How to reward yourself without food
At my highest weight of 250 pounds, rewarding myself with food was an everyday event. Got through a tough meeting? Head to Starbucks for a tasty drink. Kids behaving badly and you aren’t screaming at them? Sneak a few Oreos from the pantry. Slayed your To-do list like a boss? Toast yourself with a glass of wine. It’s so important to learn how to reward yourself with non-food items as rewarding yourself with food works against weight loss. Below, we’re diving into how to reward yourself without food to make your weight loss journey not just successful but also enjoyable. Here are some non-food rewards to treat yourself as you crush your goals: Free Rewards: Take a relaxing bubble bath. Watch a favorite movie or TV show. Read a book in a quiet corner. Meditate for 15 minutes. Practice yoga or stretching exercises. Go for a nature walk. Sunbathe in a park. Listen to your favorite music or podcast. Do a DIY spa day at home. Write a Thank You letter to yourself. Under $20: Buy a new journal or planner. Get inspirational stickers for your water bottles. Purchase a scented candle or essential oils. Treat yourself to a new workout shirt. Buy a new book or e-book. Get a massage ball or foam roller for self-massage. Try a new skincare or beauty product. Invest in a quality water bottle. Buy fresh flowers for your home. Get a new houseplant. Under $50: Book a manicure or pedicure appointment. Treat yourself to a massage. Buy a subscription to a meditation or mindfulness app. Buy a new workout outfit. Purchase a quality yoga mat. Try a new outdoor activity – stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, pickleball, etc. Try a virtual cooking class. Buy yourself a charm bracelet to add charms for every 10 pounds lost. Buy a new piece of clothing you’ve been eyeing. Buy a smart scale. Over $100: Book a professional photoshoot – especially great when you reach your goal weight! Treat yourself to a weekend getaway. Join a boutique fitness center. Get a personalized nutrition consultation. Treat yourself to a luxury skincare set. Book a session with a personal trainer. Purchase a new fitness gadget – Garmin, Fitbit, Apple watch, etc. Buy tickets to a live event or concert. Get a set of adjustable weights. Splurge on a new wardrobe! Remember, learning to reward yourself without food not only will help you lose (and keep off!) more weight but it helps the process feel more enjoyable. As a human being we seek pleasure. By making your weight loss journey more pleasurable, you are more likely to stick to the process, get to your goal weight and enjoy it! Which non-food reward will you try? Your Coach, Andrea
Five Tips for Recovering from Holiday Overeating
The holiday season is marked by good times with family and friends plus delicious, holiday treats. If you have been overeating these holiday treats, then these five tips on recovering from holiday overeating are for you! 1. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate: After indulging in holiday goodies, prioritize hydration. Water is your body’s best friend when it comes to flushing out toxins and aiding digestion. If you overindulged in alcoholic drinks then you are likely dehydrated and in need of hydration. Grab your trusty water bottle and make it your sidekick throughout the day. Not only will it help detoxify your system, but it can also curb those lingering sugar cravings. 2. Reconnect with Nutrient-Rich Meals: Reset your system with nutrient-packed meals. Think fresh veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains. These foods provide the essential nutrients your body craves, helping stabilize your energy levels and getting you back on track. I love using this technique as a way to focus on what TO eat rather than restricting other foods. This way you focus on nutrients and naturally crowd out room on your plate for other, less nutritious foods. 3. Move Your Body in a Way You Enjoy: Banish guilt and embrace movement that brings you joy. Whether it’s a brisk walk, a dance session in your living room, or a calming yoga class, find an activity that feels good for you. Physical activity not only burns those extra calories but also boosts your mood, helping you regain that post-holiday feel good vibes. 4. Plan Your Meals and Snacks: Creating a plan can be a game-changer. Outline your meals and snacks for the day to avoid impulsive choices. Planning ahead helps you make mindful and balanced food decisions, ensuring you nourish your body without feeling deprived. 5. Practice Mindful Eating: Savor each bite and be present during meals. I like to practice mindful eating by always sitting at a table to eat, limit conversations and make sure my phone (or TV) are not in sight. Mindful eating allows you to recognize true hunger and fullness cues, preventing overeating. Put away distractions, engage your senses, and relish your food consciously. Remember, we’re all human, and a little indulgence during the holidays is perfectly normal. It’s the actions we take afterward that truly matter. Treat yourself with kindness and use these simple tips to guide you back to feeling your best. Here’s to a healthy and vibrant start to the year ahead! Your Coach, Andrea
How to make weight loss easier
