5 Crazy Hacks that will Train your Brain to Crave Kale instead of Cupcakes

Everyone experiences cravings from time to time. However, if a craving doesn’t come from hunger, you’ll never be satisfied from eating because you are not truly craving physical nourishment.

Exploring what triggered your desire to eat in the first place is the key to banishing most of the cravings you experience on a day to day basis. Use the following hacks to help you figure out where your desire to eat is coming from and confront them accordingly.

Once you master the following techniques, you’ll notice that when you are actually physically hungry, your cravings will lean toward healthy foods more often than they will junk foods!

1. STOP SAYING “I don’t deserve it” OR “I can't have that”! When you say I don’t deserve or I can’t have a certain food you are putting it on a pedestal. When something or someone is on a pedestal, you want it even more. Your fear of missing out kicks in and you begin to pine over it. Eventually, your crappy day at work, fight with a spouse or the tantrum from your 4-year-old will get the best of you. You will go from “I don’t deserve this food” to “I’ve had a shitty day, eaten healthy all week, I have put in the work to deserve this food.” Or, “life sucks right now, so I deserve this food.”

Instead say “I can have that whenever I darn well please”.

This will remove the food’s allure. You’ll eat it to satisfaction, then realize the food has either satisfied your hunger or made you sick and stop. You go on with your life not thinking about it. No willpower needed.

2. MAKE EATING AN INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY. Okay, I realize this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, but seriously- if you eat the entire bag of chips while driving, working on your computer or watching TV, you’re going to get to the bottom of the bag and wish you had more. If you set the intention to make eating a distinct activity and serve yourself one portion, you are priming yourself to notice the way foods taste and feel in your body. This will make the activity of eating more pleasurable (and insightful). I had a client who told me that after she committed to eating her lunch without multitasking, she discovered that she didn’t even LIKE drive through food! She had always assumed this was sinfully delicious food since it was forbidden on most diets, she just never took the time to notice whether those foods were truly satisfying for her.

3. NOTICE HOW FOOD FEELS IN YOUR BODY. Once you’ve practiced eating without distraction, the second step is to notice the way different foods react in your body. Do you feel tired and sluggish after eating a meal filled with simple carbs? Do you get heartburn after a large spicy fat-laden meal? Does your energy spike and make you feel ready to take on the afternoon when you eat non-processed whole foods?

After eating anything, take the next hour to notice what you’re feeling physically and emotionally. Many times I find that eating a small piece of my Grandmother’s homemade pie allows me to feel satisfied and like I participated in the entire meal rather than refusing the pie and feeling like I missed out and go home looking for satisfaction in an entire jar of peanut butter. Likewise, I usually pass on coffee shop pastries because they make me feel tired, give me brain fog and reduce my productivity.

4. ASK, WHAT DO I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH BY EATING THIS? Be honest with yourself. Are you eating because you are hungry and looking for nourishment? Are you bored and need something to do? Are you in need of a break from studying, kid-rearing or working like a freakin’ dog at work? If your answer is anything but “I’m hungry and I need to fill my stomach", that’s a key sign that you should find a new way to satisfy yourself emotionally.

I recently had a very hard workout at the gym. My energy was depleted and I needed rest. My brain started suggesting a Chai tea latte from my local coffee shop. When I took a second to ask why I was craving this high sugar, caffeinated beverage, I realized that what my body really needed was an energy re-charge in the form of rest. I put my head down for 15 minutes and closed my eyes. It rejuvenated me and kept me from turning to stimulants to provide temporary energy. I then made sure that I got into bed at a decent hour that night. Solutions can be simple; they just take a little bit of ‘tuning in’ to really understand what your body’s needs are.

5. PRACTICE HEALTHY RITUALS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH FOOD. Have you ever noticed that when you practice certain healthy rituals, you naturally gain the desire to continue these rituals in every aspect of your life? For instance, when I committed to start flossing on a regular basis, I naturally brushed my teeth more thoroughly than before. When I began using essential oils to help me cleanse my system I wanted to use healthier, non-toxic products throughout my house. When I began a regular exercise routine, I didn’t feel like eating a fast food burrito afterwards- I wanted clean, healthy food that would fuel my body for recovery, fat cell shrinkage and muscle building. Try implementing healthy habits and see how your food choices follow suit. You’ll be amazed at how your cravings for chips and chocolate fall away effortlessly without a second thought.

