Co-Creating Your Own Wins
July 19, 2022
Written By: Jackie, General ManagerDo you consider yourself the author of your own script; the sole person that creates their own dialogue? Co-Creation means that you are acknowledging that you are responsible for your own life and that you continue to take responsibility and initiatives to create happiness, wellness, and success.
I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MY HAPPINESS, MY WELLNESS, MY SUCCESS!
Let me provide an example of what this could look like: If you keep telling yourself things you will eventually find them (whether negative or positive). When you tell yourself something often enough, you will find the evidence that stacks the belief you have.
As an example, if you want to budget money every week that goes towards an investment, you will find the funds to do that! You will alter your spending habits and ‘extras’ in order to save that money. That could be $50 per week set aside and in order to find that $50, you will start looking at all your spending (not the necessary items like mortgage, heat, hydro, and groceries) I am talking about all those extras! You will begin to notice that you go to your favourite coffee shop every morning and spend at least $2-$5 a day. You also eat out at least 1 or 2 times a week with an average bill of $40-$60 (per person) each time you go out! Here I have already found $54-$155 a week of where you could save. You just have to know where to look and you have to be willing to make that commitment to put that money aside!
Another example, you recently decided that you want to join the local gym. You are all keen, you made your first appointment to get started; then you get home and discuss this with your partner and they are immediately drawing a picture that includes “how do you expect to pay for that”, “you don’t have time”, “why would you drive there 2 or 3 times a week with the price of gas”, “you won’t fit in”. Can you hear the excuses already? All of a sudden your enthusiasm has been halted and you start believing what you are being told and you instantly regret the decision you made for yourself!
There are a couple of ways you could have approached this decision above:
- You could have found answers to all those questions by creating a plan that explains what that will look like so they have a clear picture! You could have found the funds to pay for that membership (by budgeting), you could schedule your time at the gym (by getting up early or right after work), you budgeted for extra gas because you save that money elsewhere (budgeting), and you remember the vibe of enthusiasm you had initially and remind your partner that fitting in will not be a problem (your gut instincts)! Supporting each other in a relationship is so important!
- The other option you have is to allow your partner to control the narrative of negativity and you go along!
When you begin to work with others who want the same outcome as you, supporting you along the way, and guiding you in the right direction, that is a powerful thing! And when you find that you don’t want to let that feeling go! The same goes when you surround yourself with like minded individuals, who are all searching for the same thing or opportunity you want to hang on to those people!
CO-CREATE YOUR OWN WINS!
You can only co-create your own wins if you are empowered to be the creator of your own outcome or the creator of your own solutions. Nobody else is going to do the hard work for you! Therefore, if you want to budget for something, you will find the way! If you want to start going to the gym and look after your health and fitness, you will find a way! The only person stopping you from achieving anything in life is looking at you in the mirror!
Looking to start your health and fitness journey? No problem - we at Degree Fitness Seaforth can support you as you begin to co-create your WIN!
If you would like to book a No Sweat Intro email info@degreefitnessseaforth.com or click here to set up an appointment!
Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian Nutrition labels can be confusing! But they're on packaging to help you know more about your food so you can make choices that align with your health and fitness goals. Grab your nearest food label. On the black and white Nutrition Facts table, you'll see a list of nutrients with values beside them. For most of them, there will be an amount in grams or milligrams listed on the left and a percentage over on the right hand side. That percentage can help give us context! As you'll see listed in teeny writing at the bottom of the table, 5% is a little, 15% is a lot. This means that if there's a nutrient we want more of, like fibre, we want that percentage to be higher, ideally towards 15% or more. If there's a nutrient we want less of, we want it to be closer to 5%. For most normal healthy people, we want to have less sodium (salt), sugar, and saturated fat, while including more fibre. There may also be times when you want to focus on a specific vitamin or mineral, like iron or calcium. These are also listed with a percentage and can be used the same way. A key part of label reading is knowing what is most important for you. For many food categories, you can't prioritize everything. There may not be one product that is the lowest in saturated fat AND the lowest in sodium AND the highest in fibre AND has the most protein AND has the most iron ... the list could go on. But if you can narrow it down to a couple things that matter most for your health and fitness goals, you can start making choices based on food labels, without all the overwhelm. Check out your food labels, use the percentages, and make choices that fit with your goals! Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com for more information about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!
Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian Snacking causes a lot of worry for many people! Is snacking bad? When should we be snacking? What's the best snack? Snacking itself isn't a bad habit, unless it's not aligned with your health and fitness goals. Snacks can actually do a lot of good to keep our energy levels up throughout the day and help meet our nutrition needs. Let's check out four ways you can improve your snacking habits! 1. Think about why! If you're concerned about whether your snacks are a problem, it's worth thinking about why you're snacking. Are you hungry between meals? Do you need some fuel before or after a workout? Are you bored at work in the afternoon or need a pick-me-up? Do you need something to do with your hands while watching tv? Are you starving at the end of the day when you get home before you have a chance to make dinner? Snacks serve lots of purposes, from keeping our energy stable during the day, to meeting emotional needs. If you don't feel good about why you're snacking, it might be time to find some other way to meet that need. 2. Plan for your snacks! Often, we may know we need a snack, but not be able to make a healthy choice about it because we're too busy or just too hungry. A little planning goes a long way! Planning ahead for these times can help us make choices that align with our goals, and have something at the ready before we're too hungry to make that healthy choice. Pack a snack or have one at the ready during the times of day or situations when you know you'll need it. 3. Make them satisfying! If a snack isn't satisfying, we'll be reaching for something else soon. For longer lasting energy, choose snacks that have a combination of protein and carbs. This might include yogurt with berries, a higher protein granola bar, crackers and veggies with hummus, or even a couple handfuls of trail mix. If you find yourself finishing your snack without even noticing what you've eaten, try taking a minute to eat more mindfully and focus on your food. This will help you feel more satisfied with it! 4. Fill your nutrition gaps! Snacks are another opportunity to add nutrition to your day. Are there specific foods you're trying to add more of to your diet? Are there nutrients you feel you may be lacking? Use snacks as a way to add these in. If you're concerned about protein, try adding canned tuna, hardboiled eggs, or Greek yogurt to your snacks. If you feel you're lacking vegetables or fruit, include at least one in your snack. If you're trying to include more plant-based proteins, lean on bean-based dips or try roasted chickpeas. The options are endless! Remember, snacking isn't good or bad, and can serve a lot of different purposes. Try using these tips to help your snacking align better with your health and fitness goals! Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com for more information about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!
Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian As a Dietitian, I work with a lot of different people. One common thread is that we talk about excuses. So many people come in to a nutrition consultation and tell me about their challenges with nutrition and fitness, and then follow it up by saying something along the lines of "I know these are just excuses, I can do better". The things we often consider excuses can include having a busy job and a busy family life. Working weird hours. Struggling with the cost of groceries. Caring for loved ones. Managing health concerns, chronic diseases, or injuries. The list goes on. For my nutrition clients, I rarely consider any of these things to be excuses. It's not an excuse that you can't eat well because you work long hours and then take your kids to their sports practices - these are very real reasons why you're struggling to make healthy choices. It's not an excuse if you work nights and need to get some sleep so you didn't make it to the gym - it's as aspect of your life that makes getting enough exercise challenging. Think about the things you might consider to be your excuses for not "doing better" with your health and fitness. Are they really just parts of your life or the season you're currently in? None of these things should be making you feel bad or like you're making excuses. But on the flip side, these reasons also don't mean we need to throw in the towel on our goals entirely. They mean we might need to get a bit creative, decide what's really important to us right now, and ask for help when we need it! Instead of feeling bad about your "excuses" that aren't really excuses, it might be time to find some new ideas. Working with a Dietitian can be a great way to figure out what's actually important in your health and fitness goals, and come up with some new ideas to get you there. There are always steps we can take in the right direction to move past those "excuses" and work together for a happier and healthier you! Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com for more information about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!