weight loss Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Diet Free Radiant Me | Intuitive Eating | Emotional Eating

I Want OFF this Roller Coaster Yo Yo Diet Ride

I’m sure it feels like everyone you know is starting a new diet or workout regime this month. In the past I’m sure that even YOU have fallen into the hypnosis of the “January start a new diet” trend set by the diet industry. I want to challenge you to try a different approach to your health this year.

The truth is that every “new diet” you see is actually the same. There is always going to be the latest trend hitting the internet or newsstands. But at the end of the day, all diets have one thing in common: someone other than yourself is telling you what to eat, when to eat, and how to eat. And truth be told, they aren’t going to help you feel better about your relationship with food OR yourself.

So, let’s not kick off 2016 with a cloud of dieting thoughts over your head, okay? It’s time to jump OFF the diet roller coaster and to start listening to your inner wisdom. Who better to listen to than your own body?

Okay, so this sounds all great, right? And the new programs that are being marketed now are calling themselves “Lifestyle Programs”. But let me let you in on a little secret. Those “Lifestyle Programs” are just fancy names for diets. They say they want to help you make lifestyle changes, but they are still giving you lists of foods to eat and not to eat.

Oh, by the way, don’t even get me started on those doctors with Harvard degrees that are promoting “Detoxes”. Give me a break! Anyone is going to lose weight if they drink these concoctions for a week or a month. Then what happens after the detox is over? You know what happens….

But I divert. Let me get back on course here.

If you are riding this diet roller coaster, you’re probably unintentionally making 3 common mistakes that are preventing you from losing weight forever.

I explain these 3 biggest mistakes in my new video series. Click HERE to learn more about the mistakes you are making that keep you glued to the seat of the roller coaster, AND find out how you can get off.

Oh, and feel free to share this blog with other friends and family members who want off this roller coaster ride too!

Discover the 3 Mistakes that Keep You Glued to the Seat of the Roller Coaster HERE.

How to Achieve Your Health Goals In 2016

I cringe this time of year. You know why? Because my inbox is flooded with dozens of miracle diets for the New Year. They promise quick and easy weight loss by following a set of rules to reach unrealistic goals.

Join me in throwing your New Year’s resolutions out the window. Start this New Year by doing the opposite of so many people. Release yourself from the prison of rules that you set for yourself, or worse – that someone else has set for you. Instead continue on your path towards becoming an intuitive and mindful eater.

I realize this isn’t an easy path. But remember, it may not be easy but it is worth it!

There are 3 essential ingredients I believe you need to piece together in order to achieve this goal for 2016.

Here they are (and resources to help too!)

Essential Ingredient #1: Create a healthy mindset. Commit to NOT listening to what others tell you to do. You need to decide for yourself what is best. What makes YOU happy? What makes you feel good? What eases your mind and fills your stomach? Stop letting dieting books, relatives and TV hosts dictate what you need or what you should eat. They don’t know what is right for you. Only you know how to make yourself the best you can be. Re-learn to trust your body. You may be surprised what you get out of it.

Essential Ingredient #2: Find caring love and support. It’s no fun being on this journey alone. And, it’s possible that all your girlfriends are about to embark on the latest New Year’s diet. So what are you to do? Find a support group filled with people just like you who have decided to never diet again. They do exist. If you are interested, come on over to my private Facebook intuitive eating support group. This is a judgement-free space where real people share real intuitive eating struggles and successes. I offer my own advice and tips along with fun challenges and giveaways throughout the year.

Essential Ingredient #3: Be open to learning about nutrition from a reputable source. There is so much overwhelming nutrition information on the internet that it gets downright confusing. Just this morning a client mentioned to me that she has no idea what to eat anymore, there are so many recommendations she reads that contradict each other. It is key to connect with a reputable nutrition source such as a registered dietitian nutritionist to learn about nutrition. Get to know what you’re putting into your body. The more you know the more you will find yourself being more conscious about what you’re eating.

To help clarify the many nutrition questions you might have while you are food shopping, check out My Supermarket Sidekick: Your Aisle-by-Aisle Shopping Guide. I wrote this guide to help you as you navigate the aisles in the supermarket. Learn more here.

Your Turn to Take Action: What are your health goals of 2016? Comment below!

Protecting Yourself Against New Year’s Diet Talk

You have made the commitment to never diet again. Yay you!! The only problem you are facing now is the constant bombardment of the media with THE way for you to finally lose your excess weight now that the New Year is approaching.

All this diet talk sends chills up my spine. Actually it makes me downright mad. I am really so tired of hearing about the next miracle diet to hit the market.

You know why I am so mad about it?

