Posts Tagged ‘diet tips’
What happens when you make a commitment to accomplish your goal? Take a few minutes and think about it before reading further.
Sheila (name changed) was very unhappy with her weight and facing the challenge of trying on clothes for the winter. She was worried because her summer clothes were feeling tight and guessed nothing would fit her in the fall. Sheila was very angry at herself and expressed her anger in many different ways.
One night Sheila woke up with the idea that nothing was going to change unless she changed her lifestyle. The next morning Sheila made a commitment that every morning she would write down her menu for the day and never eat anything not on her plan. As the day proceeded she kept her commitment and by the end of the day had accomplished her goal. Sheila kept accomplishing her daily goal for a few weeks. Then one day after realizing she was losing weight the old thought crept in suggesting just have some ice cream today, it won’t hurt. At first Sheila felt it was a good idea until another thought reminded her of the commitment she made to herself. A miracle happened and she continued following her planned menu for the rest of the day without the ice cream. What Sheila learned was that her commitment to lose weight was more important than anything else in the world and she could not change her eating plan in anyway.
Reading the story above illustrates making a commitment to lose weight and not changing your original plan you will lose weight. Some other ideas you can use to ensure you keep your commitment to yourself:
1. Every morning or evening, renew your commitment to yourself. Reminding yourself how important your commitment is to reaching your goal.
2. During the day acknowledge yourself for taking care of you.
3. Keep telling yourself that it is easy to keep your commitment. Fake it until you believe it.
4. Keep a record of how you felt when you kept your commitment.
5. Reward yourself every few days. (Example: Take a long leisurely bath with your favorite bath salts and light a candle.)
6. Visualize your desired outcome. (Example: Seeing yourself as if you already lost the weight.) This suggestion was provided by Mark. When you get a chance browse his blog, “The Naked Soul” he has such wisdom.
As always, I would love to hear what tools and techniques you use to make sure you keep your commitment to yourself. Please feel free to contact me with your stories, comments and ideas. Write to me by leaving your comments at the bottom of this article or send me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Remember YOU are the most important person in your life!
Do you like who you are? How you feel about yourself makes such a difference in the way you interact with people. This statement was very evident to me this past weekend. My husband and I went away for a few days. Feeling very relaxed and confident, I found myself talking to everyone around me.
Finding out where people lived, their concerns and plans for the weekend. My husband made a comment about how friendly I was and that people felt relaxed talking to me. What a gift to be able to talk to everyone without the fear of being rejected.
Thinking back before I started on my journey of self-love I would go out of my way not to talk to anyone. I was so very fearful of people. Once I started on my journey of discovering who I was my personality changed. Today I can say without thinking twice I really like myself.
What can you do today to start feeling better about yourself? Following are some steps my clients and I have started taking daily?
1. While brushing your teeth in the morning look in the mirror and say out loud one thing you like about yourself.
2. Before leaving your house create an intention that you will brighten someone’s day.
3. When you make eye contact with another person, smile and say hello.
4. Call someone you have not spoken to in awhile just to say hello and see how they are doing.
5. At the end of the day make a list of all the times you made someone smile and how you felt.
Have fun with the experiment and let me know how you felt when you brought a smile to someone’s face. I am always available to support you in making your life a little brighter. You can reach me by leaving a comment on this blog or sending me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
You Are Fantastic Just the Way You Are!
Do you sometimes feel like crying because you can’t seem to lose weight? You are not alone! Many a morning I would think to myself, “I will never lose this weight; I always be overweight.”
Sheila (name changed) was a very successful business owner, loving wife and super mom. She was about 40 pounds overweight and was thinking about losing weight all the time. She tried every diet imaginable only to gain the weight back every time she stopped dieting. Even though she was succeeding in the other areas of her life she felt like a failure and had low self-esteem.
