Unraveling Beliefs: Finding Joy in Messy Life Transitions
Sep 08, 2024
“…every time we feel like we hit a dead end, that’s where the real growth happens.”
In today’s episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, we’re diving into the messy, unpredictable transitions that life throws at us—and how unraveling long-held beliefs about our bodies, food, and self-worth can lead to a deeper sense of freedom. I’m sharing some big updates: from the joy and chaos of welcoming a new puppy to the highs and lows of training for the Great World Race. But more than just personal stories, we’ll explore how these moments of change can help us challenge the ingrained ideas we’ve carried for years—particularly the toxic beliefs surrounding body image and perfection.
As we unravel these beliefs, we begin to see how life’s unpredictable moments can be opportunities for growth. Whether it’s falling behind on a goal, feeling overwhelmed by change, or managing the constant mess that comes with a new puppy, these experiences teach us that it’s okay to let go of control. Just like with body image and food, we’re not meant to have everything perfectly planned out.
You’ll hear how setbacks in my race training forced me to rethink my approach to progress and success. Instead of feeling discouraged by injuries and delays, I’ve learned that it’s not about perfection, but about showing up—even when things aren’t going as planned. This mirrors the journey of recovery from unhealthy body image, where every step forward, no matter how small, counts toward a bigger healing process.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How unraveling beliefs about body image can lead to greater freedom and self-acceptance
Why life’s unpredictable transitions can be powerful tools for healing from diet culture
The lessons I’ve learned through training setbacks, and how they parallel recovery from unhealthy body image
Why letting go of perfection allows you to embrace life’s messiness and find joy in the journey
If today’s episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear how you’re navigating your own recovery journey. Don’t forget to subscribe for more episodes focused on breaking free from diet culture and embracing a healthy relationship with your body and life.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS
Summer, Body Changes, and Conquering Inner Mountains
Aug 01, 2024
In this episode, we’ll explore how you can fully enjoy summer, find joy in conquering some mountains, and embrace your ever-changing body with confidence.
Summer has finally arrived, and it’s time to soak up every moment. Picture yourself spending afternoons in the pool, creating beautiful memories with loved ones. Think back to your own childhood summers and the joy they brought. Now, it’s your turn to make new memories and enjoy the season to its fullest.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Summer Joys: How to create lasting memories and fully enjoy the season.
Conquering Mountains: Tips for finding joy and motivation in outdoor exercise.
Body Confidence: Practical advice for embracing your body at every stage.
Reflecting on Growth: The importance of appreciating your journey and how far you’ve come.
Summer Joys
Imagine yourself feeling confident and happy as you enjoy the sunshine. Whether you’re lounging by the pool, hiking up a mountain, or simply taking a walk in the park, this summer can be your time to shine. The warmth of the sun, the beauty of nature, and the freedom to wear what makes you feel good are all parts of this wonderful season.
Creating lasting memories with loved ones is one of the best parts of summer. Think about those special moments from your childhood – maybe it was playing in the park, having picnics, or simply enjoying the long days with friends and family. Now, you have the chance to create new, beautiful memories with your loved ones. It’s about being present, enjoying the simple pleasures, and appreciating the time you spend together.
Conquering Mountains
3 weeks ago, my Peloton broke. Yikes. After some mild tantrums, I had to shift my routine and start running outside. At first, I was frustrated. I loved my indoor runs and the consistency they brought. But this change turned out to be a blessing. Running outside, I felt a new sense of freedom and connection to nature. The fresh air, the changing scenery, and the challenges of outdoor terrain all added a new dimension to my workouts.
Outdoor exercise can be incredibly rewarding. It pushes you out of your comfort zone and helps you discover new strengths. Whether it’s running, hiking, biking, or even a simple walk, being outdoors can boost your mood and your fitness. You might find that you enjoy the process of conquering hills and trails, and this can translate into a sense of accomplishment and confidence in other areas of your life.
Body Confidence
Body confidence is about embracing your body as it is right now. It’s about understanding that your body will change over time, and that’s perfectly okay. Summer, with its lighter clothing and more skin on show, can bring up insecurities. But it’s also an opportunity to practice self-love and acceptance.
Think about the gratitude you can feel for your body. It allows you to experience life, to move, to feel, to connect with others. Every change, every mark, every curve tells a story of where you’ve been and what you’ve overcome. Embrace those stories. Embrace the strength and resilience your body represents.
Reflecting on Growth
Reflecting on your journey is a powerful tool. Look back at how far you’ve come. Maybe you’ve faced challenges with body image, with health, with confidence. Recognize your growth and give yourself credit for the progress you’ve made.
Reflecting also helps you set new goals. What do you want to achieve this summer? How do you want to feel? What new experiences do you want to try? Setting intentions can help you stay focused and motivated.
Join me in this episode to explore how you can make the most of summer, embrace self-acceptance, and conquer new challenges. If you’re ready to stop battling food and your body, this episode is for you. Tune in for inspiration and practical advice to help you live the life you’ve always wanted.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS Note: This podcasts is also available on Stitcher!
Unlearning Conformity: Body Image Lessons from 10 Years of Parenting
Jun 18, 2024
“Teaching your children about body positivity and being a role model for self acceptance, for body positivity. And that is harder than we think.”
Ever wondered how parenting can transform your views on body image and self-acceptance? Join me in this episode of Escape Diet Prison as I dive into a decade of parenting insights, personal growth, and lessons on body positivity.
I start by celebrating birthdays and sharing the excitement of a Taylor Swift concert, including how my sister’s breakup sparked her love for Taylor. The concert was a transformative experience—emotional, exhilarating, and freeing. From there, I explore the importance of letting children grow into their unique selves. I discuss body positivity and self-care, and how navigating life’s different phases can lead to fulfillment. You’ll hear about the positive impact of surrounding yourself with uplifting people and the joys of moving with children, which can be pivotal in your body image healing.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The powerful influence of transformative experiences, like concerts, on personal growth.
How freeing yourself from exercise obsessions can lead to inner peace.
The importance of focusing on body positivity and self-care throughout parenting.
Practical tips for fostering body positivity and the joy of marathon training.
How surrounding yourself with positive influences can enhance your life.
This episode is filled with reflections on overcoming dieting hill and embracing life with gratitude and hope.
Tune in and be inspired to unlearn conformity and embrace your body image journey.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS Note: This podcasts is also available on Stitcher!
Breaking (Internal) Barriers and Creating Change
Jun 12, 2024
Ever wondered how to truly embrace life and break free from the shackles of dieting?
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I explore the path of setting audacious goals, pushing past your comfort zones, and harnessing creativity and resilience on the way.
Join me as I discuss the importance of setting and pursuing goals that are not just achievable, but also bold, exciting, and even a little scary. Learn how to find supportive mentors, adjust your milestones along the way, and stay motivated through the ups and downs. I also talk about the transformative power of reflection and celebration.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The benefits of pushing beyond your comfort zone to achieve bold goals.
Strategies for navigating challenging times when goals seem out of reach.
The importance of finding supportive mentors to stay on track.
The power of reflecting on your progress and celebrating every victory, no matter how small.
Insights on overcoming self-doubt and committing to personal growth.
The role of passion, like running, in embracing new challenges and fueling joy.
If you have thoughts or experiences related to emotional eating, I’d love to hear from you!
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS Note: This podcasts is also available on Stitcher!
Self-Worth and Reclaiming Your Identity
Jun 08, 2024
Do you ever feel like your self-worth is tied to what others think of you?
Self-worth is a journey that starts within but is often influenced by external factors. Whether it’s comparing yourself to others on social media or feeling the pressure to meet societal standards, it’s easy to lose sight of your true value. Reclaiming your identity and setting goals that reflect your authentic self can be a game-changer in this journey.
Understanding the roots of low self-worth is crucial for overcoming it. Often, insecurity and the need for external validation drive us to seek approval from others, which can be damaging. By shifting the focus to internal validation and self-acceptance, we can begin to build a healthier relationship with ourselves. This episode delves into the various aspects of self-worth, offering practical advice and insights to help you on your path to self-discovery.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
00:00 – Self-Discovery and Reclaiming Identity How to reconnect with your true self and set bold, audacious goals that reflect your deepest desires.
06:28 – Understanding the Need to Put Others Down Explore why some people feel the need to belittle others and how to navigate these interactions without letting them affect your self-esteem.
09:31 – Insecurity and External Validation Learn the signs of seeking external validation and comparisons, and discover strategies to shift towards internal validation.
12:36 – Success Comparisons and Media Influence Understand how media portrayals can skew your perception of success and self-worth, and learn to develop a healthier mindset.
18:11 – Healing Through Disciplined Writing Discover the therapeutic power of writing and how it can help you assess and realign your core values.
22:09 – Practicing Gratitude and Optimism Practical tips for integrating gratitude and optimism into your daily life to boost self-worth.
23:27 – Using Affirmations to Deepen Self-Belief Learn how to create and use affirmations to support and deepen your sense of self-belief.
29:40 – Training Your Conscious and Subconscious Mind Techniques for training your conscious and subconscious mind through mindfulness, meditation, and goal-setting.
32:58 – The Power of a Support System The importance of meditation and connecting with positive people as part of a strong support system.
35:05 – Considering Therapy Options Exploring different therapy options to help build a healthier self.
37:55 – Challenges of Single Motherhood Addressing the unique struggles faced by single mothers in raising a child and managing self-worth.
41:51 – Mindful Parenting How mindfulness can play a crucial role in intentional parenting for single moms.
46:31 – Focusing on Mindfulness Strategies for practicing mindfulness in daily life and parenting.
48:28 – Next Episode Preview Sneak peek into our next episode on wigs—their importance and tips for creating the perfect look.
Don’t miss out on this episode! Tune in to learn how to reclaim your self-worth and build a healthier relationship with yourself. Subscribe now and join us on this journey towards self-discovery and empowerment.
f you have thoughts or experiences related to emotional eating, I’d love to hear from you!
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
365 Journaling Prompts for more Body-Confidence, Self-Love & Happiness
This self-reflective program will support you in using the power of writing to nurture yourself, connect with your body and replace paralyzing doubts with loving acceptance.
Finally Free – Guided Meditations for Freedom from Emotional Eating
Stop the Binge-Diet Cycle for Real
Emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional problems – even if it feels like it in the moment. It only makes you feel ashamed, guilty and, well, stuffed. With meditation, you can learn to stop, free yourself and create inner balance and healthy (= sane) eating habits again.
What Learning How to Ski Taught Me About Body Image and Self-Love
Feb 15, 2024
My son and I just spent 3 days in Northern Italy learning how to ski.
While it wasn’t my first time standing on skis, I hadn’t skied down any slope in over 20 years. The more I familiarized myself with the ins and outs of this snow sport, the more I recognized all the lessons that learning how to ski holds when it comes to self-love and body image. Why?
Find out in this latest episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast.
In this episode I share:
Why the ski slope is a perfect metaphor for the personal journey toward embracing our body image and practicing self-love
How skiing is an exercise in vulnerability
The importance of patience and self-compassion when learning something new
How to find joy in every moment, even and especially when you heal your body image
And many more lessons about the impact of (re-)learning this skill has on leadership and personal growth
You know that the journey towards body positivity and self-love is complex and multifaceted. It requires us to embrace our vulnerabilities, practice patience and kindness towards ourselves, and find joy in our personal growth. Learning to ski taught me that every fall is an opportunity to rise stronger and that the true joy lies in the journey, not just the destination.
As you walk the path of learning to accept yourself for who you are, remember to be gentle with yourself, to embrace each fall as a lesson, and to cherish the beautiful, exhilarating journey of becoming your most authentic self. Because you are worth it!
If you have thoughts or experiences related to emotional eating, I’d love to hear from you!
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
365 Journaling Prompts for more Body-Confidence, Self-Love & Happiness
This self-reflective program will support you in using the power of writing to nurture yourself, connect with your body and replace paralyzing doubts with loving acceptance.
Finally Free – Guided Meditations for Freedom from Emotional Eating
Stop the Binge-Diet Cycle for Real
Emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional problems – even if it feels like it in the moment. It only makes you feel ashamed, guilty and, well, stuffed. With meditation, you can learn to stop, free yourself and create inner balance and healthy (= sane) eating habits again.
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I delve into the intricate world of emotional eating. It’s a topic that touches many of you, often shrouded in confusion and misunderstanding. Today, I explore this further, shedding light on what it is, its triggers, the brain’s role, and most importantly, how you can manage it effectively.
What is Emotional Eating?
Emotional eating is when we use food as a way to manage or suppress our emotions. It’s not about hunger; it’s about responding to feelings. Whether it’s stress, boredom, sadness, or even joy, emotional eating is our psychological response to these states, often leading us to seek comfort in food.
Triggers of Emotional Eating
Stress is a major player here, especially evident during challenging. Emotional eating can also surge during holidays and seasonal changes, as these periods can be filled with a mix of stress and celebratory emotions.
The Brain and Food Connection
Fascinating research shows that emotional eating is linked to how our brain reacts to food. Emotional eaters often experience increased activity in brain areas associated with emotional processing and reward, such as the insula and amygdala. This heightened response can make certain foods feel almost irresistible during emotional upheavals.
Effective Tools to Manage Emotional Food Cravings
Mindfulness: Being present and acknowledging cravings without judgment.
Physical Activities: Engaging in exercise or hobbies that divert attention from emotional cravings.
Journaling: Writing down thoughts and feelings to understand and manage emotions better.
Emotional Support: Seeking support from friends, family, or professionals.
Next Steps
Identify Your Triggers: Understanding what drives your emotional eating is crucial.
Develop Healthier Coping Mechanisms: Find activities that can replace the urge to eat when emotional.
Practice Mindful Eating: Eat slowly and without distraction, and learn to differentiate between physical hunger and emotional cravings.
Emotional eating is a complex issue that intertwines our psychological state with our eating habits. It’s essential to recognize that overcoming it goes beyond simple willpower. With awareness, understanding, and the right strategies, it’s possible to develop a healthier relationship with food and our emotions.
If you have thoughts or experiences related to emotional eating, I’d love to hear from you!
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Apple Podcasts RSS Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
365 Journaling Prompts for more Body-Confidence, Self-Love & Happiness
This self-reflective program will support you in using the power of writing to nurture yourself, connect with your body and replace paralyzing doubts with loving acceptance.
Finally Free – Guided Meditations for Freedom from Emotional Eating
Stop the Binge-Diet Cycle for Real
Emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional problems – even if it feels like it in the moment. It only makes you feel ashamed, guilty and, well, stuffed. With meditation, you can learn to stop, free yourself and create inner balance and healthy (= sane) eating habits again.
The Only Alternative To Dieting (And Why It Just Keeps On Getting Better!)
Nov 21, 2022
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I share the number 1 alternative to dieting, why it’s important to create a personal mission statement and how I created the life I’ve dreamt in the last 2 years.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
A Dark Night of the Soul – And Where Do We Go From Here?!
Jul 19, 2020
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I open up about my struggles with severe depression, share some exciting news with you, give you a glimpse behind the scenes of what happened in the last few months and I’m looking ahead toward the future of this work.
I talk about tapping, being boldly magnificent, coming to terms with feelings and situations you don’t want to accept and learning to be extra kind towards yourself.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
I have super exciting news. I am leading a whole new LIVE round of my best-selling program NEXT LEVEL LIVING.
If you’ve been living a life of disconnection, of fear, of struggling with self-acceptance and body image fears, please know that there IS a different life in the stars for you.
You CAN learn to surrender to your feelings and create freedom around your painful stories, destructive thoughts and toxic beliefs.
You CAN (and yes you will) be happy, full of bliss even if there are moments of despair.
You CAN walk through life full of self-confidence and body-esteem even if you are done with shaping and forming and twisting yourself into a body that was not meant for you. You CAN create your next level (or – for most of us – first level) LIFE.
5 steps to radical self-care: a framework for self-love
Apr 11, 2020
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I share 5 steps to incorporate self-care into your life and embrace yourself on a whole new level.
When I first began taking the concept of self-care really seriously, it felt quite uncomfortable to me.
How would I be able to take care of myself in a way that was actually nurturing instead of destructive? How could I be kind and loving to myself instead of feeling hateful and ashamed? How could I ever feel at home in my body and soul when all I wanted was to be someone I was not?
I didn’t know the answers but I knew that I needed self-care big time. I was drowning in my guilt and shame and I knew that turning around my view of self-care was essential for me in order to pave a path to more self-love and to a healthier life. So, slowly, step by step, I dipped my toes into the practice of self-care and with it, I began to recover from an almost life-long battle with self-esteem and self-kindness.
Over the years, I learned that taking care of myself was an ongoing practice, but that I didn’t have to put myself into a box (you probably know how much I hate being “imprisoned” in systems) in order to succeed at continuously making sure that I was looking after my needs.
I created a framework for self-love that is not only super flexible but also super effective and today, I’d love to share this framework with you.
Here are 5 steps to incorporating the practice of self-care into your life.
Commit to Self-Care
The first step towards any change is always commitment. A really, effin’ big commitment. A daily commitment, in fact.
You need to make a pact with yourself, promising yourself to do what it takes to take care of YOU.
Now, to be totally transparent, I had to renew this promise many times as I slipped and fell, but with each renewal, my resolve grew.
So, commit to your healing, commit to your self-care, commit to your life. Every single day.
Touch
Don’t be afraid of touching your body. When we lack self-esteem, feel big and too much, we often have no idea where our boundaries are. The more we touch, the more we’ll know where we begin and where we stop.
This creates an unmeasurable level of self-awareness and it also elevates your relationship with your body and weight. You can’t continue to live in your head, but truly need to drop into your body more and more.
Touch will do that for you.
Let go
Part of my self-care practice was to let go of many thoughts, concepts, “realities”, dreams, and people in order to gain life, energy and joy.
I let go of toxic friends who were constantly talking about diets and weight loss. I let go of Facebook pages because of the constant bombardment with “positive thinking” without any research or actual tools behind their words.
Over time, I began to say goodbye to the dream of being someone else, someone my parents wanted me to be (aka. a doctor or a CEO, someone who was suuuuper successful in society’s eyes). I released the desire inside of staying a little kid without female curves or responsibilities of an adult and instead began to take ownership over my life and my heart’s longings.
Letting go, saying goodbye, and decluttering is a big process on the way to cultivating a rock-solid and life-affirming self-care practice. If you do it consciously and courageously, you’ll take huge leaps forward and live a kind of freedom that you may now only dream of.
Use your senses
Walk barefoot and feel the blades of grass touching your feet. Use essential oils and make it a game to become aware of all the nuances in the scent. Feel the rain or the sun kiss your skin. What do you notice? What does it feel like? Massage your hands when you’re at work. Stretch when you get out of bed and allow your body to greet your soul. Close your eyes and listen to the world’s sounds with all of the most incredible details.
The possibilities are endless here.
By using your senses, you drop into your body, which grounds you when you feel flighty and anxious.
Honesty for Self-Care
That is probably the biggest, most scary self-care practice I started and still commit to: brutal honesty with myself. I lied so much when I was caught in the traps of my eating disorder and had zero self-esteem. I lied and cheated and lied some more: to myself, to others, to everyone who threatened to take away my identity of being a sick person.
And even when I began to take my life in my own hands, I still lied. I lied because I was ashamed and the crazy thing is that the more I lied, the more I hurt myself. Lying feels so easy, doesn’t it? But admitting and telling the truth is hard. However, the moment I was really honest with myself, things began to shift. I got help, I accepted support, I began to see that I had to change my ways but that I didn’t have to face this struggle alone.
Honesty is a profound practice that uplifts your life and takes away the shame and fear we often feel.
My journey to cultivating self-love, true, solid self-love, is not over yet. As a Martha Beck Life Coach, I learned to use my body as a compass for walking towards my North Star. That way, my body guides me in making life’s decisions, a level of self-care I never could’ve dreamt of when I was struggling with my inner demons.
The most important lesson I learned while cultivating self-care and choosing life was the truth that our body is so wise. She is wise beyond your mind’s imagination and she knows your truth. Don’t destroy her, learn to love her, trust her, take care of her. One step at a time.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
READY TO RESPECT YOUR BODY?
Get Your 101 Body-Respect Affirmations Now!
MORE THAN 70-MINUTES OF BEAUTIFUL, SOUL-TOUCHING, MAGICAL AFFIRMATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU RELATE TO YOUR BODY.
Covid-19 & How to Overcome the Fear of the Future
Apr 04, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has the world holding our collective breath and has given birth to a tremendous amount of inner turmoil. Many of my clients talk about waking up in the middle of the night with panic attacks, experiencing major headaches and a general feeling of unease.
There’s the pain of the current situation, but also the fear of the future.
When is this horror going to end?
How are our lives ever go back to normal?
Will I stay healthy or will a loved one be infected?
What if my gym will stay closed for another for months?
What’s going to happen after all of this?
Can I ever go back to work again?
Will my kid return to school this term?
When will I see my friends again? My grandma? My sister?
These are just some of the questions we ask ourselves and create major (mostly painful) stories around; an endless loop of negative thoughts that keep us stuck in fear.
I love the dream of past and future. They seem so real. – Byron Katie
Yes, this is an extreme time. Yes, we are afraid. Yes, the future is uncertain.
But it’s never been any different.
In essence, nothing’s changed.
We’ve never been guaranteed a tomorrow or even a life in an hour. Life is uncertain in its essence – whether there’s a pandemic or not.
