Download Episode!  Hello there, lovely radicals... Time to unwind! Here's my first bonus episode of "Life. Unrestricted." for you: A guided meditation of 25 minutes. Take this time for yourself and allow yourself to find some peace in the midst of the craziness of daily life. Your body and mind will thank you for it. Enjoy this guided meditation to tame our monkey mind, and to drop into a state of awake presence and full awareness of THIS moment—all we ever have. If you experience your mind wandering off into thoughts and worries, expectations or judgments, just remember that this is normal and it happens to everybody. Just notice that "thinking" is happening, acknowledge the thoughts, and let them go. Over and over again. As if they were clouds passing by. Don't attach any meaning to them, don't hold on to them, just return to the present moment, and focus on the sensation of your breath as it enters your nose and fills your chest, your lungs and your belly. It's all about noticing and returning back to the present moment, without judging yourself. That is what mindfulness and meditation basically is. Now Let us slow down for 25 minutes, as we experience ... the NOW. The aliveness of your body, the state of non-doing... and the wonderfulness of just "being". This is my first guided meditation, so I hope I manage to bring some stillness into your life as we travel through the body together. More is to come; as soon as I can make the time, I will play with it and try different lengths and different styles. With love, M. ****** Don't forget! ****** Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join Podcasting is expensive, more so than I thought. So if you enjoy and love my podcast, please consider supporting it by becoming a "Patreon"! It would greatly help me to keep those episodes coming to you. Thank you so much! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Please: Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple):  https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid;=stpr

LU *Bonus Episode 1*: Guided meditation – Quiet the monkey mind in a body positive way (25 min.).

Aren’t you tired of hating your body, tired of counting calories, tired of making your scale decide whether you get to feel good today or (more likely) not? Aren’t you tired of feeling guilty for eating what you like, tired of exercising obsessively to get rid of that guilt? Tired of the negative self-talk-chatter in your head?
Aren’t we all?
So. Welcome home. 
Let’s start this journey toward body positivity, a better body image, acceptance of diversity and a more balanced approach to health; goodbye to body negativity, fat-phobia, disordered eating and a compulsive relationship to exercise. Confidence is an inside job and it’s high time we bust the myth that weight should dictate our worth. Let’s start this journey to loving our bodies from a Health At Every Size perspective and let’s nourish our body, mind and soul without going crazy.

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Hey, lovely radicals... podcast alert! In today’s episode of the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, you’ll hear my conversation with Lu Uhrich from Pennsylvania. Lu and I spoke a few months ago, and I'm happy to announce that she shares a great deal of knowledge with us here on the show. Lu is a Certified Eating Psychology Coach, Body Image Mentor and Life Coach who helps women worldwide to grow in self-awareness, find food freedom and practice body love. She also host the "Untamed" podcast, where she interviews women who are living beyond limits and who are helping others to do the same. Lu specializes in guiding her clients to overcome struggles with yo-yo dieting, food restriction, binge eating, loss of periods, shame, body hate and other unwanted symptoms, mindsets or behaviors. Through her one-on-one coaching program and online courses, she teaches participants to end the exhausting hustle for food and body perfection by finding out who they really are, what they truly want, and how to finally get it. Listen in as Lu talks about: – How her parents raised her in a very body positive and food positive (and therefore unusual) way – How well her body and food confidence protected her from falling for diet-messages and body negativity – Why the messages she got in church threw her for a loop with regards to her confidence about herself as a woman – What it was that made her slip into disordered ways with eating and exercise – What we get wrong when "the diet doesn’t work anymore", and why we end up digging an even deeper hole for ourselves – What made her lose her period – Why not having a period is so dangerous for a woman’s health – Why being on the pill only masks Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea (HA) by producing a "withdrawal bleed" – Why we usually only seek help when the uncontrollable binges start (reactionary eating after restriction) – Some of the mental traps she set up for herself that made her think "she had to keep the body she worked so hard for" – Why we often fear weight-gain more when we’re at our sickest/thinnest – How diet-mentality can distort our inner compass and our true values – How she dealt with weight gain in recovery from hear disordered eating and lack of period – How she advises her clients who suffer from Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea (HA) in terms of exercise and food – Why resting, eating plenty and finding joy in what we do are essential for recovery – Why she would never wear a Fitbit or count calories again – How to deal with the internalized "should"s – How we can apply curiosity and self-compassion when our bodies change shape/size – How to understand your binges and how to deal with them – What our culture’s obsession with "eating right" is often code for – What she means when she says "the only way out is through" – What food freedom looks like and why it is liberating on many different levels – Why weight-gain after menopause is the best life-protection for you... ... And so much more! For more information check out Lu’s website at: www.lueats.com Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Aaand if you want this sort of badassery come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple):  https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&ref;   ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

LU 070: Lu Uhrich – End the restrict/binge/overexercise-cycle & get your health and period back.

