With so much information on what’s healthy and what’s not, it can be hard for people to sift out what’s right for them and what won’t help them. And this can be an especially hard thing to do when going through a stressful life transition like divorce. Lisa Lewtan is a healthy living and mindfulness coach who is curious and introspective, wanting to find answers to life’s questions. In her work, she helps others with their struggles by finding solutions for them that will make it easy to live happily and healthily.
In This Episode
Jennifer’s big question: what can people do to sift through the information that’s out there to find what works for themselves?
Lisa’s approach to wellness: if someone is in a dark place, they assume that they can get help by talking to someone. Instead, Lisa looks at their diet. There is more and more evidence coming out about the connection between the gut biome and the mental state and Lisa relies on that to help people improve their lives. Mental state is based on other things besides the situation that you’re in and by simply changing things in your diet that aren’t working for you, you can improve it.
During a stressful transition like divorce, often the first things you neglect are your diet, exercise, and good sleep habits. What can we do to deal with this?
Be prepared for these painful, stressful times. But remember that you have control over how much you suffer.
When these episodes of stress and sadness begin, we are overwhelmed and that’s when we begin emotionally eating and neglecting healthy habits. If we can catch ourselves starting to decline, it can be an easy way to avoid suffering.
Get rid of the notion you are supposed to be happy all the time. We tend to be afraid when we are sad that we will fall into a dark hole. Instead, treat and embrace the sadness as we would the happiness, recognizing this is the course of life.
Meditation brings you to the moment- in a stressful time, we think everything is horrible. But just like other emotions, stress and sadness come in waves. And if we are able to be in the moment, we may see that there is joy mixed in with those other emotions. We need to be present to see these moments which help us remember the other side.
Designing life- making happy and healthy living easy:
What are your non-negotiables?
What replenishes you? What will fill the cup back up?
Who are you taking care of? Are you on that list?
What is fun for you?
Design a life that works for you now, rather than what worked for you at some point or by putting restrictions on yourself, like a diet. Set yourself up for success by choosing foods that make yourself feel good.
Top Tips for people who need to slow down and de-stress:
If meditation is too much for you, start with breathing: take 3 deep breaths 3 times a day.
Get support – women need to connect with others and when we do that, we perform better. Find the people, friends, or professionals, who can help you through this.
Top tips for developing a better relationship with food and exercise
Watch your language around food and don’t demonize foods. Healthy foods are the ones that make you feel good but don’t restrict yourself to the point of deprivation.
Exercise isn’t black and white – all movement can be exercise.
Healthy habits don’t have to be painful, they should feel good.
The negativity we have for ourselves
The hardest thing for most women is to create self-love.
By slowing down, we can honor, accept, and forgive ourselves for being something other than what we thought we would be.
Talk to yourself the way you would talk to a child: encourage rather than discourage.
Top strategies for success:
Slow down.
Listen to your body because your mind doesn’t always tell you everything.
Get support.
About Lisa
Lisa Lewtan is a Healthy Living and Mindfulness Coach, author of the award-winning book Busy, Stressed, and Food Obsessed!: Calm Down, Ditch Your Inner-Critic Bitch, and Finally Figure Out What Your Body Needs to Thrive, and host of the popular podcast “The Healthy View”. As a certified Holistic Health Coach, Designing Your Life Coach, and Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Lisa helps highly successful hungry go-getters to slow down, de-stress, develop a better relationship with food and lifestyle, reframe negative self-talk, investigate habits and triggers, and set strategies for success. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, MindbodyGreen, and Reader’s Digest, and she has been a speaker at companies such as Kripalu, Canyon Ranch, Converse, WGBH, and Google. She will soon be presenting biannually at the famed Rancho La Puerta in Mexico as well. Learn more about Lisa at HappyHealthAndHip.com.
The Worthy Blog is a place for inspiration, insight, and advice for all things surrounding life's greatest transitions - divorce, losing a loved one, retirement, and so much more. You can find us on our blog, Instagram, and Facebook.
