There was a point in my life where I knew I needed to make a change with my health and weight loss goals. I was ready to release the weight for good and get my mind and body to a place of sexy, vibrant health. Transforming your body is more about transforming your mindset and incorporating a healthy way of living. By learning and understanding these key principles along your weight loss journey, you can start to release excess weight naturally. Start incorporating the following strategies to feel more confident and sexy in your own skin:

1. Releasing weight is releasing emotions
Releasing excess weight is never really about the actual food you are consuming. Do you find yourself eating when you are stressed, angry or sad? Food can help you bury hidden emotions that may be too painful to bring to the surface. When you are capable of sitting still with your emotions, you can begin the discovery of healing to release them.

2. It’s not perfection, it’s perseverance
Do you visualize yourself with the perfect body or the perfect “diet”? Perfection puts an unrealistic ideal on your goals. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about being ready to embrace a new journey that WILL have bumps along the way. As you persevere through each bump even when times get tough, your reward will be much greater than perfection. Your reward will be lasting weight loss.

3. Lean muscle equals fat loss
Muscle is the foundation of your resting metabolic rate. Strength training is key to build and activate your muscles for losing body fat and keeping your metabolism healthy. The more lean muscle you have on your body = greater fat loss. Muscle tissue is very metabolically active and the more you have, the more you burn, even while sleeping. Resistance training is the key to build a good amount of lean muscle and increase your metabolism to shed excess fat.

4. Train smarter not harder
Exercise should definitely challenge your body without being in the gym for 3 hours or doing hours of cardio. When you are training your body smarter, you are enhancing your lean muscle growth and shedding excess fat. You are giving your body the advantage of training to it’s full potential and intensity without sacrificing precious lean muscle.

5. There’s no diet in lifestyle
What meaning does the word “diet” have for you? When you are living a life that is abundant and nourishing there is no room for a diet. A diet will come and go but your lifestyle choices are a continuous journey. Living a life in which you enjoy food, don’t feel deprived or constantly count calories is a truly freeing experience. It’s time to get off the diet bandwagon for good and embrace a healthy lifestyle every day.

6. Consistency is key
Being consistent with your goals is being consistent with your efforts. Taking small consistent action steps towards your goals will help set you up for success. Changes can take some time but it doesn’t mean the progress isn’t creating change. You need to remember what you are working towards and celebrate along the way. Being consistent is also about being patient with the outcome. Don’t rush the process, love the process and all the amazing benefits coming your way.

7. Happy hormones, happy body
How are you feeling right now? What are you thinking about? Have you exercised today? Each of your answers will impact your hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that communicate amongst themselves to perform specific tasks. They affect everything from the mood you are in to the chocolate you are craving. Keeping your hormones balanced will help keep your mind and body happy and healthy.

8. Digest better and weigh less
How many times do you “poop” in a day? How regular you are is an important factor for your weight loss goals. Your “gut” is really the key to optimal health and lasting weight loss. Optimal digestion means your body can digest, absorb, assimilate and eliminate the foods that you eat. When your digestion is running smoothly, losing excess weight becomes much easier and natural.

9. Healthy habits are a choice
Choice is the authentic expression of free will. You have the freedom to choose what you like and what you don’t like. You are faced with a variety of choices every day that reflect your beliefs and ideals. You have the power to create healthy habits in your life once you make a conscious choice to do so. When you have healthy habits in place, the choices you make will benefit your body, confidence and overall health.

10. Live well, eat well
Living a life full of abundant health is living a life full of energy. When you nourish your mind and body with nutritious foods and healthy habits, you feel amazing and empowered. You feel vibrant form the inside out. Live well, eat well and feel more confident and sexy in your own skin!

Feeling guilty, shaming or pushing yourself to the extreme to lose weight is a short lived process that usually results in gaining the weight back. Constant yo-yo dieting, always counting calories and doing hours of cardio will only get you so far and make you feel discouraged, tired and rebound. Lasting weight loss is possible once you begin to incorporate these specific strategies into your life everyday with small changes. Give your mind and body the compassion and nourishment it needs to release the weight naturally and keep it off for good. Be patient with your efforts, learn to trust and love the process because remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Your friend and strategist,