Emotional Eating

My name is Jerny, I am a recovering emotional eater.

For the first 42 years of my life, I used food as comfort, as a companion, as a reward, as a stress manager. With any addiction, there are rationalizations for the behavior. I exercised up to 3 to 4 hours a day for my job. I gave away every ounce of my energy in classes, life was stressful, money was tight, the pressure to be perfect was huge. Food was my solice, food was my friend.

Sweet, salty, crunchy, even stuff that actually wasn't that tasty. It was just the act of eating, that temporarily eased my angst, and then let me to the subsequent emotional and physical crash within the hour.

As I entered my mid 30's, I noticed weight didn't come off easy any more. Pizza, peanut butter, alcohol, and ice cream stuck like glue. I was healthy, or so it seemed, but always carried the 5-10 pounds of stubborn fat. I wore a size or two larger than I should be and wore it well. I knew I wasn't where I wanted to be, but didn't have the desire or ability to curb my compulsive eating habits.

Afternoons were the worst, an entire box of cereal, crackers, or pop tarts was not uncommon. On a conscious level, I knew it wasn't healthy. I understood the endocrine system and what my body had to go through in order to process crap that the digestive system was not originally designed for.

Enter metabolic testing, a very powerful book, and a few very knowledgeable friends. I learned about the delicate balance I was disrupting and how it was affecting not just my health and my waistline, but my moods, my peri-menopausal symptoms, and my sleep. I just got tired of being tired and started to practice what I was preaching to my clients. I made slow and steady progress, little changes at a time. Learning and listening to my body's natural cues. It was hard for a while, but easier over time.

Having a solid eating plan designed specifically for me, the right supplements, the right exercise plan (less intensity and volume!!!), and patience paid off. Sure I have slipped up, gotten lazy, and fell off the plan. However, it works so well, that I can pretty much just pick up right where I left off and predictably get myself back on track and back into my skinny jeans.

Yes I still eat pizza, peanut butter, ice cream, and drink alcohol. I just moderate them, combine them properly, and time them in order to control my metabolism instead of food controlling me. The biggest change was in my head. I had to start thinking of food as just that, FOOD. Not friend, not enemy, just fuel and refuel. I also had to give up thinking I had to be perfect. No small task and one I can honestly say still creeps in occasionally.

You can do it too! You have to be ready, you have to want it. You need to make changes slowly and consistently. The benefits are so worth it! Not only do you change your body, and feel great, you teach your children, who are watching carefully, that food is not an effective stress manager and save them from the frustration that emotional eating always brings.

You won't likely be able to do it alone however. You will need a diet designed specifically for you and an exercise plan that fits your life. You will need prayer, and a belief that you can change your habits. You will need patience and you will need tenacity. You will need to let go of the concept of perfection and embrace your beautiful you!

If you are ready, I can help.

Online only plans start at $50 per month.

Online plans with accountability meetings once per week are $100 per month.

Results are guaranteed if you follow the directions...I have yet to have anyone regret working with me! :)

Contact me at jarsfit@yahoo.com for more information

The pictures you see!

Everything about fitness that you hear in the media involves weight loss and sure fire ways to get that beach body ready. Products and packaged programs designed to make it simple for you to look like the models paid to pose for the pictures!

Why do we believe as a society that 6, 8, 12 weeks is enough to transform you body into looking like someone else's? I have numerous friends who are fitness competitors and models. Each and every one of them has exercised consistently for 10, 15, 20 years now. They don't eat packaged crap, they moderate alcohol consumption, and the live and breathe a healthy lifestyle. They deserve your respect and admiration.

They are committed to helping you do the same. These men and women are inspirations and their bodies did not come from the luck of genetics. I know meso-endomorphs, such as myself who have to work a lot harder to stay lean, however it is possible.

I have short legs, disproportionately long torso, and a tendency to carry fat in my arms. My genetic lottery ticket wasn't a winner, but I learned early how to embrace what God gave me and learned how to train to make my body healthy, stopped eating my children's food, and therefore look great.

