Holly Mosier's Blog, page 4

Mid-Life: The tipping point for stress overload

May 2012 Newsletter
Mid-Life: The tipping point for stress overload

I have got to get more organized with this Newsletter business. My goal is to try to do one a month…  and I fail more than I succeed at that!  But I really do practice Opting Out, and as my inner peace and joy expand, I lose more and more track of time.  It is a good trade.

Happy Mother’s Day!  I got a fabulous early Mother’s Day gift:  my 25-year-old daughter, Sydney, joined me at the Ultimate Women’s Expo in Phoenix on April 21 and 22.  I spoke at the event, and we also had a booth. I don’t think I have experienced anything more enjoyable than working with my daughter. It was the best gift ever. 

Me and Sydney at the Expo

We talked to several hundred women over those two days. The ladies were quite blunt in their comments about what they were going through now that they hit “mid-life,” and I’d like to share them with you.  These were not light conversations; they were deep and lengthy, with many women staying at our booth for 15, 20, or 30 minutes to talk, and then bring friends back to talk some more.  As they related their stories, there were a lot of laughs, hugs and tears.  Here are the key comments and feelings they expressed.  See if you can relate to any of these:

- I feel so ashamed, I hit mid-life and I am supposed to have it all together but I am falling apart at the seams and I am too ashamed to tell anyone.

-  I am supposed to have it all together by now, but the opposite is happening ­ I am totally stressed out and on the verge of breaking down, I have lost control over my body and can¹t stop gaining weight, I feel like I am in a free fall and I don¹t know how to break the fall.

- When you talked so openly about menopause and falling apart I couldn’t stop crying because finally someone was saying out loud what I felt too ashamed to acknowledge and you did not make me feel like I did something wrong.

And lastly,

- Please tell me you are real, that everything you do is in your book, and I am not going to get ads for supplements or weight loss pills … or find out you had liposuction.

As I spoke to all these women, it became abundantly clear that changing hormones is not our only problem.  I think the more intense problem is that we are suffering from the buildup of decades of unrelenting and chronic stress, and it reaches the tipping point right as we hit middle age, which happens to coincide with perimenopause and menopause.  One woman whispered to me that she was so ashamed because, that morning, she had come unglued on her son because … he moved the butter.  I’ve been there.  That’s not just from changing hormones.  That comes from being in a chronic state of depletion caused by our busyness with non-essentials. We are left with no reservoir of patience, or kindness. And then we are expected to deal with hormonal changes too?  At the same time?  Are you kidding me?

I cannot emphasize enough how Opting Out – learning to say “No” to demands, invitations, requests and activities that leave you depleted with no time for yourself – will immediately change your life for the better.  My hope is that we support each other in Opting Out, because, quite frankly, I don’t know any other truly effective way to relieve stress, regain peace of mind and make it through menopause without being a basket case.

And to that final comment, above, my answer is: Yes, I am real; everything I did (and do) to regain my body and my energy and my sanity is in my book; no, you will not get ads or pitches for supplements or weight loss pills (I don’t use them; I take only a basic multivitamin and calcium pill), and no, I have not had liposuction or any other kind of weight loss procedure.  What changed my life, and my body, and brought me peace of mind, was decreasing my stress by opting out and making room for me to really live, not just respond like an automaton to a never-ending To Do List. Not only was I no longer ravaged by stress and the nasty physical debilitation it brings, I was able to find a serene equilibrium that blesses me and brings comfort to those around me.  It is the only way to truly live.  I could never go back.

Two final things:

1)  Stress Less, Weigh Less on iBook and Kindle Fire:   Our eBook is now available, and it is great!  I just uploaded it to my iPad (through the iBook app), and it is beautiful. And you can also pick up the eBook for Amazon’s Kindle Fire for only $7.99.  Click here to check it out.

2)  Holly’s Baked Apples Recipe:  We just posted a YouTube video of my Baked Apples recipe.  These are to die for.  Not kidding!  You only need apples, cinnamon, Splenda and some cooking spray.  The kids will be all over these … and so will you.  Plus, they make the house smell terrific!  Click here to watch.

