Tag Archive for: ditch dieting

How to Get Started With Intuitive Eating

Learning how to become an intuitive eater after months, years, or even decades of dieting and unsuccessful weight loss attempts is a journey. Intuitive eating is a marathon not a sprint… no quick fixes here!

 

Intuitive eating goes against what diet culture has taught you your entire life. The messages of diet culture are basically that you must look a certain way (skinny) to be worthy of respect. And to get skinny, you must restrict your food and deprive yourself of what you really want.

 

Intuitive eating, on the other hand, teaches you how to attune to your body’s hunger cues, listening to what it’s craving, provide what it needs, and to give your body the love and respect it deserves. Dieting teaches you how to ignore your body’s signals, it creates a toxic mentally with food, and causes you to obsess about unrealistically shrinking your body.

 

Intuitive eating is NOT about dieting, weight loss, and creating food rules. It’s about unlearning what has been drilled into your mind from diet culture. And although this does take time and it is definitely a process, there are some steps you can take to get started, without the overwhelm!

 

4 Steps to Get Started with Intuitive Eating

 

(1) Identify your burning food rules.

We all have them. Whether its no “junk food”, not eating after a certain time, or avoiding a food group altogether—these food rules are not your fault. This is the result of what diet culture has made you believe.

 

It’s important to notice when these food rules come up for you. Next time you’re in the grocery store, sitting down at the dinner table, or thinking about food—get curious about what food rules you have and start challenging them.

 

(2) Acknowledge that hunger is a good (and normal) feeling.

No diet, meal plan or nutrition label can tell you how much to eat. With all these external sources telling you when you eat and when to stop eating, no wonder hunger is no longer an intuitive feeling. Diet culture and dieting itself teaches you to go against what your body is telling you and to ultimately not trust it.

 

Physical hunger is your body’s way of telling you it’s time for nourishment. This is not a feeling to be ignored! If you’re feeling hungry… eat. And celebrate this feeling!

 

(3) Know the difference between feelings of “fullness” and “satisfaction”.

Believe it or not… these feelings are two different things. Fullness is a physical feeling of eating enough, while satisfaction is the mental or psychological feeling of eating enough. The way to get these two feelings in check is to eat enough food that is also satisfying. Your meals/snacks should be a combination of foods that provide you with energy and satisfy your cravings.


(4) Think of food and eating as a form of self-care.

Instead of thinking of eating as something that is supposed to be “perfect” or “all or nothing”, think of food and providing your body with nourishment as a form of self-care. Providing your body with foods that are nutrient-dense and that make you feel energized and happy, while also giving it delicious desserts and a glass of wine ARE BOTH forms of self-care. You can’t have self-care without a balance of these two!

 

I recognize that even these 4 steps might seem overwhelming. To make it easier for you, I’m hosting a webinar on Monday, June 13th! It’s called 3 steps to Eating for Healthy Living: The Intuitive Eating Blueprint.

 

Click here to register for FREE (replay will be available to those who register).

 

How Do I Know if Intuitive Eating is Working?

One of the most common questions I am asked from my clients after weeks, if not months, of workshops and sessions, is, “How do I know if Intuitive Eating is Working?” This is a seemingly straightforward question that you think would have a yes or no answer, however, it is not that simple. First, to get to the root of the question one must define what “working” is. In the dieting world, you know that a diet is working when weight loss occurs, however, the goal of Intuitive Eating is not to lose weight.

 

The goal of Intuitive Eating is to restore a healthy relationship with your food and your body. I often think of Intuitive Eating as a lifelong journey with little bumps and divergence along the way. And these bumps are so important for your growth. So, how do you know when you are growing and progressing on your Intuitive Eating journey?

 

It’s when you can celebrate “non-scale victories.”

 

Now, you may be wondering what these non-scale victories are. Well, I have found seven small triumphs that my clients often experience on their Intuitive Eating journey, and I would like to share them with you.

 

Here are the 7 non-scale victories you can celebrate:

1. Feeling Free from Food Prison

You are no longer following food restrictions that trendy diets put into place. Instead, you are allowing yourself to eat the foods that you are craving. You are giving yourself the freedom to make the food choices that you desire.

 

2.Having Neutrality Around Food Choices

When you look at previously forbidden food, you are no longer labeling it as good/bad, legal/illegal. For example, that piece of chocolate cake – it’s not a good food or bad food anymore. When you label foods, you are elevating them and give them power over you. When you view foods as neutral, you are taking the power away from the food.

