Free Teleclass Coming Your Way!

After taking a summer break, I'm happy to announce that my free teleclass series is starting up again in September. The next free teleclass is on a specialized topic: Emotional Eating, Overeating, and Success After Weight Loss Surgery. If you are someone who has had weight loss surgery or is considering it, this call is for you.

The teleclass takes place Wednesday September 3, 2008 at
3 pm Eastern, 2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, and noon Pacific time.

If you can't attend, don't let that stop you from registering. The call will be recorded and registered participants will receive access to the class recording after the call. If you've never attended a teleclass before, they're easy. You'll just dial in on the phone number you will receive when you register (you are responsible for any long distance charges) and when prompted you'll be given an access code to enter.

You can go here to register and when you do, you'll have an opportunity to submit a question that you would like addressed. I'll try to get to as many as I can on the call. Hope to "see" you in class!

Take good care,

Melissa

“Melissa, Why do you work with bariatric surgery patients?”

I’m often asked this. Clients and readers are often curious because I’m not a weight loss surgery patient myself and because I don’t have a “weight loss story.” Except that I do. My story has emerged from the stories of others.

The truth is, I founded Enduring Change Coaching after years of practicing as a Clinical Psychologist. As a Clinical Psychologist, one area of expertise has been helping people with food and weight issues. Since 1995, I have worked with just about every kind of eating disorder, weight issue, and food issue an adult can have. I’ve witnessed peoples’ pain, struggles and desperation, and I’ve had the honor of sharing in their experiences of transformation (and I’m not just talking about weight)—as they found their own paths to making peace with food, resolving weight issues, putting eating and food in a much smaller place in their lives, and moving on to focusing on more enjoyable and empowering things.

I developed the Emotional Eating Toolbox™ and run the bariatric surgery coaching programs at Enduring Change because I saw people struggling with their weight and feeling hopeless and I knew the tools and strategies that I have developed with my clients can make a profound difference. I’ve met too many people who believe that taking control of their weight and their relationship with food isn’t possible and who believe that they must resign themselves to fighting—and losing—battles with weight forever.

I’ve known and worked with too many bariatric surgery patients who are stuck in a mode of self-blame. They believe they should be able to succeed with weight loss and with weight loss surgery without help or support and they blame themselves when they struggle.

I’ve known other weight loss surgery patients who were never told that there are other essential tools they need to acquire and use with weight loss surgery. (Thankfully, I’m seeing less of this.) They too feel like failures when they find themselves struggling with emotional eating, overeating and weight gain after surgery.

And I’ve worked with plenty of people who have had weight loss surgery, who know darned well that the procedure they had is only one tool. They know that they have other challenging work ahead of them, and other tools they will need to acquire to get where they want to go. The problem is, they aren’t sure where to get those tools. There are (in many areas) too few support groups (especially for individuals who are 12 months or more post-surgery) and not enough information about good resources. There is not enough information about overeating and emotional eating. People are quick to tell you not to overeat, not to use food to fill an “emotional hole,” and not to eat to cope with stress or boredom or loneliness. But there is not enough quality information and help out there about what to do instead.

That’s been my experience. And that’s why I coach individuals and hold special coaching programs and conferences for people who have had bariatric surgery—by telephone—so anyone can attend. It’s why I periodically offer free teleclasses. Most importantly, it was one of my motivations for creating the Emotional Eating Toolbox™ Self-guided Program. Because there is too much shame and self-blame out there. And because we all are a lot more likely to succeed when we have the right tools.

Take good care,

Melissa

Cravings, emotional eating, and knowing what to do about overeating

Emotional eating is a term that’s all over the media this month. There is lots of talk about Paul McKenna and the show I Can Make You Thin and how to stop emotional eating. I confess that I haven’t seen the show yet, but I understand that this week's episode showcased his use of Thought Field Therapy to address emotional eating.

