Canada Weight Loss Grants- Part 2

by emerald.angel · Jan 18, 2018

Apologies for the long delay in writing this. Honestly until part 1 no one was even reading my blog so it didn’t seem important. And I spent a lot of time debating whether to take advantage of the grant or not.

I decided not to. Here’s why:

I can’t afford it.

How can I not afford to use a grant? This weight loss grant is supposed to be in place to help those who can’t afford a professional weight loss program. But you have to pay for the program yourself, and then are reimbursed if and only if you meet your weight loss goals. The program they connected me to includes genetic testing and metabolic testing and has a workout plan and food plan for 2 years. This whole thing is right up my alley- I love the science. But the two year program costs $2400 up front. Sure the weight loss grant would reimburse me 80% (about $2000) once I’ve lost the weight (IF I lost the weight). But I don’t have that kind of money to just toss around right now. If I did, I wouldn’t need the grant…

The Verdict

In the end I don’t really believe that the grant is a scam per se. They may reimburse people who see results. They work with programs that I trust, like WeightWatchers. And as my boyfriend pointed out- if you end up getting the results you want, then maybe it’s worth spending the money even if you never end up getting it back. I do think that the grant setup is flawed- they’re not helping the people who can’t afford the programs, they’re just helping the people who ultimately can afford to help themselves.

So what am I going to do? I still have weight to lose.

I found the science aspect of the clinic I was sent to very intriguing. I found a DNA company that tests your DNA and gives you a report that includes advice on what to eat and how best to workout for your unique genetic profile. And best of all, I can have the testing done for $300. Since this is less than what I’d be paying for the super expensive program even after reimbursement from the weight loss grant, I call it a win. I may contact the weight loss grant people again to see if they would reimburse me for this program instead. They may not, but at least it won’t destroy my finances if I don’t get their help.

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Canadian Weight Loss Grants-Part 1- Is This a Scam?

by emerald.angel · Sep 28, 2017

Have you heard about the weight loss grant being advertised on the radio? The ad claims that if you have 20 lbs or more to lose, you could receive up to $2000 to help you lose it. What they should actually be saying is you could receive up to $2000 once you’ve lost it.

Money is tight for me right now. And from the combination of losing a close friend and having unhealthy coping strategies (namely stress eating), I’ve become pretty overweight. So I naturally got excited when I heard this radio ad. Here’s the process:

Step 1: Fill Out a Form

First you go to the website and fill out their form at www.weightlossgrants.org. It’s just your name, where you’re from, your email, and phone number. You click to accept the applicant agreement, and then submit the form.

Step 2: Receive Email

You get an email from the organization pretty quickly. It includes a reference number and a phone number.

Step 3: Call Them

You have to call them, which kind of makes steps 1 and 2 feel like unnecessary work. They ask about your weight, what you’ve tried previously, and your goals. They ask you if you have a plan or need a referral. And they explain the program more thoroughly.

The Letdown

So I’m on the call with this organization, and they tell me I pay for all of my weight loss efforts up front. Then if and only if I lose my goal amount of weight within my goal time, then they will reimburse 80% of what I paid out for the program. So I’m really not sure how this helps people who are prevented from using weight loss programs by the cost, because it still costs you just as much anyways. Sure the reimbursement could be a great motivator, but it really comes across as scammy.

The Catch-22

Now that I realize I need to pay for this out of pocket, I ask how much it’s going to cost. The woman on the phone doesn’t know, she tells me I’d need to go to the consultation to find out. So I ask to go to the free consultation to find out, so I can save up. But if I go to the consultation I am essentially setting that as my start date, and my goal constraints set in (I have 18 months to lose 40 lbs- 18 months is the maximum time limit you can choose for any amount of weight). If I don’t go to the consultation yet then I can put off the start date to save up, but I have no idea how much money I need to save.

