How are you feeling?  Seriously, how are you really feeling? Have you ever taken a wellness audit?  Memorial Day weekend is officially ushering in Summer.  Are you ready?  Do you feel ready to truly enjoy this summer, to make the most of it?  Let’s make sure by auditing your overall wellness – take inventory of YOUR overall health and fitness level today.   We will also look at potential solutions for any areas that can be improved.  

Physical wellness basically includes a variety of health behaviors and habits such as adequate exercise, proper nutrition, self care, and avoiding harmful habits (consuming excessive alcohol, smoking or vaping, and/or drug abuse).  As you read through this blog, intentionally and mindfully assess your personal health.  Honestly determine where you are, and where you want to be regarding your overall health and fitness.  

According to many sources, (www.theartoffitnessandlife.com, www.grcc.edu, https://www.rwu.edu) there are seven (7) areas or “pillars” of wellness:

1. Mental

2. Physical

3. Social

4. Financial

5. Spiritual

6. Environmental

7. Vocational

This blog will focus more on the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual areas.  So let’s dive right into this audit!  Unless you want to share your answers with someone, no one will know your answers.  So, for your own best benefit, be brutally honest as you assess yourself in all of these areas!

PHYSICAL

How are you truly feeling?  

• Have you had a complete physical checkup to know your numbers?  We’re talking blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, hormone levels, etc.

• How is your ability to perform basic physical activities such as:
  • Walking up and down stairs
  • Getting up from seated or from sitting in the floor

• How is your energy level to perform basic activities such as cooking meals and household chores?

• Do you find that you frequently:
  • Get headaches
  • Notice that your clothes getting uncomfortably tight
  • Feel bloated
  • Suffer from digestive issues
  • experience excessive water retention 
  • Feel lethargic, with little to no energy
  • Feel more aches and pains throughout your body, specifically in your joints

MENTAL:

How are you processing daily circumstances?  Are  you having more bad days or good days?  Honestly evaluate the following:

• Do you feel cranky and moody often?

• Overall, do daily irritations like traffic and encountering difficult situations tend to ruin your day or roll off your back?

• How do you handle stress and stressful situations?  Do you have stress management techniques or tools in place?

• When facing a problem, do you tend to give up or find solutions?

• Have you set any personal goals?

EMOTIONAL:

• Do you find, overall, that you tend to look for the bad or the good in each day?  

• Is your mindset overwhelmingly positive or negative?

• What are the things you most look forward to?

• When you look in the mirror, are you content with who and/or what you see?

• Do you have family and/or friends who encourage and support you or drain you?

• How is the quality of your sleep?

SOCIAL:

Believe it or not, this is honestly a crucial area!  Assess who is truly in your innermost circle, and who is in your “outer” circle.

• Do those closest to you energize you and bring you peace, or do you find that they drain you mentally and emotionally?

• Do you have family and/or friends who are honest with you as well as supportive, rather than critical?

• Do you have a support circle who helps you find solutions? 

• Do you feel safe being honest in return with those in your circle?  

SPIRITUAL:

While this area may not seem important enough to be in the top 5, I can assure you from my personal experience that it truly is!  If you know me, you already know that I absolutely and unashamedly love Jesus.  He is my Savior, my Heavenly Father,  Redeemer, best friend, healer, comforter, conscience, etc.  Without faith in someone bigger than myself, I would feel lost.  My strength literally comes from Him.  I know that He is in control, and that in order to get the very most and best out of my life, I need to be anchored in Him and in His Word.  Being part of an active, Bible-believing church family feeds my heart, mind, and soul.  It gives me an opportunity to be fed spiritually and an opportunity to serve others.  All of these things are so very important!  So, let’s assess a few spiritual health areas:

• Are you plugged into a faith-based community?

• Are you feeding your faith?  This can include worship and/or prayer services, small groups, Bible studies, and Bible study groups.

• Are you serving in some capacity?  Are you giving of yourself – not just money, but your talent and your time?

• Are you practicing counting your blessings as much, if not more, than your problems?

Take a few minutes to honestly assess yourself in all of these areas.  I would encourage you to make notes.  You know I love the idea of journaling.  If you aren’t already journaling, start one today.  Make any notes you have about this wellness audit.  Writing these things down can help you in SO many ways!  Maybe you’re finding that you’re a little better off than you originally thought!  That’s a very encouraging thing to have written – to see it in print, not just thinking it.  If you find that you have more areas to improve than you thought, writing them down gives you a “ground zero” to start with!  Write any ideas you have to improve, then make a plan to get started.