Those of you still looking for the magic bullet to look perfect in a swimsuit, I say this...

Relax, eat healthfully, manage your stress, drink lots of water, make fitness a hobby, and stop expecting to look like the models you see. (Yes, they get airbrushed for pictures too!) There is a happy life available without looking perfect, I PROMISE!

I spend my life surrounded by girlfriends who look amazing and men who make women swoon.

I am just so proud of them and the message that they carry.

Looking for the easy way out doesn't work. Lifestyle does! The health benefits long term can no longer be ignored, you are the product of your choices...what are you going to do about it?

Focus and Discipline

Anyone who knows me knows that focus and discipline are not my strong suits. I set goals, sometimes I achieve them, other times I don't.

I like food that is "bad" and sometimes I don't train when I am supposed to. I have always been kind of a laid back gal...I have never reached my potential as a result.

I have, however, learned that there is a balance. I have never needed to be the winner at anything, and so my drive to succeed has always been tempered by my overwhelming desire to enjoy life and hang out with fun people.

Lately though, I am spending a little more time developing these two admirable qualities in order to grow as a person. Here is what I have learned so far...

Focus is about keeping your eye on the prize. It's so easy to get distracted by the bottles of wine, the doughnut holes, and the happy hours. Delaying the gratification has been tough the last month, but I have managed to stick with my plan and my body is changing quickly as a result. I keep my goal swim suit hanging where I can always see it, and I schedule my workouts as non negotiable time into my day.

Discipline is about planning and positive self talk. I am making sure that I allow myself some leniency with my diet because I know that all or nothing doesn't work for me. I am reading the labels and sticking to the serving sizes. I am opting for fresh fruit and vegetables as appetizers and desserts. I am allowing myself alcohol in moderation on weekends, but I have cut it out the other 5 days. I am running and going to the gym whether I feel like it or not because I know how much better I feel when I am done. I am patting myself on the back for a job well done and I am holding myself accountable with the scale and pictures.

Is it worth it? A resounding YES! I feel comfortable in my skin again. My clothes don't pull and bind, and my fitness level is rising quickly with very little pain. It's a gradual change, a healthy change, and one that I am willing to commit to until my goal is reached.

So for those of you who think us fitness people are perfect, think again. It's hard for us too!

Focus for the ADHD poster child and discipline for the quintessential party girl...yep, it's possible!

Don't hate me because I am fit!

So I am standing in line at the grocery store and the lady behind me says, "Wow, you look great, whatever you are doing, it sure is working." Now first of all, it is very rare for me to receive a compliment from a complete stranger who is female, so I promptly replied "Thank you." We were waiting a bit, so the conversation continued...

She asked what I was "doing" to look this way, as though I had discovered some miracle. I smiled and said "It's not really so much what I am doing right now" (me picturing the pizza I just sucked down with the kids the night before) "It's 25 + years of consistent exercise and taking care of my health." Her face clouded over. It wasn't the answer she was looking for...

I am sorry to tell you that YOU ARE THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER DONE TO YOUR BODY!

While you were managing your stress with junk and alcohol all these years, I was managing mine with exercise. While you were eating like food was going to disappear the next day, I was educating myself and others on what your body actually needs...

Does that mean it is too late to begin to change your habits? Absolutely not! But if you expect to look like an Oxygen/Men's Fitness cover model by going on a short term fad diet, getting injections, or a cycle of P90X, I have bad news...

The formula for looking great, and more importantly feeling great (and comfortable in your own skin) is as follows:

Exercise+health care+clean diet (MULTIPLIED times TIME) = SUCCESS

Anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell you something. So my message is this:

Next time you see someone who looks terrific, fight the urge to resent them because you don't. Instead, acknowledge their hard work by saying "Hey, you look great, I bet it's a lot of hard work to look that way." Because believe it or not, we rarely ever hear it.

DON'T WASTE ONE MORE DAY!

For information on how to get started looking and feeling better today, email me at mindyourbody@cox.net