If you have been listening to the podcast since the beginning (hey OG!) or you have been binge listening since last week, then you have probably heard me talk about gratitude before.  I’m kinda low-key in love with it!  In episode 9, I shared about my daily gratitude practice and what it can do for you and how you can use it as a reflection tool.  But, in this episode I want to take a different spin on gratitude,

In this episode I share how you can take the power and beauty of gratitude and extend it to others. I am extending my gratitude challenge to all my listeners.  Everyday for the next week to show gratitude for at least one person...wait for it...verbally.  Whether it’s in person or over the phone (that’s right, no texting), share something specific you are grateful for. 

Who are your seven people that you are sharing gratitude with?  

Take it a step further and share how this is positively impacting your world on Instagram and tag the podcast page Health, Life and More for Women.

Notable Points:

“I get excited at the idea of filling someone else with gratitude”

“You gotta pick up the phone, old school style!”

“It might make you feel really uncomfortable...at first” 

“I actually believe people don’t hear gratitude enough”

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Resources:

Intuitive Eating Quiz

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What motivates you?  Have you thought about how you are motivated? There are good ways to motivate, great ways and then there is an absolutely destructive way to motivate.  Shame.  It’s being used, but maybe you don’t even realize it’s being done. Motivation comes up in work, parenting, task completion, exercise and even in our food choices.

Shame comes from a direct attack on who a person is.  Shame is being used as a guide of motivation.  Shame is not a motivator. Even a common phrase like “no excuses” that I previously subscribed to, can lead to shame. And, the long term effects can be detrimental. 

There are much better motivators.  Extrinsic and intrinsic motivators exist and are available to us, whether we are motivating employees, our kids, clients or even yourself. Motivators like coming alongside someone, appreciation and even money and success are all effective and healthy to use. 

However, I believe there is one motivator that stands out above all other motivators.  If you understand the reason why behind what you are doing then you have an emotional attachment to doing it. This is true for my husband who works in Corporate America and for our kids. There is such power in this.  I see it in my work with clients all the time.  For most of them, it’s the first time ever they have discovered the why behind what they are doing for their health.  

Notable Points:

“Shame’s goal is to make someone feel ashamed.  It targets who a person is.”

“Shame is this lifelong weight that people carry with them”

“There is a deep desire to understand the why”

“When you understand the why...you will stay motivated.”

Resources:

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Intuitive Eating Quiz

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Have you ever wanted to sit in on a conversation with old friends to discover the secret to their long relationship? What about two best friends who are fundamentally different in so many ways, yet have an unbreakable bond?  Julie and I are unlikely best friends because we are, and have been, so different since we met.  

We share funny stories that bonded us over 25 years ago, but also how we navigate discussions and disagreements around those fundamental differences.  From religion, to raising kids...even our drink of choice-we discuss it all.  

We believe we set an amazing example not just for our own kids, but for other women in friendship. If you have listened to Episode 2 “Making New Friends as an Adult” you know how hard and uncomfortable it can be to navigate female friendships. We share how we make it work no matter what season of life we are in or what life choices we make.

Notable Points:

“This is going to be a walk down memory that I don't if we’re ready for”

“There’s a way to keep relationships strong, even if you don’t talk everyday”

“It doesn’t matter that we’re so different in so many things”

“We don’t go into a conversation, into a disagreement, to change the other person's mind.”

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Resources:

Intuitive Eating Quiz

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Connect with Jennifer

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What is Intuitive Eating? This topic has been highly requested by listeners which has me even more excited than usual (and I am always excited to share on the podcast!). 

Intuitive eating is not about rules, like eating lots of Kale!  It’s not about someone defining for you what’s best for you, your health and your body.  It’s about you rediscovering what is best for you. And it is a process to rediscover because years of dieting and messages from diet culture have clouded your intuition and your trust. 

The greatest negative effect on intuitive eating is dieting. Dieting creates external rules to follow, no longer honoring the internal ones you are born with. When you are on a diet you are fighting those internal cues that you are hungry, internal cues that you are satisfied and fighting that food is meant to be enjoyed. 

Working with clients I break down the fundamentals of Intuitive Eating shared on this podcast while at the same time working on negative self talk and our emotions as they relate to consuming food and coping. 

