What Is The Best Workout?
The best workout is simply the one you are willing to do.
As you know, I am a big fan of strength and mobility training, but that doesn’t mean everyone needs to engage in those activities in order to be healthy or feel good in their body.
If there is one thing that has become abundantly clear in my 16 years as a trainer it’s this: It doesn’t matter how great your fitness program is if you don’t want to do it!
Finding ways to move that you like is essential when it comes to building a sustainable routine. Forcing yourself to do something that brings you zero enjoyment will put you on the fast-track to burnout and can make you want to stop exercising altogether.
This is why I always ask the following questions before taking on a new training client:
🔹 What is your main fitness goal?
🔹 What types of physical activity do you enjoy?
🔹 What don’t you like?
🔹 What are you most interested to learn?
I know that if I don’t factor a client’s likes and dislikes into their program, there’s a good chance they won’t do it. It’s important to find a balance between what they want and what they need.
Personally, I’ve found that the old 80/20 rule works well for me. I can stick with a program if at least 80% is stuff I like (walking, weightlifting, and mobility) while the rest can be stuff I don’t (cycling and running).
If you’ve been struggling to find something you enjoy, don’t give up! There are loads of different movement modalities out there for you to try. If weightlifting is not your jam, try Pilates or dance. Invite a friend for a walk and talk or take your dog on a new hiking trail. Enjoy a swim or enroll in a self-defense class. Don’t be afraid to experiment with something new!
If you’d like to connect and discuss potential next steps around fitness, click the link below to schedule a free, 20-minute consultation. I also have a new mobility training series (open to everyone) coming this summer for those who could use a joint tune-up. More on that next month!
Creatine: Not Just for Bros
If you’ve ever been into weightlifting or know someone who is, you might be familiar with a white, powdery supplement called creatine.
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance found in your muscle and brain tissue that helps produce energy during high-intensity exercise and heavy lifting. For decades, athletes and bodybuilders have used it to increase strength and power as well as give their muscles a fuller, rounder look. (Think Captain America when he comes out of the buff pod.)
It’s been known for some time that supplementing with creatine can enhance both athletic performance and recovery. More recently, attention has turned to the various other benefits it may offer for brain, heart, and gut health—especially for women.
A 2021 review of the literature published in Nutrients reported that “creatine supplementation may be of particular importance during menses, pregnancy, post-partum, during and post-menopause.”
We’re talking improvements in strength, exercise capacity, body composition, bone density, mood, and cognition. It has also been shown to reduce exercise-induced gastrointestinal distress!(FWIW, I can vouch for this one personally.)
On January 1st of this year I started experimenting with creatine to see if I would feel a difference.
At the two week mark of taking a low, daily dose of creatine monohydrate (roughly 3 grams), I noticed I could squeeze out a few more reps of an exercise where I had previously plateaued. One week later, I was able to add both weight and an extra set to another heavy lift where I had been unable to make progress for some time.
As a woman who wants to build more muscle and bone while I still can, this was exciting news! But I have to say the most unexpected benefit I’ve experienced so far is the effect it’s had on my gut.
For the past few years I’ve noticed digestive upset in the evening following hard training sessions. Not bad enough to make me stop lifting heavy things, but frequent enough that I anticipated having some level of indigestion regardless of what or how much I ate. I just chocked it up to energy being diverted from digesting food to repairing damaged muscle tissue.
As it turns out, heavy training loads and lack of creatine stores can lead to increased erosion of the gut lining, in as little as thirty minutes! This is why low doses of creatine monohydrate (3-5 grams per day) are suggested as a potential fix for exercise-induced GI issues. It helps reduce inflammation, enhances cell resiliency, and modulates the immune system, especially when the gut is stressed from increased body heat and low oxygen during exercise.
In the short time I’ve been supplementing with it, I’ve found it to be incredibly helpful for getting my digestive system back on track.
How do we get creatine?
Creatine is an amino acid derivative, which means it is only found in animal foodstuffs like red meat, poultry, and seafood. A small amount is synthesized by the liver, pancreas, and kidneys. The easiest way to top up creatine stores is through supplementation with either creatine monohydrate or creatine hydrochloride (HCL).
Why is creatine supplementation especially effective for women?
Not only do women tend to consume less dietary creatine than men, but we also store 70-80% less of it than our male counterparts. Additionally, female hormones like estrogen and progesterone influence our need for it. This is why women tend to experience more noticeable effects when supplementing with creatine.
