WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

I have tried EVERY diet known to man (or woman) for over 50 years.

I have gone on shake fasts, liquid fasts, fruit fasts, water fasts.

I have eaten only protein.

I have eaten mostly fats.

I have eaten only eggs.

I have eaten only fruit.

I have eaten over priced freeze dried, packaged foods that came in the mail.

I have read every book. Gone to countless Seminars. 

I have injected chemicals and hormones and toxins into my body. 

I have sweated and cried and despaired.

I have tried hypnosis, therapy, 12 step programs, commercial expensive diets.

I have Meditated on it.

I have traveled the world in search of the Answer.

I have read all of Geneen Roth’s books and Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole. I LOVED the ideas and instinctively believed in them, but I wasn’t brave enough to commit and try. I chose to punish and hurt myself time and time again. 

Sound familiar?

Eight years ago, I lost almost 90 pounds.

How I wish I could claim that I lost the weight through Meditation, Intuitive Eating and peaceful, natural co existence with food.

But I would be lying.

I lost the weight through torturous, panicked, unnatural rigidity using a commercially fad diet. 

The diet just happened to work for me at that time because I was so big and scared and desperate that I was willing to overlook and ignore and push away all my mental, physical and emotional needs. 

I ignored every message that my body and mind and heart were sending me. 

In societal words, I Succeeded, I Won.  But, at a heavy price. 

I was starving. 

Physically.

Emotionally.

Mentally.

I was terrified that I would gain the weight back. Over the last few years, I did gain a bit back. It felt like the end of the world.

(It was actually the beginning of the world. A new and better world. More on this in a moment.)

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But to continue my story:

Because I was "successful"at loosing the weight, I naturally became a “Weight Loss” Coach. I did so because I understood. People called me when they saw my weight loss and wanted help. I was eager and overjoyed to help. I found my calling!  To spread the message of the joys of losing weight! 

Here’s what I learned:

I hate the term “Weight Loss Coach”.

I did not like being  a “Weight Loss Coach”.

I found that I did not like holding women to task about what they ate and what they did not eat.

I was strangely uneasy about advocating “dieting’.

I did LOVE my clients, the connection between us, the heartfelt candid conversations about their lives, feelings, challenges and issues.

I know that I helped women lose weight. 

In Societal words I was a Success.

But..

I began to realize that the same thing happened to them that had happened to me. They were happy for 5 minutes. Then they became scared and miserable at the thought of gaining it back. I helped them exchange one “scared and miserable” for another type of “scared and miserable’. But this is what they wanted. How could I not help them? 

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Here's the "new and better world" part:

By chance, a year or so ago, I happened to re read the book Intuitive Eating (mentioned above). The principles and message struck a deep chord within me and, again,I knew that they were right. I was still scared to try their approach but I was also scared to try dieting again, I just didn’t have it in me. So if I was going to be scared and miserable, at least let me try a new way of being scared and miserable instead of always reverting to dieting. 

I threw myself into researching and studying the principles of IE.

I took classes and courses, joined chat rooms and support groups just to learn.

And learn I did.

It took all my courage, every ounce of Mindfulness, and tons of support.

It was not easy for me, I am still in the process of making food my friend. Of living in peaceful coexistence with food. Of living a life of No Rules, listening to and respecting my hunger, feeding myself, finding joy in eating (rather than guilt and panic), of being a friend to my body instead of an enemy, of living in gentleness rather than rigidity. 

So, here is the bottom line:

I want  to help you. I want to help you find your way. I want to help you to find your own Answer. With lots of suggestions, love and support. 

I want to be your friend, your guide, your supporter, your cheerleader.

However, I get it if you still want to diet to lose weight. 

I will help you. 

But, I will also give you options and an alternative for a gentler and infinitely more safisfying approach if you are braver than I.  

Me in 1998