Can't Lose Weight

Taking Care of Yourself

Most of us keep thinking, “I wish things were different then I would be happier.” How would you feel if your wishes, (i.e. perfect weight, fantastic relationship, no debits or loved your job) happened today?

Let me tell you a little story, Marge (name changed) was very unhappy with her life. She felt fat, was always fighting with her husband and daughter and there was never enough money for a vacation. She always felt if she lost the weight and got a better paying job everything would be better. Marge only wished for these things and never took the small steps to make them happen.

She went around complaining until one day, she was buying coffee at WAWA and heard someone saying, “I learned if I want my life to be better I had to make changes and start taking care of myself.” Marge heard what the man said and thought maybe if I want my life to be better I have to start taking care of myself.

When she got home she decided to surf the web, found this blog and started reading the different articles. She found suggestions for how to take care of herself. The suggestion she liked best was taking a mini-vacation by spending 10 minutes a day doing something nice for herself. The next day Marge took a mini-vacation by taking a long bath and felt 100% better. The experience of taking care of herself was so rewarding she tried other suggestions and not only felt happier, and also had a better relationship with her family and started losing weight.

What can you do today to take care of yourself? Remember we are the CEO of our lives and either we can try new behaviors or only wish for things to change.

It was great hearing from Marge and how reading my blog was making such a difference in her life. I would also like to thank everyone else for leaving their comments or sending me emails on how the blog is helping them. By working together we can support each other in taking the small steps that will change our lives.

Please leave your successes, lessons learned and questions in the comment section below or send me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.

Life Struggles

Looking At Life In A Different Way

‘Look at life as a journey and enjoy the ride. Get the most out of the detours and realize they’re sometimes necessary.’ Donna Fargo

The above quote has a lot of meaning for me. When we see life unfolding as a beautiful gift, instead of judging what is happening in our life we allow ourselves to enjoy the ride instead of fearing it.

Let me tell you a little story about Oscar whose name has been changed. Oscar had just opened a new restaurant and was worrying constantly about making sure his customers were happy and attracting new ones. When business was good, he was on top of the world and if it slowed down he felt anxious and fearful. Oscar’s advisors told him this was normal and not to worry. Then one night a customer complained about the food in a loud voice and would not pay the bill. Oscar was distraught and was thinking about selling the business because he could not take all the pressure.

After the last customer left he sat down with his manager to discuss the incident which happened that night. His manager who had worked in the restaurant business for many, many years explained what happened was not out of the ordinary. Instead of looking at it as a horrible incident what could they learn from the situation?

After discussing the situation for awhile they both realized the customer was right, because he ordered his steak well done instead of medium. What they both learned was that the chefs had to pay more attention to what was ordered instead of just guessing. They both decided to have the waiters underline in red if a customer ordered their food in a special way.

Oscar learned that sometimes when things happen in our lives they are necessary. He started to relax, welcomed the learning experiences and enjoyed his customers. Today Oscar owns two very successful restaurants.

How would your life be different if you enjoyed the ride and learned from your not so pleasant experiences? I invite you today to take one of the small steps below, to change your perspective about life.

1. If you start to worry about something, stop for a moment and acknowledge the thought.
2. Give yourself permission to worry about it for awhile.
3. Ask yourself what can I learn from this situation?
4. Think about one thing you can do to change the situation.
5. Take action.

I would love to hear from you about your different learning experiences. Together we can support each other by contributing to this community our experiences, successes and wisdom. You are invited to leave comments on this blog or send me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.

Taking Control of Your Day!

Does the weather affect your mood? If you answered “Yes” to this question, you are in the majority. It has been raining since Sunday and I have been wondering where the sun has been hiding? It is amazing how different you feel when the sun is shinning. I know there are scientific reasons for this happening and the only thing I want is to see the sun again.

What can you do in the meantime until the sun shows its smiling face? Some ideas are as follows:

1. Curl up with a good book.
2. Call a good friend and reminisce about the good times you had together.
3. Read or start a “Happiness Journal” which includes times and situations that put a smile on your face and how you felt.
4. Write a story about your life and the lessons learned.
5. Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and think about a special day you had in your life and write about it.
6. Make a grateful list of all the things you are grateful for right now.
7. Take an umbrella and go for a short walk.
8. Go to Barnes and Noble and browse through the bookshelves. My husband’s favorite pastime.
9. Play a game with your children and the winner choices the next game or what they want for dinner.
10. Go to the shopping mall with a limited amount of money, looking for things you want and don’t spend a penny more.
11. Take your mini-vacation for at least an hour and do anything you want.
12. Go to the movies and enjoy your time away.
13. Take a nap.
14. Plan your next vacation.
15. Your choice of whatever you feel like doing right now.

You are the CEO of your life and can create it anyway you choice. What action steps are you going to take today to make it a day to remember? I would love to hear from you by either leaving a comment on my blog or sending me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.

‘The world is but canvas to our imagination.’ Henry David Thoreau