by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast for this post here:

In the Jewish tradition, the period between the high holidays of Rosh Hashanah (which starts Wednesday night) and Yom Kippur (which starts Friday night, October 7th) is a time when we seek to make amends with people we may have wronged.  Essentially, it’s a time of seeking forgiveness and repairing relationships.

"The Platonic Kiss" by William H. Rau (image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

A few years ago, I started to think about this time as a time to repair my relationship with my body just as I try to repair my relationships with others.  I started to think about the ways that I may have wronged my body.  Had I pushed it to the limit working late night after night?  Had I expressed my hatred for it when my favorite pants felt tight?  Had I resisted movement that would have made it felt good?  Had I yearned for it to be anything different than it was?

So much of the time, we treat our bodies as if they weren’t a part of us.  We take out our frustrations on them.  We seek to change our bodies through dieting and over-exercising when they don’t meet with our approval.  And even if it’s our norm, it needn’t be our norm forever.

Even if you’re not Jewish, you can see this time of the Jewish New Year as a time to make amends with your body. Try this meditation when you have a few minutes (to be guided through the meditation, listen to the podcast above or in itunes):

Get into a comfortable position, either sitting, with your feet flat on the floor, or lying down.  Take a few deep breaths, allowing yourself to feel calm and centered.  Now think back over the past twelve months, and think of the times when you’ve felt ashamed of your body, denigrated it, made fun of it, or otherwise harmed it.  Take a few moments to feel what you feel in your body when you think back on those memories and experiences.  After you’ve spent some time feeling what that feels like, tell your body (either aloud or in your mind) that you would like it to forgive you.  Ask your body what it needs from you to forgive you, and promise to take those action steps.  Begin to feel that feeling of forgiveness within you.  Take a few deep breaths and begin to move your body to come out of the meditation.

As you can see, this not a typical New Year’s resolution which gets forgotten a month later.  This is much deeper.  This is an attempt to heal a rift within you by listening to your body and asking for its forgiveness.

I hope you’ll try it and let me know how it goes in the comments section below or on my facebook page.  And happy holidays to those celebrating!

Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Making Amends With Your Body originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on September 26, 2011.

by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

I tried to write this post about 10 times this week, and every time, I just couldn’t do it.

I had ideas but I didn’t like them enough.  I sat down to write and then found every distraction I could find (hello, Facebook!).

I used every trick in the book.

Affirmations! — “I’m an excellent writer who writes my blog easily!”

Time Management Skills! — I will set a timer for exactly 50 minutes, and it will be done in that time.  Everyone knows that work always fits the time allotted to it. It’s Parkinson’s Law in action!

Free Writing! — I know that if I write about whatever eventually it will be something interesting and then it will all come together in a genius blog post yes that will happen I know it when is it going to happen?

Relocation!  — Maybe if I just get out of my office and go to a coffee shop I’ll be inspired by the energy of those around me!

None of it worked.  Not one bit.  And as a coach who helps people move through resistance all the time, it was kind of a bummer that I couldn’t do it for myself this time.

Maybe you’ve experienced something similar.  Have you ever had a project with a deadline, where you knew you could do it but just couldn’t make it happen?  I can’t be the only one.

So I decided to write about that struggle today.  That struggle of making something happen versus getting into agreement with the idea that it may not.

It was only when I got into agreement with the idea that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t going to get my blog in by the deadline, that I was able to write this post.  I told myself that it was okay, that I could re-use an old post that a lot of new readers haven’t seen yet rather than come up with something new.  Going with the flow and acknowledging that I was stuck actually got me unstuck!

And then I just decided to write about not being able to write a post.  I’m now about 10 minutes into it, and I think I’m going to stop while the gettin’s good.

In a weird way, my struggle with writing my blog today is a lot like the struggle that many of us face when we try to change our bodies through dieting, over-exercising and other behaviors.  We often get to a point where our bodies rebel — we eat more than we “should”, we get injured and have to slow down, or we just get tired of fighting with ourselves. By accepting our bodies and our imperfection, we can actually relax and trust our bodies are really okay.  By giving up the struggle, we can just be and let things unfold.

Have you ever gotten into agreement with something that wasn’t working for you and finally found the solution you were looking for?  Please share it with me here or on Facebook.

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in empowering plus sized women to own their bodies and their beauty. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Join Golda for her 21-day Body Love Makeover Attraction Program. It starts tomorrow!

On Total Blog Fails And Going With The Flow (Mercury In Retrograde Edition) originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on August 8, 2011.

by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast of this post here.

