Why I Joined The Life Coach School Certification with Brooke Castillo

I’ve completed a lot of training in my lifetime. This is proven by the fact that I earned a Ph.D. in 2013! But even since earning a doctoral degree, you may be surprised to hear that The Life Coach School Certification process is the certificate I’m most proud of. It’s the first one that I earned simply because I wanted to. I didn’t do it for external validation or praise. I did it for me.

Let me take you back to the beginning of the story. In 2016, I was going through a career crisis. I was finishing up my third year as an assistant professor in my dream job, but it had been a difficult year for me. I was struggling with teaching. Our university president had just resigned. And a project I was emotionally invested in came to a screeching halt. 

I was devastated. I found myself searching for what was next. 

Getting Started with Life Coaching

So I dipped my toes into coaching that summer and into the fall. I found Brooke Castillo’s podcast in a random search and started listening. I proceeded to complete a foundational course in an ICF accredited program and then got to work coaching. My first paid coaching client started in January 2017. 

I was thrilled to be doing something that I felt connected to. I started coaching more clients, but then I started to run into a wall. While some of my clients were taking actions and getting results, some of them weren’t and I didn’t know why. I wanted to help them.

As I continued listening to Brooke’s podcast, I absorbed more of her wisdom. (Honestly, I was very suspicious of the fake nails and eyelashes. That’s not how we typically roll in academia! I wanted to see authentic evidence.) As reticent as I was, the more I read the books she recommended, the more I realized she really knew what she was talking about.

In the summer of 2018, I began wondering about my business. I questioned whether I should keep moving forward with it. If I should continue spending my free time coaching. But then it happened, as if by magic: Brooke revealed her first online certification cohort.

Something inside of me screamed YES. You have to do this! You must make this happen. I had heard the siren call when she first opened up Self-Coaching Scholars and ignored it. Now was my time and I wouldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. 

But I was PETRIFIED of spending that kind of money. I had spent less money on my car than this program cost. I had never paid for tuition in school as I was always on scholarship or fully funded in graduate school. (I took out loans for living expenses, for sure.) But this? This was a huge deal. I was on a mission to get out of debt and this felt like moving in the opposite direction.

The Life Coach School Certification

Even so, I took the leap and signed up. That’s also when I had my first experience with quality coaching for myself. I hired someone to help me work on my money beliefs (fortuitously, she’s now my accountant). A Life Coach School certified coach helped me to process through my thoughts and fears as we geared up for the program starting in October 2018. I had so many thoughts to manage but, through that coaching, I overcame my constant worrying.

And then I became unstoppable! 

Learning all of the tools and techniques from Brooke, I knew exactly how to help my clients get results. Now I have the model and I can understand what keeps a person from taking action. It’s because of the feelings that drive them. Circumstances are neutral. But it’s thoughts that create feelings. And the good news? I get to choose my thoughts.

I couldn’t have anticipated the monumental results I got simply from showing up for myself. Just from being coached, I was able to: 

• Become a time ninja as I balanced coaching and being a professor.

• Figure out with my husband how to reconnect after years of him traveling and me “being busy.”

• Become a confident mom when we adopted out of foster care.

• Reconnect with my own mother after years of not talking.

• Earn back all of the money I invested in certification (and more) within 6 months.

• Give myself permission to trust myself and make decisions for myself instead of asking everyone else around me what I should do.

• Stop outrunning myself.

• Deal with my emotions (boredom, worry, overwhelmedness, etc).

• Realize I wasn’t supposed to be happy all of the time. (100% happiness is a myth.)

And then I created an amazing result. Brooke asked me to be on the podcast.

Brooke Castillo’s Life Coach Podcast 

Her podcast is regularly in the top 250 list of all podcasts. This was huge. If you had asked me in 2016, when I started listening to her, “Do you know you’ll be on a future episode?” I would have looked at you quizzically. In 2018, I might have said, “Yeah, maybe in 2025?” 

But here I am, on one of Brooke’s episodes in 2020, sharing my enthusiasm with the world!

Related to that experience, I was also flown out to Dallas for a photo/video shoot to talk about my experience in Coach Certification. It all happened in the same week and I only had about two weeks to prepare. You know your true priorities when an event like this happens - I could have easily said my schedule was full or I was too busy. But I dropped everything!

In order from top left to bottom right - Andrea Scalici, Lauren Cash, Elizabeth Salazar, Lisa Hatlestad, Lindsay Dotzlaf, Janet Archer, myself, and Carrie Marshall

I was privileged to spend the day in Dallas surrounded by other incredible women. The conversations in between videos (and in such a fancy house!) were mind-blowing. I saw the evidence of what it’s like to put yourself in the room with smart people. These women were mirrors for myself and what I had also accomplished. 

As I soaked everything in, I heard earth-shattering statements just casually mentioned on the car ride or at dinner. We all helped each other to shine brighter. That trip gave me so much energy to move forward. 

Although Dallas was magical, I did need to come back home. But after being surrounded by these encouraging women, I am more trusting of myself now. I used this experience to anchor myself, to remember how far I’ve come and where I’m headed.

Is Life Coaching for You?

I want the same kind of energy and motivation for you to accomplish your dreams. I want you to “trust your knowing”, as Glennon Doyle puts it. When an opportunity taps you on the shoulder and you feel pulled to it - you go for it. That’s what certification was about for me. Listening to and acting on something I truly wanted to do, just for myself. 

You probably have things like this too. Are you pushing them away or leaning into them? Even if it’s scary. It’s time to take the leap! 

Why You Need to Stop Trying to Lose Weight

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

Many of my clients tell me they want to lose weight. In fact, it’s fairly common language today to say that your goal is to “lose weight”. 

We’re even told by doctors we should lose weight! But most of the time it doesn’t even work. 

Why?

Today I want to talk to you about some of the problems associated with the way we think about weight. Specifically, we’ll look at the research behind Weight-Inclusive vs. Weight-Normative approaches to health.

Admittedly, I’m not a medical doctor, psychologist or nutritionist. I am a certified life coach and weight coach through The Life Coach School and I earned my Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies. I understand the research, have seen it applied with my clients, and I want to share it with you in an accessible way.

As the conversation about health changes, health care professionals are trying to focus more on what works--and we know that simply shedding pounds isn’t enough. Things are shifting away from “weight-loss” and moving more toward “weight-inclusivity”. Toward what is important for health and well-being.

Makes sense, right? 

Let’s go over the weight-normative approach that society has been touting for far too long. I’m summarizing the research articles (see the below for references) to give you an overview: 

1. Our body mass index (BMI) is an outdated tool. A high BMI doesn’t mean we will develop diseases or poor health. Unlike smoking, which we know causes lung cancer because it is backed by empirical research, BMI and poor health have no established causality.

2. Body weight isn’t voluntary. Many factors are at play: genetics, access to healthy food, physical activity and other resources.

3. When people try to lose weight and can’t, learned helplessness can develop. Because they don’t lose weight on the first try, they may give up completely on their health.

4. No weight-loss intervention has worked long-term for the majority of participants. People who have maintained weight loss are the exception, not the rule. I’m an outlier myself as I’ve maintained my weight loss of 20-28 lbs for over a decade. But that’s unusual and most people gain back the weight they lose (sometimes more).

5. Weight cycling is when the weight goes up and down the scale. Weight cycling IS connected to poor health. This yo-yoing is connected to inflammation, cancer, and possibly even premature death. It also negatively influences psychological well-being because we simply don’t feel good about ourselves when we weight cycle.

6. Trying to maintain weight loss puts people at risk for eating disorders. All kinds of unhealthy behaviors can emerge from rigid dieting.

7. The weight-normative approach encourages us all to be thin and constantly striving for that. It encourages stigma against people of different sizes. These stigmas tend to show up across various settings in our lives, including health care professionals. Overweight people are viewed as lazy while thinner people are judged for being able to eat what they want. It’s a vicious cycle with a massive amount of bias. In fact, it is actually this weight stigma that is connected to poor health - not the pounds themselves. 

Wow, so did you know all of that? 

I certainly didn’t realize that this is where the research had taken us in 2020. It’s so easy to fall into the pattern of counting calories and thinking that the way we grew up was correct. We’ve learned a lot, however, and it’s time to re-train our brains. 

Regularly, I see how the weight-normative approach affects my coaching clients on a daily basis. Many of them are consumed with thoughts about tracking food as they think obsessively about losing weight. 

If only this mental energy could be freed up so they would have the time and space to think about other, more important things! To create the work they want to share with the world. Instead, they are focused on the guilt they feel from last night’s dessert. And it’s heart-breaking. 

In the weight-normative approach, my clients beat themselves up for not reaching their goals. They constantly feel shame for not doing the work they “should be doing.” And they over-complicate their lives, thinking there’s one magical answer out there.

All in all, the weight-normative approach that many of us have become accustomed to is a hazardous burden that is harmful to us in the long run. 

Photo by AllGo - An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

Now, let me introduce you to the weight-inclusive approach.

Are you ready for some good news?

This approach focuses on health--on the positive instead of the negative. Health has many components and can be measured in a variety of ways. Attention is placed on daily actions rather than a targeted end-goal. The vision is for long-term change. 

