Weight Loss Success
While January is the month that screams ‘time to lose weight' for many Americans, the drive to lose weight plagues us throughout the year. Spending more than $33 billion a year on diet books, diet foods, diet programs and other schemes "guaranteed" to take the weight off for good, Americans are being misled by the millions.
Read More »
Try these seven steps to improve your body image. Focus on one step at a time, taking only one a day. In just a week, you can find yourself in a better place.
Read More »
A love affair with food sounds like a recipe for weight struggles. Yet our chefs at Green Mountain both have lost a significant amount of weight after taking over the helm of our culinary services. They haven’t given up a thing to do that, either. Instead, they’ve done it the Green Mountain way – learning how to eat the food they love in a way that makes them feel great. The weight loss – well, it’s just something that happened naturally on the road to feeling great.
Read More »
If we let ourselves, we may start to believe that magazine cover girls (whose photos are air-brushed and trimmed in, mind you!) are the norm and that the rest of us are somehow deeply flawed. What we get then is the soundtrack "I hate myself" or "I hate what I see in the mirror" playing over and over again in our heads, fueling our endless dieting cycles and painful frustration.
Read More »
As each new diet takes the nation by storm, we at Green Mountain sit and wait. We soon see an increasing number of women visit us who are struggling against weight gain and feelings of helplessness caused by their latest weight loss diet.
Read More »
We wrote the following letter over 30 years ago, and in the time since then, thousands of women have given it to their loves ones to educate them about how they can truly help them achieve their health and healthy weight goals. We hope it helps you do the same.
Read More »
Dieters striving for success in their efforts to manage their weight may have more than just unwanted pounds to lose. First, they have to shed some common myths about dieting.
Read More »
Have you seen the ditty below that's roaming the Internet these days? Before you read it and fall for its 'humor,' consider this. Each year, thousands, even millions, of people engage in an after-the-holidays ritual of self-denigration and punishment – to make up for the pleasurable indulgence of a very special time of year. It's 'funny' to most of us to read about it, as in the poem below, but if we take a closer look, we can see how the 'humor' perpetuates an approach to living that's not really about taking care of yourself.
Read More »
Permanent change is gradual change. At Green Mountain we've been saying for almost three decades that "one brownie never made anyone fat." Part of what we mean is that strict avoidance of specific foods and rigidity are roadblocks, not milestones on the path to success. Permanent lifestyle change is a flexible, ongoing process that involves body, mind and spirit. It is a matter of responsible choices and long term effort. Achieving it means not only a healthier, fitter body but an inner strength that makes it last.
Read More »
“No matter what I’ve tried, nothing changes.”
“I have been on a diet most of my life and I am at my heaviest weight.”
Have you ever said something like this to yourself? If so, you can probably relate to the feeling of being stuck. Stuckness often pervades our feelings about our eating patterns, how much we weigh, how we feel about ourselves, and leads to a hopelessness we can’t seem to shake. Needless to say, it certainly can get in the way of reaching a healthy weight and staying there.
Read More »
Change what? Most women arriving at Green Mountain for the first time have certain ideas about what needs to change. For some, it's their relationship with food, including what they eat, when, how, in what quantities and frequency, as well as their emotional attachments to food. Others will say it's their relationship to exercise and moving their bodies that needs to change. They come to get ‘back on track' or start a whole new way of being with their bodies, moving, caring for, perhaps even learning to change their attitudes about their bodies. Some are aware they need to make bigger changes in their lives, but don't know where to start.
Read More »
Living mindfully can help us live better for healthy weight loss, to manage Type 2 diabetes, to eat healthfully, for whatever our health objective. It can help us find the humor in it all, too, by opening our minds to what is. Consider these attitudes of mindfulness, adapted from Full Catastrophe Living, by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Read More »
When women talk about their biggest obstacles to successful weight and health management, we often hear about hurdles like not enough time or knowledge to prepare healthy meals. Or frequent social occasions that involve food. Or hectic schedules, or stress in their lives, or transitions they're currently going through. The list goes on. But if you're like many of us, it's really none of these. Instead, our biggest obstacle is unrealistic expectations.
