1. Relational Health

When relationships are confined to specific “compartments” (e.g., work colleagues vs. church friends), they may lack depth and authenticity. Relational health thrives on genuine connection and integration across life contexts. Overcompartmentalizing can lead to isolation or superficial relationships, which may limit the support system needed for emotional and spiritual growth.

2. Spiritual Health

Spirituality is not just about attending church; it’s about living with purpose and aligning daily actions with faith. Compartmentalizing spirituality to Sunday services or prayer times can disconnect it from other areas like work or family life. This disconnection can lead to a lack of coherence between one’s beliefs and actions, causing inner conflict or a sense of hypocrisy.

3. Mental Health

The mental dimension benefits from intellectual stimulation and adaptability. Overcompartmentalization can create mental rigidity, where challenges in one area (e.g., work stress) are not processed or resolved because they are “walled off.” This avoidance can lead to increased anxiety or burnout as unresolved issues spill over into other areas.

4. Physical Health

Physical wellness requires consistent care through exercise, nutrition, and rest. When life is overly compartmentalized, physical health often becomes neglected in favor of “more urgent” compartments like work or family. For example, skipping workouts due to work deadlines or neglecting sleep for social obligations can erode physical well-being, which in turn impacts energy levels and emotional resilience.

5. Emotional Health

Emotional wellness depends on acknowledging and processing feelings across all areas of life. Compartmentalization can suppress emotions by isolating them within specific contexts (e.g., ignoring family stress while at work). Over time, this suppression can lead to emotional dysregulation or even breakdowns when the “walls” between compartments fail.

6. Environmental Health

Environmental wellness involves creating harmonious surroundings that support overall well-being. Overcompartmentalization might result in neglecting the broader impact of one’s actions on the community or environment (e.g., focusing solely on personal success without considering its societal implications). This lack of integration can lead to a sense of disconnection from the world.

Why Compartmentalization Can Be Counterproductive

While compartmentalization can temporarily help manage stress by creating mental boundaries, it becomes counterproductive when it fosters denial or avoidance of interconnected issues. For example:

• A man might excel at work but neglect his family relationships, leading to emotional strain at home.
• Spiritual growth may stagnate if it is isolated from daily decisions at work or in friendships.
• Physical health may deteriorate if stress from one compartment (e.g., career) spills over into unhealthy habits like overeating or lack of exercise.

A Holistic Approach: Integration Across Dimensions

The six dimensions of deep health remind us that thriving in one area supports growth in others. For instance:

• Strengthening relational health through open communication with family can reduce emotional stress.
• Integrating spiritual values into work decisions fosters purpose and coherence.
• Prioritizing physical health boosts energy and mental clarity for all areas of life.

Christian men are called to live integrated lives where faith informs every aspect—not just isolated “compartments.” By embracing a holistic approach that honors the interconnectedness of relational, spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, and environmental dimensions, you can experience deeper fulfillment and alignment with God’s purpose for your life.

The post Compartmentalizing Life Harms Christian Men: A Holistic Approach to Deep Health appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

We’ve blown through October and Halloween and are now square in late November.  Thanksgiving this week puts us square in the holiday season.  Do you tend to go overboard during all of the parties or do you mostly eat healthy?

You probably already have some degree of plan for Thanksgiving dinner; where you’re going, who will be there, what you’re eating and drinking.  You might even have plans for a football game or family hang time.

What about plans for all the leftovers?  Do you send them home with your guests or do you end up picking on them for days?

Here is a nice, relatively healthy turkey and ham meatloaf recipe.  You will likely have most or all of the ingredients left over from Thanksgiving.

Healthy Turkey and Pork Meatloaf

Shopping & Ingredients List:

The post appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

There’s so much information on the internet that trying to manage the incoming flow is tough. It’s like drinking from a fire hydrant. What to read, what to ignore and where to draw the line….. It would be nice to make it all simple.

With that in mind, I’ll jump straight to why I’m email you. It’s really to touch base and re-establish contact. That’s good, old fashioned communication… Not something we should be communicating in 144 characters or less.

