Hi Everyone:

If you are a little stressed about the holiday weekend – don’t be. You need to keep this very simple. You are either going to stay clean the entire weekend with one Cheat Day or you are going to maintain and eat clean all day, everyday with either dinner and dessert cheat or dinner and drinks cheat. What you are NOT going to do is cheat all day everyday in the mindless thinking that it’s the last weekend of the summer and “who cares!” Because I promise you, come Tuesday morning when you are trying to get dressed you will care. What you do today, tomorrow and this weekend will make a difference in where you are next week.

When it comes to summer and weight loss – August is right up there with the most challenging months. It’s easy to want to put your weight loss on hold when there are only a couple of weeks of summer left. Whether you are getting ready for school, the last of summer vacations, or the feeling of wanting to celebrate one last time. Take a moment and think about how hard you have worked to continue to lose weight or maintain this summer. You do not want to throw it all away because of a couple of challenging weeks ahead.

Before you decide to put your weight loss on hold until September I want you to listen to Bonnie’s inspirational podcast. She started two summers ago and she talks about how she lives the program no matter what season it is. Her motivation just might make you realize how important it is to stay on your path.

So I found it fitting to post this considering July marks 2 years since I decided to lose weight and live a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Backstory: Senior year of high school I decided I wanted to lose weight for prom and even got my prom dress a size smaller than my normal size to guarantee that I lost the weight. I lost 14 lbs and was so happy and felt amazing, for the first time in years I had seen a number I was unfamiliar with. However, when I started college that year I gained the 14 lbs back and more. I was at my highest weight ever. I ate terribly, thinking that if I ate bad food it would help me deal with the stresses and new changes with starting my first year of college. Well, let me be the first to tell you, it DIDN’T help and only made things worse. I was so unhappy. My weight was high, my body looked terrible, my skin was awful, I felt like crap and was so tired all the time. I was using food as a coping mechanism and that absolutely was NOT the answer.

My first summer after college I decided enough was enough. I was committed to losing the weight and NEVER gaining it back. I finally stepped on the scale and remember crying because I couldn’t believe what the scale said, seeing how much damage I had done. I didnt let that stop me though. I decided I can’t focus on what I did, only what I am GOING to do moving forward. I started eating clean and running maybe 2-3x a week. I remember getting through my first week and felt so good and happy with the results I was already seeing.

Fast forward 2 years, I’m down 30 lbs and have kept it off. I love to eat clean and exercise. I see how much happier I am. I see how I have changed mentally and physically for the best. Weight loss is a journey, not a race, and it is a journey I have learned a lot from. Enjoy the journey, you learn so much about who you are and discover characteristics you didn’t know existed within yourself. Certainly, there are times where it will feel easier to give up. If this was easy, nobody would have unhealthy habits and everyone would be thin. But I can guarantee that it in reality, giving up will only make you feel worse about yourself afterwards. Food DOESN’T make you feel better or solve the problems in your life. Food is just fuel for your body, don’t abuse it or use it as a coping mechanism. If you fall off or have a bad day, just get right back on. I learned that I’m happiest when I’m eating well and exercising. This is my way of life. I changed my mindset about weight loss. I stopped making it about an event or a dress, I made it about me and my life. While losing weight for an outfit/trip/event is a great short term goal, it’s not a long term goal. What I learned is that I made it all about the dress and once I wore the dress, I was way more relaxed with my diet. What I should have been thinking was, “I’m gonna lose weight to feel better about myself in this dress and then focus on keeping it off after.” I lost sight of my long term goal and only focused on a short term goal. Don’t lose sight of your long term goal. I love the person I’ve become while on this journey. I’ve not only made this my way of life but I’ve been so blessed to help other people along the way be the best version of themselves and learn to love to live healthy. If it wasn’t for Innovation, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I wouldn’t be my happiest and healthiest version of myself. Thank you to my family for always being my support system throughout all this. Thank you for encouraging me and reminding me that I could do this. I’ll never forget weighing in and telling Josephine (my mom) and her ALWAYS celebrating with me. I’m overjoyed and excited to live in this balance of a happy and healthy lifestyle, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

This is what happens when you LIVE the Innovation Program

Thea Loves the life she lives and lives the life she loves!

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

211 E 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10019

Do you ever notice how there are so many things in life that we make so much harder than they should be? Even when we want things to be simple and we want to do the right things, we can find a way to make them difficult. Like losing weight. We know what we have to do and yet we keep putting it off and putting it off, and   before you know it, we are in a place that feels impossible to escape.   It’s just so easy to give in to the cravings and our surroundings. But at the end of the day when you are laying in bed you wonder, Why?  Why did you go off your path when you know that staying on it is what makes you feel your best?

This week keep it simple:

• Follow your menu
• Have one Cheat Day
• Exercise when you can
• Text us 24/7 whenever you need us
• If you fall off you get right back on. Don’t let one day turn into one month
• Give 110% because even if it ends up less it will be more than giving no effort at all
• Be accountable – if you go off, own it don’t ignore it
• Stop putting it off. If you need to get back then do it now. The longer you wait the more weight you will have to lose
• Understand there is no magic pill. If you want to lose weight you need to eat less and follow the program. It’s very doable that’s why there are so many who lost it and keep it off. But you need to put the work in to see the results.

If you are doing great then continue on your path and be proud of yourself. Right now we have literally hundreds of “sharks’ who have stayed on program and continue to lose weight and feel great, proving it can be done if you want it badly enough. They have made enjoying life first and food secondary. For them there is no better feeling than eating clean and feeling amazing. They show it everyday in how they look and feel. They love to get up and get dressed in clothes that they want to wear, not clothes they have to wear. Being on program is a way of life and they love to live it.

If you haven’t been in a good place, don’t wait for the perfect time to do what you need to. There is never a perfect time. Start today and don’t look back. Don’t think about where you were or even where you are starting –  Focus only on where you are going and how badly you want to get there. Everyday that you make amazing is one day closer to where you want to be.

 

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