These clinically significant improvements are associated with weight-inclusive approaches:

• Lower blood pressure

• Increased physical activity

• Decreased binge eating

• Increased self-esteem

• Decreased depression

• No adverse outcomes to this approach (unlike the weight normative approach)

• Higher body appreciation

• Lower habitual appearance monitoring

The weight-inclusive approach also calls for more empirical research about what works and what doesn’t. This approach recognizes it is important to increase access to healthy options.

Models for the Weight-Inclusive Approach:

• Health at Every Size

• Physical Activity at Every Size

• The Body Project

Rather than focusing on the negative, weight-inclusive language uses positive vocabulary, such as “body awareness”, “intuitive eating”, and “health”. 

One of my coaching clients is focused on her health--and that’s the language we use. Not “losing weight”. She recognized the need to drop the “shoulds” around losing weight and to start defining health for herself. Right now, that includes sleep and taking vitamins--not tracking her food or reading more books about weight loss.

Now that you understand a bit more, focusing on the weight inclusive approach is accessible for you. Check out my free training on how to stop overeating today.

References Used to Write this Post:

Thanks to Paula Brochu for directing me to these published articles.

Bacon & Aphramor, 2011 - https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9

Logel, Stinson, & Brochu, 2015 - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/spc3.12223

Tylka et al., 2014 - https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobe/2014/983495/

Hunger, Smith, & Tomiyama, 2020 - https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sipr.12062

Why We Self-Sabotage as Academics

Photo by Monika Kozub on Unsplash

We’re a successful group of people, we academics are. We have climbed school and career ladders that other people only dream about but rarely accomplish. We know how to gather our gold stars and make things happen within our universities and higher education institutions.

Yet, many of us struggle with aspects of our lives outside of academia. We overeat. We overdrink. We procrastinate on a big project we really want. We struggle with finances. Or in our relationships with other people. We walk around with the myth that “we can’t have it all,” and we very often tend to get in our own way. 

Dr. Gay Hendricks provides vocabulary around these ideas in his book, The Big Leap. In his book, Dr. Hendricks describes what he refers to as the “upper limit problem” which is often experienced by us in academia. 

Wondering what this looks like? Well, this often happens when we publish something amazing or when we win the grant money, but then we can’t seem to relish it. Instead, we snap ourselves back to reality and find a way to sabotage our success. We downplay it with others and move on to the next goal.

But we don’t have to do that! Instead, we can discover our giftings and live out of the places where we excel most. 

Four Zones of the Big Leap

Dr. Hendricks writes about the four zones we find ourselves in:

Zone of Incompetence

• The things we’re just not good at.

There are lots of skills we don’t have and aren’t interested in developing. For instance, I have no desire to learn how to fix things in my car so I typically have no problem leaving that up to my husband. A few weeks ago I thought, “I can change my own headlight. I’ll watch a YouTube video.” I watched for a few minutes and realized it was more complicated than I thought. Instead of continuing to spend time figuring it out, I let it go. It’s in my zone of incompetence and I’m okay with that! 

Zone of Competence

• Things we’re okay at.

I’m a competent cook. I did spend time building cooking skills in my teenage years (thank you, 4-H!). I enjoyed it then. But now, it’s not something I want to pursue. I can make a good dinner, yes. But who is even better at it? My husband. Cooking is in a different zone for him than for me. So if we put that on his plate (pun intended), we’re both winning.

Zone of Excellence

• Things we’re good at and have developed skills in.

In my own Zone of Excellence, I have many characteristics, such as enthusiasm, discipline, connecting people, warmth/kindness, optimism, joy, intelligence, reflection, and analytic skills. It’s comfortable for me to be here. I can tap into these strengths in a variety of ways.

Zone of Genius

• Where we really shine and excel when we’re in the flow.

Finding your zone of genius is like thinking about Russian nesting dolls. Where are you when you’re in the flow? That’s the first layer. 

For me, my Zone of Genius begins in a classroom or a coachings session. But then, I consider that coaching is all about helping others learn. Digging deeper into that, I realize that I’m at my best when I am learning and others are learning too. As the layers are peeled off, something more detailed emerges from inside and I discover more specifically where my Genius Zone lies.

Strengths and Superpowers

Dr. Katie Linder has a comparable concept with different language. She calls them “strengths” (Zone of Excellence), and “superpowers” (Zone of Genius). Strengths are great but the Zone of Genius is where greatness is fully amplified. It’s where you naturally do well. It’s the place where you operate so automatically that it can very quickly trigger the imposter syndrome. We wonder why others are praising us for something we’re so good at! 

How do we find our Zone of Genius? Well, it’s not always easy and it takes a bit of work. In the search for our superpowers, we ask ourselves questions like:

• What do I love doing? 

• What have I always enjoyed doing, even when I was a kid?

• What would I do if I didn’t have any barriers?

• How do I like to spend my free time?

• What fits me so naturally that I almost feel like I’m cheating?

Fighting Hidden Barriers

Hidden barriers are ways we get in our own way of living in our Zone of Genius. We doubt ourselves and pull back. We start to shine and throw up lots of obstacles. We think it shouldn’t be this easy, so we make it difficult on ourselves. We do this when we’ve experienced lots of Zone of Genius moments.

As with the number of zones, we find four roadblocks that keep us from functioning in our sweet spot: 

Hidden Barrier #1 - Fundamentally Flawed/Fear of Failure

In this barrier, we convince ourselves that we are not worthy of enjoying our genius so we play it safe and sit on the sidelines. We fear that we won’t succeed so we don’t even try. 

Hidden Barrier #2 - Disloyalty and Abandonment 

Here we believe the message that others will turn away from us if we dwell in our Zone of Genius. We assume that others in our community will feel threatened or otherwise upset and we will ultimately end up all alone. 

Hidden Barrier #3 - More Success Brings Burdens

With this barrier we tend to downplay the lives of celebrities to make ourselves feel better about our lack of success. We might have ideas such as: “I’d be/have an even bigger burden than I am/do right now if I became successful.”

Personally, I often think thoughts like this: “Well, at least no one is looking in my windows or wanting to take my trash. If I were famous like Dr. Brene Brown, I’d have to deal with those things. And who wants that?” It’s a point of self-sabotage meant to make me feel better about my less-than-ness. 

Hidden Barrier #4 - The Fear of Outshining

We send ourselves messages like these: “I don’t want to get in other people’s way. I want them to have success too, so I’ll play it small in order to let them shine.”

It’s so easy to become complacent and allow barriers to keep us from our genius. In fact, I see it all the time with my clients who don’t really want to live in their zone of genius. They are afraid and they continue an inner monologue that justifies their fears. Ultimately, they want to play small and hide.

We can choose to get out of our own way by only saying yes to things that are in our Zone of Genius.

Consider making this commitment as Dr. Hendricks suggests: “I am 100% committed to living in my Zone of Genius.”

And that means saying no to a lot of great opportunities so that you can say yes to the perfect opportunity! Why busy yourself with doing only those things you are competent at so that you aren’t available when the true, genius opportunities show their faces? 

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash

Living It Out 

Now that I’ve introduced the zone of genius concept to you, it’s time for application. Personally, I needed a life coach to hold the space for me to explore these ideas. I could certainly carve out the time to sit down and make myself think about it. But I need prompts and someone to guide my thought process. So I use a coach. Having someone else to hold the space for you to discover your superpowers makes all the difference! 

Examples of Success 

Doing this type of work brings such clarity to daily decisions. Because I know when I’m in my Zone of Genius, I know exactly what to say no to. Sometimes I have to turn down what seem to be amazing opportunities because I know it’s not in my Zone of Genius.

For instance, I could analyze statistics all day, every day. It’s in my Zone of Excellence! It’s fun for me! But is it in my Zone of Genius, where I love being? Not anymore. So I say no to it. Even when it seems so attractive.  

Another way to think about it is on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being something you would love to do. If it’s a 7, it’s probably in your Zone of Excellence, but not your Genius Zone. We have to be wise about saying no to 7 opportunities, even though they are better than 3-5 opportunities!  

Right now, coaching is in my Zone of Genius. And I would be honored to be your coach to help you figure out the difference between your Zones of Excellence and Genius. Read my take on why academics should or shouldn’t hire a life coach.

You can stop settling for your Zone of Excellence. Take the leap and let me help you to also live in your Zone of Genius!

How To Stop The Urge To Eat Junk Food [6 Steps To Listen To Your Body]

Everyone has days when they feel off or way too busy, and the last thing on their minds is a healthy meal plan - especially around the holidays.  Not to mention the parties and social gatherings you need to attend that obviously include a buffet of delicious foods for you to indulge in.

So it's understandable that in certain situations it can become difficult not to overeat. You enjoy a healthy meal at home, thinking you’re doing great, and then you go out and are surrounded by junk food. Soon, you get hungry, and almost unconsciously you’re picking up dessert off the platter, and healthy food is forgotten.

Or maybe you really choose the “right” foods, but they’re just so delicious that you can’t have just one portion. We’ve all been there.

Have a look at six strategies that have changed the lives of many, helping them to live a healthy life, enjoy their meals more, and lower their appetite.