We started working together and the first area we focused on was building Sheila’s self-esteem. She took the steps below to feel confident, lovable and proud of herself. Sheila lost the unwanted unhealthy weight while focusing on her forgotten dream of dancing. Today Sheila is maintaining her weight, taking jazz lessons with her daughter and loves her life.
Some of the steps Sheila took to build her self-esteem are as follows:
1. Before getting out of bed in the morning she gave herself a big hug.
2. While taking a shower in the morning she keep repeating, “I am fantastic just the way I am.”
3. Gave someone in her family a big hug in the morning and told them she loved them.
4. Before eating wrote down what she was going to eat and only ate the planned menu.
5. Took at least 10 minutes a day to do something nice for herself.
6. Exercised for 30 minutes a day, four times a week.
7. Practiced her dance routines.
8. Before going to bed made a list of the things that made her happy that day.
9. Continued to remind herself during the day that she was safe, felt confident and lovable.
10. Asked for support whenever she felt alone and her fears were surfacing.
I invite you to experiment today and try at least one of the above steps. By taking a small step you will begin a new journey which leads to making your dreams come true.
As always I am here to support you. I can be reached by leaving a comment on this blog or sending me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
How to lose weight, dieting tips, struggling with food, food, loving yourself
‘We never have more than we can bear.
The present hour we are always able to endure.
As is our day, so is our strength.
If the trials of many years were gathered into one,
they would overwhelm us…
but all is so wisely measured to our strength
that the bruised reed is never broken.’
H.E. Manning
What great advice H. E. Manning’s quote illustrates, to only focus on the present moment instead of thinking about what happened in our lives and what the future brings.
Jan (name has been changed) was at her wits end, trying to control her binge eating at night. Every day she would skip breakfast, eat a salad for lunch and a bagel for dinner. Then around 7:00pm every night she would become very hungry and promise herself that she would only eat half of another bagel. Guess what happened, once eating the bagel she would start eating ice cream, cookies and anything else she could get her hands on. After finishing eating she would get into bed and hate herself. The next morning she would exercise for 2 hours and promise herself today would be different. Jan continued this routine for three years.
One day deciding to find another way of living she called me. We started working together and she took very small steps to change her behavior. Today Jan follows a healthy eating plan and is committed to her new lifestyle. Following are some of the small steps Jan takes everyday to ensure she maintains her recovery from binge eating.
1. Getting out of bed each morning Jan writes down a menu of all the foods and beverages she will eat during the day.
2. Eating only the food on her planned menu.
3. Drinking a cup of tea while preparing her meals.
4. Eating meals sitting down either in her kitchen or in a restaurant.
5. Cleaning-up after she is done eating and never eating anything while she is cleaning.
6. Taking a 10 minute mini-vacation everyday. Doing something for herself she really enjoys.
7. Writing in her beautiful Happiness Journal what made her happy during the day and a short sentence describing the event.
By following this Loving Yourself Plan and only focusing on the present moment Jan is able to maintain her goal weight and live a live filled with self-respect, happiness and the knowledge she is taking care of herself.
As usual, I would love to hear from you. Please let me know how you are doing on your journey of life or if you need any support. You can either leave a message on my blog or send me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Do you have trouble eating healthy when you take a day trip? I remember always thinking I can eat anything I want because I am on vacation. Then when I returned home the vacation eating mentality continued until I started my next diet.
Yesterday my grandson Jeffrey and I went to the Aquarium for the day. I decided to make a picnic lunch so we didn’t have to worry about finding some place to eat. Wednesday night we both decided what we wanted to eat the next day.
We got to the Aquarium which was very crowded and after watching a few shows and looking at the different types of fish. Jeffrey and I had lunch. While we were eating, Jeffrey commented he really liked having a picnic because he had his favorite foods and we did not have to stand in the long lines. Not only did we eat healthy we had more time to visit the different exhibits. We both loved the sharks swimming over our heads and being able to touch the sharks. It was really a fun day!