What hacks do you use to curb your cravings? Comment below and let me know!

Want more hacks to curb your food cravings?

Join my 5-Day Un-Dieting Bootcamp FREE by clicking here!

Why Dieting Doesn't Work (And what DOES)

Top Four Reasons Diets Don't Work (and what does)

Are You Still On That Diet You Resolved to Go on Last New Year's? 

Don't Feel bad- I can't think of a single person who is.

In fact, studies show that 89% of people who start a new diet for the new year, end up abandoning it just a few months later. 

But why is this so?
Everyone wants to change their body and life for the better, so why can 't we stick to the diets we vow we are going to follow? Here are a few reasons I've come up with in my personal experience and in my experience working with my clients:

1. Because diets don't address the mental and emotional components that come along with losing weight. They provide no tools to address emotional eating and therefore, when life gets hard or presents challenges (which it inevitably will), most emotional eaters have no idea how to cope without food, therefore, the diet is not sustainable.

2. Because diets have rules or "good" & "bad" foods which promotes black and white thinking and behavior. When we eat a food that falls in the "bad" foods category, it tends to make us binge for the rest of the day since we've "blown it" anyway.

3. Diets make us feel like crap about ourselves. When we eat foods off our diets we label ourselves as "bad" or we say things like "I was bad today, I ate nachos instead of salad at lunch". Food is food and we shouldn't label our character by the food we eat. If you are a good person- you are a good person, regardless of whether you chose salad or nachos for your lunch.

4. Diets don't address the fact that everyone has different genetic makeup, backgrounds, and lifestyles. Everyone needs to eat differently. You need tools to help you figure out what your body needs.

Our new program, Happy, Healthy, & Hot Coaching addresses all the components that diets do not. With a Health Coach Designed e-course on Eating & Exercise, a personalized Virtual Style Session, and a Self-Esteem Bootcamp, HHH will address all of the elements that diets fail to address.

Just think- after taking embarking on our program, this time next year, you won't be scrambling around looking for the latest diet trends to follow for the New Year. You'll know exactly what to eat, how to move, dress and think to keep you looking and feeling fabulous all year long.

Registration is now open. Click here for details about our exciting new program!

The Top 5 Style Challenges Women Have (and How to Overcome Them)

Did you know that how you dress everyday can affect how you view your body, even if you haven't lost a single pound, or gone to the gym in weeks? How we dress everyday is a silent message to the world about who we are and what we think about ourselves. It is also a message to the world (at least on a first impression) about how we want people to view us and even treat us. 

Think about the last time you left the house dressed in something that you thought made you look great.

How did you walk, talk, and interact with others? Did you notice a difference in the way others treated you? My guess is that you did, and most (if not all of it) was on the positive side of the spectrum.

Think about how you view others who dress well vs. people you know who obviously don't put much thought into their appearance. Who would you ask for directions from on the street? Who would you want to do your taxes, take care of your kids, or meet you for dinner?

Looking good can be a cycle that can improve the way you take care of yourself and live life in general.

Because when you look good, you feel good, when you feel good, you exude confidence, when you exude confidence you inspire respect. 

Plus, when you feel sexy and beautiful you are way less likely to scarf down a family-sized bag of Cheetos by yourself in your living room. You will be out on the town raking in the compliments from awe-struck onlookers as you strut your cute self to meet the hubs for a hot date, pick up your kid from daycare, or grab the mail.

I know what you're thinking- yep, that all sounds great Maureen, but I have no idea how to dress myself, so what now?

Don't go back to the Cheetos. You are not the only one with this problem! Many women face the challenges of not knowing what to wear on a daily basis. That's why I've invited Personal Style Expert and Contributor to our Program, Happy, Healthy & Hot Coaching, Barbara Aleks Hecht to share the top 5 struggles women have with dressing themselves, and (more importantly) what to do about them.

