Tag Archive for: weight loss

Results Not Typical

It’s easy to be influenced by pictures we see or advertisements we read. There is no shortage of ads for weight loss products, pills, drinks, diets etc. Each of these are accompanied by a before and after picture. The before picture of the woman (or man) is usually her standing slouched over with a solemn look on her face. And then the after picture, standing with the best posture and a big smile. Many times, the person in the after picture is even holding up a large article of clothing to show the size they used to wear.

 

The advertisement is telling you that if you use said product, you can lose weight too, just like the person in the picture. It gets you all hyped up to think “If she can do this, so could I”. THIS is the solution (a.k.a. miracle) I’ve been waiting for!

The Problem

You may wonder what’s the problem with being encouraged by someone else’s weight loss results who used the advertised product?

 

The first problem (among many) is that all people are different. You don’t know what her medical history is or her dieting history. You don’t know what medications she’s taking that possibly affect her appetite or her weight. You don’t know anything about her except that she took this product and lost weight.

 

The second product is you know nothing about the ingredients in this product. Many times, you can’t even pronounce them. Will they interact with your meds? Are they approved ingredients? Is this product contraindicated with your conditions? Oh, there are so many unknowns here.

 

The Deceit

Did you ever look at the fine print in the advertisements? If not, take a look. It reads something along the lines of:

  • Results not typical
  • As part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle
  • All subjects followed a calorie-reduced diet and walking program
  • Price does not include cost of grocery items

 

Yes, you read that correctly. The models in the advertisements who used the product were also dieting, cutting calories and exercising. Yet, the ad doesn’t lead you to believe that. It makes you think that you just need to pop this pill (“supplement”) three times per day and voila!

 

And, the results you are seeing are not typical of most average people. The advertisers are saying it right there to you. But if you don’t read the fine print, you miss it. You think it’s the product that brought these results that you too desire so much.

 

Bottom Line

Don’t believe everything you see or read. And, do your due diligence, read the fine print. Don’t get suckered into another diet or gimmick. More than 95% of people who lose weight on a diet regain that weight within 2-5 years. Do you want to be included in that statistic?

 

The #1 Thing You Need to Do

Give up dieting. Commit to never diet again. But don’t stop there. Believe that you CAN change the way you relate to food and your body. Your mind is a powerful thing. It all starts with ONE BELIEF!

 

Not sure about intuitive eating?

Let’s take it one step at a time. First step is to break the spell that diets have over you. Add your name and email in the boxes below and join me over the next 3 days to learn how to break this spell.

3 Steps to Managing Diabetes WITHOUT a Focus on Weight Loss

Sue walked into my office with tears in her eyes. She sat down and burst out crying. I gave her a minute, then asked her what was wrong.

 

“I have diabetes!”

 

She then burst into tears, again.

 

I walked over to her, put my hands around her shoulders and gave her a gentle hug. This was what she was fearing for a long time. She knew she had pre-diabetes for 5 years, but she just didn’t believe she would ever develop diabetes. She never had any symptoms, so the pre-diabetes diagnosis just never seemed real.

 

Sue’s doctor “warned” her time and time again that if she doesn’t lose weight, her pre-diabetes will become full blown diabetes. And that it had. However, it’s not as if Sue didn’t try to lose weight. She did, MANY times. And you know what? Sometimes she “succeeded” in losing weight, but the problem is she gained that weight back plus more, ALWAYS.

 

So, when Sue’s doctor gave her the news that she has diabetes, she felt beaten. He once again prescribed “weight loss”. She sat in my office and said “there has to be another way to manage my diabetes besides weight loss. Like there must be some other things I can do to help myself, because diets just have never worked.”

 

Bright woman! Yes, there are plenty of things to do to manage your diabetes without pursuing weight loss. It’s unfortunate that the majority of doctors go right for the jugular >> “you’re fat and have to lose weight”.

 

This happens for other medical diagnoses as well. High blood pressure, heart disease and high cholesterol, to name a few. Docs go right to the scale!