Big hug to you all,

Holly

 

 

Is Crash and Burn becoming an epidemic?

Did you see the news headlines this past week?  More people that appear to either have it all, or could, crashing and burning.  Actress Demi Moore hospitalized and seeking aid “because of the stresses in her life,” her rep says. Comedian Tracy Morgan, the 43-year-old star of 30 Rock, was hospitalized for exhaustion in Park City, Utah, while attending the Sundance Film Festival.  Kevin Federline, 33, a former dancer and the beleaguered ex-husband of Brittany Spears, was hospitalized with chest pains (and a suspected heart attack) suffered while filming Excess Baggage, a new weight-loss show being filmed in Australia.

And last week, 50-year-old TV star Heather Locklear was hospitalized (again) for dangerous alcohol and prescription drug use. That one particularly got my attention because, years ago, I filmed a Pepsi commercial on the beach in Los Angeles with Heather right after she was cast in the night-time hit soap, Dynasty, but had not yet started to film it.  We all knew she was going to be a star; she was beautiful and dynamic and confident.

But it turns out no amount of fame, fortune or achievement end up meaning much at all unless you have the peace of mind to enjoy them.  Isn’t it true?  Without a strong core of peace and serenity, success and achievement tend to overwhelm our balance, sending many of us into tailspins.  I want to be successful, too, but for my money, I would rather have a peaceful, joyful day-to-day existence, rather than straining myself beyond capacity to achieve whatever it is that seems so desirable. 

I think you can have both peace of mind and success.  But how is this done in real life?  There is a way to happily balance the two, which I will share with you here.

It wasn’t until I turned 40 a decade ago that I realized a peaceful mind sets the foundation for a happy, productive, successful life.  It’s the concrete foundation for the house you’re building.  Without peace of mind, we won’t enjoy anything we achieve out here, anyway.  Look at Demi Moore, Tracy Morgan and Heather Locklear.  They all have fame, fortune and success.  But so what?  You can’t enjoy those things from a hospital bed. 

The next thing I learned is that the only way to have peace of mind is to reduce and manage stress.  Constant strain and depletion, brought on by too many things to do and not enough time in which to do them, cause stress.  Stress clouds our thinking and fills us with negative emotion, causing us to make bad decisions and veer off track.  And it makes us fat.  But studies have found that stress reduction is directly connected to fewer cravings, less appetite and loss of weight – particularly ab fat.  Reducing stress has a double benefit – happier, more stable mood, and better body!

My morning spiritual routine, in which meditation is one of my key practices, is my quick way to a peaceful, calm state of mind that governs the rest of my day… and vastly reduces my cravings. Meditation in the morning sets my mood for the day, so I won’t miss it for anything. And making meditation a habit creates a new, happier emotional set-point that allows you to face life’s challenges with equanimity, rather than crashing and burning.

But remember, meditation alone is not enough.  First we have to Opt Out of overfilled schedules!  Opting Out is just saying no to demands, requests, invitations and activities that leave you depleted with no time for yourself.  You need these buffers of time so you can just breathe deeply and reestablish your peaceful state of mind throughout the day.  That’s when you have something of real value to share. Think about it. We’ve all been in a room with a stressed out, ticked off person.  It’s nasty, isn’t it?  They upset those around them, and make life harder for everyone.  I don’t want to be one of those people … but I know that I will, unless I opt out and establish myself in peace before I leave the house.  

I am all about practicality.  I have distilled down a few decades of spiritual study into the most potent nuggets that bring very practical results, and that is what I am sharing with you in this video clip.  So here I am in my bed, sharing my morning meditation routine with you.  

To watch the video, click the following link: http://youtu.be/GWDFmtlRvcs  If the link does not work, please copy and paste the link into your browser.  

 

Hope you enjoy it!

To your healthy mind, healthy body and healthy life.

With love,

Holly

Look out 50 cuz here I come!

I want to share an inspirational story from one of our members!

