Body Image Issues? Not With this Lovely Lady!

Recently, I was talking to one of my sisters. She is a gorgeous, powerful and amazing African American and she was perplexed. She shared that she had started to have body image issues for the first time.

I told her that she needed to get away from the white girls!

All kidding aside, it is a known fact the women of color love their bodies and hug their curves.

According to a an article on The Grio, African American Women are heavier and have higher self-esteem than their Caucasian Sisters.

The article goes on to share why. For one, songs such as the Commodores, Brick House idealizes the curvy figure.  In addition, these powerful sisters see their curves as an ASSet with role models such as Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson who all released weight without releasing their curves.

And then there is:

Kim Kardashian.  She became famous for a sex tape and her butt.  Now with her pregnancy, the captions under the photos are just cruel!

So, we want curves but still be skinny. No wonder our society has body image issues!

These body image issues are dysfunctional, exhausting and keeps us from getting in our groove and rocking what God gave us.

I have had enough so I created this Secret Recipe to Killing Your Body Image Issues and Getting You In the Groove:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of acceptance:  no body’s body is perfect; so rock what you got because no one’s got it like you.
• 1 cup of personal responsibility: if you have dreams of a smaller dress size then take responsibility for arriving at your bigger dress size.
• 1. cup of pure self-love: This secret ingredient will rev your true body out of hiding.
• 3 cups of patience: You don’t control your rate of transformation and that includes the scale. When you do your part the body will change in its own good time.
• 4 cups of clarity: Know exactly the forces that you control and the forces that you don’t then detach from the don’t control and focus on the do controls.

DIRECTIONS TO KILLING YOUR BODY IMAGE ISSUES:

• Honor your body with a food plan that honors it and share with your body that you love it so much that you consume the highest quality of nutrients available at that moment.
• Honor your body with an exercise plan that honors it and your lifestyle. Do what you can everyday and thank you body for giving you the power to work it.
• Honor your body with clothes that fit you today: purchase clothes that fit now and show off your ASSets.  Let go of the size or that they may get too big; GOOD; isn’t that what you want?  Also, you are not giving up by purchasing new clothes but rather, taking responsibility for your body.
• Honor your body with rest and relaxation.  Splurge on a spa treatment each month and do something sweet everyday for your body.
• Laugh: get a giggle out of society’s dysfunctional view on body image and be at peace that your body image issues may never leave but they will no longer rule your moods or create fatigue in your life.

Let’s chat about this:   what are your thoughts?  Does the idea of acceptance feel like giving up?  Do share in the comment section.

The post Body Image Issues: The Secret Recipe to Getting Your Groove Back. appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Body Image Issues: Ever look at a picture of yourself and wonder why you ever thought you were fat?

While looking at pictures this past week, I was smacked with some big body image issues.

10 Years Ago I rocked that dress and I remember feeling fat.

I weighed 135 pounds and I was about 17% body fat.

Yet, I hated my body so intensely that I would binge and purge on exercise.

I was hating myself for not being a part of the Mom of the Bnai-Mitzvah weight loss club.

Most moms would be so busy getting ready for the big weekend that they would not have time to eat AND they had instituted a strategic and intense body plan so  they would look hot in their pictures.

Little did I know that my body image issues were about to explode just like my dress size soon after that picture.  About 6 weeks after my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, I was getting dressed for another and nothing fit.  I cycled down with my body image and up the scale until 6 years later I weighed 200 pounds and I believe the only escape was death.

I did every diet, took ritalin, diet pills, had shots put into my fat, was hypnotized, over-exercised and visualized.

Nothing worked until something did and it was so simple and profound:

Healing my body image issue was found with a spiritual solution!

Like compulsive overeating, I will never be cured.  Some would say that I am labeling myself and they are right. When I admit that I am a C.O. and that I have allowed my life to become unmanageable, I feel such incredible power.  When I can finally surrender the whole mess that I made to a power greater than myself; well that gives me such relief and utter joy!

Looking at that picture above and the one to the right, gave me a great insight:

Body Image Issues: I could not see the beauty of my back. Only the size of my rump.

Instead of berating my body for not being 130 pounds, what if I was just thankful for where I am right now?

