As an executive coach for women I am seeing a trend of working women putting their health at the bottom of their “To List”. I watch more and more executive women grumbling at prying themselves away from the office and toward greater health…during the holidays it gets even worse.  I knew that there needed to be a better way.  So I found that there were simple easy ways for busy women to release weight.

Leading nutritionists are concluding that cultivating a grateful attitude toward your body actually helps you assimilate your food better and have fewer cravings. As a life coach to Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe winners and others in the Hollywood elite, I have seen that breaking the cycle of dieting and cheating goes beyond food. 

The Cycle of Overeating

Self-nagging is one of the most fattening things on the planet. It’s what drives the cycle of overeating. Debra Waterhouse, R.N., reports that according to a Stanford University study, weight loss doesn’t necessarily improve body image. Rather, the reverse is true: body acceptance—a low-criticism diet—is the best weight-loss program. The women who were the most at peace with their body were twice as likely to lose weight than those who were wildly dissatisfied with the way they looked. That’s why beating yourself up after eating some chocolate cake often leads to eating the entire cake.

Thank you Is A Magic Word

One of the most revolutionary ways to release weight is to spend time each day thanking your body and appreciating it for the wonderful job it is doing.

 Am I saying that loving acceptance, and its cousin, gentleness, can actually enhance my health? You bet. Believe it or not, deciding to love your body just as it is, right now, lumps, bumps, and all, is a crucial step in breaking the cycle of combat with your weight. Take it from one who knows.

If you have had a pattern of overfeeding or under appreciating that glorious body you are living in, The Low-Criticism Diet (TLC Diet) may be just the one for you. It’s tough to eat too many green leafy vegetables. It’s just as hard to give yourself too much kindness. What if you cut down on the Krispy Kremes of comparing yourself to someone else’s body shape? What if you went through the internal cupboards in your mind and got rid of all the junk-food berating of yourself? TLC can be the last weight release program you’ll ever need.

Here’s THE TLC DIET PLAN:

Step One: Get Real. Stop scanning the horizon for the newest fad diet. Stop comparing yourself to every female form the media presents to you. As Mayor of You-ville your very first responsibility is the health and well-being of your town. Pass a law banning the thought of going from a size 14 to a size 4 for at least a week. Give yourself a breather and let who you are be peachy-keen. Okay, you don’t look like a super model. Accept yourself as you are and watch your mood lift. Once you stop the war with your body, you are more open to listening to its innate wisdom.

And get real about what you can actually do—which means, take it in manageable steps. What small action can you take toward a healthier you? Maybe today you will have one less donut and spend 15 minutes walking. Maybe you will drink a Big Gulp of water instead of Coke. Try turning off the TV while you are eating dinner—paying attention to what you eat while you eat it is a big plus in feeling satiated. Writing down what you eat is another way to get real about what is going into your mouth. A great way to get real is to only eat while you are sitting. Another great idea is to only eat while you are eating. When you get conscious about what you are actually eating, it fills you up faster and you don’t need to eat as much.

Step Two: Get Full, Full, Full. Setting up an unattainable goal (say, losing sixty-seven pounds before your annual convention next month) based on what you can’t have (say, never eating sugar ever, ever, ever again) is a recipe for feeling famished. Remember what you focus on grows. When you focus on not eating any sweets, what do you crave? Cookies, cake, and cherry cobbler.

On the TLC Diet you zero in on what fills you up. Pay attention to what you do well and celebrate it. Prize yourself and your body unconditionally. Focus on the good in others as well—it’s the best dessert! Appreciation is one of the most satisfying things on the planet.

Step Three: Get Gentle. In the overeating cycle you scolded yourself for your slips and falls. On the Low-Criticism Plan you find ways of cherishing and being patient with yourself. It’s easy to get frustrated when you are changing a habit. It takes a bit of work at the beginning. Be gentle with yourself anyway. Start listening to your internal dialogue. If you are like me and have given yourself years of abusive self-talk, cut those voices off at the pass. Override them with statements like “I am patient and gentle with myself as I grow and learn,” “I love myself just the way I am,” “I love me no matter what I think or say or do.” That’s how affirmations work. There’s never a bad time to serve up some TLC for yourself or someone else.

Step Four: Get Grateful. The old model ended up with hopelessness and defeat. Instead, name your victories. Find three things to celebrate about yourself right now. Even if it is as simple as the fact that you brushed your hair this morning. (Teeth in another example). Be grateful that you have hair and let that appreciation spread through your whole body. Take a few minutes to infuse your body with thankfulness—in the shower is a great time to do this.

