HEALTHY 2023 CHALLENGE- BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF
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Category: Motivation
HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE
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HEALTHY MINDSET = HEALTHY HOLIDAYS
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DON’T LET DECEMBER EXCUSES SET YOU BACK
DECEMBER CAN EASILY TURN INTO A MONTH OF EXCUSES. With holiday parties, get together’s and vacations it’s almost hard to know where to fit in an on program day. But if you keep your focus and mindset in the right place you will get closer to where you want to be.
KEEP YOUR FOCUS IN THE RIGHT PLACE and keep your eye on the prize. Whatever you have going on right now use it to motivate you to stay on your path. Are you going away? Do you want to wear that awesome holiday outfit you have in your closet? Or maybe you just want to feel better going into the new year. Whatever your reasons are use them to stay focused and in control.
HOLIDAY TIME CAN MAKE US CRAZY. Yes we are running around Holiday shopping – wrapping- holiday parties – it’s all extra added things into our already busy day. While they should be so fun they can also be exhausting. The very best way to get through the holidays is to plan and prepare your days. I know you are probably sick of hearing me say it but you also know it is what works the best. If you don’t plan and you have a crazy day – you will get to a point of hunger and reach for anything in sight. If you plan it then you are feeding your body throughout the day the foods you know will help you feel your best.
PUT THE TIME IN. You have two weeks until the Holiday Break. You can do a lot in two weeks. You can lose weight and you can feel in control and you can just feel better overall. So do not tell yourself that you will just start after Vacation or after the Holidays or in the New Year. If you do that you will absolutely end up gaining weight from now until then and then you will have to lose even more weight. If you don’t want to be 100% now and see some real results then at the very least be very mindful and maintain.
Keep The Following Holiday Tips in Mind for the Remainder of December
INNOVATION TIPS FOR THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS SEASON
- Don’t just do the program – live the program.
- Walk away from the temptation and remind yourself to choose your hard. – Hard to walk away or hard to deal with the results of your actions.
- One alcohol drink is a snack. Before you reach for the second drink – remember it’s not the alcohol that makes you gain weight — it’s what the alchohol makes you do that makes you gain weight. Make sure to drink water in-between drinks to stay hydrated.
- Start with warm lemon water in the morning and continue with regular water for the rest of the day. From the time you wake up until bed. At least 8 oz before each meal.
- It’s okay to be a turtle during the holidays. If you lose slow it’s still better than gaining. But the days you can be a Shark and have amazing 100% days then do it.
- Be happy and enjoy everyone around you.
- Don’t live in the moment. While it’s fun to do something spontaneous – make sure it’s not with food – the results can be both mentally and physically draining. Plan, prepare and follow through it’s the best way to have successful weight loss days.
- Everyday you will either lose weight, maintain or gain. The choice is always in your control.
- Less is always better when trying to lose weight. If you don’t need it don’t eat it.
- If you want to feel amazing you must act amazing. Stay on program, work hard and do the right things.
The better you feel the better you will live the happier you will be.
Stay on program!
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
INNOVATION WEIGHT LOSS
& HEALTHY FOOD MARKET
8031/8037 JERICHO TPKE
WOODBURY, NY 11797
516 802-5055
WRITE YOUR OWN STORY
This week we have been focusing on NOT PLAYING THE VICTIM IN OUR OWN LIFE. To me that is such a powerful statement that we sometimes forget we have power over. That it’s actually up to us how we choose to use our energy in the challenges that we have. Do we play victim or are we leaders.
When I say to a client stop playing the victim in your life they always respond with a questionable look – Like what are you talking about – but then within seconds they realize what I am saying and what they are doing. They are playing the victim in their own life. It’s a realization that is something we don’t always want to see about ourselves. And it’s certainly not easy to admit or even say out loud. Because the answer determines who we are. When we play victim we blame others but when we are leaders we take the responsibility. It’s two different types of people that only you can decide who you are and which person you want to be.
