Lose Weight Find Life

“How badly do you want it?”  -George E. Allen, 1832-1907 British Publisher and Author

We can talk about the things we want such as weight loss, maintain our weight, a new job, a different relationship….the list goes on.  Great!  You can have goals, dreams, desires and inspiration.  Anything worth having requires effort and a commitment to the goal and to ourselves.  The next time you think about wanting to lose weight, ask yourself how badly you want it.  What are you willing to do to get what you want?  Go for it!  You can do it!!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach

I enjoy the smooth, creamy pudding pops that I remember eating as a child.  This recipe gives you that same smooth, creamy, healthier version of that childhood comfort food.

FROZEN PUDDING POPS:

Serving size:  1 Pudding Pop

Ingredients:
2 cups of low-fat or skim milk
1 small box of instant pudding

Directions:
1.  Prepare pudding according to directions on package.
2.  Freeze in pop molds or spoon into small paper cups and insert popsicle sticks or plastic spoons.
3.  Place in freezer until solid.

Makes 8 servings

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per Pudding Pop):
Calories:  39
Fat:  1 gram
Carbohydrates:  6 grams
Protein:  2 grams

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

Recently a friend of mine was going through a difficult time in her life.  As she shared with me the circumstances and feelings of discouragement she was feeling, all of a sudden she quoted Winston Churchill.  As Churchill stated, “Never, never, never, never give up!”  Talk about making a u-turn!  I was so inspired by the challenges she was experiencing in her life yet she had that inner light of hope and strength by telling me she would never, never, never, never give up!  

Strengthen your muscle of never giving up.  A slip up in your diet doesn’t mean you’re a failure or you should give up.  You pick yourself up, be stronger from the experience, and move forward with commitment and dedication.  Tomorrow has passed but you are responsible for the choices you make right here, right now.  Know your priorities to lose weight, make the hard choices.  Say a rosounding “YES” to what you want and say “no”, or “later, maybe” to things of lesser importance.   Say “YES” to create the life that you truly want.  You and your weight loss goals in your life are worth much more than the temporary fix of food.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy

It is difficult to express your needs clearly and honestly?  If so, write out a script as far as what you’ll say and how best to say it.  You can even practice it on someone close to you or rehearse yourself. 

One of my clients was concerned about speaking with her boss.  With her permission, I share the steps that successfully allowed her to speak for herself and express what she needed.

1.  Affirm the value of your relationship.  “I enjoy my job and enjoy you as my supervisor.”

2.  Tell the truth of your needs and feelings using the word “I.”  “I’ve taken on many additional responsibilities during the past few months.  I need to discuss the re-evaluation of my job duties along with my current salary.”

3.  Directly ask for what you need and want.  “I want to continue with my current job and duties I’ve taken on, and receive a raise to reflect the additional responsibilities assigned to me.”

4.  Ask for an agreement.  “Can you meet now or would you like to schedule a meeting for the next couple of days?”

When we’ve been overweight for a period of time, we’ve learned not to ask for what we want AND deserve.  Even if you don’t come to an agreement or don’t get what you want from the conversation, you’ll have additional information on the situation.  The new information will empower you to make the decision as to what you want to do.

It may feel uncomfortable at first.  Any new behavior will be awkward or uncomfortable.  It may seem as though it is a risk.  It is.  The reward of voicing what you want and need is worth it.  As you express your needs and wants, it will become more second nature and a regular part of what you do.  Don’t settle for anything less than expressing yourself.  Go for it!  You definitely deserve it!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach

I hear so many times from my clients the desire for their weight loss to be faster, quicker, without any plateaus.  What’s the song….”What A Wonderful World That Would Be”? 

We didn’t gain weight overnight and we won’t lose it that way either.  How many times have we went on some fad diet, lost weight rapidly only to regain it plus a few bonus pounds in the process of our way back up the scale. 

Slow and steady wins the race.  It is true.  The tragedy is that most people never even get in the race.  Many of those that do hope that success comes easily and rapidly.  When it doesn’t, they drop out of the race, give up and throw in the towel, before it really begins.  What they don’t realize is that the decision to be unstoppable is never made just once.  It is a choice every single day, made sometimes multiple times throughout the day by the choices we make.  Do we exercise, do we eat this or that?  It is all a choice that moves us forward, stay the same or backwards in our quest for weight loss. 

Whether you’ve had weight loss surgery or losing weight on your own or a diet program, setbacks are inevitable.  In fact, they are proof that we are doing something.  Sometimes the greatest lessons come from a challenge.  Those lessons in doing something different in our healthy lifestyle path takes us one step closer to achieving our weight loss goals and maintenance.  When we focus on learning a lesson from a slip up or setback, and stay the course, reaching our weight loss goal will happen.

