So, WHAT does the Wellness Training Institute do? Hard question. The best way I can describe it is by telling you WHO we are.

One of the things I hear the most often from both our program members and those who attend our Wellness Dinner Seminars is that they’re startled at how happy everyone is.

Which, is great!

It’s also true!

Our members are happy. So, the next question is: Why?

There are two main reasons.

First, our team is happy. They’re fantastic at their jobs and living into their purpose. Each of us loves helping others reach their health goals. We love guiding people out of sickness and disease all the way to health. We love seeing the transformations that happen on a daily basis within our community. And why? Because we’ve all been there.

Second, and maybe more important, is that our programs work.

After all, it’s hard to be happy when you’re sick, depressed, and on a laundry list of prescription meds. Feeling terrible is no fun.

It’s a sad fact that a lot of program members, past and present, didn’t even know they felt terrible when they first stepped through our doors. Before the program, they just thought being sick, broken, and exhausted were the norm. They thought it was their fate. They thought that feeling terrible was just what happens as you age.

But as they begin to build habits that promote life and happiness, they soon realize what “good” really feels like… even what great is. Your body, when you give it what it needs, naturally begins to repair itself. Knowing what to eat—and why—gives you peace of mind. You’re able to confidently create the life you want. You’re no longer a slave to all the things that are slowly killing you.

And once you know not just what it feels like to feel good but also why you feel that way, happiness just naturally follows. Our members understand that the work they put into taking back their health serves a higher purpose than themselves. It might be so that they’re around for their kids or grandkids. It might be because they want to travel. It might be because they want to volunteer.

That higher purpose is different for everyone. But our members are happy because they understand what it means to them.

Happiness is kind of weird. We think of it as a destination, but it’s usually actually found in the process of working your way to where you want to be. What our program offers, maybe above everything else, is a map for that journey. Everyone’s path forward is going to look different, but what we’re great at is charting the way to that destination.

There’s also something to be said for how our expectations shape our happiness. If you come to us looking to lose 50 pounds by next week or want a magic bullet solution to your health issues, you’re going to leave disappointed. We’re in the sustainability business. Changing the trajectory of your health—and your life—is a long process. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. It requires that higher purpose to help drive you through the tough parts. If you’re overweight, have type 2 diabetes, and rarely leave your spot on the couch, that didn’t happen overnight.

Likewise, reversing those issues doesn’t happen with the snap of your fingers.

It takes work. It takes time. It takes a community. It takes building new habits that push out the old, bad ones.

But I can make you a promise. In that journey, you’ll find happiness. You just have to start… and then stick with it.

And we’d love to guide you along the way!

The post Why We Have So Many Happy People in Our Programs appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

January 3, 2018

Getting healthy and staying that way can seem like a big challenge. And with all the confusing health information floating around out there, it can be hard to know where to start.

Watch Part 2 Now!

Or, read more below…

If your health is on track, this five-part series on kickstarting your wellness journey probably isn’t for you.

Instead, this series is designed for people who want to get healthy… but just can’t seem to gain any traction. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. So, the goal here is to give you something small and easy to do each day that, if you stick with it, will make a big impact on your long-term health.

The series is divided up into the five fundamental cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle. In order, we’ll go through each part and give you some tools that address each of the elements: “Frame the Day,” “Speed Up,” “Slow Down,” “Connect,” and “Fuel Up.”

Think of it like this: You already have the first few scraps of newspaper in the fireplace. This series is the match. Start small, concentrate on one thing at a time for just a few minutes each day, and sooner than you think you’ll be on your way to great health!

So, let’s begin at the beginning.

THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED

Have you ever gotten out of bed in the morning, and nothing goes right from the very beginning? You’re out of coffee. The water heater kicked the bucket overnight, and you’re forced to take a freezing shower. You’re running late for work and can’t seem to find your keys anywhere.

It’s easy in those circumstances to just throw up your hands and wish you could crawl back into bed and start the whole day over again. Because the rest of the day already feels ruined.

Well, in the same way that the day can feel ruined from the start, it can also work in the opposite direction. You can set yourself up for success each day by starting out by spending just a few minutes framing the day ahead of you.

It’s like choosing to get up on the right set of the bed every day.

The key is to have a plan and spend an intentional few minutes getting your mind in the right place. Here are four simple tools that do just that. Choose one and do it every day this week for five minutes.

