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Calling All EMPRESSES– Early Bird Registration Is Now Open!

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:20:44 +0000

I am SO EXCITED to share this with all of you!

For a long time, I’ve only had two options for you. You could either take advantage of the free offerings on my site, the blog, the podcast and teleclasses, or you could become my client and work with me one on one.

And while I positively love providing both of those options, I’ve been dying to offer a program that would allow my clients to connect with and support one another, all the while getting support from me. In other words, I’ve wanted to create a group program that would be accessible to more women and would allow for all of us to build a community of like-minded women who are dedicated to empowering one another and breaking the chains of body hatred for good.

I wanted to create a group program that would support you in healing from the pain and isolation of body hatred and food issues. I wanted to create a community of women who were really committed to supporting themselves and one another in feeling great in their bodies and moving about their lives as the radiant and empowered women that they were born to be.

For over a year, I’ve been working on creating the curriculum for a program that would give its members the tools to really love their bodies, heal from food issues, and more. And it is finally ready!

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to The Empress Club.

The symbol of the Empress (in tarot decks and elsewhere) is usually depicted as a beautiful, powerful, plus sized woman. She is an image representing abundance, power, Mother Earth, divine knowledge, sensuality, and much much more.

Because of this, the Empress is a fitting symbol of a group coaching program designed to support powerful plus-sized women in attaining their desires.

If you are ready to own your beauty, own your body, and own your health, then you are ready for the Empress Club.

Register here, or just keep reading…

Let me tell you a little bit about what you get as an Empress Club Member. 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!

Now, you’re probably wondering how all of this works. As in, “What exactly do I get as an Empress Club member?” So here’s a breakdown of all that you get to participate in as an Empress Club member.

First, there are the calls. You will get 12 food and body image group coaching sessions in a teleclass form. Each session will be 60-90 minutes long. These classes will be in a workshop style, with a mixture of teaching and Q&A. These are calls where you’ll learn tools to support you in transforming your food and body image issues. And, you’ll get my personal, in-depth coaching on your specific questions. And you’ll learn a lot from the questions and successes of your peers!

Then, there’s membership in the exclusive Empress Club community site. You’ll be granted access to your own members-only protected site where you can get your questions answered by me and my team, share knowledge and inspiration with other members, and access the downloadable audios and other program resources. This is the place to share your experiences, get support, post pictures, network, and so much more!

Plus, we have the bonus Live Event, which I call the Empress Club Coronation. This is a 2-day, private event, where you get your chance to meet the amazing women that you’ve connected with in the Empress Club in person.

Day 1 is a plus size shopping event, where we’ll head to Brooklyn to visit Re/Dress NYC and Lee Lee’s Valise — two wonderful stores dedicated to fabulous plus-size clothes. There, trained stylists will help you create fantastic looks that look great on you. Day 2 is our spa day, where you get to pamper yourself at Spa Castle, an amazing, multi-level spa. We’ll talk body love as we relax and chat in jacuzzis, saunas and whirlpools. Please note: Attendance at the Empress Club Coronation isn’t required, and no new material will be covered. However, it is my personal wish that everyone be able to attend.

Plus, because I love my clients and love to over deliver, we’ll have some additional start up and follow up calls so that we can all connect and digest all that we learn.

Plus, now through September 7th September 30th, I’m offering a crazy amazing deal on this program. So if you’re ready to sign up, or just want to learn more, just click the button below. You’ll be taken to a link where you’ll get even more info about the program, and get the opportunity to sign up at this really low early bird rate!

I can’t wait for you to join me, Empress!

xoxo,
Golda
Body Love Coach
www.bodylovewellness.com

Calling All EMPRESSES– Early Bird Registration Is Now Open! originally appeared on on August 30, 2010.

Don’t Go Into The “Lite!”

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:42:43 +0000

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

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

To give you a little taste of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal, I’ve excerpted Reason #5: Diet Foods Are Full Of Chemicals & Tip #5: The Real Nutrition Facts for your viewing pleasure!

Reason #5: Diet Foods Are Full Of Chemicals

Many diets support the use of non-nutritional, highly chemicalized foods like fake fats and fake sugars. These chemicalized foods negatively affect body chemistry, cause low-level under-nourishment, and often encourage overeating when the dieter gets the signal that s/he is not getting nourishment.

