Happy New Year!

We're hours away from a new year! That means it's time to dream, plan, and set goals. I hope you've been thinking about the year 2011 and what you want it to look like. I've talked to some clients who have chosen a word for the year, already set some goals, and are really feeling ready to accomplish great things this year.

I've talked to other clients who haven't given much thought to any of that. From experience, I can tell you that the clients who are setting goals and dreaming dreams for this year, will have a year of accomplishments. They will succeed at reaching their goals no matter what the weather. Those without a lot of thought about the year will tend to blow around like the wind, and go wherever the weather takes them, not accomplishing much and feeling discouraged as the year goes on.

Set some goals this year... regarding your weight loss program and much more. Take some time in these first weeks of January and put some dates on the calendar! That's when the magic happens...when you get things down on paper!

We've got great plans this month at The Healthy Weigh as we kick off our winter Team Challenge. We look forward to supporting you this new year of 2011. We will provide you with the best weight loss program available and then celebrate your success.

Here's to a year filled with peace! Here's to a year of health; body, soul and spirit!

Always encouraging you, Letha

Merry Christmas!

As I sit this Christmas Eve morning and look out on the beautify of this day, I am reflecting. These days at home have given me an opportunity to reflect on this past year. 2010 has been a year full of joy and sorrow.

There were so many joys to celebrate...
I celebrated with you, my Healthy Weigh friends, when you married off your children, when you became Grandparents, and even when you had new children of your own. I celebrated with you as you sent your little ones to school, and when you sent your bigger ones to college! I celebrated with you as you lost weight and changed on the outside and celebrated when you changed in even bigger ways on the inside.

There were times of great sorrow this year too.
I suffered with you, my Healthy Weigh friends, when you watched your parents pass away, when you had surgery and illness, and when you struggled to stay positive during hard economic times. I prayed for you when I watched you have concerns for your children and grandchildren. I had empathy when you struggled with this very difficult journey of losing weight for life.

As I reflect back, I am blessed to say that I have had the amazing opportunity to walk beside you in good times and in bad. I thank you on this Christmas Eve, for the opportunity to do so.

For those of you who are celebrating with joy this day, I celebrate with you...for those of you who carry deep sorrow today, I say a prayer for you, that the peace of God would guard your hearts and your minds this Christmas.

Merry Christmas friends,

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Exciting Times at The Healthy Weigh

It is with great enthusiasm and celebration that I look back on 2010 at the success of the clients at The Healthy Weigh. Over 6000 pounds were lost this year as clients changed their thinking and changed their lives. I was thrilled to watch clients reach weight loss goals and more excited to hear their stories of permanent change. With my years of experience helping men and women lose weight, I don't celebrate weight loss as much as I do change!

It is with equal enthusiasm that I announce change at The Healthy Weigh. I have never quit looking for the best way to help people live their best lives. This year we experienced that more than in all my 29 years in the weight loss business. The Team Challenge brought about more weight loss and more emotional healing than I have ever seen. The class room teaching by Glenda, Nancy and me were, I believe, some of the most important and sound teaching regarding weight loss and emotional healing available in Clark County.

For that reason, we announced Thursday that we will be phasing out the one-on-one clinic side of The Healthy Weigh program. We will be putting all our energies, focus and finances into the Team Challenge and the classroom side of the program, the part of the program where we see the most permanent change happening.

As I look back on my last 4 years being fully engaged at The Healthy Weigh, I see that all the steps I've taken have lead me right here. Developing the workshop series that lead to group participation and the CD series, opened up a new door, emotionally and physically at The Healthy Weigh. Opening this door brought about group support and community involvement that I could not have anticipated. Accountability and support are needed for growth and change. The Team Challenge and the class room events provided an abundance of both.

If you are serious about permanent weight loss and want to change from the inside out...you need not look any further. The Healthy Weigh will provide you that opportunity in 2011! We are thrilled to be starting our 7th season of the Team Challenge January 11th. Glenda and I are also excited about some up coming conferences and classes. Glenda's amazing "Back Pack" class will be taught as a Friday night, all day Saturday conference January 21st and 22nd and Glenda and I will be team teaching a two hour class on Thursday, February 24th "Changing Your Beliefs." Both of these classes can be and will be life changing for those who participate!

It is with great anticipation that I look into 2011. I hope you'll join me on this journey to heal and change both physically and emotionally this year. It's going to be an amazing 2011!

Call me or email me at letha@healthyweigh.com to get more details about the upcoming Team Challenge! You'll be glad you did!

Always encouraging you.
Letha

It's a Wonderful Life!

George Bailey, the richest man in town...don't you just love that movie? I watched it with my family this weekend and was struck by one of the lines. Clarence was looking down on George and asked the question..."Is he sick?" and Joseph answered back, "No, worse...he's discouraged."

Discouragement can ruin a life. It can keep you from being who you were intended to be. It can definitely keep you from seeing who you are!

Discouragement comes...it comes to all of us. It is the deprivation of courage and confidence.

At The Healthy Weigh, we encourage! We help point you in the right direction. We believe in the power of thoughts and words and use those to impart courage and confidence!

If you're feeling a little like George Bailey these days...discouraged and focusing on your failures, step into The Healthy Weigh and let us remind you that you truly do have a wonderful life and you have all that you need to be successful!

We've got GREAT plans for you in the next 4 weeks before our next Team Challenge begins January 11th! I hope you'll join us for a little "Christmas Vacation" at noon or 6 PM on Tuesday. This week Nancy is unwrapping some of her very best holiday ideas for you. You'll leave encouraged for sure!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Walk & Knock for the Hungry

This morning I'm filling up my brown paper bag with items to feed the hungry. I'm always a little bit convicted as I fill my Walk & Knock bag each year with food I'll never miss.

I can't help but think about hunger, and question my self as to whether or not I've ever been hungry.

I sit with clients every day who are afraid that they'll be hungry if they eat 3 servings of protein, 4 servings of vegetables, 3 servings of fruit, 2 servings of starch and 2 servings of milk...every day.

Hunger, is defined as; a discomfort caused by a need for food. I guess the next question I'd have to ask my self is what is a need. Is my need for food related to physical hunger or something else?

My words will be few this morning. I'm on my way to drop off this bag of food. I encourage you to do the same this weekend.

