Fat Loss 101: Forget the Fads, and Focus on the Fundamentals

Competition Prep: October 2021. Won my OCB Bikini Competitor Pro Card in Pittsburgh, PA.

I want to tone up, lose weight, and feel more confident when I look in the mirror.

As a wellness coach, personal trainer, and competitive body builder; many women will approach me with goals to "lose weight, tone up, and look better in their everyday clothes." Most people want to reach these goals of fat loss, weight loss, and toning up as quickly, easy, and as fast as possible.

The Honest Truth About Fat Loss

Fat loss needs to be a slow and gradual process to be sustainable and maintainable long term. Most of us don't just put on a ton of weight and get to a place of discomfort where one day you decide you need to make a change. It's usually a result of slow and gradual weight accumulation over several years' time. Some of us aren't exactly at an extreme point of discomfort with our outer appearance yet, but have a fear that you may get to a point of discomfort if you keep continuing your current habits. Weight gain doesn't usually happen quickly or suddenly, so I am always confused why social media sells dopamine boosting, and quick fix fat loss gimmicks as the only way to make change.

I feel inclined to share the fundamentals of fat loss with those who feel stuck, lost, or unsure on where to begin when it comes to a weight loss goal. This no bull shit approach to fat loss has worked for me, and several of the clients I have coached. These approaches are backed and supported by thousands of coaches in the health and wellness world, and many of these approaches are also backed by research.

I feel inclined to give individuals the tools and resources to start working towards a fat loss journey in a no bullshit, no gimmick, zero short cut way, because I truly believe this is one of the only ways fat-loss will stick long term, and for good. So many people fall into super restrictive habits that they can't maintain long term like cleanses, 6-week fat burner programs, fad diets, and different dieting pills/medicines. When people fall into these fads, they gain more weight back or fall even more out of alignment with their goals from where they first began. Fad diets and quick fix dieting approaches will mentally destroy an individual's confidence because they will not be able to follow through on these habits long term because of how restrictive they are. When you don't follow through your self-confidence and self-worth will continue to plummet downhill.

Showing up for yourself and following through on sustainable habits consistently is a sure-fire way to build results, self-confidence and self-worth over time, and for the long-term. I encourage everyone of the clients that I work with to make sure the habits they start building on their health and wellness journey are maintainable, doable, and as non-frictional as possible at the start of their journey. Too often we overcommit and overpromise at the beginning of our wellness journey, and the habits we are trying to build become way to frictional out the gate, derailing our motivation, progress, and ability to follow through. Rather than starting small, and scaling fat loss habits with time, we start at the top with the most frictional and unsustainable habits, and unfortunately stumble, tumble, and tear our inner confidence down by failing to follow through.

Fat loss is not an easy feat for any person, even the most experienced experts will tell you that fat loss is a serious commitment that requires serious habit change in several areas including diet, sleep, mood/stress levels, exercise habits, movement, and hydration. As promised, lets break down fat loss in a no bullshit way so that when you are ready to start pursuing a fat loss goal you have all the tools and resources to do so in a doable, realistic, and fundamental way that doesn't cut corners, doesn't become too restrictive, and can be implemented long term.

Fat Loss Fundamentals 101 (No Bullshit Approach):

1. To Lose Fat You Have to Eat in a Calorie Deficit. The easiest way to eat in a calorie deficit is to figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). You can find a TDEE calculator in any google search platform, I usually use the following one- TDEE Calculator. Any TDEE calculator will be fine as long as you provide the proper demographics age, height, weight, sex, and activity status.

2. Once you calculate your TDEE, you would want to start tracking calories through a calorie tracking app. Your daily calorie goal would need to be 300-400 calories under your TDEE. If you eat at your TDEE you will not lose any weight, if you eat above your TDEE you will gain weight. So it's important to start tracking at least 300-400 calories under your TDEE so that you can be sure you are pursuing your fat loss goal by eating in a calorie deficit. You can download MyFitnessPal or any other food tracking app to start tracking your daily calories and ensure each day you are eating consistently in a calorie deficit.

