Today’s podcast focuses on athletes, but even armchair athletes can benefit from the suggestions below. Although not as extreme, the average person goes through the same transitions in life resulting in the same issues.

As an athlete your body is muscularly dense from training and competition. Those muscles burn fat giving you a higher resting metabolism than the average person. To maintain weight and provide your body with the appropriate fuel for maximum performance in your sport, you need to consume 3000 to 5000 calories per day. For the average person, this calorie intake would equate to weight gain, possibly extreme weight gain.

As athletes age, their phase of life changes in ways such as starting a career, getting married and raising kids. These changes take an athlete from extreme training to real life, meaning all the eating habits they’ve been practicing since early adolescence no longer work in their more sedentary, adult lives. If they aren’t aware of the drastic decrease in their activity and adjust their activity and food intake accordingly, weight will creep up on them resulting in a ripple effect of injuries to joints, which will decrease movement further. At this point, feelings of stress and apathy bring out poor food choices.

You can avoid that path by realizing it is time to reset your thinking for the present day you. Your new reality of time restraints, energy barriers, pain, injury and whatever else “the older you” deals with on a daily basis, can be overcome by resetting your thinking. Make better food choices and watch your portions. Realize that taking a walk or a leisurely swim, while not the extreme sport you were used to, is still exercise and is safer and less painful to your aging body, which may be suffering joint aches and pains from your younger years. I encourage you to use a physical therapist to get a solid understanding of the movements that are safe for your particular pains or injuries.

Suggestions to help you think through your life’s changes:

1) Consider keeping a food journal for a week or two to see where your calories fall and then write out a list of habits that you would be willing to work on, such as “I will start eating off of a smaller plate to encourage changing my vision of what a normal portion size looks like.”

2) Write out a list of movements that feel good to your body or movements you would be willing to try, such as “I will purchase a pedometer to aim for increased steps and make an appointment with my surgeon who repaired my knees to see if I should be investigating physical therapy because I have completely quit moving due to pain!”

3) Where am I mentally? Could I benefit from a few therapy visits to get my emotional eating under control? Such as, “My life has changed so drastically from when I played softball. I was the best at my sport/felt amazing on the field/loved the smell of fresh-cut grass before games, but now I am working 40 hours a week at a job I do not love, and I am too exhausted to push through a workout when I get home. I feel like I have lost my passion, and lack of energy has consumed my life.”

Journal questions

1) When, during your life, have your eating habits changed dramatically?

2) How do those memories and feelings impact your desire to live healthier now?

3) Who do you think you could talk to, to reflect back on about these drastic changes?

4) Do you really want to exercise now like you did then? Think about the time and effort required for those results (two-a-days… no, thank you!).

5) Think back on what you learned from that time period and reflect on how that can support you now.

Back to school already? It feels like we just talked about adjusting to the shifts that come along with summer vacation. The kids have been home 24/7. There have been vacations, road trips, amusement parks, pool time and lots of family and friend time. Despite a fun but chaotic schedule, I met my personal goal of presenting you a podcast every Friday. This is a big “win” in my book because it was important to me, it took time and energy to accomplish and I didn’t let you, my listeners, down. I hope you are celebrating the “wins” in your lives, whether big or small.

Ready or not, the kids (and teachers) will soon be heading back to school. That means thinking about school lunches. Here are a few tips to help.

1. Seek out new lunch visuals for ideas you may not have thought of recently.

2. Get the right containers that encourage variety and ease of packing.

3. Don’t get caught up in what others are doing… eyes on your own paper, worry about your own kids’ lunch and not what everyone is packing around him/her.

4. It is ok if you don’t pack a lunch every day. Letting your kids buy occasionally has benefits such as teaching decision making and offering foods for them to try that they may not get at home.

Back to school also means planning meals around sports and after school activities. These meals do not have to look perfect or be perfectly balanced… give yourself some grace and permission to say “good enough”. Anything you prepare out of your own kitchen is going to be much healthier than something you would grab on the run.

Some helpful tips for meal planning.

1. We all enjoy different food choices, textures & visuals! So, invite the family in on meal planning by asking what everyone would like to have or construct a list of likes and dislikes.

