One small change to your eating can get big results

The Game Changer

There is just a few more days 0f 2017 and then on to a new year with new resolutions and renewed aspirations for a new you.  Gyms are packed with people January 1st but are back to the same by February. Why? Because we just want a quick way to lose lots of weight so we can go back to our old eating habits and our little to no exercise habits, and still keep the weight off, but are reminded quickly that this is an endless path to disappointment with our weight, appearance, and self-esteem. 

So what can we do about it? 

Consistency!  We have to find habits that promote good health that we can and will do consistently for the long haul. This is a proven effective way of reclaiming and keeping long-term health!

So why aren't more people doing this if it is a proven method for helping thousands of people reclaim their health for the long haul? 

Because most the time, these changes, that we can do, and are willing to do are usually small changes that do not bring immediate results, they work over time. And let's be honest, unlike our friend ELF, that's not our favorite:) 

This new year, make it your goal to build healthy habits that are sustainable, and stay clear of all the fad quick loss diets and focus on being mindful of what you eat when you eat, and how you eat. 

I want to give you one of the most important habits that you can practice and it's so simple you won't believe it's so valuable, but it is. And even know it's simple it's not always easy to be consistent, but if you are it with pay big dividends for your health in the long run! 

Eat Slowly. 

Here are some simple ways to eat slowly

• Put your fork down between bites.

• Relax. Breathe. Take a few extra moments before you pick the fork up again.

• Set a timer if needed — start with 15 minutes per meal as a basic goal. Work up to 20 or even 30.

• Chew a few more times than you think you need to.

• Enjoy and savor each bite. If you’re eating something delicious, take pleasure in it. Notice smells, flavors, and textures.

• Eat mindfully without distractions such as TV, smartphones, or the computer. (Pleasant conversation with friends and family is, of course, welcome.) 

Why eating slowly is so awesome!!

1. Slow eating creates mindfulness. Mindfulness creates awareness.

When you get the hang of slow eating and your body cues, you'll become aware of when they’ve over-eaten.

2. Slow eating attunes people with flavors, textures, and smells of food.

People instinctively begin to seek out better choices, simply because of increased awareness. Their emotional-brain elephant is gently guided, rather than wrenched unwillingly.

3. Slow eating provides important information to the GI tract and gives satiety hormones time to kick in.

If we rush, we don’t smell, taste, or texturally experience our food. Our bodies don’t notice stuff getting shoved into the pipeline until it’s too late.

However, when we eat slowly, our satiety hormones have time to work. We stop eating naturally, earlier.

4. Slow eating helps with digestion.

The step-by-step information processing also helps with cueing digestive activity such as peristalsis or enzyme secretion further downstream. Our GI tract doesn’t get caught off guard.

So you feel better after you eat.

If you suffer from heartburn this just might be a magic cure :)

5. Slow eating doesn’t depend on controlling what you eat.

This means you can do it anywhere, anytime, with any kind of food — whether that’s a Mother’s Day brunch, a business lunch, dinner at Grandma’s, a Vegas buffet, or S’Mores around a campfire.

No matter what’s on your plate or who’s around you, you can eat slowly.

6. Slow eating makes the client’s body the boss.

This means eventually you won’t have to rely on calorie counting, weighing and measuring food, or any other means of external control. you’ll feel much less anxious, and much more self-assured.

Paradoxically, relinquishing external control gives you more real control.

Mindfulness is the path to this outcome.

This year make a commitment to building habits that build a healthy you!

And if you would like to know more about this other habits that are proven to help you move toward your health goals, and would like help implementing them I would be happy to discuss more, just head over to my website or email me. 

Website: www.zaofit3.com                                                                                                               Email: zaofit3@gmail.com

Jerry Mullins                                                                                                                                       PN1, DSW, CPT, WMS

How can a penny help you get healthy?

The other day when I was on a morning run with my wife and a friend, I was thinking about some of my clients and former clients and I found myself asking why some really struggle and others flourish? If I could just find out "the why" I could be a better coach. I understand we all have stories that can give some insight, and there are a lot of great resources that I use (school, books, mentors) to help be the best coach I can be, but this particular day as I was running, and I started thinking about my wife, and she found change project. Boom! I realized it's all about the penny! So here's how it works: If while running she sees money she stops and picks it up, most the time its pennies but she has found all kinds of different coins, even some bills and other things like pocket knives and even a posable bunny. 

