Welcome back to the Empowered Weight Loss Podcast! In this episode, I discuss this idea of “failing ahead of time” versus just plain-ole failing. If feel stuck in that fear of failure in any area of life, it’s worth a listen.

In this episode, I share why so many of us avoid going after our goals—like weight loss—because we’re scared of failing. We even may quit before we start, unintentionally or unconsciously thinking it’s safer to fail ahead of time than to actually try and face setbacks and our own judgment. But here’s how I see it: there is no such thing as failing. And when we avoid taking action, we miss out on the opportunity to learn, grow, and change.

I also share a bit about my own struggles with perfectionism—especially as I’ve re-launched and grown in my business —and how dropping the need to be perfect has been crucial to my growth in many areas of life.

I share mindset shifts around on how to build resilience, face the discomfort of failure head-on, and get back in the game without beating yourself up. I also offer insights into how I help my clients navigate these same challenges in the weight loss journey by shifting their mindset and developing healthier habits that last.

Book a Free, 50-Minute Consultation: To explore one-on-one coaching with me, head over to katiekayawellness.com or click the link here to book a free, 50-minute consultation. We can discuss how I might be able to help you reach your weight loss goals, or any other goal you have, in a sustainable, empowering way.

Have a wonderful close to your week and weekend!

-Katie

One of my clients loves to tease me about how often I use the term “learning moment” instead of failure or mistake in our coaching sessions.

“I had a lot of learning moments this week,” she jokes, and we share a laugh.

But, we don’t stop there. We shift from humor to the real work of learning—not through judgment or shame, but through genuine reflection.

In the coaching work, we dive into the past week to identify where my client found herself snacking or eating foods she didn’t really want to be eating. We don’t just note it—we unpack why it happened. This step is crucial because creating awareness is the first step to any change. We explore the thoughts that led to the snacking or overeating and connect them back to her compelling reasons for wanting to make different choices—reasons why she ultimately doesn’t want to feed that habit, make decisions on the fly, or give-in to emotional eating.

A little humor can be useful when reflecting on our thoughts. Our minds are often quite funny when our beliefs are laid out to us in the light of day:

* “I’ve been so good, I deserve a treat…”

* “Today was hard, I need this…”

* “They get to have it, and I can’t…”

* “A little bit won’t hurt…”

* “I always overeat around xyz person (or at xyz place)…”

These thoughts not only generate or amplify cravings, but when we examine them, they often seem flimsy—and maybe even a bit comical.

Do we really want to think of food as something we deserve for being “good”? If we check in with ourselves, the answer is most likely no.

We’re adults—we can eat whatever we want. The key is telling ourselves the whole story about what eating that food will mean in the long run and deciding if we love our reasons for choosing to eat it.

Does food really fly into our mouths when we’re around certain people or places? Does our mother-in-law tie us down and throw food in our mouth? No. We make the choice—and it’s empowering to understand why we made that choice so we can grow our agency and choice. 

We’re not victims of these thoughts. We can learn from them—and talk back to them. Talking back to them can sound like, 

* I don’t want to think about food as something I deserve for being good.

* I want to enjoy treats when I love my reasons for making that choice.

* I want to develop the skill of allowing urges to be present without reacting to them.

* I want to see results for my compelling reasons.

* I’m willing to feel discomfort as I change my habits.

* I choose what I want to eat around other people. This is my choice for myself. They can think whatever they want—that’s for them. I am willing to let them be wrong about me.

* I get to decide what’s right for me.

* I am learning to trust myself.

I’m diligent about the language I use around mistakes or failure because, when I was struggling with my weight, I used to feel like overeating or emotional eating was a personal failure. I would beat myself up over it, and that self-criticism would make me even more susceptible to emotional eating as a way to cope.

I’m also mindful of this language because I often see my clients engaging in all-or-nothing thinking. They feel they’re either “on track,” or if they have a learning moment, they’re completely “off track.” This off-track thinking often leads to giving up ahead of time, having what I call “f-it” moments, or going into last-supper mode with food.

By purposefully reframing mistakes as learning moments, we strip away judgment—the same judgment that creates shame and fuels the pressure to be perfect or drop the goal. 

We don’t call it a learning moment just to feel better about what happened. We call it a learning moment because we truly want to learn and grow, to change and become the person we most want to be, the person we are building belief that we can be. We want to do the work to become that version of ourselves—for our own well-being and for the world we want to contribute to.