3. On MyFitness Pal or the Calorie Tracking app that you use, once you have set your calorie goal to reflect the 300-400 calorie deficit from your TDEE, you would also want to start looking at your macronutrient breakdowns. The foods you eat breakdown in your body as sources of energy called macronutrients. Macronutrients consist of carbs, fats, and proteins. You need to eat in a calorie deficit to lose fat, but also focusing on a certain percentage of carbs, fats, and proteins each day. The percentage of carbs, fats, and proteins will vary by individual but starting by calculating your protein goal is the first step with determining your macros.

4. A high protein goal is super important when you are pursuing a fat loss goal. Protein is the building block of muscle, and aids in improving metabolic function. Since protein is the macro nutrient that takes the longest to metabolize, it helps keep you satiated throughout the day, making dieting easier long term when you are focused on a protein goal. A protein goal also ensures that you are building muscle when you are strength training. Building muscle during strength training while losing fat eating in a calorie defecit is the best way to see fat loss results long term because muscle burns more calories at rest than fat. Setting a high protein macro goal is essential to anyone wanting to pursue a fat loss goal. When you begin focusing on a protein goal, you want to consume atleast 1.7-2.0g per kg of body weight in protein a day. I promise if you prioritize fiber, this will be okay on your kidneys and GI. That myth has been debunked.

5. Outside of your daily protein goal, your daily consumption of carbs and fats should reflect gram ranges that are sustainable long-term for you and help you maintain a calorie deficit. A semi-keto approach (higher fat, high protein, lower carb) is best for people who gravitate towards fats as their primary food sources, while a carb/protein-based approach (higher carb, high protein, lower fat) is best for people who respond and gravitate towards carbs as their primary food sources. The approach you choose should be based on your age, what foods your body responds well to, and what foods you enjoy eating most. For example, I really have to focus my attention on not overeating carbs and under eating protein when I am focused on losing fat. I absolutely love carbs, and wish I could only consume them, so I do not think that I would be successful pursuing a semi-keto calorie defecit approach long term since I tend to gravitate towards carbs. I have been very successful in the past focused on eating in a calorie deficit with macros that are higher carb, high protein, and lower fat. To continue losing fat it really comes down to making sure you are prioritizing your protein goal, ensuring you are eating in a calorie deficit each and every day, and keeping your fats and carbs in the right ranges based on what macro approach you choose .

6. Strength Training is also key to fat loss. The more muscle you build, the more your metabolic health improves. Which is why a lot of people see better fat loss and more muscle definition long term when they strength train 3-4x a week on top of consistently eating in a calorie deficit. Strength training is not only great for fat loss, but also for keeping your bones strong, and muscles healthy long term. Building healthy lean muscle tissue is ideal for long term blood glucose regulation, maintaining healthy blood pressure ranges, preventing age related diseases, keeping your body free from chronic pain, and so much more. Make sure when you are pursuing a fat loss goal you prioritize strength training as one of your fat loss habits too. Your older self will thank you later when your metabolic health stays in a great place long term!

7. Cardio/Walking/Endurance Training. Strength training is the only way to build lean muscle tissue, but cardio, walking, elliptical, biking, and jogging are forms of cardio training that will also help an individual stay in a calorie deficit. Cardio training should never be used to excuse poor nutritional habits, but it should be used as an extra tool to ensure you are in a calorie deficit and getting a lot more movement in throughout the day. A good combination of 3-4 strength sessions a week with two to three 20–30-minute cardio sessions a week will really ensure you are focused on fat loss, and being in a calorie defecit.

8. General Movement/Steps. More movement and steps throughout the day can ensure you will achieve fat loss when eating in a calorie deficit. Getting steps outside anytime you have a chance, parking your car further away at the store, taking the stairs, going for a 5-10 minute walk after dinner, or going for a walk during your lunch break are all ways to get more movement in throughout the day. More movement throughout the day= more calories burned period. Adding extra movement in with some planned cardio sessions will be sure to ensure long term fat loss results.

9. Sleep. Sleep is key when you are focused on fat loss. Not getting enough sleep has been linked in research to increased weight gain and obesity. When you sleep poorly (an average of 4-6 hours a night is considered poor), your body is stressed and not able to control hunger hormones as efficiently as a well-rested body. These hunger hormones will release when you are not sleeping and recovering well, causing you to crave processed foods and sugars. Poor sleep quality not only will affect the release of these hunger hormones making you feel more hungry for processed foods/sugars, the more often you sleep poorly the higher likelihood you will have of over consuming calories due to these hormone spikes. If you are not prioritizing a healthy amount of quality sleep each night, your fat loss goals can really be impeded by your bodies metabolic response to poor sleeping habits.

