Golda Poretsky's Blog, page 21
December 1, 2011
Jolly Holiday Skin
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
December can be such an intense mix of stress and bliss. So let's share some ideas for keeping your skin happy!
1) Drink More Water — When it's hot out, it's much easier to remember to drink water. So it's important to remind yourself to stay hydrated, for your skin's sake and yours! Herbal teas, water with lemon, and just plain old water are good choices.
2) Set Boundaries — This is the season for giving, but giving too much of yourself just leaves you feeling running down. For some tips on setting loving boundaries, click here.
3) Move Your Body — As much as possible, move your body with joy! Working up a sweat is great for you and your skin.
Plus, this month we have another opportunity for awesome Eucerin swag! Seriously, these prize packs just get better and better. Here's all you have to do to be registered to win:
Head to the Eucerin Facebook Page and share your New Year Skin Resolution ideas for improving the health of your skin!
Leave a comment below (with a valid email address) and a winner will be picked at random from the commenters on December 30th. Let me know what you're doing to support your skin this winter! The winner will receive Eucerin's Jolly Holiday Gift Set, including:
Eucerin Calming Crème (8 oz.) a gentle, non-greasy formula that combines calming oatmeal and rich emollients to help relieve dry, itchy skin for softer, healthier-looking and more comfortable skin.
Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Hand Crème (2.7 oz.) a unique, non-greasy formula that intensively moisturizes and is enriched with buffered alpha hydroxy to gently exfoliate.
Eucerin Plus Smoothing Essentials Fast Absorbing Body Lotion (16.9 fl. oz.) has a unique formula with buffered alpha hydroxy that gently smoothes and moisturizes to reveal healthier-looking, radiant skin.
Eucerin Calming Body Wash (8.4 oz.) , a unique body wash formulation that combines soap-free cleansing with omega oils and other natural lipids to nourish and soothe.
Eucerin Calming Itch-Relief (6.8 fl. oz.) a non-greasy formula calms itchy skin flare-ups with cooling menthol and natural oatmeal for effective relief that lasts up to 8 hours.
Awesome festive nail polish.
A lovely makeup bag to hold it all!
Be 18 or older and a U.S. resident.
Happy swagging!
Full Disclosure: I'm receiving Eucerin products (for my readers and me). The thoughts and opinions, however, that I share in this post are strictly my own and are not influenced by receipt of these products.
Jolly Holiday Skin originally appeared on on December 1, 2011.
November 28, 2011
Occupy Fat Street: We Are The 68%
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Click here to listen in itunes.
This post really could be an indictment of the way that fat always equals bad in the symbolism of Progressive movements, including Occupy, but it isn't. And as much as I wish that fellow Lefties would take up the call of fat acceptance rather than fatphobia, for now it's a dream deferred.
But I do think that the Occupy movement and the fat acceptance movement have a lot in common. In essence, the Occupy movement is trying to break down a prevailing myth. The myth is that with enough smarts and fortitude and hard work, the American dream of prosperity will be realized. People have been led to believe that it just takes hard work, dedication, putting your nose to the grindstone, and various other cliches and you too can make it in America, when the reality is endemic income disparity, high unemployment, lost homes, hunger, poverty, and discrimination and all the while huge multinational corporations are in cahoots with much of the government to keep things that way.
Here's my 68% rant!
The reality could not be more different than the myth. And yet, the Right's only response is, "Get a job, ya hippies!" The Right continues to attempt to discredit Occupy's argument by insisting that the myth is real. If the Occupy folks would just work harder and do things right and stop being so lazy, they'd all be living the American dream, the Right argues.
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever been told that if you just worked harder at it and did things right, you'd lose weight and keep it off? It's pretty much the argument of every diet pusher when their diet fails. It's the argument of every doctor who, despite supposedly having a knowledge of the way the body and metabolism works, insists that diet and exercise will work if you just work hard enough. It's the argument that supports continued discrimination against fat people because if fat people really are just lazy and not working hard enough, then it's their fault, and the diet companies, and pharmaceutical companies, and doctors, and the AMA etc. don't have to do the work of realizing that the whole system is based on a lie and that it's dangerous and needs to change.
