Leanne Hall - Head First, Health Fast

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L eanne Hall is an experienced integrative psychologist with a focus on prevention, self-care and sustainable health. She specialises in body image and weight issues, depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Leanne has been a clinician and researcher at the University of Sydney and a lecturer and senior tutor at the School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales. A qualified personal trainer and nutrition coach, she has a genuine belief that mind and body are interconnected, and is committed to motivating her patients to achieve a lifestyle that is healthy in both mind and body.

A TV presenter, she has been the mind and body expert for Channel 10s The Living Room and regularly appears on Studio 10 as their go-to health expert. Leanne writes monthly for Open Colleges and has appeared on various programs including as the body image consultant on makeover show Style Squad for E Channel.

Leanne completed her first half-marathon in 2016, and her first triathlon in the same year. She is passionate about keeping fit, strong and healthy and plans on competing in many more events in the coming years. She believes in pushing limits, surrounding yourself with like-minded people and regularly stepping outside your comfort zone. Leannes mantra when it comes to exercise is simple: Life is to be lived, so get amongst it!

The information in this book is general in nature and should not be substituted for, or used to alter, medical therapy without your doctors advice. The writer, editors and publishers of this book cannot be held liable for any errors, omissions or actions that may be taken as a consequence of information contained in this book. For dietary advice, consult an accredited dietician. For a specific health problem or concern, see your doctor for individual advice and guidance.

First Published March 2017

ISBN 9781489214447

HEAD FIRST, HEALTH FAST

Leanne Hall 2017

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For Glenn

For supporting me, believing in me and loving me unconditionally.
For teaching me that together, we can achieve anything. Thank you.

To Mum

Taken from us too soon. Your light no longer shines,
but I feel you with me every day.

W hat does the word diet make you think of? Does it make you roll your eyes with despair? Or perhaps it gives you hope? Either way, your emotional reaction to that word is quite possibly the thing that has led you to this book. In a nutshell, your reaction is about not feeling good enough, and the constant striving for the answer that will finally make you feel happy to be you. Even as you read this, you may be researching the next big thing in diet and weight-loss programs, and making promises to yourself that this time things will be different. Youll stick to this one no matter what. But even as you say that, deep down lingers the fear that this diet, like so many before them, wont be sustainable. Most of us have been there at some point, myself included.

But what if you considered a different approach? One that focuses on long-term sustainable health, and one that actually helps you get back to enjoying food and exercise? Imagine an approach that lets you accept yourself before the end result, and nurtures your mind and body rather than punishing it? Thats exactly what this book is about.

Unfortunately, the market for weight-loss and transformation programs seems to be forever growing. Many of these programs promise to improve your life by altering your body. But there are so many problems with that message. Firstly, these programs assume that you need transforming, and secondly, they assume they know who you are and what you need to do to be happy and healthy. More and more personal trainers, nutritionists and chefs are making a fortune out of quick-fix diet programs that promise amazing results.

From weight loss to healing and overall physical wellness, what these programs all have in common is that they promote fast results on a life-changing scale. But better health is not so easy. In most cases, dropout rates of these quick-fix programs exceed success stories. And of the success stories, research suggests that as many as 95 per cent will end up right where they startedand sometimes fatter and unhappier.

So why do we have such an insatiable appetite for these cleverly marketed diet and weight-loss programs? Well, there are three main reasons:

We are impatient. In a society where delayed gratification is a thing of the past, we want everything now. This includes weight loss and health.

We have been bombarded with messages by the media that suggest we need to look a certain way to be successful and happy.

We are time poor. We just want someone to tell us what to do, rather than take the time to work it out for ourselves.

Fundamentally, we are not engaging our brain. Instead, were looking outside for answers because thats where all the promises of perfection and happiness lie. Its like a magnet that draws us in. In fact, you can almost think of these programs as the magnetsafter all, how can you resist something that promises to deliver everything you think youre searching for? The problem is the further we look outside ourselves, the more detached we become from whats important. And the more disconnected we become from who we really are and what we really want. This is why working towards long-term sustainable health must begin with reconnection with ourselves and looking inwards.