The first couple of days after vacation are always tough. You feel bloated, thick, and just not in a good place from over doing it on vacation. Then you have the challenge of going back to eating on program which of course is always less than when you are away. But the bottom line is – over eating and drinking is only fun when you don’t feel big and it’s only satisfying when you feel thin and healthy to enjoy it.  That’s what Cheat Days are for. If you feel you over did it and are struggling – there is a very simple cure. You remember how you felt before you left for vacation and you get right back on program. In a day you will feel better, and in a week – amazing. Getting back on program is one of the most important things you can do when you don’t feel your best. It can often be the hardest, but it’s the one thing that will make you feel amazing. In a week you will have that feeling that you love and you will already be looking to enjoy your Cheat Day. Just get right back on. You had your fun and now it’s time to work. That’s why they say work hard, play hard. It’s Monday and it’s time to work hard!

Are you ready for the warm weather? Have you at least started? If you have, that’s awesome. Keep eating clean and keep exercising and your body will return the favor by looking and feeling great. Every week you will get to a better and better place. If you are struggling for any reason, you have to remind yourself that the longer you put it off the more you are going to struggle. As hard as it is to start it’s harder not to start. Being on program is what is going to HELP you with the struggle. Getting in control quickly is what is going to make you feel better both mentally and physically. You can’t keep putting it off. You need to remind yourself of what is important and how good you want to feel. How feeling good changes everything about you into all positive things. When you do the right things and you treat yourself the right way you feel good, you have confidence and you want more and more of it. You are happy and everyone around you is happy. But you need to start. Don’t put it off another day. Just get on your program and your healthy path because the faster you do it the quicker you will feel better and the faster the results will be. I know it’s not always easy to do the right thing – but it always pays off when you do. If you want to look and feel good you have to put the work in. I can promise you it’s all about putting the work in and staying on your program and working hard every day.  Don’t just sit and wait for something to happen because it won’t. If you are not doing the right things you will not just wake up one day and be thin. Fat will never magically disappear. In fact, you will just keep growing and growing – and all of a sudden everything is so tight you don’t know what to do. Sometimes it really happens so gradually, you can be shocked. New Clients come in my office everyday and say “I don’t know what happened I was thin and then all of a sudden I wasn’t”. You don’t want to get to that place, but if you are already there – you need to be on program and on your healthy path. Yes, it’s hard. Anything worth having is hard. But it’s also very doable and, more importantly, it’s very worth it. Who doesn’t want to feel great in summer clothes?? Who doesn’t want to be and feel healthy?? Who doesn’t want that control and that lighter feeling?? Most of all, who doesn’t want to slip on summer shorts and feel amazing in them?? Just remember, every day you put it off is another day you could be closer to your goals – closer to feeling good and closer to fitting in your clothes again.

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

211 E 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10016

The days go fast and before you know it, this week will be over and done. You want to look back and think “I did it and I feel great!” – Summer is a hop, skip and a jump away and so are your goals. They are right there and you can reach them if you stay on program and continue to follow what makes you feel good. Isn’t it funny that eating clean and staying on program makes you feel your best? So where is the challenge? When you don’t do the right thing you don’t feel great. It should be a no brainer and yet, somehow the temptation to do the wrong thing can overcome us in a heart beat. But the truth is, when you are mentally strong and in a really good place you will stay stronger. When you are seeing the results you will stay stronger and the longer you love to live clean the easier it is to stay mentally strong. The temptations will always be there and they will only win if you let them. It’s you against them. It’s feeling good against feeling horrible. It’s feeling thin against feeling thick. When it comes to doing the right thing and feeling your very best it’s simply making the right choices against the wrong. Most of you know what they are and you know how to stay on program and what works for you – It’s all about doing it. And when you know it makes you feel the happiest, lightest and thinest then there should be no thinking – you just do it.

If you look at those around you that make it look so much easier than it is and wonder how do they get through the snow days and how do they stay on program continuously without fail – It’s because they already went through the challenges that you are experiencing but they learned very quickly that not being on program or doing the right thing makes them feel out of control and unhappy. Once you really come to realize that it’s not who you want to be – or how you want to feel – especially over food – then you will start saying “no thank you” and realize that saying “no” or simply walking away is such a better feeling than eating something that you didn’t need or want, and that will not take you to where you want to be. Follow what you want and remember your goals. The days go fast and the weeks and months go faster.

Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

211 E 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10016

Summer Mondays are harder than any other Mondays of the year, but they are just as important as any other Monday of the year. You need to plan and always be back on track Monday morning regardless of where you are or what time of year it is. Mondays are important for many reasons. They start your week. They put you on track and they give you a sense of control in your week ahead. Another great thing about Mondays is they give you the chance to regroup, put the weekend behind you and be even better than the week before. It’s fine to have weekend fun but the importance of getting back on plan and doing the right thing Monday Morning will result in how you look and feel the following weekend.

 

Summer is not Easy: Summer is a time when it’s harder to stay on track and have 110% days. But sometimes just because it’s harder doesn’t mean it’s not doable and doesn’t mean it’s not necessary. I don’t have to tell you how quickly you will gain the weight back.  This program works if you follow it but if you eat what you want when you want you will gain the weight back. If you are 80%-20% then you will get 80% results. If you are 60%-40% then you will get 60% results. You see the clients around you. Many who have kept the weight off and maintained. They do it because they are on program and live the program. There is always a choice and you need to make it everyday. If you want to lose weight this summer you need to follow your program and stay on program in order to enjoy the Cheat Day. Make sure you have all your meals and snacks prepared and ready for you. It’s important to plan your days and be ready for whatever is coming your way. If you have your meals and snacks then you have no excuse to go off program. Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean you have to give up losing weight. You can enjoy and lose weight if you are willing to put the work in. Remember, the harder you work the better the results. It’s never easy – especially in the Summer, but it’s very doable and necessary- especially in the Summer.

 

Make The Good Days Count: Most people gain between 7-10 pounds by September.  That’s a lot of weight to gain on top of weight that you already needed to lose. Think smart and act smarter! If you want to look good, if you want to feel good then you have to do good things for you body. Yes, exercising is very important and the more you can incorporate it the better you will feel. But eating clean and staying on program is what is going to make you feel amazing and make the changes you really want to see. It’s what will make you feel that lighter, happier feeling that you love and change the number on the scale to where you want it. It’s what gives you the feeling that you are in control and doing the right things for your body and mind. While it’s a much harder concept to follow in the summer, there are days you will feel amazing and follow it – and those are the days you need to make count!

 

Choose your battles: If you know you are having long weekends at the beach or on the boat – then you need to try and be 110% Monday through – Thursday. If you want to lose weight this Summer but don’t want to be super strict – then be amazing on the days you can be. And on the days that are more challenging – try and be mindful even if you are cheating. You don’t want big Cheat Days to be consecutive and you don’t want to be Cheating a little everyday. The days that you can be amazing – then be amazing and eat the minimal that is on your plan. On the days you need extra snacks then have them but try to make them On Program snacks. If you want to enjoy a treat here and there then do it but try to be amazing and on 110% on program the following day. My point is, the great days will help and will count in your overall summer. You may not see the weight loss every week but you will see it by the end of the month. Instead of losing 1-2 lbs every week in July – you might lose 2 pounds by the end of July and 2 pounds by the end of August – and both are much better than gaining 10 by September.

 

Change Your Focus for Summer Months: If you already made the decision that you want the summer to be less about dieting and more about enjoying then you need to change your focus. Many clients will look to just maintain through the summer and get back on program in September. That is totally fine and may give you the mental break you need. In order to do this you need to still be mindful everyday about what your choices are. Instead of focusing on losing, focus on not gaining: Some clients will cheat one week and the next week be 110%. Others will be amazing Monday through Thursday and Cheat Friday through Sunday. Try and make changes where you can even on the days you are not 100%. If you want extra drinks give up your snacks. If you want extra snacks then make your meals smaller. Try and make even the smallest positive changes on the days your are off program. This way even though you are having more Cheat Days the changes will not necessarily help you lose but that’s okay – because what they are doing is helping you from gaining.

