May 28, 2020 | Health and Fitness
Hello Friends!
Welcome my Women to Women series where I interview guest speakers from around the world and share their knowledge with you. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Christa Povec, owner of Christa Povec Nutrition. She had some great tips for you all and encourages women to have faith that you can be healthier and fit at any age.
I have had the privilege of knowing Christa for a while, now let me introduce you to Christa Povec.
Lisa: Tell us about yourself and how you started your company.
Christa: I have been interested in nutrition and fitness for years, got certified, and coached one-on-one for about 10 years. I recently started a YouTube education channel all about my experience with keto.
Lisa: What is your biggest personal fitness challenge and how do you manage it?
Christa: My biggest challenge is writing my own workouts. I will definitely make my workouts way too long or way too easy…I need a trainer to keep me dialed in for sure.
Lisa: What do you think is the one thing middle-aged women are challenged by regarding health and fitness?
Christa: Honestly I think it’s their own self-limiting beliefs. The women I have worked with all start out not giving themselves enough credit, or they tell me what they can’t do before we even get started. As women, we already overcome so much, I don’t know why we sell ourselves short so quickly.
Lisa: How do you help them overcome it?
Christa: I ask clients to trust me. I ask them to allow me to take them through baby steps and when they start giving me excuses I start getting tougher lol.
Lisa: What do you think is most important, exercise or diet, and why?
Christa: The one you will do consistently. That might sound trite, but it’s true. Pushups have been called the “all-over, if-you-never-do-another-exercise-again-do-this-one exercise”…but if I only do them once a month, they won’t cut it. But I will say if you don’t have a passion for changing your physique, at least keep your extra weight off with walking. Walking is awesome for maintaining muscle, all your metabolic body functions, cardio health, and it is non-compensatory…meaning it won’t stimulate your appetite. You can walk 3 miles and you won’t feel like running to the fridge for a reward snack.
Lisa: There is a lot of talk about KETO. What is Keto and is Keto healthy for women?
Christa: Keto or the ketogenic diet was first developed in 1911 to mimic what the effects of starvation could do for epilepsy. Keto has been revisited decade after decade by clinical nutritionists and endocrinologists because of its subsequent health benefits that continue to be discovered. Some of the most recent ones, of course, are fat loss and an improved lipid panel and blood pressure, some newer ones that are being looked at are a reversal of type 2 diabetes, anti-cancer, anti-aging, cellular repair, improved cognitive function, and better sleep. For women who want to start keto I tell them that there are definitely many benefits, but like any other diet, please don’t “go hard”. Keto can cause electrolyte imbalances and hormone imbalances that you need to take slowly under consideration from a physician or a coach or a great educational book.
Lisa: What does a balanced diet look like for women who want to lose weight?
Christa: The way I was originally trained by Mark Macdonald is to pair your foods into 3s, small amounts of proteins, fats, and carbs at each meal. What I have found for my clients who are a little older is that they don’t always need starchy carbs at every meal so the green leafy carbs or lighter fruits for many of their meals, spaced a few hours apart work great! This keeps an even blood sugar level all day and many people stay satiated and energized this way. Proteins for muscle, fats for hormones, and carbs for energy!
Lisa: What is the best way to retain and build muscle as we get older?
Christa: Prioritize protein. I like to get around .8-1g of protein per lean body mass…figure most women have 30-35% body fat on average in the middle of their lives. So If you’re 150 pounds, maybe you’ve got 100 pounds lean mass, eat around 80-100g of protein throughout the day, and be sure to do weight-bearing exercise like walking and even better do bodyweight exercises or lift :o)
Lisa: What are some tips on how to handle cravings for sweets?
Christa: So many different ways, you really have to find what works for you. Too many fake sweeteners aren’t the answer though. I like to give in to one or two sweet treats per week and just take responsibility for it. The rest of the week I don’t eat many sweets so I don’t feed the craving. Ask yourself why you want that sweet? Is your cortisol high from stress or too little of sleep or too much caffeine? Can you talk yourself out of it or go for a walk? Is this a special occasion where we are making memories? maybe have a few bites of birthday cake…but if it’s getting to be pretty frequent, start looking at what else is going on.