Read More »
I love getting a massage. Yet, I’m always surprised to learn how many women have never had a real massage. Often times (certainly not always), this reaction to massage is due to issues around self and size acceptance. Most of us spend a lot of time and consideration disguising our lumps and bumps, only to visit a perfect stranger, disrobe (you don’t have to by the way), and let them go where no man has gone before – even if you’ve begged him to! If legitimate shyness is keeping you from having one of the most wonderful experiences in your life, consider this:
Read More »
Before we say anything else, we want to point out that our title for this FitBriefing is a bit of a joke. We at Green Mountain, as well as many other experts, have advised for years that eating well – not dieting – is key to not only achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, but also to living well. Although we and others may argue with many points made in the bestselling book French Women Don't Get Fat, there's one thing we don't argue with: It advises the same thing -- eating well – but does it with a hook that has obviously appealed to the masses: What do French women know that Americans don't?
Read More »
Do you make the same New Year's resolutions over and over again?
Do you vow to get healthy again and again only to lose motivation?
Read More »
Staying healthy isn't just about eating right or physical activity. It’s also about openly enlisting the support we need to help with weight loss.
In other words, the classic question, "Does this outfit make me look fat?" isn't doing us any good. Instead, it feeds a negative cycle that often starts in our own minds. How do we combat this negative cycle?
Read More »
The annual holiday food fight is about to begin. You know, the one where conflicted women nationwide (even worldwide) face down rich-food eating traditions.
Read More »
"Acceptance is not a state of passivity or inaction. Acceptance is, in fact, the first step to successful action. If you don't fully accept a situation precisely the way it is, you will have difficulty changing it. Moreover, if you don't fully accept the situation, you will never really know if the situation should be changed."
— Peter McWilliams
Read More »
Unlike a health spa, a stay at Green Mountain at Fox Run isn't just about getting away from the frenetic pace of everyday life, nor is it a quick weight loss fix. It's about what you'll take home with you.
Read More »
Would you run out of fingers, and maybe even toes, if you used them to count your tries at adopting a healthy lifestyle? Many of us would. The reason? Often it’s that we need to change how we try to make changes. How we make the journey, not whether we always reach our exact goals, determines our success. And how we make the journey is really about our ability to support ourselves along the way, instead of falling back into judgmental and self-defeating ways of thinking and doing.
Read More »
Accept Your Wonderful Self
Challenge unrealistic messages and disparaging attitudes, and start practicing some self-love. The irony is that healthy self and size acceptance is key to achieving your natural, healthy weight, too.
Read More »
Smile though your heart is aching;
Smile even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by.
If you smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You'll see the sun come shining through for you.
Read More »
The thesaurus defines dead weight as a hindrance, burden, liability or drain. Many of us would think that's an apt description of extra pounds – often found in our midsections -- that aren't part of our natural, healthy weight. But at Green Mountain, where the emphasis is on healthy weight loss, we have a different idea of where the dead weight really is.
Read More »
Say the word " holidays" and women with food issues start to fidget.
-
It's the time of year when many of us find it hard to stay focused, hard to stay motivated, hard to exercise, easy to get too busy, too tempted, or just too down in the dumps to eat and exercise sensibly.
-
It's hard to go to the gym when it is cold and snowing-harder still to get outside and walk.
-
At parties, the gauntlet of buffet tables and Christmas punch can make it easy to give in to that old self-sabotaging voice that whispers, "Oh, what the heck, I'm not going to be able to manage this well, so I might as well enjoy myself." The result is numb out-"pig out"-and ultimately a push of the self-destruct button.
-
Cooking for the family and generally "doing for others" can fan the flames of self-pity and low self esteem.
Read More »
If you've tried to follow popular low carbohydrate diets, you're already well acquainted with carbohydrate cravings. Add a few holidays that just aren't the same without traditional carbohydrate-rich foods, and you may feel like you're doomed. And that's not a feeling you want at this wonderful time of the year.
So how do we make it through the holidays without caving in to cravings? Try these tips.
Read More »
What most of us don't completely understand, however, is that a negative body image actually interferes with our ability to lose weight and achieve the fit, healthy bodies we want. To say nothing of the disastrous impact it has on the quality of our lives.
Read More »
I hate my body….I feel defeated…Why try to take care of myself?...I eat for comfort…I eat too much and don’t have the energy to go for a walk.
Read More »
Does the weight on your scale determine whether you have a good day? When you feel you have overeaten at one meal or eaten a 'bad' food, do you skip the next meal? Have you recently gone on a diet that eliminates an entire food group? Do you obsess about how many calories you burn during exercise?
Read More »
Either you’re in or you’re out. You’re on or you’re off. This sounds like a diet but it can also describe how you approach exercise. It’s diet mentality thinking, which is marked by extreme thinking and judging yourself and your body as good or bad. There’s no in-between. This polarizing thought pattern sabotages women who struggle with weight and weight management.
