Ever wonder why all those diet books don't work? What are they missing?

Happy Spring!

 

No More Diets!!

From Winter through Spring entering into Summer, we are bombarded with numerous "fad diets" that promote weight loss by following their "amazing new approach".  What they all come down to is basically, "Eat Real Food, Mostly Vegetables, Lean Protein and Not Too Much" (quoted by Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules).    But food itself and exercise isn't all that promotes a healthy "diet". 

 

Diets steer us away from our common sense and dip deeply into our pocketbooks while eliciting few, if any, lasting results. Why?

• Diets don't work because each person is unique, with different needs based on gender, age, ancestry and lifestyle; how could one diet be right for everyone?
• Diets don't work because they are extreme solutions. As in physics, if a pendulum swings to one extreme, it has to swing equally to the other. A diet might work for a short amount of time, but research shows that almost all diets result in a 10-pound gain once off the diet.
• Diets don't work because they are too restrictive. People who fail on diet plans are not flawed or weak. Diets by nature require discipline and restriction at levels that are unsustainable by a healthy human body.
• Most people are disconnected from why they gain weight and see diet as the only culprit. For example, ignoring or discounting emotions is often the first thing to cause weight imbalances.

What are we missing?

In our fast-paced world, we have lost sight of many aspects of life that truly nourish and balance our bodies, such as slowing down, eating a home-cooked meal and spending quality time with loving people. Eating consciously and making simple lifestyle changes will create positive results and release you from the endless cycle of dieting.

Given half a chance, your body will balance out by itself, but this is only possible by getting out of the diet mentality and listening to what you truly need. Imagine taking all of the outward energy you expend on diets, fads and gimmicks and turning it inward, so that you can listen to your heart and inner wisdom. There is no such thing as a quick fix; you already have everything you need within you. With careful thought and loving reflection, you can feed yourself in a nourishing way. Working with your body rather than against it will bring you increased energy, stabilized weight and sustainable health.

 

Circle of Life

When working with my clients as a Holistic Health Coach, I look at your "Circle of Life" balance (see below). 

This represents all the "Primary Foods" in your life that need balance, which results making healthier choices generally in life.  They feed us, but they don't come on a plate.  Elements such as a meaningful spiritual practice, an inspiring career, regular and enjoyable physical activity and honest and open relationships that feed your soul and your hunger for living all constitute primary food.
 

Remember when.....

Remember as children, we lived on primary food, having to be begged to take time to eat.  When deeply in love, or working passionately on projects it is the same.  The fun, excitement and love of daily life have the power to feed us so that food becomes secondary.  The more primary food we receive, the less we depend upon secondary foods to make us happy, and the opposite is also true.  The more we fill ourselves with secondary foods, the less we are able to receive the primary foods of life.  

This Circle of Life exercise helps us to identify what is missing or limited in your life, which can cause less nutritional choices in secondary food.  When these primary foods are balanced and being met, they have a positive effect on the choices we make in the food we eat.

We all want to go back to that childhood where we could just play all day without a worry in the world.  We can have a piece of that if we just take the time to slow down and look at the more important parts of life that result in healthier, happier times.  Some days you just want to blow bubbles.....and you should!

 

Your Health Coach,

Beverly