In this day and age we get bombarded with requests to do things consciously or subconsciously. Sometimes we are drawn in by ads, people, or work commitments. It can get overwhelming and this has happened to a lot of us.

When was the last time you just said no? I don’t mean saying no to drugs, although that can be good too, but I mean saying no to tasks that are either too much for you or beyond your current capacity, at least right now.

Recently I had to have some projects done around my house. Even though I am pretty handy, there are some skills I just didn’t have time to look up on YouTube to learn?yet. With the end of the school year and two little ones, life was very busy with kids, work, friends, hobbies, and other necessary tasks like eating, sleeping, and driving to work. I just needed some help to get a few projects complete.

I said no. I don’t have time to do it all. I asked for help. I hired a handyman.

A lesson I learned through this whole experience is that sometimes we all need a hand and we all need to ask for help or expertise or have a person there to help us say no. We all need to say no at certain times and I’ll add that it can take a lot to say, “I am not able to do that.” We might benefit if we put our pride aside and add the word “yet” to the same sentence and say, “No, I am not able to do that, yet.” This phrase is a good one to practice and it can even be empowering to help set boundaries, capabilities, and standards.

Just saying no can show others that you are able to manage time, schedules, projects, and priorities. Sometimes we need to say this to kids, spouses, friends, or co-workers. This is a skill to practice so we can under promise and over deliver instead of over promising and under delivering while disappointing ourselves and those we are trying to help.

As a health coach, I work with people to help them create “stop cues” or find a pause button that will allow them to stop and realize what they need to say no to so they can achieve things they never thought were possible. Try saying no today to something and see if it empowers you. Try adding the word “yet” to something you can’t do and see how that can equally empower you to be more amazing tomorrow.

The post Know When To Say No | Health appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

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Everyone rejoice! Pandemic restrictions are changing. “You are now free to move about the cabin.” Well, kind of… 

Are you ready to be social and build memories with family and friends again?

Pause to ask yourself: What did I take for granted before the pandemic? What have I gained from the lesson (other than weight)? Set an intention to create habits and build preventive practices that maybe you should have been doing before COVID. Let’s get back to the basics. This is today and there might not be a tomorrow if you don’t take care of yourself.

Here are 4 basic tips as we head into sunnier days ahead:

• Eat your fruits and veggies – increase fiber and decrease risk of disease.
• Be active for at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week and up to 250 minutes for weight loss – helps you burn off the COVID 15 or weight gain.
• Always use sunscreen – decrease risk of skin cancer.
• Wash your hands and drink more water – easy to do and good for you and others.

Simply put, primary prevention is eating well, regular exercise, and healthy habits. Secondary prevention is preventing further disease or disability from occurring. Tertiary prevention is rehabilitation after a disease and preventing it from coming back.

Education is a powerful tool to help at all levels of prevention and …For Your Life.

As we look forward, set specific intentions with social reintegration, health promotion, and prevention in mind. Hit reset and think about things you can do at all levels of prevention to reduce risk, harm, and damage to your body, or to those around you.

With these tips, get on your way to preventing the onset of disease, disability, or discomfort. Let’s learn from the lesson that COVID taught us; we need to gain better control of our health and enjoy today; we don’t know what tomorrow holds.

Stay strong, stay ahead of the curve, and keep on being open to learning new ways to be healthier every day! Get back to basics. And for goodness sake, go get some fresh air and sun… but wear your sunscreen!

Gary Gianetti has an M.S. in Allied Health and holds certifications in health, fitness, and exercise sciences. When he’s not coaching, he enjoys outdoor adventures on foot, rock, wheels, and in the air with his little ones and his wife. He is the founder of Healthy Altitudes…For Your Life.

The post Keep it Simple: Let’s Get Back To The Basics appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo: Christian Erfurt

Funny how playing with letters in words can change meaning and make such a difference. 

After COVID, what are things you can do differently to get out of a rut in your life? Will you stay online, go back to an office, go back to a gym? We all get in ruts with health and wellness. Take time to rearrange and mix up the ‘letters’ in your life to get out of any current rut.

Here’s a few weekly tips to help you out of a rut:

• Set a goal to try at least 3 new recipes.

• Try at least 3 new workouts.

• Listen to 10 new songs.

These changes can be fun while helping rewire neurons in your brain to help you be more adaptable.

You can control whether you rust or not, and that is where humans have more power than objects. When abandoned, uncared for, or left in bad shape, things rust. People can be like rust. If you don’t take care of yourself, your arteries can clog, your skills can deteriorate, and you can fall into bad shape. It is important to take time to be active, eat well, and stay happy to stave off “rust.” Be strong, prevent rust, and keep moving to avoid “rust” from forming in your body.

Remember, rest is a key element to balance in your life. Consciously find time to rest, however you see fit… but not too much. Rest is a time to rebuild, refresh, and recover from all your hard work preventing rust and getting out of ruts.

Balance some hobbies, rekindle relationships, or take time to be thankful. We may have found ways in the last year to be smarter, more efficient, more authentic, and more balanced. Keep the forward hustle while still looking back to know what you have gained from the past year.

Hop out of those ruts to prevent rust, but get rest when you are done. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to make changes to “letters” in your life to create new words with new meanings.

Gary Gianetti has an M.S. in Allied Health and holds certifications in health, fitness, and exercise sciences. When he’s not coaching, he enjoys outdoor adventures on foot, rock, wheels, and in the air with his little ones and his wife. He is the founder of Healthy Altitudes…For Your Life.

The post Ruts, Rust, and Rest | Health … For Your Life appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Our lives are a series of good and bad habits. We all can practice daily efforts to make better habits we can use …For Your Life 

Have you considered habits you have day to day? Coffee, cigarettes, exercise, drinking, social media, work, or anything else you do on a regular basis can be a habit. As an activity, write down daily habits (good and bad) and ask “Do I wish I could change them?”

With practice and will power it is possible to hone in on habits to improve and make a new habit a regular part of life. Like any activity, the more you practice the more efficient you become. Habit change can be complex and have several steps to break down. Take for example, driving: you learn to drive, it gets easier, you start drinking coffee while you drive, text, maybe even speed while you do the basic task of driving. Habits help us be efficient and save brain power for other tasks. Humans often crave more and have an innate desire to do more. Habits come from craving more.

There are three segments to a habit. The Cue, The Behavior, The Reward. If you think about these steps with a goal to short circuit one of them, you are on your way to a successful habit change. The Cue: You are bored. The Behavior: You take out your social media. The Reward: You are satisfied that you saw what others are doing. If you recognize you are bored and you find something else to do instead of the usual behavior, you can change the habit. Think of how you can apply these steps to other habits in your life that you want to improve.

In order to live our best lives, we need to embrace good and bad habits and recognize where we are happy. If you are happy with your current habit, leave it alone, but if you want a change or if your habit affects others’, consider a change. Surveys show that self-acceptance as a habit can lead to the greatest happiness.

Gary Gianetti has an M.S. in Allied Health and holds certifications in health, fitness, and exercise sciences. When he’s not coaching, he enjoys outdoor adventures on foot, rock, wheels, and in the air with his little ones and his wife. He is the founder of Healthy Altitudes…For Your Life

The post Good Habits + Bad Habits = Life Practice appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.