Category: Food & Nutrition

Find Your Health Rhythm and Flow With THIS….

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date August 4, 2015

What is the #1 thing that determines whether you have a “Healthy Day” or not?!

I have found my *THING* and once I tell you I bet you will totally agree with me…..AND will probably love that I am offering you a FREE checklist of said *THING* so you can get in on the practice as well!! Be sure you look for it at the end!

So here’s the thing—-it appears the entire month of July seems to have passed within a blink of an eye! WHERE DID IT GO?!

My husband and I were down in San Diego for the month while my 3-year old stepdaughter, Eden, was staying with us and (as is often is the case for me in July) my normal health practices kinda fell by the wayside. I noticed my physical health somewhat declining and I decided it was time to learn more about my body heath and go for a checkup at my local clinic. I couldn’t keep letting myself slip like I was.

Jumping into the moving vortex that is parenting a boisterous and hilarious “threenager” will certainly do that to ya, but also, July is just one of those months where, year-after-year, I kinda just relax a little bit more. It starts with the 4th holiday and then I usually have a vacation in there or two, certainly a few more BBQs, a family reunion and before you know it, my normal exercise practices have taken a month-long hiatus.

I happen to think this break is an EXCELLENT idea for everyone and I do it intentionally. I know from years of experience, that you CANNOT go 12-months of non-stop “fat loss” efforts. It doesn’t work for our bodies, our minds OR our souls.

So when the Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

For your TRUE HEALTH, this means you need to take SEASONS where you just REST and you just take a chill pill on the whole “count every macro that goes into my mouth” or the “count every rep and every calorie I burn” type of attention to detail (if you’re into that sort of thing….).

This is not to say that I didn’t CARE about my health for an entire month! Actually, quite the opposite! For me, this just means that I take a season off of my BODY health practices and usually make greater efforts for my MINDSET and my SPIRITUAL health.

Actually, my real test for my “Healthy Mindset” is IF I can take a hiatus from the gym a bit more, eat a few more pieces of chocolate and cups of frozen yogurt and…..wait for it…..

NOT BEAT MYSELF UP FOR IT!

I monitor my “Self-Talk” and what I’m saying to myself when I look in the mirror, when I’m experiencing the stomach aches that inevitably come too (darnit dairy!), and just breath into the space of imperfection. It is a daily mental battle. I won’t lie to you and tell you I was really strong mentally every day of the month, but I can tell you, my WISE’her practices have paid off! I certainly am stronger mentally in my health that I was just a few months ago! #ProgressNotPerfection!

As far as my Body’s Health went during this season of “chill more” and “worry less” I still focused definitely on movement with lots of park time and certainly lifting up that 46-lb ball of sugar that is my step-daughter(!) and even stuck to my Nutrient-based eating that I always do (I just added more chocolate and sugar into the mix)! It was a really enjoyable break!

So whether July was that sort of month for you or not, I want to encourage you to TAKE A MONTH (or two!) where you do intentionally plan to REST your body for a season. But then…..get back to WORK.

SO WHAT NOW?

After you take a season OFF of your normal exercise and/or heightened nutrition focus, there is always this TOUGH PHASE of getting back into the rhythm of things!

But that’s really all you need to focus on….THE RHYTHM.

THIS IS WHERE IT’S AT! This is the #1 thing that will determine whether I have a “Healthy Day” or not….

Finding My Health and Fitness Floowwwww!

I believe, to effectively put your health back into practice, you must find that rhythm and flow that comes into good, healthy practices.

The best way to find that RHYTHM is in my favorite step to SURREND’hered Health——–> RITUALIZE It!
In my 7-Steps to SURREND’her Goal Development, I highlight the two very important steps in the path to True Health.

Step #5: Habitualize It! –>this is creating new healthy habits to replace old unhealthy habits.

and my FAVORITE….

Step #6: Ritualize It! –> THIS is finding those personal preferences, tricks, and other appealing practices around the new healthy habits that will get you to DO THEM!

Ritualizing your Health becomes a rhythm and a flow when you plan for the rituals rather than plan for the “check list” of habits you need to do.

For example, I find the stupidest little details really enjoyable in my day!

From the coffee cup I use in the morning when I do my morning quiet time with God…..

To the little tiny dishes I use to fill with nuts and treats….

To THE song that I use as my anthem of the moment (i.e. gym, God-time, dance-time etc.)

To the pen and special notebook I use to write down my workouts.

Everything that I do well for my health, I do because I have RITUALIZED my practice of it and have thus found the RHYTHM and FLOW I need to have a fully successful day practicing better health practices.

For you I have 2 Special Treats:

I have created an easy check list of the 7 SURREND’hered Rituals that I do every day for my True Health practices! You can get a copy of this Ritual Checklist when you subscribe to the #STRONGherAUGUST month long series of more blogs and articles on all things related to become STRONG’her in my Body’s Health. All month I’m going to focus on more workouts to try, more metabolism tips, more nutrition education, and more recipes for success! Click HERE to subscribe and you’ll also be the first to see the next great things I’m doing on A. Wright Fit come this FALL!
For your viewing pleasure, I have the video that I created for the 7-Steps of SURREND’hered Goal Development series on how to effectively RITUALIZE It! I’m a HUGE dork so it’s a good one! 😉
https://vimeo.com/125247677

Tags body, Exercise, flow, Goal Development, habits, Health, life, little things, Love, nutrition, rhythm, ritualize, rituals, STRONGherAUGUST, Women, workouts

Food & Nutrition Health Coaching Spiritual Health

{July 4th} 4 Keys to Living F.R.E.E. in True Health

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date July 2, 2015

It’s a little ironic, but I will celebrating this 4th of July across the pond on the “losing” side of the Revolutionary War keeping my eye out for any Red Coats in action. They clearly aren’t celebrating this war the same way we do. Would it be too much to sport a American Flag t-shirt that read #winner?? 🙂

But as we celebrate our Nations FREEDOM with a bunch more F’s (Family, Friends, Food and Fireworks!), I can’t help but wonder how many of us are truly living the “Big F” of FREE these days?

Now, I know the good ol’ USA likes to define “Freedom” by the terms of our State and Federal Rights. As we saw just last week, we can rely on these “laws” to protect and uphold us and can become unreasonably attached to idea that the great laws of our nation can actually force people to be “saved”.

But, when I speak about True Freedom, I am referencing our original freedom gifted to us by God upon the creation of mankind in the Garden of Eden. It is there that we were given the freedom of choice, and it is there that the first humans screwed it up—and we have been screwing it up ever since!

