Tag Archive for: clothes

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 Treat Yourself without Food

You’ve had a long day. Heck, it’s been a long week. You need a treat. You head to the _______ and get yourself some ______________.

 

How would you fill in these blanks?

 

When I pose this question to the women who reach out to me for help with their weight, they fill in the blanks with the words ‘kitchen” and ‘ice cream’. Or, ‘store’ and ‘chocolate’. Or ‘freezer’ and ‘cake’.

 

Sound familiar?

 

The first thought that most likely pops into your mind when you are looking for a treat is food! Why is that? Why do you associate a treat with food?

 

An emotional connection with food is created from the moment we are born and placed on our mom’s chest to bond. And then, as you get older and need comfort, you are given some milk and cookies. Of, if you fall down and hurt yourself, you are consoled with a lollypop. There are numerous examples of how the emotional connection to food continues to be reinforced around you.

 

But how has this served you now into adulthood? Not very well I’m guessing. It has led to your struggle with emotional eating and your never-ending ride on the yo-yo diet roller coaster.

 

It’s time to treat yourself with something other than food. It’s time to treat yourself like a queen and to take good care of yourself so you don’t need to find comfort in food.

 

Let me share a story with you.

 

The last few months have been very busy and well, quite stressful. So yesterday I decided to treat myself like a queen. One of my dreams has always been to have a personal shopper come into my home and go through my clothes closet with me. Toss what is no good, keep what is, and create new outfits with what I have. Then head to the store with my personal shopper in tow and buy some new clothes.

 

Well, I didn’t exactly get that full dream….no, a personal shopper did not come to my house. But I did make an appointment with a personal shopper at Lord and Taylor and meet with her yesterday. This is a complementary service for shoppers…I never knew that! She set me up in her exclusive office fitting room and brought me clothes to try on based on what I told her I was looking for.

 

Wow, what an experience. I felt like a celebrity. This was the best experience ever! I bought some really great new clothes and felt really amazing.

 

I treated myself like a queen. I felt the stress lift off my shoulders, just like that. Doing something for yourself really feels good! You don’t need food to comfort or console yourself. Taking care of your needs on all levels and nurturing yourself will help you cope with your feelings without turning to food.

 

Try it…and let me know how it works out for you. If you want to talk, just contact me here!

 

I Have Nothing to Wear!

Closet-messyYou are standing in front of your closet and have no idea what to put on to wear today. You think “nothing will look good on me”. You reluctantly take out a pair of pants and a shirt and put it on. You look in the mirror and immediately rip these clothes right off your body. “Ugh”, you think. “Looks terrible”. Out comes the next outfit, then the next, and the next. Until you finally give up and leave the house with the first outfit you put on.

 

Would you like to change this scenario? Would you like to rewrite it as follows…

 

“What should I wear today? Oh, this outfit is nice and I haven’t worn it in a while”. You take it out of the closet, put it on, twirl around and head out the door.

 

Done.

 

You just saved yourself at least 30 minutes in the morning (if not more!)

 

So the big question here is how can you turn around YOUR morning routine and be happy with whatever you put on?

 

First you have to accept your body for where it is at right now. I don’t mean throw caution to the wind and eat mindlessly and for all the wrong reasons. I mean part of changing your relationship with food is letting go of the harsh body bashing that you do. Stop comparing your body to others, stop talking negatively towards yourself and accept that this is where your body is right now. Then, work on understanding the underlying reasons why you turn to food for reasons other than hunger, why you eat mindlessly, and commit to taking a different approach to eating.

 

Commit to learning to become an intuitive eater, learning to identify gentle hunger and comfortable fullness as your guide to starting and stopping your eating. Learn to cope with your emotions without food. Start moving your body not because you think you have to in order to better your body, but because you feel EMPOWERED when you do. And then, respect that your body is what it is now and you need to feed it, cloth it comfortably and talk nicely to it.

 

Doing this will allow you to transform your relationship with food and ultimately will help you achieve the body you love and feel good in.

 

I know this is a tall order. Well, I am here to help you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need some support. Just email me at bonnie@brghealth.com .

 

You can also join my FREE support group on Facebook right here.

 

Here’s to an extra 30 minutes in the morning….