Why do we walk away from careers we’ve worked so hard to build?  

We’re tapped out, that’s why.  

By the time we’ve hit our 40’s, we feel like we’ve gone 20 rounds with Mohammed Ali, when we thought we’d feel like a woman who is succeeding at life. 

We’re mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, depleted.  

Our nervous system is shot and we feel more like an empty sack of potatoes than the happy, fulfilled woman, whose proud of her accomplishments, that we were striving for. 

How do we navigate the chaos, build our stamina, resilience and happiness in midlife when we: 

• Aren’t able to pull ourselves out of our slumps 
• Lead a sedentary life 
• Work flat out 
• Feel under constant pressure 
• Just drink caffeine for breakfast 
• Don’t have time to meal prep  
• Buy our lunch most days 
• Eat it...

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...

 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...

I was sitting in the sun yesterday enjoying a cloudless blue sky and brilliant sunshine, staring lazily at the world around me, thinking about nothing in particular, just letting my mind rest and my body enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. 

Sometimes I think Superman and I must be related, a good dose of sunshine recharges me too, it's a remedy for everything and gives me life. 

As I was sitting there, all empty head and morning stares, my thoughts drifted over an endless flow of different things like cool water over pebbles in a mountain stream. 

I thought about my friend's children who'll turn 18 and 21 later this year and remembered when I was that young and how back then, especially at 21, how mature I felt, like I'd arrived at adulthood. 

I was doing all the things that I’d equated with maturity, working, driving, and living with my boyfriend of the time, keeping house and generally being an adult in every...