What do you dream of?

I enjoyed my Saturday with a pregnant friend and her sister yesterday.  Sitting outside in their fab garden we were talking about weightloss after having a baby.  Being her third child she’s worried about not being able to lose the baby weight.  We got onto the subject of breastfeeding and whether we thought it helped.  I believe it did help me lose the extra weight I’d put on during pregnancy (a whopping 20kg!!).  My mate commented how fabulous I’m looking and that I’m the smallest she’s ever known me to be. 

She’s totally right.  I’m a good 5kg lighter than I was 2 years ago.  It’s not a HUGE amount I know, but enough that I now wear a size smaller than I fit previously.  What annoys me most is that I don’t feel smaller.  I still feel big, heavy and not even slightly feminine.

For once I tried to take the compliment on board and not snap back that yes, I had lost weight but not nearly enough.  Instead I agreed and actually vocalised that I had lost weight but what I really dreamt of was feeling skinny.  Just admitting this to myself and others is a big step forward for me as I’d usually hold such thoughts internally, never to be heard by others.

I want to glide down the street peering randomly into shop windows and feel gloriously happy.  I want to look in the mirror every day and smile.

That’s what my dreams are made of.

Coaching Podcasts … free!

We’ve been talking about BodyBoffin Brooke Castillo a lot in recent blogs.  Brooke is a Master Certified Coach and the author of the book, “If I am So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight? Tools To Get It Done!”

 
**Note: the above picture has been copied from http://www.brookecastillo.com/weight_coaching.html

If you’re keen to learn more about the tools Brooke uses with her overweight Clients, check out her free podcasts here… http://blog.brookecastillo.com/categories/Weight%20Loss%20Podcasts.aspx

Reprogramme your brain…

Ok.  So we’ve learnt from Brooke Castillo and Martha Beck that we need to be internally focused and really work on listening to our thoughts and what we’re feeling.  But how does that help us to change our eating habits?  What really drives us to eat when we’re not hungry?

Brooke and Martha believe that thoughts drive all behaviour.  Thoughts are responsible for our feelings, which cause our actions and our actions determine the results.

Brookes’ example is that being overweight is the result of over eating, which is the action.  What this model is saying is that every time we over eat we can trace back to particular thought(s) that drove us to eat.

Although a little confusing at first, this concept is revolutionary!  For so long I’ve been attempting to run off the fat and follow stupid diets without success.  Treating the result (and even small amounts of weight loss) have done absolutely nothing to help change the way I feel about my body.  It makes sense that until we address why we’re feeling a particular way our behaviour will not change long term.

After years of beating myself up about the way I look and my inability to change my body to look the way I wish, I’ve become totally disconnected with my body.  Not only can I NOT tell when I’m physically hungry I’m also not sure I even know what I’m thinking half the time!

Another amazing concept that I learned from this seminar is that our beliefs (such as ‘I’ll never be thin’) are just thoughts that we keep thinking and become fixed in our minds.  It follows that if we can change the way we think, we change what we believe and how we feel.  It is only then that our behaviour will change.  Brooke refers to this as “reprogramming your brain.”

Brooke’s first step for Clients is listening in and acknowledging your thoughts.  It all sounds too easy but after only 24 hours of trying to hear my thoughts and be more aware of what I’m thinking I can honestly say it’s not easy!  After being disconnected for so long I can see that it’s going to take time and I’ll really need to be super focused.

Give it a try and let me know how you go!

The seminar (presented by Martha Beck Inc) can be purchased from http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses

For more detailed information relating to the Thought – Feelings – Actions – Results model, refer to Brooke Castillo’s book, “If I am So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?” available from www.amazon.co.uk

Setting yourself up to fail…

How many years have you set New Year resolutions related to losing weight??

I’m too scared to count!  I’m not sure I’ve ever had a New Year goal that wasn’t, ‘this year I WILL lose 5kg and I WILL get super fit.’

Brooke Castillo and Martha Beck believe that when we set diet and weight loss goals we’re setting ourselves up to fail.

In the ‘Why Can’t I Lose Weight? (You Can!)’ seminar (http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses), Brooke explains that the minute you go off your diet or have an exercise free week, in our minds we’ve already failed.  The goal is thrown aside in frustration.  Another attempt yet again not completed.

Brooke teaches her Clients that dieting is not a one off event.  The relationship with our mind and body is life long and therefore must be seen as a long term process.

Rather than focusing on the weight (the symptom, not the cause), what we should be doing is asking ourselves two important questions:

“What do you weigh and why do you weight that?”

We all know that if we eat more energy than our bodies need to function then the excess will be stored.  Hence the extra weight we don’t want.

What’s important is that we start taking notice of when we are over-eating.  Brooke recommends keeping a food diary to help track your eating patterns.

For example, do you overeat during work?  Are you bored at work?  Perhaps you’re not feeling challenged?  Or do you overeat when you’re with friends?  Why?

For me, when I’m with friends I’m so worried about what they think that I tend not to eat enough.  Sounds like a bonus but it’s definitely not!  By the time I get home I’m starving and it only leads to me binge eating.  I think I need to follow Brooke’s advice and try and be more conscious of my thoughts rather than worrying about others.

Working through why you’re over eating leads you to the root cause of your eating habits.  Brooke suggests that through this process you will learn more about yourself than you would ever anticipate.

