Throw your “fat clothes” out!

Our clothes help to define who we are, and what we want to be. That’s why you need to throw your fat clothes out and replace them with clothes that mirror who you want to be.

I used to keep oversized clothes when I lost weight during my “yo-yo years”. You know, “just in case”? I also used to try to be as comfortable as possible in clothes that were loose, especially at home where all my disordered eating was happening.

The result of this is that there was never any pressure from my wardrobe to lose weight. I felt bad because I looked bad. And any time I gained weight, I’d avoid my tight clothes and wear looser ones.

I was all about comfort, and had no self-respect or real care for my body.

Over time, of course, the loose clothes began to get tight and I’d go buy jeans, tops and jackets that were bigger again. And so it went, gradually upsizing my way into the plus sizes and feeling worse about myself as time went on.

There was no restriction, no restraint, no direct pressure to lose weight, and nothing to inspire me to change my habits. So I didn’t. Why would I?

HOW DO YOU WANT TO LOOK? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO WEAR?

Sometimes it’s not easy to figure out what we really want to wear, especially if we’ve spent our entire lives compromising due to size. But your best and healthiest shouldn’t be a compromise.

Having a “look” in mind is a useful way to encourage yourself to make change. Be realistic. Work with your budget, body shape and proportions. You’re probably never going to look like a celebrity (that’s why they’re celebrities, after all!) but you can certainly look pretty good. Most people can.

So throw your fat clothes out. Start taking better care of yourself. You deserve it.

Goal weight: What’s yours?

Are goal weights just fantasy? Do they even make sense from a health perspective?

Everyone who has ever struggled with being overweight has a perfect weight they’d like to be.

For me, being a tall woman with a large frame, my goal weight is around 65 kgs /145 pounds.

Despite the fact that, as an adult I’ve never been that weight, I still have the idea firmly stuck in my head that if only I can reach that weight, everything will be roses, I’ll be perfect, my life will be incredible.

All thanks to a number on a scale.

It doesn’t make sense when you think about it logically. Thinking about it logically, what really makes sense is a) not allowing yourself to get obese in the first place and b) if you are obese, eating well, including fasting in your lifestyle, and heading in the right direction for health.

In other words, it doesn’t really matter how slowly you lose weight. It also doesn’t really matter whether you reach a “goal” or not. What matters is that, this time next year, you’d doing better and feeling better than you are right now.

Having an unattainable goal weight stuck in your head might just be making you miserable. That’s not the key to long life or happiness at all. Time and again, when we interview centenarians, they say “being content” was key to their long life. They all seem to be genuinely happy, thankful people.

So stop fixating on your “goal weight” that may or may not happen. Instead, think of some ways that you can make your life better in a genuine way, that may not have anything at all to do with weight. Go for daily walks with a friend or loved one, volunteer at a charity, write and share something useful and positive, fast for a few days and focus on your own wellbeing and spirituality while you do so.

It doesn’t matter how you make your own life better. Everyone’s version of happiness is different. Just like everyone’s goal weight. Which might or might not ever happen.

So smile. Be content. Be happy. Enjoy the sun when it shines.

Life is too short for numbers on a scale anyway!

Defeating allergies: Everything is inflammation

Stop the inflammation, eat more healthy fats, and you cure the allergy. That’s it. That’s what I learned.

If you read my last post, you’ll have read how I’m “allergic to everything”. Or I was. I think I might be cured now. So I want to share what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and how it has helped me.

WE’RE THINKING ABOUT ALLERGY WRONG

I think that the medicines that doctors give us for allergies just hide our problems by covering up / curing the symptoms. They don’t actually cure the underlying disease.

It’s like fixing a sunburned face by covering it up with makeup. Sure, you might not look red, but you’re still red underneath. And by covering the burn up and not allowing it to cool down and heal, you’re actually making the problem worse!

You’ll look better for a little while, and you might fool some people if the makeup is really good, but damage is still happening, underneath the makeup.

A lot of the drugs our doctors give us for inflammatory illnesses are the same. They don’t solve the root causes – inflammation and not enough healthy fats in the diet.

So while you might feel better for a time, they’re only ever going to be a stop-gap measure. Plus, some of the side effects they come with might just make things worse. Plus, all the while you’re not dealing with the underlying issue, that issue could be getting worse.

If you have a toothache you might feel better by taking some painkillers, but unless you visit a dentist and get that tooth drilled and sorted, that yucky tooth is going to keep on rotting away and getting worse. You have to fix the problem.

Allergies are the same.

ISSUES OF INFLAMMATION AND DIET

The more we learn, the more we realise that a huge number of modern illnesses are actually symptoms of inflammation and diet.

Some of these are the problems I was suffering from: hayfever, asthma, eczema, allergic itchy eyes, and high blood sugar. Obesity / overweight is also inflammation- related, and there’s a lot of evidence that epilepsy and such disorders as arthritis, autism and multiple schlerosis are too.

We can ease the symptoms with a stack of different drugs that are available – and don’t get me wrong, some of these drugs are very, very good – but unless we fix the inflammation and our diet, these issues will never get resolved.

So you need to fix these if you’re going to get better.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT – AND DON’T EAT

I realised that I was insulting my body in a whole stack of ways. I’m sure you’ve read online, like I did, about all these “superfoods” I was supposed to be eating and all these amazing diets I was supposed to be following.

I couldn’t afford the superfoods, and I was bad at diets. They weren’t going to work. Plus, I suck at taking supplements – I keep forgetting to take them every morning.

Thankfully, what really works is not eating at all. That’s right: fasting. Water fasting gives your body time to clean house and clear your system out, dumping all the rubbish you’ve collected over the years. It sends inflammation running in the other direction!

When you do eat, you need plenty of healthy fats. I eat lots of butter and animal fat, and always eat the skin on the chicken and the rind of fat on meat. I do this and I don’t have allergies. It’s really that simple.

I also quit anything that might be irritating my skin and eyes. I quit all shampoos and conditioners and hair products, only using a bit of coconut oil for styling, and now my hair is great.

I’ll talk about what I did for my eyes and skin in separate posts. But once again, the answers were simple and cheap. I’m actually saving money getting well! 🙂

Diet-wise, I’m on a meat-centered diet, and I’ll talk all about that and how much better I feel as well. The diet I follow is affordable and easy, with no expensive supplements or “superfoods” – and I don’t bother with choosing expensive organic foods, although I do prefer fresh and local when possible.

The solution to allergies is to stop insulting your body. Don’t hurt it with things that cause it pain. Nurture your body with food it appreciates and care it needs.

Then let yourself bloom again.