No Wellness Wankery

Have you ever wrestled with the idea of intuitive eating, only to find yourself buried under weight gain concerns and that pesky voice in your head leading you back to dieting?

Sometimes in the non-diet world, speaking about weight loss can be taboo.

Especially if people are on different stages of their own journey in rebuilding their relationships with food and their bodies.

But I can't help but often think this is where we lose people back to diet land.

This all kicked off again after I received an email from a lovely listener called Penelope - who says the age old statement 'I have tried and failed at intuitive eating, and each time returned to restrictive eating'.

Have you quit dieting but are gaining weight?

What should you do next?

Let's talk about the importance of checking in with our hunger and ways to create a healthier home environment without feeling deprived.

Want some budget friendly recipes to get started? Download for FREE

I know this is a huge topic - and we will chat more about it next week. But if you want more right now... check out this 3 part series:
60: So you want to lose weight? Let's chat. (Part 1)
62: So you want to lose weight? Let's chat. (Part 2)
63: So you want to lose weight? Let's chat. (Part 3)

Ps. Unsure if you're accidentally dieting? Find out with my free checklist.

Ever wondered why French women don't get fat, despite their love of good food?

Well you aren't alone. There was even a whole book about it.

First published in 2004, "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano has been translated into 40 languages and sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

This book is all about the French's unique approach to eating, which combines a love for satiating full-fat meals, an appreciation for their culinary heritage, a love of cooking and an untainted enjoyment of what they eat.

Sound familiar?

Focusing on satisfying foods? Cooking at home? Enjoying your food minus the guilt?

Is it possible to enjoy food without guilt and still maintain a healthy lifestyle?

This episode is more than just an exploration of French eating habits. It's another notch in our belt against diet culture, aiming for a healthier and more joyful relationship with food.

So, are you ready to redefine your eating habits and fall in love with food all over again?

Once you've listened, you'll be inspired to start cooking at home more... so here are some FREE budget friendly recipes for you.

EDIT: No doubt 'Why French Women Don't Get Fat' is 100% a diet book. While eating satisfying foods is something I am a HUGE fan of, there certainly is a lot I don’t agree with in the book. I definitely don’t subscribe or endorse this book or pathetic diet leek soup (which tastes like watery onion nonething-ness).

I was told by my doctor that I had clinical anxiety back in 2010 and the diagnosis came as a complete shock. But now, I can see that the writing was on the wall.

For months, I had stopped wanting to socialise. When someone would text me asking to hang, I’d see it as a burden. Everything felt like a chore, I didn’t want to do anything.

But I'm happy to say, things have changed A LOT since 2010.

The anxiety I was experiencing went from out of control, to manageable, to mild and now finally has disappeared.

I knew something was finally different when instead of staring at the back of my eyelids, my brain racing like a treadmill on top speed, I fell asleep. No dread. No angst. No catastrophising. No over analysing. It was the first time in decades.

And it wasn’t a one off either, but a succession of nights. The only other time my anxiety had disappeared was during my previous pregnancy, and here, pregnant with my second it was happening again. Was it hormones? A coincidence? Was alcohol causing my anxiety?

Let's unpack my anxiety breakthroughs along my journey from diagnosis to thriving.

Ps. Wondering what kind of drinker you are? Take my FREE QUIZ.

You often hear dieters say "I really don't eat that much. I have no idea why I can't lose weight". As a past dieter, I know how much I was very religiously sticking to my very few calories that I was allowing myself to have, eating very lightly and not getting anywhere. I would see these diets and meal plans and think 'how do people eat this much?!'

But the truth is diet culture BS has made it SO hard to even know how much you should be eating. Are you eating too much or not enough?

You know it – and I know it – you can’t live your fullest life on an empty stomach. You’re meant for great things but you can’t reach your potential or live your best life when all you think about is food.

Constantly worrying about how much you ate or whether you’re eating the ‘right’ things distracts you from all the important shit you were put on this earth to do! And we can’t have that, because the world needs what you’ve got to share.

Lucky for us, our body has delightful inbuilt systems that can give us all the answers. We just need to learn how to listen.

Want help with binge or emotional eating? I think you'll get a lot of value from my FREE 5-day course, in which I teach you strategies that helped me to skip the cravings and feel in control around food. The course will be delivered via email straight into your inbox.

Unsure if you are accidentally dieting? Get my checklist to find out if you're on a diet in disguise

Planning a wedding can be a roller coaster of emotions, and not just because of the budgeting, guest lists, and venue hunting.

Body image concerns and diet culture often sneak into the process too.

I remember the morning of my wedding so clearly. It was pouring with rain. I'd just finished getting ready for my wedding. I'd put on the veil. This is the moment I looked in the mirror for the first time.

But when I saw my reflection, I felt so deeply disappointed. Despite months of meticulous planning, exercising, and curating, I didn't see the image of perfection I had imagined.

But what did I do next?

And what can you do to enter your marriage - or whatever your next life phase is - knowing you have so much more to give this world (and your partner) than your appearance?

Grab your headphones, get comfortable, and let's get into it. Your journey to a confident, self-loving wedding planning starts now.

