Three years ago when I wrote my eBook “Taking Up Space: a Guide to Escaping the Diet Maze”, I had an idea that I’d like to ultimately create a coaching program to go along with it. “Taking Up Space” isn’t a diet book or exercise program, it’s actually much more than that. It’s the story of all of us – the story of how we’ve been conditioned to make our lives small, to keep our goals and dreams within the confines of our bodies, to expect perfection from ourselves and then punish ourselves most cruelly when we fail to live up to those expectations. to prioritize looking good over being good or doing good or creating good.

The coaching program I envisioned to accompany my book wasn’t a nutrition or exercise coaching program. It would focus on the thought processes that keep us spinning our wheels in the endless pursuit of smaller. It would create a support system for establishing new ways of thinking and communicating and moving through life.

But instead of creating that coaching program, I ended up creating Eating the Food, my Facebook group. Now, don’t get me wrong, ETF is awesome, and I’m SUPER proud and honored to have been the one who started it. And, it took off and grew and evolved in ways I NEVER imagined it would. I’m so grateful and honored to have been supported by my moderator team and the community in creating the living, breathing, vibrant force that it has become!

ETF took all my emotional and mental energy for the last few years. And I don’t regret any of it. Bt what it meant was that that coaching program I’d wanted to create kind of got pushed to the side, where it waited patiently, waving hello from time to time, imploring me not to forget it – but not getting the attention it needed to become a real live thing.

A few months ago I approached Sean, my coaching partner over at The Habit Project', with the concept of a new kind of Habit Project, one devoted to body image rather than nutrition and exercise habits. It took a lot of hashing out and rehashing, but as we zeroed in on a way to make it work, it kind of became clear that what we were talking about creating WAS the Taking Up Space coaching program I’d envisioned all those years ago.

And, over the last few weeks as a confluence of unrelated and unplanned events have resulted in me handing the reins of leadership of ETF over to my moderator team, my ability to really devote my time and energy into this program has blossomed.

The time is finally right. That coaching program I wanted to build to support Taking uUp Space is being born, at long last.

This program is designed to address, and change, the psychological and emotional barriers to success that keep SO many of us from being able to effectively reach our goals (whether they are weight or fitness related, or something completely unrelated). It’s not a diet program. It’s not a fitness program. It’s a finding-your-voice program. It’s a claiming-your-space program. It’s an owning-your-power program. It what’s MISSING from the diet and fitness industry. It’s the work so many of us need to do before we can even start to THINK about losing weight or getting in shape. It’s the program that will teach you how to find, within yourself, the power to overcome the barriers and obstacles that have held you back your whole life.

It’s Step One. And the entire industry, our entire culture in fact, has been operating as if we can all simply jump straight to Step Two and begin kicking ass. And it’s pretty clear that that is not the case.

So. Watch this space over the next few days as we roll this new program out. I think it’s going to be big. I think it’s going to change everything. I think it’s what we’ve all been waiting for all along. I think the time is finally right, and the program is finally here.