The worry about the future, the constant creation of horror scenarios inside your mind, the hopelessness and inner terror will not create the outcome you desire and will not change a thing about what is currently happening.
Instead of worrying, begin to allow yourself to be in the present, relax and create the grounds for power and aligned action. How? This is what I talk about in the podcast!
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
READY TO RESPECT YOUR BODY?
Get Your 101 Body-Respect Affirmations Now!
MORE THAN 70-MINUTES OF BEAUTIFUL, SOUL-TOUCHING, MAGICAL AFFIRMATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU RELATE TO YOUR BODY.
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I offer a glimpse behind the scenes of how we are dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and how I can support you in these extreme times.
From meltdowns to immense gratitude to shame to joy, we’re going through a whirlwind of emotions and every single one of us has a unique experience and we need to make space for all of these emotions to express themselves. And I do mean, ALL fo them – the positive emotions, the expansive emotions, the happiness and love, just as much as sadness and fear.
If it feels super hard for you, please know that you are far from alone.
If you want to have some fun and just not think about the pandemic, it’s OK and you are not alone.
If it feels overwhelming, if you’re angry, scared, bitter or have the feeling that you cannot breathe, it’s OK. This is how it is right now.
If you feel like crap because you sobbed into your child’s arms, it’s OK. This is how it is right now.
If it’s all too much and you just want it to be the way it used to be, it’s OK. But, yeah, this is how it is right now.
All you can do, really, is take deep breaths, do what you can, be extremely compassionate toward yourself and your loved ones and practice tender, loving kindness whenever possible.
If it gets too hard, reach out. Resource. Don’t believe that you have to do this on your own.
I am making extra space in my calendar for a few more coaching sessions this week, so if you feel called to dig deep and find strategies that will help you to get through this tough time, finding your very own core of peace and living your life from that deep sense of safety and nurture, book your complimentary discovery call with me now: annesophie.us/discovery
Your life is worth it.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast I share my top 10 ways to romance yourself.
1. Have a date with yourself.
Pick a fancy restaurant (one that you usually only go to with a love interest or your partner) and dress up. Wear a sexy dress, do your hair and put make up on. Even wear super sexy underwear.
2. Send yourself a postcard.
I love this because it makes me appreciate myself, makes me chuckle and smirk. And there’s nothing better than coming home to a surprise postcard with a few beautiful and kind words written on them.
You can go a step further and write yourself a letter of appreciation and forgiveness.
Put it in a beautiful envelope and send it to yourself. This will make it even more special.
3. Stand in front of the mirror and proudly proclaim,
“I love my body. I love my thighs, my hips and my tummy. I appreciate all the incredible things that my body allows me to do. I am perfect exactly the way I am”. For bonus points, do this naked.
4. Buy yourself a bouquet of flowers or pick yourself a bunch of flowers.
Flowers; I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with them. I never really notice them when they’re there, but when they’re not – especially in spring – it feels weird. I have grown to loooove tulips or sun flowers and buying myself a bouquet makes me feel appreciated and taken care of. Don’t wait for someone else to send you flowers, do it yourself and enjoy the dots of color in your home.
5. Be curious and listen to yourself.
Learn something new about yourself every day. What do you like? What fascinates you? If you were an animal which one would you be? If you were a superhero which one would you be?
Get to know yourself on a more intimate level than you’ve done before. Reduce all the noise of daily life, let go of all responsibilities for a few moments and simple get to know your core. You’ll be surprised at what you find out, I promise!
6. Be irresponsible.
You know the feeling of being in love, right? When you’re newly in love, all you care about is that one person that makes you so happy: you think about him all day long and nothing else seems to matter. Food, your job, your workouts, other friends, family, etc. nothing brings you that high that your boyfriend brings you. And this high makes you do some irresponsible things like, let’s say, get married after 6 weeks, spend more money than you should, skip work or other dates.
Well, you are your own biggest love, so it’s totally fine to be irresponsible in order to court yourself. Buy yourself a pair of new shoes, play hooky for a day to spend it outside with yourself, eat a few pieces of lemon cake and ditch your silly weight concerns. Etc. It’s OK to be irresponsible from time to time and HAVE FUN. Don’t take life too seriously, seriously.
7. Go on a hike with yourself.
Listen to music or an audiobook or simply listen to nature and observe it in all its glory.
8. Sign up for a brutally hard gym class.
This may not seem obvious to you and it may feel counterintuitive, but believe me, you’ll feel awesome after the class and you’ll discover amazing things about yourself.
9. Connect with your inner child: play with legos and color with pencils.
This’ll help you reconnect with your creative side and getting a bit silly will strengthen your self-confidence.
10. Do something you’ve always wanted to do.
What have you been dreaming of for most of your life? Have you always wanted to be a singer? Then do karaoke in a local pub. Have you always wanted to go to Thailand? Book a flight and do it. Have you always wanted to learn knitting? Sign up for a knitting class. Have you always wanted to speak Spanish? Start listening to podcasts or sign up for a class. The possibilities are endless.
BONUS TIP (had to add that to the list!): Smile at yourself.
Smiling at yourself is one of the easiest, yet most powerful ways of showing love to yourself. Some smile tips include smiling at yourself in the mirror instead of beating yourself up, smiling at yourself upon waking up to great the day in a positive way, smiling through your tears (the single most awesome thing to do when you feel sad) or smiling while doing work you don’t really want to do. A smile makes everything better and shows that you appreciate yourself on a whole new level.
Enjoy this episode!
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
How to know if you have a problem with food with Melainie Rogers
Mar 12, 2020
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Melainie Rogers.
Melainie is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD) and Supervisor and is dedicated to supporting others in their quest to achieve long-term recovery. She is the Founder and Executive Director of BALANCE eating disorder treatment center and melainie rogers nutrition, llc.
We talk about:
how a person knows if they have a problem with food
weight concerns when going through puberty and what to do about it
emotional triggers and dieting as a way of self-protection
her recovery from anorexia and why her upbringing was so important in her healing journey
her path to study nutrition and how her career evolved
the immense stigma around binge eating disorders and what providers have to know
the question whether you can remain vegan (or exclude other food groups) and still recover from an eating disorder
why mental health issues and eating disorders are on the rise
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Anorexia in Fat People with Victoria Welsby
Mar 02, 2020
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Victoria Welsby.
Victoria is a world-leading expert on body image and confidence, TEDx speaker and best-selling author. She went from being homeless, abused with self-esteem that was achingly low into the courageous fat activist and change maker she is today. Victoria helps people fall in love with themselves and is dedicated to shifting the way society views fat bodies.
We talk about:
how she lived what a belief that her fat body was the cause of her misery
why and how her mission in life has changed
her experience on the BBC documentary “Who Are You Calling Fat?” and the intention behind her appearance on the show
how she dealt with being around people who were convinced that it’s not OK to be fat
body-image and self-esteem triggers and doubts
the idea of fat being a disease and why health not being black or white
why it’s so normal to feel body-shame and what you can do about it
her journey from not having self-esteem to being the FIERCE fatty
the processes behind EMDR and CBT
why she believes that everyone should go to therapy
you have to do scary things in order to get confident
Anorexia in fat people and why eating disorders are more frequent in people who have bigger bodies
the way that we eat as a society is deeply disordered
it’s possible to deeply believe/know that you don’t need to be thin to get what you want!
Ready to change YOUR life? Book your 30-minute discovery session with me here and start living a life free of diet prison today.
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
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Eating in the Light of the Moon with Dr. Anita Johnston
Feb 24, 2020
“The feminine principle is here, she’s arrived. Women are waking up and they’re finding their voice and they are signing.”
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by eating psychology pioneer, storyteller and author Dr. Anita Johnston.
Anita Johnston, Ph.D., CEDS is a clinical psychologist and certified eating disorder specialist and supervisor, working in the field of women’s issues and eating disorders for over 35 years.
She is the author of the best selling book, Eating in the Light of the Moon and co-creator of the Light of the Moon Cafe, a series of online interactive courses and women’s support circles, and Soul Hunger workshops. She is currently the Clinical Director of Ai Pono Hawaii eating disorder programs with out-patient programs on Oahu and the Big Island of Hawaii, and an ocean-front residential program on Maui.
We talk about:
how her interest in disordered eating began and what she learned along the way
what it’s like to have an uncanny ability to see the invisible
why we’re all naturally metaphoric and what we can learn from the world of metaphors
what happens to other areas of your life when you begin to restrict food
the origins of why women question the experience of being female in our world and the patriarchy of the female body
the meaning of archetypes as described by Carl Jung
how to learn to trust the instincts of your body
appreciating the value of your intuition
the gift of your disordered eating
how we can rebalance the feminine and masculine energies in our world
what recovery from an eating disorder actually requires
the deep connection between the menstrual cycle and the onset of eating disorders
why the moon is such a powerful symbol for the Feminine
the metaphor of the log
the idea that there is a great amount of joy in the recovery process and that it can actually be fun!
I’d be super grateful if you took a moment to leave a review on iTunes. Simply click this link, click Listen on Apple Podcasts, go toReviews and Ratings and then Write a Review.
Enjoy this episode!
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Skin Acceptance, Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and Body-Neutral Parenting with Florence Gillet
Feb 17, 2020
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison, I am joined by size-inclusive eating psychology coach Florence Gillet.
Florence helps chronic dieters and overeaters reclaim their freedom of body and mind in order to transform their lives. She specializes in working with women and mothers who wish to rise above unrealistic diet and beauty messages to embrace a size inclusive approach, for themselves and for their kids.
She also acts as a volunteer for the Middle East Eating Disorder Association and works in partnership with Dr Nicola Rinaldi (Author of ‘No Period, Now What?’) to help women with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea restoring their hormonal cycles and regaining their fertility naturally.
We talk about:
her relationship with food and how it evolved over the years
the struggles with chronic low self-esteem and how that impacted her life
why she started running and at the same time cleaned up her diet
why she was diagnosed with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea at age 28 and how she dealt with the diagnosis
the three main causes of Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
if there is hope for everyone who is diagnosed with HA and how you can recover your menstrual cycle
her diagnosis with Hashimoto’s disease and how she went on restrictive diets in the hopes of coming off her medication
what you can do to rid yourself of the shame of taking medication
the different forms of dieting/restricting and how they impact your body and psyche
skin acceptance and why she talks about it is openly
her tips and tricks that help with learning to accept your skin
what makes her so passionate about parents not passing on fatphobic, weight-biased values to younger generations
how we can encourage body confidence and a happy, healthy relationship with food in our children
the importance of family meals and how they support children beyond body image struggles
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
The 7 Essential Ways to Respect Your Body
Feb 12, 2020
I stand in awe of my body. Henry David Thoreau
Respecting your body in today’s world can feel like an impossible task.
Every day we’re bombarded with messages telling us that our body needs to look differently, needs to be changed in this way or that.
You need to have thinner thighs, a bigger but, waaay bigger boobs, leaner arms and a six pack. If you don’t wear a size XYZ, you are not worthy. If your hair isn’t as shiny as the one in the shampoo commercial, you definitely have to change that ASAP.
No matter who you are, what you do, it’s never ever enough – according to the diet industry that makes a bucketload of money from you extreme insecurity.
However, body respect is possible and it’s essential on the way you to healing your relationship with food and having a better understanding of who you are and want you truly desire.
Respecting your body – or at least learning to do so – is a super intimate practice and one that should only be done for yourself.. Pretending to love your body, but actually loathing her won’t help anyone. The surrendering to body-respect is not for them, it’s not for a movement, it’s not a feminist statement (although in the end it is), it’s a beginning of a beautiful relationship with the partner you’ll have for life.
Body respect starts with the small practices, the way you show up for your body in everyday life.
It’s about re-imagining the way you feel about her, without trying to change her all day every day in ways she can’t be changed.
Body respect means feeding your body and knowing (deeply) that your body deserves to be fed. It means dressing your body in comfortable clothes and not squeezing her into fabric she doesn’t fit in. It means touching your body with affection and moving your body in comfortable and life-affirming ways.
In other words:
“Respecting your body means treating it with dignity, and meeting its basic needs.” Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works
So how can begin to respect your body? Here are the essential ways to live in true body-respect:
Find compassion for your body and your (dieting) self
Many of my clients feel like their body is trying to betray them by not getting smaller, by continuing to gain weight, by experiencing appetite and lack of motivation. They are in a constant battle with their bodies and experience massive pain. I’ve certainly done the same throughout my years of disordered eating and exercise addiction.
However, the more we fight against our natural shape, the more we fight against our survival instinct and the more we try to make our body fit into a shape and form it doesn’t belong, the more we remove ourselves from ourselves.
Instead of hating on your body, treat her with the utmost kindness in everyday situations. Have compassion for what your body has been through. Show her love like you would a little child.
Don’t forget to love your dieting self up too as she is a victim of our culture that has destroyed her true sense of self.
No, your body doesn’t want to betray you, she wants to have a beautiful relationship with you. Make the first step and treat her well.
Smash the fantasy you still believe in when it comes to changing your body
Why do you want to change your body? What’s in it for you?
You probably know the answer already, but dig deeper. Which lies have you bought into when it comes to losing weight, to being thin, to not give your body what she asks for?
The more you begin to unravel the complete BS that is out there around weight loss and the ultimate happiness of life in a thin body, the more you can embrace the unique body you were given.
Take your power back
Do you know that your body is yours? And yours alone?
The diet industry doesn’t own your body. Your doctor that wants you to lose weight doesn’t own your body. No fashion brand owns your body. Nobody but YOU.
So, stop giving others power over your happiness and joy, over your hunger and appetite, over your self-image and body-confidence. They do not own your light or your life.
Stop putting off activities until you have lost the weight and instead go out and live your life NOW. Seriously, do it.
Begin to challenge cultural beliefs and scientific assumptions and learn to look beyond the propaganda. Health is way more complex than what it’s made out to be and the conventional wisdom around weight loss and hating on your body is anything but correct.
You know your body best, listen and trust.
Find the real source, the root of your emotional pain
What is actually holding you back from tuning in to your body, from living in your body, from loving on your body? What is the real source of pain and fear?
You can journal in many different ways to get to your root, or you may meditate on it, work with a coach or a therapist to figure out what is actually going on. What are you hiding from yourself and the world? Where are you closing yourself off and what wound are you trying to close by losing weight?
Learn to respect other bodies
When you see other women who do not conform to the current beauty ideal, what do you feel? How do you respond to bodies that are different? Do you even see them or are you only looking at the thin, young girls you see all around?
Begin to observe bigger bodies and see the beauty in fat, rolls, cellulite, hanging skin and so on. Look for bodies that are similar to yours instead of solely comparing yourself with the models on magazine covers.
The more you learn to respect other bodies, the more you will respect yours.
Define body respect for yourself
What would respecting your body mean to you?
Take some time to journal/think about the concept of body respect.
How will it feel, how will you walk, talk, think, behave when you respect your body from the inside out? How will you respond to outside sources and how will your internal dialogue adapt?
Would you throw out your scale? Feed your body when she’s hungry and eat with respect for her needs? Would you move her with love and choose activities you actually like?
Would you stop buying diet books and maybe even look for a new doctor?
What would body-respect mean for you?
Reconnect with touch
One of the best ways to reconnect with your body, your soul, your self is through touch.
When we live in dietland and have been loathing our body for a loooong time, we often don’t even know where we begin and where we end. By touching your body, from head to toe, you can begin to feel into your body again, to ground yourself in yourself and to actually come back home.
Make this a beautiful daily ritual that helps you to remember that your body is not a thing to hate but the vessel that holds all of your dreams.
Body Liberation Through Photography with Lindley Ashline
Feb 03, 2020
“A fat body is not an indicator of disease or an eating disorder or of anything other than it being fat.”
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Lindley Ashline.
Lindley (pronounced LIN-lee, she/her) creates artwork that celebrates the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional “beauty” standards. Lindley is also the creator of Body Liberation Stock and the Body Love Box, a monthly body-acceptance subscription box. She lives outside Seattle with her husband and two feline overlords.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Why Your Body Does Not Need Fixing with Kimmie Singh
Jan 27, 2020
“It was hard sitting in classrooms knowing that your body size was being discussed and you’re the only one there in that body size.” – Kimmie Singh
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Kimmie Singh.
Kimmie is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at LK Nutrition, a Health at Every Size® nutrition private practice based in New York City that supports people with eating disorders, disordered eating, and anyone seeking for support in healing their relationship with food and body.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in physics from St. John’s University. Soon after graduating, Kimmie discovered her passion for Intuitive Eating and weight-inclusive nutrition. She went on to pursue her Master of Science of nutrition from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Kimmie completed her dietetic internship at The City University of New York-Hunter College.
Kimmie is currently the treasurer for the Association for Size Diversity and Health and an active member of the International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians.
We talk about:
Kimmie’s relationship with food and her body and how it changed over time
her memories of bingeing as a kid and how confusing it was at such an early age
feeling like the odd one out and how it impacted her view of herself
the daily discrimination of people in larger bodies and how providers add to that oppression
meeting clients where they are at and creating space for their unique healing journey to begin
the discussion around whether you can recover form an eating disorder and still having the desire to lose weight
the importance and practical aspects of learning how to sit with the discomfort of recovery from an eating disorder
why celebrating your wins and milestones is crucial in recovery
her experience of becoming a nutritionist in a fat body
what makes her so passionate and successful as an activist
how the book Dietland by Sarai Walker impacted her on her healing journey
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
They will judge you – no matter your shape or size. They will judge you – no matter your profession or chosen lifestyle. They will judge you – no matter your chosen partner or relationship status. They will judge you – no matter who you are or what you’re all about. They will judge you – that’s what they do.
The thing to remember is though that this is your life. Your one wild life.
This is your existence. Your one go at creating a life that is YOURS.
What you do with your life is YOUR choice –
Not theirs. Not his. Not hers.
You’re the one who’s walking in your shoes. You’re the one that is needed to step it up. You’re the one who decides whether you take steps back or walk to your next crossroads.
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in what they think. In how they perceive you. In what they have to say about who you are.
But in the end, or rather at the very beginning, you have to ask yourself, If you really care.
If this person says your choices are crazy – If that person says you took the wrong turn – If he says that you’re ruining your life – If she says that she doesn’t agree –
Does it really matter?
If it feels right to you?
If you know it to be true?
If you know in your heart of hearts that this is the road for you?
And even if you don’t – even if you doubt and are scared and can’t really decide –
Who are they to tell you what’s right or wrong? Who are they to tell you what’s good and bad FOR YOU?
Have they walked in your shoes? Lived your life? Seen the world through your eyes?
Even if you feel queasy and are yet to decide –
Who are they to judge?
The thing is that the people who judge the most are those that are unhappiest with their own lives.
So, really, you’re just a reflection of their own unfulfilled souls.
And instead of taking their words and turning them against yourself, use them to heal yourself this world supporting them in healing themselves.
As – no matter what you do – they will talk they will gossip they will have stuff to say.
And most of what they say won’t apply to you,
But to them.
It’s their insecurity speaking. It’s their bias speaking. It’s their narrow minded view of life, this world, YOU showing up for real.
Don’t let them hold you back. Don’t let them tear you apart.
Cry, of course.
Hurt, of course.
But then, dust yourself off and do what you’ve always known was right for you.
And even if you don’t know just yet, turn inward,
not to “them” –
whoever they are in your life and whoever they represent.
The moment you let go of “they” that’s the moment you begin to walk to freedom.
That’s the moment you begin to arrive in your own shoes and finally admit that you’ve known all along.
That checking in with yourself that following your gut that shaping your life based on your dreams based on your unique experience is the biggest gift you can give yourself
and them.
Because you’ll be happy – which one of my clients said the other day is life’s purpose anyway,
If there ever was one.
The happier you are, the more you’ll uplift the spirits of others
And by God, we need happy people in this world.
And I know, I know what you’ll say:
Isn’t it effin’ selfish to be happy? Shouldn’t we be more concerned with others?
To which I reply: who says that happy people don’t care about others?
Aren’t happy people those that contribute the most? Those that love the most? Those that care the most?
Because they are happy and can give from a full cup, an “I love life and I want to share the joy and bliss with you” cup?
Doesn’t a positive spirit, positive energy, uplift this world instead of adding more sorrow and heartache to this grey, dark planet we have created?
A planet that is so full of beauty, of miracles, of a lust for life that is hard to describe?
Don’t we owe it to this world to be happy and in awe?
And the best way to get there is to just say Screw Those Who Don’t Understand My Life.
In a loving and happy way of course.
In a way that supports us all in creating a life that works for us.
They won’t be happy with you because they’re not happy.
You won’t be happy with them because you’re you and you want more.
You want to live a life based on your values and go your unique path.
You want to follow your gut and base your days on flow.
You want to spread joy and be the best person you can be.
For yourself and for all.
But, and that’s a big but, you can’t won’t will never be
happy in flow living from your core
if you listen to “them” base your choices on “them” allow “them”
to shape your decisions even make them for you
out of fear of what?
More judgement?
The terror that you cannot do it alone? Without the people who don’t like you the true you anyway?
Well, I know you can do better than that. You can surround yourself with people who love you your spirit your core your soul
and don’t try to change you into a version of themselves –
one they’ll eventually meaning today judge too.
Be yourself. Be yourself.
Be Yourself.
And trust trust trust
In your ability to do what’s right for you.
If you make a wrong decision, choose again.
There’s nothing you can’t change. Nothing you can’t turn around again.
At least you’ll have made the decision from your heart from your core from the place inside that knows
And if you do nothing will go wrong.
Because you’ll be true to you.
