Category: Body Image

How Being Grateful Leads To Weight Loss And Much More

How Being Grateful Leads To Weight Loss And More - Jennifer Ledford - Certified Personal Trainer - ledford0716-8084

It’s no secret that good nutrition and exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight.  However, diet and exercise are only part of the equation.  There’s more to health and weight loss than simply eating well and taking a power walk.  Having a positive attitude is just as important  to your health and weight management as shopping in the produce section is.

One of the simplest ways to stay positive is to maintain an attitude of gratitude.   When we give thanks it does more  than just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.  It can actually help reduce depression, improve your sleep, and cause you to be less critical of yourself and your body.

Research shows us that proper sleep, a healthy self image, and a healthy mindset can all lead to realistic weight loss that you can maintain long term. If you are critical of yourself or your circumstances, you end up working from a place of opposition.  The brain fights to be right so it’s very difficult to complain about something and have success in the same area.  It’s like trying to ride a bike against the wind.  You will struggle!

How To Stay Positive By Being Grateful

So, what are some ways to give thanks? Here are seven simple tips.

  • Start with three things per day.  Choose three things you are grateful for each morning like your family, your friends, your great job, the fact that you graduated from school, your awesome dog, or simply being able to get out of bed that day.  Make sure to announce them out loud no matter how simple they are.  Do your best to mix it up and name something new each day to help keep yourself present and avoid going on autopilot.
  • Include your body when giving thanks.  This one can be a toughie for some people.  Your body listens to what you say so it’s critical that you point out the things you are grateful for and love about it.  I’m forty six years old and there are things on me that jiggle but I can still find plenty of things about my body to be grateful for like my strong legs that help me walk my dogs or my great hair (thank you John Ryan at Festoon salon).  🙂
  • Keep the gratefulness going.  Be someone that looks on the bright side and finds the silver lining in every situation.  Grateful people focus on blessings, being fortunate, and abundance no matter what the circumstances.  Less grateful people focus on burdens and complaints.
  • Thank others.  When we focus on others, it feeds our soul in a healthy way.  Paying someone a specific compliment or thanking them can lift your spirits way higher than any cup of coffee ever will.  Don’t worry, I’m not even suggesting that you give up coffee. 🙂
  • Give praise.  Personally, I like to thank God every morning for another day.  I realize that not everyone has the same spiritual beliefs that I do and I want you to know that you are safe with me and always welcome on this page whether we have the same beliefs or not.  However if you do believe in God, I recommend starting your day with a big thank you to our Lord and Savior!
  • Help others.  One of the best ways to learn to appreciate your own life and/or circumstances is to be of service to someone else.  Everyone has to deal with “stuff” in their lives and when we serve someone else that is experiencing a challenge, we can almost always find something about our own life that we are super grateful for.
  • Stay consistent.  Make daily gratitude a  lifetime habit.  One of the best ways to counter a negative thought is to replace it with a positive thought.  Naming something you are grateful for is one of the best weapons against negative thoughts and can instantly change your outlook which almost always impacts your outcome.  Consider gratefulness a weapon that you use for good.  🙂

The Bottomline of Being Grateful

What you think and, even more importantly, what you say about your life, your body, and your circumstances, has extreme power.  Being grateful helps you maintain your health which in turn helps you to succeed in every area of your life.  That, my friend, is called balance.

Here’s to an attitude of gratitude!

Shared with much love,
Jennifer Ledford

 

Do You Know What’s Motivating You?

Jennifer Ledford Facebook Live Video - What Is Motivating You?

Desire, it’s what drives us to achieve worthy goals like being healthy and fit.

One of the most important questions I ask a client during a consultation is “what’s motivating you to exercise or change your eating habits?”  Based on my own personal fitness journey and my 27+ plus year experience coaching others I can honestly share with you that there are some really good reasons to want to lose weight and then there are some not so good reasons.

Too often people choose to lose weight for the wrong reasons which can lead to failure and even harm them physically and emotionally.  This breaks my heart because it DOES NOT have to be this way. 

If you desire to lose weight or you simply want to maintain your current weight, you should do it for your own health and happiness reasons, not because you think it will help you achieve unrealistic goals that are oftentimes set for you by the diet industry and sadly some of the fitness gurus.

