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FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle
March 8, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

Winter Challenge – Two Weeks To Go!

I hope you don’t think we forgot about the challenge! We didn’t! We were just trying to give everyone a chance to settle back into the routine again after the Winter Break! Looks like everyone is back on track and moving along nicely. With only 3 weeks until Spring and 2 weeks left of the challenge it’s a great time to think about where you are today and where you thought you would be.

 

WHERE WILL YOU BE TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY?

WEIGHT LOSS, WEIGHT GAIN OR THE SAME…

 

Whether you are in the challenge or not take a moment to reflect on how you have been doing – and where you are today. Is it where you thought you would be? Think back to when the Challenge started in January. You thought by March you would have lost at least 5 or 10 lbs, and many of you hoping for more! If you didn’t start or you keep yo-yoing back and forth, you better start taking it serious because it’s only going to get harder as the nicer weather approaches.

 

I can tell you the very first thing you have to stop doing – STOP MAKING EXCUSES and just DO IT ALREADY! Seriously, it’s something you want and something that’s going to make you happy so why are you not doing it? The time is now…It’s not tomorrow, it’s not next week and it’s definitely not next month. The only way you are going to get your life, your health and your happiness in a good place is if you start with your weight. Because it’s the first thing you think of when you wake up and it’s the last thing you think of before you go to sleep. So start making your days happy and stop putting off what needs to be done. You are the only person who has control of this. You see your friends, neighbors, co-workers all on plan and losing weight. You should be losing it too! There are no excuses except the ones that you give yourself.

 

It is so much easier to do it and stay on it

 then to spend the minutes, hours and days contemplating when you are going to start again.

It’s March! Don’t even think about putting it off again. Work hard and keep looking for reasons to get back on program and remember those reasons to stay on program.

Always remember everyone has their struggles – you just have to work hard to get through yours.

Just like all of these contestants worked hard to get through their days of struggle. And because they didn’t quit – Look at these amazing numbers.

Whether it’s 3lbs, 5lbs, 10lbs or 15lbs what is most important is you are all on your way to making your spring and summer amazing, happy, healthy and fun!

With 2 weeks to go you are all doing absolutely fabulous!!!!  Stay strong, follow your menu and you will keep seeing amazing results.

 

IF YOU CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT

THEN DON’T STOP FIGHTING FOR IT

 

CONGRATULATIONS – 2 WEEKS TO GO….

 

Andrew S:    19

Aaron T:       17

Beth M:        16.6

Joann B:      14.6

Mike R:        14

Alison A:      12.2

Steve K:       12

Sheryl G:      9.6

Troy M:         9

Mike N:         9

Sandra W:    8.8

Raquel R:     8.7

Marlie G:      8.5

Dorey K:       8.5

SEO:            8.4

Paul N:         8

Scott S:        8

Amanda C:   8

Lauren G:     7.4

Kimberly S:   7

Cara B:         6.4

Dena E:        6.1

Samantha M:   5.8

Donna F:        5.5

Shari K:          5.3

Jamie K:         5

Melanie B:      5

Bonnie K:       5

Alyssa M:       5

Dawn S:         4.6

Lori N:            4.6

Emily D:         4.4

Theresa G:    4.2

Leslie O:        4

Dana S:          3.6

Deirdre C:       3.6

Jamie H:         3.5

Beth F:            3.4

Robyn M:        3.3

Heather C:      3.2

Ann C:            3.1

Jillian G:         3

Stacey B:        3

Jessica M:       2.4

SS:                  1.5

 

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

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FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle
March 1, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

Are You Ready?

 

It’s March 1st, and after most of you were on vacation last week, and some really beautiful days here on Long Island, you have to wonder are you ready for spring? Because I think we can all agree – Spring is coming early this year. Whether you were off program last week for vacation or kept it together and ate clean – what is most important today is that you are right back on track and doing all the right things to get you where you want to be. Because once summer is here – your chances of losing are a lot less than they are today. Right now is when you should be working hard everyday and staying on program and exercising and doing all the right things for your body so when your next vacation/spring/summer comes around you are ready. Don’t wait to get ready the week before – it’s now that you should have all your focus on where and who you want to be when the time arrives.

 

We go through different stages in different times of the year.  We have our months that are full of holidays and summer vacations and BBQ’s – They are full of maintain days.