1. CONTROL YOUR BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS BY ADDING VINEGAR AND CINNAMON TO YOUR MEALS

Thinking to add some new flavors to your food and non-caloric drinks? Well, the good news is that there are many spices and flavors that can turn your food into both tastier and healthier. 

For instance, vinegar has recently been shown to lower your glycemic index, which means that you'll be able to metabolize the food more slowly. So, try and add acidic flavor to salad dressings, sauces, and roasted veggies.

For sweet-smelling and enjoyable warmth, add a pinch of cinnamon to everything from your daily coffee and morning smoothies to hearty chili. Just like vinegar, cinnamon slows the rate of your food transit from your stomach to your intestine so this will keep you full longer, and helps you prevent that post-meal crash.

2. LEARN THE ART OF EATING WHEN YOU’RE NOT HUNGRY

Often, when you get really hungry, you are inclined to overeat. In every episode of overeating, you will feel full, but then your insulin level spikes, making you feel tired, then really hungry again so you end up overeating again.

Trying to resist hunger is not a great idea, instead, try to nip it in the bud. Consider eating when you’re either not hungry or only slightly hungry, in order to eat less and allowing more time for your meals. When you are eating less during the day, you’ll have more energy which is certainly a nice bonus.

3. CHOOSE TO DRINK WATER, NOT LIQUIFIED CALORIES

In addition to feeling constantly tired and having your brain in a fog, mild dehydration can cause the sensation that’s usually mistaken for hunger. On the other hand, liquid calories like juices and sodas don’t feed your hunger, and their fast digestion causes insulin spikes. So try and give up the sweetened drinks and go for sparkling or still water.  To add some taste, you can also flavor it with lemon slices, strawberries or cucumber slices if you want, but don’t pack your drinks with calories.

Set a daily goal and aim to drink at least three-quarters of a gallon of water a day, using a reusable bottle. Also, make sure to drink a glass of water for about 20 minutes before every meal to reduce your appetite.

4. ENJOY EACH MEAL EATING SLOWLY

In the process of eating each meal, there’s a noticeable delay before you feel that you are full. This delay usually takes between 10–30 minutes. Due to this delay, we are inclined to ingest more food than we really need. And the faster we eat, the more food we are likely to consume at one sitting.

The solution? Try chewing each bite at least 10 times before swallowing. By following this simple rule you will end up adopting slow eating, thus allowing your brain to catch up with your stomach. On the plus side, you’ll also enjoy each meal more when you take your time to savor it.

5. LEARN THE HABIT OF HAVING A SMALL, FLAVORLESS SNACK BETWEEN MEALS

This secret was discovered by the late Seth Roberts. He used to consume a shot of olive oil or a glass of water with a tiny bit of sugar, this being an exception to the general rule on sweetened beverages between meals. Others may prefer a handful of unsalted almonds. Whatever your choice, try doing this once a day and you may see your appetite dramatically reduced. And this approach is especially important if your goal is weight loss.

While this may be one of the weirdest things you would ever try, it can also do wonders for you. The reason why this approach works is that it apparently adjusts the levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, by weakening flavor-calorie links. But in order for this to truly work, the snack must be really bland, and you must consume nothing else but water for at least an hour before and after the snack.

6. TRY THE “FRONT DOOR SNACK” METHOD

This will become one of your favorite hacks. Knowing upfront that your willpower is weakened when you’re hungry, and you can find more tempting junk food outside your home, you could choose to simply enjoy a snack of healthy food right before leaving home so you would feel less tempted out there. 

Make a habit of keeping a healthy snack (jerky, almonds, or vegetable chips) stored up at home and simply take a handful before you leave home. This will help you to “force out” the unhealthy food in your diet, and make it much easier for you to give up the unhealthy food.

WORST SCENARIO, BEST OUTCOME

What do you do after you’ve realized that you've indulged in just a little more than you would have expected? What is there to do or avoid doing right after overeating?

Far too many people fall into the same vicious cycle of overeating, restricting their diet, and punishing themselves after such an episode. Some of the worst things you can do after something like a weekend of overindulging is to blame yourself. 

And definitely don't fall into the trap of trying to compensate by skipping your next meals. Another thing you want to avoid is to force yourself to do tons of cardio as a way to 'balance' your episode of overeating.⠀

The best thing you could do is pay attention to your mind and the stories it is telling you. Become the watcher of your thoughts. The thoughts that tell you that “you’re not good enough, you’ll never accomplish this, and you’re a failure.” When you become the watcher of those thoughts, you get distance. You see that you don’t have to believe that voice in your head. Talking back to the voice and comforting it is the real battle.

I help my clients change their thoughts around eating. I go over the basics in my free stop overeating training (you can sign up with the form below). Check it out and see if you can start managing your urges to eat unhealthy food. I’ve done the work myself, so I understand.

Don't allow for one episode of overeating to hijack your meal plan and turn it into a whole week of overeating. You’ve got this!

How Lifestyle Transformation Is An Achievable Goal For Academics

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

The use of leadership coaches has become an acknowledged and widespread practice in corporations, non-profit organizations, even governments, and the reasons vary.

When individuals work with leadership or life coaches, they start to experience higher levels of effectiveness at work and at home, with improvements in both their task and relationship orientation. At the same time, organizations discover that they are more productive when they hire life coaches because they experience a higher return on investment.  

As a parallel, employing coaches in academic life or the use of any kind of systematic organizational development is basically uncharted inside the university world.  With the higher demand for notable change that universities are now facing, in economical and technological areas, there are good reasons to believe that things are about to change.  

While universities and colleges accept the fact that changes are enveloping them, individual staff, such as professors, and administrators should consider turning to a personal coach. Why? Because doing so can boost their advance both in their careers and their lives.

Coaching - It’s Not What You Think

Those who are unfamiliar with coaching tend to believe that coaching is a form of consulting, mentoring, or just advice-giving. At its core, coaching is a form of one-on-one analysis and examination in which the client is guided by the coaches. This process consists of closely listening and asking pertinent questions in ways that help the client identify and overcome obstacles and then come up with courses of action and implement them.  

A life coach focuses on supporting only the client’s agenda, starting wherever they are at that point. The right coach enters the engagement without stereotypes or some ideal sense of the right goals for their clients. In this way, the client is able to safely explore their authentic path, style, and career in a safe manner, finding a supportive environment in life coaching.

Photo by Geraldine Lewa on Unsplash

Five Occasions Coaching Can Be Helpful In Your Academic Career

When compared to other kinds of organizational development interventions, such as training and team building, coaching is especially better suited for the highly competitive and individualistic nature of academia. The privacy of the coaching collaboration enables a safe haven for sharing hopes and concerns, successes and breakdowns, as well as possibilities and aspirations, without any judgment.

Let’s have a look at five situations in an academic career when hiring a coach might be beneficial to a scholar:

• You’re thinking about becoming an academic 

Obtaining your Ph.D. or some other terminal graduate degree is a considerable commitment, and academic life is not suitable for everyone. Hiring a life coach at the beginning of the academic journey can both save you from a probably costly and emotionally consuming decision and start with clear, precise, and realistic expectations, intentions, and aspirations.

• You’ve taken your first academic job 

Congratulations are in order if you’re a fresh assistant professor and you’re eager to begin on your teaching and research, but you may have already found out that the long road to tenure is paved with difficult decisions. And even though your dean, department head, and esteemed colleagues will provide you with much advice,  how can you maximize your possibilities of succeeding and still remain authentic to your original aspirations and intentions?  

Hiring a life coach at this stage in your career gives you a prudent method of analyzing your challenges and opportunities with a person who has only your interest at heart. 

• You’ve been promoted or received tenure (or denied promotion or tenure)  

The career path of a professor has three major phases, and each promotion can be a considerable life alteration.  The switch from assistant to associate professor is usually followed by tenure, and the point in career when you get tenure can be confusing.  

You start wondering if you should continue on the same trajectory or whether it's time to think about an administrative role. These are just a few of the questions that demand answers when receiving tenure, and a life coach plays a decisive role in finding those pertinent to your circumstances, helping to find your own answers.  

Denial of tenure is a difficult time, and many universities provide little or no support whatsoever.  But a life coach can guide you to be able to look at the event from a proper perspective and identify the path aligned with where you are now.  Denial of promotion to full professor position is another tough case, and the right coach can be especially helpful in analyzing perspective and figuring out the next steps.

• You’ve taken a new administrative post

Shifting from teaching to an administrative position can be quite demanding in your system, and even going up in the ranks from head of department to  dean position can be challenging as each new post is filled with different tasks from the one vacated.  

Administrative entries and promotions are convenient times to find a life coach to guide you through the challenges of a new posting and to prepare you for consecutive advancement by enhancing the skills and evolving in ways that are according to the new post and the next.

• You’re preparing to leave the university  

Maybe you’ve decided it’s about time to go to the next level, perhaps start a company, become a consultant, take a job in the private sector, or retire.  These progressions are excellent to ask good questions and follow a coach’s guidance to help you draw out the best in what comes next.

These five occasions are great ones to consider finding and using the expertise of a life coach.  The next part lays out a number of open-ended questions to guide you in the quest for your coach.

