Maintaining Weight Loss considered MORE DIFFICULT than Losing Weight!

If you needed proof, you just might have received it!  


"Maintaining weight loss may be more difficult than losing weight," says lead researcher Joseph Proietto, Ph.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Melbourne's Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, in Victoria, Australia. "This may be due to biological changes rather than [a] voluntary return to old habits."

A recent October 2011 CNN Health article reports: “By some estimates, as many as 80% of overweight people who manage to slim down noticeably after a diet gain some or all of the weight back within one year.”  Citing the New England Journal of Medicine’s findings, the study shows that “the hunger-related hormones disrupted by dieting and weight loss can remain at altered levels for at least a year, fueling a heartier-than-normal appetite and thwarting the best intentions of dieters.”

Is there an immediate or practical way to combat this bad news?

Proietto says, “...personality and psychological factors may play a role in an individuals' ability to manage chronic hunger.”

In my LCBR® Life Coaching practice and coaching manual, Keep The Change, I require each reader (and my coachees) to take a detailed personality profile before beginning my program.  Because every personality type responds to eating and exercise differently, one of the key ways I encourage men and women to get fit quick is to take time to understand his or her personality.  Here are a few examples:

Sanguine personality types love to have fun.  For them, food is social and so is exercise.  Making sure your exercise routine includes friends and music is a must!

Choleric personality types love to be in charge!  They need to have lots of control both at the gym and over their food choices to be successful.  They love to lead others and usually become instructors!

Melancholy personality types love predictability and detail.  Give them a very specific eating plan and they feel safe.  Encourage them to exercise alone and keep detailed records, and they will be more successful than joining in group exercises where everyone is chatting or tardy.

Phlegmatic personality types are easy-going.  They will follow most any program as long as there is LOTS of encouragement, companionship, and follow-up!

One “little change” you can make today in order to get the “big result” of sustained weight loss is to understand your personality better.  Once you know your weaknesses and strengths, you’ll become a much better manager of your weight loss through healthy eating choices and consistent, regular exercise based on your personality!  For more information on my 60-Day Starting Over Series, click here.

Be encouraged, 

Becky  

info@beckytirabassionline.com

800.444.6189

For extra encouragement, visit the following Health.com links that give you: 

25 Diet Busting Ideas or 25 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day.

Obesity Trending - More than 35% of Americans are Overweight!

Obesity is trending.  Americans--35.8% of us--are overweight!

In a recent Gallup/Healthways poll, "researchers randomly telephoned more than 90,000 Americans between July 1st - Sept. 30, 2011. The pollsters asked about their height and weight to determine body mass index (BMI), as well as age, gender, ethnicity, education, and income. BMI values of 30 or higher are classified as "obese," 25.0 to 29.9 are "overweight," 18.5 to 24.9 are "normal weight," and 18.4 or less are "underweight."  

The states with the highest rate of obesity include Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Michigan.  In a supplemental study titled Healthy Americans Report, it was revealed that, “The obesity epidemic continues to be most dramatic in the South, which includes nine of the 10 states with the highest adult obesity rates. States in the Northeast and West tend to have lower rates. Mississippi maintained the highest adult obesity rate for the seventh year in a row, and Colorado has the lowest obesity rate and is the only state with a rate under 20 percent."

Is obesity trending in your life? If so, it's time to make a change!

As a recovered addict, I can honestly say that I have never forgotten how desperate and lonely I felt when my life (and addiction) was so completely out-of-control.  I even became suicidal.  I just didn’t know where to turn.  But when I finally admitted to others (and myself) that I needed help, my life immediately began to change for good! I know have over 33 years of sobriety! 

Because I deeply understood the overwhelming pain and shame that occurs when one or more areas of your life is out-of-control, I became a certified life coach and fitness instructor to help others who struggle with addiction to food or alcohol. Since 2004, I have come alongside over 600 people who have also realized that they need to improve their health, not only for themselves, but for the sake of their family members who depend on them.  

Most importantly, I know the boost that happens when you get a second chance to start over and actually experience immediate change.  That is why I developed the "Little Changes Big Results® 60-Day Starting Over" Program.  As a "change coach," I begin by educating men and women on healthy eating (at home, at work, on the road, or at the office) and teaching them the importance of planning ahead.  Next, I provide my coachees with a daily, doable workout plan that includes short, 5 to 15 minute routines that starts with breathing and ends with stretching.  My coachees are required to send a daily food log to me so there is no room for a big relapse.  Finally, I offer regular, empathetic and encouraging accountability through phone coaching. It works--it really works!  (To read two "big results" success stories, click here.)

If you are stuck or need to start over, let me help you make “little changes” in every area of your life so that you can experience the “big results” of renewed health and self-respect!  

For more information, email info@beckytirabassionline.com or visit BeckyTirabassiOnline.com. 

Be encouraged,

Becky

How do today's teens view sex -- the CDC's report is in!

The facts are in!  

Between 41% and 43% of teenagers (boys and girls) have sex for the first time between the ages of 14 and 19.  Many don’t necessarily want to have sex, but they have it anyway.  Very often they are unprepared and as a result, many experience unwanted pregnancies and even more incur STD’s.  But, don’t take my word for it.  Download and read the entire October 2011 comprehensive study by the CDC titled:

Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth

Whether or not you have (or are soon going to have a teenager), I consider this report “must read” material.  