Here's what she had to say:

I’ve been Styling a lot of clients online lately and the more women I work with globally, the more evident it is that when it comes to shopping and getting dressed, no matter where my clients live, whether it’s in Canada, the US, Australia or Austria, the majority of them struggle with the same issues.

Here are the Top 5 Style Challenges I see, and how to overcome them…

1. You Don’t Know What Suits Your Body Shape, Personality or Personal Color Palette.  

This first challenge is at the root of all the other challenges on this list. If you don’t know what suits you or what looks good on you, how can you effectively know what to buy, what to wear, how to put an outfit together or know which new things to try?

Before you do anything else, you need to figure what works for you. How? By learning. Learn about your body shape and how to dress for it – which cuts and styles to wear and how to wear them. Learn about which colours suit you and learn about your own personal style – what you like and dislike, what feels like “you” and what doesn’t.

Read books, scour the internet or hire a Personal Stylist to give you one-on-one, personalized assistance and advice.


2. You Don’t Know How to Put Outfits Together.

Many women struggle with putting outfits together. They’re often overwhelmed by the process, don’t know where to start or are unsure of which items to pair together.

One reason they struggle is that they don’t know what to wear (see Challenge 1). Another is that they’re trying to create the outfit all at once, instead of breaking it down. A third is that they don’t have the right pieces in their closet to pull from. Finally, many don’t know how to accessorize, so they skip this final and crucial step altogether.

If you struggle with putting outfits together, first make sure that you’ve got Challenge 1 figured out. Then read the piece I wrote about the 5 Steps to the Perfect Outfit Every Time. It helps break the process down into easy to follow steps.


3. You Have a Closet Full of Clothes But Nothing to Wear.

In the many years that I’ve been Styling, never have I ever had a client with nothing to wear. (One came close, but even she had a few good outfits.)

The most common reason for feeling like you have nothing to wear is that you (like most people) probably wear 20% of your clothes, 80% of the time.

If you don’t believe me, or even if you do, start stacking clothes that you wear regularly onto one side of your closet or group them together. You’ll soon start to see which clothes you wear most and which ones get left behind.

Try to figure out why you don’t wear the ones in the “left behind” section. Are they the wrong size, colour or style? Do they need altering, cleaning or repairs, or are you waiting to buy other pieces to go with them?

You’ll soon see that not only do you have something to wear; you probably have more than enough or at the very least, a good place to start.


4. You Don’t Know What to Buy. 

By this point, you can probably deduce where the challenge of not knowing what to buy comes from. If you haven’t figured it out, read Challenges 1 through 3 again.

If you don’t know what suits you, if you don’t know how to put outfits together, if you have no idea what you actually have in your closet and why you do or don’t wear certain pieces, how will you ever know what to buy? Add that to the fact that you go into a store filled with limitless possibilities, it’s no wonder you either leave empty handed or buy the first half decent thing you stumble upon.

Once you know what suits you; once you know how to put yourself together; and once you’ve determined what’s in your closet and what might be missing, you’ll know exactly what you to look for and buy. You’ll be able to zero in on pieces that are right for you and avoid the ones that aren’t.


5. You Are Afraid to Try Something New.

Many women are afraid to try something new – whether it’s a new colour, pattern, cut or style. Part of this stems from knowing whether or not it suits them (there’s Challenge 1 again). The other part comes from fear and/or lack of confidence.

Trying something new is risky and scary, but how will you ever know how fabulous you could look if you never try? Trying new things allows you to grow and evolve and get better and better.

The only way to overcome this is to just do it. If you know what works for you and what doesn’t, there’s a good chance you’ll try something new and it’ll look great. If, on the other hand it doesn’t, well, then, no biggie – at least you tried. Just make sure no one took photos.

While these are the most common challenges I see, they’re not the only ones. Every single one of us struggles with something when it comes to style, getting dressed, knowing what to buy and how to wear it, looking good and feeling great.

As part of the Happy, Healthy & Hot Coaching Program I’ll be there to help you with whatever it is that you struggle with or are unsure of. I’ll be there to answer your questions, offer advice and share my expertise. I’ll be there for YOU!

Good luck and please tell me in the comments section of my blog how it’s going and what new sexy outfits you're creating to  inspire your self-worth.