Lisa: How long do we need to exercise to maintain muscle and lose fat?
Christa: If you are short on time you can throw in a quick Tabata workout a couple of times per week, (you have to go hard here for the full effect) but I really like to tell people to commit to at least 30 minutes of something, 4-5 days per week for a good 30 days. I personally wake up early to get a full hour of movement, but I really enjoy it and have done it for years. If you are starting at zero, and you just commit to a daily 15-minute walk you will see fat loss in a couple of weeks.
Lisa: Who are the influencers, bloggers, and podcasters that you follow?
Christa: I am following a lot of keto influencers right now and attending conferences around that topic. I follow Dr. Ryan Lowry (Ketogenic.com), Dr. Jaime Seeman (Doctor Fit and Fabulous), Danny and Maura Vega (Fat Fueled Family), Robert, and Crystal Sikes (Keto Savage), Thomas DeLauer.
Lisa: Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t know.
Christa: I started my nutrition journey so I could give my kids the proper information and self-confidence so they wouldn’t have to go through the self-doubt, diets, and tribulations I put upon myself when I was growing up…and at 19 and 15, many soccer teams, football teams, and track days later, I think we dodged the bullet!
Thank you Christa for offering us your time and expertise regarding nutrition, and Keto for a cleaner living with some basic fitness tips. Thanks for reminding us all about how important protein is to consume throughout the day. To learn more about Christa and how you can make a clean Keto meal visit her website at Christapovec.com
I am Lisa Jollimois. I am a personal development coach for women who want to transform their lives. If you need more support getting through this current crisis, contact me. Or if you need support naturally maintaining your weight, rewriting your story, exploring new possibilities for an empty nest, or feeling stuck. I can help act as a guide to get your life into action.
If this interests you or if you want to level-up your standard of life despite our current circumstances email me for your FREE discovery call at lisa@lisajollimois.com or sign up at https://calendly.com/lisa-365
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Big Hugs,
May 18, 2020 | Style
Hello hello!
If you’re anything like me you are tired of this corona lifestyle, and your corona clothing.
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Imogen Lamport, an award-winning and internationally known personal stylist, and image consultant.
The interview with Imogen was a well-needed change of pace out of my corona mind, and into the world of personal shape, style, color, and dressing to what feels good to me now without frumpiness. Are you ready for some fun? Read more.
Lisa: Let me tell you more about Imogen and what inspired her to build her business, Inside Out Style, and blog.
Imogen: I became an image consultant after being fascinated by the why of style – from why certain clothes did or didn’t suit different body shapes, to why colour has such a big effect on how we look.
I’ve always known that what you wear changes how you’re perceived by others, as well as impacting on how you feel about yourself, your self-esteem, and confidence.
When I discovered that there was training to teach the art and science of colour and style, I realised that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I started sharing what I had learned to help empower other women to gain control rather than be at the mercy of the fashion industry – falling for every fad. We are not taught what works for our unique being in school or university.
It’s a skill some find more natural and others (like me) need to spend some time learning and experimenting to understand the why as well as the how and what to wear to make you feel authentic in your own clothes.
I felt inspired to start writing Inside Out Style when I discovered what blogs were back in 2008 and realised that this was a way I could educate and empower women globally, not just the ones she sees for personal consultations or those who I train to become image consultants through my Academy of Professional Image at www.aopi.com.au
Lisa: Imogen, what is the favorite part of your business, and why?
Imogen loves the feedback she gets from women who have gone through her style programs both in personal and online in 7 Steps to Style who discover why clothes they have bought sit unloved in their wardrobes. “Women have so many aha moments and they tell me about how learning to become stylish on their own terms has had a positive impact on their whole lives. It’s the ripple effect of personal style,” says Imogen. https://insideoutstyleblog.com/7-steps-to-style-system
Lisa: What is some advice you can give women who have put on weight, and feel like nothing fits them right in their closet?
