Tag Archive for: ditch dieting

Enjoying Passover and Easter as an Intuitive Eater

This blog is sponsored by my book: Passover the Healthy Way: Light, Tasty and Easy Recipes Your Whole Family Will Enjoy, available on Amazon.

With Passover starting this evening and Easter arriving on Sunday, you might be wondering how you can continue your intuitive eating practice during the holidays (especially if you are new to this). I know it can be overwhelming. There’s eight days of Passover meals, a hearty Easter dinner and lots of sweets around the house.

A good place to start is to remember that you were born an intuitive eater. While it may have been buried under years of dieting, the work you’ve done thus far has brought that ability closer to the surface.

Below is a review of the Intuitive Eating principles and some tips to enjoy the holidays as an intuitive eater.

Principle #1: Reject the Diet Mentality

The first step to enjoying Passover or Easter as an intuitive eater is reject the diet mentality!

What is the “diet mentality”?

It’s when you have a list of food rules to guide your eating; you label foods as “good” and “bad, “legal” and “illegal”, “can have” and “can’t have”. It’s when you elevate certain foods above the others, and then when you “fall off track”, promise yourself to start again tomorrow.

As you are preparing for the holiday this year, let’s work on throwing away all of the food rules around the holiday foods because you don’t need them. The only things you need are your body, heart, and the food in front of you.

With practice you will begin to see food as food, rather than with the labels “good” or “bad”

Passover and Easter are enjoyable times of celebration and being with family, not a time of restriction. It’s about enjoying yummy foods and recipes handed down from generation to generation.

Listen to what your body is telling you and go from there.

What ONE step will you take to reject the diet mentality during Passover and Easter? Comment below!

Principle #2: Honor Your Hunger

When you sit down to eat during Passover and Easter, breathe for a moment to take stock.

Are you feeling hungry? How hungry are you? What does your body need? How will you nourish yourself?

These are some of many questions you can ask yourself to learn about your body and what foods will make you feel like your brightest self.

This is where you can really begin your journey to restore trust in the relationship between your body and food and begin to reacquaint yourself with the various signals of hunger.

Remember to not let yourself get too hungry! When primal hunger hits, it’s difficult to stop eating from a place of comfortable fullness (more on fullness later in this blog).

In what ways can you “honor your hunger” this Passover or Easter?

Principle #3: Make Peace with Food

Give yourself the unconditional permission to eat the food you love. When you restrict food, it leads to deprivation which leads to overeating and feelings of guilt when you indulge against your “food rules.”

When all food on the table is “emotionally equal”, you’ll be able to eat what you want to satisfy your hunger and to stop when you’re comfortably full. When you elevate certain foods, they are highly charged, and you battle with it.

So this Passover or Easter, call a truce in the war on food and enjoy!

What food(s) do you feel you need to make peace with? Comment below.

Principle #4: Challenge the Food Police

Don’t let diet culture control tell you how to eat this Passover and Easter…or ever for that matter!

Food isn’t “good” or “bad.” Food is food!

The purpose of eating is to nourish your body and enjoy the experience.

I recognize that the food police rules are screaming in your head “don’t eat this, don’t eat that”, “you can only have one of those” etc.

You can be louder than the food police. Challenge those voices that play in your head and bring up your ally voices, those kind, nurturing voice that sounds like your grandma, “it’s going to be okay, you’ve got this”.

Reach out to me if you need help challenging the food police as we head into the holiday!

Principle #5: Respect Your Fullness

Your body was created with built-in signals that work to tell you when you are hungry and when you are satisfied enough to stop eating. Whether you realize it or not, you were born an intuitive eater!

However, when you’ve been dieting for a while, you stop listening to those signals and they no longer guide you to begin eating or to stop eating. Most likely you finish eating when the plate is empty (“clean the plate club” anyone). Learning to arrive at the table in a gentle hungry state will enable to you stay tuned in to know when you’re comfortably full.

