It’s always an honor to be recognized in your space and what fun is it if you can’t share it? So here it is…
I’m proud and honored to be ranked the #1 Weight Loss, Fitness, Wellness and Lifestyle Expert by Thumbtack.
How can I help you?
Debi Silber, “The Mojo Coach”
www.TheMojoCoach.com
One of the most important reasons for parents to get themselves feeling, looking and living their best is for the sake of their kids.
Did you know that in 2010, about 50% of all kids were overweight! At this point 1/3rd of their diets consist of nothing but junk food. Add to that “portion distortion”, fast/takeout food and inactivity and you’ve got a recipe for unhealthy kids.
The first suggestion I give moms (who handle 90% of food tasks) is to set a good example. There simply is no better way to get the message across to kids.
Encouraging moderate portions of well balanced meals (protein/carb/fat), variety and eating every few hours to discourage being overly hungry are a few places to start. Kids can also be included in some of the shopping and food preparation details. When they’re included, they’ve more likely to buy into the idea of its importance.
You may also want to reconsider family style eating. It’s great to stay at the table enjoying each other’s company but family style typically encourages seconds. Instead of putting all of the dishes on the table, try putting all of the dinner items on each plate and bringing only the plates to the table. If the goal is to create better habits, find ways to enjoy heaping servings of conversation, not food.
For exercise, encourage activity-again using yourself as an example. You can also encourage your child to find an activity they enjoy (if they like it they’ll do it). It can be something simple like playing outside, dancing, walking the family dog (or in my crazy case-4 dogs 
) or enrolling in a team sport or intramural program at school if one’s available.
Whether in the form of better food choices, healthier habits or adding fitness to the family routine, the key is to make “lifestyle fitness” a family affair.
What do you do to keep your family fit and healthy? I’d love to know, comment and share!
Debi Silber, “The Mojo Coach”
www.TheMojoCoach.com
Someone recently asked me, “What steps do I take to work towards better health?” Here’s what I said.
When someone realizes they want/need to work towards better health, there are certain steps to take in order to create lasting lifelong changes. The first step is figuring out what needs to change. Look at your lifestyle and determine where you need to improve. It can be in the areas of nutrition, fitness, emotional wellness, stress control, relationships and even spirituality. Determine which areas need work and start there.
The next step is to design a realistic plan with mini goals. To overhaul your routine is temporary and destructive to your self esteem and well being. To set a realistic goal (ex: drink more water, exercise 1 more day than the week before, no eating off of anyone else’s plates, etc.) and achieving it builds self esteem and confidence to continue.
You know where your struggles and greatest obstacles lie. For some people, it’s finding time for fitness. For others it’s dealing with binge/emotional or mindless eating. For some it’s finding better outlets for stress control. Whatever you’re struggling with most is the first place to start because that’s what’s holding you back from looking, feeling and living your best.
The key is to determine what needs “tweaking” so that you put yourself on the road to better health. Believe it or not, even spending time with positive, optimistic people as opposed to negative, pessimistic people is a step in the right direction. Happy, upbeat people actually support and strengthen our immune system!
What change will you make today? Comment and share!
Debi Silber “The Mojo Coach”
www.TheMojoCoach.com
You know, to become fit, healthy and happy from the inside out requires not just a fit body but a fit mind. That means all aspects of your life are fit, healthy and whole. So often we only work on becoming nutritionally “fit” or physically “fit” but what about your stress level, your emotions, your relationships and your spirituality?
These are some of the lifestyle issues which prevent us from optimal health, wellness and success. Think about how you handle your stress or the types of relationships you may have. Are they rewarding and enriching or toxic and destructive? I’ve worked with many people who eat well and exercise yet it was only when they improved their lifestyle issues, did they achieve radiant health, wellness, success and happiness.
Picture a jug of water with many holes punctured into it. While we can plug up one hole by eating better and another with exercise, the jug will still leak water if those other holes aren’t plugged up. Those are your lifestyle issues and one is no more important than the next. They’re all crucial if you want to be truly fit-from the inside, out.
So, how “fit” is YOU lifestyle? I’d love to know!
Comment and share!
Debi Silber, “The Mojo Coach”
www.TheMojoCoach.com
If you’re a “serial dieter” chances are you’ve had your share of disappointment. The fact is over 95% of people who lose weight on diets gain it back plus more in a relatively short period of time. I’ve worked with hundreds of people who’ve gained weight as a result of dieting and they all wonder why they’ve failed. They’re discouraged, frustrated and this chronic dieting behavior chips away at their confidence, their self-esteem and their health while doing little to create the body they want.