We start our wellness journey with the mind because everything else flows from that. If you aren’t approaching your journey with the right mindset, it doesn’t matter what you do after that.

Without the right frame, the picture isn’t going to turn out well.

Your health begins in your head.

1. Choose to Be Happy

Let’s say you get into a fender bender. Two choices arise. You can get angry, frustrated, and start a scene. Or, you can take a deep breath, take a moment, and decide that you’re thankful no one was hurt. It’s your choice.

In the same way, happiness is a choice. It seems overly simplistic, but the research is clear… you can choose to be happy. Or you can choose to be a grump. Spending just five minutes each morning thinking through your day and deciding, right then and there, that it’s going to be a good day… that’s a recipe for getting things off to a good start.

Think about it this way…

Whenever something arises during the day, shift your focus from thinking that you HAVE to do it, and instead frame it as something you GET to do.

Because life is a privilege. You only get one go at it. So, you might as well make the most of it. You don’t HAVE to live. Instead, it’s something you GET to do.

2. Gratitude Journal

I’m a big fan of the gratitude journal. It’s amazingly useful for getting your mind in the right place. You can read more about it here, but here’s the gist.
Grab a notebook and pen. Put them next to your bed.

Before you get out of bed in the morning, write down three things you are grateful for. You don’t have to go nuts here. Just three things. They don’t even have to be big things. Because, after a few days, you’ll probably have gone through all the obvious ones. Family, shelter, food, your hamster. By day four or five you’re going to have to think about your life in a little more depth. Rainbows. Baby ducks. Escalators.

The magic of this technique is that it forces your mind to be on the lookout for things you’re grateful for as you go about your day. And you’ll do it without even thinking about it. Your brain is going to be primed to find silver linings all around you… even when the storms set in.

The other great thing about the gratitude journal is that it quickly becomes a habit. Do it for a week or two, every day, and before you know it you’ll just do it without even thinking about it.

3. Inspirational Reading

If you’re not into the first two techniques on this list, no problem. Instead, just do five minutes of inspirational reading each morning. Choose something positive, something light. Choose something you’ll be able to stick with. If you’re religious, then choose a devotional of some kind. If you like motivational quotations, there are a ton of sites on the web dedicated to just that sort of thing.

The key is to do it for a few minutes each day until it becomes a habit… until you can physically feel its absence if you skip a day of doing it.

4. Treat Yourself to a Healthy Breakfast

Nothing builds momentum like a healthy breakfast. It’s not just literal fuel. A healthy first meal also gets you going in the right direction.

Not sure what to make? Check out these breakfast recipes from our recipe library on our site.

• The Everything Smoothie
• Yummy Breakfast Scramble
• Sweet Potato Hash
• The Ultimate Breakfast

So, no matter which of these four you choose to do, take five minutes out of your day and do one (or more!)

The key is to get your mind right at the beginning of the day. Because without that positive framing, you won’t have anything on which to build your other tiny habits of health. With the right frame of mind, though, you’re primed for taking that next small step in your health journey.

Because that’s how health happens: Baby step after baby step after baby step. Nothing happens overnight. But when you stick with it, when you do it every day until it becomes something you JUST DO, that’s when real transformation happens.

That’s when health and wholeness combine. That’s when the happiness you’ve been practicing invades every part of you—and starts to spread to all the other people around you!

Want more great information about the foundations of a healthy life? Download our new eBook The 7 Habits of Highly healthful People for FREE right now, right HERE!

Listen to Part 1 here:

The post Health KickStart Series #1: Frame the Day appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

January 3, 2018

Welcome to Part 5 of our Health Kickstart series. Read Part 1: Frame Your Day here, Part 2: Speed Up here, Part 3: Slow Down here, and Part 4: Connect here.

This series is designed for people who want to get healthy… but just can’t seem to get any traction. Getting started can be the hardest part. So, the goal here is to give you a step-by-step plan to do just that. Each part of the series will give you a small and easy action to take each day. Before long, if you stick with it, the steps within this plan will make a big impact on your long-term health.

Pop quiz.

Grab a box of something out of your cupboards and read through the ingredients. Chances are, it’s a long read.

Now, how much of that is actually FOOD?

Now, let’s take one more step back.

What, exactly, is FOOD?

The answer to this last question is that food is anything that provides energy to your body and helps your body continue to live and repair itself.

So, with that in mind, how much actual food exists within that box of processed stuff?

Answer: Not much.