10. Stress. Stress management is key when you are focused on fat loss. Learning how to navigate, manage, and work through emotions in a healthy way can ensure that you are not using food and exercise in a negative way as a coping mechanism to handle stress. Many people can overeat or undereat due to stress, and the same applies to over exercising or under exercising due to stress. Learning how to manage emotions is key to moving forward and not allowing your eating and movement habits to impede your goals and your overall wellbeing due to stress. Meditating, therapy, getting out in nature, deep breathing, and journaling are all great ways to manage stress.

11. Whole food based foods. Nutrient dense foods are key to maintaining long term success with fat loss. We live in a society where we have access to high palatable, nutrient poor foods. Although processed foods are okay to eat in moderation, and can even be included in your daily diet if you are maintaining a calorie defecit- they do increase hunger cues, and can cause binging tendencies. Four ounces of chicken, with a palmful of rice, and 2 palmfuls of broccoli will leave you much more satiated than a blueberry muffin with the same calorie content as the chicken, rice, and broccoli. So although processed foods are okay in moderation, the nutrient dense foods are going to be what keeps your mind, body, and spirit satiated and energized best. I love the famous saying that not every meal has to be ground breakingly mouthwatering and delicious. Sometimes the basics make you feel, look, and be aligned with the best version of yourself.

    
    

I truly hope these fat loss fundamentals have been laid out to you in a clear and concise way- so that individuals wanting to pursue a wellness journey focused on fat loss can know where to begin. The habits it takes to align with fat loss can be overwhelming and feel unbearable initially, so my best advice is to start with habits that are small and manageable, and scale up. Even small changes in habits will shift you towards a healthier and happier you one day at a time. Calorie tracking may not be something you need to pursue forever, but it is something many individuals have success with so that they can better understand foods, their ingredients, their caloric content, and the way foods make a person feel. In a world full of hyper palatable and nutrient poor foods- sometimes the key to finding fat loss is learning awareness, acknowledgement, and alignment around the foods you consume, and habits you pursue! These fat loss strategies may be frictional to implement at first, but if you can start gradually implementing them- you will see the success they can bring with time!

How Your Wellbeing is Being Sacrificed Through Social Media Manipulation: Division and Chaos is Not Natural- It's Manufactured

Author: Juliane Volosky

Photo Taken by GWVproductions: Pine, Colorado

I feel a strong need and desire to write on the negative impact of social media and screen time on our overall wellbeing.  A lot of the division and chaos going on in the world has been manufactured by media manipulation, and we have been fooled by it. 

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed the divide and hate in the world deeply growing due to differing beliefs on politics, religion, human rights, and cultural norms. As great as it is to live in the USA (the land of the free) with complete freedom to express our beliefs, values, and opinions; media is benefitting off these differing beliefs by spreading manufactured content targeted at creating division, hate, and separation.

So many world events and political discussions have been influenced by media and overly broadcasted to fuel hate and division throughout the human experience. Intuitively, I’ve felt so much hateful and divisive energy in the world over the last 8-10 years, and the energy continues to become more and more divisive the more time we spend glued to our screens.

This division in recent years has sounded an alarm in my head that our thoughts, values, morals, and belief systems are being controlled and manipulated by media influence. Rather than living in a world that nurtures connection with others by respecting each other's voices, perspectives, and views; media holds the throne, and thrives off selling hate and division for ultimate control, views, power, and money. At the end of the day- division sells.

This constant access to media, television, and news at the tap of a finger continues to leave everyone in constant fight or flight and a fear state. Faith and fear cannot coexist- so the dread a lot of us are feeling in our everyday lives is because we aren’t present in the moment and feel chaos and fear for the future because of what the news and screens are telling us. The average American spends 7-10 hours a day on their screens, so of course our screens are the biggest influence on our beliefs, views, societal and cultural norms, and decisions.

