Questions worth asking before you "go on another diet".

I used to think that the only way to lose weight was to go on a diet and commit myself to lifetime of salad! I believed that to attain and more importantly maintain my ideal weight, that I would have to starve myself (like I did in my grad photo attached).

A few years later, I found myself sick with mono and had to do a complete revamp of my kitchen to exclusively natural whole foods. My system had become so weakened, that I couldn't even eat a drop of sugar or a cup of coffee - without crashing or starting to 'come down with something'.

On the bright side, it taught me how to heal myself with food. And as a natural good side effect of restoring my overall health - my acne, chronic yeast infections and PMS went away in the process. As a side bonus, I naturally released the extra 15 lbs that I had been resigned to - without trying. The reason that I was resigned to it was because I had thought that in order to lose it, I would have to live a life devoid of food pleasure. And I had no plan of doing that - ever.

So that's how I learned that the key to weight normalization without dieting, was simply choosing to eat and stock my kitchen with only natural foods. To my surprise, it was actually really easy once I realized that almost anything can be made with healthy whole food ingredients. The truth is that the standard north american diet, is actually depriving ourselves of variety.

Choosing to only eat natural foods actually expanded my choices, as I explored new foods that I didn't even know existed, and tried new recipes.

Becoming health conscious and having the accompanying knowledge about food that comes with it, expanded both my palette and my pleasure!

So before you go on a diet and start depriving yourself, have you ever wondered if there might be a better way?!

Here are some questions to ponder before you "go on another diet":

- Why do naturally thin people maintain their weight without counting calories and exercising?
- Why would doing something “unnatural” be the answer to being at your “natural” weight?
- Were humans innately designed to have to count calories to maintain their weight?
- Why would humans have to use “math” (counting things) to be able to formulate a healthy meal and to maintain their ideal weight?
- If naturally thin people don’t have to “diet” to maintain their weight, why would "dieting" be the answer for overweight people?
- Why would “dieting” be “the answer” when statistics prove that 97% of “dieters” regain the weight back and more?
- Why should a person restrict calories and exercise excessively, just to get quick results, when doing so is proven to slow their metabolism later and cause even more future weight gain?
- Since a slower metabolism and more weight is the result of diets, why do people keep doing them over and over again anyway?
- Why would someone follow a plan designed for short term results, if permanent results are their real goal?
- If thin people don't need to be told what to eat or not eat to, be a normal weight, why would an overweight person need that?
- Why would a person want someone else to plan what they should eat? Is that really sustainable?
- If the person doesn't follow the plan for the rest of their life, how are the results going to stick?
- Why would a person even want to make themselves dependant on someone else to decide what they should eat or not eat?
- How should a person eat once the “diet” is done?
- Why would a person allow themselves to feel like a victim to food, their body and their weight?
- Why would a person not want to assume responsibility for their own body, health and weight?
- If we are not all the same, why would a 'one size fits all' diet be the answer?
- Why do people follow eating and exercise plans that they have no intention of turning into a lifestyle?
- Why do people think they can undertake something temporary and get permanent results with it?
- Why do people keep trying different "diets", despite not being able to stick to one?
- Why do people expect things to change, without changing anything?
- Why do people expect a transformation on the outside of their bodies, if they are not willing to transform themselves on the inside?

Everyone is going to have different answers to the questions, and maybe even some of the questions lead to more questions, but hopefully it makes you think twice about the redundancy of starting another diet!

Dieting doesn't address the real causes of being overweight, or lead to permanent results.

There is another way to do this!

It really comes down to an inner transformation first.

I believe the answer is not in "dieting", but rather it is in using your weight loss journey as a catalyst for healing and whole life transformation.

Since the root causes of being overweight are multi-factorial and individual, there is no one size fits all approach - and multiple areas of one's life have to be addressed.

Attaining optimal health and therefore your ideal weight, is the result of making yourself matter. You do this by putting your health first and getting your needs met on all the levels - body, mind, heart & soul.

It's actually about attending to all of you and your life, not just your reflection in the mirror.

I believe it also requires a paradigm shift in one values and about who's responsible for your health.

It requires transcending the victim mentality that says 'my body is failing me', "getting old" etc. and instead deciding to be the person who is willing to learn, grow and transform in your thoughts about food, health and your body.

If you want things to be different, you are going to have to recreate your relationship to all of those things - and take your health (and therefore your weight) into your own hands.

If you are not growing as a person, then you are in a state of stasis and nothing is going to change.

In fact, if you are not actively doing the work to change this, then your situation will naturally default to worse, because stasis is stagnation.

It is time now to get off the downward spiral and into an upward spiral.

And that requires you to focus your energy and attention to what an upward spiral would actually look like for you.

If right now, you are just "watching your weight" and "focusing on your fat", you are just going to get more of it!

You have to change your state.

And that starts with focusing on what's right about your body, health, food etc. and it stands on building a new paradigm about health and weight loss.

You gotta put your own skin in the game by creating a plan and path that is unique to you. No one can transform you, but yourself.

That's why you need to be invested in creating the plan yourself -relative to your personal needs, preferences and circumstances.

The journey always begins with learning. You have to invest time to set yourself up for success and to get yourself mentally prepared to invest your energy in it.

I created the Delish UN-diet School to help you do that. 

Alternatively, if you want connection and guidance to help you create the plan, then I recommend booking a strategy package where I will help you pull all the pieces together to create a strong foundation for permanent weight loss moving forward at a pace that works for you.