 

3.You’re No Longer Binging

Intuitive Eating is all about listening to your body and its hunger and satiety cues. When you tune into your innate signals, you will realize that you stop eating once you feel full. You may realize at that point that you are no longer binge eating.

 

4.You’re Not Obsessing Over Food Anymore

You don’t spend your day thinking about food anymore. When you are dieting, food becomes the central part of your day, how much of it to eat or what to eat. However, when you eat intuitively, thoughts of food zoom in when you are hunger and zoom out when you are done eating.

 

5.You’re Not Dieting

There are so many benefits that are associated with not dieting anymore. You are no longer depriving your body, and you can finally start healing your relationship with your body and food. And guess what – you have NO desire to diet! BAM!

 

6.You’re Listening to Your Body

You’re tuning into what your body needs and listening to it. When you are dieting, you are ignoring these signals and are listening to the rules and restrictions of the diet. However, when you learn to become an Intuitive Eater, you are attuned to the wisdom of your body, and now trust it wholeheartedly.

 

7.Feeling at Peace Around Food

Food is no longer a major issue in your life. You can go out and enjoy a meal without worrying about calorie content or exercising to “make up for it.” Instead, you are at peace, knowing that when you eat, you are nourishing your body.

 

These are just a handful of the non-scale victories myself and my clients have experienced. What are some non-scale victories that you have had?

 

If you would like more information on Intuitive Eating and non-scale victories check out my video here.

 

Gentle Nutrition: Self-Care Versus Self Control

One of the biggest misconceptions regarding Intuitive Eating is that nutrition guidelines and recommendations go out the window, or there is no focus on nutrition at all—it’s the “eating whatever you want when you want” mindset. However, this is far from the truth.

Gentle nutrition is the tenth Intuitive Eating principle and reads a little something like this:

 

“Making food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you do not have to eat perfectly to be healthy. You do not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters—progress not perfection is what counts.”

In order to reach a point of where gentle nutrition can be incorporated, there needs to be space created for a positive relationship with food that allows for this. Hence why there are nine principles that come before this that help you…

 

  • Dismantle diet mentality
  • Challenge the food police
  • Get rid of diet rules
  • Reframe limiting beliefs
  • Accept your body

 

A solid foundation built on these principles needs to be in place for nutrition to be brought into the mix and approached in a non-diet way. This way you’re able to make choices from a loving, caring space and that consider all aspects of who you are (mentally, emotionally, and spiritually).

Difference Between Gentle Nutrition and Traditional Nutrition

 

The difference between nutrition from an Intuitive Eating approach vs. traditional approach is that nutrition is rooted in self-care and approaches it in a way that is sustainable.

 

Gentle nutrition is not rigid, restrictive, or filled with complications like traditional nutrition is often taught or perceived.

What does gentle nutrition look like? It’s different for everyone!

 

Here are some examples:

 

  • Having an extremely busy schedule so you choose frozen or convenience foods, but you try adding some fresh vegetable to the dish.
  • Following a gluten free eating style because you have celiac disease.
  • Choosing low FODMAP foods because you struggle with IBS flare ups and foods with low fermentable carbs feel better and don’t trigger symptoms.
  • Intentionally cooking your meals at home most days of the week.
  • Not giving nutrition much of a thought but including as many fruits and vegetables into your day as you feel like.

 

Gentle nutrition is determined by you based on what feels good in your body!

 

Prioritizing nutrition to whatever degree you feel is your choice (it’s not a “should”). You are making the decisions to engage in nutrition in a way that makes you and your body feel good (which embodies the meaning of self-care). Waking up every day and choosing food that helps you work your best, feel your best, and be your best IS a form of self-care.

Gentle Nutrition: Self-Care, Not Self-Control

 

Gentle nutrition takes the approach that you’re going to choose to eat that salad because it makes you feel your best and you want to nourish yourself with foods that make you feel good (self-care).

 

Whereas traditional nutrition takes the approach that you need to eat that salad because it will help you lose weight, get you healthy, or you choose the salad because you feel ashamed to eat anything else, especially in front of others. It is what you “should” do (self-control).

