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I am reminded during Memorial day weekends of people that have come and gone in my life. I remember my grandfather that has passed from cancer and who fought in a World War only to came back with his faith challenged from the tragedies he saw. I still remember his questioning the existence of God and the stories he told me. I remember my dad who died of cancer yet lived the life of a proud Marine even though his service time led to a broken back and a life of pain. I remember my good friend Jim who fought with his weight and struggled with diabetes all his life only to swiftly die too young. I remember each one and what they taught me. They taught me freedom isn’t Free, it has to be fought for.
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Each one stood for the idea that if we want freedom’s in our life we have to go after them. We have to claw, fight, struggle and seek those freedoms. Many would offer easy solutions but dedication and work was needed to get out of life the things that many people take for granted. By nature we all seek the easy road, but by design only those things that become habit and purpose will stay with us. Our life choices will determine the outcome, not some cosmic spinning wheel of fate or luck.
This comes to our health as well. We have choices presented to us moment by moment. Eat this, don’t eat that. It is all choices that will determine our weight loss or weight gain. It will determine if our body will operate at optimal health or something less than. It is never just simple calories in versus calories out. There is no quick fix although there are choices that will take us where we want to be faster. But like all choices we have to make the ones that will take us where we want to go. It gets down to choosing health or illness. Freedom or something less.
So today I choose to keep fighting for health. Fighting to help others find it. Taking on a different battle but taking in on with everything I have. Why? Because I have a legacy of fighters in my life that taught me that “Freedom in any area of life is worth fighting for!” And I take nothing away from the battles and the struggles those very dear to me fought. Today like many days I still hear them say to fight the good fight no matter where you find your battle. Live life to the fullest and help those who would come along beside you. For many people died so that you might have those choices to make each day.
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More From CoachRick
One of the great advantages in blogging is the people you meet. Over the last year I have gotten to know various health care professionals, fitness people, life and weight loss coaches, hypnotherapists, and other various versions of people that are interested in weight loss and optimal health. Top that off with working with clients, learning and teaching, support groups, and the research that it takes to keep up with it, I finally feel like we can start putting it all together.
- Image via Wikipedia
I wanted to start out with the various folks that have followed my journey from morbid obesity and stuck with me over the last year or so and offer it up to them first. I am looking for those of you that want to be contributors to the blog and therefore the newsletter. I talk with so many passionate people that have something to teach on weight loss and fitness that just need a place to express it. It is time to start putting it down and archiving it. America needs to hear the facts on obesity. I am not convinced they need to hear the judgment and condemnation that goes with it from some. But, I am convinced that there are more than enough people that have made the journey that want to help others.
This weekend I have added the news letter sign-up again to the site. If you go to subscription options you can set it for everything from each post to a monthly newsletter. It is easily subscribed to and opted out if needed. I can tell you unless I get a graphics person it will have to evolve a while before it becomes pretty. Having said all that I can say that if you like the blog, you will like the newsletter as that will be where it comes from. We will throw in some extras along the way for those that subscribe when we can. We will see how it goes.
I am sure we will start out slow, but I am also sure that as some of the team gets the hang of it that you will find it an honest place to get information that will inspire, motivate and inform you on your weight loss journey.
Thanks for being apart of this new stretch for me as I reach out one more way to help people have the hope and faith that morbid obesity is not the “final answer”. It can be overcome! We can turn the tide and make sure our future children and grandchildren don’t live shorter life spans than we will.
Found this quote for one of my weight loss clients today and the more I look at it the more depth it has. So for today just take some time and think about your journey this year with this quote in mind.
“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be…Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before.” ~ Erich Fromm
- Image by -RejiK via Flickr
It is funny to me the way life is served up. This last week at church there was a great study that talks about how the world influences what we believe. Christian or not you have to see the truth in that. One of my favorite books tells me that I can be in the world without being of the world. Otherwise I can live with all the hype, good/bad news, and various other things we get blasted with these days, without being all about those influences.