I remember that thought entering my head and replying: NO  I WILL NEVER BE HAPPY  UNTIL MY SADDLEBAGS HAVE LEFT!

According to a study done by Glamour Magazine, 97% of women have one negative thought per day about their bodies. You can learn more in the video below

Do you know anyone who goes around saying they love their body? Even if they do, most will not say it because they are afraid of being judged.

It is socially acceptable to berate our bodies and that language creates a neuro-pathway in our subconscious mind and thus Body Image Issues are born.

It also does not help when you are teased at a young age about your body. Even if it was done in fun. Those comments blaze another neuro-pathway just proving that we are not good enough.

After years of conditioning, it will take awhile to de-program; but it is far from impossible.  You need patience, persistence, tenacity and forgiveness not only for yourself but for others as well.

Does this mean that you just give up, accept and stock up on stretchy pants?

NO!

You follow the recipe that I am going to outline for you.  Stay tuned and come back tomorrow ok?

Until then, lets chat!  Share your body image issues.  I know that may take some courage, but please share!  Let’s blow the top off this nasty little habit and begin loving our bodies as they are right now!

You with me?

Then leave a comment, sister!

The post Body Image Issues: Wish I Was Still That Fat! appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Stress and Sleep (lack of)  will ruin your spring and I just cannot let that happen.  I am all about you getting your sleepy time on schedule so you can enjoy all the ripe colors and longer days.

On Tuesday, I shared how stress and sleep have a dysfunctional relationship and gave you some tips on how to sleep like a baby. You can read it here.

Yesterday, I created a step by step system that you can use immediately. These tips will decrease your stress while increasing your sleep.   It is a free download that you can access here.

So today, I thought you might enjoy this video from Kate Schrup MPH and I thought it was very interesting.

What she demonstrates is so simple and you can do it on a plane, train or automobile.

Speaking of simple….

If you are stressed and sleepy; it may seem like the answer has to be complicated.

Think back to something that you overcame.  Got it?

I am sure the work was hard but was the solution complicated?

The hardest part has to do with letting go of your resistance and surrendering to the fact that maybe your solution is simple.

Can I share an example with you?

I am usually a sound sleeper, but during a stressful time sleep was not my friend.

I began to freak out which made me more stress and sleep became even harder to obtain.

So when I woke up, I would go downstairs and put the headphones on and watch TV until I fell back asleep.

I missed my workouts and felt guilty and mad with only increased my stress and decreased my sleep.

At first I changed everything around.  I moved mattresses, gobbled melatonin, and tried to go to sleep earlier.

When these big changes affected my stress and sleep even more, I knew what I had to do.

I gave away the headphones.

I took them to the Good Will store up the street.

I could not watch TV downstairs without the headphones because it would wake my husband.  Without those wireless contraptions, the TV had to stay off.

Even though it may seem radical to you; for me it was simple.  The lack of headphones meant that  I had to face my Sleepless in St. Louis Virus

It really is simple but it won’t be easy.

This simple salty activity may be a bit woo woo. You may think that there has to be a kinder and gentler way.

Just like I did; take your thoughts to Good Will and give them away and then try this ritual

Check out the video and let me know what you think!

You can get your stress in check and sleep like a baby.  It’s simple but may not be easy.

The post Stress and Sleep: How Salt Can Make You Sleep appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Goodnight Moon!  Goodnight You!

Yesterday, I gave you some quick tips to help you with your stress and sleep.  Those tips are fine, but I wanted more for you.

I wanted you to know the effects of a dysfunctional stress and sleep relationship.

Since this lack of sleep and increased stress is so common; we tend to forget how deadly lack of sleep can become.  According to WebMD,  When you are not sleeping you:

• Have a compromised brain because it does not have the  time it needs to replenish, refuel and refresh.
• Cravie more sugar for energy.
• Have a low sex drive
• Are more likely for heart attacks, strokes,  heart failure.
• Look older
• Feel more depressed
• Your ability to handle stress disappears.
• Brain degeneration disorders such as Alzheimers

My mother-in-law had a horrible time sleeping.  No matter how much sleeping medication she swallowed she still couldn’t sleep.

When she was really sleep deprived she would hallucinate; swearing that she saw her dead relatives and forgetting that she ate.