 

Taking nutrition from this approach can be a challenge. If you feel yourself struggling with determining the difference between self-care and self-control when it comes to food choices, ask yourself these questions:

 

  • Do my actions and decisions around food come from a place that feels balanced, free, elastic, and fluid, or do they feel rigid, controlled, and restrictive?

 

  • If I make a choice that strays from nutrition recommendations, how do I feel?

 

Need support in Gentle Nutrition: Check out The Intuitive Nutrition Circle™ (aka The IN Circle™.) where you learn to integrate gentle nutrition with your Intuitive Eating practice.

 

Note: The Intuitive Eating Basics course is a pre-requisite for The IN Circle. But now you can get the Intuitive Eating Basics course AS PART of The IN Circle for a short time only at a special price. Click here for that option and use coupon code FOODPEACE at checkout!

Offer expires 4/1/22

 

 

How to Tackle Nighttime Overeating and Binge Eating

Do you find yourself coming home from work after a long day and immediately heading to the fridge? Does it feel like this eating is “out of control”?

There are many reasons why you may be overeating or binge eating at night when you are not physically hungry.

  1. You’re not eating enough during the da,y leading to feelings of ravenous hunger at night.
  2. You are eating for reasons other than biological hunger, such as emotional hunger, boredom, loneliness, sadness, etc.
  3. You ignore the signs of hunger throughout the day.
  4. You are using food as a way to unwind or relax at night due to a hard day or general life stressors.
  5. Eating at night is a habit or a part of your routine (that you just can’t break)

Once you’ve identified when and why you may overeat and binge eat at night—how do you confront this issue?

Here are four ways to end the struggle with nighttime eating:

(1) Eat consistently throughout the day.

Eating meals throughout the day ensures sustained energy, limits glucose spikes and crashes and can be just what you need to stop overeating and bingeing at night.

 

Ensure your meals have a balanced amount of macronutrients—carbohydrates, protein and fat.

 

If you are a chronic dieter, it’s quite possible that you aren’t including this very important nutrient with your meals – carbohydrates! Part of embracing Intuitive Eating is recognizing that all food groups are nutrients fit! Carbs are the preferred fuel source for your body. Add carbs back to your meals throughout the day, and you may just see those nighttime binges disappear.

 

(2) Power up with snacks.

Overeating at night is more than likely due to a lack of sustained fuel throughout the day. Having large gaps between meals with no food can leave you feeling ravenous by the time your next meal comes around.

 

If you have a good rule that states “no eating in between meals”, it’s time to toss that rule to the curb. Adding in a snack, either between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner could prevent those serious hunger pangs that leads to overeating, both at dinner and late at night.

 

Here are some snack suggestions:

  • Cheese, fruit, and crackers
  • Yogurt and granola
  • A handful of trail mix
  • An apple or banana with almond butter

 

(3) Listen to your hunger cues.

Ignoring hunger cues will more than likely lead to overeating. Choosing to listen to the signals of your body will allow you to give your body what it needs. This in turn will help you build back trust with your body.

 

This feeling of trust is important to develop since dieting has stripped you of trust. If you’re holding onto a limiting belief around hunger and fullness, then work on reframing these beliefs into more empowering true beliefs.

 

For example, if you think “I can’t trust my hunger and fullness signals”, flip it around and start to tell yourself “I CAN eat when hungry and stop when full.”

 

(4) Check in on old dieter habits.

Do you find yourself defaulting to old dieting habits? Do you:

  • Only include certain foods in your meals
  • Deny yourself certain foods because they’re “bad”
  • Skip meals
  • Hold onto food rules (ex: no snacking during the day)
  • Ignore your hunger cues

 

These habits are deep rooted in your diet mentality—check in with yourself to identify if these habits may be surfacing. The only solution is to grant yourself unconditional permission to eat and allow yourself foods that satisfy you.

 

Still stuck in the spell of diets? Pop your name and email in the boxes below and start your journey towards breaking the spell of diets and developing TRUST!

 

3 Reasons to Say Yes to Intuitive Eating

Every week I receive dozens of phone calls asking me for a meal plan to help them lose weight. Most of my clients have tried the most popular diets on the market with little success. Instead of giving them another meal plan with strict rules to follow, I will instead point them in the direction of Intuitive Eating.

 

Intuitive Eating is not a weight loss program. Unlike diets, the focus is not on weight loss. It’s on creating a healthy relationship with food as you work towards regaining trust in yourself and food choices. Intuitive Eating is the opposite of a diet. You will not follow a set of rules set forth by a money-making corporation but instead, you will learn to listen to your body’s natural hunger and fullness signals.

