The Joy Factor

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The Joy in Dieting. Really…

Posted by Trish Carr on October 25, 2010 · 1 Comment 

I love to eat.  That “Eat, Pray, Love” lady has nothing on me.  I can eat with the best of them and I don’t have to go to Italy to do it.  I’ve always been one of those people that “lives to eat,” rather than, “eats to live.”  I know people like that, eating simply to live, they actually forget to eat. Can you imagine? Forgetting to eat?  I don’t know about you but at breakfast I’m planning lunch…and usually dinner too.

For the last 4 weeks I’ve been on a weight loss program where I eat only one meal a day and replace the other 2 with nutritional shakes. I’ve never been a meal replacement fan, I always preferred to eat my calories rather than drink them.  Unless you’re talking ‘adult beverages,’ those are OK to drink rather than eat calories. But this time I needed a good jump-start so I tried it.  And I’m glad I finally gave in and did.  The shakes, which on day one tasted barely palatable, today taste like Dairy Queen!  It’s amazing what we can train ourselves to believe. Talk about being joyful! I get Dairy Queen for breakfast every day!

And my meal, my one meal a day, is the best food I’ve ever eaten. Really. The BEST food I’ve ever eaten. See, since I’m only getting one meal, I’m making it myself and I’m making it like Martha Stewart would– cloth napkins, fine china, beautifully plated colorful organic veggies, scrumptious grilled fish, and a bountiful green salad.

Another side benefit, my taste-buds have experienced a re-birth. For the first time in a long time, I not only can taste the food I eat, I know what “satisfied” feels like. And it doesn’t take as much food as I thought it did.  So I’m doing great, losing weight, feeling energetic, exercising and enjoying the ride. Will someone please remind me of this when the Holidays are here???

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A Moment of Grace

Posted by Michelle Goss on August 17, 2010 · 3 Comments 

Between the ages of 14 – 48,  I was a sucker for diets.  Macrobiotics – Overeaters Anonymous – Grapefruit Diet- Cabbage Soup Diet – Zone Diet – French Women Don’t Diet Diet.  The list goes on.  (BTW, there’s a web site that catalogues diets including, and I’m not making this up, the “What Would Jesus Eat Diet”!)

I’m not dissing these diets (except for that Grapefruit one); some are wonderful options, for a sane person.  But I’ve spent many years overtly/covertly hating my body, using diets and the scale as assault weapons.  And I know better!  I’m a life coach for crying out loud.

I’m also a woman raised in a culture that worships “looking good”, defined by PhotoShopped perfection. I’ve been susceptible to the lie that the right number on the scale would make me feel good and be ok in the world.  Ridiculous, right?  One word: Brainwashing.  Another word: Insanity.

Serenity Now!

In 2009, a life-changing moment broke me apart and put me back together.  For years I’d been seeking greater spiritual intimacy, yet unconsciously wedging the disapproval of my body between me and the Divine.  One day, in a prayer, I saw myself through the eyes of the Divine.  It was heartbreaking.

Imagine, someone you dearly love (a child, spouse, close friend) refusing your love until they think they are perfect which, by the way, is never.  You don’t love them any less for it, but you see how unnecessary it is.

So there it was.  All those years harboring an unconscious belief that if I just lost 20 pounds…. (or 5 pounds, 2 pounds, 10 pounds…the number didn’t matter because there was always more to lose) …THEN I would feel closer to God (meaning, “then I would be lovable”).  Well, the gig was up:  Skip “lovable”, I was already LOVED.  Even in my manic attempt to “improve”,  I was already loved.

This wasn’t just a platitude or an intellectual concept to me (“There, there, God loves you no matter what.”)  This was a soul-awakening, spirit-enlivening ecstatic truth.  I saw through my veils of perfectionism/self-hatred and just like that, in a moment of grace, let it go.

To Be Continued….

next month: The Joy “Diet”!

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