Yummy Life

Yes, I have seen them. Overweight women boasting even bigger bellies due to pregnancy. I’m not sure if it should give me hope or whether I should be afraid for these women who may be experiencing complications in their pregnancies. I wonder if they had to do fertility treatments or if it happened naturally.

Since I have been contraceptive-free for the last 10 years and have yet to experience the miracle of pregnancy, I am thinking that being fat just isn’t working for me. I’ve been overweight for the last 10 years, but I have not been close to my “fertile weight”. It’s the one thing I haven’t tried yet! I’ve been striving to get healthy and improve my PCOS symptoms, losing over 30 lbs in the last year, but I am still not close to my “fertile weight”.

I am happy to know that my fertile weight is actually higher than my actual “ideal” weight. I can still be a little chunky and have a baby – woo hoo! The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) suggests that as little as a 10 percent decrease in weight can have a profound difference on a woman’s ability to conceive. According to this, I am already more fertile than I was before – great news!

The ASRM asserts that more than 70 percent of women who are infertile as a result of body weight disorders will conceive spontaneously if their weight is corrected through either weight loss or weight gain. WOW! Shouldn’t this be a wake up call?

Releasing weight is not the easiest thing to do. There are a million different diets and approaches to losing fat, so how do we know if we are doing the right thing? Getting down to a BMI of around 25 can put you in the “fertile weight” category, but it is important to follow a diet that supports fertility. What exactly is that?

I am conducting a FREE call on the topic of “Demystifying the Fertility Diet” on April 1, 2010 at 8:30 pm. I’ll present some of the latest results of research and let you decide if you are doing enough to support your own fertility. As always, a special bonus to anyone who joins me live on the call!

http://www.yummylifecoaching.com/Teleclasses.html

I hope to “see” you on the call!

Holly

I have just begun my new free teleclass on enhancing fertility naturally.  The first call was last night.  My biggest fear is always something going wrong technically, and something always does, so I think I am manifesting this bad luck.  I’ll have to do some meditation next week!  I got cut off in the beginning and got back on the line, and the replay doesn’t work  The back up recording does, however, so I can still give everyone the recording as promised – you’ll just need to forward through the first 20 minutes or so to get to the part where I’m talking.  I WILL figure this out or use a different teleconferencing service!  No one wanted to interact on the call, which would have made it more interesting, but once it got started all was good.

I shared a couple of techniques on the call.  This call is a preview to my 12-week Fertile Attraction group coaching program that starts in May.  There will be so many more things to learn in the program, this was just a snippet.  I would LOVE some feedback – so please listen to the recording if you weren’t on the call and reply to this post.  Was this a pertinent topic?  What did you think of the exercises?  What sort of things would you like to see covered in the 12-week program?  Fertile Attraction is a sort of support group with a learning element – we’ll lift each other up and learn techniques for staying positive and possibly even increasing our chances of becoming pregnant.

Here is the recording – you can listen on your computer or download to listen to it on your mp3 player:

http://events.nfinite.com/13412366675402.mp3

I’ll be giving away 2 great FertilAid products – FertilAid for Women and FertilAid for Men- yes, 2 winners of the giveaway!  All you need to do is make a comment on this post.  But wait, there’s more (cue the infomercial) – if you become a fan on my Facebook page or if you become my friend on Facebook you’ll get bonus entries.  You can also follow me on Twitter for another bonus entry opportunity.  Good luck everyone!

Next week’s call will be on Tuesday at 9 pm and will be entitled “Demystifying the Fertility Diet”.  Hope to see you on the call!

Holly

It seems like just yesterday I was graduating from college with all of these hopeful dreams that I would someday have a great career, a wonderful family and many, many people would know my name.  Thirteen years later I look back and all I can ask myself is “Where did the time go?”  It seems like since I have been “grown up” time has really started to fly by.  I can remember being young and stuck inside on a rainy day with nothing to do.  Time passed so SLOWLY.  Now, even on rainy, boring days, the time passes much too quickly.

