Contentment = Permanent Weight Loss

I love to help people lose weight, I also love to help them stabilize and then maintain weight loss for life. Although I have gained tremendous knowledge about food, calories and nutrition over the past 30 years working in the weight loss industry, you'll rarely find me talking about those things in this blog. The amount of information available to the public about dieting is overwhelming and plentiful. If you have a question about food, calories and protein...you can get that question answered 100 different ways.

My experience has taught me this...it's a lot more about what's eating you...than what you're eating! As I work with clients every week, I'm continually reminded of that.

This week I visited with clients who seem to be "bored with the food" on the Healthy Weigh weight loss diet, but with further examination discovered that discontentment was at the root of "needing" more or different food.

Being content isn't easy. If you've studied contentment at all you find it gets harder before it gets better. Contentment is being satisfied with what you have and where you are; a feeling of calm satisfaction. The problem with contentment is that we look for the circumstances to change, when being content is really learning to be satisfied with things just like they are.

The rub comes when we feel those feelings of discontent and we don't know what to do with them. Food so often becomes the drug of choice to numb, avoid, or escape that uncomfortable feeling of discontentment.

The answer is ALWAYS to identify those feelings and then process them. That might look like journaling, talking to a friend or choosing gratitude for what you have and where you are right now.

Choose contentment this weekend. Challenge yourself to process feelings of discontent and be grateful. See if finding contentment in your present circumstances doesn't just make following your diet a little easier.


Always encouraging you.
Letha

Selfish or Self Care?

I'm a wife and I'm a mom, I'm a sister, aunt,daughter and friend. All of these roles in my life take time, energy, and sacrifice. I've worked hard over the years making sure that the people that I love the most get the best of me...they get the best of me, because I work to be the best me.

I'm convinced that taking care of myself is the very best thing I can do for all of my loved ones. My husband has a wife that feels confident and beautiful. My son has a mom that he looks up to and respects. My sisters and brothers look to me for inspiration and my nieces and nephews see me as a role model. My Mom just loves me.

I meet with men and women every week who do a lot of sacrificing, but they do it to their detriment. They give out all they've got without taking care of themselves first. They love, they serve, they give, all while they aren't in touch with their very best self!

I once heard a great analogy for this issue. When you go on an airplane and the flight attendant is explaining the oxygen mask that will fall down in an emergency...she says, "If you're with a child, remember to put your mask on first, and then help the child." That's the way we should see it every day. We need to be taking care of ourselves first so that we might be able to help and love those around us.

I've always felt like I owed it to my husband and to my son to be my very best; physically, emotionally and spiritually. I think it would be selfish of me to live any other way. Sometimes I see men and women that have that thinking backwards...they think if they take care of themselves first, that somehow, that is selfish.

Selfish to me is being unhappy, dissatisfied, and angry with my self. Selfish to me is spending time worrying about how I haven't taken care of my self, how bad I look and how frustrated I am with my self!

Self care is truly the selfless thing to do. When we are at our best, we are able to pour out, love on, and be free, around the very most important people in our lives.

I hope you will reflect on your self care this weekend and know that the greatest thing you can do for those people in your life, is become the very best you!

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Restaurant Eating...Aint No Big Thing!

One of the obstacles when trying to lose weight seems to be eating out. I say seems to be, because restaurant eating...aint no big thing. We've worked it up to be more difficult than it is. In some ways, eating out can be easier while you are "dieting" than eating at home.

I could tell you all the new ways to find out what you’re eating when you go out to a restaurant. You'll find information about calories,fat grams and carbohydrates, on the internet or even the brand new text message service. I’m sure there is an app for that. BUT it’s easier than that! We make this harder that it should be and then we’re not getting the results we’re looking for.(weight loss)

We’re going on line to look up restaurants menus and nutritional information, then we’re focusing on calories and fat grams and we’re not staying on our nutritional program. We’re being provided nutritional information at some restaurants and saying things like "Wow the 6 inch sub only has 6 grams of fat…that sounds good." We’re making healthier choices than before, but not losing weight.

There’s a difference between being on a weight loss program and being on maintenance eating a healthy diet. The tools offered on the internet, etc are great, but while you’re on the weight loss program, I want to help you go out to eat and stay 100% on your weight loss plan!

