Since I won't be released by my surgeon to run or lunge or box jump until mid-February, my normal Saturday morning trip to the gym was clearly out of the question today. In lieu of profuse sweating, I made myself a delicious mug of blueberry tea, watched the spectacular Colorado sunrise and logged into my Google Reader. I stumbled upon a thought provoking Psychology Today article on self-love that inspired this post (the article is included at the end). The concept of self-love shows up all the time in my line of work. There is a school of thought that subscribes to the following notion: We need to learn to love ourselves first, before other people will love us. I disagree. Years ago, I whole-heartedly bought into the "love yourself … [Read more...] about Do You Really Need to Love Yourself First?
Self Acceptance
Tales of an Imperfect Weight Loss Coach
My clients everyone wants to know what I eat. Well, some folks might be a little surprised by my diet over the past several months. I no longer keep a food journal, but if I did it would contain the following foods, over and over, day in and day out for the past 60 days or so. Oatmeal Yogurt Berries Apples Wasa Crackers Peanut Butter Cottage Cheese Green Tea (mugs of the stuff) Bison Hot Dogs Tokyo Joe’s Spring Rolls Chocolate Wine Oatmeal (there has been lots of oatmeal) Yep, that’s pretty much it. Not many veggies or home cooked, protein packed meals on that list, eh? You might be wondering why the heck anyone would want to hire me as their weight loss coach. I’m sure there are hundreds thousands of weight loss coaches … [Read more...] about Tales of an Imperfect Weight Loss Coach
Wise Woman Warriors
A few weeks ago, I had an idea. I decided to launch a private Facebook group for clients and friends of Chickadee Weight Loss. Why, you ask? Well, I currently belong to my own private Facebook forum made up of fellow weight loss coaches. Our little community is full of whip smart, passionate and supportive women and now that I've experienced the power of women supporting one another, I couldn't possibly imagine my life without my "tribe". I love them with all my heart and soul. After years of working one on one with women you start noticing some trends. Lots of my Chickadees tell me they wish they had more female companions who were authentic, supportive and honest. They often feel lonely and isolated. They struggle to make new … [Read more...] about Wise Woman Warriors
The Weight Loss Journey
We take years, sometimes decades to gain our weight. One day we decide we want it gone. NOW! We google "lose weight fast". We ask Aunt Mary about that shake she's been drinking. We starve. We overtrain. We cry. We beat ourselves up. We spend lots of money. We lose a few pounds. We gain it back. This is the classic diet mentality. Why do we do this to ourselves? Again and again... Because we're impatient. We want a quick fix. We don't want to change our habits for good. It takes too long. Every time we crash diet, we lose fat AND muscle. Losing muscle over and over slows the metabolism. Restrictive eating does the same thing. It gets harder to lose the weight with each diet. There is another choice. To go slow. To … [Read more...] about The Weight Loss Journey