Smile and be happy about life – it’s so good for your health https://t.co/nL8F76icKo

Smile and be happy about life – it’s so good for your health https://t.co/nL8F76icKo

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) February 11, 2019

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua

Smile and be happy about life – it’s so good for your health

DON’T know about you, but I love February.  The days are getting a bit longer and I do love the brighter mornings and evenings. As I walked the dogs this morning I was thrilled to see that in sheltered spots around the lake the snowdrops and daffodils are poking their heads out.

The birds are busy, noisily calling for mates, and once the blue tits in the garden have finished feasting on the peanuts we put out it won’t be long before their thoughts turn to nest-building.

It all means Spring’s not far away and that fills me with joy.

Which is good, because scientists have discovered that positive happy thoughts have a hugely-beneficial effect on our wellbeing.

Being happy with life has the power to boost our immune system and calm our heart rates, according to research I read in the journal Clinical psychological Science last week.

As you might know, positive psychology is at the core of the Slimpod programme, so it was good to see a study explore the physical side of positive thinking and not just the mental health side.

The snowdrops I saw today

By being kind to ourselves we feel relaxed and safe, and this lowers our heart rate. Because this switches off what’s called our subconscious threat response, we boost our immune system and give ourselves a better chance of healing.

What’s not to like? So let’s all give ourselves a break, stop being self-critical, treat ourselves kind and think happy, positive thoughts about all the wonders that surround us.

Let’s look for things which inspire us and help us feel great, because that’s definitely the way to go!

Over the past week we’ve had a lot of positivity going on in Slimpod Club and I thought I’d share some of it with you to inspire you as we head into a new week.

If you’re part of our Facebook group you’ll know it’s a very positive place to be and you might recognise some of the quotes (but not the faces, which we’ve pixellated):

Joanna posted:

Then Ros posted:

Finally Carol posted:

Reading about these Slimpodders’ happiness is infectious – I know it fills my heart with joy – so this week I’d love you to reflect on all the positive things in your life.

For some of you they may only be small changes, but you know they are building into something bigger, so smile and be happy.

And if you’re a recent starter and your Slimpod is still working away on the inside so you haven’t noticed real differences yet, that’s means you’ve got a lot of happy times to look forward to.

Keep posting your successes in Slimpod Club everyone! And why not post them here too in the Comments?

Spreading happiness is wonderful thing.

The post Smile and be happy about life – it’s so good for your health appeared first on Slimpod.

Be honest now, do you really BELIEVE you can lose weight?

IN my last blog I was so excited about Slimpod and myself making our TV debut on Channel 4’s How To Lose Weight Well and I explained how believing in myself and my goals was the critical part in making that happen.

Over the many years that I’ve been a weight loss specialist, I’ve noticed that people who’ve struggled with their weight for a long time, lose the belief that they CAN lose weight.

Then for many, it affects their self-esteem in general.  They’ve been so focussed on the scales and have literally allowed that contraption to control how they feel and believe about themselves as a person.

And that’s when things go very wrong, because even though you’re acting as if you want to lose weight, your heart isn’t in it because you don’t believe you can do it.

Then you give up.

To achieve lasting weight loss you have to take back control and believe in yourself!

This involves a daily habit-changing process because when you change your daily behaviour this begins to filter through and has a big influence in the way you think about yourself and your beliefs about what you can achieve.

If you’re making a habit of noticing daily improvements to your behaviour and to the way you feel, magical things happen because seeing is believing!

And trust me, the change can be truly dramatic.

For starters, it has an amazing effect on consistency because you’re focusing on the daily wins rather than the results (ie the number on the scales).

This process of daily actions and wins builds your belief and belief helps to build resilience.  It’s resilience and consistency that gets you to your goal!

The psychology of self-belief is process I teach to our Slimpod community and those who choose to adopt the advice get great results.

In Summer 2018 we ran a challenge in Slimpod Club which involved members recording their daily wins in a very short video on their phone and uploading it into our private group every day.

It really worked well and helped people to focus on the daily process, which in turn helped their self-belief.

The nurses who had taken part in the How To Lose Weight Well programme said it really helped them believe in themselves and their goal too.

They really got into the habit of doing their daily video because it helped them to reflect on the positive things in the day and they got a huge sense of achievement.  Crucially, they heard themselves speaking the positives out loud and this has a dramatic effect because it makes it real.

But one of the best things is that it helps with motivation. As you know, it’s the repetition of small daily actions which creates the results and when you get in the habit of focusing on the daily process, it becomes very motivational.

You get the opportunity to give yourself a big high five and it’s a huge vote for the person you want to become.

And finally, it’s truly inspiring for other people watching and creates a lovely positive and motivational effect all round!  Everyone gets to experience Nature’s happy drugs!