A VICTIM – is when something is done and it wasn’t your choice. But playing the victim – is when you choose to live your life based on that bad experience. Not playing the victim is when you look at the bad experience and think – I didn’t like it and I wished it wouldn’t have happened but I have to believe I was meant to go through it because it was a learning experience for me or an opportunity to grow in some way. That takes you out of playing the victim. Now understand this in no way has anything to do with those who victimize you. They have to deal with their own Karma. Whether it’s today or tomorrow it will always come around to them. So don’t put your energy into them. The universe will do it for you. Let go – Let God.
Most of the time we don’t even realize we are playing the Victim. This could be in any part of your life it doesn’t matter whether it’s weight, family, career. Think about the words you say to yourself. They made me; I couldn’t walk away; I had no choice; I have no time…. It can go on and on. When I say I have heard it all I really have. But when I switch the roles and I put the realization on you to stop playing the victim. — Yes you can walk away, you do have time, and you do have choices – in fact not only do you have choices – you are the person who is writing your own story. It is then that we see our life in a whole different light.
Of course this will only work if you want to change. Many times we play the victim in our life because we don’t want to put the energy in to make the changes that need to be made. You see whether you are playing the victim or you are playing the leader — how you use your energy is going to make the biggest difference how you live your life. And that difference could be good or bad depending on which way you choose.
Think about the people around you. Who would you consider a person who plays the victim. Now think about the energy he/she brings into the room, into conversations. Even if you love them or love spending time with them – a person who plays the victim always has a negative tone of what happened to them or how someone did them wrong and why they can’t accomplish something – it’s never their fault. You feel the negativity in the room and depending on the person and the energy it can sometimes be exhausting to be with them.
Now think about your own life – what kind of energy do you manifest. What kind of energy do you distribute into a room, your family, friends, and universe. We all have challenges and bad experiences. Some worse than others. But how you learn from them, and how you use the energy from that learning is going to determine not only who you are as a person but also how you write the story of your own life.
So I ask you to look at your life and ask yourself that question
What is the story I am writing about my life.
You are the one who is solely in charge of your life, you hold the keys to your success, you can create the life of your dreams, you can live in whichever way you choose. Sometimes I think we forget that we dictate how we live.
Every single day you write your story and you not only write the story you can change it at any time. The job you work in, the weight you are, the health you are in, the way you live, the people you surround yourself with is all your choice, you are the creator of your life, so why not create the best possible life for you. Yes of course there are some things which are destined for you, which you can not change or do anything about, but there are so many things about your life that you are in charge of as long as you put the work in.
So from this point on I want you to demand the best from yourself, raise the bar and push yourself, and stay consistent. We can get easily distracted and lose focus on our goals, but i’m telling you if you don’t demand the best from yourself no one is going to do it for you. You must get up everyday and write the story you want to live. You are not the victim you are the lead role in your life and you will learn from your experiences and you will put good energy into your body, mind, family and universe. You will keep moving forward everyday knowing the you want more and deserve the best life possible. You are willing to work hard and put the effort in everyday to reach your goals and create the life that you want. I really believe we are all capable of achieving anything, it does not matter where you are, or who you are, you have everything within you to become the person you want to be.
Dream, believe, achieve. Live life to the limits.
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
HOW TO STAY CENTERED AND FOCUSED WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING
Staying centered and focused on your goals is hard. In the beginning, we’re certainly motivated. But we all know how that motivation wanes over time. We get caught up, stuck, frustrated, overloaded, overworked, distracted, and we simply just veer off track. Clearly, it’s hard to stay focused when we have so much going on.
Yet, in the back of our minds, we know that those excuses will only take us so far. Yes, it’s easy to let life get the best of us, but it’s not okay to veer so far off track that we forget what we truly wanted out of life and why we really wanted it. So staying focused on our goals is not only important, it’s crucial.
When you’re not in a good place, it’s hard to stay centered
“Staying centered” is an internal experience of feeling calm and confident within yourself
It’s a feeling of deep trust in one’s abilities or intuition.
