Come on In and Introduce Yourself

thejuicywoman

Hi I'm Andrea, the group moderator,

This isn't my first go round with wanting to get more fit. At 51, I've wasted way too many years and
cried too many tears thinking that I'd never be okay as long as I was fat. Now I know that all that
worry and concern over trying to change my eating through dieting was a big fat waste of time.
I just wasn't ready to make a change so I could never sustain my weight loss. I blamed my appetite.
I was wrong. It was my lack of assertiveness and self-doubts. When I finally finished writing my first book,
Lovin' the Skin You're In: The Juicy Woman's Guide to Making Peace with Food and Friends with Your Body,"
I finally learned the secrets to creating confidence.

As a professional certified empowerment coach, author and body image expert, I now teach women skills
so that they can use the energy of their emotions to shift their perspective and stand up taller in their lives.

I'm here to share with you tips and strategies that I come across that work for me and my private coaching clients. As a member of this group, you'll be invited to join me and a team of experts in several Google + Hangouts to connect, continue our conversations and stay in touch. I can't wait to meet you.

Warmest regards,

Andrea

chriszennao

Hi, my name is Naomi. I am 34 years old and I have been on the heavier side all my life. In high school I was more toned but after two kids and bad eating habits all the tone when away..lol...

I am interested in any tips and suggestions you have to offer.

thejuicywoman

Hey there Naomi, Welcome to the group. I'm so glad that you're here. Being a mom really does change everything. Doesn't it? It did for me. Is that your lovely daughter in the photo? I'm a mom too. I have two kids. My son, 23 and my 18 year old daughter. Right now I'm going through some changes because my daughter is leaving for school in September. I'm happy to share my tips with you. On August 12 I'm going to be doing a Mother/Daughter event on a Hangout on Google +. Another author colleague and I are going to be teaching mothers and daughters how to love and respect their bodies more. I hope you and your daughter can come. Hugs, Andrea

mytime6630

Thank you Andrea for the invite to this group.

My name is Joan. I am 63 yrs old, but whenever anything bothers me, I tend to binge, overate for comfort. I have lost 16#, have about 20 more that I need to lose, but have lost motivation. After a couple weeks of not watching what I am eating, struggling to get back started.

I have been married 37 yrs to a husband who loves pizza, hamburgers, etc. I have a son that is married, with 2 little grandsons, but they live in Michigan (I live in Missouri). I also have a 36 yr old daughter, who has a masters degree in Occupational therapy, but 1.5 yrs ago had to move back home with us, due to severe mental illness. Mental illness is hard to understand and hard to know what to do to help. It has taken me this long to accept that I did not cause this illness, and instead of worrying about her, and overeating, I need to take care of myself so I am here for her as long as I can be. (She was dx with bipolar and schizophrenia). She is stable now, but a week ago she got hit by a car while riding my bike. Broken foot, broken front tooth, stitches, etc., but , it could have been worse. But this depresses her more, as she cant even get out and exercise. So -- I eat!! Now, that is not helping anything to eat!

Looking forward to the support from this group, and knowing that I am not alone in stress/emotional/binge eating!

thejuicywoman

Dear Joan,

Welcome to the group. I'm happy to have you here. Thank you so much for sharing a bit about yourself and what challenges you're facing. It's very difficult having a family member who struggles with mental illness. I understand the level of fear and uncertainty that follows the illness. My mother was diagnosed with bipolar years ago and it's so hard trying to manage all the emotions around not knowing what to do to help.

My best advice is to be as gentle with yourself as you can. You're doing the absolute best you know and that is more than good enough. I know that you're probably very upset about the overeating, but rather than adding insult to injury and placing your focus on the food, it's best to pay closer attention to how you feel. Here is Part 1 of a 2 Part article that I wrote about what to do following a binge: http://ezinearticles.com/?Having-a-Fat-Day?-How-to-Love-Your-Body-Even-After-a-Binge!-Part-1-of-2&id=3329187

You've done such an amazing job so far with losing 16#. Keep on looking for opportunities each day where you can do something nice for yourself that will reinforce an "I'm worth it" attitude.

Have you heard of tapping or Emotional Freedom Technique? It's basically a simple do it yourself stress relief method that would help you to alleviate a lot of the conflicted emotions you have around all the things that are going on now in your life.

