Think positively in the pandemic and you’ll feel in control

THINK positively! That’s today’s message. With lockdown in full swing again, I felt it was time to really ramp up some positivity. So I asked my friend Brian Mayne, the author, international speaker and creator of Goalmapping.com, to join me on a Zoom to inspire and add some much-needed light to our lives right now.

We went live in Slimpod Club last Wednesday, and everyone loved it so much I thought I’d share the session so that the whole Slimpod community could benefit.

One of our lovely Podders has used Goalmappingcom with her Slimpod and has lost seven stone!  They really are the dream team!

Let me know below how you’re doing and whether you’ve created your own goal map.

Brian and I also have some very exciting news in the video for all Slimpod users – an exclusive new resource we’ll be launching shortly.

Here’s this week’s video:

While you’re on The Slimpod Channel watching the video, please hit the Like and Share buttons so more people can receive this totally-free help and advice. If you Subscribe to the channel, you’ll get priority notifications every time I post up a new video.

Think positively – 30-second summary

**  We’re all different and unique but we are all a combination of our thoughts, feelings and actions

**  Thoughts you repeat often enough become beliefs’ they can be negative or positive and empowering

**  Our thoughts influence our feelings and this shapes who we are as a person – our authentic true self

**  All we are starts with our thought; with our thoughts we are able to shape our world

**  If you think positively it releases the chemical serotonin into the brain – better known as “the happy chemical”

**  Feeling good about ourselves and about life has a powerful effect on our behaviour and our wellbeing.

Please leave a comment below to let me know if you’re going to think positive now. Have you created a goal map for your future? Do let me know what’s on yours and how it’s working.

You can create a free goal map at Goalmapping.com

The post Think positively in the pandemic and you’ll feel in control appeared first on Slimpod.

Lynn’s amazing story will lift you up and inspire you

FEELING supported is the backbone of any weight loss journey, whether it’s by family, friends or a group of like-minded people.

I’m SO proud that people say the support they get on our programme is one of the best they’ve experienced.

Within Slimpod Club, our private Facebook group, we have amazing support from the community, a buddy system and mentoring.

We also have a constant programme of motivational challenges. In addition, of course, I do my weekly live chats, which are designed to motivate and inspire.

But we recognise that the group support up until now has only been available if you’re a Facebook user.

So our lovely community managers, Kate Morris and Lynn Haddrell, are going to be hosting weekly Zooms called Gold Gatherings to support the whole community whether you’re on Facebook or not.

Kate and Lynn recently joined Team Slimpod. They’re both Slimpodders and have great stories to tell.

I asked Lynn to introduce herself to you all and you’ll be amazed by her video:

This is the inspiring takeaway from Lynn:

“Slimpod has made me feel like a completely new person but in truth this me was always there, I just didn’t know how to find her.

“I am slimmer, fitter, healthier and I can look in the mirror and smile.  I am a positive, calm, resilient and happy person who loves life.

“I’ve always been kind to others but am finally kind to myself too.”

What a wonderful, uplifting, full-of-hope story – just when we needed something to make us all feel better about life.

The Gold Gatherings are kicking off tonight (Monday Nov 2) at with a test run at 8pm for Slimpod Club members.  It’s an informal gathering for Slimpod Club members who want to meet up for a chat and get support.

If you’re in Slimpod Club, we’ve already posted details on how to log in to the Zoom chat.

The community managers do not give weight loss advice but they can share their wisdom about Slimpod and point you in the direction of help if you’re struggling.

Next week’s Gold Gatherings will be a coffee morning on Wednesday Nov 11 at 10am. This will be held at GoldGatherings.com and will be open to all Slimpodders.

However, don’t go searching for GoldGatherings.com until next week as it won’t be open until shortly before each Zoom meeting takes place.

I’ll email you full details about next week’s Zoom chat, including a password, nearer the time.

Meanwhile, please leave a comment below to let Lynn and myself know how her story has resonated with you.

The post Lynn’s amazing story will lift you up and inspire you appeared first on Slimpod.

Let’s meet up and help support this wonderful cause for women

FANCY having coffee with me on Wednesday morning? It will obviously be a virtual coffee, rather than face to face and it’s in aid of a wonderful cause – the Prince’s Trust campaign Women Supporting Women.

Personal empowerment is hugely important to me because it’s what the Slimpod programme is all about – empowering you take control over food, sugar empowering you to live and love your life !

This week the Trust is encouraging women to support women by holding  virtual get-togethers called Brilliant Breakfast. But I’m renaming mine Brilliant Brunch because I know so many people don’t actually have breakfast (which is no big deal).

The aim is to raise money for young women in the UK who need our support, helping them to wake up to a more positive future.

Young people are among the hardest hit by COVID-19. Prince’s Trust research says over half of young women say their anxiety has increased because of the crisis and say finding a job feels impossible – this is why it’s more important than ever to support young women.

According to The Times, 80 per cent of those who have lost their jobs since the crisis began are women and two-thirds are aged 18-34. Women are a third more likely than men to work in a sector that is now shut down.

How you can help

One of the patrons of Women Supporting Women is Holly Tucker (pictured below), the founder of Not On The High Street. Holly’s one of the most inspiring women I’m fortunate enough to know and I’m delighted to be giving my support.

She has set up a JustGiving page and I’m going to be adding to that page with my donation.

There’s absolutely no pressure but I’d love Slimpodders to donate to this wonderful cause as well. Even a £5 donation will help give hope to a young woman somewhere.

Holly’s told me she’ll try to pop in to our Brilliant Brunch to say hello so fingers crossed!

Here’s her fund-raising page:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Holly-Tucker1

How you can join me

So I’d love you to join me on Wednesday (October 14) any time between 10 and 11. It’s really easy – just hit this link www.GoldGatherings.com on Wednesday and use the password Slimpod.

Important: Don’t search for GoldGatherings – it won’t work. The only way to join me is by clicking on the link in this email.

Put the kettle on, prepare yourself a nice healthy brunch and we’ll have a lovely chat.

If you don’t want brunch, just have a drink with us. Tea, coffee, water, whatever you fancy.

And you don’t have to stay for the whole hour – just pop in for a few minutes if you’ve got a busy morning ahead.

Would just be nice to see your face and meet you.

Here’s some extra special news

One of the things I’ll be sharing at the Brilliant Brunch is details of the launch of a new online support service for Slimpodders – whether you’re in Slimpod Club or not.

If you can’t make it tomorrow, I’ll be revealing all in a blog next week.

Please let me know in a comment below if you’ll be joining my Brilliant Brunch on Wednesday.

The post Let’s meet up and help support this wonderful cause for women appeared first on Slimpod.

Stop eating sugar right now and feel the amazing benefits

SUGAR:  Do you cut down or go cold turkey? The benefits of either are amazing!  Slimpodder Ava Brodie used her sugar pod, which comes as part of the Slimpod Gold programme, then decided she needed to take more drastic action.

I hope her video story will inspire you to realise that sugar doesn’t have to be the enemy that destroys your weight loss ambitions.

Like it did with Ava, your Slimpod will rewire your brain for peace and serenity around food.

Ava, who is 62 and lives in Lancashire, was a size 18 before she started listening to Slimpod in February 2020. She lost weight and felt good about herself – but she knew she could do better.