As an example, back when I was counting points on Weight Watchers, I developed a horrific gastrointestinal problem the likes of which I had never experienced before. I was spending the day in pain, experiencing incredible bloating and ending up in the bathroom for hours. I was frightened of what might be happening to my body, so I made an appointment with a highly recommended internist. The earliest appointment I could get was a week away.

At some point during that week, I had an inkling that I should stop eating the delicious low-fat cheese product I had been eating regularly due to its low Weight Watchers Point status. I stopped eating the cheese (I was only having a few bites of it a day) and within three days my stomach felt normal again. I had similar experiences with diet foods—a popular ice cream bar and a diet brand name pretzel snack both caused rashes that, once I figured out the cause, disappeared within a few days. I’ve seen this pattern over and over again with my clients too.

Our bodies are not really designed to eat food made up mainly of chemicals. When we are able to connect with the wisdom of our bodies, we know what our bodies really crave—whole foods full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals (with the occasional piece of cake, of course!) Diet programs diminish our ability to make appropriate, real food choices.

Tip #5: The Real Nutrition Facts

Think back to some of your recent diets. Were there any processed, chemicalized foods that you ate because they were “on your diet plan?” If you have any around, take a look at the ingredients list (not the calories/fats/carbs facts) and see if there is any real food in your diet food! Think about whether you would have eaten these foods if you weren’t on a diet. And, if you’re having gastrointestinal, skin or allergy issues that seemed to come from nowhere, try going off any highly processed diet foods for a few days and see if you notice a difference.

Want to get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways to Heal? Then just click here!

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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!

Don’t Go Into The “Lite!” originally appeared on on July 12, 2010.

Your Imperfect Health!

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 17 May 2010 11:27:40 +0000

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

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

I think many of us walk around with the feeling that we’re not measuring up in terms of having “healthy habits.” Consciously or not, we think that if we could just work out all day, eat “perfectly” (whatever that might mean for you), meditate consistently, etc., that we would be “in perfect health”, never get sick, be the “perfect” weight and have “perfect” lives.

Does this sound anything like you? If it does, then you probably also spend a good deal of time wishing you could be more perfect and feeling that you’re not.

And that’s no way to live.

When you’ve spent as much time studying holistic health and nutrition as I have, then you encounter a lot of people who probably live as close to the ideal as possible. And let me tell you, they still get sick. They still get obsessive about food and health and exercise and meditation. They still have problems at work and get mad at their kids.

In other words, perfection ain’t so great.

One of my client’s is a novel writer with a day job as an administrative assistant. At least two nights a week, she finds herself staying up until two or three in the morning, working on her novel. She told me that she really wanted to change this habit, because she had read about how staying up late can throw off your cortisol levels and mess with blood sugar. She told me that after she stays up late to work on her novel, she still feels fine the next morning at work, often feeling more energized because she feels good for having worked on her book the night before. Yet, she was adamant about going to bed earlier. I worked with her on some relaxation techniques so that she could try going to bed at 11PM, even on those nights where she felt compelled to work on her novel.

At our next session, I asked her how her going to bed early had worked for her.

“Golda, it was terrible,” she told me. “Most of the time, I would stay in bed thinking about my novel until 2 or 3 in the morning, but not working on it. Once I was able to fall asleep at 11pm or so, but I still felt off the next day. I tried to write earlier in the day but it just wouldn’t flow. I haven’t made any progress on my book.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I think I’m just going to do my usual thing from now. I feel better that way anyway.”

That’s the thing about trying to be perfectly healthy. Sure, staying up too late all the time can mess with cortisol, but not staying up when she was dying to write was messing with her soul.

Health isn’t about being “perfect” with food or exercise or herbs. Health is about balancing those things with your desires. It’s about nourishing your spirit as well as your body.

If you want to change health-related habits, that’s fine, but do so without judgment. Let yourself balance your desire to be more healthful with your other desires and goals in life. Remember your real goal — it’s not perfection, it’s happiness.

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Also, be sure to register for her FREE 90-Minute Teleclass — How To Heal From Emotional Eating. Click here for more info and to register.

Swear By The Moon

Your Imperfect Health! originally appeared on on May 17, 2010.

Have A Better Relationship — With Yourself!

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:11:46 +0000

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

Listen to the podcast of this post here!

