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
Four steps to help with trigger foods
Trigger foods. Foods you can’t resist. They call out to you and beg you to eat them. Generally, these foods are not carrots, broccoli or apples. They are decadent foods. Often foods that you are forbidden because they are “bad foods” or unhealthy. You probably feel out of control around these foods and blame them for any weight gain. Never fear! If you need help with trigger foods, this post is for you. Here are four step for handling trigger foods like a boss: 1. Quit calling it a trigger food Seems simple right? But every time you call ice cream or chips your trigger food, you give all of your power away to it. It becomes a dramatic story of how this food is the downfall of your weight loss. You are powerless around it and must indulge. Calling it a trigger food puts you and your weight loss at an extreme disadvantage. Many people will tell you that they can’t keep certain foods in the house. And while this is good intentioned that doesn’t mean you will never come face to face with that food. Continuing to have this story in your mind guarantees anxiety, worry, and fearfulness about when you might come face to face with that food. It can also lead to binging on these foods when you finally get the chance because they have become forbidden even though your desire for them is high. Instead of calling them your trigger food, change the story to something more boring, like “It’s just a food you like to eat.” 2. Calm your brain down Our brains have been designed to keep us safe. Back in the times of cavewomen, this meant being able to identify ALL the problems around us that could cause us harm. Life today does not require our brains to find the mountain lion or the poisonous berries. But our brain still wants to do what it was designed to do: FIND ALL THE PROBLEMS. And guess what, your trigger food has been identified as a problem. And that’s OK. Not every problem our brain identifies is a true problem. Nor is every problem our brain identifies a reason to take action. Your brain might tell you things like: “Oh my god, there goes my diet!” “I can never lose weight and have a social life too!” “I will never be able to resist those!” “I can never stop eating….” All of those are just thoughts. Thoughts that are completely optional. Currently those thoughts are full of drama and doom. Calm your brain down by making the story boring. Remember, this isn’t a trigger food. This is just a food I enjoy eating. It can also be helpful to recognize other things you enjoy doing but are able to practice restraint around. I love going for walks on beautiful days but somehow I still manage to go to work and earn a living on beautiful days. I love spending money on cute clothes and yet each month I make sure enough remains in my account to pay the mortgage and utilities. I’m sure you have similar examples in your life. Don’t take what your brain presents you as the truth. Ask yourself if your brain is being dramatic and if you have evidence that the opposite is true as well. 3. Visualize how you want to eat them Now this isn’t a lusty visualization practice. The purpose isn’t to create more desire for the food by imagining how amazing it tastes. This visualization is to practice being around these trigger foods and imagining yourself being in control and intentional about how you eat them. My clients often feel burdened and powerless around these trigger foods. So I ask them to imagine what it would look like to be in control around them. Imagine yourself having your trigger food in your pantry. Visualize yourself going into the pantry for other things and never reaching for that food. Imagine yourself being unaffected that it is sitting there. Another visualization you can do is enjoying the trigger food. Watch yourself plate it, eat half of it and then throwing the rest out. If that causes you some anxiety, remind yourself that you are able to buy more at any time. This food is always available to you. Reminding yourself this can provide comfort that no matter what you are in charge and able to obtain that food whenever you want. It helps take away the scarcity and urgency away from that food. 4. Practice being around them Once you spend time visualizing yourself around these trigger foods, you can practice being around them in real life. Before you do, use that brain for what it was designed for! Ask it what problems might come up that could derail you from showing up as you visualized. Maybe you won’t want to stop eating it. Perhaps you eat the entire box of them. After identifying the potential problems, come up with a game plan. Maybe you start with two cookies on a plate and put the package away. Or you serve some chips and dip and then relocate to another room to enjoy them. Whatever you think might help you stick with your plan that you visualized. Then go for it! Remember, perfection is not a requirement and it is likely that you might have some overeats or completely ignore the plan all together. That’s OK. Progress has already been made by thinking it through beforehand and you’ll get more and more skilled at being around your trigger foods the more you practice. What trigger food will you practice with? Your Coach, Andrea
