This holiday season we are going to be talking about all things maintenance! Maintenance is not simply just for those that reach their weight goal, it is a powerful tool that we can use to help us stick to our goals long term! In this episode I talk about maintenance as a "gear" that we can shift down to during more hectic or stressful times (like December *hint hint - wink wink*). So many people get dizzy from their yo yo dieting which is constantly going from an ALL to a NOTHING mindset. Either making tuns of progress or completely over doing it. This pattern can be very discouraging and deflating not to mention disheartening when at the end of the year you're constantly seeing no progress as the final result. By replacing that nothing gear with maintenance, then you are constantly either making progress, or holding that progress. This is a GAME CHANGER for weight loss specifically. So join me as we dive into the topic of maintenance this holiday season and replace the yo yo pattern with "slow and steady wins the race".

Join me as I wrap up this fabulous series on restoring relationships. Today we're talking WOMANHOOD. Everything from periods to perimenopause and beyond. The reason I have this as the closing piece to our series on restoring our relationships is because restoring our relationship with womanhood involves taking a second glance at each relationship we’ve discussed so far and having a specific strategy to overcome each one through the lens of womanhood. In this episode I revisit the relationships of exercise, the scale, food, ourselves and sleep and specifically shed light at how we can best approach these things, specifically as women. Because believe it or not - there are loop holes and tricks that can make this whole journey much easier for us all! As this series comes to a close I hope you will keep working and reflecting on how you can bring yourself closest to the sweet spots we've talked about. I hope you've seen progress this fall and continue to see progress and you press forward in this journey! Remember for long term success, we have to get to go deep and take time to heal these relationships that have been distorted for so long!

Sleep is kind of like the unsung hero in our health and fitness journey. Sadly, this hero flies under the radar for most of us but it really shouldn’t. Join me in this episode as I explain the different stages of sleep along with what happens to our bodies while we sleep, the symptoms and side effects of both short and long term sleep deprivation and lastly practical things we can do to create an environment that is condusive to sleeping well. I know it doesn't always feel like there are enough hours in the day and it can be tempting to view sleep as an easy variable to manipulate to add time so you can get more done. BUT you might find that the benefits of actually prioritizing your sleep on a regular basis far outweigh the idea that you will be more productive. And in fact the short and long term benefits that sleep provides for your body, brain and metabolism are truly what contribute to making us more productive over time. In viewing our health from a wholistic point of view, there is an urgency for us to prioritize rest and take the appropriate steps toward restoring our relationship with sleep.

TODAY mark's 50 pounds down for our very own Meagan MacPherson! And guess what? Meagan lost her first 10 pounds just by listening to this podcast! How cool? Join me in listening to her story on how she got here! We talk about motivation and how's she's kept it going so strong for over a year and a half now. We talk about "inner work" and how restoring our relationship with ourself is such a crucial and important step in the weight loss journey. We also talk about how she switched into maintenance for this summer and how it was such a great mental break and has assisted in setting her up well for this fall. All this and more in today's episode! If you're looking for a good dose of inspiration - look no further! This girl has such an incredible story. She is so self aware and as a coach I am continually impressed by her ability to set realistic goals and make steady progress towards them. Couldn't be happier to have you part of our Burns Fitness Fam Meagan!

Join me in this last episode on restoring our relationship with ourselves. Today we discuss body image. Why do we tolerate constant criticism and insults from ourselves when we would never tolerate being treated like that by others? I talk about how to stiffle the mean girl that lives with in and I highlight some practical guidelines in switching that internal dialogue from one that is negative to one that is positive. In order to restore our relationship with our bodies we must shift our self talk and as we do you will experience a joy and freedom that will literally impact the entire way that you view yourself. It's worth a shot, trust me!