2. Find a new place to write down the family favorites.

3. Start with 5-10 family favorites. You can always build from there.

4. Considered themed dinner nights to pull in a better focus for meal planning

I am blessed to have been able to focus my time on my family and friends this summer and I thank you for staying with me. I look forward to renewed communication and accountability this fall.

Journal questions

1. Have you ever invited your family into the meal planning process? If so, how did that go?

2. What are your biggest frustrations with feeding yourself or your family? Pull out your barriers around meal prep and lunch packing… where do you still need help?

3. Have you celebrated any “wins” lately? If not, what are you waiting for?

Direction Not Perfection is your community that you are always welcome! Come as you are and where you are… NO GUILT, NO SHAME, NO JUDGMENT!

Everyone is at different points in their journey and like we always say, there is no wrong way to do this journey of health. I will forever fight for doing this your own way (what fits in your life) and rewriting the rules to what success looks like in your life. My success will look different than your success, your spouses success or a friends success.

Create your own path and success measurements and don’t forget to give yourself permission to enjoy those champagne moments where we accomplish a win!

My only strict expectations I have for you today is to NOT GIVE UP! The only way to fail in health and fitness is to give up! Other than that, you are just on your own journey and it comes with a lot of twists and turns and bumps and bruises, but if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!

Be part of the Direction Not Perfection Community and know that you are ALWAYS WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Connect with me:

www.facebook.com/houselifestyles

www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com

I was taking a beach walk with my amazing nephews and I thought, just for fun, I’ll start asking them their opinions on nutrition and fitness questions. Their responses were so amazing that I had to come straight back to the condo and fire up the microphone!

Interview with my nephews: Ethan, age 12 and Brayden, age 11.

On vacation they are surrounded by different foods. Looks, texture and smell affect whether they think they will like something. Peer pressure can affect whether they want to try it or not. They were surprised to find that they now like something they did not like before, so they understand why you have to try things more than once.

These boys have grown up surrounded by people with a healthy attitude about food and exercise so that seems normal to them. They understand that the right food can give you the energy you need to excel in their chosen sports.

They have felt first-hand the effects that poor sleep or food choices can have on the quality of their performance in the game. They have also seen how good food choices and training has a positive effect on their game.

Perspective has a lot to do with whether or not we do things. At 8:30 in the evening when bed is sounding good to me. these boys wanted to go to the gym to workout. They are finally old enough to be allowed to use the exercise equipment and they are excited! They “Get” to go to the gym rather than they “Have” to go to the gym. If you grew up thinking it is a treat or something to look forward to, you are much more likely to continue with it throughout your life.

Key takeaways:

1. For most kids physical training is a means to an end – they workout for sports, to improve, to make a team, they also enjoy being fit to participate in kid activities. They rarely look at physical activity as a weight loss tool and because they view activity differently, it has a much more positive correlation.

2. The boys have first-hand experiences with how small changes can make a huge difference and relate-able stories that I would have never thought of…

3: Kids have opinions about food, and we could have a lot of fun by asking our kiddos more questions…

Journaling thoughts:

1. What are the activities you enjoyed doing as a kid? And are you still doing any of these activities?

2. Write down all of your feelings around food… how you felt about food as a kid, where life has taken you with food… do you believe food can improve your mood, energy or skill level?

3. Do you have small changes you could be making that you don’t believe could really make that big of a difference? (for example: it’s hard to believe that cutting out the glass of wine at night could improve your sleep or the extra glass of water could improve your bowel movements or the extra glass of water could help lift your depression) what are you not believing can make a difference because it feels too small?

Homework:

1. Try a new food or make one small change.

2. Go to a gym and add a kid mentality

3. Grab a buddy and do an activity.

Some days, when you least expect it, life takes a turn that you weren’t anticipating and don’t like. Unfortunately, it is out of your control and you have no say in the matter. What you do have a say in is how you prepare your body to weather life’s storms and how you respond when life throws a curveball.

If you eat well and get appropriate exercise and sleep, you will fare better not only physically but mentally too. You will be equipped to notice, appreciate and take advantage of the silver linings that your situation presents.