So, walk in your own shoes – let them walk in theirs knowing that you don’t know what it’s like to wear their sneakers and they have no idea what it feels like to walk in your heels.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
How to not let the “New Decade – New You” Messages destroy you!
Jan 09, 2020
2020 is HERE.
After all the built-up, all the planning, the decorating, the cooking, the baking, the stressing, the holidays – BOOM – are over and done with.
Now, one part of you might be super delighted that it’s all finally behind us.
But there might be another part of you that’s like:
Now what?!
What am I supposed to do with me time, money, wandering mind and scared heart now that all the distractions are gone?
Re-entering into “normal” life can feel scary, overwhelming, and – also – slightly underwhelming, disappointing even.
This steep fall from the overstimulation of the past month can cause major depression as you are now faced with the realities of life again – a life that you might not particularly like.
I get it. I’ve been there, which is why I share powerful solutions for not allowing yourself to get lost in the post-holiday blues.
This time after the craziness is your time to heal and feel.
Don’t let it go to waste.
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I also reflect on losing my connection to nature, what nature meant to me and my intention of reconnecting with “Mommy Earth” again in this year and moving forward.
I talk about death, the circle of life, growing roots and giving yourself the permission to have a blank slate.
And – of course – there’s so much more!
Enjoy listening to this first episode of the new decade!
This episode was recorded on a recent walk through the woods, so if audio quality matters to you BIG TIME, this might be one of the episodes to skip.
IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME
As a way of saying thank you for being part of this community, I am going to give away a 2020 Jumpstart Bundle!
The bundle will include tools to let go fo the old and to invite the new in gentle, fun and radical ways.
It’ll give you the opportunity to leave the old “yuck” of the last decade behind, celebrate all the wins and call in the GREAT for the decade to come.
You’ll receive this BRAND-NEW content entirely for free by completing the following 3 easy steps:
Bonus (in case you want to add even more kindness): Share the podcast with a friend.
That’s it! You’re all set to receive the 2020 Jumpstart bundle!
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
How to Start the New Year Based on Your Soul’s Desires
Dec 30, 2019
2019 is coming to a close, which means it’s the perfect time to reflect and honor your transformations and growth, tie up loose ends, ask better questions and feeeeel into what you really desire.
This is what I’ve dedicated the latest episode of Escape Diet Prison to.
In this last episode of 2019, I talk about:
some major transformations of the past decade and how you can transform your life in the year ahead
why I don’t do resolutions and what to do instead
how to create positive momentum without creating major stress and anxiety in your life
the way to realize what your soul desires and how to live according to your higher calling
a beautiful and deeply moving New Year’s ritual that connects you with your body on a whole new level
and so much more!
IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME
As a way of saying thank you for being part of this community, I am going to give away a 2020 Jumpstart Bundle !
The bundle will include tools to let go fo the old and to invite the new in gentle, fun and radical ways.
It’ll give you the opportunity to leave the old “yuck” of the last decade behind, celebrate all the wins and call in the GREAT for the decade to come.
You’ll receive this BRAND-NEW content entirely for free by completing the following 3 easy steps:
Bonus (in case you want to add even more kindness): Share the podcast with a friend.
That’s it! You’re all set to receive the 2020 Jumpstart bundle!
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Sexuality, Intimacy and Recovery with Jennifer Rollin
Dec 20, 2019
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I am joined once again by Jennifer Rollin.
Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C is a therapist and founder of The Eating Disorder Center, who specializes in working with teens and adults with eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, & OSFED.
Her past struggle with an eating disorder has inspired her passion for helping others to find freedom.
You can find out more about her work here. Follow Jennifer on Instagram here.
We talk about:
Jennifer’s upcoming book and what it’s going to be about
the reasons why the diet industry is so successful
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME
As a way of saying thank you for being part of this community, I am going to give away a 2020 Jumpstart Bundle !
The bundle will include tools to let go fo the old and to invite the new in gentle, fun and radical ways.
It’ll give you the opportunity to leave the old “yuck” of the last decade behind, celebrate all the wins and call in the GREAT for the decade to come.
You’ll receive this BRAND-NEW content entirely for free by completing the following 3 easy steps:
Let your instincts run the show with Isabel Foxen Duke
Dec 14, 2019
Isabel Foxen Duke is back on the podcast!
Isabel is a world renowned expert in emotional eating, binge eating and chronic-diet recovery. Having worked with thousands of women in her coaching practice and online programs over the past decade, Isabel’s proven that conventional treatment for binge eating is flawed at best—and offers a radical new approach for those who’ve “tried everything.”
We talk about:
dieting as a progressive problem
“sugar addiction” and whether it’s a real thing
how to navigate Christmas in a fatphobic world
the dangers of the “intuitive eating to lose weight” and the Christian “hunger and fulness” diets
how the belief of “failing” at mental health treatment programs causes trauma
mental health professionals hurting people who struggle with food
having way more than one rock bottom moment
becoming comfortable with the entire range of hunger to fullness – all the way to feeling stuffed
beginning to experience fullness as something that happens to you
allowing your instincts to run the show
the problem with eating disorder treatment and weight classification
the question whether you are willing to gain weight in the name of recovery or not?!
how yo-yo dieting impacts relationships and family constellations
arriving at “relaxed around food”
remembering that eating disorders are anxiety disorders
food, sexuality and our sex-shaming culture
adding in food instead of taking it out
the importance of meals
the reality of eating disorders as a “family thing”
creating verbal boundaries
and so much more!
Check out Isabel’s free video series on how to stop feeling crazy around food.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME
As a way of saying thank you for being part of this community, I am going to give away a 2020 Jumpstart Bundle !
The bundle will include tools to let go fo the old and to invite the new in gentle, fun and radical ways.
It’ll give you the opportunity to leave the old “yuck” of the last decade behind, celebrate all the wins and call in the GREAT for the decade to come.
You’ll receive this BRAND-NEW content entirely for free by completing the following 3 easy steps:
1. Rate the Escape Diet Prison podcast on iTunes and write a review
2. Like the Anne-Sophie Reinhardt Facebook page
3. Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram.
Bonus (in case you want to add even more kindness): Share the podcast with a friend.
That’s it! You’re all set to receive the 2020 Jumpstart bundle!
Continued Coaching, Triggers and Realizing your Potential
Dec 07, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I talk about follow-up care and staying in a healthy place throughout recovery from your food and body image issues and beyond.
I strongly believe in having a structure of “care” even if you’ve been in recovery for a while or are fully recovered as our battle with food is not the root cause of our pain.
There are, of course, all kinds of opportunities to receive continued support and care; a nutritionist is different from a therapist who is different from a coach. I believe that throughout life, we’ll need support from different kinds of professionals as life isn’t over after we’ve healed our relationship with food.
The question you may want to ask yourself – when you feel quite solid around food and your body – is: what are you wanting to get out of your life? In other words: what do YOU desire right now and in the future?
If you’re worried about being triggered and having past memories come up, there’s a huge opening for you to go deeper and inquire more.
What is there that worries you about being triggered?
What is not resolved yet? What are you allowed to let go of now that you’ve grown even more?
I have been in lots of coaching relationships ever since I started my recovery from several eating disorders and depression and I find it tremendously helpful to have someone by my side. My needs have shifted over the years, but having that support is priceless, especially when you feel called to live into your fullest potential and are yearning to let your heart guide you.
How have your needs shifted?
How are you showing up for life and for yourself right now? How are you allowing your fears to box you in and are you willing to blast through your self-made prison doors?
I coach several women who have (almost) fully healed their relationship with food and their bodies and are now wanting to get more out of life. We still talk about body image and food issues at times as they do come up, but most of the time, we realize that whatever comes up, comes from a deeper place.
The same is true for you.
So, if you feel the nudge to go back to therapy, coaching or whatever kind of support you desire, follow through, dare to book an appointment, make the time for your own healing and show up for yourself in the best way you can at this point in your life.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison:
Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME
I have something pretty epic in store for you this December .
As a way of saying thank you for being part of this community, I am going to give away a 2020 Jumpstart Bundle !
The bundle will include tools to let go fo the old and to invite the new in gentle, fun and radical ways.
It’ll give you the opportunity to leave the old “yuck” of the last decade behind, celebrate all the wins and call in the GREAT for the decade to come.
You’ll receive this BRAND-NEW content entirely for free by completing the following 3 easy steps:
1. Rate the Escape Diet Prison podcast on iTunes and write a review
2. Like the Anne-Sophie Reinhardt Facebook page
3. Share screenshots of both in the Escape Diet Prison Facebook Group
Bonus (in case you want to add even more kindness): Share the podcast with a friend.
That’s it! You’re all set to receive the 2020 Jumpstart bundle!
Why just “thinking” about eating healthy may make you binge
Nov 30, 2019
When you are devoted to escape diet prison and you’ve been on this path for a while, there may come the day you feel like “now’s the time to eat healthy again”.
Or maybe you just heard something a friend said and you felt pressured to “go back to eating healthy again”.
OR you’ve seen a fitspiration post and all hell broke loose inside your “still kinda wanna diet and lose weight” focused mind.
Whatever the cause, the force these thoughts have on your psyche and your life is tremendous and can lead you right back into the dieting/binge cycle that you are so desperately trying to escape.
So, what can you do about it? How can you allow yourself to go back “eating healthy” without it feeling like just another diet. AND do you even have to?
That’s what I discuss in this weeks’ episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast.
There are many different ways of approaching the “eating healthy” issue within your healing journey without it turning into just another big diet-related mess. And the way to get to this point of peace of mind might be entirely different than you think or even want.
Curious? Then go ahead and listen to the episode and/or think/meditate/journal about the following questions:
Why do you believe you have to eat healthy?
What does eating healthy even mean to you?
Where does the pressure to eat healthy come from?
Have you given up your diet culture beliefs or are you still cradling them lovingly?
Where is food not neutral for you just yet?
Have you addressed your traumas? Have you healed the wounds that dieting has left in your life?
Is this question of wanting to eat healthier just another way of wanting to control your body and cheating yourself into abusing food?
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. Did you know: When you journal, magic ensues.
Of course you did.
It happens because you allow your subconscious to surface and help you to heal what needs to be healed (and that is rarely our weight and our “issues” with food). When you put a pen to paper, you begin to unravel and open doors that remained closed for decades; doors that are waiting to finally bust open.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Your self-confidence strengthens, the bar on your bullshit barometer increases and you begin to be yourself, truly, fully yourself no matter how other people react to you showing up as the person you are.
Every day, you’ll receive a journaling prompt delivered to your email inbox that will inspire you to dive into your own mind, connect with your true emotions and shine a light on your fears.
Navigating Thanksgiving without Food, Weight & Family Drama
Nov 22, 2019
How will I deal with all of the food? What will my family think of my body? Can I indulge in the yummy food or will everyone judge me? What if I eat too much and can never lose the weight? How can I prevent all the bingeing that I’ve done in the past? What if I don’t eat anything?
Can you relate to these pre-Thanksgiving fears?
Many people can. Thanksgiving can often be a pure nightmare. 90% of my coaching clients struggle BIG TIME with the restricting/binge eating cycle during this time. The family gatherings, the variety of food, the force conversations and the heightened sense that everyone is looking at your body can make this holiday a day you just want to skip. It can affect your mental health and self-esteem in many ways, especially if you end up “losing control” and feel like you are reverting back to destructive patterns.
One of the worst thing you can do to try to ease the fear of Thanksgiving is this:
Restricting food or restricting emotions will ultimately lead to the one thing you’re trying to avoid: your inner pressure cooker exploding into every direction. The fear of the weight gain, the loss of control, the judgement, the chaos can contribute to you needing an outlet, which often is the one thing you are so terribly scared of.
In order to prevent this inner conflict this year, here’s your guide to have a relaxed Thanksgiving celebration!
Guidepost #1: Stop restricting
As I’ve mentioned above, restricting is the number one mistake why my clients end up bingeing even if they’ve prepared properly for the days ahead.
If you go into the holidays with the intention of eating little or even losing weight, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Restricting backfires. Every single time.
Thinking you can lose weight is a ludicrous idea as food is part of this Holiday. It just is. The sooner you accept it, acknowledge it, you’ll be able to deal with it.
So, in your heart and mind, allow yourself to eat during Thanksgiving (and beyond), to indulge a bit here and there and to enjoy yourself. If you go to your dinner knowing that that’s what you’ll do, the pressure to do the impossible is definitely reduced.
Guidepost #2: Do NOT feely guilty
Eaten what feels like too much? Forgive yourself and move on.
There doesn’t have to be any guilt as there’s nothing to be guilty about. Eating is not a moral act, always remember that. So, even if you’ve eaten way more than your body wanted, you didn’t commit a crime. All you did was put food in your mouth and swallow it.
So what?
Guidepost #3: Prioritize self-care
Self-care is key around the holidays. And even more importantly, you have to practice self-compassion. Hold yourself to a standard of love and compassion instead of a standard of perfectionism.
So, start with your self-care practices now in order to be balanced and as relaxed as you can be during Thanksgiving.
See yourself with loving eyes, touch your body, massage your face, take time for yourself, journal, dance, read, go for walks and do whatever it is that fills your self-love cup.
The more practice you have now, the easier it’ll be to tap into your resources when things are stressful and overwhelming.
Guidepost #4: Do NOT apologize
For eating, for having gained weight, for not eating, for not having gained weight, etc.
It can be hard to endure when your family judges your weight, your eating behaviors. It’s like a repeated slap in the face to have relatives comment on your body or hear questions like: Should you really at this?
It’s OK to be hurt, feel disappointed, angry or whatever else comes up for you.
However, it’s not OK to apologize for being YOU.
Remember that when others judge you, all they’re doing is projecting their own fears and insecurities onto you.
If you don’t eat a dessert, they’ll feel threatened because they’ll feel judged.
If you do eat 20 cookies, they’ll feel threatened because you’re not giving a s**t about diets and have mastered to live in tune with your body.
No matter what you do, someone will always feel triggered and might even give a biting comment.
It’s not about you, it’s about them.
So, do NOT apologize and own your choices.
Guidepost #5: De-stress
Sometimes a situation can get overwhelming or the urge to binge can get too big. That’s when you need to excuse yourself and de-stress.
I’ve written extensively about my favorite ways to relax. One of the easiest is to breathe in on 8 counts and breathe out on the count of one. Another easy trick is to go for a short walk sucking in the fresh, cold air. Check out more tips here.
Guidepost #6: Wear an outfit that makes you feel happy
Whatever that means to you.
Don’t squeeze yourself into clothes that don’t fit for whatever reason and instead take some time to choose an outfit that enhances your mood and self-esteem. Yes, you can totally rely on this external tool!
Guidepost #7: Stay in the present
If you tend to catastrophize and go a tad insane after having eaten just one cookie “too many”, then it’s time to come back into the present. You cannot control the future and you cannot change the past, your power lies in the here and now.
Take a deep breath and drop into your body. Notice your feat, your knees, your hips, your belly, your breasts, your arms, your hands, your face. Scan your body as slowly as you can to force your mind back into reality. What you feel right now is real and anything else is made up.
Now that you’re grounded again, you can begin to make decisions from a more peaceful place.
Guidepost #8: Check your mindset
Stop thinking in all black or white, all or nothing, good or bad.
The reality of your eating behaviors falls somewhere in between. Normal eating is totally flexible. The more you can see the greys and the nuances of your choices, the more you can ease into whatever situation you’re in.
Adopt more of a f**k it attitude and see that it really doesn’t matter how much you’ve eaten. Also, you’re the one who determines what a binge is for you. If you loosen your definitions just a little bit, you’re giving your mind and your body a big, much needed break.
Guidepost #9: Connect
Connecting with your loved ones is a great way to not get overwhelmed by the amount of food you’ll deal with during Thanksgiving.
Share your heart with your loved ones instead of obsessing over the buffet and be in the spirit of giving instead of in the spirit of dieting
What if your family situation is, erhm, complex and food is the only distraction you have from THEM?
Use Martha Beck’s 3Bs: Bag it, Barter it, Better it.
If you cannot be around your family unless you binge or are in pain, try to see if you can either not go or add something to your experience to make it less painful.
You’re the one who can make choices for yourself and it’s your attitude that often causes a miracle to occur. So choose what works for YOU.
Guidepost #10: Stay away from other people’s fat talk
If your family is anything like mine, you’ll hear a constant stream of “I ate too much”, “I’ll have to diet now”, “Did you see how much weight XYZ lost/gained?, “I wonder what diet she’s on”, “How many calories do you think I’ve just eaten?”, “Gosh, I just can’t control myself anymore”, “We’ll need to diet now”, etc.
If you hear your family fat talk, you have three choices: you can add to it, change the conversation or you can remove yourself from the situation.
I’ve walked away from many of my family’s attempts to drag me into a fat-talk bitch fest and it’s always saved my soul another attack. What are you going to choose?
Guidepost #11: Commit to Gratitude
Before you eat, take in all the food and practice an attitude of gratitude. This’ll ground you and give you a moment of pause before the act of eating begins.
Guidepost #12: Write yourself a Love Note
Before you go to your Thanksgiving dinner, give yourself some time to express your love for yourself.
You can write about ALL the ways you love yourself or why you are so grateful to be the person you are. You may want to write down a few ways that help you to relax and calm down: mantras, breathing techniques, special words, reminding yourself to get out of the room and ground yourself outside.
Keep this note with you at all times and refer to it when you are feeling freaked out, overwhelmed or “just” need a little reminder of how powerful and resourceful you are.
**
Have the most beautiful Holiday Season, my love!
***
As always, I’m here to support you in letting go of suffering and building the life you have always wanted to life: a life without body-shame, without obsessing about every calorie you put into your body, a life of joy, freedom and bold magnificence.
I have an exciting opportunity to work with me 1:1, in the same room for 2 days! I am coming to YOU.
Know that it’s time for major shifts in your life and relationship with food and yourself? Are you ready to commit so deeply to self-love, well-being and a body image based on respect that you can finally go out and claim your perfect life? Then this 2 day VIP experience is just the next step for you.
You don’t have to know how to “get” to body-love and freedom from bingeing and overeating. All you need to know is that you *want* a better life, a more relaxed and joyful daily experience. All you need to know is that you want to change the direction of your future. I’ll take care of the rest.
Is a life of body-love calling you? Send me an email (anne-sophie@annesophie.us) to receive the details. I only have 2 spaces available until the end of the year and they will sell out.
Ready? Let’s let go of suffering and dive into bliss.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
How to Cultivate Self-Intimacy & Let Go of Body Image Struggles
Nov 15, 2019
Getting to know yourself.
Being who you are without apology, without fear, without shame.
Taking a stand for yourself and knowing – without a shadow of a doubt – that you deserve to be respected, seen, take up space.
Waking up in the morning realizing yet again that no matter how much you weigh, no matter what your body shape and size, you are loved, cherished and taken care of by a universe so vast it surmounts your imagination.
All of these things are invaluable when it comes to letting go of your desire to lose weight, to be less, to have the perfect body and the perfect size.
And these feelings, this deep, unwavering knowledge can only be achieved by cultivating a vast sense of self-intimacy:the practice of truly, deeply getting to know your heart, your core, your feelings, your fears, your hopes, your dreams and your Self.
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I share 8 practices that’ll bring you closer to your core.
Journal
You cannot get to know yourself and truly have a deep understanding of your desire if you don’t have a practice of self-reflection, asking yourself the big questions, rewriting your story from one of victimhood to one of power. When you journal, focus on feelings, feelings and feelings. How do you feel in any given situation? What are your emotions made up of? Where do you feel them? When do you feel them? The more you get in touch with your feelings the more you get in touch with your core. If you’d like some journaling posts to get you started, here’s a great post giving you 25 prompts to find self-intimacy.
Take action
… in the real world just as much as in your head. No true self-intimacy can be acquired if you do not go out there, take action, make things happen and see how you react.
Stretch your comfort zone
Stepping outside of your comfort zone, being adventurous, daring, doing things you’d never normally do will not only help you to create a sense of Self, but it’ll also enable you to see where your boundaries are, where you do want to go and what you truly – from your core, not from fear – do not want to pursue.
Let go
Let go of relationships, fears, jobs, places, memories, friends, regrets and everything else that weighs you down, that stands in the way of you finding yourself, knowing yourself and seeing yourself. There is nothing wrong or bad about letting go. It is part of life, it is part of personal growth and it is your right to do.
Unbelief your beliefs
Updating your beliefs by unbelieving what you’ve always thought was true about yourself is probably the biggest way to cut through the noise and get to your truest Self – the one that isn’t bound by fears, by societal convention, shoulds and have tos. Playing with your beliefs, melting them away as you walk into your personal ring of fire, the one that we all walk through from time to time, gives way to freedom, power and your Self.
Forgiveness
Who do you need to forgive? What do you need to forgive? Holding on to grievances of the past is just another layer of mind clutter and emotional distraction and destruction that enables your social Self to run the show on fears and pretence. You do not have to hold on to all of these things to continue living. In fact, if you want to live a good life, your best life, be true to yourself, forgive, forgive, forgive. Tapping is a beautiful tool helping you forgive yourself and others and find the freedom and peace to continue life. Check out Tapping for Body-Confidence 101 here.
Change
what needs to change And you already know what needs to change, don’t you? You might be a bit scared, maybe hesitant to change, but you can. do. it. You are strong enough, you are worthy enough and you owe it to yourself – your core.