Who wants weight loss to feel easier? All of us. When you think of weight loss, do you envision calorie counting and working out for hours at a time? Maybe it’s cleaning out the pantry and swearing off your favorite foods? For so many of us, weight loss is a nasty list of to-do’s that feels hard. And when weight loss feels hard we convince ourselves that we need something magical like motivation or a special Monday to get started on it. But weight loss doesn’t have to be hard. Weight loss can feel a whole lot easier in just a few steps. Quit calling it hard Weight loss will feel infinitely easier if you stop calling it hard. Now before you write this off as ineffective, hear me out. Your brain has an amazing thing call the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS filters the information that comes through our brain as important or unimportant. So in a busy restaurant, it filters out all the conversations around you until you hear someone shout your name, then you turn and pay attention. The RAS is tuned into your name as an important piece of information so it can pick it out of a noisy restaurant. When you tell yourself over and over that weight loss is so hard, your RAS takes that as important information and goes to look for the supporting evidence that losing weight is hard. For instance, it will key in on how much you sweat during a workout or how deprived you feel when you can’t have a brownie. You think weight loss is hard and your RAS finds all of the evidence of hard for you. If you quit saying weight loss is hard, your RAS will stop looking for all the evidence that weight loss is hard. Start calling it easy The next step in making weight loss feel easier is to call it easy. Hold on…I can hear you now….. but it’s not easy! Ok. But are some parts of it easy? Be sure to point that out to yourself. Even if it is just filling up your water bottle, remind yourself that was easy. Driving to the gym? That was easy. Maybe you completed a workout and it didn’t kill you like you thought it would, tell yourself “That was easier than I thought it would be.” Give your RAS the challenge of finding easy things about weight loss and pretty soon you’ll be feeling that weight loss doesn’t feel as hard as it did before. Make it enjoyable Typically the things you enjoy in life are things you want to do more often. Enjoyable tasks are not difficult or hard. What can you do to make weight loss more enjoyable? Start thinking outside of the box. Weight loss doesn’t have to be cutting carbs and running long distances. Think about what you really enjoy eating and drinking. Is there a way to modify them to make them healthier? What exciting, healthier recipes are out there just waiting for you to try them? Another sure fire way to make weight loss feel easier is only moving your body in ways you actually enjoy. Running or the stair machine are not your only options. There are literally thousands of options out there. Walking, chair yoga, Zumba, water aerobics, pole dancing or Tai Chi to name a few. There are different speeds and flavors for everyone. When movement is enjoyable, it makes weight loss feel easier and you’re more likely to stick with it. Need more ideas? Check out this blog post. Recognize your accomplishment I find it so much easier to do things for my family when they give me a quick Thank You for my efforts. When was the last time you thanked yourself for making healthy choices? We all want to feel like what we do matters. Recognition does a long way in increasing the chance we repeat that action. Have you ever thought about why you can’t stop yourself from reaching for the potato chips or the chocolate? It’s because it feels good! They are tasty, the experience of eating it is fun and afterwards we get a dopamine hit. When you are losing weight we often have to resist those foods that we love and are so fun to eat. And what’s the reward?? Getting to resist it the next time we want it too. Giving yourself recognition when you make a healthy choice is paramount to making weight loss feel easier. When you recognize your efforts and give yourself a pat on the back, you want to do more of that activity in the future. And don’t just stop at the proverbial pat on the back. Find other ways to recognize yourself. Plan for rewards after a certain number of workouts completed or pounds lost. Give yourself a high five in a mirror and say “I’m proud of me!” So give yourself a Thank You. Even if it was just for reading this blog post and opening your mind to the possibility that weight loss can be easier. Your Coach, Andrea
The ONE thing you need to start losing weight
People overcomplicate weight loss all the time. But to get started and to keep going, you really only need one thing: Belief. It’s absolutely true. Believing that you can lose weight is the ONE thing you need. You don’t need a food scale, a bathroom scale or a calorie counting app to get started. All you need is to believe. You might be thinking, it’s really not that easy. But I promise that to begin your journey, that’s all you need. You would never start a diet if you didn’t believe YOU could do it. You would never start an exercise routine unless you thought YOU were capable of getting results from it. It all starts with belief. And you know what? It all ends when belief goes away. You stop following the diet when you believe it is no longer working. You stop working out when you stop believing that you’ll get the results you desire. Belief is the fuel for you weight loss journey. When you believe in yourself and the ability for you to get results, you take action. If that belief falls away, then