Imagine you have been following your food plan for weight loss.  You get an urge, a recurring habit, even a memory or a longing from your youth – a bowl of ice cream sounds soooo good.  Maybe your favorite donuts are sitting on the counter at work.  You just can’t imagine any reason not to eat it in that moment. 

STOP – Now imagine the bowl of ice cream or those donuts look you square in the eyes and ask: “What do you want me to do for you?”
 

It’s one-month into 2018. Have you stuck to your resolutions to get healthy this year?

Imagine deciding one day to go on a spontaneous vacation.

• Call your boss and let them know you’re outta here.

• Go to the airport and buy a ticket to mmmmm?????

• Arrive at your destination without any clothes, any reservations, any idea of the weather.

• There will be shops to buy clothes; hotel deals to be had; spontaneous adventures to be made!

This is hardly how you plan your own vacation.

2018 is here.  The year of new possibilities.  The year of new beliefs.  The year of new practices. A year of New You. Well, let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater!  You have created many amazing things in your life up to now.  You don’t get to be nearing 60 years old without some serious accomplishments.

BUT….. today’s modern world does not make it easy to get healthy and stay there.  The combination of our own desire for comfort and a well-deserved rest or treat has made us overweight and struggling with conflicting desire for comfort and for health.

Self-confidence is defined as confidence in one’s own powers and judgment, assurance, self-possession, self-respect, and poise. The root meaning is “with trust.”   

Self-confidence helps you achieve your goals.  When it come to a weight loss goal, self-confidence is a key ingredient; however, you don’t need it to start. 

To start you just have to be willing to try something new and take action.

Stress comes from a feeling of scarcity caused by your thoughts. 

• I don’t have enough time to get everything done.
• I don’t have enough money for all the gifts I want to buy.
• I need to eat these special holiday treats because I have been working so hard and no one else appreciates me. 
• I will miss out if I don’t eat these treats NOW.
• My family doesn’t appreciate me.
• Food is my only pleasure.

Other times stress comes from wanting to have everything perfect.

• I have to make this a perfect holiday for my kids.
• I want to make this holiday more special than any other.
• I want to buy the perfect gift.
• I want to create the perfect meal.
• I have to have the perfect party.

I have a circle of friends who would be appalled at that title.  I can hear the "pings" pouring in on my phone. 

Why?  We are stalwart futurists breaking with stereotypes about age.  

We are doing battle with age discrimination from the outside - our culture, and from inside - ourselves. 

The fact is that I help women over 50 years old lose weight and stick to it by teaching them not only how to choose better food options, also how to think about themselves, their food and their lives.

 “I’m an old broad from Brooklyn who helps women lose weight!” Ooops, I said it again!

Go figure. 

Your thoughts create your feelings.

Your feelings color your life.  They can inspire you or they can send you under the covers.

When you think someone is disrespecting you and making you feel unworthy, think again.

It is your very own thoughts that create the feeling of being unworthy.

It’s not your sister’s job, your brother-in-law’s job, and if you are anywhere near approaching 60, it is  not your mother’s job or your father’s job to make you feel worthy and respected.

Don’t give your power to feel worthy away.  Not to anyone.

I find it fascinating (as does my husband) that there are small habits I don’t change.

Like not putting my keys in the same place every evening.  This is obvious to my husband - that creating the habit of placing my keys in the same place at the end of the day would make my life a bit simpler. I see him patiently waiting as he listens to me cursing under my breath as I search for my keys.

Yet, I prepare my breakfast every night.  We always have vegetables to cook.  I always anticipate meals. I even weigh my food (not required, but it makes it easy for me).

I prepare the coffee pot every night. I have clean clothes.  I write a blog for you every week.

When I decide that something is vital, and learn how to do it, it becomes automatic. I just wash my clothes, buy coffee, sit down to write, get the yogurt.

Words are soooooo very important.  They guide your brain and teach your brain what to pay attention to. 

As you attend your Holiday Celebrations, you may find yourself saying (or thinking to yourself):

     I lost 8#s, but I overate yesterday.

     I didn’t gain any weight last month, but I should have lost.

     I love my husband, but he should do the dishes.

Support is a proven method for succeeding in any goal and weight loss is no different.

Whether it is Thanksgiving at your parent’s home, Christmas at your home, or New Year’s Eve at a hotel, many a diet or food plan has been blown-off at one or all of these celebrations.

These are times when we are with the folks closest to us and when our emotions may be heightened.  (This is your limbic system responding with a fight, flight or freeze response; it may be taking over your pre-frontal cortex in those tense moments.)

Sometimes, the foundation of your resolve and will power is shaken long before you actually put that extra food into your mouth.

I am creating a Closed FaceBook Group to support you in getting through the 2017 holidays feeling more in control. 

Greet Your 60s with grace and levity!

My 4-pronged approach to weight loss and healthy lifestyle choices break down into these four elements:  
 
1. FOOD
2. BRAIN
3. BODY
4. YOUR FUTURE
 
I will be teaching you all about these elements, and include interviews with expert and fun men and women as well as useful discoveries, in my upcoming Podcast – IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO LOSE WEIGHT! Where life is for fun and food is for fuel!  

I will be launching in December just before the holidays.
 
These are my objectives for the podcast:

• Build your confidence so you know you can lose weight no matter what age you are.
• Teach you about the properties of food and how they affect your appetite, your desire, your mood and your brain. 
• Teach you how to love what loves you. From shopping to chopping; from stretching to strengthening; from breathing to feeling; and from creating to loving.
• Give you tools to free your mind of the constant chatter about your weight. 
• Introduce you to experts in the weight loss and healthy lifestyle arena.
• Introduce you to my favorite things! (Remember the spiralizer!) 

