Today is “International No Diet Day.” This is an opportunity to say NO to diet-deprivation, NO to scale-stepping, and NO to weight-worries! 

Just for today, what would it be like to give yourself permission to have a “forbidden food,” in a safe and enjoyable way? Think of a food that you truly love, but try not to eat, because you tell yourself, “I can’t stop once I start eating ______, so I’ll just stop eating it.” The next thing you know, the food that you consider OK to eat is very limited, and most of it you dislike, but you tell yourself, “It’s worth it to keep eating this way, because I don’t overeat now, and I’m losing weight!” Until you realize you can’t eat “this way” any longer, and you “give in” to your food cravings, over-indulging in all of the foods that you’ve deprived yourself of. We always want what we “can’t have.” Then, one cookie becomes too many, because 100 is not enough. However, if you CHOOSE to have a cookie, and pick out ONE from a local bakery that is your FAVORITE, and then you sit with a friend who is also enjoying her delectable delight – suddenly you experience the freedom with food that you truly yearn for!

Just for today, what would it be like to NOT step on the bathroom scale? Or, if you have already checked that number, what would happen if you didn’t allow it to define you? You are so much more than a number! If you stop and really think about it, does the scale ever let you have a good day? If the number states the same (or Heaven forbid goes up), then you berate yourself, and vow to be even more disciplined with your diet. Even if the number goes down, you might feel a moment of success, which quickly fades way as you shift into panic about how you’ll be able to keep losing weight, and eventually maintain the weight you lose. So, no matter what you weigh, you don’t have a good day. And eventually, you become like 95% of dieters, who regain weight they lose, usually ending up weighing more than when they started the latest diet. This is a phenomenon known as “diet-induced obesity,” caused by rebound weight gain in response to chronic dieting. 

Just for today, what would it be like to let go of your weight worries? Maybe your Mother keeps telling you that you should lose weight (sorry to point fingers, all of you Moms out there). Or your doctor (see Mom? It’s not all your fault!) – or SOCIETY’S STANDARDS. Who set these anyway? Who decided that fashion models, actresses, or media stars portray ideal beauty? From curvy Marilyn Monroe to stick-thin Twiggy, how should women look? What if the way each of us looks RIGHT NOW it exactly the way we “should” look? We each can set our own “ideals,” based on being our True Self! And, for the doctors out there, who set the BMI (Body Mass Index), and decided that patients “should” be a “normal” weight as determined by the BMI standard? There can be “Health At Every Size” (HAES®) – and for the science behind this, LEARN MORE HERE

I hope that my diet-free message inspires you to LIVE FREE – even if it’s just for today! If you’re HUNGRY for MORE of my “DON’T DIET DITTIES,” join me for these special events and offers: 

• May 6th @ 2:15pm (EASTERN time):  FACEBOOK LIVE
  Did you miss it? Click the link to watch the recording!
• May 6th @ 8-9pm (EASTERN time): FREE GROUP CALL
  Did you miss it? Click the link to get the recording!
• 50% OFF Dr. Dorie’s UnDiet™ ORDER NOW
  Downloadable Self-Help Program – SPECIAL PRICE TODAY ONLY
• FREE with any EDIT™ Certified Registration SIGNUP NOW
  Get Dr. Dorie’s UnDiet™ download – FREE GIFT TODAY ONLY

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It’s Valentines Day, a day to celebrate LOVE! Most of us associate this day with the love for an intimate partner, but this can be a day to celebrate any kind of love – for your friends, family, companion animals, nature… and how about loving that image in the mirror?

This blog post is designed to accompany a video, where I share a little bit about my own journey of recovery from heating disorders, and how to improve body image by practicing the first principle of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ which is Love Your Self. You can view the video on my Facebook Page

That may seem easier said than done! I discovered how I could love certain parts of myself, like my personality, or my hobbies. Regarding my body, I hated the image in the mirror for many years, and avoided looking in the mirror as much as possible.

But I was determined to make peace with that image in the mirror, because a “messenger on my path” kept saying, “I Love You!” to me (that’s a story for another blog post). The bottom line is, I decided to listen to this messenger, and try to say “I Love You!” to my own reflection in the mirror.

I started with things I could like about my body, even if it was something like my fingernails. Eventually, I began to appreciate other parts of my body, recognizing things that my body allowed me to do, regardless of shape or size. For example, having strong legs to carry me throughout the day.