you stop taking the action. It was a very powerful moment in my life when I realized that belief was fueling everything. I had experienced success on diets before and couldn’t seem to figure out why I eventually stopped being successful and put the weight back on. Then one day it hit me: I quit believing in it and stopped taking action. There was nothing wrong with me. I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t doomed to be fat for the rest of my life. I simply stopped believing. Just as easily as I can choose to believe in something, I can choose not to believe too. And whether or not I believe, determines how I’m showing up and the results I get. As scary as that might seem, it’s actually the best news ever. I no longer had the responsibility of finding the perfect diet or exercise plan. I simply needed to practice belief. Belief in myself and belief that I could figure this out no matter how long it took. With those beliefs I found safety in trying new things and seeing what worked well with my life. I was able to look at my habits and see which ones were helping on my weight loss journey and which ones weren’t. I could take my time and figure it out because I had the belief that I would figure it all out and reach my weight loss goal no matter what. If you are struggling with belief in yourself, here are a few things to try: Read other people’s weight loss success stories for inspiration Write a list of 100 things you’ve been successful at (nothing is too small) Use motivational quotes to inspire you Begin with practicing the thought “I’m willing to believe I can do this” Reach out for help by scheduling a call with me! How do you practice belief in yourself? Your Coach, Andrea
Three steps to stop eating when not hungry
Eating when you are not hungry equals weight gain. And if you are on a weight loss journey that is a recipe for disaster! But how do you stop eating when you aren’t hungry? Follow these three steps to get back in tune with your body and stop eating when you aren’t hungry: Step One: Identify your hunger signs The first step to stop eating when you are not hungry is to figure out if you really are hungry. For many women this can actually be quite difficult. You’ve spent years eating by the clock, eating to relieve stress or eating because it simply feels good. To determine if you are physically hungry, drop into your body. What does that look like? Close your eyes. Ask yourself where do I feel hungry? For me, I know I am truly hungry when the middle of my abdomen feels a little tight. I also get slight growls in my stomach. If I have been truly hungry for a bit then the hunger starts appearing in the front of my head as a slight headache and I will feel my energy levels begin to dip. On the other hand, these physical sensations are not present when I am not hungry. Instead I will find myself “tasting” food in my mouth, like daydreaming about how good a Reese’s peanut butter cup would be right now. Sometimes when I am not hungry but WANT to eat, I will ask myself “Am I hungry?” and then soon enough I will feel a little tingle in my stomach. This is phantom hunger. It’s like a little ghost of hunger that comes pretty quickly after I get a craving for something. This isn’t true hunger. How do I know? Go to step two. Step Two: Take an inventory of your circumstance When I find myself wanting to eat when I’m not physically hungry, I take a moment to figure out what is going on in my life. One great way to do this is ask yourself “If I wasn’t going to eat right now, what would I be doing?” So often that 3pm hunger is actually being tired of work and not wanting to start another work task. In the evenings, I would be left alone with my thoughts about what I screwed up during the day, what’s left to be done tomorrow or thoughts of how I’m so exhausted and nothing really feels good in my life. Other times, I am just plain bored and want to be entertained! Once you figure out if you want to eat to avoid something in your life, then solve for that. If I am tired of work and don’t want to start another work task, then I take a 15-minute break and go for a walk, meditate or watch a couple silly tiktok videos (be sure to set a timer and don’t go beyond the 15 minutes!). If I’ve put the kids to bed and I don’t want to be left alone with my troubling thoughts, I break out my journal, jot down a quick to-do list for the next day, tell myself I’m a good wife and mother, then give myself permission to rest and relax. If I want to be entertained, then I snuggle in a blanket and watch my favorite show. Understanding what you truly need in that moment will help you understand and care for yourself better. When you start solving for what is actually bothering you, the less you will feel driven to eat at times when you are not hungry. If you’ve identified the non-food reason you want to eat when you aren’t hungry but still feel compelled to eat, continue to step three. Step Three: Do a hard reset Our brains present persistent thoughts of wanting to eat when we are not hungry simply because it is trying to avoid something in our life (see step two) AND there is not much else for it to do. On my weight loss journey, I found that continuing to push through and simply NOT eat was difficult. This was especially the case when I started working from home during COVID. I worked in the living room and thoughts about what was in the fridge started popping into my head. I’d ask myself “What would I be doing if I wasn’t eating” and the answer would generally be doing a work task. So I would acknowledge I didn’t want to do the work task, take a little break and then start the task anyway. But the thoughts kept coming. In those instances, I gave myself a protocol to help me reset. I would chug a giant glass of water, get outdoors for a five-minute walk and talk to myself. The magic in the reset is creating different sensations for yourself. The glass of water will help your body feel different on the inside (fuller and maybe colder). Getting outdoors will help you feel different on the outside (sun on your skin, wind on your face, maybe it’s warmer or cooler than your home). Finally talking to yourself. Be very specific in the things you say. This is a time to speak to yourself kindly and cheer yourself on. I often say “I’m so proud that I took this time to reset. I’m so glad that I am choosing my bigger goal over something I want in this moment. This is what self care looks like and I’m so happy I made this choice.” Final reminder: Even if you eat when you are not hungry, remember that it will never help to be unkind or berate yourself. Your weight loss journey will never be a straight line to your goal weight. Be open to learning when things don’t go as expected. If you are learning then you are always moving forward with better knowledge for the future. If you struggle with eating when you are not hungry, I can help. Schedule
Five things for successful weight loss
Millions of people try losing weight each year with the end goal in mind. A certain number of pounds lost, a particular pant size or a dress they are trying to wear for a special occasion. But it’s much more important to have the right start to your weight loss journey. Here are five things you need to be successful in weight loss: Belief that you can do it It’s essential for successful weight loss that you believe YOU can do it. This is different than thinking you found the right diet that will shed pounds quickly or the right exercise routine that will give you washboard abs. This is the belief that you can follow the plan and stick with it. This is the belief that you are willing and able to do the work. Fake it until you make it doesn’t apply here. That will only lead to success over a couple of months then inevitably quitting and undoing any progress you made. Don’t worry. If your belief is a little shaky, that’s OK. You don’t have to believe that you are able to do it for your ENTIRE weight loss journey. But can you start with the belief in you today? Can you stick to it today? Then ask yourself the same question for tomorrow….then the next day and the next…and before you know it you’ve grown your belief in your weight loss abilities. Acceptance that you won’t always be perfect Decide right from day one that you won’t always be perfect and that’s OK. I have lost over 90 pounds and I had many days that I ate off plan or overate. I decided that I wouldn’t let that be a reason to think I was broken or incapable of losing weight. I simply made that mean that I was a human that made a choice that didn’t align with my goal. I didn’t have to be perfect but I did need to get back on-track as soon as possible. You won’t always be perfect either. Accepting that from the beginning takes a lot of the drama out of it. Treat it as an event you knew was coming then get back on track as soon as possible. It’s like being on a car trip. You might get a flat tire at some point. It’s something that happens but isn’t a reason to quit going onto your destination and live on the side of the road for the rest of your life. You put your spare tire onto the car and get moving again. You have that choice on your weight loss journey as well. You can choose to eat on plan for the very next meal and keep on moving onto your weight loss goal. Be open to trying different things If you do the same things you have always done, you’ll get the very same results you already have. Being success in weight loss requires eating and drinking in ways that are different than what you’ve been doing. It doesn’t take a complete 180-degree turnaround to get different results but it does require small changes. The very first thing I ask my clients to do is to ask themselves before every meal “Am I hungry?” If the answer is yes, eat. If the answer is no, wait until you are hungry. They are amazed at what a difference it makes just asking themselves this small question. Really open your mind to all the possibilities for change. You could drink a few more sips of water, leave a couple bites behind at each meal, switch to whole grain bread or walk for fifteen minutes each day. Be careful not to think that these actions are too small to amount to any weight loss. Every small action adds up. Plus it makes your journey more enjoyable since you aren’t having to rely on Herculean willpower to muster through. Decide to figure it out Maybe the things you tried didn’t result in weight loss. Again, not a big deal. Change it up and see what DOES work. The problem with diets and exercise plans is that they don’t take into account the individual person. The way I teach weight loss is custom to YOU. You are the expert in your weight loss and I help you find that inner wisdom that defines weight loss on your own terms. Because when you define weight loss on your own terms, you lose all your weight without any fear of it ever returning. So