Dear Rigid Dieter And Exerciser

Today’s blog isn’t for everyone:

I am not directing this to someone who is looking for an excuse to avoid workouts and overeat.   I am talking to the rigid dieter and exerciser who is afraid to trust herself.

It is for people like “Kelly” who posted on Facebook yesterday.  (Aug 4 2013)

They are fit, have their weight “under control,” and feel like they are doing the right thing.

Here is the truth:  They do not have their weight under control.  Their weight is controlling them.

It does take strength to follow a rigid workout and eating schedule.  Yes it does.  I have done that myself and I understand this mentality.

But there is no joy, wisdom or freedom in this.

Here is why:

When you fight your body, you lose.  When you work with your body, you win.

• Fighting your body is ignoring hunger.
• Fighting your body is eating at pre-scheduled times whether or not you are hungry
• Fighting your body is working out even if your knee is sore.
• Fighting your body is eating vegetables when your body is craving protein.
• Fighting your body is skipping sleep when you are tired.
• Cravings, hunger, fatigue and soreness are your body’s voice.

Work WITH your body by respecting these and you WIN.

Lose the rules, the rigidity and the “perfection” mentality.

Replace it with responsiveness, respect for the wisdom of your body’s voice, and a long-term vision of your body and your health.

As with many things, calm, gentle progress lasts.  For example, an exercise plan you can actually follow for the rest of your life beats the “insanity” stop and start programs that result in burn out.

And learning to eat the way Mother Nature intended will get you off the diet treadmill, and yo-yo weight gain/loss/gain.

And for those of you saying that our current food supply is so “fake” that it has disrupted our ability to eat like this, I respectfully disagree.

First, because I live it, and I know that my body is perfectly capable of taking in calories from all kinds of sources and responding appropriately.  If I eat some “low nutrient” food one day, guess what, I crave “better” food the next.

And, it is wiser and long-term more important to avoid demonizing any food.  Your body will take care of that for you.  You WILL crave healthful, wonderful food.

First step:  Promise your body that you will not diet anymore and begin to trust yourself and your own wisdom.  It is in there, currently being wasted by many of us…

I am launching a new website very soon to help you make this transition.  It includes a work book that goes with my book Diets Are Fattening  (available on the book tab)

Be optimistic about this.  You can do it, and you will enjoy a normalized relationship with food, eating and your body.  And you will calmly get (or stay) in your ideal weight range.