Let's simplify this by thinking about food processing on a spectrum versus whether it’s either good or bad. On one end, we have pure, unaltered foods like fresh produce. Moving along, we encounter minimally processed foods - think pre-cut vegetables, canned beans, frozen fruits, whole grain oats, and brown rice. Yes, those convenient pre-cut fruits in your fridge and frozen veggies in your freezer are technically processed, and that’s not a bad thing.

As we continue right on our spectrum, we find foods that undergo more significant changes. Manufacturers add sugar, salt, fat, and preservatives for taste and longevity. This is where you'll find most cereals, sodas, pre-packaged snacks, many plant-based milk alternatives, protein powders, and bars. The ingredient list is often longer and filled with things we’re not sure how to pronounce let alone know exactly what they are. 

Now, think about your grocery store. Notice how processed and ultra-processed foods dominate the shelves? Telling someone to avoid processed foods in today's world is like giving a child their allowance in a candy store while instructing them not to buy sweets. With busy schedules, convenience needs, rising grocery costs, and don’t forget the tastiness factor, processed foods check a lot of boxes so it's no wonder we reach for these options. On the other hand, while easier on the wallet at checkout, an abundance of ultra-processed foods can be quite costly in the long run. These foods are often calorically dense and nutrient deficient leading to negative outcomes when eaten in excess. They can however, when chosen mindfully and boundaries around quantity, very much be part of a healthy, reasonably priced, and satisfying diet.

Let’s take a more grounded approach and be more thoughtful with our choices. Start by understanding your current situation. Before making drastic changes, track your food intake for a week (or even three days if that's more manageable). Choose typical days, not holidays or travel time. This baseline helps you measure progress and make informed decisions about opportunities for change. (If you’d like to learn more about food logging check out one of my earlier blogs.)

Your next steps depend on your goals. Take weight loss, for example. Two protein shakes made with oat milk count as four servings of ultra-processed foods, but that's different from four candy bars each day. Those shakes, combined with whole foods throughout the day, might help you hit your protein goals while leaving room for an occasional treat - all while staying within your calorie targets. Chances are those 4 candy bars are going to put a whammy on your calorie intake and nutritional return pretty low. There’s some give and take here that is important to consider based on your goals and where your life is right now. Maybe some of those processed foods in the grocery story allow you to get dinner on the table on busy nights and you add a vegetable or fruit versus going through a drive thru. Those rotisserie chickens are a life saver for a quick protein and hard to beat the price. I can get one for $5 at Sam’s Club.

If ultra-processed foods currently make up most of your diet, start small. Modify one meal - choose the one you have the most control over. You might swap out heavily processed items for lighter alternatives or focus on reducing portion sizes while maintaining convenience. Keep a flexible mindset and understand the choices you are making weighing the pros and cons. 

The key takeaway? Not all processed foods are created equally, and you don't need to eliminate any of them entirely to maintain a healthy diet. Some processing can even make nutritious foods more accessible and convenient. Frozen fruits and vegetables can be less costly and sometimes more nutritious than their whole counterparts. The goal isn't perfection - it's finding a sustainable balance that you can adapt as needed to make it work for your life.

Want to explore this topic further? Let's connect and create a personalized approach that works for you.

"Critical thinking is the use of cognitive skills and abilities that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It describes thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed—the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions."

This definition really illustrates how critical thinking can transform our approach to wellness. It's no secret that many of us struggle with health management, despite (or perhaps because of) the overwhelming array of available tools, products, and services. The Global Wellness Institute estimated the wellness industry at $6.3 trillion in 2023, offering endless options that, without critical thinking skills, become more overwhelming than helpful.

Let's apply this to a familiar example: dieting. A quick Google search returns countless diet plans, and that's before counting the recommendations from friends, family, and random conversations overheard at coffee shops. With weight loss being such a common goal, it's tempting to jump on the latest trend when we hear "this diet" and "lost weight." But we often skip crucial questions:

• How will this work in my daily life?

• Is this sustainable long-term?

• How will I handle changes in routine (travel, holidays, social events)?

• Will I actually enjoy my life while following this plan?

The emotional pull of weight loss often leads us to bypass these rational considerations. So let's apply critical thinking using a four-step process:

Step 1: Define Your Goal Start with clarity about what you want to achieve. Remember Halpern's emphasis on "purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed" thinking. Keep it simple: "I want to lose weight and maintain that loss."

Step 2: Review Past Attempts Though it might feel uncomfortable, examining past efforts provides valuable data. Rather than viewing them as failures, see them as information gathering.

Step 3: Apply the SOAP Method This healthcare-derived framework (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan) puts critical thinking into action:

• Subjective: Document your feelings and emotions without judgment. While it's natural to evaluate our emotions as they arise – and sometimes even judge ourselves for being judgmental – the goal here is simple observation. Focus on experiencing and noting your emotions as they occur, setting aside any impulse to label them as good or bad.

• Objective: Concentrate on quantifiable, measurable data points such as weight, body measurements, and laboratory results. This section deals purely with numerical facts, though it's important to acknowledge that emotional responses to this data are normal and will be addressed separately.

• Assessment: This is where emotional insight meets factual data, creating a complete picture of your situation. Take time to carefully consider how your subjective experience aligns with or differs from the objective measurements. This synthesis often requires patience and reflection to fully understand what resonates as true for your unique circumstances.

• Plan: Create concrete, actionable steps based on your comprehensive analysis. Using both your emotional understanding and the factual data, develop a strategy that feels authentic and sustainable for you. What specific actions align with both your emotional needs and the objective reality of your situation.

In a world bombarded with information and the rise of AI, one might assume critical thinking is becoming obsolete. However, the opposite is true. While AI offers valuable benefits, critical thinking remains an essential and uniquely human skill, as David Kreutter emphasizes in his article. You are your own best resource - your experiences, insights, and personal truths matter. The good news? Critical thinking is a skill that can be learned and sharpened with practice. In the wilderness of wellness, it's not just another tool - it's your compass for navigating the path to sustainable health and well-being. Remember, the goal isn't to find the "perfect" solution - it's to develop a systematic way of evaluating what works for you, adjusting as needed, and moving forward with confidence. Your wellness journey doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be personal, practical, and guided by purposeful thinking.

Let’s take a look at some stressors that many of us encounter in our lifetime, like moving, traffic jams, arguments, playing a competitive game, starting a new job, ending a relationship, starting a new one, losing a loved one, health issues, running late for an appointment and the list goes on and on. Our individual response levels may vary and all of these can be acute stressors and some have the potential to lead to chronic stress. Our bodies are built to deal with acute stress, and again, certain levels of stress actually keep us performing at our best. When stress becomes chronic or we do not have healthy strategies to handle even acute stress, it can negatively impact our overall well being.

