Written by: Wendy Crabbe, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Have you ever wondered why you doubt yourself or think you’re doing “it” wrong? Your brain is wired to go to the negative first to keep you safe. The problem is that most people are not aware of most of the 60,000 thoughts they have in a day. The negative ones are often running in the background on repeat.
Coaching helped me become aware of more of my thoughts and conscious that I had a choice to continue to think that way or not. The way you think creates the results you have in your life.
Awareness of my thoughts and what that created in my life is the first-way life coaching has changed my life. I joined a self-coaching program because some parts of my life felt like Groundhog Day with the same results happening on repeat. I felt helpless to change it.
Coaching showed me that my thoughts about a situation create my feelings which drive what I do or don’t do and then create the results I have. Realizing that I have the option to change my thoughts blew my mind. However, if you are not aware, you can’t change it.
It’s not just about going from a very negative thought like “I hate my body” to “I love my body.” It’s about making it realistic and believable or possibly making the thought more neutral so you don’t feel as bad. An example of a more believable thought is “I have a body,” and you could add that “even though I may not have treated it well, it still works.”
The second way coaching has changed my life is with mindset tools I used to lose 55 lbs over 1 year. Your brain wants to keep things the same. That's why after 2 weeks of starting a new diet and a co-worker brings in brownies, you decide it’s too complicated and decide to start again on Monday or next month.
After 2 months on my healthy eating plan, I wondered when I could go back to eating the way I did before. I heard someone else get coached on this, and the coach said, you can eat anything you want. It is your choice to eat this way. Her statement blew my mind. Thinking of it as my choice was so empowering.
That one tool, plus making decisions ahead of time and learning how to deal with stress and negative emotions instead of going to food, got me to the finish line. I use the same tools to help me to maintain my weight.
The third way coaching has changed my life is by learning to love unconditionally. I had some relationship issues with my adult children and felt a lot of judgment and resentment about the choices they made. I felt responsible for how they were thinking and feeling and the results they created. I felt awful and caused myself a lot of suffering. I was constantly wishing things were different and arguing with what was the current reality.
My coach helped me realize that I had a manual for all the members of my family plus myself, and I was making them responsible for how I felt. I was also feeling responsible for how they felt. No wonder I felt awful! With a coach, I realized that my thoughts created the stories I was telling myself.
What I really wanted was to love my children unconditionally. I ended up being able to drop the stories, judgment, and resentment I had. I no longer feel responsible for how anyone else thinks, feels, or acts. The process took time but was so freeing.
Coaching has changed my life in many areas. I have increased awareness of what I was thinking, made a lifestyle change, and healed several relationships by getting rid of the manual I had for others and myself. Coaching gave me the inspiration to become an entrepreneur and business owner as a life and weight loss coach.
Coaching can help you in any area of your life. Give it a try. Where else will you have someone give you their undivided attention for 30 minutes to 1 hour?
Connect with Wendy on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit her website for more information on obesity, gut health, mindset and hormones. Read more from Wendy!
Wendy Crabbe, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Wendy Crabbe, an oncology nurse practitioner and now expert in helping health professionals and women over 50 lose weight, struggled all her life with her weight. She wondered if she was so smart, why couldn’t she lose weight? The causes of obesity are about more than excess food intake and not enough movement. It’s also related to altered hormones and alterations in the gut microbiome. She was finally able to lose the weight with mindset coaching and adopting a science-based approach that she uses with her clients today. She is now on a mission to help hundreds and thousands of women over 50 get healthier; because when women get healthier, their families get healthier.