Adding this quote reminds me that my vision of the world changes, just like my vision of what life would be like from a year ago has changed. In my weight loss journey this last year I have come from feeling like I was dying (and not so slowly) to living like I haven’t in years. This changed my mentality from the probability of never getting better to how much better can I get. Some call it possibility thinking, I would call it much more.
So close your eyes, imagine with me for just a moment, what would life be like with your spirit soaring and living like you have never lived before? What will it take to get that back? Are you willing to make the journey?
Each day my goal is to get up and do my exercise routine. Normally it takes me about an hour. I mix it up to keep it challenging my body all the time. Now this time I am not writing to brag about my weight loss, or how much I work at making my health better. Today I would like to talk more about getting through the urge to skip or stop on a day or in a moment of other health choices.
There are days when I wake up and I don’t feel like working out or meals I don’t want to watch what I eat. My waking thought is I am too tired to stick to my plan. Currently I am doing P90X and there are days I wake up unsure that I can “Bring It”. This also shows up for me when I am eating outside the house and I have choices to make. Do I make the right choices or do I splurge and just eat what I want?
Here is what I have discovered that works for me to keep going:
- Stop - Take a look at the decision I am contemplating. How does it effect my goals? What are my reasons for not wanting to do it or to do something I know is not the best choice?
- Challenge - Challenge the reasons. Am I really too tired or just being lazy? Do I remember what being lazy about my health got me before? Do I really need to take a break? Can I really afford to eat this? What am I giving up? What is my reward?
- Choose - Make the decision. I will or won’t but make the decision. Then let it go! Don’t beat myself up over it. Just make the decision. Be ok with rewarding myself when it is justified.
From there I keep track. Am I making more choices that adds to my health or am I slipping backwards towards decisions that will worsen my health? I am either moving towards optimal health or I am moving towards sickness. It is my choice each time. The clearer I am about my goals and choices the easier those decisions become.
It is ok to give yourself a break or reward. Just keep going in the right direction more often and it will get better. Oh an by the way. You might not work off that piece of pie right then, but perhaps you can cut your calories the rest of the day to mitigate the damage. After all it is your choice!
I am not a big fan of chain emails but, I decided to include this one in a post. This 4th of July we celebrate freedom and our heritage as a country. Having been in the military this rang so true to me that I wanted to take this short opportunity to thanks those that serve our country in the times we have created as a world these days. I don’t pretend that this message covers all the brave men and woman defending our country and it’s allies across the world. But perhaps it will in a small way, it will remind you to be grateful for their service as am I. No matter how you feel about war and why we are where we are, there are dedicated people out there away from their friends and families that should be remembered today!
Thanks to all you active duty and veterans for all you have done and continue to do!
Here is a copy of the Email.
The average age of the military man is 19 years.
He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy..
Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country..
He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father’s, but he has never collected unemployment either.
He’s a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.
He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.
He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.
He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.
He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.
He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional….
He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity….
He is self-sufficient… He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other.
He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.
He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life – or take it, because that is his job.
He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.
He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.
He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ’square-away ‘ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.
In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful… Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.
Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.
He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood…
And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so.
As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot. . . A short lull, a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets.
You will notice this post went up after Father’s Day weekend. Actually I was really good this year. I am coming up on almost a year since I started my weight loss journey and have found these are habits that are much easier to live by. If I don’t it is much harder to work off the gain. I guess it comes from the fact that I started my journey before a massive holiday season and I promised myself to never get that big again. So I write these as much as a reminder to myself as to those who would read them.
- Image by ninahale via Flickr
So holidays such as 4th of July, Labor Day, or any celebration may cause your resolve to break down in your otherwise healthy eating plan. Remember that summer celebrations such as picnics can pack thousands of calories that you would not normally indulge in. So, what should you do?
1. Before going to any celebration make sure you eat normally. Eat your planned meals without trying to save up for the big one. I always recommend doing 6 smaller meals each day. Stick to your normal plan so that you aren’t hungry when you get there.