Visit www.walkandknock.org for more information.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Relapse...necessary for permanent change?...

...In most cases, I believe it is.

Relapse; to slip back in to a former state.

Whether it's a BIG slip or a small one, we've all experienced relapse. It doesn't feel good. If you're reading this right now and you've slipped BIG, you feel miserable. Shame, guilt and discouragement are just a few of the words to describe how you're feeling. Your clothes don't fit, you're fighting the urge to buy new ones in bigger sizes and you're not looking forward to the most "wonderful time of the year." Relapse is ugly.

I have spent the last 30 years helping people change and Ive learned a thing or two. Firstly...we need each other! Relapse happens when we try to go it alone. As hard as this weight loss journey is, we somehow think we should be able to do it by our selves! Secondly, we believe that if we've relapsed, we're bad. We're not bad...we're human! CHANGE IS HARD and relapse happens.

So what now? "Maybe a different program would help?" "Maybe I'll try that packaged food that you order on line.(then I can lose my weight in the privacy of my own home and no one has to know.)" "I'll just get back on program...I have the "diet," I know what to do!"

What now? You can try another option, you could even have temporary success. But I believe that the love and support you receive from The Healthy Weigh is just what you need. We understand relapse and we don't judge it, we just support you.

Relapse happens because beliefs systems have not been changed. I am convinced that the education and the community support that is offered at The Healthy Weigh is unparalleled and is the answer to changing your beliefs and keeping your weight off for life. If you are currently an active client at The Healthy Weigh...stay the course, keep investing in your health and your future. If you have slipped away, we'd love to see you again. Come on home!

I'd love to hear from some of you that are feeling discouraged right about now. I invite to write me privately at letha@healthyweigh.com . Whether you're on the program now, or haven't seen me for some time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Body ~ Soul ~ Spirit, The Spiritual Perspective

This week we concluded our 6 week class by reviewing the last, and I believe, the most important Personal Control Guide. We looked at the spiritual perspective of weight loss.

We were created in three parts...body, soul and spirit. Our body, the physical part of us which relates to the material world. Our Soul, made up of our mind, will and emotions, our personalty you might say, which relates with people. And our spirit, the deepest place of who we are, which relates with God.

To live completely healthy lives, we need to submit our body to our soul, our soul to our spirit and our spirit to God.
The problem lies, when we have an unhealthy soul; a mind that is negative, a will that says, "I do what I want" and emotions that are wounded and have not been healed from past and present pain. You can imagine what a body would look like that comes under that kind of influence.

God makes our spirits new when we invite him in and surrender to him.
Our work, is the work of the soul; renewing the mind, submitting the will and healing the emotions.

I continue to see men and woman work so hard at dieting, losing weight and will power, all while their souls are ravaged. When we focus on the work of the soul; renewing, submitting and healing, the body comes under the influence of a healthy soul and this journey of weight loss gets a lot easier.

We continue at The Healthy Weigh to challenge you in areas of soul work. How many times have we talked to you about renewing your mind..saying no to the bad and yes to the good, and healing those emotions that are keeping you from an abundant life? It's all soul work, at The Healthy Weigh!

We have a society of excess! As we grow older and deny past pain, empty places begin to develop in our souls. We do a great job of trying to fill those empty place with things. Food, clothes, cars, houses, money, and busyness. Excess of anything, is about our emptiness. All those empty places are addictions waiting to happen.

The belief I have says this...many of our empty places can be closed up, healed, with God's help and our soul work, but many of those empty places are holes that only God can fill. He created us for relationship with him and until we surrender to Him, we will always be looking to "fill" those holes.

We had Church at The Healthy Weigh Thursday, no offering was taken, no choir sang, but I know that God was present and tenderly waiting to be invited in.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Exercise and Weight Loss~It's a Math Problem

We spent a couple of emotional weeks looking at the things we're responsible for and then coping skills. It's always good for the soul to throw in a little logic after spending time on our emotions! Our Math workshop did just that!

Sometimes math can be hard too. The simple fact that our bodies need a certain amount of calories to maintain weight can be a difficult truth to accept. The amount of calories we burn compared to the amount we take in, is the story problem.

As we look back to the generations before us, there is a big difference between the amount of calories expended in a day compared to now. That's where the problem lies. Our lives have become more automated and we still want to consume the same amount of calories as the people generations before us did. That's where weight gain comes in!

It takes 3500 calories to lose or gain a pound. We are either saving up calories to add a pound on our bodies, or we are working to have a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound off our bodies. It truly is a math problem.

We talked about exercise and the ability to turn up our bodies thermostats to have a speedier metabolism. Keeping close track of all calories consumed and working to burn more calories by being active is the goal!

With so many unknowns in our world today...it's somehow comforting to know that weight loss really is a math problem!

I hope you'll join me next week at noon or Six on Thursday when I conclude this 6 week class schedule with Body Soul Spirit, The Spiritual Perspective.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Coping Skills ~ Feeling Your Way Through Life

Can you spell vulnerability? That was me, this week, teaching "Coping Skills ~ Feeling Your Way Through Life." It was a hard lesson for many clients to hear, so I loved it when one of our clients voiced this great word..." Hard doesn't mean bad." How true that was this week as we looked at the importance of having healthy coping skills to be truly healthy; body soul and spirit!

We took a look at the coping skills that our society uses. Drinking, drugs, shopping, and over eating to name a few.Coping; wrestling or grappling with difficulties and acting to over come them. As we looked closer at our societies list, we realized that we are not coping at all...we're avoiding. Avoiding the pain of the past and present. Instead of overcoming and healing our issues and pain, we are numbing them.

At The Healthy Weigh, we are convinced that unless a person acquires a healthy list of coping skills and begins to use them to heal past and present wounds, they will have temporary success at best.

The feeling wheel was introduced this week as a great tool to identify feelings and begin to process them. For many of us, we are a bit handicapped when it comes to expressing our feelings. We were taught to feel; mad, glad or sad. Identifying our true feelings is the first step to being able to process what's really going on inside of us. We recommend that you keep your feeling wheel on the inside of a journal so that you can refer to it as often as necessary while you're journaling. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to put it on the fridge so that the whole family could benefit from it!