Finally, I realized that I was feeling “split” – I was developing a sense of love for the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of my Self, but still had criticism about my body. How could I love only certain parts of my Self, when all parts made up the whole Self? To love any part, I knew I needed to love the WHOLE of my Self, including my body!

That was a breakthrough for me. My body wasn’t “ideal” according to society’s standards, but that didn’t matter! What a relief to let go of striving to be a “perfect” (yet false self), and to come to a place of seeing my True Self in the mirror, and loving what is!

Click on the image below to download and print the EDIT™ Worksheet
to help you learn how to improve body image and Love Your Self 

*****

Article may be reprinted with the author bio below.

©2019 by Dr. Dorie McCubbrey. Dr. Dorie is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Licensed Addiction Counselor who is passionate about training professionals to effectively guide clients in recovery from eating disorders, through her Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ Certified program. She also meets with clients at her treatment center, Positive Pathways PLLC, located in Evergreen Colorado. Learn more at: https://www.drdorie.com

*****

Want more that this “taste” of EDIT™? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE – GET CERTIFIED

The post How to Improve Body Image appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I’d like to introduce you to Jamie Doak, who is a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician who works with adolescents in Denver, Colorado. She was a Counselor Intern under my supervision at Positive Pathways from September, 2014 through May, 2015. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate therapist, and you can contact her with any comments or questions, including how to get started with individual sessions (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

Do you wish you could lose 5, 10, 20 or more pounds?
Do you feel unhappy with your looks, no matter how thin you become?
Do you use eating disorder behaviors (meal skipping, purging) as a quest for thinness?

If you answered “YES” to any of the above questions, then The Body Project can help. The Body Project workshop, which is a described as a “dissonance-based body-acceptance program is designed to help high school girls and college-age women resist cultural pressures to conform to the thin-ideal standard of female beauty and reduce their pursuit of unhealthy thinness. The Body Project is supported by more research than any other body image program and has been found to reduce onset of eating disorders.”

At Positive Pathways, two of our therapists are trained to deliver The Body Project workshop. Our therapists are available to provide this workshop at schools in the Denver area – at no charge! In addition, our therapists can provide the concepts form The Body Project on a 1-on-1 basis as part of individual therapy, to help heal eating disorders and body image issues.

Why is a workshop like The Body Project necessary?

• While the average American woman is 5’4 tall and weighs 140 pounds, the average American model is 5’11 and weighs 117 pounds.
• In 1995, before television was first introduced to Fiji there were no cases of eating disorder. Sixty-five adolescent schoolgirls were followed over three years and after the introduction of British and American television, 12.7% of the girls had developed high eating disorder after one month and 29.2% after three years. Self-induced vomiting as weigh control went form 0% in 1995 to 11.3% by 1998.
• A study found that after just three minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine, 70% of women reported feeing depressed, guilty and ashamed of their bodies.
• In a survey of 548 girls in 5th grade through 12th grade 59% of girls reported dissatisfaction with their body shape and 66% expressed a desire to lose weight.

The Body Project defines the thin ideal as the thin, toned, busty woman we see in the media and is careful to distinguish between the thin ideal and a healthy ideal. The goal of a thin ideal is to attain thinness that is neither realistic nor healthy at any cost. With a healthy ideal the goal is to health, fitness, longevity and feeling good about how our body both works and feels.

The Body Project is effective because it helps women to distance themselves from this unrealistic beauty standard by identifying the costs of pursuing it (money, health, time, relationships) and recognizing who ultimately benefits from women conforming to a thin ideal (diet industry, media, fashion industry, cosmetic industry).

Once women feel disconnected from the unrealistic image of beauty that is being promoted in the media and internalize that their suffering to achieve the thin ideal only puts money in the pockets of the (usually male) CEOs of fashion and cosmetic corporations, they are better able to resist and reject this unattainable beauty standard. Beauty, health and bodies come in all shapes and sizes!

All statistics in this article come from The Body Project: http://www.bodyprojectsupport.org

“Don’t change your body to get respect from society.
Instead let’s change society to respect our bodies.”
-Golda Poretsky

*****

Looking for guidance with body image? JAMIE DOAK, MA, LPCC (the author of this blog article) is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician who works with adolescents in Denver, Colorado. You can contact her with comments or questions, or to become a client! – EMAIL JAMIE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE – GET CERTIFIED

The post Eating Disorders and Body Image: The Body Project appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.