 

Then we have days where there really isn’t much going on. We are on our regular schedule of work, kids, friends, family…These are the days we should be losing. These are the days we work hard and make a difference.

 

Of course there will always be temptation, but the weight loss days are the days that you have to make it happen. Right now coming off a week of vacation you would think the last thing you want to do is eat more. But unfortunately that is exactly what you want to do – is eat more! The reason is – whenever you feed your body unhealthy choices and you stuff it to the extreme – it gets use to it and it wants more. Your stomach has stretched out in more ways then one and it wants you to keep filling it. The more you stretch it the more hungry you will be. The more unhealthy food choices you put in your body the more hungry it makes you.

 

 

*Unhealthy food choices give you cravings to want to eat more unhealthy food

*Healthy on program food takes your cravings away so you eat less and feel good about it.

*When you eat less than you need your stomach shrinks and so does your cravings

*Once you stretch your stomach from constantly over eating – the only way to get it to shrink is to eat less and feel those little hunger pains throughout the day.

*Never starving but you need to be a little hungry or you will stay where you are or get bigger*

 

 

Whenever it is that you return from vacation always remember this – it will take one week to get right back to feeling good and two weeks to feel great! Consistency is the most important part of your program. Continue to keep choosing the right foods and stay on your program meals and snacks – stick to your menu. Before you know it, by the end of the first week you have all the bloat gone and by the end of the second week you are back to losing. We all pay a price when we go away but you can keep it a positive by enjoying while you are there and getting right back to a healthy place when you return. This is life and while it’s meant to be enjoyed it can only be enjoyed when you put your hard work in. That goes for weight loss, jobs, family and friends. There is and should always be a time that you enjoy your hard work. But it’s only enjoyable when you work hard for it. If it came easy it wouldn’t be as much fun. And if it’s important enough to you then it should be worth the work! Health, family, friends, your career. They are and should all be amazing and the harder you work them the more satisfaction it will bring.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE:

IF IT MEANS A LOT TO YOU, THEN IT’S WORTH WORKING HARD FOR IT.

 

NEW PODCAST OUT TODAY!

Just ask Lynne Nussbaum

She lost 30 lbs and reached her goal on the Innovation Weight Loss program

and you can hear her talk all about her Journey on the New Podcast that is out today.

Thea interviews Lynne on her amazing weight loss success!

LISTEN TO HER PODCAST ON HOW SHE DID IT! IT’S OUT TODAY – FIND IT HERE:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/love-to-live-healthy-josephine/id1191136548

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS LYNN!!

WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU!!

LYNNE CONTINUES TO LOVE THE LIFE SHE LIVES AND LIVES THE LIFE SHE LOVES

 

~Love To Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

211 E 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10019

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FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle
January 23, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

Understanding the Hunger

 

