Managing Weight Gain on Medication – 7 Tips

A lot of people gain weight while on psychiatric drugs. Drugs like clozapine (Clozaril), olanzapine (Zyprexa) and quetiapine (Seroquel) increase insulin resistance and cause undue weight gain. Depending on the patient and the dosage, drugs may also result in hormonal imbalance, further aggravating the weight problem.

With some modifications in your diet and exercising schedules, you’ll be able to better manage your weight. Here are 7 immensely helpful tips from Therese Borchard

 

1. Control Food Portions

Skip the diet. Just limit your portions. Restaurants today tend to serve two to three times the amount of a healthy portion. We’ve added 570 calories A DAY to our diets since the late ’70s, and half of those calories can be attributed to large portions, according to research from the University of North Carolina in Chapel hill. In a Fitness magazine article, Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD, says, “Even though today’s serving sizes can be more than triple what the USDA recommends, they’ve become our new normal, and anything smaller can seem puny by comparison.”

I try to carve out an acceptable portion before I dig in, since it’s difficult to determine how much you’ve consumed otherwise. Sometimes I’ll use a smaller utensil to remind myself to savor the food and take small bites.

 

2. Eat Slowly and Chew Your Food 

You’ve most likely at some point wolfed down a massive meal and felt fantastic until 15 minutes later, at which time you secure a few plastic bags because you’re convinced that you’ll explode on your kitchen floor. It takes an average of 20 minutes for your brain to recognize that your stomach is full — a definite waiting period between the time that the fork delivers its bite to the mouth and the bite’s arrival to the stomach. Getting in sync with this digestive schedule can not only save you from discomfort, but can also trim your waistline. If you take your time to savor the food, you’ll feel more satisfied by eating less.

This is one of the reasons that French people don’t get fat, according to a study from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. They can better gauge when they’re full by using internal cues to know when to stop eating, unlike Americans who stuff their faces while watching TV or graze all day long, never sitting down for an official meal. The French may eat baguettes and brie, croissants and butter, and all the other forbidden foods, but they enjoy them at a table with friends or family.

 

3. Keep a Food Journal

Taking notes keeps you accountable for everything you put in your mouth. It’s all there on paper for you to read as many times as you want. Knowing that you’ll record everything as you’re stuffing your face with a pastry can be the difference between eating one chocolate croissant and four. You’ll also keep your momentum when you’re in a groove because you’ll see your progress as recorded in your journal. Finally, you can pick up on patterns of eating behavior during the month and connect binge eating to various stressors or other events.

 

4. Get Support

Just as it’s difficult to stop smoking if you live with a smoker, it’s much more challenging to lose pounds when you’re surrounded by junk food addicts. You’ll be less tempted to snack on Twinkies if they’re not in your house. Obviously, you can’t put the people in your household on a diet with you, but there’s a level of support you can ask from them. You might also try an online or local weight loss support group to discuss weight loss challenges and frustrations.

 

5. Set Realistic Goals

It can be tempting to set a goal of losing five pounds every week — or some other unrealistic goals for weight loss — much like we set New Year’s resolutions that never stick. It’s better to be conservative and realistic. The safest rate of weight loss is between 0.5 to 2 pounds a week. Typically, if you lose weight at a slower, consistent pace, you tend to keep it off. 

It’s helpful to break down your goals into incremental steps. For example, you might want to start walking for 10 minutes a day for two weeks, bumping it up by five minutes every week. You could also try to adopt a healthy diet in stages. For example, you might start limiting sweets for a few weeks before you attempt to cut out white bread.

 

6. Start an Exercise Program

You don’t need to run a marathon to get a good workout. Walking up to 30 minutes, three to four days a week is often enough to get your heart rate up and your pounds off. Choose an activity that’s convenient for you to do on a regular basis, and make it part of your day. It’s best to set a consistent time and stick to it.

 

7. Tap Into Your Emotions

Often, eating isn’t about hunger. It’s about soothing some emotional wound. Food can be a powerful source of comfort to relieve stress, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, or boredom. But there are more effective ways to soothe uncomfortable feelings, like calling a friend, walking, or engaging in a support group. By recognizing the behavioral and emotional cues, you can better direct your angst.

