You see it everywhere “Lose Belly Fat!”, “Carve Your Waistline!”, “Get Rid of The Rolls!” It seems that as we age we tend to gain weight in our midsection the fastest. If you are thick in the middle and over the age of 35 it means you are too used to over-indulging, or haven’t taken your workouts seriously. That is how the weight loss and fitness industries see it and it works for them! Because as long as you keep gaining weight in your abdomen, you will continue to need their weight loss and fitness products and services. As a result of this popular belief many of us will reach for the latest diet, see if there are any new “magic metabolism boosting” pills they can pick up or maybe there is

When we think of divinity we tend to think of angels, saints, ascended masters, the holy ambassadors of the most high, the untouchable, the great and other worldly hosts of the miraculous worlds of heaven. The thought process is linear and almost exclusively excludes humans in most religious texts, except where something truly divine takes place. Those who had been chosen for communication or to be imbued with a specific divine purpose were a few of the individuals who warranted the attention of "divine intervention". Divinity was more of a concept for the spiritually ambitious to seek to know better or connect with. Certianly our collective religious history has perpetuated this untouchable

It seems obvious, of course you know what you need to lose weight. You might respond with “A diet and exercise program!” Right? This is what many of my workshop participants would say, until we talked more about how and why they started to gain weight in the first place. The problem with weight gain is that we have all been drinking the Kool Aid that the advertising agencies, gyms and weight loss centers have been feeding us for years. Theoretically speaking we should be able to lose weight with diet and exercise alone. However, there are about seven other markers that gyms and weight loss centers can’t address, so they don’t because it’s not their forte and they can’t make money from it. Th

This is the second blog about what you need to lose weight. As I had mentioned in the first blog number two is extremely important. 2) Know what it will take for you to create new mental habits to support your weight loss. Habits and patterns of behavior are traditionally a safe way to conduct your day. You wake up, gargle with mouthwash, check on your family, make breakfasts, do dishes, get ready for your day, pack the car and head out to work. This is a normal compilation of habits that safely create the results you want for your morning. Habits or behaviors that involve a thought process or voluntary type of behavior that are negative or undermine your otherwise positive goals are of more

#3 of Top 10 Things You Need to Lose Weight Choose repeatable, sustainable weight loss acts and journal about them for accountability. If you can’t repeat it or sustain it for more than a year it won’t work. Allow me to explain why. When I speak of weight loss I not only want you to lose weight easily but be able to keep it off with or without supplements, diets, food programs or even me. But we are seduced by the weight loss and fitness industries into believing it can all be done by these methods in a very short period of time. For many of us, we believe the advertising and marketing for weight loss products and ignore the more important strategies of changing our habits or we simply don’t

Some of my workshop participants were initially surprised at this item when we were discussing it. Then their their mouths opened and the light bulb went on in their heads. “Ahhhh I see” said one participant. She went back to her pad of paper and began to scribble frantically. Stress is a detail that is often overlooked when you are trying to lose weight. It’s something we know and acknowledge happens to us but we don’t often associate it with our vision of us moving through our weight loss plan. Often people tend to compartmentalize stress and associate with other facets of their life. But when you are faced with making new dietary changes, changing your schedule to accommodate your new wor

“I got you!” I heard a woman shout out to another woman as she grabbed her arm when she almost lost her balance getting off an elliptical machine. They were friends and I had seen them come to the club I was working for religiously for months. It quite honestly was the sweetest sentence I had heard in a long time, even made me want someone to shout it out to me! LOL. When we are thinking about support we are thinking about those moments that can blindside us or leave us without a soft place to land if things don’t go the way we think they will, or just keep us moving forward when we think we have nothing left to give. Support is our insurance policy that provides us with perspective, motivat

When we are looking for the answer to the part of the weight loss puzzle that requires us to move or workout we have to consider a few things. First know yourself well enough to know what you need to succeed and sustain a new fitness or workout regime. Here are some questions for you to consider: Do you need it to be a social environment or are you shy and prefer to workout alone in your basement? Many people love to workout in a gym or club, they enjoy the energy of the fitness community and get inspired by being with others. Then there are those who would rather keep their fitness journey private and are fine getting inspiration working out at home alone. Some may start working out alone a

When trying to change your body composition, lose weight or fat or build muscle it’s important to research eating strategies. I say “eating strategy” because that sounds more intelligent than just following a fad or trend and far better than “diet” or “fast” or locking you into a type of diet or fast. Eating strategies take into account your personality, budget, time and provides a level of variety and flexibility that isn’t possible when you are following someone else’s plan or program. The temptation is to see what everyone else is doing and then shelling out wads of money to get on that bandwagon as fast as possible. You think “Ah that must be the right thing for me! Everyone else is doin

Whenever someone says they are going on a new diet and workout regime to lose weight I always ask ...and what are your alternatives if that doesn’t work out for you?” My question is often responded to with a shrug and the response I get is often “I don’t know, I didn’t really think about it.”. When I ask this question though, my intention is not to play devil’s advocate but to highlight the thought that perhaps your success in weight loss is about how well you plan alternatives and not just having a plan. Keeping up the momentum with your program is going to be very important to your overall progress and ultimate success. Providing yourself with alternatives should your diet or workout not

I could begin this topic of self love with the usual statements about how to take care of yourself, the time you spend on yourself is just as important as the time you spend on others etc. etc. When I started writing this blog I felt a distinct need to shine a light on those things that perhaps we don’t love, the things we wish were different about us, our bodies, our faces or our negative mental habits. All of those things that we would change if we could. Why did we end up this way? Why is it so hard to get to that perfect place in our minds and bodies that we are in a state of acceptance, ready to embrace and learn from what we find difficult to accept. This is the crux of the issue. The