Yesterday was ANZAC day and to my own shame, I didn’t go to the dawn service, even though getting up at 4am is the norm for me. Instead I allowed a headache and my own desire for sleep and comfort to override my desire to get up and go and honour not only both of my grandfathers, but all the men, women and animals who have given their lives to fight the wars that have afforded me the very luxury of that warm comfortable bed.   

I walk past ANZAC Square almost every day though, and every time I do, I look deep into that eternal flame that burns for all of them. 

This week, as they do every week before ANZAC day, they have big screen TV’s set up showing a rotation of images of soldiers and the desolate, charred landscapes and realities that they lived, day in day out, as they fought and died to change the course of not only history, but the world that I live in.  

I try to imagine, what would it be like to be the...

Joseph asked me on Linkedin “Have you found any surprising joys in your Dietless Living journey that you didn’t expect?” 

Yes, I have. 

When I found the way to overcome those desires to eat, it turned out I also found the way to overcome a lot of other issues, mostly anxiety and depression and when that happened I was able to live out some wild ideas I had but that I never thought I ever could or would.  

When I found the way to overcome those desires to eat, my life actually progressed. 

I thought I wanted freedom from my weight. Crikey, that had been my main objective for so damn long, I hadn’t thought of anything else, but it wasn’t losing the weight per se that changed my life, it was developing my Personal Health Leadership™:  

• System 
• Skills 
• Mindset 
• Strategies  

It was from developing the ability to overcome that...

What if I said I had a time machine and you could go back to anytime in your past?

You can't change anything. 

But you can bring back with you whatever experiences you'd like. 

What would you bring forward into your current life so you can experience it again? 

You're not going to bring back the terrible ones are you? No way. 

Yet re-living the unhappy experiences from the past is what your mind does, over and over again.  

WHY DO WE DO THAT? 

Because when things don't go right, when things don't go the way we'd like them to, our brain can get very focused on trying to work out why it didn't' go the way we wanted, how we got taken by surprise, how we got taken advantage of; emotionally, financially, physically, spiritually or even mentally. It does it so you can avoid the same thing happening again. That’s its job to do that.  

But it...

 “Where do I go from here? I’ve tried so many things, I’m afraid to try anything else, I just can’t cope with the disappointment of failing again. I don’t know how I got here and I don’t know how to get out.”   

That was me 13 years ago, lost.  

I’d literally tried dozens of weight loss programs, looking for the something that would work for me, something that would give me the forever results that I was looking for.   

I’d lost all sense of direction, I didn’t know which way to go, there were so many differing opinions about what was the right way to eat and exercise, I’d tried most of them and honestly, they just didn’t fit my lifestyle or what I wanted.  

I was no longer the uneducated 21-year-old who knew nothing of nutrition, fitness, or any of the other elements needed to be healthy and...

Happy Easter!  

I always think of Easter as a gift. It's permission to take some well-needed and well-earned time out, to step away from the hamster wheels we’ve been running on and do whatever floats our boat. It’s where we get to regroup and recharge our batteries, however, that looks for you. 

Whatever you’re doing, simply enjoy yourself and forget about the Easter eggs, its’ just chocolate after all. It might be in fun shapes and glittery wrappings and boxes, but, it’s still the same chocolate that you can buy any old day of the year.   

Even I find myself looking at the glamorously wrapped offerings on the shelf and feeling the familiar tug of feelings and excitement that yes, Easter is coming;  “I’ve been working hard, a little smackeral of a bunnies ear would be a tasty treat, and don’t I deserve one of those beautiful Easter eggs in boxes?”  

But...

  A question I asked myself hundreds of times over 25 years of yo-yo dieting  was “How do I overcome this obstacle of impulse and emotional eating?” 

I used to think to myself; “If I’m ever going to drop this weight and get a life, I’m going to have to get a handle on this! But how? Change is hard!” 

It seemed impossible for me to break free from my “bad” habits and I wondered what was wrong with me? 

I wondered that allllll the time!  

• Why couldn’t I stop doing things that I wanted to stop?  
• What was that internal force that kept driving me to do things I wanted to stop doing? 
• Why wasn’t I able to stop the hand-to-mouth action?  
• Why did I keep putting weight back on?  
• Why was there always a war raging inside of me when I wanted to stop doing one thing and start doing another more...

 Throughout my 25-year struggle with weight I did all kinds of exercise: 

• Bootcamp 
• Running 
• PT sessions 
• (Lots of) cardio 
• Yoga 
• Hot Yoga 
• Aerial Yoga 
• Body combat classes 
• Body pump classes 
• Circuit training 
• Spin classes 
• Aerobics 
• Aqua aerobics 
• Kettlebell workouts 
• Stair running 
• Martial arts 
• HIIT training 
• Strength training with weights 
• Strength training using calisthenics 
• Tennis 
• Softball 
• 12 week challenges 

So which of those was the best for losing weight?  

HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED 

All of them can contribute to weight loss, but rather than thinking about losing weight, it’s better to think about why you want to lose weight.   

The reason you want to lose weight will help you decide what type of exercise you should select.  

Do you want to lose...

What we want is to feel: 

• Flexible 
• Strong 
• Slender and toned 
• Confident 
• Self-assured 
• Independent 
• Energised  
• Sexy   

But instead, we find ourselves: 

• Emotional eating 
• Stressed and succumbing to time pressures 
• Unaware of hidden food intolerances  
• Losing focus and concentration 
• Over or under-training 
• Lethargic 
• Self-conscious 
• Falling back into old habits 

So how do we overcome the challenges of day to day life and  

• Eat well 
• Maintain both daily strength building and cardio activity 
• Rest and relax 
• Find emotional balance   
• Feel confident and empowered 
• Master our mental dissonance  
• Lose weight 
• Build strength and confidence  
• Feel fitter, healthier and sexier 
• Find our freedom 

We step into a 360° approach to our health, happiness,...

I helped a man make a great decision in the supermarket the other day.  

He was standing in the isle in front of the crisps section, shifting back and forth on his feet, unable to make a decision about what he wanted. I watched him for a bit and finally I said, “Did you know that your inability to decide what you want means that you don’t actually want any of them and that what’s keeping you rooted to the spot is simply your habit of buying chips?”  

He looked at me with wide eyes, as though I’d just told him the secret to the Universe. I went on to say “Your best choice right in this moment is to turn, and walk down to the check outs and leave, you’ll be so happy with that choice that you will smile for the rest of your journey home”  

He agreed, saying “I don’t know why I’m standing here, I came in for some tomatoes for dinner tonight and I...

Recently I watched a documentary on obese teenagers and the many struggles they have in breaking free from the cycle. It was heartbreaking on so many levels, for them and their families as they all do their best to bring about change and save their lives. 

So much of their struggle rang true with me and I could empathize with them on the level that knowing what not to eat does not stop us wanting to eat it and that will power alone will never concur wanting over the long-haul. 

I also related to the denial that allows the weight to escalate un-noticed.   

I’ve written about this before, we make adjustment after adjustment so we don’t see that we’re gaining: 

• We stop getting on the scales 
• We adjust our belts one notch at a time 
• We wear looser clothing 
• We wear the same sets of clothes 

I always hated the bathroom scales, and gave them too much power...