Once Upon A Diet

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[Applause]

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growing up

i obsessed over two things losing weight

and wanting my crush to like me back and

at some point

i convinced myself that the more weight

i lost

meant the greater my chances were in the

romance department

i mean that’s how it works in all the

fairy tales the guy or girl

finds the person that they like changes

everything about themselves and then

bam happily ever after

cinderella needed a fairy godmother to

come and take a pumpkin

turn it into a carriage mice turn into a

horseman

and we all know about those glass

slippers which can we agree would be

extremely uncomfortable

i wasn’t asking for some crazy magical

makeover

i just needed to lose 10 pounds to look

good in a juicy sweatsuit

i didn’t think it was going to be so

hard but turns out

weight loss is really hard

i tried everything under eating but that

led to overeating

which then led to restriction which then

led to binging which then led to

excessive exercise

the harder i worked the harder it got

and the more those glass slippers seemed

really tempting i knew there had to be

another way

and i was determined to find it so

naturally i dedicated my entire life to

figuring out how do people lose weight

i decided to go to school to become a

registered dietitian

i remember thinking this is perfect i’ll

learn how to lose weight

get the body i want and i hear college

is like the pretty ideal environment to

find your future husband

it was a win-win so eager to learn i sit

down

in the very first day of class the

professor teaches us about vegetarianism

immediately i’m excited this is how i’m

going to lose the weight

about a week later i got asked on my

very first date

now that was even more exciting

he obviously was going to be my future

husband i didn’t need to go dating

around anymore

within the first few weeks of school

college was going great

except it only took me about three years

to realize

that neither being a vegetarian nor

being in that relationship

worked for me don’t get me wrong they

were great at first and i learned a lot

but i stayed in them way past that point

anyways i ended up graduating college

and although i didn’t find my husband i

certainly found my calling

i became a registered dietitian and for

the past six years

i’ve been helping people create and

follow nutrition plans to live healthier

and happier lives

and through the years i’ve made many

observations

one of which my twelve-year-old self was

actually on to something

she was just looking at the wrong fairy

tale you see

because through coaching thousands of

clients i noticed they all had the very

same pattern before they would start

working with me they would jump from

diet to diet

hoping each one would be the one they

basically went around like cinderella’s

stepsisters jamming their feet into

every diet

never once considering if in fact it’d

be beneficial for them in the long run

and that’s when i realized we have to

stop being

like cinderella’s stepsisters and more

like goldilocks see goldilocks didn’t

try to make anything work when clearly

it didn’t

she was just herself as she experienced

new things

and landed on what felt just right for

her

today i’m going to teach you how to be

more like goldilocks

in my work i use a series of reflective

questions that can help anyone and

everyone break free from that stepsister

cycle

with these three guiding questions i’ll

be able to shift your mindset

towards finding what works best for you

the first question is the perfect thing

to ask yourself before you start

something new

will this last past the honeymoon phase

it’s a hard one i know

because in the beginning progress is

happening it’s exciting and it’s easy

but easy makes it easy to miss the signs

when you have rose-colored glasses

red flags just look like regular flags

which is why you need to ask yourself

this question

because what happens when the novelty

fades

it doesn’t matter how effective your

diet is in the first 90 days

that’s probably going to taper off and

if you like the results that it’s giving

you

you’re going to have to keep putting in

the same amount of effort to get that in

return

so if the diet requires you to eat out

of tupperware container

and never leave your house well then

that’s probably not going to work for

you in the long run

at some point you’re going to need to

resurface and join the world

so here’s the thing there’s nothing

wrong with a short-term fling

but if you’re at the point where you’re

looking for something sustainable

and you don’t see this lasting say more

than six months

then don’t bother getting involved it’s

not the plan for you

the second question is the perfect thing

to ask yourself when you’re currently

in something and it’s this

do i even like this so many people are

following a diet

any diet just because they’re afraid if

they’re not following something

they’re somehow going to gain a ton of

weight but here’s what i spent years

learning

just because it works doesn’t mean it’s

working

and sometimes something isn’t better

than nothing

taking some time off from following a

structured plan doesn’t mean you’re

going to gain weight

just like choosing to delete some dating

apps for a few months

doesn’t mean you’re going to wind up

being a crazy cat lady and that’s coming

from a cat lady

by the way

time off is exactly what we need to

realize that happiness

isn’t dependent on the number on a scale

or whether or not you have a date lined

up for friday night

here’s the thing whether it’s a date or

a diet

the chances of you finding exactly what

you want right off the bat

are pretty slim and although you may be

disappointed

it’s never a waste of your time as long

as it taught you something which leads

me to the last

and final question the most important

one

what lessons did i learn from this

the goal i have with my clients is to

help them come to an understanding of

what’s necessary

for both their success and their

happiness

and just like relationships we usually

have to figure out what we want

by crossing off what we don’t want

looking at your past

is the only way to do that trust me

if you don’t take the time to do this

you might end up like me

where i spent the majority of my

twenties dating five versions of the

same guy

just with a different name and a

different face

you need to take the time to reflect

back and identify

what it is that you want to bring into

your future and what it is that you want

to leave in your past

that is the only way to break that

stepsister cycle

when it comes to nutrition and

relationships success comes down to one

thing

compatibility they have to be compatible

in terms of your lifestyle

your level of commitment and your

specific taste

if it’s going to work it’s got to be the

right fit

and unfortunately none of us get to have

it all handed to us like cinderella did

at the same time trying to make

something work when clearly it doesn’t

hasn’t benefited everybody which is why

you have to get your goldilocks on it’s

a little bit more work than a fairy

godmother coming to wave her wand and

get you in

those glass slippers or juicy sweatsuit

but it’s a lot more realistic

with time patience self-awareness

and these guiding questions you will be

well on your way to finding a nutrition

plan

that’s just right for you thank you

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you