You aren’t new to the weight loss struggle. 

You’ve tried countless diets and exercise routines. You’ve even been successful at shedding some pounds. 

… but those long-lost pounds seem to keep finding their way back to you and you are just plain tired of this seemingly endless battle. 

Friend, you can lose weight and keep it off by learning the top 20 things that no one tells you about how to truly be successful on your journey. 

This is part 5 of a 20-part blog series that will give you a strong foundation of strategy you need to lose weight, keep it off, and start living the life you were born to live! 

Some of what I share will be opposite of what all the diet gurus tell you, so read on with an open and prayerful mind and let God work on you from the inside out of your health and fitness journey! 

Part 5: Eat More, Not Less

Guilt. Shame. The overwhelming feeling of failure. All combined with clothes that fit a little more...

You’ve tried every fad diet and crash diet in the books. 

You desperately wish there was a way to lose your extra pounds and keep them off. 

Well friend, you can be successful in losing weight and maintaining that weight loss by embracing three simple strategies on your weight loss journey. 

3 Ways to Lose and Maintain Weight Loss 

Find an Enjoyable and Effective Weight Loss Strategy for You

This may seem too simple to be true, but there is a great deal of truth within this weight loss strategy. 

One of the key reasons you find yourself struggling to lose weight and then maintaining the weight loss when you’ve finally arrived at your goal is because you haven’t found a strategy that is both enjoyable and effective. 

Weight loss isn’t often thought of as being enjoyable. That’s a mindset you can work toward changing, starting now. 

When you have an eating plan and an exercise plan you find joy in, you are likely...

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

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

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

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

Let me tell you a little story...

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

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

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

Until I realized something...  

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

No, in all these...

There's one thing stopping you from losing your weight. 

• It's not your crazy schedule. 
• It's not your husband's grocery shopping.
• It's not being stuck at home or stuck at work.
• It's not even you eat a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting (believe me, I've still lost weight and done this)

 Wanna know what it is? 

 It's a lie. A lie believed to be true. 

 Something like, "Forget it. I can't lose weight." 

The moment you think "I can't" is the moment you have to STOP. You need to stop and understand what's really going on.

 You need some Truth.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7)

The truth: God gave you a gift of free will. Just like Eve had a choice in the garden, we still have a choice every minute of...

The hardest part of losing weight, even maintaining my healthy weight is being still.

Yes, you read that right.

Maybe you’re a little confused right now, saying, “I thought I needed to move more. Why would I want to be still?”

I’m not talking about my body, even though it transfers there.

I’m talking about my thoughts.

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

The stillness of the mind. 

What I wouldn’t give to let my thoughts rest.

You know the struggle. 

There are many memes out there about this…

“I started making some lunch, walked out of the kitchen, sat on the couch, and thought, ‘Wow. I’m hungry. I should start making some lunch.’”

Or

"I don’t have ducks. Or a row. I have squirrels, and they’re everywhere."

While there may be some physical or hormonal changes that sometimes contribute to disordered thinking, there is another influence that many don’t talk...

A question I get asked a lot is, “How do I stick to my plan/ eat well when I go on vacation or have events?”

When my clients ask me about this, I usually find out it comes down to this line of thinking…

“I don’t want to plan because I don’t want to say no to anything I might really WANT to eat/drink. I want to be able to enjoy myself.”

Can you relate? I can.

Believe me, when I say, I still struggle with this mentality.

Here is what happens in my head during parties/events/ vacations:

• “They brought your favorite bars that you never get to have. You better have one now.”
• “You won’t come back to this restaurant ever again, so order what you really want.”
• “These friends hardly ever come over, so why not just enjoy eating whatever they are eating.”
• “It will be a long time before you’re on vacation again, so just don’t worry about it.”

I’m going to just say...

Three years ago, I found myself "skinny," but at the toll of being mentally "cray-cray" (I don't know if I'm cool enough to use this word, but I thought it would be fun). 

I had jumped on the keto bandwagon. The only amazing part of this diet was that I got to eat as much avocado, peanut butter, and coconut oil my heart desired…like a dream came true…

But not really…

I had started the diet in May. Everything was good. The kids were still in school, I had a routine, and there weren't many celebrations to contend with. 

Then summer hit. The lure of ice cream treats or a cold brew at the end of an evening was too much. My attention was focused on ways I could leave myself a couple of carbs just so I could have a lick of a potato chip. 

My mind started to become consumed.

"Did I hit my fat goal for today? I had those blueberries. Maybe that was too many carbs. What if I kicked myself out of keto? Now, I screwed up! I might as well have the whole...

Can I just say, my clients, are amazing?! They have done some pretty spectacular things. All of them. 

Not just a few.  

Every. Single. One.  

But "watching" my clients' self-sabotage, at times, is so PAINFUL for me. I just want to shake them awake. I wish I could just infuse them with the confidence I have for them.

I know they have to experience their own journey. I get that. 

I understand I can't make decisions for them. But it's excruciating. It's like nails on a chalkboard. I know I can't control their actions (which really is a good thing; I get this), so now I use their lessons to help teach others.

It is a beautiful thing about how God can use anything to his glory!

So, let me cut to the chase here. I can tell when self-sabotage is coming for my clients. I want to share what I know with you. This way, you can be on the watch for your own self-sabotage and hopefully not fall into this trap the enemy is so good at catching...

A couple of weeks ago, I had a challenge going on in my private FB group. It was called "How NOT to gain 19 lbs during Covid-19". It was a fun challenge. I want to give a big shout out to all those who participated.

In that group, though, I introduced a "new" concept.

It was my 5 vitals.

These vitals are for everyone, but I think that Christian women need to take charge of these, to monitor them closely, and be careful when they start becoming less important. 

As most of you know, I was a Registered Nurse before my momentous switch to being a full-time life coach. What is a fundamental task for any nurse?  Vitals.

 
Vitals are the primary data I used to formulate predictions about the health of the patient.  From this concept, I created my own set of vitals.

These vitals are a little different, though. They are self-assessed and measured. There are no fancy gadgets or tools needed. While it does have to do with your health, it's not about the immediate but the...

Shut-up and listen.

Nope. Not to me.

To your body and your mind.

Did you know that God gave us the perfect tool to help us know when our bodies need fuel? 

It also has this fantastic feature that alerts us to the time when we should stop.

It’s highly sophisticated, using multiple messengers in our body. Yet, it is amazingly simple.

We’ve had it since birth (it’s innate). And, it has worked well for thousands of years, until recently.

But all of a sudden, very few people listen to it anymore.

Yes, I’m talking about hunger.

Instead of listening to our BODIES, now we follow books, videos, friends, or our thoughts and feelings. We use these to determine when and what to eat and when to stop eating.

Since we’ve haven’t been using our hunger to signal us to eat or not, we’ve miscalibrated it.

It doesn’t measure right anymore.

Our “hunger” now tells us to eat when we feel frustrated. Our “hunger” tells us to eat...