For the physical topic, list the things that you are most concerned about.  How can you improve these things?  First of all, if something is a challenge to you – you need to do more of it!  For example, if walking up any set of stairs is a struggle for you – then you decide today that you are going to take every set of stairs you see!  Yes, it will be hard at first – you’ll definitely be out of breath, and it might take you longer to get there than taking an elevator.  But after a couple of weeks, you’ll find that it’s easier!  If getting up and down is difficult for you – make a plan to put exercises into practice daily that will make that easier for you.  (Mix in squats, lunges, crunches, plank.) Here’s the thing – every single one of us is aging.  As our bodies age, fitness abilities, flexibility, and mobility will disappear if we don’t use them.  However, no matter how old you are, it’s never too late to improve!  We will all need to maintain balance, flexibility, and mobility as we age to remain active and independent.  You have nothing to lose (except your excuses) and everything to gain!

How do you feel about your mental and emotional audits?  These are choices, my friends.  The spiritual and social areas directly feed into these as well.  Time with Jesus and a strong faith make you more mentally and emotionally stable and strong.  A strong support group will do the same, and can certainly be found in a faith-based community like a church home or Bible study group.  And of course, when you are physically active and have an exercise program and healthy nutrition, your mood and stress level are positively affected!  Get out your calendar and write down times each day that you will move – get outside for a walk, take an exercise class, plug in an at-home exercise program.  Write down a day that you will grocery shop, and a day that you will prepare your meals in advance.  Plan your meals, then make your grocery list and DO NOT deviate from that list!

Look at what you can improve rather than focus on what needs improvement!   Set new goals (small, easy to achieve and big) and make a plan for yourself to reach them.  As you implement steps, you’ll find that you are more encouraged and determined to succeed which pushes you to continue.  Once you reach a small goal, you’ll find that you feel much more confident and motivated to crush other goals!

A personal trainer or wellness coach can certainly help you break these things down and make a new plan that is 100% doable.  I can promise you that it is more than worth the investment.  I would love to help you be the very best you can be!  Please feel free to contact me to talk about your wellness audit and goals!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my mommy friends, and to all of our mothers!  Hopefully we all have precious childhood memories of our own mothers.  I know that not all of us have had ideal childhoods, but you’ve pushed through to make wonderful lives on your own.  Whether our strengths were instilled because of our childhood or in spite of it, we are now leading and teaching our own children.

Regardless of age, our children are always watching us.  Our daughters and sons learn as much from watching how we handle every situation as they do from things we intentionally teach them.   We all have our own priorities on the things we are intentional about – manners, alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors, doing chores, etc.  But what are we teaching them unintentionally?  What are our habits?  What do our children see as our priorities?  Are these things the legacies we want to instill in our children?

If you make your health a priority by eating clean, whole foods and getting workouts in, your children are far more likely to do the same.  It’s nearly impossible to expect your children to eat fruits and vegetables if you don’t.  If you’re eating fast food and junk food, it will be much harder to get them to eat healthy foods at home.  Even though fast foods may be easier when our children are little, it’s definitely a hard habit to break as they grow older!  

As they grow, our children are always watching and adapt their behaviors and choices to what they learn from us.  Being a mommy is such a huge responsibility – and an unspeakable joy!  Being mindful of what we do and what we say at all times is overwhelming. . . do my boys see me pray?  Do they see me reading my Bible?  Do they hear me speak respectfully to cashiers, servers, doctors, nurses, etc.?  Do my words and my actions match?  

Not one of us is perfect!  Give yourself some grace, sweet mama.  I’m certain your little, or not-so-little anymore treasures know that they are loved.  Teach them about Jesus!  I believe that taking responsibility for our mistakes and allowing them to see that we are actually human teaches them amazing lessons as well.

Just keep loving those babies, give yourself some grace, and make sure you take time for yourself!  None of us can pour from an empty cup, and letting your family see that you’re investing in your mental and physical health is so important.  That in itself is teaching something valuable to them!

Take care of yourself – drink lots of water, eat clean fruits and vegetables, get fresh air, sunshine, some exercise, and rest.  And Happy Mother’s Day to you!