I don’t want to give the impression that stress is entirely bad. I believe that most things run on a spectrum and while we often focus on the two extremes, the sweet spot is most often somewhere between the two. The sweet spot here is referred to as eustress. If you’d like to dig into this concept a little more, you can go back and read my blog on Finding Your Optimal Stress Level. When I’m working with an individual around stress management, my first question is often, where can you reduce stress? We’ve determined stress is unavoidable and what we say no (and yes to) and choosing how we respond to stressors are two places we do have some control.

When we take a look at reducing overall stress, it can be a combination of learning to be selective in what we say no and yes to and choosing how we respond to stressors. What does this look like in real life? I’ll share some simple examples from my life which may seem ridiculous to some and resonate deeply with others. A few years back a friend and former boss asked me to help coach a local volleyball team. My initial reaction was to say yes because of the friendship, my undying love for sport and my tendency to be a people pleaser. I didn’t want to say no to my friend and I also have this sense of paying it forward with volleyball. The sport has been such a positive part of my life since pre-teenage years that I have this sense of obligation to give back to it. And of course, what good people pleaser ever says no to anything? Fortunately for my well being, and the well being of my family, I was able to think it through and give myself permission to say no without guilt. I had coached before so I knew the time and energy it would take to do this job and do it well. I also recognized the season of life I was in with a newly blended family, my own son playing basketball, working full time and exploring entrepreneurship, that the so-called ‘cup’ would be empty most if not all of the time. So I expressed appreciation for my friend thinking of me and  kindly declined the offer. I said no to the coaching position so I could say yes to showing up in my other roles in a way I could feel good about. 

If you find saying no difficult, you’re not alone and this next one may not be any easier. It is learning the skill to embrace, or at least tolerate, the idea that sometimes the only thing we have control over is how we respond to a situation. I had a very big win for me in this area recently. Again, some may roll their eyes or even stop reading and others will smile or even chuckle at the shared frustration. I consider myself to be a fairly patient and laid back individual. I am also very aware there are areas where this is not so much the case although I am making progress. My most recent win came in the area of technology. I’m one of those people that loves technology and has very little patience when it doesn’t work. I had been prompted to change my password on my work computer and thanks to my husband and Bitwarden, I no longer dread password changes. I changed my password and synced it as prompted…or so I thought. The next morning I was completely locked out of my computer. Neither my old nor new password would get me in. I could feel the panic rising along with frustration and almost anger. I had followed the steps, why isn’t it working? How am I going to do my job? I should already be logged in! Having a greater awareness of my low tolerance level for these situations I paused and decided to do what I often coach others on (which is only a slightly less difficult pill to swallow than when my son touts my own advice to me). Acknowledge the frustration, discern what is in my control and choose how to respond. While frustration was present, allowing myself to get worked up into a frenzy was not going to be helpful. I reached out to the help desk, let my manager know and figured out workarounds. Ironically, thanks to technology, I would be able to do my work with the data I could extract from my phone. Not ideal but functional. In practicing radical acceptance, my morning was much more peaceful. Nothing about the situation changed other than how I chose to respond. My husband, who knows my intolerance for technology issues and knew I was having issues, remarked with a bit of surprise that my demeanor was surprisingly calm and my face was not telling of the siutation. Yes, I have a ‘technology is pissing me off’ face’.

All this is to say life is stressful enough with the day to day things, let’s stop making it harder on ourselves by manufacturing additional stress and focus our energy on where we have come control. In the words of Oprah Winfrey, You can have it all. Just not all at once. Learning to say no to some things allows us to truly say yes to others. If we choose to say yes to everything, it is highly unlikely we will do any of those things in the way we really want, let alone have any energy left over for ourselves. Practicing radical acceptance and focusing on what’s in our control is equally, if not more powerful. It can help us keep stress levels down by exercising control in how we respond to a stressor and directing our energy in a meaningful way. If you find it difficult to get into that mindset (I know I do), I often lean into breathing exercises in the heat of the moment. I hope this has given you some things to consider in your approach to stress and if you are feeling overly stressed, some helpful takeaways on how to reduce stress. 

So if lifestyle modification is the first line of defense/treatment with obesity and it’s not working for whatever reason (and there can be many) what else is there? If we look beyond and in addition to behavior change, we start to look at things like surgical procedures and the use of prescription medications. Surgical procedures like gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy are two popular procedures which, while relatively safe, are also still major surgeries which do involve some risks. A far less invasive approach that is gaining in popularity is prescription weight loss medications.

At first glance, one might think, great, weight loss in a pill, no lifestyle change required. Well, not quite. As with any medication, there is much to consider and each of us will  likely fall on a different point when we assess the risk/reward. This piece is not intended to sway you one way or the other when it comes to prescription medications for weight loss, rather it is to raise some questions to consider as you make the best choice for you. First and foremost, the physical risks, i.e. side effects, can be important factors to review. Like all other medications, they can provide the intended effect and they may also be accompanied by unwanted side effects. Cost may also be a limiting factor as some insurance plans may cover the medication and others may not. Another consideration is what does the long term plan look like? This is an important discussion to have with your medical provider. How long should I plan to be on it? What happens when I come off of it? How do the risks of staying on it long term versus the benefits of losing/maintaining a healthy weight look?

So again, this post is not intended to sway you to be for or against weight loss drugs. As with many drugs, I think it is a case by case basis and there are more things than just numbers to consider. In my experience coaching individuals around weight management, most individuals are reluctant to go the medication route. They would rather do it through lifestyle modifications but they have reached a point where they are so frustrated and defeated by failed attempts that now they also feel like a failure for utilizing prescription weight loss medications. What I hope this post has shed light on is that it isn’t an either/or situation all of the time, sometimes it’s an and. You can take prescription weight loss drugs under the guidance of your doctor and work to make lifestyle changes for success. I know these choices can result in a lot of judgment both internally and externally but I hope this has helped alleviate some of that so you can explore what is right for you and let go of any judgments.

To lay the foundation, I’m sharing this straight from the Crossfit website.

“CrossFit’s methodology is founded on the first precise, scientifically rigorous definition of fitness,and the program produces results that can be measured and replicated. Our methodology is a set of universal principles and definitions that can be applied in many different contexts and that make CrossFit accessible to both athlete and coach.

The stimulus — what CrossFit is: constantly varied functional movement executed at high intensity combined with eating meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no added sugar in quantities that support exercise but not body fat.

The adaptation — what CrossFit achieves: increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. Pursuing this goal is pursuing fitness, and aiming to maintain your work capacity over your lifetime is pursuing health.

These elements are the basis of the CrossFit methodology, and we’ve precisely and comprehensively defined each element — from work capacity to fitness to health — in quantifiable terms.” The full article can be found here.

Only 10 minutes you say? Yes! When I started Crossfit the thought of getting a good workout in 10 minutes seemed preposterous. That thought has been proven wrong time and time again. Keep in mind that everyday is not a 10 minute workout nor is it a 40 minute workout. It’s one of the many things I love about Crossfit. It is fairly predictable and varied at the same time.