To make matters worse, more recently Facebook, tik tok, and other social media platforms have been able to formulate an algorithm that feeds the biases of any individual scrolling on their phones. Even the news stations today have been designed to lean more towards the right or left. So we tune into the news stations that align with our political beliefs and refuse to watch the news stations that oppose them. The media and news stations feeding into our biases are what is creating chaos and division. We begin to box our views, morals, and values into black and white thinking, rather than recognizing that our collective should be allowing grey thinking to exist too.

When we only seek comfort and validation through our biases, we fail to realize two things can be true and exist at once. Instead of recognizing that grey thinking exists, black and white thinking persuades each and every one of us that only one side or point of view is morally right and acceptable. When you believe your cultural, political, and economic beliefs are the only beliefs that can be morally right and true, you will villainize and scrutinize anyone else for having differing values and beliefs.

Anytime the media validates your own beliefs and views, it gives your ego a boost and strengthens your sense of self. So that when we encounter someone in the real world who doesn’t have the same views and belief systems as us, we see this person as a threat to society or an attack on our identity. When we feel like our identity is being threatened, we would rather protect, react, and defend our own ego, than being open minded and trying to see the other persons point of view.

Over the last few years, I have seen the division in politics, religion, human rights, and cultural norms tear relationships apart, ruin family dynamics, and deteriorate people’s wellbeing. Division and rage continue to control our collective and block us from feeling balance, peace, joy, and happiness in our day to day lives.

As important as the media is and as helpful as it can be to keep us up to date on current events, we also need to realize that media does an equally good job at spreading content that distracts us from our best selves by selling division, outrage, and fear-based messaging. Division sells, outrage sells, and in order for these platforms to do well- they need engagement.

I want to share today some ways to disconnect from media outlets and reconnect with your inner self. It's important to remember that all humans are different due to their childhood upbringing, culture, and trauma. We should learn to respect all views even if they differ from our own. We all have unique life experiences that shape us into who we are, and this collective is meant to shine together not apart. The more we focus on connection in this physical world to each other and away from our phones- the closer we become to feeling connected to our authentic selves' mind, body, and spirit.

If you feel media has been or has ever negatively impacted your overall wellbeing, these tips for finding better alignment with your authentic self may serve you. I have found these tips to help me reground, balance, and bring me back into alignment with my happiest and healthiest self. Feel free to implement the tips that resonate and leave behind what doesn't.

Tip #1: Disconnect from Your Screen and Practice Intentional Time With Yourself Every Day.

Set designated times throughout the day where you are not on your phone or attached to a screen. Find ways to connect with those in your physical world. Rather than being home glued to a screen. Spend quality time at dinner, on a walk, or in the morning with your loved ones, and with yourself. You can't connect to your higher self through a screen; you connect to your higher self when you spend intentional time alone.

Tip #2: Create a Morning and Night Routine with Yourself Not The Media World.

Your morning and night routines should be sacred and spent connecting to your inner self. You should prioritize starting and ending your day alone, or with loved ones so that you can begin and end your day in a good place mind, body, and spirit.

Tip #3: Use Your Phone to Fuel Your Higher Self Not Distract It.

Who you interact with and follow on your social media platforms can either pour into your cup or drain your cup. Make sure you follow people that inspire you on a spiritual level. Influencers and experts who promote fear mongering, black and white thinking, division, hate, and slander do nothing but stunt your personal and spiritual growth. If you are going to spend time on your screen, make sure it is to benefit your overall wellbeing. You can learn a lot through your screen if you are following the right platforms.

Tip #4: Get Involved in Your Own Community and Focus Your Time and Energy on Things That Are In Your Locus of Control.

If you are getting involved in your community, you are creating and establishing face to face connections. Scrolling on your phone and watching the news can give you dopamine and instant gratification, but it is the face-to-face connections that fuel your mind, body, and spirit. The more you get involved in the community the more you can connect, serve others, and grow in areas that are in your locus of control. Many current events on the news that have a negative impact on our overall wellbeing are out of our locus of control. So designate more time and energy in your own community by donating your time where you can truly make a difference.

Tip #5: Be More Open Minded.

