Embarking on a fitness mission can be a daunting task for most of us. This journey is important, but can have its own set of good and bad days. The best way to enjoy your success and seek solace for minor setbacks is by enlisting the help of a like-minded friend. An exercise workout pal can indeed prove to be an important asset for you, as you wage a war against the bulge and take those vital steps towards fitness and health.

Getting support:

An exercise pal is not simply a friend who cheers you from the sidelines and then begs you to have a slice of pizza. An exercise pal is someone who can motivate you, provide you comfort and even push you that extra bit on the treadmill. You can find such a pal in your gym or through a casual meeting at the gym or in your local park.

Sometimes, your exercise pal can be a part of your friend circle who is as much interested in improving his or her health as you. In this case you can team up with your friend and make a commitment to shed those extra pounds together.  Some special health gyms also provide this unique facility to their clients by dividing the members in different groups.

These members motivate each other, share their weight loss secrets and pull up those who desperately need some moral support.  Thus, an exercise pal needs to be empathetic, supportive and sensitive to the other person’s need. By giving and receiving support and encouragement, an exercise workout session can even turn out to be fun, tempting and friendly.

Working together:

The best way to work with your exercise workout pal is by sharing your exercise workout goals. These goals and the strategies to get there, can be discussed by you and your pal by a healthy exchange of available knowledge and valid arguments.

During workout sessions, you and your friend can offer encouragement when the other seems to be slowing down. A word of praise on completion of the activity is also appreciated and this encouragement can serve as a motivational factor in a workout. Exercise workout pals can also celebrate their success and discuss their failures effectively.

They can help each other in tough times and celebrate with each other when they reach their goals.

By enlisting and giving support, you can workout effectively and beat those exercise blues with an exercise workout pal at your side.

I was speaking with a client, “Lisa” earlier today, and talked with about how she was doing on the program.

She has just been on it for a few days, but has already lost 5 lbs. When I encouraged her about this fast success, she immediately launched into a long explanation of how she was a failure, and a loser, and would probably not be able to stick to the plan, and that I should be ready for her to fail.

As we talked about this more, I realized that Lisa had struggled with her weight since she was young; and had been mean to herself ever since then. Her self criticism started at about the age of 14, and hadn’t stopped since then. She believed that her challenges with her weight were a sign of her being a loser, and a failure- rather than a simple mathematical formula of more calories in than calories going out.

When I asked her what she would say to a friend who was feeling like a failure and a loser, she immediately came up with several compassionate, loving, and very caring responses. When I asked her why she could be so nice to other people, but so mean to herself, she didn’t have an answer.

We worked on a few other things in our call, and Lisa’s “homework” for the week was to begin to replace her self critical and negative talk with something more compassionate and positive. She didn’t have to tell herself anything she didn’t believe, but she did need to stop being so mean to herself and to find another way to speak to herself.

If you struggle with mean and unkind thoughts about yourself, and many negative judgments because of your weight, you are not alone. Being overweight is tied to feeling depressed and anxious, and this can lead to negative self talk.

To change this situation, do two things- start a weight management program, and replace your negative self talk with someone more neutral (and, then, eventually, positive.) Stop being mean to yourself.

1) Call a friend
2) Take a walk
3) Eat something

If you answered #3 (and don’t worry, many of us did too…) you may be an emotional eater. Emotional eating is defined as eating food (usually sweet or salty) when you’re not hungry, and, instead, as a way of dealing with upsetting or sad feelings.

Very often, we seek to comfort ourselves with food, whether we are hungry or not. Eating can be a way of dealing with stress, upset, fear, anger, boredom, anxiety, loneliness, and sadness. It’s easy to eat when we feel badly, even though eating during these times doesn’t really solve the feelings- and then we feel badly because we messed up our weight control and *still* feel upset.

Some people also use food as a distraction- they cook or bake (and lick the bowl) when they are upset or working through a problem. While distraction is a good coping mechanism, the problem with spending a lot of time around food is that, eventually, you’re going to eat some, whether you’re hungry or not.

So how can you get control over emotional eating?

• Recognize true hunger (in your stomach) from ‘false’ hunger (in your thoughts).

• Give your cravings a few minutes to pass, and see if they do.

• Build other coping skills, such as connecting with friends, going for a walk, or taking a nap.