Yes, I have gotten older.  I do all of the things that “adults” do.  But there is still a little girl inside me that longs to have fun and be free.  She throws fits when she doesn’t get her way.  She is happy with the simple things in life and doesn’t think too much about the future.  She is shoved into the background most every day because, darn it, life gets in the way.  My adult life.  The one I am always not so happy with.  The one that has been difficult, heartbreaking, roller-coaster like, and yes, sometimes disappointing.  I hate looking back on my life and seeing the huge gap of where I thought I “should” be and where I stand today.  I do believe that everything in life has a purpose; everything happens for a reason.  I regret doing a lot of things, but most of all I regret the things that I did not do.  The things I did not do because I was afraid.  Or too shy to do.  Or too damn lazy.  Because time has gone by really quickly and it serves as a constant reminder that  we do not live forever, and once time has passed we cannot get it back.  I regret living much of my life in an apathetic state, not caring enough about myself or what happened to me to take action and make a better life.

I don’t know how much longer I will be on this earth.  I would like to stop living my life in fear and do things even though they scare me.  I no longer wish to wander through the forest of my life feeling numb to the pricks of the thorns that symbolize excitement, change and love.  I want to really FEEL what is going on, even if it is not all that pleasant.  I’ve always felt that one day my words would tell a fantastic story yet how can I tell this story if I go through life experiencing nothing?  I want to be raw; exposed.  I want to be wounded so that I can heal and be proud of the scar that is left behind.  I want to inspire others to inspire others not to WASTE their lives away.

Life does not always deal us a fair hand.  But today I am choosing to harbor no ill will toward others who appear to be more “blessed” than I am.  Despite all of the bad times, teardrops shed, heartbreaking disappointment and longing for something “more” there have been some high points along the way as well.  We control the future so much more than we realize.  We can change the way we think about our lives, even if we can’t control what happens in them all of the time.

I think tomorrow is going to be a fun, productive and joy-filled day.  One day at a time – one affirmation at a time.  I can’t believe that I am grown up already!  But that doesn’t mean that I always have to think like a grown up.  The little girl inside me can live on and not think too much about the future and things that she cannot control.  She can be happy that she is alive and that she has everything she needs for this single moment.  And she can be excited about the small stuff like Cool Whip on warm apples and a vacation to Walt Disney World.

The only thing we can be sure of is that time is going to pass much too quickly.  Are you making the most of today?  How are you planning on spending tomorrow?

I hear a lot of people say “when I lose weight” or “after I am skinny”.  They say this in relation to things they will do, or how they will feel (especially when it comes to feeling beautiful or being happy).  Do you know how many people say that over and over again and yet they never get to the point where they are “skinny”?  Have you ever thought that the two may be related?

You bet they are related.  If you do not love and respect yourself, you will not treat yourself the way you need to be treated.  You will not feel that you deserve to be healthy or beautiful.  You will continue to stand in your own way; you will sabotage your own efforts.  You will not believe that you can change.  You will not be able to see a better future for yourself or visualize yourself as a healthy, happy woman.  Have you ever received a compliment and then went out and eaten a half gallon of ice cream?  Have you ever wondered WHY you do that?

The worst thing about this is that it is a vicious cycle.  You do not feel beautiful, confident or happy and you feel you need to do something about it.  But because you do not like yourself very much you have a hard time getting the motivation to make positive changes.  Or if you do, you sabotage yourself.  Then, because you “failed”, you hate yourself even more.  Wouldn’t a more logical first step be to learn to love and respect yourself just a little bit more?

I know, it’s easier said than done.  I have been there.  I have been to the very bottom of the pit of self-despair.  I truly believe that I hated myself. And because I despised nearly everything about myself, I found that everything that I did was done in order to make myself feel better about who I was.  I put off doing things, including things that would have made a positive impact on my health and happiness, because I “needed to lose weight”.  Who says only “skinny” people should wear lingerie or go skinny dipping? Or go hiking in the woods on a hot day?  Or get a much needed makeover?  And who the hell says that you don’t deserve love and respect just because you carry some extra weight?

