I am all too familiar with the dieting mind because I spent the majority of my young life cultivating it.  The following are just some of the repeated patterns of thoughts and behaviors that accompany the dieting mindset. This was me for 22 years…..

• I was either on a diet, or thought I should be on a diet, 24/7.
• Not being on a diet meant I was letting lose, breaking the rules, and “enjoying” myself.  That was the “fun” me, the person who said “to hell with it, I am eating whatever I want.”
• “Diet starts Monday” was an all too common phrase for me.  And voracious and gluttonous weekends always preceded those dreaded Mondays.
• If I fell off the dieting wagon, and made one tiny mistake, I would not hop back on the wagon and resume the ride.  No could do.  ALL was lost, so I let that wagon fall off the side of a cliff.  One cookie turned into 10 cookies, and pathetic self loathing.
• I kept appraised of every different diet on the planet.  Atkins, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim Fast, the latest fad meal replacement- you name it and I tried it, no matter how miserable or ridiculous.
• When I was on a strict diet, the scale was my frenemy. I would weigh myself once a week. As long as I was seeing results I was more apt to keep going.  But that scale was the devil himself, it would stop moving, or worse than that, the number would go up.  Then it would make sure to whisper in my ear, telling me that all my efforts were futile.  Then it would convince me to self-sabotage.
• I felt shame and disgust about my body, and I saw no reason to dress up, or buy nice clothes.  I did not deserve that investment.
• I thought I had only two choices. To either be a deprived, disconnected, rigid bitch who obsessed about food and counted every calorie. Or I would be a fat, unhealthy, but less mean and less hungry, and more fun person, for the rest of my life.  To be honest, I was not happy with either of those choices, which is why I constantly went back and forth between those two versions of myself.
• I focused on calorie quantity, and followed the rules and regulations of the dieting industry.
• I tried to eat 6 small meals a day to keep my metabolism revved up.
• I exercised with the intention of burning maximum calories.
• I thought I was a failure…that I was just not cut out to be thin.  And that I lacked the necessary strength and willpower to make my goals stick.

That is what I remember of my dieting mindset.

What most people don’t ever stop to realize is that our mindset dictates our life.  When we have a dieting mindset, we will continue to choose diets, and thus continue to cultivate this mindset.  If you have been dieting for years, you can expect to be this way for a life time, unless you choose to change the way you think about food and health and choose a healthy mindset instead.

Einstein said “You will never solve a problem with the same mind that created that problem.”

In other words, you will never solve your weight and health problem with the same mindset that created that weight and health problem.  Or let me put the positive spin on this. You WILL solve your weight and health problem when you acquire the right mindset to do so.

Nearly 8 years ago, I chose a different path.  I chose a healthy mindset over a dieting mindset.  And that looked like this…

• I focused on calorie quality instead of calorie quantity.
• I focused on connection (family, community, environment) instead of disconnection.
• I focused on nourishment and respect for my body, instead of shame and disgust.
• I focused on the joy and pride I had working towards my potential, instead of the dread of dieting.
• I focused on permanent progress instead of temporary perfection.
• My goals were no longer extrinsically motivated  (externally/ego based goals, set in fear, shame or external validation).
• My goals filled my soul. I became passionate and inspired, motivated intrinsically, by my values for integrity, and my desire to powerfully, and courageously change my life, and the world.
• Instead of exercising will-power, I chose to intentionally change my mind by becoming a more informed consumer.
• Instead of following the same old rules and advice, (not to mention the crowd) I went down the unconventional path to learn more about food and health in America.
• Instead of making my choices all about me, and a stupid beach body, I increased my self awareness and expanded my social consciousness.  All of which dramatically changed my perspective, and allowed me to see a whole new world.

With this change in my mind came a drastic change in my life.

I lost every pound I ever wanted to lose.  I rid my life of IBS, migraines, chronic sinus infections, allergies, and all medications that went along with those ailments.  I saved my failing marriage.  And I safe guarded my children from diseases that will inevitably affect their peers.  As of right now, we are raising the unhealthiest generation in American history…..And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

My name is Cindy Carbone.  And I worked my butt off to get rid of the dieting mindset.  I am one of a very small percentage of the American population who was able to accomplish this task. I know how it is done.  I know what it takes.  And I designed a learning/coaching program to help others do the same. As it stands today, diets are common, but health is not.  I am on a mission to change that.

Your success in my program, as well as your success in any goal in your life, is 90% dependent on your mindset.  My program is NOT a set of rules on how to lose weight, how to burn maximum calories, or how to combine your food for weight loss.

On the contrary, my program is a guide to acquiring the right mindset that will enable you to finally create a healthy mind, body, and life.

The mindset change occurs because my programs are based in a method I call E3:  Education, Experience, and Emotions.  Because education, experiences, and powerful positive emotions actually change the chemistry, and the neural pathways in the mind.  This is not my opinion, this is science.  Neuroscience.

The intentional utilization of E3 is the antidote of a set mind.  It is kryptonite to the dieting mindset.

If you have been struggling with weight, health issues, and/or diets in your life, you have cultivated a dieting mindset.  Be forewarned that your expertise in this area will most likely lead to more diets, until you reach the point of total defeat, and completely give up.

If this is NOT what you want for your life, the first step towards ridding yourself of this dieting mindset, is to become aware it, and consciously make a different choice.

If you are interested in erasing your dieting mind, and deliberately choosing to become more informed, more inspired, and more empowered, then you will LOVE my Mind/Body Reset Academy, and my Healthy Life Club programs.  You can find all the details on those links.

Choose health, not a diet.  Either way, here’s my promise.  You will always get EXACTLY what you choose.