In today’s video I help you to walk through the process of discovering what your motives are regarding weight loss and exercise and how you can make them work for you instead of against you.  🙂

Take a moment to watch the video.  You don’t want to miss this!

Have a happy and healthy week!

With Love,
Jennifer

Why I’m No Longer Interested In Being A Size Two

Jennifer Ledford Photo Shoot 2016 - Ledford0416-7591 - self image

We’ve recently been working on updating the photos for my website.  The photo above is a sneak peek of some of the lifestyle photos we’ll be sharing on it and on social media. It’s such an exciting time to be in fitness and I’m really enjoying the process of bringing personal training and coaching to the internet.

Life is interesting.  Sometimes new things can dredge up old things that you would rather leave behind.  Scheduling this recent photo shoot briefly dug up some old self image issues that I have worked hard to overcome.  I actually began to think about “dieting” for the photos.  I haven’t dieted in years!

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to look toned and in shape, I knew in my  heart that if I did anything other than what I teach, the photos would not have been authentic.  I would have joined the ranks of yet another fitness professional promoting one idea on the outside while secretly living a restrictive life behind the scenes.

How To Not Allow Self Image Issues To Win

Yes, it’s true.  The self image issues that  I work so hard to help others overcome tried to rear their ugly head and bite me in the butt!  Thankfully I didn’t allow them to win.

Rather than allow myself to fall for the diet trap I used this moment to get really solid on how I want my life to look when it comes to health and fitness.  Over the years I’ve allowed myself to gain a healthy amount of weight because there was a time in my life when I was “too skinny” for my body type.  On the outside people thought I looked healthy but in reality I was doing unhealthy things to remain a size two.  Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

I’m forty six years old.  I have no interest in trying to be twenty five again.  What I want is to look great at forty six.   At this stage of my life I’m way more interested in creating a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle than I am in being unnaturally skinny.  I’m committed to things like eating well, exercising daily, strength training three times per week, drinking liquid calories in moderation, drinking plenty of water, getting  enough sleep, laughing a lot, and creating special memories.

Please understand, I will always pay attention to my weight and if I notice the scale is going in the wrong direction I will take a look at what might be the cause and make adjustments.  However, I have also decided that I’m not going to be a slave to that one pair of jeans from ten years ago that a part of society thinks I should still be able to fit into.  There is nothing wrong with setting goals to be able to fit into your old clothes without having to do an aerobic workout to get them on, but it should never be at the cost of your physical and emotional health.

The well-known phrase “bodies come in all shapes and sizes” is not a cliche.  It’s a true statement.  When you choose to maintain a weight that’s appropriate for you and you can sustain it without deprivation or emotional heartache you are walking in freedom.  The number on the scale is personal.  There is no one size fits all when it comes to health and fitness.

I’m not suggesting you give up on vigorous exercise or paying attention to things like portion sizes and fueling your body properly.  What I’m talking about is setting manageable goals that are appropriate for the season you are currently in, your physical capabilities, and how you want to live your life.

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to help clients achieve weight loss that is sustainable while contributing positively to their physical and emotional health.  The guidelines and formulas may be similar, however their personal eating plans and exercise routines are individually unique to them.

My desire for anyone reading this article is that you would be so comfortable and confident in your own skin that you would make health your primary focus and that weight loss would be one of the many benefits.  You’ll still have to work for it.  Our bodies were designed to move and it’s important to exercise.  It’s also important to practice self control when it comes to what we put in our bodies.

From time to time people of all shapes and sizes will experience self image issues.  That includes thin people.  Negative thoughts and relentless marketing can come at us from all directions.  The good news is just because you have a thought does not mean it’s your own.  If the negative voices start whispering “you’re not good enough” or “you’d be happier if you just looked like him or her on the cover of the magazine,” stay strong.  Remind yourself that you are in this for health, not just a photo shoot.

Maintaining a healthy self image for life is entirely doable.  In the beginning it takes practice.  Over time, the more you begin to love and accept yourself for who God designed you to be, the easier it becomes.  I encourage you to explore and discover exactly who that is.  It’s a lifelong process and it’s totally worth it.  I promise!

Here’s to a happy and healthy week!

Shared with love,
Jennifer