A lot of what’s in there doesn’t help your body heal and repair itself, and any energy it provides isn’t going to be the sustainable, slow-burning kind.

So, to be healthy, we need to eat real food. But with all the misinformation out there, it can be hard to know where to start. Should you count calories? Is diet stuff good for your diet? Fruits are good, right? Fat is bad, right? If I eat everything in moderation, I should be good, yes?

The list is endless.

So, here in Part 5 of the Health Kickstart series, we’re going to wrap up by taking a look at a few practical things you can do nutritionally to eliminate the confusion surrounding “health food” and get your body back on track!

1. The One-Third Rule

Most people advising you about nutrition are going to do two things. First, they’re going to give you healthy stuff to eat. Secondly, they’re going to provide you with a long list of stuff NOT to eat.

I’m not going to do that. Instead, I want you to eat whatever you want… just as long as green veggies take up a third of your plate. Peas, green beans, lima beans, kale, spinach, Brussel sprouts… whatever. (And before you ask, no, green Skittles don’t count.)

This exercise is one of the first things we do with our members here at the Wellness Training Institute, and although it sounds a little out there, it works. It works, in fact, really, really well.

Because here’s the thing. Only seven percent of what Americans each day is either a fruit or a vegetable.

Seven percent.

And… that’s including fruit. Which most people at least tolerate, if not outright enjoy. So, the portion of that already minuscule number that’s actually comprised of vegetables? Pretty small.

So, just adding vegetables to every meal is going to make a huge difference in your health. And again, other than that, here starting out you can eat anything else you want. A Twinkie sundae with Doritos crumbs as sprinkles? Go for it.

Just get your veggies in first.

2. Just Say No

If you’re looking to lose weight, I have a secret solution that will shed those pounds almost overnight. Give up pop (or soda, for you non-Midwesterners). Seriously, it’s so loaded with empty calories that just giving it up for a few weeks is going to slim you down. And switching to diet doesn’t do the trick, by the way. The body handles artificial sweeteners in a similar way to how it handles normal sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

For our purposes here, I’m not going to ask you to give up pop for good. (Not yet, at least.)

But for the next week, I want you to drink water whenever you’d normally grab a Pepsi (or Diet Pepsi). I could describe the effects choosing water will have on your health almost immediately, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

Just do it. You’ll thank me later.

3. Be Aware of How Food Makes You Feel

A lot of us eat the way we do because we’ve always eaten that way. Obesity doesn’t have a ton to do with the genes our parents passed down to us. But the diet they raised us on certainly does. We tend to eat mindlessly.

And that’s what the junk food manufacturers are counting on. They’ve scientifically engineered the flavor, crunch, and fattiness of their products to make sure that you, just as the advertisements admit, can’t eat just one.

They want you to sit down on the couch with a bag of BBQ chips and not come up for air until it’s time to run out and buy another bag.

So, to counteract that and get your health back, you need to begin to practice awareness about what, exactly, you’re putting into your mouth… as well as how it makes you feel.

Here’s a quick way to do this:

When you sit down for lunch or dinner, set a timer for an hour and a half. Start the timer and then eat whatever you usually eat.

When the timer goes off, take a second and allow yourself to notice how that last meal makes you feel.

When I do this with people, it’s incredible to watch their faces. Most people don’t know what it is to feel GOOD, so when they realize how BAD their food makes them feel, light bulbs start going off.

Try it. And then do it again after a healthy meal. The difference will feel like night and day.

So, there you have it. We’ve hit the five main cornerstones of health in this series. And if you’ve been following the plan, then you already know that even these small, seemingly inconsequential changes, when they’re repeated and built upon, can make a real difference in your health.

Keep going! Try out some of the other techniques. Do the same ones for longer. It’s your health, so customize your journey as you see fit.

But whatever you do, continue to build. Hopefully, you have some momentum built up already. Use that to continue forward.

Your journey never really ends, but you’ll be amazed at how far you can go by taking these steps to heart and using them to take back your health, happiness, and your life… once and for all!

Want to go deeper into how to nutrify your body? Check out our free guide to Nutrition and what foods you really SHOULD be eating here.

Listen to Part 5 here: 

The post Health KickStart Series #5: Fuel Up appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

November 30, 2017

The holidays are supposed to be a happy time. But studies show that a lot of people experience acute depression during this season. Here are 15 ways to avoid being one of those statistics.