 

Your relationship with your body is affected by many years of dieting. Marketing campaigns are centered around the theory that everyone needs to look a certain way. However, everyone’s body is different, and we aren’t all going to look the same.

 

Intuitive Eating embraces that idea that everyone is different and that all bodies aren’t meant to look the same. That is why Intuitive Eating does not come with a set of rules and instead, focuses on restoring your relationship with your body.

 

Losing weight may make you happy short term. But when you gain that weight back, you are the opposite of happy. You can find inner peace and restore your relationship with food and your body through Intuitive Eating.

 

Here are 3 reasons to say yes to Intuitive Eating:

 

1. You are in charge

 

After years of dieting, you aren’t listening to your hunger and fullness signals as a guide to your eating, you’ve been listening to external rules. Intuitive Eating reminds you that you are in charge of your food choices and your body. You have the inner wisdom to know when you are hungry and when you are full, when you should start eating and when to stop.

 

2. You will live life guilt-free

 

Every diet has a list of restrictions with the food you can and cannot eat. But what if you happen to want to eat a food that’s on the “avoid” list? You can deny your desire for only so long. So, you indulge, and the guilty feelings and harsh self-talk start. With Intuitive Eating, you learn to enjoy the foods you love without guilt, and without the worry of overeating.

 

3. You will restore trust in yourself 

 

Marketing campaigns for diets want you to think that everything you have done before you start their diet was wrong. Diets will make you think that you have been choosing the “wrong” foods for years or doing the incorrect workout regimen. However, you are in charge of your body and what it needs. The diets have stripped you of trust. But Intuitive Eating can help you regain that trust!

 

WholeBody Trust: Intuitive Eating for a Peaceful Life Program is now open. Click here to learn more!

Mindful Eating: It’s More Than Just a Way to Eat

How familiar are you with the term “mindfulness”?

Mindfulness, and mindful eating, are terms that seems to be thrown around by many doctors, social media influencers and maybe even your friends these days!

But what exactly is mindful eating and where did it come from?

What is Mindful Eating? 

Mindful eating is rooted in the Buddhist concept of mindfulness and is a form of meditation that helps you recognize and cope with emotions and physical sensations.

In order to properly shift into the mindset of mindful eating one must use, or adopt, the concept of mindfulness in order to reach a state of full attention to the eating experience, cravings, and physical hunger and fullness cues.

It can be more clearly defined as—paying attention to your eating experience by utilizing all of the 5 senses (seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling and feeling), while also observing and taking in the emotional and physical responses that take place before, during and after the eating experience.

Mindful eating is NOT a diet, or just a way to eat—but it is mindset. It has nothing to do with calories and macronutrients nor does it focus on weight loss. The intention is to help savor the eating experience and encourage full presence during a meal.

Mindful eating is process oriented verses outcome driven. It focuses on the journey, or process of the eating experience, which is better understood as process oriented. This is compared to dieting or following a meal plan which focuses on meeting objectives, or meeting a goal (realistic or not), also known as outcome driven.

The overall goal of mindful eating is to shift your focus away from thinking about food externally, or unconsciously, to exploring, enjoying and remaining present with food and the eating experience. It’s all about bringing awareness to each plate or bite of food.

Five Fundamental Concepts of Mindful Eating:

  1. Eat slowly with no distraction.
  2. Look inward to hear hunger/fullness signals.
  3. Learn to differentiate between the different types of hunger (biological hunger and emotional hunger) and act on those feelings appropriately.
  4. Consistently engage all five senses.
  5. Learn strategies to cope with any guilt, shame, anxiety (any negative feelings) around food and eating.
  6. Take stalk of how foods make you feel.
  7. Have a real appreciation for food and the eating experience.

Although these concepts may seem totally out of reach, mindful eating is something everyone can benefit from and get involved in!

The Benefits of Mindful Eating: 

  • Reduces stress
  • Increases enjoyment and appreciation for eating and food.
  • Improves digestion
  • Aids in decreasing disordered eating behaviors (binge eating, emotional eating, etc.)
  • Allows you to take charge of your food, instead of feeling that food “controls” you!