Along those same lines, let’s get back to eating real food and cooking our own meals. This is a simple salmon recipes that matches well with a light cucumber salad.

MISO ROAST SALMON RECIPE

Shopping & Ingredients List:
1 tbsp Miso Paste

2 tsp Mirin

pinch of Sugar

150g boneless Salmon Fillet

½ tsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Soy Sauce

Salt & Pepper to season

Salad

½ Cucumber, in ribbons

1 tbsp Soya Beans

1 tsp White Wine Vinegar

pinch of Sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix together the miso paste, mirin & sugar. Spread over the salmon & marinate in the fridge overnight, or during the day, for a minimum of 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350C. Use the olive oil & brush a non-stick baking sheet. Use kitchen paper towel, wipe off the marinade. Place the fish on the baking tray, skin-side down. Cook for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile whisk together the white wine vinegar & sugar. Toss the ccmber ribbons & soya beans in the dressing. Serve alongside the salmon & season to own taste.

Try the recipe and tell me if you like it. Let’s get back to communicating again.  I would genuinely love to hear from you! coachericwylie.com

The post Miso salmon dinner. Great for a cold, fall evening with friends and family. appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

This is all about results.  Did you gain weight or lose weight?

Calorie counts, macros, food labels, fitness calculators; all of those things are estimates.  And estimates can be completely and totally wrong.  Unless you’re participating in a lab experiment or have paid to have your RMR tested, you’re guessing.  Granted, some guesses may be have a bit more solid research and experience behind them, it’s all still one great big experiment.  In an experiment, you test, review the results, make corrections and test again.

There are more things to consider than the scale when losing weight.

In the chase for a better body and body composition, the scale is only one data point.  There’s body fat, lean muscle mass, cardiovascular endurance, how your clothes fit, the compliments from your friends and family to consider.  With that in mind, the scale is NOT the perfect indicator of progress, but it is still a valuable indicator.

The scale doesn’t lie, but it also doesn’t tell the entire story.  Remember to use it in conjunction with other, non scale related, indicators of progress.  You have more than one tool at your disposal.

Life comes down to balance and that applies to calories too.

Let’s get back to calories.  You’re either consuming calories and/or burning them.  In fact, you’re burning calories as you’re eating.  That’s called the Thermic Effect of Feeding but that’s another topic entirely.  Eat more calories than you burn and you’ll gain weight.  Burn more calories over time and you’ll lose weight.  That’s an extreme simplification of the process but the concept applies.

Measuring your weight tells you how much you weigh at that exact moment.  You’ll need to take multiple measurements over time in order to establish a trend.  For body weight, be sure to weigh yourself on the same day of the week and at the same time.  Take note how much water you drink and do your best to be consistent.  And wear the same clothing (or none at all if acceptable) when you weigh yourself.  Remove as many environmental factors as possible when weighing yourself.

Weight gain or loss is not a linear process and there will be ups and downs.  Real progress takes place over time.  You will likely see your weight fluctuate up and down.  That’s normal life.  Do NOT obsess over one weigh in!  Keep track of your measurements and create an average weight over time.  How about average weekly weight and average monthly weight?  If you compare those numbers over time, are you gaining or losing?

If the trending numbers are not going in the direction you want, it doesn’t matter how clean you’re eating, how environmentally friendly you’re eating, how much you’re fasting or working out, you need to make a change.  Look at your results and adjust as necessary.

Remember the definition of insanity?  Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results?  If you’re not losing weight, change something!

coachericwylie.com

The post How to gain or lose weight without counting calories appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

I took the family to the movies early yesterday to see the latest in the ‘Maze’ series and I was struck by something I noticed in most of the ‘coming attractions’ that play before the featured movie. By the way, have ever noticed there seem to be more and more trailers.  You might as well save yourself some time and arrive at the theater 15 minutes after the advertised start time. It’s doubtful you miss any of the actual movie even arriving so late…. I think my jacket still smells like movie theater buttered popcorn.