I’d like to introduce you to Lisa Reichenberg, a 47-year-old wife and working mother. Lisa has a fantastic success story that has inspired me, and I’m betting will inspire you, too. Yes, Lisa lost the weight she wanted to lose. But what I like best about her story is how she found peace of mind in the process – all while undergoing extremely stressful events that just kept piling up. That’s what ended up being the most important gain for her. And that’s how it worked for me, too! Read on for a healthy dose of inspiration:

My Story by Lisa Reichenberg:

I made a decision, April, 1, 2011. Funny thing is, April 1st (April Fools’ Day) is my favorite holiday, only this time there wasn’t any joke. I was 47 years old, married for 28 years, and had four kids ages 26 to 6. In the past four years, I had a miscarriage, my daughter survived a terrible illness, and my son had jumped out of a burning building, I lost a 15-year family business, had a breast cancer scare (that was benign), my best friend of 10 years decided she couldn’t be my friend anymore due to all my issues, and I was in the process of moving my 89-year-old mother across the state, whom I had cared for for 10 years and she was involved with my children’s daily life. I started a new career, left that, and started another new career. As I woke up that morning, I was 30 pounds heavier than I had been four years prior to that. I made a decision that I couldn’t do it anymore. I was sad, embarrassed, and somewhere along the road, I forgot who I was. I had become this stressed, angry, emotional, hormonal, ugly person. So my first step? I joined an exercise class.

Lisa Before

May 2011 came, and I saw an ad for Holly’s book, Stress Less Weigh Less. I had to have it. We were flooding in North Dakota, where I live, and orders for the book were backed up. I was finally able to get the book and Holly’s 10-Minute Yoga DVD. It seriously changed my life. I jumped to the recipes. Within two days of receiving the book, I stocked my kitchen with food I needed. I started reading the book, and I was blown away by the 4-Count Breath Technique, Opting Out as a lifestyle, and Switch Your Focus tool. Working out every day. Meditation? Seriously? I’m so type A, I’m an A+. I started to breathe, slow it all down. Yoga? Again, seriously? But I can do 10 minutes. As a matter of fact, my kids were out of school for the summer, and by God, they were going to learn yoga early so they could carry that through their entire lives. Daily meals became, “Hey do we get Holly Food tonight?” “Yup.” “Yay!!!!”

The turning point came in June 2011, when I found myself in the middle of being responsible for selling my Mother’s home. A home where my siblings, grand-kids grew up. Emotions were crazy high, and the stress was unbelievable. So I’m in my exercise class, sweat is dripping off my face, and it was as if heaven opened up, lights switched on, “OMG! Holly! All I have to do is breathe, exercise, meditate, eat right, and I avoid stress, cravings, I’m dropping weight, I’m BALANCED!” (I was actually screaming this in my head while working out and I had the biggest smile on my face!) I realized that I now had tools that would serve me to preserve my peace of mind, maintain my vitality, and keep my body slim and fit, no matter what was going on in my life!

So today, five months later, I am 22 pounds lighter and 12 inches smaller. I actually slip into clothes that I haven’t worn in ages. But I’m not finished. I’m on a journey to be the best that I can be. My favorite moment came in August, 2011. My kids were home from their first day of school, and we were finishing up supper when I said, “Well I better get to my exercise class.” The kids responded with, “No Mom, stay home,” etc. My husband interrupted and said, “No, Mom is on a quest for her perfect 50-year-old body.” I turned, looked at him, (the love of my life since I was 17), smiled, and said, “thank you.” He smiles, points his finger at me and says, “no, thank you.”

Lisa After

So this is not the end… it is just the beginning of a fantastic journey that has blessed me in so many ways. I am excited for the future! Watch out 50, cuz here I come!

 

Opt Out to reduce stress during the holidays!

Want some easy tips to reduce holiday stress?  For me, the holiday season was always the most stressful time of the year.  We know stress increases our appetite for high fat, high sugar and high sodium foods – the very things that are ever present this time of year.  No wonder we gain weight from Thanksgiving to New Years, then are faced with the stress of holiday bills and extra pounds in January.  Not a fun way to start the new year. 

