MLR Coaching For Life and Wellness, LLC

Resource Share: Are you looking for a quick way to check foods and cosmetic products for overall health? The Yuka App might be a good resource. If you use the free version you can scan the barcode on the product in question and it will give a rating of 'Green-good', 'Yellow-poor', and 'Red-Bad'. It has 4 million food products, 2 million cosmetic products and 1200 new products every day.
To be able to search for products by just typing in, you will need to pay for the yearly membership of $15.00.
I have started using it for a quick look at products on the grocery store to check for preservatives, without having to decipher the label. I used the free version first and it works well enough unless you don't have a good signal in the store. The pd. version gives you access without having to have internet connection.
https://yuka.io/en/app/

Sharing resources: Here are just a couple of resources from YouTube that I follow for workouts. Yoga and Pilates are cornerstones of my workouts and I use selected workouts from these sites often. Both of these professionals are sound in their practice and help you to adjust your workout no matter what level you are working at today. They also emphasize good form and working smart instead of "working hard". I have gained strength, flexibility, mobility and pain relief, just to name a few benefits.
Yoga with Adriene is very well known and most of her workouts are so well liked that you don't have to worry about commercials - Love that! https://www.youtube.com/
Jessica Valant is a physical therapist and Pilates instructor, she specializes on Women's Health and has herself been through pregnancy, injury and major surgery, all while working out and adjusting her workouts while healing. Currently, I am also trying out her Barre workouts - great change up and challenge. https://www.youtube.com/
It feels good to change things up and keeps your body challenged! What can you try to change up your workout?

Is Change a Straight Line?
If we take a moment to think about this question, we might recognize that change is not one and done. We will have setbacks and struggles. However, when we are in the process of adding healthier habits and strategies we measure our success or failure against that straight line.
The patterns and behaviors we are trying to change have been practiced over a long period of time, so it makes sense that our brain has been wired to continue those patterns and behaviors; we even feel comfortable in those patterns and behaviors because it is what we know.
All that to say, give yourself grace when you face a set back and remind yourself that change will not be a straight line. Learn from what didn't work. Then be intentional about how your want to move forward from what you learned.

Tips:
Remember to give yourself grace.
Tie your new habit to an existing habit.
If you see a little bit of success, keep going, keep practicing.
Celebrate what you have done, learn from what you didn't.
Remind yourself of the bigger picture - Why you are making a change.
Be curious - What might happen if you were a person who ...(add in your new healthy habit).

"In any given moment we have two options: step forward into growth or step back into safety." - Abraham Maslow

Happy July! I hope you all enjoyed time to celebrate, relax, and do whatever was important for you over this weekend. I enjoyed time with our adults kids and their spouses, along with other family. It is so special and I feel so blessed to have had that time.

Summer is in full swing and I wanted to share just a few tips for staying healthy while you travel. Many of us take vacation in the summer or try to fit in an extended weekend. This is a great opportunity to figure out how you can enjoy those times and not go totally "off the rails" so that you feel like you have to start over on your practices when you return.

Tips:
1. Bring a cooler and snacks for the road trip - this allows you to control (somewhat) what you eat or snack on in the car. The occasional gas station may or may not have healthy choices. If they do, they are usually more expensive. - bite size veggies, low-fat string cheese, plain popcorn, fruit, roasted chickpeas, whole grain crackers, etc.
2. Pack healthy shelf-stable snacks from home if you can't keep a cooler - sometimes traveling with a cooler just doesn't work. This might be another idea;. Use portion sized baggies or containers to help you eat only a portion of each snack. What shelf-stable snacks can you pack? - nuts, dehydrated chesses like parmesan crisps.
3. Look at restaurant menus before you eat out. This can be a great opportunity to practice intentionality behind what you eat at a restaurant. Taking time to pick ahead is a practice and then also following through with what you chose is another practice. Celebrate each time you do either of those. If where you are eating does not have many healthy choices, then think about how you can eat a smaller portion or get a to-go container when the food arrives and only eat half the portion. Or split a meal with someone.
4. Think about your drinks - water is best to stay hydrated, especially if you are out in sun a lot on your vacation. Maybe choosing zero-calorie drinks or fruit-infused water. If you want to enjoy an alcoholic type beverage, be intentional about when you will do that, set your limits, but still enjoy. You are finding ways to make these changes life-long.
5. Make the best carb choices you can - choose quality carbs with fiber or ones that are combined with protein or healthy fats. These will help to fill you up, reduce blood sugar drops, and satisfy you for longer. Don't be afraid to ask for help modifying your dish to include whole grains or swap fries for a salad.
6. When you return home, celebrate what you were able to practice. Don't expect that you will be perfect on the first try with every opportunity. Change takes practice. Be honest, but do your best to steer clear of judgement and beating yourself up. It will not help you continue to practice and 'be healthy'.
Do you have any healthy tips you would like to share? Put them in the comments below.
To see where I pulled these tips. Check out this link for more information. https://diabetesfoodhub.org/blog/7-tips-healthy-eating-while-vacation?mkt_tok=MTAzLVFDRi0zMTEAAAGbcEdHvc5Tl3GBp-X6XXpwtolzahVlW3qOlQsfgtP9OB2NUl2qzN8DutyLN0xPvD_ymsTGNO5u9-kJS_99HTJVWNZs323zfLt0v1TYsqOvBGmJ