Over 10 Years at Innovation I’ve learned the number one thing that clients struggle with the most is staying centered, focused and in control of what they want. There is just so much temptation and quick fixes it’s so easy to fall into what you don’t want instead of working hard for what you do want.
Clients ask me all the time how I stay centered and focused and I always explain how being consistent and planning and preparing my routine, food, and exercise not only keeps me centered – it also manages my stress.
Once you start to feel off-center, it becomes the snowball – you start stress eating, and sleeping less, and because you are not eating on program you stop exercising because you make yourself believe – why should I exercise if I am not eating well— Sound familiar? I’m sure it does, because when you’re feeling out of control and off centered one or more of your good habits is bound to fall. But at the end of the day for me – it’s just not worth it. I know that I function my best when I am doing the right things. There are so many times I would like to grab something on my non-cheat day but I don’t do it. Is it will power? Maybe. But what I really think it is more than anything — is Positive Thinking. I am always reminding myself what is important to me and even in the most negative times I will look for the positive. Another big thing for me is Consistency. When you do something over and over (good or bad) you form habits that you live by. I am focused on what makes me feel good and I know what doesn’t and it’s never worth it. I know whatever I am grabbing for will be there on my cheat day and I almost never even want it when I can have it. Same with exercise. I run every day because I love to run. But there are days that I don’t want to go but I never give myself a choice because I know when I am done I am so happy and if I don’t go I am never happy about not doing it. Many times we get in our own way of what we want and what we don’t want. Many of us have a way of making life so much harder than it has to be. What it all comes down to is it’s not that difficult to do the right thing. If we have a plan and follow it through and we stay positive – we can accomplish anything.
HERE ARE 10 TOP TIPS ON HOW TO KEEP CENTERED, FOCUSED AND IN CONTROL:
1. Positivity. I truly believe In the power of the positive mind. I believe we can talk ourself into being whatever we want to be. It’s the power of manifestation at it’s highest level. It starts with your own positive energy and what you put out to the universe and to others. That means sharing the love, giving compliments, not gossiping, and most of all believing in yourself.
What I find to be the most damage to clients is the negative they put upon themselves. Living in a negative state is so destructive to you and everyone around you. How you think and feel and how much negative or positive you put into your mind, your words and your life is going to reflect on you and it’s going to affect everyone around you. So this week listen to your words and work hard to turn the glass half empty into the glass half full because I promise you when you live in a positive mindset it’s going to be life changing.
2. Non-negotiables. First of all, you may be thinking “what in the world are non-negotiables. Well, non-negotiables are those things in your routine or your lifestyle that are must-do’s that you prioritize to stay healthy and feel your best. For me my non-negotiable are eating on program, running, and family time. So I make those things a priority in my day that I have to incorporate around my work day. No matter what I get them done because they are non-negotiable and they must be included every day. I will not trade off one of them to do something else – that is why it’s non-negotiable. — Today take time to reflect on your lifestyle and decide what things you need to feel 100% and at your best every day and make them non-negotiable in your day.
3. Routines. You may have heard me speak of it in an earlier blog or podcast. Creating and practicing a routine is one of the most powerful things you can do to train your body to stay centered, focused and in control. There is great power in starting my day feeling calm and in control – and my routine gives me that.
4. Reflect. I always take 5 minutes a day to reflect on my goals. I tell clients all the time – take a step back and look at where you were, where you are now and where you want to be. Sometimes we can forget why we are working so hard and sometimes our goals can change. When you take a step back and reflect you can revisit your goals and make sure that you are still on the right path to reach them.
5. What do you want – what is your goal?. Get clear on what YOU want first – So many are conditioned to pay attention to what others want, they forget to think about what they want. Getting clarity FIRST on what you want is critical.