Download Episode! Hey there, lovely radicals! Podcast ahead. Today on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, your ears are in for a re-treat. Because it's THAT time of year again. Christmas and New Year's are at the door and with them a lot of tension. And a lot of misguided "resolutions". So I think we're all in need of some reminders as to why we DON'T have to listen to all the diet-y New Year's Resolutions and false promises. Some soul-saving words to stay true to our own body's needs and to keep trusting it. So in todays' episode I want to remind us of that by replaying something I said a while ago. See, all around us, people are in a buying frenzy, we are all being bombarded by "special offers" and "limited editions" and "gift ideas". And I can't help thinking of this excellent quote (credited to 15 different people, so I wonder if I should make it mine...?—Just kidding!) that says: "We are persuaded to buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't care about." And as if THAT wasn't enough to give me a million ideas for this podcast, we are ALSO being bombarded by the same old, sucked dry, tried-and-failed weight-loss New Year's resolutions. I can't even with this nonsense anymore! It makes me want to poke my eyeballs with a pencil and make monkey noises. This has got to change. So I'm going to talk about it. This episode is packed full of what I know about present-day marketing and how this ties into our world's collective, terrible state of body image. In my opinion, this knowledge is crucial to become more critical as a consumer and better equipped to see behind façades. This episode also contains a truckload of NEW "New Year's Resolutions" to keep you strong on this path towards liberating your wonderful self, and not to fall for the tired old bunch of weight-lossy ones. And lastly, this episode is full of love. Full of gratitude for you showing up, full of respect for your continuous growth, full of awe for our collective support, our community, our sister- and brotherhood, for lack of a less wooo-wooo word. All of what I say today, is based on my interest to see us blossom. One promise: After listening to this, you will be perfectly equipped to step into the New Year with an awake mind, a well-oiled internal bullshit-detector, and a protective shield against the onslaught of body negative messages around you. One warning: Listening to this may cause you to question some beliefs you might have subconsciously been holding on to, and that might feel uncomfortable. One secret: That's a sign of growth! Growth happens out of your comfort zone. Thank you a million times for being on this journey with me.... You are incredible people, radicals. I love you. Happy holidays, merry everything! <3, Meret. "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."—Anaïs Nin. Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Aaand if you want this sort of badassery come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple):  https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&ref; ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

LU 069: Me, solo – How to never fall for diet-y "New Year's Resolutions“ again and become more YOU.

Hey lovely radicals, podcast time! In today's episode of the "Life Unrestricted." podcast, I am happy to bring you my conversation with Jonah Soolman from Wellesley, Massachusetts. Jonah is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Personal Trainer. He and his wife Joanne co-own "Soolman Nutrition and Wellness LLC", a private practice where they offer individualized nutrition counseling using a non-diet approach. His writing has appeared in BuzzFeed, Boston Baseball magazine, and other local and international publications. Jonah talks about: – What messages about bodies and weight he picked up from society when he grew up – What makes dieting and restricting so insidious – Why people often only realize much later (if ever!) that dieting/restricting/overexercising was what set in motion a vicious cycle for them – Why going back and retracing our diet-stories can really be enlightening as to what caused the downward spiral/yoyo-dieting, or even the development of an eating disorder – Why a story of "I am a sugar/bread/food addict" will only reinforce itself if the person decides to cut out certain foods or food groups, and how to break that story – What the problem is with weight-loss studies – The different ways fat-phobia manifests (out in the world and in our own minds) – Why never to underestimate the power of the mind when it comes to making ourselves believe certain things about food – Why he thinks it’s unethical to put people on diets and promise them weight-loss, even though that would make his business "better bucks" – What he observes in gyms he frequents, and his thoughts on today’s "gym-culture" and exercise bulimia – How he got stuck in years of exercise and an exercise addiction – What needs to change in the way personal trainers, nutritionists and dietitians are schooled – Why eating disorders need the diverse representation that they deserve, and not just the stereotypical depiction – How he and his wife work with clients – How hard it is for males to seek help, because eating issues are still considered "a female issue" – Why he strongly believes that there needs to be a therapist on board when he is helping clients with eating disorders – An example of a client story that is hope-inspiring – Why we all must absolutely follow him on social media... ... And so much more! Check out Jonah and his work: www.soolmannutrition.com Please consider supporting the podcast with by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Aaand if you want this sort of badassery come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple):  https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&ref;   ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

LU 068: Jonah Soolman – Weight stigma, chronic dieting & overexercise have adverse health effects.