When it comes to losing weight we all know that one of the hardest things about it is when we feel hungry. Our first instinct is to feed it – feed the hunger. We believe that if we feed the hunger we will actually “feel better” but what happens most of the time is we feel worse. You see there is a line and depending on how much weight you need to lose you have to decide where that line is. The object is for you to eat healthy and clean foods but also to still be a little hungry. Why do you need to be hungry? The answer is simple and sometimes when we understand it, that’s what helps us “Embrace it” instead of “Hate it.”
In order to lose weight you need to take in less food than your body needs. There is no way around it – you have to eat less than your body needs and the weight will come off. Depending on how much less and how clean the food you are eating will determine how much weight comes off and how fast. What I think so many of you have the hardest time with is that you just don’t want to be hungry. Why? Because it’s uncomfortable! And whether you are busy or bored uncomfortable just plain “stinks!” So what happens when you are hungry? This is the part I want you to understand and think about:
—When you are hungry it’s because your body has less food at that moment than it is used to. It’s also good to understand this is a cumulative action. So in the beginning you feel like okay I can do this and that’s only because your body has so much extra in it -whether it’s because you are just starting or if it’s after a Cheat Day. But after a couple of days on program and eating less – your body has used everything extra. Now the body starts to begin to realize that your intake is lower than it has been and lower than it’s used to and it wants more than your are giving it. It has enough food but not as much as it is used to having and it is telling you “I want more!” It wants what you used to give it so it can stay the same and run the same as it used to. So if you feed it you stay the same. Your body is happy and you are all satisfied (for the moment) and nothing changes – including the scale.
Now let’s talk about when you don’t feed into it. When you get to that point of being a little hungry and a little uncomfortable because you know you ate your meals and snacks but you still feel hungry. That is because your body is used to having more and it’s telling you “feed me! I’m not satisfied because it’s less than what you normally give me.”  But if you don’t feed it then it has to use “stored fat.” Ahhhhh now it all makes a little more sense. When it uses “stored fat”  I want you to think of it like a vacuum sucking fat from the cells.  When it uses this fat the cells close – resulting in a smaller you – less body fat. When you use enough of the stored fat and get enough of these cells closing each day/week – that is what results in the scale moving each week.
In case you missed it you can read our article on “Fat Cells”
Being a little hungry is never easy. But when you have gotten to the point that you have over-eaten and you have gained weight – you have to look at it like you got yourself here now you have to get yourself out. You have been there and done that, and quite honestly for most of you you can’t even remember what was good enough to get you to where you are. The only way to get back to the “old you” or “the new you”  is to feed your body healthy, clean and less than what it is used to 6 days a week. It may not be exciting but that’s what cheat day is for. 6 days healthy, clean fuel your body and 1 day exciting.
“Embrace It”
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin”
CHECK OUT LESLIE’S LATEST BEFORE AND AFTER
SHE HAS REACHED HER GOAL
CONGRATULATIONS LESLIE – GREAT JOB!!!!!
LESLIE LOVES THE WAY SHE LIVES AND LIVES THE WAY SHE LOVES
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
211 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10017
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FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle
January 23, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

2017! Ring It In With Motivation

 

I’m sure you already listed your resolutions and wrote down your goals. What you have to decide now is are they goals you really want to reach or are they just a dream that you keep writing down every year. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get there –   Are you willing to be a little hungry? Walk away? Say “No Thank You!”?
Did you know that 90% of resolutions are to lose weight? Most give up within the first 3 weeks. Why? Because they are looking for the quick fix. They go on the cleanse and shakes that are impossible to sustain, or the fad diets that are all temporary quick fixes that end up making you gain 5 pounds more than when you started. These are not things that you don’t already know. Most of you have been there and done that.
But this year you know that’s not who you are. For those of you who have been on program you know that after vacation and holidays the best thing you can do is get back on track and on your healthy path. There is no looking back, and what’s important is moving forward. Consistency is key and after a week you will have most of the new weight off and you will begin to feel amazing again.
If you haven’t figured it out yet you will come to learn that only when you change how you look at and feel about food mentally is when you will physically change.
Whether you are trying to get back on track or starting new, here are some tips that will help you:

– If you are even thinking of pushing off your starting day another day or week you need to refocus right now and realize that life is never going to stop for you to lose weight. Start now and make it happen. You will always have a party, an event and dinners out. You need to make this a way of life and the only way to do that is to incorporate the parties and the dinners and learn how to eat at them.
– If you have a lunch or dinner out and it’s not your Cheat Day – You should NEVER EVER be THINKING…“Should I stay clean or go off?” – WHAT?! Never should that even be a thought. There is no should I or could I. There are no deals to be made with yourself. You have done plenty of that and look at where it has gotten you. You need to be in SHARK mode and if it’s not your Cheat Day then you are on program regardless of where you are or what you have going on in your life.
– If you are ever feeling a little weak – Take out your skinny pants and try them on. Look online for a bathing suit you want to be in. Shorts and sun dresses – because the next vacation along with spring will be here in a blink of an eye. This is the time you get in shape. You start now – you don’t wait for it to be here and then try and start. You do it now so when vacations and warm weather arrive you are ready!