1. Choose Joy

Happiness is a choice. It’s not about what you don’t have. It’s all about what you do. There are third world countries that score far higher than we as Americans do on happiness indices. And there are a ton of depressed millionaires out there. It’s all about perspective. It’s all about choice.

2. Choose Foods that Honor Yourself

Your gut is filled with trillions of microbes. Eating whole, healthy foods feeds the beneficial parts of your microbiome. Eating terrible food feeds the bad parts. And research over the last decade has shown, time and time again, that your gut plays as much—if not more—of a role than your brain does when it comes to mood. Keep your gut happy and your mood will follow.

3. Give as Many Hugs as You Can

The data is in: People who engage with others in physically-positive ways are happy. And nothing says physically-positive more clearly than a big old bear hug!

4. Spread Happiness

Focusing on the happiness of others is a surefire way to boost your own mood. Isolation, especially during the holidays, is one of the main reasons that depression rates tend rise around this time of year. So, spread your joy… especially to those who seem like they need it the most.

5. Don’t Say Anything Negative for 24 Hours

This exercise is wonderful for boosting your happiness quotient. It also forces you to choose your words carefully and keeps you from spreading negativity to others.

6. Banish All Negative Thoughts for 24 Hours

Negative thoughts are going to happen. They just are. But you don’t have to allow them to linger. So, for 24 hours, when a negative thought pops up in your head, kick it out. Don’t let it put down roots.

7. Understand that Families Can be Stressful

The holidays are a time for family. Which can be wonderful. But, it can also be stressful. So, know that your family gatherings might bring up some tension—spoken or unspoken—in both yourself and others. Just being aware of this fact can go a long way in choosing your joy, no matter the circumstances this holiday season.

8. Search Out the Silver Lining

No matter what happens to you in life, you can find something positive in the situation. If you get into a fender bender, sure it’s annoying. It’s inconvenient. But you can be thankful that no one was hurt. You can use it as a moment to diffuse a stressful situation and be an inspiration to the other driver.

9. Recognize that Other People Find the Holidays Stressful

Again, this is an awareness issue. Even if you don’t get particularly down during the holiday season, others do. So, going into each moment of your day with this knowledge will allow you to show patience and empathy. And maybe brighten someone else’s day!

10. Volunteer

Get out of your routine this holiday season and help others. Soup kitchens, Salvation Army donation kettles, food drives… the opportunities are endless. The key is to be intentional about getting out of your rut and help the less fortunate in your community.

11. Find Your Holiday WHY

What do the holidays mean to you? Because, they aren’t about maxing out your credit cards, stressing over buying gifts for people who are probably going to return them anyway, and eating until your pants no longer fit. Finding your reason for the holiday season will put your mind in a place where happiness isn’t a hard choice.

12. Go to the Mall… But Not to Shop

Go to the mall (or anywhere people are shopping) and be intentional about spreading joy. I’m not suggesting anything radical here. A hello, a smile, a quick compliment… it doesn’t take much to brighten someone’s day. And when you do, that light will shine back on you.

13. Understand What’s Being Marketed at You

Every commercial on TV and the internet this holiday season is a lie. That happy family attempting to shovel that huge pile of food past their fake smiles? Yeah, they don’t exist. We’ve been marketed a vision of the holidays that simply isn’t real. And many people feel like failures when they can’t live up to these false expectations. Understanding that it’s all a mirage designed to sell you cat food or a new vacuum cleaner takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders.

Happiness can happen when you no longer have to live up to an impossible ideal.

14. Focus on Connection

The holidays aren’t about food, gifts, and stress. So, don’t focus on those things. Instead, focus on connecting with the people in your life. Inspire them. Let them inspire you. Be real. Be vulnerable. Be kind.

15. Presence Over Presents

The best gift you can give someone this holiday season is to be present in the moment with them. Put down your phone and have a real conversation. That’s where real joy begins.

Watch more below…

The post Happier Holidays: 15 Ways to Bring Joy to Your Life This Holiday Season appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

October 6, 2017

The simple truth is this: Happiness is a choice. And your health depends on how you choose. [Watch the video version of this post right here!]

Very few people set out in their lives to be miserable. There are exceptions to every rule, but in general, people would choose to be happy over being unhappy.

So, it’s surprising that so many people in this world are just so miserable. It’s amazing. I’m fairly confident that you could walk into any random fast food restaurant anywhere, and find no small percentage of people currently there actively hating their lives.

