Ep. 69 | Game Changer Sneak Peak: The 3 Wellness Levels

We’re doing something new today! Last month, I did a major update to my Game Changer and added an audio option to each lesson so that you have the option to listen to your daily 10-15 minutes lesson during your commute, while going for a walk, or while washing dishes or folding laundry instead of having to sit down and read. My goal is to make this journey as easy as possible for you. 

Since I now have the audio, this is a glimpse of one of the first lessons in the Game Changer that teaches a key concept if you’re wanting to make healthy changes but keep promising yourself you’ll start tomorrow or if you’re making healthy changes but they feel hard and unsustainable. There are really 3 Wellness Levels, but our world acts like here are only 2 and both of those are pretty unappealing and uncomfortable. After listening to this episode, let me know which one sounds most familiar to you!

P.s. Check out "Life Boost with Amelia" podcast Episode 57: Unleashing Your Inner Unstoppable Bad-Ass. Around minute 28 there's an exercise with a guided mental rehearsal/hypnosis to help you to start unchaining the things that have been holding you back. 

I'm doing something fun for the month of December! If you listen to a podcast episode and then share it on social media and tag me (@lifeboostwithamelia), you'll be entered into a drawing at the end of the month for a chance to win a free 1 hour 1-on-1 coaching session with me. Two winners will be selected at the end of the month (you can also gift the session if you wish). Every share on social media counts as one entry. Fun, right? 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

1:05

Welcome to the life boost with a million podcast where we're changing the narrative around what true health and success look like. They should give you energy, not drain it. I'm your host, Dr. Amelia multi-passionate integrative health and life coach, entrepreneur, and recovered burnout veterinarian. Together, we'll explore the science behind how your brain and body work, including the unconscious mind while also connecting with what your heart needs in order to stand up to the norm of feeling stuck on a hamster wheel-working hard yet feeling exhausted and not where you want to be- and instead live a life that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning and in love with who you see when you look in the mirror. The reality is if you do what everyone else is doing, you're not going to feel good. Let's break the norm. Hi friend! Today, we're going to do something a little bit different, and I'm going to give you a glimpse inside the game changer program by sharing one of the lessons that shares a really important key concept that everybody should be aware of. If you're not familiar with the game changer, it is the foundation of everything that I teach. It's a three-month self-paced program with group and individual support to help you start getting your energy and sanity back now in a way that feels doable, even while things feel busy and overwhelming so that you can stop promising yourself you'll take better care of yourself tomorrow while sacrificing your health and happiness today. I'm so confident that this program will truly change the way that you experience life and be so worthwhile that as long as you follow the program, Including spending at least 10 to 15 minutes per day on it. I have a satisfaction guaranteed so if you don't feel like it was worth it at the end of the program, I will refund every penny. And your success isn't important to me, and I want to make those 10 to 15 minutes per day, as easy as possible. And so last month I did an update and added audio options to all of my lessons, meaning that now instead of reading a lesson, you can just listen to it. So during your commute, while going for a walk, if you're doing laundry or washing the dishes, You can be listening to basically a mini podcast. That's just helping to give you a little nugget of knowledge or skill or concept that is going to help to lift a weight off your shoulders and help you to get your energy and sanity back. And since I now have all of these audio lessons, I thought that this was a great opportunity to share some of the most important concepts with you on this podcast. And the three wellness levels is one super important concept to start with for anybody who is wanting to make healthy changes, but is feeling either like you just keep putting that off and telling herself tomorrow I'll do it or maybe you're making all the changes, but it's feeling really hard and overwhelming and you're tired of falling on and off the bandwagon. This episode today is going to help to clear that up and help to introduce you to a new way of approaching health. In a way that gives you energy instead of drains it. So, let me know what you think of this. It is going to be a little bit different from the typical podcast in that I am reading the lesson. So it's kind of like an audio book versus me just, you know, chatting with you. But we're playing with a lot of fun, new things this year, including more podcast interviews. I just had one today that I know you're going to love. So stay tuned for that next week. And let