Weight Loss & Intuition

What is INTUITION? And how can your intuition help you lose weight, or orvercome an eating disorder? Let me share another excerpt from How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? (HarperCollins, 2003), pp. 49-50:

"Intuition is an inner knowing. Intuition may also be called our inner wisdom, sixth sense, a hunch or gut feeling. You have probably experienced the guidance of your intuition — for example, while driving on the expressway you feel an overwhelming sense to exit, then find out later that by so doing you avoided an accident and an awful traffic jam. You have probably experienced the negative consequences of not honoring your intuition — such as ignoring the prompting from within to make a commitment to something, only to realize later that you missed an incredible opportunity.

Your intuition is available to help guide you in your daily life. This includes your eating, exercise and weight issues. But, you’ve probably been trained to discount this valuable source of inherent wisdom. We are all born with intuition, but many of us have forgotten it’s there and so we don’t listen to it on a regular basis. Our society values logic, facts, proof — all of which stifle intuition. However, you can regain and enhance your intuitive ability. Reclaiming your intuition is the real “magic pill.” It offers a holistic solution to weight problems because it addresses the whole person — soul, mind and body — and deals with the cause of weight problems, not just the symptom of weight. Your real “magic pill” of intuition is within you, and when you learn to listen to it again, your weight problem will solve itself."

I Don't Diet ... I Do This Instead

Since 95% of dieters regain any weight they lose, it's a GOOD IDEA to NOT DIET!!! But, if you want to lose weight (and maintain your weight-success), what do you do instead??? Well, here's what I did (and still do), to go from 178 lbs and maintain my current weight in the 120's. I listen to my INTUITION. There is a "right way" of eating and exercising that will work for each individual. I have found "my right way," and I will share more with you about that in future blog entries. Maybe "my right way" will work for you, too...or at least get you on the path of "your right way." Sooooooo... what is your INTUITION saying right now? This is a poem I wrote about trusting mine:

From which direction does the wind blow?
Sometimes I can't tell.
I can sense the breeze, feel it pulling me,
Yet I don't know if I should follow.

From which direction does the wind blow?
Is it from within me?
The breeze seems to change so fast,
I just cannot tell for sure.

From which direction does the wind blow?
If I sit quietly I can tell.
I can feel which is my direction and which is others,
But they can mix so easily and so fast.

So from which direction does the wind blow?
I may never be entirely sure.
But when I feel it is my direction, ever so slightly,
I know I must fly with it...

Diet Dilemmas

Low-cal. Low-fat. Low-carb. Oh, my! Are you ready to give NO DIETS a try? That's what I do. Well, it's more about what I don't do. I DON'T DIET. That's because I have tried pretty much every diet out there. Oh, sure, you can lose weight on a diet ... but can you maintain it? I never could. In fact, like 95% of dieters, I ended up weighing more than when I started the stupid diet. How many "dieters games" have you played? Let's look at one of my favorites, THE SKIPPING GAME:

"Skip breakfast — and even better, skip lunch, too — to save on calories. Then, have whatever you want for dinner. This game is also played when a festive evening is planned: Skip meals to “save up” for the big party. What usually happens, though, is that hunger is so great by dinner time that you overeat. Plus, metabolism slows down in response to the fasting during the day. Meal-skipping cuts calories initially, but almost always results in overeating and weight gain."

This quote was excerpted from my latest book, How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? (HarperCollins, 2003), p. 33.

My First Diet

I was only 10 years old when I started dieting. Sadly, two-thirds of American girls have already been on their first diet by their 10th birthday. This was just the beginning of what I call my "diet nightmare," which lasted more than 15 years, and included dramatic weight fluctuations from anorexia to obesity. Here's what I remember about how it all began. This is an excerpt from my latest book, How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? (HarperCollins, 2003), pp. 9-10:

"I remember very clearly when my weight problem began. I was ten years old, and I was reading a story about a little girl who was always teased because she was fat. “How awful that would be,” I thought. The girl described how her thighs rubbed together on hot, summer days. Panic set in as I realized my thighs rubbed together too. “Maybe I’m fat,” I thought. Although I was an average-sized child, this triggered my first diet. For the next fifteen years, my life revolved around weight control, and I experienced a variety of weight problems and eating disorders. Terrified of being teased because I was fat like that girl in the story, I decided I needed to be thin to be accepted by others. I compared my best friend’s thighs to mine. Hers didn’t rub together. Comparing her overall shape and size to mine, I noticed that I was much bigger, all over. For the first time in my life I really started to feel fat..."

And so, I went on my first diet. This was back in the 70's, so guess which diet I picked? Yeah. That's the one. Thanks for my diet nightmare, Dr. Atkins. May your ghost never haunt me.