Joyce Lee Life Coaching Moment

Forget love… I’d rather fall in chocolate!  ~ Author Unknown

Good Morning,

What if:

•    trans fat was good for us
•    cheese cake had the same calories as celery
•    we needed to drink 8 glasses of wine a day (just kidding, hiccup)
•    the food guide recommended 6 – 8 servings of chocolate a day…
•    deep fried foods were heart healthy
•    all those chemicals in our food were essential

What if belly fat was a good thing?

Wouldn’t that be just grand?

Hee-hee-hee

Joyce

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. ~ Julia Child

Some of my co-baby boomer friends and I are discovering the necessity of ‘cleaning up our act’ especially when it comes to eating for optimum health.

As we age, many of us are finding that mid life comes with assorted mid life and body bulges… someone called the little roll on top of our jeans a muffin top… funny and sad and true at the same time…

There is history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes on both sides of my family… When I was younger, I didn’t give it much thought… I was focused on the little picture of my life, but each year brought a broader focus and some reality checks…

I finally accepted that my lifestyle was pointing me in the same direction as my family members with compromised health issues.  I was substantially overweight, making regular unhealthy food choices and I smoked.

Had I kept moving in the direction I was pointed… I was inviting the diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease so common in my family

Thankfully, I have found my own path to health and I am interested and openly share what may be of relevance and benefit to anyone who is open to talking about it…

Tip: Eyes Open!

What is your take on this? Please take a moment to leave your thoughts.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends.  ~Author Unknown

I never met a popular fad diet that did me any good in the long term.

I could fill a page with the dates and names of the fad diets I went on in hope of having the perfect body.  I’ve know many a ‘Diet Monday.’

In fact, I think the numerous ones I went on in my long dieting career actually helped mess with my head and contribute to a very unhealthy relationship with food.

I subjected myself to:

Shame:  stepping on the scale and being weighed by a woman with a clipboard
Insanity: actually thinking that I can eat cabbage soup every day for the rest of my life
Blind Hope: maybe having my food mailed to me will really work
Desperation: I have to look good for my high school class reunion, here’s my $2500.00, sign me up!

What I want to know is who invents the fad diet anyway?  Is there a demographic?

Now that I am older and wiser (I hope), I chuckle at the infomercials promoting the latest and greatest fad…  I prefer the turtle approach: slow and steady wins the race…

What do you think?

When we lose twenty pounds… we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have!  We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty.  ~Woody Allen

Many of you know that I  reinvented my health and weight and body image 5 or so years ago.  Since that time, I have been educating myself on healthy food plans and healthy life practices.

I don’t claim to be a guru about food, but I do know this… everyone may be different and need to fine-tune their plan to fit them… but… there are some basic principles that are the same for everyone:

~ You are indeed what you eat.
~ Processed food is the last thing you should be eating.
~ Everyone needs to drink enough water
~ You need to take supplements.
~ You will benefit from eating by eating breakfast.
~ A healthy relationship with simple foods feels great!
~ A long healthy life requires eating for optimum health.
~ A fast-food, drive-thru lifestyle can wreak havoc with your body/temple.
~ Everything catches up with you as you age.

So… I simplified my whole outlook on food.  I swept through my pantry like a tornado and threw out the low quality processed stuff and started filling the crisper in the fridge with real food.

I think I even save money in the end…

What about you?

Brightest Blessings

Joyce

Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.  ~Author Unknown

Good Morning,

Ever get scared? We all do…  we think scary thoughts and our body responds by flooding us with stress hormones… or fear hormones…

So, what do you do… when your heart is racing and you feel a tightness in your chest… and you are scared or stressed?

Fist of all… breathe… breathe… breathe… then practice some self-power talk… affirm your ability to walk through this… whatever ‘this’ is… keep breathing… keep talking to your self…

…think of what you would say to someone you love that is stressed/scared… say those same things to your self.

Then, reach out to a person in your life who does not judge, does not fix, has a positive energy, will support you and remind you of your strength… there is much healing in allowing someone in and allowing your self to be vulnerable in a healthy way…

Honor your feelings… let them out…share them… often the boogey man in the closet turns out to be an old fur coat once you turn the light on…

Make sure you plant your flag in the intention of re-balancing, finding center again… don’t stay stuck in stress… talk it through… get to the other side of it… get to your power…

Wishing you an easy energy day…

Ohm…
JOYce <3 <3 <3

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As a solopreneur of not just one but two businesses, I can easily work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week working for and growing the businesses and I often do…

But it occurred to me, that under all the projects and busyness… my life is beautifully and intentionally simple and I love it that way…

For instance:

• I work from my home and go to town only twice a week.  I can take my ‘office’ (laptop) out onto the patio and work overlooking my horses, a pond while listening to the birds… simple
• I have a beautiful and simple food plan… unprocessed, whole, fresh foods… by the time grocery day rolls around, my fridge is empty… we only buy what we eat… simple…
• We walk almost every morning… simple…
• I let the answering machine pick up when I have my nap… simple… have a quiet house for a good portion of the day… radio off, TV off, music off… just quiet… simple…
• I am less and less attached to ’stuff’… less to dust… simple… I gave away my cookbook collection, my angel collection, ornaments… buying much less of what I merely “want” in favor for what I “need”  (still struggle with this in horse tack stores and bead stores… lol)

What about you?  Where have you simplified… Where would you like to simplify?

