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Tag: summer 2017

FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

Thea’s Journey

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

This is what happens when you LIVE the Innovation Program

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

 

 

 

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

 

Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

211 E 43rd Street Manhattan, NY 10019

FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

The Path of Your Summer

When summer begins and the kids have gone and work has ended or slows down, we promise ourselves that we are going to do all the things that we put on hold in May and June. But what really happens is the complete opposite. We let a sense of freedom take us over. Freedom from schedules, and pressures of the year are now replaced with parties and social events that just don’t seem to end. The first couple of weeks it’s all so easy to ignore our responsibilities. But now we are 4 weeks in and clothes are tight, and faces are bloated and, we are realizing we need to rethink what we want and how we are going to approach the weeks ahead. If you find this is you then you need to do what so many others did this week: they came in and reset, and are back on track to their 6 days on and 1 day Cheat. If you do it you will not only debloat but you will feel both mentally and physically better and back in control and on your path. Don’t put it off because you have a vacation coming or because you have dinner plans. Those are all things you can work around. But if you continue on a destructive road you know that you will crash and you don’t want it to be while on vacation or when the kids come home from camp.

 

Losing weight in the summer is not easy but it’s easier than the feeling of gaining weight in the summer – it’s always a choice. It doesn’t mean you have to be perfect every week from now until September, it just means that the more weeks you can have that are back on track, the better you will feel and the better the end result will be. I see first hand the clients that came back this week and how much better they felt a couple of days in. Take control – don’t put it off. We will get you back on track to a controlled week where you know everything you do will make you feel amazing come the weekend. Don’t worry if you come back higher – we saw so many clients come back this week with higher numbers – we totally get it and we are proud of them for coming in and taking control back. That’s what it’s all about. Thats what we are here for – to help you get it back. It’s never about where you are it’s about where you are going.

 

It’s not easy being on and in control in the summer but it’s worth it. You are in the drivers seat and you are the one who can and will control where you go. Will you gain? It’s up to you. Will you lose or maintain? Totally up to you. There are difficulties that arise in everyone’s life whether they are positive parties or negative problems. What is most important is dealing with them. Because if you let the food control the feelings you will end up even more unhappy than you are today. It might be 5lbs or 15lbs more. But if you know you are going in the wrong direction the time to deal with it is now. Yes, it takes a strong person but you have the strength in you. Is being overweight, bloated and unhappy an option for you? Is that what you want and how you want to feel? If you want to have the positive changes you need to be the active participant in your life and do something about it. You determine the direction you want to be. Which means you will determine the outcome of the summer.

 

TWO FUN HAPPY STORIES I WANT TO SHARE:

 

This come from one of my In Studio clients who continued to lose because she is a total shark. Even though she started as a snail for quite a while. But she stuck with it and it happened. Because when you are a consistent snail it happens and that’s what makes you a shark! And once she saw the changes and felt the changes she became a determined shark. Even though she loves food – she also knows how much she loves being fit, and thin. She had a long journey but walked in my office the other day looking like a hot little momma! She is just one of the many clients who proves that weight absolutley ages us and when we take it off we take years off. I remember when she first walked in my office. She looked like a completely different person this past Saturday. It was like this younger version who was now so confident and strong both mentally and physically stepped out the body of when she first came to see me. She is very close to her goal but she told me she knew she had “arrived” at her happy place because her 18 year old son came in the kitchen and said to her “WOW MOM! You look great! You really have it all going on!” She said it was by far the best compliment that she could have ever gotten. Better than her husband or friends – because when your 18 year old son notices that you look great – you must look great! I loved loved seeing her in that moment. I say it all the time – there is nothing better than your children looking at you and thinking my Mom looks great – she lives healthy, she takes care of herself and is strong and fit! Or,  My dad looks fit and strong – he looks so much younger than the other dads. This is how kids think and this is how they want to think. They don’t want to worry about you and why you are unhappy and why you look unhealthy and if you are okay. They want to know that their parents are taking care of themselves. They don’t want to have to worry about you.  They know when you are happy, sad, depressed and upset. If it’s a problem you have no control over thats one thing – but when it’s something that you are creating and not taking care of – that’s not fair to anyone – so change it.

