How To Set Goals (And Actually Stick To Them)

Happy new year!!! Can you believe that we're already a few days into the new year?

With the new year comes the season of resolutions and lofty goals, which come spring, have often been forgotten or ended in failure because they were so radical to begin with. We all make goals at some point or another, whether they or health related, personal, or career related, which I want to share with you a goal-setting technique that has had a huge impact on my own life.

If-Then Planning

I first heard about if-then planning a month or so ago from one of my health coaching mentors, Elizabeth Rider. She suggested a book called 9 Things Successful People Do Differently by Heidi Grant Halverson, which as the name suggests, provides lots of insight into how to live a prosperous, successful life. Here's how it works: instead of having some broad goal in your mind about what you will (or won't) do, you actually format your goal in the way that our very brains function - in "if-then" statements. These statements are structured like this: "if X happens, then I will do Y". For example, "If it is Sunday I will do my grocery shopping for the week", or "If it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 6pm I will go to yoga/the gym/a walk". Just about any goal can be broken down into this format.

If you're at all familiar with computer programming this might sound familiar to you. The concept brought me right back to my days in University where I studied computer programming as part of my degree health information science. If-then statements are the cornerstone of computer programming. It's no surprise that our brains work the very same way.

Here's how I put it to use:

For me, when I recently started working with a peer coach, one of the goals I set for myself was to read more. Specifically, to finish a book I'd been reading for quite some time. It dawned on me one day not long after discovering if-then planning that if I don't make the time to read, and reach my goal of finishing my current book, it will never happen on it's own. That's when I came up with one of my most powerful plans to date:

If it's 9pm, I will shut my computer down and read my book.

The concept of structuring goals in such a specific manner couldn't have come at a better time. Up until that point I had been putting in close to 13 hour days in front of my computer, studying and working to get caught up with schoolwork while also designing my new health coaching website (more on that in another post!). I was staring at my screen until right before bedtime, when I would attempt to unplug and fall right asleep - much easier said than done.

Since I have put my new goal into action, I have found myself making the time to read more, and as a bonus, I'm able to unwind before bed, fall asleep quicker and have deeper, more restful sleeps! Of course there are nights where it's not possible to shut down at 9pm and read (nights out like New Years Eve are a good example), so I make sure not to be too strict, or too hard on my self when it doesn't happen. The beauty of this newfound goal setting technique, however, is that now when 9pm hits, my brain is programmed to remember to turn off my screen, and pick up my book.

I hope this approach will work for you as well as it's working for me. Comment below to share your if-then plans - I'd love to hear your goals!

Gluten Free Holiday Recipe Guide

My first gluten free Christmas was only a few short years ago, and I remember spending hours online searching for recipes that would come close to the real deal that I'd be "missing out on". Looking back, I wish I'd had the resources that are available to me now (I hadn't even heard of Pinterest back then).

Fast forward a couple years, and I'm now on my way to becoming established as a Health Coach, ready to take on the world and help clients achieve their goals of health, fitness, weight loss, vitality (you name it). The things I've learned and the people I've met along the way inspire me everyday. I am truly blessed to be on this path, helping others while always learning - and trying out - new things myself.

That's why I want to share this Gluten Free Holiday Recipe Guide, with 24 delicious gluten free recipes all written by my peers, fellow Health Coaches and graduates from Integrative Nutrition. This is sure to make your life a bit easier as you search for the perfect recipes to add to your holiday menus this year.

To download your copy of the Holiday Recipe Guide, click HERE.

Bikram Yoga Do's and Don'ts

I've been doing a lot of reading about Bikram Yoga and other people's take on the proverbial (and sometimes literal) torture chamber lately. There were two articles I recently came across detailing the Do's and Don'ts of your Bikram Yoga class and I wanted to put my own spin on it.

Here are my own top 5 Do's and Don'ts for your Bikram Yoga practice:

