Robyn Spurr

Personal Health and Weight Loss Coaching For Women

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Once I Lose Weight

Most of us think our weight is the main problem that needs to be solved.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

When our obsession with our weight is front and center, we’re unable to focus on any aspect of self-care that doesn’t involve shrinking our bodies.

I’ll be kinder to myself once I lose weight.

I’ll start walking (or go to a yoga class) once I lose weight.

I’ll buy quality clothes that fit well once I lose weight.

I’ll eat what truly feels good in my body once I lose weight.

I’ll book that vacation once I lose weight.

I’ll stop starving myself once I lose weight.

Essentially, we’re neglecting our basic needs and desires until we feel we “deserve” it by losing weight.

This is incredibly unhelpful.

What leads to a healthy body image and long-term healthy behaviors is not a lower weight, but an ability to practice self-care no matter what your weight is.

If you’re wrapped up in hate and shame around your body, you’re not very likely to want to truly take care of it. At least not long-term.

A far more helpful approach is to focus on feeling your best in the body you have now. It’s starting with the end point – practicing daily behaviors that you know make you feel better.

We cannot “control” our weight. But we can shift the focus to practicing healthier habits – a much more attainable goal.

Weight loss is simply a likely side effect of healthy behavior change and consistent self-care.

Starting from a place of kindness and compassion boosts your chances of creating results that stick.

💙 Robyn

Interested in a one-on-one coaching relationship with me? It would be an honor to work with you if and when the time feels right.

To learn more about Personal Health Coaching click HERE. 

To schedule a Discovery Session click HERE.

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The Unfillable Hole

In the minutes before yoga class a few weeks ago, I saw my friend Shana walk into the studio. Happy to see her, I jumped up and immediately heard a POP in my leg.

Not good.

But because I can be stubborn and willful, I decided to stay.

It’s not that bad.

You can make it through.

Come on Robyn, you’re tough. You got this.

As soon as I half attempted Warrior 2 pose, it became VERY clear I needed to go.

Tail tucked between my legs, I grabbed my mat and hobbled out of class.

Tim, my Godsend of a physical therapist, diagnosed the injury the next day (a strained gastrocnemius muscle) and set me up with a few weeks’ worth of PT appointments.

It wasn’t as bad as I feared, but it would take some time to heal.

With extra time on my hands, I did what I always do – analyze and overthink and ultimately, look for the lesson.

The lesson was a familiar one. I’d been pushing myself too hard. My body sent warning signals in the days before the POP, but I ignored them.

Why?

Because like so many women out there, I struggle with feeling like I’m enough.

You should be stronger.

You should be thinner.

You should be working harder. Volunteering. Socializing more.

A few days ago, I read this post by Seth Godin.

How big is your unfillable hole?

It doesn’t really matter, does it?

All of your bad habits (and some of your good ones) exist to fill that hole, or to protect it from being seen.

And as long as our mission is to fill the hole, and as long as the hole remains unfillable (and after all this time, if it’s not filled yet, good luck with that) it doesn’t really matter how small or trivial or unmentionable the hole is.

It still drives us.

The first step to living with it is to acknowledge it.

You can’t make it go away.

But you can learn to dance with it.

No amount of meters rowed on a rower or FitBit steps taken or pounds lost or success will lead to this elusive destination known as enough (or perfect). Being “enough” is my unfillable hole. For you it might be feeling lovable or safe or whole or seen. The unfillable hole might be a trauma you experienced or the loss of a loved one. Or – you may not have an unfillable hole at all.

What I love most about Seth Godin’s post is the line, “you can’t make it go away.” It’s the trying to make it go away that usually gets us in trouble, yeah? All the chocolate and wine and Prozac and marathons and Netflix binges in the world can’t fill the void.

We can’t make it go away, but we can acknowledge and accept it. We can increase our ability to practice self-compassion. We can build up our self-esteem. We can learn from missteps, forgive ourselves for being human and move forward with a bit more wisdom than before.

I like to say I’m a perfectionist in recovery. “Enough” will always be unattainable. I will suffer relapses (sometimes daily). And that’s okay.

The unfillable hole won’t go away, but my dance with it can become more graceful.

💙 Robyn

To learn more about Personal Health Coaching click HERE. 

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Punk Rock Eating

Why is the obesity epidemic continuing to spiral out of control?

We know that being obese makes us more likely to have heart disease + high blood pressure + diabetes + sleep apnea. It raises our risk of stroke and some cancers. It puts constraints on our lives and what we’re able to do physically. 

Yet nothing has changed.

Despite all we know and all the money we’ve spent, we are getting fatter and sicker as a society.

