Hello everyone. I wanted to let you all know how thankful I am for all of you being here. My mission is to share with you short, yet effective coaching tools to change your life through out the year. This week, just wanted to offer some tips on how to get through the holidays without gaining weight, drinking too much, and get super stressed around family that may often times trigger you……I could tell you to:

1). Drink more water (water is such a great fat burner)

2). Plan ahead and write down what you will eat and drink 24-48 hours ahead of time

3). Eat slowly

4). Learn to say no to relatives who continue to offer up foods that are not on your protocol, by expressing gratitude and telling them about your weight loss goals

5). Stick to veggies, healthy fats, and protein

6). Bring foods that are on your protocol if you are not hosting to ensure you have something you can eat there.

7). Workout the morning before, whether it be a Turkey Trot, burn the bird spin class, or weights in your basement.

8). Honor your hunger scale (-2 to +2) or (-4 to +4)

But the most important advice I would offer is to manage your mind and to set an intention before your family gathering. Consider what about the party may cause you distress. Is it worrying about hosting? Worrying about being around too many desserts? Or being with family members that trigger you? Whatever it may be, I suggest getting all the thoughts down on paper. In coaching we call this a thought download. Click here for a sample download that I created for you. Once you get in on paper, decide how you WANT to feel at the gathering and create thinking that will support this. For example, I tend to get anxious when I host and spend lots of time worrying if there will be enough food, if people will have fun, and if there will be uncomfortable conversations as my family many diverse political and spiritual beliefs.  Will dinner get awkward? This year, I have decided I want to feel more relaxed. The thoughts that I will anchor into will be “There is plenty of food for everyone” “That everyone is responsible for their own good time”“I can love everyone even if they have wildly different beliefs than I do."My intention this Thanksgiving is to learn from my triggers. I can tell myself something like "Many of my family members have been alive since before I was born, and they bring their own experiences to the dinner table. It makes perfect sense that they would trigger different emotions in me."We often hope for their approval or love, but what we really need is our own. This year I intend to go deep with the triggers. In the moment, to take note of them and later process the lessons that I still need to glean from them. My intention is to connect and learn from my family. I encourage you to establish your own intention and manage your mind before and during your dinner. If not, you may end up eating or drinking too much to mask those negative feelings. If you manage your mind beforehand, you won't need to overeat, or over drink, or get too stressed. Practice your intentional thinking and hopefully you will drop into the feeling you want to experience.

If you would like to go deep and transform your own life, by learning how to manage your mind to live deliberately, then schedule a mini-session with me at: http://bit.ly/2rD8YZkI am taking appointments for 2018, so don’t delay.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!