me know what you think of this style. The three levels of your wellness journey. I spent a lot of time trying to solve this puzzle. If being healthy is supposed to make us feel good. Why are so many people avoiding or exhausted? Trying to get healthy? Why is it so hard? This is what I've realized. There are three levels when it comes to a wellness journey, yet our society makes it seem like there are only two. Level one, I'll do it tomorrow. And to the bandwagon or pressure cooker. Are both unappealing and uncomfortable. So it's no wonder that the norm is to be sick, overweight and or unhappy. If you don't know and believe that level three life boost is possible for you. Then there's a good chance. You'll think it's normal when your approach feels hard and uncomfortable. The point of being healthy is to feel better physically and mentally. So if attempts at making healthy changes make your life harder. Of course it's not sustainable. One quick note. When I talk about health, I'm not just talking about weight or nutrition. I am talking about your overall wellbeing, how you feel inside and out. Every aspect of your life influences your health and your health influences all aspects of your life. It's impossible to focus on one thing without impacting the others. I live a very healthy lifestyle and a lot of people make one or both of these assumptions. I rely on a bucket load of discipline and willpower, or I'm lucky that being healthy has always come easily to me. Neither of those assumptions are true. In the past, I did try the discipline and willpower approach and level too many times because I'm stubborn and I didn't know that level three existed. I thought it was supposed to be hard, which is why I got sick, like clockwork at the start of every vacation had shingles in high school, injured myself, running a marathon so badly that I could barely walk suffered from random crippling stomach aches for years, and eventually reached the lowest point in my life. When I regretted everything I had spent my life working hard for and felt exhausted. I know, level two very well, which is why I now hope others Unchained themselves from it. Uh, living a healthy lifestyle does come easily to me now. But I wasn't always this way. Almost everything I do now, I didn't use to do. That means you can absolutely be one of those people who others assume has always been healthy because you make it look natural. By the end of this post. You'll see why. The old me. I was a tightly wound up ball of anxiety, worry and overthinking. Despite appearing calm on the outside. I don't remember a time when I didn't feel like everyone expected me to be the responsible, polite, good girl who gets perfect grades. So I followed all the rules. I grew up eating Eggo's pop tarts, and bagels for breakfast. And my favorite thing to order at a restaurant was chicken fingers, fries, and a root beer. When I started to pay attention to my food and nutrition. I focused on the calories, feared fat and believed, restricting and ignoring. My body was part of being good and healthy. I loved sweets. So I had small meals, so I could justify a bowl of low fat, frozen yogurt every night. And whatever other suites, I felt like my restriction and exercise had earned for the day. I went from hating running to doing long distance running on top of intense workouts. Like insanity. Because it was the only thing that helped to calm my anxiety. And there were parts of me that feared. If I didn't work out all the results I had achieved would immediately disappear. Things like yoga walks, journaling and meditating weren't for me. And I kind of loved that. I was the type of person who didn't like to slow down. I always worried about what other people thought about me. And when I looked in the mirror, I would focus on all of my perceived flaws, regardless of how small or fit I was. Despite all of my achievements, it never felt good enough. And I was always sacrificing rest and enjoyment in order to achieve a future goal, I thought would make everything better. Me now. Now I look forward to waking up at four 30 in the morning because I've intentionally created a life that's aligned with. What's truly important to me. My morning routine starts with meditating and journaling followed by a workout that supports my energy and strength and a quiet walk. I eat a bowl of sardines, veggies, and avocado for breakfast. And I do those things because I want to not, because I think I should. Regardless of what's on my plate, or if I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, my morning routine helps me to feel grounded and ready to conquer the day. My taste buds in relationship with food has totally changed. I trust and listen to my body and the nourishing real food that I eat leaves me satisfied and with a happy heart. When I started eating real food and enough, my evening ice cream ritual and sweet tooth disappeared, simply because I no longer wanted or craved sweets. Despite encountering the inevitable stressors and challenges that are part of life, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and being seen in waves. My previously ultra introverted self never would have dreamed of my baseline stress level is very low. I've learned how