How to be happy, tip one: I’m a big believer that you are 100% responsible for your own happiness. How to be happy, tip two: You’re also 100% responsible for your life and the way it turns out.
If you’re not happy with the direction your life is going, all you have to do to make yourself happier is make different choices to take yourself in the direction you actually want to go.
How to be happy: follow your calling
Where did the idea for Start Where You Are Weight Loss come from?
I was standing in front of the refrigerator one day, deciding whether or not I was going to binge. I had already lost 100 pounds. But I still had so far to go to reach my goal of wearing a size 6. I wanted to ease my frustration and shame over the fact that I wasn’t where I wanted to be right at that moment. Then I got the call (as an insistent voice in my head) to write a book and teach others in easy-to-understand steps how they could eat what they want, lose weight, and keep it off. The book is called Start Where You Are Weight Loss because I realized I needed to stop wishing I was somewhere in the past or in the future and instead to just start right where I was. That idea has now grown from a book into a website, YouTube channel, and coaching business.
Start Where You Are Weight Loss® Trust Your Body
Learn to lose weight naturally.
How to be happy: practice self-care
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I usually wake up around 6 AM and start writing fiction. That’s a necessity for me because it’s my passion and brings me joy. About 8 AM, I start working on my publishing and weight-loss coaching businesses. Those are also passions because I’m serving others by giving them hope and helping them change their bodies and their lives. I’m usually done for the day around 5 PM and I do my best to respect my need for some downtime.
One of the best ways I’ve found to be productive is to practice self-care. I found myself getting burned out not too long ago, and it was because I was doing far too many work things and not enough self-care activities. The burnout caused my productivity to plummet because I had little energy or desire to work on much of anything. So now self-care is a priority in my day, which means taking breaks and honoring my own needs during the work day.
Part of practicing self-care has been to automate as much of my business as I can. I’ve also started delegating tasks to others that don’t need to be done specifically by me, especially those things that are not my strengths. That investment in getting help has both freed up my time and lowered my stress level, which in turn has made me a lot more productive at tasks I enjoy doing.
How to be happy: bring your ideas to life
How do you bring ideas to life?
- I start out long-hand usually. I just let myself write without judgment, jotting down anything that comes up. Most of the time, one idea will spark others and so I just keep writing, letting the ideas flow onto the page. It’s usually when I’m doing something completely unrelated that the ideas will connect, and I get a better picture of how they work together.
- I figure out what the big picture is: what I ultimately want the idea to look like when it’s finished.
- With that vision in mind, I write down all the big steps I think I need to take to get there.
- I figure out which steps I can do and which ones I’m going to need help with.
- Then I take that list of big steps I can do and break it down into smaller steps until they feel doable and easy and don’t scare me.
- Then I take the first step and keep going.
- I always remind myself that it doesn’t matter how slowly I go as long as I don’t stop. That keeps me moving until I finish.
How to be happy: find what works for you
What’s one trend that excites you?
People are turning away from traditional dieting and searching for more sustainable weight-loss methods. That excites me because dieting doesn’t work long-term (I know that because I spent over 20 years dieting) and restrictive dieting only exacerbates disordered eating and unhealthy relationships with food.
How to be happy: look at everything like an experiment
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I’ve started looking at my whole business like an experiment, figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. I’ve also given myself permission to grow slowly. That does two things: 1. it takes the pressure off, and 2. It makes it easier for me to recover when I make mistakes. I do my best not to let my mistakes derail me because I know that mistakes are inevitable but defeat is optional.
How to be happy: trust yourself
What advice would you give your younger self?
Trust your intuition every single time. Yes: Every. Single. Time. It will never steer you wrong. The only times you’ll ever really get in trouble in your life is when you fly in the face of what your intuition is telling you to do.
How to be happy: change your mindset
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Weight loss is not about food and what you eat or don’t eat. It’s also not about exercise, nutrient-counting, expensive products/interventions, or most of what traditional dieting espouses. Instead, it’s what you think about food and its role in your life. Once you change your mindset, weight loss really is simple and easy.
Start Where You Are Weight Loss® Trust Your Body
Learn to lose weight naturally.
How to be happy: take excellent care of yourself
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I mentioned this before, but I’m saying it again because it’s that important: self-care. It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re an entrepreneur, especially if you’re solo and doing much, if not all, of your business tasks on your own. I make self-care a priority now and even schedule it on my calendar so that I take excellent care of myself and don’t make excuses not to (like I’m too busy). It’s also very difficult to be my best for my clients and meet their needs when I’m not doing my best for myself and meeting my own needs. Self-care is a priority in both my personal and professional life now.
How to be happy: know your reason why
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Know your strong reason why and decide, right now (even before you start), what you’re going to do when the temptation to quit comes. That temptation will come; it’s not a matter of if but of when. And if you’re not ready with a solid reason as to why what you’re doing deeply matters to you when that temptation comes, then you’ll get derailed and you’ll likely quit.