Take a stand for yourself
THIS. Do you ever take a stand for yourself or are you constantly trying to hide, making yourself smaller because you do not know your worth, believe that the less fuss you make the better? Again, self-intimacy cannot be achieved if you do not take yourself seriously, if you do not realize your worth. Go back to journaling and journal until you feel confident enough to say yes, say no and hey, this is not OK with full confident, clarity and the unwavering knowledge of who you are.
Bonus tip: Allow yourself to break down.
Don’t override self-intimacy by constantly trying to be strong. Strong is nothing more than yet another form of shaming yourself into being someone you are not. Allow yourself to fall apart, to break down because in those raw moments, that is exactly when you meet YOU.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
There are times in life – in ALL lives, I’d guess – where we have this deep inner call for rest, quiet and cozy warmness.
This need may arise (seemingly) out of nowhere, it may be the result of working too hard for too long, it may be the culmination of an emotionally tumultuous time or it can be the last phase of a particularly thorough Breakthrough.
The latter happened to me.
Earlier this year, I was working on some pretty deep trauma that had been stored in my body for decades. Together with my brilliant coach, we slowly and then quickly transformed this trauma into an energy of love in order to let it go.
It was a deep and life-altering process, but it also left me exhausted, void and emotionally vulnerable.
So, I heard myself whisper that it was time to cocoon. First, it was just a tucking on my heart and a weariness of connection that made me realize that something was “off”. Then, it got pretty clear that I needed to stop and take a close look at what my heart and body were telling me.
Rest, take a step back from all of your projects, say No, don’t feel guilty, stay warm, retreat, go offline, connect, put the book down, just BE –
my UM was telling me.
I listened, as uncomfortable as it felt, I listened as my UM has my best interested at heart. Always.
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I give you a glimpse behind the scenes of what cocooning looked like for me. I also share my 7 most helpful tips to make your time of reflection and re-centering as smooth and nurturing as possible – just in case you’re going through a cocooning phase too (which at one point, you probably will ;).
Here are 7 Steps to Honor Your Need to Cocoon
Create awareness
around the reason behind your desire to cocoon: is it self-destructive or self-affirming?
Put the boxing gloves down
and lean in instead. There’s no point in fighting this need to simplify and live in white space anyway.
Let go of the timeline in your head.
Rewiring your neurology – and yes cocooning is a part of that – takes time and we’re all on an individual timeline in this life. Why pressure yourself in being “done” by a certain time when you have no idea how long it’ll actually take to recenter and come fully back home into your body?
You have the right to say NO
– without explanation! Yes, you’re allowed to say no to playdates for your son, no to coffee invites, no to best friends and partners. You are allowed to listen to your needs and say no, no explanation or excuse needed.
Beware of the guilt.
Of course, if you’re anything like me, the rush of guilt comes flooding over you the moment you said No to anything or anyone; doesn’t even matter how big or small a thing it was. This is where our thought inquiry tools come in super handy: Use The Work by Byron Katie or ACT or – my favorite – the Mind-Body tools that I use with my clients.
Get support.
Cocooning can be a stressful and heartbreaking time and you do not have to go through it alone. If you feel the desire to reach out to receive support, do it. Do not hesitate. I worked with my coach throughout my time of cocooning and words cannot express how deep we were able to go together. Having that kind of support is priceless.
Keep checking in with yourself and your Unconscious Mind:
is it time to come back out? Is this still what you need or has it evolved into an alternate desire? Be real with yourself and once you’re ready, slowly, carefully poke your head back out into the more active part of life.
***
As always, I’m here to support you in letting go of suffering and building the life you have always wanted to life: a life without body-shame, without obsessing about every calorie you put into your body, a life of joy, freedom and bold magnificence.
I have an exciting opportunity to work with me 1:1, in the same room for 2 days! I am coming to YOU.
Know that it’s time for major shifts in your life and relationship with food and yourself? Are you ready to commit so deeply to self-love, well-being and a body image based on respect that you can finally go out and claim your perfect life? Then this 2 day VIP experience is just the next step for you.
You don’t have to know how to “get” to body-love and freedom from bingeing and overeating. All you need to know is that you *want* a better life, a more relaxed and joyful daily experience. All you need to know is that you want to change the direction of your future. I’ll take care of the rest.
Is a life of body-love calling you? Send me an email (anne-sophie@annesophie.us) to receive the details. I only have 2 spaces available until the end of the year and they will sell out.
Ready? Let’s let go of suffering and dive into bliss.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
{REPLAY} Dieting & Health & Why Diets Aren’t Harmless
Oct 31, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about dieting, health and disease.
We share scientifically backed details about the reasons diets may be harmful and how you can begin to unchain yourself from the beliefs that you’ve been fed all of your life.
Even though you may still “know” that weight loss is the number one way to get healthy, stay healthy or do better, you’ll slowly (or super, super fast) have to realize that this is not the case. Health is a complex symposium and it’s been shown over and over again that weight loss is not the answer to every single malaise out there.
In fact, weight cycling (which will occur for up to 98% of all dieters) is a huge stressor on the body, which affects the body in negative ways and might contribute to chronic diseases that have been blamed on weight.
Instead of focusing on weight loss and feeling ashamed of the weight you have, you can learn to heal your body image and come back to a joyous life in the body you were born with, a body that you shouldn’t change based on beauty ideals.
In other words, your attempts at weight loss cause you harm! Is that really what you deem healthy?
You can fight all you want, but your biology will eventually win.
After all, we’re programmed to seek food, eat and make sure that we do not starve in order to survive and thrive.
There’s more to say, of course, which is what we do in this episode.
“Bloating is something your body does FOR you” with Colleen Reichmann
Oct 23, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Dr. Colleen Reichmann.
Colleen is a licensed clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, PA. She specializes in eating disorders and body image issues. She has also done a lot of work with folks struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, and self-injury. She works with high school and college-aged students (but loves working with people across the age spectrum).
She was trained to utilize person-focused therapy. She also implements dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and family-based treatment with adolescents when appropriate.
Colleen is not a smile and nod therapist. Clients have described her as interactive, genuine, radically authentic and real.
We talk about:
why she chose the name Wildflower Therapy for her practice
her experience with food and dieting in college
why she chose to become a clinical psychologist and what touches her most when working with clients
her belief system around body image, life and eating disorders and how it impacts her work with clients
food rigidity and what it does to our lives
her path to recovery
the harms of the Keto diet
diet culture’s obsession with bloating and healing your gut
the complicated role of exercise in recovery
why every person feels like they’re the exception of the rule and that it’ll work for everyone but them and what to do about it
why you’re not alone but you’re making yourself feel so alone
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Evelyn was the nutrition expert for Good Morning America, appearing from 1994-’95 and was a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association for 6 years. She was contributing editor for Shape magazine where her monthly column, Recipe Makeovers, appeared for 11 years.
She is often sought by the media for her nutritional expertise and has appeared on hundreds of interviews, including: CNN, Today Show, MSNBC, Fox News, USA Today, Wall St. Journal and People magazine.
As a speaker, Evelyn is passionate and has been called, “Wonderfully wise and funny”, whether providing a keynote or full-day workshop.
Achievements and honors include, receiving the American Dietetic Association’s Award for Excellence in Private Practice. Many national magazines have rated Evelyn as one of the best nutritionists in the country including: Self, Harper’s Bazaar, and Redbook magazine.
Evelyn qualified for the Olympic Trials in the first ever women’s marathon in 1984. Although she no longer competes, Evelyn runs for fun and is an avid skier and hiker. She also enjoys surfing, kayaking and white water rafting. Evelyn’s favorite food is chocolate, when it can be savored slowly.
We talk about:
the basis behind Intuitive Eating and why she is so passionate about the research behind it
how diet culture is co-opting the language of Intuitive Eating and what we can do about it
Introceptive Awareness: what it is and how it can be measured
why dieters crave carbs over broccoli
how she got started and what has changed over the years in the field and directly related to Intuitive Eating
why it’s understandable to have fears about weight gain and the uncertainty of letting go of dieting and why it’s worth to try it anyway
the fact that no health professional can tell you what will happen to your body when you start to eat intuitively
the difference between mindful eating and intuitive eating and why we can’t use the terms interchangeably
the real and valid benefits of Intuitive Eating
the question if you can really be addicted to food
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
When you are finally ready to stop dieting, bingeing, restricting, overeating, freaking out, crying, shaming, you create the space for normal eating to occur.
But what does it mean to eat normally?
How do you feel when you eat normally?
Do you still think about food all the time?
Do you still watch what you eat?
How do fruits and veggies fit into normal eating?
What about chocolate and dessert?
Do you still care about food or is food just a thing you do because you have to survive?
You’ll also hear from four members of the Escape Diet Prison Community who share their thoughts and feelings about normal eating and how they’ve incorporated it into their lives.
Enjoy this episode!
Love and light,
Anne-Sophie
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
{Replay} What if you didn’t weigh yourself?
Sep 20, 2019
What if you didn’t weigh yourself?
How would you feel? How would you live your life? How would you determine your worthiness and the level of your happiness? What would you DO in the morning after waking up?
We give scales soooo much power and influence over every aspect of our being. Depending on what the scale says, we can either have the best day of our life or feel miserable. We attach everything to the darn number that either says: “you’re worthy, you’re strong, go YOU” or “you’re the biggest failure on the face of this planet, go hide and be ashamed of yourself“…
It’s crazy and yet so many of us do it, every day, allowing this thing to hold us back in all areas.
We all know now that the number you see on the scale and your health do not correlate – so why are you still owning one?
What do you have to lose by not stepping on it anymore? What is holding you back from smashing your scale and taking back control of your mornings, days, emotions and your life?
That’s what we explore in this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast.
Our conclusion: When in doubt, don’t weigh yourself.
Listen to the episode to find out how.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
{Replay} Fall Closet Cleaning without Having a Weight-Related Meltdown
Sep 13, 2019
It’s about that time of the season to go through your closet, ditch the summer clothes and put your favorite sweaters back in the first row. Cleaning out your closet can be super challenging when you’re struggling with your body anyway – the mark of a new season often marks the comparison of your current weight and shape to that of last year.
Shame, guilt, panic are emotions that then often take their turns.
However, as always, there’s a different way. You can totally de-clutter your closet without freaking out and we’ll share some tips to help you along the way.
Fall is also a time where our appetite and our desire for food changes and adapts to the colder temperatures and the less daylight. Halloween is coming up, which adds another challenge to the cravings that can occur more often now anyway.
We share the secrets to allowing your appetite to occur without falling into a binge or weeks of overeating.
Halloween candy isn’t the enemy, it’s delish and can be a super normal part of your entire year. All you need to do is relax and stop putting unnatural demands on yourself.
We also talk about photos and how you can make peace with them again. It’s true, looking at photos can be a super triggering experience when you’re convinced that your body is wrong and that you are taking up way too much space. When we look at photos, we don’t look for our beauty, we almost always look at what we feel is wrong, ugly, flawed.
Every women does it and she sees things hardly anybody else sees – thus driving herself deeper into the hole of body-shame.
When you’re convinced that you’re so ugly and that your face, legs, fingers are oh so wrong, it’s almost impossible to accept compliments. Yet the more you begin to embrace where you’re at and once you stop convincing yourself that you’ll never feel good at your current weight, the easier it’ll be for you to soften up and allow others to point out your beauty.
We also dive into the phenomenon of different meal times and different hunger levels during the day, why diets do not work and how to allow yourself to just be yourself all the way.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. Did you know: When you journal, magic ensues.
Of course you did.
It happens because you allow your subconscious to surface and help you to heal what needs to be healed (and that is rarely our weight and our “issues” with food). When you put a pen to paper, you begin to unravel and open doors that remained closed for decades; doors that are waiting to finally bust open.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Your self-confidence strengthens, the bar on your bullshit barometer increases and you begin to be yourself, truly, fully yourself no matter how other people react to you showing up as the person you are.
Every day, you’ll receive a journaling prompt delivered to your email inbox that will inspire you to dive into your own mind, connect with your true emotions and shine a light on your fears.
“Your body tries to talk to you – are you listening?” with Rebecca Scritchfield
Aug 22, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Rebecca Scritchfield.
Rebecca is a well-being coach, registered dietitian nutritionist, ACSM certified exercise physiologist, and author of the book, Body Kindness: Transform your health from the inside out and never say diet again, which Publisher’s Weekly calls “a rousing guide to better health” and The New York Times Book Review calls “simple and true”.
Through her weight-inclusive Body Kindness counseling practice, she helps people reject diets and body shame to create a better life with workable, interesting self-care goals. She has influenced millions through her writing, podcast, workshops, and appearances in over 100 media outlets.
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Finding Pleasure in Eating, Body Hierarchies & Grieving the Thin Ideal with Kristina Bruce
Aug 16, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Kristina Bruce.
As a Certified Integrative Life coach and Body Trust® Provider, Kristina specializes in helping people break free from diet cycling and negative body image. Calling upon her education in health studies, sociology, yoga, meditation, and The Work of Byron Katie, Kristina works one-on-one with people to help them develop a positive relationship with their bodies so they can live empowering and fulfilled lives, in the bodies that they have.
We talk about:
Diet Culture and the hype and fear around what foods are “good” or “bad” foods
Turning into a “health nut” as a guise to manage your weight
How to find pleasure in eating again
Why food shouldn’t be a source of stress. Ever.
Why your weight doesn’t say anything about your value or worth as a person
Picking your challenges when it comes to confronting the beauty ideal
Kristina’s breaking point
Micromanaging your food intake and exercise so much that any stray from your routine means weight gain
How Kristina’s attempts to keep her weight down affected her relationship
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
HAES, Ed Recovery and Weight Stigma with Ashley Seruya
Aug 07, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Ashley M. Seruya.
Ashley is a virtual assistant, social work intern, and content creator specializing in Health at Every Size, eating disorder recovery, and weight stigma. Her work can be found on her website at ashleymseruya.com and on Instagram at @cozibae. Digital prints available for purchase at ashleymseruya.com/shop.
We talk about:
Ashley’s own relationship with food and her body
Her journey to becoming an advocate for HAES and fat positivity
Her childhood experience with weight-based bullying
How dieting created a bond with her mother
How her experience at college and her struggle with a violent binge-restrict-cycle made her seek out professional help and what she learned from her time at therapy
Her path to recovery and how she managed to go from understanding what the problem was to really integrating healing into her being
Weight gain, weight stability and weight maintenance in recovery and beyond
Healthism & why health is poorly defined
Why all kinds of body changes are triggering
How best to approach doctor’s visits when you’re in a fat body
Weight loss surgery as a way to escape oppression
How to put your body in charge again
Why it’s important to trust the process in order to trust the process
The importance of community and confiding in people who are in fat bodies and are happy
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
We wake up, we feel bleh, ugly, wich we translate into “fat”.
When you’re breaking out of diet prison, these days can destroy all your good intentions and your commitment to staying off the weight loss sites and choosing a path of sanity and wholeness.
Fat days often come out of the blue and it’s difficult to handle them once they’re there. All you want to do is stay at home, eat ice cream and cry – because what’s the point of going out in the world if you’re just so darn fat, right?
Well, if you’ve read my blogs and listened to my podcasts for a while, you know that all of this is complete BS. It’s made up, it’s imaginary, it’s not true. A concept created by the diet industry.
Here’s the science behind it:
Feeling thin or fat is an illusion constructed in our posterior parietal cortex—an area of the brain that integrates sensory information from different parts of the body. Unlike your sense of touch, there are no specialized receptors in your body that send information to the brain about the size and shape of your body parts, says lead study author Henrik Ehrsson, MD, PhD.
“Instead, the brain appears to create a map of the body by integrating signals from the relevant body parts such as skin, joints and muscles, along with visual cues,” he says.*
Good to know, right? But this doesn’t make those fat days any less painful and annoying.
That’s why I share my favorite way of dealing with fat days and how to prepare yourself for them in this episode of Escape Diet Prison.
Love and light,
Want more meditation tracks? Purchase the entire Finally Free – Guided Meditations To Freedom From Emotional Eating album here.
{REPLAY} Letting Go of Control with Christy Harrison
Jul 26, 2019
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I am joined by Christy Harrison, who I’ve been following for quite some time. Christy is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified intuitive eating counselor specializing in Health at Every Size.
Her podcast, Food Psych, is one of my favorites as Christy talks with inspiring people about their relationships with food, eating disorder recovery stories, and roads to body positivity. Along the way, she shares her own journey from disordered eater to dietitian, and offers tools to help listeners make peace with food and their bodies.
Christy is also a journalist with more than 13 years of experience in food and nutrition media. She has written for and edited award-winning books, magazines, and websites, including Refinery29, Gourmet, Modernist Cuisine, The Food Network, and many more.
When she’s not coaching, writing or podcasting, Christy performs improv comedy, practices yoga, and spends as much time as possible outdoors. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her boyfriend and a cat named Harry Harrison.
I am so honored to have Christy on the show as she truly is one of the big guns in this community of body positivity and living a life without diets.
We talk about:
Christy’s own story of disordered eating and how she healed
What made her start writing about food
Why she went back to school to become a dietitian and how she experienced her education after having her own struggles with food and her weight
How she takes care of herself and the concept of intuitive movement
The role that food plays in her life now
Creating a society that is more accepting of all sizes
and so much more
Enjoy this episode!
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
{REPLAY} I know that. But I don’t do it. Why do I still hate my body?
Jul 17, 2019
Don’t tell me “I know that” but then complain about not HAVING what you want.
“I know that” are the 3 words I loathe the most – especially coming from prospective clients who hang out on my list for years and years and not make any progress.
Throw your scale out the window. You won’t heal until you do.
– I know that. But I still haven’t done it. Why am I still obsessing over food?
Begin to drop into your body and start body acceptance here and NOW.
– I know that. But I don’t do it. Why do I still hate my body?
– I know that. But I still restrict because I need to lose weight. Why do I still binge every night and gain instead of lose weight?
Diets DO NOT work. 96 – 99 % of all people who’ve lost weight on a diet GAIN IT BACK within a year.
– I know that. But I am still going to read this diet book and try to lose 10 pounds in the next 3 days. Why do I still feel miserable? And why does the weight come back?
The more you fight food the more you’ll obsess over it.
– I know that. But I still don’t allow myself to eat what I want. Why do I still live in diet hell?
Are you a “I know that” kind of person?
Do you feel that no matter what you hear when it comes to healing your relationship with food and your body, you already know it and you can’t be bothered hearing it again?
Do you hit unsubscribe whenever you hear a strategy over and over again because you know it but you also know that you haven’t acted on it at least once?
Do you blame coaches, teachers, strategist for not helping you overcome overeating and body shame but you’ve never ever done a single step of all the advice you got?
If you’re the one who says “I know that” ten times a day then no wonder you’re still stuck overeating, binging and hating your body.
No wonder you are still at the place you were 5 years ago when you first began to follow anti-diet advice.
No wonder you’re still unhappy, you’re still unsuccessful, you’re still spending your days behind the computer eating because you’re bored, sad, stressed and wishing that the next miracle pill will finally get you out of your misery.
No wonder….
You don’t really know it until you’ve DONE it. And not just once but for as long as it takes until you’re done.
So, instead of saying I know that throwing away my scale is a super important step towards inner healing, THROW IT AWAY.
Instead of saying I know that dropping into my body will help me to heal my awful body image, just DO IT.
Instead of saying I know that I have to stop restricting, STOP restricting.
Instead of saying I know that diets don’t work but still trying a new one every week, STOP LOOKING FOR NEW DIETS.
Instead of saying I know that the answer to my problems is to stop fighting food, STOP FIGHTING.
Yes, FEEL your fear (there’s nothing wrong with it), heal your pain and take the action you know will get you to the place of deep body-confidence and complete freedom from food.
You, my love, deserve it.
*****
If you need help moving from the know-it-all to the action taker who is truly ready to heal her relationship with food and her body, book a Discovery Call Session with me here.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard. x
She’s Really Let Herself Go & Other BS
Jul 11, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I talk about the concept of letting yourself go and the shame that comes with gaining weight when giving up dieting and beginning to eat more intuitively.
When we begin to understand that dieting is a concept that was manufactured to keep us women “in line” and small, we can liberate ourselves from the chains that keep us stuck in counting calories and fat grams.
We can slowly move into an understanding of our own power
and the truth that life can – and should – be fun, which it isn’t when you are always dizzy from hunger or exhausted from an inhumane workout regime.
Once you realize and truly get in your cells that your value as a person, as a woman, as a mother, wife, friend, boss, client, co-worker, daughter, sister, aunt, or whatever else you consider yourself to be does not lie in your weight and shape, you will be free.
You’ll feel it, you’ll see it, you’ll hear it and you’ll taste it – the freedom to suddenly be who you’ve always wanted to be; anyone far beyond the limits of that hyped up lifestyle diet.
So yeah, let yourself go. Set yourself free. Grab the opportunity to leave all weight loss schemes behind and focus on your true power instead.
Listen to this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast or watch the video here.
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
You Don’t Owe The World a Different Body
Jul 04, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I talk about the many reasons why you don’t owe the world a different body, why you don’t need to earn approval by changing your shape, size or weight and why you are valuable exactly the way you are.
No amount of weight loss or weight gain will change the core of who you are. Ever.
I share some insights from the 7th International Weight Stigma Conference and what happens when you go deep into your raw emotions – even if you want to do anything BUT that.
I also talk about values, making decisions in alignment with who you want to be and why escaping diet prison is about so much more than giving up dieting and letting go of the need to be thin at all costs.
And – of course – there’s so much more.
Enjoy this episode.
