An Update :: Life Coach Teachings

It has been a few months since I wrote about the journey that I have been on for four months with my life guru. I've made some big decisions in the past four months, all of which have been very positive. A few of the changes that I've adopted into my life, although small, have had big effects and I wanted to share a few of them with you:

1. YOU come first. As women we tend to put everything first: family, work, cleaning, caring, being generous, errands, basically running through our daily lives like lunatics {or maybe its just me that felt that way?}. My guru made me realize that putting everything first before myself was actually doing a huge dis-service to everything that needs my attention in life. By putting me first and my needs first, I can be the best that I am for everything else that needs me.

Putting me first above my family, our dogs, my clients, my home is hard. I have to work on this every single day. I have to remind myself daily that taking 10+ minutes per day to de-stress, zone out and do something nice for myself {even if its just sitting staring at a wall without running my to do list through my head like a bad elevator song on repeat} - by taking a little time for just me, I can be better at every single thing else that I need to attend to.

2. Be positive to yourself. Anyone who has met knows that I have a snarky tone on things, but my snarkiness isn't my overall view on life. I am actually a pretty positive person. I always strive to see the best in every situation. But, I wasn't being positive about myself. Like most women, my internal commentary consists of "i am too fat, my thighs are enormous, this isn't right, that isn't right", which plainly sucks as an attitude. It doesn't help you out in any way. So you have to be positive. I am not thrilled with where I am weight wise, but my big legs are muscular and strong, which helps me ski, run and walk the dogs. I have beautiful eyes that my husband thinks are amazing. It is so much better to focus on positive in yourself than the negative.

I know we are all our worst critics but seriously, stop and take a moment to say "Damn girl, you are hot". I promise, you are and telling yourself that will only help you in the long run.

3. Focus on eating high quality foods. My coach is a nutritionist by trade, so of course a lot of our conversations are about food and consuming food. My husband and I became quasi-vegan in mid-September. A switch I honestly thought my mayo-loving man would never make. I will be completely upfront about this: we didn't opt to stop eating meat and dairy for animal rights reasons, we stopped for our health. I say we are quasi-vegan because to my recent health issues I need some form of animal protein so we are eating fish. {As an aside, we had to consult my GP to discuss this new healthier lifestyle and she okay'd all our changes}.

While I miss cheese on a daily basis, and going out to eat makes things a bit more complicated, I've seen such a glowing effect on my skin, my eyes, my hair and my waistline that its a lot easier to stick with the healthier living. We aren't consuming anything that is processed. I am eating enough fruits and vegetables in a day that I sometimes worry there's a farm growing on the inside!

These aren't radical huge changes, but they've made radical huge outcomes in my life. It's all about baby steps right? Make sure that today you stop and reflect on how awesome a person you are.