I’m not talking about real tragedies. There’s real pain in the world, and I’m not being dismissive of that in any way.

Are you ready to lose weight… FOR GOOD? Register for our FREE Wellness Dinner Seminar and learn how here.

I’m talking about the difference between miserable, toxic grumps and people that just radiate with a love of life that attracts others toward them. Because you could be either one.

Here are five habits to build to put—and keep—you on the positive, happy side of the equation.

It’s a Choice

Happiness isn’t some state of being. It’s also not something that you just have or don’t have.

Instead, it’s all about perspectives.

For example: Let’s say someone cuts you off in morning traffic, causing you to crash into a ditch. You have a choice between two equal but opposite reactions to that situation once the adrenaline dies down. You can spend the rest of the day fixating on the jerk who caused the accident. On how you’re now going to be without a vehicle for the next week. On how you’d like to give him a piece of your mind because your insurance rates are going to skyrocket now, all thanks to that little so-and-so who needs to go back to driving school…

Or, you can look around, take a deep breath, and be thankful that a ditch stopped your forward momentum instead of, say, a 100-foot drop or a group of kindergarteners.

Same event, two very different responses. It’s your choice.

Gratitude

Being thankful for things makes you healthier. Psychologically, sure. But also, physically. Science says so.

The best way to build a habit of gratitude is starting one of these.

Being grateful makes you happier. Why? There are a lot of theories, but most distill it into the fact that when you feel thankful for something, you understand on a molecular level that you weren’t the first cause. It was something or someone who provided that for you.

So, you feel a little bit of psychic debt. Not in a bad way, of course, but it takes your eyes and pulls it away from your own naval and shifts your gaze—your attention—out into the world. Away from yourself. Toward the rest of the universe. And, for whatever reason, that makes us feel small, but also amazingly vital. And safe. And that’s the nature of happiness, I think. Knowing who you are, understanding your limits, but also understanding that you are part of something way bigger than yourself. Something amazing. Something that pulls you closer to every past, present, and future soul on earth.

Surround Yourself With Positive People

I’ve mentioned this in earlier blogs, but it still holds true. Your mom was right: Be careful who you befriend.

The science is clear on this: Positivity and negativity are contagious.

Hang out with a bunch of angry bums, and you’ll assimilate. Hang out with people who are positive, supportive, and who love life, and you’re more likely than not to catch a serious case of the smiles.

Happy people don’t hang out with unhappy people. At least not by choice. And even then, not for long.

Don’t Live Your Life Out of Fear

This one is a hard for some people. I realize that. It’s easier for some of us to maintain a defensive stance toward life, to react to what comes at us and pivot where needed after the attack has come.

But, I will say that you can learn to shed the fear and move instead toward a braver, more proactive attitude towards the challenges of life.

When I first opened my cardiology practice, I’ll admit that most of the decisions I made were in response to the image of my lawyer sitting on my shoulder shaking his head and admonishing me to make sure I didn’t get sued. That was my main fear at the time. Sure, I wanted to help people. But if you get sued for a trillion dollars, not only is that a bad thing for you as doctor personally, it’s also bad for your current or prospective clients.

It took some time, but as I kind of let go a little and trusted my knowledge and experience—along with my heart of hearts—I was able to shift that focus from fear of losing my practice to digging in and proactively working to help my patients, no matter what that might involve.

And, oh yeah: I was tons happier for it.

There’s Enough Happiness for Everyone

Happiness is not a zero-sum game. Meaning that your happiness never has to interfere with someone else’s ability to be happy. (And if it doesn’t, I would question if what you’re pursuing is happiness at all and not something more destructive.) This idea is even more important now, I think, given the current political and social climate.

Happiness, because it’s a chosen state of being, never infringes. Everyone can potentially be happy, and no one would be left out in the dark.

GETTING STARTED

These are five great places to start. Again, all of it starts with the first one. Happiness isn’t something you achieve. It’s not the other thing on the other side of a winning lotto ticket. It doesn’t live solely in the world of your next job promotion. No, it’s the journey itself. It’s something you choose. It’s a lens you use to view the world. Happiness is a choice.

Sure, bad things happen. But that should just make the great stuff all that much better.

So, you have a choice today—and every day forward. What’s it going to be?

Watch more…

Watch this next…

Or listen below!