to partner with my nervous system. Listen to my body and heart. And protect my energy and sanity. I'm proud of who I see when I look in the mirror. None of that happened over night. It was a process which I'll walk you through. Well, the change you want may look totally different from mine. The point is that big changes in your physical and mental health are a hundred percent possible for you. Regardless of what your brain may be telling you right now. The first step is to understand why things have felt hard and to start allowing yourself to be open to the possibility that level three is possible for you. Here's what you need to know about the wellness levels. Level one. I'll do it tomorrow. And level one, life feels overwhelming. And your idea of what healthy will entail seems too intimidating or exhausting. Level one feels safe, but uncomfortable, safe, because taking on anything new feels like too much. Uncomfortable because you don't feel good in your body and you always have a nagging underlying thought that you should be taking better care of yourself. To feel better. You promise yourself it'll start tomorrow, or as soon as fill in the blank. You're afraid of failing or disappointing yourself. And level one, there's so much pressure that it's holding you down from being able to move forward. Your energy tank is empty. Level to the bandwagon or pressure cooker. And level to the bandwagon. You're proud of all the things you're doing, but it feels really fragile. You rely on discipline and willpower and you're motivated by self judgment. You feel on track and successful, but it's also exhausting and never enough. External things like the number on the scale, praise from others, or how much you accomplish in a day determines how you feel about yourself. Cheating on your healthy habits helps you to stay on track because sometimes you need a break from being good. Level two is like a pressure cooker. You carry around the pressure as it builds up inside of you. You can't stay in level two because there's only so much pressure you can carry and trying to contain it is exhausting. So there are three options. One. You try putting up with a pressure until something in your life that was adding pressure has to give. And you go back to level one. Since there's so much pressure, build up this results in a big release, like not wanting to go anywhere or do anything overeating, quote, unquote, bad food outbursts, et cetera. To you use discipline and willpower to stay in level two, despite your body's warning signs, that it's too much pressure, something in your body eventually buckles under the pressure in the form of injuries, weird signs in your body burnout, et cetera. Or three, you recognize the pressure building and release and let go of unnecessary pressure to up level to level three. Level three life boost. The good news. There's a level three. At level three, your healthy lifestyle feels natural. You live a healthy lifestyle because you want to not because you feel like you should. You can never imagine going back to the way things were before you feel more alive and fulfilled than ever. You no longer seek external validation because you have a strong sense of self-worth love and compassion for yourself. And level three, it feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders and you can breathe again. You've released the pressure from the previous thoughts, beliefs, and rules that were weighing you down and holding you back so that you feel lighter physically and mentally. And level three, the way that you navigate and experience life changes so that when you encounter challenges and stressful times, you have confidence and resilience, knowing that you have your back and that you can make it through to grow and be stronger on the other side. Level three is empowering and gives you energy. Now that you've been introduced to the three wellness levels. Can you see how the problem isn't you. It's a pressure problem. The pressure comes from beliefs and rules that our society and your life experiences have conditioned you to believe are key to your success. But remember our society acts like they're only two wellness levels. The thoughts and rules you've been taught or for level two. The level that exhausts your energy instead of boosts, that that is why the normal approach to health and wellbeing is so deeply flawed. That is why it's not normal to thrive. Levels one and two are guided by what you think you should do. Should create pressure and pressure is trapped energy. Think about it. How does it feel when you tell yourself you should work out, you should eat better. You should be better at your job. You should say yes. When you really want to say no. Notice the pressure you feel and the energy zap. There's a lot of judgment behind should and it doesn't feel good. In order to move forward, you need to release some of the pressure first, so you can get some of that energy back. You will know when you're moving towards level three, because you will feel a weight lifted off your shoulder. Level three is guided by ditching the sheds and replacing them with what you want. Here's where to start. Create a pop-off valve for the pressure. Pressure creates a lot of stress. Start by