Month: July 2019

Grow your resilience

The tree pictured has resilience. It is growing off of a ledge. Learn how to grow your resilience with my new ebook.

Fitness is more than eating right and exercise. I believe that fitness is holistic – that is, body and mind. Keep the body healthy, keep the mind healthy and you’ve got fitness nailed. But what happens when you encounter hardships? Can you bounce back? It helps to know how to grow your resilience in cases like this so that you can come back from those hardships better and stronger than ever!

So how can you grow your resilience? Contrary to what some people may think (those who wallow in their misfortune and say, “Woe is me,” or words to that effect) you can actually grow and improve your resilience. It is a skill that can be improved with effort.

Learn from misfortune

It’s important to look at what happened objectively and learn from the experience. Learn from your reaction to the experience. Were you reactive or proactive? Could you have been proactive to get a better outcome?

Choose your reaction

Whatever happens, take a moment and breathe. You don’t have to react immediately. Run through your options in your brain. “If I do {this}, then {that} will happen.” I know – sometimes it’s hard not to react to circumstances right away. But, it’s almost always to your benefit to wait a moment to react. That nanosecond may be just enough time to rethink a reaction that would not be appropriate. (Or to think of a better reaction even if your first inclination was not inappropriate.)

The point is that you almost always have time to think before you react or offer a comment.

Other ways to grow your resilience

There are other ways to grow your resilience. One is to be happier. Optimistic people can almost always bounce back quickly from one of life’s misfortunes. They seem to have the coping skills that are needed.

Want more ways to improve your resilience? Click here or the button on the right and get my new ebook, “How do you bounce back?”

The Satiation Diet

Eat foods to satisfy you longer

Chicken being prepared for roasting: a lean protein which satisfies us longer.

Ever hear of the “Satiation Diet?” me neither, until today. It makes perfect sense, though. The idea is to eat foods that satisfy you for longer. And by increasing the protein in your diet to 20 – 25% of calories, along with the fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains you’ll feel more satisfied for longer, eat less between meals and reduce your total calorie intake. You’ll lose weight and keep it off.

A well-rounded diet is key

We already know that the best way to lose weight is to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. And the carbs we eat should be complex carbohydrates, like whole grains. And protein is essential in our nutrition. (And, of course, to move more!) 

But, to be really successful at losing weight, we need a “diet” or eating plan we can stick to. We have to reduce calories to lose weight, but that won’t happen if we find that our eating plan leaves us hungry. We’re only human, and when we’re hungry, we eat. (Or get cranky – like me.) And eating without planning means grabbing whatever we can get our hands on the fastest, and that’s not usually the healthiest option.

Reduce snacking

That means if our healthy planned meals leave us satisfied for longer, the tendency to snack between meals is reduced. And eating a little more protein with our meals will leave us feeling more satisfied. So, even if the total calories is a little higher, our total calories for the day will be less because we won’t be eating between meals. That protein should, of course, be lean protein like chicken or fish. I will admit to the occasional burger too! There are plenty of non-animal protein choices too, so there’s no excuse not to increase your protein intake. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should decrease the fresh vegetables in your diet. These have other nutrients that your body needs.

The conclusion:

So, eat more protein!