Weight Loss Coaching Menu

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Chellehead Works Weight Loss Coaching Menu

When I ponder the question, what is a coach? I look back on my own life, mainly as a competitive runner, and think about the many coaches who stood along the sidelines, encouraging me to do my best. And helping me find motivation when I couldn’t quite figure it out myself. They also taught me how to set small steps along the way that would help me to achieve a larger goal.
As a weight loss coach, I see my role in much the same way. My job is to help the client to achieve a set (and realistic) goal. I believe one of the pitfalls in weight loss is that we need people to support us and help us when we instead would like to give up and return to old habits. However, by returning to old habits, we’re losing out on the changes to help us feel better about ourselves and to learn about ourselves. For some people, that’s a simple email/phone call once a week to check in and for others, more time is needed to make a plan of action. We’re all unique people and thus we all have unique needs.
As someone who has maintained a healthy weight and lifestyle as well as having been a high school (track and cross country) coach and (health education) teacher myself, I have proven I can help people achieve what it is they set out to do.
I am not a dietitian or a therapist. My role is simply to help the client find balance because it is through balance that life goals are achieved in the healthiest way possible.
Coaching Menu:
$50.00/month once a week email encouragements with a three-month commitment
$50.00/month once a week phone call encouragements with a three-month commitment
$150.00/month once a week phone call or email encouragements plus one hour-long phone call to discuss goal setting and any other needs that cannot be achieved in a short phone call/email
All NM residents are subject to gross receipts tax. The three-month minimum is integral as weight loss goals typically need more time to be achieved than in one month.

Michelle Linn-Gust, Ph.D.
michelle@chellehead.com
505-266-3134
What to know more about Michelle Linn-Gust?
Check out www.michellelinngust.com

Richard Stubbs radio show in Melbourne

The link will let you listen to the Richard Stubbs radio show that I appeared on in Melbourne. I think he did a great job with the topic, especially since he hasn't been touched by suicide in his life. He really had a clue.

Return to the Dogs

I think I forgot to blog about the one dog happening while I was gone. Joe was doing laundry and looked out the window to see Hattie running across the wall that surrounds our yard. Yes, that 6-foot wall. He ran out to her and saw that the others were watching him but no one had alerted him (he thinks they were being entertained by her). Turns out she had gotten up there and couldn't figure out how to get back down. One of her favorite activities is to jump up on the wall and see what's happening in the yards around us but she usually doesn't end up on the wall itself. The dogs seemed to be happy to have me home. I ran Chaco long yesterday and we stopped to talk to one man who used to run his dog but the dog is now not interested in going further than around the block. He couldn't understand why Chaco was a little scared of him (Chaco is still scared of a lot of men) and he said to Chaco, "But your sister Nestle likes me!" I didn't have the heart to tell him that Nestle likes everyone but the security people at the airport (she barks endlessly at them).

Home Sweet Home

Unfortunately, due to the cost of the internet at the hotel (about $23 US a day which is the most I've ever seen) and the poor public wireless access, I couldn't blog the rest of the trip. The conference went well although I will say it was pretty nutty few days and I'm not sure when I would have blogged anyway! I did one last interview for Sky Television on Friday and gave three talks on Saturday (a plenary, a workshop session on families and pets helping people cope, and then spoke at the remembrance and healing service). Saturday night I had dinner with Frank Campbell and several Living Works people. I ordered the flounder and we all were surprised when my plate appeared with a rather large flounder on it while all the others ordered fish and got these little squares! Needless to say, fish isn't on my list for a while. I also fell in love with sticky date pudding and had that for a second time that night. Thanks to Susan Beaton for introducing me to it! I'm sure I'll figure out how to make it myself. I flew from Melbourne to Sydney and then Sydney to San Francisco on Sunday. I was in the first row of economy which meant I had a little more room. There was a baby next to me who managed to hardly to cry at all during the flight (ah....). He spent part of the night running his fingers across the sleeve of my fleece pullover. I was back in ABQ at 5:00 pm and we headed straight to Frontier for dinner. Suffering from some jet lag (it's now 4:11 am!) and it'll take me a few days to unpack but I always find it amazing how much my world gets smaller each time I travel. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to take this trip and to spend time with people I knew as well as get to know new people. One woman who heard me on the radio (where I mentioned facebook) friended me and came to the healing service. She lost her younger sister two years ago. It's all about connecting people because that's how we find hope.

Radio in Melbourne

Today was the pre conference and I did some radio this afternoon which went really well. We had a full hour and the host was great- Richard Stubbs. A woman called in and you could hear a little dog barking in the background. She then went on to say that her sister had just died and the funeral is tomorrow. They had the dog with them and she said she had a sense of her sister being with her because of that. Sadly, the dog wasn't enough to sustain her sister her in life but she will be a connection to her as time goes by.