Having a great relationship with yourself is easier than you think! So this week, I’m bringing back one of my favorite posts on this topic. Enjoy!

Last week, I had the pleasure of going to a lovely dinner with my friend (let’s call her Amanda). The subject turned to the topic of dating. She told me how, about a year ago, she had wanted to meet a guy but wasn’t meeting anyone who piqued her interest, so she decided to start dating herself. In essence, she decided to be her own lover. She would take herself out to restaurants that she had been dying to go to, she would buy herself flowers, write herself love letters, make beautiful dinners for herself, and enjoy sensual time with herself. She so enjoyed dating herself that she ended up attracting a really great relationship in a matter of months. She joked that she was in a polyamorous relationship — her primary relationship was with herself and her secondary relationship was with her boyfriend.

What I loved about Amanda’s story was that she kept dating herself even though she now had a boyfriend because the benefits of dating herself were so great. So what are some of the benefits of dating yourself?

Dating yourself allows you to get in touch with what you really want in relationships. It allows you to connect with how you want to be loved, how you want to be touched, how much space you need, etc.
Dating yourself allows you to see how much you have and how much you are able to fulfill your own desires, without relying on someone else to do it for you. In essence, you realize your completeness.
Dating yourself allows you to assert boundaries in your relationships in an easy and loving way. Sometimes it’s easier to say, “I need to go on a date with myself” than “I need to be left alone”.
Dating yourself allows you to spend time enjoying the sensual pleasure of your body, which is so healing in terms of body acceptance (and so wonderful nonetheless)!
If you are looking for a relationship, dating yourself gives yourself a reminder of how it feels to be dating. And, as you may have found, people often get more attention from potential lovers when they’re already in a relationship. Therefore, dating yourself can actually make you more attractive because you’re already in a relationship.

In the work that I do, I often find that different techniques work for different people when it comes to increasing their sense of self love and well being. If dating yourself sounds like fun to you, I encourage you to do it! In order to support you, answer these questions and start acting on your answers. Your lover is waiting!

What kinds of communication would you like to get from the person you’re dating? (Consider: sexy text messages, love letters, loving voice mails.)
Where would you like to go on dates? (Consider: restaurants, movies, museums, parks, boatrides, at home.)
What kind of gifts would you like to get from a lover? (Consider: flowers, books, clothes, jewelry.)
What kind of sensual experiences would you like to have with a lover? (Experiment with exploring your body. There are some great books on this topic.)
What would you like to wear on these dates? (Consider: dressing up, lingerie, perfume, makeup, hair.)
How do you like to set the mood for myself? (Consider: music, baths, self massage.)

Have fun with this. Do the things that sound pleasurable to you and forget about the things that don’t. And remember, the first rule of the Body Love Club is it’s all research.

Finally, the idea of fulfilling your own desires doesn’t have to be limited to dating yourself. Pick a desire that you feel you need someone else to fulfill, and try to fulfill it yourself, even in a small way. For example, if you’re looking for a new job, perhaps you want to pay yourself for a task that you do, just to get the feeling into your body of being paid for different work.

As always, let me know how it goes!

Want more support in having a great relationship with yourself and others? Then come to my next Re/Dress NYC workshop: Attracting Love By Loving Your Body, Wednesday, April 7th! I would love to see you there!

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Looking for more support with intuitive eating and getting off diets? Click here to sign up for your FREE Body Love Wellness Consultation.

Have A Better Relationship — With Yourself! originally appeared on on April 5, 2010.

Hating Yourself NEVER Works

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:25:22 +0000

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

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

Most of us want to change something about ourselves. We want to eat more healthfully, get more exercise, procrastinate less, make love more, feel less stressed, feel more confident, etc., etc., etc. Really, I could go on and on!

Of course, some of these issues are easier to change than others. You might find a few forms of exercise that you really love, find ways to work it into your schedule, have it become a routine and voila! your “exercise issues” are solved.

But there will always be those issues that are harder to change. And some may never change at all. But the worst thing you can do is hate yourself for it.

Why is hating yourself or your ailments or issues so destructive? Because hate prevents change. Hate prevents healing.

Somewhere along the line, most of us learned that things were wrong with us, and, as a result, we should strive to overcome those things by denigrating them.

