Walk into a mom meetup or even just a girls get-together and what’s the one topic that never remains untouched? That’s right- weight loss! Weight loss without dieting, with dieting, with carbs, without workouts- it just goes on. Social signals via media, glamour mags and even expectations of people close to us have changed what we expect from ourselves, keeping us in a constant vortex of dislike and for ourselves. There is a constant stream of self-criticism and an unreasonable urge to change everything about our lives. If there is one thing that has created and supported this illusion of rapid change, it is fad diets that promise lasting change, the new self, the ‘transformation’- only to go back to our previous avatars within a few months, burdened with a defeated spirit and doubled up frustration at our inability to ‘become.’
One woman got to the root of it and decided to help women manage their bodies and lives, not their weights. Pamela Pedrick is a health coach who went through the passage rite of the weight yo-yoing before she discovered a stable way to stay healthy. And now she has made it her mission to help other women like her.
Kidskintha had a brief chat with Pamela. Read on to learn about her journey and how she can help you in yours!
Hello Pamela. Thank you for being here. You have a very unique area of expertise, dealing with health, particularly weight loss. Tell us about your journey?
I have personally experienced the pain of the struggle to lose weight and keep it off. It started in high school when I started to have a distorted body image. As a goalie for the field hockey team, I would bulk up from the heavy equipment and not be able to fit into my new school clothes. My new jeans would not fit past my thighs and, I didn’t look like all the skinny popular girls, as a result, I would cry. In college, instead of gaining the “freshman 15″ I gained the freshman 25! Thus started my binge eating and dieting. From the latest fad diets to yo-yo dieting, I tried to lose weight multiple times. I cut back on calories yet I was feeling like I was starving myself. I would lose some pounds but never kept it off as I would inevitably gain it back every single time. You see, I was a closeted weekend binge eater. I would sit at home, alone, and eat and eat and eat in order to stuff my feelings; feelings of being alone, lonely, and isolated. I was isolated because I felt so uncomfortable in social surroundings because I felt fat and to me, no clothing looked “good” on me. So I ended up not going out with friends and staying at home. I would eat and binge to stuff those emotions. To everyone else, everything looked good, but inside I was crying. I found that with each diet I did I was more in bondage to the food than ever. You see, when the diet failed, I felt like a failure and I was in this emotional downward spiral of depression and feeling like a failure. As a nurse I thought I knew what I had to do to lose weight; eat less and move more. And when I saw little results and then kept gaining the weight back I felt like even more of a failure. Add in the fact that I was now a registered nurse in a very busy pediatric ER and my stress level was high all the time. It was at this time that I was at my highest weight and still binge eating on the weekends. My turning point was when I was sitting in front of the TV, on my green couch eating my leftover vanilla birthday cake, watching a popular movie and feeling sick to my stomach from eating so much that I thought, “Is this my life now? Am I still going to be sitting home alone five years from now, binge eating and feeling sick, sad, and alone?”
So I got my laptop out and Googled ways to lose weight and found something different…this ad did not mention eating less and moving more, it didn’t mention the word diet, but what caught my eye was that they instilled healthy habits to last a lifetime. So I emailed for more information. This was a coaching program and when they gave the statistic that as high as 98% of us who lose weight gain it all back within six months I thought, “That’s me. I’m part of that 98%!” I was told that I would learn tools and techniques so that I could not only lose the weight but keep it off. I said, “Sign me up!” I invested in a three-month coaching program. My coach believed in me when I didn’t. She encouraged me but also kept me accountable while supporting me. She gave me the tools to lower my stress and stop stress-eating. She helped me with my insomnia. She helped me celebrate the small victories like when I saw that I did not binge eat as much. I was able to stop my binge eating, lose weight, and get my energy back! It was so much more than eat this not that. It was not a diet.
As a result of my own journey, I got my health coaching certification and now I am on a mission to help women stop losing and gaining the same pounds by working together to find what works for their unique bodies. My program is not a diet. It is so much more as my clients and I together get to the root cause of the weight issue. They also learn to love their beautiful bodies and to no longer see their bodies as the enemy.
Your work points to a high correlation between stress and weight issues. Why do you think this is so difficult to beat, given that more people are already aware of it?
We women are so accustomed to putting everyone first but ourselves. We know what needs to be done in our work/career and at home and just do it regardless of how our bodies feel. So we work through the stress instead of addressing it. Many of the women I coach know they are stressed, but they either do not know how to lower their stress or say they do not have the time. For instance, we can begin our day stressed when the baby is crying to be fed, the dog just vomited on the floor, we lost our keys and are now 10 minutes late for work. Just reading that scenario may have you stressed and think you have to sit down and do a time out to lower your stress. Many women think that lowering their stress means taking time off from their very busy schedules for some “me” time but that’s not the case. My client Brandy is an example. She is a very busy social worker and she has two teenage sons. Her job is stressful and time-consuming. She came to me after years of being on various popular diets and weight loss programs. She said she did not want to focus on what she was eating as she was tired of being told what not to eat. So I coached her on lowering her stress. With the techniques, she learned she lost 8 pounds in 6 weeks all without changing what she was eating! I can help any woman lower her stress in two minutes or less using the technique that I teach. It is this tool that is a favorite with my clients like Brandy and it is just one of many I coach my clients to use.