Intuitive Eating is freedom and self care put together to honor your body and your mind. 

Notable Points:

“The best intuitive eaters I’ve ever met are toddlers”

“When’s the last time you enjoyed what you were eating?”

“There's difference between being full and being satisfied”

“When we’ve dieted for years we really lost trust with ourself”

Resources:

Intuitive Eating Quiz

Book with Jennifer

Download Negative Self Talk eBook

Connect with Jennifer

Coaching on Instagram

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Email:  [email protected]

Miss Sunshine Shades 

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I can't be the only woman who has found herself caught up in comparison and competition with other women. It goes all the way back to middle school for me...a clear reminder that comparison or competition can leave some scars and even some deep wounds. Even if we can leave middle school behind we can find ourselves right back in those wounds as adults when we compare or compete with one another.

Comparison can live in our own thoughts. Even when no one blatantly approaches us with comparative motives, we can sit with comparison and competition in our own minds.  You scroll on social media and find yourself comparing your life to hers, your body to her body, your kids to her kids, your marriage to theirs.  

But what if you didn’t?  What if you stopped comparing and competing with other women? What happens is we get to share ideas and open up new possibilities.  We also get to experience personal freedom and a greater level of gratitude. 

Notable Points:

“I can remember distinctly the comparisons to other girls”

“I had another mom tell me my daughter was going to be obese”

“You start comparing your story and it's not like theirs and you feel like something wrong with you”

“When you stop competing you have freedom, when you stop comparing you can do more sharing”

Resources:

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Miss Sunshine Shades 

Discount Code: JENNIFER15

www.misssunshineshades.com

You know I think we could probably all agree that we are living in uncertain times and it's kind of felt that way for a while. Every week I coach a group of entrepreneurs. I'm their life and mindset coach while they're doing some amazing work and one of the questions posed was how do we function, how do we live, how do we find success each day living with such uncertainty.

I believe this is something everyone's struggling with. Everyone's thinking about it.

On this episode I share an excerpt from that life coach session with you.

One of the visuals that I shared with my Thursday group was that this is a marathon. Maybe back in March we thought we were going to be going for a sprint here, but clearly it's a marathon. When it comes to taking care of our mental health, and we look at this season as a marathon, we might need to stop and get more water than we're used to. We might need more breaks.

I know you might not be an entrepreneur listening, but you might be a mom, you might be a wife or a leader. You might work with other people or have employees under you. You're carrying the weight of your kids' stress and anxiety of the uncertainty. You might be carrying the weight of your spouse feeling anxious right now. I believe the two strategies that I shared on this call benefit those on the call, but they'll also benefit you. 

Notable Points:

“we might need more breaks than we're used to”

“give ourselves permission to take more breaks”

“in this part of the marathon you're stopping to take more water breaks than you normally do and you're slowing down a little bit on the sidelines so you can show up for yourself and in turn for everybody else” 

Resources:

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Today I'm talking about how we make decisions, how we respond to other people, how we respond to our own thoughts, how we respond in conversation or how we respond to information.

Are we responding in fear or in love? Stress can be influencing how you are responding; the guiding force behind your thoughts and words. I had to do some work on myself because I don't want to come from a place of fear or respond to someone from my own place of stress. 

The flip side of that is responding from love or maybe it's just a place of calm or of peace. 

I have been faced with making a decision out of stress (well, more than one for sure!) and I knew in this instance that I wanted the decision to come from peace and abundance. I had to be ok. 

This fear can show up when you are choosing what to eat. This is who I serve.  Women who have been making all their decisions from a place of fear. It’s when they make decisions about food and their body from a place of peace and clarity changes everything for them. 

Notable Points:

“The best thing that we can do for ourself is to stop before we make a decision, to stop before we respond.”

“It’s so easy to get caught up in making decisions as a parent under stress.” 

“No matter the decision, if it’s based in fear, if your decision is based in fear...it’s going to be harder down the road.”

Resources:

Book with Jennifer

Download Negative Self Talk eBook

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Ali Damron is an Acupuncturist, a Women’s Health and Hormone expert along with being a wife, mother to two sweet little boys, and a certified personal trainer. She works with women who are struggling with hormone imbalance such as fatigue, PMS, irregular periods, insomnia, anxiety and depression, painful periods, hot flashes, weight gain and so much more!

