Archives for 2015

A Coach does what?????

November 16, 2015 by Jennifer Ross

Whenever I tell someone I am a health and life coach this is pretty much the look I get 75% of the time:

Which says to me a couple of things:

they have no idea what a health or life coach is.
they are hoping I don’t go into a long explanation.
AND most of all when they hear they words “health coach” they hope I didn’t see that oversized brownie they just ate.

OR sometimes ( not often) I get the person who hears “health coach” and they think they have hooked up to a real life breathing form of Web MD. NOT!

I thought I would clear up a few myths and share a few truths about the coaching world and give you a better idea of what it is we really do.

First clear your mind of the usual definition of the word “Coach”. This word is almost always linked to sports coaches who tell you what to do and when to do it. Not once in my years as a coach have I ever said drop and give me 20!

The next thing I need to tell you is ( and I say this with a little angst) anyone can call themselves a coach. Yes it’s true. While the International Coaching Federation is working on standards, it will be awhile. There are three things you need to know to use this information wisely.

There are some really gifted people out there who are coaches with no training. I have met them and they are inspiring. They, however, are not plentiful.
The rest of us trained long and hard at a reputable institution and are certified in coaching.
When someone says they are a coach they should be more than willing to tell you where they trained.

That bring us to what you probably really want to know and that is “So what does a coach do?”

A really good coach does a lot of this ( unconditionally I might add):

Listening

And some of this but not too much:talking

Most of all we ( life and health coaches) are interested in where you are now, where you would like to be and what is holding you back. We want what you want for your imagineear.com/pharmacy/ life and health. In other words if you want to start eating healthy we’ll explore what will work for you. If you want to start exercising,the same thing. Some people know I am a runner ( a slow one but still a runner) and they think “uh oh she will want me to run”. That’s a big fat NO. Only if you want to run will we explore that option.

So what about the life part. Well first off your health and life are interrelated. So relationships, jobs, community, family all affect your life and your health. If you start moving forward with your health, it will affect you overall life. If you start letting go of things that stress you out in your life ( as an example) your health is going to improve.

Just a couple more things that may interest you.

Coaching is confidential.

What happens during coaching stays between you and me. This is essential. I consider it a sacred part of coaching.

Coaching can be done on the phone or in person ( I do most of mine on the phone).

We are your biggest cheerleaders, supporters and encouragers ( if that is even a word).

With your permission we will hold you accountable to what you say you want.

We are your safe place to fall. Sometimes its 2 steps forward and 3 steps backwards. That is okay. This is not a race, this is your life. We all have to try things on to see if they fit, if they work. It is all information. We build on that information to move forward.

I ran across this video which I thought was the perfect example of coaching. It really is this simple.I think its better without the audio but it is up to you. Before you watch it though I have one last thing. Not every coach is a perfect fit with every person. You need to “try one on for size” so to speak. So if you are interested go here and sign up for a sample coaching session. Its complimentary!

Oh and if you are eating an oversized brownie, no worries but please share 🙂 Yum!

Filed Under: Coaching, Energy

It’s about time..or not! Living without a clock for a day…what I discovered!

November 4, 2015 by Jennifer Ross

As promised I am posting about my day without all the time keepers in my life. And as promised I am posting it “soonish” which has become my new favorite word.

So in my previous post ( find it here) I had a new awareness about time and what a hold it has on me. I promised to go a whole day without using my watch ( I’m addicted to the point that I wear it to bed) or any other of device that displays the time.

Before anyone says “Who has the time for this?” I will share that it is such an anomaly that I would have a day free to do this and it was a luxury. I even started to back out on Sunday night ( because seriously who has the time for this!) but since I coach people on how to get out of their comfort zones and since I am always hearing how people don’t have time to eat well, exercise, journal, meditate, or even just take some time for themselves I KNEW I needed to make good on my promise.

I reluctantly gave up my watch when I went to bed and wondered what the day would bring. Oh I also covered up the most obvious time displays ( oven, microwave, computer, phone).

I actually didn’t officially start until 12:30 am thanks to my cat who woke me up because she got trapped in the garage and I had to disengage the alarm system to get to her…and there was the time shining at me on the wall display…I was half asleep so it wasn’t really my fault.

So in nutshell here is what I discovered:

It was surprisingly easy to NOT know what time it was. I was aware and careful and as the day progressed I REALLY didn’t care or want to know the time.
Couldn’t use the sun to gauge it since it was raining and cloudy..oh well.
I was very focused and got a lot done ( this was a surprise)!
Without the clock and all those little voices in my head telling me I was wasting hair loss time, I actually DID NOT waste time.
It was relaxing with no pressure to hurry up.
Some of what I think about time is habit and some of it is lies I tell myself ( no time for this, I can do this later etc).
With no clock to tell me what to do or how long to spend on things I found my own rhythm for the day.
I try to control it all the time but it really controls me.
I try to cram way too many things into one day which frustrates me and makes me feel unaccomplished.
Eating when I was hungry and not because it was lunch or dinner time was much more satisfying although my body went from “a little bit hungry” to “I am starving” in a very short period of time.