It is the freedom of CHOICE within our SOUL that matters the most, not the rules that we might follow in our worldly life.

So no “Federal law,” no “Religious law,” heck no “Dietary law” that people want to place on us will actually get to the heart of the matter and make us good. Our goodness is a spiritual choice—-a FREEDOM.

If we choose to accept God in our heart, we receive His great empowerment to make better choices that will lead to greater blessings. But we are never going to be perfect and we are never going to be sinless, no matter what laws we try earnestly to follow.

When it comes to our HEALTH, what I see in myself as well as when I work with the women through my years of training and now with my SURREND’hered Health Transformation health coaching is that many of us think we are FREE but actually are still prisoners of our own making.

I know for sure for me, public enemy #1 when it comes to my True Health (meaning healthy Body, Mind AND Soul) is——> ME. In all likelihood, public enemy #1 when it comes to your health is YOU.

So when I’m talking about becoming FREE I mean setting myself FREE from ME.

We become prisoners of self-doubt, body shame and unworthiness. Prisoners of emotional eating, lethargy, and lazyness. Prisoners of food/substance addictions, food obsession, and self-comparison. Prisoners of FEAR.

While some of us feel the weight and exhaustion of being imprisoned by these negative thoughts and emotions and continue to unsuccessfully willpower our way out, there are also some of us don’t actually realize we are in prison!

That’s when it’s really scary. When the negative emotions of worry, fear and obsession have become such close companions that we have no desire to set ourselves FREE because it feels like we would be losing a part of ourself.

SO HOW DO SET OURSELVES FREE?

Much to our own dismay, our freedom from ourselves doesn’t come from “trying harder” or the willpower we’ve been trying to muster our entire life. We can’t actually “earn” our freedom to live a life in True Health. We can’t count calories, macronutrients or “diet” our way to True Health. It. Won’t. Last.

The only path to True Health is by first creating a strong, healthy Spirit. We cannot get strong in Spirit until we invite He who IS power, God, to live in our Spirit. We cannot “earn” God into our heart by following Religious rules either. We simply must SURREND’her our life, including our health, to Him and He will hand us the key to the Freedom from our self imprisonment.

It sounds incredibly simple as I type it out, and in a lot of ways it is much simpler than we make it out to be, but the truth is, even a life-long-church-goer has not *gotten* it for 99% of my life.

It has been only recently that I started putting into practice the art of SURREND’her and living for True Health. While I’m still a work in progress and will never be perfect (reminder to self!), I am grateful that as I reflect on all that I have learned, I can share with you….

4 KEYS TO LIVING F.R.E.E. IN YOUR HEALTH:

F: Faith

The ability to SURREND’her your health to God takes Great Faith. I have been so used to relying on “experts” and “research” and every diet book known to man for what I “should” be doing. When I finally started reaching out to God for my answers, I realized I had to unlearn a lot of things. This was not easy.

It took a great amount of Faith to walk away from practices I was so attached to and even today, still find great temptation to resort back to, even though I have completely proven to myself that these methods of “health” don’t work.

But because I have Faith I have this ability to Refocus my attention from my Body to my Greater Purpose and to the will that God has for my life. In Faith, I am capable of Freeing myself from the burdens of negative assumptions and can walk in the Light of Life with God.

JPEG image-5C81FB971970-1 — Photo Cred: @Martinadashi instragram

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

R: Radical Acceptance

This one I’m still working through but so much of my freedom to live in True Health has come from practicing radically accepting my body and who I am.

This means accepting my body shape. It means accepting the fact that I’m naturally endomorphic and will gain weight very fast. It means accepting the fact that certain foods and too much alcohol just won’t work for my body and I can’t consume them very often. Accepting the responsiblity to take care of my body but not seeing my body as the “end goal” but as the means to BE the person I am called to BE. I’ve had to accept my body as the vessel it is to be used to serve and glorify God.

It’s about being CONTENT which is not permission to be lazy, overindulge in the moment, or to stop trying. Being content is an active, healthy state. It is simply embracing and accepting myself in every stage knowing that every moment in this life presents an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to connect with God and serve my Greater Purpose.

6BBDE38C-95BB-43C4-AC64-5E31C2815FB1 — PhotoCred: @andrewjgolesch Instagram

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things thought Him who strengthens me.” Phil 4:11-13

E: Energy

I do not have always a choice in the energy that surrounds me all the time, but I do have a choice in the energy that I put out into the world. Exercising my True Health Freedom means that I make a choice in the energy that I want to share with the world. As the Spirit Junkie author, Gabrielle Bernstein, wrote on a recent article, “Vibes Speak Louder Than Words.”

We can all attest that there is a distinct energy difference between love and loathe; between encouragement and envy; between elegance and arrogance.

The energy I bring to a room emanates from my heart outward. I either share with the world the LIGHT energy that comes from being Free or I share the DARK energy that comes from my cell of self imprisonment.

I have found that I create this positive energy by eating the best foods for my body, eating enough food for my body, NOT being overly restrictive, exercising/moving my body every week and getting the necessary rest and sleep for my body. These choices in my health give me the Freedom to showcase the energy of self love for my body and my True Health.

E: Every. Single. Day.

The last key that I have to use to remain Free in my True Health is to remember that every day counts. I have this choice every day to be a woman of True Health, relying on God’s power OR a woman of True HELLth (see what I did there? ;-)) relying on the power of self.

So, by living in FREEDOM, and choosing to live in the Light of God, I dare to be great. I dare to transform my life and live out my True Health by becoming STRONG’her, WISE’her and live SURREND’hered to God.

It is not always easy, but it’s always worth it.

So, this weekend as you celebrate the FREEDOM of living in the land of opportunity, may you also take a moment to pause and give thanks for the FREEDOM of choice that are given as humans. May you not take this FREEDOM for granted and choose instead to make the choices in your life and in your health to live in the LIGHT of God–living a life of FREEDOM in your True Health

JPEG image-8FAA7B832D57-1 — PhotoCred: @scottborrero Instagram

“Surrender your heart to God, turn to Him in prayer and give up your sins—even those you do in secret. Then you won’t be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless.” Job 11:13-18 CEV

Tags choice, Dark, Diet, Exercise, Faith, Food, Free, Freedom, God, Health, Independence Day, July 4th, Light, Love, self love, Women

Fitness & Training Food & Nutrition Goal Development

5 Proven Tips to Not Let the Weekend Wreck Your Health Goals

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date June 11, 2015

So here we are, Wednesday. Hummmmmmmp Day!

