Have you ever found that if you are indecisive about something that the best approach is to just dive in? In today’s episode that is exactly what is being talked about with Breaking Up with Sugar Warrior, Martha. Molly introduces us to Martha and her “all in” approach she has had in her relationship with food. 

Let’s paint part of the picture of Martha’s journey. “I can do anything, but I can’t give up chocolate.” What a statement. Is it one that you can resonate with? *Spoiler Alert* You can. Even if you replace the word chocolate with something else, it is something that so many of us can relate to. Martha truly believed this about herself. Having known each other for many years, Martha had a mutual friend that was helped by Molly and, in turn, bought Molly’s book in support. 

Now it’s time for the other part of the painting. Martha had many circumstances that had a subconscious pull for her to become a stress-eater. Feeling like an outsider in many different ways that many of us can relate to– a sense of being a minority in public school, being American and living in Sweden, a traumatic divorce. This led to a 20-30 pound range of weight that Martha would yo-yo in between. When she became pregnant with her son and started nursing, her weight seemed to skyrocket. As Martha says, she looked in the mirror one day and even thought to herself, “Oh my God, what happened to me?” This led her to a commitment of a morning routine of working out to where she lost most of that weight, but came back to that 20-30 pound range.

Now– Enter Molly. Martha picks up Molly’s book that she bought to support her and resonated with so much of what she read, that she decided to go all in– not just give up select food items. Admittedly, the first 7-10 days were the hardest for Martha, but with the camaraderie of a cohort of like-minded individuals in the Facebook group and her all-in attitude, Martha found success and proved to herself that even chocolate would not stand in her way.

Tune in!

Episode Quotes

• “Diet culture’s got us hooked real early in this idea that there is an ideal that we should be striving for, and it’s not the one that we’re sitting in right now.” –Molly Carmel
• “It (Breaking Up With Sugar) was almost an experiment. Let’s see if I can walk through the fire of giving it up, and then see how it affects me.” –Martha

Key Highlights

• Many of us, like Martha, have a realization fairly young that we do not look like how we “should,” diet culture is so pervasive and affects children so young;
• If we find ourselves and our relationship with food to be triggered by moments of stress, common threads that are shared are bullying and divorce;
• Another issue with diet culture today is that the camaraderie that is often advertised as community can easily turn into peer pressure;
• There are some that need a gradual approach to stop and addiction, but for many, going all in and stopping altogether can be beneficial;
• We have to be able to own when something is or isn’t our food– Martha and Molly talk about this topic throughout the episode;
• The journey with our food or breaking up with sugar can often lead to places we had no intention of going– for Martha, it was a reawakening of her spirituality in regards to Buddhism and meditation.

About Molly Carmel

Molly is a leading addiction and eating disorder therapist and the founder of the Beacon Program, which offers individual and group solutions to help people break free from their destructive relationships with food and dieting. She is also the author of ‘Breaking up with Sugar’ and the host of ‘What You’re Craving’ Podcast.

Connect with Molly

Want to spend MORE time together? Me too! Here are all the ways:

Purchase the Breaking Up with Sugar course here: https://molly-carmel.mykajabi.com/buws-course Join me at Molly Q&A: https://mollycarmel.com/coaching-with-molly/ Come to the Divorcing Dieting workshop: https://mollycarmel.com/intensati/#schedule Join my mailing list for a free mini masterclass: https://mollycarmel.com/signup/ Become a part of the Breaking Up with Sugar FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buwsbook Molly’s IG (I love a DM!): https://www.instagram.com/mollycarmel/ Molly’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG1GiXHci_XlL4xMXL6-Ajg?view_as=subscriber Molly’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mollycarmel.buws