When we start to lose weight we are usually motivated, excited and driven but quite often we lose our enthusiasm as we are making that journey and never actually reach our final goal. We make progress over a period of time but then there always seem to be distractions to knock us off course.

How do we stop this happening so that we reach our ultimate goal?  Reflection and focus will help you stay on track and achieve weight loss success.

Make sure your goal is very clear and you fully understand why you are driving towards it.  This could be down to health, fitness or appearance reasons. Is your timescale realistic? What steps do you need to take to make it happen? What support network do you need around you? All these things need to be considered to ensure you achieve success. Make sure you set yourself some mini goals which will give you a sense of achievement along the way.

Once you have started to work towards your weight loss goal it is very important that you look back and reflect on your journey so far and ask yourself these questions and write your answers down:

What have I accomplished so far?
What has gone really well?
What am I disappointed with?
Taking the above into consideration, what have I learnt?
Has anything changed regarding my initial goal?
What is my focus for the next stage of my journey?
How am I going to make sure I achieve it?

Writing this information down will help you stay on track. Looking at what you have achieved and what works for you will help when the going gets tough and you need some inspiration to push on and reach your goal. If you hit a plateau then try something new to change things up a little and give you a different experience. Maintaining motivation and enthusiasm is essential if you want to get results. I find that trying new hobbies, classes and even new recipes really help to keep me on track.

Making healthy meals that all the family can eat makes life easy for you, you feel included rather than being isolated on your diet and it also assists you in staying on track.

Here is one of my favourite family recipes:

Turkey Meatballs with Tomato Pasta Sauce

1 pack of Turkey Mince
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1tbsp tomato puree
1tbsp any chutney
1tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Salt and black pepper to taste

Help from the family is always an added bonus.

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together with your hands to form one large ball. Then take a little of the mixture and roll into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Line 2 baking trays with tin foil (or have an assistant to do it for you) and place the balls onto the trays then bake in the oven on 160 degrees (fan) for 10-15 mins.
Take a carton of passata and put in a pan with some sliced mushrooms, garlic and chilli (to taste) and season. Cook your preferred shape of pasta and add to serving bowls then place the meatballs on top and cover with the passata and mushroom sauce

This is one of the easiest meatball recipes I have made. They require no added fat to cook, and all my family enjoy them. Do let me know what you think or share any variations.

A healthy lifestyle is not just about what you put in your mouth, it is also about what you take in emotionally, spiritually and mentally. So, remember to reflect on your week, eat and sleep well, focus on your coming week, prepare, plan and then take action. Don’t forget to acknowledge your achievement and celebrate your success. Have a great week.

We make changes in our lives on a regular basis but not all of those things stick and become habit or routine. Frequently old habits slip back and so does that sinking feeling of disappointment.
Why does that happen? I ask myself.
The answer is to do with mindset. It took me until my mid forties to realise it was not just about the action I had to take to change something but also my mindset before I decided to change, then my mindset during the process of making the change and my final mindset – which was going to mean my continued success leading to permanent lasting change.

Change is usually prompted by an event or circumstance which makes us think about our current situation and are we satisfied with it? If not, then something needs to happen but before starting on the journey a number of questions need to be answered:

Why do I want to make a change?
What will the benefits be if I make this change?
Do I really want to change?
Will it be realistic and sustainable?
Do I need help from other people and if so, who?
Am I currently in the right frame of mind to make this change?

Understanding the reasons for making a change – and the benefits it offers us – enables us to create the right mindset for success. Positive language and using the words ‘I will’ and ‘I must’ gets the brain ready for action and our success rate is significantly increased.

Over the last several years I have lost a considerable amount of weight which has been down to eating a healthier diet and taking regular exercise. When I started out on my journey my mindset regarding exercise was that I felt pleasure if I avoided physical activity and saw that as a bonus. After several years of exercising and experiencing first hand the health benefits of feeling and looking fitter, I have now changed my mindset to feeling uncomfortable when I do not exercise and I don’t feel happy until I do some sort of activity.

Making  a new habit does not happen overnight and requires a lot of dedication, hard work and repetition. Scientists state that for a change to become a habit, it requires us to repeat that action between 40 to 70 times before our brain accepts it as the new regime. Also having congruency between what we say and what we do is a must. There is no point changing if you are not going to ‘walk your talk’. Just talking about doing something is not going to make it happen and will certainly not change your mindset. Understanding your change and why it needs to happen, taking action and believing success is achievable will lead to a determined and clear mindset and a successful outcome.