It’s important to note that supplements are not regulated by the FDA and some brands have been shown to contain contaminants. Please consult a physician prior to starting any new supplement and look for products that have been vetted through independent testing for safety and purity.
Resources:
Why Active Women Need Creatine
Creatine Supplementation in Women’s Health: A Lifespan Perspective
ROAR, Revised Edition: Match Your Food and Fitness to your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life by Stacy T. Sims, PhD.
Prioritizing Protein for Health & Strength
In examining our own eating habits, it can be easy to fall prey to the diet mindset that we need to eat less in order to improve our health.
But what if that wasn’t true?
What if there was an easier, more sustainable way to nourish yourself that didn’t involve deprivation?
Prioritizing protein at each meal is one way to go about this. 🍗
Whether you want to build muscle, balance blood sugar and hormones, or increase longevity, getting adequate protein throughout the day is MUST for making regenerative magic happen!
As an athlete who mostly craves carbs and fat, I have to be mindful to include enough protein in my meals and snacks to fuel my body and properly replenish from daily activities.
Even on non-training days, balancing my meals makes all the difference between good, steady mood and energy, and a roller coaster of ups and downs that leaves me feeling cranky and frazzled.
How much protein do we need?
According to nutrition and exercise physiology experts like Dr. Stacy Sims and Robert Yang, a good starting goal is about 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
This means a 150-pound person would aim for around 120 grams of protein per day, preferably split up evenly between meals and snacks for optimal absorption and blood sugar balance.
Which foods contain protein?
While complete proteins primarily come from animal sources (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy), there are a handful of plant sources that also contain all nine essential amino acids, just in smaller amounts. These foods include soybeans, buckwheat, and quinoa.
Certain plant foods that are incomplete can be paired with others to make complete proteins. A few examples of this are beans and rice, hummus and pita, and peanut butter on whole grain bread. (This is why some vegan protein powders contain rice and pea protein.)
What’s an easy way to track my protein intake?
If you’re like me and not into weighing your food, you can approximate your protein intake using the deck of cards analogy.
A serving of meat that is the size of a deck of cards contains roughly 20-25 grams of protein. Once you calculate how many grams you need each day using the formula above, just divvy that up between your meals and snacks and get to eatin’!
(Note: If you have certain health conditions that prevent you from eating a high protein diet or you need more personalized diet recommendations, consider working with a licensed nutritionist or registered dietician. Be sure to consult your health care provider before making changes to your diet.)
If you would like support with an existing nutrition plan, a board-certified health coach can help.
Do you struggle to eat enough protein? Hit reply to share your experience with me.
My Experience With Cyclic Progesterone
In the spring of 2021 I attended an online course that would forever change how I view my hormonal and reproductive health.
It was a body literacy course on Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) taught by my friend, fellow board-certified health coach, and certified fertility awareness educator, Erica Evans.
Over the course of this class series, we dove deep into each phase of the menstrual cycle—menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal—and why it is now considered the sixth vital sign of health.
Some students wanted to use FAM to maximize their chances of conception while others planned to use it as an effective means of contraception. But more than that, we all wanted to better understand our body’s natural rhythms and prepare for the changes we will all experience with age.
Erica taught us how to track our own cycles using basal body temperature readings and cervical fluid checks, among other signs. We learned to identify our fertile window, if and when ovulation occurred, and when it was physiologically impossible to get pregnant.
I was FLOORED that I was learning all of this at age 39.
At first I felt angry and frustrated.
Why wasn’t this taught in school?
Why hadn’t the doctors I had seen over the years shared any of this information with me?
Soon my initial feelings were replaced by determination. I had the opportunity to focus on my health in a whole new way.
I purchased a basal thermometer (one that reads to 1/100th of a degree) and began tracking my cycle and symptoms in an app called Read Your Body. Erica and I met periodically after the course to review my patterns so I could gain further insight into what was happening.
Fast forward to earlier this year when I started experiencing odd new symptoms. While some seemed endometriosis and fibroid-related, I noticed my luteal phase was getting shorter. I was getting more frequent and severe migraines, and anxiety seemed to be on the rise.
When I went in to meet with my nurse practitioner, she suggested the same treatments as all the other doctors I had seen over the years for any and all symptoms: oral contraceptives or a hormonal IUD.