We spent most of our time Thursday talking about forgiveness. I believe that unforgiveness robs us of more joy than any thing else in life. I shared a technique or tool to help clients begin to forgive the people, including themselves, that they need to, to heal those wounded places inside. Forgiveness only takes one person, so it definitely is a process that we all find right inside of our own back packs! It is your responsibility to do the work to heal the places that are keeping you from living the life you were intended to live.

I inspired courage Thursday...it takes a little bit to forge ahead and begin to use real coping skills. What I know is that a mind that is healthy, and emotions that are healed will effect a physical body more than any diet ever could!

I hope I will see many of you next week when we have a little math workshop...math will seem easy after Coping Skills! :-) Thursday, Noon or Six! Hope to see you there!

I love you all, I'm walking with you and want you to have your very best life.
Until next week.

Always encouraging you.
Letha

What's in Your Back Pack ~ Controlling What You Can

This week might be one of my favorite weeks to teach. I learned about "Back Packs" about 10 years ago, and it was life changing for me.
Learning to control what you can and let go of things you can't control is not only freeing, it's smart!

I taught this lesson alone this week as Glenda is on a trip back to Canada. Funny thing about that is that she is the one who taught it to me all those years ago. I guess it's every teachers dream that her student would go on to teach the lessons that she imparted!

At first look, clients wonder what "back packs" have to do with weight loss. It doesn't take long to begin to understand the concept. The more you understand about self-control, personal responsibility and emotional ownership, the easier it is to make choices for yourself regarding your weight loss program.

As we began to look at the 12 things we are responsible for, in control of, and are to take ownership of, I had to laugh at the test we've all been put through lately...something that is completely out of our control. The weather! Living in the Northwest is an opportunity to carry your own weather around inside of you.

Over the years I've sene clients, friends and family, using all their time, and energy on things out side of their control. Those things appear to get bigger and bigger, because we have no control over them, and we appear to get smaller and smaller. The things that we DO have control of...the 12 things in our back pack are the ONLY things that will help us become the women and men we were intended to be. Strong, healthy and full of love.

We talked about the difference between feeling responsible TO others and feeling responsible FOR others. I encourage you to look at the chart on the back of this important control guide and work to become a person who is responsible to others.

This is a lesson that you will want to share with your children, your spouses and everyone you spend time with. I pray that it will be as life changing for you as it was and is for me.

Don't forget to join us next week at noon or 6 PM for 'Coping Skills~Feeling Your Way Through Life.'

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Change Your Thinking~Change Your Life!

Last week we learned that in order to change your actions permanently, you have to change your belief system. This week, we're focusing on your thought life.

We tackled 4 things in our short 30 minute class on Thursday:

Motivation
Goals and Rewards
Positive Thinking
Mental Conditioning

We all agreed that losing weight and keeping it off for life is one of the hardest things we've ever done...so the questions is, How do you prepare for that? This week we are focusing on necessary steps to be successful at not only starting this weight loss journey, but reaching your destination as well!

Motivation:
As I sit with clients week after week, I see a common theme with clients who are not losing weight. They have lost their motivation. Knowing WHY you want to lose weight and keeping those reasons in the fore front of your mind is critical for weight loss success. There are many ways to keep motivation high. What ever those ways are for you, keep doing them! We all have different motives as to why we want to lose weight...the key is to keep motivation alive! Motivation is in the doing! What can you do this week to elevate your motivation?

Goals and Rewards:
Setting goals and rewarding yourself are proven methods in changing your beliefs permanently. Everything we do, we do out of our need to seek pleasure or avoid pain, the problem is,our society believes that over eating is pleasure and eating in moderation is painful. At our Thursday classes, I had clients speak out words connected to over eating. I heard, guilt, shame, poor health, pain, and tears. I had clients speak words connected to eating in moderation. I heard, happiness, peace, health, clothes fit, and confidence. That is the truth...we just don't believe it!
Linking pleasure(rewards) to your new healthy life style and pain to your old unhealthy habits will begin to change your belief system and help you keep this weight off.
Rewards are a must!

Positive Thinking:
You won't catch me in a conversation with someone about permanent change, without hearing me talk about our thought life! Choosing positive thoughts will promote positive actions! How we think about ourselves has EVERYTHING to do with losing weight and keeping it off. The good news is that we have a choice every minute of every day about our thoughts. This little girl has it figured out...we could learn a thing or two from her.
Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rKOkZFkg

Mental Conditioning:
This is the first week of your mental conditioning exercises. No great accomplishments have happened without first the visions of them! The subconscious mind is powerful. What ever you force into it on a regular basis, it believes. Adding this piece to your Healthy Weigh program could be a key to your success.

Great effort goes into great accomplishments. I encourage you to spend time this week on your thinking...it will change your life!

Join us next Thursday, for "Back Packs~Controlling What you Can". Noon or 6 PM

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Changing Your Beliefs~The Key to Permanent Weight Loss

This week we began our 6 week class at The Healthy Weigh. Glenda and I are excited about processing the six personal control guides with you. Our plan is to present the new guide each week, and review it with you on Thursdays. A lot of great classes, workshops and support groups happen at The Healthy Weigh, but it's your personal reflection and work that makes the difference! We invite to join us on Thursdays, but hope you'll do the "homework" that each guide provides on your own.

Beginning this weight loss journey by looking backwards is crucial. The beliefs we have regarding ourselves, our relationship with food and so many other things, determine our success with losing weight and more importantly keeping it off. The key to changing in the present is understanding our past.

Sometimes we resist looking at our past because we are afraid that in some way we will be dishonoring our parents. The search for truth, never requires that we dishonor those who raise us. In fact, distorting our memory of those early years through either denial or idealizing is what really dishonors the past, because it makes the past unreal. We must become fearless in our search for the truth, knowing that the truth, truly does set us free. The search for truth is never an excuse to blame or to confront-it's our search, and it's purpose lies within us.

If you've started this journey with us, I want to encourage you to go for it! Don't back away! You'll come away 6 weeks from now with great insight and a positive attitude towards your future, If you are still on the outside looking in...come in. We invite you to participate in the next 5 weeks!

Being set free is an awesome thing. Won't you join us?

Email me with questions or thoughts...I'd love to hear from you. You can also comment to this blog. I encourage that as well. letha@healthyweigh.com

Until next week.
Always encouraging you.
Letha

What's Your Story?

