There’s ONE KEY element to know if your weight loss plan will work, even BEFORE you get started.
There are literally HUNDREDS of options when you’re choosing a plan or path to follow for successful weight loss. Some are more viable and successful than others, but regardless, there are many options that can get you to the same goal.
And most likely, you’ve already tried a few, heck, maybe even dozens with mild or temporary success. But I wanted to encourage you today with a different perspective. One that has nothing to do with rules or restrictions or guidelines.
Often times when someone decides to embark upon a specific set of rules or eating guidelines, they are making A LOT of changes at once. To the point where their long-term success rate is low because it’s so hard to maintain all of these changes over any significant length of time.
They bring chaos, confusion, and ultimately STRESS when someone is trying to bring so many radical changes to their daily life out of the blue. When weight loss is laden with STRESS, Honey, it’s not gonna work!
So the KEY ELEMENT when you’re looking to make changes and follow one plan over the another is look at it through new eyes. Through the lenses of sustainability and stress.
Evaluate how radical the changes are going to be from your current status quo. How much stress are they going to bring to your current lifestyle? Think of making smaller changes over time. Then once those are easy you can add a few more in until you’ve cultivated new patterns and habits of health into your routine. I highly advise against attempting change everything at once which will NOT give you the long-term results you desire.
This approach leads to quitting, then to feeling like a failure (once again!) then to self-loathing and ultimately to overeating and reversing your progress. See the cycle?
I hope this new approach or new way of screening any “diets” or plans you’re wanting to follow helps to set you up for success in a different way than you’ve tried before. Remember, long-term weight loss and health changes are like a marathon, not a sprint. You need to have that long-term mindset and a firm grasp of reality to keep you going. Sending you love!
Your sister in Christ,
~Dr. Melody
P.S. If you’re frustrated and scared of continuing the cycle of dieting “ups and downs” and feel there’s a missing piece you haven’t found, then having a coach could be the game-changer you’ve been looking for.
Regardless of what path you choose to lose weight, I can help you go deeper into what has REALLY been stopping or thwarting your best efforts for change. The those things are hard to discover and move past without a firm and supporting guide.
Schedule a complimentary Strategy Session with me today. Let’s take you to that next level of success.
I found myself turning to food to comfort me in my time of anxiety and worry. But I knew that wasn’t the answer.
Have you ever been there? I’ve been finding myself there a few times lately, but I’m so glad I’m starting to become more aware of it so I can recognize it and divert to a different (non-food) method of dealing with it.
And I must admit. I’m not always 100% successful. But I’m getting there. And awareness and naming the emotions underlying those feelings is key.
Here’s a few tips next time you find yourself in the “comfort food” struggle, when you know you’re not actually hungry, it’s something deeper.
- Identify the triggering situation or circumstance at the root of the cause.
- Name the exact feelings underlying that desire to eat, when you know you’re not hungry, or you know food is not the solution.
- Journal your heart out. In times of great internal debate and unrest, one of the best things you can do is journal and pray. But journaling can be a form of prayer if you choose to write out what you’re feeling in a letter to God.
- List alternative non-food ways you can deal with the situation and why you’re having those feelings in the first place. (hint: exercise is a GREAT option.)
- Spend time in prayer giving those burdens, concerns, worries, uneasiness and anxieties (and anything else you need to) over to God. Share with him why you’re concerned and have been holding onto these feelings, and give them to God and ask for his help to solve the problem and/or to fill you wiht his peace that passes all understanding so you may liberate your mind from the things that are weighing you down.
- And lastly, write an action plan for how you will deal with the same scenario if/when it happens again and what non-food actions you will take to begin creating new default responses that don’t add to your waistline and guilt, disappointment or shame, and instead are healthier ways to deal with the stresses in life.
>>Final Thought: We know that food is not the answer when we’re eating to fill a different void that we don’t want to acknowledge. But the freedom from this detrimental pattern is in the acknowledgement. Next time you’re tempted to soothe your soul with sweets or salty treats when you KNOW you’re not hungry, work your way through these 6 steps and ultimately turn your situation over to God. He is waiting for you to lay it at his feet and give you relief.
Your sister in Christ,
~Dr. Melody
P.S. I’ve found it supremely therapeutic and helpful when I’m working on my own health and weight goals to surround myself with other girlfriends doing the same, who can relate and not place blame or shame when they hear of my not-so-perfect choices sometimes. Being able to be candid, supportive, honest and vulnerable is so healing and therapeutic to keep the momentum and drive toward your goals alive.
Starting Aug. 1st is the next 30 day interval of my #vip30 challenge in my private VIP ladies group. Together we’re changing our lives, habits and dress sizes one day at a time. If you know you need to be with a supportive and driven environment to spur you on to your own weight loss goals, this is just the place to be. Learn more here and join us before Aug. 1st!
There are sooooo many paths to weight loss–some are lasting, some are fleeting–but the best path? That’s already inside you.
Which weight loss paths have you chosen in the past?
- Counting points
- Counting calories
- Buying shakes
- Buying pre-made delivered meals
- Using a special diet pill
- Taking weight loss drops
- Drinking salt water (yup, that’s a “thing”)
- Juicing-only diet
- Green smoothies
- Sugar and carb-free diets
The list can go on and on and ooooonnnnn……so which ones are the best? Which really work? Which should I completely avoid? There’s something almost all of these “diet fads” are missing. It’s not nearly as important as what you do, it’s are you listening to your body?
In short, are you tuned in to your intuition?
Weight loss and developing a healthier lifestyle can take a little getting used to, but once the basics are down and have become routine (whole foods, not processed, grass-fed and organic meats, little to no dairy, limited or gluten-free bread, limited to no added sugar, lots of water etc.) the next step is letting your body’s intuition guide you.
We’ve become so programmed (especially in 1st world countries that are full of food ABUNDANCE) to not listen to our bodies, and instead eat almost constantly! Or we’re so busy we don’t eat at all during the day, so when we do have a second to eat it’s a rash decision drive-through option (aka NOT great for your health and packs on the pounds).
What you need to understand is God has programmed our bodies all along to give us the signals when it’s ready to eat–but we hardly listen any more. We barely even know what that feels like to truly be hungry–to wait for our tummies to growl before we stuff more food down our gut. So no wonder we’re carrying around more pounds than we should be. :/
>> Final thought: I encourage you today to test yourself over the next few days to literally only eat when your tummy physically growls at you–and when it does, feed it whole food–something coming from the earth, not out of a bag, package or box. Watch the weight start to fall off as you tune into your body and turn back to nature’s food–the way God intended all along. 😉
Your sister in Christ,
~Dr. Melody
P.S. If you’re looking for a jump-start to developing healthier habits (which don’t happen overnight!) and you’re wanting to lose weight by eating whole, nutritious food, not some gimmick diet or fad, you’ll want to check out my Healthy Habits: 30 Day Jumpstart program.
This is a great way to begin incorporating the daily actions and foods that will lead you back to listening to your body’s signals and begin detoxing your body from the common American diet of junk food and fast-food, which we can all agree just expands our waistline and clogs our arteries.
But making a change isn’t easy. So this program gives you all the tools to do it one day at a time. Click here to check it out and take a new path over the next 30 days to rediscover your health. 😉
