Losing Weight without Dieting: A Step By Step Guide for Women to End Emotional Eating

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1 Losing Weight without Dieting: A Step By Step Guide for Women to End Emotional Eating How much would you love to be able to lose weight by eating all the foods that you want and never, ever, ever have to diet again? You can. I ll bet that by now, you ve probably noticed that with all the dieting you ve done over the years you are actually heavier than when you started. That s because your excess weight is not due to lack of self control or laziness. It s just a symptom of another problem. Perhaps you are overeating because you are seeking out food for comfort. You re not alone because so many women are also emotional eaters. So dieting just won t work. In fact over 93% of people who lose weight, regain it back within 5 years. That s because diets don t teach us how to deal with the emotions that compel us to eat. The long and short of it is that diets are also a constant reminder of what we can t have. And truly who wants to be reminded of what they can t have? I ll bet that brings out the rebel in you. The same goes for dieting. If you are trying to follow a weight loss plan that puts the kabosh on certain foods that you love, your cravings for them will drag you around by the nose. Despite all attempts to stay on program, it doesn t matter, the cravings will get you every time. Before you know it, you re giving in, eating the food and feeling miserable, overcome by guilt and promising to get back on the wagon and be good on your diet the next day. There s an alternative It s called Intuitive Eating. Have you ever watched a baby being nursed or bottle fed? Perhaps you ve noticed that infant turn her head away at some point during the feeding. That s because the baby is paying attention to the feeling of fullness in her tummy. She is listening to her body s hunger signals. By turning her head, she is honoring her hunger. We all have that same ability to listen to our bodies, eat when we are hungry and stop when we are satisfied. However after years of dieting, you may have learned to mistrust your body and ignore the sensation of hunger. You may have been told to fill up on low cal foods and drinks in an effort to control the feast beast lurking inside of you The Juicy Woman Page 1

2 Despite that negative programming, it's very simple to get back on track and pay attention to your body so that you can eat what you want and lose weight naturally without dieting, pills, gadgets or gizmos. All you have to do is relearn how to trust your body. It s already doing a great job for you in other areas. It tells you when you need to relieve your bladder, regulates your heart beat, blood circulation and sleep rhythms, and so much more. Face it. Your body is a miracle. That means that you can also trust it to regulate your weight. The secret is a double sided coin. You have to legalize all foods and eliminate feelings of deprivation by dealing with the emotions that crop up when you turn to food when you re not hungry. When you can stop stuffing down your emotions, you will regain poise over eating. Then you will know that you can trust yourself and make peace with all foods. By doing that, your body will recondition itself to become satisfied with smaller amounts of food naturally and effortlessly. It's simple but it's not easy. As with any new change that you want to make, support is key. The toughest part is to resist the urge to fall back into the old habit of eating when you re overcome by emotions. Some people like to journal and record their feelings and thoughts as they arise. I teach my clients a simple process called Emotional Freedom Technique. It s very effective for relieving stress, eliminating cravings, addictions and so much more. Here are 9 steps you can take to lose weight naturally without dieting. Step #1. Say Goodbye to Dieting Toss out the old diet books, stop counting calories, points, carbs or fat grams - and you may even want to get rid of your scale. In taking steps to end the deprivation and guilt associated with dieting, you'll learn to feel more relaxed with eating the foods you love. It takes courage to break the cycle of fear and deprivation, however it's important to know that as you take steps to becoming an intuitive eater, you don't have to be afraid of food anymore. You are going to learn to rely on your body to gauge what is right for you. Make a list of all the old forbidden no-nos that you used to fear. Can you believe that you'll actually be able to eat those foods again without guilt? Step #2: Make Peace with All Foods Pack your pantry and fill your fridge with the foods on your list. The battle is over. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat what you want instead of what you think you should eat. Believe me, I know how scary this seems, but you ll never get over your food fears and break the cycle of emotional eating, if you don t learn how to relax around food and recognize that you have power over your choices. Step #3. Tune Into Your Hunger By eating in response to your body s natural hunger, you will enjoy the taste of food more, become a picky eater and recognize the difference between feeling hungry and becoming satisfied. You ll also learn to decipher the many faces of hunger - physiological vs emotional. Stomach hunger is a form of physiological hunger and it comes from your body and indicates that you must eat in order to replenish your energy reserves. Mouth hunger is connected to emotional eating and is recognized by impulsive eating, craving food after a meal, and food obsession. As a dieter, you've been taught to avoid getting too hungry as a preventive measure against overeating. Your body knows how much it needs to eat and as you learn to respect your hunger and eat in response to it, you will lose weight naturally without ever again feeling deprived The Juicy Woman Page 2

