Category: Spiritual Health

6 Signs You Have A Healthy Mindset

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date June 24, 2015

A strong body cannot create a strong mind. But a strong mind can create a strong body.

Sure, she looks healthy and confident but the truth is, her mindset is weak rendering her whole health as weakened. What we see as physically “Healthy” can often times be the furthest thing from it.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..”

I was elated and overjoyed that I had found my love again, my now husband, that came back into my life the day I had competed in my first Bikini Competition (pictured above).

But while I was happiest I had ever been in so many ways (getting engaged, moving to California, and traveling around the world), I was also the most miserable in so many ways because my mindset was suffering it’s weakest state ever.

Often times, we as women will pursue a healthy body so relentlessly that it causes a detriment to our psychology and how we see our body and life. A weakened mind begets a weakened life.

Paralyzed though I felt by the shame that would come from gaining nearly all the weight back, I was not indeed paralyzed. God would give this experience purpose, even though I know competing was not part of my Greater Purpose. But it was up to me to CHOOSE a stronger and healthier mind. That is what I’ve done.

For anyone that feels as though you have suffered a health set-back or may be deeply discouraged in your health efforts, I encourage you to continue on your journey and choose to focus on becoming WISE’her to gain a stronger mindset for your health.

Realize like I did, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill

One of the pillars of truth of A. Wright Fit is this principle that I know to my core:

We simply cannot change our body’s health in any lasting or significant way until we have changed our MINDSET and how we think about our body and what we know to be true for us. This is what I term becoming WISE’her and comes from shifting your thinking to a stronger mindset that will allow true change to happen.

So, I have taken the last 2-years of my life pursing a stronger MINDSET about my body and have made tremendous progress. My pursuit will never cease as there is always more to learn and more ways I will grow into the woman God made me to be, but I have observed 6 Radical Mindset Shifts that help me to know I’m moving in the (W)right direction! See how many you relate to!

6 Signs You Have a Healthy Mindset:

You Believe the Skinny Mirror:

Whether in our gyms, a hotel, an elevator, or windows passing by, there are countless mirrors for us to observe our reflections. Even in the same room, under similar lighting, and wearing the same outfit, two-mirrors can reflect two different body’s when you look in them.

You know you have achieved a healthy mindset when you believe the skinny mirror and let the “wider, puffier, more distorted” mirror kick rocks.

When given the option, you will choose to believe the happier reflection in life rather than assume the more negative reflection is the “true” reflection. The truth is, neither one can be proven to be the real thing, so why not choose to believe the one that lifts you up instead of brings you down?

2. You stopped following, listening to or watching any person or show that is unworthy of your mind.

This is the “G.I.G.O.” principle. Garbage In = Garbage Out.

What you see and what you listen to will have a significant impact on what you think and therefore how you behave.

When you expose your eyes and ears to people that fill your mind with gossip, slander, envy, negativity, or pride, you are running the risk of letting that person change how you view the world and your purpose on this planet.

You know you have achieved a healthy mindset when you relentlessly avoid and reject anyone that feeds negativity into your life. When given the choice, you unfollow, block, turn off the TV, stop reading, or simply walk away from those things that do not serve you and your purpose.

For those closer relationships that you do not necessarily have a choice of exposure, you still have found a way to “internally mute” what they are saying and hear their words through a wise filter, choosing to not truly “hear” them.

3. You Refuse to Compare Your Life To Others:

When you stop to compare you life to another’s life you can only have one of two results:

You will feel less valuable and discouraged by all that you don’t have… OR
You will feel prideful about all that you do have and how much “better” you are.

Do not fool yourself into believing that by comparing your blessings to another’s misfortune is how you become grateful or more optimistic. You feel gratitude by making the choice to internally change your viewpoint and to think grateful thoughts. It is that simple.

All things are a choice and a product of what you allow your thoughts to focus on. If you allow your thoughts to continue to compare yourself to others, your resulting emotions will either be negative or prideful– a lose:lose choice for your soul.

But when you choose to refocus your attention on who you really are—>your Greater Purpose—> and ALL that God has done and will continue to do you for, you have effectively guarded your mind from the destructive paths of self comparison.

4. You Seek Quiet Times Daily:

You realize that your mind needs a break to fully recover and serve your life to its fullest potential, so you create the time and space to be able to do that.

Taking 20+ minutes daily seeking God’s face, praying, meditating, or just breathing and being is an incredibly powerful gift. This time can give you more than enough power and energy to function efficiently in ALL other things in life.

You know you have achieved a healthy mindset when you keep this time as a top priority daily so you might better function and perform the other tasks and roles that matter in your day.

You know that if there is ever a day that you are “too busy” to spend 20 minutes with God, then you are too busy. You will make changes in your schedule and learn to say “No” to other less important things so that you can say “YES” to this vital time alone with God.

5. You Are Grateful For the Struggle:

We all know that pain is a part of life and those who have a healthy mindset are able to see beyond the pain to the lesson they expect to learn.

Even before you are through the suffering, you begin to have hope and gratitude for what you know will come. You see the pain with gratitude because you know that the pain will develop your character the most.

There is no way of avoiding difficulty in life. A healthy mindset focuses on pushing through the pain and seeks out the reward in wisdom.

6. You have stopped “Shoulding” All Over Yourself:

If you pay attention to the words that you think in your inner dialogue, you know you have a healthy mind when you hear less “should’s” and more “can’s”, “will’s”, “do’s” and “am’s.”

The word “should” reflects a “lacking” mindset or self-pressure and being spiritually ungrounded.

“I should have done that workout last night.”

“I shouldn’t have eaten that.”

“Oh, she’s doing a bikini competition, I should train for one too.”

When you find an abundance mindset you start to see your life for all that “can” do instead of what you “should” do, and all that you “are” instead of what think you “should” be.

This comes from grounding yourself in God and becoming vigilant in self discovery so you know who are and all that you are capable.

Diving into your beliefs allows you to rely more heavily on God’s power and will focus your attention back on Him dwelling within your soul. This empowerment turns into becoming self aware and self loving. Relying on God within you will help you “should” less and “be” more.

