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New Decade vision

For me, #one80eating is not just about losing weight, lowering cholesterol, and managing blood pressure.  It is understanding that I don’t have to settle in and unhealthy lifestyle, bodyweight… It applies to NOT having to settle in life, friendships, career.

Don’t have to settle for mediocrity when greatness exists.  If I see something that needs to be changed, change it. Don’t have to be stuck.  The change will come with sacrifice. We all have the ability to change. Don’t have to be stuck.  The change will be uncomfortable, it will require being mindful, and take time and resources…but positive change is possible.

If your perception of what you get is worth what it is that you are giving up you will find it worth it.  When you look back on your life, you want no regrets. Do you like your life, career, friendships work, are you kind and philanthropic as you can be?   Are you at your personal best at work? Do you feel your personal best? If the answer is no, think about why that is and think about the steps to take.

Think about your best self. What does that person look like, sound like.  Envision the relationships you will have, career, the family you will have..  Picture the life you want for your self. Every day you have the opportunity to live up to that and take a step closer.   Some days you may be undermining that.

Becoming the better version takes habits and reminders.  I have my phone set with alarm reminders to be “PRESENT, CALM & at PEACE”.  I have another reminder set in my phone to remind me to be, “BOLD, CONFIDENT, & DYNAMIC.”  These phone reminders go off in the middle of the day, the alarm makes me look at my phone, and I am SHOCKED at how much I need to be reminded of these intentions. I can honestly say, that I am most often NOT doing what these reminders say when they come in.  They reorient my thoughts. These alarms are helping me to create and sustain the habits that are needed to create the life I want.

When I married DKC (almost 24 years ago), I wore diamond studs. They symbolized change, elegance, and that we were starting a life of our dreams. Every single day,  I wear those diamond earrings as a physical reminder that I am living MY best life. There are plenty of hard & unfancy days that I have to choose to remember that. The earrings are simply a physical reminder to myself.  It doesn’t have to be diamond earrings for you, these are what I already had, and I had an intention with them on our wedding day. I’m just giving an example of using something you have near you every day and attaching a deep personal meaning to it.

What do you have in place to keep you focused forward on your vision for your life?

It is one thing to visualize it, it’s another to put action behind the vision.  This is a new DECADE, a fresh chance at making new habits that can change your life forever.  I hope it encourages you to know that it’s the little discipline repeated frequently that makes great change happen.

Like Tony Robbins says, “People overestimate what they can do in a month, and underestimate what they can accomplish in a year.”  Let’s set you up for 2020 to be the start of a different kind of Decade, the getting things done, kind of decade.

Originally posted 2019-12-29 19:33:46.

No more commute time AND skipping Spanx & pointy shoes.  While Covid is not how we wanted to go about taking time off from those things, here we are.  Our heels have been traded for gym shoes, Spanx for slippers and tennis shoes, and fast lunches for pantry snacks.  This might feel like a really pleasant change; however, this shift will cause many people to re-evaluate how they structure their days to stay healthy.

Obviously, a big part of being healthy while stuck at home is diet (pattern of eating).  It isn’t just what you eat, but how much, when, and WHY.  Physical hunger does play into eating habits, but  most of us eat because of emotional hunger.  It’s normal, and our emotions are really high right now because of the pandemic.  Basically, emotional hunger leads to eating because we are responding to our feelings rather than physical hunger.

The problem with emotional eating is that it leads to overeating, increased frequency, and/or craving specific junk foods or comfort foods.  So, it’s normal, we all do it, and it is often triggered by stress, anxiety, depression, and boredom. It can also be a way to distract ourselves (or avoid) other emotions we don’t want to feel and can easily become a habit.

It can be tricky to identify if it is emotional eating or physical hunger.  Here are 3 ways to tell if what you are feeling is emotional hunger:

It comes on REALLY FAST

The urge to snack or eat comes on really fast if it is emotional hunger.  Physical hunger comes on gradually. If you suddenly find yourself craving food, check-in:

• When was the last time you ate?
• Was it one hour or several hours ago?

If you last ate a protein, fat, & fiber meal an hour ago and you are hungry, it might be emotionally driven.