Follow experts with differing views and beliefs on topics that matter the most to you. Seeing experts provide facts and perspectives from both sides of the coin will help you see that both sides both can be right and "wrong" at the same time. However, there may be a side you spiritually align with more, and that's okay. Being able to see different perspectives and staying open to different points of view will help you grow and develop as a person rather than constantly nurturing and validating your own ego. The more time you can spend staying open minded, the better your chances of pursuing a life with joy, empathy, compassion, and growth.

Tip #6: Practice awareness, and make sure that you are challenging your own biases and belief systems.

If you listen to react or respond, rather than listening to understand beliefs and views outside of your own, you will continue to stroke your own ego. It is important to spend more time listening to understand, and to see things from another person's perspective. This is how you build trust, connection, and respect from others. Try to be curious about differing views and beliefs outside of your own, rather than controlling the narratives so that you always are right.

Tip #7: Lead with love, light, and respect even if that isn’t being received on your end.

As a Christian I try to follow the teachings of the bible. However, leading with light, love, and respect is practiced in many religions. We should always forgive others, choose kindness over our own pride, and be generous to others with our hearts. When we get in fights or constantly create division with our family members, friends, or loved ones because of differing views and beliefs- this is not leading with light and love. As hard as it is to forgive or be kind to someone who has beliefs different than your own. This does not mean they are attacking your identity. This just means they may see the world through a different lens due to their own life experiences. If the person has always approached you with kindness, respect, light, love, and compassion- don't let their views and ideologies villainize or divide you from each other. There may be other areas of your life that you connect deeply in. You can still acknowledge their views and respect them without allowing hate, division, and chaos to win.

Tip #8: Be honest with yourself, and lead a life with morals, values, integrity, and beliefs that your higher self would be proud of.

If you are a keyboard warrior behind the scenes and say things you would never say to someone during a face-to-face encounter, you are living a life out of alignment with your authentic self. Treat others on the internet the same way you would treat others in person. Who you show up as on the internet should be who you show up as in real life. Period.

After reading this blog, I hope you remind yourself that screen time and social media can make a negative impact on your overall wellbeing. We live in a world that profits off of division, chaos, and hate. Try to remind yourself to be different. Choose to lead with light and love, respect differing beliefs, and learn to spend time disconnecting from your screen so that you can reconnect with your highest, healthiest, and most genuine self.

Much love and Happy Habits,

Juliane Volosky

Happy Habits Health and Wellness Blog

Five Practices of Self Love to Build Inner Peace and Confidence

Photo Taken: Rickets Glen State Park Benton, PA

What is Self Love?

I believe that self-love is acknowledging and taking ownership of pouring into your own cup, and creating healthy boundaries so that you do not allow others to define or determine your worth.

Self-love is a vital component to improving your overall wellbeing, confidence, and happiness. Practicing self-love should be prioritized each and every day of your life.

Humans tend to train their brains to focus on finding happiness through external validation. Rather than trying to improve our overall wellbeing through our own pursuit of passions, talents, hobbies, and behaviors, we continue to chase societal norms, post achievements, hide failures, hyper-focus on materialism and consumerism, and chase social status to give off the illusion that we fit in, are successful, and happy.

We ignore achieving internal validation through self-love when we focus on external validation. When you choose to tie your worth to how others in society view you, you lose sight of what success means to you.

The holy spirit perfectly crafted us to not only serve others selflessly, but to live a life in alignment with our truest and most authentic self. The Holy Spirit wouldn’t want you to do what everyone else is doing, the Holy Spirit would want you to follow your heart and pursuit the things that bring you peace and joy when pouring into your own cup.

Pouring into our own cup by practicing self-love will take years to prioritize, and decades to master.

When you learn to fall in love with who you are, what makes you happy, and how you define success; you stop looking for approval and validation from others, and start training your brain to pursue the things that bring you confidence, peace, and joy.

Practicing Self-love and building inner confidence will always result in people formulating their own opinions about you. The real superpower of self-love and inner confidence is you choose to believe the only opinion about yourself that matters- your own.

When you begin having a strong sense of self by pursuing acts of self love, you will not allow other people’s opinions of you to hold power over you and your worth. When you don’t allow people’s opinions to hold power over you this is how true confidence and inner peace is discovered.

Self-love practices should be a main focus of each day, even when we are in bad head spaces due to negative self-intrusive thoughts.