In any case, three of the trailers involved robots acting like humans, people living in virtual realities (not unlike Tron), or people with cybernetic or synthetic parts.  Normally you see some sort of mix of drama trailers, children’s movies or some blockbuster movie that won’t be shown for another year.  What caught my attention were the variations on a theme between the movies. They were certainly all different but all of them had phenomenal CGI scenes with a hint of escapism and ultimate battles of good versus evil.  Add to that a dash of the under dog against the whole world with a twist of sadness and agony and you pretty much have the plot of the movie.

We often go to movies to escape our day to day grind for two or so hours, but how often do aspects of the movies mirror our own lives?  Movie makers know we need to be able to relate to the lead characters in a movie.  How many of your favorite movies involve the under dog rising up and defeat some cruel villain?  We love to cheer for the underdog and see the bad guy get his deserved rewards.

Be honest, we cheer the under dog on as they go through some sort of miracle transformation and find the skills or strength to overcome all odds.  Wouldn’t it be incredible to be like that newly created hero?!?!?!?

Imagine what it would be like to suddenly be thrown in a new world or new environment with a new body or some degree of superhuman skills.  What would it feel like to have those newfound powers? For me, it would be pretty awesome to suddenly have a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  That would be beyond cool and I’ve certainly tried making my body look better.  There’s a lot of hard work involved!

There’s a reason so many movies follow this format.  There is a fairly universal theme of challenge and overcoming all odds.  We all have challenges to face and can relate to our movie (or TV) counterparts. We all want more, want to be more, do more or have more of something.  It’s great to be able to relate to someone else facing a similar challenge or seeing someone else succeed.

Those stories can be very motivational.

But that’s not how our lives often play out, is it?  I see so many people shrink back from those life challenges.  As a coach, I hear it on almost a daily basis….
No one could possibly understand what you’re going through.  You’re all alone right???

On a planet of over 7.6 BILLION people, I guarantee someone else has gone through or is going through the same struggles you are.  Seriously, you are NOT alone and there is help for the under dog.

I’ll say it again….  You are not alone.  Stop for a few minutes and look at the people around you.  Start paying more attention to the things you have in common and can bring you closer together. You might find someone near you that can help; even within your own community.  There are over 843,000 people in Pierce County and over 211,000 of them live in the Tacoma area.  Even within that population, there are over 60,000 people within the Lakewood city limits.

Let’s back to the movies and cheering for the under dog.  The movie character always has some sort of side kick or support team.  Someone that believes in the under dog and encourages them to persevere.

Do you have anyone to support you?  I think we can establish that you are NOT alone and you can find someone to offer support or encouragement.  Where is your support team…..?
Your own little band of misfits and/or partners in doing the impossible?

Find your support crew in Lakewood

There are multiple gyms in the Lakewood area.  24hr Fitness, Crunch, the YMCA, Anytime Fitness, Studio Fitness, Crossfit 253 and probably more.  That’s just within Lakewood proper.  Expand your search to the Tacoma general area and you’ll find LA Fitness and more.  There’s bound to be one within your budget and fitting your schedule and desired fitness goals.  It may be scary to consider joining a gym, but remember that everyone walking through the goals has their own health and fitness goals.  Again, start focusing on the things you have in common with other people and you might find that person just like you.

We all live in a world of online media or social media.  The fact you’re reading this right now is evidence to that.  There’s probably a Facebook group of people with similar interests. If you belong to no other local groups, please join my FREE Facebook group called Lakewood Healthy Living.  The group is full of local folks that have a common goal of improving their health. You might find someone in the area with similar goals.  You might even find a workout or walking buddy!

Be the under dog that overcomes all odds….  Start making little changes and heading down your own path to success.  Heck, go find your favorite movie sound track and play it while you work out.

If you’re not a member of a gym somewhere, go check one out.  It won’t hurt to go inside and ask for membership rates.  You might even find someone there that you know.
Lastly, if you’re not part of my Facebook Group, please join us. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589934474642549/)  Come and join other people in the area.