Feeling full doesn’t last

Sadly, emotional hunger doesn’t leave you feeling full and satisfied for long.  That’s because the food you eat really isn’t solving what you are really hungry for.   If it is boredom, food gives you something to do, but only for a few minutes.  If it is anxiety, you may feel calm while you eat, but then…regret for overeating. It does not ease and calm anxiousness.  To really satisfy emotional hunger, it’s worth identifying the underlying negative emotions and then addressing them.

You won’t feel it in your stomach!

This is fascinating and probably the biggest tell between emotional and physical hunger.

Emotional hunger isn’t felt in the stomach.  Physical hunger has a sign we all recognize, our stomach growls and there is a gnawing if we go too long without food.  Did you know that we feel the rumbling and the sound we hear is actually audible because there is no food to buffer the sound?  What you hear are the organ and muscular activity. Emotional hunger is coming from our thoughts, not our bodies.

Because emotional eating is triggered by thoughts and not our bodies (biology), it is easy to get trapped in an emotional eating cycle.  Boredom can lead to larger quantities & increased frequency… which can create feelings of guilt. To minimize the guilt feelings, we might reach for a treat to soothe us (temporarily). This is where food and emotions feed the emotional eating cycle.  It makes sense that since so many people are suddenly under chronic stress, it would be more difficult to mindfully change our behaviors since there seem to be so many more triggers.

Is emotional eating something you are struggling with?  If yes, you are not alone. This is a big part of what I work on with clients.  SOS  will educate WHAT to do, and as you see success, we begin to tackle what gets in the way of consistency, which is one of the biggest problems is emotional eating.  The good news is, when done right and with the right person, you can get back on track to eating for physical hunger MORE OFTEN than eating for emotional hunger.

Originally posted 2020-04-25 13:32:01.

Life is too short to settle for anything less than your personal best. I have a few tricks to hold myself accountable.  I’ll give you a peek into what I do, they might just help you!

I’ve always been a girl who “gets dressed” for whatever the day has in store.  This is a byproduct of my parents who always had us kids dress for success each day for school.  In college, I dressed for class. It put me in the right mindset for success. As a young teacher, I dressed each day for the children, I took my responsibility seriously as their role model.  (I was a first-grade teacher for 5 years and took to wearing teacher sweaters very seriously).

Even my years as a stay at home mom, I would work out and get dressed each day. It did wonders for my mindset and sense of personal self-esteem.    There has always been something to making an effort to feel pulled together when I do, I feel happier, stand taller (as if I need to ) and feel more confident throughout the day. This matters especially on the days when I am home and the kids are my human face-to-face contact.

The other reason I continue to get dressed each day? It keeps me accountable!  Nothing like well-fitting goal pants to help keep me in check!

To stay motivated and on track… here are my top 5 tips

Set your intentions- what are your top 3 goals for the week? Write them down. Commit to them and honor them each day.  I keep these in my phone since I can count on that to be close by. Never settle. Mine can be as simple as setting intentions to eat protein, fat, and fiber at each meal, to drink 3 liters of water during the day, and to reach a minimum of 35 grams of fiber for the day.

Refresh your memory. Open up the notes section of your phone where record those intentions.  Reread them each morning. I am often surprised at how my intentions slip my mind. This is especially valuable to refresh mid-afternoon just before the wheels fall off.

Journal and plan ahead.  People who journal, practice gratitude and set goals are some of the most productive people.  When you are prepared, you are less likely to make poor, impulsive decisions. I even do this with grocery lists and meals I think I’ll make for the family. It is so much easier on my mind to write it in a journal (planner) than to try to keep it all stored in my head.

Switch it up- You are never deprived of eating the #one80eating way. Protein, fat, & fiber is easily available and in every food group.  From staying in to dining out, you’ll never get bored of eating this way. Need some inspiration? Follow along on Instagram @CarpenterOne80.

Hydrate- Drink at least 3 liters of water per day to prevent water retention and dehydration.  Did you know that thirst can mimic hunger symptoms?

These are all things I have to decide to do on purpose.  It is one step at a time. This list is just as you much for me as it is for me.  I need reminders, encouragement, and guidance to keep showing up each day, all day, honoring my intentions.

Let’s get up, get dressed, and go get it! We have a new DECADE to get ready for!

Originally posted 2019-12-08 20:39:46.