If you have found that you are lacking in a healthy mindset when it comes to your pursuit for True Health, a reminder that this is one of the main components I pursue with all clients in 1:1 health coaching, which really sets me apart from your typical Health and Nutrition coach!

In my 12-weeks of SURREND’hered Health Transformation program, there is an entire 2-week module entitled “Mind Matters” that is devoted to challenging your mindset in the areas that often the hardest: Patience, Comparing Ourselves to Others, Worry/Fear, Lack/Compulsiveness, Negativity. You will get this along with education of all things health and fat loss related. A reminder of all that is offered is found in the link HERE.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to new products and programs rolling out in the fall, I am only accepting 1:1 health coaching clients through August 15, 2015 and I will only take on a maximum of (10) clients at a time. If you are interested in one of those few remaining slots, be sure you reach out to me before August to apply!

The Best Kind of Weight Loss

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date June 17, 2015

So I just got off the phone with one of my new clients and I am so inspired that I am actually going to botch the entire blog that I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks to share this story with you today!

This client and I have only been working together for a couple of weeks so far, but she hired me describing feeling being at “an all-time low point with her health”. She knew she needed to drastically change her health and knew she needed someone to help coach, guide and support her in some significant changes she was ready to make. I am so lucky she chose me.

I told her, as I tell all my clients, that I learn just as much from them as they do from me. It is an absolute honor and priveledge that I get to be a support system for any woman willing to face her fears, overcome obstacles and set herself back on the path that God has created for her. To witness such transformations with her, changes my soul and teaches me much more than I could ever learn on my own and through my own experiences.

So, as I do with all clients, the first step that we take together is to decide and write down what her goals are going to be. I whole-heartedly believe that choosing the (W)right goal for yourself is the most important step in becoming STRONG’her, WISE’her, andSURREND’her your life UP and should not be a rushed decision.

If you are truly ready for some real change in your life and in your health, you must get the SURREND’her part down first. That means, choosing the kind of health goal that GOD wants you to choose, not that you and your fears or lack-based tendencies are pressuring you to choose.

(By the way, I have combined all 7-steps into an ebook that can be downloaded when you subscribe to my emails newsletters HERE.)

As we discussed her goals over the course of the first couple of phone calls, the tone of her voice sounded unsure, embarrassed, discouraged, and soft.

The tone of her voice when we just spoke today? Completely different. It sounded light, free, upbeat, and confident.

So what had changed?

Well, she shifted her thinking and shifted her search for her goals! Her story was so awe inspriing, I wanted to share with you here today.

When she first contacted me she had told me her measurable goal was to lose X number of pounds. This is extremely common and not at all a “bad” goal. In fact, I highly encourage measurable goals to help motivate, track and stay accountable.

However, there are a million ways to measure your goals, so I encouraged her to take some time and truly reflect on whether or not this was the right goal for her and was indeed what God wanted her to focus on.

After this conversation, she told me she kept seeing messages about spiritual fasting popping-up in her world and she decided to do an incredibly brave thing——she listened.

She decided the signs were pointing her to do a spiritual fast and see if she could find some clarity about this health process. So for a almost a full week, she only ate vegetables and fruit and spent the time she would have spent eating, praying and reflecting more with God.

(NOTE: This is a highly effective practice for anyone spiritually mature enough to make it about connecting with God to answer a prayer and not about doing a “cleanse” to help you lose weight. Your heart posture matters! If you would like more information about this, I’m happy to help answer or guide you, just email me!)

As God promises us in the Bible, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7) When she sought clarity from God, He gave it to her.

During this fasting period, she came across a book that just seemed to pop-off the shelf to her. It was called “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Vosakamp. The story resonated with her on such a deep level she devoured it in about 2 hours flat and had her new measureable health goal from it.

Today, with her voice full of courage, hope and a new depth of Faith, she announced her new goal to me: She is going to seek and find her 1,000 gifts.

Every day, she is going to seek out the gifts of her life and write them all down. She will set her her intention on finding all that is good in her life and will spend her time looking for that, not just seeing her life through the lens of self pressure or busyness.

Her choice of a goal actually went hand-in-hand with a morning devotion that I had happened to read just this morning from the book, Nearer to Jesus by Sarah Young, which read:

“As you go through this day, look for tiny treasures strategically placed along the way. I lovingly go before you and plant little pleasures to brighten your day. Look carefully for them and pluck them one by one. When you reach the end of the day, you will have gathered a lovely bouquet. Offer it up to Me with a grateful heart. Receive My Peace as you lie down to sleep, with thankful thoughts plying a lullaby in your mind.”

It is of no coincidence that she and I had received similar messages of seeking out the small treasures from God on the very same day. These are the “God winks” that we can all experience every day that we have our eyes opened and willing to receive it.

The best part of the phone call was the next part she told me….

She said that naturally Monday morning she decided to weigh herself to see if her weight had dropped after doing a week of fasting. It did…..but only 2 pounds.

She was fighting the natural instinct to be disappointed that after so much “restriction” she did not see more physical weight loss.

I reminded her however, that she had actually lost a significant amount of weight, it just wasn’t the kind of weight that we know how to measure.

You see, this past weekend after the fasting, she described how she had been able to go to her favorite Mexican food restaurant and felt satisfied after eating only 20% of her favorite meal.

She went to a baby shower and was able to resist the unhealthy food choices and cupcakes, and made the best decision she could with the options she had (chicken salad and some fresh vegetables and fruit) and felt good and satisfied by it.

The weight she lost was not physical weight. It was the lifting of the MENTAL burden that she had been bearing for the past several years regarding food, cravings and overall energy. I could tell she had lost such weight simply by the lightness of her voice.

Weight gain is very rarely about actual “weight.” 90%+ of the time, our weight is determined more by our thoughts than anything else.

Having a dieters mentality is a heavy burden.
Being unhappy and discouraged by your body all the time wears you down.
Always feeling stressed to eat the right foods and to do the right exercises is a heavy load to bear.

All of these things are much “heavier” than the actual weight we may need to lose.