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 stop boredom eating
Boredom eating is a struggle for many of us. If you’re a human, chances are you think eating is a lot of fun. Especially in America, eating food is one of the most common activities we engage in while having fun. Think about it. Birthdays equal cake and ice cream. Date nights are dinner and a movie (with popcorn and candy!). Even television shows are dedicated to watching people prepare and eat food. Hello, Food Network! But boredom eating can result in unwanted weight gain because our brains get bored way more frequently than our bodies need food. Here is how to stop boredom eating: Check in with your body If you are bored and want to eat, the first thing you should do is take a few minutes to check in with your body. Then ask yourself “Am I really hungry?” If your answer is yes, then ask yourself “How do I know for sure?” Many of us have spent years ignoring our body’s cues for hunger and fullness so that second question is really important. Asking yourself how you know prompts your brain go deeper and look for your body’s signals. For those of you who can’t tell if you are hungry or not, check out this blog post on How to get back in tune with your hunger. If you can’t find evidence that you are truly hungry, then find something else to do. There is nothing wrong with eating for entertainment as long as you are hungry. Food is a solution for hunger. Food can also be entertaining. As long as both problems need to be solved there is no issue with eating for food for entertainment. Track your day and your eating habits Taking the time to jot down when you are eating each day will reveal your eating habits. Maybe every day at 3pm you find yourself snacking because the workday is almost done, energy and motivation are lacking so you eat for a distraction and a little pick me up. Perhaps after another long day of taking care of the kids, you finally get them to bed and need something to do so you head to the pantry. Whatever it is, track it. So often we go through our days on autopilot that we miss the little bites and snacks we have throughout the day. Committing to tracking each thing you eat and when, will allow you to gain insight into these habits and plan for something different. As the old saying goes “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Without knowing what you normally do and making a plan for something different, you’ll continue to do the same thing you’ve always done. Learn something new If you’re bored, you probably need a hobby. Seriously! If the most entertaining thing you can think of is eating a snack, then it’s probably time to try something new. The world is full of amazing things. The next time you are bored, write a list of 20 things you would like to learn about or try. Then the next 20 times you get bored, you have a list of 20 solutions for your boredom. Don’t worry, these don’t have to be long and involved things. They could be as simple as googling your favorite singer and seeing how their career started. You could fill in a few lines of a crossword or sudoku puzzle. Try a new makeup technique. Find a drawing tutorial on YouTube. Organize a drawer in your home. Write a letter to someone you love (maybe yourself!). The possibilities are endless. Remember to keep the list handy. May I suggest putting on the fridge or the pantry? Get a change of scenery One of my favorite ways to bust through boredom without eating is going outdoors. During the COVID pandemic, I noticed that I was eating quite often simply because I was bored of looking at the same people and the four walls of my house all. the. time. I think we can ALL relate to that. Going outside allowed me to give my brain new things to process through all of my senses. The sun on my skin, the chirping of birds, new smells of grass and dirt, and the sight of beautiful blue skies. Just walking around my neighborhood was enough to distract me from my desire to eat. It wasn’t about going for a long walk. It was simply about changing the scenery and giving myself something else to think about and experience for a moment. Which of these techniques will you try? Comment down below. Your Coach, Andrea
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
Five tips to drink water when you HATE it
