I banished the word ‘diet’ from my vocab five years ago, so when author girl Anita Revel, launched her brand new book The Goddess D.I.E.T, I couldn’t help but do a frown-y thing with my eyebrows. I love Anita’s books – they’re all kick-ass and empowering – so I did NOT love the idea of a diet book, not one li’l bit. Luckily though, Anita’s idea of ‘diet’ does not involve starving yourself, trash talking and self-loathing…hurrah!

Y’see, when Anita lost her libido, her self-respect and her aspiration to get another season out of her bikini, she started a life-changing process to find her goddess within. By creating The Goddess D.I.E.T, she found dozens of Daily Intentional Empowerment Tools (’DIET’) to realign her physical, emotional and spiritual behaviours for total well-being.

I am most deffo a convert – I’ve lost 16lb and I wasn’t even trying. While being able to fit into my new Julien McDonald dress is a really rather nice treat, The Goddess D.I.E.T is about much more than weight loss, it’s a book-shaped, butt-kicking reminder to respect and dig what you see in the mirror, indulge in non-food pleasures – I signed up to a hula-hoop class and a tarot-reading course, and most importantly, to stop thinking there’s only one kind of beautiful, because yep, even me, The Sassy Minx, forgets sometimes – Come meet Anita, she’s a goddess-girl of epic proportions.

The Goddess Diet rocks – tell us all about it Miss A…
It came about when I put on 12 kilograms in as many months without explanation. The first GP (doctor) I went to put me through dozens of blood tests. The second GP wanted to put me on anti-depressants. The third said the weight-gain and lethargy was in my head. I thought, “If it’s in my head, I can do something about that,” so began trialling a lot of the diets available on the market. I found the common theme amongst them all was self-loathing — not a single one re-educated the user about changing their attitude, only about their food intake, sacrifice and regime. They relied on the user to stay in the self-loathing loop so that the diet company would stay in business! I decided there had to be a fun and easy way for the body to return to its natural shape and size without the torment associated with regular diets, so through four years of research and trial, I found the way via The Goddess D.I.E.T.

I LOVE that DIET is an acronym for Daily Intentional Empowerment Tools – how did you discover this new way of thinking?
Once I decided to regain control over my life I realised the very simple tools I was using were all empowering me in that I could make choices for my own health. Having this freedom to choose led me to call them Daily Intentional Empowerment Tools – they’re tools that I use intentionally, every day, for my well-being.

What’s your secret to being beautiful?
It’s that glow that comes from within that makes a woman beautiful. When a woman is happy, when she is loving who she is, and when she is sharing that light with others, that’s when she’s at her most beautiful.

What do you love most about being a woman, right now?
We’re living in an era where we have a lot of choices. We can be career women or domestic goddesses; working mothers or earth mamas; feminine and sweet, or outspoken warrior women… whatever role we choose for ourselves we are not judged or outcast for our choices. That’s true freedom.

What’s your greatest achievement?
Greatest? Wow, how can one apply a hierarchy on children, family, career and passion when every aspect of one’s life is a beautiful compliment to every other aspect? Yes, I’m proud of my 15-year-old son and my 15-month-old daughter, and I love supporting my husband achieve his dreams, and I get a thrill seeing any one of my 10 books on a bookshelf somewhere, but I think my passion for writing and work-shopping about women’s well-being is a very worthwhile achievement. I certainly get a buzz every time I open an email explaining how one of my books, workshops or essential oil blends has changed a life – knowing that somewhere, somehow, a life has improved and a woman is happier, well, this makes the slog all worthwhile.

Your biggest lesson?
I’m learning lessons all the time, but learning to be gentle with myself is by far the best lesson I’ve learned so far. No matter how crappy my life may feel at times, or even if I’ve over-eaten one day and feel sluggish and “fat”, if I’m gentle with myself then I escape that spiral into self-loathing that happens otherwise. Being gentle with myself means I can keep liking myself in good times and bad.

What five tunes would be on a Goddess Diet sountrack?
This might give my age away a bit (!) but:
* The Affirmation Song by Savage Garden
* You Gotta Be by Des’ree
* Beautiful by Christina Aguilera
* Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houstin
* I Am Woman by Helen Reddy

Anita’s Sassy List…
Book: Drink Play F*@k (a parody on Eat Pray Love which appealed to my “irreverent” shadow side)
Food: Shredded fish & green apple salad (or any Thai food really)
Clothing label: Bebe – I nearly named my daughter this! (She chose Phoebe instead).
Movie: Fight Club (true!!! The plot was awesome, and the Brad Pitt / Ed Norton combo was sweeeet eye candy)
Music: Sacred Earth, an Aussie couple creating spine-tingling, heart-melting mantras and music
City: Melbourne, Victoria – it’s very cosmopolitan, the food is orgasmic, and there’s always a buzz on the street
Shop: Etsy (online) for all the beautiful and unique crafty stuff created by talented WAHGs (Work-At-Home-Goddesses)
Website: Apart from mine? Facebook! I have to wean myself off it though, it’s a time-vacuum.

To buy your copy of The Goddess D.I.E.T and to find out more about the awesome Anita head over to: www.igoddess.com