According to the Lancet, based upon the (utterly bogus) BMI, 68% of Americans are overweight or heavier. That's more than two thirds! Imagine if all of these people had a new awareness. Imagine if all of these people (and their thin allies) began to see that fat wasn't bad, that diets don't work, that discrimination against fat people is wrong, and that people having a diversity of bodies is beautiful. Imagine the healing that could happen for all of us.
I think it would be exciting for some of us to share our fat stories of being one of the 68%. I shared mine above, and I'd love for you to share yours here, on the Body Love Wellness facebook page, and anywhere else you desire!
Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
Occupy Fat Street: We Are The 68% originally appeared on on November 28, 2011.
November 25, 2011
Did You Know?
Did you know that you can support Body Love Wellness just by shopping at Amazon.com?
When you shop by clicking an Amazon link on our site, we receive 5% of the purchase price of your order, at no cost to you!
We can then use that cash to buy better podcasting equipment, programs that make our site sing, and so much more.
Here's How You Do It If You're Thinking Of Shopping At Amazon:
1) First go to our site, http://www.bodylovewellness.com.
2) Scroll down to the footer at the bottom of the page, and click on any of our products. It looks like this:
3) This will bring you to Amazon.com, and you can then shop for whatever you like!
Here's How You Do It If You End Up On Amazon via Google or Other Sites:
1) Highlight and copy the product name with your mouse.
2) Open a new tab or window and go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com.
3) Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on any of our products. This will bring you to Amazon.com.
4) Paste the name of the product into the search bar on Amazon and buy it!
Easy peasy! And again, there is no additional cost to you to do this, but you get to support Body Love Wellness with your purchases.
Thanks for checking this out. Happy shopping!
Did You Know? originally appeared on on November 25, 2011.
Did You Know???
Did you know that you can support Body Love Wellness just by shopping at Amazon.com?
When you shop by clicking an Amazon link on our site, we receive 5% of the purchase price of your order, at no cost to you!
We can then use that cash to buy better podcasting equipment, programs that make our site sing, and so much more.
Here's How You Do It If You're Thinking Of Shopping At Amazon:
1) First go to our site, http://www.bodylovewellness.com.
2) Scroll down to the footer at the bottom of the page, and click on any of our products. It looks like this:
3) This will bring you to Amazon.com, and you can then shop for whatever you like!
Here's How You Do It If You End Up On Amazon via Google or Other Sites:
1) Highlight and copy the product name with your mouse.
2) Open a new tab or window and go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com.
3) Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on any of our products. This will bring you to Amazon.com.
4) Paste the name of the product into the search bar on Amazon and buy it!
Easy peasy! And again, there is no additional cost to you to do this, but you get to support Body Love Wellness with your purchases.
Thanks for checking this out. Happy shopping!
Did You Know??? originally appeared on on November 25, 2011.
November 23, 2011
November 21, 2011
Eating Like A Goddess
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
(Note from Golda: This post first appeared on the lovely blog, Roots of She. I realize it's a little different than what I write for this blog, but I hope you dig it!)
"Abundantia," by Peter Paul Rubens (courtesy of wikipedia)
Nearly every woman I know has a screwed up relationship with food. I think the way to heal this is not more of the same, it's eating like a goddess.
Right now, we're living in a cultural moment that tells us that the masculine paradigm is better than the feminine.* This paradigm honors logic over intuition, outer rules over internal guidance, avoidance of pain rather than attraction to pleasure, and fear of scarcity over acknowledgement of abundance. And this lack of balance between the masculine and feminine shows up again and again in the way we eat.
But our goddess selves know that none of that feels right. Your goddess self doesn't believe in diets, or rules, or calories or Weight Watchers' points. Your goddess self knows that food is a blessing, that slowing down a bit feels good, that your body knows what food you need and what you don't. Your goddess self knows that your body is beautiful, and doesn't understand why you would control your food as a way to control the size and shape of your body.