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Turn toward Yourself with Kindness with Fiona Sutherland
Jun 06, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Fiona Sutherland.
Fiona is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Director of both The Mindful Dietitian, & Body Positive Australia. She has been practising for over 15 years primarily in the areas of eating behaviour, eating disorders, body image, sports nutrition & education/training. Fiona is a committed Non Diet Dietitian, and is passionate about supporting & educating Health Professionals to develop skills and insight into working with clients from a weight-inclusive, heart centered lens.
She is also host of the Podcast “The Mindful Dietitian” and a Sports Dietitian, working with emerging professional dancers at The Australian Ballet School.
Fiona is a dedicated mindfulness practitioner and Yoga Teacher, bringing a particular emphasis on mindful eating and the intersection of food environment, eating psychology and body image into her work and training. She has trained in MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), MSC (Mindful Self Compassion) and MB-EAT (Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training). Fiona is guest lecturer within the Melbourne-based Dietetics courses across four Universities within the areas of eating behaviour, Body Image, counselling skills and the Non Diet Approach.
We talk about:
Fiona’s journey to being a mindful dietitian and how hearing people’s painful stories of repetitive dieting changed her path
the importance of taking people’s lived experience seriously as we’re all in the swamp together
being a role model to your children in order to decrease the costs of the anti-fat messages
the paradox of being regarded as highly successful but feeling broken inside
re-learning the skill of tending and befriending yourself by turning towards yourself with kindness
emotional eating and what it can teach us
what needs we’re not meeting and how to respond to them with love and gentleness
the cruelty of our own minds and how to set boundaries
the core tenants of mindfulness, our negativity bias and why the small moments really count the most
the fact that periods of restriction are being perceived as a form of neglect and what to do about it
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. Let go of the body hatred, the obsession with being thin and the pain that you might be addicted to. You can heal your life. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
You can do and be more than you will ever believe
May 29, 2019
In mid May, I spent a weekend with a group of women creating a sacred community and elevating each other to new levels of love, joy and healing.
We meditated, danced, did yoga, bared our souls under the full moon and allowed our spirits to shine.
While being with my own thoughts, I (re)learned lessons and had some realizations that weren’t suuuper comfortable, but brought me closer to who I truly am.
Here are a few of my insights:
1. Our thoughts can be real bitches
As if I didn’t know that already, right?
I did and yet I felt the full negative power of my thoughts during those hours of meditation and stillness. It was fascinating how ridiculous my line of thoughts got.
If you can relate, then know this: you are not unique in your struggle. What will make you unique however is to not let your thoughts drag you down. Instead of handing your power over to the randomness of your thoughts, do the thought work and come back on top as the champion you are.
2. Healing happens in spirals
Patterns of self-abuse present themselves as often as they need to until we fully resolve them. If an issue comes up year after year and you feel like you’ve done a lot of work on it, don’t go into victim mode and make yourself feel like a failure.
Instead, lean in and ask yourself what else there is to learn, what else there is to let go of, what else there is to uncover. If your patterns don’t fade, there’s more work to be done…
3. Sometimes you just have to be crazy
and DO what your heart is nudging you to do. No doubting, no hesitating, simply taking action and running into your next adventure.
When was the last time you made your mind shut up and completely listened to your soul? If it’s been a while, then make a promise to yourself that you are going to be wild (whatever that means to you) and allowing your inner child to have a say!
Oh and before I forget: you can do and be more than you will ever believe! Trust yourself a little more!
Listen to this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast or watch the video here.
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Re-gaining the Freedom of Choice with Lina Salazar
May 23, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Lina Salazar of Live Well.
Lina coaches women and companies to harness internal tools to experience a mindset shift in how they think about their bodies and well-being. Drawing on personal life events associated with bulimia and binge eating, Lina empowers individuals to live a life led by self-awareness and freedom of choice. Lina’s teachings result from the mindset shift that began her recovery after two decades of failed therapy sessions, Prozac prescriptions, hypnosis, and even meeting a monk.
Previous to becoming a certified Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York, Lina worked in international development, moving to some of the world’s most coveted cities, including Paris, New York, and Washington, DC. Lina has a JD and holds two MPAs (Master of Public Administration), from Sciences Po in Paris and Columbia University in New York. In line with her passion with real food and sustainability, Lina is a Board Member at Community Foodworks, a non-profit based in D.C.
We talk about:
Lina’s relationship with food growing up
why she says she enjoyed being in diet prison as a young girl
how your motivation behind your actions changes when you are in the process of healing your relationship with food
the beauty obsession in Colombia
how the messages about our bodies impact us in our childhood and beyond
Lina’s obsessive relationships with men and how they affected her connection to her weight
how our disordered relationship with food isolates and embitters us
how Lina dealt with her fears when challenging her comfort zone
the importance of the right community
how to figure out who you are beyond your body
re-gaining the freedom of choice
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Creating Momentum after a Moment of Deep Clarity
May 17, 2019
In this episode of the podcast, I talk about using the power of clarity in order to change your relationship to food, your body and your weight.
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Love and light,
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
5 Questions to Ask Yourself If You Want to Escape Diet Prison
May 08, 2019
When you decide to escape diet prison, you have a lot of decisions to make.
There are, of course, thousands of little things that will change now that you’re not longer part of the Constant Weight Loss Club.
You may not be willing to engage in fat talk with your co-workers anymore or participate in the daily walk of shame to the scale.
You may begin to set up firm boundaries for family members who always comment on your weight or stop slaving away in the gym at 5am every day.
But you may also feel the loss of those painful conversations with your best friend about how many pounds you absolutely need to get rid of or how bad you’ve been at Sunday’s buffet.
You may look at weight loss commercials and still feel this little desire to buy the product because it might just be the one thing that changes it all.
There may be days when progress is slower than you desire, which can allow your (hidden) fears of “this will not work” to break through and grab you with all their might. After all, you’ve been on the path of not dieting for a while now and all of your nightmares of the life beyond dieting seem to come true.
You feel trapped – trapped by the deep wish to be thin and the knowledge that going back on a diet will crush your life.
When you begin to doubt and feel discouraged, it’s time to ask yourself these 5 questions:
Am I really honest with myself?
Are you honestly wanting to escape diet prison? Or are there tons of reasons you keep in your mind and heart as to why this experiment will not work for you?
Are you honestly doing all you can to escape or are you seeking situations that make you feel uncomfortable about the path you’ve chosen?
How am I still trying to manage my weight?
If bingeing and overeating still occur, check in and see if you are still in the process of weight management. Are you really eating when you’re hungry or do you restrict in order to stay at a certain weight? Do you tell yourself that you’ve had enough to eat even though your body says otherwise? Are you keeping your weight low by engaging in destructive behaviors?
In other words, do you allow your body to speak for herself or does your dieting mind still rule the world?
How will I stretch myself more?
When you feel like you’ve hit a roadblock, you need to ask yourself how and where you can step outside of your comfort zone just a little bit more. After a while of engaging in the Escape Diet Prison world, you can get a little bit rusty or even shy away from doing things that may feel uncomfortable for a while.
Don’t allow yourself to stand still and instead, step it up a notch.
What am I unwilling to let go of and is this really serving me?
Are you really willing to let go of the dream of being thin? Are you still holding on to the “fat is unhealthy” rhyme? Do you refuse to see that health is more than your body weight? Or do you still not acknowledge the fact that weight loss won’t make you happy?
How are these lies you keep feeding yourself serving you? Why is it worth it to hold onto them?
The last question is one that you can ask yourself every day for the rest of your non-dieting life:
Am I committed to dieting or am I committed to living my life?
It’s simple: if you’re committed to dieting, you will lose a large portion of your precious life to weight related freak-outs. You will miss out on social gatherings, lots of fun and special moments that you can never get back.
If you’re committed to your life, you will make choses based on love, take risks, respond to your body’s wisdom as it serves your needs and choose to trust that your body knows best. You will actually create a life that is about more than being thin.
Which one will it be? You decide!
Let’s escape diet prison together. Book your 30-minute Breakthrough Session and begin choosing yourself over and over and over again. No more body hatred. No more obsession with being thin. No more pain. You can turn it around. Starting now.
Change the Health & Justice Conversation with Lucy Aphramor
May 03, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am honored to be joined by Lucy Aphramor.
Lucy Aphramor, PhD, RD, pioneered HAES in the U.K.’ s National Health Service. She developed the creative HAES course “Well Now,” now available internationally through licensed facilitators, which shows how to practically teach the personal-political-physiological rubric in community health groups. Lucy is widely published, often collaboratively, in health and social science journals, Fat Studies, and critical weight science books. Her work is characterized by a strong commitment to ethics, including naming and addressing the embodied impact of poverty, trauma, and oppression. She speaks regularly to lay, practitioner, and academic audiences.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I share our thoughts on how to learn to accept and respect your body – even when your parents don’t.
When parents make it their job to regulate their children’s weight,
body image struggles and food issues are almost certainly a part of the children’s future. Growing up, we see everything our parents say as the truth as we don’t have the ability just yet to filter our reality.
Every time we are told that our weight is a problem, either through words or actions, we believe it, turn against ourselves and begin to see our bodies as a major disappointment to the people we want to please the most.
Unlearning to see your body through your (weight-obsessed) parents’ eyes takes some work, but with the help of a skilled coach, you can begin to own your body as your own again – and maybe for the first time in your life.
It’s OK for you to stop competing with your mom’s weight,
to stop allowing your mom to watch your diet, to stop being triggered by your dad’s comments about your weight (aka. Should you really eat that? When are you going to lose the weight? You’ve gained some pounds, haven’t you?).
You can step out of their diet-centric shadow in order to heal your body image and accept your body for all the things she is, instead of hating her for the weight she carries.
Listen to this episode to learn how you can take the first steps toward complete freedom from needing your parents’ approval of your diet, body and weight.
Ready to change your relationship with your body and yourself?
Join the Body-Love Wellness Circles – starting April 29th!
Here’s just a bit of what you’ll gain when you join this 6-month group coaching program:
You will begin to notice your body again.
Most of us are completely disconnected from our bodies. We have no idea what it actually means to feel our bodies and to inhabit them. In the Circles, you’ll learn to notice your body again and slowly come back to a natural way of living with your body instead of hating upon it.
You will stop abusing your body and yourself.
We abuse our bodies with thoughts and behaviors and it’s so normal that we often don’t even realize it. In this program, you’ll become aware of all the abuse you’re putting yourself through and you’ll lovingly and gently transform your hateful thoughts to loving ones.
You will be at ease with your body and feel AMAZING in your skin.
With the changes in perceiving yourself and food, you’ll naturally begin to feel at ease with your body. You’ll rock your outfits, laugh wholeheartedly and even walk around nakedly again without feeling shame and misery.<
You will stop dieting once and for all – and KNOW that you don’t HAVE TO be on a diet at any given moment of your life!
Diets ruin way too many lives. By joining the Circles, you’ll learn to eat in harmony with your body again instead of solely relying on your mind, the media, weight loss programs and books to tell you how much you should eat, when you should eat and what you should eat.
You will allow yourself to be imperfect – and love yourself anyway.
We are all perfectly imperfect, but it’s hard to embrace that fact. By coming back home to your body, you’ll begin to free yourself of the need to be and look perfect all the time. And you’ll delight in the positive space that letting go of perfectionism will provide.
You will stop thinking about food. All. The. Time.
When your life revolves around food, it plain old sucks. Thinking about 24/7 takes away all the joy you have for other things. In the Circles, you’ll turn that around and instead of obsessing over what to eat and when and where, you’ll begin to live in the moment and enjoy your life in so many more ways.
You will learn to truly love, respect and accept yourself.
By doing the work and transforming your thoughts, you’ll begin to love and accept all of yourself again. Getting to this point takes time and lots and lots of TLC, but it is possible for everyone – including YOU.
Together, we’re going to unlearn all of your beliefs, fears, behaviors and habits that keep you in your own personal diet hell!
We’ll get to the root of what is keeping you stuck, heal it and create the foundation for you to live your legacy of freedom and bold magnificence.
This is What Happens When You Allow Yourself To Eat All Foods
Apr 16, 2019
“All I want to eat at all times are all the things I am not allowed to eat.”
“I am just not one of those people who likes to eat the “healthy” foods.”
“Of course, there are good foods and bad foods. Are you kidding me?”
“Food IS totally moral and I can never get it right.”
“I always have to watch out, otherwise I’d never stop eating all the foods I shouldn’t eat.”
And on and on and on we go.
One judgmental thought chasing the other. We hear these comments everywhere, we think them, we feel them, we live by them,.
We believe we know these food judgments to be true, don’t we?
And because we believe them with every fiber of our beings, we act accordingly. We feel guilty and ashamed for eating “pleasure foods”. We hate on ourselves for having “broken our diets”.
And, of course, we get obsessed with the exact nutrient contents of a single item of food and we live in extreme fear of doing it wrong.
Of messing it up, which we always end up doing, because, hey, there are too many rules to ever comply with all of them.
These fears create the obsession with a certain food group.
They create the feeling of needing to “cheat” (which you don’t ever have to because you can have all foods at all times, unless you have an allergy or have other medical reasons), which is always followed by a spiral of shame.
These fears, rules and lies keep you from experiencing food in all its glorious forms and they certainly keep you from having the revelation I share in this recording.
Curious what I’m talking about? Then listen to this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast or watch the video here.
Ready to change your relationship with your body and yourself?
Join the Body-Love Wellness Circles – starting April 29th!
work on your relationship with your body
dig deep into the reasons you’re holding on to body-hatred
clear the path for a life of true freedom
let go of the beliefs you’re holding on to about yourself, your body and food
create a life that is true to what you actually want
Can you respect your vulnerabilities?
Apr 15, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I talk about the importance of knowing and respecting your vulnerabilities in the process of healing your broken relationship with food and your body.
These vulnerabilities can present themselves in many shapes and forms and they often become obstacles on the way to regaining your freedom from dieting and weight obsession.
The moment you begin to embrace your vulnerable side and the parts of you that just don’t work perfectly all the time (let’s be honest, which part of us is ever working perfectly? Although, really, all of our parts always work perfectly in synch and in harmony with each other. But I digress), you are able to overcome any challenge you meet on the road to regaining your sanity.
There is something stunningly beautiful about recognizing that the feeling of being “exposed”, of being seen for who you really are – with all your imperfections – provides the foundation upon which you can build your new life, a life that is full of joy, fun and the knowing that you do not have to justify what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat – to anyone. Ever.
Learning to respect your vulnerabilities is a truly epic process and girl, you are in for a ride.
If you’d rather see the video than listen to the podcast, you can watch it here.
Ready to change your relationship with your body and yourself?
Join the Body-Love Wellness Circles – starting April 29th!
work on your relationship with your body
dig deep into the reasons you’re holding on to body-hatred
clear the path for a life of true freedom
let go of the beliefs you’re holding on to about yourself, your body and food
create a life that is true to what you actually want
From the very beginning of following a diet, you begin to distrust your internal cues for hunger and fullness.
You lose that natural and completely easy connection to some of your body’s most instinctive processes by beginning to rely on external sources telling you when, how much and what to eat.
The longer you diet the more you begin to shame your body for even “speaking up” when she needs you to nourish her and actually giving her what she’s asking for is totally out of the question.
And once you’re ready to break that abusive way of living, you often realize that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel hunger, respond to hunger in an appropriate way (aka. eating) and when it’s time for you to stop.
Of course, there’s never the perfect moment (ever!) to put the fork down, but your body does send you signals letting you when you’ve had enough.
You can re-learn to honor your body’s satiety signals by simply paying attention to your body again. You can stop – easily – when you’ve had enough to eat, even if you’ve been dieting for decades.
I know that that’s a scary process for many dieters who feel like they can either restrict or have a full-on binge and that’s why we talk about feeling your fullness in this week’s episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast.
Hunger is super natural and no matter your weight, you are allowed to meet your body’s needs for nourishment – without shame, without guilt, without worrying about what it will do to your body shape.
You get to eat what you crave! In fact, you have to if you want to live your life instead of living your diet.
Listen to this episode to find out how you can respect your body and your fullness again.
Ready to change your relationship with your body and yourself?
Join the Body-Love Wellness Circles – starting April 29th!
work on your relationship with your body
dig deep into the reasons you’re holding on to body-hatred
clear the path for a life of true freedom
let go of the beliefs you’re holding on to about yourself, your body and food
create a life that is true to what you actually want
Feeling insignificant, counting calories and bingeing at night
Mar 31, 2019
If you’re still feeling insignificant, unworthy, less than or too much because of your body weight, it’s time to get to the bottom of what is really going on.
I get it, we are made to believe that our weight is the main element of who we are, it’s what makes or breaks our worthiness as human beings, it’s what makes us right or wrong.
But, obviously, that is complete and utter BS and nothing but a way to keep us women small and feeling like crap at all times.
The cool thing is that once you realize your weight is NOT who you are, you can begin to work on what is ACTUALLY making you feel so insignificant (if there STILL is a reason to uncover) and you can leave that shadow behind and instead step into the light.
You can embrace your body and your weight for what it is
and instead of wasting your life chasing a senseless dream, you can begin to build a life that will leave a legacy of meaning, rather than a number on a scale.
I give you some essential strategies on how remember your inherent and unshakeable significance in this week’s episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast.
I also talk about how to “un-learn” calorie counting and how to deal with the feeling of bingeing at night.
If you’d rather see the video than listen to the podcast, you can watch it here.
Ready to change your relationship with your body and yourself?
Join the Body-Love Wellness Circles – starting April 29th!
work on your relationship with your body
dig deep into the reasons you’re holding on to body-hatred
clear the path for a life of true freedom
let go of the beliefs you’re holding on to about yourself, your body and food
create a life that is true to what you actually want
Hopping from one diet to the next hoping you will finally fix your emotional eating and find your self-worth?
Dreaming of being free from dieting thoughts and body-shame?
Wishing you could finally accept your body as she is?
Being at war with your body is like living a life in hell.
You’re constantly suffering, hurting, wishing you were someone else, different, better, enough.
I know, I used to wish I was a completely different person. I hated my body and abused it for decades.
The truth is that most women feel that way. We are ridiculously unhappy and insecure.
Unfortunately…
Most women spent their entire lives living for diets.
Most women never experience what it’s like to be at peace with their bodies.
Most women are extremely disconnected from the wisdom that their bodies’ hold.
Most women want to be free but are too caught up in the dieting world to actually ever believe that they can have a different life.
Most women are miserable when they look in the mirror and insecure about their looks all of their lives.
Most women realize too late what a gift their body truly is.
Women just like YOU.
It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.
It doesn’t mean you’re an exception.
It doesn’t mean you’re ugly, fat, unattractive and lazy.
It’s just a reflection of our times and our inability to feel our feelings and live our lives.
Luckily, there’s a different way to live, to be, to feel.
There’s a life without worrying about your body and simply being free.
There’s a life without blaming your body for everything that is wrong in your world.
There’s a life without the constant thoughts about which diet will help you lose your weight and which exercise program will tone your butt for bikini season.
There’s a whole new world of awesomeness out there. You might not see it yet, but I promise you, it’s there for you too.
Check out the Body-Love Wellness Circles and give yourself the gift of completely rewiring how you see your body/weight/diet/self.
It’s been 8 years of carving my way to a more liveable, wholesome, worthwile life.
It’s been 8 years since that little girl I used to be took one of the most important steps of her life and allowed herself to break free from the monsters roaring inside.
The monsters telling her that she wasn’t good enough, thin enough, smart enough, pretty enough, unworthy of being alive.
It’s been 8 years since that little girl took a deep breath and just went for it.
Stumbling and falling along the way.
Kicking and screaming for months.
Scared as she had never been scared before.
But she pushed herself along, gently, sometimes harsher, full of love, often solely driven by desperation.
She went for it because she knew that something had to change,
that the mere existance, the daily chaos of calories, workouts, macros, BMI tables, points and grams coundn’t be all.
She went for it and for the first time in her life, she did it all for herself.
These past 8 years have been a constant stream of growth, of shedding layer after layer of pain, of ridiculous beliefs, of conditioning.
These past 8 years have created a fire that has burnt away all the despicable truths the girl was told by those trying to tear her down.
These past 8 years have been nothing short of miraculous. And they’ve been as ordinary as life can be.
There was happiness, there was pain, there was joy and there was angst.
I’ve fallen in love, I’ve been broken up with, I’ve had a child, I’ve struggled with my parenting, I’ve had lots of successes and I’ve failed. I’ve been healthy, I’ve been sick, I’ve been on top of the mountain and at the bottom of the sea, I’ve gained friends, I’ve lost friends, I’ve sometimes even lost myself. It’s been a life with all the challenges that life has to offer, but it’s been a life without the nagging, painful calorie-counter and weight-checker in my head.
It’s been 8 years… wow.
The little girl has grown until a strong, independent woman on a mission to serve the women of this world.
I’ll tell you about my takeaways and the reality of healing in this episode of the Escape Diet Prison.
Enjoy!
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Spring Clean Your Body Image & Your Life
Mar 20, 2019
Spring is here.
Literally.
It’s the first day of this new season and I am welcoming it with open arms and a bright smile.
“Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is.” — Jessica Harrelson
It does, doesn’t it?
The special energies of spring make everything feel lighter, easier and so much more dazzling.
With those first rays of spring sun, I always want to get rid of stuff, want to make my home, my life, my everyday existence lighter; which always leads to a massive spring clean of my entire surroundings.
Have you started spring cleaning yet?
