Hey Folks! We’re excited to welcome Certified 21DSD Coach Marla Fulton. Marla’s article is part of a series of articles contributed by our Certified 21DSD Coaches. Enjoy! – Diane and Team
Hello 21-Day Sugar Detoxers! Do you ever find yourself rethinking the whole “healthy eating” thing and wondering if the effort is worth it?
Maybe you aren’t getting the results you had hoped for. Perhaps you are dilly-farting around and not really following your eating plan. Maybe you’re mostly following, but you take a “break” on weekends. Or at a party. Or while traveling. And you eat pasta and drink beer. Or pizza and red wine. Or hoagies and pop. You get it.
Let me ask you a personal question. Are you committed to cleaning up your eating? Or are you playing around and approaching it half-assed? If you are not getting results, then you very likely need to change something until you do. I work with clients who seem to want me to wave a magic wand and transport them to their goals without them needing to experience the discomfort of changing (much). They want a secret recipe. These folks need tough love; complaining about disappointing results yet balking at the idea of doing what it takes isn’t going to fly. Transformation requires the actual drudgery <gasp> of making better decisions about nutrition at every meal. Day by day. Each day. Every day.
I bet a lot of you are fairly successful people and have accomplished impressive things. Maybe you have college degrees, money in the bank, a home and car; possibly you’ve raised a kid or two without having them land in prison or working as a pole dancer. I bet more than a few of you have good careers. How did you make these things happen? Did you sit around thinking about it and then “BAM” the goods manifested out of thin air? Or did you take steps to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN?
Start thinking about your health and nutrition like you would think about other important aspects of your life and COMMIT. Decide what it takes for you, put your head down and JUST DO IT. Stop thinking so hard; string together small actions and soon they become habits. Tweak it here and there and soon enough you’re where you want to be.
How do we actually create new habits? There has been a lot written by behaviorists about habit formation but some of the most practical stuff I’ve read lately comes from Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than Before and The Happiness Project. She separates us into behavioral tendencies (how we react to a request to “do something,” either from someone else or from ourselves) and lists multiple strategies for sustaining desired changes. Her work-up about spotting loopholes is fantastic and will speak to those of us who find excuses (loopholes) to ditch our new, healthy habits.
There is a quote by Kenneth Blanchard: “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” I think that says it all.
See what happens when you retire and your husband goes off to play golf and you have no one left at home to lecture?
Marla is an energetic baby boomer who is committed to staying healthy, fit, and energetic since overcoming nearly life-long obesity and compulsive overeating.
Over decades (yes, decades) of yo-yo dieting, Marla eventually discovered that traditional, low fat diets kept her in a state of deprivation and craving. It wasn’t until dramatically restricting sugar and refined carbs that she finally lost weight (80+ pounds) and kept it off. Her professional experience in designing and implementing strategies for healthcare change translates to lifestyle transformation, too. She draws on that knowledge and her own experiences to coach others.
Marla has a BS in Biology from Penn State University, an MS in Health Services Administration from Gannon University, and is a Medical Technologist. Additionally, she is certified as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, a 21-Day Sugar Detox Coach, and is a member of the International Association of Health Coaches (IAHC).