Are you done with dieting or turning to food for comfort?

 

I spent my teenage years and my early 20’s envisioning what my life would be like if I wasn’t overweight.

I thought that every problem I had, from a lackluster dating life to finding the right career, was going to be magically fixed when I was thin.

From as far back as I can remember, my weight was a big concern. Not just for me, but even people around me. My weight was frequently the subject of conversation. I don’t even know at what age I technically was significantly overweight but I know that from a young age I heard the message loud and clear that something was wrong with me because of the size or shape of my body. This led to all sorts of obsessions about eating and later, ways I could avoid eating food. I snuck food. I ate more than I needed. I calculated ways I could eat less or burn off more calories. I even remember praying for weight loss when I’d say my nightly prayers.

My issues with food and my body plagued me, even as I lost 90 lbs with the help of strict calorie counting and a vigorous exercise schedule. I was finally thin but I still wasn’t happy with my body and the thoughts and feelings about food that kept my mind spinning when I was heavy were still there. The weight loss didn’t fix the problems I had. I gained a lot of the weight back. I yo yo’d up and down for several more years. 10 pounds here. 20 pounds there. Every time I was stressed out, overwhelmed or confused, I turned to food to comfort me. I had been doing it my whole life.

I finally realized that I needed to face the problems I was avoiding if I was ever going to be content with my body and not have every moment of every day consumed with thoughts about what to eat next or how not to eat when I was hungry.

When I looked for help, other than therapy, my only other option appeared to be yet another diet, one that claimed to be able to help me keep the weight off this time (sure!). In my gut, I knew that this was not what I needed and that I’d only end up on the yo yo train again. No thanks! I did not need another diet.

It finally dawned on me that every time I tried to “fix” this issue, I was focusing on the problems that my eating was causing me (weight gain, insecurity, digestive troubles) and that maybe the solution lay elsewhere. I decided to put my attention on the problems I was trying to solve by eating.

Eating, especially overeating, gave me comfort, distraction and numbed me from anything I didn’t want to feel. Not eating made me feel virtuous. One of the lessons I had to teach myself was how to be willing to feel all my feelings instead of turning to food. And eating when I’m hungry (and ignoring the part of my brain that tells me to restrict food instead).

I know what you are going through because I’ve been there myself. It took me several years into my 30’s, and a lot of experimentation before I learned how to have an easeful relationship with food and have less of an urge to diet. You can do this too. I’d love to show you how.

My coaching is about creating a space where you can understand your desire to eat, why you feel so out of control around food and how to transition from a lifetime of dieting to a life where you can eat without so much stress. It’s about finding ways to do things differently than you’ve done them before. It’s about giving long deserved attention to the parts of ourselves that we have desperately tried to ignore by eating (or dieting).

My history is why I love coaching women who don’t want to spend another day dieting and overeating but aren’t sure how to start.

Interested in learning more? Find out if we’re a good fit on a free 30 minute Discovery call.

 

 

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