Looking For New Questions and Finals Week

Hey guys!

There's only two more weeks left of the semester, one week of classes and one week of finals.  It's been a hectic semester at Penn State but it's been an awesome time!  I got to take Nutritional Assessment, Disseminating Nutrition Information, and Community Nutrition this semester and it was wonderful working in classes focused around what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life!

I'm currently driving myself crazy with Chemistry right now.  It's not my strongest subject but I love it so.  If I could get it to like me back I think my final exam will go quite well.  Haha!  As a break and a way to keep my sanity, I've been reading through Fast Food Nation again.  It's one of the books that got me focused and passionate enough around health and nutrition to turn it from a hobby into a career.  I highly suggest this book to anyone that can get a copy!

I can't believe for fast this semester went and that spring is here already!  Yes, this winter lasted quite awhile longer than normal, but the grass is lush, the flowers are blooming, and the trees are budding all over campus.  The Sustainability Community Garden on campus has already had it's first workshop and has opened up the plots for the gardeners to plant their crops.

As the semester comes to a close, I feel this is a good time for me to get a list together of topics for people to ask me about.  I've really missed doing the "research quickies", so I can't wait to see what people are wondering about.  I do have one topic already lined up.

It's...CONSTIPATION!

dun, Dun, DUN!!  Yep!  Constipation.  Everyone poops, it's a natural, normal, and necessary function.  But how can you get your system going?  How can you prevent getting "plugged up"?  And, most importantly, how do you do this WITHOUT using medications?  I'll have that coming to you soon!

Constipation Teaser:  stimulate peristalsis.

So, people of the internet!  Send me your nutrition/health/fitness questions!

Photo Credit from Creative Commons: Abulic Monkey

What Does It Feel Like To Be A Beachbody Coach?

Fulfilling.

If I was to sum up all of the emotions I feel about my job into one word it would have to be fulfilling.  No other job has left me feeling like this.  It's more than seeing people lose weight or improve their health.  People improve their lives!  It's seeing the transformation as someone goes through a program.  Their confidence increases, they become more open, and they're excited about life.

I'm a firm believer that exercise has an amazingly positive impact on people's moods.  I've experienced it myself as someone with PTSD and depression.  Exercise, for me, is key to my mental well being.  But I believe the changes people are feeling goes beyond that.  With Beachbody and Beachbody challenge groups you gain a new family to go along with your new lifestyle.

Yes, I know it sounds cheesy but that's exactly how it is.  When you run through a challenge group with other people, be it 21 days for the 21 Day Fix or 90 days with the P90X series, you get to know people on a personal level.  You share your doubts, your struggles, your successes, and your joy!  A challenge group can be an inspiring place of healing and love.  It's a place to make connections and grow as a person.

I believe that I have learned and grown as a person because of each of my clients.  Again, the cheese factor is high, but that is truly how I feel.

I posted a thank you to them on my Facebook but I wanted to post a thank you to them as well on here.

So, thank you!  Thank you for reaching out to me, thank you for believing in me, thank you for trusting me, and thank you for supporting me in my dream of becoming a Registered Dietitian.  It's always a humbling experience.

<3

Discover Your Purpose

I'll admit it, I have times when I doubt myself.  Am I pursuing the correct career?  Am I truly going to be successful?  Am I doing everything in my power to ensure that I will be successful?

When I start to have these thoughts I know it's time to realign myself and dig into my dreams.  Tony Robbins manages to focus my digging and get my head on straight within a hour.  This is why I wanted to share his inspirational video "Starting Over, Living with Purpose".  Living with a purpose has improved my life beyond my wildest dreams.  However, we are creatures of habit so compliance sets in.  Living in compliance isn't enough to accomplish your dreams!

So, watch this video!  Do the exercises!  Really!  And find what you want to focus on.  Don't be compliant and break the daily habits.  You'll feel better once you start.

Spring Semester at Penn State

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring semester at Penn State and I'm elated and nervous at the same time.  This isn't my first semester back, it's my second, but it will be my first semester blogging throughout it.  I had wanted to blog about my first semester back but at the same time felt terrified to because of self-doubt and nagging thoughts.  What if I fail?  Who would want to read about someone failing?  How is that inspirational?

Looking back, I regret not voicing those fears because it's bloggers that share with that level of intimacy that inspire me and, more importantly, remind me that I'm not alone!  Everyone experiences fears and doubt but I think that, for some reason, we like to pretend that the general populous doesn't.  That we're somehow different, or worse "broken", because we feel doubtful while Joe Whomever seems to always have his stuff together.  Let me tell you, they don't.  No one is 100% perfect and that's OK!  It's expected!

As far as my imperfection goes, I didn't get the C I needed in Chemistry.  In a way, I'm happy that I didn't because dealing with the class taught me a lot about what I need to change in the ways of my study habits and schedule in order to succeed.  I found out about Penn State's online test anxiety resource center, which actually helped raise my exam grades in other classes; I learned that I need to put everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) into my digital calendar instead of using a physical one like I used to; I learned how long before different subjects I needed to study to do the best I could on the exam (Nutrition and Physiology = 2 days prior; Anatomy and Chemistry = 1 week+ prior); I got a harsh reminder that studying in certain classes has to happen everyday (hence the D in chemistry).

I was also reminded that I NEED to exercise at least 5 days a week!  It has to happen.  It's how I release my stress and while I did walk around 5-6 miles a day, it wasn't the intense cardio that T25 gave me.