Imogen: Learn about the body you have right now and what flatters it. Your value does not come from your weight or being a certain clothing size. You are important and treating yourself to clothes that flatter your figure right now will help you feel better and improve your self-esteem. Start by taking my body shape quiz to see if your shape has changed and then download my body shape bible for your shape so you can find out the simple guidelines to flattering the body you have today. https://www.insideoutstyleblog.com/2016/03/want-to-figure-out-your-body-shape-try-my-quiz.html
Lisa: What is the best thing to do when you don’t like anything in your closest, feel outdated, and you want a new look, but don’t know where to start?
Imogen: Firstly, start with understanding what it is you don’t love about anything you have already – what is wrong with the clothes? Take out your least favorite items and write down everything about them that you don’t like. Put this in your “never again” list.
Then, if you do have some garments you love, or can remember some you’ve had in the past that you loved, write down in a “Love It” list all the features and details about that garment (or garments). Think about the fit, the fabric, colours, shapes, patterns, how the fabric feels, how it looks, how it makes you feel when wearing it.
You now have two lists that are really important to you that you can use when shopping for new clothes. Never ever again buy anything from your “Never Ever” list, and make sure that everything you buy ticks your “Love It”. https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2016/09/how-to-build-your-style-from-ground-zero.html
Develop a Style Recipe to help you express your authentic style to make sure you don’t go wrong when choosing new clothes. https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2020/03/developing-your-style-recipe.html
Start with a wardrobe capsule so you get ultimate versatility and maximum outfits from your small wardrobe as you rebuild. https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2016/06/5-excellent-reasons-to-build-a-capsule-wardrobe.html
Lisa: Can you help us understand some fashion no no’s that make us look older than our age?
Imogen: I’m not a big believer in any particular fashion no-no’s. I know women in their 70s who rock jeans and leather jackets as they are expressing their personality through their clothing choices.
The only caveat I’d say is that if you’re dressing in a way that is trying to look young rather than embracing the amazing woman you are today, that can just look a little desperate and sad.
That said, I see more women who dress too old and frumpy for fear of dressing too young (mutton dressed as lamb as we say).
When you dress for the body you have today in clothes that flatter it and ones that express your personality. I think that as women age they become more sophisticated. Avoiding baggy, saggy, frumpy clothes in old fashioned fabrics will go a long way to looking modern. If you’ve been wearing the same garment for more than 10 years, ask someone younger than you who is stylish for their honest feedback on it and whether or not it’s dated (and dated makes you look old).
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2014/11/7-top-tips-to-what-dates-and-what-becomes-timeless.html
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2012/11/when-is-it-time-to-let-go-of-the-trends-you-love.html
Lisa: What are your #1 style and fashion tips for women?
Imogen: Dress for you who are today. Clothing choices are all made from the past. Everything in your wardrobe was bought in the past. https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2018/02/how-to-build-a-future-focused-wardrobe.html
It’s good to reassess what you own and reflect on whether what you have in your wardrobe is still a representation of who you are today. Whether it still suits the body you have today and the colouring that you have right now (as colours change with age). Ask yourself “can I imagine wearing this again in the future?” as often old favorites that we are not wearing were great at the time, but are just not who we are now and it’s good to let them go. Regular wardrobe edit sessions are a really important part of maintaining and updating your style over time.
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2014/11/should-you-keep-it-or-bin-it.html
Lisa: Is there a universal accessory that all women should own and how would you wear it?
Imogen: Nope. I don’t believe in any sort of “must-have” list. Apart from needing clothing – so that we are “not naked” there is no one thing everyone should own and wear.
Your authentic style is different from mine.
Your body, face, colouring, and features will be different from mine.
Your personality is different from mine – so how could there be anything that is universal that all women should be wearing?
