What Kids Can Teach You About Weight Loss
by Dinneen
Filed under Blog, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss
I watched one of the most powerful Oprah’s shows yesterday. The subject was an epidemic that is affecting the health of America’s children, and what’s also affecting too many adults. It’s not what we usually associate with adolescents: drug addiction, alcohol abuse, or smoking. It’s something more powerful and affecting more kids (AND adults) than ever before: obesity.
The children on the show show took part in a day-long intervention, just like what is often needed when children (or adults) abuse drugs or alcohol. But for these kids their drug of choice was food.
The intervention was to get to the real reason why these kids ate. And like Oprah said on the show, the reason they got overweight “goes way beyond junk food.”
On the show we got an inside look of these children’s lives. They spend their days in shame, guilt, depression, discomfort, stress or pain. In one way or another, they were hurting inside and ate for comfort, in search of acceptance, or to cover up emotions.
These kids also have to deal with the pressures and mistreatment from society. As one of the children said,
“People look at my outer layers and not my inner beauty, and don’t recognize what’s on my inside and automatically judge me because of my weight.”
People talk behind these kid’s backs, treat them differently than other “normal” children, and judge them by what’s on the outside instead of what’s on the inside.
The intervention was a way to look beyond the food, and for the parents (and society) to understand what is really going on. It’s not just about eating right and exercising. And it’s not just about food. Food is only a part of the issue.
The real issue is the emptiness many people feel inside.
As one of the leaders of the intervention said:
“Today what we are intentionally doing is inviting a conversation around food, around weight, about the emotions behind the weight — because it’s not about our weight. It’s ‘What is the hunger for? What are we hungry for?’”
As I watched the show I couldn’t help think of the parallel with adults. So many adults are hungry for more than just food, they’re hungry for something more in their lives — they’re hungry for acceptance, love, comfort, a satisfying job, or a caring relationship.
The counselors on the show then explained that before anyone (children OR adults) can begin to work on the larger issue – health – they need to tap inside and find the place where they hide feelings they cannot express or don’t express:
“If anger is not expressed, it goes inside the body and we start to eat or numb it out,” they said.
So many people today have built-up emotions, anger, or feelings inside that they’re not letting out. We also have many stresses. We’re juggling work, career, family, social life, and other everyday pressures. But instead of expressing our feelings, we’re keeping them inside and many of us turn to food to make us feel better.
On Oprah’s website, the counselors give tips for overweight teens, but they are just as useful for adults, and most of them I use with my own clients. The counselors stress the importance of getting support and being proactive about your health. They suggest seeing a nutrition specialist, and taking fitness or nutrition classes, as they are “great ways to empower yourself, keep you motivated, and change your life.”
I suggest you read the tips and while doing so, think about your own situation: Why do you sometimes overeat or not eat healthy? What feelings are you not expressing and using food to treat instead? What’s holding you back from empowering yourself and your family?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please comment below.
The Inside Scoop on Losing Weight
by Dinneen
Filed under Blog, Weight Loss
Women (and some men) all over the world have been talking about Oprah these past few weeks, and her constant battle of the bulge and war on losing weight and KEEPING it off.
Many of us can relate.
I even wrote about Oprah’s weight gain last month in my blog. Many people in the spotlight, like Oprah (and winners of the reality show The Biggest Loser) can’t seem to keep the weight off. They lose, then gain, lose, and then gain again. And it’s the same for many of us!
What the heck is going on?
For one thing, we keep looking to external factors to determine what and how much to eat. We’ve spent years listening to others to tell us what to eat, so we’ve been disconnected from our bodies.
If we listen to our bodies correctly, it tells us what to eat. The problem is, we’ve been listening to the “diet gurus” and other people for so long that we no longer know what to eat or even trust ourselves around food.
When I first lived in France, I was amazed how people just “knew” what to eat. There wasn’t this constant talk about calories, portion size or fat grams. They just knew.
But how did they know?
Well, for one thing, they listen to their INTERNAL cues. They listen to their bodies and trust their bodies to tell them what to do. They listen to their hunger and fullness cues, and to what their body is craving.
So how to listen to our own internal cues?
Be Mindful When Eating
In order to get back in touch with our internal hunger and fullness cues, it is important to be mindful when eating. Using our senses when eating is a great way to get back in touch with our bodies. With today’s hectic lifestyles, we’re too busy rushing around and eating food on the run. So slow down a bit and start to become more mindful when eating.
Don’t Restrict Foods
When people go on diets, they start eliminating certain foods or a food group — like carbs, for example. Once you go off the diet it’s normal to over-indulge in foods high in carbs. This is because the body has been missing the nutrients and craves them intensely. It’s the same for any foods. The more and longer a food is restricted, the more intense the craving.