Empowered with 30 cycles-worth of data and the knowledge I gained over the past two years, I instead asked to try cyclic progesterone.
I was curious if the multitude of benefits associated with progesterone therapy would apply to me. Unlike progestins (the synthetic hormones found in birth control pills and injections) bio-identical progesterone (also known as Prometrium or Utrogestan) actually has shown to reduce risk of both breast cancer and uterine cancer.
My nurse practitioner looked surprised. After a moment, she agreed enthusiastically that I could try it and see if it helped my symptoms.
And guess what? It did.
Things have been improving over the past six months. My mood is more stable, I get far fewer migraines, and I sleep much more soundly during the latter half of my cycle. I only recently got up to what is considered a therapeutic dose, so I’m hoping the benefits will keep on coming!
I am so grateful to Erica for offering this class (which she will be teaching again in the new year as a six class series) and for empowering me with such important information about my health and my body. I am no longer afraid of the changes I will inevitably undergo…and that is a very liberating feeling. 💜
Resources:
Guide to Using Progesterone for Women’s Health by Lara Briden ND
Cyclic Progesterone Therapy by CEMCOR The Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research
The Hormone Repair Manual: Every Woman’s Guide to Healthy Hormones After 40 by Lara Briden, ND
What’s In Between All Or Nothing?
“I caved and had dessert last night, so there’s no point in continuing with my nutrition plan.”
“I won’t get to the gym in time for class, so I guess I’m not exercising today.”
“It’s already past my bedtime…I might as well keep on scrolling.”
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
If so, welcome to the Self-Sabotage Club! 😣🔨
All-or-nothing thinking has come up A LOT in coaching lately. The main sabotaging thought is usually that things are not worth doing unless they are done perfectly or exactly as planned. So when an obstacle presents itself (as it inevitably does), we are quick to throw in the towel and self-loathe rather than consider how we could stay on track.
Funnily enough, coaching clients have a tendency to think they are the only ones suffering from this type of thinking when in reality, we have all fallen prey to it at some point!
That stubborn, perfectionist voice tends to be loudest when we’re least likely to challenge it—like when we are feeling tired, hungry, or stressed out. When we are in distress, we are unable to access the creative, problem-solving parts of our brain that help us to navigate challenges so we can keep on truckin’.
We are also less able to give ourselves the compassion and empathy needed to move forward, which is why all-or-nothing thinking can be so painful and demoralizing.
So how do we flip the switch?
The good news is that we are often just a few deep breaths away from accessing our creative faculties and seeing the world of possibilities that exists in the space between “all” and “nothing”.
When we are relaxed (or at least NOT stuck in fight or flight), we are better able to think clearly, generate ideas, and work around obstacles with greater ease. This is the space from which we find inspiration to take that next step forward, or revise the plan.
Sometimes, we just need to remind ourselves that it’s about progress, not perfection.
Maybe you take a few deep breaths or go for a brisk walk. Perhaps you talk it through with a coach or friend. Whatever helps you feel more calm and centered can shift you from the tunnel vision of survival mode to the expansive landscape of opportunities available to you.
Food for thought:
Where in your life do you get stuck in all or nothing thinking?
Close your eyes and take three deep breaths.
What would be one step forward from “nothing”?
How does it feel to consider what else is possible?
(If you are interested in diving deeper into overcoming self-sabotage I highly recommend the book Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine as well as taking the free, online Saboteurs Quiz.)
Why I’m Ditching My FitBit
Over the past several years it’s been ingrained in us that we should aim to get 10,000 steps a day for general health. But is that true?
According to many recent articles and this episode of Maintenance Phase (my favorite “edutainment” podcast for wellness and weight loss myth-busting), that number was pulled out of thin air back in 1964 and has no actual basis in science.
“But isn’t getting more steps better?” Not necessarily.
For adults under 60, research shows that the sweet spot is around 6,000 - 8,000 with benefits plateauing around 7,500 steps per day.
Now if you love walking and you’re getting more than that because you want to, have at it! But if you are stressing yourself out just to reach the magical 10K mark, your time might be better spent doing something else.
While I still rely on my Fitbit for telling time and setting alarms, there are two main reasons why I’ve changed the digital face to hide the step counter:
Evidence shows that counting your steps can actually reduce your enjoyment of walking, thereby reducing frequency. This was certainly the case for me! I would pressure myself to get those last steps in before bedtime and felt like a failure when I didn’t. Leisurely strolls would become workouts that only had value so long as I got enough steps. It turned something I love into a chore.