We thought that she had the beginning of Alzheimers; luckily just a good nights sleep would relieve those symptoms.

Hours of sleep is not the answer to your sleep.  Something else even more important comes into play

I have created a little handout for you that explains why longer sleep does not equal better sleep.

I also show  you how to get to sleep and stay to sleep and even how to go back to sleep when you wake in the middle of the night.

Finally, I help you set up your bed for bedtime  I hope you enjoy it!

I was going to have you opt in then I changed my mind because I have something super cool that will go deeper into this stress and sleep phenomenon.  It is so close to completion and

I know you are going to love it, so stay tuned.

Pick up your Sleep Like A Baby Gift Here.

I would love to help you!  Would you take a few minutes to share your thoughts about stress and sleep?  To be specific, how do you feel when you wake in the morning?  Just respond AHHH or ERRR.  I will know what you mean!

The power of a pillow to relieve stress and sleep!

The post Stress and Sleep: Recipe for Sleeping Like A Baby appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Stress and Sleep have quite a dysfunctional relationship.  The higher the stress, usually the lower the sleep.

As a result your stress increases because your body cannot replenish you due to your lack of sleep.

See what I mean?  Totally Dysfunctional: until now.

Today I am going to give you some tips on how to get your sleep no matter how stressed you may be.

I see sleep as vital as breathing, eating and drinking.  When you are not gifted with enough sleepy time your body will view that lack of sleep as stress.

Many women who are stressed and lacking sleep turned to the sleeping pill for relief.  I cannot blame them.  However, this has become a deadly trend.

Not only are these pills addictive, according to mail online; the increased use of sleeping pills such as ambien can be deadly.  The morning drowsiness caused by prolonged use has been blamed for accidents by some high profile people such as Tom Brokaw and Kerry Kennedy.  It is so serious that the FDA has limited the amount doctors may prescribe.

I am not saying to stop.  That is none of my business.  I only want to give your some strategies that make you less dependent on outside sources for your sleep.  Plus, I kind of like you and would hate for you to be a casualty.

If your sleep and stress have become problematic these tips may take awhile to work.  Don’t quit!  Be patient.

 Take from the most impatient person ever (me): the more you stress about sleep the worse your sleep will be.

I have some simple tips that will help you sleep which will help your stress and I will be back tomorrow with your Sleep Like A Baby Game Plan that you will be able to download.

1. In their article How To Sleep When You Are Stress, Wiki How suggest some great things but what really stood out for me was: music!  When I was a child I always listened to music to fall asleep and I totally forgot because my husband requires absolute silence.  If you are in the same situation, why not try some earphones?  I usually say no to electronics in the bedroom; but when used for sleep soundly and reducing stress I say go for it.  These earphones look so cute and will keep  your hair out of your face while sleeping.

2. Speaking of electronics; banish them from the bedroom!  The cell phones, Ipads, laptops stay outside your sleepy time.  The light of the electronics stresses your body because it thinks that it is daytime.

3. Go to sleep on a semi-empty stomach.  When you go to bed with a full belly your digestion system becomes stressed because it is not meant to be digesting food at night.  Its job while your sleep is replenish, refuel and burn fat.  In contrast, going to sleep hungry may wake you up.  If you are hungry before bed, have a little taste of some healthy fats (such as nuts & seeds) or some protein.

4. Use your bed for sleep and sex only.  Stop eating, drinking and working in the bed.  The stressful energy that you radiate will affect the energy within the room.  I know it may sound woo woo but it is true.

5. Your subconscious is most vulnerable the last 45 minutes before bedtime.  Have rituals in place that allow your subconscious to work for you instead of against your dreams.

You won’t want to miss tomorrow!  I am going to go deep into how you can sleep like a baby tonight, or tomorrow night but until then I have a question for you:

How are you sleeping?  I want to know your biggest obstacle, ok?

Related articles

• A Lack of Sleep disrupts our Genes

The post Stress and Sleep: How to Sleep Like A Baby No Matter What. appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Do you say watch me or hide me?

This morning I was reading about an Emotional Eating Telesummit.

Usually, I hate these telesummits.  You receive too many emails and too many offers.