The seminar (presented by Martha Beck Inc) can be downloaded (at a cost) from http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses

Be thankful you’re overweight…

What the???

I can just imagine the indignation some of you felt reading the above blog title. 

But I’m not joking!

Brooke Castillo – life coach specialising in weight loss (www.brookecastillo.com)  - believes that being overweight is a “gift”.

During the seminar Why Can’t I Lose Weight? (You Can!), Brooke explains that through the process of understanding why we over eat, we gain an in-depth knowledge of our inner self.

Overeating and the consequential extra weight we carry is the symptom, not the cause.  We can diet and exercise all we like in an attempt to lose weight but unless we extinguish the cause the pounds will return.  Just think how many times you’ve successfully lost weight, only to gain it back again.  “The way to lose weight [sustainably] is to evaluate the cause of your weight.”

To find the truth behind why we’re overweight we need to ask ourselves why we overeat.  And no, the reason is not because cake tastes too good to stop!  What makes us eat more than our body needs?  Why do we eat when we’re not hungry?  By gently questioning ourselves we start the journey of self discovery, identifying issues that we would not normally be aware of.  The result being not only weight loss (whoo hoo!) but improvements across all areas of life.

The audio of the seminar (presented by Martha Beck Inc) is available for download (at a cost) from http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses. 

More on Brooke Castillo and Martha Beck coming soon…

Amazing advice… how to REALLY lose weight.

I’m absolutely buzzing!  

Yesterday I had the amazing experience of listening to a weight loss seminar taught by Brooke Castillo (presented by Martha Beck Inc - www.marthabeck.com).  The seminar, titled Why Can’t I Lose Weight? (You Can!), combines tools from “The 4-Day Win”, by Martha Beck and Brooke Castillo’s book, “If I’m So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?” 

*Note: both books are available for purchase through www.amazon.com

The seminar focuses on four key areas:
1.  How to eat
2.  What drives behaviour
3.  How to stop eating when you can’t
4. Self Care – Why it’s not optional

It’s truly opened my eyes and I’m already finding answers!

Over the next week I’m going to review some of Brooke and Martha’s fabulous advice.  Blog titles to include:

• Be thankful you’re overweight!
• What do you weigh and why?
• Setting yourself up to fail… New Year Resolutions
• How to eat… it’s simple.
• Controlling your behaviour.
• Put the food down! (how to stop eating more than you need)
• The key to success… looking after yourself

The audio of the seminar is available for download (at a cost) from http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses.  Highly recommended!

Long term, sustainable weight loss…

I was very sad to learn last week, although not surprised, that there’s no quick fix solution that results in sustainable weight loss.  Bugger!

I had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa Shaw, the founder of Simply Zest (www.simplyzest.com), last week.  A BIG thank you to Vanessa for sharing the following fabulous advice with us… (I’ll post the interview recording very soon – once I work out how to download it off my audio recorder!!)…

“Lifestyle Guru” Vanessa Shaw’s philosophy is based on long term, achievable weight loss.  Although the media is filled with tempting short term answers, such as our favourite 2 week diet and exercise blitz, they will not lead to lasting weight loss or help to increase vitality.

Vanessa focuses on health, well being and particularly weight loss.  Unlike some professionals, Vanessa believes that losing weight is important (where there is weight to be lost!) and through achieving realistic weight loss goals your overall health, well being and outlook on life is improved.

A key success factor in Vanessa’s work is understanding ingrained habits such as those inherited from family, relating to food, exercise and the way we deal with stress.  I was amazed to find out that about 85% of our behaviour is actually habit and undertaken subconsciously.  That’s pretty much everything we do!

**Note: the above picture of Vanessa Shaw has been copied from www.simplyzest.com

Another important aspect of behavioural change is the way we actually think – our thinking habits.  This includes our beliefs and state of mind, all those lovely negative body thoughts included.  Yikes!  That’s a whole lot of bad habits!  The Simply Zest approach is to support us to not only identify and understand these bad habits but also to “create new healthier, more helpful ones for the future”.

Readers out there will be excited to know (as I was!) that the starting point with Simply Zest is taking action and helping us to actually lose some weight.  Ah, music to my ears!  Although I really need to learn to love myself more and change my inner thoughts, deep down I also know that I truly want to lose weight.

Vanessa’s advice is to take a whole of life approach and look at the big picture.  Physical exercise is not enough and in order to achieve our goals we need to feel good about ourselves.

Wouldn’t it be absolutely fabulous to have Vanessa work with you one to one??  After we’d talked I felt like signing up there and then.  But I know that it’s not possible for everyone.  So, Vanessa left us with these tips and advice:

• Life is too short to be spent miserable.  Think about all the time and effort you’ve spent focused on feeling crappy about yourself and make a conscious decision to take action.  Re-educate yourself about healthy eating and set realistic, achievable goals.  And the most important part, “bask in the glow of achieving those goals”!
• Set realistic goals that are achievable.  Remember that real women aren’t perfect!  “Move beyond the quick fix”.
• Try keeping a food diary.  Write down everything you eat and drink each day and the time you ate.  This will help to increase your awareness about what you’re eating and not eating.  Look for trends and triggers.
• Find out what works for you.  Be realistic and make sure your goals fit in with your lifestyle.  “Life is for living”!

Interview recording to be posted shortly!!