But there are solutions, and they are much easier than you may think.  I shared my best tips for reducing - and avoiding – holiday stress on ABC’s Sonoran Living Live.  Take a peek for some ideas that you can use so you not only enjoy your holidays, you’re not fighting the battle of the bulge in January!

Can we Opt Out of Social Media and still enjoy life? YES!

Cartoon Illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick

Can we Opt Out of Social Media and still enjoy life?  YES!

Opting Out is catching fire. As we mindfully pick and chose what we are going to devote our time to, we are finding a more meaningful life, one that we enjoy so much more. If I had only known years ago that Opting Out was the key to the peace and serenity I had craved for decades, well, let’s just say I would have risked the disapproval we all fear when we (kindly) say “no” to demands, invitations, requests and activities that fill our schedules to the brim, yet lack promise for us.

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about social media and how, for many people, it has morphed from being a very cool way to stay in touch with family and friends, to hijacking their free time and adding yet another obligation to already-busy schedules. We’ve probably all experienced this. When did Facebook and Twitter change from a fun, easy-going way to check in with friends and loved ones to leaving us with feelings of guilt, and a bit of anxiety, when we failed to do our daily “check in,” or, what became more common, multiple daily “check ins”?

I don’t know when this change occurred. But I know I grew to dread social media, with all its additional demands on my time, and because it made me feel guilty for taking down time for myself because I felt like I should be involved with posting.

And as I have said privately, from my perspective now, many times social media, particularly Facebook, seems like one giant high school bathroom wall.

In reality we are only “fed” internally. That is why no object, purchase, person or achievement brings lasting peace, joy and happiness. Think about this. Isn’t it true? Isn’t the satisfaction from those outer things short-lived, then we are left wanting something more? I have found lasting peace and happiness only deep within me, in the quiet moments when my mind is still and I allow them to bubble up from the depths of my being. This is real peace and happiness, because it is not based on anything temporary I may have obtained out here. Then I can enjoy all of those outer things with a marvelous sense of loving detachment, without that subtle anxiety of wanting to hold on to it, or him, or her. This is the peace we are all after, but in this busy, frenetic world, we go looking for it in the wrong place – outside of ourselves – like cruising the Facebook bathroom wall.

Here’s a story I think many of us will relate to. My daughter, Sydney, is a 25-year-old professional. She has a great job with a Fortune 500 company. Her days are very full with satisfying work, time with friends, working out, and part-time college classes. Here’s what she texted me last week, after taking a formal hiatus from Facebook:

“You know Mom, I realized I watched a movie last night for the first time in a long time. Usually I have so much frenetic energy while I attempt to sit through a movie. I thought this was because I was a spaz. It’s not. It was the energy associated with needing to be on Facebook and on my phone to let everyone know I was going to a movie, and that itch that lingered in the back of my head the whole time to grab my phone and see what people had said and then to post my review the second the movie ended. Instead, this time I actually sat there and ENJOYED it. Again, these are reasons why I know it was a good decision to get off of Facebook for now. “

I could go on about this topic for pages. Now that some of the social media has lost a bit of its luster as it’s no longer shiny and new, I ask you, is your use of social media working for you? We don’t have to have “all” or “nothing;” we can Opt Out of the parts that deplete us and use it to the extent it feeds us. My question for us all is, do we know the difference? And if not, why not take a hiatus for a day, a week, a month … or a year … and see how we feel? More peaceful, or less? More energy, or not? More time to engage in things that fulfill us and move us forward toward goals we hold dear? I’ve answered “yes” to all of those, so I took a fresh look at social media, and changed the way I approach it to meet MY particular needs. And that is perfectly okay.