It’s no secret that drinking water is a vital part of weight loss. Our bodies are up to 60% water AND one of the steps of fat loss is hydrolysis (hydro = water). So to be the most effective at losing weight, you have to drink water. But what can you do to get yourself to drink more water when you HATE it? Here are five simple and effective tips for drinking more water: 1. Start where you are One of the best gifts you can give yourself on your weight loss journey is to meet yourself where you are. If you are only drinking sugary, caffeinated drinks and the thought of drinking a glass of water cues your gag reflex, then it will be really hard for you to start drinking 64oz of water each day. If that’s you, start small. Plan to drink just one 8oz glass of water each day. You can even spread out that 8oz if it feels better to just take a sip here or there. Don’t worry about how you are not getting “enough” or you are “supposed” to be drinking more than that. Once you get really good at drinking the 8oz in a day then you can increase it slowly but surely. When you start something that is so drastically different from where you are beginning, it takes a ton of motivation and willpower to do it. You spend all your time trying to force yourself to do something that feels unnatural and often times don’t enjoy. Instead, be OK with starting smaller and remind yourself that just because you start small doesn’t mean that’s where you will finish. 2. Pair it with a reward Doesn’t it feel good to be rewarded for our efforts? Of course it does! But far too often we don’t tell ourselves “good job” or sit in the pride of knowing that we did something good for ourselves. Instead the effort goes largely unnoticed and the only “reward” we get is the mental chatter about it dies down for a bit. Rewards help to reinforce actions we want to take in the future. They are really useful when you want to create new habits. So to create a new habit of drinking water and making it more enjoyable, incorporate a reward! Now this doesn’t need to be anything that you buy. In fact, it could be simply pairing drinking water with something you like to do that is already a part of your every day routine. For instance if you love drinking soda, you could pair drinking a glass of water with the reward of having a soda. You could also allow yourself to watch an episode of your favorite TV show once you have drank all of your water for the day. Remember gold stars from school? A reward could be as simple as a pretty sticker on a chart or a check mark on your habit tracker. To make it extra impactful, remember to say to yourself “I’m so proud of myself for drinking water.” 3. Don’t prolong the misery If every sip of water is pure misery for you, then don’t sip your water throughout the day. Guzzle it. There is nothing saying that you have sip slowly and consistently throughout the day. It’s just important that you drink it. I rarely take a single sip of water. I usually take ten sips at a time just because I know that means I am taking in lots of water at once and that increases my likelihood of drinking 64oz. Another great tip to get it done quickly: get started early. After you wake up, start drinking water. Your body is actually dehydrated when you wake up because of the hours you’ve spent sleeping and using the water in your body. Put a cup in your bathroom right next to your toothbrush then immediately drink at least one full cup of water after brushing your teeth. This is called habit stacking and is a great way to remind yourself of that new habit of drinking water. Getting started early in the day with drinking water means that you finish earlier and can enjoy the rest of the day drinking the beverage of your choice. 4. Disguise it Water doesn’t have to be plain to be helpful. Juice lovers can pour a glass 3/4 full of juice and then top the rest of it off with some water. After doing that for a while, you can change the ratio to 1/2 juice and 1/2 water. Keep increasing the ratio until you get mostly water. There are really great water enhancers that can be used to flavor your water as well. Use the same method of adding the amount you enjoy and then slowly decreasing it over time so you are drinking mostly water. There are tons of spa water recipes that you can try too. Spa water incorporates fresh fruits and herbs to flavor your water and make it more fun to drink. You can also incorporate herbal teas as a way to get in more water (just be careful with what you add to it!). I personally love dessert teas from Bigelow teas that have flavors reminiscent of lemon pound cake and chocolate macaroons. 5. Think sexy thoughts about water Ruminating on how much you HATE water will never help you drink more of it. It will make you feel angry and resentful that drinking water is something you HAVE to do even though you hate it. It will feel like a chore and a burden in your life. Try to find something that you like about drinking water. Get your brain primed to see the benefits by listing as many good things as possible about drinking water. Finally, make a commitment to yourself to stop saying you hate water. It may feel true but it will never help you drink more of it. Instead find some other thoughts you can practice thinking
Nine lessons learned from losing 90 pounds