Hey there, lovely radicals... podcast time! In today's episode of the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I bring to you the absolutely amazing Dr. Deb Burgard, a FAED (Fellow for the Academy of Eating Disorders) from the San Francisco Bay Area. I had the great pleasure to talk to her a few months ago. Deb is a psychologist and activist specializing in concerns about body image, eating, weight stigma, and relationships. She is also one of the founders of the "Health at Every Size" model, as well as the very original Body Positive website "bodypositive.com", and the "Show Me the Data" listserv, building communities where people can find each other and the resources to resist weight stigma, especially in medical and psychological treatment. Her activism includes working with healthcare providers to integrate an understanding of the social determinants of health and creating interventions that address structural oppression and support stigma resistance. Deb has a PhD in psychology, and has been licensed psychologist ever since 1993. In the early nineties, she was the director of Clinical Services as Woodside Women’s Hospital, and after the mid-nineties, after having started working in private practice, she was also the supervising psychologist at the Santa Clara University Counseling Center. Since 1997, she has been working exclusively in private practice where she helps clients with eating disorders, weight and body preoccupation, sexuality, depression and relationship concerns. I’m very happy to say that, in the time since we spoke, Deb has been rewarded with the "Frances. J. Bonner" award for her outstanding work in the field. Today, Deb talks about: – Why she never lost touch to that part of her that felt joyful and carefree about her body – What she remembers about her mother’s relationship to food and diets – Why she started questioning our culture’s "assignment to become thin" fairly early on – Why most people almost automatically take on the "body project" and assume it’s their "duty" to invest all they can into it – What made her realize that she didn’t have to do this anymore – Why most therapists never address the body and food issues of a client – What the "cult of thinness" promises and never delivers – Why we tend to blame bad things that happen to us on our looks/bodies/weight – What the medical model fails to acknowledge when it comes to health – What constitutes the most important factor in a person’s health – Why stigma and oppression are detrimental to a person’s health – Why she believes this continuous assignment "to be thinner" amounts to a misspent, lost life – What made her observe that "we prescribe to fat people what we recognize as disordered eating in thin people" – What working with eating disorders has taught her in relation to how this society’s views on weight/weight-loss might be, indeed, backwards – How she approached data and studies related to weight-science – Why she calls dieting "weight-cycling" – Why she calls eating disorders "disorders of the pursuit of weight-loss" – Why eating disorders often get mis-classified, or missed altogether, when weight is used as the main criteria for the diagnosis – How people who are eating highly restrictively (and suffering severely), are almost always either complimented for their "efforts", or their malnourishment is missed, because people tend to not believe them when they say how little they actually eat – What the Minnesota Semi-Starvation experiment proved about the effects of caloric deficit (through dieting, restricting or overexercising) on people’s physical AND mental health – How she explains the logic of size diversity – Why people recover from disordered eating and eating disorders much faster and much more completely with a weight-neutral approach – Why communities where people can support each other in resisting this culture’s fixation on weight together is so important in recovery – How we can work on our resiliency to stay strong in a world that promotes disordered eating – The cost of conformity versus the opportunity to live your truth – Some of the history of the weight-loss industry and why/how it has come back with a vengeance after having being exposed as a failing concept in the nineties – Why most weight-loss studies only hold up because they only track people’s weight-loss for less than 2-5 years, so "it looks like they have been successful" – Why she is optimistic that this weight-inclusive paradigm will eventually persist over the old weight-normative approach – Why the faster people stop cooperating with and participating in our society’s imperative on "weight-loss at all costs", the faster the paradigm will change – Why it takes each and every one of us speaking up about our experience with weight-suppression to make a harmful system change – Why recovery is an "authenticity task", leaving behind the "conformity task"... ... And so much more! Find out more about Deb (including her email address) here: https://sizediversityandhealth.org/haes-expert.asp?id=56 Here’s the link to the "Health at Every Size Blog" of the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH): https://healthateverysizeblog.org/ Here’s the link to the original, award-winning body image website "Body Positive": www.bodypositive.com Here’s the link to "Adios Barbie": http://www.adiosbarbie.com/#results Here’s the link to "The Body Is Not An Apology": https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/ Here’s the link to "Trans Folx Fighting Eating Disorders": http://www.transfolxfightingeds.org/ Here’s the link to the (fantastic!) "Poodle Science" video of the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH):  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=poodle+science&spfreload;=1 Here’s an interesting article about the "Minnesota Starvation Experiment": http://www.refinery29.com/minnesota-starvation-experiment Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Aaand if you want this sort of badassery come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple):  https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&ref;   ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

LU 066: Dr. Deb Burgard – The obsession with thinness is keeping us trapped in a senseless loop.

Hey there, lovely radicals... podcast time! Today, on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, you'll hear the episode that was the toughest—by far—to record for me. And therefore the toughest for me to release. Yet, maybe it's also the most important one. When I say: I’m flying blind from this point on, I mean it quite literally. Find out my plans for the next months, as well as what’s happening with the podcast. One thing's for sure: You'll be hearing from me. As always, with love. <3, Meret. www.lifeunrestricted.org/lu065 Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Aaand if you want this sort of badassery come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple):  https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&ref; ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

LU Bonus Episode 1: Guided meditation – Quiet the monkey mind in a body positive way (25 min.).

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