Today I am interviewing my mom again. This wasn’t my original plan for this week but life interrupted and gave me some great podcast material. While on an outing with my family, my mom took a bad fall. She broke both wrists, one arm and chipped a bone in her foot.

She couldn’t use either hand or walk unassisted when we brought her home from the emergency room. But she was smiling. She realized just how lucky she was. For a 67-year-old woman to have taken a bad fall and not broken a hip or had a head injury, something besides luck was in play. Her healthy lifestyle helped her to avoid more serious injury and is helping her in her recovery.

She could be wallowing in self-pity for the lost summer full of activities and adventures. She could be short tempered because she has to wait for someone to do something for her. She could be whining and complaining because she is in pain. But she isn’t doing any of that. She has a positive attitude that is rubbing off on those around her. She is focusing on the things she can do and reviewing the good things that have come from her predicament.

A few of the Silver linings:

-A complete stranger helped to get her in the car, so no ambulance was needed.

-She didn’t break a hip or hit her head.

-She has solid proof that her healthy lifestyle and fitness routine are worthwhile.

-She didn’t rip her dress.

-She didn’t need surgery.

-Her daughters are able and willing to change their schedules to give her round the clock help.

-She has a daughter who has the training and knowledge to help her heal properly without injuring herself more in the process.

-Her grandchildren are eager to help her.

-Each day brings new things that she is able to do.

-Her healthy eating habits alleviated any bowel issues common with the pain meds.

-She realizes that laughter and fun can make good memories out of hard times.

-Mom’s upbeat attitude in the emergency room spread to those around her, making it easier for everyone. The nurses were in awe of her.

-Her grandchildren are learning how to handle situations positively and that it feels good and can be fun to help others. This is especially helpful for the child who saw her Nana fall.

-They are learning that Nana is making it fun and she is pleasant to be around and that it is not by accident. It is a personality trait that she has chosen to pull in under trying circumstances.

-It is possible to get a peaceful feeling knowing that you have permission to stop completely, reassess your circumstances and adjust to meet your current needs.

You have to look hard for the silver linings in a bad situation but with practice you can learn to recognize and acknowledge them.

Homework:

1. If you aren’t in a tough time, be grateful.

2. Practice looking for silver linings.

3. Write down people who are affected by your attitude, good or bad. Think outside the box to the many people who you touch on a daily basis.

Talk to me:

www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com

www.facebook.com/houselifestyles

Some days, when you least expect it, life takes a turn that you weren’t anticipating and don’t like. Unfortunately, it is out of your control and you have no say in the matter. What you do have a say in is how you prepare your body to weather life’s storms and how you respond when life throws a curveball.

If you eat well and get appropriate exercise and sleep, you will fare better not only physically but mentally too. You will be equipped to notice, appreciate and take advantage of the silver linings that your situation presents.

Today I am interviewing my mom again. This wasn’t my original plan for this week but life interrupted and gave me some great podcast material. While on an outing with my family, my mom took a bad fall. She broke both wrists, one arm and chipped a bone in her foot.

She couldn’t use either hand or walk unassisted when we brought her home from the emergency room. But she was smiling. She realized just how lucky she was. For a 67-year-old woman to have taken a bad fall and not broken a hip or had a head injury, something besides luck was in play. Her healthy lifestyle helped her to avoid more serious injury and is helping her in her recovery.

She could be wallowing in self-pity for the lost summer full of activities and adventures. She could be short tempered because she has to wait for someone to do something for her. She could be whining and complaining because she is in pain. But she isn’t doing any of that. She has a positive attitude that is rubbing off on those around her. She is focusing on the things she can do and reviewing the good things that have come from her predicament.

A few of the Silver linings:

-A complete stranger helped to get her in the car, so no ambulance was needed.

-She didn’t break a hip or hit her head.

-She has solid proof that her healthy lifestyle and fitness routine are worthwhile.

-She didn’t rip her dress.

-She didn’t need surgery.

-Her daughters are able and willing to change their schedules to give her round the clock help.

-She has a daughter who has the training and knowledge to help her heal properly without injuring herself more in the process.

-Her grandchildren are eager to help her.

-Each day brings new things that she is able to do.

-Her healthy eating habits alleviated any bowel issues common with the pain meds.

