Try this journaling technique to boost your fitness

Good Morning..

When was the last time you sat down and really thought about how you’re feeling when it comes to your health and wellness – the actions you’re taking, where you’re headed and what your big (and small!) goals are?

I’ve got a tip for you today that I personally find to be helpful, especially when it comes to healthy eating!

It’s an idea I borrowed from the field of education: it’s called reflective journaling, and while it’s meant to help students track what they’re learning (and how they feel about it!), it can be an awesome tool to track your health and fitness.

Basically, it’s like a food/workout log – except you record your ideas, thoughts, feelings, wins, and challenges as you create healthy new habits and try new things.

Journaling can be especially helpful when it comes to sticking with new habits, because writing things down can give you some clues as to why some habits “stick” more easily than others.

Journals work best when you write in them at regular intervals – daily or weekly – so you have a record to look back on to see what worked (and what needs work).

Your don’t have to make a lot of rules about what goes into your journal, and your entries don’t have to long involved writing projects. Even better, they can be short and sweet!

For instance, you might include workout information, whether you feel tired/energized, whether your eating is on track, any new recipes/foods you’ve tried, how you feel after eating certain foods, your mood/level of enthusiasm, etc.

Not only will your journal be a part of your support system and hold you accountable, it’ll give you a record of what’s going well, and what needs attention. Over time, you will notice patterns.

Tim Ferris (author and entrepreneur) journals every single day.

In fact, I remember reading in one of his books that he said something to the effect of (I’m paraphrasing here) If I want to look or feel like I did when I was 25, I could because I know exactly what I ate, what my workout was, and how I felt.

That’s REALLY powerful to be able to do that. Plus, once you’ve been keeping a journal for a while, it is fun to look back over progress. You get to see the new activities you’ve tried and the goals you’ve achieved.

I do have one suggested “rule” for your journal: Let it be a positive and empowering tool.

You can use it to coach yourself with positive reinforcement vs. nagging at yourself for missing a workout.

Basically, talk to yourself as if you were your own best friend. It goes a long way toward helping you uncover the underlying things that motivate you.

Getting into journaling is a habit in itself – I recommend setting aside a couple minutes at a regular time every day to jot down your entries. The end of the day is a good time, because you’ll have perspective to “wrap up” your day.

Or, if you are writing weekly, Sunday is a good day to review your previous week and set goals for the coming week.

If you’re not sure about your own wellness and fitness goals, I’d love to help. Just reply back to this email and we can chat to see if there’s anything I can do to help!

pricelessdirections@gmail.com

614-440-9311

Have a great day!

Mike Price

The Real Life Changer

Here’s why you’re always hungry!

We came across interesting numbers the other day that we had to share with you. If you’re feeling tired, you are NOT alone!

Did you know that we’re getting less sleep than ever? Almost 60 years ago, a survey of more than 1 million people found that most people got 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night.

By 2000 that number dropped to about 7 hours a night. And now almost 20 years later, sleep experts say we’re sleeping even less- with many of us only 5-6 hours a night!

Make sense why energy drinks are so popular? Powering through on too little sleep is not a good idea for the long-term health of your body.

The fact is, you don’t have to wait to feel the impact of too little sleep on your hormones. You might be feeling it today!

There are two major hormone “pathways” that take a big hit when you don’t get enough sleep- including hormones that handle things like your sex drive, stress, hunger, and blood sugar.. and (ironically enough) even your ability to fall asleep! 👉🏾 It only takes a night or two for them to get out of balance.

One pathway is governed by your pituitary gland and the other is your automatic nervous system. But they are intertwined, and they have a hand in virtually every function of your body. Keeping your hormones in balance is a huge part of feeling focused, strong, and vital.

Want to know how sleep affects your hormones?

👉🏾 Hunger- when you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases two important hormones that affect your appetite.

👉🏾 Stress- lack of sleep can cause stress- and stress causes lack of sleep! The two go hand-In-hand. Your fight or flight hormones like adrenaline and cortisol can rise and lower (affecting your blood sugar and insulin levels) making it hard to sleep or wind down.

👉🏾 Libido- being sleep deprived for one week can cut your testosterone levels by as much as 15% (even in women!) This can have a pretty big impact on your sex drive, making you feel less “in the mood,” less often!

All of this adds up to have pretty big impact on your quality of life!

My e-book Supercharge Your Sleep contains a lot of great info about sleep along with tips you can use to improve both the quality and quantity of sleep. It also contains info about when to get help for possible sleep disorders which are delaying your health and fitness results!

Join my Circle Of Influence now and receive your copy!

Your core and your posture...

Your core and posture have a codependent relationship. When both are healthy and strong, life is good! But if one is a little off, it can throw the other out-of-whack, leading to possible pain, injury, and even health problems!

For an example, if you sit a lot, muscles in the front of your body (shoulders, neck, chest, hips) can become tight and tense as the body folds forward, while muscles in the back of the body ( back, glutes, etc.) become weaker.

This is why it is important to take time to RESTORE your core by rebuilding it from the inside out, in a way that doesn’t reinforce poor postural habits.

Signs your core needs work:

• low back pain

• tight hips and shoulders

• poor posture

• weakness in extremities

• you hold your breath when you work your core

• when jumping, laughing or coughing you find yourself running to the bathroom

  How are you going to fix this????? Join my circle of influence now and receive your copy of “Restore Your Core” our new e-book!

  simple and effective ways you can start restoring your core now right at home or at work!

5 things you can do right now to increase transformation results... that have nothing to do with the gym or food!!

Do you find yourself struggling to stay consistent with your health and fitness routine?? One big reason most find it hard to stick with the routine is because they separate their health and fitness journey from their lifestyle.

This is when you get that feeling as if you’re constantly starting over…..

Want to know how to give yourself a mental edge?/

REFLECT

1. Slow down- if you’re constantly rushing, chances are you’re not focusing on the present. This will allow you to feel less stressed and chances are you’ll get to where you’re trying to go faster.

2. Take 10-15 minutes to journal your thoughts. What’s working and what’s not. How do you feel? Make the necessary adjustments and keep moving forward.

3. Affirmations- what are you going to tell yourself when you feel like you can’t go any further? When you’ve had a long day and want to quit. What is going to be your personal mission statement.

4. Meditation- I know this could be a hard one for some. Believe it or not, there is no wrong or right way to do this. It doesn’t have to be 20-30 minutes of silence. Take 5 minutes to let your thoughts run wild and another 5 minutes to visualize what you want, and seeing yourself making that vision happen.

5. Leave yourself room for learning and having fun! This allows you to make mistakes and learn from them. If your program does not allow for these opportunities, this will make the process long and stressful, and wanting to quit because it’s not sustainable.

   For The complete Guide on Meal prepping and How to achieve the YOU 2.0 join my circle of influence!!

worst times to get on the scale...

Are you using a scale to assess your progress in your health and fitness program? If you are, you are setting yourself up for constant mental battle and disappointment.