How Jenny lost three stone in less than three months by changing her 'story' about herself and food..

(Training period - October 1st 2011 to December 28th 2011) 

“As a mother of seven kids I didn’t think I had time to think of myself.  My self image was at rock bottom and I treated myself like a dust-bin.  I felt guilty constantly.  I felt like an onlooker in my own life.  After years and years of yo-yo dieting I had achieved my target weight 3 times but then life kicked in and I would put the weight back on again.  I knew I could lose weight but I hesitated because I though I would end up putting it back on again because that is what I always did.  I kept thinking that if I lost the weight again - it would be like a house of cards that would inevitably fall down.

 

Everyone has their own personal inner pain and brokenness.  But for overweight people their brokenness is on display.  They have to wear the evidence of it like a shameful sign around their necks.  Many people hide their problems with anger or substance abuse but overweight people walk around with theirs on display all day long like a sign around their necks that says ‘I’m broken and I’m not worth it.’

 

During my mentoring with The Energy Coach I shared my story about food and self image for the fist time.  It was like I confessed everything! Seeing it on paper helped - I had never really seen it in the light of day.  I got annoyed about my old story about why I couldn’t lose weight.  I knew that I had to surrender now or keep going with the same behavior so I said ‘STOP!  I’ve had enough of this!’  The process of telling my story out loud made me feel that I am in control of my own destiny, more empowered. 

 

I changed the metaphors I had used to describe my life.  I felt that I had been treating my body like a bin.  I decided to ask ‘How would I treat myself if I felt like a princess!’  I decided  to focus on that fact that I am focusing on the real root causes of my weight issues.  Therefore this time I am building a house of bricks rather than a house of cards.

 

For the first time I really looked at the roots of my unhealthy eating.  I found out why I used food as a crutch.  I looked at my self image - Why I was doing that to myself?  Why was I feeling so disempowered?  

 

I was by no means starving during the three months I lost 42 pounds.  I ate lots of live healthy foods but I wasn’t perfect!  I did a couple of days drinking smoothies only when my weight loss slowed down because I wanted to hit my target quickly.  I didn’t stick to a specific regime/program.

During the hard moments I had to remember that I was worth it.  At times I didn’t feel like continuing.  People expected me to eat unhealthy foods and sometimes dropped in junk food as a gift which was tempting.  I remembered that feeding an emotion wasn’t going to heal the emotion - that helped me to avoid eating some donuts - that was a real breakthrough moment for me.  To get through a few tough times I thought about what cost would it have on my daughter if I treat myself disrespectfully again - she looks up to me and kids copy what they see! 

 

I recommend working with Michael & The Energy Coach because it was a safe place for me to tell my story.  He understood what it was like because he has been through the process himself.  He helped me to focus on the roots of the problem rather than just telling me what I need to do.  I felt that I had someone rooting for me.  The process was empowering.  It gave me the courage to go forward and the levels of follow up and accountability were exceptional.  It has helped my relationships and feeling more confident has helped me to go back to learning and focus on my career for the first time in years.”

 

Jenny, 

Dublin.

(Name changed to protect Jenny's privacy)

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Posted via email from The Energy Coach Blog

How do I give myself treats and rewards as I lose weight? How do I do it without feeling like I'm hanging on by my finger-nails?

Many people’s ‘reward’ themselves at the end of a hard day by self harming.  A cigarette, too much alcohol, a chocolate binge or a combination of all three.  This may emotionally feel rewarding momentarily but it is not rewarding your body - it is abusing yourself.  Like all addictive behavior’s the after effects mentally and emotionally are probably more destructive than the actual 'acting out'.

(5 ideas for healthy rewards at the bottom of the page)

[[posterous-content:pid___0]](Above - lunch in Cornucopia today - my treat for updating The Energy Coach Website and hitting my target weight before Ironman in 2.5 weeks)

 

Learning to treat yourself with dignity and respect takes time.  In my opinion regaining ones self-respect is the most fulfilling, dignifying and rewarding part of the weight loss process.  For both men and women, feeling like you are worth it and treating yourself accordingly, feeling worthy of respect and treating yourself according is an infinitely more enjoyable outcome than just being three stone lighter.

 

When people are trapped in addiction they feel like there is nowhere to go.  That they are ‘damned if they quit and damned if they don’t.’  One of our objectives in my Mentoring Groups is to  to establish a new way of thinking which is polar opposite to ‘damned if you quit and damned if you don’t.’  Our objective is that you feel that this process, the results, the speed of results, the steps themselves all feel; ‘too good to be true.’

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(Above: Today's lunch which was a green juice, raw cold soup which sounds awful but tastes fantastic, salad, fruit salad, veggie pate with crackers. Total €11.95)

 

The key to sustainability is in finding ways to enjoy the new journey so that you wouldn’t dream of going back to your old behaviors.  We do this by ensuring the new way of living is fun.  What you initially anticipate as a painful activity (like exercise) may end up becoming the highlight of your day.  Beginners who start running but don’t know what they are doing can suffer initially (especially if they don’t have a mentor) but they cross the ‘pain barrier’ eventually.  One day they go out for their monotonous run and they get a ‘runner’s high’ and their mindset shifts forever - they love running!

