Spring has sprung, and so have we. Summer is right around the corner, yet our winter body spills over the new bedazzled bikini we felt sure to slip into this year. And why shouldn’t we expect a bikini bod? We followed through on the post holiday cleanse craze making the rounds with celebs and real people alike that guaranteed a ten-pound weight loss- right?
Right—for ten minutes, maybe.
For all of the signs of rebirth and renewal that come along with spring—flowers bulbs exploding through the soil, tree branches suddenly dressed in green, chirping birds nesting, and the soulful reflection of lent to name a few-spring swimsuit shopping is right up there with dreaded seasonal allergies.
So here we are amidst a time of great reflection and renewal still searching for the latest, greatest, fastest miracle diet scheme—the very same thing we did last year, and the year before, and the year before that.
Seems a little crazy- doesn’t it?
Spring forward to balance and moderation…to sustainable measures and healthy attitudes around food and life.
Could it be what we add to our lives might be a greater path to renewal and personal reflection and even natural weight management than what we exclude? Perhaps this spring rather than looking for the latest gimmick we will find a harmonious state stabilized by not too little, not too much—a life defined more about what we let in than what we keep out.
Let’s spring forth by doing away with instant gratification and quick fix schemes beginning with the latest fad diet, where success is fleeting at best. Instead, spring forward to balance and moderation…to sustainable measures and healthy attitudes around food and life. Let’s agree to slip into our swimsuit this summer by staying diet free forever!
Why be diet free?
- Because diets don’t work…if they did we wouldn’t be a heftier bunch than we were last year.
- When we live within the mental parameters of a diet, our world becomes limited and small. We are robbed of freedom, choice and pleasure.
- Restricting food sets up a physiological and psychological response that leaves us physically and emotionally craving more.
- We are individuals and one size eating does not fit all.
- Diets are not sustainable.
How to be diet free?
- Eat mindfully and slowly. Pay attention to internal cues like hunger and fullness rather than external cues and the dictates of a diet.
- Elevate the quality of your food- eat real food instead of fat free, sugar free foods and notice how satisfied you are with less.
- Let go of gimmicks and quick weight loss schemes. Be willing to wait to lose weight—choose a sustainable and balanced approach to weight management.
- Serve a deeper and more meaningful purpose in the world. As you become more passionate about life than the diet du jour, you’ll achieve your natural weight effortlessly.
How to resist the urge to eat everything…
- Stop Restrictive Dieting!
- That which you resist, persists. Sir Isaac Newton had it right in his third law of motion, which describes the relationship between the forces acting on a body and that body’s motion. The simple truth is that the more you push something away, the more it comes back—now or later mostly in the form of craving the food you’ve denied yourself.
- Rather than lowering the boom, raise the bar and savor only the very best foods.
- Deny yourself very little when it comes to food but remember that indulgence has to be moderated. This is a lot easier to accomplish when the food that is here today will be here tomorrow—because you’re not dieting!
Remember this: The real issue, as well as the answer, lies in embracing your individuality; who you are- what you like and dislike what you can and cannot live with or without.
When you drill deep inside of yourself for all of these answers without the distraction and dogma of a diet, allowing yourself the respect and nurturing that your answers convey- dieting will be a thing of the past. You will reach your natural weight effortlessly, peacefully and sustainably.
Embrace this summer by sitting with these questions and answering honestly from that place deep inside of you.
Respect for oneself is the ultimate diet. This is the silver bullet that you’ve been searching for. You will be amazed what an appetite for life can do to tame your preoccupation for food this spring, summer and beyond.
