Lose Weight Find Life

Some foods are more calorie-dense than others, however, no food will make you gain weight unless you eat too much of it.  With emotional or recreational eating, we eat (or keep eating) beyond our body’s physical hunger simply because food is there and it tastes good.  At the holidays, food is a “social thing” which can add to the stress causing more emotional eating.

To avoid recreational eating, consciously make the choice to eat a couple of bites or a small portion of your favorite holiday food that you really want.  Eat it slowly and savor every bite.  When you’re finished, put a mint or stick of gum in your mouth, get a tall glass of water and sip on it throughout the rest of the event.  Position yourself away from the table or food trays to keep yourself from overeating.  If you’re at home, brush your teeth after eating your savored food.

Focus on the event, your family, your friends, and not the food.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

There are times that I get in a funk.  Yesterday was a day that was so bad with things building up one after another to the point that I was glad when the day was over.  I went to bed thinking that today would be a new day and I’d feel better.  Nope!  The funk continued - Day #2. 

It is days like today where the fight or flight (to the kitchen) kicks in.  I coach myself, just like I coach my clients, regarding talking myself through the challenging situation and accompanying feelings.  Also, I reached out to a friend.  My friend made all the difference.

The next time you are in a funk, reach out.  No food to get out of a funk…talk to a friend.  It works!

To my friend…..Thanks!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

Losing weight, maintaining your weight loss goal, toning and firming, walking, or other healthy lifestyle habits require practice.  We make choices every day that reflect our commitment to the lifestyle habit we want to embrace.  Here are some things to do that will enhance the practice of your habits to reach your goals.

1.  Believe In Your Ultimate Goal - Write down your goals makes them real.  Free floating around in your head doesn’t do it.  The act of writing down your goal is a promise to yourself.

2.  Set Goals.  Now that you have written down your ultimate goal, you have to set up stepping stones of short-term goals to get you where you want to be.

3.  Learn.  Educate yourself in your goal.  You cannot become great or an expert without knowing and learning about your goal.  If you want to achieve a fitness goal, learn about the benefits of attaining that level of fitness.  If you want to achieve a goal, don’t just slide by.  Go for it and learn all you can about your ultimate goal.

4.  Practice.  What you do during your own time will make you into the person you want to be.  If you don’t practice regularly (walking, exercise class, playing an instrument, cooking, etc.), you’ll just get by.  If you want to be great, practice…practice…practice.

5.  Motivation.  There are going to be times when you don’t feel like doing something, or you don’t feel like practicing.  This is when self-motivation needs to kick in.  When you achieve your goal, you’ll be glad that you used your self-motivation when you didn’t feel like it.   Those people that obtain success in reaching their goal use their inner resources of motivation regularly.

6.  Support.  Surround yourself with people who support you and your goals.  As you get closer to achieving your goals, you don’t need negative people around you.  Pick the people that will support and encourage you to reach your goals. 

7.  See it.  Visualize yourself already there.  See yourself as already achieving your goals.  Know that you can and WILL do it.  You know where you are now….see yourself as attaining your goal.   If you see it - you can be it!

If you want to have something different in your life, you need to be that difference.   See yourself as having success with your goal and that success will be yours!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

As we make changes in our life to lose weight, it is important to look at how we treat ourselves.  Would you stay in a relationship or friendship that is abusive?  Would you tolerate being around someone in your life that berates and belittles you?  I encourage you to apply the same standards to how you treat yourself.  Do you treat yourself lovingly and with care?  What is your self-talk….encouraging or demeaning? 

No one should tolerate an abusive relationship - especially the one that we have with ourselves.  After all, the most important relationship we have is with ourselves.  I saw the following story and want to share with you…..

One morning last week I woke up and realized that I was in an emotionally abusive relationship.  No, it isn’t my significant other who gives me unconditional love and praise.  It isn’t one of my children either.  It’s the other person in my house.

My abuser gives me no credit for marking 10 things off my to do list but instead dwells on the one thing I haven’t finished.  She focuses on the few extra pounds on my thighs instead of my wonderful smile.  She gives me no credit for being the first person in my family to graduate from college but berates me for not being as smart as the doctors and lawyers in my neighborhood.  My abuser doesn’t notice that the house is relatively clean, the laundry is done, but finds spots on the floor that needs mopping.  It isn’t enough that she bullies me during the day but she even routinely wakes me out of a deep sleep to let me know that I’m not good enough.  I wake up with dark circles under my eyes and no energy. 