If not, listen to this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, where Deb and I share our favorite tips to spring clean your life and rid yourself of all the negative diet messages that may still be in your home.
We talk about decluttering your home, your life, the people you no longer connect with, as well as all of your social media feeds. We also go into some strategies that prevent you from freaking out when you declutter your closet and how this practice is your opportunity to not get sucked into the diet mindset all over again.
We have such a big attachment to certain items of clothing that spring cleaning your closet can be a real challenge, but once you recognize that it’s really about the memories we attach to these clothes and not how our bodies looked in the clothes, you can navigate this process with ease.
We also talk about mirror checking, noticing how you feel in your clothes and asking yourself why you still own your scale – even after everything you know about weight and that silly number.
With spring arriving, it’s time to take responsibility for your life, your attitude and your level of commitment to the No Diet Diet lifestyle.
We then go into stories of eating the most horrific Weight Watchers chocolate, pregnancy and weighing yourself, adopting a mindset of gratitude and why sugar is not as evil as you may believe.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Let’s get real here: you’re an expert at attacking your body, your fat, your self whenever life throws you the tiniest curveball, aren’t you?
You are a master at not feeling your feelings, not the ones that must be felt anyway, and instead you go into fight mode the moment life hurts.
You’re at war with yourself and you are convinced that combat is the only way to live your life; always attacking, always being acutely aware of all of your “flaws”.
But there’s another way to spend your time on this planet – even when life sucks and you are caught in a major funk.
You can tune into kindness instead of using force. You can say thank you to whatever situation you’re in and embrace the feeling that is deemed negative. You can stop the war against yourself and instead of being harsh, cold, or angry toward yourself, you can step into an attitude of romance, gentleness and allowing.
You still have time to embrace your weirdness, to realize that you are not wrong, to change the story of your life and come back home to a loving, caring energy.
Lean in, trust yourself and let yourself be taken care of – with love.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Let loose to heal your relationship with food
Mar 08, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about the importance of not taking yourself so seriously, of having fun in life even if you’re scared of judgement and why this is important in the context of healing your relationship with food.
Dieting is really serious business, isn’t it?
When you’re on a diet, you can’t eat what you want, can’t have what you want. Dieting makes your life and your experience really strict, dark and heavy and we mostly totally forget to have some fun and laugh until you cry.
When we’re on a diet, everything needs to be in control, which translates to so many other areas of life too. We feel like we need to be in control of our food, our emotions, our every move.
We control because we’re scared of being judged, of what life has to offer, of really being all we can be.
Leaning on a diet makes at least one part of your life easier. It gives you a framework for how to handle food, your body and your weight. It gives you a framework for living your life – at the same time sucking all the joy out of it.
When you stop dieting and walk towards freedom, this framework needs to crumble and you are left with the feeling of messiness, which is scary – and exhilarating. Life is suddenly totally out of control, food doesn’t need to be portioned anymore and you can do whatever you want. Awesome, right?
Yeah, but also frightening.
That’s when you get to do the work, to listen to your body, get feedback from your emotions, stretch yourself and take one step after the other in the direction of the freedom you want to experience in life and when it comes to food.
How do you do that?
Well, listen to this episode and you’ll see.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
If somebody doesn’t want their cookie, I’ll take it.
When you’re out and about with women – whether you meet for a cup of coffee, go out for dinner or simply spend some time in the park – you can almost guarantee that the topic of dieting or some kind of fat shaming talk will occur.
It’s like a law.
Women engage in fat talk, body talk, diet talk every day.
Most of them anyway.
Aaaand more and more men unfortunately do the same.
We have become a society that connects on a deep level by sharing how much we hate ourselves, our bodies and our way of eating. There’s a scary ease that transports us – often accompanied by uneasy laughter – into comments like “I shouldn’t have eaten THAT, I ruined my diet” or “I am totally allowed to have carbs today, it’s my cheat day after all” or even “You eat THAT? Aren’t you scared of weight gain?”.
As offensive as this kind of talk is, we don’t even see it as that anymore: the constant layer of guilt that we associate with food is just a given that we must live with.
But, newsflash, it’s NOT.
You don’t have to want to change the way you look at all times of your life.
You don’t have to dive into this collective guilt for needing food to survive.
You don’t have to say that you should be on a diet when you’re not on a diet.
You are the CEO of your life and your body and YOU decide what happens and what is not acceptable to you.
Fat talk – whether you engage in it or “just” listen to it – should be unacceptable for you.
All the unnecessary pain you create for yourself by listening to people body shame themselves – and in the process you too – should be a no-go area for you.
How do you do that?
You change the topic, you call your friends out, you lovingly leave the room or you add humor to this whole e**d up situation.
Remember that all bodies are different and that all bodies are good. No diet will change that fact.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about how to stop blaming and attacking your body when you are going through a rough time and life doesn’t work out according to your plan.
It’s so easy then to want to go on a diet to fix your emotions, or start bingeing uncontrollably to end the pain.
And as much as this works to distract yourself from what is actually going on – and let’s face it, it really does work! -, all that attacking of your body will not ease the suffering or solve any of the issues you are currently facing.
Yes, we’re most often not using our body as a scapegoat in complete conscious awareness, but the moment we realize we do, we can begin to truly face the “stuff” that is currently flooding our lives.
That’s what it means to be human and to use life as your classroom,
that’s what it means to grow and to evolve into the person that doesn’t need to reassurance that her body is wrong and proof that she is incapable and unworthy of love, joy and complete liberty.
If you are facing some challenges in life, then this podcast is just the right one to listen to: to be inspired, to get a gentle kick in the butt and to start healing for real.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Why You Should Never Diet Again with Traci Mann
Feb 11, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by professor and author Traci Mann.
Traci is a Professor of Social and Health Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Her research aims to identify and understand the behaviors associated with eating regulation and body image as well as the process of self-control during health behavior changes.
Traci is principal investigator of the Health and Eating Laboratory, which uses diverse research methods to study interesting topics such as increasing food consumption in NASA astronauts, increasing vegetable intake in elementary school children, and the ability of foods to reduce social and physical pain.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Facing Food Fears with Jennifer Rollin
Feb 05, 2019
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I am joined by Jennifer Rollin.
Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C is a therapist and founder of The Eating Disorder Center, who specializes in working with teens and adults with eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, & OSFED.
Jennifer has been named as one of the top eating disorder experts in the country by Balance Eating Disorder Treatment Center. She is on The Junior Board of Directors for The National Eating Disorders Association. She serves as the chairwoman of Project Heal’s national network of eating disorder treatment providers.
She has spoken about eating disorders on Fox 5, ABC 7, NBC 4, PBS, therapy centers, and national eating disorder conferences. Jennifer is a writer for The Huffington Post and Psychology Today. Her professional blog was named one of the top eating disorder blogs in the world.
Her past struggle with an eating disorder has inspired her passion for helping others to find freedom.
She works with individuals in her office in Rockville, MD, and worldwide via Zoom.
You can find out more about her work here. Follow Jennifer on Instagram here.
We talk about:
Jennifer’s struggle with orthorexia and other iterations of eating disorders, how she reached out for help and what her recovery process was like
Self-compassion in the process of recovery
Healing your relationship to food and learning to accept where your body will end up on the weight spectrum
How you can shift the focus from falling in love with your body to falling in love with your life
Facing food fears in therapy
How she found HAES and implements it in her work with clients
Therapists approaching recovery from a weight-centric view point and what we can do to protect ourselves
The never-ending question of being “sick enough” and how that holds us back from seeking help
The fact that we can’t judge the severity of an eating disorder based on how someone looks like
What to do when you lose hope
What it means to have a positive relationship with food and your body
Compulsive exercise and how to find your way back to a healthy relationship with movement
Working with teens versus working with adults
All the reasons why your appearance is not the most important or valuable thing about you
The work it takes to remain chained to Dietland
and so much more.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
[REPLAY] Shifting from weight to wellbeing with Linda Bacon
Jan 29, 2019
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by acclaimed research scientist, author and my personal hero Dr. Linda Bacon.
Dr. Linda Bacon is fostering a global transformation to a more just world, where all bodies are valued, respected, and supported in compassionate self-care. Best known for her paradigm-shifting research and advocacy upending the weight discourse, Bacon’s inspiring message takes us beyond size, to shaping a culture of empathy, equity and true belonging.
A professor and researcher, for almost two decades Dr. Bacon has taught courses in social justice, health, weight and nutrition; she has also conducted federally funded studies on health and weight and published in top scientific journals.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
[REPLAY] Emotional Eating, Bingeing and “Healthy” Eating
Jan 22, 2019
When healthy eating meets emotional eating or even bingeing, all hell breaks lose.
After all, emotional eating is the WORST, isn’t it?
One is never supposed to eat emotionally. Where’s the control in that? Where’s the healthy in that? Where’s the diet in that?
But what if emotional eating was normal, the thing to do, totally, utterly healthy?
And what if the need to eat healthy ALL THE TIME actually caused you to eat out of control? Which, to be clear, is NOT emotional eating, but a bingeing experience.
What if all our talk of being what we eat is the reason you eat until you feel sick?
These are just some of the questions that Deb and I answer in the latest episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast. Deb and I share our experiences with Emotional Eating, Healthy Eating and Bingeing and why one of those three is more dangerous than the others. We also talk about fat shaming, stigma and why children need to be our role models.
Your relationship with your body and with food can change!
You might be thinking that your situation is hopeless, that you’ll always have to fight your body, log calories, exercise your body to the ground, stay hungry and unsatisfied.
You might be thinking that you’re the exception, that you’re different than those who did break free.
However, those thoughts aren’t true.
Your relationship with food and your body can change. It will change if you take the right steps, if you learn the right skills and if you transform your mindset – lovingly, of course.
It might not happen overnight, but it can happen for sure.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
The Truth about Walking Away from Food When You’re Done Eating
Jan 16, 2019
What do you do when you’re at a point of your healing journey where you know when you’re done eating, but you still have the urge to eat more?
How can you relax when you’re having a hard time “letting it go” and feel a sense of regret and that overwhelming sensation of missing out on something very special?
And how long will it take to stop having such a hard time accepting when you’re finished eating?
These are concepts that Deb and I explore in this week’s episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast.
Hint: our views may surprise you.
The truth is that it is totally normal to eat beyond the feeling of fullness at times.
There are a myriad of reasons as of why you might want to eat more and the moment you begin to judge yourself for doing so, you’re creating a tornado of shame and guilt that creates a ripple effect often ending in bingeing.
However, if you can allow yourself to like food, enjoy food and just let your eating experience be what it needs and wants to be, you automatically release all reasons for shame, fear and guilt.
Listen to this podcast to get a deeper understand for how to do just that.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Don’t Shrink Yourself for Someone Else’s Comfort
Jan 10, 2019
Deb and I start out this podcast by talking about thought work and how you can effectively use it to heal your body image and other crazy-making beliefs that you are holding onto for dear life.
We go into the truth that there’s no shame in wanting to change your body. We get it as we’ve been there and thought we needed to fix our bodies too. We’ll never judge you for feeling like your body needs to be worked on in order to be worthy or loved and yet we’ll also always tell you that it will not work. You will never achieve whatever it is you’re hoping to feel/do/have by losing weight. Instead, you’ll lose time and so much joy by fighting your naturally occurring hunger and the body you were given.
We discuss how very different this journey to escaping diet prison is for every single one of us and how complex the daily realities of healing and recovery are.
We also talk about not letting thin privilege devalue your life and letting go of the need to shrink your body, your life, your truth for others.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
When you journal, magic ensues.
You begin to hear yourself, feel yourself and trust yourself more and more.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Why HAES works with Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani
Jan 07, 2019
In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I am joined by Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, the Founder and Medical Director of the the Gaudiani Clinic. The Gaudiani Clinic is a unique outpatient medical clinic specifically dedicated to adolescents and adults with eating disorders or a history of an eating disorder, of all shapes and sizes.
As one of the only outpatient internists in the United States who carries the credential Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) and Fellow in the Academy for Eating Disorders (FAED), she is passionate about the medical care of adolescents and adults who have a complicated relationship with food and their body.
Board Certified in Internal Medicine, she completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard, medical school at Boston University School of Medicine, and her internal medicine residency and chief residency at Yale, where she won numerous clinical awards. Dr. Gaudiani moved to Denver in 2007, choosing Colorado with her husband because its emphasis on the outdoors, the incorporation of nature into daily life, and the importance of family activity time as it offered a great way to foster work-life balance.
In 2008, she was one of the founding team members of the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders at Denver Health. After seven great years there, she left as its Medical Director to pursue her vision of outpatient care, founding the Gaudiani Clinic. During her years at ACUTE, Dr. Gaudiani became a nationally recognized internist for her work on the medical complications of eating disorders. Dr. Gaudiani’s book, Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders, was released in October 2018.
She has lectured nationally and internationally and is widely published in the scientific literature as well as on blogs. She is a current member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Eating Disorders and and the Academy for Eating Disorders Medical Care Standards Committee and is a former board member of iaedp (International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals).
Dr. Gaudiani is one of the only outpatient internists in the US who carries the Certified Eating Disorder Specialist designation and has received the honorable designation of Fellow from the international organization Academy for Eating Disorders. In founding the Gaudiani Clinic, she has established a nationally unique outpatient medical setting, not dictated by restraints on visit time or insurance rules, where strong, supportive, and healing relationships with patients help them achieve wellness while remaining in their communities. Through lectures and consulting work, she continues to improve the quality of medical care for patients with eating disorders in treatment programs around the country.
Dr. Gaudiani’s motivation for working with those struggling with eating disorders
Her own relationship with food and her body and how this affects her work
The false ideology that there’s a relationship between our weight and our worthiness
The fact that recovery is possible but complicated and that it often takes a village
The truth that every single wonderful human has their own story and their own unique desires and fears that must be taken into consideration during treatment
How individuals are being harmed by the medical system
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
2018 in Review: This is What I Know About Myself Now
Dec 30, 2018
In this episode of the Podcast, Deb and I discuss our highlights of 2018.
We talk about self-care, the struggle with worthiness, traveling overseas and how to overcome challenges that present themselves. We share our thoughts on making decisions for yourself instead of always thinking of everyone but you, wanting to belong, and yet staying true to yourself.
We take a look back on our favorite self-care tools and how to refrain from judging yourself when you’ve completely forgotten about your favorite self-care methods.
We also go into the themes of thoughts not being your truth, practices that are just always there, being open to leaving Dietland, and actually wanting to change no matter what.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
[REPLAY] Beware The Weight Loss Solutions for the New Year
Dec 27, 2018
New Year – New *Thin* You!
New Year – New *Miraculous* Weight Loss Solutions.
New Year – New Bullshit!
It’s (almost) that time of the year where we’re being bombarded with a slew of new, amazing, wonderful, OMFG WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS, PILLS, MIRACLE WORKOUTS and all kinds of other things nobody needs.
Except… we believe we do, don’t we?
When we hear celebrities share their incredibly weight loss stories, when one ad after the other appears in our Facebook newsfeed and Instagram makes us believe that there’s no life to be had when you’re not resolving to lose weight – fast – in 2018, it’s easy to get insecure, to feel ashamed, to want to hop on the diet train.
Once again…
It’s a new year, a fresh start, so why not finally change the one thing that makes us oh so miserable, right?
It can’t be THAT hard to lose those damn pounds and finally keep them off. All we need is the right diet, the right program, the right support and we’ll be fine.
Except we won’t.
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about the danger of the New Year’s Weight Loss “solutions” and all the ads that are going to be released in the coming weeks.
We give tips on how to create awareness of the effects of these ads and how you can easily and compassionately guide yourself through this time of endings and beginnings.
A new diet will not fix you.
The new ever so wonderful weight loss quick fixes will not heal your life.
Don’t start the New Year creating heartache for yourself that is simply not necessary.
Listen to the podcast and see what we have to say about this topic and so much more.
Check out Deb’s new blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
7 Last-Minute Christmas Survival Tips When You’re Struggling with Food
Dec 21, 2018
In this episode of the Podcast, I share 7 tips on how to make Christmas a wonderful time, even if you’re struggling with food and your body.
Christmas is now REALLY around the corner and as most of us are preparing to spend time with our families, loved ones and maybe even some diet-obsessed body shamers, levels of anxiety may be increasing.
However, Christmas doesn’t have to be a stress-fest. In can actually be relaxed, fun and even joyful. As always, you can develop and follow strategies that allow you to deal with any triggers related to food, your body and weight.
Here are my favorite Christmas survival strategies when you are healing your relationship with food and your body.
1. Manage your expectations
What are you hoping is going to happen and are your expectations within reason?
Do you believe that Christmas is only “successful” when you restrict, only eat one piece of pie and half of your plate? Do you believe Christmas must be about everyone getting along brilliantly? Do you think that you have to cook a 5 course meal and bake 13 different kinds of Christmas cookies to impress your mother-in-law and co.?
Are you supposed to be the perfect hostess, daughter, mother, wife? Are you stressed out because of the possibility that your children might fight?
Whatever it is, take a close look at your expectations and if any of those stress you out, choose differently.
2. Tap before, during and after the celebrations
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), or Tapping, is a super effective and easy tool helping you to calm your fears and deeply held anxieties. Tapping is a combination of Chinese acupressure with neuroscience and it’s pretty damn cool.
We tap on specific energy meridians on our body every Friday in the Escape Diet Prison Tribe in order to support our emotional health and unblock long-held fears, negative feelings and even limiting beliefs that keep us stuck and in pain.
Here’s a beginner’s guide to using tapping as a way to find body-confidence and to ground yourself in who you are.
3. Prepare and make a plan
It’s alllll in the planning, isn’t it?
When we go into a situation that can trigger our disordered eating behaviors, we must be prepared. Otherwise our brain will not come up with more helpful and healing coping skills. So, pull out a pen and paper and start to ask yourself these questions:
What worked for you last year? What didn’t work? What triggered you? Who triggered you? How can you keep the usual triggers at bay? How can you plan to deal with the more scary parts? Who can be your ally? Who can you confide in? What are you going to do if you get overwhelmed?
The more detailed your survival plan the better.
4. Focus on what gives you joy during the holidays
What are the fun parts of the holidays? What do you really love about Christmas?
The conversations that go deeper than how much weight certain people need to lose? Your cousins that you only get to see at this time of the year? The gift giving? The carol singing? Watching a certain Christmas movie?
Set boundaries with those who don’t want to give you time for yourself and stick to them. You are allowed to have “me” time, even if especially if everything around you is just a tiny bit too chaotic.
The more you plan in time for yourself the better. Everyone will benefit when your energy is balanced and your self-care cup is full.
6. Remember that your mental health is your top priority
Yes, yes, yes.
There is nothing more important than your mental health, which means that your emotional, psychological, and social well-being matters big time during the upcoming festivities. Your mental wellbeing affects affects how you think, feel, and act. It has obviously also a big impact on how you handle the stresses of the holidays, how you relate to those around you, what choices you make for yourself, your body and your soul. also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.
So stick with your self-care practices and up them if you need.
… and let nobody tell you what you should and shouldn’t eat, what foods are “good” and which ones are “bad”, how many calories are in this meal and how many calories you can save if you skip dessert.
Get a second helping or a third. You are the boss and you know best.
If people talk about dieting, walk away.
If people try to shame you, speak up for yourself.
You cannot control other people and their words and choices, but you can be compassionate and kind towards yourself. So, choose to treat yourself with love and care and let nobody make you feel bad for the food choices you make.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about everything from seeking external validation by changing your body and losing weight to realizing that every day is too precious to be wasted on trying to fight your body on a weight loss diet.
Is all the pain really worth the end-result (aka no result as dieting doesn’t work)?
We also encourage you to take a hard look at your motives and ask yourself why you still live your life for other people? How are you trying to prove something by not being who you are and what are you truly getting out of it?
Do you still believe that weight loss will make you fit in, be loved and taken care of? Or are you judging yourself for not being who you think you are, for not doing what you think you’re supposed to do?
If so, it’s time to change your internal representation of who you’re supposed to be into who you really want to be and who you are (in the deepest part of your soul). Stop living on the edge of not dieting and actually start living your life without diets.
Are you ready to stop intellectualizing your daily experience in your body and instead start eating, being and loving what is?
In the end, all you can do is ask yourself: do I want to be miserable and fight my body or do I want to let it go and create true freedom and joy?
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
(Over-)Eating is Not a Problem with Isabel Foxen Duke
Dec 10, 2018
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Isabel Foxen Duke who helps women stop feeling crazy around food.
Isabel has one of the most distinct voices in the realm of emotional eating, bingeing, dieting and the obsession around food and our bodies. I love her authenticity and her no Bullshit approach and am thrilled to share this conversation with you.
We talk about:
Isabel’s struggle with food and how she basically doesn’t have a memory of not feeling like her body was a problem she needed to fix
Never questioning the “truth” that you constantly need to control food and your body or all hell will break loose
How your desperate search for the magic secret that’ll make you permanently thin and loved can take over your life
The extreme feelings of shame and failure that dieting/binge eating brings about
The danger of the messages and controlling behavior in eating disorder and diet recovery
The Hunger/Fullness Diet
Isabel’s turning point: the moment she realized that you just cannot control your food and that that is totally fine (gasp!)
The moment real recovery actually begins!
The importance of body-acceptance and what acceptance actually is
How long-term weight suppression is harming your body
How to accept your body when you’re in a larger body (even in a world of weight bias and fat phobia)
Weight and Health and the fact that dieting is never a safe treatment option for any condition
The concept of Binge Eating as a construct that can only exist in a diet-obsessed world
What normal eating actually is
and so much more!
