Self-Improvement | Weight | The Self Improvement Blog

I Want It Now!

February 28, 2012 By Admin Leave a Comment

Remember that little girl from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that yelled I Want It Now!

I’ve always been a bit like that with, well, with just about everything. Patience is one thing I still need to work on. I was thinking about the “I want it now” thoughts we have with weight loss.

After a lifetime of dieting, fasting, pills, and other unhealthy things I thought would help me lose weight, I still went in to each diet thinking how quick can I lose this weight? I wanted it off Now!

I just knew life would get so much better after I lost the weight. I thought the weight was stopping me from being happy. The truth is I was stopping myself from being happy.

I started feeling happier and more content with my life when I decided to choose happiness. When I wake up each morning I think to myself I am going to be in a good mood today and happy. In the past when I woke up I would get up and wait for something to happen and let that decide my mood.

You can have happiness right now if you decide to choose that emotion for the day.

You can choose to be happy on the journey to better health and realize you didn’t gain all of the weight overnight and you won’t lose it overnight. You can yell, I want it now, but it won’t work with weight loss.

If you start today in hopes of quick weight loss, on a diet with rules that are making you miserable because you know it’s going to be so hard for you to wake up each morning and drink a gross tasting shake how long do you think you will stick to it? Not long! You will feel punished and deprived and so would I. Those diets would send me binging for days or longer.

Then the hunt would begin for the next diet that would promise me I could have quick weight loss and my life would perfect by purchasing their diet for a small price of $29.99 I could lose weight fast, look like I was 20 (even though I’m 48) and my life would be perfect.

I want to tell you what you really can have right now.

Right now you can choose to be happy and choose to focus on your health. It’s your choice. You can choose to start a new journey today. One that will treat you with love, compassion and forgiveness and give you better health from the inside out. You won’t lose the weight overnight. There will be bumps in the road, but you will learn from them and they will only make you stronger. All you have to do is take that first step and add in something positive today.

That’s all you have to do to get started. Have a healthy breakfast today and you have succeeded or go for a walk or tell yourself you are beautiful. It doesn’t matter what you do, just do 1 positive thing today.

Isn’t it sad that it feels wrong if we aren’t taking things from ourselves and punishing ourselves. We deserve so much more than that!

Please believe in yourself and believe you deserve to be healthy and happy because you do.

I Believe in you and I Believe you can do this! You just need to believe it too!

Choose to have a great today!

Jaki Sinclair blogs at Slim Down U ( http://www.slimdownu.com ) has lost 125 pounds and is committed to encouraging people to make healthy habits one step at a time for weight loss, better health and a happier life.

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Filed Under: Physical Health, Weight Tagged With: lose weight, positive today, quick weight loss, Self Esteem, Weight

Do You Love Yourself Enough to Lose That Extra Weight?

December 9, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

By Caroline Radway -

There may be some contradiction in the concept of ‘loving what we have now’ and striving to change things. But it is likely that you are not your ideal weight or fitness because you have not been kind and caring to yourself. Eating junk and not moving are NOT loving – our bodies crave this! Loving our bodies will result in weight stabilizing and excess body at naturally dropping. If you want to push things or take an accelerated approach, that is fine too, but you MUST do it from a positive, accepting and loving place. Achieving a certain weight / size / body fat percentage will not change you as a person, or make you a better person. But it is a fine goal if you want it to be!

Whatever is right for you, you can do it. You do not have to conform to any particular ‘school’ or approach. You simply need to commit to your approach, and stay focused on your goal, moving forwards with each step.

If you feel that you must go for the most extreme and ‘painful’ approach to getting in better shape, then this book is very relevant for you! That is an issue that needs to be addressed for you to learn to love your body and achieve a state of balance.

Feeling that you must deprive yourself to get results indicates you are operating from a place of self-flagellation and submission, not a place of self-love! Which usually leads to yo-yoing, guilt and permanent ‘dieting’.

Learning to be kinder to yourself is likely your personal ‘missing link’ – it certainly has been mine!

It is important that you open your mind enough to find the element or elements of the overall picture that is currently holding you back. Something is, and being prepared to think about the problem differently is the only way to find out what that might be.

An important thing to remember is that it is almost impossible to find the solution to a problem when we use the same mindset that created the problem.