Why? 

First, it makes for VERY interesting conversation between you and any teen or tween, especially yours!  Reasons for why teens do what they do, current statistics, comparisons from previous years, and today's health impact are dissected and discussed. 

Second, it can serve as a “role playing” cheat sheet.  Reading the specific sections, such as “Wantedness…” or “Contraceptive Use” or “Feelings about…” give you great questions to ask teens, such as, “What would you do if you were in a similar situation?” or “Do you know of kids in your school who are pregnant?”  You might be surprised at your student’s naiveté or the depth of their knowledge!  

Third, it can open up a discussion to reveal exactly what your kids face in school everyday, especially if they haven’t had the courage to talk to you (or anyone) about it.  (Admittedly, not all school environments are the same, yet most junior high and high-schoolers experience some level of sexual encounter or conversation during an average school day.)

Here is my take:  After 30 consecutive years of coaching and mentoring teens, sex is still "the" hot topic.  And I would rather talk with my teen about what is going on in their school, how their friends are dealing with it, and what they would do if they found themselves in an uncomfortable sexual encounter than find out afterward they were intimidated or afraid to speak up.

If you are a parent or grandparent, mentor or boss, sibling, teacher or friend of a teen, I encourage you to to educate yourself on the issues facing kids in this culture (rather than rely on media myths).  

Once you know the facts, you will become an informed and effective communicator that has the potential to change the way a teenager thinks or acts.  You may not change a heart, but you might keep a teenager safe!

It's just a little change that can have a big result.

Be encouraged,

Becky

Can One Man Make a Difference?

If you’re like me, you have one or more electronic devices that were designed by Steve Jobs.  These incredible entertainment and connectivity devices most likely have made your life easier, more fun, more convenient, more colorful and more creative.  

That's why, during the many memorials given to honor the legacy of Steve Jobs, Apple Innovator, this past week, I took notes.  I wanted to capture his words on subjects which he knew so much about...

On Innovation, he said:

"Innovation distinguishes a follower from a leader."

On Intuition, he believed:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

On Death, he surmised:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life."

"No one wants to die.  Even people who want to go to heaven, don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share.  No one has ever escaped it. That is at it should be.  Because death is very likely the single best invention of life.  It's life's change agent.  It clears out the old to make way for the new."  

On Getting Fired, he reminisced:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward.  You can only connect them looking backwards.  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow will connect in the future. . . .Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when they lead you off the well-worn path.  And that will make all the difference. . . .Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that ever happened to me.  It freed me and I entered into one of my most creative periods of my life.  You've got to find what you love..."

On Children, he felt:

"When you have a child, your heart is forever outside of your body."

For me, each of his quotes are not only memorable, but unforgettable.  They challenge me to make little changes in the way I speak or love or think so I can look forward to the big result of being remembered as someone who made others’ lives better.

I hope you are encouraged today by Steve Jobs' words today,

Becky

Can Dating Lead to Drinking?

“A new study suggests that teenagers with a new boyfriend or girlfriend tend to be more influenced by the drinking habits of their romantic partner's friends than they are by the partners themselves. Why? Dating introduces adolescents to new and different social networks and also creates a kind of indirect peer pressure, says lead researcher Derek Kreager, Ph.D., an associate professor of crime, law, and justice at Pennsylvania State University, in University Park.”

The outcome of the study may or may not be surprising to you—especially if you are a parent—but it does reveal a pattern:

"A teen's longtime friends tend to be like-minded when it comes to values and lifestyle, but romantic partners are more likely to come from a different circle."

Students are in transition!  They are moving from single students to dating students.  They are going to leave home—where there is accountability and standards/convictions and healthy food—to attend college where there is little accountability (if any) and a myriad of choices!

In this very insightful Health.com article, Angela Diaz, M.D., program and research director of the adolescent health center at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York goes on to explain: "It's during adolescence that kids start exploring adult behavior and adult roles, and looking for acceptance and respect," she says. "And throughout high school, a child's peer groups will change dramatically based on the new behaviors they pick up and the new people they encounter."

So if you are a parent…dating is not necessarily a fun and social “rite of passage.” In our current sex-crazed and binge-drinking culture, dating CAN BE an influential time of unsolicited experimentation and introductions to drinking, drugs, sex, abuse, addiction, skipping out on classes, cheating on tests, and more.

Parents, I promise that if you to make the following little changes with your students, you will get the big results that come from being a character coach:

Ask questions, “What, where, when, how, and why?”  Be inquisitive BUT not accusatory.  Make an appointment with your child to discuss your concerns.  Put great thought into HOW you will communicate with your student.  The best plan is to talk to them in a respectful tone of voice and listen to them without interrupting. Treat them in the way you would want to be treated.

Be aware of the current issues that are occurring in your school system and community.  Every area has a different culture.  Are there unusually large numbers of girls getting pregnant in your high school?  Is there a great deal of public affection displayed in public at school events? Are many students being cited for underage drinking in your community?

Coordinate social events and group dates with other parents.  Get to know the parents of your child’s friends and teammates.  Open up your homes for kids to hang out after school or after a sporting event.  Have an afternoon weekend “board game” day.  Have a stockpile of healthy snacks on hand—when kids are hungry, they’ll come to your house to eat!

Be encouraged,