Following are some ideas you can use on your day trip to ensure you will eat healthy:
1. Plan what you are going to eat the day before.
2. Order a fruit cup for desert.
3. Leave the table and go to the rest room if the desire to eat something on the table is not on your food plan.
4. Keep reminding yourself, “You are special and deserve to take care of yourself.”
5. Have fun and enjoy the day!
I would like to hear what tools and techniques you use to ensure you eat healthy while on a day trip. Together we can create a list that can be used by anyone during their eating healthy journey. I can be reached either by leaving a comment on the blog or sending me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Are you tired of trying almost every diet on the planet? This is how I felt most of the time. I was always trying different diets and hoping one of the diets would make me thin. Notice I said, “This one will make me thin.” It is the diet that has to do the work not me.
As usual, after a week or two I felt the diet was not for me. Then I would try another one and the worst part was, I was spending money, the books were piling up and I was feeling more of a failure with each new diet. There had to be a better way! What did I have to do?
The answer finally came when I decided to make a commitment to do the work, instead of expecting the diet to do it for me. It was a turning point for me. I found by working with clients, taking different trainings and my own experience, the only way for a diet to work is by em>making a commitment to take the steps and not expecting the diet to do the work for you.
Following is a short quiz you can take to determine if you are committed to taking the steps or want the diet to do all the work:
1. Are you willing to follow a diet plan, even though you don’t lose weight quickly, you will continue to follow?
2. Are you willing to get help from a professional who specializes in weight control?
3. Losing weight is a major concern in your life and you will take whatever steps necessary to make it happen.
4. Realizing there are no magic fixes and the solution is in your hands.
If you answer “Yes” to the above questions it seems possible that you are committed to losing weight. If you answered “No” to any of the questions it may appear you are looking for the magic fix.
If you are committed to taking any steps to make your dreams come true. Congratulations! Today is a special day for you by taking that first step and following a healthy eating plan that works for you. If you need help in creating that plan I can be reached by leaving a comment below or sending me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
If most of your answers were “No” don’t give up hope. Even though you may expect the diet to work for you there is an easy way to change your thinking. Creating a Loving Me Plan which includes easy steps to follow will enable you to make a shift in your thinking.
I will continue writing on this topic and would appreciate any ideas you may have. Please send me your ideas either by leaving a comment or sending an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Working together we can help each other realize our goal of living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining our weight.
Are you ready to put your diet thinking to sleep once and for all? I have been getting emails from people who are frustrated and tired of worrying about how they are going to lose weight and keep it off. Don’t give up hope, there is an easy answer.
While working with clients and from my own experiences, I have found by following some of the small steps it will make a difference in your thinking and behavior:
1. Leave a voicemail on your phone at least once a day, thanking yourself for who you are. It might sound crazy and after a few days you start looking forward to the message.
2. Acknowledge yourself for your accomplishments.
3. Prepare a special meal for yourself at least once a week.
4. Schedule time in your calendar to have fun with your children or husband/boyfriend or a good friend.
5. Research different diet plans and don’t start a new diet until you feel it is the right one for you.
The bottom line is being kind to yourself. I love the following quote:
“Be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars.
In the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.”
Max Ehrmann
A Word of Advice
By Marsha Reid
I want to tell you
to go ahead and reach out
for what you want.
I want to tell you
to go ahead and try;
try to make the things happen
that you want to happen.
Along the way
there may be some pain,
disappointment and doubt,
but if you never try,
you’ll never know
what might have been,
and you’ll always wonder
“what if” and “if only…”
Even though you
might be scared,
you’ll have reason to be
proud of yourself
and glad that you dared
to reach out
for the dreams
that only you
can make come true.
The above poem signifies the reason and courage we all need to get started today on our new healthy lifestyle journey. All it takes is one little step to get started. One small step you can take today is compliment yourself at least once a day.
