Shift Weekly: APRIL FOODS DAY

“I feel in control and know I have the tools to finally be a success!

I released 10 lbs during the SHIFT Process and am confident about releasing
the rest.”  Kim D. Hawthorne

 The NEXT SHIFT WEIGHT MASTERY PROCESS begins April 27^th at the Crown Plaza LAXSign up now the early bird special is ending April 10^th CALL 323 988 4574

Seminar Info here: http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

This Sunday!! April 7^th Stop Struggling with Night Eating Class

at the Westside Pavillion at 3:30pm—to join email back and say I’m in!

Free to newcomers and Monthly Mastery Members

Info here: http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/Sundays.html

 April Foods Day

I love April!  The flowers are arriving and the weather is warmer and the days are longer.  April is also the time of year where we start feeling the need to refocus on our weight mastery as the days of summer are looming.  We start feeling the need to come out of hibernation mode and reconnect with our bodies in a powerful way.

One of my favorite things to do as the season change is to change up my eating as well with some new dishes and recipes that recharge my day to day meals.  Let’s face it—even the most masterful weight managers get tired of what they eat. 

Getting bored with your food can be deadly to consistency.  If you find yourself binging, overeating or just feeling blah chances are you are bored with your food and your cupboards could use a spring cleaning and restocking with some new sources of inspiration.

Below are 3 websites that I highly recommend for new ideas and recipes that can help you put the spring in your steps down the scale.

http://watching-what-i-eat.blogspot.com/

Beautiful pictures and cool ideas—both recipes and recommendations.

http://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com

Great healthy recipes that are really good—no gluten, no dairy, lo carb—awesome!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/

My all time favorite source—fun comfort recipes with low calorie make-overs and great ideas for buying off the shelf foods—all new products reviewed and introduced here.  Also print out the awesome shopping list.

Have fun renewing and Happy April Foods Day!

oxoxRita

“I feel in control and know I have the tools to finally be a success!

I released 10 lbs during the SHIFT and am confident about releasing
the rest.”  Kim D. Hawthorne

 The NEXT SHIFT WEIGHT MASTERY PROCESS begins April 27^th at the Crown Plaza LAX

Sign up now the early bird special is ending April 10^th CALL 323 988 4574
Seminar Info here: http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

This Sunday!! April 7^th Stop Struggling with Night Eating Class

at the Westside Pavillion at 3:30pm—to join email back and say I’m in!
Free to newcomers and Monthly Mastery Members

Info here: http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/Sundays.html

 

 

Shift Weekly: Hatch a Plan for Success this Week

Shift Announcements:

Coming Soon!—April 7^th @3:30

Shift Class on Avoiding Night Eating at Westside Pavillion—

Free to Newcomers: April 7^th and Monthly Mastery Members

Check out details: http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/SUNDAYS.html

The Next Shift Weight Mastery Process Begins April 27^th

Details here—SHIFT INFO

 Call 323 988 4574 for a free phone consultation

Hatch A Plan For Success this Week

Hey—don’t rabbits eat carrots?  So why in the heck do we find ourselves up to our necks in bad waxy chocolate bunnies and high fructose Easter eggs as a yearly rite of passage into Spring-- “What’s up doc???”

My big question to you is how are you and your Inner Coach strategizing to maneuver around the minefield of Cadbury Eggs and marshmallow chicks and matzo ball soup and macaroons in a way that you feeling like you can enjoy yourself both on and off the scale???

My coaching for this week is to prepare for this bombardment of sugar over the next week realistically and lovingly.  Don’t assume you are going to “be good”.  Have a plan.  Remember what my sex-ed teacher taught me in high school—HOPE IS NOT A METHOD.  Prepare to be lighter on the scale after all the sugary little beasts have escaped the store shelves and the matzo is packed away for another year (where does it go?). Passover the Easter Chocolate!!

My daughter and my husband’s birthday’s are in this month so add that to Easter and spring break and you can see the potential for a perfect storm on the weight struggle horizon. I only allow myself cake on my family member's birthdays during the year and that is it. Cake –(really frosting, the cake is merely a delivery system for the frosting) is a trigger food of mine –so I put a boundary around it all year except for birthdays as a way to practice my skill of stimulus control.  Given the number of birthdays I go to as a mom I believe this boundary is highly responsible for my sanity and ability to consistently fit into my clothes.

