As we continue re-focusing ourselves on our weight mastery structure this September, I want to look at something that is crucial to weight release: the concept of portions and getting clear on what a portion looks like.

Over the years, our culture has re-adapted our eyes to what a serving size is. What used to be a dinner for 4 is now presented to you on a plate at a restaurant as a single serving and we now believe unconsciously that it is a single serving. We have adapted the outside world’s idea of what a portion is into our own beliefs and often forget what a real single serving looks like.

Since we use our eyes more than our stomach as the judge of how much we should eat, one of the ways we can manage our perceptions is to re-train our eyes. Our eyes are helpful, but they tend to misjudge the size of a true portion.  I know personally that I have to get out my food scale and measuring cup to remind myself of what 3 oz of chicken looks like or how much cantaloupe...

September is already half way through and I hope that you have been reaping the rewards of getting some structure in your weight mastery. This week I want to look at our relationship to one of the most important ingredients of long term permanent weight mastery: exercise. One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients is that they cannot be consistent with exercise over time. I would like to offer a few reasons why you may not be as consistent as you want and some ways to SHIFT this, along with a fun mind technique to reconnect you with exercise in a powerful way.

YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH EXERCISE

Let’s look at the definition of the word “relationship”: a connection, association, or involvement.
Now, let’s look at the definition of the word “exercise”: physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive for the purpose of health.

When describing the concept of a relationship, a couple’s therapist might say, “well,...

Many of my clients doubt they can lose weight because they do not know how to cook, or do not like to cook, or feel overwhelmed at the end of the day when it’s time to make dinner. As we look at getting Back to Structure this week, I want to focus on an easy, repeatable structure for creating low-calorie, highly nutritious and fast meals.

When we have the structure of an easy, automated way of throwing together a lunch or dinner that is nutritious and filling, it helps us stay away from the fast food, take out, and out of the box meals, that tend to be higher in calories and lower in nourishment value.

I have been out of my kitchen for almost a month now and even though I only have a fridge and a microwave, I am putting together some awesome meals in about 10 minutes and have not relied upon take out or fast food to get through this time of my kitchen remodel.

Meal assembly is the idea of throwing together some basic ingredients that create a meal that is fast, filling and...

Welcome to September!

Being a Virgo, I love this month, not only because my birthday is in it, but because I love to be and feel organized. To me, this month represents getting back into more structured patterns after the hazy, lazy days of summer.

I have been thinking about the daily rituals that make up the structures of our lives, particularly the ones that are oriented towards weight mastery. My kitchen was renovated during this time of year, so a lot of my rituals were disrupted. Thinking of that time has made me more keenly aware of the ones that help me maintain my weight.

WEEKLY THINKING RITUALS

I would like to take the first week this month to look at just the weekly thinking rituals that go into releasing weight and maintaining this loss, long term. Research shows that most people who have achieved weight release long term have undergone what is called “cognitive restructuring” which just is a science-y way of saying that they have created new ways of...