Dammit … It IS Menopause!

Apparently book titles are super important. Who knew? This being my first book, I had no idea. Never gave it much thought. Having said that, I’d like to give some backstory on mine. My original title was How to Avoid Basketball Stomach. I have maintained a 35-lb. weight loss without diet-ing for over 30 years. I consider myself a former volume eater and exercise bulimic who has recovered from disordered eating for more than three decades now. This healthy homeo-stasis doesn’t come without work. The secret to being where I am is my commitment to PIES. Got your attention? I am referring to my commitment to consistent, daily self-care on multiple levels:

• Physically

• Intellectually

• Emotionally

• Spiritually

If you are like me, there’s nothing like a food reference to get your attention. A component that set the foundation for my daily self-care, PIES was loving my body exactly the way it was at my heaviest weight, all those years ago. Close to 200 lbs.

As I said, I lost my weight without dieting. Yes, I just said that. I recognize I am somewhat of an anomaly, given today’s diet-focused culture. But after years of unsuccessful dieting attempts from my teens through my early twenties, I finally realized I would not find success in dieting. Wait. Let’s stop here to define “diet success.” My definition of diet success is losing the weight and keeping it off for over 10 years. If any diet can offer me that, I would call it successful. Given that definition, I’ve yet to find a successful diet. Not only are diets unsuccessful, in most cases they create an unhealthy binge/fast eating behavior, which perpetuates a destructive emotional shame spiral that worsens over time.