As I have mentioned before-- cake is my heroin and Betty Crocker is my drug dealer. I remember coming home every day from high school and making cakes--eating the batter and getting totally stoned from it.  Some kids did bongs or smoked cigarettes--what wussies!--try butter, flour and sugar--that one wicked high dude! Betty Crocker was my supplier and all I had to do was open the cupboard and there she was--Devils Food, yellow or Spice--her shiny face smiling down at me--go on Rita make me, bake me and frost me--you know you want to.  And I did--I would bake away all of my adolescent woes in the certainty that the cake when baked would come out right in a time in my life of uncertainty Betty was there and when baked at 350 for 35 minutes the cake turned perfectly every time. The only problem is when I tried to eat the perfection it wasn't so nice. The sugar high followed by the crash and regret.  And then the next day squeezing into my already large pants--good thing I could sew--skirts with elastic waistbands.

Where in the heck is rehab for cake eaters? And why isn't it as glamorous as rehab for other users?  Huh?

So what is my coaching? Prepare to be successful and end up Easter Monday feeling lighter than the Easter Bunny hopping around town. Plan to Passover the temptation and show up for yourself.

-Know your Spring holiday trigger foods this next week—and create loving boundaries with them.  Keep them out of the house but perhaps plan for that indulgence elsewhere. For me that means no black jelly beans!!

-Practice stimulus control—that Cadbury Egg you want to “buy for the kids” really going to end up in your nest? Keep it out!  Keep the candy out of sight as much as possible.

-Plan ahead, ask yourself what you need to do and not do in order to make this a truly Shifted passage into Spring. Write your food down. Move your body and reinforce your mind with the CDs. 

-Keep protein levels high to stabilize your blood sugar and stay out of the craving zone.

Have a great week and Happy Easter and Passover—don’t even get me started about the macaroons!

oxoxRita

Coming Soon!—April 7^th @3:30

Shift Class on Avoiding Night Eating at Westside Pavillion—

Free to Newcomers: April 7^th and Monthly Mastery Members

Check out details: http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/SUNDAYS.html

The Next Shift Weight Mastery Process Begins April 27^th

Details here—http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

Call 323 988 4574 for a free phone consultation

Shift Weekly:COMING DISTRACTIONS

The next Shift Weight Mastery Process begins April 27^th with the All-Day Intensive “boot camp” and 30 day online follow up program uses hypnosis and powerful cognitive techniques to get you releasing weight powerfully and without dieting—

Early Bird Discounts now through April 9^th.

Call 323 988 4574 or click here to see the video and read more about the process:  http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

 COMING DISTRACTIONS

 Do you ever get distracted by food?  My guess is a big resounding yes!  Food can be very distracting especially if it’s in your house and it’s a trigger food—the food that calls your name from the kitchen all hours of the day or night until it is gone.

 How many distractions are coming into your house and messing with your weight release goals?  If you are struggling, my guess is way too many. In the Shift Monthly Mastery Classes we have been discussing how once a trigger food is in your home—it becomes a challenge—and we have been discussing strategies to overcome these coming distractions.

A huge part of long-term weight management success involves about 80% stimulus control.  So if we are about releasing the weight and keeping it off for good—without dieting—we really need to master the skill of stimulus control.  Most of stimulus control involves the types of foods that are in your environments—home, office, car, the restaurant table—etc. When we keep our environments “shift friendly”--free of trigger foods and “just one more bite” foods and “I’ll just finish the bag” foods—we are showing up by honing this important weight mastery skill.  Let’s face it –studies show that we gain weight with the same foods, in the same places in the same times—so ridding yourself of the habits and thoughts that lead to this will go along way towards your long-term success.

 Yes, it’s true that sometimes we are not in control of the foods in some of our environments but, more often than not, we are.  Therefore, I want to sit you down and give you a coming distractions preview and how your Inner Rebel may be seducing you into situations that will take your power and keep you from releasing weight.  The more “on” to your Rebel’s seductions and the more strategies you have for promoting stimulus control in your environments—the easier and more focused your weight mastery will be.

