As you can see I am obviously still having issues with being consistent, one might say that I am consistently inconsistent?

Diet, well let’s start with that I could do with a giggle. Well, diet isn’t too bad, it has been a lot worse in the past. I couldn’t honestly tell you what I weigh as haven’t weighed myself for about two or three weeks. I’m guessing I’m about the same as I was. I have had about half a stone loss since the last post, but what I am now I really couldn’t say.

Having a bout of cold / flu type thing at the moment, chest feeling tight, sore throat, headache, short breath (hang on is that violins I can hear? oh no, my mistake, next door is practicing for choir ‘again’). Naturally aforesaid symptoms are causing me to feel not very motivated at all, which in a strange way in itself is making me more motivated and more determined – strange how my mind works sometimes. I tried to explain it to the other other this morning – it’s like, the best thing for me is likely to just go to bed, but then that would feel like giving up, and I really don’t want to do that, so I’m going to fight harder and push through this.

Why oh why do I not do this is my ‘normal’ life I’ll never know!!

Anyway, I decided this morning that maybe what I could do with was my own weight loss coach. No irony there intended, I just thought that if I were to become one, and in need of losing a heck of a lot of weight myself, a weight loss coach would be just the ticket. But can I find one!! Ok, there are plenty of people out there, but no-one yet I am interested in getting in contact with to make an initial enquiry let alone signing on the dotted line.

You see most of the websites I have been on so far, the coaches don’t ‘just’ do weight loss AND from the seems of it, if you sign up with them, it seems that you would be following ‘their’ programme. But I don’t want to do that, I want to follow a diet or a programme of my own choice and just be coached / motivated through that. I want the flexibility of doing slim fast one week, weight watchers the next and the cabbage soup diet the next if I really felt the need!!

Seriously though, for me coaching is all about the client – what do THEY want, how do THEY want to progress, what do THEY want to do (am I making my point?). So far all I have seen is ‘sign up with me and follow xyz technique’ or ‘weight loss is all about abc’ or ‘motivate yourself into fitness’ etc. What if I didn’t actually want to exercise? or couldn’t?

I don’t mean to have a moan, really I don’t, I guess what I am looking is the sort of coach that I want to become - one that is ‘just’ a weight loss coach without the I also do exercise coaching, business coaching, personal coaching etc, one that wont dictate what I do in order to lose weight, instead will just help me find the way myself.

A few years ago when I first was thinking about becoming a coach, I decided to get ‘coached’ to speed things up a bit. The coach I had the initial consultation with wasn’t actually interested in moving me and my goals forward – no, they were interested in making sure I was ‘content’ first, and basically said that before they could coach me and my issues, they would ‘recommend’ that I do that contentment coaching first (for a rather large fortune, well if people are committed they will find the money, er actually no depends on how much disposable income you actually think I have luv). If I wanted to be content, I would have hired a contentment coach, or gone off travelling to ‘find myself’. No, I wanted a proactive and motivating strategy – not a £1200 bill in being coached in an area I didn’t want to be coached again.

Urgh! I’m moaning again I am so so sorry! It’s the dizzy head I’m sure of it! Up shot is though, I am now in the same position as I was all those years ago. I want a specific coach, for a specific purpose. I guess I will have to look harder.

On the bright side, when I’m up and running I guess that will be one of my USP’s – I am what I say on the tin, I am specifically a weight loss coach, who will coach you through your weight loss using whatever method of weight loss you choose (must remember to rephrase and use that when the time comes!!).

For now though, the search continues, I really do hope I find a suitable coach, it’d be such fun being coached and motivated by someone, might be the key thing I need in order to push me from point A all the way to Z!!!

