“After years of weight fluctuations and yo-yo dieting, I discovered that pushing and prodding myself to lose weight was, paradoxically, a weight gain strategy.” – Alison Ross, LMFT
It’s January, the month of dieting. You signed up for a diet, got to the gym, shopped the perimeter of the market where the lean meats and produce are and spent the time to chop up and prepare a nutritious meal. Let me be the first to congratulate you on a job well done!
Making your nutritional needs a priority is no small feat. Especially when it’s a struggle to find time to brush your teeth! A “congratulations” might seem like a little thing. So little, in fact, that you didn’t realize you needed it. Sure, you went bonkers for the sweet, crayon scribbles that your daughter made. And you showered compliments on the co-worker who helped with that colorful graph. You generously validated and praised those around you. But were you on the receiving end of your own kindness?
Most dieters get into a bad habit of acting with disregard or even cruelty toward their bodies. They rage at themselves for wanting cake, deny themselves food when hungry, tug at their sides to see if they’re still curvy, push themselves into pants that are too small, avoid social situations or other activities until they reach their goal weight and put themselves on the scale to measure their worth. Read More