From all my clients all around the world this is what I can tell you for sure – Aside from all the health issues obesity can cause – extra weight on your body makes you look and act old. Sometimes we don’t even see it until it’s off.  We know we are not looking and feeling our best but then when we lose the weight we think – WOW that’s what I looked like before? Clients send me before and after pictures all the time. The differences are beyond amazing. They tell me how they feel amazing and love to wake up feeling lighter, fitter and just simply happier. They no longer wake up afraid of having health problems. They don’t wake up wondering if they will stay on – they just do the right thing because they know how important it is to their health, both mentally and physically. They don’t wake up trying to figure out quick fixes to get the weight off. They have learned how to work everyday toward their healthy lifestyle and goals. Most of all, they love the way they feel – and how they are viewed by everyone around them. How every where they go someone will comment how great they look. How amazing they feel when people look at them like they have it all together. If it sounds vain to you – they don’t care! They are the happy  – and you are not. You have to learn to stop making excuses and judging those around you and instead put the focus on yourself. If you want to be and feel like they do then you have to start putting your words into actions – not just today but everyday.
  You have to do what is going to make you happy 
and stop doing what you know makes you so unhappy! 
 You have seen so many of our before and afters and so many of you know each other and have seen first hand the changes in your friends and acquaintances. So you have to ask yourself going into 2017- Who do you want to be?
The unhealthy, out of shape, tired all the time and unable to recognize yourself person.  The friend, wife, husband, mother, daughter, son who is upset and unhappy and even sometimes angry at yourself and those around you because you have still not made yourself important enough to do this for. OR – A younger version of you! Thin and fit, waking up lighter, clothes fitting you and feeling amazing in them, feeling healthier and just simply happy all the time. Because it’s true when you are thin and fit and healthy – you get through all the nonsense that is in your life so much better and easier than when you are out of shape and overweight. Life is just always going to be easier when you do the right thing. And if losing weight and feeling great fits into your “doing the right things” then you better start prioritizing where you are now and where you want to be.
Did you know that studies show that unhealthy and over weight people get angrier over unimportant issues 5x faster than healthy fit people. Most likely the reason is because unhealthy and overweight people tend to start their day unhappy and frustrated to begin with. So as the day goes on so does their temper.
So next time you think  “should I eat it or should I stay on program?” Remind yourself it’s not just extra food or unhealthy food that you are debating about – What you really are debating is do you want to add another unhappy day to your life and to the life of those around you. Do you want to continue to feel unsettled and out of control with your unhealthy eating habits and more importantly unhappy with who you are and who you have become. Is it really worth what you will be going off program for.
You will always be faced with challenges but you must constantly remind yourself how important this is to you and those who love you. Remind yourself constantly how much you want this. How much better you feel when you stay strong and on your path. It is only when you have this self motivation and consistency of eating clean and on program that you will truly feel better each day.  You will feel more in control and wake up feeling healthier and happier. In just a couple of days you will feel better and in a couple of weeks you will wake up like a Shark – doing the right thing, feeling lighter and fitter each day – and all because you finally made the decision that 2017 is going to be your year to be Happy, Healthy, Fit and Strong. And NOTHING is going to get in your way.
“Create The Life You Can’t Wait To Wake Up To”
 
 
LIKE COREY DID
 
HE LOVES THE LIFE HE LIVES AND LIVES THE LIFE HE LOVES
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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January 23, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

December Can Bring You Balance or Buldge

 