You do not need to wait to be “beautiful”.  You ARE beautiful.  If you need to work a little to make yourself feel better, DO IT.  You deserve it – pamper yourself a little!  If a haircut and a little make up or a new outfit lift your spirits, then treat yourself.  And remember how you feel afterward.  This is the feeling that will carry you forward, that will propel you in a positive direction.  You need to eat healthy and incorporate activity into your schedule because you DESERVE it.

If you do not love or respect yourself as much as you should, and it is standing in the way of your health and happiness, I challenge you to do something about it.  You need to believe that you do great things, that you can change your life in a big way.  You need to be honest with yourself about where you stand today so you know in which direction you should venture.  You need to take action NOW rather than later.  And it always helps to have some support along the way.

I want to invite you to a FREE information call about RESOLVE:  4 Weeks to a Healthier You!  I’ll be giving you some tips on how you can ease into a healthier lifestyle by not only taking some positive action steps and making realistic goals but by changing your mindset.  Learning to change the way you think about yourself is the most powerful tool to getting a leaner, healthier body.

RESOLVE – 4 Weeks to a Healthier You!

FREE INFORMATION CALL

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

9 pm EST

REGISTER FOR THE CALL

It’s time to be beautiful.  Not “when you lose weight” or “1 year from now” or whenever you expect to reach your goals.  The time is now.  You are beautiful and strong and you know what you want – what you DESERVE.  It doesn’t matter how long you have looked the way you do now or what health problems you may be experiencing.  If you put off being beautiful, you put off living your life.  You are wasting precious moments that you will never get back.

There will be some time-sensitive information shared on the call – you don’t want to miss it!  If you can’t make the call, don’t worry – the call will be recorded and you will still be able to take advantage of the special bonuses shared on the call.

I look forward to seeing you on the call!

Holly

Well, I have set some pretty intense goals for myself, knowing that I was bound to falter sooner or later.  I want to be a She-Woman, but the truth is that I am an overweight 35 year old woman with chronic pain issues.  I have hopes that being more athletic will help my chronic pain but I know myself enough to realize that this will not be a pain-free battle.  I expect the “normal” type of pain, like sore muscles and the burn you feel when you are pushing yourself to your physical limits.  What I forget about is my “normal” pain. I have to spend a lot of time and money in order to keep myself relatively pain free.  I tell people I get a weekly massage and they are like “lucky you” or “wow, aren’t you a princess?”  Um, no.  Not lucky me.  Lucky me needs to carve out that hour and a half (w/travel time) that it takes to get a massage every week.  I need to find a babysitter for that time or sometimes I just can’t and my pain is so bad that I just need to bring her with me.  Luckily, I have known my massage therapist for a long time and my child is actually pretty well-behaved during this time.  I think she has sympathy for my pain, actually.  She will often ask me “Mama, does your back hurts?” if I groan or make a face.  She sees me ice my back, she comes with me to the chiropractor, she sees me do my back exercises.  I do not want her to feel sorry for me.  I want her to see my triumph over my pain and see me living a healthy life in spite of these small setbacks.

What really sucks is that when the pain comes on this bad, it takes like 2 weeks to recover from it.  My back was pinched and seized but so bad that I couldn’t lift my left leg!  It hurt so bad I couldn’t sleep, so working out during the day was hard because I was so tired.  But I did continue to strength train and stretch during the week, and did some walking and a couple of videos that weren’t too intense.  Sometimes jumping and high impact exercises hurt my back.  So I am faced with having to work within my limits.  I know that my back gets inflamed, and that PCOS involves some inflammatory reactions as well.  So I have decided to adopt an anti-inflammatory diet (I eat this way most of the time but I think I am eating too much meat right now) along with slightly modifying my exercise goals.  It’s for the best.  I will be a She-Woman, I’ll just go about it differently.

