This Is A Story About A Model Named Lucky

It felt weird
Weirder than my general sense of being alive
I couldn’t decipher if I appreciated the underlying message
Or if the fact they used weight loss as a selling point was giving me the ick
 
The above is a headline superseding an article from the Laily Schnail
The least reputable source of nutrition and health information since Beyonce and her maple syrup cayenne pepper diet circa 2002
But a source of nutrition and health information I often scour
On the lookout for the trip that our population is being fed
 
I haven’t linked the entire article because before and after pictures aren’t helpful for anyone as they exacerbate the idea that thinner is better
And more so for this person in particular
Who had a healthy level of body fat to begin with
Suggest that thinner automatically means binge eating disorder recovery
 
Technically this is true for many people who overcome binge eating disorder
Despite some initial fluctuations in weight in either direction once the work begins to remove binging as a coping mechanism 
Many people go on to lose weight if it’s healthful for them
The difference being this time that it’s sustainable weight loss that stays off given binge eating doesn’t creep back once the diet is over
 
On that note
If you find yourself binge eating after a diet it’s not because you failed the diet but because the diet failed you 
Didn’t address the underlying reasons for your binging but instead put a plaster over them
But I digress
 
What I actually appreciated about this person is that she said
And I quote
 
“'My whole life I have been told carbs are bad and they make you fat, which made me restrict pasta, pizza, cookies, ice cream and everything I love,'
 
'This made me develop an eating disorder because I'm such a perfectionist - I've been binging on these foods and these foods would make me gain weight.' 
 
Anastasiia noted that she decided to 'hack the system' by eating the foods that made her gain weight every day in hopes that her brain would stop considering them 'bad.' 
 
She added: 'Instead of restricting those foods, I started eating them every single day so my brain would finally chill and be like, "Okay, we can have it every single day."'
 
This girl is a model and shared her story through bikini pics and selfies and all power to her sharing her body in a way that feels right for her
I am all for this
 
But what’s interesting is how many people will believe that message because it’s accompanied by a model in a bikini 
 
She is of course explaining unconditional permission to eat
 
Something I have spent years encouraging you to give yourself
Something that so many of you still don’t
 
Whether that be keeping foods for certain days of the week
Keeping foods out the house
Finding ‘acceptance’ that you ‘just can’t have foods like bread’
Or always choosing diet versions of foods
Like 0% yoghurt or bagel thins or cooking oil low calorie sprays
 
There are so many hidden ways you don’t give yourself unconditional permission to eat that you are yet to uncover and accept and that’s ok
It can take years to notice the small ways these rules have crept in for us
 
It’s a shame that we need the promise of fat loss to give us a reason to lean into the healthiest way of eating
To give ourselves unconditional permission to eat
To stop over-restricting
But I also totally get
 
80% of people that come to work with us have a fat loss goal and I recognise that as their main driver for stopping binge eating
Not the physical hurt it can cause on their bodies
Not the psychological damage
The food preoccupation
The physical and psychological stress
The weight loss
 
Almost all of them achieve it
Whilst all of them achieve peace with their bodies
 
If you plan 2024 as the year you stop overeating and binge eating then I encourage you to practice unconditional permission to eat now
 
Alongside this, write down all the reasons for stopping binge eating aside from your weight loss
 
Because your body will change forever and ever until it’s no longer here
Up and down and out and in and back again
It’s going to change as part of a wholehearted life
 
You cannot solely rely on fat loss as a driver for your healthful behaviours
They will never be consistent
You will forever be stuck in yo yo dieting and overeating
 
What else is important to you?
How does improving your relationship with food impact those parts of your life?
What would it look like to no longer have food impact those?
 
Use that as your driver for your new year healthful habits
And as I said last week
Secure your spot to start in January or February with ETPHD now
We had 9 people secure theirs already
And we haven’t even hit Christmas yet
 
As always
I’m here
Em

Secure my space for the new year