The point of today's blog is to share 5 acts of self-love that have really benefitted my own overall wellbeing, confidence, self-worth, and internal peace. You can take from this blog what resonates and leave behind what doesn't.

As a wellness coach, I have learned that not every wellness tip, self-help book, self-improvement blog, or mindfulness practice aligns with me. As I continue to heal and grow, I adopt the self-help practices that resonate with me and my routine and let go of the ones that don't. I hope one or many of these acts of self-love I am sharing with you today resonate and work for you the way they have abundantly worked for me.

Self-Love Tip #1: Feel ALL the Feelings

30 years of my life were consumed by hiding, minimizing, or straight up ignoring any negative emotions and feelings I had when I was going through a challenging life experience. Instead of processing how I was feeling in the moment, and sitting with my feelings, I would choose to become avoidant with my feelings and distract myself with work, social media, drinking, the gym, gossiping about others, or fixing other people's problems so I didn't have to focus on my own.

Humans can spend an entire lifetime avoiding negative and uncomfortable feelings. Choosing to face these uncomfortable feelings is a vital part to growing, healing, and learning about ourselves.

Each and every one of us is full of flaws, traumas, and insecurities. When we are trying to seek validation from the external world we try to shove any negative feelings, flaws, insecurities, and traumas down so that we appear like we have a picture-perfect life, and are successful. Sometimes hiding feelings can also be a trauma response to not feeling seen and heard as a child, and that is how you continue to manage your emotions as an adult.

Practicing and trying to implement Tip #1 gives you permission to acknowledge and heal through all your feelings, even if you used to be avoidant of them in the past. The positive, negative, uncomfortable, and sad feelings are okay, and I encourage you to feel them all. Acknowledging your feelings, along with your strengths, shortcomings, insecurities, and flaws allows you to process, grow, and heal towards being a better version of yourself in the present and for the future.

To truly appreciate joy is to fully understand and embrace what the abstinence of joy feels like. 

Self-Love Tip #2: Monitor The Energy in Your Environment

The second act of self-love flows from the first act. It is not only important to feel all your feelings, but also monitor your energy in the environments you are spending a lot of time in.

If someone is making you feel uncomfortable, tearing you down, or criticizing you in a way that is not constructive but demoralizing, monitoring your energy around this person helps you realize what rooms you don’t belong in, or at least certain environments you need to set healthy boundaries in for future interactions.

It is a true act of self-love to pay attention to your energy after spending a prolonged amount of time with different individuals in the environments you spend a lot of your time in.

There is your work environment, home environment, social environments, family environments, church/religion environments, and networking environments.

You can be around individuals and environments that recharge you and make you feel refreshed, while other individuals and environments will make you feel drained.

If you don’t spend time monitoring your energy, and practicing awareness around the people you interact with, you can become drained and have constant feelings of burn-out.

The more often you self-reflect and check in on your energy, the better you get at protecting your peace.

As Newton liked to say, “Energy can not be created nor destroyed.” It’s important to remind yourself and reflect on where you are depositing your energy. Some environments will take your energy without any reciprocation or return, while other environments the energy that you give is reciprocated back to you in some capacity or even more.

Tip #2 is so important to practice daily. Just like finances, you should monitor what you spend when it comes to your energy. If it feels your only spending and not receiving, a healthy boundary needs to be created to protect your peace, and overall wellbeing. Protect yourself from the environments that drain you, and relish and find joy in the environments that recharge you, and bring you peace.

Energy can not be created nor destroyed. Monitor your energy.

 Self-Love Tip #3: Create Healthy Boundaries to Protect Your Peace

The third act of self-love can be very hard for most individuals to implement, especially if you suffer from chronic people pleasing, and seeking acceptance of others.

A boundary is defined as an imaginary line that limits access or marks the edge of something. In tip #2 we talked about monitoring your energy around people and environments. When you become aware that certain people or environments are not improving your overall wellbeing and costing you a sense of peace from expending too much of your energy, that is where a boundary needs to be created.

Boundaries (when it comes to your overall wellbeing) are simply a way to limit the energy and access others have to you. If you are surrounded by a person who criticizes, makes fun of you, is chronically negative/complaining, or brings you down; most the time you can just stop associating with this person. BUT... Life has a way of getting challenging if this person is a colleague, a family member, part of your friend group, or a roommate.