The Verdict

This whole thing is setting off some alarm bells in my head. It does come across like a scam “hey- we’ll give you money to lose weight!” is actually “you give us money to lose weight and then if you lose it all by the deadline, we’ll give you some money back”.

I have an appointment for my first consultation in a week. I still haven’t paid anything or given them any payment information, so I figure I’ll check it out further and see how I feel after that. Losing weight is something I was going to spend money on anyways, and if there is that motivation to get most of it back then maybe this will be more successful than other programs.

The one thing that is telling me this isn’t a scam is that you can pick your program, you don’t have to use their referral (though presumably it needs to be cleared with them). They mention allowing programs that I am familiar with- like Weight Watchers, and they also mention that you can work with a dietitian.

To Be Continued….

I’ll go to the appointment next week, and I’ll come back and write about my verdict then.

Check out part 2 here

Miracle Mornings for Peak Productivity

by emerald.angel · Sep 22, 2017

As a part of a productivity group I’m in, we read Hal Elrod’s miracle morning this month.

A great morning routine is key to peak productivity

There are some similarities to other morning routines that I’ve come across, including Robin Sharma’s 5am club. The difference is Sharmas’ morning method has 3 activities for 20 minutes each, whereas Elrod’s has 6 activities for 10. Elrod’s is also more customizable, which may or may not be a good thing. some of Elrod’s can be combined as well- ie affirmations and visualization, exercise and meditation (some forms of yoga).

My experience so far

I have difficulty sticking to any one routine. I’m experimenting with not setting a particular order for my miracle mornings and just going with whatever moves me that day. There are major downsides to this. Routines once established become automatic and you don’t have to think about them. Whereas if I don’t make it a routine then it takes more willpower every day to make it happen. On the other hand, I don’t seem to do well with forming routines, and I actually seem to actively resist the concept.

According to Christine Hassler’s habit types, I’m a rebel. This means I’m not accountable to myself or others, and it’s particularly hard to form habits. So I’m experimenting instead with trying to make having a miracle morning somewhat of a regular thing, but not forcing the order of the components. To this end, I’ve designed stickers for my happy planner to track my mornings, and to make it more likely that I’ll hit all six components.

The Miracle Morning

The miracle morning consists of what Elrod calls the life SAVERS- silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading, scribing. Silence can be meditation, scribing is journaling or writing of any kind, reading is suggested to be on a self improvement topic of some kind.

Silence and Exercise

Again I see a lot of themes here. I’m interpreting silence to generally mean meditation in this context. Meditation and exercise have been scientifically proven to be even more effective against depression than anti-depressants. Even if you’re not depressed, these two things are the biggest impact activities on health and happiness that there are. It’s worth 20 minutes a day of your time when the payoff is health and happiness. And it seems that exercise shortly after waking up is particularly beneficial for your brain.

Affirmations and Visualization

Affirmations and visualization are very popular in a lot of fields right now. It seems that these activities get you in the right head-space. What they do is help you to clarify your goals and generate a clearer path towards those goals. Many people talk about affirmations as if they are some magical wish for it and you’ll get it thing. Now don’t get me wrong- I believe in magic. but I feel that affirmations are working for more scientific reasons.

To give you an example of something similar- finding something to be grateful every day leads to greater happiness, and often times more things to be grateful for. You’ve trained your brain to perceive more of the good things in life, and to see the good in the not so fun parts of life. I feel that affirmations are the same. 1- you’re setting clearer goals, and once you actually know what you want then your brain becomes trained to look for it and find ways to give it to you. 2 because you have a clearer idea of what you want your life to look like, it’s easier to focus your efforts in that direction.

Reading and Scribing

Finally, reading and journaling are also common themes among wellness and productivity methods. Reading and learning are essential to personal growth, it’s one of the best ways to improve your life. After all, why go through years of trial and error to learn things for yourself from scratch when you can read about someone else’s trials and discoveries, and then work from where they left off. As my mother is so fond of reminding me “you don’t have to reinvent the wheel”. Journaling is important because you can see your progress and growth over time, and also because many people don’t fully process information by reading alone, but journaling about it can help you to understand the material and also better implement the material.