 

So how do you manage diabetes, or any of the medical conditions I mentioned above, without focusing on dieting and losing weight?

 

By using a weight-neutral approach to treatment.

 

Weight-Neutral Interventions

 

Weight-neutral interventions are based on the fundamental idea that a person’s health status or risk cannot be assumed based solely on a number on a scale. There are many factors that go into a person’s body weight including genetic, metabolic, physiological, cultural, social and behavioral factors.

 

Weight-neutral treatment programs focus on habit and lifestyle behaviors, rather than on weight, BMI and the pursuit of weight loss.

 

Getting back to Sue, I started working with her to help her learn about her diabetes, what is going on in her body and how adopting new habits and behaviors can help avoid diabetes complications now and later in life.

 

3 Steps to Better Blood Glucose Control without Dieting

  1. Start testing your blood glucose daily. Ideally, you will test upon awakening (fasting blood glucose), and 2 hours after a meal (for type 2 diabetes).

 

  1. Write down what you eat for each meal and start to look for trends. Meaning, are your blood sugars always high before dinner? Do you tend to have low blood sugar readings mid-morning? This is data that you will use to make changes to your diabetes meal plan.

 

  1. Find a doctor who practices from a HAES (Health at Every Size) approach. Advocate for yourself and ask for the treatment they would give to a person in a smaller body.

 

For more information on how you can manage your diabetes without dieting, click HERE!

 

Whether you have diabetes or another medical condition such as high cholesterol, pursuing weight loss is NOT the best treatment prescription. I know this is different than you’ve been told for years, but where has this led you? Let me know if you want to chat about it. Click HERE to get in touch.

8 Benefits of Intuitive Eating (and 3 Ways to Commit)

The other day I was giving thought to this past year and the work that I’ve done with my clients. I often like to reflect at the end of the year about what I accomplished in my work, how I’ve helped clients improve their health, and the impact I’ve made on the lives of people who are finally trusting their bodies again.

 

Not everyone can say that they love going to work every day. I remember sitting on the beach when on vacation a few summers ago with 2 of my close friends and their husbands. We were talking about how we were leaving the next day and going back to work. My friends were complaining about having to return to work. I remained silent. They asked me why I wasn’t complaining too, and I simply said, “I love what I do”.

 

It wasn’t always this way. Back in 2011 I had grown to “hate” my work. I was creating meal plans upon meal plans and really got no joy in it. Why? Because most of these clients that I was creating meal plans for really knew how to eat to nourish their bodies and improve their health.

 

So, what were they coming to me for, you may think?

 

Weight loss!

 

They wanted to me to put some form of magic meal plan together that would help them lose the weight they so desperately wanted to lose. And you know what? If they followed the meal plan, it worked. They lost the weight. But they also learned nothing. All they learned is how to be a good “listener’ and “follower” of when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat that someone else (me) assumed was right for them.

 

You may wonder “what is wrong with that, they lost the weight, didn’t they?”

 

Yes, at first. But months or years later, that weight came back. Okay, not for all these people. But for a large majority of the chronic dieters that I saw in my office back then, this was the outcome.

 

You know why? Because…

 

Following a meal plan that someone else creates for you takes you further away from listening to your own body. You and your body become strangers.  ~Bonnie R. Giller

 

And I didn’t want to continue to cause this harm for people. That’s when I decided to learn about intuitive eating and become a certified intuitive eating counselor.  I am so thankful that I got to a low point in my business back then, so that I can have the positive impact on people’s lives that I have today.

 

8 Benefits of Intuitive Eating

  1. Intuitive eating helps you to become friends with your body again.

 

  1. Intuitive eating helps you to trust that you, yes YOU, can decide for yourself when to eat, how much to eat, and what to eat.

 

  1. Intuitive eating brings peace around food, allowing food to be a non-issue in your life.

 

  1. Intuitive eating helps you eat without feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment or regret.

 

  1. Intuitive eating brings you pleasure and satisfaction in your meals.

 

  1. Intuitive eating shows respect to your body.

 

  1. Intuitive eating allows you to live your life to the fullest!

 

  1. Intuitive eating helps you regain WholeBody Trust™, which encompasses 3 pillars: Mind Trust, Hunger Trust and Food Trust™.

