by Lucy | Mar 21, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
I close each Motivational Monday wishing my readers a happy and healthy week. I genuinely want each reader to be happy and healthy every week.
I am often reading self-, professional- and health-improvement literature… Job hazard! I also talk to a lot of people about their health, which is much more than just talking about their diet.
It seems the happiest people are those who are not concerned with wanting what other people have.
Whether that’s a different physique, the six-figure job, a bigger house or a better marriage.The moments I find myself the least happy are when I’m comparing to where I think I should be versus appreciating where I am and how far I’ve come.
Show and tell…
I recently I went on a backpacking trip and got to hang out with some awesome people. One in particular is my friend Shung – one of the happiest people I know. While walking through the woods I was able to ask my friend what makes him so happy.
He has a lot of wisdom and stories but what struck me is his choice to live a simple lifestyle without many material items. Also, he does not compare himself or his life to societal expectations.
Shung lives a life trying to provide more for other people than for himself. He takes great joy in doing something nice for a friend, family member or stranger. When I asked him about my theory that we were all put here with “a Devine purpose” or special gift from God, Shung replied that our purpose is to love and take care of one another. (talk about a humbling moment)
In doing good for someone else we end up receiving a gift as well… Gratitude and the joy of knowing you brightened someone’s day.
Food for thought:
The best part of doing something for somebody else is: it doesn’t need to be complicated!
Simply taking time to hand write a thank you note, treat a friend to coffee or bring in a healthy and delicious snack for your coworkers.
What can you do for someone else this week?
by Lucy | Mar 14, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
| We RISE by LIFTING others. -Robert Ingersoll |
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It’s that moment Monday morning when your office-mates ask “how are you?” Or “how was your weekend?”
It’s pretty ingrained in each of us to say “good” or “I’m fine, how are you?”
Anyone who knows me, knows I’m an open book…
If I’m running on the treadmill and the gal next to me asks how I am, I will likely tell her the truth. I’m running because I’m mad, overwhelmed or stressed out. This is one of the only occasions you’ll find me running (other occasions include a bear chasing me in the woods).
Not everyone wants to tell their coworkers or fellow gym buddies the depths of their emotional state; however, I think we would all benefit from being more honest with ourselves and each other.
Talk it out!
Five reasons why lying isn’t getting you anywhere:
5. You put off until tomorrow what could be done today. Often we are lying to ourselves about out choices when we have a 3rd serving of pasta and tell ourselves “it’s OK because I’m not going to eat any carbs tomorrow.”
4. You rob yourself of potential healing opportunities. We deny help when we [stubbornly] decide to fix it on our own instead of asking for assistance.
3. You are not being genuine and therefore cannot be trusted. Have you ever wanted someone to open up to you more and wondered why they didn’t? It might be that they didn’t feel they could trust you because you were too guarded.
2. You are more free when you are more honest. A more healthy relationship with others leads to a more healthy relationship with food.
1. People admire honesty! It takes courage to be vulnerable. We worry about being a burden on one another or looking weak. Remember the last stranger you sat next to on an airplane and decided just to tell them everything and had an amazing conversation because of it?
Food for thought:
You don’t need do life alone. How can you open up a little more this week?
Be a support for others by letting them in.
by Lucy | Mar 7, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
This adult thing is sort of exhausting, right? There are the family responsibilities, household responsibilities, work responsibilities and let’s not even talk about doing taxes…
Last week I had the opportunity to give three presentations, which is one of my favorite parts of Well Balanced Nutrition. I love an audience and I also enjoy the community atmosphere; however, they demand a lot of my energy.
After presenting at North Carolina Central University on Wednesday, I had a few hours before my next appointment and treated myself to a stroll around campus including a 20-minute stop in their lovely art museum.
I went home and was able to get 3-4 items off my to-do list before the afternoon meeting. I realized without taking the time for myself I probably would have accomplished the same amount of work, but with less concentration, peace and clarity.
How are you pressing the reset button during your workday? Below are a handful of suggestions pulled from my own experience and what I’ve learned from others.
Take a mid-day walk – My personal favorite! I always used my lunch break in the clinic for a 25 minute walk, which my staff knew was mandatory or else nobody wanted to be around me that afternoon.
Chitchat breaks – Allow yourself 10 to 15 minutes of gabbing with your coworkers about something completely unrelated to work.