There are a lot of meals over the 8 days of Passover. Let’s try to pause mid-meal and pay attention to whether you are getting satiated. This is not a commitment to no longer eating the meal, it’s just a check in point to stay in conscious eating mode, versus autopilot mode.

Let me know how this works out for you! Comment below!

Principle #6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor

Do you enjoy your meals? Do you even know what foods you really like and want to eat? I’ve heard from many clients who’ve been dieting for years (and even decades) that they just don’t know what they like anymore.

Well, it’s time to discover your true food preferences. What tastes do you like? Textures? Temperature of food?

Explore these qualities of food over the next few weeks so you can reacquaint yourself with what gives you the most pleasure.

During Passover and Easter this year, really be with your food. Take a moment before the meal to breathe, put your phone away, and focus on the food in front of you. Try to eat slowly, putting your fork down in between bites so you can truly savor what is in your mouth. It will make the eating experience truly satisfying.

What’s your favorite Passover or Easter food? Comment below!

Principle #7: Cope with Your Emotions without Food

The holidays can stir up a lot of different emotions. From happiness to sadness, from excitement to anxiety; it can be a confusing time.

You may feel pressured to turn to food to deal with the stress of hosting or attending Passover Seder or Easter dinner with certain family members.

One of the intuitive eating principles is to cope with emotions without turning to food…rather use kindness! This means experiencing what you are feeling and accepting those feelings without judgement.

And, doing things for yourself in that moment that serves you best!

What ways can you be kind to yourself during moments of difficult emotions? Comment below!

Principle #8: Respect Your Body

It can be hard to love your body in today’s world. Everywhere you look you see images of skinny women and buff men.

It’s important to keep in mind that what you see on social media is usually not real – these are photoshopped images. People come in all different shapes and sizes; all of them are beautiful.

You may struggle with loving your body, I get it! Instead, work to reach a place where you can respect your body and accept yourself with neutrality and kindness.

I’m currently working with women in my The Body Image Healing Program™. If you’re interested in getting support on your body image healing journey, fill out this interest form, and I’ll be in touch.

Principle #9: Exercise – Feel the Difference

Our bodies were made to move!

Movement is important for a happy and healthy body that’s strong.

You don’t need to hit the gym 5 times a week or exercise until it hurts. Instead, consider what feels gentle to your body and what brings you joy!

That could be taking a walk around the block or doing some yoga moves in your living room.

Feel the difference when you’re moving. How does it impact your stress levels, your sleeping patterns, and your overall feeling of empowerment? Comment below!

Principle #10: Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition

Now that we’ve discussed the other nine principles of intuitive eating, it’s time to address the tenth: Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition

Eating well is not about perfection! “In matters of taste, consider nutrition, and in matters of nutrition, consider taste”.

That pretty much sums it up. Choose foods that you enjoy and taste great, and that also make you feel good. And be flexible! Your body has all the wisdom, now it’s time to trust it!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy Passover and Easter.

Is Weight a Symbol of Something Deeper?

Isabel walked into my office having made the decision to make changes in her eating behaviors. She recently went to the doctor for her annual exam and her doctor put the scare of life into her. Her diabetes was “out of control”, her blood pressure was elevated, and she was just diagnosed with gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying, a complication of uncontrolled diabetes). She was distraught but committed. The doctor sent Isabel on her way with a prescription to lose weight.

This isn’t unusual. Most doctors will prescribe weight loss to lower blood glucose, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. And while you may see a reduction in these values if you lose weight, the problem is that weight loss is not a behavior you can just tell someone to do. If you’ve been a dieter, you know what I mean.

Is Weight Loss Through Dieting Sustainable?

Anyone can lose weight when they “follow” a diet. But the question is – can you sustain that way of eating for a lifetime?

Research shows us the answer is NO. About 95-98% of people who lose weight on a diet regain that weight and up to two-thirds gain back even more.