You have 10 weeks to take action and make a difference!

Christmas displays are now appearing in the shops and the countdown to the big day has begun. For some it can be exciting but for others it can be an anxious and worrying time. The opportunity to over-indulge with food, increased socialising and drinking and our appearance in that little black dress or dinner suit certainly increases the pressure and stress we put upon ourselves.  Taking action now and making some small changes will positively alter your run up to Christmas so that it is a much more controlled, confident and enjoyable experience.

So, what needs to happen?

• Set clear goals about what you want to achieve
• When do you want to achieve it by – this could be the date of a Christmas Party or event
• Make a plan of how you are going to do this and break it down into small achievable steps
• Build your support network (friends or family) for when the journey gets tough
• Think about what it will feel like when you achieve your goal and the difference it will make to you
• Strategically place reminders of your goals around the house, hang your little black dress where you can see it, stick a picture on the fridge or snack cupboard of that treat you are going to get when you reach your target

There are a number of changes you can make with no cost involved that you can start immediately:

• Be prepared, plan meals, write your shopping list and shop only for what you need, online shopping is great for removing temptation.
• Reduce your portion sizes – if you usually have 2 spoons of mashed potato just have 1 and increase your vegetables, have less pasta/rice or a smaller jacket potato and increase your salad.
• Eat more poultry and fish and less red meat, use Quorn and experiment with vegetarian recipes.
• Replace white bread, rice and pasta with wholemeal/wholegrain to keep you feeling fuller for longer
• Use a smaller plate for your meals, our brain prefers to see a small plate with more food than a large plate with less food
• Drink plenty of water and fruit/peppermint/green tea
• Use skimmed milk instead of higher fat alternatives
• Be more active, walking costs nothing, don’t leave things at the bottom of the stairs take them up, walk to the next bus stop, walk to local shops instead of getting in the car, walk with the family at the weekend
• Make sure you get at least 6 hours sleep
• Move yourself up the pecking order and make you a priority
• When socialising move away from the buffet table or bar and reduce the temptation to over indulge
• Drink spirits with a low calorie mixer rather than wine/beer which have a higher calorific value or add sparkling water to wine to make a longer drink
• Select healthy options such as vegetable crudités and low fat dip and keep higher fat foods to a minimum or as a treat
  When eating out replace chips with salad and ask for salad dressing on the side
• Select tomato based sauces rather than creamy sauces
  Share a dessert or just opt for a coffee

Taking more exercise and eating a balanced healthy diet will certainly help with your weight loss journey. Consider starting a new class like Yoga, Zumba, swimming, Pilates. There are many free phone apps that can be downloaded to aid you regarding exercise regimes and techniques but whatever you do always introduce it slowly and gradually to avoid any injuries or check with your GP before starting anything new.

If you find that you need more structure with discipline and control then there are a variety of slimming clubs that can support you in your weight loss journey or if you prefer a more one to one approach then a Life Coach can certainly work with you to identify your goals and coach you to weight loss success. If you have any questions or have goals that you want to achieve but do not know how to get there please contact me.

A life coach can enable you to remove the obstacles that are stopping you from achieving your goals or dreams. Life coaching takes a holistic approach, meaning that the coach will cover a broad, all-encompassing range of areas intended to uncover a deep understanding of you and your life.

Typically life coaching looks at these areas of life:

Career/Work
Relationships
Health
Wealth
Contribution
Spirituality
Play/Fun

By looking at all these areas it allows the individual to decide what is important to them in life and what their core beliefs are. Quite often people can have conflict between their core values and how they are living their life which can lead to stress and anxiety. A life coach is not a therapist and does not give advice, they are completely confidential and provide a non-judgmental service. Using a mixture of directional and non-directional coaching methods they encourage clients to search within and find the answers to enable them to create a plan for success. Clients need to be committed and prepared to take action in order to get their desired results.

Some of the benefits of Life Coaching are:

Enhanced decision making skills
Increased confidence
Learning new or different perspectives
Greater interpersonal effectiveness
Improvement in productivity
Satisfaction with work and life
Achievement of goals
Happiness
Greater self-esteem

It is very important to find a life coach that is best suited to your personality and style, who inspires, motivates and energises you and will lead you to future success. If you have any questions or are looking for a life coach please contact me.