 

If you haven’t yet ventured into learning intuitive eating, what is holding you back?

 

3 Ways to Commit to Your Intuitive Eating Journey

 

  1. Declare Yourself Diet-Free: Decide that you are giving up dieting forever and declare it. Scream it at the top of your lungs. Hear yourself say the words. If you want to, tell a trusted friend or loved one that you have made this important decision, so you can change your future.

 

  1. Dump All Diet Paraphernalia: Go through your house and get rid of all the diet books and other items that reek of dieting. Seriously, doing this will show yourself that you mean business. If you hold on to even one diet, you are not fully committed to this journey.

 

  1. Decide to Ask for Support: Realize that you don’t need to do this alone. Asking for support takes courage and shows strength. Think about the other areas of your life that you have gotten support – tutoring at school, physical therapy for a broken leg, therapy to help your marriage etc. And, if you’re not one to have ever asked for support in the past, maybe this is the time to start.

 

Every day when I wake up, I am thankful for the work I get to do with my wonderful clients and the women in my Intuitive Eating Mastery Circle™. I would love to help you too. If you feel so inclined as to explore how you can learn to have WholeBody Trust™ through Intuitive Eating, contact me here.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Mean I Don’t Have to Ever Diet Again?

“Why haven’t I heard about intuitive eating before today?”

 

This is a common question that I get from clients who sit opposite me in my office (or on Skype) when I share with them how they don’t ever have to restrict or deprive themselves of their favorite food again.

 

They don’t quite get it at first. They come to see me because they don’t feel well in their bodies, they are carrying around excess weight, and they figure they need another diet to help them achieve the weight loss that they’ve been chasing after for years. They expect me to give them a list of foods to eat and those to avoid and a “meal plan” for them to follow.

 

When I tell them that I won’t do that, they look at me in shock. But then when I explain to them that they have it within them to make food decisions for themselves, they perk up and want to hear more. By the end of the session, they are SO RELIEVED that I am NOT giving them a meal plan it’s palpable.

 

It’s not surprising to me that many women still haven’t heard about intuitive eating. This is because they are surrounded by diet culture every where they turn. At home, at work, in school, in temple, in church, and in the local park. Add to that magazines, television shows, movies, radio, social media, and the list goes on and on. It’s hard to escape the idea that you need to be thin to be worthy, and if you are in a larger body, then you must be lazy, unhealthy, and undisciplined.

 

This has led you to continuously strive to lose weight through dieting and “be better”.

 

But dieting is exhausting. All the counting, tracking, weighing and measuring, it gets to be too much at some point. Yet that’s what you know and that’s what you continue to do.

 

There is another way! It’s called Intuitive Eating.

 

Intuitive eating is eating based on your physiological need to eat, not eating based on situations you find yourself in or emotions you may be feeling. Intuitive eating is learning to eat based on your hunger cues and to stop eating based on your fullness cues.

 

You are born with this ability yet its buried deep within you from all your years of dieting.

 

The good news is that you can reclaim being an intuitive eater and recapture the pleasures of eating. It will take time but it IS possible and quite honestly, is the only way to end your battle with food and your body.

 

I invite you to reach out to me to get started on your intuitive eating journey. We can work together privately, or you can join my online program where you work through the process with group support.

 

Just click HERE to send me a message that you are ready to end dieting for good. We’ll figure out together which is the best option for you.

 

 

 

 

If Not Willpower, Then What?

In speaking with prospective clients, there’s one comment that comes up a lot in the many conversations we have. That is “I just need more willpower”.

 

I really do understand the reason behind this comment from so many women who have been struggling with their weight and on diet after diet. It’s because diets require you to have willpower.