So she did hours of research into the harmful effects of sugar and what she found out was the trigger that made her decide three months ago to ban it from her life for ever.

Today, Ava is a size 8 and has lost three and a half inches from her waistline since stopping sugar in the summer.

“My BMI has dropped from 29.5 to 23.5 – which means that I’m no longer overweight, let alone being on the verge of obesity,” she says.

“The sugar pod just hit a nerve and made me realise I CAN stop eating sugar.”

Click on the image below to watch her video on The Slimpod Channel:

Ava’s advice on how to stop eating sugar

Ava admits: “Since I was a girl I can’t remember a day going by without eating sugar! I used to call myself a sugarholic…until now!

“I’ve gone just over three months without eating any form of sugar or sweeteners in food and drinks and here’s what happened!

“For the first 10 days or so I had these side effects: headaches, spots and rashes on my face, sleep disruptions, fatigue, irritability and cravings for carbohydrates – sugar!

“Then after that I started to feel so much better. I had more energy, better quality of sleep, a clearer complexion, a feeling of contentment – and no more sweet cravings!

“What helped me was drinking two litres water a day, eating protein with each meal, eating  more berries and citrus fruit and replacing coffee with hot water and a slice of lemon, or green tea.

Ava: I’m so happy and thrilled

“I still have one coffee daily with unsweetened almond milk and make it frothy in my blender – it’s lovely.

“I also found it important to distract myself when I got cravings.

“I can’t begin to tell you how happy and thrilled I am to have done this! I’d lost quite a bit of weight and a lot of inches with my Slimpod but then I got stuck and nothing was moving.

“After one week of going sugar free my weight started to come off again and I’ve lost 36lbs in total since starting Slimpod in February of this year.

“At 62 I feel more energised and happier than I have in a long time. To be finally free from sugar is such a relief.

“If anyone is thinking about it…just do it. Don’t be afraid to listen to your sugar pod.

“For me, going cold turkey was the option I took and I feel that was the only way that I could really and truly give up the sugar!”

Why you should stop eating sugar

The NHS recommends that adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day, (roughly equivalent to 7 sugar cubes).

Free sugars are those which are added to food or drinks, and sugars found naturally in honey, syrups, unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and purees.

They should not make up more than 5% of the energy (calories) you get from food and drink each day.

Free sugars are found in sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and some fizzy drinks and juice drinks. For example, a can of cola can have as much as 9 cubes of sugar – more than the recommended daily limit for an adult.

Most people go way over their daily limit because processed food, takeaways and convenient ready meals are jam-packed with sugar.

Stop eating sugar and lose weight

When you pour excess sugar into your body it plays havoc with hormones like insulin and leptin.

Insulin converts sugar into energy but large doses of sugar hamper its work and wreak havoc with your body. This is called insulin resistance.

Leptin is a hormone which controls your appetite. When you become insulin resistant, leptin gets overwhelmed and you constantly crave food – especially sweet things.

Cakes, biscuits and fizzy drinks pile on the pounds around your middle and you become a fat storage machine.

This is because high blood sugar levels release a flood of insulin through your body and over time make fat build up around your belly.

This is especially dangerous because these abdominal fat cells release hormones that bring on the kind of inflammation that can cause heart disease and cancer.

Read more in this blog post:

Stop eating sugar and feel better, look younger

Watch my Lives so you can stop eating sugar

All this week I’ll be doing deep dives on how to stop eating sugar. Please join me tomorrow (Tuesday October 6) on the Slimpod public Facebook page at 7.30pm UK time, in our private Slimpod Club on Wednesday at 8pm and on our Instagram page on Thursday at 7pm.

Do leave a comment below!

Please let me know what sugar’s doing to your life! I read every comment and although I can’t promise to answer every one, they give me invaluable help in creating new content for you.

The post Stop eating sugar right now and feel the amazing benefits appeared first on Slimpod.

Don’t let negativity and self-sabotage hold you hostage

THE thing I’ve noticed most during over a decade of helping people to lose weight is that after a few weeks of beginning the latest “new thing,” the excitement and buzz wear off and fear and panic set in.

The destructive little voice in your head starts up again: “You’ll never succeed” or “You always fail, what’s so different this time?” or “What if I don’t lose weight?” or “What will people think if I fail again?”

Well, if this happens to you, I can tell you that you’re not alone. This is such a common thing and it CAN be stopped. That’s what I’m helping you with today.

My new video below, Don’t Let Negativity Hold You Hostage, explains how negativity and self-sabotage can be such a problem.

We’re in week four of the Mindset Reset challenge and it’s around this time in any weight loss exercise that motivation can hit the brakes and our efforts come to a grinding halt.

I’ve seen this SO often over the past 10 years and it causes so many problems.

Of course, sometimes life just gets in the way and we struggle to continue with our new habits and healthy regimes.

But for so many people, self-sabotage is involved and the destructive little voice in your head takes over!

My aim in life is to help you succeed and to inject you with the motivation to overcome the obstacles in your life.

Self-sabotage comes in many forms and I’ll be discussing this on my FB and Instagram live chats in more detail this week – so join me then (scroll down for full details).

Many of the beliefs we have about our body image have started in childhood or during teenage years, and they create an idea that over time becomes an ingrained self-limiting belief.  This also sows the seeds of self-doubt.

Our thoughts really matter because our minds and bodies are linked.

We need to give ourselves kind messages and be nice to ourselves because otherwise we’ll find ourselves going round and round in circles and getting nowhere fast.

You must change the script of your life right now so that the soap opera in your mind isn’t on repeat all your life.

This is about believing in yourself.  Trusting yourself and having faith that you can bash through the self-doubt and knock down that negative voice in your head!

Have the courage and you will reap the reward.

Your final challenge!

Continue to listen to your Slimpod.

Continue to write your wins.

Be aware when your brain is being hijacked by negativity and reframe the thoughts.

Treat these negative moments as obstacles in life’s journey, keep calm and carry on!

Watch my Lives this week

Please join my Lives this week: tomorrow (Tuesday Sept 29) on the Slimpod public Facebook page at 7.30pm UK time, in our private Slimpod Club on Wednesday at 8pm, on our Instagram page on Thursday at 7pm and back on the Slimpod public page at 7.30.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

On the Slimpod Channel on YouTube  I have 80 videos about weight loss and wellbeing. They’re a great FREE resource for you. Subscribe to the channel and you’ll get priority notification every time a new video goes up. And make sure you smash those Like and Share buttons for me!

How’s the challenge going?

Please let me know by leaving a comment below. I read all of them – although I can’t always answer many –  and they help me to create new and valuable content for you.

New to my Mindset Challenge?

If you’re one of the hundreds of people who’ve joined the Slimpod Community in the past few weeks, then a big welcome! There’s still time to join my Reset Your Mindset challenge – you can catch up here:

Week One: Improve your health from the inside out

Week Two: Supercharge your weight loss

Week Three: 5 tips to reduce your drinking

The post Don’t let negativity and self-sabotage hold you hostage appeared first on Slimpod.

5 tips to reduce your drinking and start feeling better about life

MY Reset Your Mindset blog this week is very different – it’s got 5 tips to reduce your drinking and it’s been written by a lovely member of my social media team, Kirstin Chaplin. Her advice is all the more special because it comes from personal experience. Here’s her 5 tips to reduce your drinking…

Hi, my name is Kirstin and I haven’t had a drink for almost four years.