See, no matter what happens, all leave them with a positive note

Day one started today, and so far (as ever) so good (ish)! After unintentionally skipping breakfast, next meal stop was the Hilton in Bracknell as was attending a very vital (ahem) marketing meeting for and on behalf of an organisation that shall at this time remain nameless. Had salmon on brown bread, very salty, didn’t eat all of it and left the crisps well alone, quite chuffed with myself all in all. Whilst at this meeting, ma spilt the beans on my new venture as a weight loss coach, I think she wanted the marketing lady to give me some ideas as to how to market my business – unfortunately and unbeknown to ma, I do actually have a fairly comprehensive online marketing strategy in place, but it’s nice she takes an interest Lady started mentioned websites and SEO’s, but said that I already had weight loss blogs, and a weight loss forum, and have started to appear on the front page of google under these headings (which surprises me), and as I was talking I realised just how much I do actually have in place!

Anyway getting off point, the one good thing about this discussion was that I did ‘foretell’ that I would be at least 2 or 3 stone light the next time I see her – well that does it then, I really do have to get off my bum and do something! Hey there is nothing like telling someone else you’re goals in order to get you to focus!! Getting back to the original ‘food list’ – tonight’s tea consisted of a meal bar, and then a nice long walk through the fields with the dogs.

Can’t say I’m actually hungry at all at this point in time, could do with a drink of water mind, but not hungry, so how’s that for progress!! All in all day one in 100 day weight loss has been a complete whoop whoop success! Roll on day two, and fingers crossed I’ll be coming back tomorrow not saying I’ve fallen of the weight loss wagon!!

First little re cap since last I wrote, charity day was a massive success, raising just over £200 for Macmillan (whoop whoop!). Very pleased at the amount of support we received for such a good cause.

During the past month, Cloud 9 has been on a bit of a journey, whilst clients have been been slow but steady, it has given us the opportunity to review how far we (as in mother and I) would like to take the company. As it turns out, we both have ‘bigger’ ideas for ourselves. Whilst we both love Cloud 9 dearly, and will continue the company in the vain it started, it would seem that both our futures lie on another path.

With ma, it has always been about the writing, she loves it, and she’s actually quite good at it! So I have made it my personal mission to ensure that she achieves financial success in this area – we are looking at the e-book market, so watch this space as Patricia Barber is about to become a household name!!

As for myself, my path has and will always be about weight loss coaching (starting with myself naturally!!). I’m good at coaching (so I’ve been told!) It’s what I love, and what is more, it is about time I faced up to the fact that my destiny lies within helping people to help themselves to overcome their own weight loss issues. It may sound daft, but even reading that sentence back to myself fills me with so much joy and excitement!

As ever, it starts with a plan – and as ever even that has been slow coming, but, at 5am this morning I finally cracked it!

It is my intention to launch myself (as in be as full time as I possibly can be) by 5th December 2011. That gives me three months lose weight, set up the business, and really show what can be done in three months with a bit of focus and a bit of self coaching!!

All in all I have had a successful week with regards to my diet, so the last thing I wanted was to throw a spanner in the works and indulge just for the sake of it.

Clever ploy No. 1 – I told my partner if he drove there, I would drive back, therefore he drinks and I don’t! Ah but for me, abstaining from alcohol wasn’t enough. If I drank soft drinks all night I’d still be drinking a heck of a lot of calories (which I didn’t want to do), so all evening I happily stayed on the water.

Clever ploy No. 2 – The buffet actually looked quite ‘healthy’ for a change, there was lots of salad, baked potato, bread, coleslaw and 2 massive plates of chicken, which to be honest looked a bit greasy, so I told myself I was going vegetarian in the end (very unlike me, I lurrrrve my meat!!) and had a small salad with a slice of bread, which I ate slowly and more than filled me up anyway!

You may think salad and water would mean I didn’t enjoy myself as much? Well, no actually, I laughed so much I was crying, I had the highest ‘ladies’ score of the evening and won a prize, and this morning I feel really fantastic! Not hung over, not bloated, and more importantly no regrets (you know the ones ‘oh I shouldn’t of had xyz last night).

