Pride and Awareness ADD/ADHD Coaching
Welcome
If you are interested in coaching with me, feel free to email me at:
sarah4adhdprideawareness@gmail.com
sarah.gogstetter@gmail.com
Or call/text me at 408-401-4133
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Living Life with ADHD
ADDers may have trouble with living with intention, listening hard, choosing with no regret. However, they have no difficulty walking to the edge, playing, continuously learning and exploring, laughing or doing what they love.
A well-trained ADD/ADHD coach can partner with an ADDer to help him/her develop a self-awareness, strategies and strengths to live life to the fullest.
So if you are ready to find the wings for your dreams, contact me. I can help you live life to the fullest and start living with intention, no regrets and listening hard to those you love and appreciate.
Let me help you achieve a healthy, well-balanced, happy and fulfilling life. Text me at 408-401-4133 or email me at sarah.gogstetter@gmail.com or sarah4adhdprideawareness. Ask me about scheduling a complementary/introductory session and one month of free coaching.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Quick protein snacks
- Spoonful of peanut butter
- Handful of peanuts, nuts, and/or mixture of both
- Cheese and crackers
- A slice of lunch meat
- Humus and crackers or pita bread
- Canned tuna, salmon, or any other fish and crackers
- Chicken spread and crackers
- String cheese, cheese sticks, or a chunk of cheese
- Glass of milk or chocolate milk
- Hard boiled eggs
- Canned chicken
- Cottage cheese, I like to eat this with crackers
- Can of baked beans or chili beans microwaved
- In a bind, peanut M&M's, Snickers, or protein bars
- Trail mix
- Yogurt, so I've heard
Friday, November 2, 2012
Household chores made fun!?!
The strategy goes like this: she gives me a list of chores to do. She assigns a unit value to each chore and the goal is to complete 5 units per day. I get to choose which chores I do, the timing of them with in reason and it's not an overwhelming amount. The units are based on how much completing them helps out around the house.
The beauty of this strategy for getting stuff done around the house is that it can be easily turned into a game or a contest. If using it with children, you could set it up so that after so many units, they get to do something fun or some other reward. Actually, this probably could be fun for an adult.
Another beauty of this strategy it adds a little bit structure to helping out around the house. Also with a little bit of tweaking, it might also work with other tasks such as work, household projects, school work, etc.
I oddly enough, enjoy completing the 5 units. I even try to see how fast I can complete the 5 units. I encourage you to experiment with this strategy and make it fun. Yes, I know, but you can oddly enough enjoy and have fun doing chores.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Samantha Who?
I watched the tv show called "Samantha Who?" on Netflix recently. The show is about a woman, who was successful and mean until she was hit by a car. She suffered a head injury, was in a coma for 8 days, and woke up from the coma with retrograde amnesia.
Following the coma and the amnesia, she had to relearn everything and became a compassionate, lovable and loving woman. She was able to make amends with her family and friends, and had a strong desire to help people.
She was given a fresh start, a clean slate, to start over. She was able to become a new person, learning who she truly was without her past memories hindering her. She went on to be successful woman again all arenas in her life. She developed strategies and a healthier set of life skills.
My challenge to you is to imagine what you would do if you were unhindered by your past, your stories, and who you and every one else thinks/believes you are. What would your dreams look like? What would your relationships look like? Who do you see yourself being? What tools and supports do you need to succeed?
Sunday, April 22, 2012
ADHD reading tips
If you think there is only one way to read a book or an article, then you have a lot to learn about reading. Following someone else's prescription for how to read a book or an article isn't going to get you very far unless you are someone else. I wouldn't even have an AA degree if I did that, let alone get through all of my science and general ed classes. I entered community college with an eighth grade reading and writing level, I have since then developed a high reading capacity and my friends and family can vouch for the fact that my reading methods are anything but ordinary. I am going to share some of my own reading strategies as they maybe the very unorthodox ideas some of you need. And if they don't work for you at least you have more ways to look at reading than before.
OK now for my tips.
Textbooks:
- Start by reading the chapter summary at the end of the chapter, glossary of terms and maybe questions. This can give you a framework of what the chapter is about.
- Skim through the subheadings, boldface print, and pictures. This can build on the framework you created in (1).
- Now when reading feel free to highlight, underline, write, doodle, fidget while reading.
- Make sure you have pens and highlighters of many different colors.
- Color code your highlighting and pens. To keep it fresh change color coding every chapter. Color coding helps with distinguishing between key information from details. For important/key material consider marking it with your favorite color.
- Take frequent breaks, especially with dense material.
- Make sure you drink plenty of water and eat a high protein snack or meal.
- Feel free to move around, experiment with white noise and different environments.
- Libraries or quiet environments aren't for everyone. Some people do better in coffee shops, restaurants, or at the park.
- feel free to turn the TV, listen to music, turn on a fan/air conditioner or white noise machines/tapes.
- For terms, formulas and key concepts consider having a stack of multicolored index cards to write down.
- If you take medication for ADHD and/or drink caffeinated beverages, be sure that they are in your system.
- Sticky notes are great for marking important information and can also signal where you left off. This makes starting up after a break easier and helps you quickly refer back important material.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.,
But do you recall?
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names;
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say,
Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?
Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
You'll go down in history.
Monday, November 28, 2011
medication side effects
When we finally get treatment for our diagnoses, we start to obtain the tools to start fixing this lack of self-care. So if you have been drinking 1 or 2 glasses of water a day for years and all of a sudden the meds you're taking makes you thirsty...Maybe that's a good thing. You will need to eat foods to provide the meds and your brain the substrates to make the neurotransmitters. Considering neurotransmitters are primarily made of amino acids the building blocks of proteins, it makes since to get enough protein in your diet. Fish oil or other omega-3 fatty acid supplements are useful because the myelin sheathes that insulate your neurons are made from omega-3 fatty acids. These myelin sheathes have gaps called nodes of Ranveir, which allows the electrical impulses to travel down the axon of the neurons at a reasonable speed. Multivitamin/mineral provides your brain with the various materials that your body needs to allow your enzymes and other biological processes to occur. Also make sure you eat a well balanced diet with enough healthy carbs, vitamins, minerals and an assortment of other good stuff. All of these things can help the meds work better and reduce the side effects.
Then there are things like sleep, exercise, stress management and other good things to remember. Even people without a diagnosis have trouble functioning when they don't get enough sleep. If you don't get enough sleep when you have a diagnosis or more, you can't expect yourself to function any better. If you have sleep issues, find out what they are and get them treated. Exercise helps clean body out and gets your blood moving. It is said to be one of the best stimulants and antidepressants around, so if you can exercise. This will make your meds more effective and make it possible to reduce the amount you need to take. Stress management can take on many different forms including meditation, therapy, life/ADHD coaching, strategies, support groups, managing your other medical conditions, getting support, focusing on the positive and your strengths, and so forth. Lastly, other good things to remember include staying hydrated, don't get overheated, don't get too cold, getting as much rest as possible when sick, know allergies can make your condition worse and effect the effectiveness of the meds, when hypoxic [low oxygen] or hypoglycemic/hyperglycemic [low blood sugar/high blood sugar] your conditions/symptoms will be worse.
You can develop strategies and systems to reduce the side effects/symptoms that involve good self-care. An ADD/ADHD or life coach can help with this. If you'd to find out more about ADD/ADHD coaching, feel free to email me at sarah.gogstetter@gmail.com. I can help you even if you have additional diagnoses to ADD/ADHD. Email me and we can set up a free, complementary session.