Because it’s the innocent, decent people like you that get hurt. It is so easy to get sucked into the amazing claims these diets tout, why wouldn’t you say “let me try it, this will be THE one.”

But sadly, it isn’t so. Not too soon after January 1^st you will be throwing in the towel on this diet too.

So the question is, how do you deal with the media and how do you deal with your girlfriends who are getting ready to embark on a new diet come January 1^st?

Here’s how:

Recommit to your diet-free way of life. Remind yourself why you began your intuitive eating journey. Then every time another commercial hits the airwaves, an email pops up in your inbox or your friend chews your ear off with the new diet she is on, quietly repeat this mantra to yourself “I have committed to a diet-free life. I rock!”

Unsubscribe from all diet-related email subscriptions, or magazines that advertise the latest diets and “here’s how to lose the baby weight fast” articles.

Find a buddy to join you on your diet-free journey. Not sure where to find one? Join us in the Diet Free Radiant Me™ online community where there are hundreds of others who are breaking free of diets!

I’m keeping this blog short, sweet and to the point.

1.Commit to your diet-free lifestyle and learning to practice intuitive eating.

2.Close your eyes and ears to others who talk diets.

3.Get the right support for your journey.

Your turn to take action: How does all this end of year/New Year diet talk make YOU feel? What action will you do to stay free and clear of the diet industry vultures?

There’s No “Throwing in the Towel” in Intuitive Eating

If you are a chronic dieter, then more than likely you have “thrown in the towel” quite a few times.

A new diet comes to market. It’s exciting, this will be the one. You start the diet and things are going well. But then you had a bad day at work, you went on vacation or you had a fight with your boyfriend. Or, you get on the scale on weigh-in day and it hasn’t budged.

Either way, you ended up in the pint of ice cream saying to yourself “forget it, what does it matter anyway”.

You have just “thrown in the towel” from another diet. When will this end?

I’ll tell you when! When you finally realize that diets are not working for you. Never have, never will. When you decide that to give up dieting, you need another path. And, you have discovered intuitive eating is that path.

Okay, so let’s talk about this. You start working with me to learn how to reclaim being an intuitive eater (I say “reclaim” because let me remind you that you were born an intuitive eater). And you immediately are having major “aha” moments. Wow, you are discovering things about yourself, your past, your beliefs that you never realized impacted your relationship with food.

This is great! You laugh, you cry, all from a good place of finally moving forward.

Then it happens. You disappear, stop showing up for your appointments and stop returning emails and phone calls.

What is going on?

More than likely, an old familiar trigger has popped up and you haven’t yet learned how to handle it. So, you fall back into past overeating habits. Now you feel bad, embarrassed and say to yourself “you see, this won’t work either”. And, you throw in the towel.

Please listen up! What I’m about to say requires capital letters.

THERE IS NO FAILURE IN INTUITIVE EATING!

THERE IS NO “THROWING IN THE TOWEL” IN INTUITIVE EATING!

Intuitive eating is a learning experience. It’s a process of ups and downs. Whatever trigger has thrown you “for a loop”, let’s learn from it. Don’t let it take you back to a place that you DON”T want to be….back to the land of dieting!

If this sounds like you, I care about you and I am here to help you.

Reach out and ask for help. There’s no shame in that. It’s something to be proud of.

Click here to send me an SOS email.

Eating Intuitively While at Summer Camp

I work with both adults and children in my private practice. Most of my posts are geared towards adults, but today’s post will be focused on kids.

Obesity in kids is on the rise. This, I know, is not news to you. During the school year kids spend an awful lot of time in front of the screen such as the television, computer or smartphone screen. This takes away from the time they can and should be active and running around. Add to this the high fat school lunches, fast food dinners and processed food snacks and we have a problem.

Years ago when a parent would call me in tears that their child is overweight or obese and needs to lose weight, they would beg me to put together a meal plan for their child. I would reluctantly create this eating plan, keeping it fun and including the child in the planning as much as possible. And for many kids, this worked well. They changed their food choices, began to exercise and would lose an appropriate amount of weight. When working with kids, I stress the importance of the first goal being to stop the weight gain, and if needed, then encourage some weight loss. But oftentimes if we can stop the weight gain and change food choices, the child will “grow into their weight” and settle in at a healthy BMI.

But not unlike the adult chronic dieters that I work with, this was often not the answer for many children. There were underlying reasons why they would overeat and we needed to get to the root of the problem. So, what do you think happened when I would create this eating plan for these kids?

They would not follow through, they would sneak eat and hide the wrappers from their parents and would ultimately continue to gain weight.

This scenario sets this child up for a life of dieting and a poor relationship with food.