Stress affects so many body systems and for the women, I coach it is one of the two reasons they either cannot lose weight or keep gaining it back. No matter how healthy we eat, if we are stressed, the food will be stored as fat. So when I have a potential client come to me saying she is doing all the things to lose weight and is indeed eating healthy it is her stress that is the culprit. Even if we do not feel really stressed, if we have low everyday stress, chronic stress, it affects us the same way.
You also do some special health beats- like your recent one of ‘dieting with micro greens.’ Tell us more about it.
I do FB Live sessions to educate women on different tricks and tips to lose weight and get healthy. I am all about giving practical tips that can fit into our busy lives. Many weight loss plans make you fit your life into the program but that is just not feasible or sustainable. Instead, my program and the tips I give can fit into your life.
I also give information on the latest trends and fun facts. The microgreens are just one example of this. I confessed during the life that I do not have a green thumb as every plant I have had, except my cactus, have died. I saw an ad for growing your own microgreens so I bought a kit and started growing them. I also gave information during the live on what microgreens are, how they benefit weight loss and health, as well as how easy it was for me to grow – they are still alive and growing!
You seem to focus on weight loss without dieting. Why do you think that is important?
If it truly were a one size fits all when it comes to weight loss we would all be at our ideal healthy weight. Many of us who have been on diets know how to stick to a diet. Yet 98% of us gain it all back within six months. Why is this? It’s because diets fail. They deprive us and they do not take into consideration that we women are so much more than what we eat. We have stress, we deal with insomnia, we eat differently, and our hormone levels are different with each stage of life. So we need to take all of these factors into consideration when it comes to weight loss. It is not just what we eat, so eating fewer calories as traditional diets call us to do can only do so much. My program is a holistic approach. It does not merely focus on what you are eating as this is but one factor. My program also addresses how you are eating, your stress, your sleep, and other factors as well.
What are some motivation tips you recommend to follow through health plans?
Consistency is a big struggle with many. Many women are too tired, too busy, have too many sugar and food cravings, and are too stressed. This affects how consistent they are. The major difference with my program is we find what works for your unique body. Think about it. Have you ever been on the same weight loss program as your best friend and she has lost 10 pounds and you have lost one pound and you are following the plan exactly? It’s because your body is different. Some women lose weight and feel better when they eat more protein, others with a more plant based eating plan. Part of my program is that we find what foods work best for your unique body even down to the types of protein. So to help with consistency find what foods jive with your body. Also, research shows that when we have the support and accountability such as with a health coach we are consistent and lose more weight compared to those who do not.
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If you are just starting your weight loss journey or are restarting take action every day. It does not need to be huge action steps. There will be days you won’t feel like it, do some sort of action anyway whether it be eating more vegetables, taking a shorter walk versus a complete workout, drinking one more cup of water, or saying no to the cake. Small action days are so much better than no action days.
How do you typically work with people? What is the best way to reach you?
I have a three-month mentorship program where I coach you to instill healthy habits. It is a holistic approach and not just focused on what you are eating. We get to the core reasons for the struggle to lose weight and I give you a set of tools and techniques to help you not only to lose weight but to keep it off. I hold your hand and am with you every step of the way with the support and accountability so that you can stay consistent. The best way to see if we are a good fit to work together is to have an initial weight loss consultation with me. As my gift to all of you I am offering this Real Deal Weight Loss Breakthrough Session for free. Just go to http://pamelapedrick.net/session to book your breakthrough session now. Spaces are limited and are on a first come first served. During our 45 minutes together, via phone or zoom, we’ll get to the core of what is holding you back from losing the weight. You will also receive a Real Deal Weight Loss Blueprint based on your unique life. It is my gift to you even if we do not continue to work together.
You can also follow me on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CoachPamelaPedrick/
Anything else you want to tell us?
I am not attached to whether or not women get support from me or from someone else. What I am attached to and committed to is that you have somewhere to go to get the support because I have not seen this working well or permanently without support. There are too many ways to do it, too many things you could be doing to lose weight but are not what will work for your unique life and body. There is too much information on so many diets and when you don’t have someone to hold your hand when you don’t have that accountability when you don’t have someone to help demystify all of the possibilities out there it is very common to spin. Most women are out there in overwhelm and they are spinning, and they are frustrated and feel all alone in their struggles. They have not gotten to the front side of this, of living a life full of joy and energy because they feel like failures for not finally losing the weight. So wherever it is you do invest, I want to put a stake in the ground that you do have the resources to invest in the transformation that you are ready to say “Yes” to. And you are so worth this transformation!
A word on what you like about Kidskintha?
Kidskintha is a great resource for parents. There is information for just about every issue or concern parents can and do have. Today’s generation is facing so many different issues than in previous years, especially as technology continues to advance. Kidskintha is a resource to help any parent navigate these waters. Whether you are a new parent or a seasoned one there is always something new to be learned that is relevant to raising children today and Kidskintha is the place to go. Plus there is always a touch of humor and yummy healthy recipes to try!
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