Power Living Update - 6 weeks later

The 6-week Power Living(TM) program at BodyTech (described in my post on May 10, 2008) wrapped up last Saturday. At the final meeting members of the group shared their reflections on progress, areas of difficulty, and especially, their Wellness Plan for the next 3 months. Some themes emerged:

• everyone appreciated and directly benefited from the information imparted through the program;
• everyone made progress toward significant change to improve their own well-being;
• even with different areas of strength and weakness, and varying challenges, everyone benefited from Power Living's holistic approach to learning about change in all areas (food, fitness, thinking).
• everyone experienced slumps, and found the group meetings very helpful for re-energizing.

The main message of the final session was that slumps are inevitable, and the key to long term success is to continually revisit one's original vision, motivation, and commitment, to learn from experience, and to revise and recommit to your Wellness Plan as necessary.

Some examples of lessons learned:

"I need to make getting to bed by 9 p.m. an absolute priority. Otherwise I'm too tired the next day and everything goes haywire."

"I did great with the nutrition and exercise, but I need to incorporate more stress-relieving activities. I'm going to plan in regular massage."

"I need to be diligent with my journaling, to keep myself accountable."

"I need to plan my meals, prepare ahead, and have food with me at work to avoid going off-track."

"I need to continue to make myself my priority. I know I have to get my workout in first thing in the morning to make sure it happens - and I always feel so much better."

"If I go over a certain weight, I need to go back to the mini-cleanse guidelines for a while."

Personally, I am delighted to have gotten into the healthy habit of walking at least 30 minutes most days. Now I miss it if I don't go, and sometimes I can't wait to get out there to clear my head or listen to my I-Pod. I love this personal inspirational and cleansing time. I also benefited tremendously from the two sessions with the personal trainer to learn about resistance training to build strength. This is still my biggest challenge, but I'm getting my mind around it and have at least begun some resistance work. I've also continued to eat very lean - mostly protein and fiber, very little sugar, dairy or "starchy" carbs. And I only have coffee once a week as a treat on Sundays.

My goal was not weight loss, but I have lost a few pounds. More striking for me, though, is the transformation I feel in the composition of my body from flabby and weak to at least a little more solid and toned. And it's not any one thing - it's all of it working together. It's the coolest thing! And, even a little success breeds more success.

The next Power Living(TM) program will be offered in September. Needless to say, I highly recommend it! Please let me know if you'd like more information or are interested in participating in this life-changing program.