This Tuesday marked the 4th and final week of our Healthy Weigh University. It has been a fantastic 4 weeks starting with Dan Russell coaching us on persevering through life's tough times. Glenda helped us understand that managing our stress is vital to keeping our weight off and Nancy did a great job inspiring us to eat healthy beautiful foods this fall.

I was fully engaged as I closed out the series motivating our clients to take a close look at the story of their own lives. I did that by starting out the class imagining that we were all at our own funeral 3 years from today. We were given the chance Tuesday, to imagine what it would be like to hear from members of our family, close friends and co-workers as they spoke about us and our lives at our funerals.

Every life has a story, whether it is a story worth telling and talking about though, is up to you.

Four weeks ago you heard from Dan Russell. He talked about motivation. He inspired you to persevere. He had stories that were compelling. His stories were about being an over comer,pushing forward when things get tough.

We need those stories. We need to hear about great ones, in great places, over coming great obstacles. But maybe today you need a little motivation for the day to day things…not the Olympics, but maybe things that feel less glamorous but sometimes seem even harder to persevere through. Relationships, our work, weight loss programs, personal healing, raising kids, or letting them go...the list goes on.

All of us have a story don’t we? The question is, are we living out the life that we’ll be proud to end with?

If the answer is YES, then make sure to continue to find balance in your life. Always give love and receive love. Constantly look for ways to continue to grow, and never quit healing wounds from the past.

If the answer is NO, make some decisions to change that. Do a little editing of your own life and choose now to make the changes that will affect the story line of your life. Make your story a story worth telling.

Every life has a story, whether it is a story worth telling and talking about though, is up to you.

Always Encouraging you,
Letha

What does it take to flip the 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 fall season!

TIME...we rarely take the time 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!

I will go to my resting place, believeing in the power of the pain and pleasure list! I hope you have all used this 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?"

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 encouarging and pushing you,
Letha

Let's Summarize...

We've spent the last 5 weeks discussing a very important subject: Being fully engaged. Fully engaged in our own lives. It's not something that just happens, being fully engaged is something that we work for.

The ultimate measure of our lives is not how much time we spend on the planet, but rather how much energy we invest in the time that we have. The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quantity and the quality of energy available to us is not.

To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

To recap...here are the four princples necessary to fully engage!


PRINCIPLE 1:
Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

PRINCIPLE 2:
Because energy capacity diminishes both with overuse and with under use, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.

PRINCIPLE 3:
To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.

PRINCIPLE 4:
Positive energy rituals-highly specific routines for managing energy-are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.

Being fully engaged is a wonderful place to live. To be fully alive in every area of life takes balance and a desire to do so. Days, weeks, months and years are wasted by many people, just going through the motions of life and surviving!

I hope that you have learned something in these last weeks and will dig a little deeper at experiencing this kind of life; a fully engaged life.

As you read this blog, I am in Italy on the Amalfi coast! I can promise you that I am fully engaged today. :-) I'm equally excited about returning home, refreshed and renewed as I think about you and look at the fall at The Healthy Weigh.

Until I see you again.
Always encouraging you.
Letha

Are You Fully Engaged? Principle # 4

Continued from last week...

a reminder:
To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage the following 4 energy management principles will be key:

This week we'll address Principle #4

PRINCIPLE 4:

Positive energy rituals-highly specific routines for managing energy-are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.

Change is hard…we are creatures of habit. Most of what we do is automatic and non conscious. What we did yesterday is what we are likely to do today. The problem with most efforts at change is that conscious efforts can’t be sustained over long haul. Will and discipline are for more limited resources than most of us realize. If you have to think about something every time you do it, the likelihood is that you won’t keep doing it for very long.

A positive ritual is a behavior that becomes automatic over time-fueled by some deeply held value.


I use the word ritual purposefully to emphasize the notion of a carefully highly structured behavior. In contrast to will and discipline, which requires pushing yourself to a particular behavior, a ritual pulls at you.

Think of something as simple as brushing your teeth. It’s not something that you have to remind yourself to do. Brushing your teeth is something you feel consistently drawn to.
You do it largely on auto pilot, without much conscious effort.

The power of rituals is that they insure that we use as little conscious energy as possible where it is not absolutely necessary, leaving us free to focus the energy available to us in creative, enriching ways.
Look at any part of your life where you are successful…you have probably built routines around that action.

With your eating. Exercise, at work, in your home…the areas that you have routine, you are successful.

This week as you identify rituals in your every day life, consider more that you might add regarding your choices to eat healthy and live a fit lifestyle.

I'll close this topic out next Friday. It's been good sharing the power and importance of full engagement with you.

Working to be fully engaged and always encouraging you,
Letha

Are You Fully Engaged? Principle # 3

Continued from last week...

a reminder:
To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage the following 4 energy management principles will be key:

This week we'll address Principle #3



PRINCIPLE 3:

To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.

Stress is not an enemy in our lives, it is a key to growth. In order to build strength in a muscle we must systematically stress it, expending energy beyond normal levels. Doing so literally causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. At the end of a training session, functional capacity is diminished. But give the muscle 24 to 48 hours to recover and it grows stronger and better able to handle the next stimulus. While this training phenomenon had been applied to building physical strength, it is just as relevant to building “muscles“ in every area of our lives.

From empathy and patience, to focus and creativity, to integrity and commitment. What applies to the body, applies to all other dimensions in our lives.

We build emotional, mental and spiritual capacity in the same way that we build physical capacity.

We grow at all levels by expending energy beyond our ordinary limits and then recovering. Expose a muscle to ordinary demand and it won’t grow. With age it will actually lose strength. The limiting factor in building any “muscle” is that many of us back off at the slightest hint of discomfort. To meet increase demand in our lives, we must learn to systematically build and strengthen muscles wherever our capacity is insufficient. Any forms of stress that prompts discomfort has the potential to expand our capacity physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually so long as it’s followed but adequate recovery.

This week as you face stressful situations, demands on your emotional and personal life and are tested even spiritually, remember that discomfort in those areas brings about growth if you properly cope with them and then find time to recover and refresh yourself as well.

Next week we'll look at principle #4.
Until then I'm

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Are You Fully Engaged? Principle # 2

Continued from last week...

a reminder:
To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage the following 4 energy management principles will be key:
This week we'll address Principle #2

PRINCIPLE 2:
Because energy capacity diminishes both with overuse and with under use, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.