In order to heal the way that we relate to food, we have to return to our wilder selves. We have to let go of the rules, and delve into our true desires.
For many of you, this concept may be just at the edge of your comfort zone. You've been taught to create meal plans, follow rigid rules, count calories, count fat, weigh and measure your food, etc. etc., so when I say to you that all of that should be tossed out the window, it may feel really scary. Perhaps you even tried to throw it all out the window and things got kind of weird. Perhaps you found yourself bingeing, and it freaked you out so much that after a while, you looked for your next diet. You saw that out of control behavior as proof that you need rules and strictures and meal plans and counting.
But you had it all wrong. Because you were eating at that time as a reaction to diets, and not as acknowledgement of your goddess self. And the way to do that is to connect with your true abundance.
You see, you've got to get past the reaction of "I can eat whatever I want! Screw you Jenny Craig! I'm going to eat everything in sight!" Because when you eat from that place, you're not eating from a place of abundance, you're just reacting to the rules and strictures of the masculine paradigm. And while it may feel good to do that for a while, it can start feeling bad pretty quickly. It can start feeling really out of control and just as unaligned with your true desires as a diet plan. So the next move is to truly connect with your abundance, intuition and pleasure.
So here are 3 powerful tips for healing your relationship with food by eating like a goddess:
1) Connect With Your Abundance — Imagine for a moment that you can eat whatever you want whenever you're hungry. Imagine that you have a fridge and a pantry full of food that you really love, and that when your body says it's hungry, you have your pick of really delectable offerings. And here's the key, it's all going to be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. Whenever you're hungry, you may eat. You don't have to worry about getting enough, because there is always enough. Diets and restrictions don't exist in your world. You can trust that your bodily hunger will always be respected. You don't have to worry about over-eating either, because there's no reason to overeat. Why have more cake tonight, and stuff yourself, when there will be plenty of cake tomorrow?
2) Connect With Your Intuition — Your intuition is a powerful tool that connects you to your body, your wisdom, and a greater knowing. If you want to start eating more intuitively, then you need to build your intuitive skills. The way to start building your intuition is by trusting it, even if you think it might be wrong. You start by paying attention. If your inner wisdom tells you to take a different route to work, you listen to it, even if it doesn't make logical sense. If your inner wisdom says, "I'm hungry, let's have seconds!" you have seconds, even if you don't have any weight watchers points left for that day. If your inner wisdom tells you to say yes to going out for drinks even when you feel like going home and watching TV, go with your inner wisdom. It's important to rebuild this trust in your intuition in order to heal your relationship with food.
3) Connect With Your Desire — People often conflate hunger for things other than food with our hunger for food. Hunger could be for anything from a new job to a new lover to better boundaries with a friend. But if you don't take the time to identify your desires, you're more likely to turn to food to try to satisfy them. So I'm going to ask you to start listing your desires, and keep adding to that list. No desire is too big or too small. Whether you desire a free iced coffee or to own a villa on the Italian coast, add it to your list. Be specific. Be bold. There is no desire too big for a goddess. Challenge yourself to think bigger than you ever had in your life. And if you notice a few days from now that a desire has come true, check it off and write "Thank you, goddess!" next to it. Just remember that these are not goals, they're desires. They're meant to be enjoyed.
*I realize that the terms "masculine" and "feminine" may be problematic. I'm using these terms to describe a duality of guiding principles for how people look at the world. In no way do I mean that all men are one way and all women another, or that they should be one way or another. It has nothing to do with anyone's gender or identity. It's more to do with how an overabundance of one paradigm and a negating of the other is damaging to all of us.
Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
Eating Like A Goddess originally appeared on on November 21, 2011.
November 14, 2011
You Have My Permission To Love And Accept Your Body, Just As It Is, Right This Minute
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Of course, you don't actually need my permission to love your body, right? Who the frick am I to give you permission to love your body?! That's your choice, isn't it? No one has the right to give you permission or to take away permission.