After reading this poem and maybe taking the small step of complimenting yourself, please let me know what feelings and ideas formed. I am looking forward to hearing from you. You can reach me by leaving a comment on the blog or sending an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Do you ever think, “Wouldn’t it be great to sit down with a large bag of pretzels, ice cream and a large bottle of soda with sugar and caffeine?” Join the group!!! I then ask you the question, “Will doing this really make you feel better?” At first the answer would be ‘YES’ and then thinking about it, your rational thoughts would say, “NO.”
I was watching the movie “The Holiday” last night, which is about two women in dead-end relationships who decided to swap homes. In one of the scenes Los Angeles resident Amanda (Cameon Diaz) tells her employees that she is taking a week off to get away and eat as many carbs as she wants. After arriving in England, she goes to the food store and buys all the carbs she can find. While paying for her food the person asks, “Are you having a party tonight?” I have been there and done that. It is so embarrassing I wanted to hide.
Going back to the house, eating everything, feeling sick she realizes that the food will not make her feel better. I thought, welcome to reality; food will never make you feel better!
When you are lonely here are some steps you can take to put a smile on your face:
1. Write yourself a love letter and mail it to yourself.
2. Write a list of things that make you happy and try one of them.
3. Call a friend.
4. Go to a local coffee shop or bookstore, buy a cup of coffee or tea or a bottle of water and look at the books.
5. Play a game with your children.
6. Call your grandchildren or nieces and nephews. Calling my grandchildren always make me feel better.
As always, I would love to hear what you are experiencing on your life’s journey. Please feel free to contact me with your stories, comments, and ideas. Write to me by leaving your comments at the bottom of this article or send an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Do you ever think, “The only thing that will make my life better would be losing weight?” Join the club; this is a constant thought that hundreds or maybe millions of people have during the day.
Working with my clients, talking to friends and from my own experiences it has become pretty evident this thought will not solve the problem. What works is being kind to yourself! If you take time during the day to compliment yourself and relax, not only will you reduce your stress levels, you may want to start taking care of yourself.
A few years ago I started taking daily mini-vacations. This daily vacation is taking 10 minutes a day to do something nice for myself. Some mini-vacations my clients and I take during the day are as follows:
1. Sitting on your porch reading a fiction novel and drinking a glass of ice tea. My favorite author is James Patterson.
2. Taking a leisurely walk. I like to take leisurely walks with my husband and we have an agreement not to discuss anything upsetting.
3. Going to a coffee shop for coffee and talking to some of the friendly customers.
4. Just close your eyes and think about a time you felt relaxed and content.
5. Drinking a cup of tea, a candle glowing and music playing in the background. My favorite artist is Josh Groban.
You are the CEO of your life so give yourself permission to enjoy it. What mini-vacation are you going to take today?
As always, this a special invitation requesting that you join me in writing a blog together where we can share our special gifts and concerns with each other. Today, take one little step by leaving a comment or sending me an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Have a Beautiful Day on Your New Journey!
Did you eat healthy yesterday? If you did, please acknowledge yourself for taking care of YOU. On the other hand, if you just indulged today is a new day. I once heard someone say, “How lucky we are to be able to start our day over anytime during the day.”
I remember waking up in the morning and thinking today I will follow my new diet. Then something would happen, I was eating everything in sight and thinking I will wait until tomorrow. This situation happened everyday, until one day I thought this is enough and I am going to get professional help with my problem.
The next day I found a nutritionist, worked with her, lost 70 pounds and kept the weight off for over eight years. Something in my thinking changed; I realized I was the only one who could take care of me and there was no magic pill.
I am working with a client who came to me in desperation because she was not able to stay on a diet and lose weight. She was looking for that magic pill that would make her thin. Jeanne (named changed) was willing to try anything that would help her lose the weight. Nothing helped to change her thinking. During one of our discussions I asked, “Was there something she was not telling me?” Jeanne then told me she felt unloved most of her life and was always trying to make people like her. We discussed the small actions steps she could take to feel loved. By implementing the following ideas Jeanne was able to change her thinking, follow a healthy eating plan and start exploring her dream career.