 

HERE ARE SOME “COMING DISTRACTIONS”

 The Grocery Store

 “—My husband will be mad if I don’t get the ice-cream I better get some.”

“The kids need something for their treat at night—I won’t touch it”

“I think I can have these around—I’ll only eat one at a time”

“Look only 120 calories for 30—that’s pretty good”

“But they are on sale—I’ll just get them and store them for when company comes”

 

Are you catching my drift—but wait let’s look more

The Restaurant

“Other’s will want the bread so I won’t have them take it”

“My friends will think I’m weird if I only order something light—I’ll order the full size but only eat a bit”

“Its fried calamari—I mean that is fish right—I’ll just have one and everyone else can have the rest”

 

At home

“I’ll put these out for the kids”

“My wife needs to have these out..”

“I can’t throw these away—that’s wasteful”

“I’ll finish this bag off and then never buy these again as long as I live”

“I’ll smooth this piece off the cake and then put it away”

 In the car

“I’ll keep these in here—in case I am caught in a snow storm or in the desert without gas”

“I might need something and not want to stop”

 At work

“People will be so happy if I buy donuts—I won’t eat any of course”

“I’ll keep the Hershey’s  Kisses on my desk but they are just for my team—I won’t touch them”

 COACHING

The good news is that once you separate yourself our from the sneaky-self talk it becomes more transparent and we are able to take the pause necessary to coach ourselves more effectively and take contrary action.

 

When seductive trigger foods are hanging out in our environment—they cause us what is called-- decisional anxiety.  Every time we see the food or know it’s in our environment it makes us have to think, “am I going to eat some or not?”—Willpower only lasts so long (willpower happens in our unconscious mind which is only 12% of our brain) and more often than not we give into the tempting food. 

 Let’s start by recognizing when we are doing it.  I magine you are at the store or the donut shop and just about to give in to the tempatation to buy a “ditracting” trigger food—step back and take a Shift Mastery Breath—a pause and imagine yourself and that food in your environment—imagine how crappy you would feel after consuming that food take another breath and show up for yourself by taking contrary action—passing the food up or by. 

 If you are not in control of the food then practice—“thinking it through”.  In a relaxed state—before you are confronted by the bagels in the staff room or the cupboard with the cookies at home--- imagine yourself in that situation and ask yourself this very powerful question “Will I be showing up for myself if I eat that food?” Often the answer will be no—then at this point you want to imagine walking by the food or putting it away or throwing it in the freezer or trash or a cupboard where it is out of sight.

 Visualizing it ahead of time gives the neural pathways in your mind another groove to operate in—you literally create a healthier path other than the reptilian response.

 

If the answer is yes—I want some of that food—ask “how much of that food do I need to satisfy my needs but still remain within my calorie budget for weight release?” Then, in your mind imagine yourself doing just that and then putting the food away or trashing it etc.  Thinking it through in a calm and relaxed way ahead of time works wonders in managing old habitual responses that created our overweight in the first place.

Okay—we finished the coming distractions and I hope that with a little help from your powerful Inner Coach that the weight release road ahead—especially through the spring holidays—remains distraction free!  .

 

oxoxRita

 The next Shift Weight Mastery Process begins April 27^th with the All-Day Intensive “boot camp” and 30 day online follow up program uses hypnosis and powerful cognitive techniques to get you releasing weight powerfully and without dieting—

Early Bird Discounts now through April 9^th.

Call 323 988 4574 or click here to see the video and read more about the process:  http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

 

SHIFT WEEKLY: IS YOUR SALAD MAKING YOU FAT?

The next Shift Weight Mastery All Day Intensive and 30 Day Follow Up if April 27, 2013--sign up now and receive early bird discounts and bonuses.  Call 323 988 4574...more info here:
Shift Process info

 

Are you ordering salads at restaurants and thinking you are making the “healthy and light” choice?  

Are you shocked when you look at the nutritional menu and see that salad you thought was a good choice is 1020 calories?

Buyer beware—sometimes restaurant salads can be one of the most caloric things on the menus.