You may be thinking “Bonnie, I know someone who lost weight and kept it off”. I bet you do. But the 3-5% that do keep it off most often do so with disordered eating behaviors such as tracking their foods, counting points, eliminating certain foods, not allowing themselves full pleasure in eating what they want and spending a LOT of time in the gym (to name a few). Most people really cannot live a “normal” life of “normal” eating and “normal exercising” if they are trying to maintain a weight loss achieved through dieting.

When I explained to Isabel that we will not be focusing on weight loss but instead, we will focus on habits and behaviors that will enable her body to better use the insulin she is producing and ultimately help her improve her health (which SHE really wanted to do), including learning how to minimize the symptoms of gastroparesis, she was relieved. And then, she started to cry!

Using Weight as a Cover Up

All is not always how it looks. Many times, when working with a client on improving their relationship with food, it becomes apparent that there’s a reason why they’ve struggled so long. With the realization that the odds are low that they can lose weight and keep it off, they self-sabotage their own efforts in order to keep the weight on.

Why you might ask?

Having “failed” so many times, they are embarrassed to continue to yo-yo diet. So, they cover up the shame and embarrassment by making jokes about themselves and allow others to joke about them too.

This is what happened to Isabel. She was known in her group of friends as the “fat funny one” and she took on this persona, making jokes at her own expense, when deep down she was hurting terribly.

Isabel never told anyone this, until she broke down and cried in the safe space of my office.

Weight-Neutral Nutrition Therapy: A Focus on Behaviors, Not Weight

A weight-neutral approach to nutrition therapy, including diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol management focuses on the habits and behaviors you can change which ultimately lead to improved health, regardless of body weight. These behaviors include balanced eating, joyful movement, stress management, improving sleep, taking medications as prescribed and engaging in mindful eating behaviors.

This approach takes the emphasis off weight and brings a sense of relief to those who’ve tried to diet to lose weight as the treatment prescribed for health. It promotes positive behavioral change without the shame and guilt often felt and it empowers them to continue along the path of healthy living.

Is Losing Weight “Bad”?

Let me assure you that I am not against weight loss. I want to make this perfectly clear. What I am against is intentionally pursuing weight loss in an effort to shrink your body to meet the warped societal standards of the “thin ideal”, and as the treatment of medical conditions.

If in the process of learning about your disease state and making sustainable habit and behavior changes (including managing your stress better and having better sleep), you lose weight, then that means it’s what your body needed to do to return to it’s natural healthy weight. And in this case, I DO believe that this will be sustainable.

Remember, weight loss is not a behavior. It is an outcome of habit and behavior change.

Take Action

If you are ready to improve your health without a focus on weight loss, reach out to me here!

 

 

 

 

Intuitive Eating and National Nutrition Month Collide

It’s interesting when people hear that I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist, yet I don’t promote diets. This is something many people don’t understand since most people are influenced by society’s message that to “manage” their weight, they have to diet and “control” their food intake.

No, it’s not about control, it’s about “taking charge”. By saying NO to diets, you are saying YES to putting yourself back in the driver’s seat and making your own food choices. Because you know what? You know how to do that. I realize that maybe you think you don’t, since you’ve been dieting for so long. But given the chance, you will step up to the plate.

I’ve said it may times – intuitive eating is not “see it, want it, eat it”. With intuitive eating, we pause to determine if we are hungry or not, to think about how eating that food made you feel last time you ate it (sluggish, tired, energized, blood sugar spike/crash etc) and then use that information to make an informed food and eating decision.

Is nutrition important? Yes, of course it is. But choosing foods that are nutrient-rich or nutrient-poor does not make you a better or worse person.

There is a way to balance both, and to have full satisfaction when doing so.

National Nutrition Month – Eat Right, Bite by Bite

This year’s theme has the following message: “Good nutrition doesn’t have to be restrictive or overwhelming. Small goals and changes can have a cumulative healthful effect, and every little bit (or bite!) of nutrition is a step in the right direction.”

When working with clients, I stress one small change at a time.

