I will do what I can and learn from my mistakes.

“Fat Thought” I have be perfect to be successful

I like to think of this as ‘Perfectionitis’. Creating unrealistic expectations with: weekly weight-loss, speed of weight-loss, and or your overall weight-loss goal is a sure way to frustrate yourself and inadvertently, actually delay success.

We’ve all had times when our weight gain hasn’t really bothered us, and then there are times when our weight gain gives us a scare. It’s normally at these times when our weight hits an ‘Ouch’ factor that we become determined to make a change for the better. Good examples of common ‘Ouch’ factor points are: When your spouse makes an unkind comment about your weight, when you have a reunion or important event coming up, when you reach an undesirable number on the scales, or when your Doctor warns you about the health implications of your weight. These ‘Ouch’ factors leave us feeling like failures, and feeling so frustrated that we’re willing to enlist any means necessary to drop the weight.

These ‘Ouch’ factor are good for us, because they provide us with a powerful reason why we need to change. The problem is that these ‘ouch’ factors can scare us so much that we are willing to resort to any method to drop the weight fast. Once we’ve decided upon a particular diet or change we commit to following through whole heartedly and in an attempt to make positive change, we put the pressure on ourselves to be ‘perfect’. Like all of humanity, too much pressure on ourselves leads to stress, stress leads to giving in.

“Slim Thought” I will do what I can and learn from my mistakes.

There is such a common fear of failure amongst people who struggle with their weight. The most important thing Gina and I have learned working with so many women over the last 20 years of being in the weight-loss field, is to make change simple and enjoyable!

We all know of simple easy changes we could make, that would lead to weight-loss over time. It’s a losing mindset to think small changes won’t make that much of a difference, because the opposite is actually true. What we’ve seen time and time again is that when change is simple and easy, it’s sustainable. When people just drink water every day and then drop 500grams in a week… it’s encouraging. Incorporating any kind of activity into your regular lifestyle and then seeing a 2 kg drop over the month is the best way to ensure you start and continue on your weight-loss.

The major difference with how Gina and I actually coach women is that we teach them how to lose weight eating any food, living with no restriction is such freedom! Our clients drops 500grams to 2kg weekly when they learn to listen, trust and follow their body cues of when, what and how much to eat. It only takes 1-3 sessions for clients to learn, but being able to eat all the foods they love and still drop weight is definitely a motivator for our clients. If it’s do-able for today, and do-able for the week, then a month… it’s do-able for life. It’s the way Gina and I eat to stay slim.

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself” Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

I always liked the sound of that quote… but for many years I couldn’t comprehend what it truly meant. I thought it just meant fear is nothing… and this quote does infer the nothingness of fear. However, while I could intellectually grasp the idea that fear is nothing, emotionally I was in the grips of my own fears every day.  I would still be left to either battle, manage or simply succumb to them. Each of these strategies was met with varying affects; anxiety, sadness, powerlessness, anger to say the least… More importantly it was the decisions I made in these states of mind that most concerned me: binge eating, or starving myself. I had already learned to lose weight and manage it sensibly years ago. The weight gaining effects of emotional eating was something I had also learned to manage.  But what I could no longer tolerate was, feeling like a victim. Feeling like I was at the mercy of my own emotions. I went through stages of hating my emotions, and wanting to block them out, to utterly falling into them and becoming lost for hours, neither to any avail or improve. I was subject to them, or so I thought I was. This internal restriction was so painful for me that I began to seek out information and ideas that could help change the situation.

The idea that I kept connecting with was ‘peace’; a sort of contentment with what is. For me the thought of being able to live in peace felt impossible yet incredibly desirable. To imagine that no matter what was happening around me, I was free to remain peaceful and calm inside. Could there be anything more valuable?

I didn’t personally know anyone who lived this way, however more and more authors and professionals began to stand out to me who openly spoke about surrendering, trusting and allowing. In the past all of these terms would send shivers down my spine, I abhorred the idea of letting go and felt I would fall into a pit, lose all control, be utterly vulnerable and exposed to even more volatility and trauma. (Yes I was a bit dramatic back then lol)

However I’ve come to realize that that’s the lie that prevents more people from accessing their own peaceful oasis inside. Letting go is deceptively simple, it’s not an intellectual release; it’s an emotional release. An act of surrendering to what is, and allowing it to unfold how it will; a belief that all will be well, and that everything is unfolding in perfect timing and order. The only time we are open to trail such a radical strategy like trusting and allowing is when the consequences of attempting to control life is creating more pain then it’s helping us avoid.

