In my previous blog The Harmful Affects Of The Diet Industry – Your Responses , I was blown away by the brilliance and insight so many women have. We are waking up to the big deceptions and lies that we have been fed for far too long.

In this blog I want to highlight the most harmful messages of the diet industry, based on my 35+ years of working with women in my private practice and as a former employee of a weight loss company. When you stop believing the lies you can start to embrace the truth and that is a real game changer.

Message # 1: You Are Flawed

The Diet industry’s messages are loud and clear:
Your body is too big.
Your eating is out of control.
You lack knowledge of how to eat/exercise.
You don’t know what to do.
We know, we will show you the way.


It comes packaged with lots of glossy images and promises, but have you noticed the small print? “Results not typical”…


There is nothing wrong with us.
We are beautiful and lovely just the way we are.
We know how to eat and how to move, it is the most natural thing.
We “forgot” that knowledge because of those exact messages that messed with us.
Learning to listen to ourselves, our body and our inner knowledge is our way back to health.

Message # 2: You Can’t Trust Yourself

The diet industry’s underlying message is that if you had your way, you will eat yourself into oblivion. You cannot be trusted. You are too ignorant, lazy, lustful, lost, weak, out of control. It employs a myriad of tools to menage you; counting, scheduling, measuring, weighing, rules and rigid guidelines. When you can’t do it, you are told that you are the failure, not their method and that you need to try again.


Your body knows how to heal, thrive and be at it’s healthiest and most radiant. You are naturally drawn to foods and practices that make you feel most alive and energetic. Again, that connection with your body has been severed because of the massive conditioning you got. The way to heal your body is not with more rules and tools but with an inner journey of reestablished trust.

Message # 3: Weight Loss Is A Measure Of Your Success

When you are measured and valued by the number on the scale, when the quality of your day is determined by whether or not you lost weight, it starts a war with you on one side and your body on the other. You feel betrayed, defeated and discouraged when your body does not cooperate. You start taking measures to reduce your body size, even if they are not aligned with your body’s well being.


A healthy weight is a result of living a life that values wholeness, connection to your inner wisdom and listening to your body. There are many body shapes and sizes that are healthy and vibrant. In the Blue Zones in Greece, one of the planet’s biggest populations of longevity in great health, the men and women who live to their 90s and 100s are not slim. In fact, they would be considered to be overweight by our diet industry’s standard. Yet they live full and long lives, free from debilitating diseases, connected to their communities and families, eating natural and whole foods and being active.

The journey to free yourself from the diet mentality is an inner journey but one that you need to take with other like minded women. That is why I created my Women Health Circles, a community of women who gather together in small groups to learn how to reawaken and listen to their body’s wisdom, to heal their relationship with food, to fall in love with themselves and with a healthy life. You are invited to join my upcoming fall group, sign up here.

This week give yourself time to sit quietly and journal on the following questions:

• What are the diet industry’s messages that are most harmful for you and how?
• What lies are you willing to leave behind?
• What game changing, life affirming, empowering and self-loving messages will you practice instead?