So if I can't give you permission, and no one else can give you permission, why then are you (possibly) still struggling to give yourself permission?
Perhaps I can think of a few reasons. But before I do, I want to make it clear that loving and accepting your body is actually really important, healing, and healthy. You're a spiritual being having a physical experience. The way you experience the world is through your body. When you feel love and approval toward your body, then you can truly experience your life and the world around you. The stress of worrying about whether your hair is right and whether your outfit disguises your belly rolls and whether you should've had that second cookie at that meeting at work all melts away. You can live your life with more peace. You can hear your inner truth. You can enjoy being in a body that is uniquely yours. And it truly doesn't have the negative effects you think it will have. (For more on why it's important and healing, check out this post.)
Permission Granted (image by me)
You can do and experience all this and more, but first, you have to give yourself permission to love and accept your body. In order to get that permission, you'll probably need to work through at least one of these five objections, so let's explore them a bit.
Reason #1: Everyone Around Me Hates His/Her Body, So People Won't Like Me If I Like My Body.
Most of us have a fear of being different too different than those around us. For thousands of years, being an outcast could literally mean death, and so that desire to fit in with our social group is quite intense. At the same time, we have to remember to think for ourselves, and make choices that are for our highest good. If you're drawn to body acceptance, there's a reason for it. And if you accept your body more and more, you may get some flack for it and you may find that some people in your life don't understand or respect it. You may also, however, find that some of your friends want to learn more about it and go with you on that journey, you might find that you make new friends who are into body acceptance and are happy to encourage you, and you may even become a voice for change for those around you.
Reason #2: Everyone Around Me Hates His/Her Body, So Why Do I Have The Right To Be Different?
One of my favorite quotes of all time is this saying by Hillel the Elder, "If I am not for me, who will be for me?" You have the right to be, do, and have anything that you want. If you don't stand for that right, who will? You must be for yourself. Acknowledge for yourself that you deserve to love your body.
Reason #3: I've Heard Negative Messages About My Body For Most Of My Life, So They Must Be The Truth.
Negative messaging about our bodies is so insidious. If you're one of the lucky few who has managed to avoid hearing negative messaging at home and in school, then you've gotten it from the advertising you've been exposed to since birth. It's one of those flaws of human thinking patterns that we tend to believe what we hear if we hear it enough. But just because you've heard something a lot does not mean it's true. And even if 99% of people believe it to be true, it doesn't mean it is. There is no objective truth that some bodies are beautiful and some are ugly. There is no objective truth that some bodies are good and some are bad. Just knowing that your body is not horrible doesn't mean that your inner critic is going to stop telling you that, but disentangling yourself from this belief is an important first step in accepting your body.
Reason #4: If I Start To Like My Body, I'll Eat Junk Food All Day And Just Melt Into My Couch Forever.
This is classic inner critic b.s. Here's the thing, if you like your body, you'll want to treat it well. So, if you're engaging in over-exercising and harming your body, you might find that loving your body forces you to reevaluate your exercise routine to make it more joyous and fun for your body, but it's not going to mean never moving again. Same goes for food. When you start respecting your body, you'll start to trust it when it says it's hungry and when it says it's full, and it'll be easier to respect that information and act accordingly. But I can assure you that you will not melt into the couch forever and ever.
Reason #5: I Don't Know How To Love My Body
If this is your main reason for not loving your body, this is actually a step forward. You know on some level that you want to accept and love your body, but don't know how to do it. So I want to encourage you to keep reading body positive blogs (including this one) and keep looking to connect with body positive people. You might find the free teleclass that I'm teaching this week helpful too. I've also opened up a few free Body Love Breakthrough sessions with me this week, so if you're looking to go deeper and get some one-to-one time with me, feel free to sign up.
Are any of these reasons keeping you stuck in body hatred? Let me know in the comments section below!
Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. Join her for her upcoming FREE teleclass, HAES For The Holidays: How To Navigate Food, Family & Fatness Better This Holiday Season, by clicking here.
You Have My Permission To Love And Accept Your Body, Just As It Is, Right This Minute originally appeared on on November 14, 2011.
November 7, 2011
Are Dieting Behaviors And Disordered Eating Behaviors Really So Different?
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
In November of 1998, during my senior year in college, I embarked on a new diet. I called it "low carb with fruit." I cut out a lot of foods, and like most diets, it started working in the beginning. Because I was losing weight, I stuck with the diet very carefully.
In early January 1999, I went on a trip to Prague with my scholarship group from school. It was extremely cold in Prague, and I didn't have much money. There was hardly any fruit or vegetables to be had anywhere, so for about a week I subsisted on about 2 sausages that you buy on the street per day, carefully throwing out the hearty roll it was wrapped in. I was also walking for miles each day, exploring the city.
I'm bummed that I can't find my pictures from that trip. But here's Prague Castle (image courtesy of wikipedia).
As you might imagine, I was hungry for most of the day, and I ignored that hunger for both convenience sake and because I wanted to stick to this diet. Only someone on a diet (or with a severe wheat allergy would have thrown those rolls away). And maybe there were some other foods I could have found on the cheap, but I was so single-minded about sticking to my diet that I probably didn't consider them.
When I got back to New York, I had lost more weight, and received a lot of praise for that. My hair was also thinner, and I'm not sure it ever really recovered.
I remember, at the time, feeling happy to have lost more weight, but sad that no one seemed to mind that I did it in a really unhealthy way. I thought, if I had gone to Prague a size 2 and come back a size 0, they might have considered getting me some help for an eating disorder, but leaving a size 14/16 and coming back a 12/14 was considered a great accomplishment.
A lot of my clients come to me with self-diagnosed restrictive eating disorders. And they come to me that way because when you're fat or plus-sized or even toward the larger end of the "normal size" scale, weight loss is considered a healthy, important goal, and almost any way that you arrive at or strive for that goal is approved of. Many of the symptoms of dieting (obsession with weight, obsession with food, body dysmorphia) are akin to eating disorder symptoms, but they're overlooked if you're engaging in them while existing in a fatter body. They still have deleterious mental, emotional, and physical effects, whether you're fat, thin, or in between. I think it's time that the health and wellness community and the world at large recognized this reality.
This lack of recognition for eating disorders in fatter people is something I think about quite a lot, but it was brought to the fore by the fact that the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has decided to partner with Strategies To Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, a group who's funded by pharmaceutical companies that produce dangerous and questionable things like diet pills and lap bands. (To read more about it, read Ragen Chastain's excellent open letter to NEDA and sign the petition to stop this alliance.)
Is engaging in restricting and obsessive behaviors perfectly great if you're fatter and yet something worthy of treatment when you're thinner? Or are our societal norms and unfounded beliefs about health and beauty clouding the fact that it's pretty much the same thing? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. Join her for her upcoming FREE teleclass, HAES For The Holidays: How To Navigate Food, Family & Fatness Better This Holiday Season, by clicking here.
Are Dieting Behaviors And Disordered Eating Behaviors Really So Different? originally appeared on on November 7, 2011.
November 4, 2011
November Skin Tips
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
As I seem to mention a lot in these posts, I'm kind of weird. I love cold weather (I find it invigorating and energizing) and my skin doesn't get very dried out.
But, I realize that I'm in the minority there. And as the weather turns colder, many of you probably experience a little more fatigue, and some seriously dry skin. And maybe just a little stress about the impending holidays?
So let's talk tips for keeping your skin (and yourself) happy as the temperature drops.
1) Not So Hot — Although it's tempting to use really hot water in the shower, it's not so great for your skin. Using lukewarm water will allow your skin to retain more moisture and get less dry.
