Denice Murray Health Coaching

I am SOOOO guilty when it comes to sitting my butt on the couch (or in my chair) after a long day. Whether your job is more mental, physical, in an office, work from home, SAHM, on your feet all day, or whatever, after a long day doing ANYTHING , it’s difficult to find the willpower or motivation to get yourself up and moving again.        To help make sure you’re getting the movement you need throughout the day, I have 3 key recommendations. 1.  Schedule time into your calendar and guard that time like it is a sacred ritual.   Now, does this sound dramatic? Yeah, a bit.  But for some people, this is what needs to be done in order to make it work.  I have clients who treat their exercise time as a non-negotiable part of their day, and someone better be bleeding or missing a digit to disturb that time. If this fits your personality type, or if you’re the kind of busy mom who deeply needs to schedule each part of your day to make sure you’re getting...

I’ve been harping on CONSISTENCY for the last few days when it comes to changing your health and wellness and meeting your goals. But. I would like to address another aspect of creating healthy habits, reaching goals, and changing your health. And that is Starting Small . What?? Yep, that’s right. Starting Small . I’m going to hop up on my soap box for a minute and give a little rant, so just bear with me. It gets a lot more attention when you have a headline like, “Learn the Super Secrets of Changing Your Life, Losing the Weight for Good, and Becoming a Vixen Your Husband Can’t Resist.” You want to read that article or watch that video.  Even I want to read that! And then it tells you to workout for 75 minutes, 3 times per day at high intensity, while drinking aloe juice mixed with exotic spices from the highest mountain tops of the Andes 5 times per day. Eat only organic seaweed, sea bass, and a special blend of crushed herbs from the jungles of Burma, and bathe in...

“Have Six-Pack Abs in 10 Days!” “Lose 33 Pounds in 15 Days!” “Get The Body Of Your Dreams In 6 Weeks!” Any of this sound familiar? Those are just some of the headlines I’ve seen in magazines or on websites over the years. Heck, probably just in the last month! And while there is nothing wrong with wanting six-pack abs, to lose 33 pounds, or to have a dream beach body, the TRUE cost of getting those things is a lot greater than you think. There are definite benefits to striving for such a goal, but there are also many trade-offs as well. It’s also important to understand that there are also many different levels of fitness, not just Overweight & Pudgy to Totally Ripped . Several key factors when it comes to getting ripped include nutrition, activity level, sleep, stress, work, personal time, and your social life. If you work 12-hour shifts (work), have children who rely on you (personal time), volunteer in your community or church (social life), have a sick family memb...

For anyone trying to live a healthier lifestyle or lose weight, there’s no denying that exercise is considered a KEY step in that process. In fact, some may argue it’s THE most important step to getting healthy and staying fit. But for some, like ME, I’m not into exercise. I may go for walks. I may stretch when I’m sore and tight. I might even bike or swim when it’s for fun. But I have to FORCE myself to get in any movement that is considered exercise (any movement outside of pleasure, fun, or relaxation). There are tons of reasons people don’t actually like exercising – bad experiences in the past (body shaming), pain (injuries or illness), discomfort (difficulty breathing or getting sweaty), exercise feels like a chore or punishment, or you just don’t identify as an exercise-type. And although exercise is great for your body, not everyone gets the “rush” from exercising like some people do. I can personally say that I have NEVER had the “runner’s high” – the rush of endorphins...

We all do it.  I know I’m guilty.  Go for a 2-mile walk in the evening, come home feeling great, and then see a post on FB of someone training for a 5k Run and think, “Gah! They are so much better than me! I should be running more/exercising more/working harder/etc.” Well, newsflash to me – I have knee problems and I'm not supposed to be doing ANY running (unless being chased by something!). So, why would I do that to myself? Compare myself to a person who DOESN’T have knee issues and actually LIKES to run, whereas I’ve NEVER liked running, even when I was perfectly capable of doing it?! Everyone working on their health and wellness, at some point, has thought other people were doing better than them, that their efforts weren’t enough, or they can’t quite seem to get where they want to be like so-and-so does. So, if comparing ourselves to others is a normal part of human nature, how do we stop doing that and focus on feeling good about ourselves? Here are a few ways to...

When you have health and wellness goals, your expectations can determine whether you reach those goals or not. Everyone wants wow-worthy results, be it weight loss, body re-composition (toning and tightening), better sleep, or managing your stress, but having unrealistic expectations can lead to giving up entirely. Meeting your health, nutrition and wellness goals comes with trade-offs. That’s simply the reality of changing your behaviors and habits. And unless you are able to understand the trade-offs and set your expectations accordingly, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed. Let’s use stress management and yoga as an example. It’s been proven that a regular yoga practice helps reduce stress, reduces anxiety, improves mental health, and can improve your quality of life – along with numerous physical benefits like increased flexibility, strength, balance, boosted immunity, and better sleep . But what does it take to achieve the FULL benefits of doing yoga? Five minu...

