Peaceful, Pleasurable Eating in the Flow

After years of frustration and pain trying to lose weight only to gain more back, most of those who begin Taking Their True Shape® want peace with food and their body more than anything else. Many good things begin from that hard-won place because it’s the doorway to freedom with food, enjoying your body, and a whole new life.

If you too have arrived at wanting peace with food, congratulations! Now it’s time to learn a new way of relating to yourself, your body, your hungers, and food.

If you’re not quite there, no problem. As...

Is a Paradox of Possibilities

Have you ever wanted to lose 30 pounds in 30 days? I, and most of my clients certainly have at some point in our lives.

The desire for rapid weight loss is most likely to arise when you feel some kind of desperation. It could be from:

• fear of judgment or embarrassment of how you’ll be perceived at an upcoming event (wedding, trip, reunion, first meeting, etc.),
• shame or frustration of seeing a larger number on the scale or growing out of all the clothes in your closet,
• anxiety or confrontation of receiving a food-related diagnosis from your doctor...

Does this sound familiar?

You have a dream and you set a goal to make it reality. Maybe it's to lose 50 pounds, improve your relationship, build your savings account up to $5,000, or to focus on your spiritual growth (or anything else you desire). But every time you make progress a negative voice pipes up in the back of your mind casting doubt on your ability to succeed.

So you slip up and watch your heartfelt goal float away.

It's so frustrating.

And, if you know my personal story, you know I've dedicated my career to making sure you know it doesn't have to be this way. 

That's why I...

This is one of my go-to meals because it's so quick and pleasurable. It rarely takes me more than 10 minutes to make, but allow 15 if you're not a whirlwind – throw it together, clean later – cook like me. (Ridiculous cooking demonstration videos coming soon.) I often substitute jumbo shrimp or roasted chicken for the protein. All are equally yum!

Makes 2 servings

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 4-6 minutes
Total Time: 9-16 minutes

Ingredients

Salmon
2 skinless (4 oz) fillets of wild salmon (TJ’s frozen wild coho)
2 T + ¼ tsp organic extra virgin olive oil (1/4 tsp...

by Jan Henrikson

Jan's story (below) of her experience with Dr. Ocean's class was published in Chicken Soup for the Dieter’s Soul in 2007. Jan has added her 2017 update.

It wasn’t yet 7:00 in the morning and already I was chain-eating lime chili tortilla chips. I stood at the kitchen counter, emotionally hung-over from yet another fight with my boyfriend. I was crunching the anger, salting the wounds. Crunching and salting with bites of chocolate for good measure. I couldn’t stop. Even the tortilla chip bag had a wickedly furious crinkle. I couldn’t eat fast enough...

Walking in beach sand at 300-pounds made me pant, sweat, and curse my excess flesh. But that is another lifetime now.

Over 20 years ago a miracle happened. After weighing over 300-pounds twice, I lost 150- pounds for the last time and became one of the one-half percent of people who lose more than 100-pounds and keep it off for more than five years without surgery.

Every single day I feel grateful for the freedom to do little things I was once unable to do – cross my legs, slip through turnstiles, spring up from the floor, fit in airplane seats, ride roller coasters, and stroll on the...

My first memory of compulsive eating happened when I was about 7. My mom, my little brother, and I had just gotten home from grocery shopping. My brother and I were happily watching “Kimba the White Lion” on black and white TV with snacks while Mom put  away groceries and started dinner.

A short time later, I heard a gasp coming from the kitchen, “Becky!” Did you eat that whole box of Pizza Spins?!”

I remember the flush of shame filling my face along with my own shock at the truth of the matter.

The box was just about empty and I didn’t remember...

A couple of months into the fast, Chris, a dieting buddy and computer friend of mine, could no longer stand it. “I want what you have,” she said. “You’re committed, you’re finally doing it, you’re losing weight and feeling great, you’re happy and successful. I want that too.”

I thought, ‘Yeah, all that’s true.’ After countless hours of commiserating with her about not being able to lose weight, all of a sudden I was in the flow. How did this happen? Why this time? Why now? What do I have? And how did I get it?’

At the...

That question and quest energized me in ways I’d never before experienced. My motivation was no longer just about me. On behalf of myself and all those who struggled with obesity, I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about the permanent weight loss from the experts at this premiere obesity research program. So I attended their weekly classes religiously. I took every course they offered three times, memorizing and absorbing as much as I could about what they knew.

They primarily used a behavioral-education model and taught us their cutting-edge medical knowledge about weight...