Plus, I never listen to the recordings

Yet, this one struck at my heart for a couple of reasons:

1. Emotional Eating is my specialty
2. I felt bad because I wasn’t asked to be on it.

I downloaded some of the free offers and my self-esteem dipped even lower.

These women were talking about what I love to talk about and they did it sooo much better than me.

A competitive person would say: “I can do that, watch me!”

I say: “I can’t do that hide me!”

I always say I am the most non-competitive person around because when I am in competition I put my head between my legs and cry uncle.  I know I am not good enough so why even try?

Oh, but then I do something even worse:

1. I compare myself and note how I will never measure up.
2. Then I judge them to find that flaw that would put them on the same pathetic playing field as me.

I trick myself into thinking that it will make me feel better, but it never does.

The pain is so intense that I think about quitting every day.  I spend long periods of time figuring out how to get out of this coaching program, how to let go of my websites.

I dream about spending days alone by my pool, shopping and cleaning my home.

I rationalize that I raised 2 great kids, have a good marriage and a beautiful home.  A couple of luxury cars sit in the garage and I enjoy long vacations.

Maybe wanting to build a successful business is too much to ask.

The thought of quitting does feel good; what I relief to let go of those dreams of being on Super Soul Sunday and speaking to thousands of people who want to hear what I have to say.

Luckily, no one is making me do this and I did give it a good try, it just didn’t work.  Sometimes that happens.

My lack of competitive spirit is just who I am.  I learned a long time ago that I was just not good enough.

Maybe I am meant to live in the background.  A support person for my family.  Maybe I heard God wrong and this is not what he had in mind for me.  Not everyone can be the star, after all.

Competition has 2 sides to it and when you hang out on either side for too long, you are likely to get burned.

When you hang out on either side for too long; you are becoming a victim to outside approval.

When you are too competitive; the blinders are on full force and  you will run over anyone who gets in your way.  You may be a poor winner and looser and never admit your are wrong. (Yes I am talking to you L.A.)

When you too non-competitive: you want to be the people pleaser.  If you win that other person may feel bad and if you lose you may look like a loser. The stress of competition becomes too much and you fold.

So, what is a girl to do?  I know it is not this: Collaboration.

In my humble opinion, collaboration is fantastic but it doesn’t mellow out competition.  To me, they have nothing to do with each other.

Rather:

Beat your own Butt!

Wanna Win? Stop focusing on your competition and focus on doing more today than yesterday.

Wish you competitors well, and strive to be your own competitor.  Strive to go faster today than you did yesterday.

Strive to make one more call today than you did yesterday.

In reality, even when you are in a competition,  you don’t have competitors.

Well, you do but it is you.

When you are focused on self-competition, you don’t have time to focus on what someone else is doing.

You don’t have time for the compairing/dispairing/judging triangle.

I hope this pathetic trip into my hurt psyche helps you.

The post When in Competition, I Strive to Lose: Welcome To My Dark Side. appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Babies don’t curse their appetites, so why should you?

Are You a 3 mealer, a 6 mealer or an all day grazer?

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter decided that she needed to detox.  She was feeling run down, exhausted and wanted more energy.

After all, Samantha is graduating college and moving to Dallas, Texas to begin her career in commercial real estate.

The first few days were hard.  She was hungry.  She was afraid of her hunger and when she ate, she was the Tazmanian Devil, devouring her food so fast that she didn’t even notice.

Do you eat like a tazmanian devil?

After a full day of travel and apartment shopping; I was tired and when I am sleepy I am not so sweet.

So, when Samantha said she was hungry, I snapped. (One of my not so brilliant mommy moments).

Then Sam lost it!  She curled up on her bed and cried.  She hated that she was hungry all the time and she wanted to be “good”.

The good word clued me in that clarification was in order.

I explained that when you are transitioning into a healthy lifestyle, 3 things are going to happen:

1. Your body will fight it because it wants everything to be balanced.

2. Your ego will fight it because it does not like change.  As a result,  situations will arise that tests your choice.

3. You will begin to lose your will to move forward because you are believing 1 and 2 to be true.

So we ordered some vegetables and dip from room service and that seemed to do the trick.