Finding Your Coach

So perhaps you find yourself in an academic transition when a coach might be useful to you. How do you find the right coach that would be aligned with your needs? 

The following questions will guide you through what to take into consideration when hiring a coach:

• What kind of training and qualifications does this person offer to their coaching?

• In what way does this person have academic experience and understand academic culture?

• How can this potential coach be curious about you, your obstacles, your opportunities and in what way do they appear to have a method or an answer?

• How comfortable do you feel with the potential coach, and how hard is it to share private information with him or her?

• Do you feel that this coach asks questions that engages your reflection and are both compelling and interesting to answer?

• Do you feel that the coach seems to listen to you and understand you through that listening?

While each academic has unique circumstances that lead them to hire a life coach, these are the most common occasions. 

If you find yourself in any of these situations and you are interested in boosting your academic career, don’t hesitate to contact me to discover the next step in reaching your personal and professional goals.

Or, get to know me better (and take the first steps towards achieving your goals) by learning how to stop procrastinating through self-coaching. Use the form below to get access to my tips for reclaiming your time!

10 Steps To Maintain Your Weight Loss [Why Overeating Is Not The Answer]

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The majority of people who succeed to lose weight, unfortunately, eventually end up gaining it back. In fact, a small percentage of dieters successfully lose weight and keep it off in the long term. However, don't let this intimidate you. There are some scientific methods that can help you maintain your weight - starting from exercising to controlling stress and accepting setbacks.

Why People Regain Weight

There are a few explanations why people gain back the weight they lose, and most of these are generally linked to unrealistic goals and feelings of deprivation.

Restrictive diet plans

Severe calorie restriction can slow your metabolism and change your appetite-controlling hormones, which are both factors that lead to weight regain.

Wrong mindset

If you consider your diet as a quick fix, rather than a durable solution to improve your health, you will be more inclined to give up and regain the weight you lost.

Inconsistency of sustainable habits

A great number of diets function on willpower rather than habits you can include on a daily basis. They are based on rules rather than lifestyle alterations, which may intimidate you and block weight maintenance.

However, have a look at a few steps that can be just what you need to bend the statistics in your favor and keep your hard-won weight loss. 👇

1. Exercise At Least Three Times A Week

Daily regular exercise, or at least three times a week, can significantly influence your weight maintenance. It can help you burn off the extra calories and boost your metabolism, which are two components needed to obtain energy balance. To achieve energy balance, you need to burn the same number of calories that you consume. This way, your weight can remain the same.

It's important to keep in mind that exercise can influence your weight maintenance when it's combined with other lifestyle adjustments, including opting for a healthy diet.

2. Stand By Your Plan All Week Long, Including Weekends

One practice that usually leads to weight regain is choosing to eat healthy on weekdays and “cheat" on weekends. This mentality often influences people to indulge in junk food, which can block weight maintenance efforts. If you allow it to become a regular habit, you risk to gain back more weight than you lost at first.

On the other hand, studies also show that those who keep a constant eating pattern all week are more inclined to maintain weight loss in the long term.

3. Stay Hydrated At All Times

Drinking water is critical for weight maintenance and there are a few reasons for this. First off, it provides fullness and can help you maintain your calorie intake in check if you drink a glass of water before meals.

In addition, drinking water has been shown to slightly boost the number of calories you burn during the day.

4. Get At Least 8 Hours Of Sleep Every Night

Getting enough sleep automatically influences your weight control. Actually, sleep deprivation seems to be a big risk factor for weight gain in adult life and may prevent weight maintenance.

This is partly caused by the fact that insufficient sleep leads to increased levels of ghrelin, which is known as the "hunger hormone" because it boosts appetite. Furthermore, bad sleepers seem to have lower levels of leptin, the hormone responsible for appetite control.

Additionally, those who sleep for just a few hours a night are simply exhausted and less motivated to exercise and make healthy food choices.

If at the moment you're not sleeping enough, make sure to figure out a way to change your sleeping habits. Sleeping for at least eight hours a night is best for weight control and general health.

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels

5. Keep Your Stress Levels At A Minimum

Handling daily stress is vital to controlling your weight. Actually, high-stress levels can negatively influence your weight by increasing levels of cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress. Also, elevated cortisol is connected to stubborn belly fat, as well as increased appetite and food intake. Not to mention that stress is a common trigger for overeating.
On the plus side, there are numerous things you can do to overcome stress, including exercise, yoga, and meditation.

6. Create A Support System

It may seem difficult to obtain your weight goals on your own. One efficient strategy to conquer this is to create a support system that will hold you responsible and eventually partner up with you in your lifestyle choices.

Studies have shown that having a companion to follow your goals may be beneficial for weight control, especially if that person is a partner with related healthy habits.

7. Strive for Consistency

Consistency is crucial to keeping unwanted weight off. Rather than on-and-off dieting (which clearly means returning to old habits), it is best to keep your new healthy diet and lifestyle for longer periods of time.

Opting for a new "way of life" may seem crushing initially, but making healthy choices will become your second nature when you become used to them. Your improved lifestyle will become effortless, so you'll maintain your weight much more easily.

8. Improve Your Mindful Eating

Mindful eating is the habit of knowing your internal appetite cues and paying attention during your eating process. It implies eating slower, without distractions, so you can enjoy the aroma and taste of your meal.

When you eat in this fashion, you are more inclined to stop eating before you are truly full. Eating while distracted can make it difficult to notice fullness and you end up overeating.

Research shows that mindful eating influences weight maintenance by identifying behaviors that are associated with weight gain, such as emotional eating. Besides, those who practice mindful eating are able to maintain their weight under control without even counting their calories.

9. Be Mentally Prepared for Setbacks

Setbacks are unfortunately quite certain thing in your weight maintenance journey. There will be times when you might give in to an unhealthy craving or skip a workout. But, these random relapses certainly doesn't mean you should give up your goals. Just move on and make better choices next time.

It's also beneficial to plan in advance for situations that you know will make healthy eating a challenge, such as an upcoming vacation or holiday for instance.

10. Make Realistic Changes to Your Lifestyle

The reason why many people fail at maintaining their weight is that they choose unrealistic diets that are not doable in the long term. And they eventually become overwhelmed and feel deprived, which unfortunately leads to gaining back even more weight than they lost initially.

Maintaining your weight loss means making realistic changes to your lifestyle. These changes may look different for everyone, but basically, it means not being too restrictive, staying consistent and making healthy choices on a daily basis.

The Bottom Line

There are plenty of simple alterations you can make to healthy habits that will prove to be easy to keep and will also help you maintain your weight loss long term.

During your journey, you will experience becoming aware of the fact that maintaining your weight means much more than what you eat. And always remember that exercise, sleep, and mental health also plays an important role in maintaining your weight loss and giving up overeating.

In order for weight maintenance to become effortless, you need to adopt a new lifestyle, rather than starting a new weight-loss diet. If you are ready to make a change in your lifestyle, get in touch with me and let me guide you through the journey of weight loss so you can enjoy an improved life. 

9 Situations When Academics Should Or Shouldn't Hire A Life Coach

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Hugely successful public figures, from artists to business people, all have disclosed that they work extensively with life coaches. Experts say there are six aspects that bring high achieving people like academics to life coaching. 

In an interview given to Fortune magazine, Eric Schmidt, chairman of Alphabet, formerly CEO of Google, claimed: “everyone needs a coach.” Evidently some don’t agree with this statement. But while there may be several circumstances that bring academic people to coaching, there are also good motives why certain people should not hire the services of a life coach. Let’s begin with these.

When Not To Hire A Life Coach

1. When you are looking for someone to fix what's wrong with your life

The right life coach will ask bold questions, listen, and reflect upon what they hear. They can challenge you to ponder in new and more resourceful ways, but a life coach will not “fix” anything for you. 

Keeping balance in your life, both personally and professionally requires a huge commitment on your part. A life coach can uncover some great tools and resources for achieving success in the academic area, but this isn't enough. If you’re not ready to commit to doing the most difficult part yourself, even the best life coach can't support you.

2. When you need help with psychological issues

Coaches are not your therapists. A life coach will aim their attention primarily on looking toward your academic future, helping you to find new ways of acting towards achieving academic success, rather than focusing too much on your past actions. If you are struggling with issues such as depression, anxiety, or mental illness, you will need a therapist first.

3. When you would like a wise friend by your side

Family and friends have sometimes the best intentions, but they are not objective. Being too close to your situation can impair their vision to see the aspects where you may need improvements. However, a life coach is not your close friend. If you anticipate only collusion and affirmation for wrong attitudes regarding your academic efforts, life coaching may not be suitable for you.

But if you want to achieve faster your academic goals, these are the factors that bring high achieving academics to life coaching.

When To Hire A Coach

4. When dealing with successful events 

Change, even when positive,  is exciting and challenging, terrifying and disorientating. A decision in the academic area inevitably causes ripples in other areas of your life. New tenure, for instance, could affect your health, personal relationships, location and your spare time.

Academic growth often challenges us to self-awareness and to reconsider the professional capabilities we have overlooked. It can be difficult to renounce to familiar things, especially if you feel you “should” be incredibly enthusiastic and you aren’t, at the moment, feeling overwhelmed. Collaborating with the right life coach can guide you to discover how you can examine the career you already have and how you can encompass this great change into future academic success.