I went restaurant hopping and gathered up menus. I wanted to be able to show you, hey, this eating out in restaurants aint no big thing. So here’s what I found, VERY FEW MENUS HAVE PROGRAM FOOD ON THEM! But repeat after me…”The food you need, is in the kitchen!” The restaurants kitchen, that is! It really is. I have picked up MANY menus and looked over them, from our favorite fast food restaurants to the finest dining around. The same thing was true,nothing on the menu, but the food we need is in their kitchen!

So here’s the trick. Confidence! Belief in your ability to order and the knowledge that every restaurant wants to serve you…with love. They need you and will serve you what you need. You just have to be in charge of you and what goes in your mouth!

Let me give you some examples;

Olive Garden…this isn’t on the menu, but this is what I order.
Garden fresh salad, no dressing, with a piece of grilled chicken breast on the top. No bread sticks please. Ice tea with lemon.

Red lobster…"The food I need is in the kitchen."
I will have the broiled sole no butter
Extra vegetables, no rice
Dinner salad~ hold the croutons please and don’t bring the cheese rolls.

Azteca
Chicken sandwich…hold the bun, hold the fries, side salad please, with fat free dressing.

Great Taste Chinese Restaurant
Steamed shrimp with steamed broccoli
Steamed vegetable deluxe
White rice

Subway (don't listen to Jared)
Make any 6 inch sub into a salad, order double meat

Red Robin
Red rice bowl
Hold the rice, hold the crunchy noodles, just bring vegetable and chicken OR
Chicken burger hold the bun, extra fruit or side salad instead of the fries

Burgerville
Side salad
Rosemary grilled chicken breast on top


So are you getting a feel for what needs to be done? The food on this nutritional plan, is in every restaurant in Vancouver and Portland…we must be confident and help our server, help us. The program choices most likely will not be on the menu, but the food you need is in the kitchen. I rarely look at menus,I just order what I need.

So now let's talk portions! We are served meals on platters…what’s up with that?! Then,we’re afraid to leave food! Are you afraid that you’re not going to get your money’s worth? You have to ask yourself, "What did I pay for my weight loss program?"
I often ask for a ‘to go’ box when my food is served and put 1/2 my food away for my next meal.

You are worthy of ordering what you need. You are not high maintenance,you are healthy, in control and confident. You are happy and a role model!
If you had a life threatening illness and had to eat certain foods, would you have confidence then? Or better yet,if your child or grandchild had a life threatening illness and had to eat certain foods,would you have confidence to order what they needed then? Would you be assertive? Oh you bet you would.

Really, I’ve found it easier to eat out.
You order the food, it comes, you eat it.
At home; you buy it, bring it home and put it away, take it back out, prepare it, serve it, clean it up, put away leftovers!

Don’t use the opportunity to go out, to go off program. You can absolutely follow your nutritional plan while eating out!

Be confident, be in charge of what goes in your mouth,and remember, the food you need is in the kitchen!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Keeper of The Keys

I love to study people. I'm curious about what makes us do the things we do. The longer I live, the more life I experience, the more firm I am in my belief that our actions are ALWAYS dictated by how we think. Our thought life has EVERYTHING to do with how we act. That continues to be a source of great inspiration to me because I believe that we have complete control over how we think. Our past experiences and our current circumstances have a lot to do with our thought life, that's for sure, but ultimately we have the ability to think rightly about the past and the present, and that right thinking changes everything.

I found this poem years ago and it really speaks to the truth about our thought life.

"Keeper of the Keys"

You are the Keeper of The Keys.
You are the Guard at The Gate.
Waiting in line to get through that door
Is LOVE and also HATE.
In line to enter is GENTLE PEACE.
And also VIOLENT WAR.
You must choose who may, and who
May not come through the door.
INTOLERANCE tries to sneak on through
On wings of FEAR, or PRIDE.
It hides behind DREAMS of BELONGING,
And tries to sneak inside.
Oh! Be alert! You're the Guard who decides
Who GOES and who may STAY.
You are The Keeper of The Keys to Your Mind.
Who will you let in today?

Guy Gilchrist


I encourage you to be the "Keeper of the Keys" to your mind. Choose to think rightly and guard your thoughts. Who will you let in today?

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Freedom!

It's July, and we're headed into the weekend that we as a country celebrate our Independence and our freedoms. I'm wondering today how free you really feel? Has food, or your struggles to control your eating, made you feel less than free? Do you sometimes feel like a prisoner, trapped in an unhealthy body?