1. Look in the mirror everyday and tell yourself, “I love you.”
2. Give yourself a big hug before getting out of bed.
3. Tell your family members that you love them.
4. Write down what made you happy during the day before going to sleep.
The beautiful thing about our lives is that we can start our day over whenever we want. Today is your special day and you have the right to make it a beautiful day. Just for today tell yourself, “I love you” and be kind to your best friend YOU.
I would love for you to join me in writing “Getting Off the Diet Merry-Go-Round Blog,” by sharing your special gifts with the world. All it takes is one little step, leave a comment expressing your ideas and experiences.
A special note to anyone who is struggling with food, please leave a comment and I will address your concerns in my blog. Together we will create a plan that will enable you to live a vibrant life.
What are you doing nice for yourself today?
Helen
Are you tired of eating everything in sight all weekend and feeling disillusioned? As they say, welcome to the human race. I was at my granddaughter’s graduation party on Saturday, watching everyone continuously eat and then complain about feeling stuffed. It took me back many years ago, how I felt at parties. Either I ate so much and felt stuffed or ate nothing until I got home, then the flood gates would open and would eat continuously. There has to be a better way!
As my husband and I were driving home, I was thinking what small steps you could take to end the cycle of compulsive overeating at parties. For the past nine years I have been taking the following steps:
1. Never go to a party hungry.
2. Take a bottle of water when you get to the party and drink it before eating.
3. Talk to at least three people before eating.
4. Don’t sit near the food.
5. Take only a small amount of the different types of food with plenty of salad.
6. Have fruit for desert.
7. Never go back for seconds.
8. After you finish eating take another bottle of water.
9. Walk around and talk to everyone.
10. Don’t stay late.
11. At home do something nice for yourself.
Next time you go to a party, just try some of these ideas and let me know what happens.
I would love for you to join me in writing “Getting Off the Diet Merry-Go-Round Blog, by sharing your special gifts with the world. All it takes is one little step, leave a comment expressing your ideas and experiences.
A special note to anyone who is struggling with food, please leave a comment and I will address you concerns in my blog. Together we will create a plan that will enable you to live a vibrant life.
What are you doing nice for yourself today?
Helen
MIRACLES HAPPEN BY PUTTING ONE STEP IN FRONT OF THE OTHER
TODAY IS MONDAY AND I AM GOING TO START MY DIET TODAY!!! Does this thought sound familiar? Don’t worry you are not the only one who thinks this way, we all do. What can you do today that is different from every other Monday? One thought is to start living in the solution instead of the problem.
Ok let’s look at the idea of living in the solution not the problem. One practice my clients and I use to live in the solution is to focus on other areas of our lives instead of the food.
Yesterday was a very special time for my grandsons,their parents and grandparents. Both Jeffrey (6 years old) and Dillon (13 years old) participated in their second triathlon. We arrived at the Swim Club at 8:00am in time for registration. The event is organized and managed by a young girl whose sister had cancer. All the proceeds are donated to cancer research. There were about 60 people there and everyone was excited especially the young kids. The event started around 9:00am.
The first group was the 5 to 7 year olds. The bell rang and the kids jumped into the water and swam across the pool, onto their bikes and finished with a run. My heart was beating so fast and I was yelling while Jeffrey was participating. He finally finished with the top participants.
Dillon participated in the last group. The bell rang and he jumped into the water and had to swim 8 laps. We were all screaming and cheering him along. Dillon finally finished the swim towards the end of the group. He jumped onto his bike and made up time while riding and running. He also finished with the top participants.
Jeffrey and Dillon’s participation in the event demonstrates the willingness to finish no matter what happens. They trained before the event and during it put one step in front of the other until they finished.
Living in the solution is the same thing. The willingness and commitment to continue taking the next step until you reach your goal. What is your dream and let’s make it happen.
