Fitbit: You Had Me at Smooches

We KNOW we're more creative, productive, and fulfilled when we're NOT stressed out, exhausted, overwhelmed, or overweight. We KNOW it's easier to focus on our goals and dreams when we're not concerned about our health.

Yet, somehow, "life" gets in the way!

Then, this tiny device clipped to my pants looks up at me (OK I know, it doesn't really have eyes) and "says" SMOOCHES COLETTE on the screen! And, somehow, I think ... "If it loves me THAT much, maybe I CAN go for that run later today."

True story! That's the feeling I had on the first day of wearing my Fitbit One -- and I did go for my run. Not to mention the elation I felt later that same day when I received my first "Top Badges" for making 5,000+ steps in a day and climbing 10 floors. I was hooked!

And, yes, I've been training for the past month and a half using Couch to 5K podcasts. I go running in Brooklyn Bridge Park ... although in Week 4, it's been a combination of power walking with an increasingly longer run.

As a certified life and wellness coach, I know that a solid support system is essential for achieving and maintaining good health, optimum wellness, and a stellar lifestyle. I help people like you explore the connection between your choices, thoughts, and behaviors and your physical and emotional health.

Over the years, I've seen that for each client, the level of readiness to take new action and the motivation to make healthier choices is different. Now, I'm really eager to explore how mobile apps, gaming, and social media can increase our levels of readiness and motivation.

I hope you'll follow me on my journey using my Fitbit and other apps to uncover new revelations about my own mind-body health and motivation, so I can find new ways to support you in your health and overall well-being. So, this curious mind wants to know ...

What fitness devices are you wearing? To what wellness communities do you belong? What has been the impact on your health and well-being?

Tweet me or share your thoughts in the comments section below. Look forward to hearing from you! Now, I've got to get moving so I can get more love from my Fitbit!

Why I'm Focusing on Your Health & Wellness

As I prepare to attend the Health Datapalooza conference in DC, the fourth annual national conference designed to liberate health data. The conference is a forum that features the newest and most innovative and effective uses of health data by companies, start-ups, academics, government agencies and individuals. (their words)

My registration has been gifted since I applied to be part of the consortium’s Consumer & Patient Circle. I shared in my application what I've been working on and how participating could benefit my target audience. I thought it would be appropriate to share with you more context for my application and my commitment to wellness services. You can view this as a manifesto of sorts -- revealing my intentions and vision for where I'd like to see my business to head.

The "Magic Bullet"
I've mentioned before that in 2006, I went to the doctor for a routine check-up while experiencing chronic indigestion and stomach pains. At the time, all other tests were "normal." The doctor gave me a Rx for over-the-counter acid re-flux medication. When I asked him how long I'd need to take it, he said: "We'll see." I felt I was too young for a pill/day for the rest of my life for a non-life-threatening condition.

Soon after, I got word of a certification program in Coping with Work & Family Stress TM at Yale University School of Medicine. I signed up not because of my condition, but because I thought it would be a good addition to my business toolbox. It hadn't been a great year, and I was looking for the "magic bullet" that would reinvigorate my business.

It's so ironic to me now that I hadn't even considered the connection between the stress of running my relatively new business and my own condition. Little did I know that the "magic bullet" was really about improving my own health and well-being so I could help others do the same.

My A-HA! Moment
My A-HA! moment came as I didn't bring enough of the Rx with me for my weekend stay after my certification program, and I ended up going off the medication accidentally (although we know in life there are no real accidents).

I'd spent time in the course learning more about the link between our thoughts and perceptions of our life/situation and our physical and emotional responses -- and finally it hit me: maybe there's some connection between my anxiety/worries and my condition ... I know, DUH! :-)

That was the beginning of my mind-body-spirit odyssey that's taken me from stress management certification, to Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/Tapping) training, and now to Ayurveda nutrition/science with Zrii.

My Commitment
Being human, I still have my missteps and uncover new revelations about my own mind-body-spirit alignment.

And that makes me even more committed to help others like you achieve your BEST health and manifest your BIGGEST dreams.

The path is sometimes blurry and unclear. Yet, I know I must continue to learn how to let go more quickly, wait more patiently, trust more deeply, and believe in our collective journey -- which will lead us all to:

• Better health (eliminate diabetes, cancer, hypertension, etc.)
• Better relationships (reduce anger to eliminate mis-communication and violence)
• More peace -- inner (from reduced stress, anxiety) and outer (from reduced violence)

Will you join me?