Carve out some time this evening to watch the return of DietTribe, Lifetime’s reality series about a group of friends who have made a commitment to lose weight together.
Back are fitness and health expert Jessie Pavelka and psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser as they guide this season’s tribe to making healthy changes in their lives and overcome many of the personal obstacles that have prevented them from losing weight.
Season 2 follows five friends for 120 days as they work together to motivate each other to endure some of the toughest workouts of their lives and adhere to the clean-eating plan they must follow in order to lose the 35-50 pounds that Jessie has challenged them with. In addition, the women must also compete in a triathlon at the end of their four-month journey.
I have written a lot about the power of our thoughts and positive thinking, so it came as a surprise to me to come across this article. New research suggests that the common prescriptive of positive self-talk may not be positive for all people, after all; in fact, it might even be dangerous to some. The people most in need of encouragement and self-coaching are those with low self-esteem; however, such positive affirmations may be outside the realm of what they find to be believable. Thus, these ideas can be immediately dismissed or the individual may immediately internally contradict such statements. If you found Stuart Smalley to be ridiculous, you will have a hard time believing yourself saying such things.
There are lots of activities that kids can be involved in. Soccer, swim team, ballet, gymnastics – my kids have done them all. Rarely have they been involved in a sport that I think holds life lasting benefits – until now. About a year ago, my teenage daughter asked if she could join the muay thai classes that her girlfriend was enrolled in, and I agreed. Well, it’s been such a great learning experience for her that I’ve now enrolled two more of my children in classes. They love the instructors, who make every class exciting, and the self-defense that they’ve learned has been amazing. The instructors keep tabs on all of the students, asking about grades and behavior at home and reinforcing the desired behaviors.
Solution-focused therapy encourages forward progression in several ways, one of which is to look for past successes (and exceptions to the problem) and build off of those. In goal setting and achievement I encourage my clients to consider the smallest change they can make immediately, as well as the very first, smallest sign of progress they will notice. We are most likely to achieve and maintain large goals in small steps, undertaking one at a time, rather than trying to create an entirely new life or way of being over night.
In general people do not pay enough attention to how successful and powerful they actually are already. Preparing a healthy lunch rather than stopping at Taco Bell just one day is a major change for that day. A smaller change would be to go to the same eating establishment, but order lighter fare instead of the usual.
While watching an older episode of The Biggest Loser, I heard something amazing, something I’d never really thought about before. While counseling a contestant, Jillian Michaels said that you can be so afraid of your success that you sabotage your weight loss, thereby ensuring that you won’t be successful. Whoa. And, huh?
And, yeah, right on. Especially if you are a mom. Think about it. Moms are conditioned, from before the baby arrives to put the baby first. Think of the baby, do what’s best for the baby. In the beginning, of course, there is a lot of validity to this sentiment. But babies grow up, change and become interested in other things, and moms often stay in the same position, stagnant and directionless. It is an almost martyrdom, placing the wants and needs of every other member of the family above hers. In a far too often scenario, this leads to weight gain. And then the vicious cycle begins.
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