Weight Loss - The Different Attitudes Towards What We Put on and in Our Body

If you have ever read 'The Rules of Being Human' by Cherie Carter Scott, you will know that in Rule 1, "You Will Receive a Body", she explains that "You may like it or hate it but it will be yours for the entire period, this time around. It is the only thing you really own or are guaranteed to keep (at least most of) for the whole of your life."

Looking after the outer shell of our body, for many women is a serious business. We take great care and effort in the choices we make about the skin care and make up products we use. Careful consideration and experimentation goes into testing many products in order to discover what suits our individual skin type and complexion.

Advice is sought from those who 'know' and those who 'sell' the many products predicted to make us younger, more beautiful and of course more attractive. But at the end of the day we all make our own decisions about what products are right for us. We experiment and take note not only of what products suit us best, but also what negative effects each product has on our skin. No matter how much we are told that a product will be perfect for us, if it creates the slightest blemish or problem for us we no longer trust or use it. Although all the products are promoted, as being good for us, we instinctively know that no one type suits all and so we have fun experimenting until we find the right combination for ourselves.

The very use of these products can make us feel good about ourselves; can raise our self-esteem, sometimes even to new heights. Built on a range of beliefs about the products our confidence can sore. So, it is the outer casing of what we were born with that can often get the loving priority treatment. That is of course if we love and care enough about ourselves to even bother!

So why, for many of us is it almost impossible to make the same loving and caring choices with food? Why can we easily look after our outer skin whilst providing ourselves with food to fuel our inner mechanisms that does not suit us at all? The answer may be in the fact that when using skin care products we hold our personal power by making our own choices about what is right for ourselves - a vital process in increasing self-esteem and confidence. Where it comes to food, we so easily give away our power of choice and decision to the latest eating fad or diet and all because we believe so strongly in the diet cultures portrayal of food as 'good' or 'bad'. We have demonised food!

It has to be acknowledged that we live in a world of food abundance. Yet we live with a mindset of scarcity - believing that food is either 'good' or 'bad'. We fail to think and make choices for ourselves based on what we know about our own bodies. All too often our minds are switched off from our body signals about what food works best for us or when we have eaten enough. These days, with so much fear attached to food, we have lost the ability to live in a balanced healthy manner in a world of food abundance.

Let's get back to reality here. All food is good; it is the balance, how it affects our body and the amount we eat that is important. After all, food is not a comforter or a friend; it is just the fuel we need to survive in this life. So why do we comfort eat? The fact is that when we believe certain foods are bad, we make it scarce in our lives. This in turn leads to one devastating effect - we end up craving whatever it is we have made 'scarce' in our life. Then, when we rebel against this self imposed 'scarcity' we overindulging! And so we are back, hooked into a familiar but very uncomfortable cycle of guilt, shame and rebellion all of which raise our stress levels and lead inevitably to comfort eating the foods that we have demonised and made 'bad' in our minds and lives.

Like choosing the right products for our skin, no one else can tell us what will suit us best. No diet or healthy eating plan can give us the answer. Only by listening to our body and taking note of what foods work well in keeping us full of energy and fitness can we gradually discover the secrets of our personal 'high octane' fuel. However, that only goes part of the way to reducing our fear of food and creating permanent weight loss or stability. Learning to live in a world of food abundance without demonising any of it is the major key. Will power has nothing whatsoever to do with weight loss! Living in a world of food abundance has everything to do personal choice and self-love. When we take back our personal power of choice, switch on our minds to our bodies (instead of seeking outward approval and instruction on what we should and can eat), get in touch with our nurturing spirit of self-love and discover the fuel (food) that works best for us, then we at last begin to discover the body shape and size we were born to be.

Chrissie Webber is a published author and weight management motivation coach. Through her online company http://www.lifeshapers.co.uk/ she offers support, motivation and re-parenting to the 95% - 97% of dieters who are still struggling to find the weight they were born to be. Her web site and blog [http://www.chrissiewebber.co.uk/] offer motivation 'Keys' that help children, parents and adults discover a life without guilt, shame and self-loathing. To learn/relearn the skills of 'Conscious Eating' and how to live in harmony with food and nature become an online member today: http://www.lifeshapers.co.uk/