 

One of our online clients came in to kiss me a quick hello on Saturday. She is online so I haven’t seen her in months – but I knew her weight was going down and is at an all time low for her. When she came in I barely recognized her. Completely lean from head to toe she looked like a teenager running in my office. She has been at this and had her ups and downs but never gave up. It’s truly the most amazing feeling and sight to see someone who struggled to get to this place that she worked so hard to be and the difference in how she looks and feels shows in every step she takes and every smile she makes. She clearly feels so amazing and has realized that there is no food in the world that could make her feel better than she does today. She has learned to love to live healthy and clean and On Program 110% and it shows. She still enjoys her Cheat Day every week but she makes sure that her 6 clean days are 110% on – doesn’t matter that it’s summer. The one day is enough for her and she stays on program and does all the right things the other 6 days of the week. It’s how you have to live and it’s more than enough for us all.

 

 

I once read that every morning you are handed twenty four golden hours. They are some of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. Unfortunately, as we all have experienced, they don’t last forever and for some they are cut way too short. But they are here for you now. Make sure you are using your twenty four hours to make you feel the most amazing person you can be. It’s easy to indulge and over do it. But getting back on track takes strength and courage – both of which you have. Just keep remembering and thinking about what really makes you happy. Not for the moment but for the week, the month and a lifetime. Being healthy and fit OR over indulgent and overweight – it’s always a choice that you can only make. It’s not about where you are standing – it’s about where you are going. It’s more than never having bad moments, it’s about always knowing you are bigger and stronger than the moment.

 

TRUE HAPPINESS IS IN US ALL
IF YOU ARE WILLING TO WORK FOR IT
 YOU WILL FIND IT.

 

~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
FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

Countdown to 4th of July

READY OR NOT HERE IT COMES… 4th of July is exactly 4 weeks from today. It’s hard to believe with this crazy weather that we are approaching the beginning of summer. But we also know how quickly the summer weather plays tricks on us. Just when we get comfortable with a few days of rain – it’s 80 degrees and the clothes strip off whether you are ready or not. What can you do in 4 weeks? Well, if you put your mind to it and really focus, you can get a lot accomplished.

 

1) Start with your menu. Follow it 110% and you will see the weight loss every week. Give up a snack when you can and you will see it even faster (less is always better when trying to lose weight).

 

2) Exercise is always great because it helps you look and feel better – get out of the house and away from the kitchen. Exercises doesn’t always have to mean hardcore. It can be something you like… shoot hoops, dance, walk, bike ride, golf, tennis… anything that will keep you moving out of the house and in a healthy state while having fun.

 

3) Think about what you want going into the summer. Even if you are not happy where you are right now it will only get better if you continue to do the right things… and if you don’t do the right things it will continue to get worse.

 

4) Summer is social and if you know you will be drinking more than usual then keep an eye on how much you are drinking –  it’s a trigger. While it can be used as a snack, try and keep it for the weekends. When possible, fuel your body through the week with weight loss choices and keep the alcohol for weekend snacks and Cheat Day only.

 

This is such a serious time to really concentrate and be as consistent as you can with your meals and snacks. The reason is because the closer it gets to the 4th of July the more drastic you will be willing to try a Fad Diet that will put you in the wrong direction. There are no miracle pills or potions. The only thing that is going to get you to a good place and where you want to be and where you can continue is HARD WORK, BEING PERSISTENT AND CONSISTENT. Just like everything else in life you have to put the work in to get the results. So if you are feeling like, “Oh crap, I only have 4 weeks what pills or potions are out there” – I’m telling you right now to put your efforts into your menu because you know when you do it right it always works for you. Have your one Cheat Day a week and follow your meals and snacks. But you can’t Cheat during the week and then Cheat on the weekend. You can’t Cheat during the week and still have a Cheat Day and you can’t Cheat for 5 days and then be good for 5 days and expect a miracle. It doesn’t work like that. KEEP IT SIMPLE: take the next 4 weeks and follow your menu. Your meals and snacks and include any fun exercise. Have ONE Cheat Day a week and I promise you by 4th of July you will be in such a great place you will be so happy that you did it. Even if you have more to lose you will be so much happier, lighter and thinner than you are today!

