Life's Lessons as Powerful Fuel for Weight-loss Goals

Wellness Wednesday with Life and Weight-loss Coach 
Flossie Alexander of You Can NOW! Coaching

This is so simple that you're likely to dismiss it as obvious. I agree that it sounds like common sense, but it's not commonly applied. When you really put this idea into action, you can push your results through to the next level. 


In a nutshell here's the lesson: 


 In life you will always have your ups and downs, successes and failures. Sometimes things go well for you...sometimes they go poorly. When you succeed or fail, there's always a cause. You can backtrack your results to figure out what caused them. You might not be able to do this perfectly, but you'll usually have a pretty good idea of the contributing factors. 


What caused you to become motivated and put a plan into action? What factors contributed to being consistent with your nutrition? How were you able to stick with a regular exercise program? What went wrong when you lost your focus? What caused you to return to old habits? Once you know the contributing factors to your hits and your misses, your goal is to deliberately do more of what causes the successes and deliberately do less of what caused the failures. 


Of course some of the contributing factors may not be under your direct control, but some of those factors will be. Focus your efforts on what you can control, and don't worry about what's outside your control. Take these steps to recreate successes and develop a plan that fits your lifestyle. 


Is it hard to stay focused on your goals? Do you hate to look in the mirror? Does each Monday mean a "new diet"? Coaching can really help. Learn what's driving you away from your goals and finally have what you really want.

Yours in Health,


Flossie Alexander 
Life/Weight Loss Coach 


About Flossie: Flossie is currently a member of the National Association of Professional Women and Toastmaster’s International. She is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach and a Certified Wellness Coach with a successful track record in leading organizations and individuals into achieving healthy lifestyle goals. After overcoming obesity, losing 165 pounds in 18 months, she has developed a passion to help others through public speaking and one-on-one weight loss coaching. Visit Flossie at http://www.youcannowcoaching.com to start creating your new healthy lifestyle and lose unhealthy weight permanently.

It's Good to Be Good

With Christmas season in full swing people are bustling about searching for gifts for their loved ones and friends. Although it's the season of giving and miracles sometimes those less fortunate than ourselves get "lost in the hustle" and do not receive the consideration and love that we so easily extend to others.

I was checking out this article on CNN.com entitled The Power of Giving, Not Getting and began to think about all the homeless people, the sick and shut in as well as the elderly that do not have anyone to celebrate the holidays with and it saddens me. Mind you, my philosophy is to give daily, not just on holidays, but I've strengthened my resolve to do more giving to those that cannot do for themselves. I'd like to encourage all of the MIIS readers to do the same. As the article suggests, it will go along way toward your own happiness if you put a smile on someone else's face first.

Meditate on This: I will give, from the heart, to those in need.

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael
MIIS

Eye of the Tiger - Let it Rest!

Greetings MIIS Family,

It seems that everywhere you look - online or off - someone is talking about the so called Tiger Woods scandal. I'm not going to go into great detail about all the allegations; that's been done enough already. What I want to do is write about what most are not, perhaps because it's not as newsworthy: Tiger's humanity.

I know I've raised a few eyebrows with that phrase but I really want to voice my opinion about this whole thing. First, Tiger is a human being and regardless of his status he is still pone to make mistakes like the rest of us. If he were just some run of the mill golfer or any other average Joe no one would care, outside of his immediate circle, what he did.

Secondly, who are we - the average Joe/Jane TV viewer - to judge Tiger for what he's accused of doing? I'd bet that more than half the people that are snapping and snarling about how much of a bad man Tiger is have or are currently doing the same thing or something similar. How much better the world would be if we offered up a prayer or kind words for Tiger and his family that encourage healing and a sincere recognition of the pain caused (to himself and those around him).

In today's society it is much simpler to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else and blame him as though we know the man personally. None us, save for those closest to Tiger know the true story and what's behind his alleged actions. Even if it's confirmed that he's done exactly what the media has claimed who are we to judge him?

Finally, today I say we free ourselves from wasting our energy on judgment and refocus it on something more productive...like, I don't know...celebrating Christmas? I mean it is the season to give, right? Let's give Tiger some peace so that he and his family can sort through this difficult moment in their lives. As a human being doesn't he deserve it?

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael
MIIS

Image: AP Images

Maximize Weight Loss Goals with Exercise

In a recent study of 52 obese men with an average body mass index (BMI) of 31, Canadian researchers demonstrated the power of exercise as a weight loss tool.

One group of men dieted, consuming 700 calories per day less than they needed to maintain their weight. Another group walked or jogged on a treadmill at 80 percent of heart rate maximum for about an hour each day, long enough to burn off 700 calories.

After three months, both dieters and exercisers lost the same amount of weight - about 16.5 lbs, or eight percent of their body weight.

Exercisers, however, lost more abdominal fat (4.2 lbs) than dieters (3.3 lbs).

Exercisers also did not lose muscle mass the way dieters did, and got the added benefit of improved cardiovascular fitness.

A third study group kept their weight stable by burning off 700 calories per day with exercise, but making up for it with an extra 700 calories of food.

Although these men did not lose weight, they did lose visceral abdominal fat, which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

So the moral to the story is get out and get going! Diet alone may take off the weight but diet combined with exercise is a sure fire way to maximize your weight loss. The folks at You Can NOW! Coaching can assist you in getting the most out of your fitness routine or work with you to design a plan to fit your needs. Contact us today!