As we know December is a month surrounded with cookies, parties, chocolate and vacations. For someone out of control, it can be a month of pure indulgence resulting in plenty of bulge. If you find yourself tempted with constant holiday parties and long weekend celebrations then maybe you should consider maintaining for the remainder of the month. Because even though you may WANT to lose – maintaining is definitely better than gaining.
MAINTAIN: Stay on all day and only have one meal or dessert off. Any alcohol is still your snacks. So if you have 3 drinks at a holiday party that was your 3 snacks for the day. Whenever you can order the best, cleanest, on program option – then of course still do it.  If you keep it to one meal or dessert a day you will find that you maintained that week instead of gaining. Of course you shouldn’t do it everyday it’s only when you have multiple parties or long celebrated weekends.
I know most of you want to continue to lose through December – especially those that are going on holiday vacations. However, you must realize that in order to lose you need to be 110% six days and only have the one day off a week. Sometimes when we decide that we can go places and be good, it’s the alcohol or food that is served that throws us off. We are hungry and give in – or have a drink and get weak – and before you know it you throw in the towel and have an all out cheat evening. You see, it would have been better and no damage if you decided ahead of time to have a Maintenance day. That’s why it’s very important to always plan before and know what you are doing the day of an event or party. The options are always simple: You either eat before you go or you eat at the party. If you stay clean and on program all day then you know that whatever you decide for dinner or dessert will result in whether or not you are maintaining or losing. If you decide to have a cheat meal or dessert then you go right back on program. If you are not eating at the party then make sure you eat dinner before you go. Don’t let a cheat meal turn into an unexpected cheat night or week. When you can plan in advance and decide it’s a Maintain day or Weight loss day regardless of where you are going and you stick to it – this is when you create balance in your life.
It’s better to plan to have an “off” meal and Maintain then it is to not plan and end up with a cheat night.
The best way to learn is to have set backs. So if you have had one recently or even over Thanksgiving – don’t beat yourself up. Just know that if you want results you need to change what you are doing. You need to get better at making choices…to plan ahead and you need to be stronger when faced with temptation. You have to remind yourself you  have to be strict 6 days a week and that’s why you can indulge and enjoy on your 7th day. You can’t do both and indulge during the week and have a cheat day and also lose weight –  It just doesn’t work. You have to constantly remind yourself why this is important to you and what your goals are. Yes it can and will be boring when there is so much temptation around you but when you say “I’m so bored of the same meals” – You have to remind yourself that of course it will get boring. Weight loss is boring! But you have to change the way you think. Because when you think of it as boring it means that you are still letting food control you. You need to be strong-minded and constantly remind yourself that food is not the most exciting thing in your life. You eat to fuel your body to lose weight and when you live like that you will lose the weight. The only thing that is exciting is cheat day and you want to keep it that way because cheat day is only exciting because you can do it once a week. If you did it everyday it wouldn’t be exciting anymore. Choices will be so much easier for you when you come to terms with this is what I can order and stop looking for excitement – the only excitement that you should be looking for is the scale going down.
Most of you know it doesn’t take much to gain. That’s why consistency in your day and weeks is so important. It’s what helps create the weight loss. It’s important that you wake up every day positive with a plan to lose weight or maintain. Consistency is key to feeling good and seeing the numbers go down – just ask Pam (below). She lives for consistency and always does the right thing when it comes to her weight loss. She is definitely a shark and loves to live like one. Just like many of you, when she started she wanted to see big results fast but it was consistency in how she lives and the foods she chooses that ultimately led her to her success. She is thinner, fit, and healthier than she has ever been. She always worked hard before she started our program but never saw the results like she got from eating clean on program 6 days a week and indulging on cheat day once a week. She lives with the idea that food is fuel and Cheat Day is exciting. Now it is her way of life and she continues everyday to do the right thing because it makes her feel and look amazing.
Everyone who tries to lose weight knows that it’s hard – its one of the hardest things to do. But it’s also one of the most rewarding. When you want to look great – feel great – love to wake up and feel lighter and fitter and get dressed feeling amazing in your own skin – then you need to do the right thing for you and for your body. The bottom line is you need to plan ahead. Know when you are maintaining or losing. Always know there is an option. If you want to lose then you need to get through the parties and events and do the right thing even if it means eating before or after you go. It mean to being consistent in your days and weeks. Trust yourself and your program to guide you and plan. Most important, it’s always better to accept and plan and extra maintain day then to sabotage yourself with an unplanned weight-gain day. Know what you are doing and consistently follow it…
“SUCCESS COMES WHEN YOU DO WHAT IS RIGHT – NOT WHAT IS EASY”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAM!
PAM LOVES THE WAY SHE LIVES AND LIVES THE WAY SHE LOVES
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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January 23, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

If You Are Hungry It’s Probably Working…

 

When you are hungry it most likely means that you are losing weight. That’s how your body tells you it wants more because it’s used to having more. It means that you are taking in less food than what your body is use to – and that’s why it’s hungry. But it’s also why you are losing weight. If you give it anything extra than what is on you program you will go from a losing day to a maintain day. In order for you to maintain, your body needs to get the amount of food you need to sustain your current weight. But if you feed it a little less, just enough to be a little hungry – that’s when you know you are losing weight. Because the bottom line is you need to take in less than what your body needs to lose the weight.

You should never be starving but a little hungry is okay. 
While it seems so simple, we all know it’s anything but that. If it was easy then everyone would be thin. What you need to remind yourself daily is why you are doing this and how much it means to you. It’s just so easy to go off program for the smallest reasons. We all have our own excuses and some of them are very valid. But there is really no excuse that is good enough to go off program. Think about it – whatever is going on in your life – eating more doesn’t solve your problems, nor does it make anything better, it only gives you something else to be upset about.
If you are 140 and you want to be 130 you need to eat like someone who is 130.

