Tag: debbieharbeccoach

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How to Meal Plan for Less Stress and Better Health

Does the thought of meal planning bring up feelings of dread?

You’re not alone.

I used to dread doing this, too.

But, in a past life, when I ran a home daycare, I had to learn this skill.

Over time, I got really good at it.

And it’s actually become something I look forward to, and now I even find it kind of fun.

Yes, fun.

Not just for the activity itself, but also for what it brings me.

However, I know that to you, it can seem like anything but fun.

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How to ACTUALLY make YOUR HEALTH a priority

What are the most important things in life to you?

Chances are, if you’re like most of us, “My health” is somewhere near the top of the list.

But I’m not sure if many of us actually believe ourselves when we say it.

In fact, I hear that a lot.

I hear the guilt around not making health a priority.

And the shame around being out of shape and overweight.

What I’ve learned is that we all want our health to be a top priority.

But we don’t always know how to make that happen within our busy lives.

And that’s ok.

Because there’s a solution.

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Presence for Mother’s Day

Here in Canada, this Sunday is Mother’s Day.

I know for some, it’s just a commercial holiday.

But for a lot of us, it’s a day we spend time with our moms and families.

Or we take time to remember those moms in our lives that have passed.

In my case, it’s the one day each year that I go visit my mom’s grave.

And I bring her a single flower…

A bird of paradise.

Flowers

It was her favorite.

Just three years before she passed away, my brothers and I surprised my parents with plane tickets to Hawaii for their 25th wedding anniversary.

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Getting organized for better health

Have you ever watched “Get Organized with The Home Edit” on Netflix?

I’m obsessed!

Although I’ve never been an organization freak, this show makes me want to be one.

Seeing the home spaces they organize, so beautifully arranged by function and color, just makes me feel good.

And, on the flip-side, I know that when I see cluttered and chaotic spaces in my house, I don’t feel good.

It feels like total overwhelm and sadness.

It stresses me.

And you know, if you’ve been reading my posts, that stress is a huge barrier to weight loss, fitness, and a healthier life.

So, just by organizing your environment you can feel better, in every way.

But organizing isn’t just about your home environment.

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Why Yoga leads to a better perimenopause experience

Your hormones may be a little chaotic these days.

I know mine are.

For me, I notice it in my cycle which has been unpredictable over the past few months.

I get heart palpitations every so often.

I get bloated more easily.

I’m more prone to gaining belly fat.

I feel more aches and pains in my joints.

And I had a few months of acid reflux.

Stress is definitely something that makes these things appear or get worse for me.

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Your brain in perimenopause

Brain fog.

Forgetting words.

Recently I’ve been enthusiastic about (addicted to) the online game Wordle.

I’ve always been drawn to word puzzles, and what I like about this one is it’s simple and there’s only one a day (thank God!)

But what this game has also made me notice is how sometimes my brain isn’t working as quickly as it used to.

Words that I know, easy words, get stuck on the tip of my tongue.

And at first, I was a little worried.

Was I losing it?

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How to get it done when you don’t feel like it

Here’s a post from a few years ago.

It’s a subject that’s always relevant, and that I coach on regularly.

So I hope you get what you need from it.

This morning I woke up at 5:30.

Last night, before going to bed, I planned to get up this morning, bright and early, to do my work-out. 

I knew what I wanted to get done (I wrote it down), why I was doing it (Spartan race this Saturday!), where I was going (the park across the street),  and what I was going to wear (I took out my shorts, tank top, and socks last night).

But despite good planning, the truth was I didn’t “feel like” working out this morning.

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How to reinvent yourself in mid-life

So many women I meet are feeling a sort of unease, unhappiness, or general anxiety.

And they know, deep inside, that something needs to change.

But what?

Maybe you’re familiar with this feeling.

And maybe you think you already know the change you want to make…

You want to change your career.

Or start a business.

Or leave a relationship.

Or start new relationships.

Or transform your body.

Or just become a more authentic version of you.

And maybe you don’t know.

So, it would seem like the best place to start is by asking yourself a question:

“What do I want?”

It’s only four words, but it can be the hardest question to answer.

It feels overwhelming.

I think it’s because it’s so wide open.

And it’s something so many of us have never really asked ourselves, at least not recently.

Then, if you attempt to answer it, you may be bombarded with self-doubt and self-judgment, making it really hard to come up with what you truly want.

So, I think a much better question to start with is:

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5 Short and Simple Workouts for Busy Women

I love what I do.

I may have mentioned that before.

But it’s true.

I get to coach some very accomplished, busy, hard-working women.

They’re great at what they do.

And they demand a lot of themselves.

So, when they begin to work with me, and I’m not all about “go big or go home”, they are skeptical.

Especially when it comes to exercise.

It feels like exercise should be all out, and all the time, in order to see results.

But it’s not true.

In fact, I know that kind of thinking often leads to doing LESS rather than more.

And when it comes to weight-loss in mid-life, more and harder isn’t always helpful.

So, I challenge my clients to come up with simple and creative ways of getting exercise in on the daily.

Here are some of the ideas that they’ve had success with:

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