happiness

I’m Choosing To Live In The Moment; Who’s With Me?

September 1, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 9 Comments

Something that’s been on my mind a lot lately is living in the present moment. With all my thoughts about whether to move back to Ohio or to stay in Southern California, I’ve found myself constantly thinking about what’s going to make me happy.

But then I realize I am so consumed by the thoughts of my future self/happiness, that I completely neglect my present self/happiness.

The only thing we truly have is this moment. The past is but a memory. The future will never truly be here. We only have right now.

It’s important to remember that every action has a consequence/reaction. It’s not wise (in my opinion) to go throughout your life without a care of how your actions will affect others. That’s selfish. However, it’s also important to remember that we don’t need to think about every little detail and plan out every little thing that will happen next. Because truthfully, nothing ever goes as planned.

Image Source: notsalmon.com (I LOVE her Insta)

Before bed every night, I find myself going over and over the stresses of my life in my head. I never come to a conclusion (because truly, how will that happen while laying in my bed at 1 o’clock in the morning?). I only end up with more stress. So I started actively thinking about things that were more calming, like my breaths as I try to fall asleep. Nothing too serious, just simple breathing patterns. I found that I was able to fall asleep much easier and faster, and I was having fewer nightmares. I truly lived in the present moment, and I felt peace. So now I do this every night, and I love it!

I don’t want to waste away my days focusing on petty things. I don’t want to waste my days sitting in my apartment and waiting for the next great thing to happen. My life is happening right now, and it’s up to me to make it what I want.

And it all starts with living in the now.

Who’s with me?

XO, Lyndsay

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Ambassador Personal Reviews

Looking For Happiness In Your Life?

June 26, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 6 Comments

No matter our situation, we can always use a bit more happiness in our lives. There’s always room to be happier! But how, you ask.

Happify.

Happify is a website and app (iPhone only) that uses recent scientific breakthroughs to develop tracks/activities to help improve your happiness. For physical fitness, we do activities (workouts for the body) to become stronger. It’s the same idea, except for mental fitness. Happify provides workouts for the mind to become stronger and happier! Scientists and game designers created the S.T.A.G.E. framework, which helps you to master the five essential skills of happiness: savor, thank, aspire, give, empathize. I’ve gotta say, it is a pretty awesome website!

It’s really simple to use. Go to www.happify.com and create a profile (this is FREE, by the way)! Then you take a quick questionnaire to determine your “happiness score.” The first time I took it, my score was in the low 30s (aka not happy). I took it again recently though, and it raised to a 59! Yay! After you take the quick questionnaire, you are then able to click on activities recommended to you (or you can explore tracks). These activities/tracks are quick and each have an explanation of why it works. They range from things like cope better with stress, to get motivated to get fit, to maximizing your money and happiness!

My first activity was a short, three round game where there were hot air balloons with positive and negative words. I was to click on the balloons with positive words, and it gave me points. I was actually smiling a lot by the time I was done; it was so fun! After that, I did a two minute meditation session where I was able to pick the mood and moving picture/video (I picked a sunset over the ocean) with background music. It helped me to feel calm and relaxed.

Here are some screen shots from the hot air balloon activity on my iPhone:

I had the amazing opportunity of teaming up with Happify as an I’m Fit Possible ambassador for a Happify Campaign!

Click my link-> Happify -> Sign up, complete one track; if you like it, keep going! If not, no problem. But don’t forget, there’s scientific evidence behind all the Happify tracks. Plus, it’s pretty fun. 😉 Let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

To a happier life,

Lyndsay

Ambassador Fitness Nutrition

New Delta Labs Ambassador & A GIVEAWAY!!

April 21, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 7 Comments

I’ve got nothing but love for the company Delta Labs and their supplements!! I found Delta Labs through a fellow fit friend, and figured I would try it out. They currently have 8 different supplements- all for women, and all gluten-free! Some of them are vegan-friendly, as well!

I have every single supplement except the prenatal and postnatal! Love love love them all! I was so excited about the company and the products, that I became an ambassador for Delta Labs! It’s an amazing community dedicated to women’s health, and I am so grateful to be a part of it. As a welcome, Delta Labs sent me this amazing package of gifts:

I feel so incredibly special!! I get to represent this amazing brand with a backpack, a couple super cute tee shirts, etc! What’s even more awesome about this is that I have samples of the green tea+ that I get to GIVEAWAY to 5 people!!!!! This is my very first giveaway and I am so incredibly excited about it! The green tea+ is probably my favorite product of them all. It helps with weight loss, more energy, more control over emotional eating, and food cravings! It might sound too good to be true, but it has helped me SO much already! If you read my post from last Monday, you’ll know I have a sugar addiction that I am working to get over. The green tea+ definitely helps!!

