Emotional Vs. Physical... What's Holding You Back?

If you didn't read my last blogs, here is what you missed from allnaturalwellnesscoach@yahoo.com:

The 1st step to improving your health is to take responsibility for your own quality of life. Once you stop blaming other people, your circumstances, your previous experiences, etc. you will officially take responsibility for your own quality of life and then its up to YOU and YOU alone to change.

Step 2 is to talk to your doctor to determine the damage. Do you have a thyroid problem? Heart problems? Asthma? Anemia? What are you allergic to? Is your birth control making you gain weight? etc. These are things you need to know about your body.

Step 3 is to stop comparing yourself to other people and accept your OWN body. Self improvement is about building yourself up, not breaking yourself down. A positive attitude is all you need to get yourself going in the right direction.

Step 4 is to take 4 BEFORE pictures. (Facing forward, view of your back, left side profile and a right side profile) Print out these pictures and write the date they were taken on the back of each one. These are the only pictures you need to compare yourself to from now on. Everyone has to start somewhere. Every 6 months, take another set of pictures, THEN compare yourself to yourself.

Step 5 is to weigh yourself & take your measurements. DO NOT weigh yourself everyday or 10 times a day. Pick 1 day ONCE A MONTH to weigh yourself 1 time. It should be the first thing you do when you wake up, before you eat or drink anything. In order to determine your weight loss in inches, it's important to measure yourself so that you know your starting point. To do this, I recommend: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-get-your-body-measurements.html

Steps 1 - 5 are the most important steps you can take to get started on changing your quality of life. Remember, the GOAL here is to become healthy, not skinny. Society's view on what we should look like may not be healthy for everyone... it's NOT a Universal Law because everyone is different. There are women, our fellow sisters, that are starving themselves to death to fit in with societal expectations to be thin. The real question isn't how I can look like everyone else, it's "what is healthy for me?" You have to ignore the negative influences around you, and that is a very difficult challenge in itself. Slowly but surely, you will start looking at yourself and the world around you differently. It is during this challenging time of self-reflection and realization that you will begin taking responsibility for your own quality life. Talking to your doctor and educating yourself on any illnesses you may have, accepting your Self, comparing yourself to yourself by taking before & after pictures, knowing your weight and measurements are all critical pieces of information to know your starting point and to help you keep track of your progress. In addition, you may choose to find out your body mass index. Try a BMI calculator like http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
OR if you want to use your measurements, use a body fat calculator like this one: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

WHAT'S NEXT:

Step 6 figure out what is holding you back from attaining your desired quality of life. Is it Emotional or Physical? Emotional road blocks are much more difficult and challenging then physical ones. Physically, unless you are completely disabled, you can ALWAYS lift 5 more pounds, walk for 5 more minutes, or add an extra set of reps. Not everyone can handle challenging themselves and some don't even want to entertain the thought of doing it. You have to talk yourself through these emotional road blocks with every step you take and you have to be your own cheer-leading squad. Every time you look or think about food, every second during physical activity, every memory or negative thought that crosses your mind, and every moment you look at yourself in the mirror... You have to tell yourself: I CAN DO THIS. I CAN CHANGE. I WANT TO BE HEALTHY. I WANT TO LIVE. It can be challenging, but it is important to remember: "Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort." - TEDDY ROOSEVELT. Throughout this journey, there are going to be days that are more difficult then others, but you have to remain strong. It will take a lot of work on your part and you have to take responsibility of challenging yourself to have the confidence that you CAN obtain your goal. No one can control your mind and body but YOU. You control your thoughts, you feed your body, you summon up your own energy to choose your day to day physical activities. No one can convince you of anything until you convince yourself. No one can force feed you without you chewing and swallowing. No one can make you sweat unless YOU exert the energy to do so. The only thing in the world that you can control 100% of the time is: yourself.

Step 7 is challenging yourself to obtain self confidence without fear of defeat. I'm going to share my own personal experiences with challenging myself to demonstrate this step. Growing up, I was always fat and it made me shy, so shy, that I would get good grades on all of my school projects and papers, but when it came to getting up in front of the class, I would rather get an F then have everyone looking at me with, what I thought was - judgement. When I began college, I was determined to stop being scared to be myself. I graduated with an Associates Degree in Communications with an emphasis on SPEECH! Every speech I gave made me more confidence as I gradually became comfortable in my own skin. My road block was emotional, it was fueled by FEAR, and all the years I spent thinking I couldn't do the things I wanted to do were conquered when I realized that I just overcame my biggest fear and I had a degree to prove it! Living in fear is no way to live. I challenged myself again a couple of years later when I decided to change my lifestyle and lost over 100 lbs. in less than 2 years. I have the Before & After pictures to prove to myself, once again, that I COULD DO IT! In 2005 I wanted a change of scenery, so, I loaded up my car and moved 2 states away with a distant cousin. Once I arrived, I went door to door dressed in interview clothes with copies of my resume in tow and resonating with confidence. I was rejected by a few places, I was commended by others, and I rejected a couple of job offers. Ultimately, I became a licensed insurance rep., then later, going door to door once again, I obtained a position as Primary Home Care Director for a home health care agency. After working with elderly and disabled individuals, I was able to observe their lifestyles and quality of life and these observations ultimately encouraged me to become a Weight Loss Coach at a wellness center. By challenging myself in different areas of my life, I gained more confidence and I no longer needed reassurance outside of myself. I do not need a man to tell me my worth, I don't need my parents to coddle me, for my friends to stroke my ego, or foods to comfort me. I stopped believing that I wasn't good enough, smart enough, or strong enough. Every time I felt defeated, I got back up and stood on my own 2 feet because I have learned through these experiences that I CAN accomplish things on my own and that is a wonderful feeling. This is the driving force that makes me want to help others to accomplish their goals as a weight loss & wellness coach. Every individual needs to know that they have to challenge themselves to live a healthy quality of life. You cannot let your fears stop you from taking action toward accomplishing this goal. The REAL QUESTION is: ARE YOU READY TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF? Because, I know: YOU CAN DO IT!!!

I don't want to over-load you with information so I will end here. Comments are always welcomed. Follow me on Twitter @anwellnesscoach. I encourage readers to ask questions and I will answer them on this blog. Email your questions to: allnaturalwellnesscoach@yahoo.com