Tag how to lose weight without dieting

How often do you set a goal – maybe drop a dress size, come of meds or feel more energised – but you keep repeating the old behaviour?

We know that doing the same old, same old, isn’t going move us towards our happy shape and size … but we do it anyway!

Same stuff, different day…grrrrrr!

What most people do is this. We create our future from our past.

By that I mean, since we’re repeating the same old behaviours, of course, our future feels like a repetition of the past.

If you recognise this about yourself – you’re not crazy – it’s because our unconscious mind loves the familiar.

So instead of creating your future from your past, what I encourage you to start making decisions from the future happy healthy you.

Here’s how that looks.

Your future looks bright…

Imagine the slim, happy healthy you. The you who is off meds, the you who has lots of energy, the you who’s lost a dress size, or several!

Now imagine that you. And make ALL your decisions from her perspective.

For example, what would she do now?

Literally, ask her advice.

Maybe you’re choosing what to have for breakfast or you’re choosing what to pick from the menu. Maybe you’re thinking about skipping your daily walk!

“What would the future you, the slim, happy, healthy version of you do?”

She’s the version of you who’s already achieved what you want, so she has the answer.

By asking her for guidance, you’re tapping into some very deep wisdom.

And the more you listen to the wisdom of the future you, in the now, the sooner you’ll create the changes you’re after and the sooner the pair of you will meet!

Interestingly, because it’s YOU telling you what to do, you’ll find your inner rebel much more accepting of the advice, than if it came from another person.

Go have a chat with the future of you before you make any more decisions!

If you want more helpful mindset techniques, why not join me in my free women’s-only Facebook group called Peace With Food. I’d love to see you there.

At this time of year, there’s a question on many women’s lips.

“What can I do to avoid the dreaded holiday weight gain?”

Firstly, I encourage you to question the idea that it’s “compulsory to gain weight over Christmas”.

Remember, our unconscious mind always seeks to prove us right. So, if you’re telling yourself it’s inevitable, guess what, you’ll prove yourself right.

Now here are three practical eating tips to help you navigate the festive season:

1. Enjoy your favourite foods

There’s this crazy idea that if we’re carrying additional weight, then we need to avoid the crisps, the chocolate, the sweets – all those Christmas yummies.

But those foods are not just for slim people.

And we know very, very well, that when you tell yourself you mustn’t have certain foods, we crave them because what we repress, becomes the obsessed.

So eat your favourite foods. But eat them in moderation, savour them, and really enjoy them.

Do not push them away. That’s when overeating, bingeing and feeling out of control becomes part of your holiday experience. So enjoy your favourite foods.

2. Stay mindful when you eat

Nothing will make you gain weight more quickly than if you eat when distracted or doing something else, like watching telly.

Make sure you pay attention to your body. Are you eating because you’re tummy-rumble hungry or are you eating “just because it’s there”?

Your body isn’t a rubbish bin, and tossing food into her when she doesn’t need it is a form of self-harm.

3. Aim to be the last to finish at the table

Not because you’re eating the most in quantity but because you’re eating the most slowly.

I encourage you to make it a competition in your own mind – to be the last to finish. Nobody else needs to know.

By eating slowly, it helps you to tune into your tummy so you know when she’s satisfied.

Bonus tip: Stop eating to make other people happy.

I know it sounds crazy, but so many of us women do. We’ve been conditioned to placate other people by eating what’s put in front of us.

By doing this, we ignore our body’s “no” (just to make other people feel comfortable.)

Remember, you’re not four years old anymore. You don’t have to eat two pieces of Aunt Murriel’s cake to validate her baking skills. Listen to YOUR body!

Have a super Christmas lovely and enjoy time off with family and friends or whatever it is you’re doing. I’ll see you next week for another making peace with food tip.

If you want to re-learn how to listen to your body and step into the new decade feeling confident and control around food, virtual gastric band hypnosis can help.

C’mon over to Lighten Up.

Are you a mum?

And are you worried about the eating habits of your child?

Many mums share that nothing they do – no amount of nagging, no amount of worrying, no amount of restricting what goes in the lunch box– seems to change their kids eating habits.

So what’s a mum to do?

What I encourage you to do – and this might not be what you want to hear – is get up close and personal with your own eating habits.

For example, are you sneaky eating when you think no one’s watching?

Are you denying yourself foods you love, then bingeing later.

Do you talk about good foods vs bad foods?

Little eyes watch everything

While it might seem that our children don’t listen to what we say because they’re busy learning, growing, playing, goofing off being a kid – they do watch everything you (and dad) do.

E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

So next time you ask them to “leave that chocolate alone because dinner’s on its way”, but then you sneak some chocolate before dinner, get curious about what example you are setting.

Our kids watch everything we do. Which is why I love working with women create change in their own eating habits. Because when we women create peace with food so does the next generation.

I hope you found that helpful. If you’re ready to dive deeper into how you can reset your eating habits you might like to know that Lighten Up – my online, six-week virtual gastric band programme opens shortly. Why not pop on over and add your name to the waitlist so you’re in the know when doors open. Otherwise, I’ll see you next week for another making peace with food tip.

Today I want to talk about the photograph.

You know the one.

It’s that photo of you at your heaviest. That photo of you at your lowest ebb. You at your most unflattering.

Maybe you’ve plastered it to the fridge in the hope that it’ll stop you in your tracks when you’re tempted to go back for seconds?

Sure, many weight loss coaches do talk about harnessing the power of the unflattering photo as a motivational tool.

But I disagree. Here’s why.

It’s very hard to create change from that feeling of shame. Let that sink in.

Sure the threat of the photo might feel motivational for a couple of days – but for most women, shame is exhausting, and it doesn’t work in the long term.

For example, a client I saw this week mentioned how she’d used the photo of herself at her heaviest – after the birth of her fourth child – as a bookmark for the last eight years.

Had that motivational bookmark worked? Nope!

That unflattering photo was the last thing she saw before she fell asleep at night. Is it any wonder she woke up feeling despondent and unmotivated!

Shaming behaviour makes us feel miserable. And what do we do when we feel miserable? We eat!

So stop using those unflattering photographs as a way of trolling yourself.

Becoming your happy shape and size is all about re-learning how to listen to your body. And we’re much more likely to listen to someone we feel safe with. Allow your body to start feeling safe with you.

I’m not suggesting you need bury or burn all your unflattering photos – because there is a time and a place for them – but only use photos in a gentle, loving way.

Discovering how to trust your body again is exactly what we cover in Lighten Up. Lighten Up is my six-week online virtual gastric band programme for women.

If you want to reconnect with your body and lose weight from a place of love, virtual gastric band hypnosis can help.

C’mon over to Lighten Up!

Isn’t the virtual gastric band only for larger people?

It’s a question I’m asked all the time.

I have to admit, that was my assumption too when I trained as a clinical hypnotherapist nearly 10 years ago.

I assumed I’d be working with larger lasses.

With Gastric Band Surgery you require a specific BMI.

And that’s simply because the gastric band surgery was developed for people who are considered technically morbidly obese.

With Virtual Gastric Band …

The beautiful thing about the VIRTUAL gastric band is that it’s effective whether you’re carrying a lot more weight than you’d like to be carrying.

Or, whether you fit your skinny jeans but you’re tired of the food obsessions, the cravings and the sugar addiction, for example.

So the VGB is open to you irrespective of your physical size. It’s more about where you’re at emotionally and mentally.

The virtual gastric band resets so much of the craziness we’ve learned about food and our bodies – irrespective of what your current shape and size is.

If you’re looking for long-term sustainable weight loss, the virtual gastric band hypnosis can help.

C’mon over to Lighten Up.