Learning takes gritty experience. Learning takes making mistakes or having failures or setbacks. I wish it was not that way, (believe me, I really do! I hate to “fail,” and I am still hard on myself when it happens) but it doesn’t work that way, as much as I want to rage against it. 

Since we can’t avoid these moments, we can develop the skill of learning lovingly. We can teach ourselves, without judgment, when we catch ourselves making choices that don’t align with who we want to become.

Join me in doing this work. Book your free, 50-minute consultation Zoom here.

Have the most amazing weekend my friends!

-Katie

Hello, friends!

In this episode, I explore a powerful mindset shift around managing urges by allowing them to be reasonably uncomfortable. I also share somatic-based tools (with a couple of examples) to help you pause, drop into your body, and navigate urges with more ease.

If you'd like support in implementing these tools or want to dive deeper into this work, click here or visit katiekayawellness.com to book your free 50-minute consultation. We'll talk about how I can support you as your 1:1 empowered weight loss coach.

To learn more about the R.A.I.N. technique, visit Tara’s website: https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment and let’s start a conversation.

If you found this episode helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend, following the podcast, or leaving a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast grow!

Thank you!

💛 Katie

If you’ve been on a weight loss rollercoaster for what feels like forever, struggling with emotional eating or feeling like you’ve tried everything to lose weight—I want you to know that lasting change is possible. And it doesn’t require shaming yourself into it.

I believe in the capacity of each individual to create real, lasting change—including and especially when it comes to your relationship with food and your body. You can lose weight while loving yourself fiercely. In fact, the more we care for and love our bodies, the easier it becomes to treat them well, and weight loss naturally follows.

How I Can Help

In our first coaching session, we’ll create a weight loss plan that’s custom to you—something sustainable that fits your life and goals. In future sessions, you’ll bring whatever challenges come up along the way in following through on your plan.

This is where my coaching comes in. I act as a guide and neutral observer, helping you identify patterns and beliefs that might be driving overeating or emotional eating. We’ll look at how your current mindset is contributing to these habits, and through inquiry you’ll decide whether you want to keep that mindset or shift to one that better supports you and your goals.

I’ll teach you practical coaching tools you can use both between sessions and beyond to help manage your thoughts and emotions without turning to food. Together, we’ll also explore practices to help you truly process your emotions, building greater self-awareness and emotional resilience.

Poking Holes in Limiting Beliefs

Much of the time, what holds us back from seeing the results we want are the limiting beliefs we’ve held onto for years. In our coaching sessions, we’ll inquire to poke holes in those beliefs and build new ways of thinking that support your goals. This shift in mindset is necessary for lasting change—not just in how you eat, but how you move your body and care for yourself all-around.

What if it doesn’t work for me?

The only thing that stands in the way of reaching any goal is giving up. While you can stop coaching at any time, as long as we’re working together, I’ll be with you every step of the way. I’ll help you build the belief that this is possible for you—that you can finally be done with the weight loss struggle for good. I’ll hold that belief for you until you fully believe it for yourself, and I’ll guide you in treating yourself and your body with the kindness and care you deserve.

Each week, we’ll reconnect with your compelling reasons for why this journey matters, and build the commitment, motivation, and inspiration you need to take consistent action. Together, we’ll create a new way of living that feels good and aligns with your goals.

If you want to lose weight from a place of love and empowerment, I’d love to support you on that journey. Click here to book your free, 50-minute consultation.

Have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead, 

Katie

Empowered Weight Loss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Hi friends,

I am republishing the August 25, 2024 workshop replay to include it on my podcast page and feed. Apologies if you are receiving this replay a second time, though it’s definately worth another listen! I’ve packed a lot of valuable content to support you in your weight loss journey in this 45 minute presentation.

If any questions or thoughts arise as you listen, please let me know. I’d love to start a conversation.

Warm regards,

Katie

🎙️ Empowered Weight Loss Podcast | Episode 2: Practical Steps to Process Urges to Overeat

In this episode, I delve into one of the most important aspects of sustainable weight loss: managing the urge to overeat. Whether it’s resisting a cookie at a meeting or breaking the habit of late-night snacking, we all face those moments where our urge feels overpowering. But what if there’s a way to process those urges instead of reacting to them?

I’ll walk you through practical strategies—including the powerful R.A.I.N. technique, adapted specifically for food urges—to help you build the skill of sitting with discomfort without giving in. You’ll discover how to create a food plan that works for YOU, one that you can stick to and that supports your weight loss goal.