If someone tells you that there is something all women should own – this should set off alarm bells and let you know that there is money in it for them if you buy that thing!
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2018/08/express-your-personality-style.html
Lisa: What if you don’t like a fashion trend, but want to look in the now. Do you ditch it?
Imogen: There are always lots of fashion trends at any one time. The more you know about what suits you and your unique features and personality, the more easily you’ll find yourself able to select from any current trends the pieces that are a great representation of you, that suit your style, without ever looking fashion victim.
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2017/03/how-to-balance-fashion-trends-with-flattery.html
Lisa: What are some must-know tips when putting an outfit together?
Imogen: There is no one way to put together an outfit. But there is one big tip that is worth adhering to – and that is – to dress your portrait first.
What I mean by portrait are your head and shoulders.
Most women dress from “most hated body part” up. They dress to camouflage body parts, to hide.
Instead, learn what elements of design flatter you and your features, and then dress to enhance them. Always put a feature element in your portrait area as this creates a focal point that draws us up to your face.
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2014/06/why-you-should-dress-your-portrait-first.html
https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2016/04/if-youre-looking-in-my-eyes-youre-not-looking-at-my-thighs.html
Lisa: Who are your favorite and most influential/authors//bloggers/podcaster experts?
Imogen: Brene Brown, Amy Cuddy, Daniel Pink, and Susan Cain.
Lisa: Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know.
Imogen: I find this question very hard to answer as I’m an open book and have shared so much on my blog about me personally. So what you may not know is that I’ve got a bit of a potty mouth and a quirky sense of humor and also am a total weeper. I cry at anything slightly emotional. I remember when I was pregnant with my son, a TV ad for washing powder came on TV and I remember blubbing because it was “kind to skin”.
Thank you so much Imogen for offering us your style advice. Imogen shared so much more in her links. I hope you had an opportunity to click on them and take in all her tips to looking and feeling your best at any age.
I am Lisa Jollimois. I am a personal development coach for women who want to transform their lives. If you need more support getting through this current crisis, contact me. Or if you need support naturally maintaining your weight, rewriting your story, exploring new possibilities for an empty nest, or feeling stuck. I can help act as a guide to get your life into action.
If this interests you or if you want to level-up your standard of life despite our current circumstances email me for your FREE discovery call at lisa@lisajollimois.com or sign up at https://calendly.com/lisa-365
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Big Hugs,
May 10, 2020 | Personal Development
Feel whatever is present for you. Today is Mother’s Day. I am separated from all of my children except for my 17-year-old. I have one in California, one in Chicago, and one in Massachusetts, and Pat and I are nestled right on the seacoast of New Hampshire. This is the first year I have ever felt the separation, the distance and the quiet like my house feels today. This morning I Facetimed my 94-year-old mother. Thank goodness for technology during COVID -19: I don’t know when I will see her next. These changes are unsettling and confusing especially to my mother who is grateful and amazed that she can see me through a telephone. There is aloneness.
Sometimes it is really scary to feel those emotions, the loneliness, the fear, the confusion. When these emotions surface it is good to know that all of what you are feeling doesn’t define who you are as a human being. These emotions are just part of the human experience of energy moving through you.
Energy moves, so this too will pass. I encourage you to be with the emotion and let it flow through you. It’s all okay, Emotions are not bad. They feel worse when we don’t acknowledge them. If you have resistance to them and pretend they are not there, that causes us the most pain.
What are you feeling today? How was your day? Allow those feelings to emerge.
Be a kind witness to your emotions and invite them into your life. Fighting them or pretending they are not present makes it hard. There is no hurry. Give yourself time to be with yourself and the emotion. Choose to feel the emotion. Remember, feelings are created by thoughts not external circumstances.
What creates our suffering?
Our thinking creates our suffering. It is easy to believe that we feel the way we do because of the circumstances in the world. For instance, if my children all lived close to me I would have the most fabulous Mother’s Day or if my children would behave differently I would feel better. No, my friends, that is not the way it works. Sometimes we throw ourselves into the suffering arena unnecessarily because of our thinking.
