Month: October 2022

 

 

Happy Tuesday! In less than a week, Halloween 2022 will be here along with bowls of candy and endless sweets. Who feels like Halloween is very hard to celebrate when you’re trying to lose weight? I certainly do! I absolutely love all of the fun and silliness associated with Halloween and always have since I was a kid. I love the costumes, pumpkins, decorations, and all of the fun. I admit that the sweets were also something that I loved. Did you notice that I said “were”, not “are”? That’s right, as I paid closer attention to my sugary habits, Halloween became one of my biggest challenges with my weight. Once I noticed that, I became very curious about why this was so tough for me and what I needed to do to change some habits.

 

I figured out that I wasn’t very disciplined with a big bowl of candy sitting on my dining table for weeks leading up to Halloween. I would typically sample a few pieces of candy now and then and could actually see the level of candy go down over time. I also realized that I associated Halloween with candy and fun from my childhood and had forgotten that as an adult, my body was not happy with extra pounds in the fall. Once I got curious about what was happening and how I thought and felt about Halloween, I was able to make a new plan for handling my candy intake. Here are a few ideas for making some healthy swaps that won’t sabotage your weight loss efforts and will keep the fun in this celebration!

 

1. Buy your Halloween candy a few days before October 31st and keep it sealed until right before trick or treaters arrive!

 

2. Keep a smaller bowl of treats out and reasonably enjoy them! When they’re gone, they’re gone!

 

3. Pass out candy that you don’t like! This will keep your hands out of the bowl, for sure!

 

4. Have a sweet treat on October 31st, not all during the month of October. Halloween is only one day!

 

5. Give away your leftover candy the very next day!

 

6. Instead of passing out candy this year, pass out healthy snacks, gift cards, money, or other trinkets instead.

 

7. Skip passing out candy all together! Do something else that evening!

 

8. Enjoy the Halloween season without sugar! WHAT??? This one is a huge challenge and is extremely effective if you commit to it. I’ve done this for the last 2 years and have focused on the other aspects of Halloween in order to cut out sugar. It works! I also remind myself each year that I’ve had a lifetime of my favorite treats at Halloween and have had enough. I don’t need them and I choose not to eat them; that serves me well! It is bold, but it is 100% possible! Are you ready to try it?

 

So, as you celebrate Halloween this year, I offer the new habit of cutting back or even cutting out sugar to feel better and to fuel your body with healthier options. Pick ONE new habit to try and start today! You’ll never know if it works until you take the first step to try! It is a boo-tiful way to start a healthy habit!

 

You’ve got this!

Georgette

 

 

 

Happy Tuesday! As we roll into fall, what are you thinking about your weight loss efforts? Have you started? Are you seeing results? Are you stuck? Wherever you are in your journey, do you even wonder why we give up so quickly before we see results? In other words, why do we quit? Quitting usually means that we’re taking the easy way out. It’s easier to make excuses and return to old habits that keep us stuck in our weight loss. We like to see quick results, so if they don’t happen right away, the average person stops trying. 

 

We are impatient in nature and are twice as impatient when it comes to weight loss. I always hear clients demand that the extra weight fall off in a matter of weeks. What we forget is that the process of gaining weight most likely did not happen overnight, although our brains do a great job of convincing us that it did. This is where writing down the facts or circumstances is very helpful. You may very well quickly see that your weight has been climbing for a long time, not just recently. This gives you clarity about the facts so that you can take the drama out of your thoughts. You may hop on the scale and be adamant that you’ve never weighed this weight before until you look back in your notes and realize that this is not the case. Getting the facts helps you to decide not to quit.

What if you quit right before your body was ready to release weight? What if you quit right as the scale was about to move? What if you quit right before you lose some inches and your clothes fit better? What if it would have been almost ready to happen but you missed it because you quit?

 

When you’re tempted to throw in the towel and turn back to your old ways of overeating, try these 3 strategies!

 

  1. Document your weight! In a notebook or on an app, keep track of how much you actually do weigh, no matter how often you weigh yourself. The mind plays tricks on us if we rely on remembering these numbers. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you see in black in white instead of a foggy memory.

 

  1. Pay attention to how your clothes fit! This can signal a shift in your weight and can be used as big motivation to keep working on losing weight! Use this as an incentive to do the daily work. 
  2. When you want to quit, agree to give it more time. Step back, pause, and remind yourself to keep going. Set a goal of a week or two to see if your weight changes. Resist the urge to give up. By being aware of wanting to quit, you can redirect your thoughts. 

 

There’s an old saying, “When you think about quitting, remember why you started.” Always cling to your why and you’ll get a jolt of motivation and determination which will keep you focused on your goals. So, the next time you are tempted to press the easy button to quit, try one of these strategies to refocus and move forward with your hard work to get the results that you want! 

 

You’ve got this!

Georgette