Mom’s Challenge: A Weight Loss Planner
“It’s embarrassing to admit, but I am always on a diet. At this point, trying to lose weight and get in shape has been such a part of my life for nineteen years, I fear it is part of my personality. Who would I be if I wasn’t always on a diet? I’d be more fun, that’s for sure.” I wrote this 2.5 years ago when I started MomGrowsUp. That was my truth. Back then I believed diets had to be miserable. My life had to go on hold until I reached my weight loss goals. Those experiences helped me create this weight loss planner.
All these years later, I’ve come to realize how weight loss really works. Instead of swinging like a monkey from one diet tree to the next, I decided it was time to take my destiny into my own hands. There had to be a better way. There is a better way.
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links and other affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
But First Things First…
Before I took control of my diet methods, I read this book and it changed everything. I realized first and foremost, that I needed to have radical body acceptance. This needed to happen before I could make any real weight loss progress.
Accepting myself and my body exactly how it was became priority number one. As I perfected that, I gained a crazy amount patience about the weight loss process – something I’ve never had before.
Sidenote: This planner was partly inspired by things I learned from Eliza Kingsford. Please purchase Eliza’s book Brain Powered Weight Loss, print her worksheets, and dig in! This will only help you go further!
Then Self-Awareness started happening
Upon reading Kingsford’s book, I realized I lacked self awareness when it came to my diet struggles. If I wanted to stop screwing up on diets, I needed to figure out why I was stumbling in the first place. It dawned on me that one of my biggest struggles was feeling like I was starving and deprived on every diet…as it turns out, I was! I experienced uncontrollable food cravings and binges on any diet I tried because I restricted the foods I love and was undereating.
Discovering these truths paved the way for the self-awareness that changed my diet life. It took me well over a year to perfect, but with newfound self-acceptance, self-awareness, and patience in my corner, I decided to increase my calorie intake, eat all the foods I loved, and gave myself permission to slow down the process.
Once I did all that, the chains that had been holding me back all my life fell off. I was finally in a place I never dreamed I could be: I had food freedom. Finally, I was free.
How Did I Achieve Food Freedom?
I kicked everyone else’s diets to the curb, and created my own weight loss approach based on my needs. Rather than restricting calories and depriving myself the traditionally “off-limit” foods, I found a way to eat more of the foods I love while losing the weight I’d battled my entire life. No wonder I felt free.
I was free from crackpot diets, I was happy, and I was CONSISTENTLY LOSING WEIGHT. It wasn’t even that hard. I mean, dieting is always challenging from time to time, but this was different. Most of the time I didn’t feel like I was on a diet.
Plus, my methods fit so seamlessly into my life, other people couldn’t even tell I was dieting! I was no longer the annoying diet person making social gatherings weird and uncomfortable with things I couldn’t eat. It became second nature to live like this. I was able to live and enjoy my life, and before I knew it, I was down 20 pounds!
Things were changing
I moved forward in my health and fitness journey, after years of spinning my wheels. I made major changes with my relationship with food and the dieting process. After a lifetime of having an unhealthy relationship with food, I used the tools Eliza’s book gave me to finally make lasting change.
The change wasn’t simply “calorie counting.” The change was asking myself hard questions and spending time in self reflection so I could effectively implement calorie counting. People started asking me how I lost 20 pounds (this year alone – 60 pounds in total, and counting!) – and I didn’t have a clue how to explain how I got here. I really wanted to help others achieve their weight loss goals, too…so I got to thinking.
I looked back on how far I had come, at how vital the mental groundwork was, and how meticulously I had tracked my calorie intake and weight data in order to design the best diet approach for me and my body. This reflection inspired my creation of “Mom’s Challenge” to help you do the same.
Mom’s Challenge was born!
It took finding and putting together many pieces of the weight loss puzzle to achieve success and see progress. These pieces were obtaining self awareness, anticipating obstacles on my journey, planning and logging food intake, learning from my mistakes, finding support, and practicing an insane amount of patience.
If I could package all of these crucial elements together and sell that, I would. And I’d be a billionaire, at that. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. But I can provide a system to help you piece together your own puzzle, and forge your path to weight loss success.
Will it be easy?
At first, it might sound easy to lose weight eating a lot along with anything you want. Mom’s Challenge will make weight loss easier in this regard – you will eat the foods you love while still living your life, and you’ll be rewarded with weight loss.
But trust me when I say, there is no “easy” way to lose weight. It will be challenging, at least at first, to meticulously log all of your food. However, you must do this, as it is crucial to learning the precise amount of calories required by your body in order to lose weight.
Not to mention, exercising patience when it comes to weight loss is hard. My method will be the slowest to produce results of anything else you’ve tried – but it will also be the most sustainable. Patience is the key to consistency. Luckily, it’s easier to be patient when you don’t hate the process.
My goal when I started my method was to lose 1 pound per week. It has been 6 months since I began, and I have since lost 20 pounds. When you do the math, you might get discouraged, however, during the past 6 months there have been set-backs (because, hey, moms are human, too).