 

You have your lists of “legal” and “illegal” food. But at some point, you want to eat something that’s on that “illegal” list. But you can’t, the diet says NO! You white knuckle it as long as you can, you have willpower! Until you don’t anymore.

 

So, when the Intuitive Eating Wednesday Question came in for this week, I just knew I HAD to address it. Here’s the question…

 

 “I’ve been trying intuitive eating, but I just don’t have the willpower to stick with it. How can I strengthen my willpower backbone?”

 

Before I get to the answer, let’s get clear on your dieting history. It probably goes something like this:

 

You’ve tried them all. Weight Watchers, Atkins, Weight Watchers, the Blood Type Diet, Weight Watchers. the Scarsdale Diet, Weight Watchers, the HCG Diet, Weight Watchers. Oh, did I mention Weight Watchers?!

 

It is SO easy to get sucked into sensational claims that come with each of these diets. But what you are finding is that they don’t work. Well, they do “work” if by working you mean losing weight, only to gain it back.

 

Yes, I won’t disagree. All diets can work in helping you lose weight. But can we agree that they ultimately don’t work, seeing you are here looking for another way?

 

Throughout all the diets you’ve been on, you’ve tried SO hard to have SO much willpower so you can resist your favorite food that the diets deem bad for you. And, the reason you’ve been sucked into many fad diets is because you only have to endure them for a short period of time and therefore only need to have a little willpower until the diet is over. 

 

Many diets proudly state “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days”, or “6 weeks to flat abs”. I know this is very tempting. And you think to yourself “ok, I need to have willpower for 30 days (or 6 weeks) and that’s it…I’ll reach my goal and the diet and misery will be over.”

 

But we know that you can only resist your favorite food for so long. Maybe you can last the 30 days or 6 weeks. Or maybe you can’t. Either way, what happens? When your willpower weakens and you have an emotional trigger, you cave and have the very food you’ve been longing yet been restricting. And now you don’t just have a serving, you have several servings, and it eventually turns into a binge. Next thing that happens >>> feelings of guilt, shame, hopelessness, failure and the negative self-talk and body bashing.

 

Well, the good news is this.

 

In the practice of intuitive eating, there is no willpower required. Yay! You learn to take all the conditions off your food and when you do, the power those foods hold over you are no more. Even better, once you learn to trust in your inner signals as your guide to eating, you will no longer need to rebel against the diets that are telling you what to eat and not to eat.

 

Because YOU are in charge!

 

So, back to the original question that came in from one of my followers:

 

“I’ve been trying intuitive eating, but I just don’t have the willpower to stick with it. How can I strengthen my willpower backbone?”

 

There is no willpower in intuitive eating. What I want you to recognize is if you are still relying on willpower, then you are still harboring a diet mentality. And this will cause you to continue to stumble on your intuitive eating journey.

 

Give thought to how many times a day or week you think to yourself that you need to have willpower to resist a food.

 

How many times do you call up your willpower before heading out to a party or dinner with friends?

 

Call yourself out on it. Recognize it. The more you do and the more you remind yourself that you don’t need willpower in intuitive eating, the more you will see the diet mentality dissipate.

 

Grab this freebie that I have for you: Your 3 Step Plan to Shift Out of Diet Mentality and the Willpower Trap.

 

 

5 Ways to Avoid Dieting Before the Summer

Finally! The weather is cooperating, it’s in the 70’s and I couldn’t be happier. The windows in my office are open, there is a slight breeze and I am just loving this spring weather.

But for some of the women in my online community, the warmer weather brings up mixed emotions. Their inner voices are screaming both “yay, I love this weather”, and “oh no, I can’t cover up in a coat any longer”. This means that they need to feel comfortable in the clothes they are wearing. Yet, that brings up another issue…

…their summer clothes aren’t fitting as they hoped they would. And vacations are coming, family reunions will be happening and weddings are scheduled. This is causing them to feel like they must go on a diet to lose weight or else …

  • “I’ll have the worst summer!”
  • “Everyone at the reunion/wedding will stare at me and think how fat I got!”
  • “I won’t be able to go on the amusement park rides!”