One way we know whether or not emotional eating is a problem for us personally is when it becomes self destructive. Self sabotage is a concept that I see happen alot within my client base and have also experienced it's power first hand in my own weight loss journey. In keeping with our theme of FEELING our emotions instead of FEEDING them, sometimes we forget to give ourselves time and space to process our emotions that are specifically involved with our weight loss, health and fitness journey. This journey is a hard one and it's easy for us to focus on the physical transformation that happens to our bodies BUT we need to give our minds and hearts time and space to process and adapt to the physical transformation. Self worth, value, identity and guilt, just to name a few, are some big emotions you may have to navigate through as you make your way toward your health and fitness goals. Your brain is a powerful organ so being on this journey of restoring your relationship with yourself may just help you overcome some of the classic self sabotage markers that many find themselves trapped in. Knowledge is power so being grounded and knowing yourself well can go a long way in preventing self destruction from emotional eating.

And now - we dig a little deeper. Join me as we talk about the number 1 self sabotage culprit out there: ourselves. And more specifically in regards to emotional eating. So many people start this journey with high hopes and great intentions. They might even have a great action plan laid out and alot of motivation to carry them toward their goals. But sooner or later it happens. Stuff happens. HARD STUFF happens. And if we are not aware of and intentional with our emotional eating, it can really lead us down a path of self destruction. In this episode we lay out what exactly emotional eating entails. We talk about the 2 different categories of emotions that we may be trying to avoid. We also touch on some very practical steps that can be taken to overcome emotional eating and find success for your emotional, mental and physical health. We distinguish between emotional eating and binge eating - how they are similar and how they are different. My hope is that by the end of this episode, you will feel validated, equiped, encouraged and prepared to continue the work in restoring your relationship with food by in fact restoring your relationship with yourself.

What better as an episode in our series than to tangibly hear the story of someone who has been on a mission to restore her relationships with all of the things that we have been talking about so far! Join me as I interview my guest speaker and cherished client, Amy Syvertson. This girl came to me about 6 months ago and had no intention of taking on more than she could handle. She was very up front with the time and space she had available to put toward her health and fitness and we made a plan that would work for her. Since then she has been on a journey of “baby steps”, as she calls them, that have truly transformed her life. Amy has lost 45 lbs over this last half a year but more importantly she is doing the hard work. She is digging deep and tackling the emotional and mental side of this journey that is all too often ignored in the health and fitness industry. With a good plan, the encouragement and support from her small group coaching and a fierce determination to make this the last time she ever has to tackle weight loss - Amy is wildly succeeding in her health and fitness journey and I am beyond encouraged by her continual progress! If you’re lacking motivation and are looking for a pick me up, listen to this episode to hear from a truly inspirational woman - one of our very own.
*Just as a heads up, there is a small glitch around the 11 minute mark. My apologies, wifi issues. You guys know me when it comes to tech. It's simply to ask forgiveness than to try and splice out a minute worth of convo lol

Our relationship with food. The unconquerable mount everest to climb, mentally. The challenge of all challenges. The almighty beast to sleigh when it comes to our health. Join me as we dive in to the many layers that comprise our relationship with food. This relationship right here is the linch pin that either holds everything together or makes everything fall apart. It's important. It's hard. It's alot. But it's so well worth reflecting on! As you seek to lose weight and shed body fat, please do not forget to prioritize improving and restoring your relationship with food. Because if you do not, the progress you make will not last and you will only find yourself back at where you started or worst with time. I cannot stress how important this one is. If you don't have time to focus on any other relationship this round, make this one the priority! You won't regret it!

Oh the scale. I can already see all the eye rolls coming at me with this episode! This week we're aiming to better understand ourselves and the scale in order to repair what often can be a very turbulent relationship. We'll discuss the gift that the scale really is to us in our weight loss journey. We'll talk about why the scale gets such a bad wrap. Ultimately we'll see the scale really isn't that complex, it's actually pretty reliable and simply does it's job very consistently. It's US, our bodies - we're the ones that are complex. And if we can only understand ourselves better and know our bodies well, it takes away so many of the negative emotions that can often come and cloud our relationship with the scale. I hope that as you listen to this episode you will come to inch your way closer to that "sweet spot" when it comes to loving and appreciating the scale for what it is!