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Ahh November … With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it is a wonderful time to be intentional about finding things to be grateful for. There have been many times in my life where this has come pretty easy. But, there have also been times when I have really only been able to look for the “silver lining” in what were some pretty hard circumstances.
Abundant research indicates that people who practice gratitude regularly are more happy. Turns out, it isn’t necessarily our circumstances that make us happy, but how we view them! I read a book years ago a few times now that addresses the topic of being grateful when things aren’t fluffy and easy. If you are a reader, I highly recommend Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. A lot of my training as a health coach stems from the field of Positive Psychology. Often with clients we will discuss what "silver linings" can be gleaned from hard circumstances that got in the way of fully meeting a goal that was set. Today, I am thankful for my smart kid who is growing into a thoughtful and kind young man. I am thankful for cooler temperatures and the snow we got the other day! I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for you all. If you are up for the challenge, take a minute today and practice some gratitude yourself. What are you grateful for? In my private health coaching practice, I work with busy women who do ALL.THE.THINGS ... and then end up feeling used up and exhausted by dinnertime. They benefit from developing simple strategies and habits that will fill their cups with energy so they can have the presence and clarity of mind after the have-to-dos to actually enjoy and be present for their families and to pursue their passions. Having habits in place like keeping a gratitude journal can help! If that sounds like you, enter your contact information on the right side of this page to request my Loving the Body God Gave Me Workbook. This workbook will walk you through exploring what scripture says about loving the body God gave you. By the end you will have developed a simple first step to caring for your body so that you can best care for the people who mean the most to you.
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For my new job, I am doing a lot more driving than I used to. Ha, I guess that is an understatement since I worked from home before and now I’m driving about 400 miles each week. A co-worker “caught” me getting a Coke from the vending machine and I defended myself by telling him I had a 1.5 hour drive home and I felt the Coke was a lesser evil than falling asleep at the wheel. He said, “You know, I’ve heard that eating an apple gives you as much energy as drinking caffeine.” Ouch. That one hit me in the gut because I have a social media post that I have probably used a few times that says the exact same thing. See, even I need a gentle reminder sometimes!
So, I told him that next week, when I visit his facility, he needs to ask me to see the apple that I intend to bring for the drive home. Quite honestly, I’ll also have a Crystal Lite mix-in for my water bottle that has caffeine just in case, but I really want to give the apple thing a try. Maybe that and a good audio book or loud music will do the trick! I’m slowly learning that I can continue my healthy habits in this new season, they just might look a little bit different now. It's taking me some time to figure it all out, but it’s well worth the effort. The quote “You haven’t failed until you quit trying” came up in a conversation at work the other day. I went just now to see who I can attribute the quote to, and it seems like everyone from Mike Ditka, to Albert Einstein, to Thomas Edison are thought to have said it … so I have no idea where it actually originated. In my world, this usually applies to people’s health goals. I was in a conversation earlier this week a guy who had lost 100 pounds and had kept it off and a guy who … well, has tried different things with varied success but hasn’t been able to find something that works for him long-term. My encouragement was to either try something else, or revisit something that worked before and rework it a bit and see if he can tweak it into something sustainable for him. In the words of Dory the Fish “Just Keep Swimming … Just Keep Swimming!” Or in this case, just keep trying! In my private health coaching practice, I often help people evaluate what has worked with varying degrees of success in the past to develop a new plan for the season they are in right now. And then I walk along with them as they implement the new plan and help them course-correct as needed. If that sounds like something you would benefit from, schedule your complementary strategy session and we can explore what health coaching might look like for you!  