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Fatal Addiction: Overdose on the Rise

In this CNN report by Jen Christiansen and Sergio Hernandez, the immense increase in drug overdose deaths in the United States is highlighted along with possible causes. The rate of drug overdose deaths has steadily risen since 1999 and in 2009 surpassed both auto accidents and death by gun violence. The drug overdose rate continues to soar.

In modern history, few things have caused such a sharp spike in US deaths as drug overdoses. CNN reached out to every state for the latest statistics on drug deaths, with half providing data from 2015. It found that drugs deaths continue to rise rapidly in many states. Epidemiologists in several states blame the increasing number of drug-related deaths on greater use of heroin and synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl. “If you look at the cause of death, we just don’t normally see increases like this,” said Robert Anderson, the chief of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Care Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more

The numbers of lives lost to drug abuse is staggering. Almost every home and individual has been touched by addiction or codependency in some way. Professional Recovery Coaches recognize key indicators of drug and alcohol abuse problems before they get out of hand and ruin lives. Find out how a PRC Credential and training can equip you to stem the tide of loss for people from all walks of life: http://ift.tt/1AwZyYw

Believe in Miracles and Take Action!

They say anything is possible if you believe, but what is faith or belief if it isn’t taking action? What if there were actions you could take that could make your dreams much more likely to come true? Well there really are! You can help bring amazing things into your life with your own abilities. Be open to every possibility, believe for the miraculous and take action!

Where to start:

1. Be clear regarding your intentions. Do you know precisely what you want to happen? It’s not enough to hope for a financial windfall. Give your desire specificity and a timeline.

• If you are vague, you may still get what you are asking for, but maybe when you said you wanted a raise, the .50 cents an hour you got wasn’t what you had in mind. That’s exactly what you might get if you fail to specify a dollar amount. Regardless of the type of miracle you seek, be specific! I want adopt 2 children this year. I want to transition to doing 50% of my work from home in the next 6 months. I want to increase my take home pay by $500 this month.
• If you don’t want to limit yourself with a specific intention, you can always put “or better” or “or more” at the end of your intention, like “…$10,000 or better this year, lose 10 pounds or more this month, get this particular promotion or something better.”
  

2. Rid yourself of disbelief. Your dreams won’t come to pass if you don’t believe they can happen. When you believe something is possible, you become more capable and more likely to take action. If you can visualize success you can put yourself in position to receive what you are believing for.

• Each morning and evening, imagine your desire occurring. Relax and stay with the image until you feel comfortable. Build your own faith and belief that it can happen.

3. Forget about “how” your dream will happen, and be open to any process that allows your dream to occur. Avoid specifying how your miracle will occur and just allow it to happen.
4. Relax and pay attention. If you’re hoping for the man of your dreams to come into your life, it’s unlikely that he’s going to knock on your door and present himself, though he might. Instead, you will be presented with opportunities to meet the man of your dreams.

• Keep your eyes open for any signs or opportunities. Accept that party invitation or finally decide to join that yoga class you’ve been considering for the last six months. Join the dating site highlighted in the email that shows up in your inbox each week.
• The raw materials you need to make your miracle happen are all around you. Are you paying attention adequately? 

5. Expect the best. It’s not enough to believe that something wonderful might happen. It’s necessary to expect it to happen. Start each day with the expectation that today is the day. Keep your head up and something great will happen soon enough.
6. Be patient. Most days won’t be the day your miracle occurs. Maintain hope and be confident that your miracle is on the way. Great things take time. Be patient.
7. Take responsibility. Are you doing all you can? Miracles tend to happen when you’re holding up your end of the bargain. For example, you have a better chance of landing a dream job if you’re applying for jobs each day. Ask yourself what are 5 things I can do today to reach my goal? Avoid relying only on luck for your miracle to happen.