Check out Isabel’s free video series on how to stop feeling crazy around food.
If you want to check out my first interview with Isabel (from 5 years ago!), you can listen to it here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
Why do you want to be thin? Have you ever truly asked yourself? Or is it just a default thing you want – you’ve always wanted?
Why do you need to be thin? Have you ever truly known? Or is it just something that’s been on your mind – a pressure you cannot shake loose?
Why is this desire to have the perfect body ruling every area of your life?
Do you even know? Or are you just living your life on autopilot – because it’s what “you do”?
Of course, most of us have a reason for our desperate desire to be thin. We claim that it’s because of health reasons – when we know that being thin doesn’t make you healthy. We say it’s because we’d feel better – when studies show that the initial boost of happiness after weight loss doesn’t last. We then admit that it’s because we want to look great, want to stop the shaming that we experience, want to finally be proud of our bodies – as if that needed a specific number or reaching a fitness goal.
In reality, there are way, way deeper reasons for our desire to want to be thin – to hold on to our fight with ourselves.
We don’t want to feel.
We don’t want to see the reality that’s right in front of our eyes. We don’t want to deal with life.
With our relationships. With our careers. With our money issues. With our lack of self-esteem.
Using the need to be thin as a scapegoat is a great way of never ever truly confronting your real “construction sites” in life.
And it’s OK – if you want to stay stuck.
It’s OK – if you want to stay in pain.
It’s OK – if you want to keep your world super small.
Well, of course it’s not OK.
Because you are so much more. You have an entire universe of unfulfilled dreams inside of you. An ocean of feelings that aren’t being expressed. A heart full of love that isn’t being unleashed.
It’s not OK. Because you are keeping your true Self from yourself and from the world.
It’s not OK. Because you blame everything and everyone for your wounded heart.
It’s not OK. Because you are. not. happy.
Or are you?
I know, I know.
You are being bullied. You get the looks all the time. You are being torn apart.
And that sucks.
It is unacceptable.
But you don’t have to play along. You don’t have to play the victim. You don’t have to sink to their lows.
You can choose to be the bigger person – the wiser person. The one that knows what really matters.
You can say thank you for teaching me the important lessons and move on.
You don not have to play the “thin is everything” game.
Even if you’re scared to death. Even if you think that being thin will solve all of your problems. Even if you are so effin’ sick and tired of hearing all the BS about how you’re too fat, how you’re unhealthy, how you’re not enough.
You can choose to opt out. Of this sick, sick game.
You can choose to not be hurt anymore when people demean you. You can choose to see their own pain and fear in their comments. You can choose to be angry and rage, without turning on yourself.
You can choose to be who you are – without apologizing for your body, for your fat, for your rolls, your cellulite, your wiggling skin.
So, why do you want to be thin? Because it’ll make your life easier?
Will it? How do you know?
Has it ever made anything easier? Has it ever made solved only a single one of life’s challenges?
It hasn’t for me. It hasn’t for my clients.
It only happens on TV. In magazines. In the movies.
In reality, we’re not that shallow.
Being thin doesn’t bring you eternal bliss. Being thing doesn’t cause every person in this world to suddenly fall deeply in love with you.
Being thin might give you the admiration of strangers on the street, but is what does that give you, I ask? I mean, what will that do for the quality of your life?
Will that really make you sleep soundly at night? And wake up with a smile?
Wouldn’t it be so so SO much more awesome if you could wake up happy and excited being who you are instead of having to force your body into a size it just isn’t meant to fit in?
Don’t you want to be yourself? Live in ease? Not on a diet?
Don’t you want to be spontaneous? Go on a weekend trip without calculating how many hours of exercise you’ll miss?
Don’t you want to be free? Go on vacations without needing to lose 20 pounds before you can even book the trip? Every damn time?
Don’t you want to be the master of your own life?
Instead of allowing other people’s comments to tear you apart?
What if you choose to hold on to their looks, their behavior in order to not have to change?
What if you choose to hold on to the need to be thin in order to not have to feel how much it hurts and then move on?
What if you choose to hold onto your diets because you are terrified of the hell that’s about to break loose in your life?
What if you let go and your entire world would change? Would that be really so bad?
Would it be so so bad to change jobs? To leave that abusive guy? To finally get serious about your financial situation?
Would it be so so so bad to break your heart in order to heal it properly? To cry, to feel, to wail, to rage until you fall asleep? To dare yourself to do things you’ve always wanted to do – but couldn’t because you weren’t thin enough?
Would it be so bad?
So, I ask you – why do you want to be thin?
Why do you want to continue to live in misery? Why are you so willing to cause yourself all this pain?
And why do you choose to chase a dream that really, in all its glory, is not yours? Doesn’t it hurt?
Aren’t you ready to surrender- and choose the road less traveled?
To be the trailblazer? To allow yourself to love yourself from the inside out? From the outside in? And in between?
You do know what you’re doing. You do know that this will not lead to happiness. You do know that something has to change.
You have what it takes to turn this around. You have what it takes to be surrender to your binges, to your overeating, to your constant restriction, to your fear of movement or your overexercising.
I see it in your eyes. I see it in your heart. I see it in your every move and every word.
You are the one you were always meant to be – just covered by fear and shame – and the wrong belief that being thin will instantly ease all your pain and allow you to create a life of rainbows and unicorns.
It’s time to leave that behind. It’s time to unleash the superwoman that’s inside.
Not overnight. But by strategically going through the steps to allowing your core to shine.
Self-Care Strategies for the Holiday Season
Nov 28, 2018
The Holiday Season is here.
The Christmas music is all around, cookies are being baked, holiday parties are being planned, the pressure to create the perfect holiday is rising.
For some, the holidays are the most beautiful time of the year, for others – especially those who are fighting with their weight and their relationship with food, the holidays are a time full of triggers, shame and guilt.
There is SO MUCH to do, SO MANY parties to attend, SO MUCH temptation that feels oh so overwhelming and SO MANY reasons to freak out.
It’s sooo easy to reach for perfection during this time.
However, the more perfect you try to be, the more likely it is that you’ll snap.
Food fears, restriction, too much exercise and a series of binge attacks is almost guaranteed when you don’t allow for imperfection and don’t make your self-care a priority on your Christmas to-do list.
What about your self-care tools?
Even if you feel it might be too early, now’s the time to prepare and create self-care strategies that you can benefit from in the weeks to come.
Now’s the time to take note of your triggers and ask yourself what makes you want to go on a diet, restrict, binge or run away? What are the situations, the words, the memes or the bodies you see that trigger current or old eating destructive eating behaviors?
Now’s the time to DO. THE. WORK. and to use your tools heavily.
Be open to change and implement the self-care strategies that we share in this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast and beyond.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
Tearing down the thin-ideal norms with Patricia Moreno
Nov 19, 2018
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Patricia Moreno.
As a fitness star at the top of her field, Patricia Moreno appeared to have it all, but knew she was both living and selling a lie; preaching that diet and exercise were the keys to true happiness, while inside she was suffering under a heavy spell of shame and unworthiness.
She knew there was more to life, and made it her mission to find the answer and break that spell for everyone suffering the same as her. After adventures that took her around the world studying, meditating and practicing with gurus and scholars, Patricia created the intenSati Method and began to reshape the fitness industry, and the lives of tens of thousands from the inside-out.
Today she’s speaking up and calling out the very methods and mindset that she used to be a part of. She is on a mission tear down the body-shaming self-objectifying thin-ideal norms, and show what self love in action truly looks and feels like.
We talk about:
How to heal your trauma around movement and exercise
What to do when affirmations don’t work and what really helps
The weight bias ingrained in the fitness industry
How you talk about yourself to yourself and the impact your language has on your self-concept
Extreme dieting and bingeing
Why to remove weight loss from your “to-do list”
The biggest lie women tell themselves
How to change your self-concept
The importance of being a role model for our children
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
With all the talk about weight and health, the mental health aspect of this construct is hardly ever considered.
All the thinness in the world doesn’t matter when your brain is unhealthy and when you are unhappy AF.
Despite the ignorance that our culture, as well as our medical and scientific establishment portrays, dieting leads to a decline in our mental health, which will ultimately impact our physical health in a myriad of ways.
The obsession, the shame, the constant guilt, the never ending scrutiny and the soul-crushing pressure to “be good” weigh on you and affect every part of your life in negative ways.
However, as we’re promised to enter heaven by losing weight and keeping it off, we put up with the ever-increasing burden that dieting entails. After all, NOTHING is as bad as living in a big(er) body, right?
Well, noooooooooo. Not. At. All.
It’s time to focus on actual aspects of health and wellbeing and to create a life that is build on real susbtance instead of an outer shell that’s falling apart.
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, we share 10 proven tools to support you in strengthening your mental health.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. Are you uneasy about the upcoming weeks?
Do the Holidays freak you out?
There is such a big fear around the stress, the overwhelm, the family gatherings, the Christmas parties and – of course – the FOOD that my clients are already getting anxious about it.
So, as I did last year, I’ll repeat the super impactful Coaching Series on how to get through the holidays without binges, food fear and with your body-confidence in tact.
We’ll cover the following topics:
The secret to enjoying the holidays without depriving yourself or “losing (perceived) control”
How to effortlessly deal with the guilt and anxiety that comes with eating “too much”
The 3 major strategies to handle Christmas parties with ease and actually have fun
The #1 reason women binge on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day even though they believe to “have it all under control”
The 2 biggest mistakes women make approaching the holidays and this time of the year
My 5 best tools to help you get rid of stress and the tensions that seem to arise whenever you focus on food all the time, connect with your loved ones instead of obsessing over the buffet and be in the spirit of giving instead of in the spirit of dieting
This will be a transformational and powerful experience and will only share tools that are completely doable – as to not add to the holiday stress.
When you sign up, you’ll be able to participate LIVE on the call and you’ll receive the recording within 24 hours after the call.
There’ll be time for Q&A. So you can bring your fears and concerns to the call and will receive coaching on your issue.
Dieting & Health & Why Diets Aren’t Harmless
Nov 05, 2018
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about dieting, health and disease.
We share scientifically backed details about the reasons diets may be harmful and how you can begin to unchain yourself from the beliefs that you’ve been fed all of your life.
Even though you may still “know” that weight loss is the number one way to get healthy, stay healthy or do better, you’ll slowly (or super, super fast) have to realize that this is not the case. Health is a complex symposium and it’s been shown over and over again that weight loss is not the answer to every single malaise out there.
In fact, weight cycling (which will occur for up to 98% of all dieters) is a huge stressor on the body, which affects the body in negative ways and might contribute to chronic diseases that have been blamed on weight.
Instead of focusing on weight loss and feeling ashamed of the weight you have, you can learn to heal your body image and come back to a joyous life in the body you were born with, a body that you shouldn’t change based on beauty ideals.
In other words, your attempts at weight loss cause you harm! Is that really what you deem healthy?
You can fight all you want, but your biology will eventually win.
After all, we’re programmed to seek food, eat and make sure that we do not starve in order to survive and thrive.
There’s more to say, of course, which is what we do in this episode.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
Breaking Through Stereotypes with Claire Bristow of Her Society
Nov 01, 2018
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I am joined by Claire Bristow. Claire is an accredited nutritionist, PhD student and passionate mental health advocate.
Claire is also the founder of Her Society, a community for her, by her. This community started from Claire’s own struggles in the transition from a young girl into a woman in this often confusing and complex world.
The mission at Her Society is to encourage women to share their stories, flaunt their insecurities and learn to love not only one another but most importantly themselves for more than just what is on the outside.
We talk about:
Claire’s struggle with perfectionism, anorexia and depression
How she found her way out and back to living her life
The question if just being thin is enough for having lived a fulfilling life
The importance of a positive and like-minded community for healing and finding your joy
Finding a purpose beyond your physical self
Claire discusses everything she’s gained since being in recovery
She talks about her thoughts on being fully recovered from an eating disorder and why she chose to pursue her PhD and what she hopes to achieve with Her Society.
The ways that teenagers can save themselves from the negative sides of social media
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I explore the concept of “enough“.
Many ex-dieters have a hard time connecting with their body’s signals of hunger and fullness. It takes a while for them to re-learn what it means to have had enough food. When do you eat and when do you stop?
How do you stop eating before you’re super stuffed but also give yourself and your body enough pleasure to sustain you and keep you full of energy?
There are no black and white answers to this question and the feeling of what is “enough” will vary from day to day. It’s different for every person as every body is unique.
And that’s exactly where most have a slight freak out, right? After all, we’re so used to not having any grey zones when it comes to our diet. There are good foods and bad foods, depending on which expert we follow. We are supposed to eat what is deemed healthy and should feel guilty for eating anything else.
We eat exactly how much our weight loss expert told us to eat – whether we’re (still) hungry or not.
That’s not how it works, though. That’s not how reality is. That’s definitely not what having a healthy and balanced relationship with food looks like.
Exploring the concept of “enough” means building a deep relationship with yourself and rebuilding the trust that you’ve once had. There are certain guidelines (for example that regaining trust in your body and rebuilding the sense of what is enough can’t exist at the same time as managing your weight) you can build your foundation on and there are definitely many parameters that show you you’ve not eaten enough (fatigue, dizziness, constant hunger, hellloooo?!).
This – and more – is what you’ll learn by listening to this week’s show.
Enjoy!
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
Fall Closet Cleaning without Having a Weight-Related Meltdown
Oct 17, 2018
It’s about that time of the season to go through your closet, ditch the summer clothes and put your favorite sweaters back in the first row. Cleaning out your closet can be super challenging when you’re struggling with your body anyway – the mark of a new season often marks the comparison of your current weight and shape to that of last year.
Shame, guilt, panic are emotions that then often take their turns.
However, as always, there’s a different way. You can totally de-clutter your closet without freaking out and we’ll share some tips to help you along the way.
Fall is also a time where our appetite and our desire for food changes and adapts to the colder temperatures and the less daylight. Halloween is coming up, which adds another challenge to the cravings that can occur more often now anyway.
We share the secrets to allowing your appetite to occur without falling into a binge or weeks of overeating.
Halloween candy isn’t the enemy, it’s delish and can be a super normal part of your entire year. All you need to do is relax and stop putting unnatural demands on yourself.
We also talk about photos and how you can make peace with them again. It’s true, looking at photos can be a super triggering experience when you’re convinced that your body is wrong and that you are taking up way too much space. When we look at photos, we don’t look for our beauty, we almost always look at what we feel is wrong, ugly, flawed.
Every women does it and she sees things hardly anybody else sees – thus driving herself deeper into the hole of body-shame.
When you’re convinced that you’re so ugly and that your face, legs, fingers are oh so wrong, it’s almost impossible to accept compliments. Yet the more you begin to embrace where you’re at and once you stop convincing yourself that you’ll never feel good at your current weight, the easier it’ll be for you to soften up and allow others to point out your beauty.
We also dive into the phenomenon of different meal times and different hunger levels during the day, why diets do not work and how to allow yourself to just be yourself all the way.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about the recent rebranding of Weight Watcher’s and how “Wellness that Works” will effect millions of people around the world.
We also discuss the way the diet industry has adopted the fat acceptance movement in order to help their own motives in ways that are not supportive of health or true body neutrality.
Instead of focusing on health in all forms (including mental health), the diet industry is using terms such as self-care in order to disguise their real message. They have turned self-care and wellness into just another box of you needing to lose weight.
The Diet Industry’s New Path is Truly Dangerous for People’s Health
It’s a dangerous path and it’s one that thankfully many of us are not prepared to go down anymore. However, there are millions of people who still believe that weight loss is the holy grail of health and feel like a massive failure for not having achieved their goal weight just yet.
It’s easy then to be enticed to go back to a program that tells you to count points and add labels to certain kinds of food. It almost makes sense track your fitness in the name of being allowed to eat more. It’s so easy to mistake these kinds of behaviors for true wellness and self-care if a whole company (being backed up by a giant industry) plays on your extreme insecurities that they implanted in the first place.
What Wellness is Really About
Wellness, feeling and being well, is not about starving your body and putting food into certain boxes, labelling it as good and bad. It’s not about earning points for going to the gym or stepping on a scale every day to obsess about the weight you may have lost by being “good”.
Wellness is about empowering yourself and making your own choices based on how you want to feel and the messages that your body is telling you. It’s about having fun in your body and being in communication with your inner most desires at all times. It’s about balance and paying attention to your current circumstances, allowing food and movement to support you in living life on your terms.
You cannot achieve this kind of wellness if your goal is to lose weight – whether your body is on board or not.
Wellness is about detaching from the idea that your weight determines your worth.
And although Oprah tells you that weight loss is the path to unleashing the immensely powerful woman that lies deep within you, you know that you know that you know that this goddess within can surface right now – no weight loss needed, thank you very much.
No, the new Weight Watcher’s approach has nothing to do with wellness. It’s just another way of making sure that women stay small, dependant on their products and unable to truly own their significant power to change the world in their own ways.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
Sacrifices and Breaking Free from Your Obsession with Food
Sep 27, 2018
I’ve been thinking about the connection between breaking free from an obsession with food and being willing to make sacrifices.
I have this belief that you can have absolutely everything in life that you truly want to have.
If others can have it, why not you, right?
You can have a yummy relationship with your body. You can be completely free around food. You can have so much fun in your daily life. You can have a soul-nourishing relationship with your soulmate. You can have a circle of friends that feels like family.
You can have it all.
Of course.
AND you also have to make sacrifices to get there.
Of course.
Sacrifices in the form of un-learning painful beliefs, un-knowing long-held “truths”, digging deep and going where you have been scared to go for decades.
Sacrifices in the form of doing the inner work.
But also sacrifices in the form of time, money, resources, sometimes even comfort.
The level of healing, the level of freedom you’ll achieve directly correlates with your willingness to make these sacrifices.
That’s a tough one to hear, isn’t it?
Especially since most of us are still secretly searching for the quick fixes. The quick and easy road to weight loss. The super fast track to freedom from food. The 2-minute a day magical pill to loving your body.
You’ve been avoiding all the sacrifices, haven’t you?
If you’re really honest with yourself, you aren’t ready to let go of comfort and step into healing, to stop making excuses and start taking action, are you?
Be honest, but without shaming yourself, without beating yourself up, without getting angry and feeling even more guilty than you already do.
You really do feel like you’re not ready to sacrifice what you’ve got going on right now in order to get what you really want.
And I get it.
But I also know what happens when you finally do make the sacrifice and walk towards the uncomfortable, leaving the “easy” behind.
I could’ve bought a car (or two) with the money I invested in my healing. I could’ve read a hundred novels in the time that I invested in my path to freedom. I could’ve saved a million tears had I not chosen to go where it hurt. I could’ve had it easier had I stayed the same.
And of course I was often scared shitless. Of course I was often jealous of my friends who got to buy cute clothes, new cars, tons of scented candles, jewellery and do all kinds of things I couldn’t afford.
I sacrificed. But really, it wasn’t a sacrifice AT ALL.
It was the path I had to take in order to get to where I am today. These were simply actions that were necessary for me to break the chains of my past, to let go of all that had been holding me down and then move into the here and now with confidence, self-love and a complete detachment from any moral around food.
And it feels GREAT to know that those “sacrifices” led me to a life beyond my wildest dreams.
I see it in here. Those of you who are investing in themselves are those who are breaking free. Those who are allowing their fears to hold them back, stay stuck.
It’s your fear, of course, that’s keeping you stuck. It’s also our culture that tells us that you deserve everything NOW.
And you do. But could you handle all the good now? With all your fears? With all your restrictions? With all your unresolved emotional pain?
Probably not.
And you know that.
That’s why you continue to waste money on programs that promise you a quick fix – you know deep down that you’re sabotaging yourself and that is what you want, what a part of you wants, because you’re unwilling to heal, you’re unwilling to get the good stuff –
out of a deep fear and the belief that you don’t deserve it anyway.
But you do. Oh how you do.
You deserve the greatness that life has to offer.
And you have to get to a point where you can actually allow yourself to receive the magnificence that is waiting for you.
You won’t get there by lying to yourself. You won’t get there by looking for the quick fixes. And you won’t get there if you turn around and walk the other way every time it gets hard.
So, make some time today to journal on how you are unwilling to make sacrifices.
Are you continuously spending money on things you do not need instead of investing in your healing? Are you saying that you don’t have the time for what really matters but then sit in front of the TV for entire afternoons? Are you consciously refusing to journal/think about/meditate on what’s really going on? Are you still yearning for the super quick fix that’ll save you and turn your life around?
Call yourself out – lovingly and gently – on how you’re avoiding true freedom and true healing.
And then ask yourself: what am I willing to do about it?
Sweetness, you deserve a life that is about more than food and your body but you also have to be willing to face your fears and limiting beliefs and go GET that life. <3
Speaking of deserving, I have something uber cool for you: an idea that came to me and that hasn’t allowed me to think about anything else because I know in my heart of hearts that this is the shift you need in order to surrender to true body-acceptance.
INTRODUCING FALLing into Body-Love – 21 Days to really dive into the symbolic nature of fall: letting go of painful beliefs and body-shame while you sink into the luxurious comfort and relief of soft blankets and transition into a new way of being with food and your body.
Here’s what will happen when YOU join FALLing into Body-Love:
You’ll Begin to Embrace Your Body
You’ll Ease Into Being At Peace With Your Weight
You’ll Release Shame, Fear and Guilt
You’ll Tap Into Balance with Food
You’ll Have More Fun IN and WITH your body
You’ll Find a New Way of Being in Your Body
And here’s what we’ll be covering in FALLing into Body-Love:
Cycles of Weight and Allowing Yourself to Surrender to Change with Ease
Letting Go of the internal weight that is keeping you down
Transitions and Transformations
Finding Your Inner Light
New beginnings: Fall is the PERFECT time to step into a new way of living INTO body-love
Comfort and Balance
How to Have Fun IN Your Body in this special Season
Feels good?
It does, doesn’t it?
Oh, I canNOT wait to go through this transformation with you.
We’ll start on October 3rd.
Want to FALL into Body Love? Ready to tune into these beautiful seasonal energies to create transformation and let go of the pain you’ve been holding?
(Post 5/5 – read post #1 here, post #2 here,post #3 here and #4 here)
When Teresa stumbled over FALLing into Body-Love, she had an instant hit of “knowing” this was “it”.
She knew that this was the change she had been waiting for. This was the step she needed to take to break the cycle of dieting and begin to live into a new understanding of being in her body and “doing” food.
She knew that this was the first step on her path to body-love.
While she felt she wasn’t ready for deep 1:1 coaching, FALLing into body-love felt safe AND challenging, the right program at the right time.
She took the leap and allowed herself to be guided to a better, more loving understanding of who she was, of what body-love meant, of how to let go of fear, guilt and shame and of opening up to transition into a life without obsessing over food and the scale.
She took the step and she never looked back.
Here’s what will happen when YOU join FALLing into Body-Love:
You’ll Begin to Embrace Your Body
You’ll Ease Into Being At Peace With Your Weight
You’ll Release Shame, Fear and Guilt
You’ll Tap Into Balance with Food
You’ll Have More Fun IN and WITH your body
You’ll Find a New Way of Being in Your Body
And here’s what we’ll be covering in FALLing into Body-Love:
Cycles of Weight and Allowing Yourself to Surrendering to Change with Ease
Letting Go of the internal weight that is keeping you down
Transitions and Transformations
Finding Your Inner Light
New beginnings: Fall is the PERFECT time to step into a new way of living INTO body-love
Comfort and Balance
How to Have Fun IN Your Body in this special Season
Feels good?
It does, doesn’t it?
Oh, I canNOT wait to go through this transformation with you.
We’ll start on October 3rd.
Want to FALL into Body Love? Ready to tune into these beautiful seasonal energies to create transformation and let go of the pain you’ve been holding?
Oh and I have 3 spots available for those of you who are PUMPED and ready to start next week.
For $747 you get the FALLing into Body-Love AND 1:1 support.
That includes 1 call each week for the next 3 weeks leading up up to the program, the program, and then 2 more calls after the program to integrate the change.
Do you feel the transformation starting already?
I can feel it, I know, I am so ready to support you through it. Are you?
Send me an email at anne-sophie@annesophie.us if you want the 1:1 support.
(Post 4/5 -read post #1 here, post #2 here and post #3 here)
Love, with the world getting more colorful and the promise of another year coming to an end, you have the power to turn your life around.
You have the chance to begin anew.
You have the opportunity to balance out your inner darkness by cultivating your own light.
You have the option of choosing comfort over fear, balance over obsession, transformation over remaining in the same old pattern of body-shame and body-hate.
You have the power to fall deeply into self-respect, body-love and a new experience of your life.
Teresa, the woman who deeply despised her body, who was trying to hide her pain and shame behind her obsession with food and her body, woke up one day and knew, she knew, that she couldn’t continue living this way.
Her last diet had failed her yet again and she was done.
She knew that she wanted to live a better life, she didn’t know how, but she felt that change was imminent.
It was fall and she was ready to learn to love her body and let go of her need to numb her pain with food.
This time, she promised herself, it was going to be radically different.
INTRODUCING FALLing into Body-Love – 21 Days to really dive into the symbolic nature of fall: letting go of painful beliefs and body-shame while you sink into the luxurious comfort and relief of soft blankets and transition into a new way of being with food and your body.
Feels good, doesn’t it?
Feels like a breath of fresh air, no?
The relief you’ve been waiting for – not just since the beginning of summer but since the beginning of time, the first time you binged, the first day of your first diet, the first time you looked into the mirror and hated on your thighs, your belly, your imperfect breasts.
Want to know more about FALLing into Body Love? Ready to tune into these beautiful seasonal energies to create transformation and let go of the pain you’ve been holding? Send me an email at anne-sophie@annesophie.us for more information.
Yesterday, I shared how easy it is to abuse the special energies of fall in a way that make you hide your own magnificence.
This desire for a new body, a better body, that Teresa “instinctively” related to the beginning of fall is obviously picked up by the weight loss industry.
As Teresa looked around, all she could see were weight loss programs urging her to get rid of a few more pounds before the holidays.
All she noticed were the messages telling her to shrink, become less, in order to soon be MORE.
She believed it, without really knowing that she did. She believed it, without really questioning it all. She knew it was the truth as it was all she had ever heard.
Do you see these messages too? Well, of course you do.
And I urge you, obviously, to not fall for the marketers who are trying to make you live in fear, who are wanting you to stay oh so small.
I urge you to instead allow yourself to come back home to yourself, to choose body-acceptance over more body-shame.
I urge you to use the arrival of this new season for deep reflection and true inner transformation.
I urge you to lovingly use this time to turn inward and get to know yourself, your life’s purpose, your goals more and more.
Because, when the leaves are turning and the air has that distinctive feel of fall, you can easily and effortlessly FALL into body-acceptance.
So, take a breathe with me, inhaling the last rays of the summer sun and exhaling all your weight and food fears, letting go of what is holding you back from loving your body and arrive in fall with me. Hand in hand. Eyes locked in trust.
That is exactly what Teresa did.
I have something special coming for you that is so special, I can hardly stand not telling you right now. It brings tears to my eyes and for a few women, it is going to change Fall forever.
So, are you breathing easier? Are you already dancing to that slightly (or very) different beat?
Well, if you do, you’ve tapped into something truly special. You’ve instinctively noticed fall’s healing opportunities that go way beyond covering yourself up more again.
Fall is the time of the year where transformation happens easiest, quickest and in the most profound ways.
Fall has mystical energies that can accelerate your journey to deep, lush body-love tremendously.
Just like it did for Teresa.
She has, as I wrote, always been a huge fan of fall. Despite being a child of the summer, fall was always the time she looked forward to. She felt that when the days got shorter and the temperatures fell, she was more at “home” again.
Looking back now, she knows that this feeling of coming “home” again was just another way of hiding. Of course it was.
Fall, for her, meant just another diet. After the freedom of summer, she went back to her weight loss craze, so that she could sport a new, thin, super awesome body on Christmas Day…
She (ab)used the special energies of this coming season to recoil into her fears, to shrink once again, to build a life on the terror within and to commit to another lifetime of being stuck in diet prison.
With her favorite TV shows being back, with the days getting short and with her favorite ways to numb herself in arm’s reach again, it was easy to stay in pain and to hide behind a mask of sadness.
That mask that made her feel comfortable and safe. And yet, it caused a world of pain inside of her, a world that was only kept in check by, well, bingeing and dieting.
Yes, fall was a special time for Teresa, but she didn’t know how much more special it could actually be, if only she allowed herself to be who she truly was.
Imagine if there was another way to FALL into Fall that created more peace and love in your body instead of more abuse and self-loathing.
The story of Teresa. A story of falling into body-love.
Sep 14, 2018
(Post 1/5)
The story of Teresa. A story of falling into body-love.
Fall is in the air.
Teresa can smell it, she can sense it, she feels it in every part of her body, mind and soul. The morning temperatures are crisper, the days are noticeably shorter and the distinct energies of the changing season have arrived.
Some may be sad as the summer months are coming to an end, but Teresa is excited, she’s breathing a sigh of relief.
Teresa, who has been fighting her body and food for as long as she can remember, is ecstatic that summer is over.
Summer, for her, means excruciating pain: showing more “flesh”, wearing clothes that feel anything but “safe”, finding excuses not to go to the beach, to the pool, to bbqs that she’s inevitably being invited to, comparing herself to those that are blessed with bodies that are thin and “simply” feeling ashamed, less than, too much and being confronted with all of herSelf in ways she just can’t cope nor does she want to.
For me, as a coach, summer offers amazing opportunities to step into body-confidence. For Teresa, who is still learning to love her body, summer is the time of the year she fears the most.
Things are changing, of course they are. But it’s a process.
Now, however, fall is coming. Now, however, relief is imminent. Now, however, comfort is almost here.
Teresa can feel it.
How about you? Can you breathe easier? Do you already dance to a different beat?
Speaking Up To Your Inner Mean Girl and Coping Without Abusing Food
Aug 29, 2018
What’s your inner mean girl saying to you right now?
Is she yelling at you, telling you that you’re not good enough, not pretty enough, not healthy/skinny/perfect enough?
Is she telling you that you need to be more disciplined, more strict, even harder on yourself?
Is this inner critic telling you that everyone around you is better than you are and that you’ll really never ever measure up?
Our inner mean girl bullies us more than most of us have ever been bullied by others. And yet, we always choose to listen, choose to believe what this angry/hurt/sad voice is telling us.
You are not your thoughts!
It can feel hard to disconnect from that voice and begin to choose to see yourself in a more joyful, lighter way. But the truth is that you are not your thoughts and that you have the power to take a step back and look at your thoughts as the never-ending tape they really are.
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, we talk about this nasty inner voice and we share tools that’ll help you to embrace your more loving, more generous, more compassionate voice. We also share coping strategies that are not related to food, but can still help you to ease the pain that you may feel inside.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t take action and choose to find those people, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world. Use your voice in empowering ways!
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about this blog post I wrote last year.
We talk about the feeling that we often have that weight gain stands in the way of us living a whole, beautiful life. We feel so broken when we don’t have the perfect body or the super easy and effortless relationship with food that we so desire.
But the truth is that you are not broken, you are inherently whole.
And even if you still struggle with your body image, your relationship with food and your weight, you can understand that you are good enough. You can allow yourself to be loving in the way you think about yourself even if you aren’t thrilled with yourself (your weight, your food choices) all the time. In fact, you don’t have to love yourself every minute in order to live a great life. Nooo, you can feel “messed up” and still have fun.
Stop judging yourself for where you’re at and instead embrace this moment, this year, this part of your journey.
Maybe it’s not supposed to be any different in this moment? Maybe this is exactly what it’s supposed to be like right now? Maybe you need to learn these lessons in order to grow, to evolve, to completely break free? Maybe this struggle, this situation is just perfect for you?
I believe that our life is our classroom. Sometimes we need to embrace the discomfort in order to move forward, in order to shed more trauma of the past.
If you’re not happy with your current life situation and your feelings about your body, ask yourself:
which wounds do I still carry with me, maybe even unconnected to dieting and bingeing? What is still going on under the surface? What am I scared of?
Remember that when you leave diet prison you are undoing a lot of trauma and when you take action forward, you induce trauma too – or at least you can. It feels dangerous to stop following the rules and people feel uncomfortable to see you breaking some of their most holy beliefs. So, be kind to yourself, be compassionate, be caring.
You’re releasing a lot but you’re also gaining a lot – life, love, freedom and self-respect.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
Meaning if you’re super relaxed and blissed out, you can’t binge.
Let me elaborate.
There was a time when I couldn’t stop eating, when I literally ate from dusk til dawn. And I ate everything, EVERY THING, I saw. It was like there was a huge hole in my belly and I just couldn’t fill it.
It was a time that I don’t often talk about since it was short and so different than most of my youth.
But it was definitely a formative time.
During this time, I was always, always stressed. Not because I had so much going on in my life, but because I had so much going on in my internal life. I didn’t know who I was, I didn’t know what I wanted, I didn’t know anything.
I was lost.
This internal turmoil reflected my behavior big time.
You see, when we’re stressed the sympathetic nervous system – our survival instinct – is active. When we’re in sympathetic nervous system dominance, all of our blood, all of our energy goes into our extremities in order for us to run away from the big lion chasing us.
Thus, our brain doesn’t notice we’re eating, it doesn’t digest and the gut doesn’t let our brain know that we’re actually full and satisfied.
If it did, we’d stop or we’d have to eat by mere willpower to go against ourselves.
That being said, the more we can relax, be and breathe, the more we can begin to step into the relaxation response.
That’s how my binging stopped. I began to move towards joy and peace and I got my life back one day at a time. The more I was in a state of flow, the less I needed food to make me happy and to take off the edge.
It’s a process for sure, but with every step, you gain more life and you lose a lot of painful evenings hunched over a bucket of ice-cream or two super sized pizzas.
If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. Here are a few tricks you can implement to move into a state of relaxation and ease.
Laugh
Laughter lowers levels of stress hormones, reduces inflammation in the arteries, and increases “good” HDL cholesterol. And it obviously activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping you to feel good and release stress.
Get rid of stuff
If we have too much stuff in our lives, our minds get cluttered with unnecessary stress. I’ve found that the less stuff I own, the less distracted and overwhelmed I get.
So, take a look around: what can you easily get rid of? What do you never touch? What do you obviously don’t need?
Toss it!
Take power naps
I’m not a napper, but I’ve learned that a power nap here and there helps to reduce extreme stress and fatigue, which is one of the main causes for nightly binges.
Schedule in that power nap a few times a week and see how it changes your mood and uplifts your mind.
Clear your schedule
Yup, we live in a busy world and we measure our self-worth by how many items we have on our to-do list, how much achieve and get done every day, but if you want to have a balanced relationship with food, clear your schedule and do nothing for a while.
Seek joy
If your life sucks, your eating behaviors will suck. If you’re not happy, you won’t stop binging and expressing your feelings with destructive habits.
You’ve got to change your life (often in massive ways) in order to break free and cut the cords to your binges.
Unplug
No phone, no TV, no Facebook, no Instagram, no Pinterest, no Internet, period.
If you’re constantly plugged in, it’s impossible to escape stress. Escape the world by consciously choosing to stay offline for a couple of hours a week or more.
Ready to kick that binge monster to the curve once and for all and finally BREAK OUT of the prison you’ve (willingly) locked yourself in?
I am offering BRAND freaking NEW Intake Sessions where we get to the bottom of what is keeping you in binge-mode and removed from life so much that you just can’t stop the eating once you’ve begun. We’ll go DEEP and we’ll get far.
Hit me up on Facebook or write an email to anne-sophie@annesophie.us and we’ll schedule that intake to take you to the level you truly want to be – in life, when it comes to food, your body image and MORE.
xxx
The 7 Secrets to Dealing with Weight Gain When You Eat Intuitively
Aug 08, 2018
Weight gain when you begin your intuitive eating journey can feel like one of the most heartbreaking things that ever happens to you in life.
It feels suffocating.
It feels like your body is betraying you.
It makes you want to go back to dieting RIGHT AWAY.
What about all the promises of losing weight when you start to eat intuitively? You’ve heard them say it: they’ve lost all those pounds when they started to eat more mindfully. Why does it not work for you? You should be losing weight now that you’re not dieting anymore. You shouldn’t be gaining weight. This can’t be happening, no?
The question of what to do when weight gain occurs but you are committed to not going back to chronic dieting is one of the most common questions I receive.
After all, losing weight is ALWAYS a good thing and gaining weight?
It should be BANNED. It’s NEVER EVER good. No, no. NO.
Obviously, I’m being sarcastic, but this is what we think, this is what we are deathly afraid of, isn’t it?
What is going to happen when the weight gain continues? What if it never stops? What if you can’t control yourself anymore at all? How will you deal? How will you cope?
Your entire emotional system runs haywire, doesn’t it? Everything is on alarm and altert and you don’t know what to do to settle yourself back down.
Well, there are ways for you to calm down, to breathe and to begin to heal your very active dieting mind and handle the weight gain that has occurred like a superstar. Because in the end, it’s not as HORRENDOUS O.M.G. EVERYTHING IS BEING DESTROYED AND I WON’T BE ABLE TO LIVE LIKE THIS as it feels like in this moment.
In this podcast episode, Deb and I share our 7 secrets to not freaking out because your body hung on to some weight.
Ask yourself: are you using the intuitive eating approach as another diet? If you’re just trying to lose weight, you are still very much trapped in the diet mentality.
Your weight shifts all day every day and your body is reorganizing all the time. By wanting your body to stay at a certain weight, you are hindering her in her necessary work.
Do not weigh yourself while you are going through this change. No scale. Ever.
Don’t restrict. You are in between lives. Use this time to explore, to have fun with food and to experiment with what FEELS good for you.
Handle the “clothing thing” with grace and strategy. When you gain weight, your clothes can turn into a problem really quick for many reasons. After all, it’s convenient to have clothes in your closet that fit you, isn’t it? It’s inconvenient however to have to go shopping. Listen to our tips to change your mindset around this “issue” that can be solved in super fun ways.
Don’t use intuitive eating as a permission to eat allll day long. Committing to a life without diets doesn’t mean that you need to eat everything all the time. Nooo, this isn’t the reason to walk this path. Instead, this is about regaining your LIFE. And yes, food is an awesome part of that, but it’s not the only part.
Don’t punish yourself for “overeating”. Whatever you do, do not punish, do not restrict, do not go into the blame game.
Remember: You are NOT a failure for gaining weight!
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
How to Find Self-Worth Outside of Dieting and Being Thin
Aug 01, 2018
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I share strategies that allow you to step into a deep and unwavering sense of self-worth without focusing on your weight and the shape of your body.
I share a little story of a recent body image hiccup that came up in my life and how I dealt with it.
If you are serious about stepping into a wholesome picture of your self-worth, you have to make the decision and commit to it. There’s no way around making the clear and undoubtably firm decision on your part to stop playing in the circus that is our current beauty ideal.
Another way to stop feeling like you’re not good enough is to stop comparing yourself to younger versions of yourself and to thinner versions of your body. Were you really happy back then? I doubt it.
How to Build a Sense of Self-Worth
Deb and I give the following specific and actionable tips that you can implement right away if you are willing to develop a deep sense of self-worth:
Practice gratitude in the specific way we share in this episode
Stop hanging out with people who are nothing but a Debbie Downer
Step into the discomfort of being in between lives (again, it’s a decision)
Remember that there is no wrong way to have a body. None.
Acknowledge that your body will eventually win – no matter how hard you fight.
Realize that your body knows what she is going – if you allow her to do her thing.
Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable over and over again.
and so much more
We mention The Five Minute Journal: A Happier You in 5 Minutes a Day as a great way of starting or enhancing your gratitude journey. You can find it here: https://amzn.to/2vrhTh1 (Affiliate Link)
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about the ins and outs of commenting on other people’s weight gain or weight loss and how this effects our society as a whole.
We also share tips and tricks on how to deal with weight related comments when you are on the receiving end and how to change the way you relate to weight loss and weight gain conversations.
Why comment on weight at all?
Why is it that we feel we have to comment on people’s weight changes and why can’t we just ignore the fact that our weight changes all the time? Our body is not a static robot that is the same every day. No, our body works and grows and sheds and transforms every second of your life.
The more you try to hold on to one specific form the more you will hurt yourself, which is why it’s crucial to take a step back and reconsider the glorification of weight loss in our society and in our everyday life. The more we can see people as a whole instead of just taking out one tiny part, the more we will be able to break free from the chains of body weight.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
In this episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, Deb and I talk about feeling like you need to earn your food, never having the perfect diet day, gentle movement, Wayne Dyer, calorie counting and so much more.
We give you tips and hints on how you can stop believing that you are your weight and that food is something that you have to deny yourself. We share some personal stories about how we came to the point of freedom from thinking that food needs to be rationed and how it impacted our lives.
I mention the book Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More than We Think by Dr. Brian Wansink. He shares the many reasons we don’t – and supposedly can’t – eat mindfully, why our stomachs can’t think, how we’re being manipulated by the food industry, how we use external clues to figure out our hunger and satiation levels and more.
If you listen to his research, we are nothing more than machines, operating on autopilot, having completely lost trust in our own abilities to experience hunger and fullness, satiation and lust.
Check out Deb’s blog “We are more than good enough” here.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. The Escape Diet Prison Tribe is BACK!
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
In this solo episode of the Escape Diet Prison Podcast, I give you an update on what’s been going on behind the scenes. I share my experience of a mastermind group I belong to and how profoundly the experience of being part of this circle of women has changed me over the past 6 months.
I also talk about resistance to change and the future, happiness, release of all expectations, courage, moving into the unknown, taking REAL LIFE action and so much more.
Love and light,
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.
Thanks for Subscribing to Escape Diet Prison: Note: This podcasts is now also available on Stitcher!
P.S. Are you ready to join the TRIBE? Of course you are.
To remind you, here’s just a bit of what you get if you join the Tribe (on top of the monthly themes!)
Worksheets, videos and trainings on the following themes:
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food Overeating, Dieting and Binging – The core healing strategies to get out of diet prison Unbelieving and finding your core The best practices to build resilience around media messages and our diet culture Self-Compassion trumps Self-Esteem: Practices to give yourself kindness and care Feminine & Masculine Energies and how to use them to your advantage My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap A brand sparking new Journaling 101 eBook! Meditations and other audio messages. Weekly EFT Videos and scripts. Weekly Q&As and so much more!
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When you journal, magic ensues. 
Princess or Queen? And how these archetypes relate to body image and food
My personal self-care strategies and exactly what I do to stay confident and in love with my body without falling back into the dieting trap
Meditations and other audio messages.
Weekly EFT Videos and scripts.
Check out Isabel’s 