I’m proud to say that I have faced my first ‘night out diet challenge’ and have come out the other side victorious!! Huzzah!
]]> http://helenjbarber.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/skittles-evening/feed/ 0 helenjbarber Very Happy Laughing http://helenjbarber.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/overcoming-your-inner-critic/ http://helenjbarber.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/overcoming-your-inner-critic/#comments Sat, 04 Jun 2011 10:24:02 +0000 helenjbarber http://helenjbarber.wordpress.com/?p=100 Continue reading →]]> So you’ve been at this weight loss thing for a while now, and all of a sudden you feel like no matter what you do, you’re simply not moving towards your weight loss goal.

So what do you do? Simple – STOP! I don’t mean the diet or the exercising, I mean mentally just stop, take a few deep breaths, take a few moments to collect your thoughts and start to notice all your changes you have made so far.

What do I mean by this? Well, let’s begin by actually recognising your weight loss successes so far. For me, last week I lost 7lbs, this week so far I have ‘only’ lost 4. Seriously! my inner critic has been trying to devalue my successes with the word ‘only’, consequently making me feel that I not ‘good enough’! When comparing last weeks weight loss to this weeks so far, ok, so it’s not as high, but when you think that in just under 2 weeks I have lost 11lbs (!!!!!!!!!!), that inner critic can just take a very long walk off a very short pier. Actually, 11lbs is amazing!

But don’t just look at the figures, look at yourself- again, I can only speak to you from personal experience, it’s up to you to find your own highlights (I promise you the more you look the more there will be!). Personally, already I am finding that clothes are starting to fit and feel a little better, silly things like desk chairs & sun loungers are feeling slightly bigger, and I’m not heading towards the kitchen everytime I have an emotional need to fill.

No matter how small you think it is (or in reality how you think others will think it is), you must recognise (even write down!) all the changes you’ve noticed since you started your journey. Even if your journey started yesterday – what have you noticed already!

Every time your inner critic pops up, go grab your list of highlights, and really remind yourself of not only the weight you have lost, but all the positive changes in your life so far, and then square up to and challenge that inner critic.

With a list as long as yours, you can’t be anything else but super successful. Believe in yourself, believe in your achievements and your ability to achieve even more than you already have done, and really see for yourself that the only thing that inner critic is good for is talking rubbish and wasting valuable thoughts and energy!

xx

So every day I got my behind on the wii fit, and did between 20 – 30 minutes (almost) every day, a combination of yoga and just simply stepping up and down on the balance board for 10 minutes. The one day I didn’t go on the wii, I was actually away at the in-laws, so instead took the dogs for a very nice long walk.

My diet has been a combination of food replacement bars & milkshakes, and small portioned dinners (by small I mean half the size I ‘usually’ have).

I haven’t touched a packet of crisps, or drunk a single drop of alcohol (despite an over night stay at the in-laws which would normally mean plenty of both), and monitored quite closely what ‘additional extras’ I have with my food (i.e. table sauces, butter on bread etc).

So the result then – well, I am very pleased to report that this week I have lost a total of 7lbs!!!!!!! A definite whoop whoop me thinks!

Very pleased, and quite amazed that it didn’t take as much effort on my part to achieve than previously perceived.

This week I will of course be following the same routine as I haven’t felt deprived, or hungry at all. So fingers are well and truly crossed for another weight loss for next week!

Today, mine comes in the form of my other half. In short, the bread supply has run out, so he decided to make some himself using a sun-dried mediterranean tomato flour mix. Usually I wouldn’t fault the logic. We used to make our own bread a lot before we moved house and fell out of the habit, so like I said, usually this would be normal sound thinking.

However: I am at present trying to follow quite a strict eating regime, which I am hoping will see me (finally!) losing quite a decent amount of weight.

Bread is one of those things I can’t seem resist, I love it whether toasted or not. Whilst I find the taste quite heavenly, the effects on my digestive system can sometimes be hell. Not all the time – that’s the kicker, just ‘sometimes’. On a bad day, it can set off anything from bloating to stomach pains. Because of this, bread is one of the items on the ‘naughty list’ and must be avoided at all costs.