The post 5 Habits for Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

August 24, 2017

Can you be truly happy? A lot people will say it’s impossible. I’m here to dispel that myth once and for all.

Happiness often seems like one of those unattainable states of being. It’s easy to think about moments when you were happy, or imagine those things that— if you had them, or when you get them— you’re sure you’ll be happy.

But sustained joy is difficult to imagine.

Well, I know from personal experience that it’s possible. And, it’s not even that difficult to achieve.

Here are 4 areas of your life that, if you make them a priority, will drastically raise your happiness quotient.

Others

Although all 4 of these priorities should be equally, well, prioritized… dedicating yourself to making the other people around you happy is the best and most reliable method of achieving happiness for yourself.

As humans, we’re designed to be social creatures. And because of that, keeping the others around us happy feeds our social reward system directly.

There have been a number of studies showing this to be true. But the most reliable evidence for why this works is your own life. Think about a time when you did something wonderful for someone. How did it make them feel? And also, how did it affect you?

More than likely, it made you happy. Do that consistently, and the happiness will keep flowing in.

New Experiences

If you take a look at people who are grumpy and miserable, more than likely they’re stuck in a rut.

Grumpy people don’t really do new stuff. Certainly, there are happy people who follow a strict routine, but for most of us, seeking out new experiences is a great way to pull the choke on your happiness engine.

This might be something big—like going to Paris, or climbing a mountain, or taking a ride in a hot air balloon—but it certainly doesn’t have to be.

Read a new book. Cook something new for dinner tonight. Take a bike ride to somewhere local you’ve never been.

Whatever it is, begin building those happiness habits. Get out there and do something new!

our Health

It’s hard to be happy when you’re sick.

And with our country currently in the midst of a massive epidemic of lifestyle diseases—heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, etc.—it’s not difficult to see why so many people are miserable.

Obviously, you can choose to be happy in any circumstances. But it’s a lot easier if you’re not hooked up to a dialysis machine for 10 hours a week.

So taking back control of your health is an important part of cultivating a happy life.

Here’s a great place to start.

This Very Moment

Dwelling on the past is a pretty great way to feel overwhelmed by guilt. Focusing too much on the future can cause worry and anxiety.

But living inside the present moment—and doing it habitually—clears out all the stuff in your head that brings down your mood. It also allows you to really feel what it’s like to be you. It grounds you, and in that moment you can see what’s really important.

It also gives you an unfettered chance to choose happiness. When the guilt, worry, and anxiety are pushed out of the way, you can understand that, for now, you are alive, so you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Are you ready to lose weight… FOR GOOD? Register for our FREE Wellness Dinner Seminar and learn how here.

I hope you’ll take these four areas of your life and put a priority on them. To start, choose one and focus on it. Build little habits into your daily routine that promote your joy.

Work your way through the list, and by the end, it’ll be difficult NOT to be happy!

Want to take back your health and get happy today? Download our new eBook—The 7 Habits of Highly Healthful People— for free, right here.

The post 4 Things to Prioritize for Lasting Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

August 17, 2017

Here’s a simple recipe for lasting happiness.

Life can be hard. We deal with a wide range of emotions each day. Some days are better than others, but that doesn’t mean we have to be miserable.

Just the opposite, in fact!

Happiness is a choice. Even if your day is going horribly wrong, you can still shift your focus and remain positive.

Here are a few ideas for how you can get your mind headed in the right direction.

1. Spend 5 minutes with a favorite memory.

Find a few quiet minutes and think about a favorite memory.

Maybe it’s from your childhood. Or maybe it’s a time you spent with someone you love. Or maybe it’s the time you unexpectedly discovered something beautiful and inspirational.

Whatever it is, immerse yourself in it. What does the air smell like? What does the light look like? What else is going on around you? How did you feel right then? Consider how it felt to be you in that moment.

Relish it. Hold it in your hands like a smooth stone.

2. Text a friend something encouraging

It’s a scientific fact that doing things for others is the quickest and easiest way to make yourself happy.
So, take a moment and text something nice to a friend. Maybe she needs some encouragement. Or, maybe, she just needs to know that she’s not alone.
Whatever the friend, whatever the situation, whip out your phone and send some love.

3. Be Someone’s Superhero

Another surefire way to get a jolt of happiness is to look around and find someone who needs some help.
This doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. Donating a kidney to a co-worker, for instance, is probably going overboard.
Just look around and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find at least someone who could use a hand. Namely, yours.