Here’s a road map to guide you this National Nutrition Month:

Week One: Just focus on eating a variety of foods every day. Now that you’re not dieting any longer, there’s no more eliminating major food groups or particular foods. Consider what you’d like to eat from each food group as you build a satisfying meal. Then, sit and savor every bite.

Week Two: Plan meals ahead if you are a busy person (like me!) and you want to be sure you have food in the house to prepare meals for the week. Meal planning is not dieting as long as you keep it flexible. I like to say that “planning is smart living”. Without planning ahead what I will make for dinner, my family likely wouldn’t sit down to a balanced meal each evening.

Week Three: Experiment with new tastes, textures and flavors of foods. Look for new recipes and get the family involved. Plan to enjoy a few family meals together each week. It doesn’t have to be dinner if schedules don’t match. Think out of the box and enjoy breakfast together. For lots of delicious recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom, check out my new book – Enjoying Food Peace: Recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom to Nourish Your Body and Mind. Enjoying Food Peace Book

Week Four: Need more support? Have specific medical nutrition needs such as diabetes, prediabetes, high cholesterol and GI issues? Contact me to learn how we can intertwine intuitive eating with nutrition therapy in a weight-neutral way.

Happy National Nutrition Month to you!!

The 3 Biggest Mistakes that Keep You Yo-Yo Dieting

It’s really tough to stop dieting when you’ve been dieting for so long. Even if you intellectually know that the diets have never “worked” long term for you, you are still afraid to stop.

 

This isn’t your fault. The diet industry has you believing that you have failed the diets, yet it is the other way around. The diets have failed you.

 

The data is strong. Ninety-five to 98% of dieters regain the weight they lost within 1-5 years and 1/3-2/3’s regain even more. Are you included in this statistic?

 

Weight cycling (losing and gaining, losing and gaining) is more detrimental to your health than staying at a stable weight even if that weight is “higher” than what society deems “acceptable”.

 

Yet, you continue to diet.

 

There are 3 big mistakes that keep you yo-yo dieting.

 

Here they are:

 

Mistake #1: You are Stuck in Diet Mentality

Diets can be very tempting as they promise to help you see results quickly or with a magical ingredient that helps you lose weight without even trying. Even if you think you’ve given up dieting, keep in mind that the diet mentality is very sneaky and can show up in ways you wouldn’t have thought.

For example, if you skip carbs at dinner because you ate them for breakfast and lunch, you are still dieting. If you eat a smaller lunch because you ate a larger breakfast, you are still dieting. If you skip the cocktail hour at the wedding for fear you will overeat, you are still dieting. The list goes on and on.

See if you can identify the ways the diet mentality is sneaking up on you.

 

Mistake #2: You Put Your Self-Care on the Back Burner

In the hustle and bustle of day-to-day responsibilities, do you often forget to take the time to care for yourself? Do you feel guilty if you do take care of your own needs?

I get it. You have people that rely on you. But the problem is that when you tend to others needs and ignore your own, you are serving from an empty vessel. Instead, if you fill up your own cup first, you are serving others from a place of abundance.

It’s not being selfish to take care of yourself. Does it take practice? Yes, for some people more than others. But that’s okay. You have to start somewhere.

What is one act of self-care that you will start doing for yourself?

 

Mistake #3: You Don’t Trust Your Inner Wisdom

You were born knowing exactly how to eat. We all were. But over the years, you’ve moved away from listening to that inner wisdom and instead, allowed diets and gurus to tell you what, when and how much to eat. This caused you to lose trust in yourself.

But you know what? You can learn to trust again. It takes practice, support and accountability. And it takes someone who cares about you to guide the way.

 

Let’s stop making these mistakes. Start by popping your name and email in the boxes below to Break the Spell of Diets in 3 Days.

 

Let me know if you have any questions along the way.

 

 

Is Your Dieting Harming Your Daughter

Grace walked into my office with her mom by her side. Grace is a 9 year old adorable girl who has been restricting her food intake. She fears getting “fat”.  Due to her restriction, she has lost weight and is now off the bottom of growth chart.