It makes sense.  Why wouldn’t we want to avoid pain?

I recently was asked about my exercise habits and I had to confess that I don’t like to exercise because I don’t like the pain.  The discomfort doesn’t call me.  Being cold, or sweating, trying to do what I can't do – not fun for me. I’d rather avoid it. 

Yet everything I know about my health screams that I should exercise.  Just like it used to scream – eat whole foods.  Now I love whole foods.  Veggies are my friend. 

My darlings!  Day 14 has arrived.  You should be on your way to your goal weight with lot’s of tools and tips.  These are not tricks or treats, but solid strategies that take time and action to work.

I will be teaching more tools for those of you who are serious about reaching your goal weight. 

3 Secrets to Reaching Your Goal Weight and Staying There.  These secrets are not included in our 14 Days, so join me for the free online class.  You need to register either on FB or at my website: www.beauprecoaching.com  or here. 

If you want to get in just in time for the holidays, jump on the webinar or Messenger me.

If you have taken a bit here and there from these strategies and tips to get you to stick to your weight-loss plan, I am grateful.  Today I want to touch on emotions.

Emotions have spurred many an overeating episode.  I know I am not alone here. Emotional eating (to see if you are an emotional eater, you can take my quiz) is one reason many women over 60 do not stick with their plan.

At 40lbs overweight, sad and continually disappointed in myself, I truly believed I could never succeed at being someone who cared about myself.  My brain and thoughts were on a continuous loop: “Why can’t you stick with a healthy diet?” “Why are you so miserable?”  “If I just eat one of those, it won’t be a problem, right?” “What’s wrong with you?”  “Why are you being controlled by a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream?”   All of these thoughts created the feelings of sadness, disappointment and frustration.

Day 12. How to stay on your diet even if you are going out to a restaurant or to a holiday dinner at a friends. Tips to stick to that plan so you can get to your goal weight over the holidays.

For 14 Days you will be getting strategies and tips to get you to your goal weight and keep you there.

Holidays, with all the gifts, food and parties do not have to throw you off your resolve.

You show up at your sister’s home for Thanksgiving and she has created an amazing masterpiece of design and sugar for dessert. Everyone is ooooing and ahhhhing! It is an amazing thing! You can see its beauty, but you have decided not to eat it tonight. What do you say?

Good Stress

I learned a new word for good stress – hormesis. 

Hormesis is the biological principle of “no pain, no gain.”  Good stress is a short term challenge to our cells that lead to a protective response that makes us stronger.  Some examples could be short term intense exercise for your muscles; exposure to cold and heat; and cardio training to get your heart rate up.  

Stress got us here.  The stress response is very much part of our survival.  When we sense fear (wooly mammoth charging) adrenaline rushes in our body, breathing gets fast and shallow, our heart pumps faster, and our gut becomes inactive.  We don’t have time to eat, let’s run!

In our modern lives, the ‘fight or flight’ mode can still help us survive dangerous situations, such as reacting swiftly to a person running in front of our car by slamming on the brakes.

Welcome to Day 10- Offering you tips and strategies to support your successful weight loss.  By helping you stick to your plan, you will be sure to get to your goal weight!

Many a diet or food plan has been blown up at a family dinner or a big holiday event or birthday party.  These are times we are with the folks closest to us and when our emotions may be heightened.  (This is  your limbic system responding with a fight, flight or freeze response and it may be taking over your pre-frontal cortex, the CEO of your life.)

It could have been a funeral where you were both grieving and annoyed with your family at the same time.

Welcome to Day 9 – Supportive tips and strategies to get you to stick to your weight loss plan so you can reach your goal weight and stay there!

As you prepare for the upcoming holidays, I am ready to give you even more support!  I will be doing a live online class on 3 Secrets to Reach Your Goal Weight, and Stay There, even if you are over 60! Don’t get to Dec 31st ten pounds heavier than you are now.  Don’t dread visiting your doctor because you don’t want to see your numbers.

Send me an email and I’ll put you on the waiting list for the free online class, 3 Secrets to Reach Your Goal Weight, and Stay There.  We'll send you the details soon. 

I hope you are practicing imagining and feeling yourself at your goal weight, dancing the night away in that little black dress.  Oh, not your dream?  Whatever your dream is – see it and you will have a better chance of achieving it.

Welcome to Day 8 – Supportive tips and strategies to get you to stick to your weight loss plan. You are well on your way to losing weight and seeing obstacles to making choices as a problem to be solved by your brain.  Another gift from the study of neuroscience is using imagining to impact and change your brain.

The brilliance of all the things we are learning about the brain is to be able to apply the science of the mind to the art of living, and for our purposes, that includes sticking to your weight loss plan.

Olympic and professional athletes have been successfully using their thoughts to visually imagine their bodies breaking world records and winning tournaments.

Using the mind’s ability to see an image of your body moving allows you to remember and mentally rehearse various movements.

Day 7 – Excuses – Welcome back to the series that is designed to help you stick to your weight loss plan by giving you tips and strategies you can use in your daily struggle to change your eating and lifestyle habits.

Today I want to talk about excuses.  Our brains are excuse making machines!  We want to justify and seek evidence for our positions, opinions and beliefs.  This is great if our life is giving us exactly what we want.  If not, it will be of great value to examine the way we operate when we want to do something different and find some really good excuses not to follow through.