Release thoughts about who you have been that are not helping you create the body you want. Seek new thoughts, beliefs, and solutions.
My blog is moving! To keep following my posts after January 15, follow my new blog, at LoveYourWaySlim.com. I look forward to continuing the journey with you!
How are those New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight coming? Are you still plugging away? Can you feel them starting to waiver? Or have they been put aside to show up on next year’s list?
One of the things that can cause people to pass on meeting their wellness goals is the overwhelming feeling that can come from trying to go from holiday-treat-eating coach-potato to food-measuring athlete all at once.
There really is no rule that says you have to change all of your behaviors at once to succeed.
I didn’t.
Four years ago, for various reasons I went from a runner to a walker to not doing any exercise at all. During that period of inactivity, I didn’t curb my eating and pretty quickly reached my heaviest weightever.
I found myself starting over with exercise and losing weight—again. And it did NOT feel good.
While I hated where I was, I just couldn’t seem to find the energy to get out of bed and move.
So what changed? How did I get going?
I first started mentally preparing.
These mental preparations did include mentally visualizing me moving my body, but most importantly,they were a conscious effort to change my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.
You see, I was spending a whole lot of my mental energy feeling like a failure.
Here I was in this place of starting over—again! I knew how to diet and exercise, yet, I had failed. Surly this meant I was a weak person, or a slacker, or was somehow inherently flawed.
Those beliefs were not getting me anywhere. In fact, they were keeping me stuck in the spiral of shame and self-loathing that I thought losing weight would fix. But that very shame and self-loathing made it nearly impossible to force-start a new diet and exercise program.
And I was struggling with thoughts and beliefs about how hard working out was going to be, and how much hunger and deprivation I was going to have to endure. I was dreading it. These kinds of thoughts were NOT conducive to starting a successful diet and exercise program.
It was important to take the time to mentally prepare for where I wanted to go.
Action is great, but if you don’t have your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs aligned behind it, it’s not going to create sustainable results.
Part of that mental preparation was gently letting go of the idea that I was somehow a failure. Was I really? I did know what to do. In fact, I was so mentally disciplined that numerous times I had forcedmyself to push past a wall of negative energy to Make Things Happen.
What mattered was my belief in myself. What mattered was that I knew Who I was and what I could accomplish.
Changing those underlying thoughts brought a sense of relief that was enough to begin to shift the momentum of energy in my favor.
Another part of my mental preparation was to think about all the reasons I did want to be slim, fit, and healthy. To imagine how good that would feel.
I took my reasons a lot deeper than just looking good in a pair of jeans. I wanted to fully live a vibrantand fulfilling life. A part of me felt like I wasn’t living up to my full potential. I wasn’t consistently showing up in relationships as the person I wanted to be. I wasn’t accomplishing everything I wanted to accomplish. I wasn’t showing up in my life as who I knew I intended.
Having physical health, energy, and stamina was critical to be able to step out as the Me I truly wanted to be.
And the final piece of mental preparation?
I reached out for support. Having someone there to confirm that I wasn’t a failure or a slacker, and to tell me that they “knew I could do it” was what tipped the energetic scale enough that I was able to get out of bed on that chilly morning and move!
But that movement would have been a joke to some people. What I considered a huge success was just 10 minutes of any kind of physical movement. Seriously, I counted everything! Counting and celebrating each tiny sign of success continued to build the energetic momentum towards achieving my goals.
And it wasn’t until I was consistently meeting my physical goals that I started thinking about the slow and steady changes I could make with my eating.
The daily mental preparation continued to be critical to my achieving my success. It was the wind that helped me get airborne and support me as I flew.
It was—and continues to be—the critical factor in how I have easily maintained a size 6 now for the past several years.
Yes, it took me a year to lose 34 pounds and get back into great shape. So what?
At the end of that year I was a lot happier having slowly and steadily made those small decisions towards a healthier lifestyle than to try to do too much at once and give up, only to be faced with the same goal and results a year later.
And now several years later, I can tell you taking it slow and steady was totally worth it!
It was that slow and steady, inside out approach that led to sustainable results.
What small mental shift can you make today that will move you towards a healthier lifestyle? Do that for a week and then look for another tiny step to make. Do that consistently and you will build momentum and achieve your goals.
Do that consistently and next January 1 you will be celebrating your success rather than being faced with the disheartening decision to put Losing Weight on your list of New Year’s Resolutions—again.
Together we can do it!
Join the the Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program today!
This unique program transforms your mindset, integrates your core values and spiritual beliefs, provides exceptional support, and hones in on the most powerful actions you can take to make releasing the weight not only easy and satisfying—but fun! (Yes, it really is possible!)
Program closes January 12, 2013. It won’t reopen until January 2014!
By slowly and steadily making those small decisions towards a healthier lifestyle you build momentum and achieve your goals.
My blog is moving! To keep following my posts after January 15, follow my new blog, at LoveYourWaySlim.com. I look forward to continuing the journey with you!
“I hate exercise.”
That’s a sentiment that I hear often from my clients.