By now, if you’re like most of us trying to be “healthier” you’re on day #3 this week of being “back on track” because inevitably over the weekend, you botched your healthy eating intention by over-eating or over-drinking and vowed to start to be “good” again on Monday. #AmIRight?

This is a dieters mentality and it took me years to stop this “Working for the Weekend” mindset. This is part of what I set out to teach clients and any reader is the power of your MINDSET in helping you accomplish any goal since what you THINK determines what you DO.

If you goal is FAT LOSS for example, taking the whole weekend “off” of healthy eating and fitness is not an effective strategy.

If your goal is MAINTENANCE, this strategy is perfect because you do need several days per week devoted to maintaining.

Since I’m in the business of helping people with their health goals, which 100% of them include FAT LOSS, I wanted to shed some light on this subject of changing up our MINDSET about weekends so we can have more success in our Fat Loss efforts!

I coach many a frustrated client who will work so hard all week, eating well, working out hard for 5 SOLID DAYS and then completely reverse all their progress in just 1 or 2 days of going overboard. That was me for years and years too.

Weekends are HARD. We want to feel rewarded and relaxed which naturally invoke a desire for delicious food and libations, our go to “reward” systems! We also don’t have our go-to routines and some of our weekends get so jam-packed with kids and sports and our social obligations that we don’t have the plans in place that help us to keep on track. These are all valid and understandable!

So what do we do about this natural tendency we have with the weekends when we want to lose fat?

Do you have to be PERFECT on the weekend?! NO WAY.

Being overly restrictive will NOT work and is really NO FUN. Life is about balance and JOY. It’s about working SMARTER not HARDER.

But, there are ways you can simply STRATEGIZE your weekends better that will make a difference! If you’re finding it hard to strategize then you can always use a resource like play sport which helps you organize going to a sports event near you. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people that can help get you through your weekend slump! Plus, you don’t need to limit yourself to weekend use of it as you could use it to improve your weekday fitness too.

Similarly, a lot of people find that team sports encourage them to keep up their fitness. However, if you aren’t into sports like football or rugby, don’t worry. There are other sports, like airsoft, that don’t feel like exercise but still count. With a team sport, it’s vital to perform to the best of your ability because you’re all working together to win. To get into something like airsoft, it might be worth looking at these Airsoft Guns the largest range in the UK. That way, you can improve your fitness whilst making new friends.

At A.Wight Fit, one thing I specialize in is Goal Development and real life strategies to help clients get to their desired health goals and fat loss. I have found these steps as the top strategies I use and my clients have used to see more success!

Top 5 Proven Tips to NOT Let the Weekend Wreck Your Health Goals:

#1 Proven Tip: Don’t overly deprive yourself all week:

If you are eating far too few calories and doing far too much exercise, you are naturally be inclined to binge eat on the weekend because you’ve been starving yourself! It’s the law of “Metabolic Compensation“. Our bodies are hormonally going to fight to keep you at the weight you’ve been adjusted to. After just 5 days of eating too few of calories and/or exercising too much, you’re hunger hormones are going to go crazy. Ideally, your food and exercise should stay consistent straight through the week.

How do adjust: If you think you might be pushing too hard or restricting yourself too much, change JUST ONE of those aspects at first-not both. Don’t try to overhaul your regime all at once, that will likely result in weight gain that will make you freak out and overcompensate to eating even less and exercising even more. The goal here is to take just 1 aspect of your health and make a 10% adjustment in a healthier direction. So if you are doing 5 hours of cardio a week, you are going to need to cut back on aerobic cardio to actually help your metabolism and fat loss. This means you just cut back in 10% of your time this week. The next week you’ll decide if you’ll cut back again (10%) or hold there for 1 more week, etc.

#2 Proven Tip: Treat Your Weekend As It’s Own Goal & Write it down:

Your life likely looks quite different during the weekend as it does during the week so make different habit goals to accommodate the different routines. Focus on just your weekend for a while. Work with the systems you currently have to make those goal changes. With all goals, you have a higher chance of success when you write down exactly what your goals are and the habits you want to enforce to get you there.

How to adjust: Choose 1-2 new habits you want to enforce just for the weekend to improve in your health and stick to those for a month before adding on new goals. Focus on progress, not perfection.

For example, if you normally go to Sunday brunch and order pancakes and bacon, your first habit to adjust is just what you plan on ordering at the Sunday brunch. Make small adjustments every week–what I call “Mini Goals.”

Weekend #1 Mini Goal: Go to Sunday Brunch and Eat 1 Pancake and 3 egg whites + 1 slice of bacon.

Weekend #2 Mini Goal: Go to Sunday Brunch Eat 1/2 Pancake, 3 egg whites + 1slice of bacon.

Weekend #3 Mini Goal: Go to Sunday Brunch and eat 1-2 bites of pancake, vegetable omelette and 2 slices of bacon.

Progress is Progress!

#3 Proven Tip: Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day- Weekend and Holidays Included:

This combines two of the most effective fat loss strategies- being consistent + getting enough sleep. Waking up at the same time every day, no matter what day of the week it is, will eventually allow your body to adjust to the Circadian Rhythms necessary to allow for effective sleeping habits and getting enough sleep will also extend the amount of time you are in the prime fat loss zone (fasting + increased growth hormone etc). If you have been finding it difficult to sleep, you may need to look into a new mattress. Researching key phrases such as ‘mattress reviews australia‘ can help you pick the best one for your sleeping patterns. Alternatively, recent research on the medical use of marijuana has highlighted the positive effect it can have on sleep deprivation and insomnia. These tiny bongs offer a discrete way of finding natural sleep relief. If this isn’t your kind of thing, we have some advice on adjusting below.

How to adjust: Set Your Alarm Clock in the morning and plan the reason WHY you’re getting up early on the weekend. So if you get up at 6am M-F, you’ll want to get up by 630am on the weekends too. But to do that, you’ll need a reason to get out of bed. It’s a perfect excuse to go hit up the gym and get your workout over with. Or it’s a great way to get up go to a Cafe, do some reading, your devotional, or work on other Mind and Soul goals you have. Creating a whole new Ritual out of your early mornings on weekends will be a special treat unto itself!

If you are tired at first, it will take an adjustment. If you need to take an afternoon nap at first, that’s fine, just keep it to the 20-min cat nap that’s been proven as most effective.

