Healthy Tip: Be Open to Coaching

Be open to any and all coaching right now. Even if the topic you're recieving coaching on is something you already know and have been mentally beating yourself up over. By being "open" I mean let any input boost you up instead of getting you down. At first you may have to manufacture the ability to do this but it gets easier and it is worth it. Try to suck the positive energy out of any and all comments not the negative.

An excellent example of this is a commercial done by NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. It is worth searching on utube.

In the commercial, Peyton is waiting for the elevator in the hotel of a visiting city, the bellman of the hotel who is not a fan says "you are going down!". Peyton chooses a positive interpretation of the comment an poses it to himself as a polite question, "are you going down?" and responds "Ya, to the 4Th floor, for a massage, I can't wait!". He really sells it too. Perfect, I love this commercial because with that attitude you always win. I would recommend that we all set ourselves up to win this way, all the time!!

Typically at this time in January it is a crucial time in every ones health and fitness schedule. The New Year's resolutions have caused an initial flurry of activity and right now the results may not be matching your efforts. You may be more fatigued, hungry, sore and the stress may not be any easier to manage. It can be very frustrating right now!

The good news is that this is typical and you are not alone. This may be where some of the negative feedback you may be experiencing is coming from, others feeling the same way and giving off the wrong messages because of how they feel. Try to see through the fog.

You may be hurting physically because of new activity and you may be on the verge of mentally quitting of have already done so. That physical hurting though is your body telling you that it has not quit, it is actually just starting to get fired up. The natural rate of your body to see results and get into a physiological rhythm to maintain it, is 8 to 12 weeks of consistency.

Now is the time for a calm refocusing through coaching yourself and absorption not resistance to others comments/feedback, spin it all positive. What I have learned from playing sports is that if the coach is not talking or yelling at you, they don't care.

If you have quit already, I think a rest is a good thing, it allows the body to catch up to the rapid change, catch your breath and get back in the game, it is only a game and the path may be different than you anticipated. You are amazing, and you can do this, the path may look different than you had envisioned, but you are on it, now stay there!!!

I know you know this already at some level, and if you still cannot remember, come in and I will remind you and your body, that is my job.

Your Health Coach
Dr McMaster