 

This is a game. It’s how you play it that will determine your outcome. If you follow the rules you will have the best success. If you cheat when you should’t be cheating, then you will be less successful. It’s not much different than how you should view anything in your life. If you want to be the best, look the best and feel the best then you have to act it! Be amazing and give everything that matters in your life 110%. Fight for it and be persistent! … and let go and give the nonsense, the gossip, and all the other unimportant things 0% of your time and effort. Use your energy and your efforts toward the things that make you happy – and you should be at the top of that list. Firmly believing when you feel good, you have the power to helps others feel good around you.

 


How happy do you want to be this Summer?
We say it all the time, weight loss is hard. But being over weight and unhappy is harder.  
It’s always a choice.

 

4TH OF JULY WEEKEND IS EXACTLY 4 WEEKS AWAY
1 POUND A WEEK = 4 LBS
2 POUNDS A WEEK = 8 LBS
3 POUNDS A WEEK = 12 LBS

 

These are all doable.  You just have to want it and be persistent.
 Make it a priority and work toward it everyday.  

 

If you are persistent you will get what you want
If you are consistent you will keep it

 

~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
FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

Summer is Coming!

We made it through another Holiday and now our focus should be strictly on Memorial Day and the start of Summer. We have 6 WEEKS until Memorial Day and approximately 10 WEEKS until the FIRST DAY OF SUMMER. Summer shorts, bathing suits, dresses and wearing them to the beaches, BBQ and vacations. 10 Weeks is a long time and a lot can be done. But just like any other time of the year, you have to focus and decide what you want and what you will do to get there.

 

NO MORE HIDING: There is one thing about summer – regardless of how much weight you gained, you are not hiding under clothes anymore. Summer makes you put out there what you have done. Good or bad it’s for all to see. This is the time – right now – to make a difference.

 

LONG TERM: One of the things I notice so many people do is they think long term. Which is great when you are planning your savings account but not for your weight loss. It’s too overwhelming. You think – “I can’t eat like this forever” or “It will take me so long to lose the weight”. Instead you should be thinking short term and follow your menu and lose the weight. Don’t think about long term because as you lose the weight your thoughts and body change. You physically need less and will want less but right now every day is a struggle. Your body is used to doing what it wants and now you are training it to do what you say. Just take it day by day and you will see the changes and that will make you motivated to keep going. We can all do the right things to make sure we end up in the place we want. But in order to do it you have to be willing to put your words into actions. It’s easy to say it – now you have to prove it and you have 6-10 weeks to do it.

 

WHAT CAN 10 WEEKS GET YOU? A LOT!

 

You know how I love to break down the numbers because sometimes when you see what each week can get you it makes it real. What happens in our crazy life is we are so busy that the days and weeks pass by so quickly we don’t spend them as wisely as we should. It’s all about multi-tasking. While you are working at home or the office; while you are planning parties, or events; while you are taking the kids to school, sports, and end of the year celebrations; and while you are planning your next trip. Whatever you are spending your time on in the next 10 weeks you should also be eating clean, eating healthy and losing weight. It’s that simple. You need to do it – you want to do it – so stop making excuses and make it happen. If you do – this is what you can accomplish in 10 weeks:

 

1 lb a week   =   6 lbs by Memorial Day
1 lb a week   = 10 lbs by First Day of Summer

 

* This is so beyond doable.  Follow your menu with your meals and snacks and have your ONE cheat day a week and you will absolutely lose 1 lb a week resulting in 6 lbs by Memorial Day or 10 lbs by Summer! Consistency is key – if you want to get off that roller coaster ride then do it every week and it will add up.

 

2 lbs a week = 12 lbs by Memorial Day   
2 lbs a week = 20 lbs by First day of Summer

 

*Still very doable.  Follow your menu of meals and snacks and simply cut out a snack when you don’t need it. The current menu that you have that you are following, either take it back one snack a day or one less snack every other day. It’s usually that snack that you know you don’t really need but have it anyway – get rid of it and it will change the numbers. Make sure everything else is 110% to menu consistently through the week!