We rarely consider how much energy we are spending because we take it for granted that the energy available to us is limitless. In fact, increased demand progressively depletes our energy reserves, especially in the absences of any efforts to reverse the loss of capacity that comes with age. We can dramatically slow our decline both physically and mentally, and we should actually deepen our emotional and spiritual capacity until the very end of our lives.

When we spend far more energy than we recover and the eventual consequence is that we break down, burn out, atrophy, lose passion, get sick and even die prematurely. Sadly the need for recovery is often viewed as evidence of weakness rather than as an integral aspect of sustained performance. The result is that we give no attention to renewing and expanding our energy reserves, individually or organizationally.

The richest, happiest, and most productive lives are characterized by the ability to fully engage in the challenge at hand, but also disengage periodically and seek renewal. Instead, many of us live our lives as if we are running in an endless marathon, pushing ourselves far beyond healthy levels of exertion.

We become flat lines mentally and emotionally by spending energy without sufficient recovery. We become flat lines physically and spiritually by not expending enough energy. Either way, we slowly wear down.

Think for a moment about the look of many long distance runners. Gaunt, sallow, slightly sunken and emotionally flat. Now visualize a sprinter. Sprinters typically look powerful, bursting with energy and eager to push themselves to their limits. The explanation is simple. No matter how intense the demand they face, the finish line is 100 or 200 meters down the track.

We, too must learn to live our lives as a series of sprints. We must fully engaged for periods of time, then fully disengage and seek renewal before jumping back into the fray to face whatever challenges confront us.

Here's to a week with a series of sprints!
More next week.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Are You Fully Engaged? Principle # 1

Continued from last week...

a reminder:
To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage the following 4 energy management principles will be key:
This week we'll address Principle #1.


PRINCIPLE 1:

Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

The truth is that humans beings are complex energy systems. Full engagement is not one dimensional. The energy that pulses through us is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. All four dynamics are critical. None is sufficient by itself and each one profoundly influences the others.

To perform at our best we must skillfully manage each of these dimensions. Subtract any one of these and we lose our capacity to fully engage…much the way an engine sputters when one of it’s cylinders misfires.


Energy is the common denominator in all dimensions of our lives. Physical energy capacity is measured in terms of quantity (low to high) where emotional energy capacity is measured in quality (negative to positive).

These are our most fundamental sources of energy because without sufficient high-octane fuel no mission can be accomplished. The more toxic and unpleasant our energy, the less effective we perform. The more positive and pleasant, the energy, the more efficient it is. Full engagement and maximum performance are only possible when we are living lives with high physical energy and positive emotional energy.

The importance of full engagement is most vivid in situations where the consequences of disengagement are profound.

Imagine for a moment that you are facing open-heart surgery. Where on a scale from low to high would you want your surgeon to be? How would you feel if he entered the operating room feeling angry, frustrated and anxious. How about overworked, exhausted, and depressed. What if he was laid back and slightly spacey? Obviously, you want your surgeon energized, confident and upbeat.

Imagine that every time you reacted inappropriately at someone in frustration or did sloppy work on a project or failed to focus your attention fully on the task at hand, you put someone’s life at risk? Very quickly, you would become less negative, reckless and sloppy in the way you manage your energy.

We must learn to hold ourselves accountable for how we manage our energy, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, just as we do our time.

So for this week...be fully engaged by managing your energy, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Next week we'll look at principle #2

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Are You Fully Engaged?

How many of you feel like the demands of your life exceeds your capacity to make it all happen?

We live in a digital time. Our rhythms are rushed, our days are carved up in to bits and bytes.
We survive on too little sleep, fuel up on coffee, and go non stop from morning until night. We have demands all day and arrive home feeling exhausted and often experience the things and people waiting for us at home as one more demand instead of a place to refuel and feel renewed.

Our lives feel over burdened.

We take pride in our ability to multi task, we have cell phones, pagers, emails and pop up reminders. We use words like obsessed, stressed, crazy and overwhelmed. Feeling starved for time we feel we have no choice but to cram as much as possible into every day.

Managing time efficiently does not guarantee that we are living our lives fully engaged…it does not guarantee that we are bringing sufficient energy into whatever we are doing.


The ultimate measure of our lives is not how much time we spend on the planet, but rather how much energy we invest in the time that we have. The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quantity and the quality of energy available to us is not.

To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

Full engagement begins with feeling eager to get to work in the morning, equally happy to return home in the evening and capable of setting clear boundaries between the two. It means being able to immerse yourself in the mission you are on, whether it’s grappling with a creative challenge at work, managing a group of people on a project, spending time with loved ones or simply having fun.


I want to do something fun and compare our lives, our busy, successful, time crunched lives, to those of a professional athlete.

Think about it…
Professional athletes typically spend about 90 percent of their time training, in order to perform 10 percent of the time. Their entire lives are designed around expanding, sustaining, and renewing the energy they need to compete for short, focused periods of time.

They build very precise routines for managing energy in all spheres of their lives. Eating and sleeping…working out and resting…summoning the appropriate emotions, mentally staying focused and connecting regularly to the mission they have set for themselves.

Although most of us spend little or no time systematically training in any of these dimensions, we are expected to perform at our best for eight, ten even twelve hours a day.

Most professional athletes also enjoy an off-season of four to five months a year. After competing under extraordinary pressure for several months, a long off-season gives athletes the critical time that thy need for rest and healing, renewal and growth.

By contrast, our “off” season amounts to a few weeks of vacation a year, Even then we probably aren’t solely resting and recovering. More likely we are spending a least some of our vacation answering emails, checking our voice mail and thinking about our work.

Finally, professional athletes have an average career span of five to seven years. If they have handled their finances reasonable well, they are often set for life. Few of them are under pressure to run out and get another job.
By contrast, we can probably expect to work for forty to fifty years without any significant breaks.

Given these stark facts, what makes it possible to keep performing at our best without sacrificing our health, our happiness and our passions for life?

We must become fully engaged!

To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage, four energy management principles will be key:

We'll look at those principles for the next 4 weeks!
Until then...be fully engaged, be in the moment.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Selfish or Self Care

I'm a wife and I'm a mom, I'm a sister, aunt and daughter. All of these rolls 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 as an inspiration and my nieces and nephews see me as a role model. My Mom just loves me.