6. Journaling. Now you know what you want – it’s time to write them down. When you don’t write down your goals they stay in the abstract. They are less real, even if you think they are as real as they can be. You have to write them down and get very specific about them. Writing out your goals and specifically about what you want is the smartest goal setting method you can do. If you want to stay centered, focused and in control then you need to ensure you are doing it the right way. If you are serious about your goals and what you want, then you have to actively set them and detail them out. Simply create as much detail towards your prospective goals as you possibly can and you will achieve them
7. Listen to your Intuition. I am a very intuitive being. Most of the time I know what people are thinking and what they want before they even tell me. We all have an inner voice. Give yourself the quiet time to listen to your intuition. Stop “Doing” for at least10 minutes each day and start just “Being”. We’re called human beings and not human doings for a reason. I actively do this when I am running. I am listening to my thoughts and feelings. Listening to your intuition will tell you what’s really important to YOU. It will give you clarity on what you really want and it will give you greater confidence to get it.
8. Pay Attention to Your Energy. Make a list of what energizes you and what de-energizes you. This could be related to your work, your friends, your exercise. Then spend more of your time with what energizes you and less on what doesn’t. You’ll be surprised at how much more powerful you will feel.
9. Be in competition only with yourself. I am a big believer that we should only try to be better tomorrow than who we are today – and better today than who we were yesterday. It shouldn’t matter who has what or more than you. Our thoughts and emotions have an incredible ability to either give us power or take our power away. Every time you compare yourself to others, you give your power away. Start to watch your thoughts and emotions almost like an outsider and then focus on the ones that give you more power. When you focus only on being the best person you can be and doing it by being a better person each day – that is when you will really see yourself gain power. Be your best self – and let everyone else be theirs.
10. Manifest It: Manifestation is based on The Law of Attraction, which, in simple terms, is the ability to bring things into our realities through energetic attraction. Essentially, like attracts like, what you are putting out into the world is what you will receive back from it. Remember manifesting will only work if you believe it will. So if you believe that you are going to be healthy, happy, thin, and wealthy – and you put that into the universe, you work hard everyday for it, believe in it, and stay positive every day about it —I really believe it will happen. It might not be overnight but the more you believe in it the more you will see it.
If you read the list above you will see how the list goes hand in hand. You can’t manifest the positive in your life if you are gossiping and putting out negative for others. You must live what you want to manifest. So start by being positive – have your non-negotiable that are important to you – make sure you are following your routine daily so you feel your best – be clear on what you want and then journal about it. Listen to your intuition – Pay attention to your energy -be your best self everyday – and manifest exactly what you want and how you want your life to be. Think about it right now. If you could plan your dream life what would it be …..— these are the energies you put out into the universe everyday and you will see and feel the universe return abundance.
When you live this way daily you will find that you stay centered, focused and in control and day by day you will be reaching your goals. We all have the power to be who we want to be and live how we want to live. If you haven’t already – then start today. I promise you will be so happy you did.
IT’S ALREADY YOURS
YOU JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE IT
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Healthy Market
8031 Jericho Tpke
Woodbury, NY 11797
516802-5055
AUGUST IS THE MONTH TO MAKE CHANGES
August is here and it’s a huge change-making month! August is the 8th month of the year, the number 8 is all about rebirth and transformation. The number 8 is associated with success, and when you are able to harness the power of 8, you are able to develop goals and the action plans associated with them in order to succeed. This success is to do with all parts of your life – business – financial – career – family – love – health. It’s up to you where you want to harness this power.
When it comes to weight loss and health – I know many of you have plans for September and October where you want to look and feel your best. So whether it’s 1lb a week for a total of 5 lbs or it’s 2lbs a week for 10 lbs by September 1. Whatever you want- use August to Plan Prepare and Follow Through with it.
If you put the work in and believe in yourself you will have the universe behind you – and YOU WILL reach whatever goal you want to achieve.
YOU’RE ALWAYS
ONE DECISION AWAY
FROM A TOTALLY
DIFFERENT LIFE
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
EASTER & PASSOVER – WHEN AM I CHEATING?