When it comes to training and nutrition, finding the approach that gets results with the minimum disruption possible is by definition the most efficient. Plus, it leaves you with room to boost things later down the line. If you use up all your resources now, then find yourself stuck, you have nothing left to play with!

Information and education leads to inspiration and empowerment. Operating from a place of understanding and awareness means you do not need to rely on willpower, as you begin to make the right choices naturally. This is what this journey is about.

Caroline Radway is a fitness, nutrition and lifestyle coach. You can get your FREE report, The MIRACLES Success Solution, and get access to more top tips and advice here: FREE FITNESS TIPS!

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Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Losing Weight, love yourself, self improvement, Weight

Self Esteem, Weight Loss And Self Confidence

May 29, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

By Larry Haber -

Little self-confidence and low self-esteem are among the most frequent problems associated with obesity or over-weight. Up to a point, such feelings are the normal consequences that accompany eating disorders. Remember that your body as such is not responsible for your eating problem. The stages of all self-improvement processes take you to accepting what you are as a whole. Let’s see what it is to be done in order to increase your self-confidence.

1. Control your thoughts!

Stop projecting negative attitudes towards your body. By respecting your body, you respect yourself. Every time you feel criticizing yourself, kill the treacherous thought in the bud. Leave it behind, the same way you eliminate a bad dream or memory.

2. Use positive appreciation!

Congratulate yourself on every success in your life and behave like a winner. Think like a fighter who is not afraid to accept and deal with challenges. Use the following positive assertions at least several times every day.

I congratulate myself for the way I look.

I am totally pleased with my performance today.

Despite general expectations, I handled the situation admirably well.

I feel free of all prejudices against myself.

3. Dare to try things that you’ve always wanted to do!

Want to learn swimming? Well, what’s stopping you? I’m sure there are things you’ve always wanted to do, but you didn’t have the courage to try because you lacked the confidence or felt shy because of your weight. Eating in public could be a challenge for someone who thinks all the eyes are watching her or his next bite. Well, the thing is that such scenarios are only going on in your mind. Stay natural, behave naturally and everything will seem a lot more comfortable and secure.

4. Feel confident in your personal value!

Though many people have to live on with the burden of an unsuccessful past, it is up to you to free yourself from past failures and begin a new stage of personal affirmation. Get into the habit of keeping an inner council with yourself at the end of each day. Analyze how much you’ve trusted your instincts, skills and abilities during the specific activities you were involved in. If you’re not pleased with the outcome and you think you could have done better, don’t linger on guilt or frustration. Let such feelings go and focus on being more confident in the future.

By keeping a close watch over your accomplishments, you discover and know yourself a lot better. Trust me, if you do that, there are big surprises waiting in stock for you. People are pretty amazed when they compare past performances with the unexpected potential that exists in them.

The mirror game

Make a habit of looking in the mirror in the morning after you get out of bed. I know the hair is disheveled, the eyes puffy and so on, but this is not the point of the exercise. When you see yourself, act as if you met a friend, say “Hi”, smile and add something nice directed at your person.

Don’t rush into thinking that this is silly! It is a proved fact that such games or exercises increase self-awareness and are self-esteem boosters. Doing so for a longer period of time will help you understand that you don’t live with your body but in it, and the extra kilos you’ve been resenting so much, don’t define who you are. You ARE that friendly, cheerful soul!

Live a joyful life!

If you have accepted the challenge of self-improvement while trying to apply the “laws of happiness” to your life, you may have come to rediscover the joy of living. It is not uncommon to hear people talking about attracting joy; is joy something to be created at will? My answer is a big YES; your personal choices are the ones that really determine joy!

Joy does not only refer to the moment you laugh from the bottom of your heart because of something funny. By joy, we also mean the sheer bliss of life and the ability to appreciate it all the time. Let’s take a look at a conclusive example of what it means to “enjoy living”.

When you go to work on a sunny day pay attention…Do you see smiles on faces or looks towards the clear sky? Do you take the time yourself to watch a simple tree that shivers in the warm wind? Smiling at a flower, a bird or a clear day is what enjoying life is about. This is the way to be happy every moment of your life. Truly, sheer happiness comes in small things.

Larry Haber- creator of the subliminal mind club. A place where you can access and try all the latest subliminal messages and software. Get a free membership [http://www.subliminalmindclub.com/signup.php]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Haber
http://EzineArticles.com/?Self-Esteem,-Weight-Loss-And-Self-Confidence&id=965394

If you want a healthy way to lose that extra weight – whether it is 10 pounds or 100 pounds, click here.