Okay, so this giveaway is going to be pretty simple! There are 3 things you are required to do to be eligible to win 1 of the 5 sample packs:

Comment on this post about why you want to try the green tea+
Follow me on Instagram
Like my Facebook page

This is what you will win:

Let the games begin!! The giveaway ends on Monday, April 28, 2014!!

Good luck! 🙂

OH, and one more thing: if you’re excited to order any supplements now, go to deltalabsusa.com, and at checkout, enter code GETFITWITHLYNDS for $5 off your order!! They will also send you a prepaid label so you can send back your empty bottle for another $5 off your next order! I love that this company is all about decreasing our carbon footprint! 🙂

Bipolar Disorder Fitness Nutrition Personal

Health Coaches Need Coaching, Too; My Struggle With Sugar Addiction

April 14, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 28 Comments

As most of you are already aware, I am a health & fitness coach, and I also live with bipolar disorder. A couple weeks ago, I was talking with my psychiatrist, and he said to me,

“Lyndsay, you are always taking care of your clients and inspiring them. You’re taking care of the kids you babysit and the dogs you care for. It’s great, but let me ask you, who inspires you?“

A simple question, but it hit me hard. In that moment, I wanted to break down and cry. I absolutely LOVE what I do as a coach. The progress my clients make, the breakthroughs, helping others to live longer.. it’s absolutely amazing! I am in awe every day of how wonderful my clients and friends are. I love the feeling of being needed. I’m sure there is a specific reason behind that, but like Miss Maudie said in To Kill A Mockingbird, “All anyone wants is to feel needed.” My career brings me satisfaction, happiness, and hope.

But at the same time, I am giving all my energy to my clients, and completely neglecting myself. How can I be a good coach/mentor if I am not taking care of my mind and body? Who can I go to when I am not feeling strong? When I need inspiration, motivation, and help with my nutrition? Yes, I know a good amount about health, nutrition, and fitness, but I don’t know it all.

As much as I don’t want to admit this, I am going to, because honesty is incredibly important. Not only for the people you’re talking to, but also for yourself. I have a sugar addiction. Like a hardcore, legit, anxiety-fueled addiction to sugar. I have dealt with this on and off throughout most of my life, but when I get incredibly stressed, I lose control completely.

I have felt myself slowly spiraling out of control over the past two months. Poor nutrition, poor fitness, poor mental health. It is a vicious cycle. I feel sad/stressed, so I want to eat something that will release dopamine and endorphins, so I eat sugar (it’s comforting). But the comedown from that sugar causes me to feel depressed/anxious/stressed… and the cycle continues.

This photo represents the cycle of addiction. Any addiction. Did you know sugar addiction is similar to heroin addiction? It is very, very real.

This is specifically what happens in your body when you consume sugar. Endless, awful cycle.

You know how they say that people come into your life for a reason, and at the perfect time? It’s amazing! I was searching through blogs and stumbled upon Lifelong Wellness Coaching with Nellie Russell. I originally found her through her blog, Bipolar Out Loud, and saw that she offers mental health coaching. It’s something I’ve never considered, but something I definitely wanted to try. It’s similar to therapy, but I also get a meal plan catered to me and my physical/mental health issues.. plus Nellie has bipolar disorder as well, so she totally gets me. It’s a little different getting life coaching from someone who lives with what you live with, as opposed to someone who only studied it. Totally not discounting what therapists do, but it’s just a different experience.

My first session was tonight, and oh my gosh, I already feel like a new person. I have hope again. I don’t feel stressed (and I’ve been stressed ALL day.. hellooo taxes). It feels so good to allow myself to be the client, and to go into a coaching program with an open mind. I get so caught up in helping other people transform their lives (which again, I LOVE), that I forget to transform my own life. I am excited for what these sessions bring, and I am excited to improve my life. Physical and mental health go hand-in-hand, and it is time for me take full control of them both!

Have you ever dealt with any type of food addiction? If so, how did you get through it?
If you are a coach (or in any profession like it), how do you stay inspired? Who helps you?

