" One day when I'm thin I'll buy the jeans I like. Until then I'll wear the ugly ones that make me feel terrible - as punishment for not being thin yet. Another great quote from healthyplace.com One day when I'm thin , I'll go on a picnic with my friends. There's no way I can go with a body like mine and get into a costume and have fun. One day when I'm thin I'll go on holiday to the beach again. In the meantime, I'll dream of it. And if I happen to find myself close to a beach, I'll only go for walks and I'll wear black leggings and a big black t-shirt. One day when I'm thin I'll go out with friends. One day when I'm thin I'll buy a new dress and apply for a new job. Until then I'll just blend into the background and become invisible as good as I can. One day when I'm thin I'll enjoy going to a wedding, a birthday, a baby shower. I'll be able to enjoy the moment without

You can't make lasting change without being self-honest. We tell ourselves lots of little lies about what and how we eat.   You would have heard these two lies. Have you ever calculated how big the damage is they do, though? Lie Nr 1 'Just this once.' Just this once won't matter. Just this once won't make me fat. Just this once will do no harm. The problem is because you play it down as much as you do, you do it much more often than 'just this once'. It's likely that you do it every day or every second day. If you add up the calories, 'just this once' represents enough calories to keep you struggling with your weight, because let's be honest: you don't say 'just this once' because you want to binge on broccoli.😉 If it's really once a week it's fine. But if it's 'just this once' every day, you're successfully cheating yourself. Lie Nr 2 'Just this a little bit...'

I recently read a book called, 'Size Zero: My Life as a Disappearing Model' by Victoire Dauxerre. (Follow her on Twitter : https://twitter.com/victoiredaux ) It's a model's recollection of her battle to be a size zero and the extreme diet she followed to be thin enough to walk in major fashion shows in NYC, London, Paris and Milan . Here's the Amazon link to Victoire's book: https://www.amazon.com/Size-Zero-Life-Disappearing-Model-ebook/dp/B01KEPNVEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1492551418&sr=1-1 When I say it's a horror story, I don't mean it tongue-in-cheek. It IS a horror story. It made me realise how twisted the fashion industry is. The way they treat models is sickening. How they portray women should look like, is unnatural and largely unattainable for everybody but the 2% of women who look like that naturally. The other 98% of us would have to live an unhealthy lifestyle doing drastic things to look like a coat hanger - beca

Just when we think something is over, i t has really just begun. When I thought my weight-loss and body image battle was finally over, it went into top gear. This is my journey that I'm sharing with you. I will share about eating, exercise, my eating confusion and how my body reacted to various elements . I will also share about my emotions, lessons I've learned and what motivated me. It's not a perfect journey to perfection. This is much more about an average wo man's effort to lose some w eight and be com e fit ter and stronger. It's also about her learning to love her body every single day . Please share your thoughts and stories too - we can all help and learn from one another! Yolande 🌸 Joy is Free! 🌸

When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I was conscious of was how much I hated my body. I had to get up, go to the loo and get on the scale immediately. What happened during those few minutes would keep me buoyant for the rest of the day or slam me into the ground face first. If I lost a few 100 grams, I'd be okay. If my weight was the same or, heaven forbid, slightly more, I would hate my body so much that I just wanted to stop breathing. Literally. This was my truth for longer than I care to remember. I can't remember the exact day and date that it started, but it was somewhere during my primary school years. As a young girl there was a lot of pressure to always 'look my best'. I interpreted 'look my best' as 'be perfect.'  We also grew up on the era of the 'clean plate club' - it was the done thing in those days. Does the following sound familiar? 'You won't get up from this table until you've