#4 Proven Tip: Mentally Prepare for the Weekend Reward:

As humans we all know we use food and drinks as a reward system. This is not a bad thing unless your food reward and drink awards get out of control. High fat, high sugar and excessive alcohol tend to be the greatest “reward” in our brains and can often turn into unstoppable eating binges. SO, preparing for the exact thing you crave and planning where and when you have it will help you to control the natural tendency to let it get out of control.

How to adjust: Think of 1-2 healthier food options that are similar enough to your old bad habits. So instead of red wine all weekend, you’ll drink sparkling water with a splash of cranberry and then 1 really good glass of wine that’s worth it for you with dinner on Saturday night.

Think of 1-2 non-food ways to reward yourself during the weekend too. So instead of your whole weekend planning from brunch, to BBQ to dinner (i.e. all food items) make sure you have a pedicure, group workout class, a walk in the park, a coffee date with a friend or something NON-food related that will add some fun to your life.

#5 Proven Tip: Add some SOUL to your Sundays:

Making sure you take one day in the weekend to get Spiritually aligned will help remind you of your “WHY” you are getting healthy to begin with. While this practice should not merely be practiced 1-day a week, it is great to have a day dedicated to thanking God for our creation and the wonder of our health blessings we have. It is not about RELIGION, but about building your personal relationship with God and doing this in COMMUNITY has been proven the most successful practice. You learn by listening to others who have more mature Faith than us. But the right fit might take a while to find. It might not be a church, but other spiritual practices you do in community with others. Building this through the weekend is the best way to carry it out into the week as well. It sets your heart on the right path again.

How to Adjust: Commit to going to church, watching a sermon/program online with others, or even going on a Spiritual or Prayer walk or hike to get your Spiritual alignment. Pray for your health, for greater wisdom on your health and how you are to use your body and your health to fulfill God’s Greater Purpose in your life.

Try out 1-2 of these new tips this weekend and see if you feel a greater sense of REWARD by Monday morning!

Tags body, Diet, Exercise, fat loss, Goals, Health, Mind, nutrition, Soul, Weekend, Women

Food & Nutrition Spiritual Health

RETOX?

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 29, 2015

Hey There!

I wanted to check in to see how that 10-Day #SpiritualDETOX plan was sitting with you?! Have you decided to give it a shot? Or are you still on the fence?

For those of you that have already taken the plunge, GOOD FOR YOU! (Virtual High Five!) You might be hating my guts right now if you are feeling the natural “detox” responses (headache, lethargic, tired, moody) but if those symptoms have not already subsided, I promise you they will shortly! Your body is going to feel soooo much better after 10-days!

BUT…

…for those of you that did NOT quite get a start of the DETOX yet, I wanted to chat on that.

I know how these “detoxes” and “cleanses” can hit people in a variety of ways.

A. They either seem really hard “Give up CAFFEINE for 10 WHOLE Days…..are you insane?!!”

B. Or you’re defeated before you even try. “I don’t have the willpower to tackle all these things at once….so I might as well not even try….”

C. Or you’re interested but busy. “It seems like a *great* idea, if I JUST had more time to plan for to do it. Maybe I’ll start it June 1…..2016.”

But the truth is, you are BIGGER THAN YOUR EXCUSES and this really can be done….RIGHT NOW.

God has been calling on you to be more of the woman he has formed you to be. But so often our EXCUSES and justifications get in the way of truly living His way.

So, it’s possible that the very first thing you actually need to DETOX is…..your EXCUSES! 😉

While I have all the love in the world for you, let’s take a moment and BE REAL here, ok?!

Let’s talk about you body— Do your joints hurt? Body pains? Digestion issues? Skin blemish issues? Bad sleep? Overweight? Depressed? Mood swings?

ALL of these things can be fixed with eating the proper foods. Food is MEDICINE my friends! You just have to make the choices to eat the right things and DETOX out the not so right things.

YES, it might hurt to detox out those chemical and food addictions, but the fact that you have a physical reaction to giving up a food is a clear indicator of how much it really affects your BRAIN. We don’t want to suffer in this life from any worldly addiction.

I made it through about 2-days of headaches and lethargy before my body finally started to feel a little more normal. If you’ve been a long time caffeine addict, your headache might last a few days….but this too shall pass. I promise!

What about emotionally—-Are you anxious? Food obsessed? Worrying? Stressed? Over analytical? Self Obsessed?

All of these pop-up when we don’t seek consistent ways of growing our Faith and connecting with God.

We might believe in God, but when it comes to really testing ourselves and living out our Faith, we tend to give it a bunch of “Yeah, buts…”

God Says: “For (I) bought you with a high price. So you must honor (Me) with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

We Say: “Yeah, but, God I really need my coffee to make it through my busy day where SO many people are so demanding of me.” —-> chemical addiction, excuses, shift blaming, busy-ness.

God Says: “ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)

We Say: “Yeah, but, God I always do Friday night wine night with my friends, they are going to give me such a hard time if I don’t. Plus, I need wine to help me relax and sleep.” —>food idolatry, people pleasing, alcohol dependency.

God Says: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

We Say: “Yeah, but, what about me? What about what I need? I asked you to bless me with happiness every day of my life?!” —->selfish tendency, lack of Faith, lack of perspective.

Trust me, I’m writing this reminder to myself just as much as I am writing this to you my friend. I think there are times that we all need little tough love and a kick in the pants to start doing things for ourselves that we know we need to do, but we are swimming in excuses as to why we “can’t.”

God calls you to grow your Faith in Him by pushing through difficult times!
God calls you to take care of yourself as an act of gratitude for the body, mind and soul you’ve been blessed with!
God gives you responsibilities in this life and you must be diligent and willing to get uncomfortable in order to do them well.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12: 11

5 ACTION STEPS:

1. BODY:

CHOOSE any of the food items you’re willing to give up for TODAY! Then add on another day and another day as you can! Get comfortable with getting uncomfortable!

(The more addicted you are to the item, the more you should pray and ask God to empower you in restraint!! If you need to ease out of some of them, by all means, do what you can! But I encourage you to test your FAITH and see if God provides power that you did not know you had!)

2. MIND:

LIST out ALL your excuses you’ve been repeating to yourself as to why you “can’t” do something and start praying on those. Ask God to give you wisdom and clarity of what you really CAN do instead of only focusing on the difficult things you think you “CAN’T”

3. SOUL:

PRAY through it. Test your Faith and be willing to discipline yourself for the betterment of your body, mind and soul. Give all your emotions, thoughts, and needs to God and He will come through for you!

