Have you ever skipped out on an event because you gained weight?
I attended a workshop this past weekend and was so surprised (and even a bit saddened) at how many of my fellow guests started off conversations or presentations with a justification about their weight. It was either a quick statement — life has been really hard lately so I have gained weight, or I almost did not come because I have gained weight. I witnessed genuine fear, sadness, and discomfort.
I made a point to tell each person that they are surrounded by people who love them regardless of the number on the scale, but I knew in my heart those words fell on deaf ears. They are still on the merry-go-round of weight loss and they have started to believe that they will never figure out their weight struggles or feel like they can maintain a healthy body.
Oh, but they can! They are just missing the one thing that diet plans do not address — they have a toxic relationship with food.
Diets teach you how to fuel your body but they do not address years’ worth of using food for everything but what it is intended for. So we go on diets, lose weight, then life challenges happen — divorce, raising children, job changes, stress, boredom, any challenging emotion (how about a year of a pandemic?!) — and before you know it, you have gained some or even all of your weight back.
Sound familiar? We say things like, “I don’t know why that happened”, or “I can’t believe I am square one again”. As soon as you go back to your old habits the weight comes back on. You have to address the role food plays in your response to life challenges.
When life challenges or emotions happen (which they always will), for so many the response (now habit) is to react by finding a way to avoid it. This can be done through drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling but for so many of us on the merry-go-round of weight loss, it is through food. We are emotional eaters.
Negative feeling = grab the food.
It is a vicious cycle that has you acting in ways that are self-sabotaging you from the life you want. You might be skipping social events, or attending and spending the whole time apologizing instead of participating. You’re not playing with your kids, not pursuing the job you want or the hobby you want to try. The good news is you can make a change and get weight loss off your to-do list once and for all.
Ending your toxic relationship with food gives you the tools to face life challenges in a way that does not involve food. You will identify and address your emotional eating, learn how to break the habits, end the self-sabotage and realize that self-care is not selfish but a necessity. These tools and developing the skills takes practice but it will change your life and once and for all you will get off the weight-loss merry-go-round.
If you are ready to stop sitting on the sidelines, skipping out on opportunities, and even done justifying your weight to others (the number on the scale does NOT define your self-worth) I can help you.
Join my upcoming workshop on How to End Your Toxic Relationship with Food and you will receive the tools, information and start developing the skills you need to start living an intentional life through a positive mindset so you can reach your goals for a healthy body, mind, and soul.