Have you ever looked at a picture of yourself from another time, and think, “What the hell was I so hard on myself for? My body was adorable! And I remember hating my body when that picture was taken!”
For years I was looking for the magic pill. You know the one. The one that you find in magazines, diet books, following health gurus online. The one that is going to make you instantly the size and shape that you desire to be.
I read everything. I scoured every magazine:
- 10 Days to a Bikini Body? I’m in.
- 5 Secret Fat Loss Foods? I need it!
- How to eat until you’re stuffed and still lose weight! Hey – Right on.
I would look at what foods women were buying in the grocery store. Nope! Same foods (or junkier) that I was buying.
I would see women at the gym, and think to myself, “I am KILLING IT! Working SO MUCH harder than they are! They’ve hardly broken a sweat! How are they so much leaner?”
I would look at myself in the mirror and wonder, “What do all of these people know that I don’t?” What’s the trick? See, what I didn’t realize was that the trick is mindset. Dieting is bullsh*t. Dieting just leads to deprivation. When we feel deprived, we can’t help but binge. When we binge, we feel guilty, and then we deprive ourselves again. BUT once I changed my mindset, I no longer felt deprived. Change your mind, and your body will follow.
But HOW do you change your mindset? Well, it doesn’t happen overnight. Well, at least it didn’t happen overnight for me. But I guess there was a turning point at which I said to myself, “I can’t keep doing this anymore.” I can’t keep comparing myself to other women. I can’t keep looking at myself and seeing flaws. I want to be able to see myself now as I would in the future looking at my now picture.
So, I set out to learn a new way of thinking about my body and the food I ate. “This is my new normal” became my mantra. I stopped having cheat days (Oh crap! did I used to have some CHEAT DAYS! I’m going to have to write about that in another post.) The way I ate became a little more relaxed on the weekend, but through my mindset shift, I was able to break the binge/guilt/deprive cycle. Some mindset shifts may be more difficult than others – and you may have to “fake it until you make it,” but truly, if you get your mind right, everything else will fall into place.
- Until you know in your bones that “this is my new normal” it’s not right.
- Until you go on vacation, and don’t dive head first into a bowl of guacamole and chips, you’re not there.
- Until you admit to yourself that you aren’t on a diet. That the way that you eat is the way that you eat… Forever.
- When you can stop eating at 80% full, and not obsess about the food that you didn’t eat, you’re there.
- When you can go out to eat, order what you want, how you really want it, and realize that this meal will not negatively impact your goals, it’s right.
- When you tune into your body, and make your choices based on how you will feel in an hour, or tomorrow, instead of while you are eating, you will have changed your mindset.
And it is so refreshing to be able to free up my brain space to think about other things – other than my weight,
Elizabeth is a Master Certified Life and Health Coach with over 18 years of experience, dedicated to helping women in midlife thrive through holistic health and wellness. Her personal journey began with a desire to reduce her own breast cancer risk, which evolved into a mission to guide women through the complexities of midlife health, from hormonal changes to mental clarity and emotional resilience.
Elizabeth holds certifications from prestigious institutions such as The Life Coach School, Precision Nutrition, and the American Council on Exercise, as well as specialized training in Feminist Coaching and Women’s Hormonal Health. Her approach is deeply empathetic, blending her extensive knowledge with real-life experience to empower women in their 50s and 60s to build sustainable health habits that last a lifetime.
Recognized as a top voice in women’s health, Elizabeth speaks regularly on stages, podcasts, and webinars, inspiring women to embrace midlife with energy, confidence, and joy. Her passion is helping women regain control of their health, so they can fully engage in the things that matter most to them—whether that’s pursuing new passions, maintaining strong relationships, or simply feeling great in their own skin.