Being able to lighten the burden of of our thoughts is MUCH MORE REWARDING than losing a few more pounds in one week.

She was able to fight the temptation of disappointment and stay on this path of greater understanding, joy and peace because she was able to instead focus her life on the gifts of her day.

From here, she will be able to now move forward toward an healthier body with a much lighter mental burden that will allow her to find True Health and success that no “diet” would have.

This is SURREND’hering.

I encourage anyone reading this to take the following steps to transform your MIND as well by asking yourself these 3 things.

Are my current health goals really what God wants me to focus on or am I creating goals to fill some sort of void I have in my heart that only He can fill?

If you find that you are not focusing on the right goals, take the time to pray and change them. God will empower you and guide you if you ask Him.
What are the small gifts that I encountered today that I can pick like a fresh flower bouquet?

Even if you’ve had a really crappy day so far, is there 1 or 2 things you can find that were unexpected gifts? Perhaps you can start a journal too to see if you can get to 1,000 gifts?!
What kind of mental weight am I bearing on my body that I need to lose before I can lose any physical weight? Am I putting unrealistic expectations on myself? Am I living only for others approval? Am I taking on others burdens as my own?

Pray that God will show you how to unburden and share the “yoke” with Him so that you do not bear the weight all alone.

Final reminders that if any of you would like to also work with me for 1:1 Health Coaching, I have just a couple more spots available in my current roster. You can check out the new 6-Part Module forum I’m offering in my 12-Week SURREND’her Health Transformation in this link HERE. Feel free to reach out and contact me via email at amanda@amandawrightfit.com and I can answer any more questions you have!

Tags body, Fitness, God, Health Coaching, life, Mental, Mind, Soul, Spiritual, Surrender, Weight loss

Spiritual Health

Watershed Anniversary: Top 10-Lessons I’ve Learned Since June 1, 2013

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date June 2, 2015

I woke up on this day, June 1, exactly two years ago “ready” for a big day, but what actually came to be, would be far bigger than I ever imagined.

We all have these days, called Watershed moments, that change the course of our history. This day is the anniversary for which my life has never been the same.

June 1, 2013, I did my first, and only, bikini competition. But also the day that my then ex-boyfriend, now husband, Howard, came back into my life.

At the time, I had not seen Howard in about 18-months as he surprised me and showed up to my competition, flying in from California. He had seen me in many shapes and forms over our 5-year history at that time, but he was surprised that there was a lot MORE of me to see in that itty bitty bikini, but also a lot LESS of me to see as I was about 35-lbs lighter than when he and I had first started dating.

As I have written about before, I was using the show in-part as an effort to teach myself the lessons in nutrition and fitness so I could be a better nutritionist and trainer.

The other reason, and what I consider my “real” reason I took to such extreme measures to attain the “perfect body,” was to fill a void in my soul that had been caused from years of body image disorders.

What I learned from this experience was that God is the only thing that can fill the gaps in our hearts and souls. As happy as I thought I was going to be by getting such a “perfect” body, I was joyless, sad, lonely and ashamed.

While this experience has been truly significant in shaping who I am as a woman and now teacher of TRUE Health (in Body, Mind and Soul) I must admit that finding my love again, my Howard, would be the real reason to celebrate this day in my history.

My life as I knew it was going to drastically change from my single-girl, independent, successful life in Denver, CO to the love wrecked, whirlwind, jet-setting, never-a-dull-moment life I now live!

Over these last two-years, I must admit that it has felt like huge juggernaut after juggernaut have been thrown in my way, all of which have been tremendous blessings but most certainly demanding quick adaptation, character development and growth—none of which are easy all the time.

Being single, then bride, then wife and step-mom!
Being employed, then unemployed, then entrepreneur!
Being renter, then home-owner, then “interior designer” x 2!
Being new girl in one new city and then 14-months later being new girl in another new city.
Being healthy, then disabled with a back injury, then a new kind of healthy and strong!
Being in the leanest shape of my life, to back to the not-so-lean shape and being OK WITH THAT!
Being a narrowly traveled woman then to a jet-setting, never home kind of woman.
Being ME then WE.

I praise God that He has helped me to adapt as best as I can to a flip-flopped life. I am woefully imperfect at some transitions and surprisingly adept at others. I could not have done any of it without God in my heart guiding me along the way. I have learned so much from Him!

So, in honor of this marked personal anniversary, I’d like to share the:

Top 10 Watershed Lessons I’ve Learned in the last 2-years!

TRUST YOUR HEART:
Howard and I had broken up at least 3 times in the 7-years it would take for us to walk down the aisle, so when he came back to me and told me I was the “One,” I had plenty of cause for pause and contemplation. But in the end, it was not about logic and what society would say about second (or third) chances, it was about what my heart said. I prayed and prayed for several weeks and knew my heart was always his and that God had called us together.

The same could be said from the experience of my bikini show. I written once before how I knew in my heart this show was not what God was calling me to do, yet I did it any way. I am so fortunate that God forgives us when we don’t listen and will find a way to bless and bring purpose from our mistakes. Howard coming to my show would be part of that purpose. All the lessons I can teach others would be the other.
YOU CAN’T CHANGE PEOPLE, BUT GOD CAN: People try to tell us that “people don’t change,” but that’s not true. God changes people all the time. I tried and tried to change my stubborn husband (full disclosure: I still do “try” sometimes…or all the time) all those years of dating, but in the end, he had to learn from within. (Mental note to stop “trying”).
The same can be said for me. Howard loves me at any weight I come in (in fact the curvier the better in most ways!), but I was never trying to lose weight for him, or any man. It was always because of a lie in my mind telling me I had to be more worthy. God changed my heart to change my mind and allows me to see the beauty I am at all shapes and sizes.
FORGIVENESS IS THE GREATEST GIFT WE GIVE OURSELVES:
We all go through pains and do stupid things in our life. Being able to forgive someone for a serious wrong they have done is a gift to them, certainly, but it is a gift to ourselves most. To unburden our hearts of the pain and to restore your Faith that God will help you all find a way to make it right and well again will change your life.

