The black girdle hanging in your closet. The jeans you promise yourself you'll wear "this Christmas." The drive to your family's house wearing shapewear so tight you can't breathe, feeling ashamed the entire night because you're not "good enough" to wear those jeans. If this story sounds painfully familiar, this special Christmas episode is my gift to you—because you deserve to stop hiding behind Spanx and start actually enjoying your life.

After struggling with my weight since my early twenties, I finally cracked the code of permanent weight loss in a way I never expected. On my 52nd birthday, I tried on my wedding dress and weighed 12 pounds less than on my wedding day. I also fit into the bridesmaid dress I wore at 16. But here's what nobody tells you: weight loss isn't the goal. Weight gain is a symptom of unaddressed emotional issues. Until you dig into the real patterns—the loneliness that makes you reach for baked goods, the fear of being kicked out of the tribe if you don't eat chocolate with your coffee group, the perfectionism that keeps you paralyzed—no app or diet will ever work long-term.

This week, I'm sharing the most vulnerable stories from my Conquer Emotional Eating class: the retired woman who's "really good all day" but needs that cookie every night (spoiler: it's not about the cookie), the coffee group that bonds over complaining about weight while eating chocolate (what happens if you break the pattern?), and the perfectionist who couldn't start her workbook because she was afraid to use pen instead of pencil. Plus, I'm getting deeply honest about my own Christmas Eve girdle story—the shame, the uncomfortable drive, the shadow of "not good enough" that ruined what should have been joyful family time.

My Christmas gift to you: Stop wasting time on Pinterest boards and apps. Join my January course (starts January 9th) where I teach the same content I'm doing inside my Love Yourself Thin lifetime membership program—how to make goals out of love, not shame in a condensced way. Get all the details HERE.

Or join the lifetime program itself and pay once for life. Your worth has nothing to do with your pants size. Let's prove it together. Join HERE.

Want to see Dara's girdle 😅 Watch this episode on YouTube!

Follow Dara on social media @dara_tomasson