Run run run run run. Crash. Go to spa. Feel better. Run run run run run. Crash.

We keep ourselves over-the-top busy, then wonder why we burn out. But there is a way to keep the positive energy flowing steadily:

Instead of waiting until the inevitable crash before taking care of yourself, make small, frequent recalibrations so you never get to that crash in the first place.

For example, make the time to meditate for 20 minutes every evening. Take a hot bath as soon as you feel that telltale tension in your shoulders. Down one of those immune-booster vitamin powder drinks and go to bed early the day the first signs of a cold. Get a massage even if you don’t “need” one to destress. Read a chapter of an inspirational book every morning. Write in your journal before you need it to vent.

This way, your energy level has small ups and downs instead of giant spikes that make you want to sleep for three days straight.

How about you — do you tend to recalibrate your energy often, or wait for the crash and do something big? How has this affected your wellbeing?

Note: I’m open for new personal training clients if you know anyone in the Raleigh/Cary/Apex area who would like to work with a personal trainer. Please have them e-mail me at lindaformichelli@gmail.com or send them to my Personal Training page. Also check out the page to see two new testimonials. Thanks!

For those of you who weren’t able to make it, I have a recording up at SoundCloud. The webinar is about 30 minutes long. You can download it or listen to it right on the website.

I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

Linda

Linda’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie
(Makes a generous 2 servings, or 3 smaller servings.)

* 2 ripe bananas — the riper the bananas, the sweeter the smoothie
* Mixed frozen berries — we like cherries and blueberries (You can also use raspberries or blackberries, but I can’t stand the seeds.)
* 2 heaping Tablespoons natural peanut butter
* 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
* About 2 cups lowfat milk

Put the bananas, milk, flaxseed, and peanut butter in a blender and blend until, well, blended. Add frozen berries a little at a time and blend until you get the desired consistency. (You can make the smoothie thick or thin depending on how many berries you put in.) Pour into tall glasses and enjoy!

This cracked me up. Soften your nose? What the hell does that mean? It sounded like some new-agey nonsense.

But as I was meditating a few days later, I decided to give it a try. I concentrated on letting my eyes fall back into my head and, well, softening my nose.

Whoa!

First of all, it really did feel like my eyes were sinking into their sockets, and it almost put me into a state of sleep, while at the same time I was still awake and aware. And I never realized until then now much tension I hold in the bridge of my nose and my nostrils. When I relaxed them, my breathing suddenly became deeper and easier.

So I challenge you to try it. Get into a comfortable position, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and then follow these sill-sounding instructions: Drop your eyes back into their sockets and soften your nose.

How did it feel?

One thing we had to worry about every day we were on the road was what to eat. We didn’t want to stop at fast food drive-thrus or rely on gas station snacks. (Ew.) We did some careful planning, and we also learned a lot while we were on the road — and I’m proud to say that we ate well and went to exactly zero fast-food joints.

Here’s what we did, and what you can do the next time you’re on the road, whether you’re on a road trip or you’re on your way to work when hunger strikes:

Go shopping.

I don’t mean to go shopping beforehand, though that’s also important — I mean that instead of stopping at gas stations for an infusion of Cheez Doodles when you get hungry on the road, hit a supermarket to restock your healthy snacks. Our GPS let us search for grocery stores near where we were driving, which was extremely helpful. Most supermarkets were just a few minutes from an exit, which made it just as easy as hitting the gas station. As a bonus, you can stretch your legs while walking around in search of raisins, deli sandwiches, yogurt, nuts, and whole grain crackers and hummus.

And as an extra bonus, many large supermarkets have a Starbucks inside, so you can get good coffee instead of the gas station sludge.

Pack a cooler.

Since we have a 3-year-old who drinks mainly milk, we have a cooler and some freezer packs so we can always carry his sippy cups with us instead of having to search for milk whenever we go out. But we discovered that the cooler can also hold food for the grownups. The freezer packs keep food cold for up to 10 hours.

I like individual servings of cottage cheese, and you can also tote mozzarella cheese sticks, containers of yogurt (don’t forget a spoon!), fruit, sandwiches, baby carrots and hummus, and bottles of water. Check out my blog post on healthy snacks for more portable ideas.

Order right.

If you find yourself starving and with only fast food restaurants nearby, go ahead and hit the McDonald’s or KFC — but think before you order. At many fast food places, the least calorific thing you can get, believe it or not, is a plain hamburger. Some restaurants offer salads, baked potatoes, and grilled chicken sandwiches as well. While fast food fare in general is not the healthiest option, a plain hamburger, salad, and unsweetened iced tea is a lot better for you than a bacon-cheeseburger, large fries, and bucket-o-cola.

