Ninety-five percent of diets fail. I found this incredible fact in the April issue of American Psychologist (the journal of the American Psychological  Association) in which they published a study conducted at UCLA. The study found that even after initial weight loss, 95 percent of dieters gain the weight back—and then some.

" We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people." − Traci Mann, Universtiy of Minnesota professor of Psychology who lead and authored the study.

According to the study, dieting is actually a predictor of future weight gain. So, I propose the simple question:
 
Is it possible that weight loss goals in and of themselves, cause weight gain?

Let me ask you this, what happens when you think, ”I have to lose twenty pounds by November because I'm going to be in my sister's wedding or  ______________ (fill in the blank)? This thought may actually come from a belief  that: “Who I am right now is not enough.”  

And understandably so. Look at the constant bombardment of messages we receive on a daily basis. Thin is still “in” according to every billboard, magazine advertisement, and TV show. It gives us the subconscious message that if we’re not thin, we’re not enough. Our behavior is a symptom of what we believe deep down, which we usually are not even aware of. Not that all excess weight comes from a belief that we’re not enough. Plenty of other beliefs cause us to carry extra weight. 

I can hear it right now: “What on earth would I “need” to carry extra weight for?” I assure you, we have many excellent reasons to carry extra weight. It’s necessary to do so until we uncover the hidden beliefs that cause us to feel safe by holding this extra weight. Our behavior will always be congruent with
our beliefs, created by our perceptions. And guess what? This is all correctable! When corrected, the changes in behavior (i.e. eating habits) are permanent.

For example, after I launched the Green Smoothie Challenge, I began really struggling with emotional eating. It was devastating for me (and also the catalyst for my healing which I now get to share with you!) because it prevented me from really moving forward in my life personally and professionally. Now that
I have done so much work around this, I realize how I was absolutely terrified to be seen as an “expert” on health and well-being. This might mean I was supposed to know everything and have the answers people were looking for. It ultimately could have made me the laughing stock of the earth, which was my deep
down fear. I couldn’t share my own gifts with this world. It was up to the world to decide when and if I was ever enough. 

This hidden belief completely paralyzed me. I was terrified to make one mistake. I was terrified of rejection so much that I constantly found a way to hold myself back. All of this happened so unconsciously that I would have said you were crazy (like you might be thinking right now) if you had told me this
before I was ready to hear it.

The diet mentality, the “on the diet” and “off the diet” and the “I’ve been good” or “I’ve been bad” thinking causes us to miss the whole gift our excess weight reveals to us. To move beyond diet thinking, we absolutely must wake up to the gift that is our unique form of self sabotage. This messenger, which most
of us would rather destroy, patiently waits for us to realize that it holds the key to unlock the code of our transformation! And, what is so great is that dieting allows us to experience that sense of failure over and over until we wake up to the misery we are creating for ourselves. Then, we become curious
about the message of our self sabotage. 

One of my teachers, JP Sears of Inner Awakenings says it so beautifully, 

“Self sabotage is when we want things to be other than they are. We have so much judgment about the Divine purpose of our life that we want things to be different than they are and we resist what is. The resistance we feel is the life of our inner saboteur.”

When we diet, we only add the pain of deprivation to our lives. We feel deprived which adds to feelings of anxiety, stress, or overall discomfort. Eventually we can no longer stand it, so we eat to numb the pain or suffering. For me, this was about a two hour process every time I started a diet. I literally, would instantly gain five pounds because all I could do was obsess about everything I wasn’t going to eat until I just ate... all of it. 

When we set a goal of weight loss, we need to look at what the weight loss means to us. We think it is weight loss we are craving when really, the craving we have is a messenger that we long for something we do not have. For example, if losing weight means I will be acceptable, this is the golden key to unlock my belief that I am unacceptable. It gives us an opportunity to explore where this belief came from and heal it. We must be willing to become so courageous that we can actually own our feeling of lack, of unworthiness and have compassion for ourselves anyway.

A part of us is attempting to care for our hurt. This is why we eat to numb our pain. I mean, who really wants to experience pain? And, to top it off, this all happens subconsciously, until we have suffered enough to wake up to it all and become aware of what's actually going on. 

When we finally wake up, we can transform and be empowered to become whole. It is truly a beautiful process—the journey to becoming more deeply human and fully alive! And this, sister, will never happen by making rules for ourselves about how much ice cream we will or won't eat and how much we'll weigh by
November to fit into that cute dress. That dress is only going to fit the body with the changed mind who
feels worthy, whether it fits or gets replaced with one that you feel beautiful in right now! 

Sometimes my cooking really should be part of a comedy act. My kids get a little scared when I make new things b/c they know I'm like a mad scientist that sometimes creates amazing recipes and other times, well, the result should be part of a freak show!

My pancake experiment has been going on for the last few years. I'm always trying to get it right, without success, and so they are particularly reticent about mom saying, 'hey kids, breakfast is ready, it's pancakes.'

So, I took a break for a while and let their fears subside and recently I worked up enough determination to start trying again, determined to get it right so I can enjoy some pancakes, I mean, so I can selflessly serve yummy pancakes to my family:) These are a hit with the whole family! Mission accomplished, they begged me to make them again today. That's when I know a recipe is 'shareable.'