Now baring all of the above in mind, on a scale of 1-10 how cruel do you think it was that my other half decided to bake bread today (as opposed to actually going down to the local shops and buying some). No, not 10. The way I’m feeling right now it’s shot up to 20, and that’s only because I was the one who had to check on them and take them out of the oven when they were done whilst he was upstairs in the office working!!

You thought that was bad, I have the insult to add to the injury. Now my fella, he is a practical man, and to save on the electrics (or something), he always believes that whilst the ‘oven is already on’, he should take advantage and bake something else – sort of a two for one thing I imagine. That’s all very well and good, but when he decides to make chocolate muffins, which I also have to not only smell, but check on and remove from the oven when done, isn’t very helpful to the cause.

I’ve been sitting here over an hour, and I think I have just about got the urge to go eat under control. The urge to have a bread roll is much much stronger than the muffin, so am thinking I will need to do a bit of reconditioning ‘tapping’ to try and get this under control.

My point is this – those of us who are in need of and are trying to lose weight, got here for a reason. Namely we link a certain amount of pleasure in consuming certain things (we all know our weaknesses, mine is bread, cheese, crisps (pringles!) and alcohol – all of which are now firmly on my no no list). We want to lose weight, and unfortunately a change in attitude towards our ‘favourite things’ isn’t going to happen over night.

To all those living with a serial dieter (shouldn’t have mentioned cereal, that’s another thing on my no no list), please remember that we are trying to change deep ingrained habits and to be perfectly frank, the most unhelpful thing you can do is (metaphorically) rub our faces in it by flaunting the ‘good stuff’. It’s like drinking alcohol in front of an alcoholic trying to get and stay sober – genuinely!

Whilst we are ‘making the change’ please be respectful and supportive of our needs and our weaknesses. Have your takeaways, chocolate, crisps, sweets etc by all means but please don’t have them in front of us and especially don’t keep going on about how good it tastes! 

I promise it wont take too long for us to become empowered enough to be able to choose the right things, and not be bothered by ‘the bad’, or at least have the ability to consume sensibly and in moderation. But we must be given that chance in order to make the change - which is why not only support and understanding from the home front is so important, but also respect and appreciation for what we are trying to achieve.

Seriously though, as you may have now gathered, I have started a forum which is specifically designed to help anybody who wants / needs help and support with their weight loss goals.

Whether you have 2lbs to lose or 200lbs, it doesn’t matter how big or small the weight loss goal, the aim of the forum is to help you achieve that goal by offering support, advice / opinions, and even a little light ‘coaching’ from me should it be required!

Simply click on the link below to view the forum

http://www.helen-barber.co.uk/forum

Have you ever sat back and thought about what you want out of life? I mean really want, not what you think other people might think you should want, but what YOU really want. For example:

I could say that I want my own swimming pool & spa, music recording studio and a little red sporty convertible out the front of my million pound house. I could also say that this weekend I am planning on flying myself, partner and pooches over to Monaco in our private jet where our private yacht is moored, the Champaign is on ice, the canapes are awaiting our arrival, and well soon be basking in the glorious sunshine whilst the formula 1 cars go whizzing by!

A far fetched dream, or a goal now set in motion?

Donald Trump once said “you will think more than 50,000 thoughts today – so you might as well make them big ones”. I couldn’t agree more! Life shouldn’t be about settling, it should be about striving and achieving your very best. 

‘If you can dream it, you can do it!’ – Walt Disney. Honestly you really can!! 

‘We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.’ – JFK

I have included this last quote because it gives a very clear indication of my mind set. I choose to do what I do not because it is easy, but because it is hard. It’s a challenge I am willing to accept and one I am unwilling to postpone.

Your focus becomes your reality – Tony Robbins.

If you focus on all the negative stuff, that will be the sum total of your life. I have plenty of people in my circle where this is abundantly true! So by focusing on all the good stuff, the car, the house, the yacht etc, then this will in turn become reality.

And why not!