Pain - it is inevitable. How can we avoid the pain of avoiding pain?
I listened to a podcast a couple weeks ago with Dr. Henry Cloud, discussing the ideas from his new book - Necessary Endings. Part of the podcast discussed pain and how we all have it and sometimes we try to avoid it, but in the end we will be forced to go through pain to get out of the pain we have. This sounds a little crazy at first but once you put it into application, it is an interesting way to look at the choices we have around pain!
Here is an example: if you have something really painful and difficult, like trauma from your past that is holding you back. You have a choice to continue to suffer the pain from the trauma or go through some pain by working on it and healing from the trauma. If you decide to wait, it will eventually come to a point where you have to deal with it , meaning you will go through pain. This might put the choices you have into perspective. Do you want to wait until you are forced to deal with it, which could mean more pain than it would be to step forward today?
Here is another health example: you have unhealthy eating habits that you developed in your youth. You know that eating unhealthy can lead to disease and loss of function. You have a choice to go through some pain and being uncomfortable right now to make changes to your diet to improve your eating habits OR you can wait. Eventually, the unhealthy eating habits will force you to make a change when you have a heart attack or maybe develop diabetes or maybe when you are so overweight you cannot do the things you want to do.
No shame here, just the opportunity to see what your choices are - Pain is inevitable or uncomfortable - Period! Why wait? Why not start to go through pain or being uncomfortable now so that you can avoid possibly even great pain and discomfort in the future.

Final thought from RD Lang "Pain in unavoidable, but the only pain that is avoidable, and perhaps some of the worst pain we have is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain."

It amazes me sometimes how often I need to remind myself about grace. I start to judge, which leads to more judgement, which leads to more negative thoughts, which filters everything I see and experience, etc. Until... I can get back to the space of Grace. If His Grace is sufficient, then grace for myself should be sufficient. When I am able to get back into that 'space of grace', I can see what I have accomplished, what practices I have done today or this week, this month, this year, etc. Then.... it is so much easier to think about my next step forward. The judgement, the negative thoughts only block me from seeing forward, but it happens.
If you are feeling blocked from moving forward, you are not alone. Maybe think about giving yourself grace for where you are today. It might help you shift your mindset so you can see a way forward!

Are you feeling overwhelmed today? The 54321 grounding technique was shared with me this week, so I thought I would share it with you. It can help to bring you into the present moment by engaging all your senses and getting you reconnected to your physical surroundings. It can be helpful during stressful and overwhelming situations.
5 - Name 5 things you can SEE
4 - Name 4 things you can HEAR
3 - Name 3 things you can TOUCH
2 - Name 2 things you can SMELL
1 - Name 1 thing you can TASTE
If you try this out or have tried this technique, share your experience in the comments below.🤔

"What am I not letting go?" In a recent reflection I read this question was posed and it made me pause. Not just a quick, "oh this is good, I need to remember this". It was like a light bulb moment. Maybe it is because I continue to work on my pause and awareness or it just resonated with me. I encourage you today to pause and think of things that you have not let go.
Hurts done to you?
Hurts you have caused in the past that you have not let go?
The hurts we hang onto impact the way we show up. They take energy, they bring up thoughts that keep us from moving forward. Letting go is a process, not a light switch, so it makes sense that we might have things we need to let go.
What do you want to let go?
What will help you let go?
Be intentional and start living that out with a moment/daily/weekly practice.
Gradually, we can use less energy on what we need to let go and use it to move forward with more peace, joy and fulfillment.
Find what works for you. This verse helps me. "I, even I, am He Who blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins." - Isaiah 43:25 AMPC, Joyce Meyer: Strength for Each Day!

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." --Reinhold Hiebuhr
This month I have continued to focus on 'opportunity'. When I feel anxious, when my thoughts of fear are all consuming, I ask myself "What is my opportunity right now?" It hasn't worked like magic, but it has worked. It has allowed me to find a step to take when otherwise I would have been paralyzed by thoughts and/or feelings.
There are days when this is vital to me continuing to step forward. Other days I don't need it so much. I chalk that up to an empty house (too much time to think, not enough to distract me) and also the lack of hormones in menopause.
As I reflect on my progress, I have to say I am happy with how it has helped me as a practice. I may not have a total shift in what I am thinking or feeling, but sometimes I do feel a shift. AND either way, I am taking a step, which allows me to keep going on my goals and feel accomplished. I love the quote that I started with today, it has helped me often throughout my life, but it takes on a deeper meaning now. Right now I am accepting that not every day is the same when it comes to my thoughts and feelings. I am also able to still move forward in spite of them, teaching me that I don't have to be driven by my feelings.
What can you let go of this season - those things you can't control; What can you accept about where you are right now?
What can you see is within your control and find small steps to move forward?
Spend time on moving forward instead of trying to change the past. Comment below or Message me to share your experience with the quote above and applying to to your life.

"Each moment describes who you are, and gives you the opportunity to decide if that's who you want to be"

This is a quote that I use often to remind myself that no matter what happen last week, yesterday, or 5 minutes ago, right now - in this moment - I have the opportunity to make a decision. Then I ask myself - How do I want to show up? Despite my feelings good or bad. Despite what anyone else thinks. Despite what I did 5 minutes ago. This is a new opportunity.

If you are spending too much time looking back to find ways to criticize yourself and wallow over a bad decision. You are not alone. It happens to the best of us, but with practice we can focus on each moment, practice something new, and eventually we will see more opportunities than failures.

I encourage you to see each moment today and this week as an opportunity.

Comment below the opportunity you have seen today or this week. I would love to hear from you :)

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