If you’re still a little fuzzy, let’s take a look at a classic Crossfit workout, Cindy. In Crossfit there are several girl WODs (workout of the day), which simply means they are all named girl names. (If you looked at the link and are feeling very intimidated, please keep reading. I promise you could follow the Crossfit methodology and never do a girl WOD or there are infinite ways to scale any of them to wherever you are.) It is a 20 minute AMRAP. Anytime you see AMRAP, the goal is to complete As Many Rounds (or repetitions) As Possible in the alloted time. With this particular workout, a round is 5 pull ups, 10 push ups and 15 air squats. So, you would start a timer set to count down from 20 minutes and get to work completing as many rounds as you can before the 20 minutes is up. This workout needs minimum equipment and is scalable in multiple ways to meet you where you are that day. 

Now that you hopefully have a little clearer vision of Crossfit, let me share what I love.

1. The variations of the workouts. When I go into the gym I know the workout will be different from yesterday’s and the day before that. Yes, movements are repeated which provides some comfort in terms of familiarity, and they will show up in different ways depending on what other movements they are paired with or the loading (i.e. weight).

2. It is measurable. Many of us like the idea of getting better or seeing improvement. You can keep track of your workouts. Take Cindy from above. The first time you do it maybe you get 7 rounds and 8 reps. The next time you do it you will be able to compare it to your previous attempt. If you like to be a little competitive, most Crossfit gyms keep a leaderboard which tracks athletes’ results so you can see where you rank if that is appealing to you.  

3. Any workout can be scaled to meet you where you are. Going back to Cindy, the pull ups can be scaled using a band to assist you on the pull up bar, you can use a box to do jumping pull ups or, if you don’t have access to a pull up bar, you can do bent over rows with a barbell, dumbbells or bands. The push ups and squats can also be modified in numerous ways.

4. The opportunity to keep getting better. No matter where you are with fitness, movements, or weight on the bar, there is always something you can be working on to improve if you so choose. From the number of completely different movements to the variations of one movement, you could work a lifetime and not master all of them. This doesn’t mean you need to, but the opportunity is there if that is something that drives you and keeps you coming back. 

5. The friendships. This one was a bit unexpected for me. I was a long time solo exerciser and was quite happy being one. Having said that, I have made  wonderful friends, including my husband, in Crossfit and there is something to be said for sharing the experience of getting through a workout together. While I have transitioned back to working out solo much of the time, those friendships formed in the gym continue and I am now experiencing the benefits of an online community (more on that later). 

Here is what I’ve learned over the years.

1. Stay in your lane. Using Crossfit to stay fit and healthy is very different from making a living, or hoping to make a living, competing in the sport of Crossfit. It can also look different from the athlete beside you in the gym. Like any other health or wellness goal, it’s important to get clear on what your goal is and make sure your decisions align with those goals. 

2. Scaling is my friend. Scaling can easily be perceived as making something easier; however, when done properly it allows you to work at a rate that keeps the intensity at the intended level of the workout and keeps you safe. Let’s go back to our friend, Cindy. If the pull-up, push-up and/or air squat is challenging, trying to do them as prescribed (i.e. the full movement with no modification) may result in moving through the workout at a pace that misses the intended stimulus. Or perhaps you are dealing with an injury and altering the movement keeps you safe. Another consideration with scaling is maybe we just aren’t feeling it that day. We are not robots and our sleep, stress, nutrition, mental health can vary, so what feels manageable one day may feel insurmountable another. Learning to scale wisely is tremendously valuable.

3. More doesn’t equal better. I came into Crossfit with the idea that anything less than 30 minutes was really not purposeful. I used to feel the need to spend at least an hour in the gym or working out to get a good workout in. Now the majority of my workouts are completed in less than 30 minutes, my fitness has not suffered and I have given myself the gift of time back in my day. Mind you, in the beginning I still thought more volume meant better results and I was, quite frankly, probably overtraining and working against myself. With the right programming, Crossfit can be one the most efficient workouts you will find.

4. Programming matters. There are a lot of different programs to follow in the world of Crossfit and finding the right one for you is important. If you are looking for general fitness, the program you seek will probably be different from someone training to be a competitive Crossfit athlete. I encourage you to do your research by either visiting some gyms and asking to observe the class or see what type of trial they offer. This allows you not only to see the programming, it will also give you a feel for the gym culture and coaches which is important too. If you are looking at an online program, read up on it to get an idea of what it looks like and again, look to see what kind of free trial you can do before committing. I personally subscribe to Crossfit Linchpin. Linchpin offers several different versions of the workout of the day, including a limited equipment option and no equipment option. The owner and programmer, Pat Sherwood, addresses real life challenges and offers some really great perspectives around workouts, in my opinion. Full transparency, I do not get anything for endorsing Crossfit Linchpin, I just wanted to share what I have found to be effective and keeps me coming back to the gym. If you are interested, you can sign up for a generous 30 day free trial so you can really get a feel for it.

Improving the overall health and wellness of an individual is a mutual goal of the client and coach. What that looks like will vary based on the client’s focus which can vary greatly from weight loss, managing blood pressure, improving sleep, stress management or improving mental health to name just a few. The thing both client and coach need to keep in mind is that the client is in the driver’s seat. I think a point of confusion, and perhaps even initial frustration in the client/coach relationship, is when the client comes in with the idea that the coach is there to provide the answers and steer the ship.

You might be wondering why would I pay for a coach if they’re not going to tell me what to do i.e. give me the answers? To this I would offer the proverb (for which I could not find a definitive source to credit, and took the liberty to make non-gender) “Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime”. The coach is there to help set the client up for long term success and develop a sense of self-efficacy. The coach believes the client is the expert in their own lives and relies on their knowledge and experience to evoke the best strategies for them to achieve their goals.

I hope you’re still with me and understand you may really be questioning the value of working with a coach at this point. Not only are they not going to tell me what to do, chances are good I’m going to experience failure? Yes AND working with a coach can help you gain the confidence to navigate setbacks and evaluate why something may have worked or not worked for you.

Many people look to coaches because they are frustrated and feel like they can’t make the changes they seek. The coach is there to add that powerful little three letter word yet to the end of the I can’t sentence. A coach can highlight progress as individuals are often eager to share where they fell short and overlook knowledge gained or efforts made. Again, the coach does not provide the answers, they draw them out. To this day one of the greatest compliments I have received as a coach is I was so frustrated and you wouldn’t just tell me what to do: you made me figure it out. I know it might seem strange, and for me this encapsulates coaching. Helping a person learn to fish is where the magic lies for me. The individual was empowered with a greater level of self-trust—they can create change and take on challenges. Let me be clear, as a coach I don’t sit idly by, education and suggestions are provided when appropriate; however, the meat of coaching lies in being curious with the client and exploring what is possible and practicable. 

If you are considering working with a coach, I recommend reaching out for a consultation. Many coaches (including myself) offer this free of charge to give you, and the coach, an opportunity to explore if you are a good fit to work together. If you have more questions about coaching, please reach out to me here.