Instead of drastically lowering my calories after the fact, to make up for days I lost control, I kept right at the higher calorie amount I set for myself through experimentation and calculation. I already knew this number was the key to my success. Consistently eating more encouraged adherence, supported my active lifestyle, and prevented further binging so there was no way I was going to risk eating low calories for even one day!
Instead of becoming frustrated with myself and sabotaging further progress, I kept going. And the comeback was always greater than the setback. Eventually, I always lost any weight I gained back and then some. I was, and am, thankful I pushed through the monotony of logging and learning. You will be thankful, too.
You must trust the process.
It will take a lot of effort and focus to get where you need to be mentally to lose weight effectively and for good. Mistakes will be made in the process, and they can either make or break you. Let them make you. LEARN from your mistakes and use that information to propel forward. By using this information to avoid making the same mistakes down the road, you will pave your way to weight loss success.
This planner isn’t for everyone
If you are thinking, “No thanks, Mom, this is too much work and too slow!”, let me ask you, how much weight have you lost and kept off doing it the other way? If the answer is a) hardly any, b) none at all, or c) a lot, but I hate my life – then this planner might just be what you need to succeed.
If living your life and eating the foods you love sounds like an enjoyable way to lose weight, then check out “Mom’s Challenge.”
Its premise is threefold:
1. I challenge you to log everything you eat.
2. I challenge you to think logically about weight loss.
3. I challenge you to discover what works for you.
This challenge is not for you if…
-You are looking for quick results
-You like restricting food groups, and/or if you hate tracking your food. -You have a tendency to obsess over your food intake.
Please don’t buy my challenge if any of that sounds like you.
Having a relaxed attitude with logging is appropriate from time to time in order to stay the course. I accurately log when I can, which is a majority of the time. However, I allow myself the opportunity to make estimated guesses when needed, and move on. If you are someone who will lose sleep obsessing over what you ate that day, don’t get this planner.
A Note About Eating Healthy Around Kids
I have kids (I’m “Mom” so it would be weird if I didn’t), and I explain to them why I weigh and track what I eat. Since my children could talk, I have worked to instill in them the importance of being healthy and taking care of themselves, and to lead them by example. They know I do these things for my health, and to get stronger and faster.
My kids have no desire to weigh or track their food, and their food relationship, as well as their body image, is solid. I’m incredibly proud of them and myself. This works for my family. If you are worried about the impact your actions and methods will have on your kids, simply don’t do it.
What to expect from Mom’s Challenge
In this download you will have space to plan your weekly meals, plan what you will eat each day, take time for daily reflections, and set goals. During your daily reflections you will identify where you may be struggling with your food choices, and how you can overcome these obstacles.
If you are looking for a PRINTED planner where you can plan your life events, fitness, and food. Look no further. I created it, it’s awesome, and you can find it here!
Self-reflection and analyzing my calorie intake to weight loss ratio is how I stopped looking at the scale and my food emotionally and started seeing things SCIENTIFICALLY. That’s when I started losing weight.
What is included with the challenge?
The challenge is a pdf that you can reuse indefinitely. It allow you to be singularly focused on weight loss, separate from other daily distractions. When used properly and consistently, it will help you reach your goals month after month, for as long as you need it.
When you purchase the challenge, shoot me an email with your proof of purchase and I will personally calculate your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure is an estimation of how many calories you burn per day when exercise is taken into account), and assign you your goal calorie range.
After that, this challenge will provide the tools and methods you need to determine your own, ideal, personalized calorie range. It will be based on what your body requires to reach your goals in a sustainable way (meaning in a way where you aren’t starving.)
The challenge will help, but support is key
Along with the challenge, you have the option to join my weight loss support group – MOM’S KIDS. Support was, and continues to be, vital to my success. The challenge and “Mom’s Kids” are intended to be utilized side-by-side, but you may separate the two if you choose.
In the support group, you will connect with like-minded, non-judgmental people to help you stay on track with your goals. You will discuss diet struggles with fellow members.
You will have support, encourage others, and have the option to join nutrition challenges with other members.
Sign into my weekly Zoom pep talk for motivation and accountability.
It’s a lot of fun! You will be surprised how much further you can go on your weight loss journey with the right support system.
You can join Mom’s Kid’s here! (The name was inspired by “Michael Scott’s Tots” from The Office. If that doesn’t inspire you to join because it’ll be fun, I don’t know what will.)
Give it a try!
Whether you have been stuck for years trying to lose weight only to find yourself barely having progress, or you just want to start your journey right from the start, Mom’s Challenge is up your alley.
If you are feeling frustrated and hopeless when it comes to your struggles with weight loss, I hope you realize your past failures are not you. You are just choosing diet paths that are not a good fit for you. Stop doing that, and start making your own rules.
If you’re new to weight loss and don’t know where to start, I’d love to help. With my guidance and advice you can learn from my experiences over the course of my 60-pound weight loss.
You don’t need to rush the weight loss process, but you do need to start. You are beautiful, right now, as you are. And you are capable of change. Accept your beautiful body and self, resolve to become a healthier version of yourself, and sign up for Mom’s Challenge today!
Follow me on Instagram as my journey continues!