4 Ways to Get Started

  1. Prioritize mealtimes. Give yourself plenty of time to organize, prepare and eat your meals. Rushing mealtime can not only hinder your ability to hear what your body is telling you (i.e., hunger/fullness), but also doesn’t give you time to appreciate and be present with your meal. And plus—no one likes to be rushed!
  2. Check in & ask yourself questions. Don’t be afraid to set your fork aside and ask yourself—
    • How am I feeling at this point in my meal?
    • Are there feelings of pleasure, regret, stress, anxiety, disappointment?
    • Are there any memories being brought up while I’m eating this meal?
    • Where is my hunger/fullness level at?
    • How is my body feeling right now?
  3. Use your five senses. As mentioned, mindful eating encourages to utilize your five senses.
  • Before eating your meal, really look at your food. Take note of the color, the smell, the look, overall appeal, etc.
  • During the meal, check in with the textures, tastes, temperatures, etc. What is sticking out to you? What do you like? What do you not like?
  • After the meal, reflect on your experience. What do you like? What did you not like?
  1. Be aware of your desire or intention. Although this will take some practice, being able to identify your desire or intention for eating is very important. Believe it or not, there are many different types of hunger or reasons for eating! We eat because we are hungry (of course) but also when we feel happy, sad, bored, excited, anxious, nerves, and so much more! Try to identify your desire to eat and act on it appropriately.

 

Beware of The Mindful Eating Diet 

Many people begin the process of mindful eating and turn it into another diet of rules. And when they “break” the rules, they spiral into the guilt-shame cycle. This is especially true of those who’ve dieted for quite some time. This is why it’s so important to shift out of the diet mentality and change your beliefs around food, eating and your body. Otherwise, a beautiful practice such as mindful eating, becomes yet another diet.

 

Need help breaking the spell of diets so you can truly enjoy mindful eating? Pop your name and email below and get started in my free 3 day break the spell of diets online experience.

 

 

How to Eat Intuitively While Traveling

I don’t know about you…but I am ready to go on vacation! Like most people, I haven’t traveled since the pandemic hit! While I know there are some people who’ve resumed their vacation travels, I haven’t been ready – until NOW!

I am itching to get away! And many of my clients are as well! With traveling opening again and vacationing returning to normal, eating intuitively while on vacation is a thought lingering in many of my client’s minds. And it may be on your mind too.

For many people, this may seem like an impossible task, especially if you’re a dieter or working on breaking free of dieting.

Typically, a vacation or traveling usually means “a break” from the routines of your regular life.

A break from your routine can mean—indulging in foods you don’t normally eat, experiencing new foods, and being spontaneous and flexible with your eating.

This “lack of routine”, especially for those just beginning their Intuitive Eating journey, can bring up a lot of difficult emotions surrounding eating, making food decisions, and being in a new, unfamiliar environment while vacationing. These emotions include shame, fear, guilt, and anxiety, and loads of “what if’s”.

What If…

There is often a lot of food fear and food worry when it comes to going on vacation, wondering if there will be food you can eat. The “what if’s” can fill your head leaving you anxious about the vacation that you really want to be looking forward to.

  • What if I go overboard?
  • What if they don’t have “healthy” foods for me to eat?
  • What if I can’t control myself?
  • What if my body lets me down?
  • What if I stop hearing my hunger/fullness signals?

To help combat some of these negative emotions and overwhelming “what if’s”, here are 4 KEY POINTS to keep in mind:

1.Eating is eating no matter where you are.

 Many people glorify and place unnecessary pressures on eating and making food choices while traveling. However, nothing has to change or look different from a usual day of eating. Eating can still be “normal” even while vacationing. This is a powerful mindset shift that will help take the pressure off eating while vacationing.

Think about it—if you are currently eating without rules and restriction, honoring your hunger and eating until satisfied… why should your eating look any different while you are traveling?

2.Intuitive Eating is not only about honoring your hunger and fullness.

Traveling opens the door to a whole host of great experiences. From trying new foods to learning about a new culture or cuisine—the experiences are endless, and you shouldn’t be denying yourself from having these experiences. Although it’s important to honor your hunger and fullness signals, there are times in which this shouldn’t be the only thing you’re focused on.

For example, while vacationing there may be a time you get the opportunity to try a new food that is incredible, and you notice that you ate past comfortable fullness. Or, while engaging in a fun activity, time gets away from you and you suddenly realize you’re way hungrier than feels comfortable.