Filed Under: Self Esteem Tagged With: self confidence, Self Esteem, Weight

It’s time to lose the weight – Yes, you can!

May 20, 2011 By ireneconlan Leave a Comment

By Irene Conlan -

Obesity is big news these days – pun intended.

Obesity is a growing health problem because of the serious ripple effect it has on all areas of health. The four leading causes of death – heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer – are all associated with obesity. That’s a fact.

We don’t need to go into detail about the problem. We only need to mingle in a crowd of people and take a good look at those around us. The number of people who are overweight is alarming, not just because of the way they look but because of what they represent – serious health problems, surging medical bills, loss of work, hardship on family members, early death and general unhappiness. You know the “jolly fat lady?” She’s a myth.

i have a weight problem. I’ve had to struggle with it most of my life and it wasn’t until I was older that it became what seemed like an endless losing battle. If there’s a diet out there that I haven’t tried, I don’t know what it is. I’ve done them all. Some were successful and some were not. When I hit the age of 70 a doctor told me to forget about losing weight because it was not possible for people my age to do so. I had a minor stoke and couldn’t fit in the MRI machine comfortable. I was terrified and said, ‘That’s it.” I WILL lose weight somehow or other. I changed doctors and the new physician sent me immediately to a weight loss specialist. The diet was rigorous and dangerous. Over the course of ten months I lost 93 pounds and I was ecstatic. There was a problem, however. My hair was falling out and my fingernails were so paper thin that they simply peeled off when i did anything with them. I began to feel “unwell” and, going off the rigorous diet began to regain the weight. When I had regained 40 pounds I knew I was in trouble and that’s when I found Herbalife.

It was one program I hadn’t tried because I knew they used “shakes.” I didn’t want to drink shakes and so I didn’t even look into it. Sometimes we can be blind with 20-20 vision. I had “heard” about it from well-meaning friends who had heard about it from well-meaning friends who had heard … You know the drill.

After two weeks I am gently losing losing weight. I am not starving. I am loving the shakes. I’m feeling great and the weight is coming off. I am being closely monitored and the weight and inches are melting off.

And so I’m sharing this with you. Don’t let yourself have a stroke or a heart attack. If you are overweight, make a choice today to take care of it. Click the ad in the right column and get more information. Do something about it. Soon I will have before and after pictues. I promise. But here are some from others.

Don’t wait another day. Your life depends on it.

For more information, click here.

Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: Healthy Weight Loss, herbalife, Weight

A Balanced Diet: What Is It and How to Achieve It?

March 18, 2011 By Admin Leave a Comment

By Regina Cheah -

Having a balanced diet simply means eating the right type of food in the right amounts at the recommended levels in order for your body to take in the nutrients it needs for health. It is important to have one as it ensures the prevention of obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and diseases.

According to the ‘Australian guide to healthy eating’, the number of daily servings required from each food group to meet your body’s daily nutrient needs can be roughly broken down into the following:

Carbohydrates: 6 – 9

Protein: 1 – 2

Fats: 1 Dairy: 2 – 3

Fruit: 2

Vegetables: 5

Next thing you would need to know is what constitutes 1 serving of a food group.

Carbohydrates:

• 1 slice of bread

• 1 cup of Rice or pasta or noodles

• ¾ cup of ready to eat cereal

• 1 medium bread roll

Protein:

• 70 – 90 grams of cooked lean meat/fish/poultry

• 2 small eggs or 1 large egg

• ½ cup peanuts/almonds

• 2 small lamb chops

Fat:

• 1 tsp of vegetable oil/butter/peanut butter

• 5 grams of fat in food such as cakes and pastries

Dairy

• 1 cup of yogurt/milk

• ½ cup of ice cream

• 1 slice of cheese

Fruit

• ½ cup of freshly squeezed juice

• 1 apple/orange/banana

• ½ cup of chopped fresh fruit

• ¼ cup of raisins or dried fruit.