 

I spoke with Grace and her mom for a while to get a bit of the family history and to understand when and how the restriction began. I then asked Grace’s mom to take a seat in the waiting room so I can talk with Grace alone. It was very important for me to build a good rapport with Grace so she will trust me.

 

Grace openly told me that she started restricting for several reasons. She broke it down as follows:

  • Her mom and sisters were dieting. They were speaking about foods that are good and bad, and were replacing foods they once ate, such as pizza, with alternatives such as cauliflower pizza. This made her feel like these foods wouldn’t be good for her either, so she stopped eating them.

 

  • Her friend’s moms were putting them on diets. Grace told me about at least 4 friends who bring only salad to school for lunch because they are on diets. Their moms told them they have to lose weight.

 

  • All the women in Grace’s life seem to hate their bodies. She’d constantly hear comments such as “do I look fat in this dress?”. “Is my butt sticking out of these pants?”. The message is clear. Fat is bad.

 

Grace wanted to be healthy, she really didn’t want to restrict her intake, but she was afraid of gaining weight. Grace started working with me each week to learn how to eat to nourish her body and to regain the trust in her body again.

 

You’re probably thinking that Grace is so young to be dealing with these fears around food and body. Perhaps as a teenager it would seem more common. But more and more young girls are falling into disordered eating patterns and being diagnosed with eating disorders than ever before.

 

The reason?

 

The diet culture that we live in today! The messages that women and young girls receive is that their bodies are not good enough the way they are. They must mold and sculpt them into a thin, model-like figure to have any worth in this world. It is so sad to me that so many women spend so much of their days worrying about what they are eating and how they look to others. And this worry is being passed down to the younger generation.

 

Do you have a daughter(s)?

 

Are you aware that the way you speak to yourself about your body is influencing the way she feels about hers?

 

Are you aware that she watches every move you make when you eat and when you choose to avoid grains/carbs with dinner?

 

I know for me, when I was dieting and restricting, the messages were loud and clear to my two daughters. They knew that I wouldn’t eat dinner until I calculated how much I’d eaten throughout the day. That would determine how much and what I ate for dinner. What kind of messages was I sending to them? It was a very loud message that I couldn’t trust my body to guide my eating. I had to trust a calculator.

 

I was able to break free of this restriction and teach my daughters that their bodies are smart and has all the wisdom housed inside as to what, when and how much to eat. It’s a matter of listening and trusting.

 

Here are 3 things to do right now if you want your daughter(s) to have a future of food peace and body love:

 

1. Stop restricting. Even if you think you are not restricting, you probably are. The diet mentality is very sneaky and shows up in ways you wouldn’t imagine. Be honest with yourself. Are you substituting zoodles for pasta? Are you choosing cauliflower pizza for regular pizza? Are you ordering 2 veggies instead of a potato and veggie at the restaurant? If yes to any of these questions, then you are restricting.

 

2. Watch your language. Be very careful how you speak in the home, especially when your daughter is around. Do not be judgmental of food, such as this is a “good” food and this is a “bad” food. Putting labels on food demonizes food and ups the fear of eating those foods.

 

3. Stop body checking. When you are getting dressed and looking in the mirror, be aware of your comments about yourself and your body. And, be aware of your non-verbal behaviors as well. Looking in the mirror and wincing or grunting are all heard and seen by your daughter. Instead of instilling hatred for your body or body parts, teach what it means to have respect for your body.

 

The truth is, I recognize that this is all easier said than done. It takes time, patience and fighting back against the messages you hear every day. But if you want to save your daughter(s) from going down the rabbit hole of dieting, food fear and body worry, then now’s the time.

 

Do you want a brighter future for your daughter? It all starts with you. Book a call with me www.TalkWithBonnie.com.

 

 

July 4th Special: How to Make Intuitive Eating Second Nature

July 4th is tomorrow, and that means that summer is in full swing. There is a whole new energy in the air, I just LOVE it!

As you get ready to celebrate Independence Day this July 4th, I have something I’d like to share with you.