As always, I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment on my blog or send an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Today’s Affirmation: “I am living in the solution and taking small steps towards my goal.”
Your life is perfect and you are a beautiful person! The first time hearing that statement, I thought what are they talking about. I am so fat, can’t stop eating and nothing is going right in my life. No way is my life perfect and I am such a weak person. Does this self-talk sound familiar?
For many years I continued to beat myself up about my weight and the things happening in my life. I loved living in the self-pity role and blaming everyone else for everything going wrong in my life. I remember during a very difficult time in our lives my daughter had a terrible accident and someone said they would pray for us. Very loudly, I told her not to pray for us because God was causing all these problems.
One day I was telling a close friend about how fat I was, a terrible mother and we had no luck in our lives. She told me to stop beating up her best friend. That was a turning point for me and a few months later I took the EST Training and learned that I had responsibility over my life and no one else did. That was over 20 years ago; from that day on I started taking responsibility for my life and most times are kinder to myself. Today I can honestly say my life is perfect and I am a beautiful person.
I have a client who was beating herself up about not eating healthy and never exercising. After listening to her for awhile, I asked what was she accomplishing by not taking responsibility for her actions. She thought about this for awhile and said absolutely nothing. The next step was brainstorming ways she could start living in the solution not the problem. While brainstorming different ideas Sally (her name has been changed) realized she wanted a puppy to keep her company. Her dog died suddenly last year. Sally bought a puppy and now the two of them take many walks everyday. Not only does Sally have companionship she is exercising and starting to eat healthier.
Now is your turn! What small steps can you start taking today to live your perfect life and realize what a beautiful person you are? Following is a suggestion:
Make a chart using the folloiwng three columns:
1. First Column: Write down things you hate about yourself (I eat too much food at meals.)
2. Second Column: Write what you can do to make the situation better (Use a smaller plate and only eat what is on your plate.)
3. Third Column: Write down the date you are going to start this new behavior (Today at Lunch.)
As always, I would love to hear what is happening in your life and the tools and techniques you are using to make your life better. Either leave a comment or send me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Today’s Affirmation: Today my life is perfect and I am a beautiful person.
Dieting, dieting and more dieting will I have to continue dieting, for the rest of my life? The answer is NO!! If you stop and think for a moment about all the things you are grateful for in your life and focus on them instead of your weight issues, miracles could happen. It has been proven when you feel good about yourself you are empowered to make changes in your life. One change you could implement is to eat healthy and exercise and eventually the extra weight could start disappearing.
I was at an International Coach Federation (ICF) conference last November and one of the keynote speakers said, “Focus on what you have instead of what you don’t have.” Hearing this comment was like a slap in the face for me and I started thinking about what I was doing. From that moment on I started focusing on the gifts in my life instead of what was not going my way. My life changed following this simple concept. To be honest with you sometimes it is very difficult to stop focusing on what I don’t have because that is life. Being kind to myself I let myself think about what I don’t have for awhile, sometimes talk about them with friends and feel sorry for myself. After awhile, I tell myself the pity party is over and write a grateful list. It usually works and I start feeling better immediately.
Following are some of the tools and techniques my clients and I put into practice when focusing on things we don’t have, instead of thinking about what we do have.
1. Take five minutes out of your day and think about how lucky you are.
2. Send yourself an email telling yourself about how exicted you were when something wonderful happened.
3. Acknowledge yourself for eating one or two healthy meals or eating healthy for the entire day.
4. Think about a dream you put on hold and maybe now you would like to pursue.
5. Make a list of accomplishments during the month of May.
As always, I would love to hear what gifts you are focusing on. Leave a comment on my blog or send an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.
Quote for the day:
“Being myself
includes taking risks with myself,
taking risks on new behavior,
trying new ways of ‘being myself’
so that I can see who it is
I want to be.”
Hugh Prather, American writer
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