Home | Contact Us | Daily Inspirations | Media | Meeting Planners | Retreats and Events | Teleseminars | Who Is Katie Jay? | Member Area  Ask Katie!  Buy Books and Audios  Contact Us  Join Today  Katie Jay's Blog  Newsletter Archive  Privacy Policy  Retreats and Events  Sample Articles  Terms of Use  Who Is Katie Jay?  Acclaimed Articles  BPD and BPD/DS Basics  Bypass Basics  Dynamic Downloads  Exercise Edge  Fantastic Forum  Lapband Lessons  Mending Minds  Nutrition Notes  Protein Pointers  Rave Recipes  Vitamin Vitals  Your Account  Best Books  BMI Calculator  Daily Inspirations  Help  NAWLS Health News  Resource Directory  WLS Links Home | Coaching | Do you wish it was easier to live th . . . Do you wish it was easier to live the WLS lifestyle? Did you expect your weight loss and weight maintenance to be easier after weight loss surgery? Why is it the surgery that some doctors call a cure for obesity requires so much work? Many WLS patients feel hopeless every time they rebel against their WLS lifestyle, knowing that rebellion could keep them from losing the weight they want to lose, or cause them to regain their weight. Sure, you have learned some skills to help make weight loss surgery work for you. You have tried to follow your surgeon's guidelines. Despite your efforts, you still obsess about food, procrastinate about exercise, and worry about whether or not you can do what it takes to be as healthy as you can be, and the size you want to be. Michaele found Train to Maintain to be convenient and helpful. |image4| "I normally like larger-group meetings in person, but I found the Train to Maintain teleclass much easier, because there was no travel required. I was in the comfort of my own home, yet could still connect with people who were sharing their victories and concerns. Train to Maintain helped me with commitment and accountablity, by requiring me to post on the private forum and to do the homework assignments. I found myself addressing issues that I had not faced earlier in my weight loss surgery journey. One thing I really enjoyed about this teleclass was the personal guidance and support from Katie Jay. This class was unique, because of the gentle way Katie kept our group actively stretching our goals for our lives. This teleclass is a great way to keep yourself active in your WLS progress, regardless of when your surgery took place. I would highly recommend it to any weight loss surgery patient. I wish I had taken it a long time ago."   -- Michaele Gatheridge, Georgia (NAWLS Member) Do you feel so ashamed about your disappointing surgery results that you can't really enjoy life? WLS is not an easy choice, and it's not an easy course. Have you ever trained for a difficult task -- a sport, for example, that requires using a coach, learning specific skills, and practicing with ongoing support and guidance? Maybe you learned to swim freestyle using this kind of process. If you hadn't gotten some help with learning how to swim (even dogpaddling), you would be stuck treading water, or worse, drowning. Do you sometimes feel like you're drowning in a sea of anxiety, shame, and frustration on your WLS journey? Do you know what it really takes to make WLS work for you? Being a good swimmer involves a lot more than just finding a nice pool and jumping in. You've got to know what to wear in the pool (ever tried swimming in your clothes?), how to keep your head above water, and how to make your body glide through the water with as little resistance as possible -- and this is just the tip of the iceberg. How can you be a decent swimmer, or maybe even a blue-ribbon swimmer, if you don't know all the components that go into it? It's the same with WLS. To be really good at it and get the results you want, you need to know all the components that go into a solid recovery. Introducing the Train to Maintain teleclass: A warmly supportive program to develop the knowledge, skills, and experience you need to be a WLS winner. What is a teleclass? In this class, you can learn a powerful method of creating the perfect WLS lifestyle for you -- a lifestyle you love. Cathy was worried about the cost. "I am a 2-year post-op WLS survivor and would like to share my testimony about the Train to Maintain teleclass and NAWLS.   I first learned about Train to Maintain from Katie Jay's Small Bites newsletter. I was struggling with weight gain and other concerns, and realized that I couldn't do things by myself. The only thing that was keeping me from signing up  right away was the cost. We are a family on a fixed income, and money is always tight. After talking with my husband, we decided that it would benefit me to take the class.   I have appreciated the wonderful tools and resources Katie offers: The private message board, the workbook, the articles, the MP3 downloads, and especially the Train to Maintain teleclass members, who I consider my sisters.   I really don't know why I was so worried about the cost. I cannot begin to tell you what being a member of this class (and NAWLS) means to me. Katie Jay is one fantastic woman!! She has been a great source of inspiration and support to me. She understands what I have been going through.   Where I was really in the dumps when I signed up for Train to Maintain, I am beginning to feel good again and it is my class participation and then membership in this great organization that has helped me get to where I am today."   -- Cathy Wierman, Lansdale, PA, (NAWLS Member) Learn why the struggle to live a healthy WLS lifestyle doesn't have to be a struggle after all The reason you struggle is you don't have a clear system to help you identify what you need to be working on and how to go about it. You see, it's not about your intestines or about food -- it's about a lot of other things, some of which will surprise you. In the Train to Maintain teleclass you'll see your successful WLS journey laid out for you like the black line on the bottom of the pool that a swimmer follows to victory. You'll learn where you need to put your focus, and what skills you'll need to acquire to shape a healthy post-WLS life. Mitzi thinks the Train to Maintain class is unique. "The Train to Maintain teleclass is unique in that you receive one-on-one coaching, you have other classmates for support, and you are able to experience a deeper kind of support. I am normally very hard on myself, but this class helped me learn to be kind to myself. The homework and the classes really opened up my mind to things, and helped me realize issues and areas of my life that needed work. I needed the kindness, understanding and connecting to others who share the WLS experience. I needed to understand what was really going on, the deeper picture of emotional eating. Train to Maintain met these needs and more. I found kindness, unconditional love, understanding, and help. Katie is a very kind and gentle person and is so eager to help us through our journey. I was very impressed by the other resources she brought to our teleclasses, too. It was a very helpful experience. I miss our weekly classes now that they are over. I would recommend the Train to Maintain teleclass for anyone who needs support, and we all do. In addition to my local support group, I found the class really helpful because the homework assignments had us dig deeper into ourselves to find out when and why we do the things we do. I also think this class would be really helpful to WLS patients who can't get to a support group."   -- Mitzi Meador, South Carolina