• Get enough rest (this goes a long way in keeping your emotions from running away with you)

• Eat something healthy before you eat anything unhealthy

Life is full of stress- so that’s not something we can get away from. However, we can learn to identify and reduce our sources of stress, and to cope with our stress in more healthful and productive ways than reaching for candy, soda, ice cream or chips.

Our bodies have to work harder to help us feel better when we don’t give them the right fuel.

Well… I wish that I could say that my jaw didn’t drop open and I wish I could say that I didn’t really burst out laughing but what I have to tell you is that not only did I do both of those things… I snorted! Yes. Snorted. Luckily, he laughed too. And then his wife popped her head around the corner holding her stomach with tears running down her face.

I thought I was being punked. But, as it turns out, the gentleman had accompanied his wife to her annual OB/Gyn appointment. Dr. Jo Lynn Hawthorne, gynecologist turned bariatric specialist, performed the exam. And, in her pull no punches/tell it like she sees it/wants to see the world a healthier place way, told this gentleman that he needed to lose weight.

So, here he was, sent by his gynecologist to make my day! And yes, he is now on the program. How cool is that!?!

Be well,

Lynette, your weight loss life coach

Hi, Lynette again – contemplate that line “marry one’s feelings”. What does it mean? How does one marry one’s feelings to beliefs and ideas? Why is it important? I think I know why.

Let me answer by asking you a question: What is your feeling about the word “diet”? Did you just groan? Roll your eyes? Laugh? All of those responses are really feelings.

When you have a negative feeling about the word “diet”, doesn’t it make sense that when you decide to go on one, you are setting yourself up for failure?

What would happen if you simply changed how you felt about that word? (You can you know!) As simple as eating an apple, you can make the conscious decision to like that word, to embrace that word, to feel the strength in that word.

What if, in your mind, you associated “diet” with well being, long life, happiness, choice, freedom, vitality? How would you “feel” then?

~ Jacob Bronowski

Hi, Lynette again, your weight loss life coach. Really read the first sentence of this quote. It basically is saying that your goals (the world) can only be reached when you set aside thinking and DO.

How often have you said “I really would like to get in shape/lose weight/be healthier”? Hundreds? Thousands? Did those thoughts make you lose weight/get in shape/be healthier?

Nope.

It is the daily practice of action – one step, each and every day – that makes your goals a reality.

So, you know I’m gonna ask… what one step are you going to DO today? Now, go do that one thing!

~John Wooden

Yes, it’s Lynette again and I love this quote. It is a reminder for us all to take one step at a time. So often, we are so busy looking toward where we want to be, that we don’t enjoy the journey it takes us to get there.

Today, you can’t magically be at your goal weight. You won’t suddenly be able to climb mountains or run for miles. Today, there may be obstacles or things that feel like challenges. So goes life.

And… today, you can do ONE thing to further your goal. You can make that wise choice; you can walk that one mile. Today, you can look in the mirror and smile and be kind to yourself. Today, you can drink that extra glass of water. Today, you can eat only half that plate. Today, you can sing for no reason.

What are you willing to do TODAY to further your goal?

Now, go do that one thing!

Hi, it’s Lynette again, bringing you another of my favorite quotes. Please read this quote again. And again. And again.

Do you see how powerful it is? A dream is language in your head – words put into a picture that floats in your imagination. How many times have you dreamed of having a healthy body? How many times have you dreamed that your willpower was in place? Can you see yourself – see yourself trying on clothes in the “regular” sizes – see yourself hiking up a mountain or wearing that cute swimsuit at the beach? Or simply rolling around on the floor with your kids (and being able to get up without strain)?

As Goethe said – if you can dream it, begin it.

Begin today. What one tiny baby step can you do today to create that healthy body, that healthy you?

Now, go do that one thing!

Hi, this is Lynette, life coach at Chrysalis and I wanted to share this, one of my favorite quotes with you today. I have this quote hanging from the mirror in my car. As I drive, I see it – each and every day, I see it.

What do you have in front of you, each and every day, to remind you of your dreams? To encourage you? To inspire you?

Often, we need that little reminder, that encourager, that inspiration to continue down the path we declare as important to us. Without that daily reminder, it is so easy to look backwards, to take detours, or to pull off the road altogether.

What system do you have in place? What system CAN you put in place? Today is a GREAT day to start!

Are you surrounding yourself with people who support your dreams? Who want more for you than you want for yourself? Create – on purpose and by design – people in your life who lift you up, cheer you on and tell you “it’s possible”!