When I tell people that I usually get one of two reactions – ‘Wow! I wish I could do that.’ Or, ‘Wow! I could never do that!’

Now, I’m not here to tell anyone to stop drinking. What constitutes ‘problem drinking’ varies from person to person.

I wouldn’t say I had a ‘drinking problem.’ But I would say alcohol was a problem for me.

A couple of glasses of wine in the evening would make me feel jittery and tearful the next day. Any more and my anxiety would be through the roof.

Drinking’s on the rise

Worryingly, last week a report revealed the number of people drinking to dangerous levels had doubled during lockdown.

If you’re questioning your relationship with booze, ask yourself these questions:

Does alcohol disrupt your sleep?

Does it make you feel tired or lethargic the next day?

Do you often regret drinking and scold yourself in the morning?

Do you feel anxious, irritable, or weepy the next day?

Does alcohol make you crave unhealthy foods?

If yes then there’s no better time to take action and cut down.

5 tips to reduce your drinking

Here are my 5 tips to reduce your drinking:

1. Change your social media habits

‘What has social media to do which how much wine I drink?’ you’re thinking. Quite a lot.

You see, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter show you more of what you engage with.

So every time you like or laugh at a ‘Wine O’Clock’ meme you’re telling the algorithm ‘Hey, I want to see more of this.’

This then creates is a drip-feed of information to your brain which says ‘it’s OK to crack open the vino every night. Why not? Everyone is doing it!’

Simply stop liking, sharing and commenting and you’ll soon stop seeing those posts.

2. Change your triggers

Have you noticed how a familiar TV theme tune can make you crave a certain food or drink?

This was something I struggled with until I recognised what was happening and took action 

Now, when a new season of a favourite show starts, I make sure I build new habits. For example, I’ll make a cup of tea as the Bake Off titles roll.

After a few episodes, when I hear the music, my first thought is ‘tea!’

3. Distraction tactics

I remember speaking to Sandra not long after quitting and explaining how flat life felt. Saturday nights were as exciting as a Tuesdays with nothing (and by that I mean booze) to look forward to.

Sandra explained that I was missing the ‘buzz’ that alcohol gave me and I needed to replace it with something else.

It’s worth bearing in mind that life might feel a little drab for a while and you’ll need to find a distraction. But, once you’re over this particular obstacle, it will be worth it.

4. Try low alcohol alternatives

When I first stopped drinking, I leaned on no-lo (no and low alcohol) drinks. There are so many fantastic alternatives out there you’ll never feel like a sober-saddo at a party.

5. Never say never

As you know, feeling deprived is not a great motivator for success. When I first gave up drinking, I couldn’t contemplate never drinking again.

Instead, I committed to giving up for a year. This had two advantages:

* I had a get out of jail free card at the end of 12 months

* My friends stopped hassling me to ‘just have one’

I believe committing to a longer period of abstinence is easier not least because the longer you go for, the better you’ll feel. And you never know, you might, like me, love it so much you decide to never go back. 

********************

If you need some extra help

Thanks, Kirstin. The 5 tips to reduce your drinking will really help a lot of people, I’m sure.

Lots of Slimpodders find they need a little bit more help with cutting down on alcohol and use our special alcohol pod as well as their other pods.

It normally sells for £39.99 but for my valued Podders I give a £25 discount – use the code GOLDTHANKS at the checkout and the pod is yours for £14.99.

Here’s a link where you can buy the pod: Cut Down On Alcohol

How’s the challenge going?

Have you been eating extra spinach, avocado and broccoli for the past week? What differences have you noticed so far in your energy levels and your weight management?

Please let me know by leaving a comment below. And do please let me know if alcohol is an issue for you.

I read all your comments and they help me to create new and valuable content for you.

Watch my Lives this week

Please join my Lives this week when I’ll diving deeper into all of this: tomorrow (Tuesday Sept 22) on the Slimpod public Facebook page at 7.30pm UK time, in our private Slimpod Club on Wednesday at 8pm, on our Instagram page on Thursday at 7pm and back on the Slimpod public page at 7.30.

New to my Mindset Challenge?

If you’re one of the hundreds of people who’ve joined the Slimpod Community in the past few weeks, then a big welcome! There’s still time to join my Reset Your Mindset challenge – you can catch up here:

Week One: Improve your health from the inside out

Week Two: Supercharge your weight loss

The post 5 tips to reduce your drinking and start feeling better about life appeared first on Slimpod.

These three superfoods will supercharge your weight loss

YOU possibly see them every week when you do your supermarket shop and don’t give them a second thought.  But there are three amazing superfoods which can supercharge your weight loss and give your body a wonderful health boost.

In week two of my Reset Your Mindset challenge I’m telling you all about these superfoods  and I’m also introducing you to a lovely Slimpodder who’s masterminded an exciting special project to investigate their effects.

The challenge I’m setting you for the next 21 days is to add these three things to your daily eating and cut right down on sugar! In that way we can supercharge your weight loss.

Remember, this isn’t about resetting your Slimpod programme – it’s about resetting your mindset so you achieve even greater success.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been listening to Slimpod for one week or one year – this is definitely for you!

Let’s start with Michelle Budd, a blood specialist I met a year ago at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham. As well as being a scientist she was also a size 18 sugar addict, a pre-diabetic and was very close to being insulin resistant.

This is a really unhealthy combination because insulin resistance is by far the biggest reason weight loss is challenging.

In this video, which she shot a year ago, Michelle talks about how Slimpod helped tackle her sugar addiction.

Then, as Slimpod helped her take control of her sugar consumption,  Michelle was intrigued by how her blood was reacting to the changes in her eating.

She knew it was vital to stimulate her metabolism to help her body cells become more efficient at burning fat.

Were there specific foods which could help her do that? With the help of a small group of fellow Slimpod community members she set out to answer that big question.

She studied their eating and their weight loss over a six-week period and here’s what she found:

Three foods in particular helped give a major boost to people on the Slimpod programme – avocados, spinach and broccoli.

In Michelle’s case, she has lost 18lbs in the three months she’s been eating them while listening to her Slimpod and is down to a size 14!

Here’s the three superfoods I want you to add to your daily eating for the next 21 days:

Avocados

Avocados contain a wide variety of nutrients, including 20 vitamins and minerals. They don’t contain cholesterol or sodium and are low in saturated fat. Most importantly, they are rich in fibre, indigestible plant matter that reduces blood sugar spikes and makes you feel full quicker by raising levels of the hormone leptin, which controls your full signal. A quarter of an avocado a day is all you need to eat.

Broccoli

Probably the greatest superfood of all! Broccoli is a good source of fibre and protein, and contains sulphur, iron, potassium, calcium, selenium and magnesium as well as the vitamins A, C, E, K and a good array of B vitamins. Eating steamed broccoli regularly reduces cholesterol and lowers the risk of heart disease and the fibre in it needs more energy to digest it, raising your metabolism.