3 Step #4: Challenge All the Food Cops and Critics Make it clear to those around you that they have no right to comment on your body or what you eat. That is your business and none of their concern. Learn to say, "No" to demands that don't feel right to you. Take back your control and chase away all those old food cops, including the critic that may live inside of you. Reclaim your power over your thoughts. Begin to pay attention to what's on your mind. Question any negative beliefs that you may have regarding your right to be happy, feel gorgeous, enjoy real food and live and eat as a naturally slender woman. Step #5: Feel Your Fullness It's important to realize that it is easiest to recognize that your physical hunger is being satisfied when you begin to eat with a noticeable feeling of hunger. By starting your meal feeling hungry, it will be easier to listen to your body and become aware of the absence of that hunger. Check in with your stomach and your body and ask yourself, "Am I really hungry?" Pay attention to the subtle signals that your body has been satisfied. Notice how the taste of the food may have changed or how the quality of the meal has altered. Step #6: Eat the Foods You Really Love. Feast all your senses. Smell, taste, touch and fully enjoy your meals. Revel in the sensuality of your food. Know that you are a princess and that you deserve the very best. If it doesn t smell wonderful, look gorgeous and have the perfect taste, texture, temperature and balance of flavors, it s not good enough for you. Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, you are not a human garbage can. When you begin to eat food that you really want without feeling guilty or deprived, you will rediscover all the sensual delights that add to your satisfaction of it. By learning how to eat mindfully, being sensitive to your personal preferences, you will naturally find that you eat smaller portions. Step #7: Cope With Your Emotions Without Abusing Food When you realize that you want food, and you ve just eaten a short while ago, explore your feelings and address them without food. Avoiding the urge to eat when you're not physically hungry is by far the toughest challenge to overcome. Many people are able to learn to eat intuitively by simply relying on journaling. However in my experience if you are a woman who struggles with feelings of self hatred, insecurity and anger around your body, negative emotions or memories that beckon you to eat food for comfort, then I advise you to learn a process called Emotional Freedom Technique before attempting to learn how to eat intuitively. It will enable you to release and reprogram those internal upsets. This is essential in order to prevent a massive weight gain. As a coach, I encourage all women who want to learn how to lose weight without dieting to join my free Juicy Woman forum. Its purpose is to offer you the value of the support of many women also on the same road to freedom from dieting. Step #8: Be Gentle With Yourself Toss out the No pain, no gain mentality and cut yourself some slack. There is no right or wrong, good or bad. It s time to question all your old black and white thinking and analyze how true and effective those beliefs are for you. It's about finding a solution that works, not focusing on what's right or wrong. This new way of living and eating is based on learning to listen to what you really want and living and eating in response to those needs. By treating yourself lovingly and respectfully, you will take off the unnecessary pressure that has been placed on you by constantly trying to 'be good' and get it perfect. Please remember that this is a process that takes time. By all means, be gentle with yourself. Step #9: Get Support Surround yourself with other wonderful women also on the same road to self discovery. Recognize that your weight issues source back to old habits and 2007 The Juicy Woman Page 3

4 behaviors that probably come from years of depriving yourself and trying to stick to a diet. It s important to know that at the heart of it all, it s not about food. You ve been distracted by your focus on food and weight for a long time. Your weight issues are the result of parts of your life that have gone unattended and ignored. As you begin to reclaim your power over food, you ll recognize that you have more choices in every aspect of your life and you will love, respect and accept yourself even more. By getting the support of other women and learning how they are handling their challenges to express themselves, be more gentle and listen to their bodies, you will add more yummy to your life. Now that you have this new information, you can consider the benefits of losing weight without dieting. I ask you, what would you like to do? I d like to offer you more support. I invite you to join my free Juicy Woman Forum. It's a grand place to get tons of encouragement, acquire new ideas, and sample many wonderful strategies and principles that I teach in my products and programs. Come jump into the forum and let's swim together in an ocean filled with possibilities. What other women are saying about Losing Weight without Dieting Foods that I thought I liked, I don t like. I really don t! When I actually focused on their taste, and smell and focused on what I was eating it was amazing. Foods that I would have eaten before and not thought anything about, I don t like them anymore. I m getting to the point where I won t eat anything I don t want. I just won t eat it if I don t love it. ~ Linda, artist I want to thank you so, so much. The weight is just dropping off, now whenever I look at anything I put into my body, I ask myself, "What do I really want?" I might have that warm apple pie and I'm going to put the whipped cream on it and I'm going to really enjoy it. You took the badness out of it, Now I know that I can have that, I'm going to have it and I'm going to enjoy every bite and I'm not a horrible person for doing it. Now I don't want two pieces of pie because I ate it so fast. I'm satisfied with one.~ Jewel, business owner I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but have been thrilled by the results that I have achieved so far; dropping 40 pounds since April. Without a doubt, I believe that this 'shift' in my perspective has come as the result of a personal revelation I had during one of Andrea's class sessions. Uncovering the limiting belief that food was the only 'thing' that I believed I could always depend on, (even more so than the people who loved me), made me realize why I had felt so powerless to change my relationship with it before now. Or even want to. I used food for everything; to celebrate, to commiserate, for a quick energy burst, for comfort - it was there for me 24/7 365 days per year, how could anything else replace something so perfectly all encompassing. On further examination I realized that much of my eating was done unconsciously. Andrea's class woke me up in more ways than one. ~ Ashley, Business Owner 2007 The Juicy Woman Page 4

5 About the Author Andrea Amador is The Juicy Woman. As a Certified Weight Loss Coach and Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming and Ericksonian Hypnosis, she uses powerful belief change work methods including Emotional Freedom Technique to debunk the subconscious programs that keep women fat! In her Losing Weight without Dieting Program, she teaches women who are emotional eaters how to reclaim their power over food, get off the diet rollercoaster and lose weight effortlessly by eating all the yummy foods that they love. If you re an emotional eater, ready to get off the diet roller coaster, then join Andrea and other like-minded women in the Juicy Woman Forum. You can join here: The Juicy Woman Page 5