In other words, if you grew up fat, you were supposed to hate your fat, hate yourself for being fat, and forever apologize for your existence until you were able to get to some socially acceptable level of thinness. Even if you had a little “extra fat”, like thighs that were a little larger than your friends’ thighs, you were supposed to go around thinking or saying “I hate my thighs.” If you weren’t considered very bright, you were supposed to affirm that you were stupid. If you had certain health conditions, you may have felt like you had to conceal them.

And all of this hate didn’t change anything. It may have led to poor choices, or loads of shame, but it could only reinforce the perceived “problem”.

Hate cannot create change because hate stops the conversation. Hate demonizes what is, so that what is cannot become a source of information. When you allow yourself to feel love for yourself and your problems, you allow yourself to see your problems for what they are. You allow yourself to see how you might start to create change.

Energetically, hate cannot create change because it blocks the flow of energy, and the movement of energy is needed to allow for change.

So how do we transmute the energy of hatred? By using the energy of love.

For this week’s tip, I’m going to show you how the energy of love allows a flow of energy and allows change to happen within you.

Try this with me now (you may want to read it first and then try it). Take a deep breath, and close your eyes. Picture, imagine, or feel the flow of love in your body. Do you feel the way it moves through you, into you and out of you? Can you feel its energy, and that feeling of possibility that it holds?

Now feel the energy of hatred. Does it feel heavy? Solid? Miserable? Burning? Cold?

Now, with your eyes open, did you notice anything about that hateful feeling? Did it feel like the way you feel about the areas of your life that feel stuck or difficult?

So this week, I want you to try this exercise. Whenever you feel confronted with one of your issues or problems, take a deep breath, and see if you can picture, imagine or feel the issue or problem in your body, or visualize it outside of you. Then, allow that feeling of love that we just experimented with to spread through you, enveloping you completely, moving through your veins, arteries, organs, bones. Then extend that feeling to the issue or problem and see how it transmutes it. You may get a flash of an action you can take, or you may feel as though the issue is subsiding. Notice what you see and what you feel. And as always, I welcome you to share your experiences in the comments.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog post on more easy steps for creating change!

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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.

Looking for more support with intuitive eating and getting off diets? Click here to sign up for your FREE Body Love Wellness Consultation.

Love the visualization we just did? Then try out some of Golda’s other visualizations by clicking here.

Hating Yourself NEVER Works originally appeared on on February 1, 2010.

The Truth About Willpower

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:08:20 +0000

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

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

This morning, when I was cleaning out my office, I came across this postcard:

It is now on the wall of my office, where it should have been all along! It is one of the best pieces of mail I have ever received, sent to me by one of my very pleased and (very wonderful) clients.

It’s so appropriate that this postcard has resurfaced in my life at this time of year, when the media is awash in “health information” that so many of us internalize into really negative, judgmental, painful resolutions. This time of year, when new seasons of shows like The Biggest Loser, so calculated to feed on our collective guilt and shame, make heroes of obnoxious, diet pill hawking trainers. This time of year, when we’re told that our merriment of a few weeks ago is over and it’s time to “stick to a plan”, “get back to the gym”, “get our bodies ready” for the swimsuits that are waiting for us in our closets, taunting us until their use can throw us into more guilt and shame.

In other words, “Repent ye sinners! For ye have been cast from Eden for the sin of drinking the egg nog of the Tree of Knowledge! Now drop and give me 20 squat thrusts and hand over that cupcake!”

And when ye of little faith replieth (because repliething is how you do things) that you know not how to do as the wrathful god of dieting bids, you will hear this answer:

“Useth your willpower!”

I’m sure there’s a plaque somewhere, maybe at Weight Watchers headquarters, honoring the advertising genius that came up with willpower. It’s one of the most disempowering words in the English language. So full of false hope and shame, it’s an advertising dream. When I hear it, it’s mostly from women who feel like failures for not having enough of it. “I just have no willpower,” they always tell me, defeated.

So now, I’m going to lay some truth on you about willpower.

