Robyn Spurr

Personal Health and Weight Loss Coaching For Women

Coaching Tools

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Transform How You Eat With One Simple Question

Today I want to share a simple tip you can implement right away that will radically change the way you eat.

WHAT we eat isn’t the biggest problem – which is why diets don’t work long term. In order to transform our relationship with food, we need to investigate the WHY behind our overeating and HOW we eat.

A little less nom nom nom and a little more OM.

I’m totally making up this number, but my guess is that 90 something % of Americans are completely checked out when eating. We’re working + driving + surfing the intertubes + reading emails + watching TV.

We start eating and POOF – our oatmeal or sandwich or bowl of popcorn is gone. We didn’t even taste it. We never got a chance to enjoy it.

Today I’m offering a simple strategy. Before you put the next bite in your mouth, ask yourself the following question.

Is there still food in my mouth?

If the answer is NO – eat another bite.

If the answer is YES – finish what you’re eating.

If you’re using a fork or spoon, putting it down between bites helps.

That’s it.

The next time you eat something, give it a go. You’ll probably screw it up. So what. Keep trying.

I promise you – this simple practice will radically transform how you eat. ​

XO ~Robyn

Robyn Spurr is a Once Obese Chick, Eating Disorder Survivor, Certified Weight Loss Coach, Personal Trainer and founder of Chickadee Weight Loss. 

She helps women learn to manage their emotions without food and reach their healthy, natural weight without all the diet craziness.

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5 Simple Non-Food Soul Soothers

The sunrises here in Colorado have been spectacular lately…

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Spending time admiring the natural beauty around me is my favorite way to soothe my soul. Much more effective than say – 27 Oreo’s and half a pint of ice cream.

Non-Food Nurturers provide a dose of pleasure and contentment. They create good feelings + soothe the soul without all the extra calories.

Here are 5 simple ways to soothe your soul (without food)…

1. Read Fiction.

I joined a book club in January of this year because I knew I was reading too much serious stuff (self-help, psychology, business books, oh my). Now I still love me some Brene Brown, but instead of curling up with latest and greatest edition of…

  • improve yourself
  • uplevel your life
  • become your best self

…consider adding something more lighthearted or whimsical to the mix. I’m currently devouring The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. It’s filled with tarot cards and traveling carnivals – hauntingly fun and perfect for fall.

2. Unplug!

For an hour, an evening, a day. No email. No Facebook. Read a book. Take a bath. Have a conversation with your spouse minus the iPhones. Stare at the sky. You can do it.

3. Keep a Savor Life Journal

Write down one thing every day that was lovely or made you smile or filled your heart with joy. Read more about keeping a Savor Life Journal here.

4. Spend Time Appreciating Nature

Even if you live in Manhattan, you can visit Central Park or look for the moon in the sky or admire the sunset.

5. Say No

You don’t have to do ALL THE THINGS. If it excites you, say yes. If it doesn’t, say no.  How do you know if you’re saying yes when you should be saying no? One word – resentment. Saying no = less resentment = more time to nurture your soul.

XO ~Robyn

Interested in Private Weight Loss Coaching? Click here to schedule a Discovery Session or email me directly at robyn@chickadeeweightloss.com. I’d love to work with you. Let’s make it happen.

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Robyn Spurr is a Once Obese Chick, Eating Disorder Survivor, Certified Weight Loss Coach, Personal Trainer and founder of Chickadee Weight Loss. 

She helps women learn to manage their emotions without food and reach their healthy, natural weight without all the diet craziness.

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Top Non-Diet Weight Loss Strategies – Learning to Feel

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From childhood until just a few years ago, I used food to check out of myself. Overeating, binge eating, and purging helped me escape the emptiness, self-doubt, anger and gazillion other craptastic emotions I thought I couldn’t handle.

Looking back, I can see that my so-called coping mechanism only perpetuated my state of pain. Bulimia in particular is a brutal and lonely addiction. At the time, the shame and emptiness I felt after binging + purging seemed more tolerable than letting my feelings rise to surface.

I was wrong. So very wrong.

The reason we eat when we’re not hungry is to escape a feeling we don’t want to feel. We use food to numb, to distract, and to cover up our scary + uncomfortable + painful emotions.

For many of us, food is the go-to distraction of choice. It’s cheap, accessible and tasty. For others – it’s alcohol or drugs or sex or shopping.

This is the final post of my non-diet weight loss strategy series – and quite possibly the most important. If you simply make the decision to feel your emotions instead of eating to avoid them, you will lose weight.

Once I made the decision to start feeling instead of overeating or binging and puking, I was terrified. There was nothing to help me dull the pain.

I had to learn to let my feelings be. But I also learned that they would pass. All things pass eventually. It’s like watching a raft float down a river from the riverbank. We see the raft in the distance, it floats by – and then it vanishes from sight.

When we allow our feelings to be, without trying to distract ourselves – they eventually float away.

If you choose to feel, there are rewards – like wisdom. Our feelings have so much to teach us – if we’d only allow them in.

But when we push back + bury + hide from our feelings, they often send a messenger designed to remind us to feel. That messenger is anxiety. Anxiety can persist – unlike fear or anger or sadness.

