Death to Diets...once and for all!

You are Standing in line at the grocery check out.  

You have been having cravings for a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios...and as you wait, you glance to the left and see the magazines..."Lose 10 pounds in 5 days!"  one headline reads, right below it you see "Lose 4 sizes by Thanksgiving" and next to that?  "Flatten your abs in just 5 minutes a day!"

It is everywhere you turn!  You look at your stomach, reach for the magazine...and remember....after the last diet you tried, you gained back all the weight you lost, plus an extra 10 pounds...maybe this isn't the answer.  

As you pause you think about how going on a diet makes you feel...and the list starts...

 

YOU...

1. Feel Deprived
2. Feel Punished-Like you are not good enough  
3. Feel Weak, Tired, Lethargic
4. Are Overly Emotional 
5. Are Short Tempered
6. Feel Depressed
7. Look more critically at yourself in the mirror (increased body checking)
8. Are obsessive about exercise and calorie intake
9. Withdraw from hanging out, talking or just being with friends
10. Get Stressed out over being with family
11. Isolate and withdraw

Do you realize you are not alone?  95% of dieters regain the weight anyway…  Time and time again.  I have myself....more times than fingers on my hands can count.  It is exhausting...

THIS time, as you reach for the magazine and the urge comes to go on a diet…

you pause and think: 

What if I decided NEVER TO GO ON A DIET AGAIN? 

What would that look like? Feel like?  

Take a look and I will share with you my list...

You Will.... 

1. Feel Empowered!!!
2. Move and exercise how and when  you want
3. Have all the energy you need to do whatever you want to do 
4. Allow you to enjoy all foods with friends, family or alone
5. Not have to rely on comments from others
6. Understand and Empathize with the struggles of others
7. Release your own expectations of “fitting into the thin ideal”
8. Be free from mirrors, scales, calories
9. Feel free to where clothes that are comfortable 
10. Gain Confidence in yourself
11. Not stress over going to the beach, getting photographed or trying on clothes

As for me, I want to enjoy a glass of wine, an ice cream cone, and chocolate chip cookies...I want to move my body on my terms, respect and honor myself.  

YOU ARE WORTH IT.    

You deserve to feel empowered and strong and follow your own rules, your own standards and be OK with all of them…

The choice is up to you. 

Click here for more information and grab your free YOU ARE ENOUGH Finally Free Fit and Fabulous 5 step guide to peace with food, eating, weight and body image. 

You are worth it. 

Digging In

Are you kidding me?  She is going to weigh us in front of the whole team?  Shit...My heart races, my palms start to sweat, I feel lightheaded.  I think I am going to be sick...This can't be happening.  I should have worked out more over the summer, I shouldn't have eaten so much...why did I do that...shit

"Wow Anne, What did you do all summer? EAT??"  My coach announces...in front of everyone.  In an instant I am transported back in time...shame, dread and guilt come rushing through me like a charging freight train.  Every inch of me is in discomfort.  Everyone is looking at me, whispering how fat I am, I just know it.  Where can I run, how can I hide...please, just let me disappear....

I step off the scale, hold back the tears and exit the room.  How could I have done this to myself...How could I have let this happen...again...I wont eat, I will show her.  I can be thin, just watch me.  How fast can I lose 10 pounds?

Salads, Diet Cokes and Double Sessions in August.  A recipe for disaster.  I played hard, fought harder, felt miserable.  Soccer wasn't even fun anymore.  This had to stop

Stress, Anxiety, and obsession with food and exercise would continue to slam into me over and over again...30 years later, I have finally decided to plant my feet on the ground and say NO MORE!

My feet firmly planted, and I am beginning to finally grow roots...branches are beginning to reach out to others in need.  I see women of all ages...from tweens to seniors struggle with food, with exercise and with body image.  Why?  Who is it that we have to impress with what is in our grocery cart?  or how our butt looks in jeans? or  How far we can run?  How much we weigh?  I don't want to care anymore.

When we die, do we want our obituary to read?
     * She never ate anything bad for her
     * She was a perfect size 2
     * She was the fittest person I knew

And if that is the case, what is it that we want others to take away from our presence here?

Don't we all have more to offer than what is on the outside?  What about things like honesty, integrity, determination, dedication, drive, teamwork, love, compassion, laughter...

I am growing my tree in a different direction.  I don't care what it looks like, as long as it has lots of touch, durable branches, that spread out in different directions.  It is healthy and strong.  My tree appreciates the ground that supports it, the air that surrounds it, the rain and the sun that take turns nourishing it...It has learned the importance of a good foundation and has accepted that it may not look like any other tree in the forest.  Actually, I think my tree rather likes that fact.