Vegetables

• Half a cup of cooked vegetables

• One whole tomato

• 10 baby carrots

• 1 cup of salad vegetables

Now, a major problem in trying to follow this guide to ensure that your body has all the nutrients it needs to be healthy, is that a person would have to consume (for example), a minimum of 2 slices of bread, 4 cups of rice, 70 grams of cooked meat cooked in some vegetable oil, 2 cups of yogurt, 2 apples, 30 baby carrots and 4 cups of cooked vegetables per day. Though this may be easily achievable by some, for many others, especially those who live extremely busy lives or are trying to reduce their portion size and calories to lose weight , it is not. Thus, I have outlined a few recommendations and tips on how to achieve a balanced healthy diet.

• Try choosing high-nutrient density foods such as a sandwich that is packed with lean meat and vegetables. This will provide a higher amount of vitamins and minerals without too much calories

• Avoid foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients. These are mainly foods like candy, soft drinks and cake.

• Always serve a salad with your main meal for lunch and dinner. This will ensure you will increase your intake of vegetables.

• Swap rice/pasta/noodles for bread, 1 slice of bread is already 1 serving of carbohydrates!

• A cup of freshly squeezed juice in the morning covers your recommended daily intake of fruit

• If you have a busy lifestyle or, you’re trying to lose weight and still finding it hard to meet the daily requirements, it is also a good idea to try and take supplements. Supplements can ensure that your body will receive all the nutrients it needs if you’re unable to consume enough food for your body to extract the required vitamins and nutrients to reach optimum health.

However, please keep in mind that it is important not to replace your real fruits and vegetables with the supplements (if you choose to take them). Nothing can ever replace a healthy diet!

Good luck!

It is never too late or too hard to live a healthy lifestyle. Make the commitment and achieve that healthier lifestyle you have always wanted. Your body, mind and soul will thank you for it!

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Filed Under: Health Tagged With: balanced diet, Dieting, Healthy Eating, healthy life, Healthy Living, nutrition, supplements, Weight

Weight Loss – How to Lose That Pound of Fat Safely

January 23, 2011 By Guest Contributor 2 Comments

By Sanjeev Pulakurthi -

Each pound of fat that we consume contains approximately 3,500 calories this means that if you either don’t consume that one pound of fat or work out to burn 3500 calories, then you successfully lose pounds. Sounds good by the numbers, but one must be very careful while attempting any weight reduction as the body has to adjust to the drastic weight loss. The recommended amount of weight loss should be no more than 2 pounds of weight per week in order to ensure that your body properly adjusts to the weight loss.

In order to lose these 3,500 calories we are talking about and that too safely you can use the below tips:

Run:

If you run slowly for an hour then you will lose 350 calories approx, if you calculate this for a 5 day day week while maintaining a balanced diet then you will safely be able to lose one pound.

Many people who begin running will start eating carb rich foods in the assumption that it will make up for their exertion. They begin to feel that they need to compensate themselves for their hard work and start treating themselves to large helpings of carb foods.

But little do they realize that they have consumed more than they could burn off during their exercise routine. This habit could put them back into their old shape.

Running does, however, boost our metabolism and change our muscle tone so that we burn calories efficiently. After running it is advisable to consume a large Salad with fruit juice.

Eat In:

While eating our at restaurants and chatting with friends we tend to eat more than what we normally would. This means we could put in thrice the amount of calories that we normally eat at home during regular meals. When beginning a new exercise routine, it is very important to prepare your own food and monitor the level of hunger. Simply cutting calories at once is only going to make you hungry and you could end up inhaling it all at once again!

The best way to make up for hunger would be to take a lot of salads to satisfy your hunger than to eat all the salads or burgers that are spread during a meal. You will be shocked to see the difference in the amount of calories intake when you make simple choices during a meal.

Keep yourself active by increasing your level of physical activity, and reducing the calorie intake and stay focused and motivated. You will shed weight in no time. Also it is advisable to read some expert advice on how to space your meals for more optimum results.

I have some wonderful weight loss products that would work for you and wont cost the sky!
Please visit my Blog at: http://loseweightbysanjeev.blogspot.com

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Filed Under: Health Tagged With: calories, exercise, self improvement, Weight

Will Weight Loss Bring Happiness?

December 6, 2010 By Admin Leave a Comment

By Theresa Coligan -

Do you think losing weight will bring you happiness?

I’m guessing you do, as pretty much every one of my clients says they want to lose weight:-

“Because it will make me happy”

Well, I’ve got news for you. It won’t.