Can you relate to these thoughts and feelings?

These feelings are made worse by the “bikini body influence” that is surrounding you on a daily basis. From magazine covers, to radio advertisements, to T.V. commercials, you are being bombarded by tips and tricks to get in your best bikini body shape by summer.

What happens when you fall prey to all this bikini body marketing?

You start to bash your own body, you engage in body loathing every time you look into the mirror, and you start comparing your body to everyone else’s (and it never measures up, right?).

All this body hatred fuels the vicious cycle of dieting.

5 Power Thoughts to Chase these Diet Thoughts Away

1. Reality Check
Diets never worked for you, and never will. Let’s say you decide to diet for a few weeks before summer so you can fit into your summer clothes. Summer comes, you’re now wearing those cute shorts, but you are also hanging with your friends, going to outdoor concerts, and eating out in restaurants and lo and behold, you are overeating. Yes, the restriction you endured during the weeks leading up to the summer is coming back to bite you in the butt.

2. Dress for the Present
If you pulled your summer clothes out of the closet and you don’t feel comfortable in them, go shopping. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, just buy a few pieces that you can mix and match. Wearing comfortable clothes that aren’t pinching you and squeezing you will make all the difference on whether you spend your day bashing your body or respecting your body.

3. Thank Your Body
Your body is an amazing machine. Have you stopped recently to consider all the miracles it performs for you on a daily basis? From breathing, keeping your heart pumping, to being able to see the beautiful spring flowers, there is so much to be thankful for. All too often you get wrapped up in body negativity because it doesn’t “look” the way you want it to look, which is influenced by diet culture and the thin ideal society has you chasing after. Instead, start each morning with saying “thank you” to your body for working hard for you another day.

4. Recommit to a Diet-Free Life and Enjoy Each Moment
Using self-compassion, realize it’s okay to think at times “I want to lose weight”. But be curious about what triggered this thought and use self-compassion to recommit to your diet-free life and your intuitive eating journey. Then practice living in each moment and challenge yourself to stay present without judgement.

5. You are not alone!

Remember, others are likely feeling the same way as you. Sometimes knowing this makes all the difference! Reach out and support someone today! Not a member of my private intuitive eating support group yet? Join us here (it’s free!)

 

What thoughts about your journey fill your mind now that summer is here? Post below!

 

How to STOP Thinking About Weight Loss

You’ve embarked on your intuitive eating journey because you are finally fed up with diets. After years of chasing weight loss, trying diet after diet, your body weight is back where you started. Or perhaps, like 1/3 – 2/3 of people who regain the weight they’ve lost, you weigh even more.

 

You are now at your highest weight.

 

You wonder how this can be, after all, you’ve tried for 10, 20, 30, 40 maybe even 50 years to lose weight. And yes, you’ve been “successful” in losing weight on some of those diets. But the weight always returned. The diets were not sustainable for life. Like a young 14 year old girl said to me in my office yesterday…”I said to the doctor, how can I never eat carbs again?”

 

Maybe you heard me speak about intuitive eating recently on a summit, or you’ve read the Intuitive Eating book by the original authors and have been trying to practice the principles and become an intuitive eater for a few months, maybe even a few years. Intuitive eating sounds logical to you; you realize this can help you heal your relationship with food. However, you still want to lose weight.

 

There are many intuitive eating and HAES (Health at Every Size) advocates that would say shame on you for wanting to lose weight. Love the body that you have.

 

I’m not saying shame on you. I want to acknowledge your desire to lose weight. I want to show you compassion for the physical discomfort you may be experiencing. But I also want to encourage you to put weight loss out of your mind as you work on healing your relationship with food. I know this is difficult.

 

You see, it’s not “weight loss” itself that is problematic, it’s the pursuit of weight loss that is the problem. There’s a big difference here. 

 

You’ve already tried to pursue weight loss via the many diets, restrictions, detoxes, cleanses, food group elimination, and demonizing of foods. All this caused was a disordered relationship with food and your body.

