“2020” has almost become a meme because of how horrible it’s been. Many of us have lost jobs, loved ones, normal routines, time with friends and family.
It’s been stressful, to say the least.
We know that stress has been linked to every major disease: heart attack and stroke, obesity, type II diabetes, cancer, auto-immune disorders, and others.
The good news is that there is something we can do strengthen our defense against viruses and disease. It starts with a conscious decision to deepen our commitment to our health — physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
What does that kind of commitment look like?
In this article I’m going to do a few things. I want to talk about stress and health, obviously, but I also want to tell you a story about several of the things I’ve gone through this year, and how the stress has had me waking up in the middle of the night, seeking support from those I trust.
Then, at the end, I’m going to mention several coaching promotions 🎉 I have that are related to some of this.
Hopefully, by the time we get to that point, you’ll see why and you’ll see why I care so much about this.
How to Take Care of Ourselves and Our Health
So just how can you strengthen your defense against viruses and disease? Well, obviously, the answers are not totally new or things you don’t already know:
- Get quality rest;
- drink plenty of water;
- exercise regularly;
- eat healthy whole foods;
- get a little sun everyday if possible;
- spend time with loved ones;
- …and cultivate joy (laugh and have fun every chance you get).
The dilemma we currently face is that, in real life, none of this is easy.
Even spending face-to-face time with loved ones is not the safest thing for any of us right now. Lack of access to gyms and now colder temps make it all-the-more challenging to exercise. Oh, and finances, those are tight for many people too (to say the least). Add all this up and who can “cultivate joy”?
In my own case, I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in February.
In March, I had to shut my face-to-face business down.
In September, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It was a lot. This is enough to take a person down, but thankfully I had support, including my fitness coach, a good therapist, mentors, and an outstanding medical team.
I’ve also learned to rely on those people if and when my thoughts go dark. (No matter how much work one has done, I can tell you from experience that this can still happen.) When this thinking takes hold, I turn to one of these professionals — many times all of them — and I am always returned to sanity.
Just a couple nights ago, I awoke in the middle of the night (that always seems to be time my brain chooses) with my mind spinning out of control about the changes that have occurred to my body physically since losing my hormones. My mind kept returning to the idea of what I could do to “regain control”:
What foods can I add? What should I take out? Oh, maybe I should lift more! Or maybe I should take hormone, in spite of the risk—and what about other supplements?
The thoughts were endless and relentless. The fact that I already knew I was already doing all I could didn’t stop this mental assault. That’s not how these things work.
Aging skin, minor muscle loss, achier joints… there must be a way to stop this!
This isn’t a story about how I gritted my teeth and “powered through it.”
No, this is a story about being willing to rely on others. It’s a story about using support systems and not trying to “do it all yourself.”
As soon as I got out of bed, I emailed my coach and I called my mentor. Between the two of them they brought me back to reality. I found a quieter, more compassionate place of acceptance. I realized and embraced the idea that if we are lucky enough, we will age.
I believe I will age more gracefully by leaning on these folks because they have been there and they can be objective about my situation. They can love me through it, and — importantly — they can also offer up strategies to work with what I can control and help me to let go of what I can’t.
I am here to suggest that, in spite of all the difficulty everyone is facing right now, there is always a choice in how one “thinks” about their situation. Again, I’m not saying “buckle down” and “power through it” or anything at all like that. I’m also not saying you should pretend things are great if they aren’t. Instead, I’m simply saying this: don’t do it alone.
There are support systems that can help you live as and be the person you want to be. I know people who have lost a LOT and they still live in the solution without ever allowing themselves to be a victim of the problem. Many of these people are my clients. I help them daily—just as I myself receive help—to see the “problem” as a challenge and give them strategies to meet it head on.
Some of the “stressors” my clients have faced and that I’ve helped them work through this year are:
- the sudden loss of family members from COVID;
- the stress and long hours of working as nurses in over-strained hopsitals;
- the worry stress and disruption of having to pick your children up from colleges due to unpredictable shut downs and quarantines;
- depression, boredom and mental health issues that come from lack of face-to-face social interaction;
- …and, in many, many cases, the underlying fear in general that many of us have weighing on us even if we aren’t fully aware of it.
Now, more than ever, we all need a good coach. This is someone we can talk to and get help in navigating our stress, our food choices and exercise strategies.
This isn’t a time to go balls to wall, so to speak. When faced with so much unpredictability it is a delicate balance between doing enough to keep immunity up, body weight regulated, and stress down!
I feel strongly about this. I take pride in what I do and I know it can help.
With that in mind, I am offering the following promotions:
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90% off my usual onboarding fee for onling coaching.
If you sign up for my online coaching, I will waive 90% off my usual onboarding fee.
I realize that signing up for a new coaching can feel like a big commitment. Many people want to make a change, especially in the New Year, but the price tag can feel like a lot. So… this is my attempt to make that just a little bit easier
You will get:
✔ Custom Meal Planning Guide
✔ Unlimited Emails and Check-Ins
✔ Easy Smartphone Check-In Center
✔ Custom Workouts Exercise Program
✔ Weekly Training Reviews
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FREE one-time nutrition consultation with purchase of one-time exercise program.
Nutrition and exercise go hand-in-hand. If you purchase a one-time exercise program, I will also offer a one-time nutrition consult over Zoom for FREE.
You’ll fill out a pre-call assessment. I’ll put together a general strategy, and then we’ll talk about it over Zoom. At the end, I’ll send you the new meal plan and you’ll be all set for a real transformation.
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If you have any questions, please reach out l and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
All the best,
Nichole