 

At the end of the Summer days and Summer months – we have to accept what we have done. While it’s great to party, drink, and indulge – if you continuously over do it –  you will be left with the results that I can assure you will not be worth how you feel. So stay mindful and think before you act. Because just like every bad choice will make a negative  difference – every good choice will make a positive one.

 

LOVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TO LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE

 

~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

Monday! Yay! Hope everyone had an amazing Mothers Day! We had some super super weight loss numbers this week both locally and online from all over the world. Yes everyone seems to be doing the right thing, in the right direction and living the Innovation way. It’s always a lot easier when you know what works for you and then of course you do it. When staying on program – eating clean – eating less and having only one Cheat Day a week gives you the results you want then you do it. You make it happen and you work hard until it happens. Then before you know it, you start to experience week after week of weight loss. Week after week of feeling better, looking better, feeling happy, healthy and lighter – and in control. Everyone starts telling you and it feels great. You are in control of what you want and more importantly in control of your happiness. All the things you work so hard for come together and make it all worth it. Let’s face it – it is the results that make us motivated to do it again week after week. But not just the results on the scale. The results of feeling it, seeing it and hearing it. It makes it all worth walking away when we know it’s the right thing.

I love the happy texts and happy faces in the studio when clients do the right thing. Seeing the numbers go down every week makes everything you work so hard for so worth it. It’s not always easy – but sometimes our circumstances can make it easier than other times. For example, it’s always easier when it’s sunny than when it’s raining. It’s easier when we are heading into vacation than coming out of one, and it’s always easier before summer than in the middle of it. What it all comes down to is when we really want something we make it happen. When it means a lot to us – we do what we have to and stay on program, we follow our menu and we make sure nothing gets in our way. The key is to always make it the most important thing for you. If you know it’s what makes you happy then it should be first on your list. I can’t say it enough that while it may seem selfish to make your weight a priority, you have to reverse it and think how selfish it is to make those around you unhappy because you are not doing the right thing to make yourself happy. It’s a snowball affect. When you are making it the most important thing to you then you are happy and when you are happy you can make everyone around you happy too. Our choices don’t only reflect what we want and what we do to ourself but also those around us that love us.

If you have been amazing and on program think about your happiness. Has it changed you in a positive way? Do you not only feel better, do you act better to those you love? Even to strangers! Because when we are happy and feel good we walk around with a smile. We give out compliments and we want our happiness to be contagious to others around us. Think about it – do those around you seem happier? If they are happy it’s because you are happy. When you do the right things for your body and mind it makes you happy – and when you are happy you can truly enjoy others’ happiness. From little things to big things, you can enjoy and truly be happy for what is going on around you when you are truly happy with yourself.

If you haven’t been doing the right things you need to stop and think if it’s been affecting you mentally as well as physically. Are you grumpy, unhappy and short tempered because you don’t feel good? Does everything hurt from the time you wake up until you go to bed?  Are you living on tums and advil from over eating? Are you moving slower and feeling sad? If this is you and you don’t want it to be you, then only you can change it. I can be here for you and give you all the tools but you still have to do it. So take one moment today and think about where you are right now. Get a pen and paper and write down how you want to feel and what you need to do to change where you are. If summer is motivating for you then write down how you want to feel when summer arrives. Think about the clothes you want to wear and how you want to feel in them and write it down to remind yourself everyday of how important it is. Compare your feelings right now to how you wish you felt. Remind yourself of how you are the only person who can make it happen and think about all the successful people around you and learn from them that it really is possible to look and feel amazing everyday. And all it takes to feel that great every day is staying on your program all week. Follow your menu and it will take you to where you want to be. And remember, the only thing that is standing in your way is the temptation and the mindless eating. Whether it’s from boredom or stress of the family, work, business, life. Unfortunately those stresses will always come and go. It’s part of life and if we are lucky they will never be life threatening. Don’t make them life threatening with the foods you feed yourself to make you feel better. Because it’s always going to be the same food you grab over and over and still to this day doesn’t make you feel better or make the stress go away. It only makes it worse. In order to change your happiness you need to change your habits.