releasing some of that stress with anti-anxiety tools. Put your hand on your heart to reconnect with yourself. Take a moment to think about all the pressure that you have been putting on yourself for so long. Have compassion for that part of you. Practice one of the anti-anxiety tools you've learned, anytime you're feeling overwhelmed, more to come. And you time, you feel stuck and trapped in the sheds and pressure from commitments and expectations. Hang out at this step. Allow yourself to feel any emotions that come up that may have been bottled up inside you. Did you know that the biochemical reaction of an emotion only lasts for up to 90 seconds? When you allow yourself to feel the full emotion, you can release it instead of holding it trapped in your body. Your brain is likely coming up with lots of reasons. Why things in your life that are causing pressure are never going to change. That's totally normal. And it's also not true. Note that there will always be unavoidable things in your life that cause pressure and drain your energy. That's what makes life interesting. But the key is to be aware of the pressure and where it's coming from so that you can create balance. When something in your life is creating a lot of pressure or draining energy. That means you need to look for somewhere else in your life that can release some pressure or boost your energy. Check out the next lesson for journal prompts to reflect more on the wellness levels. That's the end of the lesson, but here are some questions to either reflect on or to spend some time journaling on in order to make the most out of this. With those three wellness levels in mind. What level sounds most familiar. Why do you think your previous wellness attempts weren't sustainable with this new perspective? What is your self talk, Ben like throughout your wellness journey? Journey. What has been your primary motivation to get healthy, where those motivated by self judgment punishment or not feeling good enough or were they motivated by self respect and love? Do you believe level three as possible for you? What do you think it would take to get there? If you're realizing that level one and level two sound pretty darn familiar, and you are really curious about what it would be like to experience a healthy lifestyle from a level three perspective. Then this is just the start of a journey. And I walk you one small step at a time through this steps that have been most helpful in helping me to get to that life boost level three. And one thing that I also want to. Really highlight. Is. That there is no quote unquote, after. I know it can be so easy to think. Oh, as soon as I am consistently eating healthy or as soon as I'm good at working out, or you, as soon as you achieve X goal or. With your job or with finances or relationship, then things will be better. The most important thing that I've learned is that. It's not going to make everything better. Right, because we kind of imagined that when we achieve that, everything's going to just pause and be perfect, but life just keeps happening. And that's not a problem. As long as we haven't sacrificed. Our energy, fulfillment and pleasure. In order to get to that moment of achievement. That lasts for a split second. The most important thing is that your journey as you work towards your goals or as you encounter the really hard challenging times in life, The most important thing is that you are navigating that in a way that. Feels true and good. And isn't sucking all of the life and energy out of you. And so while I certainly help you to achieve your health goals. We go so much deeper and it's more about helping you to change the way that you experience and navigate life. In a way that feels empowering and comforting and helps you to feel confident, even when things aren't perfect because life never is. And that's what makes it a pretty great adventure. To learn more or to sign up, you can visit my website, www.life boost.today/ game-changer. I'll also leave the link in my show notes. Or even better if you're curious and you want to chat about it and learn more, you can always send me a message. You can reach out to me on Instagram, Facebook, or you can always send me an email at Amelia at life boost. Stop today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with someone who you think could benefit. And if you're enjoying this podcast, it would mean so much to me. If you would take the time to leave a review so that others can find me. And as I thank you. If you leave a review, send me an email, letting me know, and I'll send you. A free guided meditation for mental rehearsal. So that is exactly what elite athletes, executives, incredible surgeons all use at the scientifically proven way to improve performance. And the reason this works so well is because when you are mentally rehearsing, the same area of your brain is lighting up. As if you were actually doing it. And so it's a safe and effective way to be preparing and practicing and improving your skills for when you're actually living it in the moment. So send me an email at a million at life boost. Stop today if you leave a review and i can't wait to share that with you cheers your inevitable health happiness and success