Spinach

Popeye knew what he was doing when he guzzled spinach! It contains a nutrient that helps your body turn food into energy and keeps you feeling active all day! The vitamin C in spinach is known to have the ability to prevent wrinkles (what’s not to like!) and it also contains lutient and nitrite that reduce the risk of heart attacks. Try sulphur-rich spinach uncooked in a salad because cooking reduces the nutrient value.

So there’s the three foods I want you to add to your shopping trolley. It’s as easy as A-B-S…avocado, broccoli, spinach.

Try to eat them every day because Michelle has shown that doing this makes your Slimpod even more effective.

Now for the one thing I want you to take out of your diet – sugar.

The full signal that tells you to stop eating comes from the hormone leptin, which is produced in the gut. Sadly, sugar and processed food destroy millions of good bacteria colonies which help keep leptin levels healthy.

The latest research shows that more than half the food we eat in the UK is ultra-high processed (ready meals, takeaways, sauces, cakes etc) and contains fructose-based sweeteners, preservatives and colourings.

Ready meals from freezer to microwave make our lives easier and quicker – but they may also be making our lives shorter, scientists fear.

Because ultra-processed food tends to be rich in refined carbs, energy-dense, heavy in saturated fats and salt and is very low on dietary fibre.

By eating more avocado, broccoli and spinach you’ll automatically be moving towards preparing more of your meals from fresh ingredients.

Cook fresh fish and meat rather than frozen and you’ll be adding important protein as well.

Result: you’ll be giving your weight loss a supercharged boost and making life for you and your family a good deal healthier!

Please join my Lives this week when I’ll diving deeper into all of this: tomorrow (Tuesday Sept 15) on the Slimpod public Facebook page at 7.30pm UK time, in our private Slimpod Club on Wednesday at 8pm, on our Instagram page on Thursday at 7pm and back on the Slimpod public page at 7.30.

And do let me know below how you’re getting on with the challenge so far. Your positive comments are always so helpful for others.

By the way, if you subscribe to The Slimpod Channel on YouTube you’ll get free access to nearly 80 videos.

The post These three superfoods will supercharge your weight loss appeared first on Slimpod.

It’s time to focus on improving your health from the inside out

IT feels like the last six months have been all over the place and the focus has been on everything and everybody else rather than our own health.  So let’s press the reset button in our minds and head for success right now!

Most of us have been out of our usual routine, with some bad habits creeping back in again. These habits are very sneaky and they find ways to get back into your life when you least expect them to!

This four-week Reset For Success Challenge is all about your health and wellbeing. It’s about your mindset, your food and your exercise working together. And it’s crucially important to achieve consistency over the next 28 days.

So make the focus of your goal about improving your health from the inside out. When you think about things differently it will bypass all the insecurities about what the scales say.

For so many people the obstacle to lasting weight loss IS the scales. So if this is you, for the next four weeks take the focus off the scales and put it on to your health and your daily routine.

Click below to watch the video (and while you’re on my YouTube channel please hit the Like, Share and Subscribe buttons so I can spread the word to others!):

The important points to remember:

*  This is all about motivation, intention and commitment for 28 days!  It’s about moving towards success not being paralysed by limiting beliefs and fear.

* Get rid of the voice that says “I Can’t” and replace it with the one that says “I Can.”

* If size goals fill you with fear,  reset for success by setting a health goal rather than a scales goal. Let’s kick the scales out of this challenge!

* However, if a size goal motivates you – happy days – use that.

* It’s all about working out what works best for you so you can achieve the healthiest outcome both mentally and physically.

* Let’s power up and smash our goals in September!

Make sure you join my Lives this week:  Tuesday 7,30 on our FB public page (Slimpod for weight loss);  Wednesday 8pm (Slimpod Club) Thursday 7pm Instagram and 7.30 FB public page.

And please let me know if you’re going to take up the challenge and why. I love reading all your comments.

The post It’s time to focus on improving your health from the inside out appeared first on Slimpod.

If summer’s put you in panic mode, just try my Mindset Reset

IT’S been a summer like no other hasn’t it?  Staycations, social distancing, kids at home for months and of course, if you’re in the UK, we’ve had Eat Out to Help Out and we’ve all had money off our restaurant bills!  Now September is here and normality is returning.  So it’s time to get back on track.

Many of us have been eating and drinking far more than we do during the rest of the year (with the obvious exception of Christmas!).

I know from the emails you send me and the posts in Slimpod Club that quite a few of you have gone into panic mode, which is perfectly understandable – but totally unnecessary.

If you’re struggling to stay on track, it’s important to realise two things right away:

ONE: You’re not alone!

TWO: It’s normal behaviour.

I know exactly how you’re feeling because (as you’ll know if you follow me on Facebook) August is a crazy month for me. It’s always full of birthdays, anniversaries, cake and alcohol.

Every year when September arrives I breathe a sigh of relief that things are about to go back to normal. Within the next day or two my eating routine and exercise habits will reset themselves and with the right mindset my clothes will soon start to feel a little bit looser once again.

The secret is that I prepare for summer. I realise that there are going to be obstacles in my way (like husband’s birthday on August 13, our wedding anniversary on August 20 and my birthday on August 27) which will mean I’m not eating the same things I usually do and I’m having a few more glasses of fizz than normal.

By building this into my mindset, I don’t worry. I enjoy myself because that’s what life should be all about.

And when September rolls around, I take a few simple steps to get back on course.

I know that those extra pounds will disappear as quickly as they appeared. I’m totally confident that in 30 days’ time I’ll fit into everything in my wardrobe.

Now, because I KNOW you’ll probably be in a similar place to me (even if you’ve not had birthday celebrations etc) I thought I’d help get some motivation going and kick off a free September Mindset Reset Challenge next week!

I’ll be telling you more about this on my live chat in Slimpod Club tomorrow (Wednesday Sept 2) at 8pm UK time and I’ll post another blog next Monday kicking it off, so watch out for that too!

It will go on for the month of September and all it needs is your commitment – easy!

Let me know below how your Summer’s going and whether you’d like to get motivated to get back on track in September!

Would love you to join me so make sure you look out for my blog next Monday!

If you haven’t got yourself a Slimpod yet – now’s the BEST opportunity to grab yourself a free 10-day trial and take advantage of the extra motivation the challenge will give you!  What’s not to like!

This page tells you all about the 10-day trial

The post If summer’s put you in panic mode, just try my Mindset Reset appeared first on Slimpod.

With Slimpod, the art of staying on track has never been easier

I JUST love these words: “Relax, keep listening, keep writing your wins however small, trust Slimpod, let it take you on the journey. You don’t need to do anything, just go with the flow. Slimpod will get you to where you need to go.”

It could have been me offering advice to all my lovely Slimpodders (especially those who’ve only recently joined us).

But in fact it’s a quote from a fab Zoom interview I did during lockdown with Slimpodder Stephanie Stewart.

She has tried everything – Keto, intermittent fasting, Noom – but is now totally in love with Slimpod because it’s so easy and so different to anything else.

Since February 2020, she has lost about 20lbs and says that thanks to Slimpod her weight is more stable than ever before.

Here’s the interview, which I’m sure you’ll find both motivating and inspiring:

It’s so good to get advice from someone who’s having such success with her Slimpod.