Yours in Health

Flossie Alexander
Life/Weight Loss Coach


About Flossie: Flossie is currently a member of the National Association of Professional Women and Toastmaster’s International. She is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach and a Certified Wellness Coach with a successful track record in leading organizations and individuals into achieving healthy lifestyle goals. After overcoming obesity, losing 165 pounds in 18 months, she has developed a passion to help others through public speaking and one-on-one weight loss coaching. Visit Flossie at http://www.youcannowcoaching.com to start creating your new healthy lifestyle and lose unhealthy weight permanently.

New Blog: Half the Man I Used to Be!

Hello to all my WONDERFUL readers!

I've decide to chronicle my weight loss journey in a separate blog which you can visit here:

Half the Man by 2010

If any of you out there in My II Sense land are working on developing a healthier you please connect with me there and let's share the health. :)

Meditate on This: "It's effortless for me to eat healthy".

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael
MIIS

Surviving Bad Holiday Eating Habits

Grandma’s apple pie with an aroma you can’t resist. Mounds of mashed potatoes calling your name.  Pork & Beans with the prized fat swimming in the middle.  Mom's potato salad slathered in mayonnaise. Pudding with the fixings and delicious.  Candy galore.  How do you survive the calorie-latent holidays without gaining 10 or 20 pounds?  This is a question we have all asked for decades and seem to interestingly forget we even thought about it when the Holidays finally arrive.  Here are some concrete tips  to stay in control of your eating and not have to worry so much if your pants are still going to button a week from now.

    * Start the day off right with a hearty breakfast - Eat a big breakfast full of nutritious food the day of the special family gathering (which I might add you should be doing every day anyways!). Oatmeal with some fruit and a veggie omelet cooked in olive oil will start your day off just right!

    * Have a mid-morning snack - Find the veggie tray that your health-nut cousin Mark brought.  Instead of drowning it in ranch dressing, dip your veggies in some hummus.  You could also make the wise choice of hijacking some wheat crackers with some turkey and cheese (did you happen to bring it in case there is none?).

    * Help set the table - If your grandma needs someone to volunteer to do the dishes, go for it!  The more active and social you are, the happier you are and there will be less of a chance that you will overeat.

    
* Portion control is key during the BIG meal - When it is time to eat the "big meal," serve yourself a little of everything so that you don't feel like you have been deprived of your Holiday food.  It really isn't so much what you eat, but how much you stuff yourself.  You will find out, a little of everything makes you feel more satisfied than a lot of one thing and studies show doing this, you eat less calories.

    
* Second chance at healthy eating - If you go back for seconds, pick healthier foods this time (if you can find any).  Make sure though, you really want it. (Did you have some water with that feast?)

    
* Bring your own healthy dish - If you have to bring a dish, bring one of your favorite healthy recipes so that when you go back for seconds, you know you will find something just for you.  More than likely, you won't need seconds if you have had enough to drink and you ate your food slowly.

    
* Take a little after dinner walk - After your Holiday meal, find a place to take a walk to get your digestion in full gear!  (Of course after you have helped clean up!)  This will help you feel lighter and more energized and this also counteracts the sugar fall you will have from eating the Holiday goodies.

Even though you are used to doing it and everything looks so appetizing (I think this is caused from the lingering Holiday Spirit), DON'T take leftovers home.  If you are having the get-together at your house, pawn the leftovers onto everyone else.  You don't want unhealthy food tempting you in the middle of the night.  (We all know that happens.)

If you do happen to be unable to resist the temptation to over eat just head on over to the  You Can NOW! Coaching site; I'll be happy to help you get back on track!

Yours in Health,

Flossie Alexander

Life/Weight Loss Coach

About Flossie: Flossie is currently a member of the National Association of Professional Women and Toastmaster’s International. She is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach and a Certified Wellness Coach with a successful track record in leading organizations and individuals into achieving healthy lifestyle goals. After overcoming obesity, losing 165 pounds in 18 months, she has developed a passion to help others through public speaking and one-on-one weight loss coaching. Visit Flossie at http://www.youcannowcoaching.com to start creating your new healthy lifestyle and lose unhealthy weight permanently.

Half the Man I Use to Be

That's me in a photo with my friends Sandria and Mu Shemsu-t during Blog-a-Thon '09.

37. 5'10. 377lbs.

I never thought those numbers would scare me but they did. I recently went to the doctor for a check up (after not having gone in for almost two years! Schedule regular doctor's visits people, for real...) and found out that I'm borderline diabetic, have degererative joint disease and worst of all I had gained almost 45lbs!

They say ignorance is bliss; I mean if you don't know you can be happy, right? WRONG! Ignorance is what it is. I fought going back to the doctor because I didn't WANT to hear what I already knew: I'm severely overweight and need to drop the "other person" I'm carrying around in the guise of extra weight.

I felt a lot of things after leaving that doctor's office - scared mostly - but what i was pleased to find is  the feeling of excitement. Why? Because I had a great lifted off of me named denial and I was now ready to kick weight's ass to regain my health.

As fate would have it, I have already been blessed with someone that will be imparting the gift of renewed health to me...my fellow blogger Flossie Alexander of You Can NOW! Coaching! As if on cue she called me right after I got home and I told her the news. "UH, UH! We can't have that!", was her reply and now I'm on the road again to increased health. By this time next year I will be "Half the Man I Used to Be" in the above photo. My goal is to reach 277 by my birthday and be down to 220 by this time next year.

I may document my progress here or on another blog. I hope that my journey wil inspire someone else to take up the challenge to be half the person they used to be. Let it begin!

Meditate on this: I embrace a healthier me today and everyday!

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael

MIIS