But when they dig a little deeper, we discover it’s actually not true.
Think back to when you were a little kid.
Somewhere along the way, you were forced to give up “play.”
Responsibility got in the way; maybe school or your studies, getting a job, or starting a family.
“Exercise” became something you “had to do” to lose weight. And being the responsible adult that you are, you may have picked responsible “exercise programs” that you didn’t enjoy. You forced yourself to do them. You took it like medicine because working out was “good for you.”
Is it any wonder many people think they hate exercise? Who would want to take nasty tasting cough syrup every day? Certainly not me, and probably not you.
What if you created a new “rule?” What if this “rule” was that moving your body should be fun.
Having your movement be fun doesn’t mean that it’s not effective. Depending on what your goals are,there are many ways to achieve the results you’re looking for—and have fun!
For instance, a fabulous reader told me yesterday that she’s gotten back into shape doing gymnastics and hula dancing!
In addition to the old standbys, like walking, running, weight-training, yoga, tai chi, and Pilates, I know women who are in great shape who have achieved their goals by doing everything from fire-dancing, to boxing, jump-roping to hula-hooping. And there are many more options.
I personally love dance walking and dance cardio on the treadmill!
Experiment until you find the workout you really enjoy.
Picking something that you actually enjoy doing significantly increases your chances of releasing the weight–once and for all.
Think of it this way. If you are starting a workout program that you hate, are dreading and despise every moment while you are doing it, how long are you likely to sustain that program?
This is another example of how harnessing your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs and aligning them with your actions is like adding a rocket booster to your ability to achieve your goals.
Find the way that moving your body feels good!
Together we can do it!
Here are my inspirations.
Join the the Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program today!
This unique program transforms your mindset, integrates your core values and spiritual beliefs, and hones in on the most powerful actions you can take to make releasing the weight not only easy and satisfying—but fun! (Yes, it really is possible!)
Program closes January 12, 2013. It won’t reopen until January 2014!
The key to moving your body consistently is to make it fun! Picking a workout you actually enjoy increases your consistency–and success.
My blog is moving! To keep following my posts after January 15, follow my new blog, at LoveYourWaySlim.com. I look forward to continuing the journey with you!
Yesterday, a fabulous reader and friend sent me a comment saying she had shared this blog that I wrote last June with just about everyone in her family. As I prepare for tonight’s kickoff of the Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program, I thought it was worth sharing with the rest of you.
Question: What does an 86-year-old woman doing an absolutely awesome gymnastic routine, a 74-year-old fitness instructor, and a 100-year-old running a marathon have that you don’t have?
Answer: The belief that they can do it.
Regardless if your goal is to lose 10 or 100 pounds, recover from an illness, or to climb a mountain, at the core of achieving anything is the belief that it is possible.
One of the biggest limiting beliefs that we have as a society is that we decline with age. One way to test if this is true is to look and see if it is a Universal Truth—meaning it is true regardless of who, what, when, or how.
The examples below clearly demonstrate that being in awesome physical shape is possible at any age.
What happens as we age is that we change, but change does not mean decline unless that is how we define it.
Our minds are powerful enough that if you expect to see decline, you will. And just about everyonebelieves in this decline and are using all the people who believe it to justify their belief.
Imagine what would be different about your life if you looked for examples of people doing what you want as a reason to believe it can be rather than using everyone else as an excuse not to try?
Another way to shift your beliefs is to reframe the story you have around change. For instance, lots of people think that with age they have to give up running because of the impact it has on their bodies. A reframe might look like:
Only you know what the right reframe would be for you, but creating a new story of what the change of time means opens you up to the possibility of continuing to grow, improve, and evolve—body, mind, and spirit.
How do you want your life to look as you get older? What beliefs are getting in the way of achieving that vision? What can you do today to begin seeing change in a new way?
Together we can do it!
It’s Not Too Late!
Join the the Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program today!
This unique program transforms your mindset, integrates your core values and spiritual beliefs, and hones in on the most powerful actions you can take to make releasing the weight not only easy and satisfying—but fun! (Yes, it really is possible!)
Program closes January 12, 2013.
Look for examples of people doing what you want as a reason to believe it can be rather than using everyone else as an excuse not to try.
My blog is moving! To keep following my posts after January 15, follow my new blog, at LoveYourWaySlim.com. I look forward to continuing the journey with you!
A former boss of mine had a sign on his door that read, “The floggings will continue until morale improves.”
It was a joke, of course. But how often do we try to motivate ourselves with the whip of internal insults, slurs, and condemnations?
Does telling yourself that you’re “ugly, fat, stupid, and lazy,” really make you want to get up and do your workout, or forgo the potato chips?
This may be tough to hear, but if spoken aloud, your internal dialogue might be deemed verbal abuse.
Sometimes this abuse can go on practically nonstop, every day. What do you think this does to your self-esteem and belief that you can achieve your wellness goals?
Pushing through this line of thinking to create action takes incredible energy and strength, much like rolling a boulder up a hill. And while progress can be made, without changing your underlying thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, one moment of mental fatigue or flagging self-discipline may result in your watching that boulder roll right back down.