Final Thoughts

So far having a rough outline of what I need to do to start my mornings off right has been having a huge positive impact on my productivity. I have a bad tendency to skip the exercise part, which makes me feel that I probably need to do it first. I’m finding the life SAVERS anagram and my stickers to be very helpful, as it’s amazing how often I wake up in the morning and say “what am I supposed to be doing?” Overall I’ve found this experience has really added value to my days.

Book Review: Love The Job You Hate

by emerald.angel · Jul 13, 2017

Last night I ended up not able to sleep, so I decided to read on of the Kindle books that has been in my queue for a while now.

Love The Job You Hate: The 5 Fastest Steps to Turning Your Lunch Break Into Your Most Profitable Hour of the Day by Bridgett Renay

This book is short and to the point. I got through it in one sitting. It’s written in such a way that it feels like the author is talking directly to you.

There are some sections that I felt that the author could have gone more in depth or given more detail to her strategy. And there are some places where the editor missed an incorrect usage of a word. But none of us are perfect, and the author actually address this near the end of the book.

Overall I found that this book neatly summed up and tied together a lot of other strategies and techniques, such as de-cluttering, being in charge of your own attitude and happiness, focusing on what you’re best at, and not letting perfectionism stop you from starting.

The book was also motivational enough to be a bit of a kick in the ass that I needed to implement a lot of the strategies I’ve been learning.

If you’ve started hating your job, having a bad attitude at work, or just searching for a way out then this book is a good read for you.

The book is currently only $1.31 CAD on amazon, and for such a low price I definitely think it’s worth the read.

Trying To Do It All-Again

by emerald.angel · Jun 8, 2017

I’ve been looking back over some of my older posts and I realized that once again I’ve been trying to take on all of the aspects of my life- budget, job, food, exercise, mental health, relationships, etc. But I realized that this is all an ongoing thing for everyone. Perhaps I have less good habits in place than most people, but when you think of common new years resolutions or what you see in advertisements, everyone is trying to improve these things all the time. And my attempt at simplifying didn’t really work- when you think about it there’s no way it could have. Life is complex, and all the areas are tied together.

I’ve mentioned my Mindvalley quest before. The quest I’m doing is called Hero, Genius, Legend. It contains a lot of great insight and lessons from Robin Sharma, who coaches billionaire CEOs. As a result I’ve been working on creating some habits and routines, though some days I’m just too tired to do anything. But I still try to get up and do the 20 minutes of exercise, 20 minutes of journaling, and 20 minutes of learning that he recommends. And this has definitely had a positive impact on my days. I’ve been using an app called fabulous to help. I’ve modified the morning routine to make it work for me, and it’s really great at reminding me and tracking my progress. Currently this blog is serving as my journal from time to time. Eventually I think that will be evolving, as I would love to do the whole “make an income from your blog” thing. So we’ll see what happens.

Follow Your Heart

by emerald.angel · May 21, 2017

I’ve been getting this message a lot lately. I mean A LOT.

Monday

I met with a woman who knows my mom, and works as a consultant. We were talking about how I could potentially use my skills on a consultant type basis. When I started to talk about my business idea she heard the change in my voice. She actually heard the passion, the heart. And she said as much.

Now there’s a part of me that says “well I can be passionate about anything” but lately, not so much. I’ve had a lot of trouble getting emotionally invested in anything, especially over the last couple of years.

Tuesday

I had a coaching call with Tanya Stewart, Esq. from Soulutionary . I had won a reading and the coaching call through a contest as a part of Prema Lee Gurreri’s book launch for “Your Sacred Wealth Code”

I haven’t read the book yet. but from what I gather from the reading and the website (and a fun little quiz on the website), there are different wealth archetypes in your soul, and tapping into these helps you to find your purpose or calling, and become wealthy while doing so.

