LAWYERS HATE HATE HATE TO LOSE.
THEY ALSO HATE TO GAIN.
Let’s face it: No one likes to lose, except if losing means the number on the scale is going down.
Ironically, lawyers find that kind of “losing” difficult. In fact, studies show that lawyers are right up there on the list of professionals who are gaining weight because of the demands of their careers.
It seems weight gain is not an uncommon price to pay when we neglect our bodies because we’re too busy taking care of our families, our careers, and just about everyone else but ourselves.
In 2002 I was admitted to the bar in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I joined a brand new law firm started by two women lawyers deeply committed to the practice of law.
We each had busy careers and busy family lives to take care of. I had four children, the youngest of which was four at the time.
I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you how hectic our lives were. Soon, however, I began to notice the number on the scale creeping up. At first I blamed it on my co-workers who kept bringing donuts to the office. But no one was making me eat the donuts.
So I blamed it on the law.
THE BLAME GAME ITSELF IS FATTENING
Blame is convenient. Blame allows us to look the other way. It gives us a good excuse to reach for the donuts because “we’re so stressed out.”
Donuts provide a respite, albeit temporary, from the stress.
They also allow us to keep looking the other way so that we don’t have to deal with what’s really going on. It’s easier to just keep eating the donuts rather than try to figure out what’s actually eating us.
Our bodies, our weight, and the food on our plate are psychological and emotional triggers for so many of us women, even when we’re not stressed by work and family life.
Diet Culture has added an extra layer of pressure and for those of us who grew up steeped in Diet Culture, the pressure to succeed AND be thin is extraordinary.
I realized that even though I had never been overweight, I’d had a “weight problem” since I was nine when my girlfriend and I decided we “needed to go on a diet.” It makes me so sad to think of how we were taught to hate our beautiful, healthy, strong bodies way back then, thanks to the seemingly incessant message that our worth was somehow tied to our weight.
We were kids! And there wasn’t an ounce of extra fat on us. Unfortunately our mothers were drinking the “thin is in” Kool Aid and what our mothers did, we did.
PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOUR BODY SPEAKS
After years of overruling my body’s needs, I was eventually forced to pay attention. My thyroid gave out. My body finally had my attention.
And so began a journey that I describe as “taking radical responsibility” for the health of my body and the satisfaction of my life.
I now work with professional women, many of them lawyers, whose bodies are screaming for their attention.
ARE YOU READY TO LOSE IT?
I work privately with women who are ready to change the way they approach their bodies, their weight, and the food on their plates and that requires a change in the way they approach their careers. This isn’t really about losing weight… weight loss is simply a natural consequence of taking radical responsibility in all aspects of your life… it’s about becoming the kind of woman who knows what her priorities are and being determined to live by them.