Here's what you'll need:
(you can easily cut this recipe in half if you are only cooking for one or two people or if you just like to make a smaller amount)

• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar, rapadura or honey
• 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 + 1/4 cup coconut flour, may need a bit more
• 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• leaf lard, coconut oil, butter or ghee for cooking. I buy my leaf lard from pastured pigs at the farmer's market. If you do not have access to it, you might try making this amazing fat at home. Robb Wolf has instructions for you here.

Instructions:

1. In a blender, add eggs, water, yogurt, vanilla and sweetener.
   Add almond flour, coconut flour salt and baking soda and blend until thoroughly combined. Let sit for a    minute or two to make sure the consistency is good. If it's too thick, add a bit more water and if it's too runny, add a bit more coconut flour, keeping in mind that a little goes a long way b/c it really soaks up any liquid. The batter should be runny enough to pour, but not so runny that the batter flows all over the pan when you pour it in to cook the pancakes.

3. Heat oil, butter or ghee on skillet over medium low to medium heat

4. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter at a time onto the skillet flattening it down if needed so it cooks through. I like to even put a lid over the pan so it cooks through evenly before it burns.

5. Pancakes will form little bubbles, when bubbles open, flip pancakes over and cook other side

6. Remove from heat to a plate

7. Repeat process with remaining batter, add more oil to skillet as needed

Should yield enough to have plenty left over to freeze (about 20) for a morning when you are short on time in which case you can take them straight out of the freezer and pop them in the toaster to heat them up. I also sometimes put them in the dehydrator to heat up. I do this with anything that needs to thaw or heat up quickly instead of using the microwave.

How do we handle the pre and post-binge mental chaos we all experience when we consciously or unconsciously choose to binge, which most of us do: some often and some occasionally?

For me, it is so important to bring awareness to what is really happening when you binge. Not judgment at all, but awareness.

I'm curious, what might happen if instead of saying you are going to consciously binge, such as, 'Tonight I'll eat everything in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry:) and tomorrow I'll start being 'good.', maybe try, 
 
I am going to consciously numb myself with food today. I am going to use it as a drug so I don't feel what I know is there. I choose not to feel myself today. This has nothing to do with the food, it is only my drug of choice for today. I am consciously choosing to use food as a drug. This will make me feel really good for a time. It will cause my body to
release serotonin, the feel-good chemical. I want to feel good, if only temporarily and I consciously choose to feel good today and feel worse tomorrow so I'll probably have to find a way to numb myself then as well. This will increase my anxiety, my sense of boredom, all of what I feel now will  be magnified tomorrow. I am consciously becoming unconscious. This food will put me in a hypnotic state so I can pretend I feel other than I feel about my life, about myself.

I truly do not intend this as a way for you to heap shame upon shame or judge
yourself. I just know that self honesty is the most important part of
overcoming. When we look at the food as the issue, it is only a distraction from
what we are truly feeling. If we focus on the food, we don't heal. The food is
simply an opportunity to wake up more, to wake up to who we truly are and how
we are experiencing life, to become whole.

When you binge, you have not failed. You are simply a human, a real, magnificent,
light-filled, beautiful human. And  like all humans, you are seeking pleasure and
contentment because you feel you are missing it. Food, though, can't bring
that to you long term. It' can only bring you further away from it. Know that your
worth has nothing to do with your eating habits.

Find your dream and go after it. Immersing yourself in your dream will change
everything! Change things up in a healthy way. Maybe you can find some great healthy
treats that you allow yourself even daily. I eat something 'treatish' almost
daily. I really need it, but b/c I allow it when I want it (and I binged enough
times to feel the ICK of it) as well as practicing self awareness so I FEEL my body
and how it feels when I choose to overindulge, I don't overindulge anymore (well,
maybe not never and I'm sure there are plenty of other ways I trick myself that I am
unaware of, but I feel much calmer around food than I used to.) I also brought
truth-filled awareness to why I was drugging myself with overeating. This took a while 
for me, to be sure! It is a process, so be patient with your selves, young Jedi's:) 

Our binging is our very potent teacher. Look for the lesson, look for
what it is here to show you about yourself that you don't already know. It helps
you feel yourself, feel alive. What other ways can you begin to feel alive that
won't leave you anxious, depressed, chomping at the bit? It is not right or
wrong or good or bad to binge. Notice your judgments about it. Notice how you
have become the critical parent to yourself and then accept yourself anyway. Notice
that part of you needs to bring this drama of overeating into your life because it is
serving a part of you that has not yet learned to be loved and treated with compassion. In
some way, it is keeping a part of you feeling safe. Binging is a beautiful opportunity to
heal. Know that you are EXACLTY where you are meant to be in this moment and hiding
this part of yourself only makes the binging more necessary. What if you simply befriended this
part of yourself that thinks it is caring for you by leading you to temporary pleasure so you
don't feel your pain? Now, take a deep breath! 

Interested in learning more? Consider being on my FR*EE call on Wednesday, September 4 at 5pm PST.
I'll be talking more about how to kick those cravings to the curb so you can start living!
You can register and get all the details here.