Mindful breathing, meditation or stretching – Take a few minutes to close the door, dim or turn off the lights, bring the attention inward to the breath… Start with 10 slow inhales and exhales – filling up the lungs as far as possible and slowly exhaling it all out.
Bring a book – Grab something entertaining, delightful or fascinating for you to enjoy on a lunch break or for mid afternoon pick-me-up.
Music! – My personal favorite is the instrumental Disney station on YouTube, but you pick whatever works best for you :-).
Tea time – Instead of the usual afternoon hunt for sugar, try a hot (or cold) cup of tea and spend a few minutes savoring the flavor before turning back to the emails, IM bings, and projects.
Food for thought:
Today I give you permission to take 20 minutes to do what ever you want during the work day.
I don’t know your boss, but I imagine if they knew how much more productive you will be at the end of these 20 minutes they will totally agree with me.
In case they don’t – just blame it on Lucy (I can take it!).
by Lucy | Feb 29, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
“No matter what the circumstance, remind yourself ‘I have a choice’.” – Deepak Chopra
Recently, during what turned out to be an amazing self-discovery weekend, I had the privilege of attending a couple yoga classes.
In the level 2 yoga class our instructor started by asking us how we felt about the lighting and temperature, which is unusual. The instructor offered us a chance to make a choice and change the environment. Taking that apart, we first paused to consider the options. Then each of us, internally, had to choose if we wanted to change anything.
The rest of the class was supplied with choices to do our asanas (yoga poses) in more challenging ways, or not.
When it comes to life we have choices to make every day. From the choice of what to wear to work, down to the choice of where to do the grocery shopping or what to eat for dinner.
When it comes to making the choice about what to eat, I found a few useful and insightful suggestions modified from Eat. Q. Unlock the Weight-loss Power of Emotional Intelligence by Dr. Susan Albers.
1. Limit your options – With too many foods, restaurants, menu items we may get overwhelmed by choice overload and default to our usual less-healthy options.
2. Make it routine – Many studies find people who eat the same or similar foods week-to-week are more likely to be a healthy weight.
3. Take options off the plate – I often base my choices on the last 2-3 meals/snacks I’ve eaten. For instance, last night was sushi and breakfast included a protein bar and kale/fruit smoothie; therefore, the chicken panini was an easy choice for lunch! Articulating what you don’t want is an acceptable route to deciding what you do want.
4. Become okay with good enough – The fried chicken offered at the board meeting may not be an ideal option for your goals; however, it’s still better than not eating and returning to your office hours later, polishing off the secret candy stash and finding you are still hungry and unsatisfied.
5. Make it convenient – If you keep a pack of tuna and crackers at work you always have a protein-rich option for the crazy days when you ran out of the house without the lunchbox.
Food for thought:
There is an abundance of choices to make everyday. Sometimes food choices are stressful or cumbersome.
Which technique from above will better serve your decisions to eat well?
by Lucy | Feb 22, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments. – Bethenny Frankel
As a dietitian in private practice, you can imagine I get asked a lot of questions about healthy eating, cooking and so forth. I welcome these questions and enjoy addressing peoples interest in the topic because after all that is why I got into this. Seriously, I get to talk about food, nutrition and exercise all day!
Generally questions like “what’s the deal with white rice versus brown rice?” are fairly easy to answer. Then you get to more technical questions like “shouldn’t we all be following a low-fat, low carbohydrate diet?” That’s where we enter into shades of grey (no, not 50 shades!).
Every body is different.
One thing I can assure you, there is not one solution for the general population.
Below are a couple fad diets on the market with the links for you to read and compare on your own.
The Military Diet
(because who doesn’t love a diet that includes ice cream?!)
This bland and weird combination of “chemically compatible” foods does make room for vanilla ice cream with dinner and promotes 3 days on very limited calorie-intake and 4 days off. It is promoted as the emergency plan if you want/need to lose weight quickly, which we all know tends to mean the dieter will regain that weight (plus more) when no longer on this plan.
The HMR Diet
This is a calorie-restricting weight loss program that includes shakes, meals and snacks provided by the company. A 3-week starter kit will run about $330 to kick-start the weight loss.
You may have also seen these HMR clinics in your town where they offer medically supervised plans for very low calorie diets. The concern lies in the lack of education. Until the individual learns how to make the right choices they will remain dependent on the shakes and pre-packaged foods.