 

As you begin to change habits, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings around food and your body, you may lose weight, and that’s fine. No one is going to say to you “that’s terrible, how could you have lost weight!”. Your body will do what it needs to do, in its own natural way, in its own time. The interesting thing is that you cannot determine that. Your body determines that.

 

But please understand that the process of intuitive eating is not a weight loss program. Some people may lose weight, some people may gain weight (especially if they started at a low body weight or a place of severe restriction) and some people maintain their weight.

 

So, how do you get weight loss out of your mind as you heal your relationship with food?

 

  1. Write down your WHY! Why do you want to stop fighting with food and your body? Dig down as deep as you need to in order to uncover the true reason. Chances are there is a very meaningful reason why you want to stop the food and body war within yourself. And it’s way bigger than losing a few pounds. Then write your meaningful why on an index card or post-it note and put it in a place you see it often. Read it daily and re-commit to it each time your mind goes back to weight loss.

 

  1. Identify the BIG 3! Instead of constantly thinking about your weight, focus on 3 amazing characteristics that you possess. Unsure what they are? Ask a friend, family member, or your partner. I’m sure they will be happy to share with you how kind you are, funny you are, helpful you are etc. Then on a day that you seem to be worrying too much about your weight, switch it off to focus on the BIG 3!

 

  1. Seek Support! Every one of us needs support throughout our lives. This includes times like this where you are swimming in new waters. If you haven’t yet joined my Intuitive Eating Support Community, come on over. Just click HERE and request to join. The members in this group are here to help you whenever you need it!

 

And of course. If you want my support on your journey, just send me an email to Bonnie@DietFreeRadiantMe.com . I offer 1-1 private coaching at various levels to walk you through your food and body healing journey.

 

 

 

How to Advocate for Yourself at the Doctor’s Office

My client walked into my office. We’ll call him Bob. I had not seen Bob for 2 weeks because I was on vacation. Bob has recently decided to quit dieting. Yes, after 50+ years of trying every diet known to man AND undergoing bariatric surgery (of which he gained back most of the weight he lost) he decided he needed to finally address the true underlying reasons why he was overeating.

 

Emotions.

 

Namely sadness and loneliness with a dose of frustration thrown in there.

 

But Bob knew that no matter how much his doctor told him he had to lose weight because he has diabetes and other chronic conditions, the diets just did not work. He was able to follow the diet for a short time and then an emotion would hit, and he would numb out with food. The diet was over.

 

Is this a familiar story to you?

 

On this night when I saw Bob in my office he had only been working with me on intuitive eating for about 2 months. But he was doing a great job at rejecting the diet mentality. So I was surprised that this night when he walked in, I can tell by the way he was speaking that he was slipping back into diet mentality.

 

I asked him what was going on. He shared with me that he was having terrible back pain and all the doctors he’d been to over the last 2 weeks while I was on vacation told him to lose weight to heal the back pain. He was seriously considering starting a diet, although I pointed out to him that he was already restricting (a.k.a dieting) which I could tell based on what he was sharing with me.

 

He looked me straight in the eye and he said “you’re right. I didn’t realize my actions were actually dieting”. Yet, he was still so shook up by the doctors prescribing weight loss to him AGAIN, that he was desperate.

 

Bob is a physical therapist and I asked him how he would treat one of his patients who complained of back pain. He laid out a physical therapy protocol. I then asked him “Bob, wouldn’t this protocol be appropriate for you?” And he said yes.

 

And then he realized what’s really going on!

 

He was embarrassed by his doctors, ashamed that he had gained weight again, that he was forced to get on the scale and that his doctor’s only treatment prescription was weight loss when there were a slew of other treatment options they could have suggested.

 

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

 

One of the biggest fears I hear from clients about going to a doctor’s appointment is hearing the words:

 

“Get on the scale”!

 

And then the chills, the heart racing, the stomach sinking…and the words that follow:

 

“Lose weight and your blood pressure and blood sugar will come down”.

