There are many many stressful things about being overweight isn’t there?

 
And for me, the most stressful part was trying to lose it.
 
Because it was always all about the  food; pre-planning and pre-preparing meals, restocking pantries and learning new recipes and changing the way I cooked because there was always a food group that I was no longer allowed to eat.
 
I really disliked the meal planning to be honest, because by the time any meal time came, I would be wanting/craving something entirely different – but, as I had gone to all that trouble of preparing it in advance and it was, after all, what I was supposed to be eating if I wanted to lose weight, I would sit down and eat my ‘good’ meal.
 
Then, because that meal wasn’t actually what I wanted to eat, because I   had a craving for something else, something entirely different, I would graze my way through the ‘allowable’ foods in the general vicinity...

Why do you need to create mental, emotional and physical relaxation?

Today is Stress Awareness Day.

So let’s talk a little about what stress really is and why it's so important to find time daily to rest & relax.

There’s situational/acute stress which occurs when you think, “I have to solve this problem or something bad is going to happen.”

Situational/acute stress can cause short-term mental, emotional, physical and behavioural symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension, irritability, anger, and changes in sex drive, sleep problems, inability to focus and be productive, nausea, feeling overwhelmed, and an inability to relax and indigestion. It also leads to emotional and over eating and the use of drugs and alcohol to soothe raw emotional states. 

Then there is chronic stress - Chronic stress can impair brain function and reduce the size of your brain, it can cause serious mental, emotional and physical health problems – the big 3 (heart...

So many women and men understand that knowing what not to eat, doesn't stop them from eating it. They know their problem isn’t what they eat, but why they eat it.
 
I struggled with this for a quarter of a century!  
 
I just wanted to know why I couldn’t make change stick!
 
How could I do all that research, constantly read book after book and attend training after training, year after year and apply what I was learning but still find myself back where I started?
 
Why did I relapse back into old behaviours where cravings would ultimately win the battle over and over again?

Everything I read and learned always talked about the ego and the unconscious mind. As far as I could see the ego, the unconscious mind were all separate to who we are – to who I am – because they seemed to be the one running the show – my show!

How could I possibly change, how could I be different if I wasn’t the one running MY show?

Every diet, every exercise...

Why restrictive diets are not helpful for sustainable weight loss...

Are the plans you're making or actually implementing, plans that are focused on losing weight?

Or are they plans that are focused on long term health and happiness?

We get so caught up in believing that just losing weight will take us to great health and consequently to great happiness.

But the truth is, a high majority of people who are just focused on losing weight, put it back on. Either not long after having lost enough weight that they feel a sense of relief, or when they next experience a change in the routine structures they've set in place to sustain their diet and exercise (holidays, crisis, changes in relationships, work, finances, health).

To create long term sustainable health habits, you really have to understand what's going on inside your unconscious operating system so you can navigate your way through the ups and downs of life without relapsing back into old habits.

Under stress, the brain doesn't invent new strategies for coping, it falls back into old ones.

If you're...

Have you ever felt stuck?

I have. It's such a powerless position to be in.

But no one is ever truly stuck, there is always something you can do to get yourself moving.

Step 1. Establish the direction you want to head in
Step 2. Get some paper and a pen
Step 3. Brainstorm all the wild and wacky ways that you can think of to get you from where you are to where you want to go
Step 4. Choose your first step
Step 5. Take action

It sounds so trite doesn't it? You've read those steps many times before I'm sure.

The thing is, when we are down, when we feel like we're stuck in quicksand, it's the quicksand of our mind that we're stuck in.

The simple act of writing stuff out will help you move through that quagmire and get yourself going.

You will have to do it again and again and again until you start to feel like the person who got dumped by the big wave as they finally swim to the top and break through the surface. Then you'll start to get some traction.

Keep going. Don't allow yourself to get bogged...

Master transition and focus on what you really want to do and achieve.

Are you creating success in your career but bankrupting your health to get there?

How many people strive for success in their careers and ambitions but at the cost of their health?

Burning the candle at both ends and in the middle, living under constant pressures and impossible deadlines and everything else that goes with it, all while looking after the family and often times, studying for their next degree or PhD as well!

Is it worth it though?

Do you suffer from:
Indigestion, heartburn, reflux
Bowel problems
Insomnia
Headaches, migraines
Muscle tension and mystery body pains
Skin rashes
Brain fog and fatigue
Joint pain
Low mood and mood swings
Weight problems

Stress is one of the leading causes of major health problems.

The solution is to reduce stress, but how do you do that when you have all those plates spinning? It feels impossible to step away from it all without it all collapsing and causing more stress.

Imagine being able to relax amongst the chaos, living your life, unhurried yet...

What is good rest for you?

Is it sitting on the couch watching TV

Is it sleeping all day

or is it going out and having fun?

Whatever your definition of a good rest, we have to give our body the rest it deserves.

Let it relax, let it breathe, rejuvenate and charge its batteries. What's your rest look like?

I Haven't Got Time To Exercise!

We think that getting regular exercise that makes a difference to our health has to be big blocks of time spent at the gym several days a week.

I remember when I decided that that really didn't work for me - at all!

So I made my own rules up about how and what exercise I would focus on. Lucky for me, I do love exercise, but I get bored easy and I really don't like having to go to the gym. I needed something that would fit into my life and make me happy.

So I came up with my two-minute rule. I know, two minutes is nothing right? And people often say to me, "Well, two minutes isn't going to make you skinny is it?!"

But I disagree.

When I decided on my 2 minute rule, I was still working at an office. I worked very long hours and I was tired when I got home and I didn't want to do exercise. So my rule was:

1. As soon as I got home, just put on workout gear.
2. Put on ABBA
3. Set the timer.
4. Grab my hula hoop
5. Dance around the house like a little nutty butty and...