Forum is up! Share your thoughts and experiences …

Our Forum is now up on our website! I’ve posted this article under the category “Opt Out … And really start to live, rather than just exist” to start the conversation. I would personally love to hear your experiences with social media and how you made it work for you (or Opted Out completely!), instead of allowing it to deplete you. And I’d love to hear all the other ways you have Opted Out and enriched your life by doing so. I have found these conversations so helpful. They give the rest of us ideas to help determine what will work for our lives. So please come on over and join in! Here’s the link: http://hollymosier.com/forum/

There are other categories on the Forum as well – “Easy Recipes – Yum!,” “Beauty tips and talk,” and “Share Your Story.” We’ll be loading some content into all of them from some wonderful emails we’ve received from you. But jump in and contribute! It will be a place for our community to share day-to-day help and tips in all things that create a less stressful and happier life.

To your healthy mind, healthy body and healthy life!

Holly

 

5 Diet Rules It’s OK to Break

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I recently spoke with Yahoo! Health’s Day in Health Expert Lisa Collier Cool about diet rules.  Specifically we talked about which diet “rules” are okay to break.  We discussed the ”eat 5 to 6 small meals a day” rule, the “eat non-fat foods” rule and the “you must cut out certain food groups” rule.  The answers about which rules are OK to break may surprise you (as well as relieve you).  To read the article, click here.  To find out more about my book, Stress Less, Weigh Less, visit my website at HollyMosier.com.

Get Fit! Stay Healthy! with Tina Anderson (podcast)

Holly is interviewed Tina Anderson’s Get Fit! Get Healthy! radio show.

Stress Less, Weigh Less works for guys, too

Men and Health: It’s a Guy Thing, is a very cool blog. It’s a baby boomer health and wellness blog aimed at baby boomer men, but a lot of the information is very helpful to women. I really enjoy this site – so informative! It has the latest medical trends/developments and interviews with doctors, specialists and experts.

I spoke with Men and Health: It’s a Guy Thing recently about my book, Stress Less, Weigh Less, how managing stress is a key part of losing weight, and why this step is critically important. To read the full article, click here.

Forget About the One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Fitness and Weight Loss

I loved doing this interview with Best of You Today.  We got to dish about how stress increases appetite and cravings, and why it’s essential to reduce stress to lose weight and keep it off.  We also discussed why there is no one specific way to lose weight and, in fact, different things are effective for different people.   Read on for the specifics or click here to read the article on the Best of You Today website.   

Forget About the One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Fitness and Weight Loss

How would you like to de-stress yourself into losing weight? Forget about the one-size-fits-all rules of fitness and weight control. Don’t worry about what everyone else says you should be doing. Just relax—get rid of the stress and the weight loss will follow. That’s the idea behind Holly Mosier’s popular book Stress Less, Weigh Less. BOYT asked Holly to share the philosophy that was born of her own life experiences. Once an over-stressed attorney, mother and step-mother, Holly found she was always hungry, unhappy and overweight. She learned through trial and error what worked for her. [Interview continues after the photograph below.]

BOYT: What inspired you to write Stress Less, Weigh Less?

Holly Mosier: When I was 39 or 40 years old, like many women, I hit my wall. I was a lawyer, a mother, a stepmother who tried to blend a family under tremendous stress from all angles. When my hormones started to change, that was the last straw that broke the “camel’s back.” I was gaining weight and losing energy. Beyond that, I was terribly stressed. I became depressed because I felt at complete loss with how to deal with these problems. First, I went through the medical community to make sure I was physically okay. I was sure that I had at least a thyroid problem, chronic fatigue, and was anemic. Lo and behold; all my medical tests came out perfectly fine. You would think that would be happy news, but it wasn’t, because I was left thinking about what should I do. I thought this was what middle-age and old-age is, and that scared me.

I was a medical malpractice attorney. I turned my focus completely to the medical studies. I just went directly to the studies that addressed the symptoms I was having: tremendous fatigue, huge appetite, weight gain (even though I was still working out), and energy level decreases by late afternoon. That was how I addressed it, and I found my symptoms to be very similar to untreated diabetes. Of course, I was not diabetic. So, first off, I started looking at the stress; why does stress caused us to undergo terrible changes?  I found out that it was the accumulation of stress. It wasn’t one big event. It wasn’t a series or a couple of events. It turned out that stress, itself, is cumulative.   

