Conversations With Linda – A Testimonial…

/0 Comments/in Inner Evolution, Weight Loss /by Linda

I met Linda Partida a few years back and we started what would become an on-going conversation about life, food, healing and well-being in general. I wanted to address several issues including extreme fatigue, loss of loved ones in my life, weight issues and just overall not feeling well or myself.

One important thing I wanted her to understand about me was that I had already achieved big weight losses in my life. Always to just gain it ALL right back plus much more. I expressed to her that dieting never seemed to “stick” for me and I had tried everything; from carbs to no-carbs, high-fat, low- fat, Weight Watchers, and fasting, severe exercising –basically everything minus “the surgery.”

So together we began to explore my life and health from a big picture approach and took in all aspects of my life and health for consideration. We examined major life foundation and emotional issues and behaviors I was exhibiting.  The first and number one thing I noticed right away about Linda was that there was absolutely NO-JUDGEMENT on her part, of anything. Things were simply and non-judgmentally listened to, accepted and discussed and none of my thoughts, ideas or feelings were wrong or bad—they just were.

She literally “made room” for me to be me just as I was in the present moment and it was okay and to have and express my very deepest thoughts, sadness, hopes and confessions about my life, body, health and actions.

The other thing I relaxed into with Linda was that there was no sense of urgency on her part, although my situation needed change and we both wanted that for me it was understood that this was a process and we were going to give me the room to do whatever I needed or it took to get me there the RIGHT way. Not trying to “fix” me with pills, pushed upon programs or dieting with results that would not last long term.

It’s an interesting exercise to try and paint a picture of our accumulated work together because it’s been a “road” to say the least. Our goal has been to literally SHIFT my internal motivations and drives in my life vs. putting me on a program or diet of sorts. It has taken a combination of modalities and an accumulation of deep and real conversations and sessions together to achieve this goal.

Having said that, the mere fact that I’ve personally “shifted” mentally to a new place where I actually desire to examine and self-correct my eating habits and portions and my desire to exercise IS the actual result of our work itself.

The change I feel inside of me is REAL and PERMANENT not something any other program can say. The shift toward taking care of me has come in waves and quite surprisingly. One in the form of a personal desire to simply do what I need, like getting myself to the gym and eating better quality of foods, actually WANTING to make better choices for me and being interested in finding out what those are.

It’s so much easier to opt for what my body needs when there is no longer an obsessive drive to overeat or binge on inappropriate foods.

Back when we started working together Linda had once said, “what if you could just simply make a different choice for yourself?” At the time I thought she was crazy…why would I do that?  I was at that point still very controlled by my cravings and desire for comfort from food. I remember replying, “Well that will never happen – it’s not who I am!” Now I can see and feel inside of me what she meant. That’s how I know I’ve changed. I actually want and desire to make the different choices now for my life and I am more in control of my mental decisions around those choices.

Linda also said to me, “I wonder what it would feel like if one could have the effects of weight-loss surgery without actually having the surgery…” We entered into a discussion around what that would be like, feel like, what the internal conversations with oneself would look like. These questions and many others like them are how we’ve made a mental adjustment around life behavior and actually changed habits.

I started to think lately…if I am in control of my behavior and of my mind then why couldn’t I be in control of my decisions around how much, what and how often I eat, live and feel? Why then couldn’t I also master my desires for what I eat, when I eat, how I live my life? This is a breakthrough to be sure.

This has been again, a process, using various modalities and with many incantations along the way.

Each moment of shift has certainly had a new level of change in my life but as of late I’ve seen a more final result and success in terms of my behavior. I’ve gotten to know a new relationship with self, emotions and food. I’ve been experimenting with hunger and fullness in general. I’ve been re-introduced to my own hunger and desire for food and more importantly at each moment why I am eating or more importantly not eating.

Again, for me, the weight-loss is secondary to creating a lasting change inside of me. Anyone can lose weight. This we know. But to keep it off, change a relationship with food for life and uncover one’s self-love and truly wanting to care for ourselves is a monumental internal shift to say the least!

Many thanks to you Linda!

Rotation Diet For ALCAT Test Results – Q&A

/0 Comments/in Biology, Weight Loss /by Linda

Recently a client emailed me some questions about the rotation diet after getting her ALCAT results. I thought they were such great questions I just had to share.