I decided no more. I will no longer create meal plans for these kids. I will teach them about mindful eating and intuitive eating just like I do with my adult clients.

And they are thriving!

It’s still important to teach nutrition but I do so in a non-rule based manner. I teach them to listen for hunger and fullness, and how to respond. I teach them how to figure out if they want to eat because they are hungry or because they are upset at someone or something.

A number of my “kid” clients are now heading off to sleep away camp for the summer. While they and their parents worried in the past about the food at camp, they are no longer worried. These kids will take with them what they have learned and will have a fun time focused on friends, laughter and good times.

If your child is heading off to summer camp, here are 3 tips to help him make healthy mindful choices and feel good doing it:

1) Take 3!

Encourage your child to have 3 food groups present at each meal. This will prevent an overlarge portion of one food item that might be a less healthy option. For example if the main lunch option is mac and cheese, suggest that your child pair that with the vegetable option (say green beans) and a salad, and finish off with a fruit. This is much better than saying “don’t eat the mac and cheese”. You and I both know that’s not going to happen.

2) Tune in!

It’s very easy to be distracted when eating at a table with a bunch of other kids in a noisy dining hall. Remind your child to put his fork down mid-meal and check in to see if he is still hungry. If he isn’t, then let him know its okay to stop eating and not finish what is on his plate.

3) Drink up!

Water, water, water. Need I say more? Send water bottles to camp with your child (if the camp allows). And, encourage your child to hydrate throughout the day with pure water. Remind him that juice drinks, bottled teas and sodas are full of sugar and don’t do a body good!

Here’s to a fantastic time to all the kids heading off to summer camp. Enjoy and take it all in!

Your turn to take action: What will you do to help your child have a healthy mindful summer?

Say Sayonara to the Idea of a “Perfect Bikini Body”

It seems like we don’t have any “in-between” weather anymore. You know the kind of weather I mean. The days of cool breeze where you wear a light “spring jacket” or sweatshirt as you run your errands. Nope, we’ve gone from the cold of winter to the hot humidity of summer, even though it’s not officially summer yet on the calendar.

Although it is not summer yet, the beach craze seems to be spreading already. I’m sure you have heard and seen advertisements promoting diets, pills, and supplements to give you that “perfect beach body in just 3 weeks.”

Let’s be honest. They are all a hoax! I know that as a mindful eater, you must know this already. There is no quick fix to losing weight and getting healthy. The only way to see true, long term success in weight loss is to commit to bettering yourself through eating and lifestyle changes.

There is another problem I have with these promotions for getting a “bikini body” before summer. Who decided that you have to have a certain body to feel comfortable in a bikini? The media is constantly sending out the message that you must be thin, toned, and bronzed in order to be considered beautiful. It is time to throw this idea away.

This beach season I have a new idea for you. LOVE your body and NOURISH your body rather than damage it with extreme diets and pills that are harmful to your body. The only way to achieve a body you love and are proud of is to eat mindfully, make mindful lifestyle changes and respect you’re here and now body.

Sayonara, diets. We had no need for you this winter and we certainly don’t need you this summer or ever again!

Willpower is a Dieter’s Word

How many times have you used the word “willpower” when you’ve been on a diet? “I wish I had more willpower not to eat the cake”. “Why can’t I just have the willpower to say NO?” I am NOT going to eat the chocolate, no, no, no! I must have the willpower!”

How has this strategy of willpower worked for you?

I bet it’s worked for a short time, but inevitably when you try to “will” yourself to not eat something that you really would love to eat, you break down and eat it. The only problem now is that you just don’t have one piece of cake or chocolate, you have many.

There is no place in intuitive eating for the word “willpower”.

I explain more in the video below. Just click and watch. Then post your comments below the video and/or right back here.

What’s Holding You Back from Saying YES to a Path of Intuitive Eating?

I’ve just completed launching my program Freedom to Eat Forever and I’ve spoken and emailed with a lot of you. Many of you were ready to jump in and leave dieting behind for good. And some of you were hesitant. That’s fine, I respect that. You just weren’t ready. Yet, it’s important to explore the reasons why you were hesitant. They likely include time, money, or fear.

Let’s start with time. You know the age old saying “there’s never enough time in the day”. Sometimes when there’s an unknown, it’s hard to figure out if you’ll have enough time to commit to it. But here is another saying I’m sure you’ve heard…you make time for the things you really want to do. So while you may not be sure what type of time commitment you are able to give to learning a new way of approaching your relationship with food, it’s likely that if there wasn’t another underlying reason, you probably can allocate some time to take care of you in this very important way.