To be happy, you need to be healthy. Download our free step-by-step guide to getting healthy… and staying that way! Click here to download The 7 Habits of Highly Healthful People NOW!

4. Ring ‘Em Up

In our busy lives, it’s pretty easy to let a few relationships sort of fall between the cracks. So, let’s remedy that.
Think of a friend you haven’t chatted with for a while, and give her a call.
A good chunk of our happiness quotient is dependent upon how we approach our relationships with others.
And ringing up an old pal is a great way to boost your mood.

5. Gametime

Next time you’re around little kids, watch them play. They play with their whole selves. And they’re happy for it.
When you’re a kid, fun is king. So even when something isn’t fun, they make a game out of it.
Bored in church? Then build something out of the hymnals. Stuck inside on a rainy day without television? No problem: Just take out all the pots and pans from that drawer under the oven and hide in there until someone finds you!

The possibilities for what kids will come up with to defeat boredom is spectacular. It’s cosmic, even.

But we as adults lose a lot of that. Daily pressures, responsibilities, hectic schedules…. the world saps the child out of us over time.

But, here’s the thing…

It doesn’t have to!

Try thinking like a kid for an afternoon and see how your outlook changes.

Even if you’ve lost some of your imaginative capacity, I guarantee you’ll feel better just by trying to remember what it was like to be a kid.

It’s Your Choice

There are hundreds of other little tricks you can use to get your positivity back. I’m sure you could come up with an even better list than this one. But, the moral here is simple: Misery is chosen. Grumpy people, by and large, have decided to be that way. Again, bad stuff happens. It’s part of life. A necessary part, in fact. (The world renown monk Thich Nhat Hanh titled one of his books “No Mud, No Lotus,” which pretty much sums up everything that comes after.)

But you choose your happiness. It’s your life, and you can make it as enjoyable as you want.

The post A Recipe for Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

August 8, 2017

Here’s a question we’re asked all the time: Are we destined to be unhappy?

Everyone wants to be happy. Or, at least everyone claims to want to be happy.

But it doesn’t take much effort to look out and see that a lot of people are generally unhappy.

There are a lot of reasons for this, of course, but the bigger question is how you can be happy.

It’s a complex subject, sure. But the answer just might be surprisingly simple.

Happiness is a choice. You can choose to go through your day with intention and positivity, or you can choose to go through your day like a grump. It’s up to you.

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Don’t believe me?

Research backs me up.

According to a number of studies, including this one, only 10% of what makes someone unhappy are the circumstances of their life. Meaning: Only one-tenth of your happiness is determined by whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or you live in a garbage dump in Mexico City.

(And this makes sense when you think about it… We get used to things over time. We come to settle into the context of our own lives. We adapt.)

Half of your happiness quotient is genetic. For example, some people are just more naturally inclined to be happy than others. Think of this 50% as your default setting.

But that final 40%? It’s all habits and choice.

Happiness depends on whether we decide to be happy or not. Whether we surround ourselves with great people, or miserable, toxic people.

It depends on whether we decide to be grateful for what we have, or if we decide that the world owes us something.

It depends on whether we choose to do things for others… or decide to focus inwardly only on what we want.

So, it’s up to you.

You have to go through your day anyway, after all.

You might as well enjoy it!

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The post The One, Simple Step for Lasting Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

A recent study out of Australia shows what those of us who’ve switched to a plant-based diet already know.

Eating more fruits and vegetables, according to the research, appears to make you happier.

Which makes sense, right?

We’re designed to be happy. To be fulfilled. To have a purpose and follow that purpose to the ends of the earth.

So it only makes sense that putting the maximum amount of whole, organic, nutrition into our bodies would make us feel good. It’s like putting the perfect fuel into your happiness engine!

But one thing I hear all the time as a criticism of a plant-based diet is this: “But if I’m not going to eat meat, how am I going to get any protein?”

While I’m not sure where this myth came from, it’s been pretty effective in becoming a widespread belief. Look at any ad for places like GNC, and it’s not unreasonable to think that the more protein you can ingest, the healthier you’ll be.

The research, though, shows that this just isn’t true.

The research, though, shows that this just isn’t true.

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The Protein Myth

In fact, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Americans are consuming roughly double the recommended amount of protein daily. Men eat an average of 102 grams per day, while women eat 70 grams. The recommended daily allowance, though, is only 56 and 46 grams respectively.

