Removing Negative Energy

One of the biggest challenges that we face when we change our lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle is facing how we think. Whether it is ingrained in us since we were little – like someone telling us we are fat (and then in our mind we are fat and ugly) or something terrible happened to us and the only way that we know how to cope is to eat! (Stress Eating) Both of these are things that I have faced over my lifetime in the past.

When someone tells you – you are fat – there is a lot of stigma and negative energy surrounding that. It has taken a lot of years to get over that feeling of being fat and ugly. So we have to stop allowing destructive negative energy to dominate our minds. There is a very simple and straightforward solution for overcoming even the most stubborn and dominant negativity. All you have to remember is N.I.C.E!

Notice when your thoughts and energy take on a negative vibe.

Intervene by telling negativity to get lost and realize what kind of person it makes you.

Change your way of thinking using positive affirmations and other positive activities.

Embrace the way positive energy makes you feel.

So we need to pay attention to what we are thinking. When we have a negative thought – such as “I’m fat so I must be ugly” we need to take that and notice the negative vibe. Tell the negativity to get lost. Change how we think by thinking “I am not fat so thus I am no longer ugly”. Embrace how the positive vibe makes you feel.

Another way to face this is realize you are thinking negative, tell the negative to get lost and then get up and move or change what you are doing and do something that requires your full attention. This will help that negativity to stop creeping in. Be thankful that you have lost 2″ and feel that sense of accomplishment no matter how big or how small. A sense of accomplishment has a huge positive impact and will turn around any negative thought or behavior.

You can completely change your thinking from negative to positive by appreciating the good in your life. Be grateful for the small success of 2″ lost. Be thankful you can go for a walk – even if it isn’t very far. One of the best things I know of takes you from sitting on the couch to adding 5 minutes of movement every day for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days you could be walking for 1-1/2 hours just by increasing your time each day by 5 minutes. Maybe you need to do 1 minute a day to get started. By the end of the 30 days you could be walking for 30 minutes. Be thankful for any success. Keeping a positive attitude is very helpful in living a healthy lifestyle. Write it down so you can go back and read it once in a while. Remember those good feelings and the small successes.

Once you have changed your thoughts from negative to positive and start embracing this new way of thinking, the easiest thing to do is to SMILE with your whole face. You can practice it in the mirror. You will be amazed at how just smiling can change your whole day. Be determined to be nice to others as well, even if it’s just to hold the door open for someone or to say “Thank You” to the clerk checking you out at the store. Put a smile on for others and it will make you feel amazing.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to us if you have any questions or if we can help in any way. Have an awesome week and see you next week!

Focusing on the Future

Last week we talked about fear and doubt and how it sometimes sabotages what we want and what we know is best for us. This week we are going to talk about focusing on the future and how that can help us succeed as well.

If you are constantly thinking about how you’ve never been successful with losing weight then you probably aren’t ever going to be successful. Negative attracts negative. So instead of thinking “What can go wrong, will go wrong”, think “What can go right, will go right”. Change your mindset and you will change your life.

Set yourself some short term goals that are realistic and then set yourself a long term goal. So short term goals can be “I want to lose 2 lbs a week” – even though if you do low carb and keto you could possibly lose up to 5 lbs a week. 2 lbs sets a reasonable expectation so when you hit that first plateau you don’t give up. You keep moving forward. And all of those weeks of 2-5 lbs lost will start to add up very quickly. I suggest even that you don’t worry about pounds so much and you take your measurements. Low carb and Keto actually help you lose inches faster than pounds.

Your long term goal may be to lose 50 lbs or 100 lbs or fit in a pair of jeans you haven’t worn since before your first child was born. Figure out what it is and then celebrate each milestone as you move toward that long term goal. It took you longer than a month to gain all that weight so be patient, think positive and realize you need to celebrate the little things in life.

Being grateful for where you are each day and writing a gratitude journal each day can help. Even if the only thing you are grateful for that day is that you ate the right foods for breakfast!!! LOL. I’ve been there. But being grateful even for the smallest things keeps that positive attitude moving forward.

You need to have faith in your ability to keep things going in the right direction and you will find yourself flourishing. So tell yourself that failure is not an option, never give up and success will happen. This doesn’t mean you won’t have some hurdles to leap over and holes to climb out of, but that is all part of the journey to success.