In the same way, forgiving ourselves for our own mistakes is a tremendous gift that will drastically change the course of our lives toward the path that God has chosen for us.
MORE MONEY DOESN’T GIVE YOU MORE JOY, BUT GOD DOES:
I am not ashamed to admit it, while I was perfectly successful and content on my own, I was looking forward to the travel and the house and excitement that being married to an extremely hard-working and accomplished man would provide as an added bonus to life. But I would quickly learn, that just having worldly success and the blessing of “things” does not give you more JOY or peace.

My most joyful moments still come from those areas where God dwells most—those things money can’t buy. In hearing my husbands laugh, being silly dancing with my step daughter, taking long walks holding hands, or talking with my mom or girlfriends on the phone. My single most joyful feeling are those times where God’s love just fills my soul for no apparent reason. The “stuff” is nice and is still a blessing, but certainly not what makes me truly HAPPY. I am blessed to realize this.
OUR MINDS GOVERN OUR BODY:
What I think about most becomes my life or as Descartes said it, “I think, therefore I am.” For most of my life, I would obsessively worry about my body and what I was eating, causing stress that caused me to over eat and then obsess even more. This cycle would cause the yo-yo affect that would lead me down the bikini competition path way.

My thoughts also change the stress responses to my body for every day function. Whatever we think about grows. So if we focus on our problems, they grow. If we focus on our blessings, they grow! It impacts our BODY in every way: how we walk, talk, work and love.
OUR SOULS GOVERN OUR MINDS:
I learned from a very poignant moment I realized that all of us suffer from LIES in our head that are not just mindset problems, but SPIRITUAL problems. Learning that the devil preys on those very areas of our minds that are most susceptible is the number one strategy he uses to destroy our Faith and Happiness.

The same lesson was learned by my husband as there was a LIE he had perpetually repeated about how he was incapable of marriage that had to take years of counseling and deep soul work to re-wire in his thoughts. We are blessed that we serve a God that sets us back on the Rock of Truth.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: All it takes is a solid two-years of traveling to realize it doesn’t matter the house (or hotel), but it matters where your heart is. Building a “home” requires only the foundation in your heart and soul that you take with you wherever you are together.
“Marriage is not designed to make us HAPPY, but to make us HOLY.”
This quote was from my Pastor, Alan Kraft, of Christ Community Church in Greeley, Co. I didn’t quite get it at the time but I am getting it now! I have written before that my husband is my greatest teacher for me—he serves as a MIRROR to me and I am a MIRROR to him. We love it when our mirrors properly reflect the love of God in our hearts. But there are times where we see quite clearly that they reflect our flaws and selfish sin. These are hard lessons. But I praise God because I would never have seen these things without my husband. For better or worse, he is making me the Holy woman God wants me to be and I am doing to same for him.
PRAYER SAVES:
My communication levels with God have never been so frequent and ongoing. These rapid and great changes in my life can naturally evoke a lot of fear, but because I find constant relief as I give these fears over to God in prayer, I wind up praying much more now than I ever have. He has given me comfort in tough trials, bravery to step out in Faith, a companion in the times of loneliness, and a place where I can praise and thank Him for his abundant blessings.
YOU CAN’T MESS WITH A MAN’S FOOD:
Funny that God should bring a “Nutrient-Based”, nutrition girl to become “One” with a Veggie-Hating man, but alas, here we are. I learned VERY early on that trying to become my husbands “Health Coach” was not going to happen. I struggle with this (eh hmm…A LOT) some times, mainly because my sin of obsessing about food for myself still discourages me. But most of the time I just have to throw my hands up in the air and laugh. I hear this from nearly all of my clients and happily married women I know….you just don’t go there.

Tags Bikini Competition, body, husband, june 1, lessons, Love, marriage, Mind, Soul, top 10, watershed, wife

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

Spiritual Health Uncategorized

The Two Most Powerful Words…

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 22, 2015

I recently came across a beautiful quote that said, “I Am. The two most powerful words. For what you put after them shapes your reality.”

These words, “I Am” are incredibly powerful. Their meaning has so pervasive into my soul that it has taken on truer depths of meaning as I have thought of them, heard them in passing, and have seen them in written form too.

For those that took part in my 7-Steps to SURREND’her Goal Development Program or have read my ebook on the 7-Steps HERE, know that I drew emphasis on the power of our words in Step # 4 Visualize & Affirm It!

In this step, I stress the importance of using verbal affirmations because of the power that our words have over our subconscious mind! Since neuro scientists have revealed that our subconscious mind is responsible for 95% of our behavior, I argue that anything we can do to re-wire our subconscious minds in the direction we want to go is the best practice!

While, I think far too many people, including myself, ‘forget’ that this has been proven, and instead tend to repeat the old phrases in our heads. The lies that we’ve always believed.

Such was the case from the last blog I wrote the other day. I was in a world of turmoil for reasons I could not quite determine and I was just spiritually exhausted. In prayer, I called out to God and asked how I was supposed to manage all of my new roles and callings when “I Am so insecure.”

Those words, “I am” shaped that reality and were a main reason for my turmoil.

They were another LIE from the devil planted in my head, for who knows how long, that had taken root and was causing destruction in my ability to move forward with my Greater Purpose and calling.

Do I have remorse for saying those words? Absolutely not. Because by saying them to God, HE was able to set me right again and speak the truth into me.

He told me, “My Beloved, you are not insecure. You have just been believing the lie that you are insecure.”

God revealed to me what my truth is.

“I am empowered. I am strong. I am standing.”

BUT LET’S UNWRAP IT A BIT MORE…..

These words, “I am” will always remind me of God speaking to Moses in Exodus.

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3: 14)

For years and years, I have not been able to wrap my head around the sentence, “I AM has sent me to you.”

It has been a philosophical puzzle that I knew I was supposed to understand, but it wasn’t quite sinking to that depth yet….until one day.

Coincidentally, this was during a time where I was practicing the other part of the “Step #4 Visualize & Affirm It!” by doing a self visualization with my prayer.