PREPARE FOR THE HOLDIAYS
Whether you are celebrating Passover – Easter or both! – you want to incorporate your Cheat day into your celebrations. Here are some helpful tips:
CHEATING MORE THAN ONE DAY: Split your Cheat day and do Cheat Meals. Instead of having Saturday as your Cheat Day – do Friday night and Saturday night – back on program Sunday. Or you can do Saturday night and Sunday night back on program Monday. Any two nights you want to do cheat meals instead of a whole day. You want to have cheat meal dessert and drinks (optional). Remember when you split your cheat day it’s one less day of the week you have to lose weight.
CHEATING ONE DAY: If you know you are cheating only one day you always have the option to keep your Cheat Day to one day. One cheat day a week will always give you the best results. But only do this if you are certain that you are not going to be tempted at other holiday celebrations.
VACATION: If you are going on vacation – do not cheat before you go. Stay on program and pick one cheat each day to enjoy while on vacation. Any meal – dessert or drinks. You choose each day one thing that you want to indulge and enjoy. This will help you maintain the week. If you want to lose while on vacation then you must stick to your One Cheat day a week and stay on program on Vacation. Sounds hard? It’s not as hard as you think
EXAMPLE:
- Egg whites for Breakfast
- Grilled chicken salad for lunch
- veggies and hummus at the pool or beach
- Fish and veggies for dinner
- choose your dessert whether it’s a drink or fruit
If you want more than this then you should be prepared to maintain or possibly gain. Remember your actions = results.
PASSOVER CHOICES:
INCORPORATE PASSOVER CHOICES IN YOUR DAY
BREAKFAST & LUNCH CHOICES YOU CAN INCORPORATE PASSOVER WEEK:
• MATZAH-2 Matzah with 1tbsp of peanut, almondor SunButter, or 1/2avocado
• MATZAH AND FRUIT: 1 Matzah with 1 tsp of pb or sunbather with 1 piece of fruit
• MATZAH AND EGGS- one Matzah with 3-4 egg whites and 1 cup of veggies
• ANY Kosher Meat no sauce no marinate no butter
• Light tuna or chicken salad or egg white salad with 1 matzah
• Chubby Potato: 1 large white potato or sweet potato with 1 cup of veggies on top and 1/4 cup of cheese and bake 🙂
• 1/2 cup park skim Cottage cheese with 1 cup of fruit
• Popcorn
• 15-20 Any nuts
• Think Thin Bar
• Matzoh ball soup without the Matzoh ball
• 2 slices of low fat cheese or 1 light part skim cheese stick with 1 Matzah
• non fat greek yogurt with 1/2 cup of berries
• 1 cup of any berries with 2 tbsp of cool whip
INNOVATION FOOD AND PASSOVER:
1) IF YOU are NOT STRICT and ALLOW FLOUR FROM OUR VEGETABLE PROTEIN you can have anything in the store
2) STRICT – NO WHEAT OR ANY KIND OF FLOUR
— All our Gluten Free Muffins, GF Cookies and GF Bagels
— Our Entire Ketovation line contains no wheat or flour
Cauliflower Pizza
Turkey Taco
Chicken Salad
Tuna Salad
Sweet potato fries
Tomato Soup
Broccoli cheddar soup
Bisque Soup
Pudding
Rice Sticks and Hockey Puck Rounds
Chocolate mousse cake, & Cheese Cake & Gummy Bites
All Innovation nuts regular, chocolate and mixed
Popcorn
Licorice
Detox
The Staff of Innovation wishes everyone a healthy happy Holiday
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
HELLO MARCH
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FEBRUARY GOALS
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HELLO FEBRUARY: February is one of those months that arrive fast and exit even faster. And yet so much is going on in such a short month. We have Valentines day and President’s day weekend and Winter Break. So much fun so little time! LET’S TALK ABOUT GOALS: The beginning of the month is the best time to plan for your goals. Take a look back at January – did you accomplish all you wanted? If not – why? Be honest with yourself because at the end of the day you are only hurting yourself with excuses. FEBRUARY GOALS: Before you make your February goals – make sure whatever goals you choose they include what is going to make you happy. Make sure you are making them for the right reasons. Because in order for you to reach your goals they have to mean something to you. Because when they mean something to you that is when you will do everything you possibly can to reach them. Start by deciding what your goals are and then think about how much do they mean to you. How hard are you going to work for them. Always remember making goals is the easy part – putting the action and work into achieving them is the hard part. We all want success – but actually doing the work is what creates the success. And when it comes to weight loss it’s as much mental work as it is physical. When you make those goals you have to include being