I’ve always tried to keep the weight discussion away from raw food because I really don’t like anyone to think of this lifestyle as a ‘diet’. However, I’ve had a number of people come through classes in the last couple of years talking about weight issues and hoping that THIS would be the magic bullet.

 Wow. Imagine if there was a magic bullet?

For starters, there would be no billion dollar diet industry, (yes people, there is a BILLION dollar industry created to feed your dissatisfaction with your body- WTF! Time to give them the bird!) There would be millions of people, mainly women, around the world able to go about their daily lives actually living and not deciding how the day would be based on what the scales told them. People the world over being happy with their bodies and worrying about far more important things (like, I don’t know, people in the world who have no actual food?!) How amazing would that be?

 Clearly it’s pie in the sky stuff right?

 Not really.

 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: When your body is getting what it actually needs, it doesn’t crave: it thrives!

As a society, we eat for many reasons, some involve actual hunger, but many are reactive, because food is available, it’s social, the kind of food we’re eating doesn’t fill us up (and ironically leaves us malnourished which feeds our cravings…) or we succumb to advertising and an inaccurate message is sent to our brain. Sometimes it’s emotional- because food sates a deep need within us.

At some point, we become disconnected with our bodies. We start to see them as an entity that we need to control, and one that is always letting us down. We stand in front of the mirror imagining how much better life will be when we fix this or that, we curse our genes or our lack of progress with the new PT.  We feel on top of the world when we stick to our latest diet for 2 days straight.

 Really. Is that what you want your life to be about? Will you, starving yourself and then ‘letting yourself down’ time and time again help anyone in the long run? What will you be remembered for – your commitment to trying all the latest diets? Go you!       

 What about, just for a change, we took the time to celebrate all that our body has done for us! The myriad of functions it undertakes daily that we have no idea about, the 75 trillion cells constantly renewing, the heart that beats on and on without reminding. Perhaps your body has experienced the miracle of birth, or you’ve achieved a physical goal you should be proud of. What an incredible machine!

 Once you acknowledge that, then you must surely think this unstoppable machine deserves the best fuel you can give it? Why on earth would you ever give it anything but the best, if you expect it to keep on doing all these important jobs?

 Body, Mind and Spirit are all so very very interconnected, yet we waste so much time focusing on how we look and whether we measure up! How does this impact us subconsciously? How can we ever achieve spiritual contentment when we are always beating up on ourselves!

 In my personal experience, I can tell you, when that switch flicks and you suddenly know the path you need to follow, the weight literally lifts. All of a sudden, the body you’ve been beating up on becomes your most precious possession.

 When you follow a plant based, mainly raw diet, food becomes intrinsically connected to the body, mind and spirit. Food is such an integral part of life, it’s critical that we have a good relationship with it! Fuelling the body with live, beautiful, clean, healthy food nourishes the mind and spirit as well. Feeding your self the best food you can find shows your self that you deserve this love, that you respect your beautiful body and that you are, simply, enough.

So I’m inviting you to take the weight off your shoulders. Stop the negative self-talk. Stop the if only's and the unrealistic goals.Try eating in a way where every single mouthful is full of the nutrients your body needs.  Your energy, self esteem and spirit will soar higher than you ever imagined and you’ll never look back.

 And you’ll never look at the scales again.

 (*You won’t even have scales. They’ll be out in the next inorganic rubbish collection)