It is important to remind ourselves that failure is an incident or event, not a person.  If you don’t achieve your weight loss anticipated in a certain period of time, does that make you a failure?  If you make an unhealthy choice in eating or skip exercise, does that make you a failure.  Of course not….Absolutely not!

Failure does not characterize who you are.  It is simply an incident that happens in your life at times.  When you continue to move forward, despite difficult experiences, you have already won. 

If a setback comes your way, find the gift in the setback by asking yourself:

1.  What can I learn from what happened?
2.  What am I grateful for from the experience?
3.  What are the potential benefits from this experience?
4.  What is the best way for me to move forward?

Commit to find the gift in any setback.  Tell yourself that you will never, never, never quit.  If you don’t give up, you cannot fail.  Not only will you achieve your weight loss goals, but the combination of your commitment, courage, and belief in yourself will rise as the greatest victory of all.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach
Weight Loss Surgery Coach

Make little changes, one at a time, one day at a time.  Don’t instantly start a dramatic change in your diet or undertake a rigorous exercise program….dramatic, abrupt changes don’t last.

Rather, try this…make one food change or one activity change for your first week.  Don’t do anything else.  Make only one change.  Believe me, it’s enough to sustain long-lasting change.  If you eat one large meal during the day, break it down into two smaller meals.  Or, if you drink a soda every day, switch to drinking flavored plain water.  If you’re sedentary, walk down your driveway or down your street and back, every other day.  Take a peaceful, enjoyable walk around the block or around the house for 10 minutes.  Remember…one change is the way to making changes that last.

Would you like to feel calmer and centered, take a couple of minutes to close your eyes and sit quietly.  Pay attention to your breathing, and let any thoughts float by, like a flowing stream.  Open your eyes and allow yourself to feel grateful for all you have in your life.  Count your blessings. 

All this for just one small change.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach

Pre-operatively, and sometimes post-op (!), I ate for pleasure.  Pleasure of filling time from boredom, squelching emotions or uncomfortable situations was managed by emotionally eating.  My surgery and weight loss woke me up.  The time, energy wasted and extra calories that I thought was pleasure actually was pain.  I ate to get pleasure to soften the pain of living.

Until my weight loss, I interpreted my destructive behavior as pleasure.  The pleasure from emotional eating is an illusion.  That “pleasure” was hurting me and making my problems much worse. 

True pleasure comes from being healthy, losing excess weight and maintaining it, making positive lifestyle changes, and being fully present in our lives without the numbing of our life from food.  These true pleasures are far more fulfilling and satisfying than the pain I was causing myself.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach
Weight Loss Surgery Coach

What does success from weight loss surgery look like?  What is your definition of success?  Of course, the obvious answer for anyone that is a career dieter is the scale.  I know before losing my weight that I would wake up and check my weight.  The number on the scale could turn a bad mood into a happy mindset and take a happy mood into a negative nose dive.  Are you a slave to the scale?  You are so much more than the number on the scale. 

The scale doesn’t tell you everything.  It doesn’t reflect the fact that you passed up a trigger food and said no to the food and yes to yourself and weight loss.  The scale doesn’t tell you that your body is getting more toned and firm.  The scale doesn’t give you the proper acknowledgement that you didn’t indulge into emotional eating from an upsetting situation.  Actually, the scale tells you very little and fluctuates from water, hormones, fluid retention, and so many other temporary body states. 

So how do you know what success from wls looks like?  Take a look at your life.  What can you do (or don’t have to do any longer) now that is different than pre-operatively?  Look at you and your life now.  Celebrate your confidence, inner strength, participating in your life rather than your life passing you by, your energy, and the overall improved quality of your life.  Now, that’s true success!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach
Weight Loss Surgery Coach

Whether you’ve had gastric bypass, want more information, or curious about it, 60 Minutes as scheduled a segment on gastric bypass surgery.  Corresondent Lesley Stahl reports on the effects of gastric bypass surgery this Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific time.

You can obtain more information:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/17/60minutes/main4023451.shtml

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach
Weight Loss Surgery Coach

This is your surgery.  This is your second chance at your life, your health, and a “redo” from pre-op.  As a kid, I played kickball.  If you messed up the first time, you got a second chance.  I think of my weight loss surgery and weight loss as my redo and my second chance. 

This is your time.  Make the most of it.  Even if you’ve regained weight or taken a detour from your weight loss surgery journey, get back on.  It’s never too late.  Pick up those healthy habits that will get you back on the path to your weight loss and health.  When you come to a fork in the road between testing an old unhealthy habit or the path to continue your weight loss, make the choice that gives you inner strength, control and feel great about yourself.  That’s better than any temporary pleasure of food.  That’s the choice of celebrating and honoring your second chance.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, Certified Life Coach
Weight Loss Surgery Coach