There are times in my prayer that I get crystal clear on this woman that I picture myself to be. My ‘future self’ that is living out her Greater Purpose and calling. I imagine “her”, meaning me of course, in the course of a typical day.

{This “her” is actually what I hope to inspire all women to focus on becoming and is the “her” I refer to in “STRONG’her, WISE’her and SURREND’her”}

For me, my visualization prayer takes me to this certain place.

I visualize myself in 20+ years first in the outward appearance: I visualize what I’m wearing, my body and shape, the type of chair I’m sitting in, the type of food Im snacking on etc.

Then I visualize the feelings of this future version of myself: her aura and energy, the joy expressed in her face, the calm and peaceful way she talks— she is strong in grace.

One day, as I was finishing up this visualization prayer, I began thanking God for this vision and for this future version of me.

Instead of asking Him to guide me to be like her, I did the opposite, I thanked Him for already making it happen. I am that confident that I will be this woman I envision, that I don’t actually have to ask God to become that woman anymore, I can start thanking God for what I already know will be.

But as I started to thank Him, I found myself saying these words instead, “Thank you God for the woman that I will beco…(starting to say “become”), for the woman that “I AM.”

And that’s where it hit me. “I AM”

There is no “future me”, there is just me. It’s already been done. Just like there is no future God…He’s already there too.

All the difficulties I will face between now and that woman I envision is already done. The trials, the difficulties, the sorrows, the pains….already done and already solved. The joy, the love, the peace and the grace are all already given to me at maximum levels too.

I AM is now.

I AM all of those things I dream of being one day, right now.

The reason why this is true, is because God is in me and God IS ALL THESE THINGS.

God does not live in space and time. God is omnipotent.

God is both the sorrow and the joy.

God is both the pain and the peace.

He is ALL things because ALL things have their purpose, His Purpose.

When I was crying on the ground and said the words, “I am insecure,” God is that TOO. God is the LIE only because He must be the LIE in order to be the TRUTH. You cannot have the truth without also having the lie.

This is not to say that God is the cause of all of these things. I recently heard a sermon by Pastor Rick Warren where He distinguished that our circumstances (including the bad times) can be caused by 4 different sources:

1. God
2. The Devil
3. Ourselves
4. Other People

So while we can sometimes determine if we’ve caused our own pain or if other people have, we often don’t know if our suffering is from God or the Devil.

But the truth is that it doesn’t matter. What matters is not the source of the PAIN, but rather how we are going to use it for our Greater Purpose. Having a relationship with God means that we allow God to use all things to develop our Purpose and Character.

The truth is, our times of trouble and the difficult times will have a far greater impact on us that the good and happy times. The LIES we believe have their purpose in their pain.

So while I believe that the devil will continue to plant in my head the lies like, “I am insecure” that I will unknowingly believe for any course of time, I KNOW that God will give purpose and blessing to those lies.

There is POWER in setting those lies straight. There is POWER in discovering our TRUTH.

Jesus, who said, “I AM the way, the truth and the light” (John 14:6) will give us our TRUTH as long as we have ears that are open to hear it.

So I encourage you today, to stop, breathe and pray for greater awareness of who you really ARE. Pray that all lies will be made true again.

Shape the TRUTH of who you are by using the words, “I AM _______” and start repeating it to yourself every day, several times a day. Shaping this TRUTH can be just another way that God will be revealed in you.

“I AM sent me to you.”

Tags discovery, Faith, God, I am, Love, power, truth, Women, words

Spiritual Health

Confessions of an Unburdened Heart

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 17, 2015

Today, I would just like to share openly with you about some of my real and current struggles—not so that I use you, my beloved reader, as a way to vent my frustration and fears, but rather as a place where I can expose how God is rewiring my mind and soul in real time so that whatever struggle you might be facing right now might make you feel like you are less alone. So even if our struggles are not in the same category in life, we can connect in a sisterhood of Divine strength, knowing that we are not the only ones in this very moment who are having a hard time unwrapping our beautiful hearts from the greedy hands of the devils destruction.

I am experiencing one of those days that I just can’t stop crying. I am overcome. But God is speaking to me and I just hope to share what He is telling me now.

I pray that by unwrapping my heart, I might shine a light on your darkness too.

Gods love can overwhelm me. Experiencing a calling to the depth that I am experiencing can be so strong that it almost feels like a burden.

There are so many questions I cannot yet answer. The mystery of, “What will happen?” builds-up like piles of stones trying to create a mountain blocking the path that God has laid out before me.

Every day, I am challenged to be bigger than my fear. Every day I am challenged to choose God and choose Faith so that those stones of fear are bulldozed away and my path is made clear, again…..and again.

I had naively thought that once I overcame my initial fear of starting this business and was willing to be obedient to this calling, that I would overpower all fear.

I was wrong.

I battle fears of failure every day. I battle fears of caring too much about what other people think of me, every day. I battle fears of unworthiness every. single. day.

What’s crazy is this epiphany—–> The closer I get to God, the more my fears can mount up.

It is very clear, that the devil can sense this intimacy I have with God, and he is not happy with it.

My great Hope lies in this—–>the closer I get to God, the more I use His Power to knock down my fears. I thank God that His Power is so great.

The other wave of emotion that I feel is the weight of so many new ROLES all at once. What I am experiencing through this life shift of SURREND’her is a convergence of many “callings” meeting together at the epicenter, which is my heart.

This should not be surprising, since as I have written several times, our “Calling” or our “Greater Purpose” is not limited to what we “do for a living.” So while I will often relay that my “calling” is found in this business I have started, A.Wright Fit, the truth is my true Calling and my Greater Purpose is being molded from several roles all at once. I know I am not alone in these roles.