So, I have printed out a copy of Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory food pyramid and will adjust it to meet my daily calorie limits.  I will do my best to follow this every day.  I not only want to look better but I want to FEEL better.  Because feeling the way I have for the last two weeks is not FUN.  I feel like I am about to turn 80 instead of 35.

Second, I think I really  need to think about my physical limitations and what is best for me long-term.  I know that running burns a lot of calories and does help me lose weight but I do not think it really does my back any favors.  I’ve decided to work toward being able to WALK a half-marathon instead of running a 5K.  I will find a half-marathon in a fun place, sign up, download a training schedule, and start training.  I will aim to walk as fast as I can and will set a goal time for finishing on the day of the race.  It will all be good!

I will not let this pain sideline me.  I am going to continue my intensive strength training to strengthen my back muscles (along with every other muscle in my body).  As the lady on my video says “muscle burns fat!” – at this point I am choosing to trust her completely  and follow the workout schedule in my guide book along with adding some daily walking.

I am having trouble with the waking up early thing.  I hate waking up.  I hate mornings.  But I need to do it in order to have time to work out twice a day.  So starting tomorrow I ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY MOST DEFINITELY will wake up at 6:30 tomorrow and take my dog for a walk.  A fast walk.  In the cold.  Brrrrrrrr.

I am looking forward to my RESOLVE coaching group beginning so that I will have lots of accountability partners to keep me on track.  There is definitely power in numbers.  This will be my most affordable weight release focused group ever.  And I’ll be telling you all about it tomorrow!  Woo hoo!

Off to my massage appointment now!  Don’t feel too jealous – no babysitter today – this should be a blast!

Until tomorrow….

For everything we do, or do not do, there is a cost.  Even when we are doing something positive.  There are many, many excuses that are given for not adopting a healthier lifestyle or for not committing wholeheartedly.  I have uttered many of them myself.  The thing that I have noticed is that I always end up in exactly the same place.  STARTING OVER.  New promises to myself, new declarations to others.

If you have some health issues, such as PCOS, that could greatly benefit from living healthier, eating better, and moving more, you likely are aware of the cost of putting these things off.  Perhaps your relationship is suffering because your poor body image is keeping you from being the sexy Goddess that you are.  Or maybe your social life is suffering.  Worst of all, perhaps this is costing you your fertility.  You may not understand why although you understand that the cost of NOT getting healthy is high, you do not commit to making changes in your lifestyle that could have a great and positive impact on your entire life’s outcome.  Is it because the cost of commitment is too high for you?

Yes, there is a cost to making healthy lifestyle changes.  Perhaps you have gotten used to paying the price for being overweight and in less than stellar shape.  Maybe it doesn’t seem so high to you anymore.  The price of getting healthy can definitely have a high price as well.  You may have to sever your relationship with certain foods.  You may have to alter your social life.  Your significant other will be impacted as well, and you may have to deal with a less than supportive partner.  You may have to avoid certain social activities if temptation proves to be too much for you to handle.  You will have to sacrifice hours of your week in order to exercise.  You may have to learn how to cook, or cook healthier.  You will likely spend more time on food preparation and shopping.  You will spend more time in learning how to balance all the elements of your life.  And worst of all, for most people, is that you will have to face your demons.  If you do not deal with the issues that have caused you hurt, pain, disappointment and frustration in the past, you will likely end up right where you are today.  You will have to put your armor on and rush in to battle the negative voices in your head.  You will need to capture the negative thoughts – take them prisoner – and rehabilitate them into positive affirmations that will help you reach your goals.  And no, this will not be easy.