Would I put up with this behavior from my husband?  Of course not!  My friends?  They wouldn’t be my friends any longer!  My kids?  They’d be sent to time out immediately!  Yet, when my abuser talks to me I listen to every word she says as though it is absolutely true.  I lower my head and feel worse about myself.  I’ve been living with this person all my life and yet it’s taken me almost my entire life to realize what an emotional bully she really is.  Well….no more!

I’m putting her where all abusers should be - in jail.  In fact, I’m putting her into solitary confinement and throwing away the key.  I’m living with someone who loves me for me, and gives me nothing but positive thoughts.  This new person treats me the way that I treat others that I love. 

Put your abuser in jail too.  

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

Are you putting off being happy until you lose weight?  If so, you’re living in limbo.  When we are overweight, we delay doing certain things, going places, and essentially delay our happiness.  If not now, when?  We put our lives on hold. 

Rather than delay participating in an activity or event until some magic point in the future, do it now.  Enjoy where you are today.  Guess what…if you make the decision to be happy now, no matter what you weigh, it will make your desire for emotional eating less.  If you feel fulfilled and satisfied in your life, the need to fill yourself up with food will decrease.   Life doesn’t start at a certain weight or body size.  Live your best life today.  You are so much more than a mere number on the scale or a tag sewn at the back of your clothes.

Live your happiness now. 

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

Do you have a clear set of goals written down?  Would you go up to an airline ticket counter, plop down your credit card and tell the representative to buy you a ticket?  Of course not!  You have no place in particular that you want to go but all you know is that you want to go.  

Going through your life with a general idea of where you’d like to go, without a plan, will cause you to go around and around in circles.  Moving but not in a clear, concise direction.  You need to have goals…..written down.  

Over the next few weeks, we’ll talk about goals and create a plan for you to enter into 2008 with a plan for success.  For right now, write down a statement or two of a couple of things you’d like to work on to accomplish in 2008.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

The Thanksgiving post below discussed defining the top 5 priorities in your life.  Now that you have your priorities front and center, how do you live congruent with those priorities?  To honor your priorities in your life, here’s three steps to follow:

1.  What are you most thankful for?  What contributes to the quality of your life?  You want to protect and nurture what you cherish most in your life.  List the top 5 people/things that you are most grateful for now.  These are the people/things that you’ll never want to take for granted.

2.  What are your gifts and talents?  These are the personal traits that you reflect in your life.  Don’t be modest.  Yes, you have many gifts and talents.  You may not have acknowledged them before but now’s your time.  Make a list of at least 10 qualities you have.  If you can’t think of any, ask people in your life are close to you.   It is your time to SHINE!  Be your extraordinary self.

3.  What are you missing right now that you want?  List 5 things that you want to focus on to achieve.  Make a commitment to yourself to stay focused to attain these 5 things.  Develop a strategic plan to accomplish these things in your life.  Take baby steps in the beginning and work up to the ultimate goal.  Take the step to get started and create momentum to obtain your 5 things. 

The formula to honor your priorities are:

What you are grateful for + Your gifts to share + What you want now = YOUR PRIORITIES!

Don’t be a bystander in your own life.  It isn’t enough to merely allow life to just happen without your participation.  Define and commit to your priorities.  Take the first step in living your own best life.   “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. -Confucius”

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

What are the top 5 priorities in your life today?  Do you know?  It shouldn’t be a difficult question, however, for some people it is.  Our priorities shift when we are forced to look at ourselves in a new light such as when we lose weight.  I’ve observed many people that I’ve worked with reorient their lives around different priorities after a specific life event, i.e., health challenge, marriage, birth, divorce, job change, etc.  Suddenly, we are very aware of the importance of health, family and other significant milestones in life.