I look forward to meeting you online!
– Eric.
Coachericwylie.com

The post Are you the under dog in your own movie? appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

Living a healthy life can be quite the challenge without a good picture of what you want the end result to be like.

Have you ever tried to build a complex puzzle without knowing what the end result is supposed to look like?  The toughest puzzles I have ever seen are one solid color or a very subtle shade of colors and several hundred pieces.

Start with the end in mind and keep the BIG picture in mind!

How do you begin building a puzzle?  Most people I’ve seen carefully lay out all the pieces and put the border together first.  In other words, you identify the variables and set out clear parameters.  What variables and/or constants do you have in your life?  What things can you count on and what days/times do those things occupy?  Be specific.

When you put a puzzle together you are looking for repeating patterns in different shapes.  You are also looking for ways to correctly put those pieces together until they form larger shapes.

The same thing applies in life.  Look for patterns.  I’ve often used the phrase of looking with expectation.  Be intentional and stick with the facts.  Do your absolute best to put feelings aside and look for the ‘shapes’ and patterns to the things you do every day.

It generally helps to take the pieces you are finding a refer back to the BIG picture.  As you put pieces together, you can see how and where they fit in the bigger picture, yes???

What happens if you lose the BIG picture?  Madness, chaos, fear, frustration….  Sometimes it helps to get an objective eye on the puzzle.  Someone else that has not been staring at the same puzzle for hours/weeks/months/years on end.

That’s where I come in as a health coach.  I help you clarify or establish that 1,000ft BIG picture and ensure the things you’re doing are heading you in the right direction.  This is the start of a new year when so many people set out to accomplish new health goals.  Schedule a time with me and get help clarifying your BIG picture.  Set clear, relevant goals for the new year.

Get Connected

The post How your journey to healthy living is like a jigsaw puzzle appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

How many times a day do you see something like this?  Of course, you likely DO love your family and want the best for them.

OR….  Is the opposite true?

By not clicking on the link, you confirm that you must hate your family, right?  It’s a binary decision.  If you don’t click, you must really hate your family.  Fear makes us do funny and unpredictable things.

You’ll be missing out if you don’t act now!  <== Another kind of clickbait.

Fear Of Missing Out….  Then again, it could be a monumental waste of your time.  Even more, it could also distract you from other more important things that you’re already doing.  You certainly don’t want to miss out on anything.  Who knows, it could be the next, greatest shiny thing you need to buy…..

What happens if you click and realize that it’s total junk or some new level of scam?  One response I’ve seen quite a bit from some is, “If you don’t act now, you’re not ready/worthy.”  Of course, you want to be seen as worthy and it pushes you to act in the manner the promoter wants.

What’s going on here?  These are old school sales tactics at their best/worst.  We see some variant in almost every headline (including this blog post) on the internet.  We know what’s going on and continue to click on it regardless!  Oh the insanity!!!

Stop the insanity!!

Is it relevant to you and is it imperative you look at it right this moment?  No?  Then keep scrolling.

Remember every advertisement is not a challenge to your intelligence, independence, strength, experience or motivation.  Don’t let an ad become virtual bullying!!!  You’re smarter than that!!

I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions about this matter.  If you would, hop on over to my Facebook page where we can have a conversation and share stories of internet insanity.  You’ll find me at: https://www.facebook.com/coachericwylie/

Have an incredible, clickbait bully free, week!

The post Clickbait and Social Media Manipulation appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Really, that’s all there is to it.  Do you want to make a change in your life but are afraid to make that change? What’s the worst thing that could happen if you try.  In most scenarios, there won’t be a risk of life or limb, job, massive amounts of cash, loss of family/friends or anything remotely catastrophic.

The best case scenario is you succeed.  Let’s say your goal is to lose weight.  For much of the population, this is a recurring goal.  You set a goal of 20lbs and get cracking…..

The best case scenario is you lose those 20lbs and possibly more.
The worst case scenario is you don’t lose any weight or even gain weight.
The third probability is you lose some weight.  Somewhere between a few pounds and 19lbs.

