Simple Healthy Habits Case Studies
How I stopped snacking at the office and lost weight!
Shelia, a 47 yr old nurse, was frustrated from always being on a diet, she would lose weight only to gain it all back again. She worked the 7-11 shift at her local hospital. She told me she tried to eat healthy, but the staff would fill the break room with goodies that she couldn’t resist. She would try to muscle her willpower, but always gave in to her cravings, and then would get down on herself for blowing her diet.
I explained this wasn’t her fault. The food industry has changed so many of the foods with sugar and chemicals, and her brain has become wired to crave them. Together we looked at adding more protein options to her meals to help with energy and hunger. She learned new habits we created to counteract emotional hunger, help with sleep, and reduce stress levels. In a few weeks, she felt more energetic, and the pounds were coming off. She began to make better choices when eating and didn’t crave the goodies like she once had. She actually said, “I tried a donut the other day and it was gross.” She couldn’t believe it! Today she has tons of energy, maintains her perfect weight, and chooses to eat anything she wants.
Read more about snacking in my blog post: Secret Snacks!
Tired & Stressed!
Feeling like a new man!
How habits to reduce stress, improved my sleep, and
saved my job by lowering my A1C!
Thomas, a 54 yr old limousine driver, was worried about his A1C was getting too high and he may lose his job as a driver for corporate clients because his company closely monitors employees with diabetes. His doctor told him to eat less and exercise more, but he just couldn’t stick to it. I explained my approach starts with figuring out how the root cause of his eating habits were the problem. We discovered that he wasn’t sleeping well, and was always stressed out.
I explained sleeping only 4-5 hrs/night, combined with his chronic stress were creating shifts with his hormones, leading to inflammation, causing him to always feel hungry and reach for more highly processed foods. Together we worked on creating habits to reduce his stress and establish better sleep routines. We also discovered balanced meals that he found easy and delicious. After 90 days, his A1C dropped, he had incredible energy, was sleeping better than ever before and his cravings disappeared. His doctor took him off his Type 2 Diabetes medications!
Thomas told me, “I feel like a new man, and I’m saving a lot now that I don’t need prescriptions!”
Read more about reducing stress in my blog post:
9 Ways to Boost Your Energy by Stressing Less
How I got my confidence back by balancing my meals and
hit my sales goals!
Michael, 33yrs, was a financial planner at a well-known insurance company. He came to me because he was so stressed out because he wasn’t hitting his monthly sales goals. He was tired and had trouble concentrating. He mentioned he felt the pandemic had caused him to lose his routines, energy, focus, and confidence. He tried to eat healthy but found take-out food so easy, plus he was snacking all day because he was always hungry. Most nights he shut down his computer, ordered take out and sat down to binge-watch Netflix, staying up way too late. The next day he’d hit the snooze 5 times, roll out bed, grab a coffee and a granola bar and start his day. Rinse and repeat!
I explained that he wasn’t alone as so many found this an easy way to live and cope in such a different world. We started by looking at his habits of sleeping, eating, and dealing with stress. We designed new nighttime and morning habits and routines that were easy to follow. We also created balanced meals with protein, fat, and fiber with easy simple one main ingredient recipes that cooked in minutes that filled him up. He stopped late-night snacking. After a few weeks, he had tons of energy, focus, and confidence he needed and was hitting his sales goals. Real food became delicious. He told me, “I didn’t know it would be this easy to eat healthier!”
Read more about protein in my blog post: Why do you need protein?
Start with a protein shake!
Instead of starting with dessert!
How new habits helped me to never diet again and
eat anything I want!
Ellen, a 59 yr old empty-nester, came to me frustrated because she had suddenly put on a lot of weight and couldn’t get out of bed every morning. She was hitting the gym hard 5 days/week, skipping breakfast, and eating salads for lunch to save calories and lose weight – but nothing was happening. I asked her what had changed in her life since this just became a problem. She said they had recently moved because her husband got a new job. He was traveling quite a bit, and she was home alone after work many nights. When I asked about her dinner habits she confided that it felt awesome not having to cook after work, she would get home, pour a glass of wine, grab some cheese and crackers and catch up on her favorite shows. She thought saving her daily calories and continuing her workouts would keep her from weight gain.
First, we looked at how her body was getting the wrong signals. Calorie restrictive diets and fierce workouts put your body in starvation mode and it will not release weight. That’s why diets don’t work. Eating balanced meals during the day. sends the right signals. We created new habits of cooking extra and freezing it when her husband was home. We created a menu of delicious balanced meals that she enjoys and she could just reheat and eat for lunch.
I explained: it’s never really about the food. Diving deeper to find the root cause, we discovered although initially, she loved coming home to no cooking and her favorite shows, she missed her husband and her friends. She was lonely, and that had created a pattern of emotional eating. I suggested that she find activities she enjoyed to meet new friends, call old friends after work, and other habits she enjoyed. In a few months, she had joined 4 different groups, had lots of friends, was sleeping great and bouncing out of bed every morning. She found happiness with her new friends and the weight came off.
Read more about eating habits in my blog post: Why most diets don’t work!
Get my free tip sheet
8 New Habits to Stop Snacking
and the Healthy Habits of the Week newsletter!