If you are a non-exerciser, increasing NEAT can bring a wealth of benefits and please don’t assume if you are a traditional exerciser that NEAT can’t be extremely beneficial for you as well. Many of us spend our days seated in front of a computer screen or sitting through meetings. If you carve out time for intentional exercise that is FANTASTIC! For most of us that might be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour 3-6 times a week. Again, my hat’s off to you for scheduling it into your day, but even with consistent exercise, if you are sitting for most of the rest of your waking hours, you might not be as far ahead in the game as you think. Be wary of being an active couch potato. Try to incorporate short breaks throughout your day to find some sort of movement even if it's just standing up and stretching. You want to keep those benefits from your exercise!

I would be remiss to not mention that while NEAT is absolutely important for our overall health and brings numerous benefits, it does not bring the same benefits as a well balanced exercise routine. While NEAT provides movement and increased caloric burn, it typically does not raise the heart rate significantly, nor does it include resistance training. Strength training becomes more important as we age since we start to lose muscle mass around age 30. If we don’t actively work to maintain it, we are at higher risk for sarcopenia. Having said that, if traditional exercise is not something you’re ready for, NEAT can be a great place to start. And as mentioned above, a balanced exercise routine is not enough to counteract hours upon hours of sitting. So essentially NEAT and a balanced exercise routine can work together beautifully for maximum health benefits.

There are numerous ways to incorporate more NEAT into your day. From gardening, to cooking, to household chores, or simply choosing to get out of the car and walking inside instead of going through the drive through. How will you increase your daily NEAT?

The world of health and fitness is filled with noise. New headlines pop up each day about the superfoods you should be eating, the best time to exercise, the optimal time to eat after exercising or what 7 things you should be doing for your best night's sleep. Not to mention all the latest products you need to be healthy. It’s easy to get swept up in all of the advice. I’m not suggesting there isn’t any value in these pieces but we might want to pause and give serious consideration to where we focus our efforts. Some of you may be familiar with this video where the teacher keeps asking the students if the jar is full. The moral of the story: pay attention to the big things first. The same concept holds true with our healthy practices.

So what does this look like in real life? When we think about areas of focus for health and well being, sleep, nutrition and exercise often top the list. I shared a blog on sleep noting several things to try to help promote good sleep. I certainly believe all of the items mentioned (not to mention a slew of others) help promote good sleep, and if you’re not prioritizing sleep and carving out the time for it, you’re missing this big ticket item. You can do all the meditating, turn off all the screens and have the ideal temperature, but if you’re only allotting 5 hours for sleep you will come up short. We can find the same scenario with food. It seems every week there is a new headline touting the best food to eat, what you shouldn’t be eating or even the best hours to eat or not eat. You will find similar stories around exercise. Strength training is the best, no wait, zone 2 training is where it’s at, or maybe it HIIT (high intensity interval training) is what I need. We can get so caught up in trying to do all of the best things, we miss out on doing the things that really move the needle for us.

Please don’t misinterpret my message. I’m not saying there isn’t benefit to mediating, experimenting with eating schedules or exercise routines. What I am saying is consider where you are and what will give you the most bang for your buck. If you are always feeling short on sleep, take a look at your bedtime and wake routine first. How much time are you actually prioritizing for sleep? If your diet is heavily processed, focusing on changes to incorporate less processed and more whole foods may serve you better than intermittent fasting. If you are currently sedentary, rather than fixate on what type of exercise is best, just focus on finding movement you can be consistent with. All this being said, if you are already carving out the time for sleep, eating mostly nutritious foods and exercising regularly and you’re not getting the results you want, then diving in a little deeper may be necessary to get the results you want. Assess where you are and start with the big rocks and then focus on the pebbles and sand if needed.

~Arnold Bennett

While I tend to shy away from absolutes, this quote might be the exception. The discomforts may vary in intensity, but they are present to some degree even when we are the ones initiating the change. This certainly holds true for most of us when it comes to making healthy changes. Most of us know that eating healthy, getting regular exercise, managing stress and sleeping well are beneficial to our health and well being, yet the vast majority of us often find it really challenging to start, and often unbearable to continue, said changes. So why, when we know the benefits of the things mentioned, can we not push through the discomforts? Mindset. Mindset not only matters, it can be the first step to change and a requirement for longevity.

The Oxford Languages defines mindset as “the established set of attitudes held by someone”. I think it’s also worth noting the definition of established: “having been in existence for a long time and therefore recognized and generally accepted”. Based on this we can conclude that mindset is developed over time. The good news, mindset can be changed. The challenge lies in unlearning one mindset and adopting a new one. Just like the changes mentioned above, it takes time, patience and effort. You may have heard the terms ‘fixed’ and ‘growth mindset’. Carol Dweck, an American psychologist, professor and author, offers this on mindset.

       “In the fixed mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail—or if 

       you're not the best—it's all been wasted. The growth mindset allows 

       people to value what they're doing regardless of the outcome.” 

Let that last sentence really sink in. When’s the last time you focused more on the effort than the outcome? 

For many of us the fixed mindset may be all we have known. From the time we were children, the focus has been on the outcome. Whether it was academics, learning new skills, athletics, career…how we gauged success was the outcome. Our efforts may have been acknowledged along the way, but we were graded on the outcome. Much like our strengths, a fixed mindset can serve us well, until it doesn’t. When it comes to making changes around our health, the fixed mindset can be a detriment to our efforts.

Now that everything is in place, the pressure is on us to execute the plan and achieve the goal. We often enter with the fixed mindset that we must execute the chosen plan perfectly and anything less is a failure. This might actually lend to adhering to said plan for a period of time and seeing weight loss. Seems like a good thing right?The fixed mindset starts to work against us when the birthday party comes up, the wedding, the graduation, the dinner out with friends, the stressful day at work, vacation, the weekend—things otherwise known as life—causes us to deviate. Our brain registers failure and this often opens the gate to “I’ll get back on track tomorrow or next week”, “I can’t do this, it’s too hard” or perhaps the most daunting, “I’ll never lose weight”.

If you’ve had any or all of these thoughts run through your head and are tired of going down this path (let’s be honest, most of us have been down it more than once), consider adopting a growth mindset before you begin. A growth mindset allows us to accept missteps and keep going. When whatever life event makes it hard to “stick to the plan” we shift from thinking this is too hard and I can’t do it, to this is hard and I’m working on it. I’ve found one of the most helpful questions I can ask myself when things go astray (and when they go well too for that matter) is What did I learn? There is so much value in this question and it can help us not beat ourselves up. If you feel like you’ve tried every plan out there or been “dieting” most of your life, you’ve unknowingly been conducting research. What have you learned from your past attempts? I encourage you to take this knowledge and a growth mindset on your next endeavor.

So when we have motivation around something it feels easier to do the task, right? As the definition states, we are eager to do the work at hand. When we are filled with motivation the challenging things feel less challenging. High levels of motivation can numb the dread of doing something we see as difficult. So why wouldn’t we rely on motivation? Because like the moon, it waxes and wanes. Don’t get me wrong, motivation can be a powerful tool to get us going and out of the starting blocks as well as provide some helpful boosts along the way. It’s when we rely solely on motivation that consistency suffers. If you’ve ever felt like you’re consistently inconsistent, you might want to check in with discipline.