Step trackers are not very accurate. The iPhone pedometer is estimated to undercount your steps by about 21% while devices such as the Fitbit count activities like typing as walking. And now that I’m learning guitar, my tracker thinks I am sprinting twice a day so it’s VERY out of touch with my actual steps.
To be clear, I am not recommending that everyone ditch their step tracker. Gamification can absolutely help some people get a healthier amount of physical activity…but if it stresses you out or takes the fun out of otherwise enjoyable activities, it may be time to give tracking a rest.
What’s been your experience around tracking steps or other physical activity? Do you find step tracking helpful or stressful? Hit reply and let me know.
5 Tips For Better Sleep
If I could punch daylight savings time in the face, I would.
Every year I dread turning the clock forward because I am not a morning person and it always seems to mess up my routine and leave me feeling like a zombie for the first few hours of the day.
But alas—it’s time to do it again this Sunday, and if you already struggle with getting enough sleep then you might be dreading it too!
Here are a few tips to help prepare for the time change and hopefully get you a few extra Zzzs:
1. Start dimming the lights at sundown. The more blue light you are exposed to after dark, the harder it is for your body to wind down and get sleepy. Not only will it help to dim the lights in your home (Himalayan salt lamps are great for this), but also to limit use of electronic devices a couple hours before bedtime. If you are unable to avoid interfacing with an LED-screen, try wearing blue light-blocking glasses or using features such as “Night Shift” for iPhone. It’s a small step that can make a huge difference in your sleep quality and quantity!
2. Expose your eyes to sunlight within 30-60 minutes of waking. The best way to get going naturally in the morning is to go outside and look in the general direction of the sun for 5-10 minutes. You might go for a walk, stretch, or just stand outside and let the photoreceptors in your eyes take in the sunlight, boosting cortisol production early in the day. Do not look directly into the sun (unless it has just begun to rise) especially if it hurts to do so. Be sure to physically get outside as looking through a window doesn’t have the same effect! (For more info on this check out this episode of Huberman Lab podcast.)
3. Move your body during the day. Getting adequate physical activity during the day can help you sleep deeper at night. In fact, one of my students just emailed me yesterday saying: “Exercise (esp. strength training) helps me sleep and that is the biggest key right now!” Something to bear in mind is that while some people can exercise in the evening and sleep fine, stimulating your nervous system too late in the day can make sleep more difficult.
4. Limit caffeine and avoid alcohol entirely. Stop consuming caffeine within 10-12 hours of bedtime, especially if you have trouble falling asleep. If you are sensitive to caffeine, this might also mean no dark chocolate in the evening. Avoid alcohol entirely if you want to prioritize your sleep.
5. Invest in a sleep-tracking device. While this is not at all necessary for getting a good night’s sleep, it can be incredibly helpful to see how much and how deep of sleep you are getting each night. Some people tout the Whoop Strap for tracking while others prefer the Oura Ring. (If you are interested in getting an Oura Ring you can use this code to receive $50 off.)
What do you do to invite a better night’s sleep? What might you be inspired to try? Hit reply and let me know!
What’s Love Got To Do With It?
The short answer for me is EVERYTHING.
For the long answer, tune into the latest episodes of The Love Says Podcast, where seasoned life coach Elizabeth Johnson and I dive into the depths of what love has to do with ALL of it!
But before I share more on that, here’s what’s inside this newsletter:
My 2-part interview on The Love Says Podcast 💘
NEW Women’s Wellness Group Coaching Program 🦋
A special offer for my upcoming Core Training Series 🏋🏽♀️
I don’t know about you, but the older I get the harder it becomes to do certain things if my heart’s not in it. So when I was asked to be a podcast guest, I had to pause and check in.
Did I have good butterflies or a rock in the pit of my stomach? Would I be doing it just do to it, or did I feel genuinely inspired to share?
Something was telling me to say yes.
As a recovering perfectionist, it’s important to allow myself to be seen as the messy, imperfect human being I am. So I set an intention to share openly and honestly, even if it was uncomfortable. And I knew it would be!
We covered a lot of ground—delving into motivation, inspiration, self-doubt, social media, my current health challenge, how love impacts the work that I do, and so much more.