Welcome to May!  We finally made it to warmer, sunnier days – and soooo much closer to summer!  As a teacher and a mom, I can attest to how busy and straight up chaotic May can be.  We have spring sports, banquets, testing, teacher appreciation, Mother’s Day, and ALL of the end of the school year things.  The end of the school year is even more hectic than the Christmas season!  Hang in there Mom – we’ve got this!

As our lists of places to be and things to do grows, please don’t let that distract you from your goals!  We may have to be more creative at getting our workouts in, or much more intentional about how and when we meal prep.   Just do not put your own health on a back burner.

Let’s look at some options that might help us get through this busy season with our goals being crushed along the way!  

1. Nutrition is our top priority.  Even if you get in all of your workouts, but you aren’t fueling your body well, you’re really just wasting your time and energy.  

• Make a grocery list.  Shop only from this list, and don’t let cravings get in the way.  Maybe even order online and pick up your groceries to maximize your time and minimize your time browsing the aisles in the store.
• Pick your least busy day or days to prepare your meals ahead of time.  Separate portions out for meals, and pack them away in your refrigerator.  It will be super easy to grab a meal and go!
• Utilize protein shakes and protein bars when you’re going to be out and about.  Make wraps (instead of sandwiches with bread) that can be eaten on the go without the need for reheating.  Even a snack of apples and peanut butter will stave off hunger and prevent that trip through a fast food drive through.

2. Busy schedule?  Then go ahead and review your calendar and schedule your workouts for the week.  I mean actually write it in or enter it on your phone’s calendar.

• Do you need to get up earlier?  Maybe watch a little less television?  (Or maybe watch while you’re working out at home) Set yourself up for success by carving out time just for you – just 20 to 30 minutes each day will add up!
• Pack your gym bag the night before and go ahead and put it in the car!  Leave yourself no excuses.  
• This includes charging your headphones and putting them in your purse or gym bag the night before as well.  
• Maybe it’s helpful to just leave a pair of socks, sports bra, and leggings or shorts in your bag – just in case.
• Working out at home? Set your alarm for 45 minutes before you normally would to give yourself enough time to get a workout in before jumping in the shower.  Have to run the kids to school first?  Go ahead and be dressed to workout when you take them so you can get started as soon as you get home – before tackling that to-do list.
• At the very least, get outside for a walk in the sunshine!  The fresh air and natural Vitamin D will be a wonderful boost, energizing activity, and stress reducer for you.  Have a dog who needs to go out?  Instead of just letting him or her out in the yard, put that leash on and go for a walk!  At least walk laps around your yard while your pup sniffs and explores.

3. Start a to-do list!  Keep pen and paper handy, or use a notes app on your phone.  Each time you remember something that has to be done or something new comes up, go ahead and add it.  It sounds like more work, but I promise it helps tremendously to see the tasks ahead of you.  Maybe multiple  things can be handled in one trip.  Maybe you can coordinate all of your computer and communications oriented tasks together.  I absolutely love being able to check things off as I go!  That relieves stress just to see tasks taken care of.

4. Keep your bedtime routine!  Even with more things needing to be done, add these last-minute thoughts to your to-do list, and leave yourself time to wind down.  You’ll be able to function much better, and your brain will be less foggy with a good night’s sleep.  

• Feeling too stressed to sleep?  Maybe use a sound machine or sound app on your phone. I use a sound machine to play ocean waves at night, and it is most definitely relaxing!
• Save a few minutes before bed to practice a little restorative yoga!  Practice the deep breathing, and get in some relaxing stretches to help your body and mind relax.
• Turn off the tv and set your phone down about 30 minutes before turning in.  Maybe read a book or drink some Calm tea.

5. Drink. Your. Water.  Even though you might feel the need to load up on coffee and/or sodas to keep your energy up, water is your best bet!  Coffee, teas, and sodas will leave you dehydrated.  By all means, enjoy a cup or two of coffee!!!  I mix my coffee in with my protein and collagen each morning.  It’s filling, and so easy to take with me as I start my day.   But, make sure you drink plenty of water every day.  As the temperatures go up, our bodies will need extra water.  

May is wonderful, and summer is close!  I realize first hand that this means we have a lot on our plates, my friends.  We can certainly handle it all like champions, AND maintain our own personal fitness/wellness journeys.  I know we can do it!  Please feel free to read over all of the options on this site for boot camps, yoga classes, and personal training with me.  And please email me at Fitteachermom@aol.com, or reach out to me through my Contact Me link on this site if you would like to chat about your goals or how I can help you reach them!  I would love to help you reveal all the wonderful things you are capable of!