Hey-  Its Sarah here (: Ok so may be I am just really compulsive…….. but was I the only one who noticed that on Oprah’ s O Magazine cover from April it says in the upper right corner “The Battle is Over”- Oprah HOW SHE ENDED HER WAR WITH FOOD.   Then when you read the article-  it has nothing to do with Oprah ending a battle- its just that she really liked Geneen Roth’s approach to food and dieting.    I felt like they sort of tried to manipulate us into buying the magazine to learn a “quick fix”.  I am sure this was not Oprah’s idea (:    What Geneen is  offering is not a quick fix but a different approach to answering the question “how can I lose weight?”   (The answer being-  we need to figure out what we are truly HUNGERING for).   I am soooo excited that Geneen’s book is going BIG (with Oprah’s help)  because I think its going to open a lot of doors for people.   I have not ordered it yet as I am trying to control my own compulsive book buying, HA!  But in all of her previous books I have felt inspired and excited by her approach    Why do we eat more than we need to?   Why do we restrict certain foods because they are “bad”.   Why are we “bad ” or “good” when we eat certain foods?   Why are we bad when we don’t work out? Why can we feel fantastic one second and (after stepping onto a scale) feel like complete and totally horrified?    Why are many of us  battle with our very own body? 

I remember thinking 5 years ago when I needed  to lose about 20 pounds  and being so so so so very sick of thinking about it (as my sister Maria says in her comedy routine “I could have solved world peace or any number of truly menaning ful problems instead I chose to obsess over my weight)     I thought-  I am a smart, intelligent capable woman….why is this so damn hard?    Well-  its damn hard if you have some crappy beliefs that are making you feel bad!  (for example:   My whole family struggles with weight,  I am not worthy so I cannot take care of myself,  I have always been fat and always will be, Losing weight is impossible for me, I have no self- control-  these are popular ones and there are a bijillion more).    I did weighwatchers with some success but the ugly feelings were still there despite wearing a smaller jeans size.    I felt like I HAD to obsess over points and felt terrified and mistrustful of myself and my own abilities to eat right or frankly do anything!   Even while I was “successful” on the outside and fit into much smaller jeans-  I felt just as awful. 

 I am so excited because with my coaching practice and training I have learned so much about about why all of this WAS the way it was for me!  It is our beliefs and our thoughts (which by the way we CAN CHANGE) which cause all of this misery(:    So clean up your thoughts and lose weight-  sounds simple right?   Well yes in a way it is…..you need to be ready and willing to do the work-  and the GREAT news is- that once you have done this “work” to clean up your thoughts-  and you lose the weight-  you wont have to lose it ever again (plus dare I say your whole dang life will be looking diffrerent at that point!)    I actually white knuckled my way through weight loss and learned about changing my thoughts through my struggle with my professional life.   Now I realize how the same principles that helped me change my whole work life into somthing so joyful and amazing can do the same thing for weightloss or ANY old goal you want to achieve (with a few tweaks of the tools and ideas).  The work I am currently doing with weight loss clients is based on Brooke Castillo’s AMAZING book “If I am so smart, Why Cant I lose Weight?”      Its got great tools to get you reconnected with your body.   I am thinking of doing a group telecourse in the FALL using its priniciples…..its powerful stuff!      As Geneen Roth says “We dont want to eat a hot fudge sundae as much as we want our LIVES to BE a hot fudge sundae”    My PERSONAL wish for all of you is that your lives are like giant crepes stuffed with banana, nutella and whipped cream!    Sarah

Here is a video of Geneen reading from her newest book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Znw2UYH4c&feature=player_embedded#

Interested in another amazing weight loss coach?  Check out Bridgette Bodreau’s site here!

Also from Geneen’s book :  

The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole—divinity itself.

Another excerpt from Geneen’s book