Sincerely,
Coach Maureen
 
PS- If you'd like 1:1 advice from Barbara on how to dress for your own body type, then click here to learn about my upcoming (post-holiday) coaching program, Happy, Healthy & Hot!

How I Lost 50 lbs; My Personal Weight Loss Story

I have had many people ask me about my personal story and the motivation behind losing 54 pounds. They ask how I did it, how I kept it off and how I plan to lose the baby weight I'm currently gaining. So, I thought that since we are smack dab in the middle of the Holiday Season (and New Years Resolution Season is right around the corner), that I would share my personal story with you today.

I share this with you in hopes that it will help you realize that you are not alone if you have struggled with weight loss and/or a healthy self-image. Please feel free to comment on the blog, or email me with any questions you have- I love hearing from you!

I started wishing to be thinner when I was 8 years old. I know this because my mom recently pulled out a family album on which we wrote our wishes for the coming years. All of my family’s wishes for the future were hopes for traveling to exotic destinations and experiencing new things. My only wish, as an eight-year-old girl, was to become thinner as I got older.

Sadly, my wish was unfulfilled. In fact, I got bigger with age and my self-esteem & happiness continued to weaken.

I started dieting and trying to lose weight when I was 11 years old. My Mother who was equally disappointed in my weight (since she was a thin perfectionist) helped me by reading up on the latest diet fads and planning my meals for school. I constantly calculated calories, and became obsessed with staying within my daily caloric budget. I don’t think it’s any surprise that I stopped growing at age 12, topping out at 5ft tall.

Once I fell off my restrictive regimin, I immediately gained back all the weight, plus some. I became an “all or nothing” dieter, so even the slightest cheat was grounds for bingeing.

This was the beginning of my disordered eating cycle.

My Mother was always there to remind me when I was eating something “off” whatever diet I was following. This is when I started to secretly binge when no one was around to judge me. On top of the pressure I received to watch what I was eating at home, I was frequently teased at school by my (mostly male) peers as well. I was told by my middle school crush that I was too “Bloated” for him to go out with after I made my affection for him public.

Through my teen years and early twenties, I read diet books instead of schoolbooks. I gained and lost 30 pounds over and over and over again. I became obsessed with thin (not healthy). I tried every method the diet industry could throw at me; diet pills, low carb, low fat, the Grapefruit Diet, South Beach- you name it. It was all I could talk about around my friends and family. I would begrudgingly munch carrots and celery while my skinny friends would enjoy Whoppers & fries on a regular basis.

By the time I got to college, I was ready to rebel against dieting all together. I went on a four-year eating spree and gained over 50 pounds. Each time I ate, the goal was not to nourish my body, but to “stick it” to everyone in my life that made me feel like I needed to be on a diet. Everybody that found fault in the way I looked.

I got out of college wearing almost 60 extra pounds, with unhealthy skin, hair & teeth, and a terrible outlook on life.

I started working as a teacher and jumped right back into my binge/diet routine that I’d known in High School. Since I was in my late 20’s however, I was finding that losing the weight was not as easy as it had been when I was a teen. I was single, I didn’t find my job satisfying at all, and I was constantly dieting with little to no real results.

It was finally when I decided to start taking classes at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and became a Health Coach that I realized:

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT WHAT YOU PUT INTO YOUR MOUTH 

that matters when it comes to health and weight loss.

Sure, it can be about that at the beginning, when you start your diet, but you've got to have a foundation of self-love and respect to stay on a healthy path for a lifetime.

Without the foundation, you will fail on every weight loss journey you embark on.  

I had no idea that how I felt about myself or how I took care of myself on a daily basis was affecting my health (and weight) so much!

After becoming a Health Coach, I decided to make nourishing my body the onlygoal when sitting down to eat. This naturally led to shifts in my food choices- mostly whole foods with little human interference. I chose exercises that I enjoyed, like walking and running, 

And I stopped working out just to lose weight.

I also started reading self-esteem & confidence books that were recommended in the curriculum at my school (just as voraciously as I had read diet books in the past). I started speaking to myself with respect and admiration instead of hissing toxic insults at myself under my breath.