For instance:

I am called to be Wife. What an honor this role is. Wow, is it hard. Today, as I write this we are officially 7-months married. Newlyweds ;-). Borrowing the words of Gabrielle Bernstein as she too was speaking of her fiancé, (now husband), “He is my greatest assignment and my greatest teacher.” I moved away from my family and my home in Colorado, and found my new home in my husbands arms, wherever in the world they may be at the time, which is far more traveled than I had expected!
What I feel so far about being married is that much of what is so difficult about it is that often times I feel as though Howard is really acting as a mirror, reflecting back to me my greatest flaws. Looking at my flaws in a mirror is BY FAR one of my LEAST favorite activities. But the lessons I receive daily are abundant and humbling. Loving harder is a challenge I have not only accepted, but have committed to in the covenant of marriage. It is all here for a reason and it can all bring me close to God. But it is a daily choice.
I am called to be Mother. As I took my vows to marry, I also took on this new role as step-mom or what they call me, which is simply “Mandi” or specifically, “Mani” for the little one. This is a role no one can really prepare you for. There are not the “What to Expect When You’re Not Technically Expecting” books out there, nor did I experience any warm-up to parenting that being pregnant or raising a child from infancy can provide. I was thrown into the game as a rookie with both a toddler and a college student. As a step-mom, I think the greatest gift I have is just a natural sense in navigating the boundaries for all parties involved and growing in love every day. But I must admit, the fear of overstepping the boundaries are always great and choosing the love is not automatic, which I have guilt even admitting. I am grateful I have God who teaches me how to choose love.
I am called to be Sister. I am a little sister in the literal sense (and I miss my siblings fervently), but my calling is also now to be a Sister in the Soulful sense. Starting this business has very little to do with the actual products and programs I offer, and much more about how can I serve as a Sister in Christ. How can I play a role in helping others find their own paths to health and their Greater Purpose. How can I help others seek God’s great Power for their life? It is navigating the terrain and finding the right paths to being in the “right place at the right time” that is challenging. Connecting with my clients as their health coach and helping women, most of which I’ve never met, find a greater connection to their health and to God is an honor. It is simply my hope that I might be able to expand in this role and be called to serve on a wider platform. I do not know what lies ahead.
I am called to be Child. I am both the child of the greatest parents in the history of the world, including my mother-in-law, but also and more importantly, the child of God. I realized I am still in the infancy stages of life in so many ways and I know I am just learning to walk. Like children often do, I am learning so much at once! I realize I must learn first before I can teach—- so I must learn to walk before I can run.

So, as I mentioned in my opening, it is days like this that I feel very overcome by the greatness of these Callings converging on me all at once.

So I have done the only thing I have left to do, I have asked God the real question on my heart.

“God, why would you give such enormous callings to a girl who has been plagued with such insecurity her whole life? How can you expect this insecure girl to really manage a head-strong husband, being away from her family and security, the unknown role of step-mothering, the huge leap of faith to lead women as an entrepreneur all while still learning to “walk” as the Child of God?”

God has answered me.

I was literally bowed down with my head on the ground in the middle of my kitchen and His words came came to me,

“Beloved, you are not insecure. You have just believed the lie that you are insecure. I have given these things to you because you can handle them all, “not by works, but by Faith”. “Put on the armor of God” and become the warrior I have called you to be. Believe the lie no more and unburden your heart, “for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” You are worthy.”

He reminded me not to misjudge how I measure His love. To not think that just because some people have found worldly success that they are somehow loved more than me. He loves us all immeasurably and it cannot be compared. We do not see the full picture of everyone’s heart and happiness.

He reminded me that my burdens are not a sign that He does not love me either. They are more of a sign that I am doing what is right and it is the devil who is afraid. He reminded me that I can feel His love by his great protection and part of His love is shown in ways I cannot see.

He reminded me not to miscalculate the size of His hands and Might of His Wings. That His sovereign strength can bear all things. That I can “take refuge under His mighty wings” and give Him ALL of my burdens, even those I’m ashamed to admit. He can take them all and more.

He reminded me that I’m not alone.

That I’m not insecure.

I am a warrior.

So, I stood up. And here I shall STAND.

Below, are just some of the verses that came into my mind through my prayerful dialogue with God.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6: 11-13)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10)

“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 36: 7)

Tags christ, Faith, God, Jesus, Mother, strength, Struggle, wife, Women

Goal Development Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

3 Ways to Put the PRO in Progress

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 14, 2015

So “Emily (Blunt)” is the character in my mind that plays the role of my Inner Critic. She’s the hard-driving, perfectionist seeking, real b-word in my head that likes to point out all my weaknesses and tell me how I’m failing at things.

I introduced her to you in my last blog that talked more about our recognizing our Inner Self Critics, why we have those voices in our head to begin with, and how to refocus our mind to the only thing that IS perfect in our life (those areas where God dwells). If you missed it, check it out HERE.

In today’s blog, I want to cover how to adjust your goals and expectations of PERFECTION to a new word that will have much more POWER and much more SUCCESS.

—>PROGRESS.

In spite of all this chitter chatter of the “Emily” trying to manipulate my thoughts, I have to say that I have been able to muzzle her voice from my head with greater and greater success in the last several months!

To quiet her barking in my mind, I’ve just had to utter one phrase inside my head and she shuts up.

“Progress is Progress.”

PROGRESS is the new PERFECT. And I have developed a true sense of empowerment and motivation in life when I look for and see the ways that I am PROGRESSING instead of only focusing on the ways that I’m not yet perfect.

But you might be wondering – How do I make progress? In order to make progress, you must be proactive in reaching your goals. For example, if you want to lose some of your body fat, you know that what you’re doing currently isn’t working so you need to change something in order to see the progress you want. This could be something as simple as Googling “is DIY cryolipolysis effective” and taking steps to implement it, or it could be as major as totally changing your diet. It doesn’t matter what it is – your goals will be met no matter how slow you go.

As we all know, I am a big-time believer in writing and setting goals (hence why I wrote an ebook on the 7-Steps To SURREND’hered Goal Development which you can download free right HERE).

Often times however, it is in these very goals that I have so diligently planned out that I start to hear more of “Emily” in my head trying to measure me up to my perfectionist areas.

Let’s take one small, silly example to illustrate:

I made a small goal to be able to improve my time in running the 1.5 mile jog that I try to do as a warm-up in my workouts. Now mind you, there is no real reason why I think I need to improve my time in this effort nor any magic in running 1.5 miles, but it really is just a distance that I thought was a good amount of time and I like to created the mini goal to just push me a little harder!

