The Value in Listening

I love not talking sometimes. I enjoy working on projects or researching with the lack of talking or conversations with other people.  No email, no texting, no facebook, no communication with others whatsoever.  The lack of distraction is pleasant and meditative for me.  I’m left with my thoughts, or lack thereof.  In this state, my head becomes clear and ideas that were hiding in the deep dark corners of my brain come forward and are revealed.

When Austin asked me what my dream job is I thought about it for a moment and replied that first there would need to be a device that records my thoughts.  That way I wouldn’t have to type or speak what I was thinking.  A lot of times there is a loss of thought or a loss in translation that happened when putting my thoughts into words.  What I think in my head just isn't as great as what my fingers types on my computer.  

One thing I enjoy about my current job is that I don’t have to speak very much.  I can just be and listen to my client.  That's why I love health coaching so much!  I get to listen to people and hear about their wins and struggles with nutrition and being healthy.  I can just be and listen to them.  And often in that awkward silence is when clients get into what’s really going on.  They go deeper into their struggles and find the root cause of their health issue or emotional eating.  This is where the healing starts.  It’s pretty freakin cool!  Of course there is talking on my part in health coaching however, a big part of what I do is listen.  

I’ve found that I have always been a listener.  Growing up I would sit and listen to a friend who is dealing with a difficult situation without interrupting or judgment.  This was often due to me not knowing how to respond to their situation, or my politeness in not wanting to interrupt a person while they were talking.  This gave them the space to be heard, to speak their thoughts, and to work through their issues.  Through this I learned that oftentimes when we are silent and just listen, the person we are listening to is able to figure out their own solution to their problem.  They just need to space to speak their mind and verbalize their thoughts.  How great is that!  

When was the last time someone sat and just listened to you?  With no judgment, no favoritism, with a neutral view?  This can be difficult to find or experience.  If you need a listener, I am here for you. To listen to your struggles and challenges when it comes to your health and lifestyle without judgment, and from a neutral standpoint.  The value of listening is amazing and can be truly healing.

Here Come the Holidays...There Goes my Waistline

The holiday season is upon us once again, and it’s time to celebrate with family and friends. Unfortunately, for many it also becomes a time for over-eating and weight gain.  I know many people struggle with this, including me, so I am putting together Healthy Holiday Tips for a nutrition talk that I am doing next week to a group of fabulous women.  I’m so excited about helping these ladies enjoy the holidays without over indulging or feeling guilty, that I’d like to share a few of my tips here with you!  The holidays don't have to mean weight gain. Focus on a healthy balance of food, activity, and fun.  By implementing a few simple tips that I am going to share with you, you can stay healthy through the holiday season.

Healthy Holiday Tips

1.  Eat regular meals!  Skipping meals can lead to overeating.

• Eat before you go to holiday parties.  Eat a healthy meal or snack with protein, veggies, and healthy fat.  This way, you’ll only be tempted to lightly graze on the goodies on the buffet table. 
• Bring a healthy snack choice to the party, such as a veggie platter, fruit salad, or your favorite vegetable dish, so you’re guaranteed to have a healthy option. 
• Eat a protein packed breakfast. Set yourself up for success by getting a healthy dose of protein in the morning, as this has been shown to prevent overeating later in the day.

2.  No guilt!  Enjoy your favorite holiday dishes in moderation. 

• Pumpkin pie, eggnog, and stuffing only come once a year.  Enjoy a piece of pumpkin pie and a small helping of stuffing.
• Choose your indulgences wisely.  Instead of wasting calories on foods that you can have any time of year, pick items that are truly special and unique to the season, like your mother’s sweet potato pudding. 
• If you overeat at one meal go light on the next. It takes 500 calories per day (or 3,500 calories per week) above your normal/maintenance consumption to gain one pound. It is impossible to gain weight from one piece of pie!
• Be realistic.  Don’t attempt to lose weight during the holiday season, but to maintain. 

3.  Celebrate the season in non-food ways.  Often times the holidays are associated with food, beverages, and treats.  Take the focus off food and remember the reason for the season, to be with family and friends.

