24 May 9 • 2019
jn

ALLISON JACOBS DIGITAL EDITOR

The JN talks with life 
coach, motivational 
speaker and founder of 
BREAK the Weight.

R

icki Friedman, 30, is a life 
coach, motivational speaker 
and founder of BREAK the 
Weight, where she coaches people to 
BREAK the Weight in their lives — 
physically, mentally and emotional-
ly. She teaches people how to shift 
their mindsets and create positive 
coping skills to live stronger, health-
ier and happier lives. Here she sits 
down for a brief Q & A.
Q

: BREAK the Weight was 
born when your best friend 
approached you to help her lose 
150+ lbs. What were some key 
takeaways for you during that 
journey?
RF: We started this project when 
I was 23 years old. At that time, I 
was so focused on only what the 
physical aspect of “weight” meant 
but quickly learned that it was so 
much more. We turned our little 
project into a blog and allowed 
others to see what it is really like to 

change your life.
For 290 days, we invited people 
to read about the real stuff, not just 
the before and after of her transfor-
mation. We wrote about the tough 
aspects of weight loss and shared 
about grief, depression and aspects 
of our lives that “weighed” us down. 
She lost 100 pounds physically, and 
I lost 100 pounds emotionally. As 
I coached her, she started to feel 
better, but so did I. It redefined 
everything for me because it helped 
me see that we all have heaviness to 
“break” through — physically, men-
tally and emotionally.
Q

: Tell us about your current 
BREAKER method that tar-
gets both physical and emotional 
health.
RF: The BREAKER method is 
an eight-week program that helps 
people create simple and sustainable 
change by following a daily system 
they can use forever. I believe that if 

you don’
t do the work emotionally, 
you will never truly feel good physi-
cally. It’
s not just about changing the 
habits — it’
s about understanding 
what has been weighing on you. We 
explore what happens when you’
re 
sad and what you tend to do when 
feeling unmotivated. 
I have recently changed my busi-
ness model from one-on-one coach-
ing to group coaching so clients can 
receive support from others who 
are also in the program. My goal for 
the BREAKER program is to help 
people apply positive coping skills 
so they can reprogram the way they 
eat, think and move when it comes 
to their daily habits.
Q

: Because you’
re focusing a 
great deal of time on helping 
others, what are some key things 
you do to decompress?
RF: I am very good at taking care 
of myself and finding the time to 
relax. I am a “go, go, go” type of 

jews d
in 
the
Dealing with Grief 
and Loss

RICKI FRIEDMAN 
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
W
hen it comes to grief and loss, 
certain moments, days and events 
seem to weigh on us more than oth-
ers, especially the first few times we 
go through them. With Mother’
s and 
Father’
s Day around the corner, a lot of 
people, young and old, will be celebrat-
ing this day without a parent or maybe 
even parents.
Losing my mother when I was 13 
made for a lot of challenging holidays, 
which eventually forced me to learn the 
right ways to cope. Creating healthy and 
straightforward ways to deal with the 
loss turned out to be my most signifi-
cant gain.
Here are some ways I learned to deal 
with loss.

CREATE A SIMPLE MANTRA
Having a quick but inspiring saying 
you can write somewhere or speak out 
loud will help you take a step back for 
a moment. Repeat it as much as you 
need. The more you say it, the more 
you’
ll begin to believe in it.
Three examples are:
• “My pain is my greatest gift.”
• “Life is happening for me, not to 
me.”
• “This wouldn’
t be happening if I 
couldn’
t handle it.”

MOVE YOUR BODY DAILY
We hold emotions in our body, which 
means that to release our feelings, we 
must move physically. Movement is 
key when it comes to the decrease of 
depression and anxiety. The healthier 
your state of mind, the better you’
re 
able to deal with certain emotions.
Three suggestions are:
• Take a 10-minute walk when you 
wake up or start to feel sad.
• Stretch it out for five minutes in 
moments of distress.
• Get a 20-minute sweat in! Sweating 
is the fastest way to find release.

BE OPEN AND HONEST 
ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL
Grief can feel repetitive, but truth is, 
grief is repetitive, especially the first 
year or two, and that’
s OK. Remember, 
feeling the emotions is how you heal 
from them. You can do this through 
social media, friends, family, etc.

Schmoozing 
with Ricki 
Friedman

continued on page 26

continued on page 26

Ricki Friedman