To be honest I thought I would hate this kind of day. I thought I would be unproductive and frustrated and go through withdrawals without my watch or some other form of time keeping and it ended up being just the opposite.

I thought I would be all upside down without it and what it did was really turn me back to right side up!

I actually miss not keeping time and I quit wearing my watch to bed. I don’t think I cured my procrastination habit but I certainly have some new awareness of how focused or unfocused I am…for some reason not looking at the time quieted all those “squirrel” moments that distract me from my intended tasks.

And in the end it was not about the clocks, watches or any other displays of time in my life. It was and is about my perception of how much time I need, how I spend it and how I value or don’t value it.

So how about you? Are you ready for a timeless day? Want a little coaching about it? Let me know here and we can get started.

And here is my favorite clock of all in my house that loudly reminds me to “Go out and have some fun with your time” Don’t you just love it?

Filed Under: Coaching, Energy, Family, Fitness, Healthy Habits, Mindfulness, time, Wisdom

It’s About Time!

October 30, 2015 by Jennifer Ross

I am having a new awareness about time. All about time, where I spend it and most importantly why it seems to have this hold on me all the time! ( pun intended)

Yesterday was a beautiful, unusually warm day here on the East Coast. I decided to just take the day off and enjoy it. Trying to ignore all the little thoughts that told me I shouldn’t do this was quite a task but I managed. Still it made me think about what I do with my time, how I measure it and what would it be like IF I didn’t look at the clock at all for one WHOLE day.

Would I:

eat only when I was hungry?
pay attention to where the sun was in the sky?
use my time better if I wasn’t constantly aware of how much time I had left ?
not try and cram so many things into an impossibly short amount of time?
go a little crazy because I didn’t know what time it is?
get up when I was well rested and not to an alarm?

I suddenly became aware of how many different places the time is displayed besides my watch ( which I wear 24/7) and this is the list I came up with:

the oven
the microwave
my ipad, kindle, phone, computer
the car
the cable box
my home phone
decorative wall clocks
my coffee maker

Wow it is everywhere which leads me to ask “Why do people always ask me what time it is?” This happens often because many people do not wear a watch and it’s much easier to ask me than skin care pull out their phone..arghhh. My husband is so guilty of this and when I am feeling snarky I often tell him when he asks the time “Time to get a watch” ! It never works.

So I am going to walk my talk, step out of my comfort zone, be really upside down and go timeless on Monday. Since I have to change all the clocks on Sunday anyways it will be the perfect opportunity for me to put that removable blue painters tape over all visible time pieces in my house, on my gadgets and in my cars.

I am already twitching a little.

Often in coaching I am told that there isn’t time to eat healthy, exercise, or do the things that really matter to the client.

I get it. I mean I really get it. So this should be really interesting on Monday.

I’m not sure if its a coincidence or just one of those things where the stars align that I happen to have Monday free to do this.

So who wants to join me ? I realize it’s a luxury to have the “time” to do this so even if it’s for a small part of the day please hop on the timeless train.

I’ll be on Twitter @jenniferbross, my facebook page and instagram ( your upside down life)

Want to coach or try coaching? Go here and we’ll schedule a free mini coaching session!

As always…take some time, step out of your comfort zone and enjoy life a little upside down!

Filed Under: Energy, freedom, Healthy Habits, time, Wisdom

Why October is the best month to….

October 13, 2015 by Jennifer Ross

I could fill this in with so many things but lets stick with our Fun with Food thing! Not to be confused with Sheldon’s “Fun with Flags.”Oops it looks like he is having fun with food as well!

So why is October one of the best times to focus on food and really get a handle on what we put on our plates and what goes into our mouths? Because we know what is coming! ( Imagine scary music right HERE)

The ultimate in food fests is heading our way and as much as we try to deny it we cannot. It is coming right at us like a missile and we won’t know what hit us until we step on the scale on January 1st and instead of that pesky 10 lbs we intended to lose its now 18lbs. Yikes!

The average weight gain over the holidays is 8lbs. Yup 8 lbs. Think of the last thing you saw that was 8lbs. It could be a baby, a sack of potatoes, a ham. Puts it in perspective right?

That 18 lbs I mentioned earlier might be the size of your Thanksgiving turkey.

Wow…anybody else besides me think I just sucked the fun right out of “Fun with Food” ?

We do equate being social and having fun with eating. Can you think of one event that does not have a food component? That’s a tough one.

So while it may not be fun in the truest sense it will make you breathe a little easier come January if you start to have an awareness around the holidays, the food, the parties, the drinking and figure out how you want to be with it.

You get to choose. YES it IS a choice and YES you can still enjoy the food and have fun and not cry and beat yourself up on January 1st if you dare to get on the scale.

Think about all the ~~reasons~~ excuses you use to have a free for all from Nov 1st – Dec. 31st.

Maybe yours include the following:

I have to have this, Aunt Tilly only makes this ONCE a year so its a treat.
Mom will be hurt if I don’t eat alot, its her way of saying she loves me!
It’s the holidays, time to let loose!
I dance better when I’ve had lots of wine
I need insulation for the upcoming winter months.