Motivation can turn on the ignition and discipline is what gets us to our destination. Think about taking a bike ride. Motivation is the ease of coasting down a hill whereas discipline is what gets us up the hill. Relying on motivation alone can set us up for a volatile and bumpy ride and ultimately frustration. Discipline is essentially the practice of self-control and choosing what leads to our desired outcomes over the immediate temptation. It is a learned skill and most of us have learned to use it in certain areas of our lives on a daily basis already. We go to work, we brush our teeth, we wash our clothes or perhaps we have a hobby to which we dedicate time and energy. All of these things are practices we have chosen to do because we want the outcome they provide. Some of the practices may have felt hard at first and there are probably still times we don’t want to do them, but we want the outcome so we flex our discipline muscle and do it. We have developed the self-control to put our time and effort into it when other things vie for our attention or motivation isn’t present.

As you reflect on daily disciplines, you might begin to think yes, I have developed discipline in my life. So why is it so hard to apply it in areas like diet and exercise when I know that practicing the discipline will help me get the outcome I want? I’ve found it often comes down to two things: immediate temptation and delayed gratification. Because diet and exercise are the two biggies I hear in my field when it comes to consistency and discipline, I’ll use them as examples. 

As many of us may still be recovering from the holiday food hangover, we know the availability of tempting foods makes a difference. Carving out time for exercise is often rivaled by the many other demands of the day, tending to all the to-do’s or resting and watching your favorite show. This is why controlling our environment can be so helpful when it comes to developing discipline. The less temptation, the less we have to dip into the will power bucket. Make the choices you want to make the easy choice. Keep your house well stocked with healthy items and plan and prep meals and snacks. Schedule your exercise into your day/week. Schedule it at a time when you feel most confident that you will get it done. Some may find exercising first thing in the morning before the day becomes filled with distractions the best option while others find it easier to fit it in right after work or during lunch.

Then we have temptation’s partner in crime, delayed gratification. Eating healthier and exercising are often practices we look to create with the goal of losing weight, improving fitness or improving biomarkers. Most of us know these things take time and it doesn’t make it any easier to stay the course when progress is slower than we want or motivation wanes. This is when tracking can be a wonderful, objective tool to measure efforts and progress to keep us accountable. If you are looking to increase vegetable intake, tracking your food can give you hard data to see what your vegetable intake looks like. Perhaps you are looking to improve your fitness. Establishing a benchmark workout provides a repeatable, measurable way to gauge progress. And of course, when we see our doctor we can note changes in our biomarkers. When we are seeking an outcome that takes time, tracking can help us stay focused on present efforts and identify progress. This can be helpful to sprinkle in some motivation along the way. 🙂 

So hopefully it is clear that I do not disvalue motivation by any means. Quite the contrary, it’s a wonderful thing and I will ride that wave every time it comes in. Having said that, I also know I am asking for inconsistency and ultimately frustration if I rely on motivation alone. Leaning into motivation isn’t a bad thing at all, just remember not to lean into it so much that you fall over when it wanes. (A gentle reminder that discipline does not equal perfection.) Even the most disciplined of us can deviate from time to time and that’s ok, we’re human. It is discipline that will bring us back to ’being disciplined’.

“What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.”

~Aristotle

In my last blog I talked about “practice” oriented goals, the type of goals where we are asking ourselves to create a habit, something we do repeatedly. We don’t just want to go to the gym one time, eat one healthy meal or sleep better for one night, we want to build a practice around these actions. The start of a new year can bring a renewed sense of hope for this type of change and serve as a landmark when many of us resolve to embark on these changes. This is often referred to as the “fresh start effect”.  Whether it be a New Year’s resolution or simply a commitment to make change any time of the year, consider success (and failure) is not always a black and white affair and a tremendous amount of progress can be made without being perfect. As we embark on the new year I thought now might be a helpful time to share some thoughts around how we approach those both anticipated, and sometimes dreaded, New Year’s resolutions.

While most of us would agree the overall success rate with New Year’s resolutions is relatively low, there isn’t a lot of scientific data out there. This study offers some data which concludes that those that receive some support, be it an accountability partner and/or helpful tips via email, reported a greater success rate than those with no additional support or those with extended support. It also notes that more information is needed as there was some overlap between the two groups receiving support. Nonetheless, those receiving some type of support reported greater success with their New Year’s resolutions than those receiving none.

This can be a pivotal point where the idea of perfection can be our worst enemy. We said 3 days a week for 30 minutes. We failed. Do we acknowledge our effort and concede to failure and return to our status quo? OR, do we acknowledge our effort and reflect and appreciate the progress we’ve made from not exercising at all and continue to work on our exercise practice? By only focusing on whether we hit the 3 times a week for 30 minutes and remaining perfect with that regimen in order to feel successful, we may be our own biggest barrier. This is my invitation to let go of the “all or nothing” mindset and embrace the beautiful gray area of progress between failure and success. Cheers to progress & Happy New Year!

“The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  ~ Voltaire

Make it specific. One of the top responses I hear when I ask about a health goal or vision is “I want to be healthier”. Great, you are pursuing good health and ready to take action! However, how are you defining healthier? Is it lowering your blood pressure or cholesterol, losing weight, or perhaps it’s staying more connected with friends and/or family or getting a better handle on your finances. Regardless of what your end goal is, this step in the SMART goal process can be tremendously helpful to identify the specific action that will help you achieve the outcome. For instance, let’s say you want to lower your blood pressure by managing your stress better. Rather than say I will manage my stress better, you identify a specific action to help manage your stress, perhaps meditation. 

Next we discern if it is attainable and realistic. Does 5 minutes of meditation 3 times a week feel like something you can actually do right now? Is it a realistic expectation? This doesn’t mean it won't be challenging but it also shouldn’t feel like an impossible undertaking. I like to ask myself this question, ”If I’m having a really hectic week, does this truly feel not only possible, but probable?”

With many goals, the time bound piece can be a double edged sword. Let’s go back to the goal we set to help better manage stress to improve blood pressure. “I will meditate 5 minutes 3 times a week.” If we add the time bound piece, it might look like “I will meditate 5 minutes 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks”. The endpoint can help it feel more approachable, more startable. Here’s the concern though, when we use SMART goals to help build a practice we need to keep in mind the time bound component will get us started BUT we also need to recognize we are working to build a lifelong practice. If you find yourself shirking at the idea of lifelong, you’re not alone. That’s a long time (at least we hope). 

This is where another component might offer vast value. Evaluation. It takes me back to my nursing days and the ADPIE nursing process. As I write this I’m thinking maybe I should’ve written about how to apply ADPIE to behavior change. The two are actually very similar in nature, and the evaluation element is incredibly powerful and can serve us well in making sure what we are doing is appropriate and effective.  