5. When dealing with difficult situations 

Whether you've lost your position, your grant submission was rejected, papers aren’t published, or you're simply feeling that you aren’t connected to your innovative self, don't just try to force your way through these situations. While most of us want to avoid difficulties at all costs, we shouldn't, as we'll only end up experiencing resentment and depression on a deeper level.

Taking the time to accept difficult changes in your life can shorten the amount of time you spend being unproductive. A qualified coach can provide a compassionate and safe place for you to overcome these challenges and set attainable academic goals.

If you are rethinking the structures of your career in your university, a professional coach can help you discover how to learn better from your struggle, to expand and move forward.

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6. When absolutely nothing is happening 

Perhaps you keep trying to improve your current situation in academia and nothing seems to be working.

To achieve the results you want in the academic community, you will most likely need to change your attitudes towards attaining your goals or your fundamental beliefs regarding your advancement on the academic ladder. The start of the collaboration with a life coach is an ideal time to reconsider accumulated layers of identity.

Fear of failure is the biggest killer of plans and ideas. Lack of knowledge or skills, and missing a clear strategy or action plan, are great obstacles in the way of progress. However, the inertia caused by the fear of failure is the biggest one.

Be one of the few who are willing to knowingly risk failure when reaching for a higher pay grade. Even if you fail to take action, you gain a rich learning opportunity.

If you feel stuck in a loop, a life coach can help you break down self-limiting patterns and principles, renounce at self-defeating assumptions and re-construct the competing causes that keep you stuck.

7. When you want to make things happen 

There is always some goal you may have in your academic life that you desperately want to achieve but its enormity is crushing you. Also, the implications of making such a monumental change can affect your overall development. Often self-restricting behavior proves to be strongest just when you need the boost to take risks for the sake of enhancing your academic career.

Your life coach can offer you support to stay on track, meeting your daily goals and reduce actions that sabotage your plans regarding your career in the scholarly world. A coach can guide you through the doubt, resistance, and confusion that can appear when you are starting something exciting and new, especially when it comes to reinventing your role as a scholar.

8. When you are feeling stuck

Learning how to recognize and ditch wrong beliefs that are running in the background can get you out of weakness and clear up a lot of confusion regarding your next step.

An experienced life coach will help you to become much clearer regarding the achievements in your academic life. Experiencing career fulfillment is about living a scholar’s life that is valued and purposeful. And you can still find balance when you choose a life that is dynamic, aligned with a compelling vision.

9. When you need to figure out what is the next phase of your career

An expert life coach will lead you in the discovery process of your true academic value and guide you in becoming more self-aware as you prepare for a new phase of your scholarly career.

Therefore a life coach, by your side in this exploration, can ask powerful questions that will break your defense. When you learn to be curious about your capabilities, you will become more willing to look in the problematic aspects of your career and take on challenges that once seemed intimidating.

If there's something you’d like to change in your academic life, I can help you discover the motivation you need to get the results you truly want, finding the most effective process and right tools to understand how your brain works, and eventually access your inner power.

In the meantime, take the first step towards achieving your goals by putting an end to procrastination. Get access to my tips for reclaiming your time with the form below!

Reasons to Follow Your Meal Plan During The Day [How To Avoid Cheat Meals At Night]

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You can make your life easier by planning what you're eating ahead of time.

While meal planning can be considered another thing to add to your long “to-do list,” this is one task that should be a priority. 

Don’t be scared to plan meals for an entire week. 

Make your protocol, or meal plan, as flexible as you want because it’s for you. Take the negativity towards meal plans and turn it into adaptability. A meal plan doesn’t mean only eating salads for lunch every day. Meet yourself where you are in your eating.

Few people like eating the same thing every single day, therefore planning is important in order to help you save time, money, and make healthy choices. 

Don’t give up just because you’re out of ideas. Decide you can figure this out.

Here are 10 reasons why you should begin planning your meals a week in advance:

1. It will improve your nutrition

By planning ahead, your goal is to have nutritionally balanced meals during the week. In the process of planning it's important to make sure that each of your office lunches has a balance.

Also, by planning your daily meals, you'll be able to control your personal nutrition needs. So for instance, if you want to go for a lower sodium diet or to try to eat whole grains and veggies, you can plan ahead, too. 

2. It will help you make healthier choices

Each time you have to come up with something to eat last minute, you'll end up going to the cafeteria. That makes it easier to exceed your daily intake. Also, keep in mind that shopping when hungry will only make you end up with  junk food into your cart. 

3. It will encourage you to choose high-quality foods

Homemade lunches are almost always rich in nutrients and filled with fewer calories, salt, and fat than usual takeout or semi-prep options at your grocery store. Opting to cook your own recipes and use healthier ingredients for a whole week will allow you to make better food choices, such as opting for local meats and organic produce. 

4. You’ll save money in the long-run

Deciding upon a meal plan keeps your forgotten ingredients in the fridge from going bad. You can create your plans using whatever you have in your cupboards or in the freezer.

You can also begin by writing your grocery lists based on your meal plans. Thus, you’ll go to the grocery store with a set goal rather than on a whim. This habit will help you avoid coming out of the store with a bunch of various unhealthy food items, most of which you might not even eat. 

Additionally, a well-organized meal plan will save you money by keeping you from ordering pricey last-minute or cheap low-quality take out food.

5. It will save you valuable time

Set from the start, grocery lists will help you not to wander around the grocery store aimlessly, and weekly meal plans will save you from thinking about what to eat every day.

Being an academic keeps you quite busy during the workweek, so make sure you allocate some time during the weekend to prepare most of your meals. Consider oats and frozen berries with greek yogurt in mason jars as breakfasts for on-the-go. And, already prepared quinoa or pasta salads with green veggies and beans can become an office lunch for multiple days. 

Also, consider cooking one or two larger dinners during the weekend in order for you to have something homecooked for when you arrive home tired and don’t have the energy to cook. Portion and split proper servings for you or your family for quick dinners. Soups, chili, meatballs or marinated chicken breasts are great choices for freezing. You can simply defrost and reheat while you add a quick salad or veggie slices - and you’ll end up having a delicious homemade meal almost instantly. 

6. It will decrease daily stress

The daily “what will I eat for lunch or make for dinner” thought that occupies our minds adds to our stress but can be easily prevented by simply creating a clear meal plan. When in doubt, reuse old meal plans and grocery lists to help you organize things faster and reduce prep time. Within a two-week seasonal meal plan, there will surely be enough variety for your family.

7. Deciding upon menu planning helps you avoid unnecessary waste

When you’ve set your meal plan for dinner, any leftover food can be eaten the next day at work for lunch. It’s a pity to get something from the grocery store on impulse and have to throw it out just days later. Planning ahead is the secret to buying and preparing only what you can eat.

8. Menu planning helps you prepare better meals

When you gather dinner ideas at the beginning of the week or on the weekends, you have plenty of time to be creative and come up with delicious foods. Also, you have enough time to organize a complete menu that includes side dishes, salads, and desserts. Your precise menu plan will help you concentrate on improving cooking skills.

9. Meal planning encourages variety

Menu planning prevents you from serving the same meals again and again. You can research for meal ideas online, turn to your loved ones for family recipes, or try to diversify one of your favorite dishes with new ingredients.

10. A meal plan helps you to think in advance 

When you sit down and really think about the week’s meals, you can organize your time and household in advance and remember your favorite foods as well as the things you don’t like.

Planning ahead can turn your kitchen in a more organized place, and your healthy, home-cooked food will be available both at work and at home.

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Conclusion

Try to plan in advance, to organize your meals for several days at a time, including side dishes. Make research part of your meal planning as it will help you come up with new ideas. Also, try to always stick to your list when you go shopping at the grocery store. 

The whole point of this is to not start from zero every day and that's where my guidance comes in handy - I want to help you to follow your protocol. You deserve to overcome your self-sabotages so you can get back to your meaningful work.

How To Stop Overeating Due To Semester Stress [Tips To Unwind Without Giving In]

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Stress eating or rather emotional eating can alter your weight goals – the secret is to search for new ways to relieve semester stress without overeating.

So much truth lies behind the common phrase "stress eating." Daily or occasional stress, the unwanted hormones it releases, and the harmful effects of high-fat, sugary "comfort foods" drive people toward overeating.

Why do academics stress eat during the semester?

Women in academia make no exception from stress-coping actions. Stress during the semester also seems to affect food preferences. While during summer, the usual diet consists of fruits and vegetables, from September until the spring, the preference is towards carbohydrates. Also,  according to studies, physical or emotional distress (something academics generally need to deal with at a high level), increases the intake of high-fat foods as well as foods high in sugar, and sometimes both. 

However, we are aware that overeating at the office isn't the only stress-related action that can add unwanted pounds. Stress causes academics to lose sleep, exercise less, and over drink, all of which can lead to excess weight.

Why Is It So Important To Understand Emotional Eating?

Before starting to fight against your overeating habits and learning how to unwind without giving in, you need to comprehend what lies behind your comfort food coping mechanisms.

