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CoachLandry
Topic 1

Healthy Body Log

Mom always told me that our family women were "big-boned", translation, fat". Another family member told me to get used to my weight because there was no way to lose weight after 40. At my largest, the scales tipped at 235 pounds. I increased my exercising and lost 10 pounds. Unfortunately, my weight fluctuated by that same 10 pounds for the better part of a year. My annual physical became a nightmare. I needed a way out of the cycle to save myself.

That fall, I met a couple of coaches and I wanted to take a chance on what they were promoting. But first I would need knee surgery for an torn meniscus. After the surgery, my provider told me that the meniscus wasn't just torn, it was mutilated. I thought I was doomed. But, I reasoned, if I can't workout like I used to do, then let's concentrate on what I'm eating. So, I joined a Healthy Eating Challenge with my new coach friends. I learned that while I thought I was eating healthy, I really wasn't. I learned to eat differently and began to lose weight. I even was able to begin exercising again, modifying what my knee couldn't tolerate. I felt great and looked great. My confidence soared.

Fast forward four years where I experienced a strained hamstring. Now I was limited to upper body work for six months. The following six months, I continued my upper body work with resistance training and began to strengthen my hamstring slowly. But, in the meantime, I had gained weight with the lack of movement. Then, what I had been doing nutrition-wise was no longer working. That was super hard to take in.

I desperately wanted to know how I could help myself and others like me, so I enrolled in a Health Coach certification program with a focus on nutrition and movement actions. It was in that environment that the lightbulb came on. From time to time, our body needs a reset on the nutrition it receives. Then, in a webinar on what is calling you for service, I was listening and suddenly, I wasn't hearing the lecture. I was hearing an inner voice that said, "You need to work with caregivers. That's what you were meant to do." Talk about an AHA moment!

That's where I am now, finishing up the final touches on what kinds of programs will provide the most help to caregivers. I'm creating content whose value is that it addresses the most urgent topics from my caregiver experience with my parents and other caregiver challenges that other caregivers have indicated impact their own health and wellbeing. So the changes I'm making to this website are the right ones. My research and my own experience back them up.

2020 was about getting coaching and nutrition certifications. Launching this site and offering my services was step one for 2021. First quarter changes have been step 2. For the future, I plan to offer online events and record them for posting here. That makes them available to my followers. My first is about Managing the Chaos and releasing the stress. It was oriented toward everyone, but I was pretty stressed as a caregiver, so I think it still has value. I may update it and record it again with more of a focus on caregivers in the future. In case you're intrigued by Managing Chaos, check out the Events page. There's a recording you can watch on that page under Past Events.

Why am I sharing my story with you?

  • To let you know that you are never too old, or too big, or too whatever to learn new ways of being.
  • To let you know that I understand the struggles and they can be overcome with time and commitment.
  • To let you know that you can move the needle on where you are versus where you want to be. All you need is a little knowledge, action items to put it in place and an accountability system to inspire you to not give up. That's where I come in. As your coach, I can see that elevated version of you, hold it sacred in times where you don't see it, support you when you falter and hold you accountable to that future version of you to keep going.
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Topic 2

The Cost of Sugar

Most of us know that sugar is bad for us, but few know why it's considered bad for the human body. A diet of sugary foods can lead to obesity, diabetes, and even an imbalance in the digestive system that promotes the growth of opportunist bacteria. Most people think that they need a sugary drink, for example, to get over the afternoon slump. here's what really happens in the body.

Thee are several types of stress the body deals with. The one I want to help you understand is the biological/chemical stress because it relates to sugar in the body. Every time you eat or drink something besides water, the food either reduces this type of stress, or it increases it. Guess which one the sugary drink triggers. Blood sugar is the amount of glucose in your blood, which normally provides the body's cells with energy. However, when there is an imbalance of this energy source, that imbalance creates a stress response response in your body.

When the glucose level is in balance, glucose is delivered to the cells and used for energy. But, when there are extended periods of glucose imbalance, then the body experiences damage to nerves and organs, not to mention the havoc that your blood vessels endure. All this damage eventually can lead to diabetes. Another side effect of excess sugar ( glucose/insulin), is that too much results in the storage of some of the excess in the fat cells.

If the imbalance isn't chronic, then the storage may become short-term. But if the imbalance is consistently present, it becomes lipids or fatty acids, Lipids and fatty acids cannot be converted back into glucose and used as energy. Instead, they become much harder to release. It requires a process to kick in that the body reserves only for dire circumstances, like starvation to preserve the heart and the brain.

CoachLandry

To expand on the sugar the body receives from sugary drinks, or cinnamon buns, bread, candy bars, or other processed foods, this sugar is derived from simple carbohydrates that can provide a burst of energy, but it will always result in a sugar crash. This causes the blood sugar to have peaks and valleys, know as the blood sugar roller coaster and eventually, if it remains the norm, results in a glucose imbalance and a stress reaction that leads to internal damage and eventually diabetes. It goes like this:

  • Simple carbohydrate is eaten
  • The body breaks it down quickly, which becomes a blood sugar spike
  • This spike triggers the release of too much insulin by the pancreas to remove the excess blood sugar
  • There is an energy crash, so the body sends the signal to eat again You may experience brain fog, impatience, nervousness, light-headedness, or fatigue, among other reactions
  • Establishing a cycle that repeats over and over, putting the body in the stress response continuously

Here are a few actions that can help you reduce your sugar intake, and help your body:

  • Choose water over colas, fruit juices, or other carbonated beverages. Thinking you are hungry is often that your are a bit dehydrated, so water will remedy that without engaging the blood sugar roller coaster.
  • Eat sweet vegetables, fruits and spices to tame that sweet tooth, such as yams, carrots, berries, figs, cinnamon, or cloves.
  • Pay attention to the labels on Low-fat and Fat-free foods. Sugar is often the replacement for the fat, otherwise you wouldn't eat it.

One final note on sugar. Your body needs some sugar, but the balance of the exact amount before your body goes haywire and the items above result is very precise. If you must have sugar, get it from natural sources, like raw fruits, and be careful about spiking your sugar levels. The spikes indicate an imbalance is happening.

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