Weight Loss as a SIDE EFFECT of Self-Care
by Anne S. Kaplan

Unless we're Sumo wrestlers or prizefighters, we don't gain weight on purpose, we gain it as a side effect of using food to take care of ourselves, as best we can at the time.

When our needs shift and/or our ability & willingness to find non-food ways of meeting non-hunger needs and otherwise caring for and nurturing ourselves, we may discover that we lose weight -- also as a side effect, just as it should be.

Weight loss on purpose is almost always unhealthy and temporary -- as you have to fight your body to do it. Also, you may end up still being a fat person, albeit in a temporarily thinner body.

Weight loss as side effect of self care, on the other hand, is a sign that your body is finding its own new levels and balances --- it's natural, within the systems of your being, and so much more likely to serve you well in the long run.

SO, forget calories, forget grams, forget pounds, forget obsessing about what to eat/not to eat. Use food appropriately for sustenance and some pleasure -- and find other ways to meet your body's and your spirit's and your mind's non-hunger needs. If needed, work with a therapist, a counselor, or a coach. Move. Love. Live. Breathe. And trust your body's own wisdom.

Stop DIEting, and start LIVING!!