EAT SOMETHING REAL (stop dieting and buying into the BS)

On any given day, 45% of women are on a diet, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

• On average, we think about our bodies 8 times a day
• About 80% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance
• 40% would trade 3 to 5 years of their lives to achieve weight loss goals. Don't believe me.  Think about your average smoker and what is their biggest complaint about quitting.

Summers coming and the desperation to lose weight has hit many, full force. The not so quiet desperation can be heard within my own gym walls about how they want to lose weight fast and will resort to the excess cardio or cutting out meals to get the "bikini" body they crave. And who can blame them with magazines and commercials pushing fads and quick fix solutions.  My advice usually falls on deaf ears, afterall, it is so very pedestrian -  Eat real food and move more. See so very dull.

People rarely argue that eating healthier, and moving more is a a good idea. They agree half heartedly but I can see that in the back of their minds, they're skeptical. I know, because I’ve been there. I myself have had this argument within and it usually goes like this,


“Healthy eating is great for maintenance but I want to lose this weight fast. I’ll just do (insert latest diet or system or shake or starvation) until I lose all the weight, then I’ll start with that whole healthy eating thing later. When I deserve it. Because then I'll be happy.”






Sure, sure, sounds great. Lose the weight fast, then eat well once you're happy enough with yourself to care. But haven't you done this before? So explain to me how it worked if you have to do it again. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is crazy so stop!




Stop wasting months of your life depriving yourself with “quick-fix” diets. Instead, think about weight loss as a permanent lifestyle change—a commitment to your health and self, for life. Sure there are some popular diets that can help jumpstart your weight loss, but permanent changes in your lifestyle and food choices are what will work in the long run and, be far less stressful over time. But that's not sexy. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, now that sells. Results rarely last but who cares when there's another magazine ready to print with some other diet guaranteeing your weightloss and happiness. Afterall, they have celebrities and airbrushing. What have I got? Common sense, inexpensive solutions that do not require you to buy a product.  I'm in the wrong business.

No wonder many women report signs of disordered eating behavior—like excessively counting calories, working out just to burn off food, cutting out an entire food group like meat or an entire macro nutrient like "carbs" —even if they never develop a full-blown disorder there’s a fine line between eating healthfully and becoming fixated with food. The weight loss industry is a booming one and aren't we all on a quest for a better body - the perfect body? New studies come out every day about what is and isn't good for our bodies. But in our fight to be healthy, have we just confused everyone? Just eat real food. You know what that is, seriously you do.


If you can't stray from your ever so carefully planned meals or mealtimes or you become stressed out and cranky when presented with unscheduled dining out, grabbing food on the go, meals at friends (essentially something you can't control) or if you spend a lot of time thinking about food such as planning meals, calculating your caloric intake, chastising yourself for eating foods YOU have banned or considered evil? Then you my friend, may have an issue.




Ask any doctor or nutritionist and they will likely say that the true measure of health and longevity has mostly to do with proper diet, healthy eating habits, exercise and most of all a sound mental outlook on life. It's unfortunate that most of societies focus is on diet and body image not the importance of good health. So, if your dietary regime seems like a job, it might just be time to seek help. A relationship with food is like any other relationship; it wasn't created overnight.

Not everyone is going to fall into a category but I'm fairly certain we've all been touched by some form of disordered eating. Not the same as an eating disorder. In fact, disordered eating behaviors, such as skipping meals or fasting to lose weight, the use of diet pills (or some other drug) or smoking to keep weight down, and I'm sure men as well, cut out entire food groups (such as carbs) to slash weight is seen as normal. And for what...weight loss? I've said it before, a scale only serves to give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That's it. It cannot measure self worth, beauty, talent etc.

Of course, all of these extreme behaviors only serve to make whomever feel weak, grumpy, and unhappy. And, to kick these people while their down, this behaviour rarely leads to the weight loss that the dieter was looking for and if it does... it doesn't last. That thing I wrote in red - 3 out 4 women have unhealthy relationships with food and their bodies- includes women who are at a healthy weight who regularly diet in an attempt to ‘improve’ their bodies! Surprised? I'm not. We live in a society where we value thinness and physical ‘perfection’ rather than character.

Good health is not hard to achieve and I can almost guarantee that when you focus on your health, both physical and mental, food will no longer be an enemy. Reject these false ideals of beauty. Give yourself a reality check when it comes to eating healthfully. Because yes, it's important to feed your body with wholesome nutrient dense foods. Just stop making things so damn complicated. Eat real food and have some fun every now and again. And above all be good to yourself!

Be healthy.

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