The Balance We Seek

Even though I gave up dieting eight years ago, I sometimes wonder if I should lose some weight. Why? Well, for starters it’s a concept that’s very ingrained in me.

I started my first official diet at the age of twenty-two, not because I needed to lose weight but because I was supporting a friend and losing a few pounds didn't sound half bad. We joined Weight Watchers and I ended up losing around 20 pounds. Man, did I look good, skinny with protruding hip bones – just like Twiggy who I had idolized in high school.

We all know the story though, lose weight, gain it back, lose it again, gain back more. Gosh, dieting became the thread that ran through the story of my life – for forty years.

The thing with restrictive dieting is it becomes a battle. It’s not fun or sexy. It is demanding and all-encompassing. Working to be something we’re naturally not is hard work.

Looking at the words I used to describe a diet reveals a masculine energy - battle, demanding, all-encompassing (or holding on to), hard. In contrast, fun, sexy, and natural have a feminine energy and this is exactly what diets are not.

As a woman, as a human, we want balance, finding that place where the masculine and the feminine can live in harmony. We just don’t find that through dieting, by trying to be something we’re not.

The balance we seek comes when we can accept who we are naturally and place our focus on living a life that encompasses all of who we are, whether you’re naturally very thin or carry fat on your body.

Releasing the notion that a diet will make my life better is a tough one to shake. But the truth is, reducing the circumference around my mid-section is not going to change who I am as a person and if I think it will, then isn’t looking at my patterns of belief really the place to focus my attention?

We have these beautiful bodies and we’re always trying to change them. Can we instead see them for their beauty and focus on bringing out our feminine energy - that soft, welcoming, nurturing, receptive, creative, compassionate, intuitive, vibrant version of who you truly are?

Have you found it hard to let go of dieting? If so, let's connect, I'd love to hear what's been going on for you.

I recently read a quote from Twiggy where she commented about being idolized in the 60’s. She said, “I thought everyone had gone stark raving mad." If only I had read that when I was younger.