• Enjoy company: Plan group activities with family and friends that aren’t all about food. Walk on the beach or in the park with the family, hike with friends, or take time to decorate with your special someone. 
• Turn candy and cookie making time into non-edible projects like making wreaths, dough art decorations, or creating a floral centerpiece.  Try serving a holiday meal to the community, playing games or going on a walking tour of decorated homes.

These are just a few of my Healthy Holiday tips that I will be sharing at my nutrition talk next week.  I am getting excited to share this information with the ladies.  If you’d like to learn more about staying healthy during the holidays, or would like to know more about my nutrition talks, send me a message and we can set up a time to chat.  Your first consultation is absolutely free!

CrossFit Zen

Okay, it sounds like an oxymoron, I know, but this is the philosophy of my approach to CrossFit I have created for myself.  CrossFit is known to be very intense and intimidating, where beefy specimens throw around ridiculous amounts of weight and are highly competitive with one another.  Well, this may be true for some CrossFit affiliates, and it could possibly be true for the CrossFit box I attend.  However, I have decided to create my own approach to CrossFit.  I love the workouts, the personal attention, and the community that come along with CrossFit.  All I have to do is show up and I see friendly faces and they tell me what to do.  And since I love it so much, I want to be able to participate for as long as I possibly can.  Like all healthy relationships in life: everything in moderation.

I have changed my approach to CrossFit over the years.  I started in January of 2012 with my two good friends, Mary and Anna.  We would have a blast learning the new movements, laughing at our lack of knowledge, and celebrating a 25# PR for our overhead squat!

At the time, I was also running and paddling so I had a lot of other activities that I partook in, and would frequent the box about two times a week.

Flash forward to January 2013 where after cursing my last marathon and telling myself, “I’d rather be crossfitting” for 26 miles, my participation in running faded, and I started attending CrossFit more frequently.  This is when I drank the cool aid, folks.  You’re probably thinking, “I was right!  CrossFit is a cult.”  Not so fast.

I was deep into CrossFit and was sad on my rest days when I didn’t make an appearance at the box.  I was recording lift weights and WOD times and attempting to increase my PRs.  I joined the Barbell Club where we worked on strength and power lifting.  I had a group of people I would train with and compete with.  Along with heavy lifting and constant high-intensity competition came aches and pains, and I started getting pain in my wrists and shoulders.  I was always comparing my workout score or my lift weights to other people.  And after a while, this exciting, encouraging, and enjoyable became a place where I would walk out unhappy and frustrated with myself.  Why was this happening?  I used to love this place.  It would give me so much joy and I would leave in good spirits.

When I took a look, I noticed that I was not following my intentions of why I love CrossFit.  I didn’t join CrossFit to be super competitive or to be an elite athlete.  No, I joined because I enjoyed the workouts, I loved the community, and I got stronger doing it.  A total win-win!  I had gotten caught up in the competition of it all and started comparing myself to other members.  It’s not fun to compare yourself to other people, and in fact, it can be down right miserable. 

So, I took a step back and looked at why I enjoy CrossFit.  I revisited my intentions and the reasons why I joined in the first place.  I love the way I feel when I am done.  I love how strong it has made me, and consequently I feel stronger in general.  I love the unpredictability of the workouts.  You go in not knowing what movements you are going to do that day.  I love the community and encouragement other members give each other.  In my intentions, there was nothing about lifting a certain amount of weight over my head or getting a sub 6-minute Fran time. 

Now, my current approach to CrossFit is what I call Zen CrossFit.  I workout for myself and remember my intentions.  I don’t lift as much weight as I used to, and that’s okay.  Because I’d rather be CrossFitting when I’m 70 with light weights than CrossFitting until I’m 40 with heavy weights and having to stop because of injuries.  I’ll pass on the injuries, please.  Before class I will check in with my body and see what it feels like.  Does it want to do more cardio or more lifting, and I will set my weight accordingly.  I don’t compare myself to anyone!  People’s scores from previous classes are up on the board for people to see, and I just ignore them for the most part.  Sometimes I will reference to see what someone comparable to me did if I am unsure of what weight to use.  But for the most part I just look and see who has been in for the day.  I stay present with the workout and focus on form and technique, concentrating on the specific movement I am doing at the time rather than watching other people and seeing what round they are on, or if I am ahead of them. 