Many women experience emotional eating at one time or another during a stressful week. It could appear as eating a harmless bag of chips when bored or indulging in a chocolate bar after a difficult day at work.

Be aware of the stress eating factors 

Some of the stress eating factors are intricate and can involve some of the following situations:👇

• Childhood development

In some cases, emotional eating is a learned behavior from the early years of life. What happens is that in many cases during childhood, parents provide their children with sweet treats to help them cope with a difficult day or situation, or as a reward for something they did well.

And then, as this type of behavior turns into a habit, it is no wonder that a child who gets a cookie (to help them better cope with the difficult situation) after getting a bad grade on a test, for instance, can turn into an adult who reaches for a whole box of cookies after a rough day at work.

What this example shows is that the origin of emotional eating goes way back sometimes, in which case breaking the habit can feel extremely challenging.

• The struggle of coping with emotions

It is pretty common for women to struggle with uncomfortable feelings and emotions. This triggers an instinctual behavior or a need to fix or even annihilate these negative feelings as fast as possible - which can, in turn, contribute to unhealthy attitudes.

And keep in mind that emotional eating is not only connected to negative feelings. One can eat a handful of candy at a fun Christmas party, or eat excessively at a fancy New Year’s Eve dinner. So, it's important to be aware of overeating due to thoughts about the location of the food - such as dinner parties, the holiday season, etc.

• The physical effect of stress

According to studies there are also physical reasons why stress and powerful emotions can influence a person to overeat. Here are some of the most important ones you need to pay close attention to:

• High cortisol levels: In the initial phase, stress causes the appetite to decrease in order for your body to deal with the difficult situation. If the stress level does not decrease, another hormone, cortisol, is released. Cortisol is also responsible for increased appetite and can lead you to overeat.

• Cravings: A second phase is initiated as high cortisol levels from stress that can increase specific cravings for foods rich in sugar or fat. Stress is linked with high levels of hunger hormones as well, which may also add up to cravings for unhealthy foods.

Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash

How to relieve stress without overeating

The first action you need to take to free yourself from emotional eating is to know first hand the triggers and circumstances that apply in your life.

Try keeping a food diary or weekly journal to help to identify situations when you are more inclined to eat because of emotional instead of physical hunger.

Tracking your behavior is another way you can catch some insight into your eating habits.

The behavior you could keep track of may include the following: 👇

• Patterns of hunger levels, measuring them on a 1–10 scale

• What you are going through and if it is something difficult and unpleasant

• What  you are feeling, whether bored, angry or happy

Another option could be to choose professional help in order to get the guidance you need in your journey. It can also be helpful to talk to a life coach to discuss other ways to break the cycle of emotional eating and improve your way of living your life.

A weight coach may also be able to help you with discovering additional information on creating positive eating habits and a better relationship with food.

Next, you may want to consider brainstorming ideas for means to counterbalance the triggers you will identify during your self-inquiry.

Other suggestions that can help counter stress 👇

Meditation

Many studies demonstrate that meditation diminishes stress, even though a big part of the research was focused on high blood pressure and heart disease related to stress. Meditation can influence you to become more aware of you food choices. With constant practice, you will be able to hold back the impulse to instantly grab comfort food and start to inhibit this impulse.

If you are overeating because of your daily stress, you could try mindful yoga at home, meditating in your office, or taking a walk along campus to help yourself deal with your emotions.

Exercise 

While your cortisol levels may change depending on the intensity and length of your exercise, in general, physical exercise can counteract some of the adverse effects of stress. Some activities, like yoga and tai chi, blend components of both exercise and meditation.

If you tend to eat when bored, you may want to choose a new book that seems stimulating to start reading, or pick a new hobby, maybe one that includes the outdoors, that could provide a challenge.

Social support 

Surrounding yourself with friends, family, and other sources of social support may have a buffering effect on the levels of stress that you experience on a daily basis. 

Studies suggest that people working in a stressful environment, like hospital emergency departments, seem to have better mental health if they are provided with adequate social support. But even if you do not live or work in circumstances where the stakes are as high you still need support from time to time from your friends, close family, and/or professionals.

• If you start to eat excessively when you are sad, you may want to call a good friend, take your dog for a run, or plan a quick getaway to cope with your negative feelings.

However, when stress eating occurs on a daily basis at your job or it becomes the predominant course of action to handle your emotions when you face a stressful situation, then your life, physical health, overall happiness, and weight can be negatively influenced. 
Let me help you work through stress with the right approach in order for you to feel great today and every day.

The WHY Behind Dr. Caitlin Faas [Why I Do What I Do]

Setting the scene

I believe we can all agree that being stressed and exhausted can quite often lead to overeating and lack of exercise. 

What we may not all be aware of is that according to new studies women directly gain weight when facing heavy pressure at work. And things can get even more complicated for women in academia, where demands are high, deadlines are close, and time is not a friend.

Stress is the cause of many health issues, but weight gain is one of the obvious side effects. Stress at work, especially for women, can result in little time to eat healthily or exercise, which in turn causes extreme fatigue and a strong desire to indulge in comfort food.

Although studies haven't necessarily investigated the hidden causes of overeating in this situation, it may be about the combination of job tasks at work and the responsibility for the household that women often assume. This makes it rather difficult to find time to live a healthy life.  So how can you avoid overdrinking, overeating, and procrastinating?

The good news is that there are ways to fight stress efficiently, improve sleep, boost your mood consciously, lose weight in a healthy way and tackle unhealthy eating habits, watch your caffeine intake, and exercising more. 

And that's where I come in.

Let me tell you how it all began…

I’m Caitlin Faas, Ph.D., tenured psychology professor and certified life coach. All these struggles were very familiar to me. While climbing the academic ladder, without feeling personal fulfillment, I was eating junk food between meetings and enjoying one too many drinks. Taking care of my health, was not a priority. No wonder I felt exhausted and suffering from burn-out syndrome. 

That is why I have a special understanding of women in higher education who make sustainable, lifelong changes ripples across their lifespan.

They are willing to make healthy choices, ready to educate themselves on losing weight in a quality way, but get stuck in their semester routine with weight loss. The majority are doing so well in August, but are falling apart by December.

And then everything changed

However, I decided that enough was enough and I want my story to help, inspire and empower you. I managed to lose the weight and kept it off, breaking my vicious cycle of overeating and overdrinking for good. 

Reaching out to a life coach revolutionized everything for me, making me show up for myself,  investing in myself and committing to doing the work of real transformation. Because I believe in helping and teaching by example, I wanted to guide others to experience life to the fullest. 

• Once I did the work myself, I became a certified life and weight coach to offer guidance to others on their journey to their better selves.

Why I do what I do

Being the best version of myself shows others what is truly possible. I am an example of what is possible and taking care of my own physical and mental health has created the foundation for my life success.

I believe that when people stop bad habits, they unlock the ability to go after their dreams, setting things in motion. 

My top priority is now my physical and emotional health. It can take some time to make it work and I want to help other academics unleash their power to do the same. They have such amazing work to get out into the world and overeating doesn't have to hold them back.

Academics have great ideas to share with the world, trying to reach as many people as possible, but we cannot do that at the highest level unless we are taking excellent care of ourselves. 

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash

What I do

Everyone who enters the journey of self-discovery and self-empowerment realizes they had the power all along. I just provide the help they need to get out on their own. I can also show them how to refocus those intelligent brains to work in their favor.

In order for you to get the results that you want, I am a strong believer in 1:1 coaching sessions where we can create together an outline naming all your obstacles, plus strategies and tips to overcome them. 

With my help, you will be able to go introspective on understanding why your circumstances are neutral and how to run an analysis of the reasons why you don’t take action. All of these can lead to the discovery of existing beliefs that sabotage your productivity.

After assessing where you stand, I can guide you on learning how to allow urges and unlearn desire, give advice on how to plan for difficult situations. Then we'll also create a plan on how to handle the discomfort, with a clear focus on defining the tangible results you want to achieve in our six weeks together.

All these will help you unleash your inner strength, helping you create the feeling that fuels action, leading to the implementation of pro-activation instead of procrastination.

My work is to teach you how to believe something you don’t yet believe while coming up with proactive plans for you without judging. 

How my work can benefit you

Decisions that will benefit your life in order for you to feel and look great aren’t that easy to make because you will need to discover the cause of your overeating and how it relates to your life, learn how to allow for food urges, but unlearn desire and determine what to do when you have upsetting life events.

Under my guidance, you will enjoy your own individualized food protocol in order for you to get the results you actually want. Teaching you how to allow discomfort throughout the process of weight loss and learning how to plan ahead for difficult situations will end up developing exception plans and embrace the joy of eating. 

All these steps will create a new mindset where you will discover what desire is and where it comes from and help you change self-depreciation to curiosity. One can obtain lasting change only by getting to the root of the issue and I can guarantee you that you will see a difference in your actions and lifestyle.

How I do it

As a life and weight coach, my work consists of showing you your beautiful brain. I don’t believe in the authoritarian approach in which I end up telling you what to do. You will realize through our process that you actually have all the answers inside of you. My job is to help you see that for yourself, so you can make true progress and feel good inside and out. This is how you can actually lose weight for good, stop overdrinking, and end procrastination.