How do you eat healthfully while you’re on the road? Do you have any tips or anecdotes you can share?

Are you too exhausted to even think about exercise?

Do your job and your family leave you feeling bone-tired?

Do you often feel fatigued and demotivated?

If so, you’re lacking physical energy.

Physical energy is the basis for happiness. When you feel energetic, you can take on the world. And physical energy begets the mental energy and motivation you need to reach for your dreams.

To help you become an energy magnet and experience great things in your life, I’m offering a free teleseminar on Secrets to High-Energy Living on Tuesday, December 13 from 3-4 pm ET. I’ll answer questions like:

* Why is physical energy important?
* How does energy tie into happiness?
* Why is my energy so low?
* What are some good ways to gain physical energy?
* How do mood disorders like depression, anxiety, and ADHD affect my energy, and what can I do about it?

There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions via chat at the end of the webinar.

If you’d like to participate in this teleseminar, please sign up here.

About Your Coach, Linda Formichelli

I struggle with depression, anxiety, and ADHD — and yet others say I’m the most productive person they know. I have a thriving freelance writing career (earning most of the income for our family), run two blogs, teach online courses, and have a 3-year-old son, who we homeschool.

To help deal with my mood disorders, for years I’ve been studying health and wellness, with a particular focus on gaining and maintaining physical energy. This issue has been so important to me that this past year, I became a professional wellness coach and certified personal trainer so I can help others with what I’ve learned.

I can now say I truly have the energy I need to get everything done — from writing to housework — exercise, have fun, be more productive at work, and chase around my active preschooler. And I feel great!

In addition, since 1997 I’ve been writing about health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness for magazines like Redbook, WebMD, Health, Women’s Health, Fitness, and Oxygen.

I hope to see you at this teleseminar. Again, if you’re interested, please sign up here.

Thanks, and I look forward to helping you get HappyFit!

Linda Formichelli

In the blog post, I discuss how this fact makes it imperative that we take care of ourselves so our reality will consistently be positive. But what happens when we do find ourselves feeling less than great? Can we rescue our reality?

In wellness coaching, we learn that when we’re feeling negative, we should give ourselves the HALT test:

Am I:

Hungry?
Angry?
Lonely?
Tired?

If you are any of these things, HALT — don’t start navel gazing, wondering why your life sucks or why that stranger gave you a funny look. The results are guaranteed to be bad. Instead, be aware that your thoughts are temporarily negative because of the state of your emotions or your body/health.

Then take steps to remedy the situation. Lonely? Call a friend. Hungry? Have a snack. Tired? Take a nap or get to bed early. Angry? Write a scathing letter to the person you’re angry at, then delete it.

This happened to me just today: I had neglected to take enough snacks to the bookstore, and they didn’t offer any food that was wheat-free (I don’t eat wheat). This was bad news because when I get hungry, I crash — big-time. Shakiness, dizziness, the works. So I thought I was going to lose it when my toddler asked me in an increasingly agitated voice, “What did Lightning McQueen say in Cars 2? No, not THAT part! The part where he was smiling!” And my husband was in my line of fire when he moved like molasses collecting his things to go. Oh, why did the universe suck so much?

But then I remembered the HALT test and admitted that my husband and son were just fine, and as soon as I got some food these earth-shattering grievances would reveal themselves to be minor annoyances. And that’s what happened.

What’s really interesting is that as I was writing this post and thinking about my experience, I saw a short piece in Health magazine about the concept of “hanger,” which is hunger + anger. The article said that when we get hungry, the level of feel-good serotonin in our brains drops, and we’re prone to fits of anger. All the more reason not to go too long without food!

Thoughts, states of mind, emotions, tiredness, illness — these are all temporary, so don’t fall into the trap of thinking the world is over every time you experience them. Remain conscious.

Have you ever let these temporary states take over your existence? What happened, and how did you find your way out of it? Please post your experiences in the Comments below.

The book was worth the price for this one tidbit alone: Loehr says that your reality changes depending on how you feel.

For example, the other day I was in an unusually great mood, and my husband was in an unusually bad mood. And as luck would have it, our toddler’s 2-year-oldness was busting out in full force that day. But my reality was that our son was a little fussy and needed some extra love, which I gladly gave — and my husband’s reality was that his day was ruined.

And it’s happened the other way around, too: When I’m feeling down, when my husband says “I don’t want to go for a walk today” I think, “He doesn’t like spending time with me! Our marriage is in jeopardy!” When I’m feeling great, I think, “Oh, the poor guy is tired — I’ll make him a cup of coffee.”

When we’re feeling down, ill, stressed, or generally unhealthy, we tend to see the world through a negative lens — and when that happens, we attract more negative circumstances into our life, because that’s what we’re paying more attention to.

