IT'S NO LIE THAT I STARTED HATING MY BODY AT THE TENDER AGE OF 12! Hi, I’m Melissa and I help women get off the yo-yo dieting roller-coaster, so they can permanently lose weight without giving up the foods they love, feel confident in their own skin, and live a life free of food obsession and rules.
Back in the 80's, the release of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition was an annual event in my house (yep, there was a time when we still got magazines in the mail…). My brothers and their friends would sit by the mailbox for days in anticipation until it arrived. Who was going to be on the cover this year? Christine Brinkley? Carol Alt? Claudia Schiffer?
It didn’t matter who it was, all I knew was this; the life of an SI swimsuit model looked divine. Everyone loved them, including my brothers, and their friends. Beautiful tanned bodies in remote tropical locations, in teeny-tiny bikinis, it was the life dreams were made of….it was all PERFECT….and I wasn’t....
In an effort to fix that, I went on a grueling mission to have an SI swimsuit body....and that’s where the insanity started. I believed that if I just looked like one of those models, my life would be perfect too, and I would finally be happy, loved and appreciated….
Yo-yo dieting, restricting my food, over-exercising, taking fat burners, eating fat free foods (Snackwells anyone?) carrying my own salad dressing to restaurants for fear of calories that would make me fat...this went on for years….
As a result, I became a closet emotional eater and eventually put on over 30 pounds, which made me hate myself even more. I spent endless nights on the sofa eating, feeling completely alone.....
Luckily, I was always drawn to healthy food, and even though I had a completely dysfunctional relationship to it, I ended up getting my certification in nutrition and wellness coaching.. only years later did I learn, it was just another way I was trying to control my food...and get that "perfect" bod...Ugh!
....enter in Karma Chow, and my very first gig as private chef to fitness sensation Tony Horton, the creator of P90X. I was on top of the world, but I still had a dirty little secret, that kept me feeling like a fraud, and a phony...my closet emotional eating.
No one knew how deeply I was struggling or how much the food obsession, binge eating and emotional eating took over my life.
One morning after a huge binge session, I woke up disgusted, discouraged, feeling sick, fat and hopeless. I called a friend out of desperation and with tears rolling down my face, told her how fat and hopeless I felt. And as any good friend would do, she listened quietly and then proceeded to give me a very large dose of tough love. And as hard as it was to hear, it was just what I needed...
So, that's what I did. I found a professionally trained coach who really GOT me, and my struggles. Even though I was scared and afraid, I immediately dove in with her. I also took it another step further (because, why not?) and enrolled in a Masters program at the University of Santa Monica for Spiritual Psychology. I decided to go all- in. I was DONE with suffering, so I made a commitment to myself to do whatever it took to heal. I wasn't going to let fear stop me anymore.
The 2-year journey wasn't always easy, but it was SO worth it, and I have to say it was much easier than any restrictive diet, or the pain that came along with hating my body. I had to break down years of habits, and belief systems that were ingrained. I knew it was necessary to heal and be FREE. At this point I would've done anything....except go on another dang diet or restrictive meal plan...my stomach clenches just thinking about it.
So I want to share with you some of the biggest lessons I learned along the way: 1. My issues with food, had NOTHING to do with food and everything to do with my belief system and mindset. 2. Going it alone NEVER works, because I had so many blind spots I couldn't see (hence, "blind-spot,") that I ended up sabotaging myself over and over. 3. It's a life-long journey, not a destination, and by shifting this perception in my mind, it created so much space for me to mess up, and not be perfect, yet still have progress. 4. I had to face my fear, and do it anyway even with the critical voices in my head telling me I will never be able to overcome this...
With large doses of commitment, courage, patience, consistency and most importantly support and accountability, I broke out of my self-imposed prison. I dropped the extra 30 pounds I was carrying! I did it all WITHOUT dieting, and I learned to love my body and completely transformed my relationship to food.
MY REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH
Look, you and I both know there is no magic pill or quick fix out there that works when it comes to permanent weight loss. If there was, we would all have it by now.
The weight you lose through diets will always creep back on over time leaving you feeling worse than you did before you lost it.
This is about becoming aware of the habits and behaviors you have with food that are destructive and keep you stuck in the vicious cycle.
It’s about becoming conscious of the choices you make, and how you nourish yourself. It’s about understanding your triggers that lead you to overeat or numb out with food.
Because here’s the thing, if you have been struggling for years with weight loss, I want you to know that it’s NOT YOUR FAULT. The diet industry has been lying to you. It’s a broken system. It’s been designed to keep you coming back over and over, only to leave you feeling defeated and hopeless.
Now you get to approach weight loss in a way that lasts, and feels do-able, instead of hard! You get to learn to love your body and honor it with nourishment, kindness and joyful movement. You get to wear clothes that feel good, and learn to appreciate the skin you’re in. And, you get to eat foods you love without guilt and remorse. You are SO VERY capable of that, even if you don’t believe it right now.
If this is something you've been desiring, then come check out my WORK WITH ME PAGE and take your very first step.
WHY WORK WITH ME, YOU ASK??
JUST FOR SOME FUN...
4 TRUTHS + 1 LIE
I worked as a bartender at the Jersey (that’s Joisey for my NJ peeps) Shore for 10 years wearing cut offs and Doc Maarten’s when they were cool, the first time.
I cooked for that awesome dude, Tony Horton, creator of P90X for over 4 years, and it was the best gig I ever had....
I once had a grizzly bear eat a marshmallow right out of my mouth...
I rode on the trunk of an elephant in a traveling circus while singing, Isn't it Ironic...
I was touched by 2 baby dolphins in the wild that swam around me over and over like I was their play-thang….
WHICH ONE IS THE LIE? EMAIL ME HERE AND TELL ME!
...IN ANOTHER LIFE
When I was 14, I joined my first gym and became a fitness instructor by the time I was 16. Yep, Jane Fonda would’ve been proud….
I’ve had more jobs than I can name in the pursuit to find my passion of coaching. The first was working in a pharmacy filling prescriptions….go figure.
I drove across country with my best friend, Heather, and my Doberman, AmityJane in the 90’s to land in Cali, which has now been my home for over 20 years
I studied Martial Arts for 2 years and earned my Green belt (one belt below brown). I also won several first place trophies in sparring competitions. Yep I'm a Bad A$$.
I got my yoga certification in Los Angeles in 2005, and taught yoga to the celebs. Maria Shriver was my fave...Oh, and Brooke Shields.