For years I did all the diets. 

I'd have a friend tell me about how they lost weight with a particular diet. Pretty soon, I was trying it out. Or, a diet would catch my attention on Pinterest or somewhere else the internet.

The military diet, juice fast, whole thirty, paleo, Atkins, Portion Fix containers, counting calories, tracking macros, and keto are just a few that I can remember.

And, I would do them very secretively. I didn't want anyone to notice, and I definitely didn't want my husband to comment on ANY of it (not my body and not my food). 

It came down to embarrassment. Embarrassed, I had to lose weight. Ashamed I was doing another diet since I gained all the weight back from the last one.

So, to save my "pride", I would hide it.

This was one of the LARGEST mistakes I made when it came to losing weight... lacking support and accountability.

These two are KEY to being successful at making a lasting change!

The MOST significant support...

Let's just dive into the second lesson I've learned from yo-yo dieting…

Start eating how you would eat if you were (add your goal weight/size here). 

This is not how you eat now. If it was, you would be at your goal weight. 

You have to start thinking about the future you. You, at (insert natural weight here), how does she eat? 

• What energizes her?
• What fills her up?
• How many meals does she have?
• What does she say no to?
• How does she grocery shop?
• What are her go-to restaurants and menu items?
• What healthy limits does she set for herself?

I know for me, I didn't want to be buying a shake mix every month at $120. I knew I didn't want to say no to potatoes, rice, quinoa, and oatmeal for the rest of my life. I also decided I liked having a little bit of cheese and corn sometimes. 

But, I also knew that some of these things made me eat in excess which leaves me feeling depleted with spiraling thoughts of self-loathing.

Once I got clear...

Last week I gave you the low down of what I wish I knew before I started Keto, one of my last of many diets. 

This week, along with the next two, I’m going to explain my top three lessons.

All in the hope you can learn from my mistakes…

Lesson number one:
Beating myself for “failing” by eating off my diet plan does not stop me from eating it next time.

I kind of want to go back and give that old me a hug. She really needed it.

My self-confidence (the confidence that God made me a beautiful creation) was at an all-time low during my keto craziness.

Being in that pit just made me focus on myself further. I was fixated on what I couldn’t eat, how I couldn’t stop myself, and how I wish I was skinnier and feeling great.

All that spinning in me but made me feel WORSE.

Since I felt terrible, I looked for ways to feel better.

Unfortunately, my brain knew food did the trick for a quick fix.

Here is what that cycle looks like:

I would have a...

Three years ago, I found myself "skinny," but at the toll of being mentally "cray-cray" (I don't know if I'm cool enough to use this word, but I thought it would be fun). 

I had jumped on the keto bandwagon. The only amazing part of this diet was that I got to eat as much avocado, peanut butter, and coconut oil my heart desired…like a dream came true…

But not really…

I had started the diet in May. Everything was good. The kids were still in school, I had a routine, and there weren't many celebrations to contend with. 

Then summer hit. The lure of ice cream treats or a cold brew at the end of an evening was too much. My attention was focused on ways I could leave myself a couple of carbs just so I could have a lick of a potato chip. 

My mind started to become consumed.

"Did I hit my fat goal for today? I had those blueberries. Maybe that was too many carbs. What if I kicked myself out of keto? Now, I screwed up! I might as well have the whole...

Obedience brings blessing.

I've been ruminating on this phrase ever since I read it a couple of weeks ago in an article by Becky Kopitzke.

It keeps popping into my head.
I decided to write my thoughts to you so I could maybe tackle this for myself.

First, let me ask, what do you think?
True…false…sometimes true?

I love my definitions, so I had to look it up. Obedience is a noun. That means that is the THING that is being produced when we are OBEDIENT. The definition of obedient, the verb, is complying or willing to comply with orders or requests; submissive to another's will.

Basically, when we follow through on an order or request, we are obedient.

Let's ask the question, what is God requesting of us?

Like I said last week, love God and love what God made (including our enemies and ourselves).

But, I'm finding that hard to do lately….

There are so many areas where I am struggling to be obedient. Today, I'm just going to talk about God's will for my life and the...

I didn't know how to write it, so I thought I would just say it.

Blessings!

We’ve been lied to.

Over and over again.

It has been so steady and constant, that we don’t even know what the truth is anymore.

Now our heads are spinning in confusion and overwhelm. 

What is it that I believe?  What is truth anymore?  Who is right?  How do I figure this out?

I get it. I’m right there with you. 

It’s so exhausting that I just want to shut down and shut out.

Especially with all that is going on in this world right now.

I know resisting the world and resisting how I feel is not the answer. 

It won’t make things better.  It won’t make me feel any less confused and overwhelmed.  Confusion and overwhelm will just keep me stuck in the muck of feeling miserable.

I know I need to move forward.  But where do I go?

The Truth.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

For the law was giving...

I just read an article today. Maybe many of you have read it also since it was floating around on big FB.

It’s titled, “The Happiest People Are Those Who Realized That God Is Enough,” written by Rania Naim.

Catchy, right?!

After reading it, it’s not only catchy, it's true.

I am going to stress that I just came off of having a WONDERFUL week last week. I felt GREAT! I truly believe that God knew I need last week to restore after a couple of awful weeks.

Looking back on the week, I know exactly why I felt so great.

God.

Last week, God was enough. It wasn’t a week that I got a whole bunch of things done. Nor was it a week that was filled with a whole bunch of happy events. 

Nothing extraordinary happened. Actually, I had a couple of big disappointments.  

But it was still AWESOME.

How can that be?

The world tells us that to be happy, we have to have good things happen to us. We need to have those brand-new shoes, the perfectly kept house,...

Can I just say, my clients, are amazing?! They have done some pretty spectacular things. All of them. 

Not just a few.  

Every. Single. One.  

But "watching" my clients' self-sabotage, at times, is so PAINFUL for me. I just want to shake them awake. I wish I could just infuse them with the confidence I have for them.

I know they have to experience their own journey. I get that. 

I understand I can't make decisions for them. But it's excruciating. It's like nails on a chalkboard. I know I can't control their actions (which really is a good thing; I get this), so now I use their lessons to help teach others.

It is a beautiful thing about how God can use anything to his glory!

So, let me cut to the chase here. I can tell when self-sabotage is coming for my clients. I want to share what I know with you. This way, you can be on the watch for your own self-sabotage and hopefully not fall into this trap the enemy is so good at catching...

What do you think?

Is there a problem with your husband loving you even if you're overweight?

No.
There shouldn't be a problem with this.

But, so many women come to me and tell me that they have no motivation. They blame part of it on the fact that their husbands don't care what weight they are.

These husbands, being wonderful guys, are NOT the problem. They should not get the blame because we are overweight and seem to stay there.

Here is the hard truth.
Our thinking is the problem.

We think just because our husbands don't care what weight we are, that WE SHOULDN'T EITHER.

BUT WE ACTUALLY DO CARE. 

And, if we care, then we tell ourselves that it means we're being vain.

We go on to thinking that maybe we should just accept our overweight bodies the way they are. Because, really, we have no one to impress except our husbands.

Do you see the turmoil we create?

Now, I'm not saying that if you're comfortable in your body, that you should lose weight just because some...