ForeverDanielle2013

Hello Everyone! I am so glad that i found this group I am 32 years old and a mother of 2. I have pretty much always been heavy, although I did lose about 70 pounds when I got out of high school and kept it off for a few years. During that time I got married and had 2 kids and after my second baby I never lost the weight and have continued to gain. I have tried so many diets and have failed miserably, always gaining the weight back and usually extra. I am an emotional eater, stress is what really gets me. I won't even be hungry but if I get stressed out you can bet that I will be stuffing my face. Sadly it does make me feel better for a brief moment and then it hits me, of what I am doing to myself and that just makes me feel worst. I am ready to be the happy me, to be able to play outside with my kids without getting so out of breath, to be able to get on the rides at the fair with my kids without being scared that I won't fit, and most of all I want to be a better example for my children. I'm the only large person in my family so I feel like nobody really understands me and how I feel. So I would love to have so me support from people that truly understand what I'm going through.

thejuicywoman

Hi ForeverDanielle,

I'm so happy that you're here in this group. If you read the posts and feel inclined to ask for help and share your thoughts and questions, you'll expand your image of what's possible. As an empowerment coach I'm all for teaching people how to envision new possibilities.

The focus of the group here is to deal with the stress in our lives first before focusing on what you are eating. With that in mind, Danielle, I want you to know that you haven't failed at dieting. Dieting has failed you. As with nearly 98% of all people who lose weight on diets, you also regained back the weight. You're so not alone in your frustration and confusion.

I would be happy to teach you alternatives to dealing with your stress that are more effective than eating. I've kept a blog for nearly 9 years now. It's called The Juicy Woman Blog. On that you will find a ton of useful information of ways that you can manage your stress. My favorite go to technique is known as tapping, also called Emotional Freedom Technique. The latest research shows that it reduces our cortisol (stress hormone) levels by as much as 25%. Amazing. Are you familiar with EFT?

I think that it would really help you to deal with all the emotional upsets surrounding the way you feel about lots of situations in your life.

rebeccafirlotte22

Hi there, my names Rebecca and I'm 22 years old from Ontario, Canada. I'm a mom to my little girl who's 3 years old. The last three years have been tough for me. I recently finished school, I was enrolled full time , working two jobs, and taking care of my daughter and husband. All the stress and lack of time for myself has taken its toll on my body. I've gained 40 pounds in the last two years and I now weigh more than I did when I was 9 months pregnant . I've been trying to loose the weight, I've been eating healthy and exercising as much as I can, but my weight has been yo-yoing up and down since its hard to find the time to take care of myself. I just want to find new ways to deal with the stresses of life so that I'm better able to take care of myself and set a good example for my daughter. I also want to build some confidence and worry more about being healthy and loving my body instead of just worrying about the size of my clothes and the number on the scale.

thejuicywoman

Hi Rebecca,

First let me Congratulate you for finishing school. OMG! What an amazing accomplishment! Many people would die to be in your shoes. I'm so thrilled that you've joined the group because together with the group's input, I will offer you new tools to handle your stress and that will make it easier for you to put the emphasis on self care.

I'm a mom too, but my kids are 23 and 18 and my youngest is leaving for The Culinary Institute of America this September. So as a mom, I speak from the most personal of experience.

But I'm also a professional empowerment coach and author and I've learned a ton about how our minds and bodies work together. What most people don't realize is the role of our emotions on the stress in our lives.

You've done so much by finishing school, having a baby, taking care of the family and juggling two jobs. The result is that your body is probably chronically stressed and your cortisol levels are most likely elevated which inhibits weight loss and reduces nutrient absorption. In other words you could be doing everything right, and because your body feels like it's still under attack by all the stress and unresolved emotions you've been holding onto. Stress is the weight gain drug and you could be maxed out.

The first thing you have to do is stop putting all the emphasis on all the stuff you can see. Don't worry about the scale, how much you're eating, exercising or anything like that. You've got to focus on how you feel.

I'm here to help.

Warmest regards,

Andrea

ForeverDanielle2013

Thank you so much! I am not familiar with EFT but I plan on checking it out. I am willing to try anything. Food has been my best friend for so long, it's time to find a new one

thejuicywoman

Fabulous. You can find a ton of stuff on Youtube. Just Google it. And since I'm a practitioner and here, just ask me any questions and I'll be happy to help if I can.

ForeverDanielle2013

@thejuicywoman- Thank you! I have been reading up on EFT, it sounds very interesting and I'm going to try it.