Do's

1. Do... Take the time before class to quiet your mind so you’re better able to listen to the dialogue. Everything you’ve ever wondered about the practice, the postures, the breathing, everything – it’s all in the dialogue. There are still classes after 8 years of practicing (and having the dialogue so ingrained in my mind I could – and sometimes do – recite it in my sleep) where I will hear something in a new way and it just clicks and makes sense in my body, deepening my practice and my understanding of the posture. It’s only possible to get to that level when you’re able to quiet your own internal dialogue and be present and receptive to what the teacher has to say.
2. Do... Have everything you need at your mat before class starts. Ok, for your first few classes this might not apply, but if you are a Queen (or King) of Kleenex and have a habit of walking to the front of the room for a tissue during party time, plan ahead! Grab a couple before class and keep them within reach. This will limit the amount of excess movement during class, which will save you energy and not distract your fellow students or teacher!
3. Do...Stay in the room. Even if you’re having the hottest, most difficult class of your life, the best thing you can do for yourself is to just take it easy. Kneel down, lie down, do whatever you need to do, but stay in the room! The teacher won’t call you out for sitting out a posture or two, but they will if you bolt for the door. The change in temperature can be a big shock for your system, so just accept that once class starts, you’re in there until the end. Trust me, it’s possible even through the hottest classes – I’ve yet to leave the room during class and I’m still here to write about it.
4. Do... Move together. Whether you believe it or not, your neighbours in the room have a big influence on your class. It’s important to support one another by engaging in the collective energy and moving in and out of postures together, sharing energy and strength throughout the class. Pay attention to if you are consistently the last person to grab your foot in standing head to knee or raise your arms over your head for triangle. If so, try to break these habits and in turn inspire your fellow yogis.
5. Do... Set mini goals for yourself. There are always things to work towards in yoga, and it’s not just about having the perfect postures. Having small goals in class will help to keep you accountable during your time in the hot room. Maybe it’s to avoid wiping your sweat (see below), to stay in the room, or to touch your forehead to your knee. Whatever it is, small, achievable goals will hold you accountable while deepening your practice. 

Don’ts

1. Don't... Take yourself so seriously! It’s just yoga, no need to make that angry face at yourself in the mirror. Sometimes we don’t even realize the faces we make in the room until someone calls us out on it. One of my current struggles is to SMILE, especially during Standing Bow. All my energy is concentrated on the kick, the reach, the balance – none of it can be spared for a smile. Or so it seemed. Once I started to practice smiling in the posture everything felt a lot lighter, and a lot less frustrating if I lost my balance or fell out of the posture. I really believe that if we take our practice less seriously, we will take ourselves less seriously outside of the hot room. How we approach our practice is how we approach our lives.
2. Don't... Wipe your sweat! I get it, sometimes sweat gets uncomfortable, especially when we’re not used to sweating as profusely as you do in a Bikram Yoga class. Sweat is the body’s natural air conditioning system, working to cool the body down. When we wipe the sweat off our skin, we’re taking away that cooling system and our body will naturally begin to warm up even more. On top of that, even more energy is expended working to get that sweat back to the skin. In short, every time you wipe your sweat, you are going to feel hotter and hotter. 
3. Don't... Come to class on a full stomach. Just like the advice not to swim after eating, it’s important not to avoid eating prior to practicing yoga. Not only is it going to be seriously uncomfortable to practice if you’ve recently eaten, it’s going to feel a lot more difficult that normal. When the body is busy digesting, blood flow is directed away from the muscles to the digestive system. What happens when these two areas of the body are competing for blood? Neither systems end up with enough oxygen and you may begin to feel weak and even light headed. Not fun. 
4. Don't... Chug your water. This is definitely something I have a hard time with. It’s not easy to stop chugging your cool, refreshing water once you start! It turns out that the water you drink during class doesn’t actually do much in the way of hydration – that has to happen before class. On top of that, any cold water we drink in class has to be brought back to normal body temperature, which takes energy away from where you need it the most.
5. Don't... Let your thoughts take over. When you’re lying in Savasana, it’s normal for thoughts to pop into your mind. The key is to acknowledge them, and then send the on their way. If you’re coming to yoga right after a busy day at work, do your best to let all of that go at the door (or preferably, at the office). Any planning, list making or problem solving can be done after class. Your time in the room is to focus on yourself, and nothing else.

How to Improve Your Relationship with Food

Do you happen to find yourself in an unhealthy relationship with the food you're eating? It's not uncommon to use food as a way to mask things we may not want to focus on, or to fulfill us emotionally when certain areas of our lives are unbalanced. Read on for my suggestions to help get you back on track.

Eat Only When You’re Hungry

We’ve all done it – opened the door of the fridge and stood there, unsure what we want but sure that we want something. Often these ambiguous cravings are a cry for water. Instead of peering longingly into the fridge, drink a glass of water or go for a walk. Wait a few minutes after that and see if you still want to eat. If you do, then go for it! Just pay attention to what you’re eating and why. If it’s to satisfy something unrelated to hunger or to provide a distraction from something else, try to recognize what that might be and think of different activities besides eating that might be healthier for you. Think about things like your personal relationships, the fulfillment you're getting at work, and your stress levels. Many factors can contribute to emotional eating, and identifying what that might be is the first step in making the necessary changes.