 My wife's old jar and new jar (first got too small)

Most people when running with her for the first time laughs when she suddenly stops. Usually, the person looks back and asks; "did you drop something" and she responds "No I found a penny" and at this point, she proceeds to tell them how she collects money that she finds regardless of its denomination. Most people laugh when she tells them she's saving money to pay for her trip to run Boston (marathon) someday, but others that have run with her for any period of time are inspired. Some even collect pennies themselves. Why? Because she has made believers out of us by collecting over a hundred dollars the last several years.

What do My clients and their health have to do with my wife and her coin collecting endeavor (obsession)? I believe it's the same reason you and I don't stop and pick up a penny, well, at least why I don't. When I see a penny I think its value is not worth me stopping in the middle of a run to pick it up; well it's only a penny and some of the pennies are barely even recognizable. Now if a see a quarter I think about it, I still don't pick it up but I do think about picking it up and if I see a dollar it's mine. What I have learned from my attitude towards her found change project; Is that because of her faithfulness to pick up everything she sees no matter the value, she has collected about one hundred dollars, a couple of pocket knives, a cool rock that says "Jesus Lord of all", a pretty shell and has inspired others to start their own found change jar.  

My coaching philosophy is a slow process of building habits and learning to make choices that are a little better. One of my favorite sayings is "Think a little better"  When it comes to your nutrition and exercise we can always do a little better. The problem with this philosophy is that it's like collecting pennies and most people don't want to collect pennies we want dollars! But you see if my wife only collected dollars she would be at a fraction of where she is, as a matter of fact, she might not have anything saved, because why save the dollar when it's sitting in your jar for over a year all by itself, it's a little discouraging so we might as well spend that dollar, right?

So what am I trying to say? When reclaiming your health you can be like my wife who no matter how tired she is, or how hard she has to push to catch the pack, how the run is going or how small the denomination of money is, she picks it up, because she understands that the Boston (marathon) is expensive and every penny gets her one penny closer to her goal.

Or you can be like me and pass the pennies hoping that you will find the stockpile of money that will pay for Boston all at once and end up with nothing. 

There is no magic bullet (short cut) to get you to your health goals, it comes one penny (small habit, little better choice) at a time. The awesome thing is that some days because of your faithfulness to the small things (pennies), big things (dollars found) will happen.

If you are looking to reclaim your health and are willing to build habits that bring long-term results by making small changes (collect pennies) I would love to talk to you about some options that will give you the tools needed to collect all the pennies you need to reach your health goals.

zaofait3@gmail.com

A Script can save you lots of regret!

I want to take a minute and talk about the importance of scripting when it comes to change.

Scripting is thinking about what you would like to happen in a difficult situation.

So why is it so important to your health?

The other day I was at a leadership meeting for a conference that I help plan in the Spring every year. Our meeting was at Izzy's and one of the leaders while eating his mound of pizza and fried foods said he was on the Mediterranean diet as prescribed by his doctor. He went on to tell us that he has done very well for the past two weeks and wanted us to know that he was just enjoying this one meal, but would be right back on it tomorrow. Now there are a few things that made me sad about this conversation, but let's focus on how scripting could of made all the difference in the world for this guy. I could tell by his conversation and conviction, that he had every intention of making good choices when he got there, but there was so many good (Bad) choices that he was overwhelmed and just grabbed what he knew.

So how could scripting help?

I like the things on his plate as much as he did, but I scripted out a head of time.

Here is my Script: Go strait to the salad bar and fill my plate with highly nutritious food and when I'm done and mostly full I return to get something from the not so nutritious area.

So what did I do at that meeting? You guessed it. I went by my script and had a spinach salad lots of fruits and veggies some cottage cheese and for extra protein I got a friend chicken breast and pulled off all the skin and ate the meat, then I went and got a bowl of soft serve ice cream concoction (I think), yes it is a red light food!

Do I have more self control? No I don't believe I do. I scripted out what I would do so I was not left with lots of options, yes I was tempted, and I usually am, that's why I have a script to follow when I know things will be tough!

The more choices we have the more likely we are to pick what we know, and what were familiar with. But when we script out a plan we are more likely to choose what we have already decided to eat.

Try using a script when your going into a tough situation and share with me how it works out for you.

What does health have to do with character?

What does health have to do with character?