A few days ago, I recorded an interview with Sharon Crawford for The Spiritual Path To Food And Body Freedom Summit (feel free to check out it out here). I was asked to speak about Health At Every Size(SM), and bring that different perspective to the summit.  I talked about all of the benefits of HAES(SM) of course, but I also went off on some well-worn tangents and some totally new ones (at least for me).

I found myself talking about body acceptance as a major peace movement of our century, and I truly think that it is.

Per Buddha "Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without." (Image courtesy of voluptuart.com)

In our culture, we learn to wage war on our bodies. We fight the battle of the bulge (not the WWII version), we fight our fat, fight our hunger.  We strive for control over the size our bellies and thighs.  We use chemical warfare (diet pills), surgical strikes (weight loss surgery, liposuction). I can’t tell you how many clients have said to me that they’ve fantasized about cutting off the fat from their bodies.  Maybe you can relate to that concept.

This is a war without end, a war that neither your body or your mind can ever win.  So the question becomes, how do you end the suffering?

I think that the only way to end the suffering is to make peace.

It may be that neither side really gets what it wants.  Your mind is going to have to live with the fact that your body is never going to look like [insert actor/model here, and plus sized models count].  Your body is going to have to live with the fact that your mind’s inner critic is going to crop up every once in a while.  But that’s the reality of peace — it’s not always easy.  That’s why it’s called making peace.  It takes some work.

So my tip for this week is to actively envision your body and mind making peace.  Imagine them coming to the table.  Maybe there are some things that need to be hashed out.  Perhaps some apologies are in order.  And then, imagine both parties committing to peace.  Imagine your body and mind living in harmony, in mutual respect and admiration.  When discord strikes, practice bringing yourself back into a state of peace.  Take a deep breath and envision, hear, and/or feel that state of peace return.

What might happen if you actually practiced holding this place of peace within you?  How would you feel?  How would relate to others?  How might it affect your food choices, your body movement choices, your life choices?  Now imagine that everyone around you started to do this.  How might it impact the world?

I can’t wait to see.

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in empowering plus sized women to own their bodies and their beauty. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

And, for support with loving your body and amping up your attraction factor, check out Golda’s 21-day Body Love Makeover Attraction Program. It starts next week!

Body Love And The Inner Peace Movement originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on August 1, 2011.

This is your last reminder, my dears!

Registration for The Empress Club ends TONIGHT.

If you want to get in on the only group coaching program specifically designed with you and your desires in mind, then sign up by tomorrow at midnight.

This program is jam-packed with the tools you need to permanently change your relationship to food and your body for good. In the Empress Club, you will:

* Learn powerful tools to IMMEDIATELY change the way you relate to your body
* Get my unique process for healing from long held emotional eating patterns
* Get support from other women who know your struggles and will support you in moving forward
* Own your beauty like you never have before
* How to understand what cravings really mean and give your body the nutrition it needs
* Receive Health At Every Size based counseling — scientifically proven to positively influence health indicators more than diet programs
* Set healthy boundaries based upon your needs and desires
* Build your business or career by networking with other Empresses
* And so much more!

To register or just learn more, click “Tell Me More!” below!

I will not be offering this special group program again until April at the earliest, so if you’re sick of struggling with feeling bad about what you eat and how you look, join now.

You will be so glad you did.

xoxo,
Golda

Registration Ends Tonight! originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on October 13, 2010.

This week’s affirmation:

“It is a joy to move my body!”

Try it out and let me know how it affects your week!

Affirmation Of The Week originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on October 13, 2010.

Golda Poretsky, HHC
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast here:

In the past, I always hated being a beginner.

Despite the fact that I love to learn new things, I never liked being really new at something.  I never liked feeling lost and confused.  I never liked the feeling that other people were catching on to something that I wasn’t getting.

When I decided to play bass at Ladies’ Rock Camp this summer, I knew it was a big leap.  I knew that in 2.5 days I was going to learn a bit of bass, form a band, make t-shirts, write a song with my band, and play at the Knitting Factory.  And that was pretty much all I knew.  I didn’t know anyone else at the camp.  I had never played bass before in my life (in fact, I had never played a stringed instrument ever).

But as I walked in to bass class on the first morning of camp, I decided one thing — for once in my life, I was going to embrace being a beginner.  I was going to embrace the power of having a beginner’s mind, of knowing nothing, and therefore being open to all possibilities. As Shunryu Suzuki said in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner’s mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless.”

Beginnings (The Fool) From The Goddess Tarot Deck By Kris Waldherr

This same concept shows up in the tarot as well.  The first card of the deck, the zero card, is called the Fool.  But the fool isn’t truly foolish, he or she is just a newbie.  This card implies the beginning of a journey, within or without, the sacred nature of being open to possibilities, the primordial soup within each of us and the power of being a real beginner.