Wishing you enough…

Joyce

I recently attended a wedding for a family member. The wedding was attended by people I hadn’t seen in decades. I admit to needing gentle reminders of names with more than a few. Time had been kind to some and not so kind to others…

The thing that really struck me though, was the tendency of many women to immediately start self criticizing as soon as they greeted me.

“Oy vey… women can be soo hard on themselves sometimes.”

• Pointing out the signs of aging as if it was a crime
• Apologizing for their looks
  
• Minimizing accomplishments

As an avid ‘people-watcher’ and amateur sociologist, I created 2 general categories of women at the wedding.

1. Those who move through their life with self confidence, grace and poise
2. Those who do not

Both groups show it in everything from the clothes they choose, the way they walk, dance, laugh, interact and eat.

The experience gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own self confidence.  Being a typical middle aged woman in the ‘looks’ department, with my fair share of wrinkles, love handles and pesky unwanted chin hair (lol),  I  move through my life with confidence, grace and poise.

• I walk tall and freely… I love the way my body feels when I move, whether outside leading a horse or across a dance floor… I feel good… (shoes notwithstanding…)
• I wore a lovely lime green embroidered middle eastern sheer blouse with a  bright pink camisole… I felt exotic and mysterious… (gotta like that eh?)
• I chose simple food from the buffet that closely resembled the foods I normally eat,  and passed on the rest… (why… why… does so much have to be swimming in sauce… ewww)
• I love dancing (two stepping) with my wonderful husband… (hold me closer… mmm…)

I realized that wherever we go, we take ourselves with us…  My self confidence has come from all the personal work I have done to resolve and let go of my baggage and embrace my authentic power and beauty…  the confidence starts on the inside… and the outside reflects that…  (it’s an energy thing…)

I would love your thoughts on this…  where do you think power and poise and grace come from?

The wheel of the year has turned yet again, and the days are getting noticeably shorter. 2009 is more than half over.

The older I get, the more precious time is, and the more intent I become on living my life to it’s fullest.  I want to be happy, I see anything other than happiness a complete waste of my beautiful life. 

On that note, I would like to present you with a coaching challenge.

Remember to do this in a spirit of celebration, let go of the outcome, and just enjoy the process…

Challenge:

Take the time to sit today with a cup of tea and your journal and create a list of your highlights from the first half of 2009.

• What did you accomplish?
• Who did you love?
• What brought you joy?
• What did you learn?
• How did you grow?
• What were your special moments?

Take the time to look back with love… keep these snippets of “feel – good” energy close to you, think of them often.

Advanced Challenge: Up the voltage on the good energy.

If you really want to invite more goodness into your circumstances, pass this challenge to other select folks in you life.   Make it a point to talk about these loving things when you visit…

• What you think is what you feel
• What you feel is what you vibrate
• What you vibrate is what you attract

Take time to think about the love you have and share…

Use the Law of Attraction to invite more and more reasons to celebrate into your reality.

Isn’t it great how this works?

Peace and Love,

Joyce

Good Morning,

So, here we are… another day is stretched out before us…

Before we look at our self in the mirror again, let’s take a moment to think about the quality of observations we will make to the woman who is looking back at…

Will we criticize and judge her negatively, or will we smile and tell her that we are grateful and that we are glad to be her?

What will we plan to eat today? Have we given thought to balanced, nutritious meals for our self and our family?  Does the food that we keep in the house support a healthy food plan?

Our personal care: Are we going to take the time to dress and present our self in a way that feels good and self loving today?  Do we have self care products that make a positive statement about the care we think we deserve?

Money Matters: Will we respect our finances today?  Will we make wise choices that feel empowering?

Will we make time for some personal inner work? Time to connect with our Spirituality?  Time just for us…  or will we give it all away…

Here’s the thing… the better we treat our self, the better we will feel… the better we feel, the more we have to share with others… it’s the quintessential win-win…

I’m on my way to smile at the woman in the mirror…

Joyce

Good Morning…

Here is a nifty exercise that I like to do every day.  I would like to offer it to you…

It’s simple… Pick a word… any word… this word will keep you focused and anchored as you walk through this day…

You will know it when you see it… you can’t make a mistake with this exercise… and the great thing is… you get to pick another one tomorrow… how about that?

Serenity, Spirit, Inspiration, Peace, Love, Joy, Choice, Power, Friendliness, Share, Cherish, Appreciate, Laugh, Smile, Truth, Surrender, Tickle, Tease, Hug, Grace, Poise, Confidence, Worth, Value, Esteem, Acceptance, Create, Support, Communicate, Clarity, Positive, Dream, Deserve, Honesty, Passion, Health, Wellness, Grounded, Centered, Abundance, Receive, Blessings, Gratitude, Thanks, Manners, Authentic, Awakened, Empowered, Sage, Generous, Affirm, Approval, Acceptance, Tolerance, Patience, Connecting, Relax, Soft, Open, Flowing, Relax, Let It Be, Chill Out…

Pick one from the list that resonates with you or pick one of your own… the important thing is that you choose a positive lens through which to view your world…  you create what you choose…