When you’re struggling with food, constantly obsessing over your body, and desperately frustrated with your weight, it’s hard not to get sucked into the promise of a quick fix.

Everywhere we look we see promises of instant “solutions” to our most-pressing problems.

“Lose 10 pounds in 7 days”

“Slim down in just one month”

“Get bikini ready for summer with these 10-day cleanse!”

Listen. I know how seductive these titles are. They promise quick fixes and fast results.

It’s tempting to think the solution to our problem can be resolved in a few days, a week or a month.

But guess what? The reality is that there are no short cuts to long term healing.

This is a game you must commit to for the long haul.

Years ago, I remember sobbing to my mentor.

“This is too hard. I can’t keep going. There is too much to learn, my emotions are too intense and I don’t think I’m making any progress.”

She sympathized with me, as she had once stood in my shoes and experienced the pain of what I was dealing with.

She gently gave me advice that I think about often:

The only way out is through.

You can’t go around it, under it, outrun it or escape it. You have to face the mess head on in order to get through it.

There are no shortcuts in this game.

Here is my advice to you (said with the utmost love)…

Do not look for shortcuts. No lasting, long-term success comes from it. (And when you get tempted by them, that’s okay…it’s just old patterns/thoughts coming up as you are developing new ones).

Everything meaningful, deep and significant takes time, patience, and work.

An intimate marriage takes consistent effort to communicate, to stay when it gets hard, and to survive the rough patches.

A worthwhile career takes learning, patience, and work to become an expert in your field.

Raising kids. Mastering a skill.  Learning a language. Creating a home in a new city. Deepening friendships.

The best things in life don’t happen because we’ve taken a short cut. They happen because we put in the work, stay the course when things get tough, and don’t give up.

So it is with this whole food issue.

Letting go of dieting/binging, feeling “normal” around eating, and learning to love your body don’t happen overnight. There is no 7 day or one month solution.

But you (and your health) are worth more than an instant fix and quick “result”. So it’s crucial that you play the long game and remember that lasting healing takes time.

You are exactly where you need to be. You don’t need to be “farther along” or have it all figured out. When you commit for the long-haul, each setback is a learning experience and each difficult patch is used to reassess and move forward.

PS…if you need more support and guidance in your journey, I’d love to chat to see how I can best help. It took me years before I admitted I needed help to get through this. And it was the best decision I ever made. I’d be honored to help you on your path! (Email me here and we can set up a time to chat).