I meet with women every day 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 the very best, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I think it would be selfish of me to do any different. I think that women 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

Are You on a Diet?

That is probably a funny question if you're reading this blog. Of course, you're on The Healthy Weigh diet, right? Well, not necessarily. I sat with clients today who have done a really GREAT job changing their life style habits and are even seeing results from that, but have found themselves stuck! Stuck 30, 40 or even 50 pounds from where they want to be.

Here's what I've observed. When a client comes to The Healthy Weigh and is presented the nutritional plan, they get on board! They follow it faithfully and see impressive weight loss. And then it starts to happen...little extras start creeping in. They have done such a good job of changing their eating habits that now they are looking at food different and really are making healthy choices. The problem is, there is a difference between making healthy food choices and being on a DIET to lose weight. A diet is defined this way: a controlled intake of food and drink designed for weight loss, for health or religious reasons, or to control or improve a medical condition. Controlled being the key word here!

The Healthy Weigh nutritional plan is the best weight loss DIET I have come across in my 30 years in the weight loss industry.
It was designed and written by professionals in the field that knew what they were doing! It works! problem is, we tweak it...and then we don't see the results we're after.

I see clients get frustrated every week with slow or no weight loss all while they feel like they've been following the program.
With a touch more effort and a little more control, they could be seeing a 2 to 2.5 pound a week weight loss!

So I guess the question is...Are you on a DIET? I hope the answer is YES! If it is, you will see results that keep you inspired and you will find yourself living that "healthy lifestyle" in no time!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

I do my BEST on the weekends!

The weekend is here, the sun is shining, summer is in full swing...how prepared are you to follow your nutritional plan all weekend long? Have you given any thought to the days ahead and planned your strategy?

Weekends pose different problems than week days. During the week, we have routine and it makes it "routine" to follow program. It seems that we are better prepared with program foods during the week too, out of necessity with our busy schedules.

The weekend rolls around and we have no routine to speak of, and we've run out of the good program foods! That means trouble!

There are a few easy things you can do to make your weekend days as successful or even more successful than the week days.

1.Preplan a menu for the weekend on Thursday night(with contingencies.)
Put the menu up on your fridge to remind yourself that you DO have a plan for the weekend. It helps to have it written down so you are not making so many emotional decisions about what you feel like eating.

2.Stop on your way home on Friday night to stock up on the very BEST program foods.

The weekend is the time when we can take more time to make a beautiful breakfast or even a special dinner. Buy the best ingredients and look forward to your meals instead of eating what's left over for the week!

3.Use the extra time to be more active.
If you have time to walk out the front door...do it! Take time on the weekend to go for a walk, a hike or a bike ride with your family. You can burn more calories on the weekend!

4.And above all else(you guessed it)think rightly about the weekend.
Your attitude about weekend foods and weekend activity will make ALL the difference in your success! Try repeating out loud many times a day..."I do my best o he program, on the weekends." Se what that does for your thought life!

Your determination to turn hard weekends into opportunities for more weight loss will make a great difference in your weight loss success.

Plan ahead,go shopping and think rightly then have a terrific on program weekend!

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!

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

Motivation is in the Doing!

Motivation is at the heart of all success. The word motivation comes from the word motive…think about that. Motivation is at the heart of all success…motives come from the heart! Motivation comes from within you!

Here’s the good news…you have control over how motivated you are!

You’re not alone if your motivation wavers…you’re not alone if you’ve said, “This is hard,” “I don’t know if I can do this”, “I don’t know why I’m doing this”. “I don’t want to do this anymore” “I’m not motivated.”

Those are normal thoughts

But Remember…..
Your Thoughts dictate your feelings and your feelings dictate your actions.

If you are thinking those thoughts, If you are saying those words…I need to let you know that the odds are against you...you might not get to the finish line.
How motivated do you feel right now?

Words are powerful, thoughts are as powerful!

The truth is this. Making the choice to be disciplined with your eating and exercise, setting limits on yourself and learning to say no thank you, is less than fun, less than exciting, less than happy…but the benefits are all of that and more!!!

Motivation is all about the benefits…all about our thought life… all about what we focus on!

So it’s up to you to keep motivation alive. Motivation starts with a thought. A thought that says, if I want to be successful, if I want to cross the finish line and then keep my weight off, I need motivation and I need it now! I will choose a thought pattern that keeps me focused on where I’m going, what I’m getting, and what life will be like when I get there!
Motivation is in the doing…doing something to keep your thought life right, strong, focused.

Some of my tools, my secrets to keeping my motivation alive are…

Clothing
Hang it out…hang it in the pantry if you need to!
Do you have clothes in your closet that still have the tags on them? Did you buy it a little small and then never get into it? Get them out and make them visible!
Change it out if you get used to seeing it there!

What would you be wearing if you were at goal weight…That’s what you focus on!

Year at a Glance
Get it out in front of you…what will your next 12 months look like as you get slimmer and slimmer…healthier and healthier?!

What events will take on a different feeling a different excitement a different freedom at your goal weight?

Words
Be inspired by them, print them, post them in view. Words are powerful and they will keep you focused!

What motivates you?

Sporting equipment?
How would you be playing if you were at goal weight. That’s what you focus on!


Collages
What would your life represent if you were at goal weight How would your life improve?


Motivation is in the doing…it’s taking a naturally negative, discouraged, unbelieving attitude and turning it around.

Motivation is about walking away from spending your time and energy thinking about food, thinking about what you don’t get to eat today, and instead, thinking about a life free from being burdened down with extra pounds.

How much time are you spending thinking about what you can’t eat instead of where you’re going?

Let’s turn our homes, our cars, our workplaces, into places of renewed motivation…reminders of where you’re going, why it matters, how our life will improve
That’s doing motivation!

Every place you go…you should be inspired and provoked to climb this mountain, to run this race, to accomplish this task…you’re just the one that has to create it!

Motivation is truly in the doing!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Independence Day!

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. I see men and women fighting to be free every week at The Healthy Weigh.

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

Contentment = Weight Loss

Today I taught an extensive class on how to stabilize and then maintain weight loss for life. Although I have gained tremendous knowledge about food, calories and nutrition over the past 29 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 sit with clients every week, I'm continually reminded of that.