Like me, you may have beat yourself up from time to time for not sticking to your healthy eating plan and letting exercise fall to the wayside.  You may be disgusted with yourself for letting things get out of hand and for not taking the bull by the horns sooner in order to get on track to a healthier life.  Time has indeed been wasted, but it’s not the end of the world.  You may just not have understood how much it would cost to make such a commitment.  Perhaps you did not have the emotional currency in order to pay the price and be in it for the long haul.  YOU HAVE IT IN YOU TO MAKE A CHANGE.  OR MANY OF THEM. The costs of getting healthy are steep, but the cost of NOT getting healthy is much higher.  It could cost you your health, your fertility, or even your LIFE.

Have you been putting off making lifestyle changes but aren’t really sure why?  Make a list of all of the costs of getting healthy.  Be totally honest.  Hold nothing back. Looking at this list will help you to understand what has been standing in your way.  Don’t even worry about the price of doing nothing.  You are well aware of the price of this.

I encourage people to really prepare for lifestyle changes.  Jumping in with your eyes closed will have you swimming for the exit before you know it.  Forever is a long time – take some time to prepare yourself.  There is a lot that you need to know about yourself in order to make the appropriate changes.  It really helps if you have some real support to help you along the way as well.

Beginning January 26th, I will be running a 4-week coaching program that will help you prepare for a lifetime of commitment to a healthy lifestyle.  The RESOLVE coaching group will ease you into making changes that will have a positive impact on your life.  You will have the support of your peers, your coach and an online group.  It’s impossible to do it alone and the great news is that you do not have to!  I’ll be sharing details throughout the week and will be starting Discovery sessions next week for those that are interested in participating.

I’m looking forward to sharing a fabulous 2010 with you!

The holidays can be a challenging time for many women with PCOS. It’s supposed to be a time of joy and celebration.  It’s a time to give thanks for all of our blessings. The focus is on family and giving gifts to the ones we love. But what if you don’t feel blessed? What if you have yet to receive the gift that you want most of all?

If you have been trying to conceive a child and it has not happened for you yet, you may be harboring feelings toward other people that have been blessed with a child.  You may try your best to avoid pregnant women.  The sight of happy families may make you sad or even angry. Have you ever thought that maybe you did not deserve to be a mother?  Or that it may not be in the stars for you to have a family? Have you ever said “I hate happy people”?  

If you have been thinking thoughts like these, you likely feel a bit ashamed for feeling this way and you may even be reluctant to share these thoughts with others for fear that they may think you are a horrible person. Wouldn’t it be great if your heart could be filled with feelings of joy instead of envy?  The good news is that with a little work, this is possible.  You may be blocking your own blessings without even knowing it. 

Unknowingly, you may be choking your own blessings with negative thoughts and hopelessness.  Negative thoughts are like aggressive weeds that take over the garden that is your mind. Their roots run deep and their leaves and stems crowd the room in the fertile soil that blessings and positive energy must have to grow and flourish.  Perhaps your garden is so overrun with these invaders that you can not even see the blessings that lay in front of you. They may be taking up so much of the space in your heart that it has become nearly impossible for you to feel joy for others when they receive good news. Maybe you envy or feel anger toward those who do not face the same kind of challenges you do.  Because blessings need positive energy to sprout and stake their claim in the garden, they may be dying before they even have the chance to make their impact on your life. 

In order to really allow positive energy to flow into your life, you need to pluck out the negative thoughts by the root so that they do not continue to spread.  They will continue to return, and you will need to continue to pluck them.  Like a garden, your mind needs to be tended and fertilized.  You must be diligent in keeping the weeds out of your beautiful garden.  It will take some time for you to become a master gardener, but there are a few things you can do right away to help put a stop to the invasive weeds.

1.)    Focus on the child that you are meant to have instead of trying to control the process.  Think about being a parent and loving a child and allow the universe to take care of the rest.  Have faith that it will happen.  When you stop trying to control the process and focus on the prize, you will be surprised at how your personality shifts.  You will begin to attract that child into your arms like a piece of metal to a magnet.  If you want to be a parent, you will be, but you must be open to the way in which this will happen.