So, again, what are your priorities and is your life a reflection of those things and of those people?  Live your life honoring your priorities and as a reflection of who you are and what you stand for.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

I love Thanksgiving.  Before losing weight, a big part of enjoying Thanksgiving was turkey and pumpkin pie and stuffing and etc., etc…..  I still enjoy Thanksgiving food but in moderation.  Thanksgiving is a special time for me personally.  I always try to live my life in gratitude every single day.  It is important to me that the people close to me always know how much they mean to me and how I feel about them.   Thanksgiving allows me the official opportunity (see the calendar - it is an official day of gratitude!) to express my appreciation for the blessings in my life.

Thank you to my husband and sons….I love you always and forever.  To my best friends and friends….thank you for the joys, laughs, and trust we share.  To my boss…it’s been quite a ride this year; thank you for your support.  To my clients and professional colleagues…thank you for our work together.  I wouldn’t be the person that I am today without all of you in my life. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

With appreciation and deep gratitude,
Cathy

Thanksgiving comes once a year.  Why not go ahead and indulge, right?  Gaining weight during the holidays is a regular tradition for many of us.  Year after year, many of us add on a few pounds during the holidays with the intention of losing it starting January 1.  The problem is that weight gain can stick around well past January 1 and into the next holiday season. 

Thanksgiving does not have to sabatoge your weight.  With a little planning and commitment to your healthy habits, you can enjoy traditional holiday favorites and still experience a guilt-free Thanksgiving meal.  Being stuffed is a good thing only if you’re a turkey.

TIP 1:  Stay active.  Create a calorie deficit by exercising to burn off extra calories.   If you exercise four days a week normally, you could increase your exercise to five days during the holidays.  This will not only help to avoid weight gain from holiday eating but also encourage healther eating during the holidays. 

TIP 2:  Eat Breakfast.  You might think it is a good idea to skip breakfast to save up calories for bigger meals or holiday goodies.  By starting off your day with a healthy breakfast, it gives you more control over your appetite all day.  Eat a nutritious meal or snack with protein takes the edge off your appetite and allows you to be more in control of your food choices.

TIP 3:  Whether you are preparing the entire Thanksgiving meal or bringing some dishes of your own, make your recipes with less fat, sugar, and overall healthier.  When a low fat version of an ingredient is available, use it over the full fat item.  There is more fat and sugar in most recipes than is necessary.

TIP 4:  Avoid alcohol entirely or mix with non-alcohol beverages.  Alcohol calories are empty.  You can enjoy sparkling water for a huge savings of calories.  If you choose an alcoholic beverage, a good option is a glass of wine, wine spritzer, or light beer.  You’ll stay hydrated, limit empty alcohol calories, and stay sober.

TIP 5:  Eat mindful.  Stay focused on your meal and truly enjoy every bite.  Eat slowly, put down your fork between bites, and don’t put in another bite (also known as shoveling) before your mouth is empty.  Tasting each mouthful is one of the best and easiest ways to enjoy your meal and feel satisfied. 

TIP 6:  Skip seconds and go for a walk.  While others are going back for second helpings (or thirds?), go for a walk.  You’ll save by avoiding the added calories of second helpings yet burn off calories from your meal.  Double bonus!

TIP 7:  Be picky.  Don’t waste your calories on foods that you can have all year long.  Enjoy small samplings of your holiday favorites that come around once a year.  Remember that some holiday foods are better choices than others.  White turkey, plain vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, healthy-made mashed potatoes, defatted gravy, and pumpkin pie are the best choices because they are lower in fat and calories. 

TIP 8:  Make wise choices with leftovers.   Bring home the leftovers that fit into your normal regime of healthful eating.  There are many Thanksgiving foods choices that you can enjoy days later without compromising your weight goals.

TIP 9:  Be realistic.  The holidays are a time for celebration.  With our normal busy schedules, the added stress of holiday preparations and many extra temptations can be challenging and overwhelming.  If the goal of weight loss seems unrealistic to you, be real and re-evaluate.  Create a new goal during the holidays and strive for weight maintenance rather than weight loss.  Shift your mindset from weight loss to weight maintenance.  Without gaining weight during the holidays can be a success that will carry you into the New Year. 

TIP 10:  Family and Friends-not Food Focused.  Thanksgiving and the holidays are not about the food.  It is a time to celebrate and enjoy the relationships we have with family and friends.  The main event of the holidays is spending quality time together and not the food. 

Enjoy your holidays!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy