It's time to spread your seed.

Spring equinox,
A time to plant the seeds for what we hope will flourish in summer,
To let go of the winter ruminations,
Take from those what we need,
And proceed into lighter days with more lightness within ourselves.
 
The daffodils are brightening every corner,
My favourite cherry blossoms are teasing us with their buds,
We get at least 30 minutes of blue sky most days,
And wake up to daylight creeping through the cracks in our blinds.
 
There’s something incredibly powerful about leaning into the seasons,
Creating an interconnectedness between us and the universe and others,
A reminder of our beautiful insignificance,
And the passing of time.
The impermanence of our problems and our joys.
 
I ask you in this email to consider,
What seeds are you planting for summer?
What image of yourself do you have for summer?
What small actions are you taking now,
In this time of change,
To give yourself the best chance of that happening?
 
What are you leaving behind in the winter darkness?
As we begin to shed our hibernation fog,
What are you releasing that no longer serves you?
 
Take a moment to journal on these things,
Because this idea of where you want to be in summer is important,
But the action you take now even more so.
 
As we move through spring,
I want to also give you a little warning,
That this is when fitness coaches are going to bombard you,
It’s 12 weeks until summer they’ll say,
Here are 5000 of my best fat loss transformations,
You can look like this too,
Don’t worry about what happened after that or that half of those people are now working with ETPHD to heal what happened.
 
I promise you,
Your timelines are about to be flooded.
 
They won’t use the now universally mocked phrase of ‘summer body ready’,
The smarter coaches know better.
They’ll say things like ‘feel your most confident’,
They might even throw in the word ‘mindset’,
But ultimately their game is the same,
To remind you that everyone should want to lose fat for summer. 
 
As a reminder,
There is nothing wrong with dieting for summer,
Provided you consider the following.
 

1. Is my relationship with food in a good place, so I know I’ll be able to stick to it and not overeat and regain the weight when I’m finished? – you need to stop overeating and mindless eating before dieting, otherwise you’ll be like 80% of those transformation pictures and regain the weight within a month of that cute pic with your margs on the beach 

2. Am I looking for happiness or improved body image at the end of dieting, without doing any other work on my happiness and improved body image? The more often someone diets the more likely they are to have a less positive body image and happiness and body fat levels aren’t correlated, not one bit (in science and in real life). Are you working on things like body image through gratitude, body checking etc. outside of your diet?

3. Am I seeking a sense of control in my diet? Is there somewhere else more healthful you can find that structure and routine, or even, are you ready to learn to sit with discomfort? Which would be better for your long term quality of life?

4. Is fat loss beneficial for my health? Just because it's not, doesn't mean it's wrong. But remember dieting does increase risks of food preoccupation, disordered eating habits and nutrient deficiencies (and boring dinner table chat). For many people it's totally worth the risk and that is totally fine. Is this you?

5. Do I know how to make my diet a side dish and not my entire focus for the next 12 week? Fat loss isn’t supposed to be the focus of your brain because trust me babe, you’re far more interesting than that. What else fills your cup?

6. Do I know how to diet in a way that is flexible, so when I go on holiday, I don’t enter a mindless free for all at the buffet?

7. Is this diet any different from the ones in the past that have led me to where I am now?

8. Does dieting right now align with my values? Do you know what your values actually are?

 
I’m actually helping a few of my clients diet into summer,
As are many of our coaches at the ETPHD method,
95% of people who come to work with us want fat loss,
Because they’ve answered all these questions,
Ticked all the boxes.
 
I just want you to consider,
Before you get sucked into a transformation,
Those that use transformation pictures by the way cannot support your body image - we know transformation pictures do the opposite for those who see them, including the clients of these coaches,
Have I done the pre-diet prep to ensure it’s healthy and maintainable?
And am I doing the work outside of it to ensure I find more joy away from my body fat?
 
Be safe out there,
Manage your timelines,
Remember it's a highlight reel,
And always come back to what you need right now.