2. Take control of what you volunteer to bring. This way you can insure that you bring something healthy. This way you know there is somethere there that fits your eating habits.
3. Watch how you load up your plat and what you put on it. You can choose to NOT to have the desert!! Remember food is fuel to your body. Don’t need to put sludge in there instead.
4. See if you can get your daily workout in before going. If not, you can always try adding 10 or 15-minute brisk walks twice that day with available family members or friends.
5. If you are the one throwing the get together, have lots of vegetables available, instead of chips only. Prepare lower fat dips and offer salsa.
6. Stay away from beverages such as sodas, juices, smoothies, and special coffee drinks. This is a good time to stay up on your water.
7. If the get together is going to be longer then a couple of hours then space your eating out. Keep track of what you put into your mouth. Look for a small plate and give it some time between fillups. ALWAYS plan ahead and pay attention to what you eat.
8. At the picnic choose healthy foods and stay away from the chips and bread and corn.
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9. If the get together is at your house, send as many as possible of the left-overs home with your guests, especially the desserts!!
10. Make it your goal to maintain your weight and not to gain. This will work better then just giving yourself permission to overeat. Remember it takes a lot more to take off a pound then to put it on sometimes. You may be suprised how much you will gain by breaking your routine.
11. Eat slowly, it will help you to eat less and feel full and satisfied.
12. Be confident. It is ok to say no to Aunt Susie when she offers her special desert. It is easy enough to say I am too full to eat anything else. Don’t let your weight and cravings take control of you.
13. When traveling, don’t forget to pack your convenient healthy in-between snack meals so that you don’t get hungry before you eat your regular meals!
14. Remember the reason for the get togethers. Focus on spending time with friends and family and catching up on what is important. Not on ‘The Food’!
15. Remember you make choices that are with you to form the “Habits of Health”. Choices are habit forming. Choices form habits that transform people! You get to choose how you are transformed and how you live.
Have a Happy and Healthy Summer Picnic Season!!!!
- Image by size8jeans via Flickr
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So once you work out your long term or “Primary Goal” you have to fuel it with the choices that you make along the way. These are “Secondary Choices”. So it begins by breaking down your goal over time. With health and weight loss I would begin with a year. So you primary goal defines where in a year you want to be. You attach vision, emotion and purpose to that goal. You picture it in your mind and often people are assisted by creating a collage of what that life would look like.
Now it is time to figure out how to get there. If my goal is a fitness oriented goal what is in the way of getting it done. First maybe is my current condition of my physical body. If I had not been working out then I need to start slow enough to not hurt myself right out of the shoot. Begin with increasing movement and adding a little bit at a time.
There is however a mental set of goals as well here. What am I going to do to get my butt out the door on the days I don’t feel like it? Oh it is too cold or too hot out, or I think I am coming down with something, whatever the reason, what will get you to go anyway? For me I had a list of the things that would not change if I didn’t keep working on them. For others it may be a list of the people they told they would do this or their blog readers, or just one more look in the mirror that says, “I can’t keep looking like this.” But trust me there will be mornings that you need something extra to get you out the door.
Perhaps one other thing that most people don’t take the time to think through is the idea of what we are going to do when we fail. What if I eat something I shouldn’t? What if I don’t work out today? What if there is a special occasion and today I just choose not to be on program? What do you do after those choices? I know the old me would lean towards losing faith in myself and my plan. The old me would slowly but surely start to give up. What I found out was that doesn’t work. One thing that works for me is to stop for a moment and look at the choice and the consequences and decide what I was willing to give up.
From there I need to look at why this was even a consideration at this stage of my plan and what my next move would be. Whatever I decided I needed to learn where I was in my journey so I could move on. No time for regret or excuses. No time for self pity or loathing. Just time to make another step, reset my goals, monitor the results of my choice and move on.
Clear you mind daily. Decide to live life on purpose and stop letting life direct you. We all make some mistakes. We all have victories and defeats. It is what we do with both that effect how we will live and love our lives. Use your secondary choices to reset your track to your primary goal and you will get there and have the life you worked for.
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