Shortly after college graduation, Janice Holly Booth landed her first “big girl job” as Criminal Court Administration for the Attorney General of British Columbia. During her time with the courts, she says she witnessed awful things - murderers, felons, thieves - you can imagine why this would be stressful and not last. Four short years later, she moved to nonprofits and made her way to CEO of the Girl Scouts.   As CEO, Janice attended events, meetings, and conferences. In 2001 a meeting she had to participate in was in Utah which was great because she’d always imagined canyoneering in…

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a bridal shower. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and everyone was smiling. It brought back lovely memories from my wedding festivities.    The thing that made it extra special was seeing my friend with her family -  the laughs, the love - it was so amazing. While enjoying the party, I noticed how often women talk about their bodies, dieting and restricting food. I’m not trying to take an utterly incredible moment and turn it black, but it stood out because of the age of these women -most in…

If you've ever discussed food, eating, and dieting with me, you've undoubtedly heard me say, “stop dieting and eat whatever you want!"    And when I say, “eat whatever you want” I get the side eye and I'm sure nobody hears anything I say afterward. I understand why. If you eat whatever you want you'll lose control and gain weight because you can’t trust yourself and "once you start you can’t stop." Who can get away with eating whatever they want? Specially grown women who aren’t burning energy like 14-year-old boys. It's simply not possible! So, let me clarify. Eating…

When you got dumped, did you hear, “It’s not you; it’s me”?  It's a pretty annoying sentence, right? And did you believe it wasn't you but the other person’s fault? Hell no. Instead, I bet, you thought, “If I were better looking, better in bed, a better cook, or just about anything better, he’d still be here.  It’s me and my fault.  Saying it’s him, is such bullshit!  He’s just trying to be nice.” The “It’s not you; it’s me” is frustrating because it steals your control.  Think about it, if it’s your fault and you could’ve salvaged the relationship,…

Disclaimer - this post is a little different than what you're used to from me.  To be honest, I felt a little confined in my previous blogs.  I felt I wasn't being me - I was trying hard to ensure I didn't offend anyone.  I wanted to ensure I was appealing to the masses.  Bottom line, this doesn't work for me.  This is who I am - hopefully you still like me :). On to the blog...... You’re a busy person, you have a hundred and ten things to do at any given time; laundry, pick up the kids, go grocery shopping, make dinner, clean…

Like a child; I eat what I want. Cue the gasps and, “how the heck do you eat what you want? If I ate what I wanted I’d be four thousand pounds.” First off, no you wouldn’t. Second off, I’m not kidding. Similar to children, I eat what I want when I want, how much I want and I do it without guilt. I have complete freedom, and food no longer makes me feel stressed, or restricted. Choice, as it relates to food scares the shit out of people — I know because it used to scare me. I thought,…

One of the biggest problems I have with dieting is it’s NO fun.  I mean c’mon, how many people have you heard say, “OMG, I LOVE to diet.  It’s the best thing in the world, and I’m so glad I get to do it!”.   Ya, you can pretty much count on that number of people being a big fat zero (no pun intended.) The reason I’m passionate about this topic is that as adults, we do TONS of things in life that suck. We hate cleaning, working, laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, running the kids all over town and so…

I’ve spent most of my adult years thinking I had a problem.  I couldn't control myself around food, so I did what most people do, I dieted.  I figured if I dieted, I could be thin and happy.  I could finally be normal and stop worrying about my weight.   It makes me sad to think about the time wasted obsessing about thinness.  The times I reluctantly went to parties, weddings (my own included), beaches and vacations.  It was all because I didn't like the way I looked. At some point, I had to ask myself, “What the hell am…

Nobody loves dieting, but the reality is, almost everyone wants to lose weight and one of the biggest reasons I hear for wanting this is health reasons. Which leads to the question, “How can I lose weight without dieting?” Me, “Why do you want to lose weight?” The client, “To be healthy.” Me, “Ah, okay! So you want to go on a diet to lose weight to be healthier. I get that.” So I then have to ask, “What about losing weight makes you healthy?” The client, “Well, I don’t know. Isn’t it healthier to be thinner? Won’t I put…

This was me on a diet.  Seems awesome right?  It wasn't. I was tired, cramping, dehydrated, and could barely walk. People were worried about me. This was one of my many attempts at achieving the perfect body.  And yet, I still wasn't satisfied.   My lifelong dream of a different body left me confused, frustrated, and fatigued.  This is the definition of diet exhaustion; it's painful and real.   Today, my life is entirely different, and I'm happy to say; I don't meal plan, calorie/macro count, and I never prescriptively exercise.  Instead, I intuitively eat what feels right for me,…