Why am I telling you this? Because you will find out for yourself soon enough and I want to manage your expectations. I don’t want you to be disappointed and give up on your weight loss programme, because losing weight isn’t delivering everything that you expected it to.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Losing weight will undoubtedly make you happier than you are right now.

It will:

Give you greater confidence
Boost your self-esteem
Make you feel better about yourself
Improve your quality of life
Give you more energy……..

Loads and loads of really positive benefits, but it won’t make you happy.

You see, losing weight is not the key to eternal happiness.

The fact is that nothing external makes you happy. Happiness comes from within.

The wonderful news, however, is that happiness is available to us at any time. It is like a spring inside our body; there is an eternal source of happiness we can tap into whenever we want.

Don’t believe me?

Think about the way you feel when you listen to a really uplifting piece of music. Think about the way you feel when you see something really beautiful. Think about how you felt the last time you laughed until you cried. Instant, unadulterated happiness.

The only thing stopping us from being happy all the time are our thoughts.

Our thoughts create our reality – our personal experiences – in any given moment.

The way we respond to a given situation or a certain person or the way we perceive things can make us feel positive or negative, happy or sad, optimistic or pessimistic.

Unfortunately we very often opt for the latter, because we have programmed ourselves to do so.

Happiness comes from being in the moment – not having angry or resentful thoughts about the past; not worrying unnecessarily about the future.

It comes from being in the now – living, fully experiencing and enjoying this very moment that you are in RIGHT NOW.

It comes when your mind is still, when you’re fully present, when you’re totally engaged in a project or a hobby or with a person – when time flies and you’re ‘in flow.’

It comes from knowing that you are more than you think you are; that you are a wonderfully unique human being with so much to offer the world.

It comes from knowing that you are OK and that you’ll be OK no matter what:-

“I am me – and I am OK”

as the wonderful piece of writing from Virgina Satir goes.

It comes from knowing that you have all the internal resources you need to deal with any situation and, last but not least, it comes from living your life with passion and purpose.

So, when a client comes to me to lose weight, I help them lose weight – I’m a weight loss coach after all – and it is a very important goal.

But my ultimate goal is your ultimate goal – to help you find happiness, peace and inner security – and when you do, that’s when I know that our paths crossing have been a true blessing.

About The Author:

Theresa Coligan created http://thinkingthin.co.uk/ to help people solve one of the biggest and most challenging issues in their lives – how to lose weight and keep it off. Thinking Thin focusses on the missing link in weight loss – mindset change. Change your mindset and you easily change your behaviour; change your behaviour and you easily lose weight.

If you want to lose weight easily and enjoyably, sign up for our FREE weekly newsletter at http://thinkingthin.co.uk/register.php and get our e-book ‘Insider Secrets To Simple, Sustainable Weight Loss’ absolutely FREE as well.

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Filed Under: Happiness Tagged With: Happiness, Losing Weight, self improvement, self help, Weight

5 Ways to Avoid Weight Gain Over the Holidays

November 28, 2010 By Admin Leave a Comment

By Jenna Carter -

Ah yes, here they come again, the 3 month span of non stop celebrating and eating that happens every year. You always promise yourself that this year will be different, but other than isolating yourself for the holiday season, what can you do to make sure you don’t overindulge? Try these no fail tips and you’ll come out of the season happy and the same weight you were before the celebrations began.

Find an Official Taster

If you’re the major chef in the house you know how easy it is to keep tasting your cooking until you get it right. All that tasting adds up in calories. Cook with a friend or ask a family member to taste your dishes and tell you what they need. They may make suggestions that improve your dish that you didn’t think of.

Ask for a Doggie Bag Before Your Meal is Served

Now I know some of you may balk at this, but it’s easier than you think. The holiday season is often a time when you go out to eat more than usual. When you place your order ask the server to put half of your dinner in a to go container and serve the rest to you at the table. You’ll be surprised at how well this works.

Drink One for Every One

Wine with dinner, eggnog while decorating the tree and cocktails at holiday parties abound. For every alcoholic beverage you have, drink the same amount of water. This helps in several ways. Water will make you feel full so you don’t eat and drink as much while flushing out fat and toxins. It also helps keep you from becoming too intoxicated.