I realized that I was dressing to “cover up” my body since I had gained so much weight and had started to look frumpy and aged. I hadn’t the faintest clue about style or how to dress for my body type (I’m a total Pear!). So, I set up an appointment with a personal stylist to update my wardrobe, get recommendations for what colors flatter my skin tone, and how to feel confident with my outfit choice every time I left the house.

I learned that in order to look great, I needed to start feeling great IN THE MOMENT instead of waiting for that magical number to appear on the scale. 

AND YOU KNOW WHAT? 

Even though I hadn't lost a pound, I felt Fantastic! I had amazing energy, I smiled more, I dressed like I was proud of my body, I unapologetically took risks without worrying so much about what others thought.

And let me tell you- people noticed!

Everyone started telling me how beautiful and “put-together” I looked, and “what was I doing differently?!”, and the most frequent question- “what was I doing to lose weight?!”.

This was crazy to me because at that time, I was at the heaviest weight of my entire life! 

And then this slowly happened:
 

I lost 54 lbs. and returned to my body’s natural weight just by making a few simple changes in my eating routine and nurturing a positive self-image.

You know that old adage “I’ll believe it when I see it”? Well, when the goal is to lose weight and look great, I’ve learned:

“You must Believe it First, in order to see it Happen!”

You can't wait to love yourself until you lose weight. That is Conditional Love. You've got to give yourself Unconditional Love and believe that you are worth Every. Single. Bit. 

So that’s my personal weight loss story. If you get anything from it, I hope it’s this:

HOW YOU FEEL ON THE INSIDE, WILL EVENTUALLY MANIFEST ON THE OUTSIDE!

So, you must work hard to FEEL AMAZING on the inside! 
This is the reason I created the Happy, Healthy & Hot Coaching Program. This program is basically the summation of the path that I took two years ago to lose the weight for good!

I’ve combined health & nutrition with coaching in self-esteem, confidence, and personal style. But, unlike my journey, this program will have three SUPERSTAR PROFRESSIONALS guiding you every step of the way to help you feel and look amazing in just three months!

If you feel like you are ready to make that FINAL RESOLUTION to lose weight & look FANTASTIC in 2015, then click here to JOIN US and make this your Healthiest, Happiest, Hottest Year Ever!

Have a great rest of your week!
Sincerely,
Coach Maureen

The "Take Only One" Experiment (An Exercise in Mindful Eating)

Dreaming of Deprivation-Free Holidays without the weight gain? Click here to get my FREE Guide!

Hello! I hope you are recovering from Halloween and gearing up for Thanksgiving (I seriously can’t freakin’ believe it’s Thanksgiving in two weeks!).

Even though we are on to the next holiday already, I’d like to talk a little bit about my Halloween experiment and how you can apply its lesson throughout the rest of the food-filled holidays to come.

Each year I’ve conducted an experiment with our trick-or-treating Halloween candy bowl. You see, we have two very large, very intimidating, 120+lb. dogs that would scare the Elsa & Anna costumes right off those poor little trick-or-treaters if we answered the door with them bellowing behind us. We would put them in the backyard, if our Rottweiler didn’t try to escape by tearing down the fence each time we put him back there against his will. So, our only option is to put a decorative bowl filled to the brim with candy or small toys out for the trick-or-treaters to help themselves to. 

This is where my experiment has come into play.

For the first two years, I put a sign out that said “Please take Only ONE Piece”! Both years, my Halloween Bowl was not only gone in the span of about 25 minutes, the stool the bowl rested on was tipped over, and the bowl was thrown across our yard the second year. 
The trick-or-treating rebels (i.e. the half-costumed teens) were not only taking handfuls of candy, but they were sending me a message “You think you can command ME to take just ONE?! Go F yourself lady, I’m going to take as many as I can.”

The third and fourth year (this year included), instead of getting egg’d, I decided to change my wording on the sign. It now reads “Happy Halloween!! Help yourself!”

And you know what? They took the bait! Our bowl stayed full for at least three hours. Kids were actually being honest and taking 1-2 pieces rather than handfuls since they had no need to spite or rebel against my sign.

I started thinking about how this simple change in sign verbiage could apply to eating practices as well. When you tell yourself something is off limits, or needs to be severely limited, your inner rebel kicks in and you’re bingeing on the very food you’d sworn you would only have ONE piece of or a small portion of. 