This approach has been working out in my favor!  I am enjoying CrossFit again, I am sans injuries, and I feel positive, energetic and confident when I am done.  My body feels lighter, and I can recover quicker from workouts.

So, when it comes to working out, find a form of exercise that you love to do, stay present, remember your intentions, and don’t compare yourself to others. 

Back in the Ocean

Q:  How can you tell if there are sharks in the water? 

A:  Dip your finger in the water, taste it.  If it tastes salty, there are sharks.

As a person who loves the water and spends a lot of time in it, I am aware that there are sharks in the ocean, however, the excitement of the activity I am partaking in at the time usually distracts me from obsessing over the predator.  After all, sharks don’t like humans; they confuse us with seals and turtles, especially when we are on surfboards, or have our feet dangling off a kayak.  That’s why shark attacks are only one bite.  The shark gets a taste and decides he doesn’t like it, or realizes it’s not what he was expecting, and swims away. 

So when there was a shark attack in Lanikai, which is right by where I live, and where I spend a lot of time in the water swimming and surfing, I freaked out! 

Shark attacks are rare on Oahu, and especially in our lovely Kailua bay.  However, there have been an increasing amount of shark attacks, and according to the Hawaii DLNR, in the last three years, the number of shark attacks in Hawaii has tripled compared to the number of attacks 10 to 15 years ago.  2015 has seen 7 reported shark attacks in Hawaii thus far.  Scientist from University of Hawaii say that sharks’ behavior are not changing, and that it is people who are encroaching into shark territory.  Plus, with the increase in tourists the more people in the water, the higher the chance for a shark bite. 

This shark attack hit close to home, since it was practically in my backyard.  Also, a good friend of mine was swimming with the man who was bit, and it got me thinking that it could have been my friend, and how his life could have changed forever in that moment.  

I think that fear has gotten stronger with age for me.  The kind of fear I am talking about has to do with the fear of severely hurting myself or of death.  There are a lot of things that I wouldn’t think twice about doing when I was young, that I find myself wavering and contemplating now, such as jumping off a waterfall into the water.  At 25, no hesitation.  At 35, I have to see someone do it first, and then be persuaded by my boyfriend and his brother.

So, needless to say I have been completely freaked out to get back in the water for fear of being bitten by a shark.  And I LOVE the water!  I surf and I swim in the water and love the refreshing and renewing qualities it gives me.  I can be having a bad or stressful day, and some time in the water helps me calm down and get some perspective. 

I told myself that I would wait until the rain had settled down, and the water cleared up before I got back in.  And now that that has happened, today was the day I was going to get back in the water.  I planned it out carefully.  I went to a popular spot on the beach instead of my usual quiet spot…safety in numbers, plus probability goes down with more people. 

I waded in up to my knees and hung out for a while.  I saw people playing in the waves, and I wanted to join them so badly, so I walked out up to my waist while looking for shark fins between swells.  I didn’t see anything so I continued on.  At this point, I’m hitting the breaking waves, so it’s all or nothing.  I saw a wave coming for me, so I dove underneath it and submerged myself in the ocean.  It felt good to be pushed and pulled by the breaking wave above me.  The coolness of the water against my skin was refreshing after my workout just prior.  It felt right to be back in the water.  I played in the waves for a while, ducking the breaking ones and riding the swells up and down, until the people beside me decided to head in.  At that moment I was alone, the only bait in the water.  It only took me a second to decide to head in!

Did I forget about sharks and the possibility of getting bit while I was out there?  Not for one second!  I thought about sharks the entire time I was in the ocean, but I got back in the water, and man it felt good…baby steps!