So it’s not that I don’t find value in the time bound component. However, I think it’s really important to have an awareness of the ultimate outcome we are striving for when we begin. I also really love the specificity piece and how we assign an action to our intention. When we consider the time bound piece I might consider, is this a task oriented goal (like getting signed up for the gym membership), or is this a practice oriented goal (like actually going to the gym 3 times a week)? Merriam Webster defines a practice as “a repeated or customary action or the usual way of doing something”. While there are certainly task oriented goals that can help us optimize our well-being, we might find the biggest benefits in the practice oriented goals (think lifestyle habits). When we use SMART goals with a practice oriented goal, consider that the time bound component marks an evaluation check point. Does the action feel effective? Is it time to increase the potency/frequency or do I still need to work on consistency? I would also offer that even once we have an established practice, it’s a good idea to evaluate from time to time. What felt realistic or relevant at one point in our life might shift. Teaser for my next post, practice does not make perfect.

“Begin with the end in mind.”  ~ Franklin Covey

Wondering how much sleep you need for optimal health? The CDC offers these recommendations based on age. You’ll see that for the largest part of our lifespan, between the ages of 18-60, we should be aiming for at least 7 hours each night for optimal physical and mental health. So for easy math, let’s say 7 hours out of a 24 hour day is roughly 30% of our day and these 7 hours can have a profound effect on the waking 70%. So how do we set ourselves up for success with sleep and give our body the restoration it needs.

Good sleep habits, sometimes referred to as sleep hygiene, are practices we put in place to help promote a good night's sleep. Here are a few I have found to be most practical and helpful with my own sleep and where I am in life.

• Create an inviting sleep environment. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy (unless you want it to be). Investing in a mattress that feels good for you, along with sheets/blankets that you look forward to crawling into, can offer some wonderful return on your sleep. Keeping the room dark with black out curtains and a white noise machine have also proven to be worthwhile investments. Lastly, the temperature of your bedroom. As a person who thinks 70 degrees is cool, it took me a while to come around to the recommended sleep temperature of 60-67 degrees fahrenheit. Having said that, I know I sleep better between 65-67 degrees so I suck it up and endure the initial chilliness for a good night’s sleep.

• Consistency with bedtime and wake routine. Hitting the hay and rising at the same time on a regular schedule can allow your body to find a rhythm. It doesn’t need to be super rigid either. For myself, I find not deviating more than an hour on either end allows for a bit of flexibility without negatively impacting my sleep.

While these have worked for me, the Sleep Foundation shares many other sleep hygiene strategies you might consider. I’ll also share that I rarely have issues falling asleep; however, if I wake up in the night, which I inevitably do because nature calls, I sometimes struggle to go back to sleep. It is these times I wish my brain came with an off switch. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know breathing exercises are my go to when I’m looking for some calmness and control and it applies here as well. In addition to controlled breathing, progressive muscle relaxation techniques can also help bring my mind and body back to sleep ready state.

In closing, it’s important to note that while most of us experience a poor night’s sleep from time to time, there are sleep disorders which may require a medical diagnosis and treatment. Whatever the case may be, I hope this has highlighted the importance of sleep for all aspects of health and offered some helpful ideas on what you can do to help set yourself up for better sleep. While the consequences of sleep deficiency are serious, I’ll leave you with a bit of humor. This quote by JoJo Jensen made me laugh and I find it to be very true for myself.

“Without enough sleep, we all become tall two year olds.”

Creating a master list of any drugs you are taking can be a lifesaver and a time saver. It should include over the counter (OTC) medications, prescriptions, vitamins and supplements. When you create your list, here is some information to consider including.

• Make note of what you are taking the medication for on your master list. Many drugs may be approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for more than one condition and in some cases a drug may be prescribed for an “off-label” use. It is also important to know that vitamins and supplements are not regulated by the FDA in the same manner as prescription and OTC drugs. Further explanation of the extent and limits of FDA regulations with vitamins and supplements can be found here.

• If you are taking multiple medications (again, OTC, prescription, vitamins and supplements) be sure your healthcare provider(s) and pharmacist(s) are aware of all of them. If you have multiple providers and/or pharmacists, it is up to you to make certain they have the information. This helps reduce the risk of negative interactions.

• Side effects may not be something you choose to capture on your list, BUT it is important to be aware of potential side-effects. If you have been prescribed a new medication or added something new to your regimen, make note of any unwanted or unexpected changes since starting it. While common side effects and more severe side effects are noted on the drug sheet, as individuals we may have a unique response not listed. 

How do I create this list you might be asking yourself. There are numerous ways to approach it. There is always good old fashioned pen and paper (just make sure you remember where you keep it). You might consider a document in Excel or Word on your computer or you could also use Google Docs or Sheets—all of which can be easily updated. Google Docs & Sheets can also be stored and accessed on your phone making it handy for a lot of us. Additionally, GoodRx Health shared 6 medication reminder apps to help stay on track with taking your medications as well as provide some of the information mentioned above. 

I encourage you to use whatever method works best for you. If you’re not sold on the idea of a list, I hope this has sparked some interest in spending time getting to know your medications, OTC drugs, vitamins and supplements, all of which play an important role in managing our health. 

While my own experience was validating enough for me, the coach (and the nerd) in me was curious about what type of data existed around the impact of the speed at which we eat. What I found further supported my personal findings as well as additional benefits. Simply slowing down the pace we eat can lend itself to what I mentioned previously and it can also aid in digestion and help lower the risk for Metabolic Syndrome. (If you’re wondering about this last one, see my earlier blog.) Let’s dive in a little more on each of these areas.

1. 
   

2. Consume less calories - You might have heard it takes roughly 20 minutes for our brains to catch up to our stomachs. Our stomach releases hormones like ghrelin and leptin to signal our brain we are hungry or full and there is a bit of lag time between the signal being sent and being interpreted by the brain. By eating slowly, we allow our brain time to receive the signal and thus feel full on less food.

3. Increase the enjoyment of your food - Yes please! I love food and the idea of raising the level of enjoyment without excessive intake is very appealing.

4. Improve digestion/prevent indigestion - One of the common causes of indigestion is overeating or eating too quickly and it can be quite uncomfortable. In slowing down the rate we eat, we will naturally chew our food more which makes it easier for our bodies to process. Just to be clear, I don’t abide by chewing your food 20 times before swallowing. I’ve tried it and for me it was gross. However, taking the time to chew it more than 2 or 3 times leaves me feeling a lot better. 

5. Reduce the risk for metabolic syndrome - This one seems like the golden egg to me. According to this meta-analysis (this one is for my fellow nerds), eating slower could have significant, positive impact on central obesity (waist circumference), blood pressure, fasting blood glucose as well as cholesterol and triglyceride levels.  

BONUS: Eating slower may help with weight loss. According to this article from Healthline, speed matters. You may have already concluded weight loss could be a benefit of slower eating  based on the other items listed but I wanted to put it out there. 

