Tag how to lose weight without dieting

Something I’ve been asked a lot recently is “are you worried about the coronavirus?”

Worried? Nope.

Mindful? Yes.

Here’s why…

Worry pretends to be useful — but it never is.

Worry causes us to stockpile ridiculous amounts of loo roll.

Worry causes us to sleep terribly, so we reach for sugary foods the next day as a pick-me-up.

Worry causes our bodies to flood with stress hormones which leads to comfort eating.

Worry is a trickster.

It tricks us by pretending to be useful. But it isn’t.

I feel you.

There’s so much going on out there that we could worry about—media articles, politicians, the stock market, job losses—that we can’t control.

Worry distracts us from what we can control.

We need to come back to what you can control.

Like…

choosing how we show up energetically in our lockdown bubble (remember, the children follow our lead)

choosing to savour chocolate (not eat the whole bar)

it’s a choice.

And it starts with recognising when worry is tricking you.

If you’re ready to swap worry with confidence and take control of comfort eating, why not join us in the free Facebook group ‘Peace With Food’.

Has the world’s fear and panic started to inject itself into your covid-19 self-isolation bubble?

If it has, I feel you.

I’ll be honest.

Even though I’m a weight loss hypnotherapist, my eating habits – my healthy eating habits – went out the window there for a couple of days.

#COMFORTFOOD

And, I’ve been sneaking some extra “comfort food” treats into my shopping basket too.

Mostly wine and chocolate. Forget about loo roll!!! Wine and chocolate for me!!!

Now, my tip for this week is an oldy but a goody.

This tip never goes out of fashion, especially trying times, like these ones.

The tip is this…

BE KIND.

Be kind to the person at the supermarket who thinks food limits don’t apply to them.

Be kind to the kids who’re bickering because they’ve been cooped up all day.

Right now, even if it doesn’t seem like it, everyone is doing the best they can.

And that includes you, darling.

Be kind, be compassionate, go gently.

It’s the only way through this.

Now if you’re struggling with stress eating or the coronavirus has you slipping into helpful patterns of overeating – I’d like to support you.

I’m running a 5-day Thriving During Lockdown online retreat.

It’s FREE.

It’s online.

And it’ll give you the support and the tools you need to control your emotional eating, feel good about yourself, and stay healthy, happy….sane… through the ‘lockdown’ and beyond.

I look forward to supporting you through this.

And until then, be kind. x

Nothing takes the spring out of our step more quickly than a critical comment made by the wrong person at the wrong time.

How ironic then that the meanest person that we will ever encounter is the one living in our own heads!

You guessed it; today we’re talking about how to tame your inner critic.

The inner mean girl leads to weight gain…

Many clients share that day after day they crucify themselves with de-motivating, nit-picking, meanness.

Which sadly, leads to emotional eating, overeating, comfort eating as a form of numbing the pain.

Hello, vending machine and that third helping of chocolate cake.

Well, don’t we?!

Speaking to you as a reformed emotional eater, you need to start having a meaningful conversation with your inner critic.

Taking control…

Taming your inner critic is something we explore in detail in the Lighten up programme.

But the first step, and something you can do today, is to recognise that are NOT the conversation that is going on in your mind.

This is a light-bulb moment for many women.  To realise that just because there’s a conversation going on in your head –you don’t have to participate in the conversation nor even listen to it.

Awareness is key

The next time your head fills with disapproving voices, I encourage you to have the awareness. Recognise what’s going on.

“Okay, I’m beating myself up, I’m being mean and disapproving of myself.” So that’s the awareness.

And then, simply say, “next, please”.

“Next, please!”

Just because there’s a voice in your head doesn’t mean you have to listen to its pontifications!!!

You wouldn’t bother listening to a music track you don’t enjoy, so why listen to a voice in your head that you don’t enjoy?

So just like you would with that music track. Press fast forwards, or mentally say ‘next please,’ and you’ll be amazed at how that thought shifts away.

Yes, this practice.

And yes, this takes patience.

But it works!

If you’d like more mindset tips for feeling confident around food, I’d love you to join me in my free Facebook group called Peace With Food.

If there was a simple everyday activity you were doing at home — which was potentially setting your daughter up for future weight issues — you’d want to know about it, wouldn’t you?

You need to STOP doing this in front of your daughters

If you’re a mum, I strongly encourage you to throw away your scales.

(Or, if you really,y really, reeeeeeally feel you need to weigh yourself, only weigh yourself when your kids can’t see you).

Why would I toss my scales?

Sure, it sounds harmless, like a small thing but think about it.

When your child sees you on the scales and hears you despairing due to number on the scale what message are you reinforcing?

You’re teaching the idea that the number is mega IMPORTANT.

You’re teaching that she has to look to that number for validation of her loveliness and good enoughness.

And chances are she too will become a slave to that number before she’s even out of her primary school uniform.

Little eyes watch everything

Your daughter is watching everything you do — even if she pretends she isn’t!

We need to teach our children to trust their bodies – to nourish them and listen to them – not be a slave to the number on the scale.

So please, toss the scales.

If you’d like to learn more encouraging and helpful ways to measure progress — which you can share with your daughter, you might be interested in Lighten Up. It’s my six-week online Virtual Gastric Hypnosis programme. Doors open in April. Head on over to Lighten Up for more information.

About 75% of women I work with identify as being “a foodie”.

If you’re a foodie and you’d like to shift some weight,  today’s tip is for you.

What’s a foodie?

A foodie is someone interested in food, someone who is curious about exploring new foods, someone who savours and enjoys their food.

What a foodie isn’t.

– A foodie isn’t someone who goes back for seconds and thirds because “I wouldn’t want it to go to waste” which means every meal becomes an overeating event.

– A foodie isn’t someone who picks and nibbles and grazes so frequently during the day that when night time comes they fall asleep with a food baby stretching their jim-jams.

– A foodie isn’t someone who sprints through their meals so they can speed onto the next thing on their 12-page to-do list.

Get honest

I encourage you to get super honest with yourself.

Are you really a foodie?

Or have you developed some less-than-awesome eating habits? Some less- than-nourishing eating habits and less-than-loving eating habits?

How to start being a true foodie (not a fake foodie!)

One of the simplest steps you can take to be more of a true foodie – and shift some weight in the process – is to slow down your eating.

Savour your food and give yourself time to enjoy your food. 

Eating too fast and eating too much is a habit.

And like all habits, habits can be changed.

If you’d like more mindset tips on how you can enjoy your food and still shift the weight, I’d love you to join me in my free Facebook group called Peace With Food.