Stress and stress hormones affect our blood sugar levels. Stress also impacts our appetite. When I learned that, I thought I should address the stress first. That’s what I did. I’ve found ways to deal with my stress that fit in average Western lifestyles because I couldn’t step out of the role I was playing. After I had stress under control, lo and behold, my appetite returned to normal because stress hormones cause increased cravings for high fat, high sugar, and high sodium foods. Without these cravings all of the time, I found out it was much easier to modify the way I was eating.

Next, I researched how proteins, carbs, and fats affect our appetites, energy, and weight. I found out that I was unbalanced in my eating. I was really carb-heavy, even though these carbs (high fiber, potatoes, rice, wholegrain pastas, and more) were considered good carbs. I found that it was not really the best way for me to be eating anymore. I needed to blend in more proteins and add more fats back into my diet. We need about 25% of fats in our diets to be able to assimilateour vitamins and remain satiated. When I was done balancing that, the exercising part was simple. I had so much energy that moving every day was not a problem. It actually became a joy. That of course kicked in more endorphins.

This became a holistic way of living for me very quickly. It affected not just my weight, but my entire life. It was really a mind-body transformation in a way that I could not have anticipated. Other people started to notice because the transformation was pretty dramatic. Here I am today at 50 and I never felt better. I feel like I’ve never looked better, but I’ve never been happier and more satisfied with life. It is a very exciting way to live. I am thrilled to share this with other people because it’s much easier than what people think.

BOYT: In terms of hormones, how did your cravings start to dwindle and become manageable?

Holly Mosier: Two things. I was craving less starchy foods. That was a surprise to me because I was a starch fiend my entire life. I had a sweet tooth.  I still have a sweet tooth, but now it’s more manageable. I can have sweets once a week now, instead of really battling with the cravings every day or multiple times during the day. Balancing that way I ate with proteins, carbs, and fats helped a lot. More importantly, I was able to reduce the stress first, because the stress exacerbated everything from the hormonal ups and downs to the cravings.

There were not a lot of studies on this subject when I first started to study this. Now, more studies have been published that show that stress levels exacerbate perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms. I certainly experienced that. I was in full perimenopause by age 40, which was earlier than many. My gynecologist believed that it was because I had a high-stress job and a high-stress personal life with a blended family. We now know that this is true. High stress can trigger earlier perimenopause, but also more intense symptoms. Once I started to manage the stress in ways that I could, that immediately started to deal with hot flashes, night sweats, increase of appetite, and more. But I would say dealing with the stress first, before I changed the way I was eating, was the most critical thing I ever did.

I should jump right now into telling people about opting out. It’s in my book on page 21. Opting out is the foundational tool. I have a lot of stress management tools in the book. Opting out is when you have to get your schedule a bit more under control. I’m not talking about cutting everything out because it’s not going to happen for people like us, nor do we want it to. We want a busy life, just not an overwhelming life. We want to enjoy the things that we’re doing. We’re supposed to enjoy our lives. I just found that I wasn’t. I was showing up out of breath and depleted to every obligation and everything that I was committed to. This is no way to go through life. But because the culture encouraged it, I didn’t realize it.

Opting out is simply starting to look at what you commit to. It’s about taking a few breaths before you commit to anything. Look at it and ask yourself if you have reasonable time for it. Secondly, ask yourself what you can bring to it and if it fulfills you. Even if those things fit my requirements, to the extent that I could, I started saying no. That does not make you a popular person, but it does make you a healthy person, able to be present each moment. The things I did commit to, I showed up excited, enthusiastic, creative, and full of energy. I found out I was a bigger asset to myself and others. Then it became easier to opt out. That’s why I tell everyone that’s your foundational tool.

BOYT: What is a typical day for you? What are your tools to balance out your life?