NOTE: It is not Well Balanced Nutrition dietary advice to follow any of the aforementioned diets, but simply sharing facts.
Most diets were created out of someone else’s success and as your dietitian I feel this a good opportunity to remind you that real success comes from making lifestyle changes.
Food for thought:
If each of us requires a different “diet”, perhaps it’s about coming back to listening to our own body and what it needs.
Your body is telling you things every day about your choices. Let’s tap into that and find out what can work best for you.
by Lucy | Feb 15, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
Do not underestimate yourself by comparing yourself with others. It’s our differences that make us unique & beautiful.
-unknown
We are human. It’s our nature to want to fit in.
The other week, while I was seeing a client she mentioned that she often finds herself comparing to her best girl friend. They are both skilled and fit volleyball players. Each beautiful, athletic and strong.
My clients, notes that she has always been the “injured friend” and her professional volleyball career was cut short by series of injuries. Her best friend continues to play professionally and maintains a very fit physique. My client is proud of her fitness and activity level; however she does not feel 100% confident in her body because she’s noticed changes and also notes the difference between her body and her friends.
Now the question is how do we deal with it?
This feeling of jealousy, wanting or regretting the loss of what we used to have is often overwhelming and can over-shadow all the achievements that we can be happy and proud of.
There’s a yoga term for letting go or more specifically finding contentment: Santosha. When we let go of the wanting and accept what we have, that feeling of being completely comfortable and satisfied comes in.
In yoga, when we step onto the mat we are trained to let go of the outside world and be in that moment…perfect and peaceful. Then we are trained to check in with our breath and the body and notice what’s going on in our minds. After that, the goal is to let it go and stay present doing yoga or meditating because there’s nowhere else that you can be or should be.
There will be plenty of wanting or not wanting in this life. The trick is to keep bringing yourself back to the present, to the breath and enjoy any peace that you can find in each moment.
Food for thought:
“Be content with what you have. Rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” -Lao Tzu
(I keep having to remind myself of this when I step outside and it’s still below freezing!)
by Lucy | Feb 8, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
You don’t need a New Year to make a change. All you need is a Monday! Make this the week you change your life.
– #AmbitionDaily.com
Each morning I wake up. I go potty. I wash my hands. I brush my teeth. I put on my gym clothes. Gather my food, clothing and other accessories for the day. I pile everything into my car (Elsa, the blue Prius) and drive to the YMCA for a pre-workday workout.
This is my morning routine, or as I am looking at it, my weekday habits.
Recently, I was challenged with the idea that people do not make changes because it sounds like fun but instead because they have to…
Instead, I would argue we make changes not just when we have to but when we want to see new or different results.
For instance, maybe you have realized how much money you spend eating out for lunch and decided you would like to save money and eat food from home instead.
You start by buying another loaf of bread at the grocery store with some fresh sliced deli meats or maybe pick up the fixing’s for a good ol’ fashion peanut butter and honey sandwich. Then you buy fruit, baby carrots or bag-o-salad for a crunchy side option. Next, you start setting aside 10 minutes in the evening to gather lunch for the next day to take to work.
Ta-da!
This has become your new habit, but not because your doctor said so or because your honey was nagging you about the bank count – OK maybe it was a little bit of the nagging… ;-).
Food for thought:
On the flipside, you can continue to do what you’ve been doing and know that the results will continue to be the same.
What’s one change you’ve been wanting to see in your life?
Do you want to feel less tired when the alarm goes off in the morning? Sounds like a great opportunity to try going to bed a half-an-hour earlier.
by Lucy | Feb 1, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
-Aibileen Clark from “The Help”
Do you ever get that little voice inside of you questioning why you are doing what you are doing?
As a small business owner I get that… a lot. I do not think it is a bad thing; it’s just trying to protect me.
When it comes to making lifestyle changes whether you are quitting a bad habit or trying to incorporate a good one, that voice may be there questioning your actions. It may ask, “Why are you trying again when you know it didn’t work the last three times?”
Maybe the voice telling you stories about how much easier it would be to give up and continue with the status quo.
Below you will find a few tools to coping with the moments of doubt:
1. Say thank you and respond with a question.
If you are full of self-doubt or worry it is often the mind wanting to protect you or itself. When you incorporate a new habit the brain has to work much harder (and it does not like that!). Instead of jumping on the doubt train in your mind, acknowledge the worry with a “thank you,” then respond with a question such as “why are you so concerned about this?”
