Hey friends!
I know I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but a good friend of mine reached out to me with details of a new program she’s offering in the new year, and I wanted to share it with you guys. So without further ado, here’s Danielle.
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First off thanks so much to Amanda for having me guest post! I’ve been reading her blog for such a long time and am always a huge fan of her recipes and writing! For those of you who don’t know my, my name is Danielle. As an emotional eating and health coach, I help life-long dieters end their obsession with food so they can like the way they look and love the way they feel. Before I share a brand new program I am launching, I want to share a story with you…
For years, between the months of October and January it seemed like my health and body image always took a backseat to an overload of cookies, sweets, baggy clothes, and the winter blues.
It’s always a fun time of year, between holidays, friends, family, and parties, but at the same time, all of this fun often led up to a whole lot of stress. Everything from my finances, to what to wear suddenly seemed like an overwhelming burden and I often compensated for this stress by over analyzing my food choices.
I would meal plan, restrict, and count calories, all in the hopes of looking amazing by the time Christmas day came around. The problem was, my anxiety, that I was convinced was about my weight, was actually about things like seeing long-lost friends, getting along with family, and my money. I never actually addressed these fears and every time I slipped up on my diet, I felt like I just couldn’t take it any more.
The anxiety I was ignoring, thanks to my diet, was then taken out on cake, chocolate, and candy, which I had likely, previously denied myself at a party the night before.
Then, January 1st would come and it would always start the same way. I would pull out my journal and vow that this would be the year of weight loss. This would be the year that I wore a bikini with confidence, had complete “control” of my food, exercised my butt off, and finally lost weight. Writing this I would always feel the exact same way; a combination of excitement for the hopes of a new life, and disappointment that the past year was wasted and here I was, still overweight and unhappy.
Then I found a solution. This year I will likely not be making resolutions. Chances are I will be out celebrating and enjoying the day, looking forward to the year ahead. The goals or “resolutions” I make will probably be few and far between but I am certain that this year they will have absolutely nothing to do with weight loss. Now, I want to give you that solution.
But first, here are 3 of my favorite tips to stay sane during the holidays.
1. Get clear on your emotions.
Don’t let your stress take a backseat. Get clear on what it is that is causing your stress or anxiety and tackle it. If it’s finances, make a budget, if it’s your family, give them a call and talk it out now. Likely your stress over your weight is simply a side effect of a bigger fear. Figure out what that fear is and tackle it.
2. Don’t go on a restrictive diet, or even try to diet during the holidays.
Instead, keep your focus on eating quality whole foods, staying healthy, and weight maintenance. Stressing about your weight or food choices is only going to add on to the stress of the holidays. Plus the increased guilt whenever you eat something not entirely healthy will actually put you at an increased risk to gain weight. De-stress and give yourself permission to enjoy the season.
3. SELF CARE.
It’s very easy when things get busy and stressful to put yourself last on the list of priorities but I want you to make this year different. Consciously take 30 minutes per day for you. Do something you love everyday. Stay active. Get enough sleep. Take days off. It may take some creative scheduling or saying “no” on your part but I promise it is worth it!
I think this is an excellent time of year to put yourself first and really address your health. Why? Because this is the time of year when we often put ourselves last, in favor of everything else in our lives. Remember when you take care of yourself first, you are better able to care for everyone else around you.
If these tips are resonating with you, I’d love to share an exciting new program I am launching!
On January 1st, I will be kicking off a brand new one time only, Ditch the Diets 21-day Challenge. My goal for this program is to teach you how to kick off your year, without vows of weight loss, workouts, and diets. If you join this program, this will be your year. This will be the year that you finally stop obsessing over every bite to pass your lips. The year that you throw away your scale because you actually love your body. The year that you fall in love, grow lasting friendships, and just has a great time – all the time.
One of the things that always upsets me as a health coach is coming across women who are so committed to change, yet can’t really afford coaching. For this reason, I am offering this program at a very low price. I’ll also be gifting the first 20 people who sign up with a free 60-minute coaching call. Enrollment will only be open for the next two weeks so be sure to sign up early.
After three short weeks, you will…
- Have clear, concrete tips and tricks to eat more instinctively and less abusively (which is KEY)
- Get clear on your LIFE goals (we go waaayyyy beyond weight loss)
- Reduce your stress levels and feel MUCH happier because of it
- Discover that your problem with food has NOTHING to do with food at all
- Develop a morning routine that works for you (or a night one if you don’t like to get up early!)
- Learn all about “emotional eating” including why it happens and what you can do about it
- Feel beautiful when you look in the mirror (no lie… you’ll think you’re hot)
No amount of gym time will get you the body you want if you are stuck on a path of negative thinking.
Here’s What You Actually Get…
- 21-days worth of content and inspiration delivered straight to your email inbox each morning
- Downloadable handouts, worksheets, audio, and easy-to-access videos throughout the program
- Access to a private members-only Facebook forum for full support throughout the 21 days. I’ll be on there daily answering all of your questions!
- 3 Group coaching calls where I will be answering every single one of your questions and offering additional support, tips, and motivation.
Last but not least…the first 20 people to register will receive a totally free 60-minute call with me! This alone is worth more than what I’m charging for the program so get going early birds!
The total investment for the program is $79.99 but I wanted to do something special since it is the holiday season. If you absolutely 100% cannot afford the cost of the program but are determined to make a change, shoot me an email [email protected] and we will make this work. I literally want anyone and everyone who wants access to this program to get it, so please don’t be shy!
Now you tell me….
Stress can disrupt hormones in the body. This resulted in the metabolism become unbalanced. The body becomes not have sufficient ability to burn maximum calories, fat, and sugar.
I hate unhealthy food which can make me feel suck. I am always looking for a healthy lifestyle. Thanks for youe adivce , Danielle. I leanrt a lot from this article.
OMG thank you Danielle, I meet people going on diet after diet every day and still overweight. This clearly has to stop. Most people also have deeper issues that prevent them from losing weight such as the impression that it can never work anyway and makes them give in very quickly.
Love your mentality, I’ll be checking your program out.
This holiday season I’m focusing on maintenance, not weight loss, and eating clean. Choosing what treats I want to have and not wasting time or energy or anxiety on eating those that aren’t worth it…. and also keeping track of drinks because those ad up!
I’m all about ditching the diets. In fact I think they usually end up backfiring. Good luck with your program. I wish you a lot of success.
Great advice there! That is a very informative, but interesting post to read. You are so right, so many people obsess over the way people will judge them over Christmas time. I am guilty of the same thing, even as an elite athlete….I worry about it. It is so hard not to with the media at this time, but posts like this are going to make a huge difference and help people reduce that anxiety and love who they are! Thanks so much!
Love ditching diets! I can’t do diets without getting super controlled and spiraling, so this is an awesome idea!
Love the idea of ditching diets! I am a huge advocate of Intuitive Eating and anything that ditches diets is a good idea in my book 🙂