The ideal is to eat within 30 minutes of your workout, but if you don’t eat within that time frame, aim for as soon as you possibly can.

The reasons behind this strategy: It is during the several hours after exercise that your muscles respond to the exertion, becoming stronger or more aerobic (depending on whether your workout has been strength-training or cardiovascular). By eating during this important window of opportunity, you’re giving your muscles the nutrients they need to rebuild.

Honestly, the best time to exercise is when you will do it.  The statistics may tell you that morning or evening is the best time.  However, what is the best time for you is when you will exercise regularly and consistently.  Here’s a concept – when do YOU like to exercise?  When is the best time for you and your schedule?   The answer to those questions as to when you like to exercise and what works best for your schedule are what is most important.  The answers that are personal to you are all that matters.

For me, I like to exercise when as few people as possible are in the gym.  I don’t like waiting for equipment or having people talk to me when all I want to do is work out.  I have a treadmill at home which is great.  I work out when it is best in my schedule.  Sometimes, depending on my appointments and meetings, I prefer exercising early before things get into full swing.  Other times, I like working out in the evenings.  Depending on the weather, I’ll take walks in the day AND in the evening.  So, the answer for me is dependent on my schedule and how I feel.  When do I want to do it?  As long as I exercise and am active in some way, that is what matters to me.

Rather than go by the statistics and research along with the opinions of many experts, go by what is best for you.  After all, what matters is what is best for you!!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, CLC
Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach
Certified Back on Track Facilitator

Do you want to lose weight?  Are you hoping for a different way of life that includes losing weight, feeling good in your body, wearing a smaller size, and have a strong sense of confidence in yourself?  You can have it.  It is yours to make happen.  To reach any goal worth having, you need to be committed.  To lose weight requires persistence and consistency.  It requires saying “no” to food choices when sometimes you’d rather indulge.  It requires a commitment to your diet and along with a promise to yourself.

If you had a friend that constantly made promises to you yet regularly broke them, what would you think of that friend? Would you want that person in your life? Would you trust that person? When you don’t come through on your diet and regularly succumb to poor food choices, you let yourself down by a broken promise. You keep the promise of more often than not following a diet by commitment. A wishy-washy diet is nothing more than a wish. To lose weight and follow through on your promise to yourself is commitment.

A commitment is the sincere and steadfast movement toward a purpose. To be committed is to bind yourself to a course of action. When you want to lose weight, your purpose is to follow your diet, exercise regularly and adhere to healthy habits that you’ve adopted for yourself. You bind yourself to a healthy course of action by making healthy food choices (even when you don’t want to), exercise, being more active and incorporating movement into your day (again, even when you don’t want to). By each of these acts, you re-enforce your commitment to yourself to lose weight and confirm the promise you make to yourself.

Wishing for something to happen is passive. Usually wishing is stagnant and doesn’t involve any action on your part. It is similar to hoping lightening strikes and drops losing weight in your life overnight. Wishing is throwing a penny into a pool of water, shut your eyes and make a wish. Wishes are fun but wishes won’t make something happen as your reality.

Commitment is all about action. You can’t be committed without taking action. You can’t stand still as you want to make your commitment a reality. You want to make that commitment happen. Commitment is inside you, inside your heart. You want your commitment to evolve to fruition in your life. If you are committed to a cause, you go about fulfilling that commitment full speed. Bring that action of your commitment and go for losing weight – full speed ahead. Live your commitment to losing weight and the promise to yourself.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, CLC
Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach
Certified Back On Track Facilitator

The media has covered that revealing the calorie information prominently to patrons is causing a huge awareness and backlash.  Customers can easily see how many calories are in their favorite foods and beverages they regularly consume.  Restaurants that are required to comply with this mandatory regulation will be fined if they are do not comply.  The health community eagerly awaits the compilation of data as to how these new regulations are impacting food and beverages choices that we make.  Additional studies will be made as to the overall dietary, caloric intake and body weight are also effected.

Similar regulations will go into effect in many other cites and town later this year.  I completely support these regulations.  I believe it will go a long way to making a difference in the obesity epidemic in our country.

Pre-operatively, I ate McDonald’s for probably two meals most days of the week.  Of course, I drove through because I was too ashamed of how much food I ordered and there was only one person in the car!  I went as far as to act as if my order were for myself and someone else waiting at home.  Would it have given me pause if I’d seen how many calories were in my normal meal of a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder With Cheese, Large Fry, Diet Soda (I was saving calories, right), and Apple or Cherry Pie and a Carmel Sundae with extra nuts (for protein, right)?  It possibly would have made me think twice.  I am good at math and adding up those calorie values for only one meal would have at least brought awareness of the numbers of what I was consuming.  With junk food consumption, ignorance is NOT bliss.  Of course, I knew I was eating way too many calories.  But seeing the hard, cold calorie content would have at least made me think twice.

I hope it doesn’t sound as though I’m blaming Micky D’s for my morbid obesity.  Nope, I take fully responsibility for my food choices.  If the calorie counts were right there available and in my face, I would have definitely added up my meal(s) and I believe it would have caused me to pause.  What I would have done with that pause, I will never know for sure.  With these new mandatory regulations, I definitely know that it would cause me to make a u-turn and escape the calorie and unhealthy trappings of Micky D’s.