We have a health crisis in America and there are few if any that would deny this fact, but the truth is the way things seem is that we are more concerned about our weight than our health. What do I mean? Well just look around you for a moment and look at how we as a country approach this problem. think back at the TV ads, magazine covers, social media ads, and how companies get you to buy their products. Now that you have taken a minute to think about it, doesn't it seem obvious that the message of the day about our bodies is: We can help you lose weight and lose it fast. There are cleanses, 21-day challenges, heavily processed meal bars, and miracle shakes. Just to mention a few. All with the promise to help you shed that unwanted weight. We know that all this advertising is based on what we are buying; Weight loss. As a health coach that has the privilege of working with so many people. When it comes to weight loss, I know that health really is more important than weight loss to most us, but so many have mistaken weight loss for good health. Unfortunately, weight loss doesn't mean healthier body. If we are pre-diabetic/overweight than getting healthy will equate to weight loss, but weight loss doesn't always equate to better health. 

  So what does health have to do with character? Let me first share a quote by John Wooden: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are". Now let's replace Character with health and reputation with weight.  Be more concerned with your health than your weight, because your health is what you really are, while your weight is merely what others think you are. When I first read this quote it really hit me hard, because it's easy to get caught up in what people think of us and forget that's it's more important who we are, than who people perceive us to be. It's the same with our bodies; it's more important to be healthy than for people to think were healthy because of how we look. But a lot of the times we are concerned with how we are perceived and so we shoot for weight loss above health. I know this not only because I'm a health coach and personal trainer, but also because of the numbers. Take a look at these numbers: 

The annual revenue of the U.S. weight-loss industry, including diet books, diet drugs, and weight-loss surgeries is 20 billion dollars, there are 108 million people on diets in the United States, and Dieters typically make four to five attempts per year, and 220,000 people with morbid obesity in the United States had bariatric surgery in 2009, and most people, well over 90% do not keep the weight off. 
  So what can we do about it? First, we must fight the urge to make weight loss our focus, and then refuse to jump on the next weight loss fad that comes along; because they will keep coming. And then remind ourselves that making a conscious decision to get healthy will always lead to a better body. just like a good reputation doesn't always mean a good character, a drop in weight doesn't always relate to better health, but a good character will lead to a better reputation, and good health will lead to a better body.  

To Carb or not to Carb?

To Carb or not to Carb?

when I was a child I remember the food trend "Fat Free", yes every food was going or seem to be going fat free, why? Because Fat was the cause of our over-weight problem. Or was it? Well of course not, but that didn't change a great number of adults from buying fat free everything in hopes to take-off or keep-off those unwanted pounds. The sad things about the whole Fat Free craze, was that most the fat free foods were more unhealthy than the original. Good thing we got over that lie (for the most part) and moved on. Or did we?

companies are still making fat free and some people still believe fat makes you fat, but it doesn't have the momentum it had in the 80's, but there is a another belief that has stirred up a new diet craze. In the last decade we have demonized a new macro-nutrient, the carbohydrate. Yes the new make me fat macro-nutrient is the carb! Everywhere we go, we hear low carb, no carb, and a few others things I won't mention. I remember one diet that started in the late 90's and when I cared very little about what I ate or dieting, but what I did notice is a lot of friends and family members losing weight and attributing it to this specific diet.

What I also noticed is that they didn't look very healthy, they just looked thin. What, isn't thin healthy? NO! They looked as if they got sick and lost a bunch of weight; their skin  just kinda hung off their body they looked tired and had little energy, but they were happy to be thin, so I was happy for them. The worse part of it, was that I can't remember one keeping the weight off, and most were heavier one to two years later, with a higher fat ratio than before. Well that was then, when I didn't know what a carb was, and this is now; when nutrition is a passion of mine and I not only know what a carb is I know that they are a crucial nutrient for our body, and Our bodies most preferred form of fuel. And since we were created by a God that makes no mistakes, I don't believe it's a coincidence that our bodies preferred fuel is carbohydrates. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that carbs are more important than fat, or protein, because they are all important. I believe in a right carb diet, I also believe in a right fat, right protein diet too. The biggest problem we have with carbs, is that we eat the wrong ones. We love the pre-packaged, highly processed junk food and sugary drinks. If were really looking to make a health a priority, this is where our carb cutting should be. One more thing about carbohydrates that we should take into consideration; Our brain also needs fuel and unlike our bodies that can use fat and protein for fuel if need be, our brain can only uses carbs.

  I suggest getting your carbs from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, think of this way: Good carbs come with friends. Their friends are fiber , and protein, and bad carbs the carbs you should cut out is carbs that travel alone, like soda pop. 

  If you are on a low carb diet and it works for you, that's great, but most of us don't do so well and should stick to fueling with our bodies most preferred and our brains only source for fuel. 

P.S. below is a couple links with great reads:  Always follow those that use science, here are two of my favorites! 

Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

https://www.drsearswellnessinstitute.org/blog/food-for-brain-health/

Precision Nutrition: 

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/low-carb-diets