Written by: Georgette LePage, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Life is truly an adventure; sometimes feeling like a fairytale and sometimes feeling like a nightmare! It’s a rollercoaster ride with so many ups and downs along the way. When it comes to our health, there’s no better time than the present to make some small changes that will bring big shifts in the way we feel and look, on the inside and out. Although life was never promised as easy, we can’t ignore what humankind has endured over the last three years and the effects that we are now cleaning up and how we are trying to navigate back to “normal”. First of all, you ought to acknowledge what you’ve been through during these last few years and face how much of a struggle most of us had with our health and more specifically with our weight. Let’s just be real and own it.
In fact, according to experts, the COVID-19 pandemic changed us inside and out. For many people, those outward changes weren't especially welcome. An APA Stress in America survey conducted in late February 2021 found 42% of U.S. adults reported undesired weight gain since the start of the pandemic, with an average gain of 29 pounds. According to the Harvard School of Health, roughly two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese (69 percent) and one out of three are obese (36 percent).¹ These statistics are alarming and should be a wake-up call for every American before it gets worse. Extra weight on your body precipitates sickness and disease and can put your overall health at risk. So, how do you make changes and see results in your weight? JUST MOVE FORWARD! Any health and life coach who genuinely knows her work will tell you that you didn’t get here overnight and each small step forward you make will move you closer to your goal of shedding pounds.
Step No.1
Start by acknowledging where you are right now: Are you overweight? Are you sick all of the time? Are you tired all of the time? Are you depleted of energy? Do you not feel motivated to make changes? Do you feel overwhelmed about where to start? Do you feel confused by conflicting information on social media? Where are you right at this moment?
Step No.2
Where do you want to go? In other words, what is your goal? Be specific! Declaring that you want to be healthy is too vague. You need to be clear about what that means. How does that look and feel and who benefits from your healthy changes? On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to you that you make these changes NOW?
Step No.3
What did you learn from your past? Without dwelling on your past (which is NOT the job of a health/life coach) what worked well and what were your challenges? What tools do you want to use this time to make progress?
Step No.4
Start with ONE small step today and move forward! Forward is the only direction that will get you to your goal one action step at a time. Not sure where to begin and what to do? Do your homework and find resources, especially a coach who understands your pain points and your motivation to make changes. To be able to visualize this process, go stand at the bottom of a large staircase and look up. What do you see at the very bottom? What do you see all the way up to the top? Yes, each small step is an opportunity to get to the next step and to eventually get to the top step. No one jumps from the bottom to the top in one giant leap! It takes time, patience, planning, determination, motivation, and accountability to reach your goal. The pounds will come off, you will look and feel better, and you will reach your goal by moving forward and by looking ahead. Set your big goal, set smaller goals to get there, keep your focus, and get started with one small step TODAY! You’ve got nothing to lose (except weight) and everything to gain with becoming stronger and healthier inside and out! HappyFirst Step! Let’s go!
Georgette LePage, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Georgette LePage is a certified Health and Life Coach who empowers women all around the world to lose their mental weight first in order to then lose their physical weight. Her approach is honest, real, clear, and genuine with transformational habit change and mindset reset methods. Georgette's energy and enthusiasm are contagious. Her focus on a healthy lifestyle inspires her clients to leave behind old diet culture thoughts and patterns in order to embrace fresh and simple ways to live their best lives without diet drama. Empowerment, self-confidence, and self-care are cornerstones of the programs that she offers. She helps her clients to get the results that they want with realistic, real-life strategies. She lives her own life the way she coaches others. She listens to what her clients want and guides them with compassion and accountability as they achieve their goals. She works with people of all ages (teens to seniors and every age in between) who are ready to live a healthier, more joyful life. Georgette also hosts the talk radio show WHY WEIGHT? with Dr. Pat Baccili on Transformational Talk Radio. In addition to speaking English, she also is fluent in French and Spanish. Georgette has 32 years of experience as a World Language Teacher, as well. Her coaching motto is: Feel better. Look better. Be your best self!
Reference:
FlegalKM, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults,1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307:491-7.