When it’s really hard to stay on that’s when you have to have those visions in your head of you getting dressed and nothing fitting you. Remember how unhappy it makes you when you are overweight and uncomfortable in your body. Yes, it’s always hard to eat less than what your body wants. But this is what I can tell you from what I see. When you are doing the right things you feel better. Everything in the day is easier to get through. Eating clean and healthy and for weight loss makes a bad day better and makes a great day amazing. While most people would say it’s just so much easier doing the wrong things the fact is it’s just so much easier doing the right thing. Because when you are doing the wrong things the entire time you are thinking how will you get back to doing the right thing. Stop thinking about the Monday you will start or the next perfect week. Just keep doing the right things and stay on your program and if you haven’t been doing the right thing then start right now, today, this moment and begin a healthy life that makes you feel good. It’s time to move forward, be strong and make the commitment to yourself. We will always have some weight loss days that will be absolute  torture to get through. But you have to fight your way through it. And for most, the hard days of weight loss are still easier then to be off and out of control.

So you have to ask yourself – what feels better being in control and a little hungry – or out of control and overly full…
Melanie knows the answer…
Congratulations Melanie for reaching your goal
You look absolutely amazing! 
Melanie 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
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle
January 23, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

Monday Motivation

 

THIS WEEK TO GET YOU A LITTLE MORE MOTIVATED WE WILL BE SENDING BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS OF SUCCESSFUL CLIENTS – Because if they can do it, why can’t you!

Today’s Motivation Monday we are going to focus on learning to say “No, Thank you!” They seem like such easy words to say and yet when faced with temptations of food, those words are the hardest things to get out of your mouth. First you start with the excuse “I didn’t want to be rude.” Then before you know it, one treat has led into four full cheat days! Monday rolls around and you don’t remember how you even got here. After a week of Thanksgiving it’s so easy to feel defeated. Excuses are easy to come by, and it’s easy to fall prey to a table full of yummy temptations. Four days of social gatherings and celebrations is a lot for anyone to get through. Especially for those who don’t like to say “No, thank you.” What you have to remember going into December, a month of Holidays, parities, cookies, egg nog and spiked cider – you better start saying “No, Thank you” or be prepared this year to put new bigger pants on your Hanukah and Christmas list.

I know when you are faced with temptation you may feel like you can handle it. You tell yourself “just one” and before you know it you let yourself get caught up in having one treat that turns into a full blow cheat day. But what you have to remember is even one treat is “off program” because you can’t have a treat when it’s not cheat day. So stop making your own rules. They didn’t work before and they won’t work now. Follow the program – if it’s not your cheat day, you don’t eat it. Save the treats for your Cheat Day.  That’s what Cheat Day is for. There will be too many things going on in the next month that can tempt even my killer sharks. So if you did go off Thanksgiving enough where you are bloated and uncomfortable then pull it together and get right back on program and start by following two rules:
  • STAY AWAY FROM THE SCALE! The best thing you can do right now is stay away from the scale. It’s going to take a couple of days before you should even begin to look at the number. The first couple of days are deflating days. By Wednesday/ Thursday you should be fine to see where you are at. But just know you will still have a couple of days left after that to see the numbers go down. By Saturday you will be in a much better place mentally and physically. You will be back in control and your numbers will reflect it.
  • BACK TO THE ORIGINAL MENU- I said it before and I will say it forever. I know it’s very tempting to do something really drastic to get the weight off. But you have to remind yourself, if it was that easy then everyone would be thin. The best thing to do is go back to your meals and snacks that you were doing before you went off program. You can’t go from eating everything in sight to eating nothing. So go back to your meals and snack and follow your plan. I promise in a couple of days you will be back to feeling in control and on your path.
Moving forward….If you stayed on program or had minimal damage – what you need to decide is what do you want out of the next 4 weeks? Because in four short weeks it’s Hanukah and Christmas. So make a decision and follow it. If you want to lose weight figure out what you want to lose and how much work you are willing to put into this.
1 lb a week =  4 lbs 
2 lbs a week=  8 lbs
3 lbs a week = 12 lbs
The numbers may seem impossible right now but the truth is that if you really want it then it’s very doable. Just ask Nicole below. She lost 16 lbs in 5 weeks and she ate and drank, but she was also very mindful and did all the right things to make it happen. Of course she was faced with temptation but we worked through it and she came out the winner. You need to stick to your program 110% and you will see the weight loss. Consistency is key when losing weight so remember everyday counts. If you are faced with temptation you need to reach out so we can work through it and keep you in a great place so you can see your weight loss numbers add up. Start by making a choice of what you want and follow it with your weight loss plan. 3 meals 1 snack is uncomfortable for many but will give you the very best weight loss numbers. 3 meals and 2 snack is in between comfortable and uncomfortable but may be more doable for you. And of course the most important detail is it’s ONE CHEAT DAY. Not one cheat day with treats through the week. It’s one cheat day a week and on program 110% the other 6 days. Weight loss is not easy but it’s doable and worth it. In order to get the best results you need to have consistency and you need to be able to say “No, Thank you.”
FINALLY the last thought is for you to stop making excuses for yourself. Stop wasting time – and work hard to make it happen. We all want things, but along with wanting it you have to put the work in so they happen. Holidays and vacations are very near. Don’t have yet another vacation roll around and you are buying cover ups. Don’t let another holiday that you will look back and be unhappy at how you looked and felt. Most of all – don’t let another vacation or holiday arrive and everyone that knows and loves you have to deal with seeing you upset because nothing fits you or because you are unhappy you let another year slip by. They can feel your unhappiness. And why….all because when the time was here, it wasn’t important enough for you to say  “No, thank you.”
CONGRATULATIONS NICOLE FRIEDMAN 
THE WINNER OF THE THANKSGIVING CHALLENGE
IN 5 SHORT WEEKS SHE LOST 16.6 POUNDS
 
