Make Me Healthy, Make Me Happy: Simple Methods for Creating a Healthy Lifestyle Change. Coach Stan Maddox
“Make me Healthy, Make me Happy”
Simple methods for creating a healthy lifestyle change
Coach Stan Maddox
Copyright 2016 Coach Stan Maddox
All rights reserved
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-2748-5
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
INTRO
Hello! I first want to thank you for purchasing my book, and caring enough about yourself, to improve your health. The title, “Make me Healthy, Make me happy”, is what we are going to focus on. So, what truly makes you happy? Some say money is true happiness. Yet, I’ve seen very wealthy individuals become addicted to antidepressants, just to get through the day. Now, make no mistake about it, money does provide convenience, and choices. But happiness, it does not. What about a nice car? One of my dream cars is a cherry red Ferrari. That’s a beautiful car, with massive horsepower. But, after a few drives around town, is that really going to solidify my happiness? Probably not. Have you ever been sick? Maybe a common cold? How about the flu? You felt miserable, right? What about when the flu virus subsided, and you regained your full health? You were happy, right? That’s what truly makes us happy. Our Health. Our society is plagued with so many illnesses, and chronic diseases. All of us, on the face of this planet are directly, or indirectly affected by illnesses and chronic diseases. The good news is that by creating a healthy lifestyle change will put you in a state of prevention or reparation of most conditions. Thus, creating happiness, from good health! Good health is very important to me. I truly have a passion for this subject. My goal is to not only give you simple methods for creating a healthy lifestyle change. But to reach the masses of our society. So recommend this book to a loved one. Buy it for a friend. There is no greater gift, than the gift of Good Health. My name is Coach Stan Maddox. I am the Master trainer for Meltdown Fitness Atlanta, where our programs are designed to increase the health and fitness levels of all participants, as well as rehabilitation for stroke, cancer, and other chronic illness survivors. I am a certified Health Coach with the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute, where we capitalize on physician backed proven methods towards health education. I am the head corporate wellness coach for Live Now USA Health and Wellness, where our program is designed to lower the cost of employer-sponsored health care insurance and improve the overall health of all employees. In this book, I will give you simple methods for creating a healthy lifestyle change. So, let’s get started!
Chapter I
So, what’s your story?
One of the most important parts of a healthy lifestyle change, is knowing your “Why”. Why do you want to improve your health? What experiences in the past have led you to where you are right now, reading this book? Your journey in life, up to this point will help to build a strong foundation for you. Here’s my story…
I was born August 16, 1974, at Grady Memorial Hospital, in Atlanta Georgia. I am what you would call a “Grady Baby”. I spent the majority of my childhood in East Atlanta. I grew up in a house with six other siblings. By no means, were we financially well off. But we grew up in a house rich in love. Money was scarce, we shared clothing, but there was always something to eat. I remember my mom cooking fried pork chops, with biscuits, and gravy. Sausage biscuits, cheese grits, and fried eggs. Fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, cornbread, and sweet tea. Freshly baked red velvet cakes, weekly. Are you hungry yet?! LOL. But my favorite food was pancakes, with extra butter and syrup. As a matter of fact, that was the first food that I learned to make, as a child. I had an infatuation with food! Which led to my childhood obesity. I was a chubby kid throughout my childhood. My waist size, and stomach circumference were the same as my father’s. I remember at age eight years old, having to wear my father’s pants to school, because it was too expensive for us to buy me new clothes, once I outgrew the current ones. I didn’t like to go swimming because I was too embarrassed to take my shirt off. I had a lot of crushes on girls in elementary school. But they didn’t give me the time of day, because of my heftiness. On a side note, it’s pretty cool to see women from my childhood try to reach out to me, on social media, because they see the new Stan! By the way, Shouts out to my beautiful wife, Sonya!!
My point is, childhood was pretty rough on Coach Stan because of obesity. By the time I started 7th grade, I was in panic mode. I knew that 8th grade would be the start of high school for me, so I had to find a way to lose weight. So, I decided to go on a water and lettuce only diet. Pretty smart, huh? The goal was to only eat lettuce and water all day, every day. Well, I did last until dinner, on the first day of the diet. Mom cooked fried pork chops, fried corn, and homemade butter biscuits. How in the hell am I going to pass that up?! So that was the end of the lettuce and water diet. I decided to start running around our backyard, after school, every day. I remember one of my sisters looking out the back door, laughing and teasing me, as I ran around the yard. At the time, I hated running. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My legs were in pain. So, that didn’t last either. The inability to manage my health, followed me throughout my childhood, teenage, and part of my adult life. I also lost beloved relatives due to health issues, along this journey. Our family has a history of obesity and poor eating habits. So, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and cancer were common causes of death for a lot of my loved ones. All my life, I witnessed my mother in her obedience, take all her prescribed medications for her health conditions. The objective was for the medication to improve her health. Years passed, but my mother’s medication didn’t improve her health. Actually, her health got worse. On top of that, her prescribed medication increased. I got to a point in my life, where I was sick and tired, of being sick and tired. A light turned on, inside of me. The desire to attain good health for my loved ones and me, was no longer a “want”. It was a “need”. That’s when I discovered my “why”. Dr. Victor Frankl, a holocaust survivor quoted, “He who has a Why, can bear any HOW.“ Looking back on your life, and understanding your own story, will give you the key to creating your healthy lifestyle. That key is to discover your “Why”….
Chapter II
“Identify your health personality”
One of my Health Segments that aired on Fox 5 News Atlanta, spoke about the three health personalities that make up our society. The Health “Concerned”, The Health “Conscious”, and The Health “Careless”. The next step in our healthy lifestyle change, is to identify your own health personality. I will explain in detail, the definition of all three. After reading all the descriptions, choose the one that best describes you. Be honest with yourself. No one is going to judge you. It is very important to understand your own personality. The only way that we can achieve lasting change, is to take a hard look at ourselves in the mirror. Trust me, I have been all three personalities. Let’s start with The Health “Concerned”.
THE HEALTH CONCERNED
Sarah is a married mother of two children. She and her family have lived in Stone Mountain Georgia, for 25 years. Sarah is a receptionist for a midsized company near her home. She loves her job, because of the hours and convenience. The people are friendly too. She has been with the company for over 15 years. On her lunch break, she loves to grab a soda, hot dog, and fried onion rings from the nearby fast food restaurant. She has been to the restaurant so much that they know her by name, and they usually have her order prepared, before she gets there. Lately, Sarah has been having painful headaches. Her energy has been low as well. She would grab a pain reliever, and buy an energy drink from the store. This still didn’t help. As the days passed, the pain and fatigue got worse. She finally went to see her physician, to get checked out. Her doctor performed a health screening. As he spoke to her about her results, he shook his head in disbelief. He said, “Sarah, it’s