Success in intuitive eating isn’t just about eating when hungry and stopping when full.

It’s about making intuitive eating a part of who you are at all levels – your mind, your body and your emotions.

It’s mastering intuitive eating so it becomes second nature.

And for this, you need practice, ongoing support and accountability.

And to celebrate my favorite season, summer, and the July 4th holiday, I have a special invitation for you…

It’s my one and only Summer Special!

For the next 5 days only, you can join my Intuitive Eating Mastery Circle™ at a 50% savings.

Get all the details here.

While training and info are great, what you really need is implementation support. I created Intuitive Eating Mastery Circle™ to give you just that.

It’s truly the most supportive community I’ve ever seen. The members go above and beyond to help one another.

And of course, I’m there guiding you every step of the way — in our private Facebook group, on our monthly group coaching call, during our monthly open office hours and on our private laser coaching calls.

Check it out now and take advantage of this special chance to join us and save 50% (of course you can cancel anytime).

SPECIAL BONUS: Free Body Image Healing LIVE Course

When you join the Intuitive Eating Mastery Circle, you will get access to the Body Image Healing LIVE Course that is happening right inside the membership group, starting Wednesday July 10th.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

  • Get clear on your current body image story
  • Understand how mindfulness and self-compassion are integral to body image healing
  • Cultivate a positive body image using powerful healing strategies

This course is only being offered to Mastery Circle members!

Check it out now and take advantage of this special chance to join us and save 50% (you’ll be grandfathered in at the low rate and can cancel any time you like).

 

What’s for Dinner?

How do you decide what to eat for dinner (or any meal)?

 

It seems like a simple question, but for the chronic dieter who has lost all trust in their body and ability to make food decisions, this is actually a very difficult question that is faced with anguish.

 

There’s the food that you think you “should” eat, and the food that you really want to eat. You have 2 voices in your head. Voice #1 – “Eat this, you know you should, it’s what your diet prescribes, it’ll help you lose weight”. Voice #2 – “No, choose this because you know it’s really what you want. You haven’t eaten this in ages.”

 

Either decision you make creates a negative feeling around food. If you follow voice #1 and eat what the diet tells you to eat, you have minimal to zero satisfaction when you are done. The entire time you are eating, you are thinking about the pizza you could have been eating. Your belly may be full, but your mind is not satisfied. You now look around the kitchen, open all the cabinets for something just to “finish off the meal”. You are searching for something to fill your psychological void. You are not happy.

 

However, if you follow voice #2 and eat the pizza, you fall into the diet mentality trap of “I messed up, I shouldn’t have eaten the pizza. Okay, I’ll just have one more piece and I promise I won’t eat it again for a long time.” You end up eating several slices, feel physically uncomfortable and emotionally guilty, full of shame, disappointment in yourself and disgust. You did it again. In the end, you didn’t derive the satisfaction you were looking for because the physical and emotional distress took over.

 

What’s the answer to this dilemma?

 

Pausing long enough to remind yourself that you are learning to give yourself unconditional permission to eat when you are hungry. This means all foods are available to you. Once you take the “should’s” and “shouldn’ts” off your food, you will realize that you can eat the foods you love without the worry of overeating.

 

This takes time, especially if you’ve been dieting for decades. But you have to start somewhere, so why not start today, with this very meal.

 

What is one food or meal that you would LOVE to eat for dinner tonight but would never dream of allowing yourself to have?

 

Go out and buy that food or make it for yourself for dinner tonight. Sit down without distraction and savor every bite knowing that eating this food now does not mean you could never eat it again. It means that you could eat it now, later, tomorrow, next week…whenever you want it. Just knowing this will help you stop when you are comfortably full.

 

Stuffed Potato Skins, Spinach Parmesan Lasagna, Pita Pizza, Fettuccini with Vegetables, Peanut Butter Bran Muffins, Double Chocolate Chews, Cinnamon Coffee Cake…

these are just a few of the recipes in my new book: Enjoying Food Peace: Recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom to Nourish Your Body and Mind.

