The Intro...
Welcome to my blog, where we will explore the secrets to a happy and healthy life! My mission is to help transform you into a more vibrant, confident, joyful version of yourself, so you are ready to take on the world with a giant grin on your face and love every minute of it.
I would like to offer a little bit more details with regards to what Shed, Smile, and Soar mean to me in my role as health coach:
Shed: “Implies a throwing off of something both useless and encumbering and often suggests a consequent renewal of vitality or luster.”-(www.merriam-webster.com). Simply put, it’s all about getting rid of anything that weighs you down which not only includes excess pounds, but even more importantly, it includes removing negativity and unhealthy behaviors that may be standing in your way of peace and happiness.
Smile: “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” -Mother Teresa. When we smile, people smile with us and there is nothing more fulfilling than spreading love and kindness. Too often though, we forget how important it is to be kind to ourselves. Once we take time to love and appreciate our unique and glorious selves, that is when we can truly make positive transformations.
Soar: “To ascend to a higher or more exalted level.”-(www.merriam-webster.com). Once you are able to shed all things negative and embrace the positive, you are then able to transcend to the next level. Knowledge is your superpower and unlocking that inner gusto and drive to succeed will help you take flight on your journey to a healthier mind and body. I like to think of knowledge as the energy that fuels your flight, and inner confidence as the key that starts your engines. Change is not easy and we don’t have to go at it alone. Often times we need a partner by our side to help us take those crucial first steps, and once you do, get ready to SOAR!
How do I grow my wings?
1. Incorporate healthier habits into your daily routine: There are lots of tips and tricks for building new and positive habits. One of my favorites is habit stacking. This is where you pick an activity that you do every day and add something good for you into it. For example, if every day, you wake up and drink your coffee while you hop on social media, try to replace the social media part with positive affirmations such as:
“I am a beautiful soul with lots of light to shine today.”
“ I am capable of accomplishing anything I set my mind to.”
“God has put me exactly where I need to be, right now, and I am grateful.”
Repeat your affirmations to yourself in your mind while you sip your coffee and look out your window to view the marvels of nature. You can also order daily affirmation cards online and keep them by your coffee pot as a reminder. Manifest your own destiny and trust in good things to come.
*Sign up here to receive my complimentary 6 weeks to Building Healthy Habits Challenge.
2. Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness is an art form that we can use with pretty much every single thing we do in our daily lives. We can mindfully eat, mindfully parent, mindfully meditate…but what does this really mean? Personally, I believe it means to remember to be present in the moment and ask yourself, “Why am I doing what I am doing right now?”
Let’s say, you are binging your favorite show, and all of a sudden you look down and realize the whole bag of potato chips has miraculously disappeared! What in the world happened? Your brain was in the “mindless” eating zone. It was on auto-pilot with no thought about whether or not you were hungry, or how eating that whole bag of chips was going to make you feel afterwards.
Here are a few suggestions of how to eat more mindfully:
-Be present in the moment. When you are eating, pay attention to the smell, texture, and colors of your foods. Think of how what you are eating is nourishing your body. Think about how those blue berries are tiny balls of powerful antioxidants that can help improve heart health, eye health, and prevent cognitive decline. (Email me to receive my free guide to antioxidants).
-Pace yourself: When we eat slower, it gives our bodies time to send the signal to our brains that we are full. This also allows our bodies to digest our foods easier, which helps prevent unpleasant adverse stomach effects such as bloating and indigestion. Here’s a cool trick to help you: Use your nondominant hand to hold your fork. This will undoubtedly help lower your eating speed and will force you to be more in the moment. CAUTION: Just be mindful about what you’re wearing with this one!! You may end up looking like your toddler who just started learning how to use her spoon.
3. Fuel your brain: Fill your brain up with evidence-based facts that will help you make informed, smart decisions about your health and well-being. We live in a world of misinformation that goes viral and sends our thoughts spinning in every direction with regards to finding the correct answers for our challenges.
Some quick tips for validating online sources of dieting, exercise, and overall weight-loss information:
· Ask a professional, someone nationally/state certified in that particular area of expertise. For example, don’t start a new exercise routine if you have heart disease that you just saw on tiktok and was promised to help you lose 10 pounds in one week. Not only do you need to seek the advice of your healthcare provider before new routines with chronic disease, but losing 10 pounds in one week is not normally recommended.
· Look for websites that end in .org, .gov, or .edu. And even then, still look to see who the author is and their credentials.
· Stay away from anything that sounds too good to be true or offers super quick fixes.
· Check the date. It is amazing at how many outdated articles are still available online so just remember to make sure they are within a reasonable time frame.
A few of my favorite books for the mind, body, and soul that help inspire me to continue moving forward and to forever trust the power of our Universe and God:
Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Eat, Drink, and be Mindful by Susan Albers
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
4. Engage your endorphins: When it comes to health and happiness, endorphins are your best friend. These little wonder molecules are known to help elevate mood, decrease stress, and improve immune function. So how do you get these guys?
Here are a few examples:
· Laugh until your belly hurts. The saying, “laughter is the best medicine,” can be taken quite literally. It has been proven to help rev up our endorphins and improve blood circulation. So watch your favorite comedian, and let the tears of joy start streaming down your cheeks.
· Move your body: Keeping your heart rate elevated for a certain amount of time with a fun exercise, will ramp up your endorphin bank. We have all heard of the “runners high” but you don’t have to run to reap the benefits. You can bike, walk, jump, swim. All will do the same thing if you keep your heart rate at an optimal level.
· Dark Chocolate: Yes my friends, your favorite dark chocolate temptation also comes with a few health benefits as it contains flavenols and helps stimulate the release of endorphins. Flavenols are known to help improve blood flow, decrease blood pressure, and also possess antioxidant properties which can help combat cell damage associated with aging.
5.Fuel Your Positive Feedback Frenzy: This is the secret-sauce for your success.
The definition of positive feedback according to biologyonline.com is as follows:
"Positive feedback is amplifying or magnifying the change or output. The response effect is magnified so that it can occur much faster. In this form of feedback, the output of the system is enhanced." Positive feedback systems occur throughout nature with examples ranging from childbirth to the science behind fruit ripening. With regards to health and wellness related goals, it is through achieving frequent, small positive outcomes and successes, that more will follow. One change begets another more substantial change and so on until you have launched yourself into your happiest and healthiest state.
For example. Say for instance, that every day for lunch, you eat a large order of french fries at your favorite fast food chain. You have decided that you want to cut back, so you start eating them every other day. After doing this for a couple of weeks, you realize on the days you don't eat them that you feel better and are less bloated. This makes you want to eat them less and you end up giving them up most days. After a month goes by, your pants are not as tight and you have more energy, and you find yourself engaging more in fun activities with your loved ones and friends. You feel better. You move better. And you smile more. This is the frenzy that will keep you going. This is the way you can create sustainable, health transformations.
I like to compare this to the popular “Pay it Forward” concept, where one small act of kindness creates a cascading chain of events that can help countless others. This is YOUR act of kindness paid to YOURSELF.
Hopefully some of these ideas will resonate with you and help you shed anything that is currently weighing you down and launch you into your happy place. And when in doubt, I always return to one of my favorite children’s books, “The Little Engine That Could”, and repeat my affirmation with a slight twist. Instead of “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can,” repeat, “I know I can. I know I can. I know I can.”
You’ve got this!
With Love and Gratitude,
Coach Tara