Some people believe if COVID -19 were to go away we would all feel better, not true. We would still all have to learn how to handle our feelings around whatever might rock our boat the next. Life is meant to be a series of contrasts and challenges. During these challenging times, our minds like to play games with us because we most often so desperately want to feel better. So, we resort to blaming the world as the cause of our problems. That is why we can find ourselves trying to control situations and micromanage things. Our thoughts are always creating how we feel. Your thoughts are the one thing you can control. It is a practice.
I have an acquaintance who loves to live in drama. The sad thing is that she is so accustomed to living this way she doesn’t even see the mental frenzy she creates in her world. She comes to mind because I want to bring to your attention the fact that many of us live in a state of being and that our stories are not always true.
Much like this acquaintance many of us catastrophize, we create a situation that we think is true, but in reality, it is not. It is important to understand the actual facts around a given situation have no resistance or force against us. The circumstance that we have is that there is a virus called COVID -19. This is just a circumstance that is zone neutral. It is our thinking that creates the thoughts, that produce the emotions and the fear that we have around this virus.
It is important to note that we can’t control any given circumstance, but we can control our thoughts around the situation. We can choose how we want to feel.
What are some of the circumstances that are stressing you? What are your thoughts around those circumstances?
You can’t change circumstances, but you can choose the thoughts you think about the circumstances. Try to think thoughts that are not so painful. Choose more empowering thoughts little by little to change the story you hear.
Many of the stories we tell ourselves can evoke strong emotion. What are some of the stories you are telling yourself?
Lately I have been hearing a lot of stories about this virus. The reality is the virus is not so scary. There have been many viruses in the world. It is our thoughts and stories about the virus that have caused us to be so fearful. I am not underestimating the impact this virus has had on the world or the pain that some of you have suffered by having a loved one fall ill. I want to bring to your attention the choice you have during this time and the power you have is in your mind. By all means, I am not saying don’t be cautious.
Ask yourself. Does it serve you to be so fearful? Is that fear disabling you?
If you start taking a look at your thoughts you will begin to see some thoughts are waiting to be changed to produce better feelings and productive actions. You will begin to feel better and show up in ways that are more in line with your true self. It’s so easy especially now when circumstances are more traumatic than normal to get caught up in looping around and around in our thoughts. If you find yourself in this place, try to shift your thought pattern slightly. Because your thoughts create your feelings, which create your actions, which drive your outcome. If you do this you’ll find you give yourself a little bit of relief.
It is the small everyday steps that eventually lead to big changes. What if you started to change one thought, what would that do for you?
I like to refer to this as a kind of “cleaning of the mind”. And, what perfect time to check into seeing what our minds are thinking. Today, I spent some of that quiet time reorganizing closets, thinking about those little things that are important to me, and things that I treasure.
I would like to share with you a seacoast treasure that is truly exquisite, and a feast for the eyes. I would like to introduce the Elizabeth Henry Collection. Click this link to have a little fun. Market Square Jewelers
If your spring cleaning your bathroom vanity, check out Janegee for some fresh ideas. Janegee
I am Lisa Jollimois. I am a personal development coach for women who want to transform their lives. If you need more support getting through this current crisis, contact me. Or if you need support naturally maintaining your weight, rewriting your story, exploring new possibilities for an empty nest, or feeling stuck. I can help act as a guide to get your life into action.
If this interests you or if you want to level-up your standard of life despite our current circumstances email me for your FREE discovery call at lisa@lisajollimois.com or sign up at https://calendly.com/lisa-365
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Big Hugs,
May 6, 2020 | Personal Development
Emotions are high right now and with good reason. The changes in our world we are all witnessing during this pandemic are a lot to handle. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying life right now is easy. I find myself anxious at times and thinking into the future that I have absolutely no control over.
How do you get to a calmer more peaceful state? The key is being able to manage your emotions.
