Vicky Countess Coaching
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Goals

It’s not about the bikini

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healthy foodAre you realizing that you really need to get serious about losing weight?

And we are not talking about losing weight to get into a bikini this summer.

You are way beyond that!

As you age, you really want to lose the extra lbs. to ensure that you stay vibrant and energetic, whether it is keeping up on the pickleball court or being active with your grandchildren (or future grandchildren).

And you want to stave off any health issues, too.

There are many health implications about getting to – and maintaining – a healthy weight.

Check out this article from the Harvard School of Public Health:

healthy food

Healthy Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is important for health. In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure, it can also lower the risk of many different cancers. Move more, eat less. Turning off the television and skipping the sugary drinks are two ways to get started.

Read more >>>

Here are a couple of not so typical – yet very impactful – tips to move you towards your healthy weight.

1. Plan your food ahead of time.

The evening before or first thing in the morning plan your food plan for the day. It will take you under 3 minutes. If you are ambitious, you can do it on the weekend to knock out the whole weeks’ worth of food planning.

Why? – You don’t want to make food decisions in the moment since it generally leads itself to poor choices – eating too much or poor food choices. Intention and planning are a game changer.

Tip – Write it down or put in your Notes in your phone.

2. Remember your “Why” to stay motivated and stay on track. The beginning is filled with excitement but as time goes on, the motivation wanes.

Why? – Continual focusing on your goal and why you want to get there makes a huge difference.

Tip – You can put all your reasons in your phone’s Notes or write them down AND tie reading them to a habit you already have. For example, read them while washing up or while eating breakfast.

Now read them daily.

 

If you want some professional help to figure out how to finally lose the weight, and keep it off, book a free consultation now.

I have helped many others and can help you!

 

Going back to the Gym?

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exerciseRecently, I was coaching someone who wanted to get back into the habit of going to the gym because she now started to feel “slovenly.”

She wanted to feel better mentally and physically.

And it’s no secret that regular exercise can do that for you.

In her case, she fell out of the habit of going to the gym for a variety of reasons.

Besides staying away to stay safe from COVID, another big sticking point was that the gym, once close to her home, now moved 20 minutes away.

In her mind, going to the gym now became “too big of a chunk out of my day.”

What are the obstacles for you to head back to the gym (or getting back to exercising)?

Let me walk you through some of the questions, that we explored, that you can ask yourself and get moving.

Ask and honestly answer:

  • Why do you want to go to the gym or exercise? Come up with some meaningful reasons. Do you like your reasons?
  • Explore all the thoughts around why you think you “can’t” go now? Are they true?
  • What other thoughts and ways to exercise are available to you?

Look at your calendar and figure out exactly when it would work for you and have a plan B of when to go.

What will it cost you if you don’t go to the gym or exercise?

Make the decision . . . and honor it.

By the end of our coaching, there was a new mindset about the travel time to the gym and while exercising, times and days selected that would work for her, including a plan B.

Most importantly there was a new determination to get back to feeling better about herself.

If you want some help and ongoing support to have meaningful exercise in your life, feel free to reach out for a complimentary session to explore your situation and how I can get you feeling better.

Have you planned to NOT want to do the expected?

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marathon

I was speaking to someone recently who was planning to sign up for Disney’s Goofy’s Race and a Half challenge for next January.

This means that on Saturday you run a ½ marathon (13.1 miles) and the following day, Sunday, you run a full marathon (26.2 miles).

Of course, don’t confuse this with the Dopey run where runners do 5K, 10K, ½ marathon and the full marathon in 4 consecutive days – a total of 48.6 miles.

People that do this really are Goofy and Dopey, right?

Having done a few Disney ½ marathons (not in the Goofy or Dopey challenge), we talked about what she would need to plan for in training for the event.

One of the tips I shared is EXPECT that there will be times that she will NOT want to do the planned training.

And this is something YOU need to know whenever you choose and work towards a goal – whether it is stopping overeating, having (more) exercise in your life or any other healthy habit goal.

Your brain will throw up obstacles and sentences like:

  • “It’s too hard”
  • *I don’t feel like it”
  • *What was I thinking, forget this”
  • “I don’t follow through”

Knowing exactly what to say to yourself in that moment when these thoughts creep in (and they will) is critical.

Your new “go-to thought” that gets you over the hurdle needs to be believable and compelling.

Here are some possibilities:

  • “This is how I get stronger”
  • “My body loves this, and I love my body”
  • “This is really good for me”
  • “I can do this!”

I know that different and more believable motivational thoughts will definitely change what you do and results!

If you are ready to make changes in your life and want the support, powerful tools, strategies and accountability that life coaching with me can offer, please click here to schedule a complimentary call.

Here we will dive into YOUR goals and how I can help you get there.

How can you get 2 wins in 1?

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weight scale

Many of my clients come to me for one reason: to lose weight.

And what generally happens through the coaching process is that they ALSO get a lot of Non-Scale Victories (or NSV’s).

These are things that happen along the way that aren’t measured by the number on the scale.

Sure, seeing the numbers on the scale going down is ah-mazing AND what you learn along the way is just as valuable.

In fact, it can be even more valuable!

It is learning skills, tools and habits that are beyond the obvious food related things.

These are skills, tools and habits that are outside the typical “diet” culture of restriction, deprivation, focusing on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods and how you label yourself “good” or “bad” according to what you ate that day or the number on the scale.

Somehow, we think that beating ourselves up is productive and will “make you” stop all the future overeating.

If this is you, ask yourself, how has that been working for you lately?

Let me share just one of the skills that can help you move away from emotional overeating:

Learn to not beat yourself up

Try these steps the next time you want to run to food as your coping mechanism and then beat yourself up afterwards:

Step 1

  • Pause, get present and take a deep breath.

Step 2

  • Replace judgement with curiosity.
  • Shift the urge to beat yourself up and instead notice, with curiosity, what happened and why you made that choice.

Step 3

  • Think about WHY you want to reach your goal.
  • What are all the reasons and how will you feel when you get there?

Step 4

  • Come up with a plan – even if it’s one small thing – that you will do from now on to start taking you back on track.

Developing the skill to be present and intentional in your life is a powerful NSV (non-scale victory).

Try an experiment and see how these 4 steps can work for you.

If you want some help instituting these 4 steps – and other powerful tools in your life – click here to set up a complimentary call with me.

During the call, we will discuss YOUR goal(s) and how I can help you get there!

Take the first step

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footsteps

Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”

Losing weight, changing your eating habits, getting into an exercise routine, getting more organized can feel like a thousand miles journey.

Overwhelming.  Insurmountable.  It just won’t happen.

Yet, like everything else it starts with one step.

Looking at how you can think, feel and act to get what you really want is a first step.

Ask yourself what you are doing today to reach your goals?

Even moving towards your goal by 1% every day will change the trajectory of your life.

If you are interested in support, accountability, tools and strategies to get you to your goal, I invite you to set up a complimentary session with me.

Here we will talk about where you want to go and how I can help.