So, anyway, this week, I was able to do the run 3x in my workouts. BUT, I wasn’t able to improve my time in the last run that I did this week because I was feeling a bit more sore and needed to go slower to start.

You all probably understand that this is really not a big deal. Not life or death. But the EMILY in me, wants to really put me down about it. She wanted me to push through the soreness and just “work harder” and “go faster.”

But, I shut her up. Why? Because….

Progress is Progress.

The fact is that I did this run 3x this week whereas last week I only did it 1x! So I made PROGRESS!!

The progress is what I need to focus on, not the “lack.”

While this kind of example illustrates a small disappointment I experienced this week and may not seem like too big of a deal on it’s own, the truth is our small disappointments build-up over time and can destroy our resolve.

If I let my mind continue to be unnecessarily disappointed in myself for the small stuff, it’s for sure going to be majorly affected for the big stuff. I have to rewire my thinking in small ways if I want to prepare myself to do the same in BIG ways.

Progress doesn’t have to be measured results either! Progress might be that you have mentally shifted away from past destructive behavior. That you are being more gracious, loving, and gentle with yourself. That too is making progress and should be acknowledged!

Let’s take another, more serious example:

Say you want to lose a fairly significant amount of weight (20-30lbs) and you know how hard it is to lose fat when you drink alcohol, but you have a real taste for wine and drink a glass or two 3x per week.

But because you want and need to lose this weight so bad, you set out to give up your wine for 30 days.

One week in, you have an especially stressful day and everything seems to have gone wrong and before you know it, that bottle of wine is opened and you’ve finished it off! Ugh!

So here you are, set-up with a prime opportunity for your own Self Critic to lay into you about how you blew it and probably some bit about how you’re never going to be able to do this and it’s too hard and you might as well quit!

AmIRight??

Luckily for us, we have this new slap in the face to offer our dear Self Critic. We say to her…

“Progress is Progress“!

Because the reality is, you used to drink 3x/week, and then this week you only drank 1x/week!

That, is the proper focus and that is the reality of how changes happen!

REAL, long lasting change usually happens step-by-step, not mile by mile.

REAL, long lasting change modifies your current bad habits just enough to make them better habits.

REAL, long lasting change is gradual and purposeful, not sweeping and bipolar.

THE REAL WAY YOU MAKE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN YOUR LIFE IS TO FOCUS ON MAKING PROGRESS!

Want to improve in this? I have you covered in just 3 steps!

3 Ways to Put the PRO is PROGRESS:

1. PRO-gram your MIND:

You must learn to mentally shift your mind away from your disappointment in yourself or thinking you’ve “failed” at something and instead see the PROGRESS you’ve made. The easiest way to do this is to verbally (or mentally) affirm it! Anytime you hear your Inner Critic barking at you from within, stop yourself and say “Progress is Progress” and look for the way that you did make progress in your effort.

Repeating things like sayings and affirmations actually reprograms your subconscious mind to believe what you are saying. The more often you say something, the more it becomes true for you and the more you start to live it.

2. PRO-fess the next PROgression:

Once you have acknowledged and recognized the progress you’ve made so far, you want to PRO-fess and decide what the next step or “mini goal” of progress is going to be! There is no time table or pressure to always do more and more, but it also is good to keep progressing! We must always keep learning!

We can and should feel great about only drinking 1x per week when we used to drink 3x per week, but we don’t want to stop short of our real goal and real capability either! We don’t want to be complacent with our efforts and fool ourselves into thinking our half-hearted attempts are “good enough” especially when we know we CAN do more.

So take a minute to mentally, verbally, or in writing decide your next level of progress you wish to make in this goal. Give yourself a *realistic* deadline to make it really stick!

3. PRO-vide the Example for others!

As you start to put less pressure on yourself to be “perfect” you will find that you can start putting less pressure on others to be perfect too. PRO-viding the example for them by acknowledging their progress will be a service you can provide to others that will also come back to you.

After all, you don’t want to be one of those people’s that gives yourself Grace but holds others to some standard of perfection they can’t reach!

Overall, I view my relationship with my Self Critic, “Emily Blunt” in my head as a pretty great thing. Recnognizing her comments now, almost laughing at how ridiculous and obsessive she sounds, and taking steps toward God and toward a life seeking PROGRESS in becoming STRONG’her, WISE’her and live SURREND’hered is truly what makes me EMPOW’hered.

Here’s to us, with the crazies in our head! Moving on….

Tags Emily Blunt, Faith, God, perfection, PRO, progress, Trust, voices

Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

Motherhood Woes and Why Emily Blunt sucks…

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date May 12, 2015

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all Mothers, Step Mothers and Adopted Mothers and Grandmothers out there, too. I am blessed to witness some really incredible mom’s in my world. As I reached out to my Mom, Grandmother, Mother-in-Law, sisters, mother to my step daughter Eden, as well as all the friends I have that are also mothers, I wanted to be sure I fully expressed how much I love them, how in awe of them I am, and how great I think they are doing as a mom because I know, as a mom, you never think you are really doing “good enough.”

Indeed, from some of these moms, I did get an almost expected reply back to my praise and adoration, saying, “I fail a lot, but thank you!”

It’s such an honest response to how I know most mom’s feel.

I certainly feel like I “fail” a lot as a Step Mom and have intense feelings of guilt trying plague my mind and thoughts. It can feel defeating.

But, what does that word even mean? FAIL.

To me, this word doesn’t signify an indication of merely the result of an effort made, but is more of an indication of what the goal was to begin with!

If you have ever felt you have FAILED at something, it is likely because your GOAL in this particular area was to be PERFECT.

There are just certain areas of our life where we strive for PERFECTION.

Perfectionism has fooled our minds into thinking that:

There is such thing as perfection;

That we actually have ability to be perfect;

Anything short of perfection is failure.

But, what we may not realize is having a mindset geared toward PERFECTION is a design from God Himself.