2.)    Allow the baby vibes to “rub off” on you.  Instead of hiding from pregnant women in the grocery store, make eye contact and say hello.  Hold babies every chance you get.  Allow yourself to feel the joy that the new parents are feeling. Take care of yourself as if you were expecting.  Make room in your home and in your life for a new being. 

3.)    Create some good karma.  Volunteer for a charity that benefits children this holiday season.  Offer to babysit for a friend.  Comfort someone who is hurting.  Adopt a family and give them a holiday that they could not have without you. The compassion that you will feel is sure better than the feelings of envy and sadness that have been taking over your mind.

A new year is right around the corner. Make a list of everything that you can be grateful for this season.  You may not feel like celebrating right now, but by keeping positive and taking care of yourself, you are nourishing your garden.  Good things can’t help but sprout up in the near future.

The holidays can be rough for a lot of people.  Especially for people with health challenges and those who have faced trauma or loss. A friend of mine who is having a particularly hard time this year recently told me that she has nothing to be thankful for this year.  I replied, “Nothing?  Really?”  She has a wonderful husband who would do anything for her.  She has a beautiful and healthy daughter.  A job she likes.  Yes, she suffered a tragedy earlier in the year and Thanksgiving won’t be the same this year.  She admitted that she is jealous of all of the families that have grandmas and grandpas and even great grandmas and grandpas all together at Thanksgiving.  Life is not turning out to be the perfect life that she imagined it would be.  Feelings of “life’s not fair” keep popping up.

If you are trying to conceive and are having challenges, these feelings probably feel familiar to you.  I have silently suffered the news of friends and family members getting pregnant for years.  I’d say “congratulations” and then go home and cry.  News like that felt like a knife to the heart.  Why does everyone else I know just imagine sperm swimming up the love canal and get pregnant and I go years without being able to conceive?  It isn’t fair.  I really want to be pregnant, I really want another child.  I’ve even thought bad things about random pregnant women in the grocery store.  Now, is that really fair?  That woman with the bulging belly may have had to do IVF in order to get pregnant.  Or maybe she was barfing her brains out the first 3 months of her pregnancy.  Maybe she just found out her husband is having an affair and she is facing life as a single mom.  Or maybe, she really does have a nice, happy family.  It’s still no reason to hate her.  If you would have asked me 6 months ago if I could look at a woman like that and be genuinely happy for her, I’d have laughed at you.  I still had not let go of the bitterness and jealousy that encompassed my heart.  The reason I could not let go is that I did not realize how much I really had to be grateful for in my life.

What do you do if you are tortured by feelings of jealousy and “why me?” this holiday season?  I’ll share with you a simple exercise that you can do to reduce your jealousy demon and allow gratitude into your heart.  When you plant seeds of jealousy, more jealousy will grow.  And you will continue to be miserable.  Why not practice some compassion and love instead?  By planting compassion and love, more will grow and soon you will realize that these feelings of jealousy no longer plague you.  You will come to see that pain is all relative, and that one person’s pain and suffering is not greater or less than your own.  You will be able to see your friends’ suffering, therefore you will be able to not only see but share in their happiness as well.  Not just share it, but really feel it.  And this feels much better than the bitter feelings of jealousy that pinch, nag and kick down your psyche.

How to Reduce Feelings of Jealousy

Create an altar of gratitude.  Take 5 candles and line them up on a table or other flat surface.  On a sheet of paper or in a notebook, write down 5 things for which you are truly grateful.  Light your first candle and say out loud, “I am thankful for _____ because ______. ”  Look at your paper and say the second thing on your list, then light the second candle.  Repeat the phrase.  Do this for  the third, fourth and fifth items on your list.  When all of your candles are lit, spend a few moments in silence, holding that feeling of gratitude in your heart.  When you are finished, blow out the candles but keep the paper with your list on it.  Hang it someplace where you will see it often – a mirrror, your refrigerator.  You could even make a screen saver with your list on it to remind you on a daily basis.  Remember that you can go to your altar whenever you need to get back in touch with those feelings of gratitude.