I don't use Thought Field Therapy with my clients. Instead, I teach my clients how to get beyond their emotional eating by showing them the tools they need to identify what is driving their urges to overeat. I teach them how to identify what they need to feed their REAL cravings and hungers and emotions so that they can feel satisfied and stop focusing so much on food. I also don’t tell my clients to ignore their hunger (as many weight loss programs do). I don’t ask my clients to try to distract themselves so they can avoid their hunger until the next time when they are “supposed to eat.” I help my clients face their hunger head on. I help the people I work with recognize that their hunger means they are wanting or needing or feeling something and I help them figure out how to get clear on what that really is, and then how to respond to it.

When we have the tools to accurately respond to our emotional needs and wants, we are empowered to take care of ourselves in a way that overeating will never provide. THAT helps us make changes that last. Having the right tools helps people learn to give food a much smaller place in their lives and get on with focusing on the people, things, and goals that are truly important to them.

Tomorrow I am offering a free teleclass on How to REALLY Feed Your Cravings So You Can Lose Weight.

The class is tomorrow, Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7pm Eastern, 6pm Central, 5pm Mountain and 4pm Pacific time and you can still enroll.

In the class, I'll teach you five ways to feed yourself what you are really hungry for that won't cause weight gain and should make weight loss easier. Trust me, these are NOT gimmicks or diet tricks. That's simply not what I am about. These are the real tools that you need to know to be able to lose weight and maintain weight loss.

Teleclasses are easy to attend. Once you are registered, you'll get an email with the phone number to call. You simply dial in and provide an access code. Note that you will be responsible for any long distance charges. You can go here to register.

Take good care,

Melissa

Another free teleclass: stop overeating and keep the weight off

It's time for another free teleclass with more great tools to help you take control of emotional eating.

This month's topic is: How to REALLY Feed Your Cravings So You Can Lose Weight.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7pm Eastern, 6pm Central, 5pm Mountain and 4pm Pacific time.

In the class, I'll teach you five ways to feed yourself what you are really hungry for that won't cause weight gain and should make weight loss easier. Trust me, these are NOT gimmicks or diet tricks. That's simply not what I am about. These are the real tools that you need to know to be able to lose weight and maintain weight loss.

Teleclasses are easy to attend. Once you are registered, you'll get an email with the phone number to call. You simply dial in and provide an access code. Note that you will be responsible for any long distance charges.

Attendance at these calls has been growing dramatically each time we offer one, so register early to hold a spot. If you can't attend, don't worry, the calls will be recorded and I will provide the recording to enrollees after the call.

Go here if you'd like to sign up.

Hope to see you in class!

Melissa

Weight Loss Surgery and Overeating: A Free Teleclass

In case you missed my free teleclass: Taking Charge of Emotional Eating After Weight Loss Surgery, there is still time to listen to an audio recording of the class. Just click on the link to access the recording.

There are serious misconceptions out there about bariatric surgery being "a quick fix" or an "easy solution." Not true. Weight loss surgery requires a major investment--and not just financial--in order to develop a successful post-surgery lifestyle and to attain weight loss that lasts. Gastric bypass, lap band, and other bariatric procedures all require patients to develop new relationships with food and additional coping tools. In the teleclass I talked about some of the common mistakes people make and tools that can make things a lot easier.

We talked about:
why ignoring emotional cravings is a big mistake
how shame and guilt can sabotage your weight loss
why it's not selfish to take excellent care of yourself
why curiosity is an incredibly valuable tool for taking control of emotional eating.

Take a listen if you are interested. Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts, your struggles, and your successes.

Take good care,

Melissa

Free Teleclass for Weight Loss Surgery Patients on Emotional Eating

Join me for a free teleseminar!

Free Teleclass: Taking Charge of Emotional Eating After Weight Loss Surgery: The importance of using the right tools to conquer emotional overeating

We had such a great teleclass last month, I’ve decided to offer another. This time we are going to focus specifically on emotional eating issues after weight loss surgery. It's a huge issue—one that many weight loss surgery patients struggle with and an issue that can lead to lots of unhelpful shame and guilt.

