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I just read an article by Gina Kolata  on the NYTimes.com called “For the Overweight, Bad Advice by the Spoonful” that really made me feel disgusted.  The reason that I got so frustrated while reading it is that the article contains  excuse after excuse as to why Americans are so obese (66% of Americans are overweight or obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and offers no hope whatsoever to solve the problem.

You’re beautiful the way you are!  Your real beauty is on the inside and has nothing to do with how much or how little body fat you may have.  That’s the truth.

“It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.”
John 6:63

Notice that the article refers to “Americans” and not Africans or Europeans or Middle Easterners?  Why are we outpacing the rest of the world when it comes to our excess weight?

If you are overweight or obese and if you WANT to improve your health, there is not only hope, there are people who can help you within the medical community and within the personal training community.  Personal trainers such as Fitness Together -  offer 1:1 training so that their clients don’t feel self-conscious being around leaner people wearing spandex at a gym.  In addition to the private-setting offered at the studios, the trainers also assist with the accountability by providing cookbooks and meal plans for their clients which are customized to their goals (recommended calories per day and week along with sample meal plans).  They also require their clients to track what’s been eaten in an accountability log and bring the log with them to each session.

The trainer and client are co-responsible for achieving the results that the client is looking for.  The trainer is responsible to provide the correct exercise and dietary guidelines and to assist the client with the modifications to the plan.  The client is required to exercise as prescribed, eat the appropriate amount of food (over the course of 5-6 smaller meals per day) and track what is eaten at each meal.

We are not all meant to be slim or skinny. We are also not all meant to be as overweight and obese as we’ve become as a country.

In the New York Times article, Dr. Jeffrey Friedman says  “it’s difficult for an individual to hold calorie intake to a precise amount from day to day. Meals at home and in restaurants vary in size and composition.”

May I tell you from first-hand (to mouth)  experience that it’s unbelievably easy to hold to  a precise amount of calories when eating at home. When I received my education from Fitness Together in how to eliminate my excess fat (almost 30 pounds),I found out how easy it was to eat (6) 300 calorie meals per day–every day (my recommended daily caloric intake per my personal trainer).

Everything in life is easy when YOU want to (not have to) do it and it’s your idea!

Here is what one of my current 300 calorie breakfasts looks like:

• 1/2 cup dry oatmeal (mixed with water and cooked in the microwave)- 150 calories
• 1/2 cup eggbeaters (cheese and chive-also cooked in the microwave) – 70 calories
• 2 tablespoons salsa (for the eggbeaters) – 10 calories
• 1/3 cup Bran Buds (mixed in with the oatmeal) – 70 calories

I very often travel 2-3 days (or more) per week.  Is it more difficult to eat as perfectly as I do when I’m at home?  YES.  Is it possible to eat well while traveling. Yes-if you’re committed to your health.  Not only is it possible to eat well while traveling but, I frequently  come back from my trips a pound or two lighter than when I left home!

What are my diet secrets when traveling?

• I pack protein/energy bars with me (2 per day).  My current favorites are Odwalla or Cliff Bars. They both have high protein varieties that travel well and don’t melt when left in my suitcase in a rental car trunk  .  They’re about 250 calories per bar.  (right off the bat I’m consuming 50 calories per meal less than when I’m at home!)
• I maintain my exercise routine by packing workout clothes for each day that I’m away and try to stay at hotels that have gyms.  If I end-up at a hotel without a gym (like my trip two weeks ago to Paris), I put on my sneakers and go for a run.
• When dining at restaurants, I gravitate towards grilled salmon, grilled chicken, steamed vegetables and away from cheeses, fried foods, cream and butter sauces.
• If dining with guests who are consuming alcohol, I typically will drink red wine (it’s good for my heart) and only consume 1 glass (never more than 2 – even when at home with friends)
• If my guests want to order dessert, I encourage them to do so and will have a bite (just 1!) if offered.

If you are committed to losing weight, please know that there is a huge support system ready to help you achieve your goals.