 

Start to eat what you love without a side of guilt!

Enjoying Food Peace Book

Get your copy today on AMAZON!

 

Or, get a SIGNED COPY directly from me HERE!

Blame the Diet Industry NOT Yourself

Did you know that Americans spend more than $60 billion dollars annually to try and lose weight?

 

Let that sink in for a moment.

 

That number includes weight loss programs and money spent on diet foods and beverages.

 

That’s a lot of money to spend blaming yourself when the “product” you are buying doesn’t work. Right, that’s what you do? You blame yourself when you can’t follow the diet or you don’t lose weight despite following the diet.

 

The Source of the Blame

 

Think about it.

 

If you purchased a new iPad, and it didn’t work, you’d complain to Apple about the device being defective.

 

If you bought a wall clock at Target and it stopped working, you’d return it telling them it was a cheap clock.

 

If you were working on a home improvement project and the drill stopped working, you’d blame the manufacturer for a faulty drill.

 

But when it comes to the diets you’ve tried, and the weight you regained (plus some) you don’t blame the diet company, you blame yourself.

 

What’s Wrong with Me?

 

Once off your diet, you start to say to yourself “I didn’t follow the rules correctly”, “There’s something wrong with me, I need to try harder” or “I’ll never get this right.”

 

I’m not going to name diets, it doesn’t matter which ones. The diet industry is brilliant, really, they are. They have set themselves up to be the winner over and over again. They’ve created this cycle of dieting that has led you to keep coming back.

 

Play it Out

 

Here’s what happens.

 

Desire/Action:  You want to lose weight, you go on XYZ diet.

Feeling: Excited

Result: You lose weight and meet your goal.

Feeling: Yay, celebration!

 

6 months later, you’ve regained the weight, plus more. 

 

Feeling: Disappointment

Result: You spend a few weeks or months feeling sad, ashamed and berating yourself.

 

Desire/Action: You want to lose weight. You go back on XYZ diet.

Feeling: Excited

Result: You lose weight and meet your goal.

Feeling: Yay, celebration!

 

3 months later, you’ve regained the weight, plus more.

 

Feeling: Disappointment

Result: You spend a few weeks or months feeling sad, ashamed and berating yourself.

 

Desire/Action: You want to lose weight. You go back on XYZ diet.

Feeling: Excited

 

AND ON AND ON IT GOES!

 

How many times do you think you have repeated the above sequence of events?

 

If you are being true to yourself, then most likely you have tried a particular diet more than once.

 

Why is that?

 

Because the diet industry has set it up that they are the winner when you lose the weight.

 

And, they are there to pick you up when you fall and gain the weight back.

 

I want you to listen up, because this is not normal! Stop blaming yourself, you are NOT TO BLAME.

 

The diet industry is the ONLY industry where the product user blames themselves. Shame on you diet industry for making so many people feel so badly about themselves.

 

If you are reading this, please know that you are not alone in trying to break free of the diets and the manipulations. You have it within yourself to trust your body to make the decisions around what to eat and when to eat! Speak back to the diets you’ve been on. No, actually, YELL at them. Show them that you are on to them and their deceit. You don’t need them anymore.

 

Once you’ve made the decision to fight back against the diet industry, you will feel a weight lifted from your shoulders and you will be empowered to take the next step towards reclaiming your birthright – body trust and being an intuitive eater.

 

If you’re looking for help breaking away from the dieting industry, head over to TalkWithBonnie and let’s set up a time to talk! I’m here to help you.

 

5 Steps to a Diet-Free Commitment this Year

Happy New Year! I’m excited that it’s a new year…there is so much that I want to do in 2019. First and foremost, on the TOP of my list is to spend more time with my kids and grandchildren. Every time I see my yummy grandsons (Evan, 5 years old and Zach, 3 years old), my heart lights up!