We have a cultural unconscious belief that when we order a salad at the restaurant we are being “good” and nowadays that is just not true and so.  I often have clients report to me a weight plateau.  “I don’t understand it—I hardly am eating anything and I haven’t lost any more weight. I eat salad for lunch and even dinner sometimes and I am not losing weight!”

YIKES MY SALAD IS MAKING ME FAT!!!

I ask the client  to report back to me with the list of ingredients.  When we go over what they are consuming by the amount and calories of the ingredients their faces drop.  “Wow that is shocking—here I am eating salads and thinking I am being good when I might as well be eating a hamburger!”

Our unconscious mind associates salads with dieting or losing weight so you may have to retrain your thinking a bit.  The first step is just to get conscious about what is going in the salads from an energy or caloric perspective.  Once you mind sees the numbers you can start to take back your power.

So if you eat salads, especially restaurant salads often you might become more aware of just what you are eating.  I have given you some coaching below as to how to lighten up your restaurant salad order.

Some foods seem like healthy choices but are loaded with:

Bacon bits: 1 ounce = 150 calories

Croutons: 1 ounce = 130 calories

Raisins: 2 tablespoons = 90 calories

Shredded cheese: 1 ounce = 114 calories

Sunflower seeds or nuts: 2 tablespoons = 90 calories

Dressing Details: An average restaurant serving is probably at least 1/4 cup

(4 tablespoons), and the “light” version is not calorie free; it is generally

about half the calories of the regular version.

Balsamic vinaigrette: 1/4 cup = 180 calories

Blue Cheese: 1/4 cup = 300 calories

Caesar: 1/4 cup = 280 calories

Ranch: 1/4 cup = 360 calories

Thousand Island: 1/4 cup = 260 calories

Salad dressing is one of the leading sources of fat in the American diet and is a very

frequent source of hidden calories.

A Baja Fresh Tortilla salad has 1200 + calories.

A Cobb salad can run about 850 calories.

An average Caesar w/chicken salad has 800

Next time you see salads on a restaurant menu, ask yourself: If I took the lettuce away, what  would be left on the plate? The answer is usually a lot of saturated fat, sugar and refined food like candied nuts, huge amounts of cheese, slabs of meat, croutons, olives, and avocado.

Coaching for Salad Sanity:

Next time you order a salad at a restaurant look ask the waiter to put the densely caloric salad ingredients on the side—including the dressing—so that at least you have more control.

Here are 2 other methods I employ at restaurant—it does involve your asking the waiter to do something for you but that is what they are there for right?  To serve you.

Method One—HAND PICK YOUR SALAD

Look at the menu as an ingredient list rather than a bunch of dishes some restaurant owner put together for you.  Pick various greens and vegetables from the different salads on offer and create your own salad—sure you can add some densely caloric ingredients but ask for those on the side.  Sometimes it is easier for the waiter to write down what you want as a “special order” than to do some crazy substituting. I do this a lot and often get asked by people at other tables what I am having because they don’t see it on the menu and want to order it.

Method Two-THE UNDER 400 CALORIE RESTAURANT MEAL SALAD

This method might take some a little tricky footwork to work with the waiter but believe me it’s worth it because this makes for an awesome, healthy salad, that is under 400 calories because you are not using dressing or any heavy ingredients.  Again you will get asked by strangers what that item is because it will look so good. This could be done at home too—so good!)

Start with a base of fresh greens—could be kale or romaine or arugula or mesculin—whatever in on the menu—sometimes that might be only shredded lettuce that they put on hamburgers.

Next ask the server to have the chef throw some steamed or lightly sautéed vegetables on top of the lettuce—this is great by the way as the crispy cold and warm sweet of the veggies mix really well. 

Next ask for about 4 ounces of shrimp, fish, chicken or steak or egg, tofu or even beans on top. Be specific about how much protein—it will keep the calories down.

For the topping I will ask for salsa or marinara or even BBQ sauce—I will look on the menu to find a light sauce that will best complement what I am ordering and what the restaurant specialty is.

I will have a great healthy salad that fills me up with all of the calories of what the restaurant wants to serve me.

Okay—happy salad shifting—and enjoy the salad days ahead.

oxoxRita