Grow My Life – Motivational Life Coaching & Counseling

Being physically healthy is important in maintaining a stabilized mental health.  As fast food restaurants continue to grow as the consumers first choice for a quick meal; as child rates of obesity rise; we can only hope that someone will heed the warnings that physical health has consequences of our mental health.

When working with clients, I often utilize physical exercise and diet to increase results of Life Coaching.  Similar to utilizing holistic views, it is important to maintain an appropriate body weight that one can feel comfortable with.  I provide tips on nutrition; diet and exercise, and foods that are positive for both body and mind.

About a year ago, I was given the gift of sessions with a physical trainer.  At first, I was excited for an opportunity to lose some of the un-wanted pounds.  But, after thinking about the regiment of exercise and diet that would need to be completed to achieve the results I wanted, I was worried about failure.

Growing up I was a skinny child.  When middle school rolled around, I found myself eating too much food to compensate for the teasing and lack of emotional and social support systems.  I became mildly obese and I viewed myself as unattractive.  But, in high school, I decided to regain some control over my body weight and body image.  I found a mentor to help in my lack of emotional support systems, and I turned to an extra-curricular school sport for the social and physical systems.  This was the beginning of my weight loss.

A year later, I went to college.  I gained the standard “freshman fifteen.”  I tried to be healthy by involving myself in different physical activities and maintaining a diet regiment.  But, eventually I wanted to eat the really tasty treats; generally speaking are higher in fat and in calories.  My body image was fluctuating, but I never felt completely comfortable with myself.

At age 26; a decade after I began trying to manage my weight and become both mentally and physcially healthy, I am comfortable with myself.  The personal training sessions that I received were absolutely exhausting, but amazing!  My trainer was well suited with my personality, provided constant motivation, and designed a workout that challenged me.  I also spoke with a licensed nutritionist about how to best manage my food consumption.  I learned the basic steps in which foods contain positive and negative fats, carbohydrates, sugars, and protein.  I learned about muscle mass and the effects of different types of food on the developing of muscle tissues; and how to best utilize food for increased metabolism, increased mental functioning, and increased weight loss.  These two services, in addition to meeting with a mentor, was the most successful and growth year of my life.

I still continue to work out daily.  I continue to watch what I consume, and I still work with a mentor to help become the best me I can.  Often when people see me, who did not know me as a child, often say that “there is no way you were a big kid.”  True testament, I weighed 250lbs and had a 42 inch waist at age 14.  By age 26, I weigh 155lbs and have a 31 inch waist.  Best yet, you can have any of the desired results you wish; but you have to be willing to work for them.  My suggestion, start out slow.

So here’s a freebie seed of starting off slow, but successful.  Eliminate SODA or JUICE from your diet.  Replace your daily consumption of soda and juice, with an equal portion of water.  If you don’t like the taste of plain water; use Crystal Light or other forms of sugar-free sweetners.  OBGYN’s can testify that a woman who is pregnant, will often gain 5 lbs from consuming juice during her pregnancy.  Secondly, replace the juice consumption with whole fruits.  Did you know that too much sugar, like that in soda, can often cause tiredness and fatigue?  Did you further know that by replacing soda with a whole fruit can actually speed up your metabolism and help your body prevent infections?  If you have trouble giving up soda, at least switch to diet soda or juice that contains half the sugar of normal brands.  Soda provides no nutritional value to your body.  Why would someone place something into their bodies that does not provide any nutrients?

So next time you have the option of soda, think about the effects on your mental and physical health.