EVERYTHING you do can be an act of worship, even such trivial things as 10-Day #SpritualDETOX.

4. SHARE:

You don’t have to try to do any part of this alone! Share with me via email or share on my Facebook page and I will pray with you and endure this with you! You are not alone in this and the more of us that connect and help each other push through, the easier it will be!

I can’t wait to hear how many of you are diving in!

5. CREATE:

Just because you are officially “Detoxing” does not mean you have to eat bland, terrible food! There are a million ways to still enjoy some great tasting food that will be detoxifying!

Here’s the recipe for my #DETOX Blueberry Pancakes along with a video tutorial!!

#SPIRITUALDETOX Blueberry Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Dairy-Free Plain Nonfat Yogurt
2.5 T Coconut Flour
1 T Arrowroot Starch
1/4-1/3 Cup Liquid Egg Whites (3-4 egg whites)
1 tsp Flax Seeds (or Chis, Hemp if preferred)
1/4 cup Frozen Organic Blueberries

Directions:

Mix until a thick batter consistency

Cook stove top on Medium – Medium/High Heat

Cover with Lid (if available)

Flip after 3+ mins (until golden brown)

Top with Coconut Butter, Manna, Almond Butter or eat just plain!

Check out the video in my Video Tutorial Section HERE

Food & Nutrition Health Coaching

10-Day #SpiritualDETOX

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 27, 2015

Do you ever wake up in your life and just feel OFF kilter? Your body feels off, which makes your mind feel off? And when both those are off you can bet your behind that your Spirit is affected too!

Well, continuing on what I call my #blessedlifetour2015, I have just returned from a 13-day trip traveling from where we live in Northern California down to San Diego, up to Los Angeles, back to San Diego, out to Munich, Germany, on to Paris, France and finally back home just last night!

I woke-up today feeling ALL KINDS OF OFF!

I want to first acknowledge some areas where I did really well this trip. As many of you may have read, I recently made some pretty deep changes to my WINE consumption and l am very proud to report that in the last 2 weeks, I only consumed 1.5 total glasses of wine which included only about 3 sips of wine the entire time I was in Europe! #ProgressisProgress

Now mind you, had I chosen to drink wine in Munich or Paris, it would have been great and probably worth it. But before I went on the trip, I made a deal with myself and my usual “vices” (which are sweets and alcohol). I decided I was going to give in to the sweets and desserts and just say no to the wine-o. These are just strategies I implement to help myself from going completely off the tracks!

But, what I didn’t have in wine, I definitely made up for in FOOD!

How about this….

German Apple Strudel, Augustiner Klosterwirt — German Apple Strudel

Or maybe even this….

Annnnnd let’s not forget these happened too…..

If I’m being really honest, some of my desserts didn’t even make it to “picture” status because I had already dove in head first before I had a chance to snap a photo!

Yeah…..I’d say sugar is my “drug of choice!”

I woke up every day with a sugar headache that I would attempt to nurse, along with my jet lag, with copious amounts of caffeine in coffee and tea. I was fully aware of this lose, lose situation I was putting myself in.

This combined with sleep being off, extra rich German and French foods, and 100% of my meals being either packaged goods I brought from home or delicious restaurant richness, I clearly overdid it over the last 2 weeks and my usually clean-eating body feels it!

So, as I do whenever I feel this OFF in my body, I engage in an intentional eating plan for a set amount of time to help myself DETOX some of the chemical addictions wrecking havoc on my bod. In this case I am going to do a 10-Day DETOX.

If you have never tried to rid yourself of your vices, I highly encourage you to give this a shot for 10-days! For most of my clients that do some form of body detox, they often don’t know how bad they feel until they rid themselves of some of the “crud” in their system and feel so amazing!

When you hear the word, DETOX, you might be thinking “Juice Fast” or some sort of extreme starvation strategy out of guilt I have for indulging while away. I know there are a lot of green juice mixes on the market, and my friends live for the ones made in Australia.

But that’s not at all what I mean when I say DETOX.

In fact, what I mean when I say DETOX is actually not only just about food or drink choices. No, no. I make my DETOX about ridding myself of things much more than just food and drinks. Yes, there are some people who find that having a detox can help them with a much needed cleanse. Some even take that extra step further and get a detox machine to help give them that much needed support. Doing research online could help you find the best detox for you, but for me it’s a little different.

Why? Because I know that the reason why my body feels so off is NOT just about the foods that I was putting into it. I know that so much of what I experience as I travel is related to much more than just my BODY, but it is also resorting the old bad habits from my MIND and my SOUL too.

So where many health professionals and holistic practitioners might only focus on what foods to eat and not eat, I am going to make it a 10-DAY SPIRITUAL DETOX to help ALL of those things that I lost as I was away-BODY, MIND and SOUL.

WHAT MAKES MY SPIRITUAL DETOX DIFFERENT THAN OTHER’S?

EASY = EFFECTIVE– I’m not about juicing your own juices or buying all the detox supplements in the world. Eat real food and become more body and mind aware through this 10-days and you’ll feel truly healthy!

BALANCED = BEAUTY-By detoxing out some of the unhealthy body, mind and spiritual habits I will unveil the true beauty within. Those detoxes that advocate just those food/drink/chemical (i.e BODY) related aspects might put a nice bandaid on the wound, but eventually when the 10-days are up, you’re back to bleeding just as you were before. By focusing on the mindset behind those bad habits and the depth of spiritual need beneath it all, you will find true beauty from wounds healing themselves.

FOOD = FUELED-I don’t do the all-liquid type of detoxes for a variety of reasons.
I believe in eating real food, not drastically changing your diet into an all liquid trend. I believe this will make it doable, more rewarding and less punishable all while being just as effective! To maintain your metabolism, you’re going to need to get right amount of protein, carbs and fats in an appropriate amount of calories. Cutting out entire food groups (and textures) will have an adverse consequence on your metabolism!

SPIRITUAL DETOX GUIDE!

