My decision to specialize in mindful and instinctive eating stemmed from my own disordered eating throughout high school and college. I didn’t pop out of the womb loving broccoli and my body, that's for sure!
Any program, pill or potion that had been promoted to cause weight loss, I had likely tried it. What did they all have in common for me? Three words: short term, unrealistic. My self diagnosed "failed" attempts at dieting turned to guilt, embarrassment, and frustration.
With these emotions came "diet backlash," which for me included going on a food binge the second the diet ended, having cravings of "off limit foods" when even thinking about going on another diet, social withdrawal and a slugglish metabolism.
After another failed attempt at what I was convinced would "really work this time," I would use food to fill emotional needs, instead of physiological needs. Just reading this is exhausting, am I right?
I would eat when I was happy, sad, stressed, angry, tired...you get the pattern here. In retrospect, I realize now that food won't fix feelings of anxiety, loneliness, boredom, or anger. Dieting leads to feeling deprived, which leads to craving "trigger foods", which can lead to uncontrollable actions. It's a viscous cycle.
I fought with this cycle of dieting and food binging for 6 years. I gained 45 pounds.
After receiving free treatment for binge eating disorder in exchange for being a research participant, I was soon introduced to the "undiet" movement.
In simple terms, this is the process of rejecting the diet mentality, making peace with food, coping with your emotions, and respecting (and loving) your body! I never would have thought that I would be teaching others how to break free from the shackles of dieting. My goal is to teach others how to do the same. No expensive potions, special shakes, pills or shots. No depriving diets that just suck the life out of you.
I am living proof that it is possible to make peace with food, starting with the renewal of your mind