Join a Weight Loss Group or Health Club

If you don’t already belong to a gym, health club, weight loss membership website or some sort of forum that you can reach out to, think about joining now. By having some sort of support to turn to you won’t feel so alone and you’ll have a strategy to keep you from giving up. Most people join after the holidays when they make their New Year’s resolutions but it’s far better to prevent gaining the weight in the first place.

Be Mindful of What You Eat

Do you really need that second helping of mashed potatoes or extra dessert? With all the jolly making going on we sometimes get caught up in all the social activity and don’t pay attention to what we’re eating or how much. Being aware and mindful of what you are eating pays off at the end of the season. Ask yourself if you’re really hungry or eating just to be polite before you have another helping.

Following these 5 tips will get you off to a good start to avoid gaining weight this holiday season. They are simple and easy ways to be healthier and weigh less when New Year’s rolls around.

Jenna Carter helps women lose weight quickly, safely and permanently. To keep your weight under control over the holidays and receive a free 7 day e-course of little known secrets to losing weight go to http://www.fat-loss-now.com now.

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Filed Under: Health Tagged With: avoid weight gain, easy ways, Fat Loss, self improvement, self help, Weight, weight loss for women, weight loss membership

Eat For Vitality, Radiant Health, and Your Perfect Weight!

November 7, 2010 By Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

By Kristin S. Alexander -

In order to lose weight and promote health you must abandon dieting and learn to eat. It’s really that simple! Sometimes we tend to think of food as the enemy and try to figure out ways we can avoid it and eat less. The answer is not to eat less, but eat more! More of the proper foods. Life giving, nourishing foods that will invigorate your body, create radiant health and boost your metabolism and well being. If you want to eat only junk foods, loaded with salt, sugar, unhealthy fats, and are just trying to figure out how to eat lesser amounts of these foods without adding healthy life giving foods, you will fail in your quest to lose weight and create a healthy body.

Food choices are loaded with emotional triggers, cravings, comfort, and are the basis of most social gatherings with family and friends. No wonder it’s such a minefield of opinions, heated discussions and denial! After all, who wants to crush cherished family traditions? Eat hardly anything at celebrations? No one! The truth is you don’t have to. Yes, you might need to make some changes in recipes to create a healthier version, but in the end it will be better and more loved. When at a celebration, or out with friends, there are plenty of delicious choices once you are armed with the information you need to detect hidden ingredients. Knowledge is power, especially with food.

There are things to keep in mind when changing your eating habits. First eat only foods you enjoy. Now you might be thinking, “I really enjoy cake, and fried chicken, and triple cheese pizza and that’s not helping me lose weight!” I understand, but what I mean is don’t force yourself into a crazy diet of celery sticks and cottage cheese when you can barely stand them. Instead approach the idea of changing your diet to focus on what you can have, not what you can’t. How about a fabulous breakfast of whole eggs, scrambled in butter with some of your favorite vegetables and couple of slices of sprouted grain toast? How about a juicy hamburger or steak for lunch or dinner? You can satisfy your pizza craving by making your own and loading it with healthy ingredients. When your focus is on eating a lot of the right kind of foods, you may just find that a big slice of cake is not so enjoyable anymore. Hard to believe I know, but real food really is the cure for cravings.

Another very important tip is this: Do not go cold turkey! Don’t try to change all of your habits in a day! Try adding one change a week. Breakfast is a great place to start because you will notice very quickly how a power packed start to the day will make you feel. Try those eggs scrambled in butter! Make sure you eat both pieces of that healthy bread and add in some lean protein like chicken or fish, or even steak. Small steps make change easier.

However you approach a new eating plan, keep in mind you should never go hungry! Feed your body consistently throughout the day. Between meals eat healthy snack foods like whole fruits, raw nuts and crunchy vegetables. Eat a lot of healthy food and stop worrying about calories!

Kristin Alexander is a writer, web designer and Internet marketer.
Kristin@ireviewebooks.com
Visit http://www.fastwaystoloseweightguide.com for information on weight loss, and a review of “The Diet Solution” weight loss program. Be sure to get your FREE copy of the E-booklet “The Best Smoothie Recipe In The World And Why YOU Should Be Drinking It!” A great way to get all your necessary fruits and vegetables in one delicious drink.

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Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Dieting, eating right, fast weight loss, healthy foods, Losing Weight, nutrition, Weight

How to Have More Joy in Life!