Make Mealtime Special

How we eat is just as important as what we eat. Ever notice that when you eat while you’re rushed or stressed you tend to overeat and your digestion isn’t quite as good? It’s so common in our fast paced culture of drive ins and never ending to-do lists that we don’t give ourselves much time to nourish ourselves. Try this: for at least one meal this week, set aside at least half an hour with no distractions to enjoy the food you’re feeding yourself. When we eat we go into absorption mode. That means not only are we absorbing the nutrients in the food, but also our environment. If you turn off the tv, put your phone down, step away from your desk and enjoy your food with all your senses you might find you are much more satisfied and more nourished from your meal.

Keep a Food Journal

Writing down everything you eat in a day will not only keep you accountable for what you’re putting in your body, but is also a great tool to allow you to pinpoint any food sensitivities or triggers for health concerns like headaches or low energy. Try it out for one week! Write down what you ate, how you felt right away, and how you felt about an hour or two after. Often when we eat junk food we feel awesome right off the bat, but not long after we start to feel sluggish and unfocused. Don't worry about tracking calories or grams of fat, etc., but write out whatever it was, in whatever detail you're comfortable with. Instead of thinking of food journaling as a chore, start to recognize it as a way to connect with yourself and be more in tune with your body.

Good luck on your health journey, and as always please leave a comment and let me know how you're doing!

5 Steps to Success

Well, it’s that time again. Summer is (unofficially) over, lots of people are back at school and work, and it’s the season of new schedules and routines - although I'm still trying to wrap my head around how that happened so fast. With all the new things that you may find yourself fitting into your life, it’s common that you might be struggling to find time to take care of yourself. This time of year seems to be a slippery slope for many people, with holiday dinners and autumn treats right around the corner (there’s already tempting Halloween candy in grocery stores!). Before we know it the holidays will be here and we’ll be tempted to fall into old habits and possibly overdoing it on the comfort foods. Instead of slipping down the potentially slippery slope ahead, take action now to commit to a healthy lifestyle.

Here are my 5 favourite tips for success to give you the upper hand this season, whatever challenges you might face.

Have A Plan 

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else” -Yogi Berra 

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with so many different diet/exercise/lifestyle plans out there. Often they can be conflicting and downright confusing. The best way to know if something works for you is to trust your intuition and try it out yourself. Not every way of exercising or eating will work for you, and I’m a strong believer that one person’s food can be another person’s poison. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. The only way to know if something will work is to try it out, but I urge you to stick to one plan and follow it for at least a week or two to really get a feel for whether or not it works for you. Remember why it is you're doing what you're doing - write it down if you need to be reminded - and stay focused by surrounding yourself with motivation (supportive people, pictures, blogs, etc.). After some time if you don’t see any progress, or you're not enjoying it and you feel miserable and tired, try something new!

Set Realistic Goals 

When you decide to make a change for the better, it’s easy to want to jump all in and give up ten different things in your life to begin a strict diet or exercise regime. My advice would be to take it slow. Think baby steps. If you want to start eating gluten free, for example, don’t also cut out animal products, smoking, drinking, and sugar at the same time, or you’ll likely set yourself up for failure.

Give yourself something achievable to work towards, and make sure your goals are SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Based.

Track Your Progress

You’ll want to have a way to track your progress to know that you’re working towards your goal. If you’re trying to lose pounds or inches, snap a before picture, take measurements, or record your starting weight. One of my favourite ways to track my progress is to keep a journal. I write down what I did, ate and drank and how I felt throughout the day. This is a powerful way to clue into what is working and what might be standing in your way towards true wellness, because after all, it’s not about the number on a scale or tape measure, but how you feel on a day-to-day basis.

Don’t Lose Faith

If you fall off the wagon, get right back on! Who cares if you ate a whole pizza for dinner or you skipped a workout. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed and should give up on your plan! Observe how you feel about it, then forgive yourself and let it go. There’s no point beating yourself up for something in the past. Brush it off, stay positive, and keep on moving forward.

Celebrate!

Make sure to reward yourself for even the smallest accomplishments. Maybe you’re down an inch or a pound, or you held triangle pose for the whole posture today. Whatever it is, recognize every accomplishment and congratulate yourself! I wouldn’t suggest making food a reward for these everyday achievements, especially if your goal is to lose weight, but allow yourself to FEEL GOOD about it. Make yourself a delicious pot of tea, run a hot bath, or pick up a feel-good book and spend some time revelling in how great it feels to be you!

Good luck on whatever journey you're on!

Lots of love and light

Namaste