The Three C’s to Better Health and a Trim Waistline

Are you trying to improve your health?

Do you want to lose inches off your waist line or sculpt your hips?

If so, I have the solution for you and it does not include counting calories or cholesterol as a matter of importance!

As a society we are getting so caught up in the numbers that we are forgetting the true steps to success. This obsession with the scale, blood tests, medications, calories, carbs, sugar and fat has us currently ranked as dead last in health out of 17 developing countries. But WAIT, we did score NUMBER ONE in one category- OBESITY! We have been tracking our numbers, taking medications and weighing in for the last fifty years or more, so if this method actually worked, WHY ARE WE NOT THE HEALTHIEST IN THE WORLD? You guessed it! Because it DOESN’T WORK! We have been so focused on where we want to be and the physical aspects of health, that we are forgetting how everything works together as a whole. How numbers are not always accurate and how to motivate ourselves to treat our body as a temple. We have forgotten or never found the three underlying C’s to true health, happiness and HOTNESS!

The 1st C- Communication

The first key to a healthy mind and body is communication. Many people do not understand how lack of open, honest communication impacts their health. For instance, if you hire a health coach, but you are unwilling to tell them how you feel about yourself or the pain you deal with from previous life experiences, you make it harder for your health coach to help you work in a healthy direction. You can lose valuable time not addressing the critical pieces to your wellness. If you are upset with something your spouse or your co-worker did and you do not let them know, the thoughts you hold inside can cause you to eat too much, pick poor food choices, not eat or just make you sick inside. So although it was your choice to eat too much or skip meals that hindered your goals, the true underlying cause was the lack of communication. It is okay to communicate if you are struggling, feeling depressed or have something to share you are not proud of. The goal is to find someone you trust and talk with them. Let it out and ensure people know the true you and how you are feeling. Holding back what you really feel whether it be from embarrassment, fear, anger or anticipation of someone else s response, will almost always hinder your results and increase your health problems.

The 2nd C- Compassion

The second piece is compassion. First and foremost, compassion for yourself. Many people are willing to cut someone else a break, but rarely do we let ourselves off the hook. We tend to beat ourselves up for mistakes at work, at home or in our fitness plan. Communicating with yourself using compassion will help you excel in all areas. If you are on a venture to heal your body or lose weight, it will be a heck of a lot easier if you do not beat yourself up when you make mistakes or your life gets thrown for a loop. It is inevitable that you will not lose weight every week, you will not eat perfect everyday and you will not always be the top performer. It’s okay. You are HUMAN! When trying to motivate anyone to another level or support them to their goals, we provide positive love, praise and empathy. Give this to yourself and you will see a greater success than ever before and know that success is always achieved with a few steps forward and a couple steps back. In reality you are ahead of where you were.  It is also important to have compassion for others. Sometimes there is someone at work or school who is being rude to us or our spouse is not so thoughtful. Most of us are very quick to take this rudeness personal. When we take how others treat us personal, we throw ourselves off track again making poor choices. We may overeat, under eat, stress eat, skip exercise or over exercise because we feel like we were treated poorly because we are not good enough or not “liked”  It is important to have compassion and empathy for the other people around us. Maybe they are not being rude to us because we are not good enough, maybe they are not having a good day or maybe they feel bad themselves and are not communicating how they feel. Have compassion for them and understand they may not be thinking like you or may have a lot on their plate. It’s important to express how you feel and to communicate with others, putting yourself in their shoes and your own. Communicating with compassion and having compassion for yourself reduces stress and can help you make optimal choices for your health.

The 3rd and most important C- Consistency

Aristotle once said, “You will become what you consistently do.” This is TRUTH! As a whole, us Americans are failing at achieving health because we tend to be an all or nothing society. If we don’t get what we want when we want it, we tend to give up or change the course. It is important to practice the daily habits required to achieve your overall goals. It is just not possible to achieve a healthy, happy, hot body without consistency. Whatever gets you sick, keeps you sick and whatever gets you well, keeps you well. If you remain consistent eating well, exercising, communicating and sharing love- you will learn a great deal about your body. You will see what works for you and you will not self sabotage. You will feel at peace when you make mistakes and understand others make them too. Staying the course and consistently learning how to treat yourself better, will lead to the greatest physical, mental and spiritual health you have ever experienced. Consistency is required to be successful in ALL areas of life. You can not come to work two weeks and be off four and expect success. You can not be nice to your spouse one year and then rude the next year and expect a great relationship. It works the same when getting well. It’s the consistency of practicing healthy behaviors, not just for a few weeks or a couple years. It’s a lifetime of working to become a better you. This is how lasting results are achieved.

If you feel you have been struggling to get healthy, lose weight or meet a goal- stop a minute and assess the three C’s. Are you communicating effectively, honestly and with compassion? Or are you holding back? Are you having compassion for yourself? Are you judging others or are you having compassion for where they may be at on their journey? Are you willing to consistently eat well, think well, live well as a whole, allowing for minor stalls and setbacks? Or are you only making temporary changes hoping for immediate results? Committing to apply the 3 C’s in all areas of your life will lead to less stress, better choices and lasting results! Without them, you may never reach your fullest potential.