So why am I writing about being a fool and a beginner?  Because I’m hoping to illustrate (perhaps a little clumsily) the power of being new at something.

When we try something new, we often feel powerless.  We feel that we’re at the whim of our teachers, mentors, and counselors.  We feel pressure to get it right, to be prodigies, to not feel lost or admit that we’re lost.

But I think that being new at something can be really powerful.  The first time you wear a sleeveless top can be really powerful.  The first time that you ask a guy out can be really powerful.  The first time you pick up a bass and hear that sound ring out of your amp as it bounces around the room can be really, really powerful.  It can be really freaking scary too, but I agree with Shunryu Suzuki.  When your mind is compassionate, it is boundless.

So, my newbie friends, what are you going to be new at this week?

And if you want to try something really new, I’ll be making a big announcement about The Empress Club in just a few days.  It’s a group program designed to rocket you toward your food and body image desires.  We talked about it at the last teleclass . . . but there’s more to come.  So stay tuned!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today! Get it for your kindle too!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.

Awesome And Awful All At Once originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on August 30, 2010.

Golda Poretsky, HHC
www.bodylovewellness.com

I’m posting an oldie but goodie again this week, but it may be new to you!

And, by the way, there’s still time to join me for my teleclass, which was rescheduled to Tuesday due to technical difficulties — How To Feel Good In Your Skin — Free 60 Minute Teleclass And Group Meditation. Just click here to register!

Listen to the podcast here:

I know you’re in shock that I’m actually a proponent of a diet, so I’ll give you a moment to recover. Okay. Are you ready?

Introducing . . .

The Media Diet.

It’s the only diet that I would ever encourage my clients to go on.

With the Media Diet you will:

• Lose your self doubt about your appearance
• Reach your goal of liking yourself and the way you look
• Melt away your resistance to feeling good about yourself right now
• Maintain your belief in your own attractiveness

GUARANTEED!

Here’s how you do it:

For the next week, as much as possible, limit your exposure to images of:

1) Ultra thin women and men
2) Advertising of diets and diet foods

Both components of the media diet are important. In a study published in 2002, scientists reported that the introduction of television in Fiji completely changed women’s views of their bodies. Prior to the introduction of television, most Fijian women were satisfied with the way they looked no matter what their sizes. Less than a year after television became available, at least 77% of women reported dissatisfaction with their bodies and a desire to lose weight. In fact, there were no reported cases of anorexia or bulimia in Fiji until television was introduced! Other studies have shown that at least 24% of women on television are actually underweight by BMI standards – which means that many are starving themselves to fit the required norm. Television sets us up for body hatred and a desire to achieve body weights that even mainstream doctors deem too thin. Avoid it!

Additionally, Americans spend approximately $60 billion a year on diets and diet products. This is an incredible statistic considering all of the problems with diets including the fact that at least 90% of dieters gain all of the weight they lose back – plus a few extra pounds – within 3-5 years.

So let’s send a message to television producers and advertisers that we’re not interested in seeing ultra thin actors and ads for diet products. And, more importantly, let’s change what we look at every day so that our eyes are not deceived into thinking that underweight is an ideal.

While on the Media Diet, use your “willpower” to avoid the following:

1) Typical fashion magazines (it’s tempting to peek in the line at the grocery store but distract your attention with something else)
2) Internet fashion sites (except as described below)
3) Soap operas
4) Other daytime television (this is the time when diet ads are most prevalent)
5) Primetime sitcoms
6) Newspaper ads

Now, there is no need to starve for media on the Media Diet. Take this time on the Media Diet to replenish your system with healthy alternatives:

1) Check out some really fun online plus size magazines, like Plus Model Magazine, Venus Diva Magazine and BBW Magazine.
2) Check out plus size fashion groups, like Fatshionista and the livejournal Fatshionista community. Enjoy all the pictures of fabulous fat women of all shapes and sizes dressing up in their favorite clothes. Post your own too. And for more gorgeous photographs, check out Adipositivity.
3) Read great Fat Acceptance blogs.
4) Check out this  youtube video showing the process of putting a model’s image on a billboard. You won’t believe all of the airbrushing!
5) Watch shows starring fabulous plus sized women and men, like Huge on ABC Family.
6) Take a little field trip to Brooklyn (if you’re in the area) and check out stores like Re/Dress NYC 109 Boerum Place, Brooklyn, NY 11201 and Lee Lee’s Valise, 368 Court St Brooklyn, NY 11231. Seek out size positive stores in your area.
7) Spend some time perusing all the great articles and blogs on More Of Me To Love including mine!