To learn more about the R.A.I.N. technique, visit Tara’s website: https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/

✨ I’d love for this podcast to reach people who need support with losing weight from a place of empowerment. If you’d like to support the podcast’s growth 🪴 AND be entered to win 4 weeks of FREE coaching? ✨

Here’s how:1️⃣ Listen to the first 2 episodes. 2️⃣ Rate ⭐ and review the podcast on your favorite platform (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.).3️⃣ Send me a screenshot of your review to: [email protected] by the end of the day on Monday, September 16th to be entered into a giveaway for a free month of 1-on-1 coaching! 🎉

If you’re ready to take the next step toward your weight loss goals from a place of empowerment, let’s chat! 💬 click here to book a free, 50-minute consultation and start your journey with professional accompaniment. 💟 Katie

Hey friends,

I’m thrilled and honored to share with you the very first “official” podcast episode, launching today, 09/04/24: Connecting to Our Weight Loss Story.

As my valued newsletter community, you get the first listen here on Substack. Later today (assuming the tech gods are on my side), it will also be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, YouTube Podcasts, YouTube, Pocket Casts, and Overcast. I’ll update you here as soon as it’s live on those platforms.

In this episode, we’re diving deep into the theme of connection—specifically, connecting to your own weight loss story. We'll explore what you can learn from your journey and how to open up to new possibilities.

I share some of my own experiences with emotional eating and weight loss, not just as a coach and weight loss expert, but as someone who has walked this path, transformed this part of my life, and used those lessons to reach for even bigger goals. My hope is that by sharing my story, you’ll find connections to your own and gain insights that resonate deeply with you.

As you listen, I invite you to reflect on these powerful questions:

* Why has losing weight been challenging for me? What’s been the hardest part?

* What can I learn from those challenges?

* How can I approach this goal differently this time?

* What do I want to be an example of?

I’m riding a wave of excitement and creativity with this new project, and while I’m embracing that energy, I’m also making space to ground myself with strategy, learning, and reflection.

I’d love to hear your thoughts—whether it’s your takeaways, insights, questions, or constructive feedback.

If you’re ready to put this work into practice with personalized support, click here to book your free, 50-minute consultation call or visit: katiekayawellness.com.

♥️ Katie

I attend a weekly meditation group - Sundays, 7 AM.  

We sit for 30 minutes and then share, in a circle, what's been coming up for us as we apply what we learn from studying the Dharma or from our daily practice.

This week, a friend reflected on how his mind has a habit to use a little hit of anxiety to fuel motivation or drive action.  This struck a chord with me. 

I see that my mind also habitually relies on anxiety (a little or a lot) to get things done—whether it’s sticking to my schedule or tidying up my home.

I like to remind myself that nothing has gone wrong when our brains search for problems or potential trouble. It’s a huge part of their job—to keep us safe and to help us survive in an unpredictable and often threatening world.

While I hold space for my mind to do its thing and have its habits, I also get to notice this and intentionally decide to approach my goals and tasks in a completely different way. My own way.

I can approach my goals from a place of service to myself and others.

I can ask myself how I can have fun while getting the housework done.

I can choose the foods I eat and how I move my body based on what would most nourish it and keep it strong and healthy. 

It’s important to ask yourself what emotions you want to fuel your weight loss journey.

Through my own experience and in supporting many others, I’ve found that strong self-love, conviction, courage and commitment are some of the best emotional fuels for sustainable weight loss.

When I hold consultations with potential clients, I ask them about their compelling reasons for pursuing a weight loss goal. I ask, 

“Why is this important to you?”

“Why now? Is there any reason you would wait? Is that an option?”

“What impact would being done with the struggle have on your life?”

As I coach my clients, we return to their compelling reasons, their compelling feelings, so that they can stay focused on taking the consistent, aligned action necessary to create new results.  

We have a lot of power to purposefully choose the compelling reasons and emotional states that motivate our actions. This is one of our greatest powers. 

Our emotional states can become habitual. We can feed the habit of our primitive mind to let fear drive our actions, or we can choose other emotional states to guide us.

Ready to fuel your weight loss journey with positivity and purpose? Click here to book a free, 50-minute consultation and start creating the change you want.

Empowered Weight Loss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I used to feel at the mercy of my cravings and urges to overeat, especially at dinner and in the evenings.

I vividly remember messaging my coach on her Slack channel, sharing that even after a full dinner, I still felt hungry and had kept snacking. As she asked me some probing questions, it became clear that what I was calling "hunger" was actually just the desire to keep eating. The first step for me was learning to differentiate between true hunger and a craving.

You might think this is simple—of course, you know the difference between craving and hunger.