Today 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 discontentment 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.

Join me and my Healthy Weigh friends on the water front this Saturday morning at 9 AM. We meet in front of Beaches restaurant and walk for about an hour. Bring a friend or a dog! Come,walk and enjoy the Northwest beauty. It'll be great.

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Body ~ Soul ~ Spirit, The Spiritual Perspective

This week we concluded our 6 week class by reviewing the last, and I believe, the most important Personal Control Guide. We looked at the spiritual perspective of weight loss.

We were created in three parts...body, soul and spirit. Our body, the physical part of us which relates to the material world. Our Soul, made up of our mind, will and emotions, our personalty you might say, which relates with people. And our spirit, the deepest place of who we are, which relates with God.

To live completely healthy lives, we need to submit our body to our soul, our soul to our spirit and our spirit to God.
The problem lies, when we have an unhealthy soul; a mind that is negative, a will that says, "I do what I want" and emotions that are wounded and have not been healed from past and present pain. You can imagine what a body would look like that comes under that kind of influence.

God makes our spirits new when we invite him in and surrender to him.
Our work, is the work of the soul; renewing the mind, submitting the will and healing the emotions.

I continue to see men and woman work so hard at dieting, losing weight and will power, all while their souls are ravaged. When we focus on the work of the soul; renewing, submitting and healing, the body comes under the influence of a healthy soul and this journey of weight loss gets a lot easier.

We continue at The Healthy Weigh to challenge you in areas of soul work. How many times have we talked to you about renewing your mind..saying no to the bad and yes to the good, and healing those emotions that are keeping you from an abundant life? It's all soul work, at The Healthy Weigh!

We have a society of excess! As we grow older and deny past pain, empty places begin to develop in our souls. We do a great job of trying to fill those empty place with things. Food, clothes, cars, houses, money, and busyness. Excess of anything, is about our emptiness. All those empty places are addictions waiting to happen.

The belief I have says this...many of our empty places can be closed up, healed, with God's help and our soul work, but many of those empty places are holes that only God can fill. He created us for relationship with him and until we surrender to Him, we will always be looking to "fill" those holes.

We had Church at The Healthy Weigh Thursday, no offering was taken, no choir sang, but I know that God was present and tenderly waiting to be invited in.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Exercise and Weight Loss~It's a Math Problem

We spent a couple of emotional weeks looking at the things we're responsible for and then coping skills. It's always good for the soul to throw in a little logic after spending time on our emotions! Our Math workshop did just that!

Sometimes math can be hard too. The simple fact that our bodies need a certain amount of calories to maintain weight can be a difficult truth to accept. The amount of calories we burn compared to the amount we take in, is the story problem.

As we look back to the generations before us, there is a big difference between the amount of calories expended in a day compared to now. That's where the problem lies. Our lives have become more automated and we still want to consume the same amount of calories as the people generations before us did. That's where weight gain comes in!

It takes 3500 calories to lose or gain a pound. We are either saving up calories to add a pound on our bodies, or we are working to have a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound off our bodies. It truly is a math problem.

We talked about exercise and the ability to turn up our bodies thermostats to have a speedier metabolism. Keeping close track of all calories consumed and working to burn more calories by being active is the goal!

With so many unknowns in our world today...it's somehow comforting to know that weight loss really is a math problem!

I hope you'll join me next week at noon or Six on Thursday when I conclude this 6 week class schedule with Body Soul Spirit, the spiritual perspective.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Coping Skills ~ Feeling Your Way Through Life

Can you spell vulnerability? That was me, this week, teaching "Coping Skills ~ Feeling Your Way Through Life." It was a hard lesson for many clients to hear, so I loved it when one of our clients voiced this great word..." Hard doesn't mean bad." How true that was this week as we looked at the importance of having healthy coping skills to be truly healthy; body soul and spirit!

We took a look at the coping skills that our society uses. Drinking, drugs, shopping, and over eating to name a few.Coping; wrestling or grappling with difficulties and acting to over come them. As we looked closer at our societies list, we realized that we are not coping at all...we're avoiding. Avoiding the pain of the past and present. Instead of overcoming and healing our issues and pain, we are numbing them.

At The Healthy Weigh, we are convinced that unless a person acquires a healthy list of coping skills and begins to use them to heal past and present wounds, they will have temporary success at best.

The feeling wheel was introduced this week as a great tool to identify feelings and begin to process them. For many of us, we are a bit handicapped when it comes to expressing our feelings. We were taught to feel; mad, glad or sad. Identifying our true feelings is the first step to being able to process what's really going on inside of us. We recommend that you keep your feeling wheel on the inside of a journal so that you can refer to it as often as necessary while you're journaling. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to put it on the fridge so that the whole family could benefit from it!

We spent most of our time Thursday talking about forgiveness. I believe that unforgiveness robs us of more joy than any thing else in life. I shared a technique or tool to help clients begin to forgive the people, including themselves, that they need to, to heal those wounded places inside. Forgiveness only takes one person, so it definitely is a process that we all find right inside of our own back packs! It is your responsibility to do the work to heal the places that are keeping you from living the life you were intended to live.

I inspired courage Thursday...it takes a little bit to forge ahead and begin to use real coping skills. What I know is that a mind that is healthy, and emotions that are healed will effect a physical body more than any diet ever could!

I hope I will see many of you next week when we have a little math workshop...math will seem easy after Coping Skills! :-) Thursday, Noon or Six! Hope to see you there!

I love you all, I'm walking with you and want you to have your very best life.
Until next week.

Always encouraging you.
Letha

What's in Your Back Pack~Controlling What You Can

This week might be one of my favorite weeks to teach. I learned about "Back Packs" about 10 years ago, and it was life changing for me.
Learning to control what you can and let go of things you can't control is not only freeing, it's smart!

I taught this lesson alone this week as Glenda was on a rode trip back to Canada. Funny thing about that is that she is the one who taught it to me all those years ago. I guess it's every teachers dream that her student would go on to teach the lessons that she imparted!

At first look, clients wonder what "back packs" have to do with weight loss. It doesn't take long to begin to understand the concept. The more you understand about self-control, personal responsibility and emotional ownership, the easier it is to make choices for yourself regarding your weight loss program.