willing to with walk away from temptation and being okay with eating less and dealing with those little hunger pangs. It’s not just “I want to lose weight” it’s about everything that goes along with losing weight. It’s hard work. But if you really put 100% thought into this and you tell yourself everyday how important it is to you – then you will achieve it. Because our mind is so powerful we can believe anything we tell it to – but of course that road goes both ways. Always remember it takes just as much energy to be negative as it does to be positive. CLIENT STORY: I would like to tell you about one of my clients. She is a young mom of 3 who was overweight at 180 pounds. When she first came to me she was sure she wasn’t going to be able to lose weight. She was very depressed. She tried every quick fix diet and felt completely defeated. I explained none of that mattered – what was important right at that moment was that I was going to hold her hand throughout the program – all she had to do was trust me and trust herself and if she was really willing to work for this as much as she said she was – then we would do great. She started in September and now February 1 she is down 52lbs. Some months she lost more than others but even through holiday months she always had weight loss. What was most amazing was she never gave up. She worked so hard every week to stay on program – even with the temptations that were in front of her everyday. She always remembered what was important to her and what she wanted most of all was to feel great by Winter Break because her family was going away and she said her last trip she was so miserable and insecure and wore cover – ups the whole time. She said it ruined her trip and she ended up comforting herself with food the whole time. She was so tired of that feeling. One of the reasons I am telling you this story is because I think it’s so important to understand and really think about goals. She didn’t just WANT this she was willing to put the work in day after day and week after week. This trip kept her motivated throughout. For her It was more than just the weight loss. She said she avoided stores and places to go to because she didn’t feel good about herself. She was upset with herself because she felt 20 years older than her age and she didn’t know what to do about it. For her it was so much more about her confidence and this winter break all she wanted was to walk on the beach in her bathing suit and feel confident. We recently did a phone call and she cried and said to me — she never really understood how unhappy she was in her body until the weight loss. She said she knew she wasn’t comfortable in her body but didn’t realize how unhappy it made her. And only when she lost the weight and became really comfortable in her skin again — was when she knew how much this all really meant to her. She felt truly happy. — and that is something we forget. Happiness isn’t a thing – it’s a feeling. And maybe her goal wasn’t really about weight loss it was about feeling happy again. I think one of the most important points of this story is it’s not just about the number on the scale. It’s not about a size of clothes. This is about not settling for less than what you deserve because it’s easy. This is about not telling yourself that you did your best if you really didn’t or that you are happy if you know deep down that you are not. This is about digging down deep and working extra hard for something that means everything and that could even be potentially life changing for you. Yes im talking about weight loss but this can apply to anything in your life that you know you haven’t worked hard enough for. And while it may sound silly to some – I mean how can weight loss be life changing? Well waking up and going from feeling unhappy to feeling happy everyday is life changing. Those of you who have gained and lost weight know exactly what I am talking about. It’s life changing when you feel comfortable in your body and how much confidence you suddenly have because you feel good in everything you put on. When you feel good in your body everything changes for you. You feel healthy, energetic, you love to get up and get dressed. It can make the smallest things in life feel exciting. All because you are taking care of yourself and doing the right things. When you think about it. It’s really not too much to ask of yourself. I mean just by doing the right things and making the right choices you get to live a life in a body that makes you feel HAPPY everyday. And that is life changing to a lot of people. Whatever your goals for February are – make sure they = happiness |
| Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick |