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I'm taking a break from producing new episodes over the summer, but I hope this is the start to a wonderful season for all of you! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Understanding how our brain responds to inflammation triggered by certain foods can help us strategize how best to stick with our goals.Bringing this episode from last year back for an encore. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

In this episode I discuss another key to maintaining consistency...by setting up an environment that supports not quitting. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Sometimes we get in our own way by overcomplicating things. What is helpful in staying consistent is to take a minute and consider where we can simplify. Usually there is something we can find to change to make it easier. Looking at our schedule, our kitchen set up, how we shop, and the steps we are taking to prepare to exercise each day can help us find things to cut back and streamline.We also can decrease decision fatigue surrounding food choices we make all day by simplifying that process as well.All these ways we simplify can help us stay consistent, which will get us closer to the results we desire. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

What if you could time travel to the future you image where you are enjoying the health you've worked for? And then, what if you could "borrow" some things from that future to bring back to the present that would help you stay consistent in the health changes you've been working on?You'd have more motivation, and a vision for what steps to take next, as well as good reasons to stay consistent. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Many of us struggle with quitting new healthy habit changes because they seem too hard. Too overwhelming. Too taxing for our energy or time. Or just too uncomfortable. But what if we lowered our standards for what we "count" as achieving the healthy habit? You may think this would mean you won't reach your long term health goals. But if "lowering the threshold" of what you consider acceptable in a health habit keeps you consistent in doing SOMETHING in that health area, instead of quitting entirely, there's a strong case to go ahead and do it! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Another helpful thing to use which can help us in staying consistent in healthy habits is tracking them! Having a visible scoreboard of our decisions benefits us in a lot of ways. We can celebrate success even when we don't see it in results. We can decrease the need for perfectionistic thinking. Tracking helps us NOT FORGET what are the actual habits we are trying to currently build. And tracking gives us the data we need to know what we actually DID across a period of time to give us the results we are reaping.  Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

When we can "swallow our frog" and do the hard thing we've been avoiding, we often found the task we've put off isn't all that hard after all. Not only that, but we can then begin to enjoy the benefits of having completed it for even longer! So deciding regularly to call out our own procrastination in putting the time or energy in to our health goals is key to cultivating consistency in our health habits. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

So we've talked about motivation and how to harness it to be consistent in making healthy decisions. But what are we supposed to do when we feel completely UNmotivated? How do we stay consistent then?We can make decisions WHILE we are motivated that do support us later when the motivation wanes. We can set up our environment, our systems, and tap into other people to help ups stay the course.  We can also break up long goals into shorter ones to keep us from that lull in the middle where in the past we may have thrown in the towel. And there are more things we can do. The key is not quitting! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

We've been talking about things that support us across the days and weeks in being consistent in practicing healthy habits. Today's episode covers motivation. First, we can schedule the time to peel back the layers and uncover all the reasons that we are motivated to change and improve. We can collect those and write them down, and then use those to drive our consistency every day! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Let's face it. We know it's what we do every day, day after day, across the years and decades that will make the real difference in our health. So why is it so hard to be consistent? Why do we so often fall into an all-or-nothing mentality and then crash and burn with our goals and habit change attempts?Today I open up a series of episodes that will be focused around these questions and uncover the keys to consistency, the supports we can put in place to get us where we want to be in terms of health years from now. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

What if you were playing a sport and aiming for the wrong goal? Not only would it be pretty embarrassing, but it would also not win you any points. And even if you did all the right drills in practice all week, and your agility and speed and skill was refined…if you are aiming for the wrong goal—-you’d hurt your team! SO how do you know if you are accidentally aiming in your mind for the WRONG GOAL in a way that will keep you from getting the health or weight loss you desire?Today I talk about how I discovered I was aiming for the wrong goal and what I did to fix that.  Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Today is the final episode in a 3-part series about weight regain, where I discussed the common causes of weight regain. I then detailed what worked to help me keep 90 pounds off for 4 years, as well as what happened to cause me to deal with some regain this past year.  Finally in this 3rd episode of the series, I'll talk about what I'm doing now to lose that extra regained weight. Hopefully this will encourage you that even if you've regained, there is a path forward and you can be successful. Entering into losing regained weight from a place of gratitude as apposed to anger can make a huge difference! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Today is the second in a 3-part series about weight regain, where I discuss the common causes of weight regain. I then detail what worked to help me keep 90 pounds off for 4 years, as well as what happened to cause me to deal with some regain this past year.  Finally in the 3rd episode of the series, I'll talk about what I'm doing now to lose that extra regained weight. Hopefully this will encourage you that even if you've regained, there is a path forward and you can be successful. Entering into losing regained weight from a place of gratitude as apposed to anger can make a huge difference! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Weight regain is so very common after weight loss. But why? What is driving it? Why can't we just lose weight and keep it off? Today is the first in a 3-part series about weight regain, where I'll discuss the common causes of weight regain. I'll then discuss what worked to help me keep 90 extra pounds off for 4 years, as well as what happened to cause me to deal with some regain this past year.  Finally in the 3rd episode of the series, I'll talk about what I'm doing now to lose that extra regained weight. Hopefully this will encourage you that even if you've regained, there is a path forward and you can be successful. Entering into losing regained weight from a place of gratitude as apposed to anger can make a huge difference! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Maybe you've seen these machines in your local gym or in a Physical Therapy clinic:You look over and see someone standing on a small platform that is shaking them all over!What are they, what do they do, and why would anyone use them?Today's episode covers an overview of some of the reasons people may try them, and I'll discuss the data I found as I searched to understand if they really carry any benefit.People try them hoping to increase muscle, or decrease fat, or both. They are used in hopes of increasing bone density and preventing fractures from osteoporosis. They've been used by people with pain stemming from knee osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain, as well as those with fibromyalgia. And they are used by many to try to improve lymphatic flow and drainage. Do the studies offer proof that they actually help with these issues?  Listen in as I discuss what I learned and talk about how and why I use one. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

I todays episode I discuss a study from Frontiers in Psychology about the mindsets surrounding healthy behaviors, and this week focus on finding surrounding our mindset around healthy food. How can we think differently about the food we know is healthy, to get to a place where we also actually desire it? Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

If you took 10 minutes to adjust the way you thought about exercise, and it meant that in 7 weeks, not only would you have exercised more already, but you'd be signing up to KEEP exercising...what would that do for you?I todays episode I discuss a study from Frontiers in Psychology about the mindsets surrounding healthy behaviors, and specifically: exercise. People studied who made some adjustments to the way they thought about exercise--to begin to believe it is fun, rewarding, enjoyable, relaxing--they kept coming back for more! I'll discuss how they did it and what we can learn from it today. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

Its about that time of January again where many 'throw in the towel', so to speak, in reagards to their health goals for the New Year. We might get distracted with all the other things on our plates, or run out of motivation to continue. But for many of us, perfectionism is rearing it's head! We can get tricked into thinking that if we can't do it perfectly, why even bother? In this episode, I'll give all the reason why we SHOULD still bother. I'll explain how imperfect progress is STILL progress. When you get back on course, learn from mistakes, and keep trying, this is how you achieve lasting change in your health. Don't let perfectionism keep you from cultivating a healthier life. Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com

We are in the season of the year where there are lots of bright, shiny, fancy plans available to offer you a healthier year. Some of them are great, others not so much. Some of them will only leave your wallet lighter! So what are actually the changes that need to be made to get the biggest bang for your buck (or for your time and effort?). Which 'hacks' are a waste of your time and energy and what gimmicks are just ripping you off? In this episode I talk about some of the KEY CHANGES  to consider and put your focus toward as you shift to a healthier lifestyle you can maintain. These are the low hanging fruit--pick them first as you focus on improving your health! Get my newsletter, The Extra Helping, right in your inbox! Click here to sign up for The Extra Helpingwww.joyfullweightloss.com