Think about Halloween Candy for example- you’ll start out telling yourself that you are not going to have ANY, or maybe you’ll say to yourself “I’m only going to take ONE piece”, then the diet starts tomorrow. Suddenly, your inner rebel kicks in and you have devoured half your kid’s pillowcase of candy before the clock even strikes midnight- and you don't even like half the stuff you just ate!

That used to be me. Thankfully, I’ve learned to give myself permission to “help myself” when it comes to temptations…now they are no longer as tempting.When I walk up to a buffet of former “off limit” food, and say to myself “take as much as you’d like” I'm no longer inspired to binge. I take what satisfies me, then I walk away. I don’t pine over it and I certainly don’t crave it as strongly because I know that I can go eat it whenever I damn well please.So, if you’re avoiding the pantry or your kid’s bedroom because there’s still remnants of candy laying around and you don’t trust yourself near it for fear your inner crazy might be unleashed on those bite sized Snickers, you need to stop telling yourself to only take ONE!

Go get that temptation (i.e. pillowcase of candy) put it out in front of you, and tell yourself “You may have as much you want, you beautiful, amazing woman!” Then follow through, eat as much as you want of whatever foods/candies you like best.

One stipulation though- 

YOU MUST enjoy them- I mean really savor those suckers!! Roll them over your tongue and take notice of their flavor and texture. Roll your eyes back into your head while simultaneously saying “mmmmmm!”

After all, isn't enjoying delicious tasting food one of the greatest humanly pleasures we can partake in?

Some people will eat everything that's in front of them, some will realize they only need a few bites to satisfy their craving. Many might even realize that the food they once idolized is not that fabulous tasting after all, and stop craving it all together. The volume doesn’t matter, the way in which you eat it does.

Now that the Holidays are here, this is a wonderful time to try this experiment every time you sit down to eat or go to a food-filled event. Tell yourself you are allowed to eat what you would like and as much as you would like, then do it, and MAKE SURE YOU TAKE TIME TO ENJOY IT! 

Trust me, if you do this, you won’t go home feeling deprived and end up eating the rest of the contents in your fridge when you get home from the party.

Good luck and please tell me in the comments section how it’s going for you and what you’re learning from yourself as an eater with this exercise.

Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Coach Maureen

www.beyourselfwellness.com

PS- If you’d like to learn more about mindful eating techniques and ending the diet/binge cycle, then click here to learn more about my upcoming (post-holiday) coaching program, Happy, Healthy & Hot.   

Go From Cookie Monster to Cookie Scientist!

Learning to observe your food cravings is the first step to combatting them.

If you're like me, no matter how hard you try to cut junk food out of your life, there are still a few very specific foods that come around to haunt you, all-the-time. You start off the week with the best intentions to eat healthfully, then, before you even know it, you're knee deep in queso by Friday (maybe that's just me). 

There are so many reasons you might have cravings for certain foods, I talked about many of them at my webinar this past Saturday.

Click here to listen to the replay.

One of the main points in my presentation was that I want you to become curious rather than judgmental about the food you eat. Instead of scolding yourself for wanting to eat an entire box of Cheddar Bunnies, become a scientist or a very careful observer of your eating habits and food choices.

Notice the time, season, environment, people, mood, etc. surrounding you when you eat. Taking mental notes when you crave and indulge in certain foods is the best way to understand yourself and your body. 

Ask Yourself:

• Did you eat past the point of satisfaction? If so, why?
• Were you hungry when you began eating? If not, what need were you trying to fill by eating? 
• What feelings are present as you eat or before you started eating? 
• Is there a pattern with the foods you choose and the feelings you feel?
• What other forms of nourishment do you need in your life that you are seeking in food?

I expand more thoroughly on these points in my webinar, so please feel free to grab the replay. And when you're done listening, let me know in the comments section on the blog what foods you crave and what conclusions you've drawn from being more of a curious observer of your cravings rather than judging or scolding yourself for indulging. 

I hope this helps you in your journey to health & happiness! 

Sincerely,
Coach Maureen Witten
www.beyourselfwellness.com