During one of my workouts last week at they gym near my home, I noticed that I was accompanied by only one other person in the weight room (it was about 4:30AM). It was a woman who was extremely overweight.  While most of the rest of the world was sleeping, she was at the gym (with her tracking form in hand) doing set after set of weights as prescribed by her trainer.

I was unbelievably proud of her.  That’s commitment!

Before you speak, learn, and before you fall ill, take care of your health.

How often should you read your affirmations?

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Body
I spent a good portion of the day today with a great friend of mine who is a personal trainer. As I listened to him speak about some of his clients, I noticed a pattern that was not too unfamiliar to me.  He told me about one of his clients who had successfully lost 50 pounds while working with him on a program of diet and exercise. That same client left and went to another trainer because he was too embarrassed to go back to my friend because he had regained  the 50 pounds.

Spirit
Robert Wright’s column in The New York Times on August 19th “Self, Meditating” talks about his visit to a meditation retreat six years ago and how he “came away from that week feeling I had found a new kind of happiness, deeper than the kind I’d always pursued.  I also came away a better person.” He‘s going back to the same retreat again this Friday for a “tune-up”.

Mind
The affirmation process is a way to deliberately write goals for yourself – written in the present tense, in a one-sentence format – to change your “self-talk” to become positive and to create a better “self” for the future. Many people I know have begun successfully utilizing the affirmation process as a way to create the changes that they desire and have then somehow fallen out of the practice.

The first example I gave of the person who lost 50 pounds and then put it back on was a physical “body” example. In that instance, the person stopped working out and tracking his food intake with the physical trainer (and on his own).  Inconsistent behavior.

The second example of the meditation visit was a spiritual example.  Mr. Wright went to a retreat, learned a great deal and is now going back because he’s been “living like someone who hasn’t been meditating with much regularity or dedication, who has strayed from the straight and narrow.” Meditation is a practice that can and should be done on a daily basis.

The third example was a “mind” example. People successfully begin utilizing the affirmation process and get great results but, somehow fall out of the habit.

Can you see a pattern developing here? There is no single fix to any complex problem but, there is a simple concept which says that “proper daily habits, conducted with the right mindset and technique will yield successful, consistent results.”

Another way of saying that is if we expect consistent results  in any area of our life, we’re going to have to give it focus and practice–daily.

How often do we eat?  Probably too often, but for most of us, it’s several times per day.  We eat to provide the nourishment for our bodies. It’s a daily activity.

How often do we read, watch or listen to the news?  For many of us, it’s at least once per day so that we can stay current on what’s going on in the world?

How much time do we dedicate maintaining our bodies with exercise?  How often would we do it if we were committed to having healthy bodies? If not daily, I’m guessing that it would be at least 5-6 times per week.

If we were committed to spiritual health, we would have a built-in routine for our daily spiritual habits such as prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, etc.  How often would we pray, meditate and read scripture?  Only on the days when we want to feel peaceful, loving and compassionate.  Wouldn’t that be every day?  It would be a daily habit.

Daily habits allow us to feel good every day-mentally, spiritually and physically.

If more people were aware of the effect that our self-talk has on our actions, results and self-esteem, they would deliberately utilize the affirmation process to minimize the negative, destructive self-talk and proactively control their thoughts, beliefs, speech and actions.  We would become aware of how we’re speaking to ourselves and to others at all times.  It would be a daily habit.

Here are three affirmations that you can use as models to help begin or reignite your daily mind, body and spirit habits.

Mind:  I easily and happily monitor and control my self-talk so that my thoughts about myself and others are always positive and uplifting.

Spirit: I feel peaceful spending a minimum of 30 minutes each day nourishing my soul with prayer, mediation and scriptural reading.

Body: I exercise at least 30 minutes per day and feel confident with my healthy and vibrant body.

We choose to allocate time on a daily basis to the things that we value. Do you value your mind? your body? your spirit?

How often should you read your affirmations?  I think that you know the answer!