Every day millions of women are on a "DIET" or looking for that perfect weight loss program in order to feel better about themselves. For most women the learning curve of feeling great centers around how much they weigh and what they look like. For centuries women have been clamoring to find the perfect avenue to thinness and a slender body. Losing weight makes some women feel like they won an Oscar, while for others the satisfaction of weight loss is only a band aid to a bigger ailment. Most times it is not about weight but about a history of learning at an early age that we somehow are never being good enough leading us to feel unworthy about our bodies and the cure for that is to be thin. This mindset creates a negative view of oneself that even the most educated would not be able to contain rationally. Feeling like you failed is then only a thought away and making a women feel like she has committed a crime. I have been working with women and running groups for over 20 years and I repeatedly hear the phrase I was "BAD" today. Did you committ a crime and now you should be punished? Tell me, exactly what crime was committed? Most women are trained to think negatively about ourselves from the first cookie that ever goes close the mouth. This behavior and thinking then resonates into I cannot control myself and therefore I am a horrible women and need to hate and loathe myself. In a society that stresses body perfection anyone can see how this happens without us even thinking about it. What an emotion disaster. This is the emotionally harmful aspect of dieting and fooling around with what I call "DAMAGING DIETING". Yes, we tend to think that the fault lies within us and and that the only answer is to try to figure out what we did wrong. Diet's not only are restrictive and controlling but long term they are so damaging psychologically. They make any women feel like she did something wrong instead of understanding that one remedy does not work for all of the population that it is suppose to service. Women have been told for centuries that we are just not good enough as we are and we need to be prettier, thinner and more successful to feel great about who we are. Most women think that dieting is the answer to all of their problems. If a women can just lose weight she somehow will feel ok about herself, more approved, loved and accepted by family, friends and society.
None of the newest DIETS, shakes, powders, pills, cleanses, workouts or whatever else is popular today will work LONG TERM. You have to come to grips with the WHY's of eating. . Many years ago I learned that if I let my past rule my present then my future would suffer until I came to terms with the issues that were controlling my BINGING, CRAVINGS AND OVEREATING. I learned being MINDFUL about my behaviors has worked wonders for me over the past 20 plus years the more I practice it the better my health and wellness became, it was just that simple. Initially, realizing that I needed to DIVORCE what I thought I could not live without became OVERWHELMING, however after many years of enjoying great health and feeling terrific was so gratifying and really helped to look at every day as a new possibility in life. It is so important that you are in touch with yourself so that you make better choices. Using MINDFUL techniques in any decision in life is really knowing what you need and works for you but using it for health purposes will make your life feel AMAZING because you are in control of yourself~
