From Resolutions to Meaningful Promises for Health and Wellness

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

Three years ago I decided to KICK the New Year's “Resolution” concept to the curb! ! What does that mean anyway?! It has developed a bad rep over the years! Why? Because nobody really keeps them!! I decided then to call any New Year Resolutions my  "New Year's Promises to Myself" if it meant anything to me.

As you all know, my life has gone through many changes over the last three years. The biggest is in November 2006 when I celebrated my second anniversary of "finding myself" and getting healthy losing 165 pounds.

When I decided to give my so called New Year's Resolution an overhaul, that was a very significant accomplishment in my life.  I made that “Promise” and I stuck to it! I thought long and hard before that facelift came about.  As I went through the rolodex in my mind I went through the many years of resolutions: lose weight, eat better & exercise were always repeated.

Why hadn't I keep those resolutions? Perhaps it was the word resolution itself that hindered me, I thought.  We have used that word so many times, it really has lost it's meaning! It  has simply what we use at year's end because ... well, because everyone just does it!  The day I couldn’t fasten my seat belt, when I maxed out at 325 pounds, was the day I PROMISED to treat myself better!! So I would like to encourage each of you to search for something with similar meaning in yourself when it comes to achieving your weight-loss goals ... then give your own resolutions a much needed overhaul!



My 2006 New Year's Promises (which I have accomplished every day since)

1. I PROMISE to love me NO MATTER WHAT (which is the key to getting healthy).
2. I PROMISE to put myself first and do what is right for me (which is the key to getting healthy).
3. I PROMISE to put a smile on my face EVERY day because there is always something to smile about (which is the key to getting healthy).
4. I PROMISE to be there for those that need lifting up when they are down (which is the key to getting healthy).
5. I PROMISE never to let anyone or anything make me feel insignificant ever again (which is the key to getting healthy).

I do believe those are all promises I can keep for the rest of my life!! As I did In 2006, I am ushering in 2010 with a smile on my face and a skip in my walk!

HAPPY 2010 – THE YEAR WE ARE ALL GOING TO WIN And GET HEALTHY!!!!


Yours in Health

Flossie Alexander
Life/Weight Loss Coach
You Can NOW! Coaching
Where Results ARE Typical!


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.

Lessons from 2009 and Growth in 2010

Greetings to all my wonderful readers out there!

I hope you all enjoyed a Christmas celebration filled with lasting memories and love! With three days left to before we enter 01.01.10 I wanted to sit back for a minute, grab a nice hot cup of vanilla chai and think about all the things that happened - or perhaps didn't happen - in 2009.

A lot of my friends have shared their victories with me (gaining employment, launching businesses, etc.) and their seeming defeats (loss of a job or second income, death, divorce, etc.) and all I could do is smile through it all. Why? One, because I'm genuinely happy for their victories and I know that what appears as a defeating or hopeless situation will eventually reveal a victory to be had. Besides, being hateful about someone's success or sitting with a look of despair is not going to help or hinder the situation. It might cause the loss of a good friend or two though.

So last night I started thinking about all the lessons I learned in 2009. I mapped all the "good" things and the "bad" things that happened and I came up with two conclusions:

1. There are no good and bad situations. There are only situations. The labeling of a particular situation as good or bad is completely up to the individual. The situation itself just is. If we simply experience the ebb and flow of what life brings our way we will find our selves in a much happier place. Why? Because we will have developed the ability to enjoy the up moments and accept and overcome the not so up moments.

2. The bad times do not last. They may seem like nights of never-ending shadow and gloom but eventually light always pierces the darkness and we see relief and can move on with our lives. Additionally, I'd like to think that with serious investigation we should be able to pinpoint more 'ups' than 'downs'. If not, then there's something that needs mending and I think everything, in some form or fashion can be mended.

Those are just some of the things I learned during 2009. So what's on the agenda for 2010?

EXPANSION & GROWTH! 