While some of this felt scary to say out loud, I’m so grateful to have had this heart to heart with someone who listens so deeply and has the capacity to hold space for ALL of it to come up and out. It was truly a healing conversation for me. ❤️🩹
If you want to listen in, click the button below or find Love Says on Apple, Spotify, Google, or Amazon podcasts.
What Would You Do?
What would you do if you were confident you could do it?
Imagine having all of the information you need, doable steps laid out before you, and the motivation to propel you forward.
What might you be capable of achieving?
So often we talk ourselves out of pursuing things that would bring us joy or fulfillment because the end result feels so far away. It can be overwhelming to think about all of the steps in between where we are now and where we want to be, or worse—what it might feel like if we don’t make it.
But how often do we consider what it would be like if we did?
I recently came across a post on Instagram that struck me in the heart. They were the words of a psychotherapist I follow named Gabes Torres that read,
“This year, I learned how much it hurts to dream. I also learned it hurts more not to.”
I feel that sentiment so deeply!
Coaching is one of the few spaces where we are encouraged to explore what life would be like if things went well. Free from “right and wrong”, “shoulds” and “have to’s”, it’s a safe and supportive environment for us to discover what we really want and how we can move towards it in a practical way.
Creating a personal wellness vision that is inspiring and energizing is the source of long-term motivation. It’s what keeps us going in the face of challenges that could otherwise knock us off course and it’s what helps us get back up when we fall.
Visioning is not woo-woo. It’s about designing your life in alignment with your values so you can feel good and be happier.
Who doesn’t want that?
If you are feeling unmotivated, stuck, or dissatisfied with your current state of affairs, consider working with a board-certified coach who can guide you through the visioning process. Don’t be surprised if you find some fresh motivation to help you take that first step!
I Need Coaching Too
Earlier this year I started seeing a naturopathic doctor to help me get to the bottom of some health challenges I was having.
When we met to review my lab results, she shared a treatment plan that included diet and lifestyle recommendations along with a supplement protocol. While most of her suggestions were familiar to me, I found it difficult to put these new habits in place with any sort of consistency.
Moving twice in the span of three months left me feeling frazzled and disconnected from any sense of routine. My eating was erratic, my sleep was suffering, and my digestive system was begging for help. I was caught in that familiar space of knowing what I needed to do to feel better, but not being able to make it happen.
Being a health coach, I had been on the other side of these conversations many times…but now it was my turn to sit in the client seat. I began meeting with a health coach twice a month who helped me sort through the mental clutter and prioritize my areas of focus.
Here are some of the health-giving changes I’ve successfully made since we began working together:
eating breakfast (regulate my blood sugar)
going for morning walks (regulate my circadian rhythm)
sticking to low FODMAP foods while eating more vegetables and fiber (regulate my digestion)
Yoga Nidra 3-4x/week (regulate my nervous system)
While they may not seem like monumental shifts, these new habits have been instrumental in regaining my energy and mental clarity. I’m starting to feel like myself again. 💜
Coaching often happens in the space between knowing what to do and actually doing it.
So if you are struggling to make or sustain changes on your own, cut yourself some slack and know that it’s not always so simple. And if you are curious to learn if coaching could help you gain clarity or take that next step, I’d love to connect and dive in with you!
Consulting Is Not Coaching
The first time I coach someone new, there are two questions I always ask.
What would you like to have by the end of our session?
What was this coaching experience like for you?
The answer to the first question is usually one of the following: a few tips, some strategies, a plan, or more clarity around a particular topic related to their health and wellbeing.
The answer to the second question almost always comes with a genuine sense of surprise at what just took place.
I often hear, “It’s not what I expected. You really got me thinking!” or “I thought I needed advice, but I actually answered my own questions. I guess I just needed to talk it through.”
But wait—why would someone hire a coach if they already have the answers to their questions? 🤔
Well, just because you have all the puzzle pieces doesn’t necessarily mean you are ready to put the thing together. Change can be hard, and knowing is different from doing.
Plus, when we’re feeling stuck or indecisive, we tend to look for more information or an outside opinion, when in reality we might just need the space to sort through what we already know.
So…what is a coach’s role then if not to impart some kind of wisdom or expert advice to move their client further along?