Just as checking price tags on items in stores that we want to purchase and what is contained in the fabrics of clothing we buy, why not food?  Are those steamed vegetables truly steamed vegetables or sopped in butter and drained before brought out to the table?   We ask ourselves if a potential purchase is worth the price, this new regulation also allows us to ask ourselves if that Big Mac is really worth 600+ calories.

Whether with education or in disclosure of calorie and food labeling – Knowledge is Power!

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

By the way, don’t attempt this while driving!!

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

Dear Cathy,

I have a question.  I’m interested in coaching.  It seems as though it could help me to get back on track and do some things I’ve wanted to do in my life.  Things like coaching seem expensive.  I don’t mean to be rude or insulting but I don’t have lots of money to spend.  Don’t get me wrong, I want to make changes and improvements in my life but I can’t spend lots of money. 

What are my options?

Mia

* * * *

Dear Mia,

You have not offended me at all and your concerns are understandable.  I appreciate you writing me with your question.  I’m glad that you expressed a desire for coaching but shared your cost concerns.

There are many ranges of fees for coaching.  I love coaching and, as a post-op myself, it is a personal passion to help others.  After much thought and consideration, it is important to me to be able to coach clients at fees that are not cost prohibitive.  I offer individual fees that are more reasonable than you might think.  I also work with clients to provide coaching that is at comfortable rates.   I LOVE working with coaching clients and it is my privilege to work with them to achieve their goals.

If you are interested, please feel free to contact me directly.  I’d be happy to discuss this with you.  Thank you for sharing your concern.

Warmly,
Cathy

The same applies to anyone reading my website and this post.  If you are interested, feel free to contact me directly at cathy@cathywilsoncoaching.com.

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

When we are morbidly obese, we can lose ourselves trying to win acceptance and love from others.  We become who others think we should be, act, and lose ourselves. 

Be yourself.  Be your unique, special self.  Be the authentic and genuine self that only YOU can be.

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

Consistency is more than this huge, gigantic effort of moving mountains.  It is also the small efforts that we do every single day.  Consistency is the choices we make with what we eat and what we do.  Don’t give up!  It is never giving up.

Consistency creates habits.  Habits make the difference in success or failure.  Healthy habits won’t make you lose weight overnight.  Healthy habits will allow you to lose weight healthyfully and at a pace that you will maintain your weight loss.  I’ve lost probably 1,000 pounds in my life.  From having surgery and practice consistency in developing healthy habits, I can maintain my weight for the rest of my life.  No more whiplash from yo-yo dieting!

Keep at it and never, ever give up.  Never give up on YOU!

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

How often are you truly living in the present?  Do you live in the past, rehashing events, situations, reliving hurts, and the way things were?  Do you live in the future with your hopes, dreams, and plans?  Our past and our future are both important parts of us.  Too many times though we live in the past or the future more than we do in the present.

Do any of these sound familiar?

*If only I hadn’t gained weight…..
*If only I had made the decision of …..
*When I lose weight, I’ll ………
*Tomorrow (or Monday, or next month, or next year), I’ll be at the weight of …..

Are you living in the past or the future to the extent that you cheat yourself of the present (gift) of the present?  Make the very most of today. 

At the end of every day, write down three things about your day that you enjoyed or made you happy.  For today, focus on the present of the present!

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

The study shows that keeping an honest, accurate record of food and drink doubled dieters’ success rate.   Keeping a food (and activity) diary can be a wonderful tool in recording your success.

Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore., conducted the study with 1,700 overweight or obese men and women.  One of the co-authors, Victor J. Stevens, PhD, said that participants who kept a record of what they ate while following other weight-loss recommendations lost twice as much as participants who didn’t keep a food diary.  Study participants that tracked their food and beverage intake lost 18 pounds in 20 weeks.  Wow!

Food diaries only work when people write down exactly what they’ve had to eat and drink immediately after consumption.  Yes, that means every taste of this or bite of that.  Food diaries create a moment of pause for you to ask yourself if you really want to eat that AND log it.  Knowing that you need to write it down can be a motivator to JUST SAY NO!  

I’d used the no charge on-line version of Fitday.com.  I made a commitment to keeping a food diary and purchased the download PC version.  Now, I have the window minimized on my computer every day.  It is a nice reminder that if I eat it, I write it.

Give it a try….all you have to lose is weight!

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

Do you have a role model?  Of course, you don’t need one but many times when you’re dieting or making any changes in your life, it helps to have a mentor or someone that has accomplished what you’re doing.  Someone, such as a weight loss coach, can provide support and help you achieve your goals that’s been there, done that.

Find someone that has achieved what you are trying to do or that has the character traits you want for yourself.  Watch what they do and how they do it.  Talk with them about their personal experiences, challenges along the way they overcame, and their ultimate success.  This will enhance reaching your own goals.  Allow yourself to admire their achievements and emulate their actions to reach your own success.

A role model has what you want in your life.  Use their personal experience to help move you forward to reach your goals. 

You don’t have to do it alone.  A role model or mentor is someone that understands and can partner with you.  Reach out to reach your weight loss success.

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