Choose Well To Live Well: The Five Fundamentals to Create a Fit, Healthy and Strong Body and Mind
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Choose Well To Live Well: The Five Fundamentals to Create a Fit, Healthy and Strong Body and Mind
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Overview
Are you owning your power to choose?
Are you as happy and healthy as you can be?
Are you living as a victim or a creator of your life?
Are you living in a toxic cycle?
Choose Well To Live Well is a lifestyle based upon 5 fundamental practices to help you create a fit, healthy, and strong body and state of mind one choice at a time. You will learn to be a creator of your life instead of a victim of your circumstances. You will be in the drivers seat of your own health and wellbeing and learn to coach yourself out of a toxic cycle. Ready to get back to basics and start owning your choices?
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781452560830 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Balboa Press |
| Publication date: | 10/26/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 114 |
| File size: | 228 KB |
Read an Excerpt
Choose WELL TO Live WELL
THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS TO CREATE A FIT, HEALTHY AND STRONG BODY AND MIND!By Laura Boniello
Balboa Press
Copyright © 2012 Laura BonielloAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-6082-3
Chapter One
Choose Well to Live Well Concepts
Life is about making choices.
We are each responsible for the choices we make; hence we are each responsible for our life.
Every thought we choose to think, every word we choose to say, every action we choose to take, and every attitude we choose to give creates our experiences.
Live and choose now. Now is all we have.
Everything is energy. You "give" your world your chosen energy in the form of what you think, what you say, what you do, and the attitude you bring to yourself, those around you, and all aspects of your life. What you give your world is what you receive back from it, and you are always giving.
You will attract the same energy that you give away. What are you giving?
Every choice reaps a result and consequence. The universal law of cause and effect is at work all the time. Every choice matters. Every choice counts.
When you change and tweak your choices, you change your experiences and circumstances.
You choose to live your life either from a place of love or from a place of fear. What are you choosing? What will you choose? Are you looking at life through the eyes of love or the eyes of fear? Life unfolds very differently based on this choice.
You always have the power of choice. Own it. If you don't own it, you will be swayed and influenced by other people and circumstances around you.
Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First we make our choices. Then our choices make us. —Anne Frank
Chapter Two
Choose-Well Lifestyle QuestionsI'm sure you heard the saying "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result." How true. I also believe that insanity is "being" the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. In other words, bring the same negative attitude with you through your day, and nothing will change for the better. Spend your time and energy on circumstances and people that drain you, and you will feel drained, exhausted, and sick. You need to bring an attitude and action that result in a positive change in order to experience something different. All change begins with you. It takes an open mind and a willing heart to dig in deep and really take a look at what you're choosing to do and be, and where you're putting your energy and attention.
Let's take a snapshot look at what you're choosing to be and do right now in your life by answering a series of questions. In order to make positive and healthy changes in your life, you need to bring some awareness of what's happening and what you're choosing right now.
If you love what you're living and experiencing, keep choosing the same thoughts, attitudes, and behavior. If you don't love an area of your life, it's up to you to look in the mirror and change/tweak what you need to in your thoughts, attitude, and behavior in order to experience a better result. Changing things outside of you may seem easier, but it's exhausting and energy-draining. It's actually a lot harder to manipulate the external circumstances. One tweak in how you think, in your attitude and behavior, can cause a huge shift in the results you're experiencing.
Answer honestly, with no judgment or analyzing. This is not a time for excuses, blaming, and justifying why you're making the choices you're making. It's just a time to take a snapshot of what you are doing and being. This is not a time for guilt, frustration, or feeling angry at yourself. The purpose of answering these questions is to bring awareness to what you're choosing and experiencing up to this point in your life so you can make positive changes by choosing better. You will learn so much about yourself and your life by just answering these questions! You have to be aware and wake up to what you are choosing in order to make changes.
How's life?
What's working really well for you?
What's not quite working as well as you would like it to?
Why do you think that is?
