Robyn Spurr

Personal Health and Weight Loss Coaching For Women

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Pleasure Changes Lives + Bodies

Picture this. You decide you want to lose weight. You’re ready. This is YOUR time. What’s the first thing you do?

If you’re like most women out there, you clean out the kitchen.

  • No more ice cream
  • Toss the cookies
  • Bread = no bueno

Diet. Fast. Restrict. Detox. Deny. Avoid.

No wonder diets fail 98% of the time.

After nearly a decade of doing this work, what I’ve discovered so many of my clients need more of – is PLEASURE.

More fun + laughter + beauty + love + connection in their daily lives.

When we begin to bring beauty and art and flowers and music and meaningful projects and books back into our lives —then we don’t need to turn to food for our pleasure. We no longer rely on food to satisfy all of our emotional needs.

You’re busy. I get it. That’s okay. Start small – and keep building. Slowly begin to infuse your life with pleasure.

One action I’ve committed to recently is stopping by my local florist to purchase a small flower arrangement for my office each week. This itty bitty arrangement makes every day feel more special + more beautiful. I literally stop and smell the roses.

A few more ideas…

Turn off talk radio while driving and tune into the classical station.

Meet a friend for coffee once a week – or once a month.

Visit your local Farmer’s Market.

Buy a luscious + fragrant body scrub for the shower.

Pick a room in your home and update it (I just repainted my office and bought new curtains and now I LOVE being in this space).

Stop buying whatever coffee is on sale and splurge on some gourmet beans.

Paint. Dance. Sing. Love. Light a candle. Connect.

Pleasure changes lives. And bodies.

XO ~Robyn

To learn more about Private Weight Loss Coaching, click HERE.

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The “Chapters” of Habit Transformation

This inspiration poem by Portia Nelson somehow escaped me until very recently.

Human beings make mistakes. That’s a given.

It’s important to understand the process of learning. To analyze our mistakes, to learn from them – and to not repeat them.

Sometimes we are just not paying attention – or are living our lives on autopilot. The beauty is – it can be changed.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost. I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It’s a habit. But my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5
I walk down another street.

XO ~Robyn

I work with women who want to learn how to create real + lasting health changes. We’ll use a sustainable, practice-based approach to build healthy habits into your life, one day at a time for an entire year.

As your coach, I’ll provide accountability + direction + support every step of the way. I’ll help you stay consistent, no matter what life throws at you.

If this approach resonates with you, CLICK HERE for details on how to work with me.

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The Problem with Meal Plans

“Will I get a meal plan?’

This is a question I hear from potential clients quite a bit – and the answer is no. Let me explain.

Meal plans and diets simply aren’t useful or sustainable for the vast majority of people.

Clients often feel like they’re either “on” them or “off” them. The black and white nature of a meal plan suggests that people have to eat perfectly at each meal (to match what’s listed in the plan) — or else they’ve failed.

It’s psychologically unpalatable and unsustainable.

Even more, meal plans are frequently too inflexible. They don’t work with the reality of people’s busy lives. Work meetings, children’s activities, meals out, dogs that need walking, cars that break down, family members that get ill, etc.

Meal plans take none of these into account.

Finally, meal plans assume people already have the skills to follow them. But that’s simply not true.

Without skills like:

  • planning grocery shopping;
  • choosing the right items from the store;
  • storing and preparing food correctly;
  • eating slowly and mindfully;
  • tuning into hunger and appetite cues;
  • avoiding problem foods; and
  • choosing better options at restaurants…

…following a meal plan does zero to cultivate the habits necessary for long-term success.

If you’re currently using a meal plan, that’s OK. But make sure it’s working for you.

If your meal plan is making you feel:

  • overwhelmed
  • anxious and fretful
  • guilty
  • regretful
  • bad
  • overly rigid and/or preoccupied with food…

or any other negative, unproductive emotion…

…and if you find the meal plans result in you:

  • “falling off the wagon”, hard
  • getting obsessive and compulsive about food
  • restricting foods and food groups…
  • doing “all or nothing”, usually ending with “nothing”

…then consider trying another approach.

A habit-based program, like the one offered through Chickadee Health Coaching, focuses on repeating small, short-term daily actions to work towards a long-term goal.

By doing these actions or habits daily (or as often as possible), you’ll practice changing.

And when it comes to change:

  • Action is more important than information.
  • Doing is more important than knowing.

When we see and feel change happening, and experience ourselves making new choices, we start to think that maybe change is possible. We can’t un-see or un-know the fact that we just made a healthier choice – and we start to imagine making more and more healthier choices.

Bottom line – habit-based coaching works.

XO ~Robyn

I work with women who are ready to say goodbye to yo-yo dieting for good. We’ll use a sustainable, practice-based approach to build healthy habits into your life, one day at a time for an entire year.

The result? You’ll develop healthy habits that become second nature and last a lifetime. You’ll lose the weight (and inches) you haven’t been able to shed – for good.

If this resonates with you, CLICK HERE for details on how to work with me.

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How to Ask Family + Friends for Support (Scripts Included)

Several years ago, I decided to rearrange the furniture in my living room. We’re talking two big sofas, a coffee table and one HEAVY! + unwieldy area rug.

There was sweat and swearing – but I did it!

Yay me. Right?

Not really.

I had to take Aleve + wear my ice belt of shame for a few days because my back was so jacked up.

So why did I move it all by myself – when I have a capable + strong + willing husband living with me?

Because I hated asking for help.

When given the chance, I would much rather move sofas + do pretty much anything on my own, thank-you-very-much.

“I’ve got this.”

“I can handle it.”

But doing it all yourself isn’t some great act of strength and independence. I know that now.

Asking for help is the true act of strength. It requires both tremendous courage and vulnerability.

Living a healthier lifestyle is so much easier when we have the support of our loved ones. And that often means asking for help.

I know, I know. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

Here are some simple scripts you can use. Read them to yourself, or a trusted friend – and then, when you’re ready – ask for help.

You can do this!

How to ask for what you want + need.

Set up the discussion so other people are on your team. It’s not you vs them, it’s you along with your loved ones against the problem.

“I’d really like your support. Can you help me ________?”

“You’re really good at coming up with solutions for things. Can you help me figure out how to ________?”

Explain what you’re trying to do + why.

I’m trying to take better care of my health. I was really scared when I got (my cholesterol test results, my pre-diabetes diagnosis) and I’ve realized that I need to change some habits.”

State clearly what you would like help with, and how.

“What would help me most is ________.”

Negotiate a compromise if needed.

“I don’t want you to have to give up/change ________, because I know you enjoy it. Is there a way you can still have/do it, but I can still stay on track with my own choices?”

Jazz them up. Make them your own. But most of all – use them.

XO ~Robyn

I work with courageous + determined women who are ready to say goodbye to yo-yo dieting for good. We’ll use a sustainable, practice-based approach to build healthy habits into your life, one day at a time for an entire year.

The result? You’ll develop healthy habits that become second nature and last a lifetime. You’ll lose the weight (and inches) you haven’t been able to shed – for good.

If this resonates with you, CLICK HERE for details on how to work with me.