2) Get Your Rest — November is often a really busy time. Students are gearing up for finals. People in lots of professions are trying to finish things up before December holidays. But if you're one of those people who always seems to get sick January 1st, it's important to start taking care of yourself now. Schedule some relaxation, even if it's just putting your feet up for 15 minutes and reading a book.
3) Notice Changes — I just switched to much more moisturizing facial cleanser and I'm so happy I did. Although, I'm not sure if I made the switch because of the weather or because I'm getting older. :)
Eucerin Smoothing Essentials Body Lotion & Calming Creme (Just Part Of The November Eucerin Giveaway)
As for skincare, see what changes might feel good. I'm (still!) really enjoying using the Eucerin Calming Crème right now!
Plus, this month we have another opportunity for awesome Eucerin swag! Seriously, these prize packs just get better and better. Here's all you have to do to be registered to win:
Follow the Eucerin Twitter handle (@eucerinus) and tell us your tips on how to make November lovely for skin.
Leave a comment below (with a valid email address) and a winner will be picked at random from the commenters on November 30th. Let me know what you're doing to ease the transition into Fall! The winner will receive Eucerin Plus Smoothing Essentials Body Lotion (a unique formula with buffered alpha hydroxy that gently smoothes and moisturizes to reveal healthier-looking, radiant skin), Eucerin Calming Crème (has a gentle, non-greasy formula that combines calming oatmeal and natural emollients that help relieve dry, itchy skin for softer, healthier-looking and more comfortable skin), Eucerin Calming Body Wash (8.4 oz.) ( a unique body wash formulation that combines soap-free cleansing with omega oils and other natural lipids to nourish and soothe), and a Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier.
Be 18 or older and a U.S. resident.
Happy swagging!
Full Disclosure: I'm receiving Eucerin products (for my readers and me). The thoughts and opinions, however, that I share in this post are strictly my own and are not influenced by receipt of these products.
November Skin Tips originally appeared on on November 4, 2011.
November 2, 2011
New FREE Teleclass! HAES For The Holidays: How To Navigate Food, Family & Fatness Better This Holiday Season
The holidays can bring up a lot of . . . stuff. Whether you look forward to the holidays or not, being with family can mean being scrutinized about your weight, your food choices, and even bigger life choices.
Whether you come from a family of constant dieters or one where cleaning your plate is the best way to show love, navigating your way through the holiday season can feel more pressured and stressful than anything else. In the end, you may find that you're overeating or undereating just to please members of your family.
Wouldn't it be fabulous to have more fun this holiday? Wouldn't it be lovely to have the tools you need so that you can have a really joyous holiday season?
In this free teleclass, Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. (founder of Body Love Wellness and author of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal) will share her top techniques for feeling great during the holidays– the same ones she shares with her private coaching clients.
You'll walk away from this call with surprisingly powerful, yet simple techniques for keeping an even keel with food during the holidays.
Here's what you'll learn:
An amazingly simple technique for saying "no" and setting boundaries in a loving, positive way.
Easy ways to enjoy your favorite foods without feeling like you overdid it.
The top mistake that we make when trying to deal with the stress of the holidays.
Helpful tips for having fun and enjoying your friends and family while staying true to your needs.
More tried and true secrets….
Whether you've been working on dealing better with your family or not, you'll get at least 3 BIG insights into how to have a happier and healthier holiday that you'll be able to use immediately!
Note: Everyone who registers will receive a link to listen to the recording of the class, so you should still register if you can't make it live!
Just enter your info in the boxes below, and you'll receive the complete call details via email.
Yes, Golda, please sign me up for this exciting FREE Teleclass on "HAES For The Holidays: How To Navigate Food, Family & Fatness Better This Holiday Season" on November 17th at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific.
Send me the details at my email address below.
Name
Please note, upon registration, you will also receive a complimentary subscription to the Body Love Wellness Newsletter. We will not share, rent or sell your information to any other organization.
New FREE Teleclass! HAES For The Holidays: How To Navigate Food, Family & Fatness Better This Holiday Season originally appeared on on November 2, 2011.