As she was sleeping, I began to think about appetite and how we are told that it has to be a “certain way.”  I began thinking about the  history of my daughter’s appetite.

• As an infant, Samantha never had more than a couple ounces of formula at a time.  Luckily she was my first child so I bowed to her first hungry cry.
• As a toddler, she refused to eat food.  She loved her bottles full of milk.  She hated baby food and she would throw finger food on the ground.  By 18 months I had to take the bottles away for good and she finally began eating.
• As a preschooler, she was a VERY PICKY EATER.  Samantha only enjoyed McDonalds (Ok, Mother of the Year Candidate once again).
• As a grade schooler, vegetables were the devil and sugar was her first love.
• As Samantha grew older and we discovered her allergy to gluten, she was forced to give up some of her favorites and to become more flexible.  Salads became a part of her meals and she became one of the best gluten sniffer-outers around Missouri.

While I was mentally annotating her life with food I realized the overall theme was that Samantha loved to eat all day in bite size chunks.  She is the queen of the grazers.  Her body works best when she is eating a little all day long.

Her grazing ways must be honored.

The next morning I apologized for losing it and shared what I had discovered and that she had to honor her appetite.

Yet, how she honored her appetite had to change because she has a major gluten allergy and a propensity towards stomach problems.

Samantha had to up the quality of her food and eat more macronutrient balanced meals.

In other words, more vegetables need to be incorporated along with a unique mixture of protein, carbs and fats.

Now that she is honoring her body and her appetite, Samantha is working out again, enjoying more energy and is ready to take on her new career.

So what about you?  What is your appetite like?  Do you honor it or curse it?  Please share your thoughts below and I will give you an ATTA GAL!

Related articles

• Child’s Appetite
• Rewiring the Brain to beat Obesity

The post How To Get More Energy By Honoring Your Appetite appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Oh if you are anything like me, you may love to get the approval of others!  Being Polly People Pleaser has made me fat, tired, bitchy and resentful.  Yet, I still could not let go of what they thought.

I knew that if I wanted more energy, happiness and an increase zest for life I had to put Polly People Pleaser to rest.

So, I have begun chanting  WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF ME IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS.

What I have learned is that some people just cannot be pleased no matter what you do.  It becomes a cat and mouse game.

I have this issue with someone who I believed I had to please; yet I could not. I could move mountains and it would not be good enough.

Ain’t No Pleasing You (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My lack of ability to please them is their problem not mine!

It is about them not me.

The hit a crossroad.  I could either be resentful that I can’t please or I could love them anyway and not allow their judgment to rain on my daily parade.

I went with option #2.

When you are building a business, it is especially hard to let go of others thoughts of you.  After all, isn’t a successful business built upon what people think about you?

Yes and No.

Looking at your lack of results must be examined but you can do it from a curiosity perspective.

Now that I share that, don’t you think that you can view anyone’s judgment of you from a place of curiosity?

Let it go and grab some more energy!

Watch the video and let me know you thoughts about people pleasing.

The post [Vitality TV] Want More Energy? Stop Doing This…. appeared first on Making It All Fit.

Dream girl (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

Have you been focusing all your energy towards a dream only to find yourself watching it slip away?

As a result, you curse yourself and wonder, “Why can’t I do this?”

The next thing you know you are sucked into a spiral of negativity, depression and you just quit.  After all, it just isn’t worth the heartache.

It is heartbreaking when you have a dream and you work so hard.  You do what everyone tells you and still nothing.

Yesterday, I wrote about the concept of Detaching will skyrocket your energy.   You can read it here.

I find this so intriguing because no one goes deep into the concept of detachment to your dreams.  For example:

• Rocky won his fights by doing everything he could to be stronger.  He had laser focus on the end result, but he wasn’t attached to it.
• Kurt Warner: I had the privilege to watch Kurt Warner in action.  In 1999, Warner was a 2nd string unknown Quarterback who lead a crappy team to a Superbowl Championship.  He had a dream and he lived through stocking grocery shelves, poisonous bug bites and injuries.  He knew that he was one of the best and he had faith that he would get his chance to shine.  10 years later, the experts believed he had seen his better days.  Warner disagreed and he led the Arizona Cardinals to a Super Bowl.