So now that we’re excited about these benefits of eating slower, how do we actually put it into practice? Some of us may have been raised in a family of speed eaters, the whole “whoever eats the fastest gets the most'' comes to mind, whereas others may have developed the habit later in life as a result of the job or daily demands. Regardless of the reason, it is possible to unlearn the habit. Here are some cues that have worked for me.

1. Hit the pause button before eating and take notice of how you’re feeling. If I’m feeling anxious or stressed, I know I need to be extra intentional about slowing down.

2. Take the time to prepare a plate or bowl.

3. This may be telling of how fast I’ve been known to eat, but completely chew and swallow the bite in your mouth before putting in the next one. 

4. Avoid entering the “hangry zone”. For those of you not familiar, this is that stage where patience is thin and you are ready to eat whatever looks vaguely edible. 

So if you’re looking to make a change to your eating habits and are feeling overwhelmed by all of the diets out there and “eat this, don’t eat that” recommendations, this might be a nice place to start. No counting calories or eliminating foods—simply slowing down can offer some significant benefits. 

According to this AP article, the CDC states more and more of us are on some sort of specialized diet as obesity rates continue to rise. We could probably spend hours on end discussing the vast number of diets out there (perhaps another blog post in itself), but for this post I thought we’d spend some time talking about a tool that can be useful regardless of which diet you might be trying. I’ll also spend a minute sharing some thoughts on the potential dark side of food logging. 

So what is the point of food logging…what do we gain? The short answer—knowledge and accountability. Logging what we consume can give us some great insight around what we are putting into our body. If you are following a specific diet plan, you might be tracking calories, macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates), sodium or a combination of nutritional data. Depending on what else you are tracking, it can also help to identify trends and patterns. For instance, if you identify or suspect you might be an “emotional eater”, noting your mood before or while eating might help you gain more insight about what influences your eating habits. Or, perhaps you think certain foods might be impacting you negatively. Food logging can put concrete data to those ideas. 

Let’s be honest though, for most of us the idea of keeping track of everything we eat and drink isn’t all that appealing. It takes time and effort. Having said that, when it comes to food logging the more accurately and frequently we log, the better the data and the more we learn. If you are struggling with logging, be it frequency or consistency or a combination of the two, you might try these strategies.

1. Narrow your focus for logging. If you feel one particular meal is your “challenge” or snacking or eating after a certain point in the day, this might be the most beneficial area to focus your efforts.

2. Set a start and end date. This can vary from a few days, to weeks to a month or months.

3. Use reminders on your phone throughout the day to nudge yourself to capture the data.

4. Log without judgment. This can be a difficult one as we may not want to log when we eat or drink something we deem as “bad” (let’s keep it real, whether you log it or not, you consumed it). Try to think of it more as a science experiment vs a “good” or “bad” log. You are capturing data to understand where you are and identify changes you might like to make.

5. Allow yourself grace and extend yourself some patience. Whether removing something or adding something to your routine, change can be hard. Focus on the effort with the goal of progress, not perfection.

I mentioned the dark side of food logging and while I won’t dwell here, I think it’s important to spend a little time addressing it. I noted the big cons—it’s time consuming and can feel a bit tedious. It can also conjure up some feelings of self judgment. Yet, if we can discipline ourselves to do it, even for a short time, it can provide us with some really useful data and be an effective tool to increase awareness and hold ourselves accountable. On the flip side it can turn into an unhealthy obsession. Much like our relationship with the scale and exercise, there is a balance. Be honest with yourself and give some thought to how you are using it. Is it a positive accountability/mindfulness tool or something that has turned into a means of beating yourself up?

To wrap things up, food logging can be a wonderfully effective tool and provide some useful data around eating habits, our relationship with food and the effects of foods, AND it isn’t necessarily for everyone. Spend some time thinking about your goals, what method might be most useful to you, and give yourself permission to experiment. If/when you log your food and drink, rather than approaching it with the mindset of what did I do good or bad, ask yourself, what did I learn?

Subjective data is gathered by asking questions about how an individual feels and their perceptions. When it comes to health and wellness, this type of information can be invaluable. The importance of how we perceive our health and how much control we feel we have over it are powerful factors of behavior change. How motivated we are to make change, the confidence we have in our ability to make change, and what we believe will be the effects of our efforts can all greatly influence how and when we take action and the consistency of those actions. As a health coach, while I inquire about the objective data, much of my time is focused on the subjective data. Our thoughts and feelings about the objective data can be the fuel for motivation and taking action.

For better or worse, we are emotional creatures. While we may try to convince ourselves we can remove emotion and be completely rational (which is ironic since it’s irrational more often than not) it is usually emotions that drive our decisions. We can be told our blood sugar is high or our cholesterol levels are high and while we know these numbers represent an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease, it doesn’t always translate to us taking action. Part of the reason might lie in that while we logically know the numbers indicate increased risk, we don’t feel bad as these conditions can often be present without symptoms. Lifestyle modification is often the very first line of recommended treatment and a key piece of prevention for many health conditions and yet, so many of us struggle to make changes in these areas. On the surface, our doctor’s advice to eat better or exercise more may sound simple enough but making those changes is more difficult and may contribute to some of the frustration around taking action. The truth is changing behavior can feel really HARD. While some behavior changes may come easily, most of us have struggled with this at some point in our lives.

It can be easy to beat ourselves up over not exercising more, eating better, or drinking more water because it’s just a matter of doing it…right? If only it was as logical as a simple math problem. If you are looking to make change(s) in the name of your health and are finding it difficult, you might give some consideration to these questions to gain a better understanding of where the gap between knowing what you want to do and doing it  lies.

These are just a few questions you might consider if you’ve been toying with taking the first step or if you feel like you’ve tried a hundred times before. I encourage you to proceed with patience, self-compassion and curiosity. Making change(s) can be more like a science experiment rather than a math problem. It can be a series of attempts with different strategies to find the one that best works for you, and your feelings and thoughts are the variables. I hope these questions evoke some good conversation with yourself. If you’d like to walk through them together, click here to schedule a time to chat. 

• Hypertension is the clinical term for high blood pressure and expressed in 2 numbers. The top number is referred to as the systolic number which captures the pressure against the arteries when your heart contracts, with the bottom being the diastolic number which represents the pressure when the heart is relaxed. While these numbers typically increase somewhat with age, the ideal reading is less than 120/80. There are stages of Hypertension which are illustrated in the link above with more context around each stage.

• Elevated fasting blood glucose, or blood sugar, is defined as a reading of greater than 100 mg/dL. This is typically measured by your doctor or you may have access to a glucose monitor. Typically diet and exercise come to mind when we think of things that impact blood sugar levels and it’s important to note there are many other factors, including stress, pain, sleep, and certain medications to name a few. Another common test your doctor may request is a hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c). This captures your average blood sugar level for the past 3 months and is used to diagnose pre-diabetes and diabetes.  

