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My whole life I have craved a healthy relationship with food and my body, and I’ve struggled with my weight.  Before finding a healthy and natural approach to weight loss, for years I tried many different “diets” and ways of eating.  None of them worked for me.  Actually, let me clarify.  None of them worked for me for the long-term.

While I have come a long way in my struggle with weight, I still have moments where I crave a quick fix to slimming down. Yes, even me, a holistic health counselor. In our society, we’ve become accustomed to immediate gratification.  We want things now.  And we get impatient when we don’t see immediate results. 

In my personal experience, the diets or ways of eating that have yielded quick results, haven’t yielded lasting results.  I have seen this with both myself and my clients.  Clients often come to me and tell me about a diet they went on in which they lost weight, sometimes even substantial amounts of weight.  But then they explain that they gained the weight back.  They simply couldn’t or didn’t want to stay on a deprivation diet.  I don’t blame them.

The main reason I became a holistic health counselor is because I was able to find a healthier and more enjoyable way to feel better in my body and gain freedom around food.  Even though I have created a system that has worked for me and works for my clients, I sometimes I have to remind myself to steer clear of the quick-fix approach and go back to the basics. I have to remind myself that I have found something that works for the long-term.

I want to share with you this system I have created
, called The Whole Body Nutrition System™.  This is the system I use with each of my clients to help them achieve their ideal weight and feel more confident in their body.

Here are the eight steps of The Whole Body Wellness System™.

1.    Make your health and wellness a priority
2.    Choose higher quality foods
3.    Determine which foods work best for you
4.    Practice extreme self-care
5.    Don’t just feed your body, feed your soul
6.    Start or change your exercise routine
7.    Change HOW you eat
8.    Address the emotional piece of what’s going on  

What can you expect with this system? These eight steps have been the key to creating lasting changes for me and my clients.  The Whole Body Wellness System™ is effective, but it’s not about a quick fix.  What you’ll experience if you achieve each of these steps, over several months, is increased energy, feeling better in your body, and an overwhelming feeling of enjoying life more.

This week, let’s talk about making your health and wellness a priority.  One of the keys to making your health and wellness a priority is getting support.  When you have support you feel like you have a partner – someone who is by your side through thick and thin – helping you reach your goals. Think about who you can enlist to support you.  It could be a friend, your mom, a co-worker, significant other, or someone who does counseling or coaching professionally (like me).

Once you’ve decided who you’d like to receive support from, approach them and ask them if they’d be willing to support you. Get specific and tell them exactly what role you’d like them to play. Do you want them to just listen, help you brainstorm, or hold you accountable?  Then, decide how you’ll receive support from this person.  Will it be a weekly phone call, support over email, or a regular lunch date? 

Even I have a “buddy” who I rely on for support.  (Thanks Kelly!)  We have a weekly call and take turns supporting each other.  It really helps me to focus some time on my overall wellness, and it keeps me accountable :).

If you would like to feel healthier, start by making your health and wellness a priority. You simply won’t see changes if you don’t set aside time and energy towards reaching your goals. Your first step towards reaching your goals is to get support.

Women: are you sick and tired of feeling unhealthy and down on yourself? 

If you are ready to make lasting lifestyle changes for yourself and your family, stop your war with food, and get healthy, Amy Lippmann, Certified Holistic Health Counselor, can help.

Sample Amy’s work by listening to a F*REE AUDIO, “Finally, How to Get Healthy Meals on the Table, In No Time.”  You will also receive a complete transcript, pantry essentials list, her mix-and-match meal planning chart, healthy recipes, and much more. Grab your copy now at http://www.wellnesshealthcoaching.com and start feeling better about your health and fitness.

Amy Lippmann, H.H.C., AADP
Certified Holistic Health Counselor
Coaching for Whole Body Wellness

© 2008 Amy Lippmann, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include: Amy Lippmann, Certified Holistic Health Counselor, is founder of the Whole Body Wellness System™, the proven step-by-step program achieve your health goals and feel more confident in your body. To receive your freebie audio and sign up for her bi-weekly recipes and articles, visit www.WellnessHealthCoaching.com.


This Personal Development article was written by Amy Lippmann on 4/14/2008

Amy Lippmann is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with a private health and lifestyle coaching practice. She works with women who are tired of continuously feeling bad about their health and struggle with feeling good in their body, energy level, cravings, and would like to figure out how to be healthy and take good care of themselves.

What makes her services unique is that she not only provides guidance, but also a level of support her clients have never had before. And because of this, Amy’s clients make lasting lifestyle changes, get peace and freedom around food so they can stop beating themselves up, and they enjoy life more.