I think the most important takeaways for everyone are:

**  With Slimpod there’s no wagon to fall off.

** On days when you make a bad decision, just stop and reset yourself.

** Don’t feel as if you’ve undone all your good work by having one “bad” thing.

** One cake, biscuit or chocolate isn’t going to change your weight.

** Slimpod releases you from the feeling you have to constantly binge.

** Don’t deny yourself a treat and don’t worry about it

Please make a note that I’ll be doing a ‘Live’ in Slimpod Club tomorrow night instead of Wednesday because I’m away for a few days.

I’d love you to leave a comment below to let me know how Slimpod is changing the way you feel about food. And do be sure to tell Stephanie your views, too!

The post With Slimpod, the art of staying on track has never been easier appeared first on Slimpod.

Here’s how you can start listening to your pods again

We finally believe we’ve solved 99% of the technical problems which caused so many Slimpodders so much heartache over the past few days. Let me once again apologise. I hate letting people down because I feel that if it upsets me, it must be 10 times worse for my lovely Slimpodders.

The tech that’s needed to send pods, videos and emails to thousands of people every day and track their progress through the programme is highly complex and when something small goes wrong it inevitably has massive consequences.

But we think we’re there now.  We’re well aware we’re not quite out of the woods though. For a few people there may still be glitches we need to sort out and, of course, we’ll be working on that as soon as we hear anything’s wrong.

If you’re one of the few people who’ve discovered that your app is already working again and you’re able to listen to pods and see the programme, then ignore everything in this blog post!

However, the majority of people will need these important instructions so here’s what you need to do to get back into your Slimpod programme.

ONE: If you’re still logged in to the app (even if it’s not working) then before you do anything you must LOG OUT right away. There’s a line of text at the bottom of the home page you need to click on:

 

TWO: Next you need to set yourself a new password. We’ve given you a temporary password which is Slimpod67! (that exclamation mark at the end is important to include) so we’d like you to reset that to something of your choice. It can be the password you used previously.

Please DON’T try to reset it by going into the app again. You must only use this link:

https://www.thinkingslimmer.com/lostpassword

which takes you to this page. This is only a picture, not the real thing 🙂

Fill in your email address and hit the grey button. Please do NOT hit the red link which says “Log in if you already have an account”

Our system will send you an email containing a link for you to click. Please allow a short time for the email to arrive – as you can imagine, there will be quite a lot of people changing their emails at the same time!

THREE: When you’ve got your new password sorted out, it’s time to log in at the app (or website if that’s how you use the programme).

You should be able to log in without any problems. However, here’s a little tip if you can’t get your password to work:

Try powering down your phone by pressing the off switch for at least 10 seconds. Wait a moment or two, then power up again. This clears the app’s memory and allows the pods and the programme to stream in again.

Once you’re logged in, the first thing to do is hit the My Programme button. Then when you access your Gold programme, you’ll see a little pink panel which asks you to login again for security reasons.

If you’re on my Extra programme, it’s possible that Extra won’t appear on your app today.  If it isn’t there by tomorrow afternoon please email Support@ThinkingSlimmer.com and we’ll deal with it.

Please DO NOT email Customer Services with any problems specific to the Extra programme because only the tech team on the above email will be able to offer you help with this.

FOUR:  Once you’re in your Gold programme you’ll notice that all 12 Levels have a green dot to indicate they’re completed (even though you obviously haven’t completed them all). Because so many people are on so many different levels at any given moment, the only way we could restore the programme to everyone was to unlock all 12 levels at once.

I’m hoping you’ll be able to remember where you were when the system went down, so please go back to where you left off and finish the level you were in.

But if you don’t, the regular emails I send you will help you see where you should be.

As you’ll know, each level represents one week, so next week move on to the next level.

Your progress chart may give a strange reading, so best ignore it for now.

FIVE: Now hopefully your pods are there and play OK. If any of them are missing –  especially if you’ve bought additional ones such as the alcohol or menopause pods – then let us now right away.

This time please email CustomerServices@ThinkingSlimmer.com and put the words Missing Pods in the subject field. Don’t send emails about missing pods to the Technical Support team please.

My team will be working throughout the weekend to help you if you have a problem. Please don’t post any issues in Slimpod Club because you’ll get quicker attention by emailing Customer Services at the email address above.

SIX: This is the best bit. You should be ready to go now so sit back and relax. Tonight it will be pod time again and you’ll have that soothing voice to fall asleep to!

I’m sure you’ll appreciate how upset I am about this technical failure. I’m mortified whenever we don’t maintain the highest level of service for our customers but this time it was out of our control – although it was the Slimpod team which had to work round the clock to put things right.

Thanks for all your patience.   I’ve been deeply touched by all the kind messages of support I’ve received and they help keep me and the team going.

When we’re sure everyone is up and running again, I’ll be sending you a little token of my appreciation for your understanding.  I know it will be useful for you so look out for that email next week 😊

With my warmest wishes and grateful thanks,

Sandra x

The post Here’s how you can start listening to your pods again appeared first on Slimpod.

Beat those summer temptations and stay in control of your weight

 

WE’RE heading into August and the “holiday season” has started (unless you’re reading this in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa!). This year is a bit different, of course, and many of us are not having the same sort of summer that we’ve had in previous years.

However, when we get to this time of year most of us tend to have very different behaviours than most of the rest of the year.

Our daily routine can be disrupted because of school holidays, for example.

It means we feel we’re losing control a little and I see it every single year at this time in Slimpod Club.

But it’s entirely normal.  Our minds have a habit of defaulting into previous summer holiday behaviour just because it’s that season.

It’s that feeling of falling off the wagon or losing the plot a bit – a general feeling of not being in control.

Even though many of us are having staycations our minds still default to previous “holiday” behaviours because summer is the trigger.

We get out of routine and our brain panics a little!

So I thought it might be a good time to give you a little help on how to get through all the temptations of summer and stay in control of your weight.

I’m sure you know the story – it’s almost as if your mind is saying “Woo hoo we’re on holiday and that means I have permission to eat anything I want – and lots of it!”

Then you get disappointed because you feel like you’ve lost control and you beat yourself up.

This time of year can be really difficult and create all sorts of challenges, concerns and anxieties about food and your weight.

Are you on the seasonal merry-go-round?

Most people coming to my Slimpod programme do so after years of unsuccessfully trying to lose weight and many have been on what I call a seasonal merry-go-round.

This is when you start dieting in January (after the Christmas over-indulgence) and that then lasts about a month until it gets too hard to stick to and that early burst of excitement and fabulous motivation goes down the drain.

Then you’re feeling a bit of a failure for the next few months until May/June comes and – yes, you know what’s coming – the next revolutionary, must-have summer diet is launched!

Then that lasts about six weeks until the kids break up or you go on your summer holiday (around now) and you just can’t keep it up because who diets on holiday?!

You feel deprived and fed up because everyone else is eating what they like and having fun. So rather than feeling rubbish you break the diet and blame your summer eating again on your own lack of willpower!

Then you limp along and the feeling of being a failure is reinforced. Suddenly those ads are screaming at you again – “Lose two dress sizes in time for those Christmas parties”!

You hop on because basically you’re losing it to put it all back on again over Christmas…and so it goes on!

I’m wondering if any of this sounds familiar?!

If you’re on a Slimpod programme, this yo-yo behaviour may well have stopped already.  You may be noticing you’re normalising your eating and you’re far more in control.