When you lose over 90 pounds, the process will change you. You learn things about yourself, see yourself in a new light and even evolve into a better version of yourself (and not just because you lost a ton of weight). I’m going to share with you nine lessons I have learned on my journey to losing over 90 pounds in hopes that they can help you on your journey. I enjoy sweets and treats more the less I eat them On my journey, I didn’t restrict any types of foods, including sweets. In fact, at the beginning I was eating sweets multiple times a day. Eventually I began to focus on foods that really gave me sustained energy and the sweets became less of my daily routine. And you know what? Creating more space and time between the sweets really allowed me to create desire and anticipation for the treat. I savored them more and they were much more enjoyable when they were just a standard part of my day. Emotional eating comes in many forms I was aware that I was an emotional eater but as I began to check in with myself more regularly before eating, I realized I was emotionally eating ALL. THE. TIME. If I was stressed about the kids being crazy kids, let’s look for some relief in the pantry. Work task that I didn’t want to start? Hmm…. maybe I should grab a snack before I get started. Bored? Let’s eat. Tired? A quick bite might energize me. If I was having a disagreement with my husband, I’ll show him by eating the last of the cookies! Feeling proud of my kids school performance? Let’s get ice cream! Becoming aware of all the times I was eating when I wasn’t truly hungry helped me figure out the real solutions for those problems. Now I take a power nap if I’m tired or go to my room for a quick breather when they kids are being crazy. Solving for the true problem allows me to feel better while also losing weight in an enjoyable way. It was time to parent myself My high weight of 250 pounds came from a lot of emotional eating and a side of “I don’t wanna.” I didn’t want to deal with my emotions. Eating fresh fruits and veggies didn’t sound fun. 11,000 steps each day sounded hard. I didn’t want to stick to a food plan. I basically conditioned myself to be a big baby whose brain would throw a fit at the thought of what it would take to get healthier and lose weight. I wanted pleasure and I wanted it NOW. I realized that many of the things I was allowing myself to do (like eat entire boxes of cookies or sit on the couch all day) were things I would never let my kids do. I know that moving your body, getting sunshine and eating a well balanced diet is key to good mental and physical health. Somehow I had convinced myself that because I already KNOW these things that meant I could be exempt from actually doing them. Not only was living my life that way taking a toll on my body but I was increasing mom guilt as I knew I wasn’t practicing what I was preaching to my kiddos. So I started to parent myself. I would acknowledge that I was making changes and that changes are often uncomfortable. That’s OK. It wasn’t going to kill me. In fact the more I practiced this new way of living, the more I would become comfortable with it and even appreciate it. I also made an agreement with myself that just because “I didn’t wanna” didn’t make that a valid excuse for not doing something. Logically I knew these actions were all what was best for me and I could do them even if “I didn’t wanna.” The scale is just one piece of data Yep, it’s been said before and I’m saying it again. The scale is just a number. And it is only one number to consider on your weight loss journey. From the beginning of my weight loss journey, I made sure to track other measurements too. I took body weight measurements, used habit trackers and took progress pictures. These were invaluable as I had weeks were the scale didn’t move (or gasp, went up!). These other measurements helped me stay grounded as I could reflect on the efforts I was putting forth and other changes that my body was making. Other ideas for non-scale measurement are body fat measurements, changes in how much you can lift and cardio endurance. Not sure how to measure cardio endurance? Climb a flight of stairs each month and record how long it takes, how long it takes you to catch your breath and how you feel afterwards. You can also track your mood throughout the process. Every morning record your mood in a journal. Exercise has been proven to elevate your mood so when you start noticing more happy and content days, that’s progress! The only diet drama comes from my own head This lesson took me a little longer to learn. When you are 100 pounds overweight, the beginning of your weight loss journey can be very thrilling. I made very little changes to my diet (I only stopped eating when I had enough, instead of being full) and the weight seemed to fall off. Eventually more changes had to be made to keep losing weight and certainly it was falling off me anymore. Cue the drama! I realized that the weeks where the scale didn’t drop “enough,” stayed the same or went up a bit were really difficult for me. All the sudden my motivation would disappear and I would start questioning if I would ever be able to reach my goal. I knew this was a normal part of the weight loss journey but it felt terrible. So I
Weight Loss and the Holidays
