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December 24, 2015 By Robyn

Values Driven Weight Loss

Society tells us that the way to be happy is to achieve our goals.

Graduate from college.
Get a good job.
Find a partner.
Buy a house.
Get fit.
Get that promotion.
Raise healthy + happy kids.
Go on vacation.
Buy a bigger house.
And a nice car.
And a boat.
And…

It’s true that if you achieve a goal there’s a feeling of happiness associated with it. It’s also true that the feeling doesn’t last very long.

You quickly settle back at your baseline level of happiness and start thinking about the next goal.

Seeking, searching, striving, pushing, reaching, climbing.

This gets to be quite exhausting – and ultimately, unfulfilling.

But there’s a different way to live your life. One that is rich and meaningful and fulfilling.

Imagine you’re heading off on a road trip with your two best friends – Molly and Miranda. Let’s say the destination is Canyon Ranch – a posh spa in Arizona.

Molly is goal focused.

Throughout the entire two-day road-trip she’s saying…

How long before we get there?
It’s taking forever.
I can’t wait for my massage.
I hope I can fit everything I want to do in.
OMG there’s construction – we’re going to get there later than planned. This is terrible.

Miranda is values focused.

She wants to get to Canyon Ranch too. But she’s also in touch with her values around adventure and curiosity and fun.

Miranda is taking in the scenery – pointing out the cactus and the amazing rock formations.

She’s singing along to her favorite songs.

Molly and Miranda both enjoy their time at Canyon Ranch – but Miranda enjoys the journey as well.

That’s what living a values driven life looks like.

The same approach can be applied to weight loss.

Sometimes we’re so focused on getting to our “goal” weight, that we miss out on the wisdom + fun + possibilities along the way.

When we’re goals focused, we think we can’t be happy or confident or sexy or date or buy a cute outfit or go on that beach vacation until those magic digits pop up on the scale.

When we’re goals focused, we keep trying the next fad diet – the one that can get us to our destination as quickly as possible. And I think you know how that usually turns out.

Permanent weight loss happens when you adopt a values focused approach as you “drive” to your destination.

If you’re ready to go on a values driven journey + learn about yourself + grow as an individual as you move down the scale, then coaching might be right for you.

I’ll have a couple of openings for new personal weight loss coaching clients coming up in early January. Are you in?

I work with determined + smart + courageous women who want a healthier body and a more delicious life! No calorie counting required.

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

~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.

November 5, 2015 By Robyn

Is “I’m Fat” In Charge of Your Life?

Thoughts swirl around in our minds all day long. And not all of them are rose colored.

I started keeping track of my non-rosy thoughts this morning (knowing that I would be writing this post)…

My hair is a mess.
I should have worded that email differently.
She’s so much fitter than I am.
I should get up earlier.

…and it’s only 10:00.

It’s normal to have a wide variety of thoughts. What a relief, right?

The key to creating desirable outcomes has nothing to do with eliminating all of our negative thoughts + feelings. That’s im-fricken-possible! It’s about being able to step back and witness our unproductive thoughts + emotions without letting them run the show.

When you can see the thought + not judge it + not buy into it, then you get to choose how to act – instead of flying on autopilot.

Let’s use, “I’m fat,” as an example.

So many of my clients let these two little words drive their behavior. When your mind starts playing the, “I’m fat,” recording – notice how you act.

Does the thought help you be the person you want to be?

Does it help you do the things you want to do?

My guess is N-O no.

Most of my clients truly want to treat their bodies with care and respect. They want to exercise and make healthy choices. They value self-care.

Now imagine if I could wave my magic wand and just like that, “I’m fat,” no longer had any power over you. Imagine if it didn’t cause you to feel bad or not good enough.

Let that really sink in for a moment. I’m fat = totally unaffected. Did that blow your mind?

How might your life be different if you didn’t have to carry the burden of your thoughts with you?

When we get all tangled up in our story…

I’m fat.
I have no willpower.
I’ll never be healthy.
I don’t have the discipline it takes.
I’m a failure.

…it doesn’t help us live our values.

Instead we usually avoid socializing + feel bad about ourselves + plan our next restrictive and cruel diet while binge watching the Netflix show du jour and eating Doritos.

Why do we do this? Our beliefs drive our behavior via the feelings they create. And I’m fat usually creates feelings of shame + insecurity + self loathing.

It doesn’t matter if the thoughts are true or false. The question to ask is,

Does it help me to hang on to this thought?

There’s a simple way to lessen the impact of these thoughts.

When you notice the thought, don’t challenge it or dispute it. Don’t try to push it away or replace it with something positive. Simply replay the words with, “I’m having the thought that,” in front of them.

I’m having the thought that I’m fat.

I’m having the thought that people think I’m lazy.

I’m having the thought that I don’t have what it takes.

See the thought for what it is – a thought. Then ask yourself…

If I let these thoughts guide what I do, does it help me be the person I want to be?

XO ~Robyn

I’m all booked up for private Weight Loss Coaching through the end of 2015! If you want to work with me in January, don’t wait to reach out. Contact me now to get on the waitlist.

Simply click here to schedule a free Discovery Session or email me directly at robyn@chickadeeweightloss.com. Let’s chat and see if we’re a good fit.

I work with fun + smart + courageous women who want a healthier body and a more delicious life! No calorie counting or elimination of food groups required.

September 10, 2015 By Robyn

Top Non-Diet Weight Loss Strategies – Learning to Feel

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.

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.

July 16, 2015 By Robyn

Top Non-Diet Weight Loss Strategies – Make it Pretty

We all know we can banish carbs, obsessively count calories or spend hours on the treadmill and lose weight – but that’s absolutely, positively, unequivocally NO FUN.

It also happens to be a shortsighted approach to weight loss.

Do you really want to count every bleeping calorie or say goodbye bread for the rest of your life?

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my favorite non-diet weight loss strategies for long-term success. Because that’s the goal, right? Lose the weight and keep it off – for GOOD.

Strategy #1 – Make Your Food Look Pretty

I’ve got a confession to make. Up until a few short months ago, I ate most of my meals straight out of big glass bowls, take away boxes from Whole Foods or Tupperware containers.

And now – well the pics above are all meals + snacks I’ve eaten in the past few days.

My dishwasher was happy about my old approach, but the most fascinating thing happened when I started using plates and bowls and making my meals look nice – I lost a few pounds.

Food that looks pretty is more satisfying.

That’s why presentation is such a big deal at restaurants. The experience of eating is more pleasurable when your food is presented in an attractive way. How you serve a meal or snack can affect how quickly, how much and how often you eat.

Now you don’t have to master the art of culinary presentation, but a few simple steps can go a long way.

1. Put your food on a plate or in a bowl. Don’t eat out of containers, boxes or Tupperware.

2. Make it pretty + colorful. Add some fruit, sliced tomato or a lemon wedge.

Color matters because your eyes start “eating” before the food even reaches your lips. If your plate is looking a little bland, sprinkle some seasoning or garnish over the top.

Pretty food is more satisfying – no doubt about it. So go and create some of your own picture worthy plates. You’ll have more fun eating and you might even lose a few pounds.

Follow what I’m eating on twogrand (username chickarobyn).