But if you’ve had a similar pattern of behaviour to the one above for many, many years – it is really hard to shift so please be gentle with yourself.

Understanding it’s happening is the important thing because this habit can be triggered when you’re not aware of it.

So here’s a few tips on how to stay in control over summer by getting some structure in your life!

How to handle summer eating and drinking

Summer throws you out of routine because there’s very little structure.   It also puts you into what I call a “summer diet trance state” –  this means you default to a very different state of mind.

Previously it would be: “l’ll just put my weight loss on hold and enjoy myself for a few weeks” kind of trance state!!

(I know there will be a lot of people nodding as they’re reading this and If you feel this is you – PLEASE wake up from that trance and shake yourself off! )

You don’t need to do this now because you’re not in that cycle anymore!   This is the EASIEST programme to continue with over summer and the secret is to get a little structure in your day.

It’s very simple and self-discipline comes with structure:

*Make a commitment to a goal.  It gives you purpose and direction.

*Continue to take 9 mins to listen to your pods and log your wins.

*Build in time in your day for some exercise – raise your heart rate for just 15 minutes a day or a bit longer If you can fit it in!

On my Lives this week I’ll be talking about the importance of getting into the right mindset for summer.

Join me on our public Facebook page on Tuesday evening at 7.30 pm, in our private Slimpod Club on Wednesday at 8pm  and on Thursday evening on Instagram at 7.30pm  (my Instagram is @sandraroycroftdavis)

If you’re not a Slimpodder already, here’s the nudge you need…

Please leave a comment below to let me know if you’re having an issue with the summer temptations and if you’re up for doing something about it!

The post Beat those summer temptations and stay in control of your weight appeared first on Slimpod.

One little word can make a really massive difference to your eating

 

IN last week’s blog I challenged you to cut down sugar over the summer.  Apart from sugar being unhealthy, being at the mercy of sugar is a self-esteem crusher and very disempowering.

Sugar zaps your willpower and relies on you being weak-willed to keep you hooked.

On my Facebook live chats last week I spoke about our sugar pod, which is all about change.

It’s about empowerment. It’s about enabling you to want to say No.

I know that for most people, the sugar pod helps them effortlessly to reduce their sugar intake. But others, who maybe have an addiction, need a little extra help.

But here’s the thing – it’s very important to say No in the right way.

Research has shown that just changing one little word can make an astonishing difference to our willingness to resist temptation and stick to our goals.

I’ll be telling you a lot more about this in my Facebook Live tonight on our public Slimpod page at 7.30 UK time.

In fact, I’ll be in our private Slimpod Club talking about sugar on Wednesday at 8pm UK time, and on the public page again on Thursday at 7.30.

And as a bonus, I’ll be live on Instagram on Thursday at 7pm UK time.

Meanwhile, this video will inspire you. Once you’ve watched it on my YouTube channel please hit the Like and the Share buttons as this helps other people to see it too.

Slimpodder Johanna Kelshaw knows all about the power of words. She’s dropped from a size 22 to a size 12 – and as she explains in the video, she now thinks like a thinner person.

If she eats something that she’s not happy about, she now says to herself: “Not sure why that happened – I don’t do that anymore.”

That word “don’t” has an amazing effect.

The technical term for this is psychological empowerment but put simply, neuroscientists have discovered that our brains react very differently to the words “can’t” and “don’t”.

If someone offers you a cake and you say “Sorry, I can’t eat cake” then you feel this is a restriction that is being imposed on you.

It’s hard not to rebel, which is why diets and eating plans don’t work long term.

However, if someone offers you a cake and you say “Sorry, I don’t eat cakes” then it’s a whole new ball game.

“Don’t” is a personal choice. It confirms to your subconscious that you have both determination and willpower.

The research in the Journal of Consumer Research shows you are EIGHT TIMES more likely to resist temptation if you say “I don’t” rather than “I can’t.”

The researchers found that only 10 per cent of people who said “I can’t” stuck to their goals for 10 days.

But a staggering 80 PER CENT who said “I don’t” persisted with their goals.

Who’d have thought one little word could be so powerful?

So make sure you watch my Lives over the next three nights!

And please leave a comment below to let me know how Slimpod is making it easier for you to say No!

 

The post One little word can make a really massive difference to your eating appeared first on Slimpod.

Ditch sugar this summer and take back control of your body

LIKE many of you, I was clapping to celebrate the 72^nd anniversary of the NHS yesterday and it brought back memories of the fabulous project I did with Tameside Hospital trust two years ago on the 70^th anniversary!

We launched a Ditch Sugar challenge to 250,000 people in Manchester. One of my fellow speakers was the leading cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, an expert on healthy sugar-free eating, and as we chatted during a break I had a light bulb moment…

Why not issue a similar challenge to readers of my blog and all my Slimpodders! So that’s what I did two years ago and a huge number of Slimpodders took part and reported great successes.

Me and Aseem at the conference

So now as we celebrate the NHS’s 72nd birthday  I thought I’d start you all off on a special project to raise your awareness of any excess refined sugar you might be consuming.  Stress levels have been at an all time high since lockdown began in March and I know so many people have found themselves eating sugary things as a result.  

Slimpod will really help with reducing your sugar intake but some people need a little extra help because the habit is so ingrained and can be a bit stubborn to break.  So if sugar has been raising its ugly head recently then this project is for you!

Ditch sugar and stay on track

Even without all the pressure of the virus, July and August can be really difficult months when you’re trying to eat healthily and lose weight because these months are full of temptations and distractions.

It can be that classic “fall off the wagon” time! But it really doesn’t have to be that way. You absolutely CAN stay on track if you ditch sugar and I’m going to help you do it by cutting down on the refined sugar you’re consuming!

Slimpod star Sammie Axton joins me at the conference

Sugar is really addictive and it hijacks your brain so you feel you’re losing control.

Here’s what happens: The vast quantities of hidden sugar we consume every day in food and drink is hooking our brains into repeating unhealthy food behaviour over and over and over.

Once you’re on that sugar-fuelled roundabout that’s harming you it’s almost impossible to get off without the specialised help a Slimpod programme offers..

In my research I uncovered a statistic which horrified me: There are an estimated 600,000 different food products on sale in America and 80 per cent of them contain sugar.

That proportion is undoubtedly repeated on this side of the Atlantic.

Tameside hospital CEO Karen James was a co-speaker

Worthless, empty-calorie, unnecessary sugar does nothing for the human condition but helps make food and drink manufacturers rich.

They use a substance called fructose which tastes sweeter than sugar but is far cheaper to produce. It crops up everywhere – in processed food like pizzas and pies, in biscuits and cakes and in fizzy drinks.

Ditch sugar and choose healthy alternatives

For the next six weeks, I’d love you to become more and more aware of how much refined sugar you’re putting into your body every day.

Once you recognise the sources of sugar you can start replacing sugar with healthy alternatives.

The simplest way to ditch sugar is to stop buying processed food such as ready meals, takeaways, things in tins and packets.

Buy fresh food and cook it yourself so there’s no danger of hidden sugar creeping in, which is the real danger with non-fresh food.

NHS nurse Sarah Moody spoke too

You might be surprised just how good you feel after just a day or two on healthier food because it creates a virtuous circle in your body and your mind.

