Archives October 2020

At a recent BBQ, a lovely lady said “You talk a lot about self-love. I’m not interested in loving myself, but I would like to lose some weight. Can you help?”

“Loving yourself is for sissies!”

It such a juicy question because self-love is something that most people don’t talk about in the weight loss equation.

Maybe you resonate with her.

I know I did. Heck, I was her for 15 years!!!

I used to be very dismissive of anyone who mentioned self-love.

“Loving yourself is for sissies,” I believed.

Much like the lady at the BBQ, I just wanted to fit my skinny jeans.

But here’s the interesting thing.

Even when I was skinny, I didn’t like myself.

I’d lose weight with a very rigid diet, and even when I was in a smaller sized body, and fitted my skinny jeans, I still didn’t love who I saw in the mirror.

It was me in smaller sized jeans — still not liking myself.

How’s that joyful or meaningful?

Because of advertising, messages from the media, we’ve been conditioned to believe that slimness guarantees self-love.

But it’s simply not true.

It works the other way around.

When you start loving who you see in the mirror — including ‘that bit extra’ around your tummy — from that kind, gentle and loving space, you’ll be motivated to create the changes you need to make so you can fit your skinny jeans.

Here’s what I know to be true.

When your self-love is high, it feels natural to make more nutritious food choices.

When your self-love is high, it feels abhorrent to treat your body like a rubbish bin.

When your self-love is high, it feels effortless to say no to that fourth chocolate biscuit.

Because why would you ever abuse something you love?

So I encourage you, as you move through today, start to make choices for your body from a place of love.

And your body will love you for it.

I hope you found that helpful.

See you next week for another making peace with food tip x

I’ve had a couple of people ask me this recently so let’s jump in.

First of all, what is a cheat meal?

Basically, a cheat meal is where you give yourself permission to eat whatever you want, and it usually involves a lot of junk food.

Some dieters have a specific cheat meal, whereas other people have a cheat day.

But I’m not judging you!

I used to do it.

I’d spend all week living on rice cakes and salad, depriving myself of all the foods I actually wanted to eat, when Friday evening came – I went mental.

I’d demolish a tub of ice cream, a packet of family-sized salt and vinegar chips, and liquorice allsorts.

I’d go CRAZY.

That was my go to cheat meal.

After living on rice cakes all week, it felt so good to eat unencumbered.

I’d obsess about what I was going to binge on at my cheat meal all week.

Ironically, I’d consume so many calories in the form of junk in that one cheat meal, I’d completely undo any calorie deficit I’d created during the week.

And sadly, there were no vitamins, minerals or nourishment in that cheat meal.

Doesn’t work for sustainable or joyful weight loss.

Cheat meals are a popular trend in the fitness industry.

Some people say it’s good to get all your cravings out in one go and shock your metabolism – many bodybuilders use it as a weight loss strategy.

If it is working for you – yay, keep on doing what works.

But I’m going to make the assumption that you’re not a bodybuilder.

If you’re like the women I work with, extreme dieting combined with cheat meals is a miserable way to live your life.

It’s punishing and oppressive and rigid.

And it doesn’t work for weight loss!!!

Having eliminated cheat days from my life, I literally eat what I want.

And yes that includes cake!

But now, mostly what I crave is real food – veges, fruit, and ‘real’ food jam-packed with vitamins and minerals.

Ditch the cheat meal as a first step.

As a first step to creating peace with food, I encourage you to ditch the cheat day mentality and instead focus on nourishing your body.

Have a lovely week!

Love etc, Avril

PS: If you’d like to cultivate a more peaceful relationship with food that doesn’t involve guilt, or shame or cheat days and – where no food is off-limits – why not come on over to Peace With Food.