 
NICOLE LOVES THE WAY SHE LIVES AND LIVES THE WAY SHE LOVES
 
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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January 23, 2017By Josephine Fitzpatrick

Thanksgiving Challenge Winners

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR THANKSGIVING CHALLENGE CONTESTANTS
YOU ALL DID SUPER FABULOUS!
A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS:
IN ONLY 5 WEEKS
HARRY ROTH LOST:  20.5 LBS
AND
NICOLE FRIEDMAN LOST:  16.6 LBS
AWESOME AWESOME JOB!!!!
You both did ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!
“I don’t think anything is unrealistic if you believe you can do it.”
Watch for our Next Big Challenge Coming In January!
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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October 5, 2016By Josephine Fitzpatrick

What’s Up Wednesday

 

If you over did it on the holiday the best thing you can do today is get right back on program and go back to your regular menu of 3 meals and snacks. Do not go from overeating to restricting. Your body is not ready for it and it will only rebel on you in the process. I know you feel like you want it off right now but give yourself the next couple of days of being back on track and you will deflate like a tube with a pin hole. Before you know it you will go back to feeling light, leaner and healthier. It won’t be today and might not even be tomorrow but by Saturday you will be happy to be back on track and feeling great. Yes, it’s true that it comes on a lot faster than it comes off but the quicker you go back the faster you see results. If you are a snail be a snail and if you are a shark be a shark – at the end of the day all that matters is you are going in the right direction. Fast or slow, you will get there and each day you will feel better and better.  
 
 
Here is one of our amazing clients Lynne. I witnessed first hand Lynne go from a snail to a shark. As she put it, “I had a major love affair with food all my life”. Through working closely and diligently with Thea, Lynne has changed everything about her life and the way she looks at food. She understands how important it is to fuel your body to feel and look good. She has learned that everything you put in your body matters and every thing you eat really does make a difference. She works hard everyday and it has changed her physically, mentally, and actively. She now has a healthy active life that doesn’t revolve around food but around health. She feeds her body accordingly but has become extremely mindful that she doesn’t eat to eat. She eats to live healthy, fit, lean and happy. We are so proud of you Lynne. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!   
 