BODY DON’TS:

Chemical Stimulants: Caffeine
Caffeine is the worlds largest chemical stimulant addiction we have. So many of us over consume the recommended amounts (which is 300mg of caffeine a day). Also, metabolically speaking, Caffeine can be a major hormone disruptor that can affect our ability to lose weight. It stimulates a release of Adrenalin and Cortisol (what’s referred to as our Fight or Flight responses) that cause our fat metabolism to slow way down. (Source: Dr. Jade and Keoni Teta, Metabolic Effect). Now, I promise I won’t make you give up Caffeine forever! Once you rid your body of the intense addiction, adding it back in before a workout will be helpful for your metabolism! Green tea is the best!
Chemical Sedative: Alcohol
Alcohol is high calorie sugar that has a whopping 7 calories per gram which are considered “empty” because of the lack of nutrients. In fact, it actually has “negative” nutrients because it steals Calcium and Magnesium and others from our bodies in order to digest it. Alcohol is another example of a metabolic shut down substance. According to Prevention Magazine, just 2 drinks will shut down our fat metabolism by 73% for the following 4 hours!
Sugar (all forms including honey, raw forms, agave nectar , etc so check every label!)
Another negative nutrient that steals from our bodies without giving back. Studies have shown that rats became addicted to Sugar much more than even Crack Cocaine! The main affect on sugar, besides the addictiveness, is the insulin surge that comes running in to our systems and then crashes a short time later. Research has shown that much slower forms of carbohydrates have a much more body friendly reaction.
Artificial Sweeteners and Flavors
These artificial sweeteners are just as addictive as the real stuff but have some horrible consequences if abused. Even if you don’t consume enough to cause the cancer that studies had shown it to cause, your body still may have a negative reaction by triggering an increase in hunger and cravings according to some studies. Also, according to other studies, it might also cause an inflammation response in your lower GI tract which can cause glucose intolerance and digestive issues.
All Dairy:
Dairy one of those foods that many people actually have a adverse reaction to and some form of intolerance of which they don’t know until they’ve gone without it! Some opinion indicates that adult bodies were not made to need milk like infants do, but it might more commonly be just from a gradual decline in the enzyme lactase that breaks down dairy sugar, lactose, that is the real issue. Give your GI tract a rest in dairy can see some very big changes. (TIP: Add in fortified almond mil or dairy free yogurt to make sure you are still getting your Calcium! )
All Gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut):
While a true allergy to gluten is rare (called Celiac Disease) it seems as though gluten intolerance is much more common. While it might be due to the way that the grains are manufactured in America, it is often worth giving up gluten for a while to see if you start to feel less inflamed in the GI tract or joints. Since there are a variety of gluten free grain options out there, this should not be too hard to plan.

BODY DO’S:

Eat as many Veggies and Fruits as you want! Shoot for 10+ servings a day.
Eat whole, unprocessed foods when you’re hungry and stopping at about 80% full (usually about every 3-5 hours).
Eat protein, green vegetables, and colored vegetables at every meal. Add in healthy fats and whole carb sources for most meals too.
If you buy something from the store, check the label to make sure it has only real food ingredients and all things you can pronounce.
Drink lots of water, herbal tea (not green/white tea or even decaf coffee as they still have some caffeine), coconut water, kombucha (without sugar added), sparkling water (without artificial ingredients added).
Eat healthy carb sources like sweet potatoes, gluten free rolled oats, squash, carrots, corn, quinoa, brown/wild rice, beans, beets etc.
Eat healthy fat sources like avocado, coconut, olive oil, nuts, fresh nut butters, seeds, etc.

MIND & BODY:

Detox Out the Idolatry of Food: Food becomes an easy idol for us because it’s delicious and gives us immediate gratification senses to our brain. But even though it triggers a “reward” sensation in our brain, does not mean that we should always use it as a reward. In fact, the purpose of detoxing our overly food obsessed parts of ourselves is to rewire our brains to remind us of what a REAL REWARD HEALTH IS! There is no reward like having a healthy body, mind and Spiritual connection to God.

“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Luke 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3)

ADD IN: Give this idol (along with all others) to God. Seek God first and you will have no choice but to place all things, including food, after Him. Using prayer, mindful eating and journaling about your meals is a great way to keep it all in perspective.

Detox Out the Busy-ness: So often we run around like chickens with our heads cut off just for the sake of feeling more “worthy” because we think “busy” equates to needed and in high-demand. Well not during this 10-days. We are going to slow it down and stop running so fast. Slowing down allows us to catch onto God’s timing…which is slow, patient and PERFECT.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mathew 11:28-30 ESV

ADD IN: Cut down your TO-DO list. Pick only those top 3-5 things you have to get done in that day and do them first. Take breaks regularly, rest, go for walks, make time for God, make time for others, and SLOW DOWN. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that your life doesn’t fall apart and your stress levels will fall down too!

Detox Out the People Pleasing: Often times we worry so much about making health changes for ourselves because we don’t want to offend others or are afraid they won’t accept it. Well for 10-days we are going to be intentional about our actions and the motivation behind them. We won’t do things without first examining if this is what God is asking you to do. Are you doing things from a place of love and empowerment? Or are you just saying what others want too hear?

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10 ESV

ADD IN: Filling yourself up with the love of God will give you His peace and power. Asking God with every step along the way to guide you and help you in your strength. From that space you will no longer seek ways of your insecurity and people pleasing, but you will seek ways to serve God. It will involve loving others, but respecting yourself first.

Detox Out Self-Serving tendencies: Even though this will be about getting our health in check, we know that a truly Spiritually healthy person is here not just to serve oneself, but to serve God and to serve others. This could also cover our sexual relations. There are many reasons that people have sex, but those who are healthy spiritually don’t have sex just for their own satisfaction.

“Don’t be concerned for your own good but for he good of others.” 1 Corinthians 10:24 NLT

ADD IN: Write a note to someone every day, do random acts of kindness, plan to help a friend or coworker who is in need, do whatever you can do to make your life less self involved. You’ll find when you focus on serving and loving others, you won’t be focusing on your idols and food! As for the sex, add in Tantric sex; this is all about connection and reaching for a type of spiritual enlightenment which will help you to develop a deeper connection with your partner, enhancing your relationship no end.

SO, ARE YOU IN?

You might think this sounds too hard or painful, but I assure you, it is NOT as hard as continuing to live the high-stress, unhealthy, body-inflammed, soul-dampened, manner we are living now. Just 10-Days is all it takes to wake your body, mind and soul UP to a higher level! YOU WILL FEEL AMAZING! And, it’s only 10-Days. Give up your excuses and give UP your HEALTH. With God, all things are possible.

