It’s that time of year again to see all the posts regarding “getting ready for summer”. Your summer clothes from last year don’t fit. Time to “get back on the wagon”. Time to dial it back in. Get it back under control. I mean it this time. I’m going to do this once and for all.
Well, at least until someone shows up with my favorite cake.
Does this sound familiar to you? Is this you?
The reason there are so many of these posts all over the place is that our diet culture is all wrong. Yes, they are offering weight loss. It may be easy and it may be quick, but will it be lasting?
It becomes lasting when you find the root cause of what caused you to be overweight in the first place. Period. The End.
Naturally thin people don’t worry about their clothes not fitting from last year because they don’t emotionally eat. They don’t eat for every party. They don’t eat because they are sad. They don’t eat because they are on vacation.
They eat because they are hungry. And you know what else they do? They stop when they are full (not stuffed…just full).
Oh the madness!
When we are born, we only eat when we are hungry. If you’ve ever tried to feed a toddler that isn’t hungry, you know what I’m talking about. I always laugh when people try to persuade little ones to eat that don’t want to. No toddler has ever starved with food in front of them. They will eat it when they are hungry.
Then as they grow, we use food as a reward and thus begins the cycle of emotional eating.
I have struggled with this my whole life. I understand the people that are making these posts on social media.
But you buying a 21-day fix won’t help you in the long run. I am not saying that it won’t give you the jump start that you need, but you need to go into it with the mentality that it is a start…..not something that will get you to your goal weight and keep you there.
In this fast-paced world, it is easy to tend toward the promise of fast or little effort. We are all looking for time savers. We want everything yesterday. We don’t want to put in the time or effort that it takes to make a lasting change because it’s just something else that we have to add to our already overstuffed schedules.
It’s so easy to fall into the hype of a pill or potion that will make you bikini ready in 21 days without any changes on your part, but you are just setting yourself up for failure. There is nothing on this planet that will fix your weight issues by popping a pill or drinking a coffee or replacing food with shakes. It’s just not that easy. Period.
If you want to heal your body from disease, lose weight, tone up, or just feel better in your own skin…..you will have to make some sacrifices. You will have to do.the.work.
There is a saying that goes something like this, “losing weight is hard, being fat is hard….choose your hard“. Also, “nothing worth doing is easy”. Or maybe “do it today, feel like it tomorrow”. There are so many quotes that prove to us that getting healthy and lean isn’t a sprint, yet we still feel that we can accomplish it quickly and with little effort.
When you follow these fads and don’t get results or they don’t last, it just sets you up for mental anguish and the cycle continues.
“I won’t ever be skinny”
“I might as well just give up, this doesn’t work for me.”
“I can’t change my weight so I’ll just have a tub of ice cream”
I don’t want to sound like I’m going against all the people on social media that offer these 21 day boot camps, cleanses, jump starts, etc., but I also don’t want you going into the 21 days thinking you will drop 50 lbs, be chiseled, and never have to worry about emotional eating again. It is not that simple.
As many of you know, I am certified in nutrition coaching through Precision Nutrition. In their program, they encourage participants to sign up for a whole year. Yes, ONE WHOLE YEAR!
Do you know why? Because it takes TIME to learn what works for your body. It takes time to overcome emotional eating. It takes time to heal your body and your mind. It takes time to get into a pattern that you CAN sustain for the rest of your life.
There are no diet rules, no forbidden foods, no killing yourself in the gym, no gross meal plans. It’s learning to eat for your body. It’s finding real food that you love. It’s finding ways to move your body that you actually enjoy. It’s saying goodbye to quick fixes, fads, and chasing shiny things. It’s learning to love your body and the process of feeding it and moving it to find the perfect place for you. Just because something works well for someone else does NOT mean that it will work for you. We all have different body chemistry, different likes/dislikes, different time available, different finances, different families, different pasts; the list goes on and on. We have got to stop trying to follow what everyone else is doing and find our own way. That takes time and patience.
I totally get it if time and patience aren’t your thing. I struggle with them, too. However, I’ve noticed that the more I make small subtle changes, the easier they become. They are easier to implement without disrupting life too much. Then once you have something small implemented, you add something else. That is the way to real lasting change.
If you are sick of not getting results, it’s time to slow down. It’s time to dig deep and find out what is causing issues in the first place. It’s time to listen to your body and figure out what works for your body, mind, and life. It’s time to love yourself into your happy weight and physique. It’s time to stop with the quick fixes and drastic changes. Enough is enough.
If you didn’t work at your body in December, you can’t start in April and be ripped by June. It just doesn’t work that way. Expecting that our of your body just fuels body hate and more disordered eating and thinking.
Time is ticking, it will pass either way. Do you want to spend it chasing things that don’t last or are you ready to commit to finally figuring it out this time?
I talk about all this plus give practical, easy to follow and implement tips in my new ebook! (If you are interested in receiving a copy for FREE, click here to request.)
I also offer personal 1 on 1 coaching if you are ready for a holistic, personalized, faith-based approach for learning your body and how to best care for it through real-life nutrition and movement. Shoot me a message here if you’d like more details (book a discovery session for free)!
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