Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

How about a little rejoicing today? 

How about every day?

If you rejoiced every day how different would your life look like?

How would you show up in this world differently?

How would you eat differently?

I just wrapped up another challenge last week.  It was an AMAZING 10-day journey with so many women.

There is so much to rejoice in and give thanks to God about.

Let me share a few with you:

My mindset has changed, and I have lost 4.2 pounds. Yeah me! ~RS

So much to celebrate from the past 9 days. I feel such an emotional/mental shift in my perspective toward food. I know this is going to take more work moving forward but I am thanking God for sending this information and Amanda into my life! And hey, 4-5 pound weight drop is a lot to celebrate too!!!!  ~DS

I have enjoyed this so...

“I wish weight loss wasn’t so hard!”

Have you ever whined this to yourself or others?

I know I have.

What if weight loss is easier than you think?

What if you’re just the one making it hard?

I recently wrapped up one of my weight loss group programs.  I asked everyone what their biggest insights or shift were in the program.

My one client, who lost 11 pounds said, “I realized weight loss isn’t that hard.”

This was a turning point for her.  That’s when she started leaning into it instead of fighting against it.

So how about you?

What if weight loss isn’t hard?

What if it was possible that it could actually be FUN?

What could be possible?

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

My mission is to show women that weight loss is actually EASIER than they think.  Heck, it can even be fun a lot of the time! 

When it feels fun or even doable, that's...

In last week’s blog post I told you how to NOT eat the brownie.

But what if you want to have a brownie sometimes?

Guess what?!

You can.

And you can still lose weight!

Promise. 

I and my clients still eat "brownies" (or "unhealthy" food).

Here is how you do it…

Make the choice confidently and stay present when eating it.

That’s it.

Here’s why these are the two most important things.

If you DECIDE or CHOOSE the brownie with conscious decision making (not just out of habitual desire or because someone made you them) you will feel good about eating it.

When you feel good about eating the brownie you will have no guilt or regret which just leads to more eating.

And, if you are present, enjoying every bite, one brownie will be enough.  You’ll be able to listen to your body's cues of fullness and be able to stop.

NOT BECAUSE YOU SHOULD OR YOUR NEED TO STOP, but because you WANT TO.  Because you’ve had enough.

...

We all have those foods. 

Those ones we can’t say no to.

Gooey, Girhadelli brownies are one of mine.  Those and chips and salsa.

But substitute whatever tempts you the most.

I want to tell you how to say “NO” to the brownies (insert your food) and still feel REALLY GOOD!

No deprivation.

Deprivation feels icky.  And when you feel icky, what do you do…

EAT!

You eat to make yourself feel better.  Even if it’s only for a moment.

Mustering up a “no” to a brownie only to turn around and shovel down 6 cookies IS NOT HELPFUL.

I want to teach you how to say “NO” to the brownie and feel really great doing it so YOU DON’T BINGE later.

Here is one hint first:

It’s not really saying “no”.

Here is why you can’t just say “no” to your favorite food…

You’ll want to rebel.

Yep.  You’ll want to say to yourself, “Forget you, (insert...

“I don’t care!”

I mean it.

I don’t care...

How does that make you FEEL if you imagine me saying this to your face?

“I don’t care.”

I mean it.  Close your eyes and imagine someone close to you saying, “I don’t care.”

Wow.  Kind of sad, miserable, dejected, inconsequential…

What do you make it mean?

• That you aren’t cared about?
• That you’re not important?
• That you don’t matter?

That’s what comes up for me.

Now think back at how many times you’ve said to yourself, “I don’t care.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to eat the pizza anyway.”
“I don’t care. It’s only for today.”
“I don’t care. My plan isn’t a big deal.”

I don’t care…

What are you making it mean when you say this to yourself?

• I don’t care about this body.
• What feels good right now is...

An empty box of cheez-its sits alongside an empty bag of kettle chips.

Before polishing those off, I had 4 Oreos.

Before that I had tried to eat something healthier… a few carrots.

But the carrots weren’t cutting it. That’s why I moved on.

Now I was standing in front of the pantry looking for my next container of junk food to finish off.

“I can’t control this.  I have to eat more.  I can’t stop myself.”

If you’ve ever been in this spot, my heart aches.  I know how miserable it feels. You’re right.  It FEELS very out of control.

That’s because the enemy has you believing you can’t control what you’re going to do next.

Satan is such a good deceiver.  He keeps things hidden for his own advantage by using half-truths.

 The truth is… you can’t control A LOT of things.  You don’t have control over your circumstance or other people.  The weather,...

“15 pea pods.  1 tsp of ranch.  1 oz of cashews.  That’s my snack.  No more, no less.  This is what my calories allow for today.”

Have you ever done this?

Have you ever measured/ counted/ tracked minute details about your food?

How about when you went over your calorie count, had a few too many grams of sugar, or struggled to find the right food that fit your macros?   Did you say…

“Forget it.  I screwed up.  I’m done for today.  Tomorrow I’ll start over and get it right’.”

Oh yes...

That all-or-none thinking plagues so many of us. 

You know what I mean…

“If I don’t do it perfectly, why do it at all?”

I want you to think back to what happens to you when you think this way.

• Do you make good choices after you’ve “screwed up”?
• Is it easy to start again the next day?
• Are you consistently moving towards where your...

I had an interview today with a reporter from Michigan.

Let me give you the back story...

About 1 ½ ago a got a letter.  It looked like an official letter from the State of Minnesota wanting me to renew my business filing.  It struck me as odd, as I was almost positive, I had already renewed.

Well, fast forward two days later.  I am filling out the paperwork sent in the letter, only to find out they need a check.  I don’t have checks for my business since it is all done online.  So, I hop on the State’s website to see if I can renew online.

Sure enough, I can.

But even better, I already had renewed for that year…just like I thought.

I go back to the letter.  I found it odd that the check wasn’t going to be made out to the state.  I then proceed to look up the initials of who the check was to be made out to. 

It was a private company. One that charged EXTRA to file a renewal for your business.

The letter...

I was on a roll; losing weight, exercising, and making better food choices…

Then I started the downward spiral.  One binged turned into a whole day, which turned into a whole week.

What is wrong with me?  Why is this so hard? Why can't I just do this?

This was me at the beginning of my two-year-long "renewal".  

Let me tell you a little story...

I had a deep desire to be thin. At times, I would get to a healthy weight, but then a week later I was putting the pounds back on.

It's like I got to this goal and then I fell back into my old patterns. Then my actions did not fall in line with what I said I wanted. 

I continued to sabotage myself, which lead to thinking something was wrong with me and I was just destined to be overweight but wanting to be thin.

Until I realized something...  

God didn’t NOT want me to struggle forever.  He wanted me to conquer, WITH HIM.

No, in all these...

I was talking with a good friend that is in a masterclass with me for Christian women growing their businesses.  We were discussing some recommendations that our instructor had given us.  I told her that I was breaking some of the “rules”.  My business was set up a little differently and I found that breaking these “rules” actually helped my business.

She was relieved.  In her mind, she had to follow these rules to have a successful business.  If she didn’t follow the “formula” then she wouldn’t succeed.

This is what I find with a lot of my clients.  They have been taught that weight loss is a very specific formula.  If you don’t follow a RIGHT formula (a.k.a. diet), you won’t lose weight much less keep it off.

Not true my friends. 

God created each of us as an INDIVIDUAL.  No two are the same.

That means each of my clients needs to find the...