Here’ a cheat sheet that will break it all down for you! For a printable PDF, click HERE.
(Emails are taken just as a measure of counting downloads)

Tags Alcohol, artificial sweeteners, body, busy, busy-ness, caffeine, dairy, detox, food idolatry, gluten, God, inflammation, Mind, Soul, Stress, sugar

Food & Nutrition Health Coaching

4 Ways to Handle Unsupportive Friends When You’re Trying to Be Healthy!

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 6, 2015

Naysayers

The other day, I was on my weekly call with one of my clients and she had just experienced a lunch outing that I was very familiar with.

Now, my client has made a lot of progress over the course of the last 6-12 months. Having turned 40, something has been sparked inside her and she has been in hot pursuit of her health and her life! She has lost over 27 lbs and has sparked a passion for strength training and fitness that she has never felt before! In fact, 2 months ago, she hired me to help her achieve a big dream of possibly doing a Bikini Competition or a Fitness Photoshoot.

In other words, she has just pushed the “GO” button on pursuing a dream that is out of her comfort zone! It’s big, bold and audacious, and she is doing it a SMART way by hiring someone like me to make sure she is staying balanced, level-headed and doesn’t lose herself in a quest for a fit body. We have seen incredible progress so far! She’s a shining example!

However, with such audacious goals she and I both know that she has to be very consistent and mindful of her nutrition. In any Fat Loss effort, your NUTRITION is ~75% of the solution! She already trains about 4x/week and works out HARD, but if her nutrition is not on point, there is little hope that her metabolism will spark up enough to continue to lose enough body fat to reach her goals.

Well, this week she experienced an outing with some of her coworkers that I have experienced dozens of times before—what I’ll call the “Girls Who Lunch Conundrum.”

They all went to the standard restaurant chain, ordered a fried appetizer, sandwiches and fries, and I’m guessing diet sodas too. My client declined on eating the appetizer and ordered a chicken salad with dressing on the side. I am so proud!

Well, as you can imagine that she got quite of bit of slack for being the “only healthy one” at the table. They made jokes and little snippy comments and really bummed her out. I’ll call this reaction the “naysayer” reaction.

She came to me on our call feeling a little defeated. She said, “I’m just trying to be healthy for myself and they try to make me feel guilty about it. I’m not judging them for their food choices at all, I’m just not choosing not to eat them. I don’t see why they are judging me for my food choices.”

You can imagine how she feels right?! I mean, haven’t we all been there? I know that I have felt this exact same way with not only acquaintance type of friends (the coworker variety) but also with some of my closest friends, and family members. This is exactly what I discussed on my 5-Part Series called WINE NOT?! too. The social implications of being healthy can be the hardest!

Being healthy can sometimes make you feel like you are on an island all alone. Not only are you battling the urge blow off your new healthy food and exercise habits, but you are now also battling some of your closest friends and family who are not exactly supporting you!

What I learned over the years of being the “healthy one” at the restaurant has allowed a shift in perspective and spiritual awareness that has made a monumental difference in how I handle the snippy little comments from people or simply any friend or family member that just doesn’t “get it” with regards to my health choices.

I shared these lessons with my client on our call and I am sharing them with you today too!

4 Ways to Handle Your Unsupportive Friends:

1. You can Empathize with Their Defensiveness:

Before you started to make all these tough health choices for yourself, you knew just what it was like to be in their shoes. You can remember all those times that you used food as a coping mechanism for your own stress and can empathize with the fact that they are feeling insecure and defeated by their own choices.

In the situation for my client, all of her coworkers were professional women that had small children at home. So they worked all day and had families to care for at night and all had some weight to lose. I reminded her how they must be feeling on the inside. Their stress is likely so high that they saw the fried appetizer and the sandwich and french fries as their best solution to cope with that stress. They see their food choices as their “reward” for their hard work. All too common and we can all relate.

Now mind you, they are wrong. Those food choices are actually making their stress worse in many ways because they are getting way too much fat (especially trans fats) and not nearly enough nutrients which would help their bodies physically deal with the cortisol and adrenaline (e.g. the stress hormones) much better.

But I simply reminded my client that they just haven’t learned that lesson for themselves yet. She is lucky that she has!

The same goes for all of us. If we can detach from our reactions for a beat and simply take the perspective of their journey and understand that their reaction is not about you at all, but rather is a symptom of their own struggle, then you are able to detach and move on.

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”- Wayne Dyer

Empathy takes away their power and ability to change you. Empathy gives you a stronger mindset that will stop the event from festering in your mind and consume any part of your energy. Empathy allows you to move on unfazed.

2. You Can Realize that God Didn’t Design You to be Defensive Either:

This one is a big one and a more challenging one to grasp but really important. It is all too easy to use someone’s defensive behavior as an excuse to react defensively ourselves.

We all do it:

Someone criticizes you and in return you criticize them.

Someone questions your actions or beliefs and you immediately want to question their actions and beliefs right back.

We must all realize that this is our own sin that will not serve us or our Greater Purpose.

I was reminded in a book I read recently called “Good News for Those Trying Harder,” by Pastor Alan Kraft that some of the most overlooked sins in our lives are the following:

Gossiping
Complaining
Criticizing
Boasting
Shifting Blame
Defensiveness
Deceiving Others

The author challenged me to try to go 1-week without doing any of the above.

…I lasted about 20-minutes. Ha!

So often, we think just because we are doing something good for ourselves that we now have the right to judge others for not catching on with us yet.

This is called being “Self Righteous.”

To me, this is the number one sin that many Christian people have today. That we can get caught up thinking just because we are “Christian” that we are some how “better than” or “above” everyone else. We don’t realize that this very thinking is a sin itself!

Now, I could clearly get into a theological tangent here, but I won’t.

Suffice it to say, all of us must hold ourselves accountable for our reactions and stop worrying about theirs.

If we want them to stop being defensive with us, we first just learn to not react defensively either.

If we want them to support us, we better be sure that we are already supporting them!

God did not design us to react this way and we must recognize our own sin and focus on bettering ourselves first!

“Let ye among you without sin be the first do condemn.”

3. You Can Give More Love Because You Have Love:

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life is very few relationships are actually 50/50.

If you find yourself being the one that always seems to give more effort in your relationships, this can often harbor feelings of resentment within you.

But for those that find the courage and ability to SURREND’her your life up to God, means that you can experience a fulfillment of love on unprecedented levels.

By opening up your soul to the love of God to fill you up causes a massive shift in all of your relationships.

You realize, you depend less on other people’s love, affirmation and validation because you have more than enough of all of that from God.