 
LYNNE LOVES THE WAY SHE  LIVES AND LIVES THE WAY SHE LOVES
 
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*Lynne is down a total of 29 lbs! I couldn’t be more proud of her. She worked so hard.  She has come such a long way and grown into a new person when it comes to eating and learning about food. She clearly loves to live healthy and it shows through her happiness.  I am so thrilled that I got to be part of your life and  healthy journey. So proud of you Lynne!   – Thea
 
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~Love to Live Healthy With Josephine Fitzpatrick
 
 
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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September 26, 2016By Josephine Fitzpatrick

Don’t Let Age Dictate Who You Are

 

A client came into me recently. Women in her 50’s who has reached her goal weight and has gotten down to a number she had never seen in her lifetime. Her new number of 125 lbs at 5’ 7” at 53 years old was beyond her belief. She looks amazing. She wasn’t too thin and she didn’t have a gaunt face and all the things you hear – simply not true. When you eat healthy and clean it’s a very healthy thin look you get in return. She looked absolutely gorgeous and young! As I always say, and it is clear to those who experience it – Being overweight doesn’t only make you feel older it makes you look older. To say the very least she has been over the top thrilled with her new body and weight. The journey is just as exciting for me as it is for the client. Watching someone transform and see week after week layers of fat disappear always result each week in beautiful features that were hidden by unhealthy eating and weight gain. Was it easy for her? Sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn’t. Like us all, she had good and bad days. And sometimes a good or bad week. But we always pulled her back on track and right back into eating healthy and eating for weight loss. My very important point is what she said to me when I spoke to her this week.   
 
She said “I am almost mad at myself that when I came in to see you for the first time at a 163 pounds that I was willing to settle for that. I was willing to settle for a number because I was older. Because I hit menopause, because I didn’t think I was capable of looking or feeling like I did when I was younger. And after going from 163 to 125 the truth is, I feel better and look better than I ever have. I don’t remember feeling or looking this way when I was in my 30s or 40s. I am beyond excited and happy and my age means nothing now compared to how I feel and look today.”  
 
I got very choked up because what got me the most about what she said was that she was “willing to settle”. She was willing to settle for unhappiness. She was older and heavier and she was going to let her age dictate who she was and how she felt. That would have been so sad if that happened. That would have been so wasteful had she not took that one last chance.   
 
Now I want you to see what I saw the last couple of months. Because what I see is the same as what the world sees. I first met her and she looked older, tired, uncomfortable, in a negative state because like most clients, she tried everything and was sure nothing would work. But most important she clearly wasn’t happy – she was sad that this is who she became. She no longer even felt young on the inside because the outside had clearly taken over. But each week she worked hard. She lost weight and continued to follow her program. There were times she struggled and other times it was effortless. She came in week after week and I would see cheekbones that weren’t there before and collarbones that were once hidden. A beautiful smile that I didn’t even know existed when I first met her. Every week her transformation went from little changes to big changes. In the last couple of months I have seen this sad, unhappy, unhealthy women transform from an “Eeyore” into a “Tigger” and it wasn’t only her body that transformed it was her life as well. She began living like a young woman and not an older lady. Every week she would get brighter and brighter. She started doing things that she once kept putting off because she didn’t feel good. Activities that she never considered because she overweight all of a sudden became part of her life. She started dressing younger, classy and stylish. She wore her clothes, her clothes did not wear her. When she first started she looked like she was ready to throw in the towel and live unhappy and now only a couple of months later it was clear that her life has just begun again. And I can’t help but think how sad if she settled. How sad that her life could have very well ended earlier than it should have. And by earlier I mean in spirit. Just because we are alive doesn’t mean we are living.  
 
So what I am asking you today on Monday morning…Do you want to settle for where you are? Will you let life’s excuses – age, school, work, family, friends, etc…dictate who you are and where you want to be? Or are you willing to make the changes, work hard, and even be a little uncomfortable if it’s going to get you to a place of joy, happiness, healthy and being thin? A place where you feel and look younger because you are younger than what you look and feel like today! A place where dressing in your clothes is effortless and enjoyable. Are you willing to work hard and make the changes so you have control of where you are going and where you will end up? This is the question I want you to ask yourself every day when you wake up. Are you willing to settle? Or are you willing to work hard to get back to where you were or even better place than you have ever been…Because what you want out of life is in your reach. What you put into your life is what you will get out of it. You just can’t give up and you can never settle.   
 
 

“NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO SETTLE FOR LESS THAN YOU DESERVE”
THIS IS YOUR LIFE…. MAKE IT THE BEST IT CAN BE!
 
 
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
 
 
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
 
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