Remember that you’ve already accomplished many amazing things in your life. Be clear regarding your expectations and be confident that your miracle will happen. Keep your mind open while you live your life expectantly. Miracles happen every day, and they can happen to you.

Finishing Strong in 2016

As with all professional coaches, Recovery Coaches daily face the challenge of how to market their services and attract clients who need what they have to offer. The term “Recovery Coaching” may be a good general place to start, but what are the nuts and bolts of what you really have to offer as a Recovery Coach? There are any number of addiction or codependency related issues that individuals may need help with – some of which they are not aware of the root cause. Whatever those issues are, they need a coach who can say “here is how I can help you break through limiting beliefs or patterns” or here are the types of things I can deliver as a coach.

In this ICF Blog post, Brian Hilliard shares his expertise on growing your brand and your coaching practice so that you finish strong this year and set yourself up for next year’s growth.

With the kids back in the school and Labor Day in the rearview mirror, it’s time to buckle down and really get serious about branding and growing your coaching practice during the last few months of the year.

Because make no mistake about it: What you do now will set the foundation for the results you’ll get (or won’t get) in 2016 and beyond.

So let’s take a look at a couple of branding actions you can do today that can help finish the year up strong. Read more

Professional Recovery Coaches have specialized training to recognize the unique challenges of individuals who have struggled with addictive behavior or those committed to sober living. For more information on our specialized training programs visit http://ift.tt/1AwZyYw .

10 Happy Habits

The happiest people have habits that raise the odds of feeling happy. Unhappy people have habits that result in less desirable feelings. It can be that simple. If you’re not as happy as you’d like, take a look at your habits.

If we know what habits happy people tend to have, why not try adopting some? It could yield positive results.

1. Optimism. Obviously, if you believe good things will happen, it’s much more likely that you’ll be happy. Expecting the worst does nothing to improve your mood! Realistically, it’s not even important to expect a positive outcome (although that doesn’t hurt), only to believe that everything will be okay. Optimism is also a form of belief in yourself. If you believe that you can handle any outcome, you can be optimistic and have the mental freedom to be happy.

2. Altruism. Doing things for others provides multiple benefits. You can see firsthand that you have a lot to be grateful for. You can feel good about yourself for assisting others. You have a good reason to get out of the house. You also feel useful. Make a list of at least three ways you can help others and make room in your schedule to do them.

3. Gratitude. Do you realize how many great things and people you already have in your life? By maintaining focus on the things you don’t have, you’re making yourself unhappy. Experiencing gratitude helps to create feelings of happiness and contentment.

4. Create an exciting future. Maximum happiness requires that you have something to look forward to. It can be graduating from college, having a baby, retirement, a vacation, or a hot date on Saturday night. Have a few goals that give you a reason to be excited. Have goals that are both short-term and long-term.

5. Success. Spend some time doing things that you’re good at. It feels good to do well at something. It doesn’t have to be a competitive event. You can hit golf balls at the range or play the guitar and feel great about yourself. Make a list of the things you excel at and try to spend at least a little time each day doing one of them.

6. Resilience. It’s impossible to avoid challenging times. Sooner or later, something will happen that threatens your progress, success, or happiness. Resilience is the ability to continue forging ahead. Some people have a knack for making obstacles seem bigger than they really are. Others are able to maintain their composure and continue making progress.

7. Forgiveness. How can you be happy while holding a grudge? Forgiving others quickly and easily make happiness possible. You might feel that some people don’t deserve forgiveness, and maybe they don’t, but holding that thing over them only keeps you emotionally snagged. Free yourself, be gracious and let it go.

8. Authenticity. It’s hard to be happy and at ease when you are not comfortable being yourself. Being guarded with others consumes a lot of energy. Why not let your guard down a little and let your uniqueness show? You might be surprised at how others respond, and you might find that being yourself is easier and more enjoyable than playing to others expectations or to your own fears about not being accepted. Accept yourself, love yourself, and be yourself.

9. Presence. Focusing too much on the past leads to regret. Focusing only on the future can lead to anxiety. Both scenarios cause you to miss out on enjoying right now! Acknowledge your past, plan for the future and stay in the present if you want to live a happy life.