Freedom takes work. It took work over 200 hundred years ago as our forefathers fought for what was ours. It takes work today as we fight for what is ours; a healthy, fit body. To be free is to not be under the control or power of someone or something. To be free is not to give in to the desires of our natural man...that in fact, is bondage to the flesh. I see men and women fighting to be free every week at The Healthy Weigh, they are re-defining freedom for themselves! It's exciting!

I'm convinced that the key to being free from overeating is to fight the battles on the inside as well as the outside. How much time are you spending on coping with life's difficulties, healing past pain, and working to understand your beliefs? Equal time or more should be given to the inside of us, as we focus on changing the outside. That's when freedom comes!

As you spend time with your families this weekend, celebrating our great country, I hope that you will take some time to ponder your freedom as a healthy adult. Choose freedom both on the inside and out this Independence Day.

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Vision Quest!

At our house we have a saying about good movies…we just say,“quality movie.”
Remember The Titans… “quality movie”, The Count of Monte Cristo… “quality movie”, …Zoro “quality movie”.

We always remember great lines of quality movies. One of my favorite lines ever is in the movie Zoro when the governor of California asks Alejandro, “Are you a man of vision?” He replies… “I am a man in search of a vision!”

So I’ve got to ask you today…are you a person of vision, or are you a person in search of a vision?…or neither?

Vision…it’s a dream, a mental picture, foresight, the ability to see the future

Quest is a chase. Pursuit, you go in search of, you are on a hunt for.

To change…to lose weight permanently, to have a vital, strong, healthy, free life…you MUST have vision quest! You know your vision…now you’re on a quest to get there!


Without Vision…people perish…(give up the ghost), die! Helen Kellar said, "The saddest person in the world is not the one without sight...but the one without vision."

The first step to any change is to know what you want…to have vision! Vision is about looking ahead…looking to what you want…not what you don’t want!


Vision is a picture or idea you have in your mind of yourself, or your life. A clear vision helps you pursue dreams and achieve goal. A vision that is clear will open your thoughts to the endless possibilities of the future. Your thoughts dictate your feelings and your feeling dictate your actions…you’ve got to have vision to open your thoughts and keep them on right track!
A vision will help you to overcome obstacles in the way and helps you hold on when times are tough. A vision that is well defined helps you to focus and create a purpose that becomes your measurement for your success. If you do not have a vision of who you want to be, how you want to succeed or what you want out of life, you begin to lack drive and your life becomes just an order of events.
A strong and current vision connects with your passions and greatest potentials. Regardless of what is going on in the world or challenges that present themselves, a vision helps you know what and why you are doing the things you are doing. Having a vision is most important in the path of your success in life.
A vision might be the most powerful way to keep focused on what you want in life while keeping you motivated in achieving it. A vision will open up your mind to many possibilities and a brighter and bigger future. When you can envision a future that is better, happier, more productive, you are going to make the changes that are necessary for you to reach that type of life.

Who do you want to be?
Your vision should include who you want to be. It is important to know clearly who you are right now to know who you want to become. This includes your habits, attitudes, and your beliefs. If you are unclear about yourself, you will be unclear about your future. The destination of your vision should be emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual.

When you create a successful vision, you begin to feel passionate about it. The only way to be successful in your vision is to visualize it and set goals and a plan of action to reach your vision.

Over time, you will begin to see more parts of your vision coming true until one day you see yourself living your vision. You gained your weight little by little…you didn’t wake up one morning with 30 extra pounds on your body because of what you ate last night...that’s how it is when we begin to live a new life, with new habits, based on a vision of the life we really want. Little by little we begin to see that vision lived out! That’s so cool!
A vision is the capability to see beyond your current reality, creating and inventing what does not now exist and becoming what you are not right now. A vision is important in all aspects of life; body, soul and spirit. Building your vision does not have to be difficult as long as you know exactly what it is you see for yourself in the future. But that can be the problem sometimes…not knowing what we really want.
Important things to remember when creating a vision:
Know exactly who you are.
Brainstorm, imagine and dream.
Focus on things that give your life purpose and meaning.
Do not put limits on your dreams.

What do you really want? Why have you set out to lose fat off your body? Is your vision to weigh less…or is your vision to live more!!!?