“I have planted a longing for perfection in every human heart. This is a good desire, which I alone can fulfill.” —Sarah Young, Nearer to Jesus

But what goes wrong, is we try to fill our hearts with things that are imperfect (hint: anything that is not God is imperfect, so yes, even your children are an example of this). Those areas then become our IDOLS and we suffer more because of it. We burden ourselves with expectations that can never be met and our mindsets suffer from our inner Self Critic pointing out every “failure” along the way.

But there is a way to beat this! There is a way to feel successful, full and complete!

In this 2-Part Blog Series We’re Going to TACKLE this issue of our Mind:

Part 1: Expose our perfectionist thinking by identifying the Self Critic in your Mind

Part 2: Offer the Alternative Goal that will allow for more God, more Grace, and more “Success” (HINT: the key word is PROGRESS).

OUR SELF CRITIC SABOTEUR!

WHAT IS OUR SELF CRITIC?

Our inner Self Critic is that voice in our head that is always nagging on us and criticizing us. It is the voice in our head that tells us we are not “good enough.”

For simplicity sake, let’s be clear there are 3 facts about our Inner Self Critic:

Our Self Critic is NOT the voice of God telling you you’re not good enough.
Our Self Critic is NOT the “real us” even though it’s a voice that sounds like us.
Our Self Critic IS a scheme of the Devil himself.

The devil can be so good and so smart that he might have you convinced that this voice in your head is “just the way you are” or it is God who is ashamed of you, but that is simply not the truth.

Being aware of these facts is a source of empowerment.

Discerning this Self Critic voice from God’s voice and your TRUE self is the awareness that you need in order to move beyond the limitations it tries to set upon you.

CHARACTERIZING OUR SELF CRITIC?

I was first introduced to the term “Self Critic” from the book, Playing Big, by Tara Mohr.

She says, “All women grapple with this voice of self-doubt in one way or another. For some women, it is most prominent around their professional lives. For others, it comes up around their sense of competence as mothers or partners. For others, it speaks mostly about appearance, body image or aging.”

Preach, Tara, preach!

There she invited me to think of my Self Critic in some character format so I might see her as someone other than me. I loved the idea and encourage you to do the same!

I named my self critic “Emily” after the character played by Emily Blunt in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. She’s the “popular girl” type who thinks that no one is ever good enough, pretty enough, smart enough or skinny enough. Yeah, she sucks. (Not the real Emily Blunt, but the character she plays in my head.)

For some of you, your self critic is going to be an older woman/man of authority that barks down orders. For others, your inner self critic might actually take on the character of your mom or dad or another family member that you have historically never felt “good enough” for.

Whatever the voice is, it’s important to recognize it so you can distinguish it. You can then learn to live with it (because it may never go away) but also ignore it because you recognize this voice for what it is.

Recognize the common phrases your self critic might use. Tara Mohr says our self critics will often speak in extreme phrases so you’re either “awesome” or “pathetic”. It’s usually harsh, mean and rude. Fear based and mischievous. Tells you you’re “not ready yet” to embark on a dream. Irrational, persistent, and seemingly like a “broken record” that just plays and plays.

I know personally, I recognize my self critic when I walk by a mirror and I hear “Ugh.” It may take a while to fully acknowledge, but it’s really important to start to recognize the character and cues that our Self Critics will use.

THE AREAS OF FOCUS FOR OUR SELF CRITIC:

Our self critic (i.e. the devil) is incredibly smart and knows to prey on those very areas of our mind and hearts that are the most susceptible to sabotage. Our very weakest weaknesses.

In fact, once you think about it, your Self Critic seems to expand in areas on your life that you fall most prey to idolatry. Those areas that you have a tendency to put ahead of God.

Allow me to humbly admit the 3 top ares of my own demise and idolatry:

First in my RELATIONSHIPS, “Emily” likes to keep me worrying about what everyone is always thinking of me and keeps putting pressure on me to be a “perfect” wife, “perfect” friend, “perfect” step mom, “perfect” health coach and all that.

Then in my WORK, “Emily” has been especially hard driving on me lately to get more done and do everything all at once to make sure that my new business will succeed. She’s been basically yelling into my head with a megaphone on this one.

Then in my HEALTH, “Emily” has been historically a real b-word. She has yelled at me in my head to workout longer, eat more strict, and especially focused on my body’s flaws and how I just must not be “working hard enough” to see quicker changes!

I fully admit that in all the three areas, I wake up every day putting unrealistic pressures on myself to strive for a level of perfection that doesn’t exist.

Every. Day.

But, my power is is recognizing this voice and ignoring it.

THE ANTIDOTE TO OUR SELF CRITIC:

The other day I was listening to a Rick Warren podcast called “Daily Hope” (one I highly recommend for anyone looking for “quickie” Spiritual guidance!) where he mentioned that the antidote to FEAR is to FOCUS ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

That same focus applies to this Self Critic since the truth about these “perfectionist” thoughts is FEAR as well.

Transitioning our focus to the one thing that IS PERFECT is the perfect way to overcome this Self Critic voice from the devil.

Recognizing our weaknesses and imperfections and offering them up to God is the only way we can be made perfect in Him.

“But he said to me, ‘My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

We DO have the opportunity for perfection, but it is only found where God dwells in us. So if we seek God and connect with God, we find that perfection we long for.

The Devil will continue to try to tear that away and you will struggle every day, in many different ways, to keep that connection to Christ, but God knows that.

God knows that you have a heart that desires perfection, He created that so you would seek HIM more. This means not once, not twice, not 100 times, but every day, several times a day, you must seek God and find the fulfillment you need.

The more you practice this, the more God will relieve your worrisome mind and rest your fears that you are not “good enough” at motherhood, health, or whatever areas your tend to fret.

This awareness, has been incredibly powerful for me. I have been able to use this GodPower source and He has given me a new word and a new GOAL to strive for.

PROGRESS!

Part II of this series will cover how you too can transition your areas of “Perfectionist” thinking in your pursuits for health and use instead a goal of PROGRESS to keep you motivated and find success and satisfaction!

Tags Faith, God, Health, imperfections, perfection, progress, relationships, self critic, work

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)