Yes, I said it! If you are not used to living a lifestyle where nutrition, movement, and stress management are a regular and routine part of your life, it’s hard to get there. That’s why it’s so important to build a health and wellness routine that fits your current situation. But you have to be ready. It will be that much harder if you’re not prepared. It’s important to start with a few essential questions. What’s Important to You RIGHT NOW? Is it losing weight? Longevity? Treating a medical condition? Improving your body composition? Strength or Flexibility? Better nutrition? The things that are most important to you will determine what you’re willing to put the most effort into. For me, I’m more interested in improving my nutrition and eating habits. I know I will be putting food into my body at least 3 times per day, and it’s more important to me to work on my eating habits than it is to focus on fitness. I’m already fairly active, and even though another area I want to...

Hello. I took this week's post from an article I read from Precision Nutrition . I am a huge nerd and love learning about my topic of choice when it includes graphs, charts, research studies, etc.! So this information was super fun for me to read about. The author of this piece is Brian St. Pierre and compiled by Adam Campbell. I hope you find the information useful on your health and wellness journey.  "Here’s a fun chart, courtesy of some clever scientists in the Netherlands. It tracks changes in people’s average daily energy expenditure from 1900’s to the early 2000’s. But to make it interesting (this is why they’re clever), the researchers also plotted the widespread adoption of both time-saving and time-wasting technology. The finding: there’s been a 60 to 70 percent reduction in total daily energy expenditure over the last century . In a previous study, the same scientists calculated that actors at a historical theme park set 150 years ago were 1.6 to 2.3 times more ac...

This is a question I’ve found myself asking a lot these days. I’ve asked myself, I’ve asked it of my clients, I’ve asked it from family members, and also of friends. I’ve been on my own personal health and wellness journey for the past year and a half. And it frustrates me to say that I am not NEARLY where I want to be…. YET . But on the flip side of that, I’ve also made more progress than I usually acknowledge. I’ve lost 25 pounds. I’ve added resistance training and I can lift 55 more pounds than when I started. I’ve added a daily multi-vitamin and I’m working on adding more fruits and veggies. I’m SLOWLY cutting out fast food and I’m working on adding more lean protein to each meal. These are changes I’m making with only HALF of the effort (or less) than I COULD be doing. Life is hard. Life is complicated. And life gets VERY busy. But I also have to remember that sometimes giving half-effort, or even less , is still MORE than what’s been done in the past. Howeve...

My post last week was an introduction into the concept of the Six Dimensions of Wellness. This week, I wanted to discuss one of those dimensions: Physical Wellness . I don’t know about you, but when I think of health or wellness, this is the first area that pops into my head. Exercise. Nutrition. Those are the main two items when I think Physical Wellness . If I were to go into other areas of this dimension, I might think about hydration, sleep quality, a strong immune system to help me fight or prevent infections or diseases. But the main two topics of Physical Wellness – Exercise and Nutrition – provide hundreds, if not thousands of areas to explore. The definition of Physical Wellness, according to Dr. Hettler and the National Wellness Institute is as follows: “The physical dimension recognizes the need for regular physical activity. Physical development encourages learning about diet and nutrition while discouraging the use of tobacco, drugs, and excessive alcohol con...

So, for a couple of weeks, I’ve wanted to share some information on the topic of N.E.A.T. NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. In simpler terms, NEAT is the amount of energy burned while going about your everyday activities: walking, doing dishes, switching laundry, typing, shopping, etc. There are 4 ways our bodies use energy (burn calories) every day. 1.   Resting Metabolic Rate – the amount of calories burned at rest. This includes all your basic bodily functions like breathing, heartbeat, brain function, function of other organs, and maintenance of lean muscle mass. 60%-75% of the calories burned on a daily basis happen through the RMR. 2.    Thermic Effect of Feeding – the number of calories required to ingest food. This includes chewing, swallowing, the breakdown of food in the stomach, digestion and absorption of food in the stomach and small intestine, etc. 10% of daily calories burned come from TEF. 3.    Thermic Effect of Acti...

When talking about health and wellness, the first thing that pops into most people’s heads are eating healthy, being physically active (exercising), staying hydrated, maybe stress management, or even sleep quality. I did a search on Pinterest to see what popped up and found topics that included hormone balancing, gut health, tips for boosting energy, mental health improvements, and even acupressure points to try on yourself to improve your overall wellbeing. All of these topics have their place on the health and wellness journey. And since each person’s journey is unique to them, it might leave you wondering, where do I start? What aspects of my overall health and wellbeing do I want to look at first? And it might surprise you what topics are out there that might not have occurred to you yet. I know when I started studying Health and Wellness, it sure opened my eyes. One of the first things I learned about was a concept by Dr. Bill Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness I...

SURPRISE….YOU CAN’T! I’ve been posting about food a LOT lately, and mainly it’s because watching what you eat (making healthier choices), controlling portion sizes, and pushing for whole, unprocessed foods is the “best” way to improve your health and lose weight. More on that in a second. E xercise is important.  Movement is crucial to long-term health.  There are so many ways that moving our bodies improves our health and wellness, and improves our body composition (muscle to fat ratios). But the reality is that unless regular healthy food choices becomes the way you eat MOST of the time, long-term weight loss/maintenance is much more difficult. Not to mention, it’s been proven in several studies that 70-80% of weight loss efforts are determined by what you eat while 20-30% depends on your exercise. As a trainer friend of mine mentioned, you can’t out-train a bad diet. You can maintain. You can yo-yo back and forth between loss and gain. But eventually the strain of i...