Ps. the perfect dress is the one that makes you feel beautiful and comfortable just the way you are. Right now.

They say you can never have too much of a good thing.

And yes, there are a few things I believe this statement applies to: holidays, puppies and beach swims.

But two things that can definitely be taken to the extreme are healthy eating and exercising.

Don’t get me wrong – You only get one body, and it’s important to take care of it. But it is absolutely possible to go overboard with eating healthy and exercising, and you can end up doing far more harm than good.

Sarah Liz King is an accredited exercise physiologist who has dedicated her career to promoting safe and effective exercise practices for individuals with disordered eating, eating disorders, exercise addiction, and hypothalamic amenorrhea.

Ever wondered if stress can affect your period?

If you haven’t heard of hypothalamic amenorrhea before, it is a condition where your period stops due to things like excessive stress, intense exercise, low body weight, or certain eating habits.

She works to help women un-learn toxic diet culture and provide a science-backed, holistic approach to mental and physical wellness that will last a lifetime.

She is basically my type of woman. Let's do this.

Ps. If you loved Sarah as much as I did, check her out on IG.

Despite leading a glamorous life and having a successful career travelling the world interviewing rockstars, Maz Compton felt utterly disconnected and dissatisfied.

Her solution? Ditch the booze and switch up her lifestyle.

Maz went from not being able to get through a few days without a drink to 8 years without a sip of booze. It all started when she took a break from booze and to discover what a hangover free few weeks felt like. It turns out, that was the best choice.

It's not all about alcohol, though. Maz also opens up about her struggle with body image and self-esteem and how the pressures of being a household name took their toll.

How did she break free? Well... Let's find out.

Ps. Have you listened to this episode and are ready to learn to unwind and socialise without booze?

Welcome to Booze Break. Jump over to the Booze Break website and you can listen to the first episode for FREE.

Still not sure if this is for you? Take my free quiz to see what type of drinker you are.

Chances are if you’ve been on a diet before – you’ve probably received some pretty dodgy advice when it comes to booze.

“Eating is cheating”

“Soft drink isn’t worth the calories”.

“Juice has too much sugar, I might as well have wine”.

I hope you can eye-roll with me at the above statements. But if not let’s scrap that and shake up how we think about alcohol.

Let's flip the script on how diet culture influences our drinking habits. We'll debunk myths about sugar, explore global drinking norms, and break free from the usual rules.

Ever wondered how booze affects your mental mojo? We'll dig into the science behind alcohol's impact on your brain, impulse control, and sleep.

Ready to redefine your relationship with alcohol? I've got some cool tips to help you cut back while boosting your self-esteem and food-fun balance.

Ps. Have you listened to this episode and are ready to learn to unwind and socialise without booze?

Welcome to Booze Break. Jump over to the Booze Break website and you can listen to the first episode for FREE.

Still not sure if this is for you? Take my free quiz to see what type of drinker you are.

Ready for a healthier relationship with alcohol?
BUY BOOZE BREAK HERE!

Ready to break the habit in 30 days and learn to unwind and socialise without booze?
Welcome to Booze Break.

An audio guide to break your booze habit. And I'm giving the first episode FREE to our No Wellness Wankery community. Because let's face it - most of the advice we have ever been given to drink less has been rooted in diet culture.


Is this you?

• You drink because…. well, everyone does! And ‘cause you’re not quite sure how you’d socialise without it.
• Pouring a glass wine after a busy (or fun) day has become a habit.
• A glass turns into a bottle more often than you’d like!
• You’d like to drink less for your health but you’d hate to become boring - or bored.

Whether it’s forever or for just right now. This is a booze break - not a life sentence.

Still not sure if this is for you? Take my free quiz to see what type of drinker you are.

Once you've listened to the first episode, you'll be ready to swap a handful of feel-good tipsy moments for a booze-free high that doesn’t wear off. Then you can head to the Booze Break website for how to download the rest of the episodes.

Diet culture tells you that scales are a must. But there's actually no requirement for you to step on the scale. Not at all.

In reality, the act of weighing yourself might be stopping you from finding your healthiest weight.

Have you ever experienced how encountering an undesired number on the scale can send you spiraling, sapping your motivation?

Jenna was 8 years old when she was sent to her first dietitian to be put on a 'healthy eating' meal plan, aka a diet. She spent the next 20 years dieting and is now thankfully coming out the other side. Phew!

But are you ready for a reality check when recovering from dieting? Sometimes you do things that you know will help you, and sometimes there are things that you know will make you feel crap... and you do them anyway.

Last week, Jenna stepped on the scale—knowing she might not like what she saw. But she did it anyway.

Surprisingly, even though she hated the number and definitely shed some tears, something good came out of it.

We are so excited for you to listen to this story. A lightbulb moment in a life without dieting.

Let's redefine our relationship with diet culture, discover balance and joy in the process.

So, if you're ready to break up with diets, join us on this journey because change can really be as simple as a morning stroll, an extra glass of water, or a good night's sleep.

Need a little extra support to ditch the scales? In my FREE 30-day challenge I’ll teach you how to say goodbye to crappy old-school diet advice and create a healthier relationship with food.

Click here to sign up for F*CK DIETS Challenge.