The result is you not only regain all the weight you lost, but then some.
Changing your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs about yourself, what you want, and your ability to achieve it helps break this cycle of self-punishment. It creates a boost of momentum that makes your push towards wellness a lot more fun and sustainable.
A general rule of thumb is, “If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, it’s not appropriate to say to yourself.”
Begin treating yourself with the respect you deserve.
By doing the internal work along with the external work, you can achieve the body you want.
Together we can do it!
INTRODUCING . . .
This unique program transforms your mindset, integrates your core values and spiritual beliefs, and hones in on the most powerful actions you can take to make releasing the weight not only easy and satisfying—but fun! (Yes, it really is possible!)
The Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program is THE premier caching program for heart and soul centered women who are ready to create lasting changes to live as the healthy, slim, and sexy woman you want to be!
You are invited to become a member of the Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program with Hanna Goss! For 12 months, you receive top notch support that will transform your body and help you create a lasting lifestyle you love.
This cutting edge program is only open to 5 select soul-centered women who are ready and willing to do what it takes to release the weight once and for all.
Two of the spots have already been claimed! There are only 3 spots left!
Our KICK OFF seminar is January 7, 2013.
I would love nothing more than to see your New Year’s resolution to lose weight—and keep it off—finally become a reality.
If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, it’s not appropriate to say to yourself. Treat yourself with respect to create the body you want.
My blog is moving! To keep following my posts after January 15, follow my new blog, at LoveYourWaySlim.com. I look forward to continuing the journey with you!
I had a client yesterday who said she believed she was a terrible and horrible person.
Youch. That is such a painful place to be.
So I playfully asked if she had stolen any babies lately? Committed any murders? Robbed any banks?
Of course not.
Her worst “crimes” were that in the she’d hurt people’s feelings, had yelled at people, was bitchy sometimes, and wasn’t always productive.
This is normal! No one is the person they want to be 100 percent of the time. I certainly haven’t been, and am sure I will fall short in the future.
This doesn’t make you—or me—a “bad” person.
One of my client’s biggest limiting beliefs is believing that they are less than—less valuable, less important, less smart, less beautiful, less worthy, etc., etc.—than everyone else.
The Truth is, you have intrinsic value—no matter what you do or don’t do.
To begin to see this, start with how you speak to yourself.
Would you speak to someone else the way you speak to yourself? How would they feel if you did? What if you said those things to a child? Would it nourish them, or make them cry?
Often, what you say to yourself would get you arrested if you said it to a child.
If it’s not OK to say to someone else, why is it OK to say to yourself?
You are as unique as a snow flake. There is not anyone else in the world that has had the exact same experiences as you, or who sees the world in exactly the same way. Your unique perspective adds value to this world. You are important to All-That-Is.
You are uniquely gifted. Your gifts add to this world the way an instrument adds to a symphony. Your instrument sounds beautiful all on its own, and adds to the whole when it is joined with others. Your instrument only sounds flat and out of tune when you are being less than Who you truly are.
You are resourceful and are much greater and wiser than you appear to be. Your solution to any problem—including how to release the weight once and for all—is always there if you will but take your eyes off the problem long enough to look for it.
And you are loved more than you can possibly imagine. Not only by your families, but by people whose lives you have touched as no one else has, and most importantly, by the Source of All-That-Is.
Allow yourself to feel that love.
There are no reprimands or limitations in your mind other than the ones you shackle yourself with. No angry hordes will come after you with pitchforks for acknowledging that you are unique, powerful, gifted, resourceful, and loved.
In fact, that spark of good feeling, that sense of upliftment, that outright feeling of joy is letting you know that you are speaking the Truth about yourself—maybe for the first time.
And that good feeling is supporting your body down to the cellular level helping you get the body you want.
Your wellness comes from the inside out. You have to give it to you. You do that by loving yourself first–regardless of what any other person says, thinks, or does.
And when you allow yourself to see and know your value, you will be empowered to consciously create the body—and thus life—you want.
Together we can do it!
INTRODUCING . . .
The Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program
This unique program transforms your mindset, integrates your core values and spiritual beliefs, and hones in on the most powerful actions you can take to make releasing the weight not only easy and satisfying—but fun! (Yes, it really is possible!)
I created this program so no other woman would have to struggle to find the solutions. To help you live as the fullest expression of your authentic Divine self, feeling fabulous, slim, and sexy, radiating health and vitality, and fully engaging in creating a life that is meaningful to yourself—and others.
The Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program is THE premier caching program for heart and soul centered women who are ready to create lasting changes to live as the healthy, slim, and sexy woman you want to be!
You are invited to become a member of the Love Your Way Slim Coaching Program with Hanna Goss! For 12 months, you receive top notch support that will transform your body and help you create a lasting lifestyle you love.
This cutting edge program is only open to 5 select soul-centered women who are ready and willing to do what it takes to release the weight once and for all.
I would love nothing more than to see your New Year’s resolution to lose weight—and keep it off—finally become a reality.
Goss Coaching 