I get the confusion. The word “coach” can be misleading! Maybe you’ve worked with an athletic coach or a business coach whose primary role was to instruct or give advice. In many coach-client relationships, the coach leads and the client follows. This is likely why so many people come to health coaching expecting to be handed a plan, but coaching and consulting are two very different things.
Don’t get me wrong—there is definitely a time and place to share information within a coaching session if that’s what’s needed. But more often, people need support in finding their motivation and creating realistic steps to achieve their desired change, which requires a completely different skillset than educating or consulting.
When it comes to creating lasting change, we know that client-originated ideas and plans are the ones that stick. This is why the coach approach is so successful for overcoming health and wellness-related challenges.
There is SO MUCH I can say about coaching but there is really only one way to find out if it can help you, and that is to give it a try. Click the button below to schedule a call and experience the magic of it for yourself! ⭐️
When Injury Strikes
Well, it finally happened. The thing that every fitness professional dreads…
I hurt my lower back lifting something heavy. 😣
The good news is, it’s been several weeks and I’m almost back to normal. The not-so-good news is that no amount of deadlifting or mobility training could have prevented this injury from occurring. I was completely caught off guard!
Here’s how it happened:
I was helping out at a local event and one of the organizer’s needed a hand carrying a big, overstuffed box to her car. Tired and in a rush to get out of there, we each haphazardly grabbed a side and began shuffling our way towards the parking lot. We were just a few steps away from her car when her grip gave out. I was walking backwards when the sudden weight shift jerked my torso forward and twisted me to the left. I managed to hold on until she repositioned, which in hindsight, was not the best idea.
The next morning as I went to get out of bed I felt the strain immediately. I started to panic. “Oh no! I have to teach class tomorrow. What am I going to do?” I sat there for a few moments trying to figure out my next steps. Fortunately, I was not in a lot of pain, but I could tell I was on the precipice of something much worse if I didn’t watch my every move.
I played it safe for a few weeks, only doing gentle, easy exercise (mostly walking, cycling, and mobility) and I asked for help when I needed to lift or move anything heavy. I made sure not to sit for long periods of time, knowing that lack of movement coupled with spinal compression would only make things worse. I am super grateful the injury was minor and that I was able to recover so quickly!
If I had not been training consistently prior to that day, I honestly think this injury would have been way worse. It was a good reminder that while injuries cannot always be prevented, there is still a lot we can do to mitigate them. And strength training is the ultimate strategy for increasing your body’s resilience while minimizing the severity of an unavoidable injury.
I know, I know…”injury-mitigation” isn’t the most glamorous or exciting reason to workout, but it has become one of my top motivators for prioritizing the training that I do. I want to be able to trust my body, especially as I get older. And like this box situation taught me, you never know what will get thrown your way, but you can still prepare for it.
When Treading Water IS Progress
It all begins with an idea.
I was in a meeting with a handful of health coaches last week when the following topic came up:
“What do you do when clients are resistant to setting goals?
How often would you bring up goal-setting if they seem to be treading water rather than making tangible progress?”
I could definitely relate to this coach’s concern. I’ve had plenty of sessions with clients who were simply not ready to set goals, and it can be easy to mistake lack of readiness for a misstep in coaching.
But it’s actually pretty common for a person to feel dissatisfied with how things are and be unsure of what they’d like to do about it. In fact, roughly half of my current clientele are folks who are not quite ready to commit to a goal (let alone step into action) and I find it exciting to be in that space of ambivalence with them while they work through things at a digestible pace.
I could also relate to being the client who is paddling like mad just to stay afloat! When I am in this space (as I have been recently) the last thing I want to do is throw another challenge in my path and delve into planning mode. In times like this, I am simply trying not to drown.
This turned out to be a really rich coaching conversation and my takeaway was this:
Progress is not always forward movement.
Simply maintaining, especially in the face of adversity, can be progress.
Handling a backslide with more grace and compassion than you might have previously offered yourself can be progress.
Progress happens even when we can’t see it.
At every stage of change, there is so much happening beneath the surface that isn’t always visible or measurable…but that doesn’t mean progress isn’t being made. Pausing to acknowledge the wins, no matter how small, helps to build confidence and motivates us along our path toward something better. Sometimes, treading water IS progress.
If you’d like some support in recognizing and appreciating the ways you are in fact making progress or you want some help getting unstuck in your process of change, click the button below to schedule a sample coaching session with me. You can also hit reply just to share your thoughts! I’d love to hear from you.