In both scenarios, these are temporary moments of discomfort—they don’t last forever and it is absolutely OKAY! Avoid hyper focusing on those moments. Fixating on those moments (like beating yourself up, restricting, etc.) will cause you to miss out on experiences you may not get to experience again.

Remember, there is no perfection in Intuitive Eating!

3.Focus on satisfaction.

An important part of Intuitive Eating is the feeling of satisfaction. Intuitive Eating allows you to give yourself permission to eat what sounds and feels good for you without any conditions attached to it—and believe it or not, this permission is still present while vacationing!

Don’t be “conditional” with your permission. Eat what sounds good to you, allow yourself to eat everything on your plate or leave some behind, eat when others aren’t but you feel the need to, and say no when something doesn’t appeal to you.

You are in charge!

4.Remember compensating is not necessary.

There is no need to threaten yourself with an intense workout regimen or a “cleanse”, or “detox” while traveling or vacationing. Movement is great but if the intention is to “punish yourself” for eating a little out of “routine” or because you ate until a little bit overfull- I think it’s best if you hit the brakes to remind yourself that those are old dieting behaviors, and you don’t need them anymore!

You got this! Happy travels!!

 

3 Truths About What Happens When You Stop Dieting

Are you thinking about giving up dieting, but you don’t know what to expect when you make this life-changing decision?

Have you already made the decision to stop dieting, but you’re not so confident in this decision?

It makes sense! You’ve been on the diet roller coaster for a LONG time. It feels weird not to be following a set of food rules, even though deep down you know they’ve never worked. But what happens once you give up the food rules?

Let’s look at what your thoughts and fears might be. Then, let’s tackle what you really need to know.

 

Typical Thoughts When You Give Up Dieting

It’s common to have some uncomfortable thoughts and fears when you think of no longer dieting. Here are some common thoughts:

  • “I will gain weight!”
  • “I will eat out of control!”
  • “I won’t know what to eat.”
  • “What do I do without rules?”
  • “What if it doesn’t work for me?”

It’s important to be realistic in your expectations when you decide to not diet and to begin your journey towards Intuitive Eating.

What You Need to Know

1. You will want food all the time – and that’s normal!

When you first decide to get off the diet roller coaster and you begin throwing away your food rules, you will want to eat all those foods that were forbidden. And you will want to eat them a lot, and often. This happens because for months, years or even decades you’ve been restricting these foods. So, this reaction is totally “normal”.

Your mind and body are sort of saying “hey, what’s up?” It’s not used to you eating these foods, and it’s thinking “I’m never going to get these foods again! I better stock up while I can because these won’t be around forever!”

This will continue to happen as you continue to test the process of Intuitive Eating. “Can I really eat what I want?”

Yes you can.

2. It is a long process.

Please have realistic expectations. You cannot expect your body to adapt to giving up dieting and shifting to Intuitive Eating overnight. The communication between your mind and body has been suppressed for quite a while. Hunger, fullness, and satisfaction have been ignored—so you must rebuild this communication!

You might be feeling that it’s difficult to stay motivated and invested in the journey, especially if progress isn’t immediate. But that’s your diet mentality speaking. You are programmed to want immediate results but it’s important to build your patience muscle as you work on changing your relationship with food for the rest of your life.

Focus on the long game!

3. No two journeys are the same.

Working at your own pace is totally okay.

As a dieter, you likely have an “all or nothing” mentality—”going all in with something full force, or not doing it at all”. Having this mentality can hold you back.

Instead of diving headfirst, trying to rush the process and being “good”, take one step that you feel confident in and let it be that—just a first step. Once you feel ready, take another step forward and so on.

Take the journey at your own pace, be true to yourself. Don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s journey because you don’t know their story!

There is no race to any finish line! Intuitive Eating is a practice. It’s not something that ends when you get to a goal.

Want to know more about the 3 phases you will go through when you stop dieting?

Join me today for a LIVE training on this topic, right in my Facebook Group.

 

“But You Have to Lose Weight…”

Emily logged onto Zoom for her appointment with me and shared the following:

“I told my mom and best friend that I’ve decided not to diet anymore. They had a shocked look on their faces and said, “but you have to lose weight.”

Have you experienced this too?

You are probably reading my blog because you know that diets have never worked for you and will never! You’ve been searching for a way out of the dieting quicksand, and you think you’ve found it with Intuitive Eating. But you are struggling because no one around you has seen the light like you have.