What have I learned about fear? I learned that there is nothing to fear except the feeling of fear… because that’s all it is.

“Slim Thought” I do what I can, when I can for as long as I like

“Fat Thought” I have to do heaps of exercise to lose weight

There is a common idea that excess weight will only come off if you do frequent, grueling exercise. When people have this idea about exercise, they push themselves so hard that they either injure themselves or end up resenting exercise all together. Actually this idea alone can lead to weight gain. Why? Remember when you started trying to exercise hard to get that excess weight off, and then you pushed yourself so hard that you ended up hating exercise, so you gave up and did nothing for a few months only to realize that you’d gotten bigger?

A similar idea we’ve heard a lot, is that if you over-eat, you have to work hard to burn it off. Using exercise as a form of punishment is extremely detrimental to long term healthy habits. Focusing on guilt, judgment and punishment are all such strong negative emotions; they will allow you to push through a grueling 1hr work-out once, but your capacity to keep this up will only diminish over time...  to the point where you may feel like you just can’t do anything active at all… Fat people have locked in exercise as a fat burning strategy; they use it to get the weight off… So what happens once you are slim? 

“Slim Thought” I do what I can, when I can for as long as I like

The key to being slim is always a matter of sustainability in all matters, especially activity. It doesn’t matter what you do, for how long or even how intense it is. What matters most is that you enjoy being active regularly. When you choose the forms of activity that appeal most to you (E.g. Walking, swimming, team sports, dance classes etc.) rather than (Weights, spin classes, mountain climbing ect); you are placing good feeling into the concept of activity. Slim people love to move and always choose to be active when they want to, and only for as long as they are enjoying it. It’s because of this attitude to activity they’ve got such good feelings around activity that it empowers them to be consistent. It’s consistently enjoying feeling good while being active that will help you become slim and stay slim.

For slim people, exercise/activity is not merely a fat burning outlet. They choose to be active for multiple reasons. They want to be active to feel good, enjoy the weather, have fun with family or friends, take time-out for themselves, or even to reflect on their day or clear their mind.

Why Change?

In all of my Coaching over the last 3 years... I've been fascinated to observe who makes massive change, who goes half way and who fails to get moving...?

Is there a theme here that could teach us how to give ourselves the best start and the most glorious finish?

1) What makes for a good start?

Any client who realises that they truly want to change always makes a great start. It's not the people who's Doctor has told them they have to change, or pressure from Spouse/Family, or even the fear of a big social event coming up... It's feeling deep down inside that 'I want to do this for me', that has been a common base for those who make a great start.

1) What makes for a bad start?

Wanting to lose weight for someone else is the worst place to start. Trying to make someone like you, love you, or stay with you will always leave you looking outside for validation... No matter how long you force yourself forward, if it's all about trying to make someone else accept you or get off your back... you will be doomed. Inevitably any energy invested in moving you forward will fizzle out and you'll feel stink for a while... But then you'll know that now it's time to forget everyone else and do it for yourself!

2) What keeps you going?

We all have our own reasons for starting to lose weight, and so often people think they need the right motivation to keep going. True Motivation is the key to sustainable results... but something even more basic, that is crucial for creating results, which often gets overlooked is - What is your plan for shifting the excess weight?
Everyone decides on how to reduce calories (Eat less) or how to use calories (Increase Activity) or a combination of both... but whatever your plan is... Are you enjoying it? Is it fun? Does it make you feel alive? Like the days just pass by quickly and whalla you're dropping weight.
We accomplish amazing weight-loss results with clients because we know how to build momentum. We know how to tailor an approach so it hits all of your feel good factors, and before long 5-10kg's has melted away easily and you know you can continue to reach your goal.

3) What halts people from reaching their goal

a) Shifting motivation to wanting to lose weight for someone else.
b) Placing high expectations and pressure upon oneself
c) Fear of change
d) Unsustainable weight-loss strategies

4) Who makes massive change?

The people I've seen who make massive change, have a dawning epiphany that they can no longer tolerate their current level of weight. They acknowledge how much pain their excess weight is creating for them, and refuse to accept it any longer. They associate pain to any habit that would continue to see their weight increase and find joy in habits that support their weight to come down. They realise it' about enjoying the journey and that any method to get to their must be on-going in order to stay at their goal.

The following quote best describes when your ready to lose weight: 

When the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.

This is what we look for in the people who want to have coaching with us. It's all about perception, and when your ready to see that the effort involved in change is less than then everyday pain of excess weight, shifting becomes easy.