I guarantee that after a week spent on the Media Diet, you will look and feel better about yourself! Let us know how it goes!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today!  Get it for your kindle too!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.

The Only Diet I Recommend . . . originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on August 23, 2010.

Golda Poretsky, HHC
www.bodylovewellness.com

Due to a very full weekend at the Ladies Rock Camp, I’ve decided to repost this Body Love Wellness favorite.

And, by the way, there’s still time to join me for my teleclass this Thursday — How To Feel Good In Your Skin — Free 60 Minute Teleclass And Group Meditation. Just click here to register!

Listen to the podcast here:

Since I find myself spouting heresies every week at the Body Love Wellness Blog, I want to give you one more to chew on.

You Are Not Broken.

I say this because you are not an agglomeration of problems to be fixed and you are not in a race to see how fast you can fix them. I say this because you are really okay, right here and now.

I know that most of us go through our day connecting with what we see as our chronic problems. For many of you reading this blog, you have lived your life under the the spectre of your “weight problem”. Your “weight problem” colors everything you do, the way you interact with the world, the products you buy, the way you expect your body to function, the way you choose everything from your clothes to your lovers. And you think if you could just fix the weight problem, if you could just solve for x, everything else would fall into place, and you and your life would no longer be broken.

For others it’s not a weight problem. It’s some other problem that we’ve identified as being ours. It could be anything from infertility to cancer to crow’s feet. We all have certain problems that we magnify and see as the source of further problems.

We get lots of support in seeing our problems as the focus of our lives. Whether it’s an advertisment on television or a doctor’s advice, we’re constantly told that we need to get our problems under control, fix them, mitigate them, etc. We get the message that it’s our duty to elminate the problem so that we can then be happy and make everyone else happy. We understand that we shouldn’t rest until the problem is appropriately counteracted.

When we live our lives constantly focused on problems, we end up identifying with the problems themselves. As a result, we make poor choices and miss out on much of the good of life. (I can feel the chronic dieters out there nodding their heads as they read this.)

Only people who see themselves as having a weight problem would ever sign up for a diet program. Only a person who saw their weight problem as a major issue that had to get solved would sign up for getting weighed in at a meeting every week, eating prepackaged food for three meals a day, drinking diet shakes, starving themselves, making themselves vomit, etc. etc. If you don’t think you have a weight problem, you don’t do those things to yourself.

In other words, if you don’t see yourself as having a weight problem, you might actually be able to eat relatively healthfully, regardless of your size. You would be able to hear that voice inside your body that says, “I would like to eat that” or “I would not like to eat that” or “I’m hungry” or “I’m full.” You might also be able to hear your intuition more when it tells you things like, “I’d like to go back to school” or “I’d like to break up with my boyfriend” or “yoga is fun” or whatever your particular consciousness most desires. When you’re stuck in the problem, it’s hard to hear anything other than “I need to get this fixed right now in order to be happy.”

So, I will write it again. You are not broken. You are not a problem to be solved. Solving your “problem”, whatever you perceive your problem or problems to be, is not the key to happiness.

This week, I want you to identify whatever you think your big problem is. (For most of you, you’ll know it instantly.) Live this week as if your big problem was not a problem. Live as if it were already solved or wasn’t a problem at all. Notice what feels different. Notice if you feel better. As always, let us know how it goes in the comments below.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.

You Are Not Broken originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on August 16, 2010.

by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

So, I try not to get too political in these posts, but I’ve noticed a particular turn of phrase that conservatives keep using to defend the Bush tax cuts.  They say the following:

“Everyone knows that you don’t raise tax cuts during a recession.”

It’s a nasty and brilliant little trick.  Because (a) everyone doesn’t know or certainly agree that raising taxes (particularly on the top 2% of earners) during a recession is a bad idea and (b) it’s an insidious way of saying that anyone who doesn’t know this or disagrees with it is not very smart.  In other words, statements that start with “everyone knows” have a veneer of truth and give you the feeling that you’re stupid for trying to think other wise.

It’s just the kind of nasty and brilliant trick that your inner critic loves to use.

Your inner critic is that voice that tells you, “No, don’t wear that, you’ll look stupid,” or “Why bother exercising if you’re still going to be fat?” or “How could you possibly think that so-and-so likes you?”  It’s that voice that keeps you from moving forward, making changes, and moving beyond what you’re accustomed to.  It gets louder at certain times in your life, and quieter at others, but it often strikes at those moments when you’re moving beyond your comfort zone and trying something new.