Willpower Is Made Up, And You Don’t Want It Anyway

Let’s say you’re on a diet. (I have lots of reasons not to be on a diet, but let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that you are.) According to the diet, you can have only 1200 calories a day, let’s say. Let’s say you had breakfast and went out with your coworkers for lunch. Let’s say it’s almost dinner time, and you think you have about 500 calories left to work with, but your coworker calls you, in horror, to reveal that she looked up the calorie content of the sandwich you both had for lunch and she was shocked to find out that it was about 500 calories more than you had both estimated. You hang up the phone. Your stomach growls. You are really hungry. You think about all the machinations possible — waiting until midnight, your new calorie day, to eat, but you were told that eating late at night is bad. You could make something low calorie, like shrimp with some greens, but then you’d be over the limit anyway. Or you could try to distract yourself, read a magazine featuring emaciated models, watch some t.v.

If you have “willpower,” you go to bed hungry. Right? You do it because you are “committed” to your “plan.” You are so committed, so “good”, that you’ve learned to ignore your body’s hunger signals in order to stick to your diet. You have sublimated your will, your body’s will, for the will of the diet. You have learned to ignore your own body’s basic signals in favor of a diet that, supposedly, knows what’s best for you.

Congratulations, say the diet companies! You are on your way to a healthy life!

In other words, if you’ve ever been on a diet, you’ve got willpower. You’ve got loads of it. You’ve learned to ignore your feelings of hunger and fullness, you’ve learned to ignore your cravings, your needs, your desires. You’ve learned how to do as your told, because someone, who was lying or didn’t know any better, told you it was good for you.

Now, the trick is, to unlearn all of it and start fresh. Start small. Start to listen to yourself again and trust that you know best. That is the essence of intuitive eating.

You can do it. I don’t believe in willpower, but I believe in you.

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Looking for more support with intuitive eating and getting off diets? There’s still a spot for you in the Body Love Boost Teleclass that starts this January 12th. Register now and call in from anywhere!

Are you loving the podcast? You can now subscribe and download it directly from itunes! Be sure to rate it highly and share the Body Love!

The Truth About Willpower originally appeared on on January 11, 2010.

What’s Wrong With Dieting, Again?

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:35:00 +0000

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

We are constantly bombarded with dieting program ad campaigns and magazines that tout the achievements of people who have lost weight. We’re constantly told that if we’re not vigilant, if we don’t keep up the struggle, if we don’t measure and write down everything we eat and pay for packaged, calorie counted food then our bodies will fall apart and we’ll gain 100′s of pounds and no one will ever love us etc. etc. etc.

About a year ago, I developed this list to support my clients in finally getting off the dieting rollercoaster. (I posted it back in May, but I find it so helpful that I’m reposting it today.)

Refer to this list often. Refer to this list whenever your friend calls you up and tells you about another diet that’s working for her. Refer to this list whenever another Weight Watchers mailer arrives in your mailbox and has you believing that this time, it might work for you. Refer to this list if intuitive eating appeals to you but doesn’t quite make sense yet. Forward this list to every unhappy dieter that you know (just be sure to credit me and/or this blog).

16 Reasons Not To Diet

1) Many diets support the use of non-nutritional, highly chemicalized foods like fake fats and fake sugars. These chemicalized foods negatively affect body chemistry, cause low-level undernourishment, and often encourage overeating when the dieter gets the signal that s/he is not getting properly nourished.

2) Diets have such a high failure rate that they really are a gamble with a low chance of success. Why not just play Keno? If you look at the fine print of most studies on diets, they will tell you that, despite potential immediate success in limited numbers, diets have a 90-99% long-term failure rate. People lose some weight, only to find their weight creep back up, often surpassing their initial, pre-diet weight. Even the “successful” dieters often don’t keep all of their weight off.

3) Dieting gives dieters the message that they cannot trust their internal sense of what nourishes them. This distrust of internal signals affects other aspects of a dieter’s life, where they seek external approval and control of their non-food related actions.

4) The diet industry has a deep interest in the failure of dieters — if everyone got skinny, they’d go out of business.

5) Dieters’ self esteem is often tied to their weight — they feel good about themselves when they’re losing weight and bad about themselves when they’re gaining weight. This is a particular problem given item #2, if most dieters regain the weight they lose, they spend much of their lives feeling bad about themselves.

6) The diet system reinforces low self esteem in dieters by making them feel like they have no “willpower” when they have diet lapses. In actuality, diets encourage people to ignore their internal will in exchange for the perceived will of the diet industry. This out of control feeling reinforces low self esteem and makes dieters feel out of control in other areas of their lives.