One of the people who took part in the challenge last year popped up in a video in Slimpod Club last week and it was SO lovely to see her.

I asked Christina McKay if I could share her message because it was such a powerful one.

Whether you’re a member of Slimpod Club or not, please do spare a few minutes of your time to watch the video because it’s truly inspirational.

Thanks so much Christina for allowing me to share this and inspire people via my blog.

I’m about to kick off another video challenge in the private group, so if you’re in our Slimpod Club community watch out for it!

If you’re not in the group, it’s no problem.  You can easily record a very quick video at the end of the day or any time you have a ‘Wow’ moment.

You could buddy up with a friend and help them to believe in themselves more by taking some daily action too!  Do scroll down and let me know if you struggle with your belief in your ability to lose weight.

It’s one of the most important things to get right and we cover it in the programme. But I can also create a special vlog next week to help you if I know it’s something you’d like more of.

Let me know by leaving a comment below. I love reading them all!

 

The post Be honest now, do you really BELIEVE you can lose weight? appeared first on Slimpod.

Be honest now, do you really BELIEVE you can lose weight? https://t.co/QXYzYsZIoS

Be honest now, do you really BELIEVE you can lose weight? https://t.co/QXYzYsZIoS

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) January 28, 2019

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua

How to lose weight well: Believe in your dreams and you will achieve https://t.co/QC0Zz6iag2

How to lose weight well: Believe in your dreams and you will achieve https://t.co/QC0Zz6iag2

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) January 18, 2019

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua

How to lose weight well: Believe in your dreams and you will achieve

HOW to lose weight well is everyone’s goal and one of the key parts of our Slimpod programme is about personal empowerment – giving people back control over their food and lifestyle choices.  We base a lot of our system on positive psychology and we encourage people to share their wins.

When you share good things you feel good and you inspire others!

So I thought I’d share some of my big wins this week because I’m very proud of them!  I hope they’ll inspire you too!

For many years my dream has been to make a difference to the health of the staff working our National Health Service.

The people who work so hard to keep us healthy and alive are the least able to keep themselves healthy because their working environment makes it so difficult.

It’s not been an easy ride – and I had to really believe in my dream!

However, nearly two years ago it happened and I began working with the Chief Executive and staff at Tameside Hospital in Manchester to help staff lose weight and be healthier.

I’ve loved every minute of it and together we’ve been making a big difference.

A year ago the restaurant became the first hospital restaurant in the UK to go sugar free and it made the news!

Last June the producers of Channel 4’s How to Lose Weight Well asked if they could feature us on their programme. Well! That was a bit of a no-brainer!!

We spent a day filming and we enjoyed every minute of our time with Dr Xand!!

Here’s me being interviewed by Dr Xand for How To Lose Weight Well…

Throughout the 12 weeks the staff had to record their video updates in a Whatsapp group and it was so wonderful getting to know these wonderful people. Their eating habits changed and it was SO lovely to witness the joy and happiness.

The programme was broadcast on Monday evening and I was very nervous about what would make it on to the screen because we weren’t told in advance.

I must admit I was a little disappointed with how little time they gave to the results because we gave them loads of footage. Lovely Dawn, who was featured, felt they could’ve shown more too but I know there’s a limit to how much can be crushed into the show and I’m SO  very grateful to Channel 4 for the opportunity.

In case you missed it here’s some pictures and you can see it on the Channel 4 site. It’s in the second half of episode two.

And here’s the real stars of How To Lose Weight Well, some of our lovely Tameside hospital staff…

The TV publicity has attracted tons of people to Slimpod so a very warm welcome if you joined us after watching the programme.

If you didn’t watch the show, here’s where you can see it.

How To Lose Weight Well

Slimpod’s always in the national press, it seems, and this week saw us pop up in three places.

The Daily Mirror did a lovely piece on how we’ve helped the staff at a hospital to be healthier and happier. You can read the Mirror article here.

The low calorie healthy eating hospital

Then our lovely nurse Laurabeth Ives, who’s lost an amazing amount of weight with Slimpod and looks just sensational, was featured in the Daily Mirror and two other national newspapers.

Here’s the Mirror article

As a result, I’m so proud that several hospitals have been in touch about the work we’re doing at Tameside and a lot of NHS staff have become part of the community. It warms my heart so much.

So there’s my Win Of The Week! I hope it’s helped inspire you to believe in your goals – because when you believe, you achieve! That’s how to lose weight well.

Tell me more about your dreams and goals by dropping me a comment below.

The post How to lose weight well: Believe in your dreams and you will achieve appeared first on Slimpod.

Boot Camp 2: How to eat to lose fat, by Dale the Medicinal Chef https://t.co/pB1h5FOs5W

Boot Camp 2: How to eat to lose fat, by Dale the Medicinal Chef https://t.co/pB1h5FOs5W

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) January 14, 2019

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua