Oftentimes on the intuitive eating path, we can get stuck in the old "but I need to lose weight NOW" mindset. When things don't happen fast enough or progress is slow, it can be hard to not get tempted to diet. How do you balance the desire for weight loss with intuitive eating? 5 tips to help! 

I often talk about the diet pendulum around dieting and bingeing. But it can be a powerful metaphor to help you navigate life! 

This is a short and sweet episode to give a quick bit of inspiration!

Written by Jenn Hand, Holistic Nutritionist, Board Certified Health Coach, NBC-HWC

If you search, "how to stop the binge and restrict cycle", google gives you over 4.4 million entries in just under 4 seconds. That means there is A LOT of information to sort through to understand what would actually help. I've compiled the most useful information, that has helped both me and my clients, in one place for you to help you move forward and know where to focus :)

When we diet, we are restricting calories and typically depriving ourselves of calories, fuel and/or the foods we deem "bad".

Our bodies need a certain level of fuel. Even if we are sitting on the couch all day, our body is burning calories to circulate blood, beat our heart, and run all the systems of our bodies.

So if we are caught up in the sneaky diet mindset or trying to adhere to a specific plan (or calorie count), it ends up backfiring.

Not eating enough typically ends up causing us to overeat. This can happen at night after a day of low-calorie eating or after a few days of "good" eating.

Over time, it can lead to spikes of hunger and a ravenous appetite (since our bodies need fuel and we don't give it enough!), and may end up in a binge.

The body eventually rebels and wants MORE fuel.

When we're not eating enough, it can feel almost impossible to use willpower or discipline, since we are essentially trying to override our body's natural signal for fuel.

Dieting in any form is usually one of the main causes of a binge.

Stress, boredom, anxiety, depression, and hard emotions can all be a trigger to binge.

Eating can be a way for us to numb out, distract ourselves and deal with the challenges that life throws at us.

Typically, those of us who've struggled with food grew up learning that food was a way to deal with life.

We don't learn how to move through difficult feelings, express our wants/needs, and deal with the hardship that life can throw our way.

So as adults, this pattern has become ingrained in us.

And as we grow, life gets harder.

We have more obligations, responsibilities, financial worries. We need to navigate the challenges of relationships, parenting, a career and the ups and downs of life.

Food becomes our way out and can create a pattern of bingeing.

Sometimes when we are in the hum drum of life, we lack pleasure. Life becomes one endless to-do list after another, with obligations, responsibilities and chores to finish.

Food becomes a way to add pleasure and enjoyment to our lives.

This doesn't always end up in a binge, but many people turn to food to add excitement and it can spiral into overeating.

Desserts, carbs and sweets add "delight" to the routine elements of raising kids, working a 9-5, taking care of a house/apartment, paying bills and managing all of life's tasks.

Often times a deep desire for more pleasure, fun, adventure and enjoyment in life can be manifested in a binge.

If you'd rather listen to the podcast, you can find it here:

One of the hardest parts of this path is the "how LONG will it take?!" question.

I asked this 1800+ times over the course of my healing.

The diet world trains us to expect instant results so we come in to this path with a sense of impatience.

We want "results" fast and we want them now.

The problem is, if we've spent years, decades or a lifetime in the diet/overeat cycle, it takes time to heal and normalize the body.

You can find the full ins and outs (with dates and how long each stage took) here.

Early on, I convinced myself that I "shouldn't" need help in dealing with food issues.

After all, children were starving in Africa, people dealt with serious tragedies, and the world had bigger problems.

How could I wrestle with something as simple (or "dumb") as food?

Honestly, I felt ashamed. I was embarrassed that I had no "real" problems...I had a good family, great friends, and life was good.

Except I deeply struggled with food and my weight.

And I couldn't get a handle on it on my own. Admitting this was huge.

Getting help changed my life. It allowed me to shift perspective, gain clarity and make faster progress.

There are free and low cost options like support groups, 12 step groups, sliding scale therapists, counselors that insurance covers.

There are paid options like coaching, books, retreats, programs, and in person or digital group therapies.

Truly there is no right or wrong! I did Overeaters Anonymous for many years (which was free).

I didn't resonate with all of their principles (they promoted abstaining from sugar and flour, but I wanted to have a relationship to them, not a termination of them), but I got a sponsor and worked the steps for a bit to help me in the emotional part of it.

For a few years I did therapy which catapulted my healing into a new level.

Both were instrumental in helping me overcome the binge and restrict cycle.

Admitting that I needed help was a huge burden lifted from my soul. Support (in whatever form that resonates with you) is the fastest way forward!

The very first step of my healing was pairing a protein and a carb every 3-4 hours.

I focused on this for the first few months as it was crucial to getting out of the diet cycle.

The most helpful part of this was that it gave my brain something to focus on. I knew I wanted to learn to listen to my body eventually, but it was so far from where I was (I was either following a diet or overeating).

I worked to eat in this way and challenge my brain when it freaked out that I would gain weight.

Like most people who get trapped in the diet world, we think that we should be dieting in order to find the control we seek.

So my brain was not too happy that I was eating "so much". (or so it told me).

While I was working to stabilize my blood sugar and get out of the extremes of the pendulum, I also worked to retrain my thoughts so I didn't freak out :)

But the protein + carb pairing every 3-4 hours was my main focus at first; this helped to normalize my body's rhythms so I COULD focus on some of the mental and emotional pieces.

One of the challenging parts after a binge is the immediate desire to "start over" the next day.

We feel terrible, hate ourselves for what we "did", and are comforted by the fact that we can start over to get back on track.

A diet or eating plan feels like it's an easy answer to our problem (we feel disgusting and a diet gives us the illusion of control).

I knew that "starting over" would keep me trapped in the cycle, so I worked diligently to learn from my binges and nourish myself after so that I could resist the temptation to keep starting something new.

I wasn't always successful, but every time I binged, I'd get out my journal, and examine what was going on that led me to the food.

My journal helped me explore what I needed to feel balanced again (I reframed "starting over" to "feeling more balanced").

I experimented with support, hydration, moving my body, meal planning, mindset & emotional work, and other things to bring me back into balance.

Working to reframe the need to start over helped me slowly but surely, come back to the middle of the pendulum.

With dieting, we expect big results. We deprive and punish ourselves with the promise of the great reward at the end: weight loss.

On this path, though, we need to take a different view of success. (If we aren't measuring pounds lost, how do we view success?)

Looking at our small victories helps us see progress as it's happening.

Often times, we overlook the small wins because the big thing we want isn't happening fast enough.

But truly, this path IS the result of 1,000 little wins that add up to the "big" thing that we want.

It's easy to gloss over expressing an emotion instead of eating, going one day without bingeing, or going out to a restaurant and being able to eat without anxiety.

We don't think these are "big enough" things to be proud of.

But all of those wins are the start of progress over time.

I worked hard to remember the small wins (especially when I wanted to give up or thought it wasn't happening fast enough).

This kept me grounded during the ups and downs of this path.

Although there were many many nights that I DID want to give up, there was always a small glimmer of hope that if I just kept going, I WOULD find freedom and become a normal eater.

The more I grew on this path, the more I knew I couldn't go back to the world of dieting.

Over time, it didn't ring true for me anymore (and my body rebelled--I literally couldn't last a day or two on a diet).

Deep down, I knew there was another way to eat (and live), so I stayed the course.

This sounds simple, but not easy.

I got tempted to diet (and did) many times over the years.

Even though I knew diets didn't work, I still secretly tried them "one last time" to lose the weight and THEN deal with my eating issues.

Through tears and frustration, despair and thinking "I had it" (but didn't), I kept going.

I am so glad I did, as my eating wouldn't be where it was today if I had given up.

One of my favorite mantras is "take what resonates and leave the rest". With everything that I write about or discuss on the podcast, if it doesn't resonate, leave it.

If it does, take it in and make it your own.

My main intention is to help you learn how to hear YOUR own guidance from within to find out what works for you :)

Some things may resonate, others may not. There is no right or wrong, it is all about what works for YOU!

Here are some things to try:

Instead of trying to "listen to your body" use the clock to help you reset your body.

Schedule in times to eat a meal or a snack every 3-4 hours in your day.

This can help give your mind a focus and some guidance.

Whether you do better with bigger meals or smaller meals/snacks, set up your days so you are eating frequently (use the 3-4 hour mark as a start).

Experiment with what type of structure works for you: do you need to set a timer? Do you want to do any meal planning? Would you rather be more spontaneous?

Play around with what you prefer. I was very scheduled and ate every 3 hours to the minute.

Over time, I relaxed and started to hear hunger/fullness.

But in the beginning, it was 3 hours on the dot. Other people feel more relaxed and can be a bit looser.

Start with what you feel comfortable with :)

When we're working to get out of the binge and restrict cycle, it can be confusing whether to give in to a craving or not. 

The million dollar questions:

WHAT do you eat if you're not on a diet or not bingeing? 

Are you supposed to follow a rule or give yourself permission? 

Is it better to focus on eating what you "want" to eat and what you "should" eat? 

To begin, I usually like to say do half and half.

Every time you eat, pick half of what you think you "should" eat and half of what you want to eat.

For example, for lunch your mind says "salad with grilled chicken".

But what you really want is a piece of pepperoni pizza.

So pick half and half! Have half a salad with chicken and one piece of pizza (or whatever combo works for you).

This allows some permission mixed in with some "safety" with what you think you should be eating.

Over time, you can refine this as you get to know your body better!

When we're immersed in the diet world, we learn that every food is either good or bad.

The good? Vegetables, lean proteins

The bad? Sugar and carbs

There are some gray areas, but not many.

So when we are working to eat in a more balanced way, we struggle with those labels.

How to allow pizza when we think it's bad?

This is where it can be helpful to soften our labels.

Can you think of food not as good or bad, but as more or less energizing?

Or more or less nutritious? More or less nourishing/satisfying?

Pick words that carry less baggage (and judgement) than good or bad.

(Helpful posts related to this topic are here and here).

Usually after a binge, we think we can hate ourselves into change.

We blame and criticize ourselves, drowning in the guilt we feel for overeating.

But what if you practiced compassion instead?

When you can lean first into a mindset of curiosity, it helps lead into compassion.

We can get curious about what we're doing and why.

Instead of our criticism leading into another diet, then an inevitable binge, we can use curiosity to move into awareness of habits and patterns (which is the first step towards change!)

If you eat something you didn't have planned, go to food over a stressor or something emotional, or eat more than you intended, see if you can get curious first to help practice compassion!

(Because it's always THIS that leads to change, never punishment. ♥️♥️♥️

Instead of beating yourself up (#4), ask "what happened" that led you into a binge?

If we can use our binges as lessons, they hold powerful messages.

Learning what sent us to the food can be so helpful in working on the "real" issue (vs just trying to start a diet to get back on track!)

Here are some helpful questions:

• Did I go too long without eating? 
• Did I eat enough protein? 
• How much allowing vs not allowing am I doing? 
• Were my meals satisfying? 
• Was it an emotional need? 
• How was I feeling all day before I binged? 
• What situation, person or feeling did I want to run from? 

Jenn Hand has been helping women like you become normal eaters since 2015. She’s worked with thousands of women, helping them to balance their bodies, end bingeing, stop obsessing over food, and start feeling amazing again!  As an accredited health coach with a background in nutrition, she knows how to support you into making real positive change that lasts. If you’re ready to finally see a lasting change and experience true freedom, click here to schedule a free 20-minute introductory call to see how she can help you become a normal eater!

Written by Jenn Hand, Holistic Nutritionist, Board Certified Health Coach, NBC-HWC

When I was in the throes of dieting and bingeing, I remember sobbing in endless frustration and despair over not being able to stop eating. As I began to heal my food issues over the years, I stopped binge eating and want to share with you the way I got there.

I was 26 and had just broken up with my boyfriend of almost four years. Although I knew it was for the best, I was still heartbroken.

I'd been through years of healing on this journey but still couldn't resist the pull towards cookies and Reese's to soothe my aching heart.

If you had told me then I'd one day be "done" bingeing, I wouldn't have believed you. But fast forward to today and here I am.

If you're feeling stuck, frustrated, angry at yourself for not being able to "just stop eating", I get it.

This path is mind numbingly frustrating at times, as it feels like it should be easy to do what we know we should: just stop eating.

But if you're reading this, then there is a part of you that still believes, you CAN stop bingeing.

Hold on to that quiet whisper inside--that is what kept me going when I had my darkest moments of wanting to give up.

If you prefer to listen at the podcast, do so here:

This might sound counterintuitive, as we're "supposed" to be in touch with hunger and fullness and eat according to that.

The problem is that when we first start, we are so far from hearing our body's signals that don't know how.

So I used the clock to guide me. (BTW--there is more on this in the first two chapters of my book: How to Be a Normal Eater)

I began eating every 3 hours, like clockwork. It was terrifying.

But it also felt good to have something to guide me--I wasn't left to my own whims of hunger/fullness.

Every 3 hours, I would eat. My meals were small, as I was still in the diet mindset, but I worked to let my body normalize her rhythms.

This is a crucial step, as it worked to stabilize my blood sugar after years of all over the place eating.

I was fueling my body in a way that was steady and even throughout the day--I didn't go long hours without eating and I wasn't ravenous at the end of the day because I hadn't eaten much.

Explore what works for you--is it every 3 hours? Are you more in touch with hunger to use that to guide you? Do you do well with 3 meals a day?

Look at how to begin stabilizing your blood sugar by eating regularly and often (this gives you more balance mentally and emotionally, as well, so you can dive into the deeper reasons behind bingeing)

The amount of rules ingrained in my mind around food was astonishing.

• • Carbs are bad
  • I can't eat after 7 pm
  • Sweets are off limits during the workweek
  • I can only have oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast
  • Cheese is fattening so don't eat it
  • I have to eat a salad for lunch

That was only the start of my list!

I knew these were hindering my progress, because it only set me up for rebellion.

The more rules I had, the more I ended up rebelling in a binge.

So slowly, but surely, I chipped away at the rules. I began with easier ones and worked to expand them.

For example: I had a "I shouldn't eat bread" hard rule.

Carbs were easier for me than desserts (I binged more on dessert than carbs), so I began with that.

I intentionally had a piece of bread with my salad 3x a week for lunch. That felt doable for me--scary ("uh oh, if I eat bread will I gain weight?!) but not so far outside my comfort zone, that it felt terrifying.

I used self-talk and mindfulness to help me "allow" myself to eat the bread.

And I was pleasantly surprised! I didn't spiral out of control and it didn't end up in a binge.

I actually felt MORE satisfied with my salad when I ate a piece of whole wheat bread with it.

It takes diligence (and of course, it won't be perfect!) but it can be so helpful to chip away at the old tapes--we often binge in a response to the diet tapes going on in our minds.

What are your diet and food rules? Begin with a few of the less scary ones to see where you can experiment with relaxing and challenging them :)

Once I started relaxing my diet tapes and eating more regularly, I realized emotional eating was a big issue for me.

I ate when I was happy, sad, anxious, disappointed, lonely, bored and (insert every other feeling here).

A big part of my healing came from exploring my emotions and how they triggered my eating.

Every night, I sat with my journal on my couch, writing and exploring what I was stuffing down, hiding from, and avoiding that sent me into the food.

I explored questions like:

• • What do I not want to look at? 
  • What is really bothering me? 
  • Why am I unhappy? 
  • What do I really really really want? 
  • What am I afraid of? 

And other bigger life questions.

I wrote and cried and wrote again. I started meditating and experimented with sitting in the discomfort of silence. And I tried my damnedest to work through emotions that I was terrified to feel.

It was not easy. But the payoff was huge. I realized that as I explored emotions more, I ate over them less.

I wasn't an "expert" at feeling my feelings instead of eating, but I did notice that as I shed more tears (that was my only emotional release at first--I didn't know how else to express anything!), my binges were fewer and farther between.

Take a look at where your emotions send you into the food. Explore journaling, breathwork, yoga, EFT, and other tools to help you process it rather than eat over it.

One of my biggest triggers was my family. My sister sold Herbalife at the time and it was immensely triggering for me.

She would lose and gain weight and her cycles triggered me. When she did lose weight, I envied her and got tempted to drink shakes instead of eat meals (even though I never would have lasted more than a day!)

I had friends who were triggering (they were super thin naturally, had no eating issues and didn't seem to think about food).

Being out of my routine was also a big trigger. I felt out of control when I went on vacation, had a social event or was out of town for the weekend.

Because these triggers were right now a part of my life (family, friends, etc), I knew I needed to work through them.

I wanted to be able to see my sister and not binge or go away for a weekend and come back feeling "normal".

So I identified all the people, places and things that sent me to the food.

And I made a plan for each of them (I did the big triggers, ones I knew were a big deal for me).

Before I saw my sister, I would make a plan of what I would do when she made a comment or her weight made me jealous.

Plan:

• • Grab my journal and vent my frustrations if I could
  • Go for a walk if I wasn't able to escape to process it
  • Vent to my other sister (about how I was feeling...not about blaming my little sister, as I knew triggers were about ME)
  • Make sure I got 5-10 minutes by myself every day to feel centered while with family

Other plans were made for a vacation or a weekend away with a boyfriend.

I wrote out responses on index cards to express to my friends how I was feeling if I needed to say why I was triggered/what was wrong.

This was SO helpful for me, as I experimented with what would help me take care of myself as I moved through the triggers. (I like to think of triggers as a pointer into where we need to 'work' on ourselves...it's always about OUR own insecurities and fears, reflected back by what someone else is doing or saying).

By coming in with some sort of plan, I felt more prepared to know how to handle my emotions so I didn't turn to food.

What are your big triggers? Identify them and come up with a 2-4 step plan of what support you'll need in the moment!