get curious when you stop losing weight. Ask yourself what contributed to that. Find something new to try next that will give you a different result. Your weight loss journey will change along the way and willingness to figure it out is required to be successful. Love yourself no matter what Starting your weight loss journey with self-hate or loathing for your body is a recipe for disaster. You don’t have to go from hating yourself to loving yourself. Just stop the hateful comments. When I was 250-pounds and hated the way I looked, I simply made an agreement with myself to stop saying hateful things. I didn’t have to change it to something loving. I just said to myself “I don’t think that way anymore.” Then as my journey progressed and I gained for confidence and love for myself, I was able to say loving things instead. The amazing thing is that your brain cannot think two thoughts at the same time. As soon as you start thinking something new, the other thought is gone. Here’s why loving yourself is so important. Think about going in for a performance evaluation and your boss tells you how much he hates you and everything you do is wrong. Then he demands that you make huge changes. How likely is it that you will rise up to meet his demands? I don’t know about you but I’d be searching for a new job! Now imagine that a
Five thoughts that kept me FAT
For all of my adult life, I felt stuck. It felt like my fate in life was to be overweight. I tried and failed so many diets that I figured I was just broken. In reality, the only thing that was broken was my thinking. Here are five thoughts that kept me FAT: I don’t feel like it This thought kept me waiting for the motivation fairy to drop in and fill me with motivation to do the things I didn’t feel like doing. In reality, feeling like doing something is never a requirement. We do so many things in our every day lives that we probably don’t feel like doing. For instance: paying bills, changing dirty diapers, following speed limits, chores around the house, attending meaningless work meetings, etc. You don’t feel like doing them but you get it done anyway. The motivation to do something doesn’t come from an outside source. Motivation is created by you. If you are still waiting around for motivation to strike, check out this blog post on “How to find your weight loss motivation in 3 easy steps.” Quit using “I don’t feel like it” as an excuse to remain the same. Instead tell yourself “I don’t have to feel like it to do what’s best for myself.” I deserve to eat whatever I want This kept me feeling entitled to eat indulgent foods all day, every day. ALL the diets I had been on before left me feeling restricted and deprived. And I hated it! I didn’t want to feel that way so I told myself “I deserve to eat whatever I want.” But the truth of the matter is I always have a choice in what I eat. Whether I am on a restrictive diet or eating everything in sight, it is because I am choosing to do so. Continuously telling myself that I deserved to eat whatever I wanted also left me feeling entitled to a party in my mouth each time I ate. I only thought about amazing and entertaining foods I wanted to eat. Foods that nourish my body and help it perform at its best were rarely considered. Once I changed by thought from “I deserve to eat whatever I want” to “I can eat whatever I want however I choose to eat healthier so I can achieve my health goals,” I finally found a balance between nourishing my body, eating foods that were entertaining AND losing weight. I don’t have any willpower Another thought that kept me fat. It reinforced that I was broken and there was no hope for change. The reality of willpower is that everyone has it. Some people use their willpower each day and therefore it’s stronger. Others have let it wither away like an atrophied muscle. If you want more willpower, then you have to start using it. Start small. Try leaving one bite behind after each meal. When that starts feeling easy, leave two or opt for half a plate of veggies. These small moments will help strengthen your willpower. The stronger it gets the more you are able to use it throughout your life. A great thought to think instead of “I don’t have any willpower” is “Willpower is a muscle that everyone has and I am working on making mine stronger each day.” I don’t want to miss out on life Oh man. This was a big one. It kept me believing the lie the food is the only source of connection and fun in life. Spoiler: it’s not. In fact, food can often be a distraction to true connection and fun. Food is an activity that many people enjoy doing together however it isn’t a requirement. I am not missing out on life if I choose not to eat or choose to eat differently than people around me. Instead, think of all the ways that being healthier allows you to enjoy your life MORE. This was a game changer for me. I had never considered that my life could actually be better and I could be more engaged if I was losing weight and getting healthier. I could be more intentional in my conversations and interactions with others at parties. I could run and play with my sons. Bucket list items I was sure I could never do become possibilities again….hello standup paddle boarding, indoor skydiving and boudoir photoshoot! Not to mention that getting healthier also means living longer. And not just living longer to be bedridden but living longer with a functioning body. Try thinking “Being