 

 

 

 

Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

211 E 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10019

It’s Monday Morning. It’s not like I’m telling you something you don’t already know. It’s a day where we begin a week – our week of work, school, sports, eating healthy and clean and being the best we can be. While some dread Mondays – others embrace it. The feeling of eating clean and knowing by next weekend you will be even less weight than you were this past weekend. The feeling of being the best you can be and no one can stop you or get in your way because you are the only person who has control of it. Monday mornings are a brand new start every week and when you do the program 110% it’s also a day that your body believes is starting over, it’s going to work it’s hardest today because it’s struggling to get back and get rid of the Cheat Day.

 

 

 

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:

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.

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.”

Another week closer to summer and the weather is proving it will be here sooner rather than later. Start this week by setting goals. Where do you want to be by the start of next weekend? Where do you want to be by April 1st? Every goal you set make sure you have a plan in place. Stay on your program of 6 Clean Days and 1 Cheat Day™.

Sometimes we make life harder than it is. When we do the right things and stay on the path of Health and Weight Loss everything becomes so much easier. We no longer have to worry about starting over. We don’t have to fear stepping on the scale, and most important, we know we will wake up feeling happy, healthy and lighter. We know that when we follow, it works.

Motivation Monday is a day that you not only start fresh with your Cheat Day™ behind you, but it’s also the day that you begin another step closer to the person you want to be.

1) STOP MAKING EXCUSES – You can tell me your friends came by or your kids have been out of control or you’re sooooo busy at work…the bottom line is you are still using them as excuses to cheat and go off your program. And regardless of how true your excuse may be, it doesn’t change the fact that if you went off then you will not lose weight. So remember even if you have the best excuse in the world I can’t reverse the damage you did from it and magically make you lose weight. The only way you will lose weight is if you stay on your program and start learning that your excuses are prolonging where you want to be. We all know that when you are on program you can have friends over, you can go out to eat, and most important, you can still enjoy life. You have to learn to incorporate the happy, the sad, the annoying, the challenging and the unexpected into your life because they will always be there.

2) EAT TO LIVE – don’t live to eat.  Stop making food the focus of your life. Have your plan in place each day of what you are eating from your program and then move on. It’s fuel for your body. It’s not supposed to be exciting. It’s meant to help your body run the best it can. Cheat day™ is exciting.

3) DOWN TIME – This is one of the most important rules for this week. Figure out when you are the weakest in the day. Is it in the morning? Or afternoon when the kids come home or when you come home from work? OR is it after dinner when everything has settled down for the night? Whenever your weak time of day is, you need a plan. You can have a snack ready – for example cut up vegetables and hummus  – or any one of your program snacks. You can also plan to get out of the house and go for a walk with your dog or a family member. What a great way to bond after a long day. OR do an exercise that will keep your heart pumping and your mind occupied – 15 jumping jacks – 15 sit ups and 15 push ups. Because we all know most of the time it’s not about the food, it’s about the time of day.

Never let yourself get to the point where you are starving and you don’t know what you are having. That’s when you will start to grab anything in sight. There are plenty of things in life that are really hard and we have no control of making them easier. Eating clean, losing weight and feeling great are all things that if you do the right thing and make the right choices then they become easy. They become second nature and most important they become a way of life.

Summer is around the corner. Keep it simple. Stay on your path and do the right things and life will simply become easier. Because even if you have obstacles in your life that are challenging and hard – when you feel healthy and fit even the hardest obstacles will become easier to deal with.

Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible: and suddenly you’re doing the impossible.

CONGRATULATIONS MARK

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!

Are you ready to start working on your summer body? I hope so, because Memorial day is only 14 weeks away. We all know how super fast that goes. Start today and make every day count. Remember, it’s 6 days on and 1 day off. The 6 days have to be super clean for the 1 day to work. If you just came back from vacation and feel ridiculously up and bloated – the best thing you can do right now is just go back on program. It’s all new weight right now and will come right off if you start back. If you wait and gain on top of this new weight – then the new weight becomes old weight and that my friends will become real fat. So do it now and get it done. You had your fun – it’s time to be back on, feeling in control and knowing that when Memorial day comes around in 14 weeks you will be ready, exited and feeling amazing!