10. Self Care. Taking care of yourself and making that a priority doesn’t mean you are selfish. It’s hard to help or care for others when you are not taken care of yourself. Ensuring you get the things you need to feel good and be healthy will add to your overall sense of happiness. Rest, exercise, good nutrition and down time are all part of a healthy self-care plan.

There’s nothing complicated about happiness. Forgive others, be yourself, care for yourself, give of yourself, and be grateful for the things and people you already have. Now those are some happy habits.

Conflicted About Conflict?

Confrontation can be uncomfortable. Most of us were raised with the idea that we shouldn’t upset others. Confrontation has a negative connotation, but it shouldn’t. It doesn’t have to be negative, hostile or upsetting. Confrontation is addressing a behavior you don’t like with the intention of finding a resolution.

If you’ve made a habit in your life of avoiding confrontation, review the tips below and begin to take action on some of those things that you know are hindering progress. Confronting issues in a positive manner is the healthiest way forward for everyone involved.

Handle confrontation maturely and calmly with these ideas:

1. Understand that most “confrontations” aren’t confrontations at all. Sometimes we are simply afraid of sharing our own opinion. That’s not a confrontation. You have just as much right to your opinion as anyone else and have every right to share it in most circumstances. Sharing ideas isn’t confrontation.
2. Understand what’s bothering you. Do you really have a reason to be bothered or are your expectations unreasonable? Everyone is unreasonable at times. Perhaps it’s just your turn. Ask a friend for his opinion if you’re uncertain.
3. Determine the desired outcome. What would you like to see happen? Be specific and ask yourself if that’s a reasonable expectation. Be positive. Know what you want, not just what you wish to avoid.
4. Be prepared. When you’re confronting someone, trying to handle the situation spontaneously isn’t ideal. Take the time you need to prepare, and if possible think of what you need to say and how you should say it. Your tone is important.
5. Take control of the situation. Be the first to address the situation. You have more control and can set the tone for the remainder of the encounter. Be calm, cool, and collected, and the other person is likely to follow suit. If you’re hostile, expect hostility in return.
6. Ask questions. Ensure that you fully understand the situation before making any requests. You may misunderstand the current situation. Maybe there’s no need for a confrontation at all.
7. Stick to the facts. When you stray from the facts, you’re viewed as reaching. If you can’t make a legitimate claim with the facts you possess, more research is necessary.
8. Let the other person know what you want, rather than request they cease a behavior. “I want you to arrive to work on time” instead of “I want you to stop being late.” Keep your request in a positive form. Avoid feeling anxious about your request. It’s just a request.
9. Address behavior, but avoid assuming you know the motives of the other person. “When you’re late, I feel like you don’t care” is more effective than “I know you’re always late because you don’t care about this project.” You don’t know what the other person is thinking until you’re told. Making assumptions puts others on the offensive.
10. Stay calm. Good things can happen when you remain calm. Any escalation in emotion will create more drama. Avoid taking anything personally. Share your opinion and let your request be known. Stay calm even if the other person becomes angry.

Confrontation can be positive. Confrontation provides an opportunity to improve the current situation. It’s normal to be anxious at the prospect of confronting another person, but avoid letting that stop you from sticking up for yourself. You’re entitled to your opinion. Learn to share it effectively.

What Do Your Clients Really Need?

Learning how to “sell” yourself as a coach is an important skill, but it isn’t always effective in gaining new clients. The key is finding out what potential client need, and communicating to them how you are a resource in helping them meet that need. Emma-Louise Elsey, a professional coach and former project/relationship manager to fortune 500 companies, provides some tips in this Coaching Federation article:

One of the biggest struggles coaches face is getting clients.

It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of trying to TELL or SELL coaching instead of asking questions to help your prospects understand what they’re looking for—and then letting them sell coaching to themselves!

Here are 7 Coach-like Steps to Turn Your Prospects into Clients: Read More

For top notch Professional Recovery Coach training, review our program offerings here: http://ift.tt/1AwZyYw