Here's what you'll learn:

How to take charge of your life: Obesity can make you feel like a victim in life. That idea of being powerless and out of control follows many people into recovery. Learn how to move from being reactive to proactive, and see your life transform.

What works for you: WLS isn't like making a car on an assembly line. Each person has unique needs and certain things that work for them. Find out what your particular needs are and how to address them effectively.

Why you need to go on an "Attitude Diet": The reality is you'll need to change your thinking to change your outcome. Identify negative thought patterns and learn how to think like a winner.

Master emotional eating: Emotional eating is common, but there are ways to overcome it if you are open to them. Learn what really works and what doesn't.

How to get and stay motivated. You often hear, "Motivation is an inside job." But, that's only true if you know how to find it inside of yourself. This secret will help you activate your motivation, no matter how you feel.

What inspires people to move: Exercise is not sweaty, boring drudgery -- if you're doing right. Find out how to use exercise to your advantage and how to track your progress.

How to live a balanced life: Identify and target your imbalances. Understand and apply the concept of living congruently. Chart a clear and simple path to more harmonious living.

How to develop a deeper mastery of your WLS lifestyle: Map out your plans for a lifetime of WLS success with this easy-to-use planning guide.

Why should you take the Train to Maintain class when you have so many other resources available?

You're probably wondering why you should invest in the Train to Maintain teleclass when so much information is already available for free on the Internet. Or perhaps you've taken other classes for WLS patients and can't imagine how this one could be any different.

Roxanne thinks Katie's personal touch sets this class apart from the others.

"Many of the skill-building sets used in Train to Maintain are similar to those used by other life-coaching venues. What makes Train to Maintain unique, and why I would recommend it, is the research and personal experience Katie shares, as she relates relevent information directly to the WLS scenario. Katie's deep understanding of the issues, fears, roadblocks, struggles, and thought processes of the WLS patient allows her to personalize the information in a way not usually found. The course participants felt Katie's personal involvement in the material and reacted more deeply to the information being shared. It built confidence within each participant in a personal way that most coaching/training courses cannot and do not. My expectation for the class was exceeded. Through the teleclass I have built a better understanding of the way my mind works to maintain my old habits. I have also gained a better understanding of what I will need to do to create new habits and behaviors. For the first time, I feel confident that I can actually succeed at making those changes. I have the courage to press on. The tools Katie has provided through the class can be used right away, a little at a time, later, or over and over again as I need them. Katie is also not afraid to share the expertise of other experts. The use of Linda Spangle and Kathleen Des Maison as guest speakers for our sessions added tremendous value."   -- Roxanne Rouleau, Minnesota (NAWLS Member)