Fitness SoCal

Eternal Happiness

April 12, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 8 Comments

Being active and carefree makes me so happy! I love hiking with my boyfriend Tim (see picture below) because we have such a child-like excitement about life and each other! We have fun with everything we do. This moment was actually us falling in love. So amazing having that in a photo.

Quick back story about my relationship with Tim. My best girlfriend growing up, Amanda, is cousins with Tim. So I have known Tim since I was 6 years old! I am now 26. So yep, 20 years! We were best friends growing up, but only that. He went on to the navy after high school, and settled in California. I was visiting him for a week in November 2012 (just as friends), and we fell in love! It was totally unexpected, and totally magical. My love for Tim changed my life forever! I moved to California to be with him three months later. <3

This is us hiking through Eaton Canyon on the same day the above picture was taken. We didn’t realize we loved each other, but it was clear that something was happening! Things were starting to change, and these pictures are amazing because we were falling in love in them. Love captured on camera.

I love the picture of me so much because pure happiness was captured, in that exact moment. And it makes me so happy to see it! Some cultures used to believe that taking pictures stole your soul. This is the complete opposite. This picture has immortalized my soul and happiness.

Do you have moments of pure happiness caught on camera??

Hop on over to my Facebook page and share YOUR moments of happiness captured on camera!! 😀

Bipolar Disorder Personal

Trying to Improve Myself While Still Accepting Who I Am

March 17, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 2 Comments

Photo Credit: tinybuddha.com

I’m not sure if the title makes sense, because in my head, this topic is still fuzzy. My intention is that by writing it out, it will help me to sort it out.

I’m trying to find a happy balance. Between improving myself as a person, and accepting who I currently am. I love Eric Thomas’ quote, “Be obsessed with improvement.” It’s simple and straightforward. I feel like every day, we should get better in some aspect. Whether it’s not eating a cheeseburger, or trying a new workout, or not lashing out when you’re mad, whatever. It’s important to get a little bit better each day.

But at the same time, it’s so important that we accept ourselves for who we are now. This is where I falter. Part of me feels that if I accept who/what I am, then I won’t want to improve. I will be complacent. I don’t want complacency, I want self-acceptance. I feel that only by loving and accepting myself, I will be able to improve as a person. Does that make sense?

I have accepted that I have a mental health condition and I have triggers I need to avoid. I have accepted that I have to work a lot to support my family right now. I have accepted that I have a sudden love for chocolate (seriously though, I used to hate it!). So how do I make daily progress without putting myself down, whether it’s intentional or unintentional?

I have yet to find this balance, but I think I’m getting closer. How do you find balance?

Bipolar Disorder Fitness Nutrition Personal

12 Things Happy People Do Differently

February 19, 2014 By lyndsinreallife Leave a Comment

12 Things Happy People Do Differently

I do 10, maybe 11 of these things. How many do you do? 🙂

Fitness Nutrition Personal

When You Help Others Get What They Want, You Get What You Want

January 22, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 3 Comments

I have heard this phrase very frequently lately: When you help others get what they want, you get what you want. It resonated with me, but I wasn’t sure if it was something that I ever truly felt. I’ve always wanted to help people become healthy and live the lives they wanted, but often times, I knew I was getting something out of it. I was always someone who did something for the reward/recognition.

Until now.

I qualified for this AMAZING team vacation to Big Bear, CA this past weekend. We stayed in this huge 3 story mansion/cabin, with 45+ people. There were A LOT of dishes and and shaker cups! I volunteered to do the dishes on numerous occasions, but I realized I was doing it just to help, not for the “Thank You”s. It was the first time I truly knew I was doing something to help others.

The second time I felt this way was yesterday. I was on the phone with one of my very good friends whom I have never actually met in person! She has been a client of mine since June 2013, and I have helped her to live a healthy, active lifestyle! Last night, we were talking about her life goals. Who she wants to be, where she wants to live, the things and feelings that would make her happy.

I have the opportunity to help people in various aspects of life (physical and mental health, wealth, empowerment, personal development, etc). I provided this opportunity to my friend for HER. It had nothing to do with me. I don’t care about the reward I will get. I care about her and helping her make her life better! I was full of so much emotion as we talked on the phone, because her and I are so similar, and if I could impact just one person, I would be happy.

The happiness and love I felt when discussing her life goals, THAT is truly getting what I want by helping others get what they want. And I am so incredibly excited for her!!

What is something that you can do to help others get what they want?