overweight taxes my body and shortens my lifespan which truly results in missing out on life.” I’ve failed too many times before. By the time I reached 250 pounds, I had tried and failed at least a dozen diets. I felt like there was nothing left to try that would work for me. I felt so hopeless. Thinking “I’ve failed too many times before” was simply an excuse to stop trying at all. This thought kept me fat because it reminded me how much failure sucked before. It was my way of protecting myself from future pain and humiliation of failing yet another diet. However failure is a natural part of the human experience. If we all stopped doing anything the moment we failed, then none of us would learn to walk. The first time we fell down, we would stay on the ground. But for some reason failing a diet (or multiple ones), seems like a real reason to never try to get healthier again. Maybe I just found dozens of ways that didn’t work for me and that’s OK. That’s actually perfect! Every way that doesn’t work is actually a step closer to finding what DOES work. So instead of the thought “I’ve failed too many times before” that kept me fat, I chose to think “I want to figure out how to live my healthiest life on MY terms.” You can figure out weight loss on
How visualization can help you lose weight
A powerful tool you can use on your weight loss journey is visualization. I often tell my clients that our thoughts are the instruction manuals for our brains but that doesn’t just include the sentences we tell ourselves. Our brains are powerful machines. You can reinforce those thoughts, create more desire, strengthen commitment and increase motivation by using visualization. Here is how visualization can help you lose weight: Instructions for your brain First, visualization is a process of seeing images in your mind. If you think about a tree, chances are you are able to visualize a tree in your mind. Words when paired with visual images tell a complete story. Your brain has a complete story of what you want on your weight loss journey when you pair your thoughts along with visual images. When your brain clearly understands the goal, it is free to start going after the solution and paving a way to achieve that goal. If you are unsure of where to begin with visualization of your weight loss goal, start with visualizing yourself looking into a mirror. Visualize how your stomach is smaller, your legs slimmer and maybe your cheeks less round. You can envision yourself in smaller clothes or maybe even visualize your current clothing fitting looser on your smaller-sized body. For more advanced visualization, envision yourself going throughout your day. How do you get out of bed? How do you go down the stairs? What does it look like getting in and out of your car? Envision yourself going through these daily activities in your slimmer body. Create desire Visualization also helps create desire on your weight loss journey. Many of my clients blame their reason why for not being compelling enough and why they choose to quit. More often it is because they have not spent enough time thinking about their why and creating a strong relationship with it. The more you think about the reason why you want to lose weight, the more important and desirable it becomes to you. Thinking about your reason only on January 1st is a recipe for remaining the same. But if you think about your reason every single day of the month for an entire year, you’ll build desire and commitment to that goal. Another great way to build that desire for your weight loss goal is to visualize yourself at your goal weight daily. Envision yourself enjoying your new slimmer body. Think of the different activities you’ll engage in, that your weight currently holds you back. Visualize yourself in clothes that you love and feeling confident in them. Create a vision in your mind of yourself that you truly want and are excited to experience. Find solutions to obstacles You can also use visualization as role play for situations you find tough to deal with in real life. Let’s say that you struggle with leaving restaurants overly stuffed. Visualization can be an amazing tool to walk through going to the restaurant and taking a to-go box home with half of your meal inside. It’s a lot easier to visualize that action in your mind when the delicious food isn’t sitting in front of you. Again, the visualization becomes the instruction manual for real life. Once you get comfortable packing up half of the meal into the to-go container in your mind, you can do it more easily in real life because your brain already knows the clear instructions on how to do it. Help keep yourself going Motivation can come and go on your weight loss journey and that’s totally normal. Sometimes getting your shoes on is the hardest part of the workout. Visualizing yourself putting on the shoes, completing the workout and seeing yourself be proud of that accomplishment can be a great way to get yourself motivated to take that positive action again. Not only that but visualizing yourself at your goal weight helps remind yourself of what today’s action can result in. If you are lacking in motivation, you can return to feeling motivated by visualizing a time when you felt really motivated. Picture where you were, what you were doing and how the feeling of motivation felt in your body. Of course, along with that visualization, tap into the thoughts you were telling yourself at that time so you have a really clear picture of that motivation. Together these two things are a great way to return to that motivated state and keep yourself going on your weight loss journey. Have you tried visualizing yourself at your weight loss goal? Comment below. Your Coach, Andrea