2. Cancel, cancel! No, thank you.
This technique is modified from one of my favorite podcasts – The Joy Junkie show. When you start to notice your mind telling stories of failure simply say “Cancel, cancel. No, thank you.” That will pull you away from the spiral of negative self talk so you can re-evaluate what is happening in the moment.
3. Change the story.
Instead of taking the path that recounts your not-so-successful attempts to change, try recounting the ways in which you have succeeded in making a healthy change. For example, you can proudly tell your mind about the carrots you eat with lunch instead of potato chips or how you’ve successfully reduced eating fast food to 1 time per week.
Food for thought:
Life is hard enough without us telling stories that make it harder.
You are a smart, successful and beautiful/handsome person.
Take a moment to notice what the mind says when you hear or read that message. If it responds with disbelief, question it.
You are a smart, successful and beautiful person. Let it be.
by Lucy | Jan 25, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
“Success doesn’t happen overnight. Keep an eye on the prize and don’t look back.” – Erin Andrews
It’s the last Monday in January! Can you believe it??
According to someone nearly 90% of us that set out to achieve something new in 2016 have already quit or given up.
Not you!
Today you opened your Motivational Monday because you know choosing to live healthy and happy does not happen overnight. Each day or week is another opportunity to set goals and see the change you want in your life.
I came across a great article that asked 5 challenging questions regarding business goal-setting. A lot of these easily apply to lifestyle goals as well but I was especially intrigued by this concept of goals versus intentions.
Below is an example to show the difference between a goal and an intention.
A good intention might be: “I’m going to start exercising this year.” Versus a good goal: “I’m going to walk for 30 minutes three days a week.”
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when determining if you have good intensions or great goals…
Ask yourself:
1. Is this the most specific I can get? Taking the example above, you can specify which 3 days you will walk each week.
2. How am I measuring my goal? I find writing it down or using a calendar to mark which days you succeeded to be more motivating because you can see the progress.
3. Is this goal attainable? If you are working 80 hours a week is it realistic to plan on cooking 5 nights/week?
4. Is this something I want to do? Is it realistic to [insert goal] in my life at this time? For example, will you actually wake up at 5am to make it to the gym?
5. Have I given myself enough time or too much time to start? Having a start date and maybe end date gives you the freedom to stop fretting over “forever” or giving into “next week.”
Food for thought:
We all have stuff to work on.
Setting out the big goals and then applying the questions above will allow us to turn big goals into bite-sized pieces.
That’s where a good intention becomes a new habit!
by Lucy | Jan 18, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
Picture this… It’s 2pm. You start to feel your eyes getting heavy, your brain slows down and as if on a timer you get that overwhelming craving for a candy bar, coffee, or anything that will bring your out of the haze.
Does this sound familiar?
If you are lucky enough to be retired or self-employed (*wink, wink) my recommendation is a 20-30 minute nap to press the reset button on your energy tank. Unfortunately, not all of us have that luxury. What do we do?
First step is to recognize the patterns in your body. When I started to pay closer attention to my energy levels and the body’s response to low energy – i.e. the sugar and caffeine cravings – I gained a little more control in how I choose to manage these moments.
Below are a a few suggestions from entrepreneur.com that have worked well for me:
1. Get in motion! Seems counter-intuitive to ask someone who is tired to get up and exercise; however, mental fatigue is generally not linked to physical fatigue. Taking time to go walk, jog in place, take a bike ride or another activity will send blood and nutrients to your heart, brain and lungs to help them operate more efficiently.
2. Drink up! Some statistics show that up to 75 percent of the American population is chronically dehydrated. You’ve probably heard the body is mostly water (and if you’ve had a cold lately you know all about the fluids in the body!). This means when we take in more water it can help nourish the brain and muscles.
3. Return to the breath. Take a long, deep breath in. Hold at the top for just a moment, then completely exhale to the bottom of the lungs.
Did you feel it?! You just gave yourself an instant wake-up call by delivering oxygen to the brain and other cells in the body.
4. Try chia seeds! These are an ancient Mayan secret to promoting strength and stamina in their warriors, this new “superfood” is full of Omega-3s, antioxidants and fiber for a healthy source of energy even for us non-warriors.
Food for thought:
Have you been struggling with low energy during the work day?
We’ve all been there! Instead of giving into the same ol’ temptations, why not try an all natural fix from the list above?
