I stood in the kitchen staring….

…staring at that container full of cookies. 

They are my favorite.  Chocolate and peanut butter.  I already had one.  It wasn’t on my plan for the day.  I go for the container and open it.  I shove that second cookie down so fast so nobody will know.  Nobody will see that I lack the self-control... that self-control I help my clients build daily.

But it doesn’t stop at that one cookie.  I think about the chocolates in the pantry.  You know, those Lindt truffle ones.  My brain is going crazy.  “Just have that too.  You already have screwed up your plan. Keep going.  You’ll get back on the wagon tomorrow.”

That’s when I realize….

I’m sliding down into the pit of self-sabotage.

I’ve been on this journey before.  I can see the gaping black hole I'm about to free fall into.  It is so tempting to...

Weight loss can be a spiritual journey.

Have you ever thought about that?

It did not occur to me for a LOOOONG time.  So, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

I was listening to the radio the other morning, and the announcer was talking about how he started on this journey to run a marathon purely out of selfishness.  His wife wanted him to lose weight and as he put it, “I was tired of looking at myself in the mirror.” 

So, he started running.  But it turned into so much more than that very quickly.  He put a purpose into his running by raising money for a local non-profit.  Through this God opened his eyes to how He was working while he was running and trying to lose weight.

After hearing this, I realized, I too had a spiritual journey through weight loss.  It is one of the most valuable journeys I have ever been on.

See, three years ago I was a mess.  You wouldn’t have seen it on the...

If you didn’t read last week’s post, I highly suggest you go and take a look. 

Last week, I discussed how to start cleaning up your thinking; to start being aware of what is going on in your mind. 

Here is a snippet from the post:

The thoughts in your brain will create the reality of your life.  Life is made of internal and external.  The external is the direct reflection of the internal.  I suggest you start there.

As someone thinks within himself, so he is. Proverbs 23:7

So, I wanted to expand on how the internal is reflected on the external.  And, since I coach a lot on weight issues, I’ll use that as an example today.

First, if you’ve never heard of Dr. Caroline Leaf, I highly recommend her work.  She is a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology specializing in Neuropsychology. Basically, she is one smart cookie. What is fascinating is that her work is confirming scripture. ...

I have a secret…

I hate having “stuff” but I hate starting the process of getting rid of it also.

It annoys me that I have a little bit of a hoarding problem.

I remember growing up and packing every little space of mine with treasures.  They would include bits of paper, rocks, old wrappers, various coins, broken jewelry and other trinkets.

Whenever my mom would tell me to clean my room, I’d barely get rid of anything.  Instead, I’d try to make it look better by stacking and “organizing” all the stuff. 

I remember thinking… “I might want to use it/love it/look at it/play with it later.  What if I regret throwing it away?”

Now, as an adult, I lean more towards the minimalistic side of things rather than hoarding side. But, recently, the tendency started to show.

See, I make A LOT of notes to myself. They are my thoughts that come to me in the moment that I want to think about more later or write...

Halloween is not a holiday.

I know I’m going to ruffle some feathers today. But ultimately, this post IS NOT about whether or not you should celebrate Halloween.  That’s not my point.

But if you want to get to the good point, you’ll have to hear me out about Halloween….

We don’t celebrate Halloween at our house.  We haven’t for years.  My kids don’t dress up.  They don’t go trick or treating.  We don’t have parties or decorations. 

We DO have a family fun night on the 31st though (so don't worry, my kids are not deprived).

It’s not because I stand on some morally high ground and oppose the “holiday” (Even though I don’t understand why you want to celebrate ghosts, scary monsters and skeletons.  I bet you’ve never seen a dead body with its skeleton coming out.  If you did, I bet you wouldn’t want to use it as...

Will waiting get you the results you want?

I had a big decision to make.  I could transform my life but I had to make a big investment to get it.

My initial reaction was to wait.

At first, it seemed logical to wait.  I could wait and just work on implementing the nutrition and exercise tools I already had.  I had been doing a lot of research and gained a lot of knowledge.  It seemed logical that now I just needed to refine the tools and the follow through.

Yep.  I just needed a plan and follow through.

I could do this on my own and not have to make the monetary investment.

That was my decision.

Until….

I heard a little voice ask me, “Will waiting get you the results you want?”

At first the question seemed silly. 

Well, no.  Waiting won’t.  But I’m not going to wait.  I’m going to start tomorrow.

Then I realized…

Starting tomorrow is waiting…

Ok then.  I’ll make a plan...

I saw a pin on Pinterest the other day that read, “Your comfort zone will kill you.”

It stopped me dead in my tracks. Ok, maybe it just stopped my endless scrolling.  It sure did get my attention!

I realized I agreed with it.  Looking back a couple of years ago in my life, I can see how my comfort zone was killing me. Both literally and figuratively.

The word comfort has two meanings: 

1. a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.
2. to ease or lessen another’s sadness, sorrow or pain

One is a noun the other is a verb. Lets talk about the noun, the state of comfort.

Isn’t it nice to be in a state of comfort?  When I think about comfort, I think about a big comfy bed, with freshly laundered sheets, fluffy pillows and piles of warm blankets.  (Can you tell that my mind is already preparing me for winter and my desperate desire to try to be warm!)  I also imagine a big cup of piping hot coffee with a...

The other day I came across a Facebook post where a woman was complaining about how she believed friends where hard to come by and keep.  Especially Christian ones.  At the end she was asking for other women's thoughts and advice.

After reading, I had this "ah ha" moment.  I knew I had to write a comment back along with expand on this topic more with you.

First, let me share what shocked me. 

At any other time in my past I would have agreed with this woman. BUT I DON’T AGREE ANYMORE!

This was an absolutely joyous moment for me.

You see, I never had good friends growing up.  I wasn’t necessarily “disliked”, but I was not “liked” either.  I would say, I was the girl who was forgotten about. Of course, this is just my thoughts about my past.  Someone else might disagree.  But the point is, that is how I identified myself for the longest time.  

Since I identified...

Just the other day it was a beautiful, sunny, 70 degree, fall day.  The leaves are turning brilliant yellow, orange and red while being contrasted by the bright green of the luscious grass.  It was glorious.  One of those days you wish would last all year.

That’s actually what the announcer on our local Christian radio station said.  She made a comment to the effect that everyday should be like this until mid-May.

Oh, that sounded lovely!

But… for only about one minute.

I was driving to pick up my kiddos from school when I heard her comment.  I hate to admit this, but I often start day dreaming in the car.  At this particular time, that’s exactly what I started to do.  I started to imagine what life would be like if every day was like that glorious day.  How we could play outside every day.  How we would be able to take in this stunning portrait of nature that God was giving.  How we could go biking, hiking...

 Things that DON’T make you fat….

• Sugar
• Flour
• Carbs
• Gluten
• Skipping Breakfast
• Fast food
• Eating every two hours
• Obese parents
• Your husband’s grocery shopping
• Kids eating every two hours
• Picky eating habits

Things that DO make you fat….

• Consistently over eating and hating yourself for it

This was not originally my idea.  I got this post idea from Jordan Syatt.  Just didn’t want to plagiarize.  But I did add a few of my own items to the lists.

I LOVE doing consults with potential clients.  It is my FAVORITE thing ever.  I love it because you can just “see” (I guess actually I hear since I do them over the phone) their minds working to give all the excuses as to why they are the weight they are currently. 

AND WE ALL DO THIS!!

Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the...