There is no downside to being grateful. It’s hard to eat too many leafy green vegetables. It’s equally hard to give yourself too much kindness and loving appreciation. Life goes better with TLC.

As a motivational speaker I was always dieting, I never believed I was eating lean enough. Lettuce, celery, and apples were the only foods I ate without a pang of guilt. Since I could never stay on that diet very long, custom-designed for a gerbil, I binged in frustration. In college, my car was littered with telltale wrappers from the Twinkies and Milky Ways I ate when no one was watching. A day was judged good or bad according to how I managed my war with food. Had I prevailed and eaten just fruit and salad? Or had I been ambushed by the enemy, chocolate? Yet, I never felt thin enough. Even when I finally achieved my elusive ideal weight of 110 pounds, I still saw my fat instead of my leanness.

Quiz:

Are You On The Perfect Diet . . . for a Gerbil?

Do you rate your day by how well you waged your war with food?

Do you sneak food?

Find out if you are in the Cycle of Overeating

The Cycle of Overeating

Self-nagging is one of the most fattening things on the planet. It’s what drives the cycle of overeating. Debra Waterhouse, R.N., reports that according to a Stanford University study, weight loss doesn’t necessarily improve body image. Rather, the reverse is true: body acceptance—a low-criticism diet—is the best weight-loss program. The women who were the most at peace with their body were twice as likely to lose weight than those who were wildly dissatisfied with the way they looked. That’s why beating yourself up after eating some chocolate cake often leads to eating the entire cake.

Here’s how this works:

ANATOMY OF A HOLIDAY BINGE

Step One: The Impossible Dream Syndrome. Glancing through the most recent copy of your favorite magazine, you take a good look at Madonna’s arms. You think your arms should look like that, forgetting about the army of workout trainers, Pilate’s teachers, and yoga instructors she has to help with those triceps. Those “shoulds” are a slippery bunch. Before you’ve had time to mull it over, they’ve got you comparing yourself to a picture in a magazine and coming out on the losing end. Then you assign yourself a Completely Impossible Task: “I will look like Madonna if it kills me. From now on I will never eat dessert.”

This leads to Step Two: The Wrong, Wrong, Wrong Syndrome. When you decree an unrealistic expectation for yourself, you are setting yourself up to fail. If you are a human being, at some point you will probably eat a piece of cake. Sure enough, at some point you yield to that slice of orange pecan torte with lemon frosting smiling at you from the dessert tray.

Breaking your promise to yourself sends you right into Step Three: The Scolding Syndrome: “You are such a fat slob. You ate cake again. What a disgusting loser.”

To lessen the pain of flogging yourself emotionally, you go into Step Four: The Oh, Screw It Syndrome. “Why bother. I blew my diet already. I think I will eat the entire tray of desserts.” Afterward, when you see the wreckage of a room strewn with crumbs, you get so disgusted that you declare you will never touch a morsel of dessert again; you’re going for Madonna arms—and the cycle begins anew.

As a motivational speaker I was THRILLED that Funky to Fabulous has just been named one of the Top 10 Motivational Books of 2007.

Hot diggity dog!!! Cupcakes for everyone!! And $20,000 of shoes for Oprah so that she'll have me on the show.

The National Best Book Award was given to Funky to Fabulous as one of 8 finalists in the Motivational Self Help Category. This is HUGE since this category has the most entries. To put it into perspective...a little book called "The Secret: was the winner of the category.

As a motivational speaker and coach, I have the good fortune to work with amazing people. Many of my clients have all the money they will ever need. The next illusive item I watch my clients and I chase is...happiness.

I noticed a trend. The more "high flying" a clients life, the more the "little stuff" bugged them. Today I saw my theory backed up with scientific research. The study by University of Virginia psychology professor Shigehiro Oishi and colleagues at three other institutions. They were looking at the relative happiness of Western Europeans versus those from Asia heritage.

Westerners tend to react more dramatically to negative events, and recover at a slower rate.

"We found that the more positive events a person has, the more they feel the effects of a negative event," Oishi said. "People seem to dwell on the negative thing when they have a large number of good events in their life.

So it seems that taking the good with the bad
Expecting your life to be HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY is a recipe for disappointment and a lower level of joy.