I was listening to a podcast while hiking yesterday and something clicked.

We don’t need more awareness or more programs or more funding. We need a new normal.

The way of eating that contributes to the ever-evolving health crisis we’ve found ourselves in is NORMAL.

As human beings, we want to conform. We want to fit in. We want to be accepted and liked by the tribe. So we do what’s expected. We do what is considered normal.

  • Go to school.
  • Get a job.
  • Get married.
  • Have kids.
  • Buy a house.
  • Order pizza.
  • Eat dessert.

Living an unhealthy lifestyle has become the standard.

Look around. Walk through the grocery store. Study restaurant menus. Watch commercials. Pay attention to what other people are doing and saying.

There’s no denying that what has become normal is not what’s best for us.

Consider this. It’s entirely acceptable to ask…

  • Why aren’t you drinking?
  • Is that all you’re eating?
  • Aren’t you having dessert?
  • Do you want a cupcake?
  • Are you sure you don’t want some bread?
  • Won’t you be hungry?
  • Want to supersize that?

It’s entirely unacceptable to ask…

  • Why are you eating three slices of pizza?
  • Why are you having another glass of wine?
  • Why are you snacking?
  • Why are you going back to the buffet again?
  • Are you sure you don’t want some baby carrots?
  • Why aren’t you ordering a salad?
  • Won’t you be full?
  • Are you sure you don’t want a small?

What if the tables were turned and a healthy lifestyle was normal?

My challenge to you?

Do what is best for your body + your life + your goals.

Be a rebel. A nonconformist.

A punk rock eater.

“Punk is: the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions; a movement that serves to refute social attitudes that have been perpetuated through willful ignorance of human nature; a process of questioning and commitment to understanding that results in self-progress, and through repetition, flowers into social evolution; a belief that this world is what we make of it, truth comes from our understanding of the way things are, not from the blind adherence to prescriptions about the way things should be; the constant struggle against fear of social repercussions.”


– Greg Graffin (Bad Religion)

💙 Robyn

To learn more about Personal Health Coaching click HERE. 

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The Freeing Power of Personal Rules

Without reminders + gentle nudges + bumpers to keep us in our lane, we will inevitably default to autopilot mode.

In other words, we will do what we’ve always done.

Autopilot works brilliantly when we have zero interest in changing our actions – but when it comes to self-improvement, it’s kryptonite.

If you’re serious about getting better at something, you’ll need..

1. Self-awareness
2. Accountability tools
3. Personal rules

Yes — rules.

Guidelines. Instructions. Behaviors. Habits. Whatever you want to call them.

The idea of setting rules to live by strikes fear in most people. We immediately recall all the times unfair or cruel rules were forced upon us – or the times we attempted to live under unbearable self-imposed rules (no eating after 6:00).

That is not what I’m talking about.

Below is a list of my current daily habits.

  • Go for a walk
  • Eat at least 5 servings of veggies
  • Keep a daily journal (3 things that would make today great + 3 things I’m grateful for and why)
  • Do at least 2 sets of one strength training exercise
  • Post EVERYTHING consumed on YouAte (a food journaling app)

I track each one of my daily habits in an app called Habit Share. My steps are tracked with Fitbit.

Why all the apps?

If you aren’t aware of what you’re doing, then it is extremely hard to change your life with any degree of consistency. Trying to build better habits without self-awareness is like flying blind.

Rules are often associated with a lack of freedom. But setting rules for yourself is completely different. Freedom is the whole point.

Self-imposed rules aren’t constraints, they’re behavioral boundaries you get to establish yourself, through your own experience and wisdom.

A good personal rule sets you free from having to stop and negotiate with yourself for the hundredth time on the same issues. Should I have a third drink? Should I go for a walk today? Should I order the salad?

Despite our fear of rules, acting in accordance with a well-considered personal rule does not feel constraining. Instead, it generates a profound feeling of power and independence.

Coach Tips:

  • Choose rules that make your life better and set you up for success. Rules that aren’t so difficult you can’t adhere at least 80% of the time.
  • Choose rules that add and enhance (eat a serving of veggies at dinner, go for a walk) rather than subtract (no sugar).
  • Experiment with short-term rules (14 days, the month of February). Be curious. Try. Test. Investigate.
  • Utilize accountability tools (Habit Share, Fitbit, YouAte, a coach 😃)
  • Choose rules that gently stretch you in the direction you want to go.
  • Most important, choose rules that feel like love not punishment.

💙Robyn

Interested in a one-on-one coaching relationship with me? It would be an honor to work with you if and when the time feels right.

To learn more about Personal Health Coaching click HERE.