I found myself updating my 3 month goals again this morning. Most of the time I am encouraging my clients to make smaller, shorter, realistic goals that are attainable in a week or so, but it is also a good idea to have longer-term goals. I like setting 3 month goals because 3 months is a long enough period of time to see measurable change in things like weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure. But it’s not so far out as to allow for procrastination! Three months goes by pretty fast in the grand scheme of things. Setting 2 or 3 of these types of goals seems to work well. Then the weekly goals can be drawn up based on what the focus is for these 3 months. The most important thing about 3 Month Goals is to set an appointment to review them. What went well? To what percentage were the goals accomplished? What challenges came up? How were they addressed? And, maybe most importantly, what should the next 3 Month Goals be? In my private health coaching practice, I work with busy women who do ALL.THE.THINGS ... and then end up feeling used up and exhausted by dinnertime. We walk through setting 3 Month Goals they can use to come up with simple strategies and habits that will fill their cups with energy so they can have the presence and clarity of mind after the have-to-dos to actually enjoy and be present for their families and to pursue their passions. If that sounds like you, enter your contact information on the right side of this page to request my Loving the Body God Gave Me Workbook. This workbook will walk you through exploring what scripture says about loving the body God gave you. By the end you will have developed a simple first step to caring for your body so that you can best care for the people who mean the most to you. Or, if you want to learn more about what it would look like to work with a coach, click on the button below to schedule a 15 minute complimentary strategy session with yours truly!   I started a new job a few weeks ago. I went from basically working while my son was at school and working from home, to working long days with a lot of time in the car. I am going to have to re-think my health habits! I won’t be able to get my workout in the morning if I am leaving the house at 5:55am. I have to pack my food instead having my entire kitchen at my disposal all day ... and it has to be ok to be sitting in a hot car for the morning.
This was a big schedule change, but I find with clients even predictable changes … like school ending for the summer and then starting up in the fall … are often times when our health habits need to re-evaluated. What isn’t working anymore? What can I try instead? So, as I google “healthy lunch options for in the car,” what are some habits that worked for you in the past that need to adjust for this season? What are some first steps that you can take to make that shift? In my private health coaching practice, I work with busy women who do ALL.THE.THINGS ... and then end up feeling used up and exhausted by dinnertime. They need to come up with simple strategies and habits for each season that will fill their cups with energy so they can have the presence and clarity of mind after the have-to-dos to actually enjoy and be present for their families and to pursue their passions. If that sounds like you, enter your contact information on the right side of this page to request my Loving the Body God Gave Me Workbook. This workbook will walk you through exploring what scripture says about loving the body God gave you. By the end you will have developed a simple first step to caring for your body so that you can best care for the people who mean the most to you. Or, if you want to learn more about what it would look like to work with a coach, click on the button below to schedule a 15 minute complimentary strategy session with yours truly! P.S. That picture is not of my own lunchbox. I’m not there yet. This week was not nearly as photo-friendly! I got that from https://www.healthygffamily.com/recipe/gluten-free-lunchbox-ideas/. Finding yourself eating out a lot because it is time to eat (again!) and you don’t know what you are going to make? Feeling like you are in a rut with making the same things over and over again? Enter meal delivery services. I was hesitant at first because of the cost, but now that I’ve been doing it for a while, I totally see the value. For me, just having some variety and few meals a month that I don’t have to use the mental space to plan and shop for makes a big difference in my capacity to actually plan and cook for the other meals! Bonus: The instructions are so good that my 14-year-old cooks most of the meals that we have delivered! I love that he is learning and getting comfortable in the kitchen as well. There are so many different plans out there, and most allow you to try them out for free. Some are healthier than others, but almost all of them are healthier than eating out! I’ve found if I stay on top of it, I can get the most value by having them deliver a few meals once a month, I just skip delivery on the other weeks. I have a few free meals that I can gift to people who haven’t tried Green Chef yet. So if you want to give them a try just send me an email at [email protected] with the subject “Green Chef.” First come, first served!   Nobody really wants to keep a food log. I get it. I don't either! It takes time. It can be hard to remember if you aren't in the habit. But mostly, we don't want to actually know the details about what we are eating. Most of us know we aren't making the best choices 100% of the time, and we don't want to be confronted with our own shortcomings.
