I recently received a some feedback from a client that I thought would be helpful and motivating to all. I want to remind you all that she has been working with me for 7 months – these “Liberating Moments” as she calls them did not happen in one month or even 3 months.
Here is her first Liberating Moment:

” I have recently started to notice psychological results, and I think that these are what will help me to maintain my new, healthy lifestyle over a lifetime. Two of these changes have been truly liberating moments.

1) Letting myself throw away food.

My whole life, I’ve had it hammered into my head that I have to finish all the food on my plate. Of course, I’m sure my parents meant no ill will with this, but eventually, it spread way too far. I’m sure you’ll all know what I mean if you’ve ever hosted a dinner party. All of your friends come over with their cupcakes and their cookies and their various fried things stuffed with vegetables (spring rolls, samosas, spanikopita – who decided that stuffing things with vegetables and frying them was a good idea???) and, without fail, their super decadent “I didn’t know what to make so I just wrapped ________ in bacon” dish. You get the picture. Anyway, what happens to all of the extra food at the end of the night? You keep it, of course! You schlep out your tupperware collection and carefully package all of the food right down to the very last crumb. I used to think that this was just being resourceful – why throw away all of this perfectly good food?!?! – but I now realize that keeping this stuff around doesn’t help anyone and, in fact, it HURTS you. The truth is, all of that food is garbage. Really, any food that’s not good for you is just that, garbage. It’s either going to be wasted in the garbage can or, much, much worse, wasted in your body. Being wasted in your body is infinitely worse, because that waste isn’t disposed of, it’s stored. As fat. That’s right people – fat! So, my first liberating moment came when I started to a) force people to take their food back with them (which I think is a pretty sneaky way to get people to reconsider the types of food they bring to dinner parties) and b) throw things away at the end of the night. I cannot tell you how freeing this has been. I can have people over and enjoy the company and the food, all the while knowing that the food isn’t going to be around tempting me in the fridge for the next week. After all, it’s a dinner party – ONE NIGHT – why try to drag it on forever? Trust me – as much as you think you’re going to like it, having a tupperware container full of cupcakes staring you in the face when you open the fridge is pretty much the worst thing you can do to yourself. I think that this has also made me into a better dinner party guest. I’ve become more careful about making healthy options. If it’s not something I’d want to have lingering around in my own fridge, I don’t make it. The first few times you throw out food with be really, really, really hard but, like anything else, it gets easier and then…it gets fun! Another good related trick I’ve learned – when people bring in tempting treats to the office, you don’t have to eat the whole thing. Just take one bite, and throw the rest away. It’s really good training, and I think we need to train our minds in this way, just like we train our bodies.”

Stay tuned for liberating moment number 2!

On the other side of the journey- here is a client I have been working with for 6 weeks. This is a picture she sent me of her finished lunch and snacks from her day at work. I stress how being prepared is key and she clearly was

In her lunch was:
1. 1 ounce Almonds
2. Cut up veggie with tzatziki to dip
3. Turkey Sandwich on Ezekiel Bread
4. Home made blended vegetable soup
5. 1 cup fresh berries