Body Transformation That Has Nothing to Do With Food???

March is one of my favorite months. I live in Vermont where winters are cold, dark, icy and long. March is when we defrost. It’s also National Nutrition Month, which provides an opportunity to focus on your food and exercise choices and habits.

Hard to admit but I struggled with my own eating and exercise habits for decades. I had eating disorders in my teens before people even knew what EDs were. I was a restrictive eater, had negative body image and spent a ridiculous amount of time and energy trying to get a “perfect” body. At one point when I was a personal fitness trainer I worked out 4-6 hours a day! Yet no matter how many crunches I did or how little I ate I was never satisfied with what I saw in the mirror. Back in 1993 when I became a Registered Dietitian I thought that my studies would help me make peace with my body and food. Boy was I wrong. Learning about nutrition didn’t help me relax my eating habits, it only made me more diligent.

Then I made one shift that changed my relationship with food and my body forever that actually had nothing to do with food. I started practicing self-compassion (SC). As I started to treat myself the way I would a good friend I couldn’t starve myself or beat my body up anymore. I essentially changed my relationships with myself and over time my body image shifted to a positive place and my eating normalized. I smashed my scale, stopped worrying about weight and began eating mindfully and practicing Intuitive Eating. These days I eat what I want – salads, steak, green smoothies, sushi, chocolate, French fries (my Beau's favorite food) … It’s all good. 

So if you’re struggling with your body – and who isn’t at midlife - it’s Sunday I invite you to relax. If you’re longing to lose weight and get in shape see if you can shift your perspective a bit and focus on changing your lifestyle because you love your body, not because you loath it. Trust me, you don’t need that self-critic to motivate you. Research shows that self-criticism actually undermines motivation rather than enhancing it.

Try a little experiment and challenge. Let go of the idea that losing weight is hard and takes tons of work. Just for March forget about all the crazy diets – keto, intermittent fasting, Atkins, Dukan, South Beach…. Instead set an intention to love your body and yourself to health. Be curious and notice what shows up for you.

Then join me all month long in my FB group HERE. I’ll be sharing more about self-compassion and along with simple tips and techniques that will support and empower you to eat right, move your body and finally reach a healthy, sustainable place.

Life is challenging enough food should be easy.