Any of these look familiar. I think I have said every one of those except for the last one.

So in a rather long run on sentence ( my English teacher is doing spins in her grave) here is why those excuses don’t hold up. Aunt Tilly only makes her special 1000 calorie a bite dish once a year because it is an evil antibiotics plot to keep you all coming to her house over the holidays since she won’t share the recipe and Mom is an undercover food pusher who could guilt even the toughest guy into eating more than he could ever imagine (she is actually an undercover agent for the government that specializes in making the enemy talk or in her case guilting them into talking) and if letting loose means your pants then go for it but if you really think you dance better after half a bottle of wine then go check out the videos your cousin posted on you tube and if the last one is true then get rid of your sweaters and your coats because you will be plenty insulated.

Phew… Hope you are laughing or at least smiling.

So have some fun with making up stories about how you are to navigate the holiday buffet, avoiding the things you can’t stop eating much like a ship avoids icebergs.

Picture your Mom holding a piece of cake in front of you except you are not in your home you are in one of those interrogation rooms with a single light bulb ( remember she is undercover for the government)!

Figure out how you will get Aunt Tilly’s famous recipe and maybe even make it a little healthier.

The point here is that NOW is the time to figure out how you want to be with the “food thing” over the holidays. If instead we have fun with our families and less with the food we will probably be happier when January rolls around.

I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m just saying you can have a good time, celebrate, enjoy the food but not act like its your last meal. I can say this because I have been there and when I did plow into the food like there was not tomorrow January 1st was not fun and I wished I had made different choices.

An upside down moment for sure.

If you are having trouble figuring out what what will work for you then how about trying out a complimentary coaching session? Go here to get that on your calendar and get a head start on your plan for the holidays.

Lastly, if you do have relatives that make a family favorite please make sure someone has the recipe or knows how to duplicate it ( even if it is 1000 calories a bite) I would love to have some of my grandmothers famous dishes, especially her buckwheat pancakes but sadly no one has the recipe. 🙁

And my grandma really did know how to have fun!’

If this finds you hanging upside down then don’t forget to enjoy the view!

Filed Under: Family, Healthy Eating, Healthy Habits, Holidays, Wisdom

Lessons about freedom from a dog leash..who knew?

July 21, 2015 by Jennifer Ross

Well if this isn’t the perfect post for Your Upside Down Life because it’s perfectly upside down. I had no idea when I picked freedom for our theme for July that I would learn about freedom from a dog leash. I don’t think anyone would put freedom and dog leash together especially when it really has nothing to do with putting a dog at the end of the leash.

Our trusty dog leash had a mind of its’ own. It was constantly disappearing and reappearing and causing me immense amounts of stress especially when I was in a hurry and needed to get the dog out before I left the house. Our dog, Max, has a mind of his own as well and will take off in a flash when not on a leash, return about 30-45 minutes later, happily covered in mud. Just what I don’t need when leaving the house. So the leash is NOT optional.

I had tried setting hard and fast rules about where to keep the leash but SOMEONE in this house would constantly NOT put the leash back in its designated home. And that someone would be me.

Things needed to change. I could no longer leave the house stressed out, in a bad mood and mad at everyone especially myself.

I had no idea one dog leash could cause me so much distress.

Finding a good permanent home for the leash was the easy part. Putting it there after every walk with Max made my head hurt. In case you haven’t guessed I was not “born organized”. I had to think about it EVERY time for a long time. I know they say ( whoever “they” are) that it takes 21 days to change a habit. Well they never met me or my many NOT born organized friends. I didn’t keep track but it took months and a conscious effort on my part to put that dog leash back in the drawer each and every time.

Even though I slip up now and again, it feels weight loss amazing to reach in that drawer and the leash is there EVERY time. Simple I know but it frees me from last minute stress and that one simple habit is helping me alleviate stress in other areas of my life.

There is an old saying that “being organized means you are just too lazy to look for stuff.” I love that saying because it makes me laugh but the truth is I was tired of looking for stuff like my glasses, my phone, the cordless home phone, my favorite pen. You get the picture.

The dog leash craziness taught me a couple of things:

patience with myself ( it took months to train my brain with this habit)
acceptance ( lots of my creativity comes from being “random” ( thats a fancy way of saying disorganized) and its not a “bad” thing just part of who I am
slowing down I had to slow down and consciously put the leash away

All of the above “freed” me from negative self talk, wanting to be something that I was not ( naturally organized) and gave me permission to just slow things down which I learned was a major part of the problem.

What I have noticed that by changing this habit of constantly losing the dog leash I am suddenly aware when I randomly put my glasses, phone, or keys somewhere they do not belong..this little voice says to me … “Oh no you don’t! You will be looking for those in about 2 minutes…put them where they belong”

That little voice suspiciously sounds like my mother but I’ll take it!

And now when I see the leash I smile. I love my creative side. It is part of my essence but I also love that I can learn to be more organized and less stressed.

The leash came with Max ( the endless shedding dog) when we adopted him. I love the irony of the design on it. Who knew it would teach me peace and freedom?