Interviews and flying to Melbourne

I ran in the rain this morning in the park by the hotel. There were lots of dogs! Of course none of them were mine. I'm sure as I ran, mine were snoozing in their various spots at home in Albuquerque. I did a newspaper interview and just did a radio interview. One more radio interview before I head to the airport to fly to Melbourne. This last radio interview was from Nowra about two hours south of Sydney on the coast. He asked me about the gun laws and gun lobby in the US. The public relations people, I feel, have somewhat sensationalized the whole piece about guns in schools and such to the radio and tv people. I answer any questions that I am asked but I am always hesitant when it comes to such political issues, especially when I'm in a different country (I almost single-handedly started the troubles again in Northern Ireland during a session I did there when we were discussion religion...religion always gets me in trouble!). Also, my work is more on the postvention side, helping people cope after the suicide. I had to set the producer straight at the Kerri-Anne show that I was not here to discuss prevention (they were going to ask me about warning signs). I'm all about helping people survive their losses to live hopeful lives again.

The Rest of the Day

After the show, I returned to the hotel to shower and get some breakfast (well, it was really lunch by then). I had to be at ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Company) in the afternoon to do a radio interview but had some time so I walked over to King's Cross as my sunglasses had gotten scratched. I bought some new ones at a store across from one that said "Show Girls Fully Licensed." I felt like I was in New Orleans. Then I stumbled on St. Mary's Cathedral where I made my mom proud by stopping for a prayer and to light a candle. I also bought a Pope Benedict pen because I had an idea and wanted to write it down. Any takers on my pen?! It was cheap, too. Less than $2.00 US. Anyway, I bought a rosary as well. I returned to the hotel to catch a cab to ABC where I did the interview in a turdis booth. The radio show was out of Tasmania so they hooked me up here in Sydney. Tonight I am trying to do some catch up as I have two radio interviews, a newspaper reporter interview, the flight to Melbourne, and dinner with friends tomorrow night in Melbourne. The radio interviewer said that she was glad we weren't doing tv because it's difficult when we have tears streaming down our faces. I've been referred to as "Dr. Michelle" all week. The photos are taken from the roof of the hotel overlooking the harbor. I was tempted to swim since the pool is heated but it was too windy and I dreaded getting out. Maybe if I'd had a thick robe....

The Australian Oprah

This morning I appeared on the Kerri-Anne Kennerly Show. She is known as the Australian Oprah. The photo shows me with her and Scott Poland who is an American I know does much of his work around schools and suicide. It had been some time since I had my makeup and hair done for tv, usually it's been that they are my responsibility. I had to take a shower after getting back to the hotel to get back to me! I will have the clip of the show and will put it up on the youtube when I get it.

One that got left out...

More beach photos

A cloudy, rainy day at the beach

Well, I guess you can't win them all. It was rainy this morning and cloudy this afternoon. I was supposed to be checked out of the hotel at noon (Jill is coming to get me in about a half hour for dinner and to drop me off at the airport to head to Sydney) but because of the weather, the resort people loaned me an umbrella and let me stay until 5:00. I love the Aussies! Photos of my walk into town are attached in this post and the one that will come after it.

And more...

Sunset on the bay and the Sunshine Coast

One last photo from Hervey Bay of sunset last night. Early this morning I climbed back on the bus and returned to the Sunshine Coast. Jill Fisher of the Standby Response team picked me up and took me out inland where she lives. The hilly scenes are from where she lives. The overlook goes out to the ocean where I am tonight. The yellow flowers are Japanese sunflowers which are not native to Australia but are everywhere and very cool. That's her cow Poppy who didn't want to come to her at first because Jill didn't feed Poppy this morning and Poppy was upset. In one photo, Poppy is begging for more grain from Jill. The last photo is of the pool at the Seacove Resort where I am tonight. It's only 6:30 but it feels like midnight. I'm going to try and stay up to watch the Eurovision Song Contest which I first saw in Sweden several years ago. A real treat!

Kangaroos and more

Jellyfish, soldier crabs, and kangaroos

Last time I was here, the only kangaroo I saw was dead on the side of the road on the way to Canberra so Dorothy drove all over trying to find one. But first we went to Burrums Head where there was the most incredible driftwood and some great shelling. The soldier crabs make the funky designs and the jellyfish wasn't poisonous! Then we stopped at Akarra Lagoon to see the black swans but there were just a few ducks. Then she took me to see some friends who usually have kangaroos nearby and Dave was able to point us to see some. The large one is the male and the others are girls. Note how they are right there next to civilization. They were good about posing for me. There were four. Dave and his wife Susan have a yellow lab who loves life about as much as Nestle but is much quieter than Nestle. Dorothy has some other friends we were to see and I'm not sure what their dog was because it's something you can only find here. Her name is Riley and she definitely thinks she should get everything in the world because she is so cute. The kangaroo photos will follow in the next blog.

Lots of photos!