Q. First, I have read different things about what rotation means. Some says you can eat one thing one that day and then not again for four days. Other schools of thought are that you can eat something multiple times during 24 hours then not again for four days.  I would prefer the 24 hour method because then I can, for example, eat leftovers at lunch from the dinner before that stay off that food for four days.  I would like to know your take on the rotation.

A. I think the best thing to do is think of the ration in terms of days, not hours. So, that would be your waking hours of ONE day, not 3pm until 2:59pm the next day. “Breakfast” is supposed to break a fast, which does, to some degree, help clear your system. Eating a food on consecutive days would mean you have to clear it twice…and some foods take more than a day to clear anyway. You could do a yellow* (mildly reactive) food more than once per day if you want. It would increase the intensity of the exposure, and you would have to be that much more careful for the next 4 days. And remember, quantity matters.

Q. Second, on my yellow list, do I need to stay away from all of them for a week even if I have been staying off some of them for weeks?  For example, I haven’t had any cow’s milk product for over 3 weeks.  Can I start rotating that back in now or do I need to wait until I’ve stayed away from everything for a week?

A. Stay off of all of the yellow list items even though you have already been avoiding one. The goal for avoiding all of them is to give yourself the experience of what it feels like NOT to be in reaction. Items you have not been tested for should be avoided in this first week as well. Only when you complete this week should you begin to reintroduce those foods, one at a time–making careful note of any return of symptoms.

Q. This rotation seems like so much planning.  I’m hoping it will become second nature at some point.  And, some things don’t seem reasonable.  For example, am I supposed to use different milks (coconut, almond) and different oils (olive, sunflower) every four days and only use seasonings like black pepper every four days?  That seems ridiculous difficult and, frankly, expensive.  I wouldn’t use milks quickly enough, for example.

A. Yes, you are supposed to rotate things like milks and oils. I don’t know if milk is something you use every day, but if you consider using it only a few times per week then the most you would need is 2 different kinds. Same with oils. Oils keep very well in the fridge and a few different kinds would easily carry you through a week. Olive, flax, grape seed, and hemp are excellent choices. Black pepper is so over used it is a tough one to avoid even if you try. If it is something you have a sensitivity to I would recommend just avoiding it completely for now. Chances are you will have plenty of accidental exposures unless ALL of your meals are homemade. Don’t worry though, there are plenty of other spices to play with.

In the beginning it is always difficult to navigate new information. It is new. You have to learn what is on what list, come up with menu options that fit, change recipes, find new restaurants, experiment with new foods… Once you have come up with foods, recipes, meal plans, and new habits that work, it is much, much easier. Figure the first 3 weeks will be a learning curve, and from there it will be pretty easy. It will become second nature.

Fast Track to Healthy Weight Loss – Results guaranteed!

/0 Comments/in Weight Loss /by Linda

Have you ever set a health or fitness goal for yourself and failed to reach it? Even though your commitment level may have been at a “10” on the day you started, the flow of your daily life may have distracted you from your focus.

This is something I hear a lot as a health coach. Despite peoples’ best intentions, life gets in the way of, well, health.

This, combined with a “flying by the seat of the pants” approach to diet and exercise, leaves people not too far from where they would be without ever having set a goal in the first place –only with a lot more guilt.

This is a conundrum I have pondered long and hard: how to help people achieve the goals they set for them selves with a degree of certainty, and finally, I have come up with a solution!!

I am SO excited to announce the brand new Linda Living —Fast-Track program.

This revolutionary one-of-a-kind program is designed to speed up the time it takes to lose weight –in a HEALTHY way!

It is completely compatible with other all weight loss programs and designed to support you by ensuring you get the results you are seeking.

Here is how it works:

  • Laser Targeted Nutrition – Testing enables us to know exactly what foods make weight loss more difficult for each person. Targeted Supplementation supports the body’s ability to metabolize fat to turn it into fuel.
  • Commitment – —Fast Track keeps participants committed on a level that will ensure success –despite the ebb and flow of a busy life.
  • Overcoming Stumbling Blocks – These can be physical, habitual or emotional. The intensive nature of this program allows for an unparalleled insight into what is working and what is not. Once we know, solutions are possible.
  • Tools for Success – Changing the way we think is every bit as important as changing the way we eat and exercise. Fast Track uses NLP and EFT to “reprogram” our patterns creating great change in a short amount of time.