I'm going to employ a 4-step method to do just that; here it is:

Reflect - Basically, what I discussed above. I'm looking back at the past 365 to what what worked, what didn't and what was wasted away. I'm going to sit down and write a list of these things and keep them on the wall over my desk so that I can always have a reference to keep me on the path to expansion and growth.

Regroup - For this step I'm going to access and reaccess all the activities that didn't prove useful or ended up just being time wasters. These things will either be recycled (take the good elements of the activity and repurpose then into something useful) or discarded altogether. This is what I call regathering or reclaiming your energy.

Pursue (Not Just Plan) - Most of us do a lot of planning - I "plan" to lose weight or I "plan" to write my first book. Heck, I '"planned" on becoming a professional blogger way before 2009 (chuckles)! Yes, planning is important but not as important as implementing that plan. Remember it's called action, not plan-tion!

Succeed! - By ding the things above I can all but guarantee that I will be successful - or at least more successful - at achieving my goals in 2010.

Meditate on This: for this week I'd like to post a line from one of my favorite Japanese Animation movies called Shadowskill and it goes: "I am invincible! My Shadowskill is perfectly honed! (My favorite part of the mantra) The force of my blow has no equal!" Gotta love it! Hit me up if you need a translation of what the heck that means. [wink]

What are some of the lessons you learned in 2009? How do you plan on making a bigger impact on your goals for 2010? Talk to me! :o)


Have a PERFECT day!

Michael Stagg

A Clever Way to Increase Water Consumption!

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


We all know it's important to drink enough water. Staying hydrated can make us feel more energetic; gives us glowing skin and will help our bodies metabolize fat. Developing a consistent water habit is a form of behavior modification too. Water helps to keep the hands and mouth busy, so snacking is less.

When you're actually thirsty it can mean that you're already dehydrated. In the midst of a busy day it's sometimes hard to remember to drink water.

Last week I was working with my client Tina. We were talking about how the scale seemed to be "stuck" and she was talking about how she'd had a busy week. Tina had not been as focused on her program and mentioned that she'd not been drinking as much water as she normally does too. I know from personal experience that drinking plenty of water makes a big difference in your weight loss results.

Tina and I talked about getting re-focused on her nutrition, habit changes and exercise. Tina is one of the most creative people I've ever known and has woven some of her creativity into her program. She told me that I could share her trick for staying focused on drinking water.

Each day Tina places a series of rubber bands around her glass - one for each glass she plans to drink. As she works, the rubber bands around her glass remind her to drink water and also help her keep count of the number of glasses she's had. As she finishes each glass she just removes a rubber band. By the end of the day all the rubber bands should be gone.

Thanks for the great tip Tina!

Yours in Health

Flossie Alexander

Life/Weight Loss Coach

You Can NOW! Coaching

Where Results ARE Typical!

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.

Remember Those Less Fortunate - Blankets for the Homeless

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.” - Albert Einstein


As some of you may know, either from reading this blog or from knowing me personally, my family and I were homeless for about three years. In that time we learned a lot about allowing ourselves to accept the kindness of others but more importantly how necessary it is to give of ourselves. 


Even in a state of homelessness we were able to buy a cup of coffee or a sandwich for those less fortunate than us. When we could not afford to buy it for them we shared what we had with them. Today as I was checking my Twitter account I came across this post at Surrender40 asking for a donation so that they can purchase blankets to distribute to the homeless for Christmas. I won't deny that this post made me tear up as I thought of the days of our own homelessness and though we were not on the street some of the places we stayed didn't have blankets to offer us and so we slept as close as we could to one another to keep warm during the winter months.


If you are able I ask that you visit their page here and donate as much as you can. You will feel great about the contribution and will be providing the comfort of warmth for someone less fortunate.


Meditate on This: "I give of myself knowing the Universe will reciprocate it back to me tenfold."


Have a PERFECT day!


Michael Stagg

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