It’s incredibly challenging when your inner circle is dieting and thinks you should be too. That’s why it’s so important to be a part of a strong community of women who are on the same journey as you are of leaving dieting behind.

3 Ways a Community Can Help

(1) It provides a safe and secure environment where you can share experiences, seek support when necessary, and ask questions, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT.

(2) It provides an opportunity to connect with others. Each person in the community is striving and growing toward a common goal

(3) It keeps you motivated and accountable. With everyone in the community working toward the same common goal (breaking free of dieting and becoming an Intuitive Eater), it’s easier to stay accountable and motivated because others around you are doing the same! Everyone in the community has similar thoughts, beliefs and values around dieting and diet culture. It helps to know that you are not alone!

Giving Up Dieting is a Foreign Concept

The dominant paradigm in “weight management” or “weight loss” is to eat less and exercise more.

You now know that this is a very flawed paradigm, yet many people are trapped in outdated beliefs despite all the evidence that restriction and dieting are not moving the majority of people toward healthier, happier and more vibrant lives.

Yet, health professionals, physicians, family, friends and more all fuel the “weight loss” or “dieting” paradigm with biased and incorrect information, which allows the beliefs of the paradigm to continue.

Join me for a LIVE training today what you need to make the paradigm shift happen for you.

It’s all happening in my Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life Private Facebook Group. If you’re not a member yet, click here to join (it’s free!).

6 Steps to a Diet-Free Commitment in 2021

Whoo hoo! We are just about ready to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021! I don’t think there is anyone who isn’t happy to leave this year behind us.

 

The only problem is that with a New Year, comes all the pressure to start a new diet! Wherever you turn, you will be bombarded with diet talk- in the salon, supermarket, office, on the radio, newspaper ads etc. It’s sometimes difficult not to fall prey to the New Year diet marketing, even if you’ve already commited to no more diets! That’s how strong those messages can be.

 

The #1 barrier to a healthy relationship with food and your body is believing that “this will be the diet that works for me.”

 

And just like that, you hold yourself back from finally finding freedom from the battle with food and your body that you’ve been living with for years.

 

Busting through the Diet Temptation Barrier

 

I promise you that dieting is not going to bring you any peace in your life. All that dieting will do is keep you on the roller coaster of restriction – binge eating – guilt – shame.

 

If dieting was the answer, it would have “worked” a long time ago.

 

So, how do you bust through this temptation to do “just one more diet”?

 

6 Steps to a Diet-Free Commitment

 

First and foremost, I want you to know that I understand the temptation to try that one last diet. I’ve been there before, so I really do get it. Here are 6 steps to help you commit to being diet free in 2021.

 

1.Take quiet time: Take a few minutes tonight and sit with yourself quietly. Be sure that you are relaxed, not hungry, and tell your family that you don’t want to be interrupted for at least 30 minutes. You’ll need to have a pad and pen handy.

 

2.Reflect on your dieting history: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and ask yourself the following questions:

  • What has been the emotional cost of all my years of dieting? (examples – depression, anxiety, poor body image etc.)

 

  • What has been the relationship cost of all my years of dieting? (examples – lost friendships, broken relationships, social anxiety etc.)

 

  • What has been the health cost of all my years of dieting? (Example – blood sugar swings, elevated blood pressure, hair falling out, menstrual irregularities, GI trouble etc.)

 

After each question, open your eyes and begin writing. Don’t edit your words, just write.

 

3.Review your responses: Read your responses to each question OUT LOUD (this part is really crucial), and now ask yourself this last MOST IMPORTANT question:

 

If I don’t break this chronic dieting pattern, how will that affect my future, and that of my daughters (and sons) who are watching me and learning from me?

 

4.Declare your diet-free commitment: “I am committed to never dieting again!”

 

5.Seek community: Join other women on the journey towards breaking free of dieting in my Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life Facebook Group. Click here to request to join! (Please answer the membership questions for admission).

 

6.Take a leap of faith: Click HERE to schedule a complementary call with me to get started on your intuitive eating journey in 2021.

 

You don’t need to walk this journey alone, nor should you. We all need support along the way. I’m here for you if you are ready.

 

Join me for a LIVE TRAINING today at 12:15 pm EST where I will dive deeper into living diet free!

 

It’s all happening in the Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life private Facebook Group right HERE. Join us!