Where diets, gym memberships and grand plans have failed before, this program will work. (find out more)

The Fast-Track program puts it all together for you! This program will work –I GUARANTEE it!

I invite you to have a conversation with me to see if this program is right for you. Email me at Linda@lindaliving.com.

***I am currently looking for Beta Testers to participate in this brand new program. Please spread the word and have anyone interested contact me ASAP. Thanks!

The Pros and Cons of Dieting

/0 Comments/in Weight Loss /by Linda

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I always cringe when I hear someone say they are planning to go on a “diet”.

It usually means that they are planning to adopt some radical and restrictive eating strategy for some period of time that will most likely not give them the results they desire, and most likely lead to even more weight gain.

Statistically 95% of people who diet to lose weight put it back on within two to three years. A series of researchers at the UCLA looked at a number of dietary interventions – they discovered that most dieters gained back almost all their weight. While they could not put an exact figure on it (e.g. 95%) – they concluded that most efforts at calorie restriction result in only very short-term weight loss, and, could even ultimately lead to weight gain. I have seen this repeatedly and experienced it myself.

I went on my first “diet” as a young teenager. I realize now that it was a somewhat arbitrary idea that I “needed to go on a diet”. But dieting was in, my friends were doing it, and I wanted to look like the models of the day; wearing Jordache jeans –which were all the rage in 1980. In hindsight it was stupid. No diet would have changed my basic body shape, which was curvy even back then. Dieting created more problems than it solved. After that I did have a weight problem!

In reality, we are all on diets every day of our lives. What we eat, even if it is without forethought, IS our “DIET”. We don’t usually give it much thought though until our pants get too tight, we experience negative health consequences…or we have a budding romance.

Now, much older and wiser, and as a professional Health Coach, I strongly advocate making small, sustainable HEALTHY changes over time rather than “dieting”. Habits and preferences that took a lifetime to establish rarely change overnight. Diets that promise miraculous results, especially quick ones, are usually not very healthy, are often ludicrous, and always unsustainable.

Still, there is a healthy place for “Dieting”.

Cleansing is a “Diet”, of sorts, since it does include a defined eating protocol (thoughtfully designed for the purpose facilitating detoxification). Any weight loss program that is going to be successful must include some element of detoxification. Fat is not just functionless flab only there to make your life miserable; it’s an organ with more than one job. One of its jobs is to keep toxins; environmental, chemical, and biological, away from vital internal organs. “Cleansing” gets rid of toxins and is a great way to loose weight quickly and safely. It also results in feeling better faster, becoming more energetic, and the weight staying off longer.

There are other benefits sensible “Dieting. The exercising of discipline and willpower is one. Like a muscle, it gets stronger with use and weaker with disuse. It is a wonderful thing to occasionally give it a workout. There are many cultural and religious traditions around temporarily limiting food consumption including Lent, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan to name a few.

Another advantage of putting some temporary restrictions on consumption, and of course it does depend on the specific restrictions, is that it refreshes the palate. Eliminating sugar, salt, refined, processed, and over seasoned foods, and overeating in favor of lighter and more austere fare makes all food taste so much better afterward. It also makes a little seem like a lot and makes it rapturously more satisfying.

Last but not least, limiting food can really make you check in with yourself on how you are ‘using’ food. Sometimes without even knowing it we can begin to “use” food/eating as a coping mechanism, as entertainment, and as the filler for anything and everything that is missing from our lives. Removing the excesses of food from the equation can really put us back in touch with ourselves in a way that is very difficult to do with the distraction and crutch of food.

A well-conceived “diet”, one that emphasizes cleansing, can be a good thing. It is not a solution for poor eating habits, but it can be very helpful in putting food, and [mis]use of it, back in prospective.

For real and lasting change basic daily eating habits have to change. The behaviors that lead to wanting to diet in the first place will lead right back to the same place again, and as research shows, the weight will come back –with friends. So while a diet can be good, it is not a solution. Solutions only come with altering the day-in day-out diet. That takes an appropriate and sustainable plan, new strategies, and real commitment, not shortcuts.