Learn the mistakes people make and the tools that help people take control of emotional eating and maximize their success after weight loss surgery. This teleclass will take place on Wednesday, February 20 at 3:00pm Eastern, 2:00pm Central, 1:00pm Mountain, and noon Pacific time. There is no cost for the class, but you will be responsible for the long distance charges to dial in.

For more information about the class (including how you can listen to a recording even if you cannot attend), go here.

Hope to see you there!

Melissa

Taking Control of Emotional Eating Class: You can listen in

Yesterday I presented the first of a series of free teleclasses I will be running in 2008. We had a great class--and the feedback was incredibly enthusiastic. Thanks so much everyone! We covered a lot of ground, including some huge mistakes people make in trying to lose weight, take charge of emotional eating, and make lasting changes in their relationship with food. If you missed the call and would like to listen to the recording, you can go here.

Will Your Resolutions Stick?

I just heard that only 15% of people who make New Year's resolutions manage to keep them. To be honest, that number seems a little high to me. There is a huge difference between a New Year's intention and a well thought-out goal that is fueled by our passion and sense of purpose.

Too often, people set resolutions that are really "shoulds" that have been defined by somebody else."Shoulds" don't usually create much of a spark inside us. They even sound boring, and it's hard to create momentum or motivation around a goal that bores us. A goal that has personal meaning--that we would be willing to fight for if we needed to--that's a different kind of proposition.

How is this related to emotional eating? Well, first of all, the most "healthy" goal can come from either a place of passion or a place of "because I'm supposed to." If you have a goal related to your eating or your weight or your relationship with food, I challenge you to put some thought into how you can really give it meaning. If weight loss is your goal--what's driving it? What's the passion behind it? If you want to lower your blood pressure, ask yourself "Why?" Give yourself a reason that you are really going to be willing to show up for. Do you want to ride a bike again? Live long enough to enjoy your retirement? Be able to jump on your kids' trampoline?

If you want to stop overeating, ask yourself "Why?" If you successfully put food in its place and got on with your life, what would you do with all the extra time and energy and brain space? If you create a goal that you are excited about, you'll have won half the battle.

Here are some great resources for your revamped exciting goals:

Resolution Coaching Groups: Transform your Resolutions into Realities (go to the link to hear an audio recording and get more information)

Free Teleclass: Taking Care of Emotional Eating Once and For All

Take good care,

Melissa

Free Teleclass: Taking Control Of Emotional Eating (once and for all)

Ending emotional eating requires self respect—a lot of it. It also requires some real work. Unfortunately, it’s often different work than people think. Every year, especially this time of year, a lot of energy and frustration is wasted, trying to apply the wrong techniques to achieving weight loss. When these inadequate techniques fail, people often incorrectly blame themselves, instead of the technique. Self-blame diminishes self respect and contributes to a vicious cycle that works against efforts to conquer emotional eating, lose the weight you want, and get on with the life you want to live.

As we move into another year, lots of us are thinking about goals and resolutions and changes we’d like to make. Fantastic. I love fresh starts, but don’t throw out your wisdom with the New Year. There are lots of new books you can buy and diets you can start. Unfortunately, most of them won’t honor the wisdom and knowledge only you carry from living your entire life with your body and your mind. Most of the diet products and books and programs don't provide the techniques and the tools that are appropriate for conquering emotional eating.

Join me for a free teleclass on January 16 at 3pm Eastern (2pm Central, 1pm Mountain, noon Pacific Time), Taking Control of Emotional Eating (once and for all): The five mistakes that people make when trying to lose weight and conquer emotional overeating. I'll do my best to provide you with valuable information that can help you pursue your goals wisely and avoid wasting your efforts on frustrating techniques that are unlikely to meet your needs. Just click on either link above to register and get more information.

Take good care,

Melissa