop, breath and wait?

Stay groovy.

Kim

You will only achieve what you expect...so aim high!

What are your goals? What do you expect you can achieve?

Earlier this week I was engaging in some negative thinking about a future event that I expected would just bring difficulty and negative outcomes.

Some of you many have a similar psychic ability where you can see the future in detail, where the outcome is bad, where the people involved act to ruin your perfect world, where everything that could go wrong goes wrong, where you fail. Psychologists call it 'catastrophic thinking'....I call it 'having a tea party in my head'.

During one of these 'tea parties' I happened to look at a tweet that simply said...'don't see how you will feel, plan how you will think', and this really resonated with me.

I was allowing myself to be at the whim of my emotions that were being fuelled by my expectations about how other people will behave and how I would react. I don't have a magical ability to predict how a situation will turn out or how a person to behave, so where do these expectations come from?

Our past life experiences and interactions with people subconsciously create our belief system that determines how we expect others will behave and how we expect we will respond. Our interactions with parents, with teachers, with friends, with lovers, teach us what to expect. Sometimes this is a helpful learning experience that prepares us for the future; but equally this can lead us to behave in ways that actually hold us back from achieving or from engaging positively with people or situations.

For example, being told through your school years that 'sports just isn't your thing' and being picked last on any sports team, can lead to an expectation that you should not even try to get involved in exercise or fitness ...you are not sporty! You will fail, or at the very least you will embarrass yourself. But is that belief or expectation about yourself serving you positively now you are an adult? Is it real?

Having an expectation that you can't do sports reduces your expectation of any success if you try. Your concept of what you can achieve is unrealistically low. Your expectation of failure or embarrassment is like a wall that stops you trying. There is no way you are going to try a gym class because you just know you have no sense of timing. You can't possibly try yoga because you know people will think you are fat and hopeless.

I think most people set their goals too low due to their low expectations based on old experiences. As a health coach I don't want to analysis and dissect your childhood searching for reasons for your beliefs. I want to work with you to examine where you are now, what you are doing now that is holding you back, and how can you work forward into the future with new expectations and new ways to approach life so you can aim high and get there.

I expect that you will succeed, so should you.

Stay groovy

Kim

Not drowning just spinning

Are you one of those people that covers indecisiveness, procrastination, or fear of failure through embarking on a wild flurry of activity?     I am.

Are you being incredibly busy, jumping from task to task, generating new ideas in a flurry of energy - but not really getting anywhere?   I am.

Busy does not mean achieving. I am sure we have all worked with that person who constantly runs around proclaiming how busy (read, how important) they are but everyone knows they don't really achieve anything.

Well that is how I am feeling right now. After a couple of busy and productive months creating and developing my business concept I am now at the point where the rubber hits the road. Securing office space, advertising , selling myself etc.  But in an effort to avoid what is really the crunch of commiting my time to office hours, signing a lease, risking the chance of rejection, I have now started busying myself with a host of random tasks and signing up for courses including a seven day juice fast (what the ?) and am amassing more information than I know what to do with.

Deep breath 

Is this a pattern I am repeating? Yes. As soon as things get too hard, too overwhelming, too risky, I do the unthinkable and take more on in order to avoid what I don't want to face. But those times when I have been truly passionate and focused on a clear goal....wow I have achieved!

So the way forward is really about making sure I have clear articulated goals, planning the detail on how to achieve these goals and most, most importantly - taking action.

This I believe is also a fundamental process for achieving weightloss. Fear of failure and procrastination lead to indecision and lack of action. Intellectually you want to lose weight, you have a general understanding of what you need to do, you have paid money for gym membership, new training gear etc but never move from the planning phase to the action phase. 

This is where goal setting and action planning become important. It is also where having a coach (a friend or a professional) who challenges your negative thinking, who challenges your excuses, who helps you identify strategies to overcome hurdles, who holds you accountable, can make a big difference between thinking and doing.

I did a goal setting activity last night and already I feel like I am getting back on track and moving forward - not spinning in circles.

I will talk more about the goal setting process next time. 

Stay groovy 

Food is not the enemy

If I was to say 'Joe' has a negative unhealthy relationship with food what do imagine Joe is like. Someone who eats junk food. Someone who is overweight. Someone who has no willpower or control over what they eat. Certainly overeating is one type of unhealthy relationship with food, but what about the flipside?

Those who have an over controlling approach to food whereby their weight is strictly monitored, their food intake is strictly controlled and and any deviation is considered a failure. People who take such a restrictive approach to nutrition are no less obsessed with food than the overeater. Every minute can be consumed with thoughts of planning or monitoring food intake and/or punishing oneself for not following the diet plan. From the outside they look like very healthy people as their body weight and food choices seem to be healthy. But on the inside it is just a world of anxiety as the need for constant control and fear of losing control can be emotionally exhausting. Food becomes the enemy!

Learning to connect with intuitive eating and at mindful eating approach to food such as that shared in the Am I Hungry? (R)  mindful eating workshops can help develop a more positive relationship with food through helping the person connect with their body and their thoughts and beliefs about food. Food is not the enemy!

Health coaching is a solutions-focused approach to achieving your health and wellness goals; to achieving an optimal physical and mental state that allows you to live a happy energy-filled life. Health coaching is not just for people who want to lose weight, but can help anyone overcome negative lifestyle patterns, habits or beliefs that at getting in the way of being happy, healthy, and groovy.

Find your groove