If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We can help you along the way. Have a wonderful week and see you next week.

Fear and Doubt

Do you fear the unknown when it comes to doing something that you’ve never done before? Or are you one of those that has to reach the bottom (Dr told you you have Type II Diabetes) before you decide you have to make some changes?

It is only natural to fear what you don’t know. We set ourselves up for failure right from the beginning by telling ourselves “it’s too hard”, “Everyone says I can’t do it”, “I’ve never been able to keep the weight off no matter how hard I try”? All of these things are negatives and are setting us up for failure.

So let’s think about some alternative ways to think when we make that switch tomorrow to a healthier lifestyle and we set ourselves up for success. If your thought process says “it’s too hard” – switch your thinking to “I’m going to have a small success each day thus making it easy to succeed”.

If you’re being told “you can’t do it or you’ll never be successful at losing weight” – switch your ears off and let those naysayers talk – just don’t listen. “Or tell yourself that it doesn’t matter what they say – this is my life and I know I can do this!” You know within you is the courage and the determination to make yourself healthy it doesn’t matter what anyone else says.

And if you’re thinking about the fact that “you’ve never been able to keep the weight off no matter how hard you try” – let’s switch it to “I’m changing my lifestyle one piece at a time and I will be successful”. It is all about the positives and teaching us to think positive thoughts instead of negative thoughts.

Sometimes as the negatives descend on us we just have to stop, look at it for what it is and make a conscious effort to change that negative thought to a positive thought. Maybe to do that you just have to get up and move for a minute. That works for me and I do that a lot.

We really can do whatever we set our minds to do. Anything negative just means that you are allowing fear and doubt to sabotage your good health and your new lifestyle. It may mean you have to just start one day at a time and move slowly forward. Some people say to tell everyone you are on a diet and let everyone help hold you accountable – but I say sometimes we need to do this for ourselves and the heck with everyone holding us accountable. I can tell you I am not always successful every day at what I eat, but I can tell you I don’t punish myself anymore and I’ve been able to maintain for the last year and a half. This new lifestyle (NOT A DIET) is forever. It’s not a DIET because it isn’t temporary. Change how you think and you will change your life.

Sometimes we also just need to have a bit of faith in ourselves and stop beating ourselves up. Let’s not allow it to take a scare from the DR to tell us we are unhealthy. Stop with the excuses and do something for yourself. Even if it takes you 5 days instead of 3 to get into ketosis – JUST DO IT!. I know I stole that from Nike, but it is very appropriate in this instance.

If you need help, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are always here to help answer any questions, but please don’t let fear and doubt take over and keep you from this journey of life that is awesome!

What is your Comfort Zone?

Where are you in the Comfort Zone Circle?

As I looked at this circle the other day it made me ask myself a bunch of questions. Am I in the fear zone, the learning zone or the growth zone? Where do I want to be? How long have I been in the fear zone? Do you ever get out of the learning zone? Or am I satisfied to stay in the comfort zone?

The comfort zone to me is going to work every day and living paycheck to paycheck, doing my crafts and watching tv. A couple of years ago I decided I was tired of the comfort zone and wanted to have more in life. More money, more time, etc.

But to get to more money and more time I had to work through the Fear Zone. It’s amazing how easy it is to find excuses or worry about what other people think, or you think you have self-confidence, but you really question everything when you start on a journey to growth. It took a while to get through this phase – even with all the experience I have. Mel Robbins has a principal called 5-4-3-2-1 Go. I have used that to get over any fear and it’s amazing how it works. Because you don’t allow yourself to take time to think of any excuses. You get out of your head.

I’m not sure you ever get out of the Learning Zone totally. In fact, you shouldn’t totally get out of that zone. Because there are always new ideas and new ways of seeing things. I am loving learning again. Learning about myself, about a Keto Lifestyle, about growing a business, etc. I will continue to stay in this zone as I approach the Growth zone because I think learning is a key to Growth.

As I enter the Growth phase – I have set goals of where I want to be in the next two years and five years. I am slowly conquering my objectives and getting things moving forward. I had already found my why – Catherine Louise Alcorn, my granddaughter – and for all of you who have grand kids you will understand. And I’m working continuously toward living my dreams.

Where are you at in the Comfort Zone Circle? Have you reached the Growth Zone or have you decided to stay in the Comfort Zone?