 

Well, dear doctor, you’ve said this a thousand times before and where has it gotten your patient?

 

I’ll tell you! A lifetime pass on the diet roller coaster ride.

 

What to Tell Your Doctor

  1. It’s time to take a stand. To let your doctor know that you will not be fat shamed.
  2. That you will no longer take “lose weight” as a solution to your current health issue.
  3. That you will not let your health evaluation be determined by a number on the scale.
  4. That you want to know what treatment options he gives his patients who are in smaller bodies – that’s the treatment options you want to discuss.

 

Listen, I realize it’s not always easy to advocate for yourself. I get that. But you know by now that weight loss and dieting is not the answer you are looking for.

 

I want to help you get off this vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting so you can learn to focus on habits and behaviors, not weight loss.

 

Please join me for a free webinar:

 

“THE 5 STEPS TO BREAK FREE OF DIETING”

So You Can Make Peace with Food, Enjoy Guilt-Free Eating and Get The Body You Love

 

======> Reserve your virtual seat here

 

You will discover…

  • The 3 essential ingredients you need to never diet again.
  • Why diet and food restriction are not the answer to long lasting weight loss.
  • The #1 reason why changing what you eat is keeping you spinning your wheels.
  • My 5 step system to finally achieve the body you love (that you can start using right away).

 

You will walk away from this training with the knowledge you need to get started so you never have to be afraid of the doctor’s scale again!

 

Click here to register now!

 

Bob called me the next day. He called to thank me for caring about his health and wellbeing. And for guiding him on how to advocate for himself at the doctor’s office. He reported to me that his back pain was hardly noticeable that morning. That’s the power of CARING SUPPORT!

 

Hope to see you on the Webinar. Join us here!

 

Say NO the Next Time Your Doctor Prescribes Weight Loss

It’s sad for me to write this but many doctors deepen the diet mentality of those struggling with their body and their relationship with food. I don’t think they do this to purposely harm, as they have taken an oath to “do no harm”. They just don’t know better.

 

But it’s time to wake them up!

 

Theresa is a chronic dieter, she has been on every diet imaginable to lose weight and mold her body into what society deems acceptable for her. She did lose weight on most of those diets, heck she’s a great rule follower, always was as a kid. But her weight loss was very short-lived. She always gained that weight back plus more.

 

I know you can relate.

 

But this time is different. She has PCOS and insulin resistance and her doctor is telling her to lose weight. He referred her to a nutritionist who will help manage her insulin by putting her on a special diet!

 

Theresa’s inner alarm went off! NO!

 

You see, Theresa has been working on changing her relationship with food through learning intuitive eating. And while she is still at the beginning of her journey, she is totally convinced that diets don’t work. Moreover, it’s the diet and diet mentality that have caused her to enter what was the never-ending restrict-binge cycle. So, the fact that her doctor recommended yet another diet for her really pissed her off.

 

“Doesn’t he realize that his “prescription” of weight loss has not and will never be the answer to managing my PCOS and insulin resistance”, she asked me?

 

Well one would think, but I guess not (sigh!)

 

I encouraged Theresa to go back to her doctor and ask him what treatment he would prescribe for a woman in a smaller body that has PCOS. That’s the treatment she wants.

 

When you go for your annual physical, the nurse tells you to “get on the scale”. You have every right to decline. Do not feel pressured to be weighed, even if the nurse says “I won’t tell you”. Nope! As one of my clients recently told her doctor: “I don’t want my health evaluated based in part by the number on a scale.” Bravo!

 

Betty went to her doctor for her annual checkup. All was well, her labs and blood pressure all great!

 

Doctor said “You should lose a few pounds”.

Betty: “why”?

Doctor: “You gained a few pounds this year”.

Betty: ” Well, last year I was restricting and had an eating disorder”.

Doctor: “Oh”.

End of visit.

 

Stand up for yourself when you go to the doctor. If you have health issues, insist he/she address them from a weight-neutral perspective.

 

What has been your experience with weight discussions at your doctor? Please share below!