So, yes, while we need protein to stay alive, the Standard American Diet delivers far too much.

But, that still doesn’t answer the question: How do you get enough protein from a plant-based diet?

Easy.

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You can get plenty of protein from plants. The myth that protein only comes from animals is patently false. Just take a look at this list:

To put these numbers in context, here’s the protein content for a few animal-based foods:

1 egg – 6g

whole chicken breast – 54g

cottage cheese (1 cup – 27g)

non-fat Greek yogurt (6 oz. – 17g)

Again, the recommended allowance for each person is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, which amounts to 56 grams per day for the average sedentary man and 46 grams per day for the average sedentary woman. So, looking at the plants on the list, clearly, it’s not going to take much of any of those foods to get the protein you need.

Plus, if you’re consuming too much protein, you run the risk of some serious health issues.

Too Much Protein?

For one, packing in the protein also packs in dangerous levels of nitrogen. And long term over-consumption of nitrogen can, among a number of other nasty effects, cause your kidneys to shut down.
Secondly, too much protein is going to make you fat. On average your body can only process about 30 grams of protein per meal. The rest of it is stored as fat—mostly belly fat, in fact.

And thirdly, people who eat a diet high in animal proteins, according to several studies published in the last decade, are 4 times as likely to die from cancer. A few years ago, in fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) actually classified processed meats as a Group 1 carcinogen— which means that they’re “very likely” to cause cancer.

So, the takeaway here ought to be that switching to a plant-based diet is good for you. And you should do it.

Your health—and happiness—depend on it.

Literally!

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The post Plants, Protein, and Eternal Happiness appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

August 1, 2017

Want to make sure that you’ll never, ever be happy?
Here are three proven techniques for getting miserable… and staying that way!

1. Compare Yourself to Others

Social media platforms like Facebook are great in a lot of ways. You can keep in contact with friends and family members, no matter where in the world you are. You can get advice, or help, or just dig into what other people are doing.
But, there’s a danger in sites like Facebook. Namely, it’s the idea that what people post is actually TRUE.

Because in a lot of ways, it’s not.

People tend to put their best selves forward on social media. They tend to portray their lives as sunnier, livelier, and overwhelmingly BETTER than they actually are.

So, it’s very easy to spend hours upon hours in your social feed and come away with the perception that the lives of your friends and family members are much healthier, happier, and just plain better than yours.

This happens outside of Facebook as well, of course, but as an example, it’s a potent one.

One of the reasons this need to compare ourselves to others is such a powerful drive is because, as Americans, being the “best” at something is sort of built right into the foundation of our culture. It’s a cornerstone of the “American Dream.”

But as far as causing yourself untold misery, comparing yourself to others is one of the simplest, most effective tools you’ll ever get your hands on.

To be happy, you need to be healthy. Download our free step-by-step guide to getting healthy… and staying that way! Click to download The 7 Habits of Highly Healthful People NOW!

2. Isolate Yourself

Another great way to cement your status as an eternal curmudgeon is to spend most of your time alone.
And thanks to the technological advances over the last few decades in our culture, doing so has become increasingly easy to do.
In 1985, only 10% of the population reported that they had no social support—no one to confide in, lean on, go to for support.

By 2010, that percentage had jumped to 25%.

Meaning: A quarter of the population has absolutely zero social support.

Which, of course, is a big problem. Because as humans, we’re wired to be a member of a tribe. Our ancestors spent most of their lives together—hunting, gathering, and generally living lives built on cooperation.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when you take that support away, people are going to experience some serious negative consequences.

Listen now… How to view your diet for a life of true happiness!

3. Get Bitter

Disappointment abounds in our lives. We experience it every day. It’s just part of what it means to be human.
But, one of the best ways to be unhappy is to take all those small disappointments, gather them inside yourself, and let them harden into an ever-growing pile of bitterness.
Because, here’s the deal with bitterness…

It’s a cycle. And it’s also a habit. A self-perpetuating habit, in fact.

Because one little pocket of bitterness in your soul is going to get lonely. So, when that next small disappointment comes along, it’s going to attract more and more negativity like a magnet.

If gratitude is one of the key secrets to happiness, then bitterness is its polar opposite.

And it doesn’t need much to get started. We just need to decide to hold on to a few minor grievances, and nature will take it from there.

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The post 3 Ways to Guarantee You’ll be Unhappy for Your Entire, Miserable Life appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.