I thought I did too. I could certainly explain the difference if someone asked, but it was a revelation to distinguish between the two in my body, in my actual experience.

An even greater revelation was realizing that I could allow the craving to exist without letting it drive my actions.

What does a craving feel like for you? What does that vibration feel like in your body? Where do you feel it? Where does it reside?

Do you sit with it long enough to truly know? 

Can you treat it with some grace, openness, and curiosity?

I didn’t. The craving to eat, or to keep eating, felt so strong that it seemed impossible to say no.

Part of the problem was that I believed it was impossible to allow that feeling, so I didn’t even try.

Another part of the problem was thinking I had to simply tell it "no" or make it go away—and feeling like a failure because I couldn’t just do that.

What I didn’t know at the time was that there are three ways to respond to any emotion, including cravings:

* Resist the emotion with willpower or force

* React to the emotion and follow the urge of it without checking it

* Allow the emotion to be there with openness and grace, and to observe it

It took me a while to learn what this whole concept of allowing emotions was really about. 

When my coach later asked me during a coaching session if I was resisting my grief, I didn’t know what she meant. All I knew was that I felt it and desperately wanted it to go away. I thought that if I prayed hard enough, stayed positive, or trusted God more, it would disappear on my timeline, and I would feel better.

When she shared with me a metaphor comparing emotions to a flowing river—where resistance is like an obstructed river, and allowing is like letting it flow—I began to understand. I lived on a river and could look out my living room window and see the sacred Androscoggin flowing. Could I let my urges flow (without letting them control me) in the same way? Could I let my grief flow the same way?

Learning to allow my emotions, including cravings, to be there with some presence and grace while also making the next best decision for myself has been transformative. It took me a while, and I am still learning in new and deeper ways, that wanting to be comfortable or happy most of the time can actually perpetuate my suffering. 

Do you want to know a secret? When you sit with a craving and allow it and don’t judge it do you know what it feels like? It feels like being alive. It’s actually quite beautiful. 

Grief can feel like tenderness, deep loss and love, all together in one heartbreaking, beautiful, swelling weight at the heart. 

If you're fighting with cravings or any intense emotions, remember that you don't have to battle with your experience. With practice and self-compassion, you can learn to let them flow—just like the river outside my window.

If you want to explore this more deeply or need support in your journey, I’m here to help. Reach out for a free consultation, and let’s work together to find your weight loss flow. 

Katie

Empowered Weight Loss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I’m excited to share two valuable pieces of content with you this week: this newsletter on pursuing what YOU truly want and the replay of my recent workshop, “Feel More In Control Around Food.”

This workshop is packed with valuable insights, designed to be worth every minute of your time. I encourage you to grab a notebook and pen to jot down any “aha” moments that might completely shift your approach to weight loss.

Sometimes, just one powerful insight can change everything.

I remember my own weight loss journey, where I immersed myself in motivational and mindset-shifting content from coaches I trusted. This not only transformed the way I thought about food, my body, and myself, but it also laid the foundation for the highly rewarding work I now do with my clients. The ability to share what I've learned about feeling more and eating less is truly priceless.

I continue to invest in coaching for both my business and personal life because I know how transformative this support can be. It keeps me focused, growing, and engaged with my goals, yielding results that enhance every area of my life. It supports me in serving others to the highest degree. 

Weight loss can be a powerful starting point for this same kind of transformation. So many of us carry a heavy mental and emotional burden when it comes to this area of our lives. When I reflect on how much energy I once devoted to struggling with my weight and eating habits, I’m amazed by what I could have done differently with all that mental energy. Who could I have been for myself and others without the pain, confusion, and struggle? What could I have done or created?

Some might argue that this is exactly why people should avoid weight loss goals altogether—because of the mental and emotional toll of feeling stuck, yet wanting something different. But I wanted both—I wanted to feel better in my body AND to be free of the struggle.

I’m so glad I pursued both because I achieved both. I now effortlessly maintain my weight and have been free from that struggle for the past five years. Not only that, but I help others feel better in their bodies AND be done with the struggle too.

This is what I want for you too—if it’s what you want.

You’re not asking for too much. You might just need some support to achieve those results.

Let me help you reach your goals in a way that leaves you feeling fully equipped and empowered to maintain them for life.

Watch the replay, reflect on how it applies to your life, and then book your free 50-minute consultation. Together, we’ll prioritize your goals and establish the weekly one-on-one coaching support that helps create lasting results.

Have an amazing day!♥️Katie

Empowered Weight Loss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.