If you’re like these people, I’ll tell you the same thing I tell them. You didn’t fail, the diet failed you. It failed you because diets don’t work. Diet means deprivation and the more we deprive ourselves, the more we encourage binge type behavior. In fact, dieting is the best way to gain weight!
Picture a rubber band. If you stretch it as far as it can go, it will snap back with force but if you tug on it gently, it will gently stretch. When we diet, it’s as if we’re pulling that rubber band as far as it can go. When we eventually let go (like we do when life throws us an unexpected curveball, when we haven’t planned effectively, etc.) it snaps back in the form of a diet-induced binge, encouraging us to eat all the foods we’ve temporarily given up.
Lasting weight loss requires a gentle tug on the rubber band; enough of a pull to make a change yet reasonable enough to ensure lasting results. It requires the mindset of adding healthy, delicious, nutrient rich foods which give us satisfaction, health and results vs. the feeling that we’re taking away foods that do little to fuel or nourish us. That’s the difference between dieting vs. making lifestyle changes and the only way to go to ensure lasting results.
What healthy eating changes have you made?
I’d love to know, comment and share!
Debi Silber, The Mojo Coach
www.TheMojoCoach.com
A question recently came up. “Why is it so hard to change our eating and exercise habits if we’re unhappy with the way we look and feel?”
There are many reasons for this. One reason change it can be difficult is when it conflicts with your needs, values or lifestyle. Here’s where you take on a “one size fits all” approach. Well, although it may work for some, that doesn’t mean it works for you. You are unique, requiring your own adjustments and alterations. That’s why any change that lasts must be specific, reasonable and realistic for you.
Another reason change can feel so difficult is when you’re asked to do something too drastic. Drastic always means temporary because it doesn’t allow for the mental and emotional time to adjust. Think about it. You probably have such a small window of time and energy for yourself. If you make dramatic and radical changes to your already overextended lifestyle, adding yet another item onto your mile long “to-do” list, things quickly become overwhelming. When we feel overwhelmed, we give up.
Finally, change will never happen if we don’t believe we can change. Your greatest obstacle may just be your own self doubt. You will or won’t change based on your belief that you can.
Are you struggling with making some healthy eating and exercise changes? Need some ideas?
Comment and share!
Debi Silber, The Mojo Coach
www.TheMojoCoach.com
I normally choose not to read newspapers, but I’m at a conference and a copy of USA Today was left outside my door. This article really caught my attention “Is This the Anti-Aging Secret?” The article was talking about how exercise may be the closest thing we have to the fountain of youth. While it does the obvious (helps us lose weight, shape and tone our bodies) it’s also incredibly effective in reducing the incidence of chronic illness, can help alleviate symptoms of depression by flooding our systems with “feel good hormones”, improves our quality of life, level of independence as we age, quality of sleep, self image, confidence, gives us energy, vitality and so much more.
So here’s my question…
What’s stopping you from starting an exercise program?
Let’s get these excuses out of the way:
Overfed and undernourished. With 24/7 access to nutritionally depleted, technologically created, chemically treated “food,” many of us are taking in thousands of calories that do little to sustain us, let alone nourish us and encourage us to thrive. Obesity has recently been one of our biggest public health concerns. With so many of us existing this way today is it any wonder why we struggle with our weight and health?
It’s so easy to grab prepackaged, convenient vending machine, drive thru or shelf food but what price are you really paying for all that “convenience?” Larger sized clothing, higher medical bills and a decreased quality of life are just a few. Why? Our bodies are designed to eat fresh, natural, whole foods that supply us with an endless array of vitamins, minerals, fiber and incredible nutrients. Denying yourself of what truly healthy food provides robs you of your health, youth and vitality.
Here’s what also happens when you eat this way. Foods that don’t nourish you also don’t truly satisfy you. So, we overeat in a search to find that satisfaction that those unhealthy food choices simply can’t provide. Of course all of this overeating causes weight gain and when our weight starts to impact us enough, we may severely restrict ourselves believing that deprivation and discomfort is the only way to achieve lasting health and wellness.