Read More »
If the ongoing debate between high protein/high fat diets vs. high carbohydrate diets has left you confused, join the crowd. Even the experts sometimes find themselves wondering as they read the latest headlines, which often leave out facts that are critical to making informed decisions about what to eat for healthy weight management.
Read More »
When we think we're dealing with carbohydrate cravings, a new study published in the International Journal of Obesity suggests we're really just craving calories. But not just any source of calories...something that has a lot of them. We're hungry, and we want something to satisfy. As we all know, that's usually not a carrot stick.
Read More »
Which best describes your thoughts as holidays approach?
-
I look forward to being with family and friends, enjoying the fun and food of the season.
-
I dread all the food I'm going to have to face. It's just overwhelming, and I have a hard time saying ‘no.'
Read More »
Struggles with eating, and subsequently weight, are rarely just about food. Stress, habit, the unconscious need to suppress difficult emotions, or boredom can cause us to eat more than we want to. A hunger for higher meaning and purpose can leave us feeling empty even when we seem to have everything. Meditation has the potential to help with all of these things.
Read More »
For our New Year's resolution, notice we said 'best' instead of 'happy.' To us, 'best' exemplifies our philosophy for successful living...making the 'best' of each opportunity rather than striving for unattainable perfection.
Read More »
Green Mountain at Fox Run is pleased to once again feature a newsletter by Annette Colby, PhD, RD, LD, a nutrition counselor located in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Colby specializes in working with people with disordered eating, chronic dieting, compulsive overeating, binge eating and weight and body issues. She has dedicated her professional life to empowering individuals with new vision and innovative healing strategies.
Read More »
In the 1970s, Green Mountain founder Thelma J. Wayler, MS, RD, welcomed participants with these words. And every woman in the room nodded in agreement. The words ring as true today as they did then. Diets without changes in emotional/attitudinal behaviors and lifestyle patterns offer little chance of long-term success.
Read More »
Ah, sleep…the stuff of dreams. It can be elusive and difficult to embrace in a consistent way. Interrupted sleep and not getting enough sleep leaves us tired. And when we are tired, many things get more difficult such as making decisions, feeding ourselves at predictable times and having enough energy to include exercise in our day.
Read More »
A recent survey showed Americans find personal health a much more stressful topic than even a year ago. And what's one of the top stress producers for women? You got it - concerns about weight. What many of us don't realize (and what scientists are just starting to understand) is that dieting, Americans' most common solution to weight concerns, doesn't offer any real answers for the majority of us.
Read More »
In April of 2002 the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officially recognized obesity as a disease, making it far easier for American taxpayers to trim their tax bills and waistlines at the same time. The step is an important one, not so much because of savings to taxpayers (the deduction really has only limited value), but more because it marks a shift in government point of view.
Read More »
High standards are the driving force behind many success stories. As Annette Colby, PhD, describes in her newsletter Eating Peacefully, many scientists, researchers, artists, athletes and successful business people spend endless hours perfecting their knowledge, working harder than their colleagues, and pushing themselves beyond their own limitations, all in an attempt to achieve certain standards.
Read More »
We've all been there before. We're going strong in our resolve to take care of ourselves, including eating what we want to prevent overeating out of feelings of deprivation. But then some ‘well-meaning' friend or family member comments, “Are you sure you should eat that?” Immediately, all our feelings of self-doubt come rushing back to make us question whether we really can trust our bodies to guide us in what we need.
Read More »
"When I first stopped dieting and started to follow my internal cues for eating, I felt a lot better, and a big bonus was that I lost a fair amount of weight. I wasn't at my natural weight because of all the dieting I had done as well as my generally unhealthy lifestyle. But now, even though I'm eating mindfully and staying active, my weight loss has stalled. I think I should be at a lower weight. What am I doing wrong?"
Read More »
Humiliating, punitive tactics may be good for ratings, but it's not good for anyone's health. At Green Mountain, we understand that women who come to us have already experienced enough humiliation and pain. We provide a nurturing, supportive environment where women can start to think differently about themselves and their bodies. In almost 40 years of working exclusively with women and their weight issues, we've learned that real success is achieved as you move to a place where you feel good about yourself again.
Read More »
The reasons women want to lose weight goes on. We’re looking to change our lives for the better. With a healthy lifestyle that recognizes diets don’t work, we do. We start feeling better, more positive, have more energy. That is, until we step on the scale.
Read More »