Knowing my reason why has also made decision making a lot easier. It really helped me focus as to what matters to me and in which direction I want to be going. So if something comes up and it doesn’t align with my reason why, then it’s a no. In the same way, if it does align or at least intrigues me that it might, then it’s a yes. In that way, my reason why keeps me focused so I can continue to grow.
How to be happy: stop believing in failure
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Well, I’ve stopped believing in failure. Now I believe in either success or learning. So one thing that didn’t work well was a book launch I did a while back. So I took a look at what didn’t work at all and what could’ve been better. I learned from it so the next time I launch a book, I’ll come at it from a wiser perspective.
How to be happy: listen to your intuition
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A blog/website dedicated to living by listening to your intuition. I really believe much of the struggle and frustration in people’s lives is caused by not listening to their own intuition.
How to be happy: invest in yourself
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I got a 90-minute massage. It helped me: 1. relax so I could think more clearly, 2. take excellent care of myself and put myself on the top of my to-do list, and 3. trust myself more because I promised myself I would prioritize my own health and well-being then I followed through on that promise.
How to be happy: meet your own wants & needs
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Scrivener writing software. It’s an excellent tool for all kinds of writing because it lets you keep all your work, thoughts, research, notes, etc. organized in one file. I use it for mostly for writing books. I’ve become a much more efficient writer because of it.
How to be happy: read a book
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Start Where You Are Weight Loss because it will teach you how to eat what you want, lose weight, and keep it off with compassion and no-nonsense advice. You’ll learn why you’re using food in a way it was never intended and how to fix that. You’ll discover what works best for you and your body so you can honor your own preferences. You’ll master how to create a lifestyle that is true to what matters deeply to you so you can become the person you envision yourself to be. Many readers have said the strategies within it apply not only to weight loss but also to many other aspects of their lives as well.
Start Where You Are Weight Loss® Trust Your Body
Learn to lose weight naturally.
How to be happy: find your gift then give it away
What is your favorite quote?
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
-Pablo Picasso
I love that quote because all of us were born with a kernel of a gift inside us and it’s our job during our lifetime to discover that kernel, nurture it, help it grow, and share it with the world.
How to be happy: key learnings
- Start Where You Are Weight Loss will teach you how to eat what you want, lose weight, and keep it off with compassion and no-nonsense advice.
- Look at your business and your life like an experiment, which will take the pressure off and help you recover from your mistakes (which in turn helps you grow).
- Trust your intuition every single time. It will never steer your wrong.
- Make self-care a priority in both your personal and professional life to keep yourself healthy and motivated to move forward.
- Know your strong reason why and decide, right now, what you’re going to do when the temptation to quit comes.
This interview first appeared on Idea Mensch.
Get off the diet-go-round. Get on with your life.®
Stop wishing, start doing.
Create your own weight loss before and after success story.
My weight loss transformation & how it can help you stop sabotaging yourself so you can keep the weight off
You absolutely can break the diet cycle. I got free. Your life can be that way too.
I made my own path because I needed to get myself out of the crazy-making behavior I was having around food. I needed:
- no more dieting.
- no more restrictive eating.
- no weighing and measuring food.
- no off-limit foods.
- no more judgment around food.
- no more trying to figure out healthy eating or just what healthy foods to eat.
- no more judging my self-worth based on the scale.
- no more you’re-not-doing-it-perfectly diet rules that were only fueling my constant thinking about and obsession with food.
I needed to stop: searching for weight loss tips, wondering how to lose belly fat fast or how to lose weight fast, worrying about how to eat healthy or finding healthy snacks for weight loss, coming up with yet another healthy eating plan, trying to have quick weight loss, or forcing myself onto yet another weight loss diet. What I needed instead was to find, out of all the weight loss programs out there, the best weight loss program for me. Turns out, the best way to lose weight was to find out what works for me and do that.
- I’ve lost 160+ pounds naturally by simply trusting myself and listening to my intuition (mindful eating and eating intuitively).
- I have maintained that weight loss for 9 years and counting by trusting myself and listening to my intuition (mindful eating and intuitive eating).
- I no longer have any eating disorders, including bulimia (bulimia nervosa) and binge eating disorder (compulsive overeating).
- I no longer have a fear of food.
Just imagine what you could be doing with your life if you’d just commit to having your own before and after weight loss success story. You could be: following your own dreams and reaching your own goals, cultivating your own passions, and making both your inner and outer worlds a more blissful and peaceful place.
I got that for my life. I want it for yours. I will teach you how.
Start Where You Are Weight Loss Coaching
Start Where You Are
Weight Loss® Coaching
Personalized coaching
so you can eat what you want & lose weight.
Start Where You Are Weight Loss Books
Start Where You Are
Weight Loss® Books
A series of weight-loss books to help you
create a body & a life that you love.
Start Where You Are Weight Loss™ Online Course
Start Where You Are Weight Loss® Trust Your Body
Learn to lose weight naturally so you can create a body that feels comfortable to you.
Let today be the day you make peace with your body and with food.
For more information, check out the Start Where You Are Weight Loss® page.