 

3 lbs a week =  18 lbs by Memorial Day
3 lbs a week =  30 lbs by First day of Summer 

 

*Challenging but doable. This requires your meals and one snack a day and no mistakes at any time. It requires you to follow and do the right things for the next 6 or 10 weeks without fail. You need to feel a little hungry everyday. Not starving but hungry. One Cheat Day a week and your other 6 days super super clean with no bites, sips or crumbs. You need to be mentally strong and on program and this has to be the most important thing to you at all times. If you treat the program like it’s a job that you want to be amazing at then you will see this kind of amazing loss every week.

 

I can’t say it enough that the most important thing for you to do is if you have been amazing then continue on your path and be amazing and keep making the fabulous healthy and happy changes you have been making  to your mind and body.  AND if you haven’t been great OR even a little terrible then get back on program and don’t look back. You need to get the new weight off very quickly before it becomes old weight. If you want to make serious changes it can happen in as little as 6 weeks. But it takes you being consistent every week. You have to keep doing the right things over and over again. Yes it’s easy to do the right things for a day or two but in order to see the scale move and keep moving means you have to do the right thing all the time. Doing the right things Day after Day and even having your ONE Cheat Day a week is doing the right thing. IF YOU FOLLOW YOUR PROGRAM AND STAY ON YOUR PROGRAM it will take you to awesomeness!

 

IF YOU WANT TO BE AMAZING EVERYDAY

  YOU HAVE TO ACT AMAZING EVERYDAY

 

~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
FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

Happy Spring!

IT’S THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING AND
IT’S GOING TO BE AS AMAZING AS YOU MAKE IT!

 

If you haven’t already started working toward where you want to be I suggest you start now. Spring is here –  it’s now and it is not waiting for you to get ready for it. If you want to be amazing and feel amazing this Summer there is one simple solution…follow your program. Do the right thing for you body and do it for your mind – and get on program and stay on. As you know, there are all types of people in the world. There are those who DO and those who TALK ABOUT DOING. You have to decide who you want to be.  

 

It’s up to you if you want the very best results.  
It’s up to you if you want to be thin or you want to talk about being thin.  

 


The very worst feeling is having a party or an event and not being ready for it. Sometimes things come up out of the blue and we just think, “Oh I wish I would have known I would have made sure I was ready for it”. But SUMMER is here the same time every year and you are either going to be ready or not. Right now you have time to get yourself in motion and make the changes you need to make to see the differences you want to see. While many might not reach their goal by Summer you will know you will be closer to it then you are today. The journey can be just as exciting as the finish line. Here are somethings I want you to remember when you are trying to be the best you can be:
 

 

  • You will see the best results when you have 6 consecutive on program days. 
  • The Cheat Day only works when your other 6 days are 110% on program.
  • Exercise is amazing but only if your food is 110% amazing. You CAN’T eat more because you are exercising. 
  • Stop making excuses  – you are only hurting yourself.

 

The bottom line is if you want to be amazing, look amazing and feel amazing then you have to put the work in. You have to follow your program, you have to be a little hungry and you have to want this more than anything. Temptation will always be in sight but you have to be stronger than what’s in front of you. You have to look at yourself and visualize what you want in 2 weeks from today – 4 weeks from today and 2 months from today. Every weight loss day is one day closer to the person you want to be. You can only fight the addictions, the habits and the poor choices if you recognize that you have them. OWN THEM… and move on. If you have been amazing then continue to be amazing and if you have not done the right things to make yourself happy then start today and make them happen. You are the only person who has control over you happiness. Just like you are the only person who has control over being unhappy. Make the choice. If you know that feeling healthy, seeing weight loss and being thinner is going to make you HAPPY – then do it! YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN GET IN YOUR OWN WAY TODAY.  

 

 

IT’S THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING AND A GREAT DAY TO BE AMAZING!!  

 

  
 
REPEAT AFTER ME….
 
I WANT TO BE AMAZING
I WILL WORK 110% TO BE AMAZING
AND I WILL FEEL MORE AMAZING EVERY DAY
 
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY 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