Robyn Spurr

Personal Health and Weight Loss Coaching For Women

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4 Reasons We Struggle With Overeating (Hint: It’s Not Your Fault)

Guess what? It’s not your fault.

You need to know this.

It’s the very first step on the pathway to healing our relationship with food.

Most people in industrialized countries struggle with overeating.

But why?

Reason #1 – Hyperawareness

We’ve never been so damn aware of how we look. If you’re living in a primitive village somewhere, there’s no Facebook or Vogue magazine or skinny jeans or bikini competitions or CrossFit or selfies or MIRRORS. We’re hyperaware of physical appearances and we’re constantly comparing.

And that’s freaking stressful.

Reason #2 – Processed Food

There is delicious + cheap food available 24/7. Food that overrides our natural hunger signals and makes our biology go haywire. Food that creates a desire for MORE instead of leaving us satisfied.

That’s messed up, right?

Food should satisfy us, but when we eat pizza or ice cream or nachos – we just want to keep going.

Reason #3 – Stress + Support

Women’s lives are stressful with a capital S. If you’re in your 30’s, 40’s or 50’s, you very likely have kids + aging parents + are working or volunteering + have a ridiculous number of responsibilities and stressors and (drum roll) – you probably don’t have a great support system.

The things that normally help buffer all the life stressors are frequently absent in our lives.

More stress + less support = YIKES!

Women in the 21st century are often socially isolated. We don’t usually have our “people” around – our brothers and sisters and aunts and extended family.

We don’t live in close knit communities anymore.

We don’t know our neighbors.

We don’t spend enough time outdoors.

We’re sedentary.

We stare into screens on a desk all day. Then we stare at a screen to “unwind” at night.

So, we turn to Netflix and wine and pizza and cookies – because that’s the easiest, most acceptable way to deal with the stress.

Reason #4 – Expectations

We’ve never had such high expectations of ourselves as women. We feel like we have to be perfect wives + perfect mothers + perfect friends + perfect workers + perfect daughters + have perfect Michelle Obama arms.

Perfect EVERYTHING!

Bottom line. It’s not you.

You NEED to know this.

You are not lazy + stupid + weak.

You are perfectly normal.

You are having a normal reaction to an unnatural way of living in the world.

Instead of signing up for another boot camp or cleanse…

Schedule a lunch date with a friend.

Call your sister.

Read a book, in the sunshine.

Take a walk.

Get off Facebook.

And most importantly, stop being so hard on yourself.

You’re doing the best you can.

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.

 

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One Habit at a Time

Losing weight and getting in shape can feel like a monumental undertaking. It requires changing not just one or two, but dozens of habits…

Drink more water, go to the grocery store, prep food, make time to exercise, eat more whole foods, get 7 or 8 hours of sleep.

It’s why so many people either give up – or don’t even bother to try. It’s why we tend to succumb to all or nothing thinking.

“If I can’t eat clean AND exercise for 30 minutes a day AND get 8 hours of sleep, then why bother?!”

I recently revisited one of my favorite books, The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta – and ALL THE LIGHTS went on in my brain. The author shares the following data:

  • Adopting one new habit at a time results in an 85% chance of success
  • Adopting two new habits at once: a 35% chance of success
  • Adopting three or more new habits at once: less than 10% chance of success

MIND BLOWN!

As a result, I’ve decided to overhaul the way I coach my clients.

New Rule: Only one new habit at a time.

I’ve implemented this approach in my own life. Because even yours truly has room for improvement. My very first habit? A glass of water every night for two weeks. That’s it.

Each new habit should be clearly defined and easy to measure. It should also feel doable.

When creating a new habit to practice, ask yourself, “on a scale of 1-10, how confident am I that I can do this every day?” If your answer is 8 or less, scale it back – even if it seems ridiculously small. And then practice that new habit for two weeks before adding on.

Will you transform your life and body in six weeks? Of course not. But you’ve likely tried the “all in” approach – again and again, with the same crappy long term results.

Practicing one habit at a time generates – and more importantly, sustains – momentum.

And that’s exactly how you create lasting + permanent change.

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.

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Permission to Slow Down

I’ve been laying low the past few months on purpose. Zero blogging + taking on only a handful of new clients + reading for pleasure + binge watching Big Little Lies (so good!)+ giving myself time to rest and rejuvenate. Because sometimes, no matter how much of a control freak we are – life happens and we need to step on the brakes.