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If I’m totally honest I’m still learning healthy ways to reward myself. Let me know if you have some great ideas yourself!

5 things I use as a healthy reward are: 

• Time to chill out in the sauna and do some stretchs
• Expensive organic delicious herbal teas. We go to Les Palais Des Thes on Wicklow St and it is fantastic.
• A gorgeous meal in Cornucopia vegetarian restarurant which is also on Wicklow St
• Massage
• Damage control: If I'm desperately craving chocolate then I buy high quality dark chocolate like Butlers (Guess where there is a store?  -Wicklow St conveniently enough!). I find that I don't want to eat as much dark chocolate and it is a lot lower in sugar and dairy than milk chocolate.

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Posted via email from The Energy Coach Blog

The biggest obstacle to weight loss and how you can solve it in 10 seconds!

They say that; ‘what is measured will improve’ and in almost 15 years of experience as a personal fitness coach that is true about monitoring food intake for weight loss.  I also ask my clients to measure their BMI, weight and Heart Rate daily, but food intake is the most important performance indicator by far.  I use a system where my clients information is captured instantly by camera rather than poring over food diaries for hours trying to remember what they ate for breakfast last weekend!

(Above: Watermelon - I need to drop 12 lbs in the next 3 weeks in preparation for the Ironman triathlon Austria so I'm taking in lots of fruit and water)

As soon as we start to strictly monitor what we eat then weight loss becomes rapid which starts the vital positive feel good cycle.  Clarity on the specific quantities and quality of what we eat helps us to be in reality rather than in denial.  The challenge is how long it takes to monitor our dietary intake in a traditional pen and paper or even using a digital document.

Why is monitoring my food intake is the most imporatnt motivator and performance indicator in losing weight?

The weight loss process is a bit like when someone needs to get out of trouble financially.  Both problems usually only happen if we've been eathing too much or spending too much consistently (barring unusual circumstances). We eventually realise we're in trouble. Despite the warning signs it can end up feeling like like someone jumped off the other side of our see-saw and we hit rock bottom. How did I get to this place? (A bit like the Irish economy!!)

(Above: Mint, avocado, apple and carrot smoothie that Cara and I had on Tuesday. It was gorgeous by the way!)

Both problems are caused by being a little bit careless and/or unconscious about our eating or spending.  If you've ever been in debt then you'll know that the thing that needs to be monitored is your daily financial expenses. To get out of weight trouble the important performance indicator is your daily intake of food and fluids.

With finances, when we spend a bit less than we earn eventually things improve and we get out of detb.  Weight loss is just like that - it is science! If you eat a bit less food than what your body burns off today then your body will find the extra energy it needs in your fat reserves. Fat is actually a much more efficent fuel source. When you train your body to use fat as a fuel source you get more energy as a byproduct. As an endurance athlete I try to train my body to burn fat rather than sugar. 

(Above: When I'm dropping weight quickly I eat lots of oranges - probably too many if that is possible!)

Clarity on exactly what you are eating means that your coach or dietitian can be employed to serve you even more efficiently.  We can adress the real issues rather than trying to guess if food is the cause of the problem.  Food almost always is the cause of the problem.  Reducing quantity of empty foods while improving quality of food in 95% of my clients is the fastest way to shed weight!

(Green salad with dressing and Avocado and bean Salad - Lunch during the week)

The problem with keeping a traditional food diary is that the theory is great but the practical application is hard. Everyone should keep a food diary until they hit their ideal BMI range - right?  

But the practice is another thing - who remembers and bothers to actually fill in how much water they drink every day?  And if you backdate your food diary for last week then let's face it you forget half of what you ate! It is human nature to forget the sneaky secret treats too!

Backdating your food diary is better than nothing but it can give your coach/dietition the wrong information. The solution is so simple - photograph everything that you eat or drink with your mobile phone and store them for that appointment or else email them to your coach..

Every good personal fitness trainer that I know of, every dietitian and many other types of therapists insist that their clients use a food diary despite the obstacles because it is just so important but most people never fill it out.

I’ve been asking my clients to fill out food diaries years but it is like getting blood from a stone! Let’s face it, who wants to stop after every meal and find the document and write it all down? It is boring, repetitive and feels fruitless.. and yet we all know that if we just did it that the weight would improve, the quality of food would improve, the quantity of food would probably lessen due to the accountability aspect and the increased awareness. 

(Above: People are always asking me for weight loss tips - here is one: I ate this many oranges instead of sweet treats like dark chocolate in the last week and lost 5 lbs!)

So here is the solution that I ask my clients to use. They take a photograph of every single meal they eat and send it to me and to their private accountability team. This way is so faster it is almost instant so it saves you time, it saves on paper, the accountability is even higher because the quantities are obvious to see in the image and it strengthens those vital relationships between coach and client and between them and their peer group. 

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Posted via email from michaelrossney's posterous