I could go on and on but I want you to increase your energy by detaching from your dreams and I have a free download to help you do just that.

It is called How to Increase Your Energy by Decreasing Your Attachment to Your Dreams and you can download it here.

Before you go I want to know: You have experienced detachment.  Think back and share it in the comment section….

The post 6 Steps to Increasing Your Energy by Decreasing Your Attachment to Your Dreams appeared first on Making It All Fit.

you think too much (Photo credit: the|G|™)

Today is the day that I am sharing what few others have shared…

Sometimes it comes up in conversation….

Chances are that you have experienced this phenomenon when  you made a dream a reality.

It is the most important ingredient to increasing your energy and igniting your zest for life and it has nothing to do with cutting out sugar, gluten or caffeine.

This rarely shared secret is simply not caring about the results or detaching from the results.

Are you willing to say:

“I am doing everything in my power and I know in my gut that I am meant for _______.  Yet I am allowing it to unfold as it will.”

I was not willing at all.

I hung onto my desires by handcuffing myself to the result.

I knew that letting go of when something would be realized was the key.  In fact, every realized dream came from my detaching from the result.  Whenever I was detached I enjoyed more energy and less stress.

That didn’t mean that I did nothing.  Quite the opposite, actually.

This week I am going to give you everything you need to detach so that your visualization can become your realization, faster and better than you could ever imagine.

What is Detachment?

Detachment is simply letting go of HOW your desire is to be realized.

According to Mind Your Reality, detachment is vital to allowing your ideal reality to manifest.

When you are detached, you have the energy to take action.

When you are detached, you can easily let go of stress.

When you are detached you are no longer a victim to the mean girl who lives in your head.

On the other hand, being attached is exhausting, draining, stressful and puts you into the victim role.

In my humble opinion, God answers prayers in 3 ways:

• Yes
• Not Yet
• I have something better in mind.

Being attached to your dream and demanding that it be shown to you when you want and how you want is like a 5 year old having a temper tantrum over waiting to have her lollipop until after dinner.

When you are attached to an outcome you:

• Give your power away
• Instill stress physiology that stops digestions, pumps out cortisol and screws up your delicate hormonal balance.
• Lose opportunities because your focus is on the wrong thing.
• Looking outside yourself for the answer.

Desire gives away your power because desire means that you don’t have “it” yet.

What do you do instead?

You choose with absolute faith that what you want is already happening.  It is your new reality and it is here just waiting for you to claim it.

In other words, know that you are pregnant with your new reality. This baby is within, germinating.  It’s vital organs are being created.  It appendages are developing.  It’s features are beginning to become its own as opposed to what you think they are.

But first you have to have to detach and the way to detach is to have faith.

Tweet this Sista:  Faith is the prescription to to knocking out your attachment virus @makingitallfit.

You may be asking what I have always asked:

“How do you know Maureen?”

After all, I many not know you but I do know this: Any desire that we have within is for creating our reality.  Sometimes, our ego gets in the way with why we want this.

For example, I am a compulsive over eater and was out of control for 20 years.  I so wanted to get rid of it and wear cute clothes.

I also had revenge on my mind.

The binging became less frequent when my motives for why I wanted it changed.

My motive went from looking cute and have others envy me to wanting to save my life.

So, my friend, look at your motives.  If the reason you want this new reality is for something outside of you; it may mean that you are attached instead of detached.

You may also be asking:

“What does this have to do with increasing my energy?”

EVERYTHING!

Nothing is more exhausting than being attached.  You may be attached to the scale, to a certain skirt size, to your stomach being flat and the thought of just letting that go to the universe can be paralyzing.

I have you covered and after tomorrow you will let go willingly!

Why tomorrow?   I am going to show you how to become detached.  This is something that I have never seen created and I cannot wait to share it with you.

But don’t leave me because I am very attached to you sharing your thoughts below.  (Just Joking!).  Really, I do want to hear your thoughts because I honor you!

In the meantime, I am going close this post with a little something I like to call the Detachment Chant and I hope it will help you as well:

I choose___________________ and I know that it is being created, molded and buffed into a reality that is better than even I can imagine.

The post Want More Energy? Quit Caring So Much. appeared first on Making It All Fit.