In this episode we talk about stress, holistic health, hormones and you get some good info about the Dutch Test.  Ali also shares about her free Facebook group for women where you can ask anything, learn lots and support one another. 

Listen to Ali and I talk about the Inner Critic on her podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5-steps-to-silencing-inner-critic-life-coach-jennifer/id1274331857?i=1000483105703

Connect with Ali

www.alidamron.com

www.instagram.com/alidamron

Holistic Health Community Facebook Group www.facebook.com/groups/alidamron

To Connect with Your Host Jennifer D’Amato:

Private Consultation: https://www.healthcoach4life.com/requestsession/?sid=3

Follow Jennifer on Instagram at www.instagram.com/jennifer_lifeandmindsetcoach

Follow the Podcast: www.instagram.com/healthlifeandmoreforwomen 

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lifecoachjenniferdamato/

Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/jenniferhealthcoach4life/

For questions about the podcast, to submit and idea for discussion

Email Jennifer: [email protected]

If you are not familiar with Toxic Positivity is the idea that you're happy no matter what, that you portray this image of positivity no matter the circumstances. You just choose joy. I believe it even goes so far that you deny other emotions and you minimize what you're really feeling just be happy.  The truth is that's not how we were created to be as humans we actually are created to experience the entire emotional spectrum. 

If you're not sure if you're seeing toxic positivity let me give you a few clues. iIf you notice there is a hiding of true feelings or masking those feelings. If you feel guilty that you feel anything but happiness or if you even notice a minimizing of other people's experiences with just telling them oh just “be happy”. if you've ever heard someone just give the perspective that “it could be worse” instead of really validating what you're feeling.  If anyone's ever just brushed off things that bother you or if you've been chastised for expressing anything but positive emotions these are sure signs of toxic positivity.

If you are on social media, you are experiencing it. This is not just a highlight reel, I'm actually talking about this message that you should be positive or that you should just choose joy.  

I want you to consider, because of this culture of toxic positivity I believe there is an increase in shame. There’s a belief that I'm not doing enough, I'm not enough, I can't just be happy, I can't just choose joy. It's directly leading to an increase in negative self-talk affecting all areas of our life.

Listen to the full episode for what you can do today to combat Toxic Positivity.

To Connect with Your Host Jennifer D’Amato:

Private Consultation: https://www.healthcoach4life.com/requestsession/?sid=3

Follow Jennifer on Instagram at www.instagram.com/jennifer_lifeandmindsetcoach

Follow the Podcast: www.instagram.com/healthlifeandmoreforwomen 

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lifecoachjenniferdamato/

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For questions about the podcast, to submit and idea for discussion

Email Jennifer: [email protected]

I have experienced adult peer pressure as have many women I have spoken with. It’s not the “have a drink” peer pressure, though I have definitely experienced that as someone who does not drink very often.  No, this comes on when you decide to make a change in your life.

When I decided to make my health a priority it made my friends and even some of my family uncomfortable.  They shared unexpected feedback that I didn’t need to change.  I should be happy with where I was.  I should not want to change. People don’t want you to change and it’s stopping you from making changes.

There could be several reasons they don’t want you to change.  Maybe it’s because your changes highlight something in their life they are struggling with.  Maybe they believe that by you changing it’s going to change your relationship with them.  No matter the reason, it’s not actually about you, but it is preventing you from making the changes you want to make.

I want to change, shift, grow and stretch.  I want to do things for myself that make that possible.  What if it were highly valued to be someone who keeps evolving and growing?  

Dive into the full episode of the podcast to hear more of my thoughts about what to do when others don’t want you to change. 

To Connect with Your Host Jennifer D’Amato:

Private Consultation: https://www.healthcoach4life.com/requestsession/?sid=3

Follow Jennifer on Instagram at www.instagram.com/jennifer_lifeandmindsetcoach

Follow the Podcast: www.instagram.com/healthlifeandmoreforwomen 

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lifecoachjenniferdamato/

Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/jenniferhealthcoach4life/

For questions about the podcast, to submit and idea for discussion

Email Jennifer: [email protected]