How to find your why for losing weight
When people are struggling to lose weight, I often hear them say that they don’t have a compelling enough reason why they want to lose weight. Your why can often be the reason you choose to continue on your weight loss journey even when you don’t feel like it. It is a reason greater than your desire to skip the workout or eat the chocolate cake. If you don’t have one, I am going to tell you exactly how to find your why for losing weight. Don’t just think of a number on the scale and the clothing you’ll wear. Weight loss can have an effect on far more than that! In fact, I will challenge you to throw out the idea that one powerful why is supposed to carry you throughout your journey. You can, and should, have many whys. To create a list of whys, think of the areas of your life listed below: Family Many women I work with are used to putting others ahead of themselves. Thinking how their family members need them at their healthiest is an easy place to find a meaningful why. At my highest of 250 pounds, I felt like a fraud. I wanted to be a good example of health for my children but I was inactive and ate junk food all the time. Creating alignment in my actions and my teachings was very motivating for me. It’s also worth considering your extended family and parents. My parents are in retirement and their mobility is starting to decline. One of my reasons why I wanted to lose weight is to be able to take care of them. Many caretakers have to assist loved ones in and out of cars or beds. I want to be able to do that without injuring myself in the process. I also want to be as healthy and free of ailments myself so that I can focus on keeping them well taken care of. Romance Consider how your romantic relationship, or the prospect of one, might change when you lose weight. I’m married and I certainly want to be around for a very long time with my husband. I want us to be vibrant and healthy in our retirement years so we can travel the world. I also want to be my healthiest so I can feel well and interact with him as my best self. At my highest weight, I had terrible heart burn and it was a struggle to get to sleep. Then once I got to sleep, my hips and knees would ache so it was difficult to stay asleep. I was constantly tired and irritable. I hardly ever interacted with my husband as my best self. Now, on a vain note, plenty of whys can come from the bedroom too. Looking good in lingerie and having the confidence to make love with the lights on could be whys. For me, I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin and fully enjoy those moments with my husband without being distracted by the self critical dialogue in my head. Friends This is another great area in your life that you can find a weight loss why. Prior to losing 90 pounds, my friend time was a lot of wine nights with plenty of snacks. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a ton of fun but often left me feeling bloated and miserable the next day. My why wasn’t to eliminate wine nights all together but rather incorporate some other activities with my friends. I wanted to spend more time outdoors with friends. I wanted to try new things like standup paddle boarding and kayaking. Maybe it’s not about changing what you do with your current friends but instead is about including new ones. What other friends might you make along your weight loss journey? How could you life become richer and expand? Daily Life When I decided I was going to lose 100 pounds, I challenged myself to come up with 100 reasons why it was important to me. Many of my reasons came from small irritations that showed up in my every day life. Going to sleep was difficult due to heart burn. Walking up the stairs required at least two minutes to catch my breath. Tying my shoes squished all the air out of my lungs. It took two scoots to get off the couch. And my jeans were constantly wearing thin between my thighs. Chub rub is real. Take the time to go through your normal daily routine. Ask yourself what would be easier if you weighed less. How would it feel to get out of bed? Going down the stairs? Walking to the mailbox? Getting in the car? No doubt, you will find at least five ways your daily life will improve by your weight loss. Movement I have intentionally named this one movement and not exercise. I believe weight loss is achievable without intentional exercise. This is about finding movement that you enjoy. Our bodies are meant to move and movement is one of the best ways to honor them and keep them feeling great. I used to love yoga but at 250 pounds the poses were very difficult to get into. One of my whys was to enjoy doing yoga again. I also have an adventurous spirit and want to be able to try any activity. Fun things like zip lines, horseback riding and helicopter rides often come with weight limits. I didn’t want my weight holding me back from experiencing those things. Self Last but most importantly, what might change in your relationship with you? I wanted to like what I saw in the mirror. No more grunts of disgust or refusing to buy new clothes until I lost at least 15 pounds. I wanted to care for myself every single day. To be on the same team as my body and not treating it like an enemy. I wanted to feel in control of my