This is also the case for our friends and family that don’t understand or criticize our health and behavior.

We can love them back, even in their criticism, because we have enough love to give. We don’t have to depend on their praise or affirmation. We have all we need from God.

4. You can be a Student and a Teacher:

I have come to understand that my friends, family members and acquaintances in my life come to me with a purpose—-I can both learn and teach!

Be A Student: By opening yourself up to the empathy and understanding from lesson #1 you learn so much! This creates a better version of you! Always strive to gain wisdom and understanding in this world and realize these circumstances and people are the tools that will give you that.

Be a Teacher: Now this is not to say that you need to tell all your friends exactly what they need to be doing. Umm….no! That will probably get the opposite reaction than the one you hope for!

Instead, you teach them by doing.

So whether my client or her coworkers realized it right then too, she was serving as a valuable teacher for them. She showed them that it is possible to stare something like fried asparagus in the face and not eat it. It is possible to order healthy foods at typically unhealthy places. It is possible to create big, audacious goals and to actually stick to them and conquer them!

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

My personal and mission for A.Wright Fit is found from Matthew 5:16. I want to “Let my Light Shine Before Others so that They May See (My) Good Deeds and Glorify my Father in Heaven.”

I encourage us all to continue to be the best versions of ourselves so that we can shine a light on others to be the best version of themselves!

Tags be the change, Bikini Competition, body, Diet, friends, Health, Mind, naysayers, restaurant nutrition, Soul

Food & Nutrition Goal Development Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

7-Steps to Conquer Emotional Eating (Part 2)

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date April 30, 2015

“I’m not hungry but I really need something sweet right now. Well now that I’ve had one bite how about another bite…. and then….ok just one more.”

This is essentially my inner monologue several times per week. I am thinking these thoughts usually in the evening, after I’ve had a healthy dinner, my body feels satisfied, and I could easily go to bed content.

But, I don’t.

Why? Because usually at that time, I also have this little nagging feeling in my head, mouth and stomach. As though there is this little creature that is screaming “I need something sweet! I need a treat!” Sure enough, I wind up in our pantry munching just for the sake of munching. I’ve learned to have healthy sweet treats on hand, thankfully, but when we are away from home, forget about it! I get myself into some precarious, overeating situations quickly!

I know I’m not alone with this little creature in my head. For me it’s all about the sweets. For you, it might be salty/crunchy variety. But we can all easily suffer from CRAVINGS for food that is not about hunger at all.

Yesterday, I wrote about reading a very relatable book called, ‘Made to Crave’ by Lysa TerKeurst, where she wrote about her journey of trying to refocus her Cravings to God instead of the junk food she felt controlled by.

Her book and scriptures prompted me to take a deeper dive into what the bible actually has to say about food and cravings too! Surprisingly there was a lot! It made me feel more “normal” knowing that if God uses food as an example in the Bible, then I’m not the only one out there exploiting and idolizing the role of food in my life. It also gave me Hope because it gave me some scriptural places that I should be focusing my attention and cravings:

The Word of God
His will for my life (i.e. My Greater Purpose).

This begs the question, however, how do we apply this to our every day life? How do we actually take such a challenge and convert it into applicable, every day ACTION toward lasting success?

For me, the answer is easy because I’m going to use the same strategy I implement for ALL changes I want to make in my health and in my life.

Make a goal out of it.

Not just any goal, mind you. No, as a woman of Faith, I know that this kind of challenge (which clearly has some Spiritual depth to it) means I need to make this a SURREND’hered goal!

I will use my 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goal Development that I will use to effectively plan and implement this new way of health to defeat my affinity toward emotional and overeating.

I recently offered an 8-day workshop explaining all 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goals to an amazing group of individuals that included daily emails, examples, resources and videos of me explaining each step. Sorry if you missed it!

Lucky for you, however, because I have actually turned all 7-Steps into an Ebook that I am now offering for FREE to all email subscribers. The book includes an in-depth look at all 7-steps to succeed in any goal, a list of books and references, PLUS a bonus of my fillable forms and charts that will help you effectively plan your own success! You’ll see more of those is this very article.

Click this link to receive your FREE copy of this Ebook here!

My 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goal Development are:

So, while you get the full in-depth explanation of all of these 7-Steps in my Ebook, I wanted to offer a living example of these 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goals as they apply to this goal I have of overcoming my emotional and overeating!

Step 1: SURREND’her It:

As I explain in my ebook, this step is all about offering my goal as a living sacrifice to God. This is recognizing that I will need to depend wholly on God’s strength to actually be able to conquer this dream. To effectively practice this art of SURREND’hering I know I will need to do both PLANNING + PRAYER. From one of my favorite books, The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson, I have to do as he advises:

“Plan like it depends on me, but Pray like it depends on God.”

Also, even the Bible reinforces that to achieve any dream there is much activity required.

“A dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice in known by his many words.” Ecclesiastics 5:3

So, I’m not going to be “all talk,” or even “all prayer”, I am going to make a plan and put it into action!

Step 2: DREAM It!

As I also explain, while I say my goal is to “not overeat or be an emotional eater” I know that this is not actually how I am to phrase my goal. Nope, my goal needs to be AUDACIOUS, S.M.A.R.T., stated in the POSITIVE and PROACTIVE tense, and is BALANCED to include not just BODY goals but also MINDSET and SPIRITUAL goals too! (You’ll have to read up to know what all of these rules mean!)

So my dream is actually:

To go 6-months straight of emotionally disconnecting from my food, intentionally “eating to live,” only eating until I’m 80% full, planning and eating on a timed schedule, and use the act of eating to draw me closer with God, my Greater Purpose and His Word. I will measure my success by body measurements as well as journaling/emotional comparisons.”

You can see that my above dream is measured and includes BODY, MIND and SPIRITUAL aspects to conquering this dream.

Step 3: DIVIDE It!

As you’ll see, again, in the ebook the purpose of DIVIDING your ultimate goal is to create short-term “Phases” of goals that you focus on. This will help not only help avoid the feeling of “overwhelm” by such an audacious goal, but it will also provide opportunity for the very important REST periods and CELEBRATIONS after I accomplish each Phase Goal.

For this ultimate goal, I will divide all 6-Months up into 6 Phases:

Phase 1 (Month 1): For 70% of the first 30 days of “eating to live,” only eating until I’m 80% full and eating on the planned schedule, and journaling and praying for each meal.

(*note* this will be broken down into “Mini-Goals” for this first Phase as is covered in the ebook)