But first - like you, I struggled with my weight...
I actually struggled with it my entire life. At 5 years of age my ballet teacher told me “I danced like a baby elephant”. I yo-yo dieted my way to a body I loathed and had given up on. Food was my friend - but it was a love/hate relationship. In many ways it saved me, but it was also slowly killing me.
I wasn’t convinced even Weight Loss Surgery would work for me … why would it when nothing else had!
10 years post Weight Loss Surgery later and still several dress sizes smaller, I am the happiest I have ever been.
You can have the success you dream of too. I am so passionate about sharing how, that I work full time as a Bariatric Coach.
I credit my Weight Loss Surgery with my 70kg weight loss, but keeping it off, I credit to doing the mind work. It’s this mind work that I teach in my Mind Empowerment coaching programmes.
Here are seven of the mind work things I wish I’d understood earlier,
Weight Loss Surgery is not a silver bullet.
The honeymoon is amazing, but your commitment to work with your surgery needs to be a lifelong one. Your appetite will return along with physical hunger. Learning how to deal with head hunger and emotional eating is essential
You can learn - and I will show you - the skills to eat intuitively, feeding your body what it actually needs. Not what your mind thinks you need.
The sooner you have the tools and strategies to change your habits and mindset, the better.
Everyone who regains significant weight after weight loss surgery will tell you it’s from bad habits sneaking back in like snacking and grazing.
You don’t have to wait until after the honeymoon to do the mind work.
Let's do it NOW.
The head work is essential to change your relationship with food.
I had a love/hate relationship with food, it was either helping me lose weight and was good food - or it was causing me to gain weight and it was bad food. I used food for treats and would punish myself by suffering without food. The up down cycle of weight caused by this diet mentality destroyed my self trust and self belief and only resulted in me becoming bigger and bigger over the years.
We eat for nourishment and pleasure. Learning how to deal with your triggers and the ups & downs of life, without using food, takes effort but is a skill you can learn and that I can give you the strategies for.
Self awareness is key to success
Self awareness is getting to really know yourself - your values, your beliefs, your strengths and what’s truly important to you and what motivates and inspires you.
Once you know how best you can work with yourself, you can begin the journey of self love to success.
Mindset is everything
If you believe you can - well, you know the rest. Learning to have a growth mindset builds resilience and confidence.
The power of our mind is undeniable and yet so many people ignore the thoughts in their heads - the limiting beliefs and negative self talk has free rein and goes on almost undetected.
Your self critic thinks it can bully you into action. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’ve been beating yourself up for years! How’s that working for you??
A wise friend recently told me she knows every single cell in her body is listening to what she says to herself. She wants happy healthy cells, so she chooses to think healthy happy thoughts.
Working compassionately on taking baby steps in the right direction using positive reframing and affirmations whilst being kind to ourselves for being human and making mistakes is more effective, I promise!
Tracking is fun!
In the early days keeping track of our weight is exciting. I consider it’s imperative to keep an eye on the scales long term as well.
I choose to make it fun, because what gets measured gets done.
The times I’ve taken my eye off the ball have resulted in train wrecks. Again, mindset around this is important. You do you, but we weigh what we weigh regardless of whether or not we track it, but if we notice a trend, we can course-correct. And trust me the sooner we do that - the easier it is. Our self worth is not determined by the number on the scales.
I love planning and getting organised. The subsequent tick I give myself is truly motivating. I use charts and stickers and coloured pens. I like it simple and bold, easy to follow and pretty to look at. I change up exactly what I’m tracking to keep it from getting boring and losing its power.
Have your own fundamentals - the non-negotiables
Non-negotiables help you to stay on track and work your plan.
I'll help you create a daily list of what you’ll actually do, what you’ll eat & how you’ll eat it and everything else you deem essential.
Join me for a free webinar!
So, I’ll leave you here with a warm invitation to my 8 Fundamentals FREE webinar where I share my daily to do list and how I actually mange my bariatric journey day by day. It’s in an ‘hour of power’ where I squeeze a lot of valuable information for you into the 60 mins on Zoom - totally for free.
About Sonia
Sonia McIndoe is a NZ Bariatric Life Coach, who has had weight loss surgery herself and maintained a 70kg weight loss over more than nine years. Sonia walks the walk and has dealt with her own regain by continuing to use and hone her own fundamentals and strategies which she shares with you.
Find out more about Sonia here.
The Mind Empowerment Programme
Sonia's coaching programme is called Mind Empowerment and starts with a free one hour webinar, "The 8 Fundamentals for Bariatric Success".
The next stage is group coaching via Zoom, "Mind Empowerment" followed by "Lose Your Regain - Stay on Track".
One on one individual coaching is also available. Sonia coaches live via Zoom, so you can be anywhere anywhere in New Zealand and still access her services.
Find out more at www.mindempowerment.co.nz