If you have not created a vision for the life you want to be living…the life you MUST live, then now is the time to do it!
It’s really about having the discipline to sit down and dream. We are all so different…but it helps me to dream in compartments. A vision for my physical body… a vision for my soul…my mind, will and emotions…and a vision for my spiritual life…the deepest place of who I am.

Creating a vision should be intense…it’s about knowing who you are today…knowing how you live today and saying…I want it to look different. I want a new life. I want it to be different!
Then, and only then, will you be inspired to move, to go, to leave behind what you’ve known and go to that new place!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Can You Just Flip a Switch?

You know the switch I'm talking about. The one that when flipped, you are ON PROGRAM! You are fired up and nothing can break your resolve! You are excited, motivated and driven to follow the nutritional plan and see results. That switch!

I've spent time in the last 30 years discovering ways to flip that switch in my own life. Not only in regards to my eating habits, but in other areas of my life that require excellence as well! I've gotten really good at it!

There are really two things you need to invest in to flip the switch...time and emotions. Oh, I can hear the sighs right now! :-) You're always short on time...and you avoid those emotional moments really well!

Do you want to flip the switch? Do you wake up each morning and say "This day is going to be better" and by the time you lie down at night, you are discouraged with your self again? If you are willing to spend some time, and feel some feelings, you too can flip that switch and TODAY can be the start of a great summer!

TIME...we rarely take the time to get to know ourselves. We race through this life, taking care of other people and obligations without the important connection with our selves! Can you stop at a coffee shop today and sit in a corner by yourself? Can you drive to a big parking lot and sit in your car on your lunch hour? Can you go to a room in your house that never gets used and spend some time there today? Get alone with yourself! Invest some time in YOU. Some of us are alone a lot...but are we alone, focused on ourselves? Flipping the switch requires time and focus on you!

EMOTIONS...I can promise you, if you have been eating off program, unable to follow through for even one day, you are stuffing your emotions! It's time to look at them and allow them to surface. The first question I ask my self is "Letha, What's up?" I ALWAYS get an answer! You will too. (that's why you're afraid to ask it) If you have a journal...start writing in it. If you have junk mail in the floor board of your car, that works too. Get something down on paper!

Another effective tool I use is the pain and pleasure list! I hope you have all used this "power tool."

Make a list of the pain, over eating is causing you...go for it! Don't stop, get real, get painful...allow it to take you all the way to gaining ALL your weight back, feeling miserable, and overwhelmed with medical problems and personal pain that choosing food has caused you! Don't skip ahead fast...if you have an hour, spend at least 30 of it on this list! Don't forget to include family, children and spouses in this list. How has your overeating affected them. Your overeating has caused you to be irritated, mad at the world and not very fun...how's that working for you and your family? Your clothes don't fit, you feel frumpy, and you don't want to do much of anything! Your overeating is affecting EVERY area of your life!

Now...if you have done a good job on that list... it's time to move ahead...if you haven't, you are not really serious about flipping the switch.(or you're just scared)

This list is a lot more fun! This is the list that includes all the emotions that you feel when you are on program, eating healthy, and setting limits for yourself! Have fun, spend time on this list too. Don't forget to include your family, children and spouse also. How has eating healthy, feeling attractive and in control, made a difference in those relationships? How's your wardrobe? How much energy do you have? Are you fun? Do you laugh more? Do you take pride in how you look and enjoy going out? Is EVERY area of your life affected by how you eat and what choices you are making? Don't stop short dreaming as you make this list. Allow the good feelings to overwhelm you and fill you with hope.

Look at those two lists...ask the all important question now. "Why am I living here...when I could be living here?"

If no tears are involved with this project...you might be dead!:-)

I've had clients tell me, "Ive done the pain and pleasure list thing and it doesn't work." I'm wondering have they REALLY done it. Have they really taken the time to look at the way their eating is affecting their life and the lives of all the people around them? Have they asked them selves, "Why am I letting food win?" "Why am I letting food be the boss of me?"

My friends...to lose weight and keep it off, you must be able to use pain as your friend. Flipping the switch when you are living on maintenance is crucial to you keeping your weight off for life.

I wish I had time to sit in your car with you...but I guess you wouldn't be alone then would you? Take time, allow your emotions to come forth...and flip the switch. Don't wait...today is the perfect day to change the direction of your life!

Always encouraging and pushing you,
Letha