But, when I do work with clients who decide to keep a food log, even if it is just for a few days, they always gain some insights that help them to make strategic steps toward their health goals. They didn't realize the frequency of some of the bad habits. They learn just how healthy good foods are and just how unhealthy others are. They are able to identify the quick wins ... small things that they can change that will make a big impact. In my private coaching practice, I primarily work with busy women who do ALL.THE.THINGS ... but then end up feeling used up and exhausted by dinnertime. They want to have the energy after the have-to-dos to actually enjoy and be present for their people and to pursue their passions. If that sounds like you, enter your contact information on the right side of this page to request my Loving the Body God Gave Me Workbook. This workbook will walk you through exploring what scripture says about loving the body God gave you. By the end you will have developed a simple first step (like keeping a food log) to caring for your body so that you can best care for the people who mean the most to you. Or, if you want to learn more about what it would look like to work with a coach, click on the button below to schedule a 15 minute complimentary strategy session with yours truly!  You have been thinking about making a habit change for a long time. You know that taking a walk after work would make a difference in your mood and your weight. You have the gym membership, but after missing a few days the last time you were sick, you just haven't been able to get back again. You have a bunch of healthy recipes on a Pinterest board, but most of them you haven't tried once.
Sometimes we build up things to be bigger than they need to be in our heads. Many of my clients find that they finally take action when they limit their expectations. I call it "breaking the seal." They set a goal like: walk 2 minutes down to the neighbors house and back after work. Or: choose a recipe to try and add the ingredients to my grocery list. Or: drive to the gym on Saturday morning. And really be ok with just meeting that goal ... for now. If all you do is drive to the gym and turn around and go home, you have met the goal. Success! Then you can decide what the next goal will be. In many cases though, you will find that you go beyond that initial goal the very first time just because you have already "broken the seal." Once the seal has been broken, you almost always realize just how much you were overthinking it. In my private health coaching practice, I work with busy women who do ALL.THE.THINGS ... and then end up feeling used up and exhausted by dinnertime. They need to come up with simple strategies (like breaking the seal) and habits that will fill their cups with energy so they can have the presence and clarity of mind after the have-to-dos to actually enjoy and be present for their families and to pursue their passions. If that sounds like you, enter your contact information on the right side of this page to request my Loving the Body God Gave Me Workbook. This workbook will walk you through exploring what scripture says about loving the body God gave you. By the end you will have developed a simple first step to caring for your body so that you can best care for the people who mean the most to you. Or, if you want to learn more about what it would look like to work with a coach, click on the button below to schedule a 15 minute complimentary strategy session with yours truly! Whew, for a girl who really loves winter, this was a long one! I am again almost embarrassed by how much my mood and motivation are tied to the amount of sunlight streaming through my windows. I honestly did just barely the necessary things to keep my coaching business running over the winter months. I noticed a few years ago how God built into creation a season of rest. Every winter everything slows down. Trees stop growing. Many animals slow their metabolism so much they don’t even need to eat. It is dark much more of the day. I have learned to take the hint and give myself permission to slow down my pace a little bit during the cold, short winter days. Wasn’t it Jesus that said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”? How deeply do I feel that “weary and burdened” in the darker months!! As a health coach, sometimes the goals that I work with clients on are less about being productive and more about being mindful and intentional. Sometimes the goals are specifically about rest and quality sleep. Sometimes they are about strengthening their spiritual foundation before they jump into their physical goals. Almost always I am helping people to take their big goals and identify the next simple step in the journey. In my private health coaching practice, I help busy Christian moms adopt simple health habits so they can love the body God gave them and have the energy to be All In for their families. If that sounds like you, use the link on this page to request my complimentary Loving the Body God Gave Me Workbook. This workbook will walk you through exploring some of what scripture says on this topic.. By the end you will have developed a simple first step towards caring for your body so that you can best care for the people who mean the most to you. 
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AuthorKatie Kolb - Health Coach Archives
November 2025
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