Once you start to get your buzz from eating fish, lean meat and vegetables instead of pizza, pasta and curries it just becomes easier and easier to keep up the good work for yourself and your family.

Ditch sugar and take back control

I’ll be talking about how sugar hijacks your brain and revealing some strategies you can use to ditch sugar and take back control in my Facebook Lives this week.

So please join me on our public Slimpod For Weight Loss page tomorrow (Tuesday July 7) at 7.30pm UK time. And if you’re a Slimpodder and you belong to our private Slimpod Club group, I’ll be devoting a whole hour to more on this important subject on Wednesday at 8pm.

Happy Slimpodder nurse Dawn Hamer was there

Leave a comment below to let me know if you’re up for it. Do you want to ditch sugar and take back control?

The post Ditch sugar this summer and take back control of your body appeared first on Slimpod.

This is the one of the keys to staying motivated and keeping on track

STATISTICS prove that people struggle to stay on eating plans, diets and challenges for longer than four weeks before they lose motivation and fall off the wagon.  But of course the Slimpod programme is different.  There’s no wagon to fall off!

Yes, it’s true!  But the thing is, a lot of people find this concept quite difficult to comprehend.

They find it hard to believe because they’ve spent their adult lives on and off the dieting wagon and their minds default to failing behaviour.

And believe me, it’s really easy to start thinking like this. But it’s not your fault because it’s your mind doing what it’s always done. Remember, losing weight is just as much of a mental challenge as a physical one.

And this is why every week I host Facebook Lives – to help people stay on track.

One of the key ways to stay on track and stay motivated is to remember that a weight loss journey is full of ups and downs.

Nobody will tell you it’s all a bed of roses.  Just like life isn’t a bed of roses.  

Stress stops us in our tracks

Right now the challenge of things happening in the world around us is causing so much stress and people are having difficulty controlling their eating as a result.

Stress hijacks the brain and we need to take action to help to prevent this happening because it stops us in our tracks!

The Slimpod Summer20 challenge is really just the beginning of a process.  The thing that will keep you motivated is when you consistently follow the process and ingrain new exciting habits.

This was posted in our Slimpod Club by Catherine, one of our lovely podders, and I got her permission to share because I LOVE the way she described her journey.

 I’m nearing the end of 27 weeks – 6 months of Slimpod. Yes, it’s a record for me and one huge win!!

Someone asked me this week how I stay motivated and this made me think how it’s easy to only see the best bits of people.

The truth is I’ve struggled a lot from time to time with motivation – I’m sure we all have (or will) from time to time. Just as we can’t expect it to be sunny every day, we can’t expect that every day will be a ‘good’ day.

But there is one big difference with Slimpod.

With previous attempts at losing weight I’ve always done really well for a few weeks, or even months but every time (especially just when things were going really well) I’ve hit a wall, thrown in the towel, fallen off the wagon and gone back to square one.

Second attempts on any diet regime never work for me – I can never get that same excitement and impetus back as the first time so, off I go, in search of the next big thing.

But Slimpod has no towel to throw in, no wagon to fall off, no wall to hit. There’s no square one to go back to.

I picture the Slimpod journey as a path. Sometimes, as I wander along, I may come across a bench to sit on for a while or a distraction that keeps me in place for a bit (maybe a carousel, I’m a sucker for those!).

When things have been really ‘bad’ I imagine that I have wandered off the path completely – but I always keep it in sight and I know it’s there to come back to when I am ready.

There have been times when I’ve been heading back the way I came, but that’s ok too because I’m still on the path – all I need to do is stop, check the (goal) map and get myself in the right direction.

One. Step. In. Front. Of. The. Other.

That way I know I’ll reach my destination. Eventually.

So, when you see people post and you wonder how they maintain momentum, remember that they don’t all the time!

Sometimes we all need a little push. Lots of experienced podders (myself included) choose not to post about the ‘bad’ times until they are over because, at those times, we need some quiet time to reflect and wander about a bit, to check the map and make our way back to the path.

We really are all in this together and we really can all reach that destination – even if our path takes longer than others because everyone’s journey will be different.

Staying motivated thanks to good habits

I really feel Catherine’s post is such a wonderful description of how life is when you’re not defaulting to the way you used to be.

Success comes from the daily actions you take and that’s how habits are created. Habits plus practice equals mastery.

Good habits are worth mastering because they change your life.  Every four weeks or so we need to take time out to reflect on what we’ve achieved and what needs tweaking a little.

This is crucial. Because that’s how you’ll get to your destination. 

And yes, sometimes it will feel like nothing is happening or you’ve gone off track.

But that’s the time to jump straight back on the path, keep calm and carry on!

Make sure you join me live tomorrow (Tuesday June 23) at 7.30pm UK time on the main Thinking Slimmer Facebook page where I’ll be talking about staying motivated.

Please leave a comment below to let me know how things are going for you and whether you’re up for staying motivated!

The post This is the one of the keys to staying motivated and keeping on track appeared first on Slimpod.

How happiness and positivity will help you reach your weight loss goals!

 

THERE’S a wonderful quote from the American writer Dale Carnegie that I love to share with people: “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It’s what you think about it.” How true!

The secret of happiness is deeply-rooted in positivity and that’s why it’s all part of the 30-day Summer20 Challenge.

There’s so much doom and gloom in our environment right now and it’s having a huge effect on our mental health and our stress level.

We MUST actively protect ourselves and take measures to do things which make us smile and help us feel happier and more uplifted.

Last week I kicked off a big positivity drive in Slimpod Club  and if you’re part of the Facebook group then many of you will have seen me turn up in my pink wig to give people something to smile about!

In case you missed it…

The Slimpod programme is rooted in positive psychology and part of the process is to help you feel better about yourself.

But sometimes the stressful events in the world around us are challenging and we need to give ourselves a little extra help by consciously building some simple strategies into our day-to-day lives.

If you’re part of the programme then you’ll have seen the negative effect stress can have on the body.

Cortisol is a stress hormone and high levels of it are linked to conditions such as type II diabetes and hypertension.

If you need more info on this then have a look through my blogs and the many Live chats on the subject over the past three months.

The main message is that the stress hormone cortisol stops weight loss and can actually make you put on fat round your waist.

BUT there is some GOOD news and it’s about a chemical the body produces which helps reverse the effects of cortisol.

It’s called serotonin and it’s one of Nature’s “happiness drugs.”

Serotonin is a chemical nerve cells produce and  is considered a natural mood stabiliser. It’s the chemical that helps with sleeping, eating, and digesting.

Serotonin helps regulate your mood naturally. When your serotonin levels are normal, you feel:

· Happier
· Calmer
· More focused
· Less anxious
· More emotionally stable

And this affects your weight in several ways because your behaviour changes.  Higher levels of serotonin enable you to be less impulsive around food, curb “emotional” eating and bingeing, thereby giving you more control.

When we feel happy, we tend to have higher self-regard and a drive toward self-preservation (as opposed to self-sabotage). We’re also less likely to hunt down high fat or high sugar for a quick mood fix.

 

Then a longer-term feeling of well-being often helps us to see ourselves as people who make good choices — and this becomes part of our identity.

Now we know Slimpod helps you feel good, and that’s part of the benefits of the programme, but in these challenging times,  what can we do to give an extra boost to our serotonin levels?