7) Rather than being about nourishment, food often becomes about reward and punishment for dieters. They let themselves have a “treat” because they’ve been “good” on their diets and deprive themselves when they’ve been “bad.” Food is a necessary part of life. When food is about reward and punishment, we override our internal cues about what our bodies actually need.

8) Diets cause dieters (who are often women) to revolve their lives around food rather than other things that may really matter to them (relationships, careers, social issues). Who knows how many great ideas, inventions, beautiful relationship etc. the world is missing out on because so many of us are so obsessed with dieting.

9) Diets cause a lot of body hatred, particularly when the dieter isn’t losing weight. Dieters tend to see their bodies as wrong and problematic when they’re not seeing the “results” they want. But really, body and mind are connected, and this false conflict creates a great deal of unhappiness.

10) Diets often categorize foods as good/okay vs. bad/forbidden. Just like our culture’s genesis story revolves around a woman eating a forbidden food (the apple), it’s human nature to want what’s forbidden. Thus, it’s no wonder that dieters often crave forbidden foods even more once they are forbidden, and then hate themselves for eating those foods (maybe because they’re made to feel as though they’ve caused all of humanity to become sinners).

11) Diets encourage what I like to call “lottery thinking” — most dieters know that diets haven’t really worked for them nor most of the people they know, yet they think that some new diet is going to make them thin, and they’ll finally be in that tiny successful group. This creates a great deal of disappointment for dieters who are constantly trying to achieve something that is nearly impossible.

12) Most diet programs are expensive. I cringe when I think about the money that I and my friends and family have spent over the years on Weight Watchers, special shakes and diet pills!

13) For some people, diets are like Band-aids on deep scars. For people who really overeat and eat unconsciously, they often eat to numb their feelings and consciousness. Their issue is not really “portion control.” In fact, they often are too controlling of themselves and their emotions.

14) Diets assume that all fat people eat too much. They don’t account for the fact that people come in all shapes and sizes, and that a person’s weight is not an indicator of overall health.

15) The weight loss/gain cycle created by dieting is more stressful on the body than just being plain, old fat.

16) Diets work on a scarcity principle. Diets make dieters focus on lack, tell them they can only have “this much and no more” and that to want more is a bad thing. Because dieting is so all-encompassing, this scarcity principle often filters into other aspects of dieters’ lives. They begin to see lack and scarcity in their relationships, in their jobs, and in the world.

What would you add to this list?

Attention New Yorkers! Golda and Body Love Wellness is now offering reiki treatments at a special low rate. Click here for more info!

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What’s Wrong With Dieting, Again? originally appeared on on November 2, 2009.

Fulfilling Your Own Desires

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:31:00 +0000

Dating yourself allows you to get in touch with what you really want in relationships. It allows you to connect with how you want to be loved, how you want to be touched, how much space you need, etc.

Dating yourself allows you to see how much you have and how much you are able to fulfill your own desires, without relying on someone else to do it for you. In essence, you realize your completeness.

Dating yourself allows you to assert boundaries in your relationships in an easy and loving way. Sometimes it’s easier to say, “I need to go on a date with myself” than “I need to be left alone”.

Dating yourself allows you to spend time enjoying the sensual pleasure of your body, which is so healing in terms of body acceptance (and so wonderful nonetheless)!

If you are looking for a relationship, dating yourself gives yourself a reminder of how it feels to be dating. And, as you may have found, people often get more attention from potential lovers when they’re already in a relationship. Therefore, dating yourself can actually make you more attractive because you’re already in a relationship.

What kinds of communication would you like to get from the person you’re dating? (Consider: sexy text messages, love letters, loving voice mails.)

Where would you like to go on dates? (Consider: restaurants, movies, museums, parks, boatrides, at home.)

What kind of gifts would you like to get from a lover? (Consider: flowers, books, clothes, jewelry.)

What kind of sensual experiences would you like to have with a lover? (Experiment with exploring your body. There are some great books on this topic.)

What would you like to wear on these dates? (Consider: dressing up, lingerie, perfume, makeup, hair.)

How do you like to set the mood for myself? (Consider: music, baths, self massage.)

Have fun with this. Do the things that sound pleasurable to you and forget about the things that don’t. And remember, the first rule of the Body Love Club is it’s all research.

As always, let me know how it goes!