So, let’s look at the next possibility – money. Many times you ask for an opportunity to come your way, you wish for it, you dream of it. And, it is presented to you. Yet, you turn it down. I understand it’s scary to invest in yourself because what if you’re not successful? What if the results are the same as they have been in the past? At some point you need to move beyond this fear if you believe a new and different approach can work for you. You need to move out of your comfort zone, think outside the box and recognize that what you’ve tried for years and years just hasn’t served you. Thus, maybe it is time to invest in yourself in a very real new way and give yourself the chance to finally be free of food and body worries for good. A new approach gives hope.

The third possibility is fear. Fear of what? Fear of actually not dieting anymore. If you are committing to giving up dieting, then you might worry that you will lose control of your eating and constantly overeat. I fully understand your dilemma. Diets are safe for you. They tell you what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. You don’t need to make any decisions. But let me ask you. Is this really how you want to live your life? Or, do you want to be in charge of your own body and your own food choices?

I’ve given you some things to think about. If you want to further explore these areas, feel free to contact me.

Wishing you success and forward movement on your intuitive eating journey.

The 3 Biggest Mistakes that Keep You Yo-Yo Dieting

Are you tired of jumping from diet to diet without seeing the weight loss you are hoping for?

Do you find yourself frustrated and wondering any of the following…

“It is so hard to stick to my diet. I always feel deprived of my favorite foods and end up giving in to them”

“I am following the diet rules but am not reaching my weight loss goals”

“What am I doing wrong? Why can’t I succeed in losing weight?”

I will answer these questions and all your dieting frustrations with the same response.

Dieting will not give you long term success in losing weight. That’s right, if you want to lose weight and keep it off forever, no diet will help you.

If you want to experience long term weight loss and a healthy body you love, it is time to ditch the diets for good.

Here are the 3 biggest mistakes that keep you yo-yo dieting without achieving the body you love.

Mistake #3: You are stuck in a 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. If you are looking to achieve long term results and a body you love, you must escape the diet mindset and the lists of foods which you can and cannot eat.

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? If you want to make peace with food and learn to tune into your natural hunger and satiety signals, you must care for yourself and that means scheduling personal time for yourself every day.

Mistake #1: You do not trust your inner wisdom; instead you are listening to what the diets tell you to do.

The bottom line is that if you are following a diet you are not listening to what your body is trying to tell you. A diet tells you what to eat, how much to eat, even when to eat. I have a secret to share with you… if you are listening, your body will tell you all these things. The key is trusting your body’s inner wisdom instead of relying on a diet.

How can you stop making these 3 big mistakes that keep you yo-yo dieting?

Freedom to Eat Forever is designed to help you shift your mindset so you can trust your inner wisdom as your guide to eating. It is time for you to start enjoying a diet-free life so you can achieve the body you love, forever.

Hear what others have to save about Freedom to Eat Forever and how you can enjoy this same freedom from dieting and food worry http://freedomtoeatforever.com/

Top 5 Dieting Mistakes are NOT the Real Reason You Can’t Lose Weight

Every morning I check my email before I start seeing clients. And, without fail, there are at least 2, if not more, emails promoting some “diet miracle”.

Here are some recent examples:

– Rachael’s Guarantee – Down 2 Sizes by Valentine’s Day. Free Trial.

– Oprah’s Quick, Easy Way to Get Thinner in 4 Weeks. Free Shipping.

– Dr. Oz Promise – 7lbs Thinner by Valentine’s Day. No Shipping

– Oprah shares her step-by-step diet for dropping 15lbs in 2 weeks

– Get Skinny Now – Shed Pounds Fast without Diet and Exercise

Ugh! It makes me downright furious that these types of emails with tantalizing subject lines will end up in the inboxes of those chronic dieters who are willing to try anything to get the weight off.

Especially when celebrities and celebrity doctors put their name on these products that can bring more harm than good to innocent people.

Shame on them, and shame on the diet industry.

In my years of counseling clients in weight loss, I have discovered that there are many mistakes that people who are struggling to lose weight make on a daily basis.

Let me share some of them below:

Skipping meals (particularly breakfast)
Not getting enough sleep
Restricting calories during the day and overeating at night
Not balancing your meals
Going too long in between eating

Now while these are definitely mistakes that might be holding you back from achieving lifelong weight loss, I believe that for the majority of chronic dieters, they are not the REAL reasons.

I have discovered the 3 biggest mistakes that people make that keep them yo-yo dieting and they have nothing to do with food.

Join me for a FREE webinar on February 17, “The 3 Biggest Mistakes that Keep You Yo-Yo Dieting Without Achieving the Body You Love” where I will reveal these 3 big mistakes and what you could do now to finally get off the diet roller coaster. Register for this free training HERE.

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