Calm is not to be void of any emotion. It is about witnessing emotion and allowing for love and grace into your world.
Let me tell you, I have been the woman that has resisted her feelings and emotions for years. I had to learn how to express emotion healthily and have emotions be a part of my life.
Being able to manage your emotions is an so essential skill and yet it is not taught to us. Like myself, many of us enter adulthood with this unknowingness of how to handle our emotions. So, when something uncertain appears like COVID-19 many of us freak out, worry, and find ourselves in total mental chaos.
Let me tell you a little secret, you can handle your emotions. You don’t have to feel overwhelmed, chaotic, and worrisome. When I learned that I can control my emotions my world turned right side up. I had much more control over my emotions than I had ever thought and less heaviness that bogged my life down.
One of my all-time favorite quotes, “What you resist persists.” – Rumi
Resisting feelings feels out of control. The more you keep those negative emotions stuffed inside or continuing having them swirl around in your head the longer they’ll cause imbalance for you. It is so important for us to understand our emotional life to live a healthier quality of life.
One of the things I teach women is how to manage their emotions so they can live a life they most desire. Living a better quality of life doesn’t mean you are constantly happy, smiling, and overjoyed. It is to live in the fullness of the total life experience.
The goal is to live the experience of all of life, it’s grey days and sunny days, the calm with the anxiety, the despair with joy and contentment. That is the human experience. It is all about how we handle our emotions.
We can choose to do it with a higher intention or react with fear. Let’s face it, life always seems to throw us a curveball. Our human experience is to find beauty and balance in that curveball and to learn how to be emotionally healthy and experience all of life.
Here’s the key. Your feelings are created by the thoughts in your mind, nothing else.
At one time I blamed everyone or everything around me for my feelings. I am not suggesting you do that. Your emotions drive everything you do. Negative emotions can cause you to act in undesirable ways. Some of you may be finding comfort in eating or drinking especially now during these times.
It is so easy to blame something external for your feelings, but that is not how it works. Your thoughts create your feelings and your feelings cause an action. You can change your feelings and behavior by examining your thoughts.
So, how do we find more calm in this COVID challenge?
- Stop resisting your feelings and own them.
- Feel these feelings on purpose. Allow them to flow through you. Emotion is just vibrational energy. Sit with them. Don’t be afraid of them. Befriend them.
- Label the emotion. You might say, “Hello fear….anxiety….anger.” Let them know they are present.
- Name that emotion you are feeling. Terrified, Anger, Helpless, Fearful, Peaceful, etc.
- Choose to feel that emotion completely and fully. Own the worrisome feeling so all of your emotions will surface.
- Own the feeling. If you don’t own it you can’t change it.
- Say to yourself, “I am choosing to feel this (put your emotion here) emotion.”
- Practice how this emotion feels in your body. Ask yourself, “What is my body feeling right now?” You can use your body as a tool to help you collect data about how you are really feeling.
Get really good at feeling your feelings. Witness what is happening now in the present. Acknowledging your feeling even if they are bad, it is useful. That’s the catalyst for change. You must witness your feelings, whatever they are to get to the calm more peaceful state you desire.
Practice the steps above to help you calm your mind and rebalance your life.
Here are some useful reads for now. We all need a little something light and fun. I hope you enjoy these. xoxo
Useful tips for life during Covid-19 What’s Up Weekend?
Love your pet? Check out these adorable Whippets. How Your Pets Can Be Inspiration For Your Style Recipe.
I am Lisa Jollimois. I am a personal development coach for women who want to transform their lives. If you need more support getting through this current crisis, contact me. Or if you need support naturally maintaining your weight, rewriting your story, exploring new possibilities for an empty nest, or feeling stuck. I can help act as a guide to get your life into action.
If this interests you or if you want to level-up your standard of life despite our current circumstances email me for your FREE discovery call at lisa@lisajollimois.com or sign up at https://calendly.com/lisa-365
Follow me on Facebook !
Follow me on Instagram !
Big Hugs,
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