Ever notice how something like a near miss in a parking lot can be catastrophic or a blessing, depending on how you’re feeling that day? If you’re ill, it’s just one more horrible thing that happened to you that day. If you’re feeling on top of the world, it’s a learning experience and a chance to show off your Zen living skills.

Knowing that our reality changes depending on how we feel, it’s our imperative to do what we can to feel great every day. If we don’t take care of ourselves, our entire world and life experience can change for the worse.

But if we put a priority on exercising, eating in a way that nourishes us, and taking time to relax and connect with others — then we experience our best life. And this creates an upward spiral that catches up our loved ones as well.

What do you think? Have you ever noticed how your reality changes depending on how you feel? Let’s hear your stories in the Comments below!

This is a great idea. For example, I love to make huge salads to eat as a meal (with protein) or as a side dish with dinner for a couple of days. The problem? Salads typically don’t fare well in the fridge for more than a few hours.

I did some tinkering and came up with a few tips that will help your salad last two or even three days in the fridge without going limp or soggy.

Pick Your Greens

Butter lettuce and baby greens? Sog city, baby. Instead, choose hearty varieties of lettuce like romaine, green leaf, red leaf, and even iceberg.

Yes, even iceberg has some redeeming qualities. As I wrote in an article for Better Health & Living magazine, “Iceberg lettuce is one of our top sources for vitamin K. Not only that, but it’s low in calories — just 10 calories per cup of shredded lettuce. The much-maligned iceberg is also an inexpensive way to add texture to more expensive greens.”

Switch the Tomatoes

I’ve found that cut-up regular tomatoes get mushy in a stored salad. However, sliced or whole grape tomatoes hold their shape pretty well.

Get Undressed

No, not like that — I mean don’t add dressing to your salad! A dressed salad will not last in the fridge, so add dressing to individual servings instead.

You’ll also want to leave off protein like chicken, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs and add them when you serve the salad.

Cover Up

First I tell you to undress, then I tell you to cover up. My super-secret trick is to place a paper towel over the salad and kind of tuck it in along the edges, then top the bowl with plastic wrap. The paper towel soaks up evaporating moisture so it doesn’t fall back into the salad and make it soggy. Change the paper towel every day when you take some of the salad. Works like a charm!

So…do you have any tips for making a salad last longer, or for making any other healthy-but-perishable food last beyond its normal expiration date? Share here!

1. Motivation doesn’t make you act…action makes you motivated.

If you’re lolling around on the couch waiting for motivation to hit before you get up and go for a walk, you’ll be on that couch so long that it will have a permanent you-shaped imprint on it. Taking action — whether you feel inspired to or not — will generate the motivation to keep going. For example, I have a hard time getting started with exercise, but once I get my sneakers on and get out the door, I have the momentum to go for a long run/walk. You don’t need to be motivated to take action.

2. Box it.

Time boxing is an IT term that means to divide up a project into smaller chunks, each with its own timeline and budget. Commit to working on any given task for a small amount of time; 15 to 30 minutes is good. Set a timer, and work on that tough project until the timer goes off. This boosts motivation because you know when you sit down that there is an end in sight. Another benefit is that once you’ve gotten started, you’re likely to get on a roll and not want to stop.

3. Buddy up.

A goal buddy can help motivate you by holding you accountable for exercising, getting your work done — whatever you need to do. Choose someone who’s at your fitness or career level, and commit to talking in person or by phone at regular intervals, such as once a week or twice per month. Each of you should go over what your goals were during the last session, whether you met those goals and how (or why not), what your new goals are for the upcoming session, and what you plan to do to meet those goals. Your goal buddy can help you brainstorm your way past blocks, crises of confidence, and other barriers.

4. Take a break.

Sometimes you just need to give up. Not permanently, mind you, but just for a while as you relax and renew. If you’re feeling a real lack of motivation to get anything done, give yourself permission to lounge on the couch with a good book for a few hours, take a day off to go to the park, or spend a couple of days at a B&B for some R&R.

5. Reward yourself.

Assign yourself a reward for every step of a project you’re working on. For example, if you’re writing a book proposal, you can treat yourself to a fancy coffee drink after you write the table of contents, a new book once the first draft is done, and a massage when the project is complete. Want to train for a 5k? For every week that you stick to your training plan, buy some new running music for your iPod. Rewards don’t necessarily have to be pricey; you can also give yourself an hour off to take a nice bath, or ask your partner to give you that massage when you reach milestones or finish a project.

6. Scare yourself motivated.

A friend of mine made a deal with another writer: She would complete her book proposal by X date or she would have to do a certain thing that really frightened her. You can be sure she was motivated to crank out that book proposal!

How do you motivate yourself to do difficult tasks? Please post your ideas in the Comments!