My 3 week teleclass to support you in your intuitive eating and body love journey has already begun, but if you want in, I’ll get ya in. The first session (and all sessions) are recorded, so you can still catch up. If you want to try out Health At Every Size for yourself, here is your chance!

And as always, let’s stay connected. Please stop by my Facebook group and become a member of the Body Love Wellness Group! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Fulfilling Your Own Desires originally appeared on on October 12, 2009.

Exorcising Exercising — Part 2 of 2

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:39:00 +0000

Last week, we talked about how to move through resistance to exercise. This week, let’s get physical!

Before we get started, I want to talk about why we’re doing this. Though it may be difficult, I don’t want you to go into this with the motivation of weight loss. Some people do lose a bit of weight via exercise, and others don’t. But I don’t want you to think that exercising is “not working” if you’re not losing weight. I want exercise to be about health, feeling good, and loving your body – not weight loss. These are the questions I want you to ask yourself about your workouts:

—Do I like this workout? Is it fun?

—Does my body feel better and/or stronger when I do this workout?

—Do I have more energy?

—Do I feel less stressed?

—Do I have more mobility?

—Do I have more endurance?

If you’re answering “yes” to at least one of these questions, I believe that your workout is working. You may start to answer yes to more of these questions the more you exercise. And if you find that you’re not getting these benefits, it may be time to change what you’re doing.

So where do you start?

First, I would be remiss if I didn’t point you to a great blog from my co-writer at More of Me To Love. Each week, Andrew’s Fitness for All blog gives great fitness tips, from exercises you can do while sitting at your desk to stretches to strength training techniques. And if you’re in the San Francisco area, you may just want to make an appointment.

Personally, as someone who used to join gyms only to religiously attend for approximately 3 weeks, I’m now a big fan of working out at home. I mainly use an assortment of fitness DVD’s. Some of my favorites are Megan Garcia’s Megayoga DVD (she’s a plus sized model who developed this yoga series for bigger bodies), Rochelle Rice’s workout DVDs (very empowering and also for bigger people), and Kelly Bliss’s workout DVDs (empowering, size positive, and includes workouts for people with mobility issues, including sitting workouts). Fitness DVDs are great because they’re relatively cheap or even free if you get them from the library, and you don’t have to add travel time to your workout schedule.

If you’re looking for size positive exercise classes, Ms. Garcia and Ms. Rice both teach their classes weekly in New York and Ms. Bliss teaches classes in Philadelphia. Ragen Chastain, a plus sized competitive dancer and dance teacher, teaches dance classes in Austin, Texas where students are specifically forbidden to engage in diet talk.

Whether or not you can find size positive classes in your area, if you want to take a class, just go. Decide that feeling good is worth the risk of being the fattest or newest or whatever. Connect with the way the movement feels in your body, rather than your perception of people’s perception of you. Do it for your body, even if you’re mind is coming up with reasons not to go. And remember, it’s all research. If one class isn’t for you, try another until you find one that you like.

And if you do nothing else, put on some music and get your body moving. To help you along, here’s one from the Gossip.

Comment below and let us know what you like to do to move that gorgeous body of yours!

By the way, we have lots of new and exciting offers at Body Love Wellness! Starting October 7, I’m teaching a 3 week teleclass to support you in your intuitive eating and body love journey. Sign up by September 25th to join the class for only $100! And for the New Yorkers, I will now have office hours in Manhattan on Wednesdays! Email me or leave a comment below to set up your consultation.

And as always, let’s stay connected. Please stop by my Facebook group and become a member of the Body Love Wellness Group! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Exorcising Exercising — Part 2 of 2 originally appeared on on September 21, 2009.

The Only Diet I Recommend

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:21:00 +0000

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 2 weeks, 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 $40 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 95% of dieters gain all of the weight they lose back – plus a few extra pounds – within 3 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, view the following less:

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 Magazineand 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 like Shapely Prose and The Rotund.
4) Check out this youtube video 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 the “Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency” on HBO, starring Jill Scott.
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!

Want more support on body acceptance and intuitive eating? Sign up for Golda’s Body Love Wellness 6 Week Intensive Teleclass or the Body Love Book Club today! Both are starting very soon, so don’t miss out!

Also, please stop by Golda’s Facebook group and become a member of the Body Love Wellness Group!

The Only Diet I Recommend originally appeared on on June 29, 2009.