Does Dieting Keep You From Feasting on Your Life?

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Does Dieting Keep You From Feasting on Your Life?

A few things I am wondering about……

I often hear women say that they don't want their children to have the same body issues that they do.  They fully agree that children should not hear diet talk and be made to feel self conscious of their bodies. They want their kids to be confident. And so these mothers don't talk about their diets in front of the kids.

But they continue to diet and they bring the diet talk underground.  I want to hug these mothers and say - you should not be hearing this talk either. Why do you talk to yourself the way you would never talk to your child? You are worthy of loving your body too.  And self confidence doesn't come from being skinny, it's from connecting with this sense of worthiness.  We are all worthy, only some of us have forgotten. 

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Dear Family Members during the Holidays

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Dear Family Members during the Holidays

I know you have been raised in a generation of dieting.  I know that you have been taught not to trust your body.  I know that our society idolizes a thin ideal and this has been ingrained in your head.  I know you have been taught to try and change your body over and over again in order to fit a norm deemed acceptable to society.  I know you have lost weight more times than you can count and gained it back again.  I know you are ashamed and embarrassed by fat on your body because generations before you told you you should be.  I know that you are bombarded by ads and messages hundreds of times a day that tell you have problems to fix and encourage you to look like everyone else. 

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Do you have Diet Mentality?

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Do you have Diet Mentality?

I am always surprised when people don't realize they suffer from diet mentality. 

While walking the dog yesterday, I bumped into my neighbor who is in her 70's.  She was asking what I do for work lately and I told her I am coaching women to help them find peace with food and their bodies.  She told me that she was going to sign up for a local weight loss program and that she hadn't gotten around to it yet.  (I guess she thought that peace with food can only come when you lose weight.)  She then shared that over Halloween she bought and ate a half a bag of candy corn. She said it was disgusting and she was so mad at herself for eating it but she couldn't stop.  She also said when she was lying in bed later that night, she hoped her husband didn't see the bag she left on the counter because she meant to hide it or throw it away.  

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Holiday Survival

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Holiday Survival

Are you looking forward to the holidays? No? Sort of? Too stressful? Too much food? Too much family? Too little family? The holidays can be a bittersweet time. It’s supposed to be joyous and full of good cheer, but can feel forced and full of pressure and stress. Here are a few things I like to keep in mind during the holiday season. First, when it comes to food, I hope by now that you have rejected the diet mentality and you are not listening to the all the people telling you in a panic how many calories you are going to eat between now and New Year’s.  That message only plays on our fears and does not serve us.

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