I have designed a six-week program where I will guide you through making decisions and help you to follow through several steps along the way, steps tailored specifically to your needs.  We’ll cover the result you actually want, obstacles and strategies, what desire is and where it comes from and how to change your judgment of yourself to curiosity and to explore your mind.

I know it can feel overwhelming like there’s no way breaking the vicious cycle. But I believe you can do it and I want to help you learn how.

In the end, it is about true change. And true, lasting change comes from getting to the root of the issue that keeps you stuck in the cycle of procrastination. Changing your thoughts and mindset can and will result in a difference in your actions and lifestyle.

What is the next step

What I mean by 'leading by example' is that I believe my success can become your success.  I want to help you become your best self. 
So, let's work together and overcome the need to overeat or drink too much and become unstoppable in what you can accomplish. Once you do that you will realize that you can really enjoy life to the fullest.

Why overworking does not make you more productive

We all tend to get trapped in negative beliefs that sound something like this:

• If I put in more hours, I'll be more productive.

• I'm successful because I put in 50+ hours per week at work.

• If I had more time, I'd get more work done.

But these thoughts often lead us to results we don't actually want.

Here's an example:

Circumstance - Your calendar for the month

Thought - If I had more time, I'd get more work done.

Feeling - Frustrated

Actions - Reading blog posts like this one, looking for more time, avoiding actual work to find more time

Result - No time to get more work done.

The thought led to the result in this model.

Your calendar is neutral.

You choose to think thoughts about it. And in this case, it wasn't a helpful thought. It didn't lead to any more time or any more work getting done.

The thoughts that lead us to overwork are sneaky like that. It seems like a helpful thought until you actually live it.

Here's a different thought that completely changes that model:

Circumstance - Your calendar for the month

Thought - I can plan out my work time efficiently.

Feeling - Motivated

Actions - Blocking out time on the calendar, reflecting on time needed for each task, blocking out time for interruptions and surprises

Result - Planned out work time for efficiency.

See how different that model turns out because of a different thought?

If you're interested in learning more about models, please check out The Life Coach School.

I can hear you now. You're saying, "But Caitlin, you don't understand. I HAVE to work 50+ hours in my job. I just have to."

As a life coach, my job is to hold space for you and stay out of your thought swimming pool.

You tell me that you have to work 50+ hours, but I don't believe you until you show me evidence.

It's more likely a thought you're choosing to think.

Why are you choosing to think that you have to work 50+ hours per week?

By working together, we can examine your beliefs up close. We'll separate those thoughts out from the circumstances and work towards purposeful productivity.

For now, let's look at some common behaviors that occur during our work time.

First, are you reading this post when you say you're supposed to be working?

Letting yourself get caught up in distractions is so easy to do.

It's easy to respond to the pings and notifications that show up in our lives.

It's easy to do anything else other than the actual work we're supposed to be doing.

We have to create environments for ourselves where there aren't temptations.

Think about it this way. If you were on a mission to not eat sugar, would you stock your pantry full of sweets? Nope. You'd remove all the sugar opportunities that you could.

The same thing needs to happen with overworking.

Remove the temptations to distract yourself.

• Hide your phone or or put it in Do Not Disturb mode.

• Download a browser extension that doesn't let you browse the internet. I like StayFocusd for Chrome.

• Keep your office door closed or create a distraction free zone in your cubicle.

• Tell others you will be available during certain time frames and only those time frames.

• Keep your email closed, except during scheduled times to read and respond.

See this article for help in setting boundaries with your boss.

You've probably heard these tips before. But are you actually implementing them?

Next, I recommend tracking times you are working.

And this isn't just "Oh yeah, 9-5 each day." Don't give me the, "Yeah, I tried that once. Meh." Be very specific:

• What time of day is it?

• What was the task?

• How long did it take?

• Did you get interrupted? Why?

Creating that simple log will give you a lot of amazing data to look back on in one day and one week.

You'll be able to identify what's going well and what isn't. It won't be vague anymore. It will be specific.

Create the list of results you want, instead of hours you want to work.

If you give yourself 8 hours to write that report, guess how long it will take?

8 hours, maybe 10-12 if you choose thoughts to overwork.

Instead, I recommend creating a result like, "Report written and submitted to boss." Put it on your calendar with a specific time frame.

Refer back to some of your time tracking data if you have it. How long has it taken you to write reports like this in the past?

Stick to the plan you create. You must write that report in the time given.

Choose thoughts like:

• I can do my work in exactly the time I've allowed myself.

• Focusing now on my work will pay off in the future.

• I'm a person who sticks to my plan.

• I know I can get this report done in the time I've allowed.

• I'm committed to this plan I've created.

Then you'll end up with a report written in exactly the time you've allowed. Instead of overworking and being exhausted at the end of the process.

Ready to take the next step toward achieving your goals? Check out my tips for reclaiming your time with the form below!

How to get your boss to respect your boundaries

Are you working for someone who expects you to be available 24/7?

Do they give you assignments with a due date of yesterday?

Does it seem like you're living in the movie Office Space?

You're not alone, most people can relate.

Work boundaries can be challenging to set up and maintain.

It's the scarcity mindset that gets to us about work boundaries.

We think thoughts like:

• If I'm not available 24/7, I won't get promoted.

• I could get fired if I don't answer my boss immediately.

• I can't afford to lose this job, so I'll do anything.

Those thoughts lead to feelings of fear. Then we take actions we don't actually want to take, like keeping our work email open 24/7.

We cut back on time with family and friends so we can be more available. We throw our boundaries right out the window when we're afraid.

Let's change that mindset step by step.

1. What do you want your boundaries to be?

Sit down and write out the list. Don't just think about it. Write out the actual list. Imagine an ideal day, leaving your boss out of it. Make it a list of things you can control.

Ideas:

• I want to not be available for work between 7pm-7am.

• I want to check my work email once after 5pm.

• I want to be present and engaged at family events.

• I want to avoid distractions at work so I can focus on work tasks during designated times.

• I want to schedule weekends when I'm completely unplugged.

2. What actions do you have to take to make your list happen?

Here's where you can involve your boss. You can tell them directly about your new boundary. Some bosses might even be willing to help you set it up.

If you don't think that will go over well, boundaries are still all within your control. You have to create the consequences.

Boundary statements are If _________, then _______:

• If my boss emails me at 8pm, I answer it by 12pm the next day.

• If my boss texts me during dinner, I do not respond until after dinner.

• If my boss asks me to work on a weekend project at the last minute, I reply that I am unavailable until Monday morning.

• If my boss says I must be available, I set parameters around the timeline of actual work.

• If my boss yells at me, I do not respond until everyone is calm.

3. How do you have to feel to take those actions?

Positive feelings will help you have a productive conversation with your boss. Feelings like confident, determined, and optimistic.

This concept ties back to the scarcity mindset. When you feel miserable and scared about boundaries, you don't take productive action. That's true for all of us. We ended up without boundaries because we felt scared.

Feeling confident helps us take positive action forward with our boss. We're able to keep our boundaries when we come from an abundant place rather than a scarcity mindset.

4. What thoughts do you have to choose to feel confident?

Confidence doesn't appear out of thin air. It comes from our thoughts.

Thoughts like:

• I know I can set up healthy boundaries.

• I'm developing my boundary setting abilities.

• It takes practice and this is the perfect opportunity to practice.

• I can successfully navigate this boundary with my boss.

• I am a valuable worker and boundaries are important.

Find a thought that works for you. Remember, the thought has to generate confidence or optimism. Then you'll take the positive actions of moving forward with your boundary setting.

5. Stick to your protocol.

Once you establish boundaries and create a schedule for yourself, stick with it. See what works and what doesn't. Make adjustments, but make them 24 hours in advance.

The key is not to react in the moment with a new protocol. If your boss sends you a panic text message and your emotions take over, you'll respond. Instead, allow the urge to respond to exist. Stick to your protocol. Remind yourself why you're doing this.

I bet if you’re struggling with boundaries at work, you’re also struggling with time.

Here’s how I make myself work during designated times.

The not-so-rewarding “rewards” of overworking

Overworking is a sneaky form of buffering.

It seems like a good thing with lots of rewards, until it's not.

Buffering is a concept developed by Brooke Castillo of the Life Coach School. It's all the times we avoid emotions and try to fill that space with something external.

Think about when you've eaten an entire pint of ice cream to "feel better." Do you actually feel better at the end of the pint or when you've reached the end of the bag of chips? Nope.

That's buffering. We thought something would give us lots of pleasure, but then we took it too far.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying ice cream. It's the "too much" part and avoiding our real emotions that makes it a problem.

And how many times have we had to learn that lesson again and again?

We overeat, overdrink, over-Facebook, overshop, and overwork.

We all see the pitfalls of overeating and overdrinking. Overeating contributes to obesity. Overdrinking contributes to alcoholism.

Even overshopping contributes to hoarding and debt. Too much Facebook or social media contributes to less time to do things you love or need to be getting done.

But overworking is sneaky because there are a lot more "rewards" tied to overworking.