   

It's not my fault - Fat Thought

“Fat Thought” 

It’s not my fault!

One of the most prevalent thoughts among those who struggle with their weight is, ‘It’s not my fault!’ It’s my Mother, she fed me too much. It’s my Father; he always drinks all weekend long. It’s my Aunty she always gave me sweets when I was sad, My Nana always served desserts after dinner, My Boyfriend is just one of those guys who can eat anything… We’ve heard so many unique variations on this. We had a plethora of people we blamed for our trouble with weight too! 

Blaming others seems to help us understand our situation better in the moment, but the truth... whenever we blame others for our choices, we render ourselves powerless to change. Because it’ true, all the people in our lives have differing degrees of influence over our thoughts, choices and behavior. But they have no more power to affect us than we choose to give them.

 “Slim Thought”  

I am responsible for me, I can create what I want, I’m free to choose.

Once Gina and I decided to take responsibility for ourselves we started becoming more aware of what we were choosing each moment. Once we saw opportunities to make choices, we focused more on what choices would be the ones to help us mover forward to where we wanted to be.

So many people avoid this step because it means acknowledging that we are the only ones who have gotten ourselves where they are. And that can hurt a lot, I was a size 20 at my biggest and it was so hard for me I didn’t want to admit that I had gotten myself there. But without making that painful step, you can’t go on to realize that you are the only one with the power to change your reality. So accepting this pain brings incredible power. Gina has an awesome affirmation that reminds us, ‘I am responsible for everything I think, feel, say and do’. It helps us to feel the power that comes when we know that we are free to choose in every moment. To know that we have to live with the consequences of our own actions.

Some people struggle with this idea, because it can plunge them into a pit of guilt. They feel so disappointed in themselves for making some of the decisions that they have in the past. This is likewise unproductive. We are each moving through out own personally trailored life of developing awareness and responsibility. We are always increasing in our understanding of our freedom wot choose and what a powerful gift it is. Rather than wallow in a pit of guilt and regretful decide make better use of your freedom from this very moment! What’s done is now thankfully in the past, and you are free to start creating what you do truly want for yourself today.  

Lysa & Gina

 

Lysa and Gina have over 20 years experience in the weight-loss field. Lysa a former personal trainer and Gina a Dietitian know why diet and exercise alone has failed so many people. Nothing will work on the outside if it’s not working first on the inside.
Lysa and Gina struggled with their weight for years; forcing themselves on diets and battling emotional eating. Lysa and Gina have slimmed a combined total of 40 kilograms and have stayed slim for 14 years because they learned how to change their mindset. They have pioneered ‘The Weigh to Freedom'; it’s about breaking free from dieting and emotional eating to slim naturally. Lysa and Gina help you learn how to change your own mindset to allow yourself to slim easily and sustainably while enjoying all foods.

We are fascinated by the impact that our thoughts have on our weight. We believe that we are all ‘Creators’ literally creating our reality every day by the thoughts we choose to focus on. Having shifted 40kg together by shifting our mindset, we’re passionate about sharing these ideas with more people. It’s our mission to help people free themselves from dieting and emotional eating to effortlessly slim to their most healthy and beautiful weight.  

What do we mean when we say ‘Mindset’?  Our mindset is our personal collection of beliefs and thoughts. It’s the idea’s that we’ve absorbed from our environment  over our lifetime. Some of the idea’s we’ve absorbed are supportive; they give us strength and allow us to create our desires. Unsupportive beliefs weaken us and become the unconscious blockages stopping us from creating what we truly want. It’s our beliefs that have the biggest impact on our emotions. It’s our emotions that have the biggest impact on our choices and behavior, and our behavior creates our reality.

Isn’t this the law of attraction? That if I focus on what I want and believe it will happen, I will manifest my desires or in this context a slim figure? Yes, it does seem that simple. However, the tricky part for many is actually being able to believe that what you want - can happen. If you’ve struggled with your weight your whole life (I was chubby from 8-22yrs Lysa) then how can you believe that you can be slim? What we often don’t realize is that in order to create a slim body, you need a whole new collection of beliefs about food, eating, activity, your weight, body and life in general in order to make the transition and know you can stay there.

Gina and I will be writing regular blogs on “Slim Thinking”; we’ll share typical ‘Fat’ thoughts that will keep anyone bound with extra weight, and the accompanying ‘Slim’ thought so little by little you can change your own mindset and allow yourself to slim easily and sustainably.