Holly Mosier: I’m not actively practicing law anymore. I am promoting the book full time. We also own an LA Boxing gym in Lake Forest, California. That requires a fair amount of our time. It’s a huge commitment in addition to having a family. We also have a blend family with kids from all different age groups. I have a husband who is very much of a guy’s guy. He likes to eat potatoes. The kids and I all eat different things. With myself, I need to maintain my balance at all cost. Here is how I do it:

The first thing I do when I open my eyes is to focus on my breathing. The quality of your breath directly matches the quality of your state of calm or lack thereof. It sets a pattern for me for the entire day. I have found that whatever I do first thing in the morning determines the whole quality of my day. I focus on my breath. I get up. I drink some warm water.

Then I do meditation. The way I meditate is shown in my book. It’s a simple process. I think people have a view of meditation that may prevent them from even being willing to try it. But basically, meditation is just a single focus on one thing. So I sit in my bed in my special spot and I start with my 4-count breath. The 4-count breath is just drawing the breath inthrough the nose to the count of 4 and slowly exhaling to the count of 4. This breathing technique alone starts to slow everything down. I just ponder some inspirational thought. It could be about something I just read that morning. You can focus on a flower, a sound, just anything. But I’m looking to reach a state of serenity before I ever leave my bedroom. This happens for me very quickly now because I’ve been doing it for so many years. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Just like toning a muscle; if I lift that 5-pound weight every day, I’m going to tone that muscle within a month or so. It’s the same thing with meditation. The more I practice my 4-count breathing and meditation, the easier it is for me to find that state of serenity and equanimity. After that, I usually walk out to get my day started.

 If I can get my cardio first thing in the morning, I would like to do it. I think cardio is necessary for all-over fitness. Of course, I box. I do yoga. Cardio is most important for your health and weight control. Sometimes I jump on my bicycle or go take a class. I usually start my day after that. Sometimes I do my 4-count breathing throughout my day. If I can do it, then anyone can do it. No one even needs to know you’re doing it. It reminds me to stay calm. It also helps me to maintain that state of serenity all day. This determines my level of stress or lack thereof. That impacts my appetite, my energy level and keeps my day going very smoothly. I cook most nights. I make recipes with five ingredients or less. I like to eat healthy and I like to cook food quickly. That pretty much wraps up my day.

BOYT: Do you find that there are common weight-loss traps that both women and men fall into? And what can be done to break these patterns?

Holly Mosier: Typically, I hear from people that they need to eat every 2-3 hours. Eating 5-6 meals a day has become a necessary step for weight loss in the public’s mind. I have not found this to be true. I have found that if you eat according to your natural appetite patterns, you’re much more likely to experience successful weight-loss, and you’ll be happier. I’m the person that needs to get full. For me, grazing all day is not effective. In fact, when I tried that, I did nothing but gain weight. However, it works for my husband. I need three square meals a day and a snack. That maintains my weight very easily. It’s a very easy way for me to eat because it matches my natural appetite patterns.

Here is a second thing you hear: “We shouldn’t eat after 6PM.” For me, I’m really hungry at night. I eat a big dinner every night around 7:30 or 8:00PM. That’s where I get the majority of my calories. I get about 1800 calories every day and I get about 800-900 calories at night in the form of my dinner. That’s absolutely fine for me. It helps me maintain my weight because, again, it follows my natural appetite patterns. I haven’t found any magic in eating after 6PM, nor do I find it bad, as long as I stay within my daily calorie allotment. I also do exercise every day.

I also hear that a lot of people eat oatmeal for breakfast. Of course, I’d tried it. It didn’t work for me at all. In fact, it made me hungrier throughout the day. It also tanks my energy levels. It sets up cravings for starch all day. I do not do that. I tell people that they need to balance the proteins, the carbs, and the fats in your breakfasts. Studies have shown that people who eat eggs in the morning tend to weigh less. On days that I don’t have eggs, I’ll have cottage cheese. It’s low fat, 2% cottage cheese with a half teaspoon of cinnamon and some splenda. I mixed it up with a little bit of honey and a few raisins. It tastes awesome! It keeps you full because you’re balancing your proteins, carbs and fats. It doesn’t set you up to be hungry later on in the day.  That’s what I do. People are really shocked how their appetites or energy levels change just by changing the way they eat breakfast.

