Why Diets Don’t Work: Reason #1

November 25, 2014January 10, 2015 | Robynn Coates

Reason #1: Diets use a cookie-cutter approach.

At Christmas season one of our favorite activities is making sugar cookies with our kids – the kind you make with cookie cutters. We just love it!

And although this approach works wonderfully when you’re whipping out dozens of cookies, when talking about a diet, the cookie-cutter approach only proves to be a flop.

That is one thing we absolutely love about Peace with Food. It discards this cookie-cutter formula and instead encourages a custom-fit plan for each individual. Imagine that, a tailored plan, customized specifically for you! (Which, by the way, takes into account your preferences and helps you work with them leaving you feeling satisfied and at peace rather than deprive you of them.)

It is really similar to everything else in life. Think about it. How do you raise your kids? How do you spend your money? How do you handle your relationships? Is there any aspect of your life in which you do every thing exactly like anyone else, even your closest friends and confidants?

Similar? Maybe. Exactly alike? Impossible. That’s because you are the only one living with your life, circumstances, preferences, and propensities. You are unique. Embrace it!!

What might work marvelously for one may be a totally dud for another. That’s okay. That just gives us the freedom to be our selves.

So, if you are tired of trying to fit into someone else’s mold, let it go. Find what works for you and then go with it. Life is too short to live by someone else’s formula.

Take-Home Message:

You are a one-of-a-kind masterpiece! Living at Peace with Food will help you find your custom-fit plan, tailored specifically for you!

10 Reasons Why Peace With Food Works and Diets Don’t

November 24, 2014January 10, 2015 | Robynn Coates

We have heard it said that you can become an expert in your field if you practice it long enough and hard enough.

Bam!

That makes us experts at discovering that diets don’t work. Our guess is that many of you reading this are also experts in this arena as you too have spent years proving from personal experience that diets and rules just don’t work!

Maybe you’ve read our stories and are thinking that this Peace with Food thing sounds pretty good. At least you would like to hear more. Maybe you even want to give it a try. What’s the next step?

First things first.

When we started off on our quest for peace in the area of eating (as well as peace with our body and our life in general) we came to the realization that Peace with Food is worlds apart from diets.

So, if you want to have Peace with Food you will need a paradigm shift, a totally revamping of the way you approach eating, weight loss, and your body.

As we look back at the lessons we have learned, we want to share with you what we think are the main differences that we have found between Peace with Food and the typical diet. We are sure there are more, but this is a good start:

(click on each underlined “reason” to read more about each)

Reason #1: There is no cookie-cutter approach in Peace with Food.

Reason #2: A number on the scale is no longer the center of your universe in Peace with Food.

Reason #3: Peace with Food is sustainable – for life.

Reason #4: Peace with Food relies on skills, diets on willpower.

Reason #5:Peace with Food recognizes that there are more factors involved in your happiness and health than just the physical aspect.

Reason #6: Peace with Food is principle based whereas diets are rules based.

Reason #7 & 8: Peace with Food is transferable to the rest of your life, diets are not. Peace with Food allows you to enjoy life starting today, not the distant future.

Reason #9: Peace with Food brings you freedom, diets leave you deeper in the hole.

Reason #10: Peace with Food follows peace, diets a plan.

We will be writing about each of these 10 characteristics in more detail in the upcoming posts so stay tuned. But for now, we’ll leave you with the Take-Home Message:

Peace with Food will require a paradigm shift, a revamping of the way you approach eating, weight loss, and your body.

How to Make It Through the Thanksgiving Feast – Unscathed

November 21, 2014January 10, 2015 | Robynn Coates

Do the holidays stress you out in the area of eating? Do you feel panic set in with Thanksgiving just around the corner?

If that describes you, take a deep breath, relax, and imagine making it through the holidays relaxed and calm, thankful for the many blessings you have been given rather than being focused on the mistakes you made and the pounds you gained.

You can make it through the holidays unscathed. How? Here’s how we plan to do just that.

Sure, we are going to do everything on the front end to set our selves up for success. We’ll have a plan – one that includes enjoying (in moderation) our favorite dishes of sweet potatoes with brown sugar & pecans, dressing, green bean casserole, and of course, pumpkin pie. Then we will try to cut out any unnecessary calories that we might consume just because those foods are available – you know, those tempting appetizers and sweets that sit out hours before and after the feast. And we will even probably try to get in a run or two if at all possible.

These are just a few of the strategies we will employ to help us stay on course.

And although these things are all good, in our opinion, they aren’t the primary factor ensuring victory. We think there is something even better to guarantee success during these challenging eating occasions and it is this:

Reframe your definition of failure.

Remember that famous Thomas Edison quote that says, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Would you take the Thomas Edison approach this Thanksgiving and be your own scientist – experimenting with what works and what doesn’t regarding Peace with Food?

Regardless of whether or not we stick to our plan, (and let’s all admit it, there are times where the best-laid plans get tossed to the wayside in the heat of the moment) we can learn what works and what doesn’t and then do it better next time.

Sure, we will do our best to follow peace this Thanksgiving and be wise, but if things don’t go exactly as we had planned, we will come out with data regarding what worked and what didn’t.

And in our mind, that is not failure, it is just one step further down the path of Peace with Food.

Have a Happy (And Peaceful) Thanksgiving!!

Take-Home Message:

Take the Thomas Edison approach and see every mistake not as a failure, but just one more way that doesn’t work. When you make failure impossible you can move on wiser and smarter!

Aha! Peace With Food!!

November 5, 2014January 10, 2015 | Robynn Coates

It was just your ordinary sultry summer night in Kansas, or so we thought. . .

As we sat on the back porch watching our kids catch lightning bugs, little did we know that we were about to embark upon the solution to our greatest struggle and frustration – peace with food and peace with our bodies.

For whatever reason, on this evening we openly shared our challenges with food and our bodies, and as we did, we realized that our stories weren’t all that different. Empowered with the knowledge that we weren’t alone, we were determined to find what we dubbed Peace with Food.

As we set out on this adventure we were committed to a few things:

We would follow peace, not diets and rules.
We would experiment to see what worked best for us individually.
We would enjoy our life along the way.
We would not rest until we had found Peace with Food.

That journey began over three years ago and today, well, we can say we found it. We found Peace with Food.

What exactly is Peace with Food? That is the purpose for this blog – to share with you our revelation and what we have discovered. It has been a great journey so far and with every mile marker we experience greater levels of peace.

Are you looking for Peace with Food (and your body)? Or maybe you know someone who is. If peace has eluded you, be assured, you can have it. You can experience your “Aha” moment, and live at Peace with Food.

Posse Discussion:

1.) Do you believe that Peace with Food is possible for you?
2.) Do you have someone you can share your struggle with?