Fast forward to the future date where you’ve only lost 19lbs.  Aren’t you glad you started and made the changes regardless?  Isn’t that significantly better than not starting or doing anything at all?

We all have the same amount of time in life and there is always an opportunity cost of NOT starting today.  When today is gone, you’ve lost the day.  Even if the day doesn’t go exactly as planned, if you’ve made some progress towards your goals, you are still closer to your goals.

What’s the worst thing that could happen if you started before you felt completely ready?  You might make some  mistakes along the way… BUT, you’d still be closer to your goal than had you not started at all.

So… take a look at the worst case scenario.  What is the probability?

Likewise, what is the probability of total success or even partial success?

If the odds are strongly in your favor of some success, why not go for it??

It would be completely awesome if we could stay in touch!

Get Connected

The post This is a brutal and powerful self coaching question appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  How many times has that happened to you over the years?  The scenario is where everything is going
super smooth and you are headed towards certain victory….  and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you pull some sort of totally illogical stunt….

… The sort of thing that defies all common sense…  You had one task and that was to keep doing what you were doing…

Why on earth did that happen?  How *could* it happen?

Let me toss out a theory.  You think about it for a while and tell me if I’m right or wrong.

First, let’s start with a question.  How much success do you deserve?  Is there a limit to how much success you can handle?

There is no right or wrong answer, only what you believe the answer to be.  Have you created a virtual ‘glass ceiling’ in your mind?  Is failure and
defeat inevitable?

When life is going well, do you being looking for the next thing to go wrong?  If so, you are looking for failure.  Perhaps unconsciously, but it
is there.  What would happen if you began looking at your successes and focusing on how to continue that success.

It has been said repeatedly that success leaves clues.  Look for those clues, not the crumbs of failure.  That’s the wrong path to head towards.

Where have you had success this week and how can you recreate or copy those successes in the coming week?

Even if the success you experienced was minor, you can work towards increasing the size of that success.

I love seeing people succeed.  Again, success breeds success AND it can be contagious!  Share you success with others and encourage them to
do the same.  If you would, drop me a note and let me know how you’re succeeding.  I would be personally honored to hear your stories!  Even the
little things count!!!!!

The post How many times have you snatched defeat from the jaws of victory? appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.

This picture is from a scene in National Treasure with Nicolas Cage.  He is wearing a pair of glasses with different colored lenses.  He sees something different on a printed
page depending on the combination of filters he is using.  The important thing to note is he sees something completely different when a combination of lenses is used.
A single lense alone highlights something different.I’ve been silent about all the chaos in our society.  There are some serious issues here and include, but not limited to, the #MeToo campaign going on surrounding sexual harassment,
the current status of US government affairs, homelessness in the region, white privilege, and so on.  These are all serious issues but our take on them is going to change slightly
depending on our personal history, values and beliefs.

I’ve come to realize that no matter how much I try to relate to someone else and no matter how much I think I can relate or empathize, I am still ultimately looking through my own lense.

The combination of my lense plus what I perceive to be another person’s lense will still be different from that person’s single lense.  Did you follow that?

That doesn’t mean we’ve not experienced the same things nor does it mean I am incapable of relating to other’s suffering.  It only means my perception will always be slightly different
from someone else who has a different life history than I do.

What’s my takeaway?  My personal takeaway from this epiphany is to make sure I do not detract (or take away) from other person’s life or experience as I try to understand their situation.
Even my best efforts at taking something at face value will still be slightly skewed based on my values and experiences.

It’s ok to be different and it is ok not to truly and deeply understand another person’s situation.  We can still be friends and can still support one another as we all struggle through life.
We all have limitations in understanding and experience.  We can still experience significant growth as we try to understand and support one another.

Do you agree or disagree?  Please let me know!  1ericwylie@gmail.com.

Additionally, how can I support you this week?  We can learn and experience life together!

The post Do you see life through rose colored glasses? appeared first on Lakeside Health Coaching.