Commitments Make Changes Happen

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!

Attitudes Create Your Day

Are you struggling with food and feeling frustrated with your life? You are not alone!! I am finding, from working with clients, talking to my friends and my own personal experiences that our attitude determines whether an experience is good or bad. Let me explain.

Let’s take an example. You start the day off eating a healthy breakfast and an hour later you start eating pretzels. After the third pretzel some miracle happens and you decide to stop eating. At that point you can either determine that you are having a bad day and feel sorry for yourself or just say you had a slip and continue eating healthy for the rest of the day. Just thinking you had a slip and what lesson you learned will create a good experience. On the other hand, when you dwell on what happened and feel sorry for yourself you automatically think it was a bad experience. Therefore, our attitude determines if we had a bad or good experience.

I invite you to try a little experiment. Today be aware when something happens whether you consider the situation to be a learning experience or you start to feel sorry for yourself. The first step is awareness of what is happening and then you can make changes in your behavior and thinking.

As always, I would love to hear from you about your experiences while on your life’s journey. Please feel free to contact me with your discoveries from today’s experiment, by leaving a comment on this blog or sending me an email at helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net

If Only I Could be Thin!

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!

Special Breakfast Treat

Getting out of bed this morning were you thinking, “I am so tired of eating healthy and all I want are pancakes with chocolate chips, whipped cream and fresh strawberries?” Then your other voice yells, “STOP THINKING LIKE THAT, you will be the only one to suffer.” Which voice is the winner? They both can be!! Following is a recipe I use to make myself pancakes that are absolutely delicious:

Ingredients
2 packages of Quaker Instant Grits, Original Recipe.
1 egg
¼ cup of non-fat ricotta cheese
1 cup of plain, non-fat yogurt
1 cup of strawberries

Cooking Instructions
Mix cereal, egg and ricotta cheese together.
Spray frying pan with a small amount of oil
Cook pancakes until brown on both sides

Topping
Mix yogurt and strawberries together.
Place on top of pancakes

Enjoy your breakfast!!!

What I am learning is that I don’t have to suffer to eat healthy and take care of myself. There are many different healthy recipes that are low in fat and calories. Take an excursion today to the nearest bookstore and browse through the cookbooks to see which one illustrates recipes that are healthy and look delicious. Then give yourself a gift and buy it!

As always, I would love to hear about your special recipes and which cookbooks you thought were exciting. Write to me through my blog at www.theloveyourselfcoach.blogspot.com

BEAUTIFUL DAY

This morning as I watch my friends the birds and squirrels, I realized how lucky I am to have such a beautiful view from my office window. The sun is shinning and the leaves and backs of the squirrels are shimmering from the sun light.

Thinking about the beauty surrounding me, I started to think of all the miracles in my life. Some of the miracles I have in my life are as follows:
• Today I am in recovery from my food addiction.
• Great friends who support me.
• Alfie, my cat, is sitting next to me as I work on the computer.
• Exercised this morning.
• Beautiful day planned with many unsuspected golden moments.

As I read my miracles, I realized that being in recovery from my food addiction enables me to live a vibrant life. Thinking back over eight years ago, weighing close to 200 lbs. the only thing on my mind was how am I going to lose the weight. If I was thin everything would be different and I could start enjoying my life.

One day I made a decision that I was going to stop taking diet supplements, reading all diet books and get the support I needed. I found a nutritionist, therapist that specialized in addictions and went to an OA meeting. These first steps on my new journey supported me in designing and living a new healthy lifestyle free from food obsession. Eight years later I am still on the same journey and weighing 70 lbs. less. Some of the small steps I take are as follows:
• Eating Healthy using quantity control.
• Exercising
• Receiving and giving support to my friends
• Working with a coach so that I continue living a vibrant life.

If your deepest desire is to get off the diet merry-go-round and into a vibrant life, I am here to support you. How vibrant do you want your life to be?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF?

“We cannot rise higher than our thought of ourselves.”
-- Orison Swett Marden

Whenever we have the thought, "When I lose weight, my life will be different" automatically puts your life on hold.

Are you willing to try a little experiment and see what happens?

• For five minutes each day, make a list of all the things you like about yourself.
• Continue this exercise for the next 21 days.
• Every Friday for the next three weeks email me at www.theloveyourselfcoach.blogspot.com five things you like about yourself.

It has been proven over and over again by making this list you will focus on your special qualities and start feeling good about yourself instead of waiting until you lose weight.

I tried this exercise for 21 days, my thinking changed and started to take better care of myself. At first it was hard thinking and writing, "What I liked about myself" and then as time went along it got easier. One of the tools that really helped me was a commitment I made to a friend, on Fridays I would send her my list. The first week was the hardest because I felt I was bragging about myself and when I got her email thanking me I felt better. The second and third week got easier.

Have FUN and together holding hands we will run down the path of SELF-LOVE.

April 5th

What I like about myself
1. I am very friendly and easy to talk to.
2. I feel very pretty and like the way I look.
3. I take very good care of myself by eating healthy and exercising.
4. I am a great coach and help women realize how fantastic they are.
5. I am working on being a better wife and partner.

Thirteen Reasons for Taking a 10 Minute Min-Vacation Everyday

I am your Fairy Godmother and I am granting you an additional ten minutes a day. The only stipulation is that if you don’t use the 10 minutes everyday you will lose them.

1. Doing whatever You want for at least 10 minutes a day
2. Making a decision to be kind to YOU.
3. Time to relax.
4. Chance to make YOU feel important.
5. Time to escape from the world around you.
6. Renew your depleted energy.
7. Creating a special time for YOU.
8. Time to journal.
9. Opportunity to acknowledge yourself for your accomplishments.
10. Chance to just daydream.
11. Reason to pamper yourself.
12. Taking the time to just enjoy the moment.
13. Realizing you don’t have to take a trip to have a mini-vacation.