You are listening to the Weight Loss for Successful Women Podcast with Shannan Christensen, episode number 173. Welcome to Weight Loss for Successful Women, a podcast for women who are ready to break the diet cycle and end their struggle with weight for good. Here’s your host, fortune 100 executive, and certified life coach, Shannan Christensen.

Hello love. So happy to be back with you.  How is your new year going? Mine is so good. I love this time of year. It is time to get to work. I had a lot of rest at the end of December, and I hit January running. We have so many fun and life-changing things going on in Transform Boss. I’m watching ladies invest in themselves and show up for themselves.

We are doing a two-part workshop this month where my ladies are setting goals, celebrating success, and learning how to have more success. It is so good. This week’s TBoss Take is all about the food and what has kept you on the yo-yo of the diet rollercoaster. Do you ever find yourself overeating and not able to reach your weight loss goals? This can be very discouraging, but there is a way to manage it.

Restricting food intake and overeating, it goes hand in hand. When we restrict ourselves, it often leads to overeating when we give into our cravings. We go on a new diet, restrict by cutting calories or food groups. Then we can sustain it for a period of time, but then we end up binging and overeating. We may even start out by just eating a little off plan, but then it keeps growing, because we keep telling ourselves that we’ll be good tomorrow. We tell ourselves that if we can just restrict long enough to lose weight, that everything will be okay. We’ll eat normally when we lose the weight. It’s one of the most sabotaging thoughts that we have.

Restriction brings out our inner rebel. Our inner rebel will show us, by overeating. When we think we can’t have it, then we just want it more. Allowance is the opposite of restriction. It’s being intentional and eating foods you enjoy. It’s learning how to pay attention to how your body is feeling so you can feel fullness before you overeat. It’s eating in a way that you can always do.

Instead of saying, I can’t have this, allowance is saying I can have it, and I decide if I want it or not. This is how you start to feel in control. You will also learn through this process how much food your body needs, and it will leave you without feeling guilty or deprived. Losing weight for the last time involves allowing yourself to enjoy food.

Eat when you’re physically hungry and stopping when you’re starting to feel satiated or satisfied, when you’ve had enough. Restriction just leads you to overeating. You know this. You’ve done this for as long as you have been on the diet rollercoaster, my love. Are you ready to do something different? I can’t tell you how many times I last suppered. I’d buy all the food, clean it out by eating it because I was gonna be good and eat clean. Yes, I’m using air quotes. Anytime you start thinking, I’m going to be good tomorrow, I need to start my diet tomorrow, I better eat this before I go on my diet, know that you’re setting yourself up for failure.

But maybe it’s how you’re failing ahead of time. Hmm. Just sit with that for a moment. You know restricting does not work. You know that you want a good relationship with food, but you keep trying to restrict it. Do you really want to lose weight? If you do, but you have some fear around it, write it down my love.

Understand what you’re fearful of. Then decide is the fear of losing weight worth carrying the extra weight, or are you ready to release it for the very last time? My take on allowance versus restriction: one, restriction has never worked for the long term. Two, allowance through eating your favorite foods while paying attention to hunger and fullness is the way. Three, pick one meal; allow the restricted foods and then enjoy them, savor them, and stop when you’re feeling satiated.

Next week, I’m gonna teach you how to feel in control around your favorite foods and you will not wanna miss it. Where you can have Oreos on your kitchen counter and not want to eat them. If you want to take this work deeper, then check out Transform Boss. It’s my monthly membership program where you will learn how to lose weight for the last time and get off the diet roller coaster. It’s based on coaching, community, and coursework. You can learn more at jointransformboss.com. Bye for now.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Weight Loss for Successful Women. If you love what you heard today and wanna learn more, come on over to bflycoaching.com. See you next week.