September 21, 2010 By Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

By Annette Colby -

Imagine being alive from the top of your head, down through the body and out the tips of your toes. Not just alive and surviving, but energized and living the life of your dreams. Turning a so-so life into a passion filled, exciting adventure is possible. However, there is a catch: It won’t happen on its own. If you want the feelings of greater happiness, joy, success, inner peace, and abundance, a necessary adjustment is required. You are going to have to learn to shift your focus from everything that is going wrong and place attention on the necessity of feeling good right now. Here are six tips on how to bring more joy into your life!

Dreams and Goals

Feeling good is about having a dream, not just having the outcome of a dream. Spend joyful time with your dreams and desires even before they become real. Dreams are about self-love and a decision to feel good from the inside out. They reaffirm the beauty and joy of living. Helen Keller wrote, “Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” Dreams provide a sense of purpose; a guiding direction; something to hold onto during life ups and down. Dreams give you the opportunity to feel good, now in this present moment. How? By loving yourself for having a dream, by breathing life into that dream, and by learning to nurture a growing expectation that things will work out well for you.

Joy is Now, Not Later

Your goals and dreams are important because they provide a sense of direction for your life and form a basis for your decisions and choices. However, don’t postpone your joy until the end of your goal. Joy is not going to magically appear like a pot of gold waiting at the end of the goal rainbow. This is because you cannot earn joy. Instead, joy comes from inside of you. It rises up because you consciously chose a specific direction or goal that was important to you, and then you decided to spend energy and effort engaged in bringing your goal to life. Joy is the delight your share with yourself now and each day as you think self-supportive thoughts and take self-empowering actions to create success for yourself.

Permission to Feel Good

As odd as it may sound, it is important to make a conscious decision that you want to be alive and you want to feel good in your life. Until you decide to give yourself permission to feel good, it may be quite difficult to make decisions that support your goal of increasing your joy. Deciding to feel good builds new self-supporting beliefs inside of you. Those new beliefs state, “I exist, I can have what I want, I am supported, I’m good enough, and it is important for me to feel good.”

Make Decisions That Support Joy

Feeling good and increasing your level of joy is something that you allow or do not allow. Each day you make many decisions related to your ability to allow yourself to feel joyful. Actions that support joy include paying attention to what is most important to you, moving personal priorities to the top of your to-do list, and talking to yourself in a supportive and encouraging way. Joy expands as you focus on what is personally meaningful. You can increase your level of joy by asking yourself, “Is the energy I am bringing into the relationship of me and my life allowing me to feel good? Am I taking actions that increase my feelings of empowerment? Do the thoughts I am thinking take me closer to, or further from my goal?” The answers to these questions illustrates how much influence you have over your own ability to allow joy, to nurture it, and to make it important in your life.

Boost Your Energy

Joy is your ability to connect your spirit with your physical life. If you are feeling stagnant, lethargic, bored, or stressed it is time to get your energy flowing. Stand up and shake things up. Take a five-minute walk, get some sunlight, and get involved in some activity that helps you breathe more deeply. Move around a little and take several deep breaths. Consciously and deliberately, take the kind of breaths that say, “Yes” to life, and “Yes” to joy!

Be Kind to Yourself

If you are feeling anxious, stressed, sad, or even depressed, this is a sign that you body is calling out for more support. Some of the best ways to increase your level of joy include sunlight, fresh air, and enjoyable movement. In addition, love yourself and focus on a joyful experience. Acknowledge your efforts and successes. Speak kindly to yourself. Watch movies that inspire or make you laugh. Go for walks outside. Pamper your body. Have more fun. Breathe. Joy is essentially the celebration of your own life.

Gaining more joy can seem perplexing at first, but with practice and a positive attitude, your ability to feel more alive, happier, and more joyful gets much easier. Joy is always around you, in you, and available to you. Follow these ideas and give your joy level a boost today!

Dr. Annette Colby, RD can help you take the pain out of life, turn difficult emotions into joy, release stress, end emotional eating, and move beyond depression into an extraordinary life! Annette is the author of Your Highest Potential and has the unique ability to show you how to spark an amazing relationship with your life! Visit www.LovingMiracles.com to access hundreds of content filled articles and sign up for a Fr’ee subscription to Loving Miracles! newsletter.

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Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: Depression, dreams and goals, increase energy, joy, motivation, self improvement, Success, Weight

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