At first, one might feel out of control and that they cant be trusted around the food. But over time the craving will subside and return to normal.
So stop looking for the magic answer to your weight loss. The answer is actually inside you — you just need to look inward and bring it out.
Want to understand your own cravings and learn how to listen inside and to YOUR body so you eat only when hungry, and stop when you’re full? I can provide you with clear strategies to help you think about food only when you’re hungry, stop overeating, deal with cravings & comfort eating, and lose weight & KEEP it off. Just contact me to see how I can help you in your journey to get healthy, lose weight, and feel wonderful in your body.
10 Ways to Keep Your Weight Loss Momentum
by Dinneen
Filed under Blog, Weight Loss
For many people this is the second week into their New Year’s Resolution to lose weight.
But before you go any further, there are some tips that you NEED TO KNOW. We often go into the New Year thinking, “This is finally going to be the year,” only to find that by mid-February we’ve all but given up — and all of that chocolate around Valentine’s Day becomes our good friend again.
I WANT this year to be different for you. I WANT this to be your year to lose weight, get healthy, and feel great about your body! But there are some crucial steps that can make the difference between being on track and reaching your gaol — or falling off the wagon.
If you follow these tips, I promise you will not only feel better, but you’ll look at your weight loss with much more confidence and success!
Figure out the ‘why.’ We’re often so caught up in the hows – how to eat better foods, how to cut back on processed foods, and how to shop for healthy foods. But understanding the why can be a powerful motivator. Why do you want to lose weight? Why is it so important to you? Is it to be a role model for your children, to work and pursue your dreams, to feel good in your body, to be healthy, to fit into your old clothes, to finally feel you have what it takes to attract a partner?
Don’t be in a hurry. Be realistic about your time frame. We often overestimate how much we will change in one month – say, lose 10 pounds – and then when we can’t do it, we give up. Then we underestimate how much we could change in three, six or nine months and don’t make the effort. Your life could be completely different in six months to a year!
It takes 3 to 6 months before a change becomes routine, and at least 6 months for a habit to become a natural part of your personality. Imagine, by summer your life could be so much better and those unhealthy habits (and excess weight) gone!
Don’t live in the past – learn from the past. If you’ve attempted a resolution before and didn’t get the results you hoped for, it doesn’t mean you can’t try again. The past does not predict failure in the future. Don’t let the ‘ghost of past resolutions’ stop you!
Break it down into small steps. We often get so overwhelmed by trying to do it all that we get burnt out & give up. Don’t think you have to do it ALL right away. Instead, break it down into smaller and more manageable steps. Can you do something once a week to begin with? Don’t think you need to do everything right from the start.
Don’t go it alone. Time and time again studies show that having a support system is the key to weight loss. Just last year, in the largest and longest study of weight loss maintenance strategies, researches found that personal coaching was the main factor in helping participants lose weight AND keep it off.
Re-define “healthy eating.” There is so much conflicting information out there about what is healthy food, and companies are now very savvy with their labeling and marketing to make items seem healthy, when in reality they’re not. Educate yourself and lean what the terms on food labels REALLY mean.
Get rid of the Guilt. People trying to lose weight often have a lot of guilt. They’ll eat something like a piece of cake, and then feel guilty about it. They’ll drag that cake issue so it ruins their day, and then the next day. That’s a huge mistake! If you’re going to have the cake – really have the cake! Enjoy it, eat it with vigor and pleasure and just let it be.
Periodically re-evaluate. Once you start eating better (and hopefully exercising) your body starts to adjust. This is where you’ll often see a plateau. You’re doing things right but not losing any weight. Every month or so, you need to ask yourself “What can I do better. What can I do differently?” You need to constantly look at ways to improve and increase the challenge.
Be held accountable. Most of us fail at our resolutions because we’re not held accountable. If we don’t hit our goal for the week or the month we just say “oh well, it didn’t happen.” And then continue to fall back into our old habits and gain back any weight we lost. Do you really want it to be different this time around? Then make sure you have some kind of accountability set up.
Change your relationship with food. When you change your relationship with food, then you stop using food to fill other areas of your life: to soothe, to comfort, or to ease stress. Instead, you’ll start to use food what it’s really for — to give you strength, for health, for vitality, and for pleasure.
So now you know ‘what’ you need to do to make your weight loss resolution a success – but do you need help implementing it? Contact me today and I’ll help you get on track and stay on track, and keep the momentum going so this year will be YOUR year!