When we simply can’t endure the deprivation any longer, we go right back to eating the way we were eating, only to feel we have somehow failed because of a lack of willpower or compliance. These emotions often encourage self-soothing behaviors and, if we typically use food as our drug of choice, we’re looking at an ongoing cycle of mental, physical and emotional upset that could largely be avoided by changing the choices we make and the way we look at food.
Not only does this pattern chip away at our confidence and self-esteem, it keeps us on a rollercoaster ride of blood sugar, mood and weight fluctuations. It lays the groundwork for insulin resistance (a pre-curser to diabetes) and other chronic illnesses while keeping us frustrated, discouraged and exhausted. It impacts our digestive health, our adrenal glands, fertility, our skin, hair, immune system, sleep, our ability to heal and so much more.
Now, before you get frustrated with yourself and think that your current eating behavior is simply the result of laziness or bad habits, give yourself a break. For many, this eating pattern causes intense cravings, so your desire for these high sugar, empty food feels almost drug like. The sense of temporary numbing and calm you feel after overloading yourself with these foods floods your body with hormones and chemicals, which offer temporary relief-similar to a drug like state. Unfortunately, eating this way only further depletes and desensitizes your body; making it more and more difficult to achieve a healthy hormonal balance, taste sensitivity and sense of freedom as well as preventing your body from achieving a natural, healthy weight.
Can this be changed so you feel a sense of peace and calm around food? Can food be used to nourish your body and mind without fear? Can you change eating behaviors that have left you overweight, undernourished and frustrated for years, even decades? Of course! It starts with awareness and then a plan and I’d love to help. www.TheMojoCoach.com.
Debi Silber, The Mojo Coach
www.TheMojoCoach.com
Why is it that some of the strongest women battle with their best intentions when it comes to healthy eating? For many, the answer can be found in how we react to the many messages we see and hear.
Weight loss is an over 30 billion dollar industry. We spend money on programs, pills and promises yet as a nation, we’re bigger than ever. While we’re spending money trying to lose weight, advertisers are spending enormous amounts of money creating messages encouraging us to “super size”, “value size” and “economy size.” Food stylists are hired by the media to create perfect presentations of some of the foods highest in fat, sugar and calories available to us today. If that weren’t enough, the women seen eating these foods are typically model thin. So if our goal is to eat healthier, why do we fall prey to the messages of mouthwatering meals, decadent desserts and sinful sweets we see and hear?
For many women, eating a highly restrictive diet is the cause. The more we restrict ourselves from enjoying foods we love, the more we begin to crave those same foods. The more we crave the foods we’ve decided to eliminate, the more we’ve put them on a pedestal only to be enjoyed once excess weight is lost. This type of restrictive behavior signifies the “diet mentality” where there are no allowances for imperfection. We’re either on or off the diet at any given time. In fact, studies show that the most common reason for binge eating behavior is dieting!
The other reason women may succumb to messages from the media is when they feel insecure or suffer with a low self-esteem. Models can be 6 feet tall and a size zero while the average woman is about 5’4” and over 140 pounds. Comparing ourselves to the models we see can leave many women feeling poorly about themselves. This insecurity fuels a lack of confidence or self doubt; traits that encourage women to be influenced by what they see because they feel that others must know better than they do.
A strong, empowered, confident woman can look at any message and take it in with discretion and a keen eye. She knows what’s realistic for her, what she can make allowances for or not. An insecure, uncertain woman will often be easily influenced by what she sees, reads or hears about, regardless of her desire to lose weight or become fit. When these same women gain trust in themselves, their strengths and their decisions, they’re much less likely to be affected by all they hear and see. When they understand that they are the experts of themselves, already equipped with all the tools they need, they can simply look for some ideas, tips and information to get their job done, while ending the discouraging need to compare themselves to others.
The first step is to sort through the barrage of messages we see, taking in only what is realistic for us to use. The next step involves losing the self-doubt, fear and belief that others know what’s best for us. With a renewed sense of trust we can begin to make gradual changes, which builds confidence and success. The more confident we are, the less likely we are to be swayed by some of the most powerful eating triggers which influence us today.
Comment and share!
Debi Silber “The Mojo Coach”
www.TheMojoCoach.com
Hope you’ll join me in celebrating the launch of my all new site at www.TheMojoCoach.com.
Join the community, read a few articles and as part of the celebration…
The first 5 people to register for ANY new program will receive an additional private one-on-one coaching session with me!
One of my many new programs are right for anyone who is ready, committed and eager to make lasting change. Does this sound like you?
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