How to create a successful weight loss plan in 5 easy steps
Weight loss can be very overwhelming especially when you have over 100 pounds to lose. You may get confused on where to start or which food and exercise plan is the best. There are thousands of options out there and it can seem impossible to know which one is right for you. Here are five easy steps to creating a successful weight loss plan especially made for YOU: 1. Figure out where you are beginning When you get directions to a new place you’ve never been, you have to plug in the starting address first. To begin your weight loss journey, you have to do the same. Start by asking yourself the following questions: What is my current weight? If I had to guess what brought me to this weight, I would say it’s because…. What is my routine eating schedule? What are the foods I eat in a normal day? How much am I routinely moving my body? Do I believe I am capable of making the changes to lose my excess weight? These questions are great ways to determine where you are starting with your diet, exercise and mindset. Be careful not to get too overwhelmed or upset about how far you are from your ultimate goal. Don’t let this be a time where you plan for incredible acts of willpower or drastic measures that will get you to your goal the fastest. Remember when you are getting directions somewhere, they are given in multiple steps. If you were traveling across the country, you wouldn’t get upset because there are multiple roads and highways you have to take so don’t let that be a reason to be upset on your weight loss journey either. Especially when you have a lot of weight to lose, it helps to accept that the process is going to take time. Taking things slower ensures you don’t burn out and quit. 2. Make a list of what you are willing to do to lose weight Remember to start where you are! It’s very easy to look for a diet and exercise plan that promises the results you want. Just remember that every diet out there works if YOU continue to work it. You have probably lost weight before on these other plans but ultimately failed because you stopped following it. You weren’t willing to continue to follow the diet rules. This time around you need to figure out what you are willing to do for the rest of your life to maintain a healthier weight. If you are currently eating McDonald’s three times a day, changing to eating only salads that you make at home isn’t realistic and will feel terrible. Instead look for the small things that you are willing to do. Maybe it is ordering a smaller size fry or a regular hamburger instead of the Big Mac. You could also order your same meal and leave a few bites behind each time. Just make a list of all the ways you are willing to eat a little less, move a little more and explore why you are overeating in the first place. Once you have a giant list (don’t stop until you have at least 20 things on it), figure out which ones are going to be the easiest to do and start with one of them. Yep, just one. Do one thing until you get really good at doing it and then layer in the next easiest thing. Small quick wins are a great way to start changing your habits, getting the weight loss ball rolling and not feeling like your life was turned upside down. Those quick wins will add up and before you know it you will be doing many of these new habits and it won’t feel difficult at all. 3. Create an action plan for when you fail You are human. You will make mistakes. You will not do it right ALL the time. And that’s OK. The problem is that when you make a mistake, you ruminate on how terrible you are and how you’ll never make the changes needed to lose your weight. It becomes a catastrophe rather than a moment in time. That’s why it is important to create a plan for getting back on track as quickly possible. Having this plan in place ahead of time makes it so much easier to follow when you are in the thick of things and shortens the amount of time it takes to “get back on the wagon.” First, create a list of thoughts that help get you get your mind in the right place to take your next best action. This was just a moment in time. I can learn from this and move on stronger and better equipped. No matter what happened, I can always make my next best decision. It’s not the mistake I made but how I respond to it that determines my success in weight loss. Then create a list of the small decisions that you can make to get your weight loss ball rolling again. Keep these really simple and something you can do in under five minutes. Some ideas are drink a glass of water, go for a five minute walk, write in your journal or listen to a motivational podcast. Finally and most importantly after completing one of these actions remind yourself that you are doing what it takes to lose weight again. Tell yourself how proud you are for getting right back at it! 4. Decide on how you will measure your progress Please don’t just say the scale! The scale will not accurately reflect all of your efforts. You cannot control the scale. You can only control your actions so using a habit tracker is a much better way to measure progress. A habit tracker can show you that you worked out twice last week but you completed three workouts this week. That’s progress! You can also track sleep, adherence to food plans, overeats