I Am That Girl and Friday Flashbacks: Fat Thighs & Embracing Your Imperfections

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I AM THAT GIRL

Last night, I was invited as a guest speaker for I Am That Girl’s Boston Chapter. If you’re not familiar with I Am That Girl, it’s a “community that inspires girls to discover their innate worth and purpose.” Obviously, their mission is right up my alley so I quickly accepted the invite!

Each meeting, the girls pick a different topic to discuss and in honor of NEDAwareness Week (National Eating Disorder Awareness Week), the topic was disordered eating habits & ways we restrict ourselves as women. Since I have been there and now work with other women to overcome diet-obsessed living, they asked me to shine the light on disordered eating habits beyond Anorexia, Bulimia, and bingeing.

It’s important to know that even habits like counting calories (in an unhealthy way), gym addictions, obsessions with the scale, feeling of shame/guilt, and restricting yourself with extreme diets and “diet-food” can be extremely detrimental to your health and overall wellbeing. I also want women to know that while these issues often aren’t talked about, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Heck, in college I thought my highly restricted eating habits were normal, and my only option if I … Read More!

Friday Flashbacks: Counting Calories

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Good afternoon lovelies! Today I am excited to announce a new weekly feature on the blog: Friday Flashbacks. As I’ve mentioned time and time and again on this blog, while it may look like I have it “all together” health-wise that was not always the case. And for those who know me I am far from perfect; I’m a real girl.

But back in my late teenage years and early twenties I reallllyyy struggled with the scale, dieting, counting calories and everything in between. I have been there, there as in a place I never want to be again, a place many of you may have been (or may be now).

Friday Flashbacks will take you along with me back on a journey in time to peak at what my lifestyle/mindset was back then and how I’ve grown. I want you to know that I’ve gone through a lot to get to a place of self-love and that undoubtedly YOU CAN TOO.

COUNTING CALORIES

The first time I started counting calories was sophomore year in college. College was one of the first times in my life that I truly felt pretty because I finally got down … Read More!

Healthy ChickLit: Treat Every Day as a Clean Plate

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How many times have you told yourself, “Screw it, I already had one brownie, I may as well eat the whole batch!” “I completely ‘over did it’ last night so I’m just going to starve myself all morning”, “I skipped the gym for two days in a row. There goes that plan!” or even  “I destroyed my diet. I am a complete failure!”

Sound familiar? Trust me, thoughts like this pretty much consumed me all throughout my college years, leaving me completely miserable. I felt worthless, FAT, and downright exhausted. These beliefs not only mess with our overall wellbeing (body image, weight loss efforts, positive outlook on life) but they simply aren’t true. They are just little lies we tell ourselves to protect us from taking action.

Next time you hear yourself throwing a negative pity party or drowning yourself in guilt, I want you to stop yourself in your tracks. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and remember that you don’t need to be perfect 100% of the time to be 100% healthy & happy.

No matter how many slices of pizza you ate or how many workouts you skipped out on, the good news is you have … Read More!

I’ve Been There: A Flashback On Why I Quit Dieting & Started Living Once and For All

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[May ’09 – counting calories & deprivation]    [Summer ’12 – living my life – happy & carefree!]

note: I was not my heaviest here but still unhappy

One of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in holistic health counseling is because I’ve been there.

There as in a place where I tried everything (I mean everything!) to make my body change when it wouldn’t budge. There as in frantically adding up my calories for the day during Psychology class, while pretending to take notes. There as in canceling Mexican night with my girlfriends because I feared a margarita and quesadilla would make me fatter. There as in feeling like a little kid on Christmas every time the scale went down a pound, while feeling like I wanted to crawl in a hole and die every time it went up .2 pounds.

There as in hooking up with boys to make me feel better about myself and my body, and feeling I wasn’t skinny enough, pretty enough or good enough. There as in calling a pile of rice cakes with fat-free peanut butter “dinner.” There as in having a mental breakdown every time I ate something “bad”  … Read More!

10 Positive Mantras To Break Free of Diet-Obsessed Living

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If you’ve been reading my blog for a while or ever took a sneak peak at my About Me page, you know that healthy living didn’t come naturally to me. In fact, my entire college years were consumed of yo-yo dieting, hours and hours at the gym, “fake food” and obsession with my weight. I can’t even tell you how many tears were shed over the darn scale alone! I was unhappy, and in effect definitely unhealthy. I felt frustrated, F-A-T, alone and “not good enough.”

It wasn’t until I graduated from college that I decided to throw all of my “food rules” and restrictions out the window and actually start LIVING. At this time I also discovered yoga, running, clean eating and my secret talent for cooking. When I switched from dieting to living (and felt OK with it), everything and I mean everything began to change.

If this sounds like you, or you know someone struggling with similar issues, here are 10 mantras to repeat over and over again to start make that positive shift toward a healthier lifestyle. Because, after all, you won’t see a change in your body or your health if you aren’t OK up … Read More!

Healthy ChickLit: On Dealing with Dieter’s Guilt

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Today’s Lit: Remember that every day is a new day. So, you ate one too many brownies or “cheated” on your diet. You didn’t ruin anything. Instead of beating yourself up with guilt, start again tomorrow!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a woman say, “Well, I ate crap today, so I might as well forget it!” or “Guess I’ll wait ’til next week to start that ‘going to the gym’ plan since I didn’t work out today anyway,” or even “I ate pizza last night and now am on a major guilt trip.”

I’m here to tell you it’s NOT TOO LATE. Remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day. As a matter of fact, you can choose to start your day over any time you like!

So, you ate one too many brownies, overdid it with the Peppermint Martinis, or “cheated” on your diet. NEWSFLASH: You didn’t ruin anything!

Instead of beating yourself up with guilt, start again tomorrow…

If you’re looking to let go of that guilt and make 2013 about you, check out my “From Oy Vey to OK in 30 Days” premiere Health Coaching Program. I’ll teach you how to Read More!

Healthy Chick’s Healthy Holiday Tips {vid}

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Tuesday Talk: Motivation

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Good morning ladies! I hope you are all safe and dry from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Fortunately, the worst of it for me is losing power for a few days so I can’t really complain, but I’m praying for those whose homes have been flooded or destroyed.

I’m running out of power on my laptop, currently writing at Daybreak Coffee House (where I was pleased to run into the lovely Cait from Cait Plus Ate who is just the most bubbly, friendly girl!) This will have to do as my “office” for now, which I don’t mind AT ALL because this Pecan Roast & Vegetarian Egg Sandwich on sourdough is totally hitting the spot.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about a rather popular topic today on Healthy Chicks: motivation. That is, how to stay motivated even during those realllllllyyyy tough times.

Here are some tips to get you inspired, whether you need motivation to run that race or simply get out of bed an hour earlier!

1. First and foremost, you need to have a purpose. If you’re struggling to stay on a healthy diet and exercise regimen, ask yourself “Why do I want to eat well and … Read More!