How much do you weigh? Do you feel healthy at this weight? How
much do you need to lose/gain in order to feel healthy and well?
What is your clothes size? What do you want your clothes size to be?
Are you married or do you have a significant other? Children? Pets?
What's your occupation? How many hours do you
work (include commute time) per week?
Do you enjoy what you do for a living?
What is your stress level, 1 being not feeling stressed,
and 10 being feeling highly stressed?
What is the main source of your stress right now?
Is there anything you do right now to relieve your stress?
Do you smoke?
Do you take medications? If so, for what?
How do you feel most of the time? (Happy, at ease,
content, stressed, anxious, worried, calm ...?)
Sleep
How many hours do you sleep? How many
hours of sleep do you need to feel well?
Do you go to bed at the same time and
wake up at the same time daily?
Do you sleep well?
Do you wake up frequently?
Are you energized upon rising?
Do you exercise consistently?
Do you drink alcohol at night? How much?
Do you drink coffee or any caffeinated drinks?
How much? How late in the day?
How much water do you drink, and how late do you drink it?
What is your evening ritual or evening habits? List all activities you
engage in before sleep. (Read? TV? Computer? Work? Meditate?)
What time is your last meal at night?
What is your typical dinner?
Do you snack at night?
What relaxes you? What calms your mind down?
Do you pray? Do you journal? Do you meditate?
Action Step: Taking a look at your answers above.
What can you choose to start doing in
order to get a better quality sleep?
Is there anything you need to stop doing to get a better quality sleep?
What attitude do you need to practice to make this happen?
Food and Liquids
What are you eating? (Include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.)
Are your meals home-cooked?
What time do you eat your meals?
How do you eat your meals? (Calm, sitting, and slow?
Or on the run, fast, and while doing other things?)
Any digestive issues?
Do you drink alcohol? When and how much?
Do you drink coffee? When and how much?
How much water do you drink a day?
Do you experience headaches?
Do you drink soda, diet soda, juice, or anything
sugary? ....................When and how much?
Do you have any cravings? Food, alcohol, drugs, etc.?
Do you take vitamins or supplements? If so, what do you take?
How often do you eat fast food?
How often do you eat out?
Do you practice portion control?
What time of day do you eat your largest meal?
Do you feel you eat balanced meals? (carb/protein/fats at every meal)
Do you read food labels when shopping?
Do you buy organic? If yes, what?
Do you skip meals?
Are you preoccupied with food? Do you
think about food all the time?
Do you eat meat? What kind and how often?
Do you buy organic meat?
How many servings of fruits and vegetables are you getting per day?
Do you eat packaged/processed foods? How often?
Action Step: Look at your answers to the above questions.
What is one thing you can choose to start doing right now
that will make a healthy impact on your physical body and
your state of mind in regards to food and drink choices?
Is there something you need to stop choosing in
regards to food and drink choices to make a healthy
impact on your body and state of mind?
What attitude do you need to practice to make this happen?
Exercise/Hobby/Activities
Do you exercise? Where? When?
What do you do? How long? How often?
What activity did you enjoy growing up?
Is your activity and movement balanced? In other
words, do you engage in cardio, strength and core
conditioning, and flexibility exercises?
How does your physical body feel? Healthy, energized,
and fit? Or tired, bloated, in pain and/or sick?
Are you in any physical pain? If yes, what
are you doing about the pain?
Do you get outside in nature?
How often?
What activities do you enjoy? How often
do you engage in these activities?
Do you have any hobbies that renew your spirit?
How often do you engage in these hobbies?
Action Step: Take a look at your answers above.
What is one thing you can start doing today, in regards to
movement and exercise, that will make a healthy impact
on the wellness of your body and state of mind?
Is there a something you need to stop doing?
What attitude do you need to practice to make this happen?
Do you watch TV? How much per day? What type of show/movies?
Do you read? What do you read? How much do you read?
Do you watch the news or read the newspaper? When?..How much?
Do you meditate? Pray? Journal? Have a gratitude practice? Do
breathing exercises? Go to church or spiritual practice? How often?
What connects you to your spirit? How often do
you engage in spirit-connecting activities?
Do you spend time alone in silence? How often?
Do you spend time outside in nature? How often?
How much time do you spend on social media? Do you find this
an uplifting nurturing experience? Do you find experiencing
social media stressful, time consuming, or distracting?
Do you use alternative natural healers?
Chiropractors, massage therapists, etc.?
How do you feel the majority of the time? (Calm,
stressed, anxious, energized, tired?)
Are the people you associate with uplifting, encouraging,
and positive? Or do you feel wiped out and exhausted
after spending time with them? Be specific and list the
relationships that nurture and uplift you, the ones that drain
your energy, and how much time you spend with them.
Managing Your State of Mind and Attitude
You are the center of all aspects of your life, the major ones being relationships, work/money/career, and the health of your physical body.
You bring your energy in the form of your attitude and mood, your thoughts and perceptions, your words and conversations, your action and behavior to each aspect of your life. Your thinking, saying, behavior, and attitude create your experience.
Everything you're living is the perfect result of the energy you're giving. If there's an area of your life that is not quite working as well as you would like, check in with the energy you're giving and the choices you've made up to this point. You can work your tail off, but without checking in with the attitude you're giving as you're working hard, you could be getting in your own way and not get the results you're looking for.
Let's take a look (without judgment, justifications, or excuses) at what you are "giving" right now.
Relationships
On a scale of 1–10, how nurturing, supportive, and loving are your relationships? Go ahead and list the most important people in your life and give the relationship a snapshot rating.
What attitude and energy have you been giving your relationships? Are your thoughts, conversations, behavior, and attitude nourishing, helpful, and uplifting? Or are they toxic, negative, and destructive?
How do you want your relationships to be?
However you want your relationships to be, you need to "be" that state first. If you want support, you need to be supportive. If you want peace, you need to be peaceful first. If you want love, you need to be loving. With that said, what energy can you start giving in the form of attitude to make the relationships around you better? (Love, kindness, patience, acceptance, appreciation?)
Physical Body
On a scale of 1–10, how is the health and fitness of your physical body?
Have you been taking care of your body? What is the most important thing you can do right now to take care of your body?
Is your attention and awareness on "wellness" or on "illness"?
What attitude and energy have you been giving your physical body? Appreciating? Or criticizing and complaining?
Now—right now—vow to never criticize yourself or your physical body ever again. Start embracing and loving your body, right now ... no matter what.
List everything you appreciate about your physical body. List everything that makes you smile about your body.
Work/Finances/Career
On a scale of 1–10, how fulfilling and satisfying is your career?
What attitude/energy have you been giving your work? Is it positive, uplifting, helpful, and nurturing? Or is it negative, fearful, worrying, toxic energy?
What are your conversations like? Are you speaking helpful, nourishing, positive, and uplifting words? Or are they negative, complaining, worrying, fearful conversations?
Are your associations encouraging, helpful, and uplifting? Or do they drag you down?
Does your work fulfill you?
Do you enjoy what you are doing?
Can you start enjoying it? Or do you need to go in a different direction?
Are you focused on the positives of your job/work or the negatives most of the time?
What is one thing you can start doing to make your work environment, financial situation, or career better?
What attitude can you bring to your work, finances, or business that will improve your experience?
List everything you appreciate about your current job, career, and finances. List what makes you smile about your work and career.
If you are having a hard time with this, dig in deep and really focus on what you can be grateful for.
If you need to make a change of direction, what's one thing you can start doing to put yourself in the right direction that makes you feel good?
Happy List
What turns you on?
What do you love to do?
What recharges your batteries when you feel
overwhelmed, tired, and running on empty?
What makes you feel good?
What feeds your soul? What renews your spirit?
List everything that feeds your soul.
Take a look at how you answered the first question: how's life? If your answer is anything less than good, exciting, amazing, joyful, awesome, realize that life is bringing you exactly how you feel about it.
What about the second question? Are you bringing a state of appreciation to what's working well for you in your life? Are you acknowledging the goodness or taking it for granted?
What about the third question? Are you blaming outside circumstances and other people for what isn't working well for you right now? If so, you're living in a victim mentality, and the only way to make positive changes is to take your power back, take responsibility for all that's going on in your life, and start making healthier choices.
Choose well to live well!
Chapter Three
My StoryLife is an amazing and incredible journey—full of highs and lows, ups and downs. I sometimes look back and think, Wow, a lot has happened so far in my life. It's as if we live many lives within one lifetime. The lows and challenges become opportunities for growth and strength. The highs are for pure enjoyment. All moments are meant to be experienced. I am going to share with you two of my life-changing experiences and what I learned from them.
If you're going through a tough time in any area of your life, I encourage you to dig in deep and look inside yourself to see how you're creating what you're experiencing. Pay attention to how you're speaking to yourself and others, what you're doing, what your attitude is, who you're spending your time with, and if you react or respond. If what you're doing and who you're being is not nourishing or uplifting, and if who you're spending time with is not helpful, encouraging, and uplifting, then it's time to tweak and adjust.
Nothing changed for the better until I ...
1. Took responsibility for what was showing up in my life. Everything showing up, I was responsible for.
2. Started to be aware of what I was doing, how I was speaking, who I was being, and the energy I was giving out.
3. Started to make uplifting, helpful, and nourishing choices (especially in my attitude) to bring about more positive, uplifting, and nourishing results.
4. Chose to have faith, appreciation, and trust in the process of life, instead of fear, anger, doubt, guilt, and regret. Fear, doubt, guilt, anger, and regret did not bring me great results. As a matter of fact, it was a miserable place to live and not a good use of my energy. Faith, trust, and appreciation changed my life and will change yours! No good will come from giving your world negative feelings and emotions. No good will come from giving yourself negative feelings and emotions. When you really "get" this, it will change your world. You will start to move into your world from your spirit with the energy of love and all its related emotions, not from ego with the energy of fear and all its related emotions.
It's not very fun getting kicked around by life. It's even less fun when you're making choices that aren't helping you move in a positive direction. Then it seems like life is really out to get you, but it's really you that's getting in your own way. How do we get in our own way? With a victim mentality.
We've all been there. We blame everyone and everything for our hard time. However, when you stop the blaming and take a look at yourself, when you walk through the tough times, when you dig in deep and figure your shit out, when you look back and "get" the lesson life is teaching you and grow stronger from it, it's these times that you really learn to appreciate because it makes you stronger for yourself and others. You also learn a lot about yourself, what choices you made, the outcome of those choices, and how you would choose differently from this point on. Life is all about choosing, experiencing, learning, and growing. There is always a result to every choice you make. And that result doesn't just affect you, but the world around you. When you start owning your choices, you start really enjoying your life because you need to be present in the moment to choose, and when you're present in the moment, you find you're able to appreciate and experience what's happening that much more.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Choose WELL TO Live WELL by Laura Boniello Copyright © 2012 by Laura Boniello. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface....................VII Introduction....................IX Choose Well to Live Well Concepts....................1Choose-Well Lifestyle Questions....................3
My Story....................13
Why Choose to Live a Healthy Day?....................21
The Five Fundamentals to Create a Fit, Strong, Healthy Body and State Of Mind....................27
Fundamental One: Change And Control What You Can What Can We Change and Control?....................31
Victim or Creator....................34
Choose-Well Questions....................39
1,440 Minutes....................43
The Five Choose-Well Practices For Managing Your State of Mind and Emotions....................49
Fundamental Two: Keep It Clean....................67
The Choose-Well Eating Plan....................68
Getting Started....................78
Fundamental Three: Move it or Lose It....................83
Fundamental Four: Quality Zzz's....................91
Fundamental Five: Stay Hydrated....................95
CONCLUSION....................99