As I have really gotten in touch with the suffering of other women with PCOS and others who are trying to conceive, my love and compassion has grown immensely.  If someone announces that she is pregnant, I truly do feel happy for her.  Her triumphs give me hope and I feel connected not only to her suffering but to her happiness as well.  And this feels so much better than being jealous.  I still have those feelings of  ”I wish it was me” but I replace those thoughts with “This will be me soon”.  I am preparing to have a baby in every way.  A baby will come into my life, I just am not sure of exactly how he or she will get here.  But I am grateful for the journey I am taking and all of the memories I am making along the way!

An entry from my gratitude journal:

I am thankful for my supportive family.  I know that no matter what happens, no one is judging me for the choices that I have made.  I am grateful for my husband and my daughter, Liliana.  I am grateful that I get to spend so much time with them and get to make wonderful memories each and every day.  I am grateful for every “I love you” and the feelings of good energy that are transferred into my very being each and every day.  I am grateful for the love of my kitty and my puppies – it feels great to be loved so much unconditionally.  They have taught me that there is no place in my life for jealousy or ill will.  I am grateful to God for all of the opportunities I have had in my life.  I know that I am going down the path that I am meant to take.  I am grateful for His love and support; without Him I would be nothing.

Take a few moments to write down 5 things for which you are grateful.  Put a little bit more meaning into the holiday this year.  Happy Thanksgiving!  I am truly grateful for all of your support and feedback!

Holly

I can honestly say that I am very content with my life right now.  I am doing work I love, am having a great time being a very involved and engaged mom, and for the first time in a long time, I am feeling pretty good physically as well.  If there is one thing that I have discovered in my own life, which has definitely shaped my viewpoint as a life coach, is that it is necessary to take care of your mind, body and spirit when you are attempting to change your life.  If one of those elements is missing, it will be apparent.  Sort of like a puzzle with a hole it it, it just won’t look right.

I stay away from giving advice for the most part with my coaching clients, but I do try to gently point out when one of these elements might be missing.  For example, if a client is doing very well sticking to an eating and exercise plan but is still thinking negative thoughts about her body and her lifestyle, the mind element needs some attention.  This is an often overlooked piece of the puzzle – most people do not realize what a HUGE impact mindset has on the outcomes in our lives.  I have talked to woman after woman who has lost a significant amount of weight and looks great but still has a self-hatred that makes Cruella Deville look like Mary Poppins.  Why are women often so mean to themselves?  I don’t really know, I can be pretty brutal to myself sometimes too.  In my opinion, however, the spirit element is the one that is most often missing from the picture.  The excuse I hear a lot is “I am not a spiritual person”.  Sometimes this means “I am not a religious person” and sometimes it means “I do not believe in a higher power” and sometimes it means “I am not into all that woo-woo crap”.  But the truth is that spirituality can be all of these things, or it can be none of them.  Spirituality has a different meaning for each individual, and you could be nurturing your spiritual side and not even know it, or you could be overlooking some simple ways to nurture your spirit and complete the puzzle that is your life.

I get put on the spot a lot and get asked “are you religious?” and things of that nature.  Sometimes I answer, sometimes I give a vague answer.  I have discovered that most people that ask that question have questions about spirituality and want to know if I would approve of their spiritual practices (or lack thereof).  I’ll just lay it all on the line:  yes, I am a religious person, but this is something with which I have struggled nearly my whole life.  And my religious and spiritual sides are sometimes one in the same, and sometimes they are not.  I feel that my spiritual side is nurtured by attending worship services and for spending some quiet time each day in prayer or meditation.  But I also feel that running, hiking in the woods, taking a hot bath, cooking also nurture my spiritual side.  They are things that I do just for me.  They are things that allow me to escape from the stresses of the day.  They relax me and allow me to manage stress.  I have discovered, especially over the last few years, that I need quiet time.  Noise drives me crazy after a while.  I need time to just “be”.  And I need it often.  Sometimes I do nothing at all, and for me, this is a spiritual moment.