If you put in longer hours at work, the rewards are:

• more money

• awards

• praise from your boss

• climbing up "the corporate or academic ladder"

• a possible promotion

The list goes on. In our United States culture, overworking is something we love. We put it on a pedestal and strive for more.

We don't all walk around saying, "I'd like to overwork myself this week."

But we do say, "Time to hustle. Time to grind it out."

We also say, "Hard work is important. You have to put in the hours."

"Success only comes from hard work."

Of course, hard work can be valuable and important. But remember, we're talking about buffering. The "too much aspect" of something. Avoiding our internal feelings by using something external instead.

Too much working pulls us away from other things.

Overworking takes away time from family and friends.

It takes time away from joyful activities and hobbies.

And it often keeps us out of the present moment, putting our focus on the future and tasks to be completed tomorrow.

That's why so many of my clients come to me feeling burnt out and confused about their next steps.

They think changing their circumstances (e.g., changing employers), will solve their problem.

You may be in this boat too.

I completely understand because I've been there myself.

The first step to overcoming overworking is to identify how it shows up in your life.

For me, I noticed I would fill my future calendar with tons of events. I said yes all the time to things "in a few months."

It felt far away, it felt good to say yes, and I didn't have to pay the consequences until the month actually happened.

Then I would say, "How did my calendar get so full? Why am I this overbooked?"

Decisions I made two months ago were showing up to haunt me.

You may find that you lean towards overworking when you're going through a difficult time. Maybe you lost a loved one or don't want to grapple with the anger you have. So you turn to overworking.

For me, I was trying to outrun myself. I didn't like the voice in my head, so I thought I could drown it out by overworking. (It didn't work, obviously.)

Remember, overworking seems like it helps, but it's a false pleasure.

What if you felt the feelings in that moment, instead of turning to something external?

When you feel the need to overwork, write it down. Keep writing the urges down.

What patterns show up for you?

The simple act of writing down when you feel the need to overwork will reveal so much to you.

You might find that you say yes to overworking when you're feeling scarcity about money. It seems like earning more money, especially overtime, will fill that need.

But the scarcity mentality doesn't go away through overworking. It goes away through changing your thoughts and allowing your feelings.

You might find that overworking seems great when others ask you to do it. You are "helping others" and "serving your community." But afterwards, you still feel hollow or burnt out. You start to forget why you wanted to help people in the first place. It's through changing your thoughts that helps you tap back into your reasons why.

Overworking can feel like an endless cycle because you've always done it. It's really easy to find more work, more ice cream, and more alcohol. There is no end to "more" in today's culture. Wanting to change it and thinking new thoughts drives the difference.

When you stop overworking, you find yourself with true rewards.

The reward of being in the present moment. The reward of delayed gratification. The reward of working on something you truly love, rather than working on something "meh."

Want to talk through your hang ups on overworking? Don’t hesitate to reach out.

How to commit yourself to your weight loss goals

Photo courtesy of Gesina Kunkel https://happyveganfit.de/

You know you want to lose weight and you have your list of "real" reasons that resonate with you. Now it's time to commit. But that feels scary. How do you actually stick to these reasons?

Commitment to losing weight takes planning and using the prefrontal cortex in our brain.

Our prefrontal cortex is the part of our brain in charge of decision making. It's the most advanced part of our brain and the part that takes the most time to develop. Researchers think full development of this part takes until we're about 25 years old.

Remember all those great decisions you made when you were fifteen?

Yeah, me too.

When I was 15 years old, I thought eating a sleeve of Ritz crackers everyday for lunch was a great idea. It saved my lunch money for better purchases - like Diet Coke and cookies. Not a healthy choice, looking back. But at least now I know my prefrontal cortex was still growing.

As adults, we can harness the power of our prefrontal cortex.

We can plan and make decisions in advance. We can say, "Tomorrow, this is what I will eat."

That's what commitment is all about. Making a protocol at least 24 hours in advance and sticking with it.

You know you're using your prefrontal cortex when you make a plan 24 hours in advance. You know you're using the more primitive parts of your brain when you're making a plan 5 minutes in advance. That's not a plan, that's responding to an urge.

How can you tell the difference between your prefrontal cortex and primitive brain?

The primitive brain yells a lot. It's like a toddler, trying to be in charge of all your decisions. It tries to override your prefrontal cortex most of the time.

It says things like, "Hey, let's eat this cookie in a few minutes. It's a great idea."

But what do we do with toddlers? We tell them no.

We have to tell our primitive brains the same thing when it wants that cookie. We have to say, "I hear you. I know you want a cookie. But it's not part of our protocol. It's not on the plan for eating today."

It can become harder as the day goes on not to give into the primitive brain. It tries to wear us down and we get ego depleted. We've all been there. We say, "FINE! I'm tired! Let's eat the cookie!"

And the primitive brain rejoices. It say, "Great, I know exactly what to do next time to get what I want. I'll throw a fit and then I'll get what I want."

Just like a toddler, remember?

The goal in sticking with our commitments isn't to "shut the primitive brain up" or ignore it.

We speak calmly and quietly to it. We say, "It's not in the plan. Not today."

We allow our urges to exist, we allow the voice to scream.

But we don't give in. We let our prefrontal cortex stay in charge, the adult in the room.

We stick to our protocol that we created. We remind ourselves of our bigger commitment and reasons why.

And when we're ready, we take notes and watch the primitive brain talking. We notice when it wants to talk the most. We stay curious about that voice and when it gets upset.

We remove temptations and help it stay calm and collected.

Just like a toddler. We give it rest and restoration time.

We don't try to manipulate it by screaming or crying back. We allow it to be. We recognize it. And then we move on.

Your commitment to losing weight is about managing your thoughts and allowing urges. It isn't about a new fangled technology or special workout clothes. It's about sticking to what you said you were going to do. Following through. And getting in the pattern.

If you're doubting this process, there are thoughts to manage!

You are amazing and you can do this.

Let's talk about it! In the meantime, use the form below to get access to my tips for reclaiming your time!

What are your reasons for losing weight?

Losing weight is the most common New Year's Resolution in the United States. We know we have an obesity epidemic in our country. Many of us have an overabundance of food, especially delicious desserts. And to top it off, we're coming off the holiday season. We couldn't turn around the last few weeks without someone offering us a cookie.

With the new year, many of us set goals to lose weight or to try a new diet.

Year after year, we set the same goal. And many of us abandon these goals by the time February rolls around. It's cold and dark for many of us in these months. All the inspiration seems to have evaporated. Part of why that happens is our thought process behind losing weight.

We think we should lose weight for the following reasons:

• Our doctor told us to lose weight

• All those fitspo women on Instagram are thin

• Our mom told us we're looking heavy

• We think we'll be happier when we're thinner

• We used to weigh that much in our twenties

The list goes on. Shoulds are everywhere. But shoulds are rarely motivation to actually do the work and lose the weight. They just hang around, making us feel guilty and down on ourselves.

What if this year, you wanted to lose weight for the right reasons?

What if you kept those reasons in the forefront, instead of all the "should" reasons?

Defining a "right reason" is an individual process. Inside, you know what works best for you. It's really easy to listen to all of the outside noise instead of your inner voice.

The good news is that inner voices have a lot in common. They speak a common truth for all of us. That's how we end up with common "right" reasons to accomplish our goals, like losing weight.

So ask yourself and spend some time journaling or talking it through with a life coach.

Why do you want to lose weight?

1. Make an unfiltered list. Get it all down.

2. When you think you're out of reasons, write five more.

3. Separate out the reasons into shoulds and reasons that feel like truth.

How do you tell the difference between shoulds and true reasons?

Should reasons feel heavy and down.

Example of a "should" reason to lose weight:

Circumstance - Goal to lose 20 pounds.

Thought - My doctor said I should do this, but I don't know if I can.

Feeling - Anxious

Action - Reading all of the weight loss plan books, but not really doing anything about it. Not really taking action, just worrying.

Result - Not losing any weight

See how that unintentional model holds us back from our goals? It started with a "should" reason rather than a real reason.

Reasons that feel like truth inspire and motivate you.

You feel connected and excited about the right reasons. Maybe you're smiling when you think about the right reasons.

Your right reasons will connect you to your end goal. You'll have thoughts that work in your favor. Those thoughts will generate positive feelings. Positive feelings generate forward moving action, which then lead to results.

For example, here’s an intentional model with a "right" reason thought:

Circumstance - Goal to lose weight.

Thought - I want to do this for my future health.

Feeling - Motivated

Action - Sticking to a protocol

Result - Losing weight, helping future health.

Other examples of positive thoughts to lose weight (if they resonate with you):

• I am becoming a better version of myself everyday.

• I want to be a role model for my children.

• I am enjoying the journey of weight loss.

• I like treating my body with respect.

• I know I like eating healthy food in the long-term.

Take your reasons and put them somewhere you can see them every single day.

Maybe that's on your phone as a reminder. Or a piece of paper near your bed. A note on your bathroom mirror. A list in your car. Wherever you spend time every day.

These are the reasons that will keep you going. Not because I said so. Not because Jillian Michaels or your favorite fitspo person on Instagram said so. Because you said so. Because these reasons are your truth.

Need extra help generating your reasons for losing weight? Let’s talk.