As we began to look at the 12 things we are responsible for, in control of, and are to take ownership of, I had to laugh at the test we've all been put through lately...something that is completely out of our control. The weather! Living in the Northwest is an opportunity to carry your own weather around inside of you. How's everybody doing with that one lately?

But on a serious note. I see clients, friends and family, using all their time, and energy on things out side of their control. Those things appear to get bigger and bigger, because we have no control over them, and we appear to get smaller and smaller. The things that we DO have control of...the 12 things in our back pack are the ONLY things that will help us become the women and men we were intended to be. Strong, healthy and full of love.

We talked about the difference between feeling responsible TO others and feeling responsible FOR others. I encourage you to look at the chart on the back of this important control guide and work to become a person who is responsible to others.

This is a lesson that you will want to share with your children, your spouses and everyone you spend time with. I pray that it will be as life changing for you as it was and is for me.

Don't forget to join us next week at noon or 6 PM for 'Coping Skills~Feeling Your Way Through Life'.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Change Your Thinking~Change Your Life

Last week we learned that in order to change your actions permanently, you have to change your belief system. This week, we're focusing on your thought life.

We tackled 4 things in our short 30 minute class on Thursday:

Motivation
Goals and Rewards
Positive Thinking
Mental Conditioning

We all agreed that losing weight and keeping it off for life is one of the hardest things we've ever done...so the questions is, How do you prepared for that? This week we are focusing on necessary steps to be successful at not only starting this weight loss journey, but reaching your destination as well!

Motivation:
As I sit with clients week after week, I see a common theme with clients who are not losing weight. They have lost their motivation. Knowing WHY you want to lose weight and keeping those reasons in the fore front of your mind is critical for weight loss success. There are many ways to keep motivation high. What ever those ways are for you, keep doing them! We all have different motives as to why we want to lose weight...the key is to keep motivation alive! Motivation is in the doing! What can you do this week to elevate your motivation?

Goals and Rewards:
Setting goals and rewarding yourself are proven methods in changing your beliefs permanently. Everything we do, we do out of our need to seek pleasure or avoid pain, the problem is,our society believes that over eating is pleasure and eating in moderation is painful. At our Thursday classes, I had clients speak out words connected to over eating. I heard, guilt, shame, poor health, pain, and tears. I had clients speak words connected to eating in moderation. I heard, happiness, peace, health, clothes fit, and confidence. That is the truth...we just don't believe it!
Linking pleasure(rewards) to your new healthy life style and pain to your old unhealthy habits will begin to change your belief system and help you keep this weight off.
Rewards are a must!

Positive Thinking:
You won't catch me in a conversation with someone about permanent change, without hearing me talk about our thought life! Choosing positive thoughts will promote positive actions! How we think about ourselves has EVERYTHING to do with losing weight and keeping it off. The good news is that we have a choice every minute of every day about our thoughts. This little girl has it figured out...we could learn a thing or two from her.
Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rKOkZFkg

Mental Conditioning:
This is the first week of your mental conditioning exercises. No great accomplishments have happened without first the visions of them! The subconscious mind is powerful. What ever you force into it on a regular basis, it believes. Adding this piece to your Healthy Weigh program could be a key to your success.

Great effort goes into great accomplishments. I encourage you to spend time this week on your thinking...it will change your life!

Join us next Thursday, for "Back Packs~Controlling What you Can". Noon or 6 PM

Always encouraging you.
Letha

Changing Your Beliefs~The Key to Permanent Weight Loss

This week we began our 6 week class at The Healthy Weigh. Glenda and I are excited about processing the six new personal control guides with you. Our plan is to present the new guide each Thursday, and review it with you the following Thursday, so that you have time to listen and then work on the personal reflection. A lot of great classes, workshops and support groups happen at The Healthy Weigh, but it's your personal reflection and work that makes the difference!

Beginning this weight loss journey by looking backwards is crucial. The beliefs we have regarding ourselves, our relationship with food and so many other things, determine our success with losing weight and more importantly keeping it off. The key to changing in the present is understanding our past.

Sometimes we resist looking at our past because we are afraid that in some way we will be dishonoring our parents. The search for truth, never requires that we dishonor those who raise us. In fact, distorting our memory of those early years through either denial or idealizing is what really dishonors the past, because it makes the past unreal. We must become fearless in our search for the truth, knowing that the truth, truly does set us free. The search for truth is never an excuse to blame or to confront-it's our search, and it's purpose lies within us.

If you've started this journey with us, I want to encourage you to go for it! Don't back away! You'll come away 6 weeks from now with great insight and a positive attitude towards your future, If you are still on the outside looking in...come in. We invite you to participate in the next 5 weeks!

Being set free is an awesome thing. Won't you join us?

Email me with questions or thoughts...I'd love to hear from you. You can also comment to this blog. I encourage that as well. letha@healthyweigh.com

Until next week.
Always encouraging you.
Letha

It's All New at The Healthy Weigh

Great things are happening at The Healthy Weigh! This week we introduced our new and improved program. All new materials with a fresh new feeling! More importantly, we've re-written the Personal Control Guides to dove tail the CD series. We are convinced that working with these new guides and continuing to follow the outstanding nutritional plan is the key to permanent weight loss.

If you don't have the CD series and personal control guide # 1 yet...'Changing Your Beliefs, The Key to Permanent Weight Loss'...there's still time!
We are starting a FREE 6 week class Thursday May 13th, to review all 6 of the new guides as you journey through them. This will be an outstanding opportunity for you to get the most out of these new guides! Our classes will be held at noon or 6 PM for the next 6 Thursdays. The only requirement we have for you to attend is that you own the CD series, 'Change Your Thinking Change Your Life'. No need to sign up...just show up!

Another great addition to our program starting May 1st is that all clients who sign up for our e newsletter will receive an email from me every Friday, linking them to my blog,"Encouragement from Letha". I hope to do all I can to offer up inspiration and hope as you continue this weight loss journey.

As we seek to improve the program at The Healthy Weigh, I am more convinced than ever, that we have what you need to not only lose your weight, but keep it off for life.

I welcome comments and ideas for possible blog subjects. You are the focus of my writing and continued learning.

Here's to a great weekend and a life filled week ahead!
Always Encouraging You.
Letha