Just remember, not everyone’s body is the same!

BOYT: What are you go-to foods or snacks if you need a boost of energy?

Holly Mosier: I really like low-fat cottage cheese because it’s not heavy. It has the perfect balance of proteins, carbs, and fats. If you add some cinnamon to it, it does a tremendous job of keeping your appetite at bay. I’ll even add it to potatoes. As far as snacks go, I’ll have a piece of fruit like an apple or a pear. This will boost my energy up for the rest of the day. I’m not a big fan of protein drinks because they don’t keep me full. A lot of time, people think that they should have a protein drink just because they’re working out. It can be very high-calorie and you don’t feel satisfied if you have it as a meal replacement. If it works for you, then it’s fine. You have to learn from other people’s suggestions and experiment to see what works best for you. It’s important to stop beating ourselves up if we don’t fit into these specific categories.

BOYT: What suggestions do you have to help someone stay consistent on their journey to a healthy lifestyle?

Holly Mosier: The first thing I would do is to balance my mind’s and body’s needs. We’re not just physical beings. There is an invisible part of us that gets ignored in our culture. That’s what creates the stress. If you really look at stress, it’s internal resistance to something we perceive that is happening out here. The reason we’re always stressed out is because we’re not feeding our emotional, mental and spiritual needs. That is what stress management does. Stress management is a more clinical way of saying, “I’m going to take care of myself internally first”—because the external truly is a reflection of what’s going on internally.

You are not going to be able to take control of your body, and wrangle it into the shape that you want without addressing your internal needs, and keep those results in your body. I’ve never seen anyone do it. That’s why someone can torture themselves on diet fads. If you cut your calories, you will lose weight. But it’s the maintenance of that weight-loss that everyone trips up. It’s because you’ve become very unbalanced after those very harsh approaches. I know they’re quick, but they’re not affective in the long term.

What I was after was a completely happy life in all arenas. I found that we can have it if we address the balance in our minds and bodies. There’s nothing wrong with ten minutes a morning to do some deep breathing to establish peace within yourself before your day starts. The second thing is to do your best that day.

BOYT: Who has been an inspiration for you in your journey?

Holly Mosier: My grandmother, who is 108 years old, inspired me very much in this way. She’s a Southern lady. She grew up in North Carolina. Her generation was not into fitness, but she was very much into managing her happiness. I didn’t realize that until I was much older. In my early 40s, it was quite tough for me as I was trying to blend in our families. I felt completely depleted and depressed. That’s when I started to understand what she was doing her entire life. I had the chance to talk to her. It was awesome. She suffered through the loss of her son, death of her husband, two World Wars, two battles with breast cancer in her 60s, and three near-death heart attacks. She didn’t have an easy life, but she was always a very peaceful and happy woman. I learned that there is tremendous power in our points of view; we have 100% control over that. When I started to really take that to heart, everything in my life—my relationships, my productivity, my business and everyone around me—started to change for the better.

About Holly Moiser

Healthy lifestyle expert, Holly Mosier, is the acclaimed author of Stress Less, Weigh Less, a unique manual combining well-researched nutrition and exercise approaches with time-tested stress management tools. The most permanent weight loss blueprint on the market, Stress Less, Weigh Less is the culmination of Holly’s lifelong passion to find the weight loss and exercise techniques that would give her the body she desired and the inner peace that comes from living a less stressful life.

Marie Claire Mexico embraces Stress Less, Weigh Less

We’re going global!  I hope!  I was recently interviewed by Marie Claire Mexico about my book “Stress Less, Weigh Less.” It’s a beautiful article – the photos are lovely.  I talk about my favorite stress relief techniques, tips for healthy eating for a Latin American diet, and the way to a healthy mind, healthy body and healthy life no matter where you are in the world. To read the article – if you speak Spanish! - pick up your copy of Marie Claire Mexico edition or click on the thumbnail pages below.

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