-She realizes that laughter and fun can make good memories out of hard times.

-Mom’s upbeat attitude in the emergency room spread to those around her, making it easier for everyone. The nurses were in awe of her.

-Her grandchildren are learning how to handle situations positively and that it feels good and can be fun to help others. This is especially helpful for the child who saw her Nana fall.

-They are learning that Nana is making it fun and she is pleasant to be around and that it is not by accident. It is a personality trait that she has chosen to pull in under trying circumstances.

-It is possible to get a peaceful feeling knowing that you have permission to stop completely, reassess your circumstances and adjust to meet your current needs.

You have to look hard for the silver linings in a bad situation but with practice you can learn to recognize and acknowledge them.

Homework:

1. If you aren’t in a tough time, be grateful.

2. Practice looking for silver linings.

3. Write down people who are affected by your attitude, good or bad. Think outside the box to the many people who you touch on a daily basis.

Talk to me:

www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com

www.facebook.com/houselifestyles

I typically direct my discussions towards moms or women in general but please know that my advice is applicable to everyone. Tailor your listening experience to fit you, whether you are a woman or man, young or old, parent or no kids. Working mom, stay at home mom, single and loving it, grandparent, retired; these are a few of the labels we can be identified with. Each of those labels comes with a stereotypical description of people who have it all and are making life work with a smile and have energy left over. I’m here to tell you that is far from the usual case. Each of you are different individuals and what makes life good for one person, may not work for another. The only way to know if you are doing it right is if you can say that you are happy, that you feel centered and mostly at peace with your life (you might not like all day, every day, but you should certainly love most!!).

One thing you need to realize is that you might not be able to do it alone. Everyone has a skillset of things that they are good at and love to do. When it comes to that part of their life, they are rockin’ it and feeling empowered too. Then there are the areas of your life that you really dislike, or you don’t know how or even want to know how to do something that needs to be done. It may be time to ask for help in those areas.

Several things might keep you from seeking help.

Guilt: You do not need to feel guilty. Every professional uses the resources available to them to handle the parts of the job not related to their specialty.

Finances: Spending money for services that you dislike, don’t have time for or are not skilled at may be necessary for you to achieve your goals. There is also the possibility that you can trade services with someone.

Pride: Many people think that “others don’t need help, why should I”. They are different people with different needs, responsibilities and abilities. No two people are the same, so what one person needs is not relevant to what you need.

Today I bring you an interview with someone who is making life work, her way. She is utilizing her passion for cooking to offer a service that those who live in her area can take advantage of. Her company, Soup-er Delivery, offers made from scratch soup and bread delivered to your home.

By utilizing Dana’s services you can have time to sit down and have family time with a healthy dinner that you didn’t have to take time cooking.

Dana is making her life work her way. She and her husband are raising 3 children and all of them have busy schedules. In order for them to eat together, dinner is usually served after 8:00.

But even if schedules make that impossible, she takes time to enjoy the meal with whichever family members are there and she realizes that family time outside is more important than getting the dishes done right away.

A trip to Israel with a women’s’ group helped her to redefine herself. She realized that she had to remember how to be independent.

Dana has a successful business, she is happy, centered and at peace with her life and she is doing it her way.

Journaling Questions:

1. What are the activities you seem to be fighting with during the week (kid run around, house cleaning, laundry, cooking)? Write down everything you can think of…

2. Once you nail down the more difficult tasks in the week I want you to put reason behind the fight (time barriers, dislike of the activity, maybe it doesn’t come easy to you). You should now have a list of weekly or monthly activities that you are fighting and a reason tied to the activity.

3. If money or time was not an object, what would be solutions to your fight? ( a simple example is hire a cleaning company for the weekly clean up… a little more difficult would look more like hiring a life coach to help organize your life… there is no right solution, just start naming a few)

Homework:

Goal setting will always be part of your homework. Once a week write down your focus or goals for the week. Every Friday reassess them, tweak them or change them to fit your needs. It’s “Your journey, your way”.

Links:

Lindsey House:

www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com

www.facebook.com/houselifestyles

Direction Not Perfection, Accountability and Coaching from your Wine-loving Dietitian

https://braughlerbooks.com/store/books/direction-not-perfection