 

In truth, I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like mostly due to my and my husband’s work schedules, and the work schedules of my son and daughter-in-law. And, it doesn’t help that they, and my other married son live across 2 bridges. But I always say that we have to count our blessings and I am thankful that I don’t have to get on a plane to see them!

 

 

Sometimes there are barriers to achieving the things we really want in life. If we let those barriers hold us back, then we will rarely achieve our goals. It’s important to do what is within our power to make happen what we want to happen.

 

The Number One Barrier to a Healthy Relationship with Food and Your Body

 

Right now, during the first week of January, the number one barrier to you creating a healthy relationship with food and your body is the slew of dieting ads and commercials that promise you the weight loss you so desire.

 

You may not see it this way. Perhaps you are reading these ads and thinking “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”?

 

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 5 steps to help you commit to being diet-free in 2019!

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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?

 

  1. Declare “I am committed to never dieting again!”.

 

  1. Click HERE to schedule a quick complementary call with me to get started on your intuitive eating journey in 2019!

 

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. Are you ready? Let me know in the comments below!

Intuitive Eating Sounds Glorious. Count me in!

“Intuitive eating. You mean I can eat whatever I want?”

 

This is a common question I hear from people when I introduce them to this practice of relating to food.

 

To someone just hearing about intuitive eating, it sounds glorious, almost too good to be true.

 

“You mean I can eat all those foods I’ve deprived myself of all those years? And still lose weight? Where has this been all my life?”

 

Today I want to address 2 misconceptions about intuitive eating:

  1. Intuitive eating is not about losing weight.
  2. Intuitive eating is not about instant gratification.

 

Weight Loss is Not a Goal

It’s very hard for most chronic dieters to immediately embrace the idea that the path towards intuitive eating does not guarantee weight loss. As a chronic dieter, you’ve started each diet with one goal in mind – weight loss. You were willing to restrict your food intake, say no to eating your favorite foods, even turning down social occasions (where there would be a ton of food you’d have to face) all with the final goal in mind of losing weight.

 

You’re tired of this battle. You are at your wits end. You don’t want to count another calorie, point, carb grams or mile walked. You just want to eat. You just want to be.

 

So, when you hear that there are no food rules in intuitive eating, it sounds glorious.

But what about your desire to lose weight?

 

It is of utmost importance that you put weight loss on the back burner. This means put it out of your mind for a while. Don’t think about it. There is no promise that you will lose weight with intuitive eating. Some people do, some people don’t. Some lose weight, some gain weight, some stay the same. Your body will do what your body will do, and no one can tell you what that will be.

 

You were born with a genetic blueprint of what your natural weight is. All the years of dieting has messed with that natural body weight. So when you finally stop interfering with nature, your body will likely settle in to where it was intended to be all along. This might be at a size or weight that you are happy with, or it might not. The next step is then body acceptance. This is not an easy step by any means, but with the right support, you can get to a place where you really accept and respect wherever your body lands.

 

Intuitive Eating is Not Instant Gratification

See it, want it, eat it.

 

That’s what a lot of naysayers think intuitive is. But it’s far from this.

 

Intuitive eating is not about eating whatever you want, whenever you want. It’s about changing your relationship to food, your mind and your body.

 

As you move through your intuitive eating journey, you learn to ask yourself questions before you decide to eat. You recall how this food felt in your body the last time you ate it. You turn inward and ask yourself if you are physically hungry or if you are eating because the clock says its time. You explore whether there is an emotion underlying the choice to eat in that moment.

 

At first, it might seem like you are eating without thought. This is because you have opened up the gates to enjoy all foods, you have taken off the handcuffs that kept you in diet prison, and frankly, you are eating all the foods you didn’t allow yourself to eat for years.

 

This is part of the process, but over time, your eating will normalize. Eventually, you will come to a point that you choose foods that help your body feel energized, not because you think you “should”, but because this is what feels good in your body.

 

Is intuitive eating glorious? You betcha!

 

But embark on this journey for the right reasons: to change your relationship with food and your body so you can live a fun filled life without food worry and body shame.

 

To learn more about intuitive eating, click here.