763. Why Can’t I Stick to My Diet?

Erin Wathen

“All we have done is starve ourselves for a short period of time. We put a bandaid over it. So what I do or my approach is we actually sew the sucker up. We have to take the bandaid off, look at it, assess it, and then figure out what we are going to do.”

Erin Wathen is a holistic health coach, food abuse counselor and author of “Why Can’t I Stick To My Diet? How To End The Food Drama.” As a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and a food addiction counselor, she understands the science behind health. As a certified spinning instructor, Vinyasa Yoga instructor, and classical Pilates instructor, she understands the mechanics of health as well. She also knows how to break it down into everyday talk for clients. Her philosophy is simple: health isn’t a number on a scale or how often we exercise, but our lives as a whole. She partners with her clients to work on solutions that fit their lifestyle, empowering them to live their healthiest life in our crazy world.

How Did You Start Using Your Talents?

“I was an early reader and was always curious about why people did what they did–their motivations. I was in the library a lot. But I also really liked recess and sports. For awhile I wanted to become a chef because I liked creating things. But I remember I really liked to be outside, especially in California where we could ride our bikes. Years later, after I had a baby, there was a gym where I used to work out because they had babysitting. I discovered they were offering a spinning certification program and I thought, I could do what I love to do and get paid to work out!”

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

“After being a full-time mom awhile, staying at home, I began thinking I would love to just be a person again, not someone’s mom or someone’s wife, to just be a human being again and be with adults. I wasn’t really thinking about formatting a class or learning anatomy. That is what got me started─teaching a spinning class first, then I added yoga. Each thing I added gave me more and more knowledge. I had been trying to find that magic exercise, the kind that lets you eat whatever want. Well, that was not working. So, I thought, maybe I should look into nutrition. When I got serious about nutrition, that is when everything came together.”

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

“Focus on what you can influence versus what you can’t. Then you can figure out a way of eating that you want to stick to, and the weight will come off. And you’ll keep it off, and you won’t be on a diet. So often, when you go on a diet, you are just living with a diet just so you can get off the diet. But it is really about living. That way, you can finally be at peace, not like hell on earth the way it can be if you are always dieting.”