Now, before the semester even started, I've started my studying since my text books are in (the Chemistry book is an eBook) AND I researched resources others have used to help them with chemistry and I wound up picking up Chemistry for Dummies I and II.

Two texts that I'm going to worship this semester!

I cannot wait for this semester to start!  I cannot wait to meet my professors!  And, most importantly, I can't wait to be one step closer to my dream of becoming a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist (they changed the title last year).

If you're studying this major to please let me know!  We could help each other!  I did get an A in my Nutrition 251 and a B in my physiology class so don't let the chem grade scare you off.  XD

The Power of Visualization

"If you can't see it, then how are you going to get it?!"
That is a thought that was running through my head when I first decided that I wanted to lose weight.  Waay back before I actually understood my "why" behind my desire to lose weight and get back the physique I once had.  So, this thought has been in my mind recently, since I just discovered my why not too long ago.

The art of seeing what you want to achieve, and I do believe it is an art, is called visualization.  I'm sure we all know what visualization is, but just to ensure we have all of our i's crossed and t's dotted (=P) let's throw a definition out there:

Visualization is "...a cognitive tool accessing imagination to realize all aspects of an object, action or outcome".  In a sense it's kind of like day dreaming, but with a purpose behind it, because you (re)create a scenario using most, or even all, of your senses" (Baumgartner, 2011).

I use visualization on an almost daily basis now because if I can't see myself with a four pack in a bikini for the first time ever, then how am I going to know what to aim for?  How am I going to know when I reach my goal?

Visualization has many uses outside of helping you get the body you want.  Psychologists use it in their practice to help patients exercise specific reactions to situations; athletes use it before a match; actors use it before they perform.  It helps because the brain is being trained to perform the task, it's like practicing a practice match.

Angie LeVan, MAPP, (2009) goes over a great way to get started with visualization.  I've included the excerpt below:

Begin by establishing a highly specific goal. Imagine the future; you have already achieved your goal. Hold a mental ‘picture’ of it as if it were occurring to you right at that moment. Imagine the scene in as much detail as possible. Engage as many of the five senses as you can in your visualization. Who are you with? Which emotions are you feeling right now? What are you wearing? Is there a smell in the air? What do you hear? What is your environment? Sit with a straight spine when you do this. Practice at night or in the morning (just before/after sleep). Eliminate any doubts, if they come to you. Repeat this practice often. Combine with meditation or an affirmation (e.g. “I am courageous; I am strong”, or to borrow from Ali, “I am the greatest!”).

So, what is your highly specific goal?  Can you see it happening yet?  If not, keep practicing!

Reference(s):
Baumgartner, J. (November 8, 2011). The psychology of dress, the doctor is in...you closet! Visualize it. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-psychology-dress/201111/visualize-it.

LeVan, A. (December 3, 2009). Flourish! Seeing is believing: The power of visualization. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization.

The Benefits of Working on Myself...I Know My Purpose

I just realized tonight that it's been 60 days since I became a Beachbody coach.  I'm not where I want to be with the business but I have had success and I'm holding on to that because success means that I've reached out to people and they've taken strides to change their health for the better.

Anyways, during the first 60 days as a coach I was supposed to go through a "coach basics" course led by my mentor coach.  I got about a week in when my life decided that I needed to focus on something more important.  I know!  What could've been more important than following my life's dream of helping people through nutrition and exercise?  That dream is why I'm working two traditional jobs to get out of debt enough to pay to go back to college and get my nutrition degree.  That dream plays a huge part in my commitment to improve my own health.

However it turns out getting myself emotionally in the right mindset was what was more important.  It's something that I'm still working on, overcoming trauma and managing depression.  I've come a LONG way in the last 60 days.  I'm no longer relying on two medications, I understand myself and my mind more, I can talk to myself like I talk to everyone else (positively!!), and I can issue a self pep talk like no one's business.  I'm on the verge of...dare I say it, feeling truly happy on a regular basis!

My mind feels more focused and my drive is even stronger than it was for getting my body back.  I dug deeper below "I want to lose weight." and found soo many reasons that drive me so much harder, most of them selfish but I've come to realize that the honest reasons are what drive me the most.  I was treating wish to get healthy like...a wish.  As an after thought or something that I would like to have happen but probably won't happen.  I was mentally priming myself for failure, even though I wanted success.  Now, I NEED success.  It's a hunger that I haven't felt before, it's true motivation.
This same level of drive hit me tonight in regards to helping others live healthier lives.  It struck me so hard that I got choked up, I'm still getting teary eyed.   I wanted to make a video explaining why I want to help others and why I am a Beachbody coach, but I think I would just cry the whole way through, which is why I'm saying it in a blog instead.

I want to help others because that's what I'm supposed to do, I can feel it in my soul.  When I'm offering advice and helping people pick out workout programs (even free ones on here or bodybuilding.com) I feel complete.  I feel like I'm actually living my life instead of it just passing me by.  All of my life I've felt like time was slipping through my fingers and for the first time I have found something that negates that feeling.  I am not alive if I am not able to coach and guide someone through a lifestyle change...even though I'm still going through one myself.
I feel like a switch has been flipped in my head.  Everything makes sense because I not only know, I understand my life's purpose!  This is a glorious feeling!

(Originally posted on my Sparkpeople.com blog)