During this coaching call, Tanya had me pegged right off. She can tell that I’m the super logical type, and that I give my brain all of the responsibility for everything and my heart is just a muscle to pump blood. She was completely right. I cut myself off from my emotions very early on, and that has actually caused a lot of the problems I’ve had in my life. I used to think that I just didn’t have emotions. As I’ve grown over time I’ve come to realize that they’re just too much for me to handle so I cut them off. Apparently I’m a Vulcan. (actually I’m an aspie, but are the two really so different?)

While we were talking Tanya asked me an eye-opening question. I’ve let my brain (or ego) take charge all this time, and where has it landed me? Do I like where I am? In some ways yes, I very much like where I am. I have a super cute little home that suits me perfectly, an amazing boyfriend, pets, loving family, etc. I live in one of the greatest countries in the world, I received top-notch education my whole life, and I live a life of a fair amount of luxury. BUT- I’m not happy. There is very little meaning or purpose in my life. As much as I thought I was independent and doing things my way and being immune to peer pressure, I was still very much achieving things to impress other people. I’ve learned that I want to be seen in a certain light by other people. And mostly, I think I just want to show my dad that I’m better than him, and all he sees as being significant is material wealth (long story). I see now that in order to truly have a sense of meaning, purpose, and significance in this life I have to do something with my life that serves others in some way. I’ve always felt that I was put here for a reason, that I have a calling to make a difference in the world. According to Tanya, it’s not my brain that’s going to get me there; it’s my heart. And chasing after material goods certainly isn’t the way to get there.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I drove my mom to an appointment 2 hours away and then back home again when it was all done. Altogether with time at the hospital and having lunch we spent a good 9 or so hours together. I’m lucky to have a really awesome mom, and we had some really deep conversations. I talked with her about her consultant friend that I met as well as my coaching call. And we talked about some of her current challenges. Mom is easily one of the most inspirational people in my life.

Thursday

Thursday was really just a rest day. My health is still not optimal, and I had a lot to process.

Friday

I had an exceptionally productive day, and checked a lot of things off of my to-do list. Part of that was catching up on what I had fallen behind on for my Mindvalley Quest. One of the days activities was a meditation in which you meet your master. This was the most effective guided meditation I think I’ve ever experienced, likely because I was already so open to the messages I’d been receiving all week. Essentially I was shown that I’m going to stumble and fall a bit, but when I get my feet under me and take that leap, I’m going to fly free.

Saturday

My boyfriend took me to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. This movie just seemed to bring the themes of the week together and tie it up with a nice little bow. Heart over brain and ego, the power of love over fear, true family, etc.

After the movie I talked to my boyfriend about how I’ve been receiving the same messages all week. He pointed out that following your heart rather than your mind is an oft-repeated moral in a lot of our cultural stories. This is true of course, but apparently I’ve been a lot more receptive to the message this week.

Fighting Depression: Focus on Physical Health

by emerald.angel · May 2, 2017

I’ve read time and time again, as well as been told by several doctors, that eating good food, getting outside, and getting exercise are crucial for treating depression. In fact, I’ve read that exercise is more effective than any anti-depressant on the market, and mindfulness meditation is becoming a common treatment for depression in the mental health community.

Lately I’ve been getting into a habit that on my good days, I’m doing so much and starting so many projects that I overwhelm myself and am completely burned out and exhausted the next day. So I’ve decided that at least for the rest of this week, my focus is going to be purely on taking care of my physical health. Once I have developed the health habits that ensure I consistently have energy, then I’ll take on more again.

I also suspect that my infected tooth is causing much of my exhaustion, but this creates a problem. The infection makes me tired, which makes me less able to work, so I can’t save up to have the tooth removed.

I bookmarked a post from BuzzFeed awhile back:

17 Not-Overwhelming Ways To Eat Healthy When You’re Depressed

I’m going to print this out and post it in my kitchen