I was too exhausted last night to post photos because the internet was a little slow. I'm in Coolum Beach tonight. Yesterday, I woke up and was starving. My stomach gets really confused on these trips. I went for a run on the reach but I admit I walked a lot of it because there was so much to see. There was coral, big snappers washed up on the beach, and the volcanic rock that dots the shoreline. Dorothy and I went to the Hervey Bay pier and the photos don't do it justice. It was an incredible site and so calm. Lots of kids fishing which was cool. From there we went to the marina and then the fish co-op where I got some red emperor for dinner. Red Emperor is a relative of red snapper. The photo with the pool is taken from Dorothy's balcony and you can see the bay.

Web

I tried the last posting last night but fell asleep because it was taking so long. I just got it through although it's now about 6:20 am on Saturday, the 16th. More later today!

Arrival Down Under

I arrived into Sydney at 6 this morning and caught a plane to the Sunshine Coast. From there, a woman named Diana picked me up and took me to the beach for some lunch. She works for the Stand By Response team where they help people who have lost loved ones to suicide. She is in the photo with the water conditions. And that's me at Maroochydore Beach. The third photo is where the bus stopped for a meal in Cooloola. The bus was interesting as it was Greyhound Australia and filled with 20-somethings and their Lonely Planet books and backpacks. That apparently is what they do– backpack up and down the coast. I felt out of place with my laptop and Blackberry. I arrived into Hervey Bay around 6 tonight and Dorothy picked me up there. She had a reporter from the local newspaper waiting to interview me (Dorothy couldn't convince her to come on Saturday) so I took a shower and did the interview. I am ready to be horizontal for awhile!

Heading to Australia

I am off to Australia in a few hours (I'm in Los Angeles now) for their 2nd National Postvention Conference. I hated to say goodbye to the dogs. I don't think I could ever have kids, saying goodbye to the pooches is rough enough! Joe was expecting to have a depressed crew on his hands tonight. They were slow on our run-walks this morning, I think, because they know they won't be out for about 10 days so they wanted to milk all they could out of it. More from Down Under!

The other Daisy disappears for the night

I called Mom late on Mother's Day, after I had blogged here already, and she told me that her Daisy had disappeared the night before. Mom thought Daisy was snoozing in the living room but somehow when Mom let Ginger out around 8 pm, Daisy decided to take a stroll. It was 5 am before Mom discovered Daisy missing and it didn't help when she saw a coyote walk down the street. But at 7:20 am the phone rang and a man said, "I have Daisy!" The man, also a lab owner, returned a tired Daisy shortly after that. Mom said that "Ginger looked concerned" but I can't picture Ginger having that look on her face. We joked, wondering Ginger gave Daisy a lecture, "I told you not to do it." The best guess is that she just didn't know which way was home and her eyesight isn't so great. But with a collar and tags (her chip wasn't needed), she made it home safely for Mother's Day.

Daisy's saves a baby bird on mother's day

This morning on our run/walk, Daisy and I encountered one of our local road runners. Daisy went for the road runner and scared it so that it dropped the baby bird that was in its mouth. Once again, Daisy proved she would have been a great mom! Happy Mother's Day all, especially all the dog moms out there!

An inevitable question

I did the interview yesterday for ABQ The Magazine for which we did the photo shoot last week. I got the inevitable question that I knew one day would come. Which dog am I closest to? I had thought a lot about this at Fetchapalooza as I was standing at my table of books attempting to sell the books. The answer is Chaco because he was the first dog and it's because of him that everything else has happened. And Nestle, Daisy, and Hattie, and Ginger all would not have homes without him. However, after I told Joe about this when the interview was over, he said, "You told her Hattie?" I know Joe said that because Hattie follows me around like she's my shadow and when I leave town, she's depressed. He said one time she sat by the window on her "perch" for about a day waiting for me to come home (even though I wasn't due home for another week!). Chaco is very different than the others though. He bonded to me quickly and maybe it was because of the stable environment I provided because we walked/ran each morning plus I fed him and played with him (for the four fetches he would do) in the afternoons. Plus, I took him in the car everywhere. In return, Chaco is my security. He sleeps at the bottom of the stairs at night and will not join the other dogs in the bedroom unless I am out of town. And when I'm upset, he is the dog peering around the corner to see if I'm okay. I felt bad the rest of the day after I said that about Chaco though. Hattie seemed to be glaring at me, as if she knew what I had said. We'll see what appears in the Q&A in the magazine. Hattie was sitting on my lap for the photo though. What more could she ask for?!

A Blog Request from Nestle

I took a few photos of the dogs yesterday and Nestle asked me to include them on the blog because she thinks she looks really cute (and innocent!). Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Midwest Book Review of Ginger's Gift

And another one that recently appeared in The Midwest Book Review.

Ginger's Gift Book Review in Petroglyphs Magazine

A great book review of Ginger's Gift appears on the Petroglyphs Magazine web site. Check it out.