I didn’t start out being an early morning exerciser. I started out going to the gym after work, fighting for equipment in an over-crowded gym with tons of other folks. But once I made the switch to early morning workouts, I’ve never looked back. Although there’s no ‘best’ time to exercise – you should do it whenever it works for you – there are some distinct advantages of exercising first thing in the morning: It’s done & over with – you don’t have to think about it again. Nothing gets in the way of working out in the morning – no last minute meetings, drinks with friends,  or traffic. The gym isn’t typically crowded, so you don’t have to fight for the use of equipment or space.   I made the switch when I started volunteering for a women’s shelter, and committed myself to going through training after work. Once Read More . . .

Overwhelmingly, the thing that I hear over and over again, is ‘Elizabeth, I want to work out (or eat healthy, or go to bed on time), but when it comes to actually doing it, I just don’t. I don’t feel like doing it.’ I can totally relate to this. In the light of day, I have the best intentions to eat vegetables all day, go for long walks, and lift heavy things, but when it comes to actually doing it, I have a hard time motivating. This time of year can be especially difficult: it’s getting darker earlier; there is so much going on, it can seem easier to just say ‘eff it! I’ll start new in January!’; it’s cold – which breeds hibernation, and starchy comfort food. Its not surprising that motivation is the thing that folks struggle with. We think that we need more information – so we go out and by books, Read More . . .

Body image – we don’t really like to talk about it, and yet, we all feel like crap about ours. The beauty, fashion, and fitness industries count on the message that we aren’t good enough without this product that they are trying to sell us. Over the course of the past few years, there’s been a rise in the body image movement. Proponents of this movement state that no matter what your size, you should be happy with your body. You shouldn’t hide or live in shame if you don’t identify with the narrow definition that are portrayed in the images we see, that really only represent a small percentage of women – what color we are, shape and size. Opponents of the body acceptance movement fear that if we are happy with our body, then that means that I won’t be driven to be healthy, eat nutritious food, or exercise. Somehow, they attest Read More . . .

I’ve struggled with anxiety for the past year or so. It feels very strange to me to write about this so publicly, since I haven’t talked about it with anyone except a few close friends and clients. It’s not something that I’ve been hiding, or keeping a secret, but I wasn’t talking about it because I didn’t really have any answers. It’s something that came on with a vengeance, and I’ve been trying to make sense of it myself – wondering, is this something that is part of my life from here on out? And since I didn’t really have any explanation, or answers, I didn’t want to talk or write about something that I didn’t really have any perspective or a solution for. But now, I do. The Back Story: I  am not a crier. It’s just not part of my personality and who I am. I have no judgement against Read More . . .

How often do we allow our feelings to dictate our actions? “I don’t feel like ___________fill in the blank________.” (exercising, eating my vegetables, paying my bills, getting up in the morning) In her book, the Willpower Instinct, Dr. Kelly McGonigal breaks willpower into three distinct types: ‘I won’t power’ willing yourself to abstain from certain behaviors, like quitting smoking, spending money, overeating, or biting your tongue; ‘I will power’, willing yourself to do something like eat vegetables, or exercising; ‘I want power’, the ability to go after a long-term goal in spite of obstacles and barriers. What immediate ‘want’ is most likely to distract you or tempt you away from this goal? Normally, when we think about willpower, we think of ‘I won’t power’ – things that we want to stop doing. We think of ‘I will power’ as motivation. I will go to the gym. OR I will pay my taxes on time. Read More . . .