A healthy boundary limits the access of energy that you are investing into someone else, so that you can preserve your overall wellbeing, inner peace, and continue to live a life in alignment with your true and authentic self.

Life does like to hit us with challenging circumstances, and cutting off complete access of yourself may not always be possible, but setting a healthy boundary would be the next best thing.

Tip #3 has helped preserve my overall wellbeing and confidence since adopting healthy boundary setting. If you utilize tip #1, # 2 and tip #3 together you really have the tools to continue fostering acts of self-love for yourself, while preserving your inner peace and confidence.

Healthy boundaries when it comes to your overall wellbeing limit the energy you are investing in someone else so that you can maintain your energy, inner peace, joy, and happiness. 

Self-Love Tip #4: Positive Investments Into Your Daily Diet and Exercise

Your physical health and nutritional health play a role in your overall wellbeing. The foods that you eat, and physical activity are two ways to model treating your body like a temple.

The food you eat impacts not only the energy you have to physically move your body but also plays a huge role on your brain health.

Have you ever had a small period of time where you eliminated and minimized sugar, and focused on healthy whole foods? When you do this in your daily routine you feel more energized, have less brain fog, and feel in a happier state mentally. The issue with processed foods is that they are hyperpalatable and super addicting, which creates a chronic addiction for the need, want, and desire of processed foods. When you eat highly processed foods your brain does trigger a dopamine "happy" response, but most of the time after this quick dopamine jolt has ended, you are faced with regret for not prioritizing the right foods to fuel you body with.

I am not saying never eat the things you love and enjoy if they are highly processed, but learning moderation, and prioritizing whole foods is a true act of self-love.

The same principle applies to movement and physical activity. Strength training not only sets your aging body up for success, but it has shown in research to make a positive effects on your mental health and mood. As a wellness coach I have never come across someone who regrets working out, but I have come across many individuals who tell me that they "wish they would have made the time." Self-love for yourself would be adopting diet and exercise as a high priority, and making time for it.

It is important to consume proper foods to fuel your body, and prioritize strength training and cardiovascular exercise. These acts of self care ensure that you are creating a health balance mind, body, and spirit. 

Self-Love Tip #5: Positive Investments in Your Spiritual Health

Tip #4 talked about developing healthy diet and exercise habits to sustain a healthy mind, body, and spirit. I wanted to dive a little deeper into the meaning behind "spirit." A person's spirit is made up of who they are at their core.

Our core could also consist of fears, traumas, and insecurities that we may need to discover about ourselves and better understand.

A spiritual journey helps us to uncover these deepest darkest secrets about ourselves, and gives us the power and opportunity to continue loving ourselves through it all.

Although diet and exercise can help connect our mind, body and spirit. Other spiritual health deposits can look like:

• Moments of silence in nature reflecting on your life's purpose

• Allowing yourself to feel negative emotions, but processing and reflecting on what could be causing them

• Prayer and meditation

• Deep Breathing

• Gratitude Practices
  

Choosing to nourish your spirit is an act of self-love because it will help you develop a strong sense of self. Your purpose is often times deeper than showing up at a 9-5 job, and then going home to sleep. We find ourselves in robot mode at times by only doing the things we have been conditioned to do. True discovery of self can only be unthethred through spiritual and reflective practices.

You may find fulfillment by working a 9-5 job to pay the bills but spiritually feel charged when you donate your time caring for animals at a shelter. You may feel encouraged or dedicated to spreading the word of God. You may feel a strong desire to teach and guide others on their fitness journey because of how much living a healthier lifestyle has positively impacted your life.

Pouring into your spiritual health is a great way to develop a stronger sense of self and find your higher purpose. It takes an entire lifetime to grow down into who you are at your core. When you pour into your spiritual health, you can start living a life more authentically and true to who you are. Self-discovery through spiritual health practices is also a great act of self-love to develop more peace, balance, and confidence, and abundance in your life.

A healthy person nourishes not only the mind and body, but also the spirit. 

Thank you for tuning in today to this blog post, and I hope you adopt and practice the acts of self-love that resonate with you.

Much Love and Happy Habits,

Juliane Volosky

Author of the Happy Habits Health and Wellness Blog