This new and fun approach to losing weight will support and encourage you in your efforts. But…it will do it in ways you may not expect.

This blog is written by Linda Spangle, RN, MA, weight-loss coach and emotional eating specialist.

First of all, Weight Loss Joy is not an oxymoron. It’s actually an outcome. It’s how you feel when it works. And the amazing part is that you’ll realize that dieting and maintaining your weight doesn’t have to a battle. Instead, I’ll show you how to lighten up your thinking as well as your number on the scale.

Come here often and pick up some great new concepts and ideas that will completely change your future!

“I’m scared to death! I don’t think I can do it.” As I stood at the doorway of the classroom, I realized I didn’t have enough courage to go in. It had been fourteen years since I’d been a student. And while I was determined to follow through with my plan of getting a master’s degree, I couldn’t seem to make myself enter the room.

Over the past couple weeks, this ezine has talked about two of the delightful characters in the story The Wizard of Oz. You’ll recall that the scarecrow needed stickpins in his brain in order to ‘see’ that he was smart. And the tin man required some gentle oiling before he could replace his tin heart with one that allowed feelings.

The third character in the story, the lion, was convinced he was a coward. Even though he made a lot of noise, he was actually afraid of everything. But he stayed on the road to Oz because he desperately wanted to receive the gift of courage.

Although he did a great job of protecting his companions, the lion stayed fearful, demonstrating his power to everyone but himself. Read the rest of this entry »

Lots of things make me want to eat. Stress, disappointment, a bad day. In fact, sometimes LIFE makes me want to eat. But nothing sends me toward food faster than pain. I think it started when I skinned my knee as a kid and my mother said, “Here’s a cookie. Now you’ll feel better.”

Of course, the cookie always worked. So ever since then, I’ve had a connection between food and “skinned knees,” both physical and emotional. In my work as a weight-loss coach, I teach others how to identify emotions, then be willing to feel and express them. But sometimes I have trouble following my own advice.

The holiday season of 2007 was especially hard for me. I missed my parents who both died in recent years. Family members were far away and our friends were busy or out of town. Because of a blizzard on Christmas Day, my husband and I decided to create a cozy holiday dinner at home.

With the salad made and the lasagna in the oven, we started cleaning up the kitchen. In our haste to get finished, we both shoved kettles into the cabinet at the same time, and my fingers got smashed between two iron pots.

The pain was awful! I was already an emotional wreck, and this pushed me over the edge. I sat down and started to cry. At first there were big crocodile tears, the fake kind you get when you’re actually mad. But then real ones began streaming down my cheeks and I started to wail. Although my fingers were throbbing, my heart seemed to hurt even more. Read the rest of this entry »