Exercise: Regular exercise can have mood-boosting effects.

A healthy diet: Foods that can increase serotonin levels include eggs, cheese, turkey, nuts, salmon, tofu, and pineapple.

Meditation: Meditating can help relieve stress and promote a positive outlook on life, which can greatly boost serotonin levels.

Limit your exposure to negativity – especially at night

Listen to uplifting music or self-improvement podcasts

Read uplifting books which make you smile

Write three wins every day AND/OR three things you’re grateful for

Daily affirmations

Do more smiling and laughing!

In studies there is a direct correlation between obesity and mental well-being, and research by the University of Adelaide suggests people should focus on improving their happiness rather than focussing solely on their weight.

So as part of the Summer20 Challenge, the aim this week is to improve your happiness and positivity.

Pick two things you can build into your day which will help raise your serotonin level.  This can be from the list above or something you know you can do that makes you happy.

Let me know below (or in Slimpod Club) how you’re going to prioritise some happiness and positivity in your life this coming week!

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday June 16) I’ll be live on our main Slimpod weight loss page on Facebook at 7.30pm UK time and I’ll be chatting about serotonin so do join me!

There’s also a thread in Slimpod Club under the hashtag #Summer20 so do join in and hold yourself accountable!

The post How happiness and positivity will help you reach your weight loss goals! appeared first on Slimpod.

Three really great and easy ways to shape up for summer

HOW did you get on with our Summer20 Challenge last week? I asked you to be extra-vigilant about how much refined carbs you were consuming in everyday food.  So many people join our programme following years and years of overeating and while the Slimpod really helps with this, sometimes we can help give it a little nudge in the right direction!

I know a lot of people in Slimpod Club have been embracing the challenge and doing really well!

Kate:  I’ve had healthy meals every day and cut right down on cakes and biscuits.

Sara:  I’ve been leaving food on my plate and not wanted any biscuits at all!

Amanda:  Really not interested in sweet foods, and best of all I feel normal.

Anita:  I’m loving it!

So, look back at what you’ve achieved and congratulate yourself because your brain’s reward centre will get a buzz from your results and it will make you feel really good.

This week we’re moving on slightly.  It’s important to continue listening to your pods and being mindful about what’s going in your mouth, and now we’ll add some regular exercise to the mix. Here we go:

ONE: Set yourself a daily exercise goal – a distance to walk or run or a number of strength exercises to achieve.

TWO: If you’re at a desk all day, set an alarm on your phone every 50 minutes to remind you to get up and walk for 10 minutes.

THREE: Get your heart rate up regularly – walking or running up stairs is great for that. Or take part in a YouTube exercise video.

Remember, you don’t have to be somewhere special or be in special clothes to do exercise.

Here’s an inspiring video that Slimpodder Caroline Lockie sent me during last summer’s challenge:

And here’s a video I shot this afternoon when I was exercising on our patio with my daughter and our “personal trainer” (he’s her boyfriend actually –  bit of a Joe Wicks!)

Remember, as I said you don’t have to put the Lycra on to get in shape. Just being busy about the house and the garden – or playing with the kids or the grandkids in the park – is great for working your body.

It’s called NEAT – and that stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. In simple terms it means burning off energy by doing everyday things in a lively way.

My final advice: Be accountable! There’s an accountability thread in Slimpod Club or you can post comments daily on this blog to share your progress – simply search #summer20

Remember our Slimpod motto: All movement is exercise and consistency is king!

TONIGHT I’ll be live on our main ThinkingSlimmer Facebook page at 7.30pm UK time so make sure you join me.

And comment below please and let me have your favourite win from the past seven days!

The post Three really great and easy ways to shape up for summer appeared first on Slimpod.

Blow the cobwebs away! Are you up for our Summer20 Challenge?

NOW that life’s moving on a little, there’s nothing like a challenge to blow the cobwebs off and help get the motivation pumped up! So this week I’m inviting you to take part in the Slimpod Summer20 challenge, which could be the push and focus you need to get into those smaller summer clothes – what’s not to like?!

It’s all very simple (of course!) and free! Every week for the next four weeks I’ll post a blog which contains the tasks for the week.

The word challenge can sometimes be scary, so first of all I want to assure you that the next four weeks are going to be a hugely positive, enjoyable and motivational experience!

The only condition of joining in is that you stick with it!!  We’ll be doing our bit to help you with that part!

You’ll receive links to the next four blogs by email and you can take part in our Summer Challenge on your own at home.

Or if you’re part of the private Slimpod Club on Facebook you can join in with the rest of the community. Just search for #Summer20

The Summer Challenge is all about having clarity about what you want to achieve and then focusing on the process which will get you there.

It’s about taking action and being accountable.

Now I know some people struggle a little with taking consistent action so there’s a very simple and effective way of holding yourself accountable and that will involve simply posting pictures or videos either beneath this blog or in Slimpod Club.

I know videos can be challenging, but the staff at Tameside Hospital found it incredibly useful when we did this project with them.  They found it enhanced their results – so if they can do it I’m sure you can too!

Like most things with Slimpod – this Summer Challenge is different.  It’s not just about what you eat or how much exercise you do.

It’s very much about being kind to yourself,  body positivity and feeling good about yourself, because this is at the heart of our Slimpod system.

Therefore, following the guidelines on these blogs and within the programme, are very important.

First week is about clarity and working out what you want to achieve by July 1. BE CLEAR and realistic about this! No wishy-washy goals please.

You must connect with your special goal in order to make it happen.

So many people worry about goal-setting because it sends them into a negative place.  But if negativity creeps in your very first task is to reframe the problem.

Look upon goals as a good thing because you need a direction in which to travel.  They’re also there to give you feedback if you don’t achieve them at first.

Use them as a positive tool to discover what needs to be done next if you don’t quite reach them.

Remember, goals are important but they shouldn’t be obstacles. Use them as something that will give you direction and feedback 

If you haven’t created a goal map yet – now’s the time!!  Here’s a video I filmed with Brian Mayne and I know you’ll find it useful!

Task one:  Get clarity on your direction.  What would you like to achieve in the next four weeks?  Measure your progress with your clothes and aim to avoid the scales.  Take a picture, too!

Task two:  Listen to your Slimpod  and write down your wins! These are SO important!

Task three:  So many of us have been overeating during lockdown for all sorts of reasons.  Let’s call a halt!  Yes, the Slimpod helps you to instinctively control food, but you can give it a little extra nudge too!  So let’s see how we could eat a little less over the next four weeks.  Are you consuming too many refined carbs?   Could you help yourself by getting a smaller smaller one?  Are you listening out for your body’s natural full signal?

So let’s crack on and do this!  I’ll be live on our main Slimpod for Weight loss page this evening (Tuesday) at 7.30pm discussing this and you can ask me any questions you have too.

A reminder: The hashtag we’re using in Slimpod Club is #Summer20.   Post your pics on Instagram too and tag me in.

If you haven’t got a Slimpod – now’s the time to grab yourself a free trial and join in the free challenge!!

Remember – weight loss doesn’t have to be hard – that’s a myth!!

ENJOY YOURSELF!

Comment below if you’re up for this!

The post Blow the cobwebs away! Are you up for our Summer20 Challenge? appeared first on Slimpod.