Anxiety isn’t a raft in a river. It’s a boat in a still lake. ​

The next time you notice yourself wanting to push back the fear or overwhelm or self-doubt, try this instead…

Step 1. Identify the feeling. Be as specific as you can. Is it humiliation or inadequacy or shame? Ask – what am I feeling right now? Get clear. Thesaurus.com can come in handy during this step of the process.

Step 2. Grab your ugly purse!

I can’t remember exactly where I heard this, but a brilliant coach or colleague once said…

Sometimes you have to carry your emotions around with you like an ugly purse.

After you identify your feeling, choose a purse to carry with you. I promise, you won’t have to carry it for long. The feeling will pass. You’ll survive. You can handle ANY emotion. Choosing your ugly purse might even cause you to laugh a little. And laughing is ALWAYS a good thing.

I use this strategy often – like several times a week. In fact, I’ve even created an ugly purse Pinterest board. The avocado backpack cracks me up. I “carry” it when I’m taking life a bit too seriously.

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Step 3. Write down the thoughts you’re thinking that are creating the feeling. For example…

I’m not good enough.
I’m going to screw this up.
Everyone is going to make fun of me.
I can’t handle this.
Get the thoughts out of your head and on to paper (I call this doing a thought download). Observe your thoughts from an objective point of view (impossible to do if they’re in your head).
Seriously guys – just writing down the stuff flying around in your brain creating havoc is like a feel better magic jedi mind trick.

Now you’ll be tempted, but please don’t try to ignore or distract or stuff the feeling down. Stuffing it down is like trying to hold a raft underwater. Capisce?

Grab a pen and a piece of paper – and writewritewritewrite.

The fear of feeling our emotion is a much bigger problem than the emotion itself.

Read that again.

If you’re anything like me (a master of trying to NOT feel), this will be hard – at first. You’ll resist feeling. Your inner 4 year old will kick and scream and want to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s instead.

But you can do hard things.

And it’s so very worth it. The only way around is through.

Feel more, eat less.

XO ~Robyn

Robyn Spurr is a Once Obese Chick, Certified Weight Loss Coach, Personal Trainer and founder of Chickadee Weight Loss. 

She helps women learn to manage their emotions without food and reach their healthy, natural weight without all the diet craziness.

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Top Non-Diet Weight Loss Strategies – The Self Compassion “Diet”

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See if this resonates with you…

Go on a diet – feel a crappy feeling – overeat to numb/distract/escape feeling – beat self up for overeating and for feeling “bad” – feel worse – give up on diet (screw it!) – eat mindlessly – gain weight – beat self up for gaining weight – go on another restrictive/punishing diet…

You guys, I see this ALL THE TIME.

The more we beat ourselves up, the more we want to check out and give up so we can escape the beatings + self-criticism. Then, one day we start right back up where we left off – with another restrictive + self-punishing diet.

The way to reach your goals is through self-compassion and forgiveness (not, I repeat NOT self-criticism).

Try these instead…

  • Listen to your body
  • Eat when you’re hungry + stop when you’re satisfied
  • Stop telling yourself you’re supposed to feel happy all the time
  • Honor ALL of your emotions
  • Celebrate the small wins
  • When you mess up, forgive and move on.

If there is one I’ve learned via my own weight loss journey and by coaching other women, it’s that beating ourselves up never leads to a positive result. Healthy is a place you get to with love.

​Here’s an excerpt from a recent Scientific American article (Why Diets Don’t Work and What Does).

“In a 2014 study, women with eating disorders, including some who binged or who were overweight, received compassion-focused therapy—an approach aimed at reducing feelings of shame and improving self-esteem. Over the 12-week treatment, women who exhibited greater improvements in self-compassion and reductions in body shame were also more likely to develop better eating habits.​”

Now you might be wondering, where do I start? How do I begin to practice self-compassion?

One of the simplest ways is to start tracking daily evidence for success. Write down one thing you do well each day. One way you took care of YOU. One action that is moving you closer to your goals for yourself. Nothing is too small.

Even if you screwed up 357 other things, write down that one small victory.

Train your mind to look for the good.

Another pathway to self-compassion is knowing that you’re not alone.

Look, we’re all kind of messed up and stumbling through this thing called life. If someone tells you they have it all figured out, they’re lying! Liar liar pants on fire!

A client of mine sent me this TED Talk last week (Glennon Doyle Melton: Lessons From the Mental Hospital).

It blew my mind. Raw + powerful + brilliant! I am currently soaking up everysinglething Glennon has written. You might say I’m obsessed. Guilty as charged.

After you watch the TED Talk, check out her blog.

Then go and get her book. Read it once, then read it again – then give it to a good friend. Seriously, it’s THAT good…

“Here’s my hunch: nobody’s secure, and nobody feels like she completely belongs. Those insecurities are just job hazards of being human. But some people dance anyway, and those people have more fun.” ​~ Glennon Doyle Melton, Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed

​Dance on Chickadees!

XO ~Robyn

PS: I’ve got openings for private Weight Loss Coaching coming up in EARLY September. Just around the corner. If you’re ready to lose the weight for good + create a more delicious life + practice self-compassion, then let’s chat Chickadee! 

 Click here to schedule a Discovery Session or email me directly at robyn@chickadeeweightloss.com.

 I’d love to work with you. Let’s make it happen.