• Cholesterol isn’t all “bad”. You may have heard of what’s referred to as “good” cholesterol which is high-density lipoprotein or HDL. Males should aim to have an HDL of greater than 40mg/dL and women greater than 50mg/dL. On the other hand, the “bad” cholesterol is the low-density lipoprotein or LDL. Both men and women should aim to keep this number under 100.

• Triglycerides, similar to LDL, are something we want to keep low as increased levels can increase the risk for heart disease. The target range for men and women is less than 150 mg/dL.

While each of these factors alone can increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, when 3 or more are present in an individual, the criteria for metabolic syndrome is met and the risk for cardiac disease, stroke and type II diabetes greatly increases. Prevention is the goal and it is important to note the conditions can be well managed and potentially reversed in some cases. The first line in prevention and treatment is…you guessed it, lifestyle modification. 

As with many conditions, there are some non-modifiable risk factors such as age, race, gender and family history. While these are important to know, focusing on the modifiable risk factors is where you can really make a difference. Check out my previous blog Understanding Risk Factors to learn more about these and addressing the modifiable risk factors. 

It’s important to note that medication can, and sometimes needs to be, part of a treatment plan based on what you and your doctor decide is right for you. I encourage you to talk with your doctor, express your concerns, determine realistic goals and explore treatment plans. Remember you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to your health. Having regular wellness exams to evaluate for these conditions can be a key piece in preventing metabolic syndrome. I’d like to end by acknowledging all of this is objective data which is an important part of health and that subjective data, such as stress managing, healthy coping skills, how you perceive your overall health and control over it are important factors in health and overall wellness too. More on this next month!

So how do you know if you have a medical condition which absolutely makes avoiding gluten important and even critical to your health? Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder determined by a blood test and important to diagnose. If left untreated, it can lead to damage of the small intestine, malabsorption and other complications. Gluten ataxia is a rare autoimmune disorder where gluten causes the body to attack the central nervous system. A wheat allergy is when the body produces antibodies when wheat is ingested. Like other allergies, the severity can vary from person to person, ranging from mild irritation to anaphylactic shock. A wheat allergy can be determined with a skin test or blood test. Gluten intolerance or sensitivity can be challenging to definitively determine as there is no test for it. Symptoms associated with it, such as headaches, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue and brain fog, to name a few, may be symptoms associated with a variety of conditions. A simple (not necessarily easy) way to determine if gluten might be the cause of these symptoms is to try an elimination diet with gluten and note any changes in symptoms. 

Whether you fall into one of these categories and avoiding gluten is a necessity, or you are simply choosing to cut gluten from your diet, the idea of eliminating gluten can feel a bit daunting. After being made aware of Celiac disease over a decade ago and more recently gluten sensitivity, I choose to eat gluten free myself although not medically necessary. It started as a convenience so as not to prepare separate meals and now it is my way of life—much like choosing to be vegetarian, pescatarian or vegan. The gluten free market has come a long way and there are now some amazing gluten free pastas and gluten free flour blends which make some of my favorite recipes hard to differentiate from their glutenous form. I also found it was a natural gateway to eating more whole foods because once you navigate which whole grains to avoid for gluten, most whole foods are naturally gluten free. Dining out can get a bit tricky and I continue to see progress in labeling and awareness around gluten in restaurants. Be sure to ask your server if you’re unsure.  

So if you need to go gluten free or choose to go gluten free, rest assured it can be done! The Celiac Disease Foundation can be a great resource to start with if you are navigating being gluten free. I would also like to note that if you are choosing to go gluten free because you think it is simply healthier, take care to make sure you are choosing nutritious gluten free options. The food industry now offers a plethora of processed foods which are gluten free and low in nutritional value. It’s worthwhile to become a label reader when it comes to packaged foods. Just as being vegetarian does not equate to a healthy diet, gluten free does not either. While it’s still unclear if everyone would benefit from steering clear of gluten, and regardless of your reason for being gluten free, taking time to read labels is important. Letting the nutritional value of foods help guide our choices is absolutely beneficial.

Much like our physical health, our mental health is also on a continuum. The lack of illness does not necessarily equal optimal health and the presence of an illness does not mean a person cannot thrive. This diagram from St. Francis Xavier University provides a nice visual of the mental health continuum.

While languishing is not depression, it can be a precursor to depression so it’s important to recognize it and take steps to help move from a state of languishing to flourishing. If you find yourself languishing, here are 7 things you might focus on to find your way back to flourishing.

1. Do Something Purposeful 

Doing things that are meaningful to us can be fulfilling. I’m not referring to the shoulds, I’m talking about the wants. What are the things that come to mind that you want to do that bring a sense of purpose when done? For me it’s learning. Whether it’s learning something entirely new or leveling up a current skill, I feel accomplished when I learn.

2. Practice mindfulness

Bring awareness to the moment without judgment. If you feel like you are living in the movie Groundhog Day, taking the time to bring your mind into focus can be helpful and combat mindlessly moving through the day. Whether you’re taking a walk, making dinner, brushing your teeth, or simply sitting on the couch, you can be mindful. Mindfulness is bringing your attention to the here and now.

3. Move your body everyday

Taking care of our physical bodies can lend itself to mental well-being. If you are languishing it can be hard to feel motivated to exercise. It doesn’t need to be a gym session; explore ways that simply involve moving your body. Leaning into the 5 Minute Rule might also be a helpful tool to get started. 

4. Seek out connections

The pandemic has highlighted our basic need for human connection. The pandemic has required us to pivot a bit in how we connect. Large gatherings or even small face to face interactions have been limited to varying degrees leaving many of us feeling isolated and lonely. Being open to new ways to connect and becoming more intentional in connecting is important. It can range from meaningful conversations with people in your ‘bubble’, to taking part in online groups, to making eye contact with the person who brings your curbside order. 

5. Explore therapy

Benefits of therapy are not confined to those diagnosed with a mental illness. Therapy can help us understand ourselves and our relationships better and provide healthy coping tools as we move through life and its ever changing circumstances. Finding the right therapist is important and technology has made it possible to connect with therapists in a variety of manners. Psychology Today and Betterhelp can be places to start, as well as asking your provider for a referral.

6. Eat nourishing foods

Have I mentioned how your physical and mental health are intertwined? If we feel sluggish physically, it can carry over to our mental mood as well. Rather than think about foods to cut out, consider the approach of what foods do I want to make sure to include? Enjoy comfort foods in moderation and aim to have a fruit or vegetable at each meal along with a glass of water.

7. Check in with your sleep hygiene.

Routine might sound unappealing right now but when it comes to sleep, it can be a powerful ally. As we might be looking to distract ourselves from the mundanity of the days, we may find ourselves endlessly scrolling through our phones or watching Netflix into the wee hours of the morning (of course we’re still watching Netflix) and getting up later or starting the day tired. Good sleep hygiene plays an important role in mental and physical health.

My bonus tip if you’re feeling meh, practice kindness and patience with yourself and others—most of us are struggling to varying degrees right now. It’s okay to not be in a constant state of flourishing. Acknowledging when you are languishing can be the first step in redirecting your intentions and actions to shift from languishing to flourishing.