Maybe a parent gets ill or your own health takes a blow or you’re simply worn out from all the go go go. Or all of the above.

Now slowing down is NOT what I normally do. What I normally do when life goes a little sideways is push harder + sleep less + double down. And the result is always crap. So I decided to make a different choice this time. And the result has been 1,000,000 times better.

Here’s my advice for when a life shit storm inevitably descends. Give yourself a break. Forget the freakin’ to-do list and read a book or soak in a bath. Take a mental health day from work and get a massage – or do nothing at all. Hire a babysitter. Say NO to that event or consulting gig or volunteer day at the kiddo’s school. Do the bare minimum. Whatever that looks like for you.

I’m 100% convinced that allowing myself a bit of GUILT FREE downtime is the reason I’m crazy pumped + motivated about the rest of 2017. In fact, I’ve got a brand spanking new 12-month coaching program launching in July. It’s going to be amazing!

Slow Down + Push + Slow Down + Push

vs

Push + Push Harder + MUST KEEP PUSHING! + Collapse

If what you’ve been doing isn’t working – make a different choice. We put WAY more pressure on ourselves than is necessary. The world will not crumble while you’re taking care of you. I promise.

So say no.

Sleep in.

Don’t wash the floors.

Buy less shit you don’t need anyway so you can work a little less.

And don’t be so damn hard on yourself.

XO ~Robyn

Weight Loss Coaching is not a fad diet, cleanse or get thin quick scheme. This approach is a pathway to sanity around food, a healthier you, lasting results – and a more delicious life.

I work with courageous + determined women who are ready to say goodbye to yo-yo dieting and calorie counting – for good. If this approach resonates with you, then LET’S CHAT Chickadee!

 

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What’s Way Better Than Food?

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Over the summer, I noticed that I was turning to food more often than usual. My scale noticed too.

So I sat down with my Top 5 Values and BOOM! – it was abundantly clear that I was altogether neglecting my adventure value.

My husband and I had been discussing the idea of visiting Scotland for about two years. But we came up with excuse after excuse for not booking the trip…

  • We don’t want to leave the dog
  • It’s too hard to step away from our businesses
  • Flights are too expensive right now
  • Maybe next spring – or in 2018

When we’re trying to lose weight, most of us rely on willpower to resist our desire for food – until we inevitably run out of willpower.

But there’s an alternative approach to weight loss that happens to make life even more fulfilling. Yes, MORE fulfilling.

Ask yourself this question. What’s way better than food in your life? What gives you even more pleasure than your favorite treat?

When I answered this question for myself, here’s what I came up with…

  • Planning + going on adventures and road trips
  • Hiking + snowshoeing in nature
  • Having fun with my friends
  • Reading an amazing book that I can’t put down
  • Learning something new
  • Feeling a sense of accomplishment

My invitation to you is to no longer think of losing weight as a period of deprivation. When we purposefully increase the amount of time we’re dedicating to behaviors that create more pleasure than food, the desire for the extra food tends to fall away.

Step #1 – Get clear about what’s better than food in your life.

Step #2 – Decide how you can create more of these things. Be specific + create an action plan.

Step #3 – Take action! If being in nature is better than food, work out a way to carve time out of each day to go outside. If you crave adventure – stop waiting for the perfect time and book that trip.

And that, my friends, is how you lose weight without all the craving and deprivation.

I lost a pound and a half while in Scotland. Food wasn’t a priority. Food was simply there to fuel my life.

The hubby and I are planning a quick weekend camping trip to Utah in a few weeks. No more snubbing that adventure value for me.

When we create more of what brings us lasting pleasure in life, the fleeting pleasure from food becomes less compelling.

When life is more delicious, all that extra food simply isn’t necessary.

XO ~Robyn

Weight Loss Coaching is not another fad diet, cleanse or get thin quick scheme. This approach is a pathway to sanity around food, a healthier you, lasting results – and a more delicious life.

I work with courageous + determined women who are ready to say goodbye to yo-yo dieting and calorie counting – for good. If this approach resonates with you, then LET’S CHAT Chickadee!

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Loch Ness, Scotland