For example, I’ve recently got into practicing yoga again, thanks to Abby Lentz’s wonderful DVD’s.  For nearly a week, I did the full hour Heavyweight Yoga 2 DVD every single day.  I hadn’t planned on keeping to that schedule, I just woke up every day and really wanted to practice yoga.  Around the 6th day, I had a particularly busy day, and I didn’t get to the DVD until pretty late at night.  I got through the stretching portion, which lasts about 20 minutes, and then decided that I had had enough for the night.  As I was resting for a moment on the mat, my inner critic voice piped up loud and clear, “You know that you’ve totally screwed up your schedule, right?” it said.  “You were on a roll and now that you think you can just do half the DVD, you’re never going to do the full DVD again.  You’re probably never going to use the DVD again at all.”  I tried to just acknowledge the voice and let it go, but it didn’t stop.  “You really screwed up,” it said.  “You can’t do 40 more minutes of yoga?  It’s not even a really hard yoga DVD.  It barely even counts as exercise.”

I know!  It was awful.  I had been feeling so good from all the yoga, I was ready to go to sleep, and here I was berating myself instead of congratulating myself on listening to what my body wanted by practicing yoga daily and then taking it easy when I was really tired.

But that’s the problem with your inner critic.  It knows just what to say to you to keep you in line, it knows how to shame you into keeping with the status quo, and it makes you feel wrong about your choices, actions and desires.  As a result, your inner critic can prevent you from taking important risks, making positive changes, and feeling good about all that you do.

But there are ways to deal with your inner critic.  So here are three tips to get you started!

1) Acknowledge It — Spend some time keeping a journal of what your inner critic tells you.  What does it say to you?  When does it get particularly loud?  What triggers it?  Does it sound like anyone you know?  After doing this for at least a week, let it go.  You’ve heard it, acknowledged it, and you’ve learned some of your triggers.  You don’t have to fear it because you’ve already heard it all.

2) Remind Yourself That Your Inner Critic Isn’t Always Right – Very often, when we start making changes in our life and having more positive thoughts about ourselves, that inner critic will come in and shut the process down.  For example, if you’re practicing the affirmation “I’m beautiful,” that negative voice may come in even louder and say things like, “That’s a joke!  Affirmations are stupid! You’re okay at the most, but definitely not beautiful.”  When this happens, we usually find ourselves agreeing with our inner critic.    But your inner critic isn’t right, it’s just been with you longer.  It’s a voice and an opinion that you’re used to.  So stop believing that the negative voice is telling the truth.  It’s not.  It’s just keeping you in your place.

3) Affirm, Affirm, Affirm –  Take some of your most negative thoughts and turn them around into affirmations.  For more help with working with and creating affirmations, check out this post.

We’ll be talking about dealing with your inner critic and more in my latest FREE Teleclass — How To Feel Good In Your Skin (coming up August 19th) ! For details and to register, click here. Can’t wait to “see” you there!

P.S.  I tried SO HARD to find an appropriate picture for this post.  So instead, I’m sharing with you the song “Downpressor Man” by Peter Tosh.  It’s not really about your inner critic (obviously) but it may have your inner critic on the run…

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.

How To Deal With Your Inner Critic originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on August 9, 2010.

I’m pleased to announce that my book, Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal is now available at online retailers in the US, Canada, and the UK!

From an early age, our culture tells us that losing weight and dieting is the key to having it all.  Whether it’s better health, a better body, or a better lover, we all learn that dieting will get us what we want faster than anything else.

Though we all want this to be true, if you’re like most dieters, then you know that dieting does not equal happiness.  Not only that, dieting can result in lots of unintended effects, like weight gain, disordered eating, and low self esteem, just to name a few.

But there is a way out.  In this breakthrough book, I show you why diets don’t work and how you can break free from dieting patterns that are holding you back from happiness.

When you read Stop Dieting Now!, you will come away with breakthrough insights and practical actions that you can take immediately to change your relationship with food and your body.  Here are just a few things that you will learn from this book:

• Why you can’t stick to diets (hint: it’s not about willpower).
• Simple techniques for letting go of food-related guilt and shame.
• Why you always seem to gain back the weight you lose from dieting.
• How old diet rules and habits can negatively interfere with your food choices, long after you stop dieting.
• How to avoid passing on dieting behaviors to your kids.
• The dangers behind “weighting” to be thinner before you make changes in your life.
• Real tools that support you in making peace with your body.
• And so much more . . .

Where to buy:

• Goodreads (If you’re a member, please mark it as to-read!)
• Amazon US
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon UK
• Barnes & Noble
• AbeBooks
• IndieBound

Let me know when you get it!

And stay tuned for info on my upcoming book signing at Re/Dress NYC!

Stop Dieting Now Is Now Available! originally appeared on Body Love Wellness on July 7, 2010.