Early next year I am launching a program that will help women that are struggling with infertility to help balance their lives by addressing all three elements:  mind, body and spirit.  It will be a group coaching program that will be limited to just a few participants, and you will be hearing a lot about this program in the next couple of months.  I’ll be having a free teleseminar to tell you more about the program and all that it will include.  I am guessing that your doctor probably has not told you about a program like this one!  I am planning on returning to the fertility specialist to “try again” next year, so you can rest assured that I am going through this with you – it will be an authentic experience for you to connect with other women who understand exactly what you are thinking and feeling.  I am keeping the group small so that we can form a real connection and offer genuine support to one another, even if we live in different parts of the world.  More information to come, I promise!

Are you addressing your mind, body and spirit right now?  Does one of the elements need attention, or are you struggling to gain balance in your life?  Could you benefit from support?  If so, I offer a free Discovery session to all of my clients – just visit my website and send me an email or fill out the contact form:  http://www.yummylifecoaching.com.

Be Well!

Holly

It’s been a while since I have posted.  This time of year can definitely get crazy but I have decided to embrace it and look for inspiration around  me.  

I completed my first 5K two weekends ago.  I did not run fast, and I did not even run the whole thing, but I finished.  I really allowed my fear to take hold of me that day.  I was intimidated by all of the “real runners” that attended the very busy event.  As people zipped by me once the horn sounded I just kept thinking “I am out of my element”.  It was raining and freezing that morning and I had PMS and just really didn’t want to be there.  I thought about chickening out…spending a few hours at the mall to pass the time while I pretended I was taking part in a race.  But then I would have had to explain what happened to the t-shirt I was so excited to get.  I really thought about chickening out the entire drive to the race site.  But I got stuck in traffic thta was entering the golf course and I had no choice but to enter.  It was fate.  Ready or not, I was there.  I decided as I got out of my car that I would finish, whether I walked or ran.  And I did…in 42 minutes!  So pitiful yet so wonderful to have finished what I set out to do when it would have been so easy to turn around and run away.  

I’ve signed up for another 5K on Thanksgiving day.  What a way to start t he day…being active instead of stuffing my face. I am hoping it will keep me from stuffing my face later in the day.  I am not even sure what we are doing for Thanksgiving yet.  But I know what I will not be doing.  I will not be eating a rediculous amount of food.  I am setting some limits.  I can eat as much turkey as I want – it’s protein.  I have never pigged out on turkey so this is safe for me.  I can have one spoonful of stuffing.  Swapping sweet potatoes for mashed potatoes smothered in gravy.  I am making a healthy green bean casserole so I can have a helping of that.  JUST ONE DESSERT and it needs to be a modest helping.  Just ONE drink.  Since we often eat early if I get hungry later I can have a salad with some leftover turkey on top.   This is my plan for surviving this day of gluttony.  

I am determined NOT to gain weight this holiday season.  I’d like to lose a little bit more but will not totally clobber myself if I don’t.  I am going to be super active.  Jillian Michaels will kick my ass several times each week and I am going to run 100 miles in November.  I find that if I exercise regularly I do not crave carbs and sweets as much and I just do not want to undo all of the good I have done for myself.  

This is my plan and I am sticking to it.  So I am issuing a challenge to all of my friends out there.  I am challenging you to make a plan for yourself.  How will you stay healthy during the Thanksgiving holiday?  I challenge you to go in with a plan – you will come out stronger.  I am challenging you to give yourself a physical challenge this November.  Let’s all be accountable to one another!

So far I have run 7/100 miles this month.  The sun is out, I better get out there!

BE WELL and have a HEALTHY Thanksgiving!

Holly