Oh, the holidays. So many of us think about this time of the year with all the decadent meals and parties and figure we are better off throwing in the towel and restarting on January 1st. But does it have to be that way? Here’s the reality of November and December: Thanksgiving is 1 meal. Christmas Eve / Christmas Day is 4 meals. New Year’s Eve is 1 meal. Holiday parties between 2-5 meals. Total Holiday meals = 8-11 meals If you start counting from November 20th through the end of the year, there are 42 days. Multiply each of those days by 3 meals and you have 126 meals. Subtract those 8-11 indulgent, celebratory meals and that’s 115 meals to make regular food choices that fuel your body well. That’s 115 meals that can move you forward towards your weight loss goal. Here are five tips for weight loss during the holidays: 1 – Set your mindset and intention for the rest of the year. On January 1st when you look back at the holiday season, how do you want to feel? This is a great place to start is deciding how you want to show up during this time. Maybe you want to feel proud, loved, amazed, joyful or grateful. I teach my clients that our thoughts are what create our feelings which affect the actions we take in life. So start with a thought to carry throughout the holiday season as your mantra. Proud – I’m capable of balancing health, self care and holiday festivities. Loved – I’m surrounded by so many people that I love and that love me however food is not love. Amazed – I am continuing to rock weight loss even during the holiday season! Joyful – I love finding the joyful, non-food moments during this holiday season and cherishing them. Grateful – No matter what the year offered, I am blessed to be here surrounded by love. 2 – Plan for and create desire around your indulgences. This time of the year is well known for decadent foods, endless sweets and merry making by the glass full. So many of us think that these tasty foods are foods that we can only eat once a year….but is that really true? This thought isn’t very dangerous unless you are using it as another excuse to give permission to gorge yourself on it. If you are finding this is the case, simply remind yourself that you are a grown adult that can afford to buy or make whatever you want, whenever you want it. That same thought can be used to create more desire and excitement to savor certain foods. Be mindful that Christmas holds such a place of excitement in our hearts because it only comes once a year. If we had Christmas every day, people would get really tired of the parties, wrapping presents and decking the halls quickly. Instead of eating the sugar cookies morning, noon and night, practice being intentional and waiting a bit to indulge in them. Maybe you have a special date with yourself in the afternoon with a hot cup of coffee and a cookie. Make it special. Make it count. Make it something to really look forward to and savor that moment. Likewise be particular about which indulgence you want to enjoy and when. Not every party needs to mean eating decadent appetizers, desserts and drinking alcohol. Be selective. Christmas Eve with your parents will be the time you enjoy those amazing meatballs but abstain from alcohol. The office work party will be your time to eat your coworkers famous English toffee. The Moms Club Christmas party is when you will toast the night with a glass of wine with your girls. Another great option is to choose certain times when you want to enjoy these items. Maybe you want to only have drinks at one event on weekends only. You could also limit sweets to Tuesday nights with the kids. Then the rest of the time you focus on regular eating to keep your body feeling at its best. 3 – Create a Party Protocol Holiday parties can be a huge hurdle when you are trying to lose weight. Most of the time you don’t know what will be served (except that it will for sure not be calorie free food) and many times the entire group activity is eating, drinking and chatting with each other. So many of us go in hoping we’ll make OK food choices only to leave the party regretting that we didn’t wear stretchy pants. My grandfather had a saying “Put your hopes in one hand, spit in the other and see which one fills up first.” And it’s true! Hoping you make good food choices isn’t helpful. Your brain needs more clear instructions on what to do. So make a party protocol! Here are some ideas that you could incorporate into your own party protocol: Start with a plate of fruits and veggies first. Wait one hour after you arrive before getting an alcoholic or non-water drink. Go around and talk to everyone at the party first before making a plate to eat. Leave empty space on your plate between all foods. Limit yourself to one plate, including any sweets. Alternate between water and alcohol/non-water beverage. Don’t try everything. Ask around what everyone is enjoying and take the top three raved about foods. Try everything. Serve yourself one bite of everything. Only go back for more of your favorite item. Every plate is half fruits or veggies. Don’t let your brain try to tell you that you’re being restrictive. Our brains LOVE to throw a fit when it feels like it’s not getting what it wants. Be ready to talk back to your brain and tell it “I’m choosing to enjoy the party this way. No one is making me do this. I made this plan and I want to see what happens when I follow through.” 4 –