Hello and welcome to my very first blog post!

This blog grew from a desire, expressed by the participants in my on-going women’s group, Flourish, for more places where they might feel the safety, that they feel in group, to work on body acceptance/pride and other skills, like mindfulness and attuned eating, without the constant pressure to diet or feel like they “should” be losing weight. I know this isn’t exactly what they had in mind, as they had hoped for more in-person connection, and maybe it will be a “place” where women can connect and talk with each other about self-care in a diet/body-judgment “free zone”.

I guess I should back up and tell you why I believe a body acceptance ~ diet-free space is important.

I wonder if you are one of the majority of women who, in any given moment, is stressing about your weight, how your body looks, what you have just eaten or are thinking about eating? It is rare, anymore, to find a woman who is comfortable in her body and not believing that she needs to lose weight – no matter what her size.

To make matters worse, we are now in the midst of the “obesity epidemic” which further adds to the fear around weight. For those whose weight is at the higher end, it is hard to miss the message that “you need to do something”. Unfortunately, most people already know that and have tried to do something about it.

Dieting has a dismal long-term failure rate. It is estimated that 95% of all dieters will regain the weight that they have lost in the long-term. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of these statistics and believe that dieting “should” work and that when it doesn’t, they blame themselves. With each failed attempt dieters feel more ashamed and like a failure. This often leads to more eating and then a vicious cycle of restriction and overeating.

This sense of failure often impacts emotional well-being. It robs women of their energy and personal power and prevents them from moving through life sharing their unique talents. I have overheard or shared a meal with many intelligent talented women whose conversation revolved around whether they had been “good today” – translation: “I have been following my diet”.

Does this sound sad to you? It sure does to me! I feel a great sadness thinking about the amount of time women spend worrying about their weight and what they should and shouldn’t be eating. My heart aches as I hear women share how they “can’t do this or that” because they “aren’t thin enough”. I feel so angry to hear highly competent and talented women describe themselves as “unsuccessful” because of their inability to lose weight or stick to a diet.

So, I feel a deep passion around supporting women in freeing themselves from the pain and struggles related to chronic dieting and negative body image and helping women, of all sizes, to take back their lives. It truly feels a part of my purpose for being here in this life! My work has primarily focused on the struggles of women, and men are certainly not immune to these struggles and are certainly welcomed, whole-heartedly, to join in this discussion.

So, I ask you? What would you do if you had all the time that you spent focusing on disliking your body, dieting or the need to diet? What gifts and talents would you share with the world? Where would you focus your energy?

I hope you will leave a comment below and let me know what you would do and/or what you would hope to read about in this blog. I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time….. how might you Flourish in your body?

PS: If you are reading this and feeling fear about what it would mean not to diet, be sure to look for my upcoming posts where I will share my ideas about that.

Hello and welcome to my very first blog post!