This was a huge one for me (and one I work on with almost every woman who I coach!)

We think in black and white: we're either good, we're adhering to something and doing it perfectly.

Or we've failed and there's no point in trying.

This either/or mindset is a big stumbling block on the path to healing.

Why? Because inevitably, we are not perfect and life happens. We planned to eat a salad but go to lunch with a coworker instead. Or we swear we'll cook dinner every night this week but end up being so tired we order out twice.

Our promises to ourselves don't always happen (especially when a binge is seemingly out of control--we eat over an emotion, we're rebelling against something, or there is a deeper reason why we turn to food).

Softening the all or nothing mindset into the "gray" area is key on this path. 

I did A LOT of self-talk and worked on softening my critical tapes in my mind. 

(And boy did I have a lot--I had the most negative thoughts about my body, my self-esteem, my worth, my imperfections, everything).

I started by just catching myself when I was thinking this way (things like "oh you blew it, you might as well just finish the whole tray of brownies" or "you ate a handful of chips with your lunch, so you ruined the day already")

I also challenged and talked about to them (yes, it sounded like a lot of different voices in my own mind :) )

It required awareness and persistence, but knowing that those thoughts didn't serve me was a huge inspiration to keep moving forward.

I WANTED to feel like I could have a positive, balanced view of how I ate. I hated feeling trapped in the black or white mindset.

Slowly but surely, I would challenge those thoughts and they shifted over time.

(My favorite mantra was "pretty good is perfect"!)

Where does this mindset trip you up? Bring awareness to those thoughts and begin to challenge them!

To explore it in a different context, to see how it would look for someone else, meet Jayme:

Jayme came to me, desperate and lost, after having gained 45 pounds during covid. She felt defeated and mortified, that she couldn't handle this weight gain on her own.

She hadn't left the house in a while, and was ashamed of her body after gaining so much weight. She wasn't seeing friends, her family lived in a different country and she said no to almost every social invite. She used to enjoy dancing, but wasn't doing that either.

"I just can't stop bingeing," she confessed to me during our discovery call.

"I know what I'm supposed to do to lose this weight. I know I should be eating healthier foods and moving my body more, but I just can't seem to stick with anything. And I desperately do not want to diet. I've lost weight before on diets but they make me miserable and I can't stick to anything for very long. I feel lost and am afraid I'll spiral out of control with my weight if I keep bingeing."

Food seems easy to "fix". And we bang our head against the wall trying to do it on our own.

Jayme and I began working together. We started exploring food journaling to look at habits, patterns, and where her sticking points are.

(**many women opt not to do food journaling, as for some it feels very triggering. For Jayme, she wanted to do it to see where her sticking points were during the day).

1. 1. She was in the "I've got to eat super healthy" diet tape during the day, which led to overeating at night
   2. She was afraid to "allow" any non-healthy foods since she had weight to lose and "shouldn't" be eating them
   3. Fullness was super challenging for her to hear in her body.
   4. Often times, she was eating emotionally over stress and unhappiness with her body.

These were the biggest sticking points for her, so we began there.

We worked to create a better rhythm of eating during the day, so she felt more balanced after dinner and didn't feel that rebellion from not eating much during the day.

This was a process of experimenting, learning and refining.

She wanted to allow more foods (she had a very long list of "I'm not supposed to eat because I'm overweight") that we tackled.

We explored adding in foods that she found more satisfying so that she didn't need to rebel on the weekends (or at night) from eating too many 'good' foods.

To work on fullness, Jayme started a conversation with her body--she began to look and listen for cues her body gave her when it was full, too full, or approaching full.

She began to discern the subtleties of her body's signals and continued to deepen the conversation with her body.

Her binges began to subside and she went longer and longer without having a binge.

We'd been making steady progress, and then after about 7 weeks, she seemed a bit off during one of our sessions.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her.

She sat quietly for a minute and then her words spilled out.

"I just am not sure if this is working. I had a huge binge the last two nights. I thought I was done with bingeing forever. I haven't binged in 7 weeks and I'm so angry at myself. What if this never works? What if I never stop bingeing?"

Emotions poured out of her; her angst and despair was tangible.

"I totally get it," I told her. "This process is not linear. It's a few steps forward and a half a step back. It's mind numbingly frustrating at times. It is even more frustrating when you know what to do and just can't seem to stop it in the moment. When I say "I stopped bingeing", what I mean is I "let go of it" as it no longer served me. I began to take care of myself and my needs at deeper and deeper levels and no longer needed food as a coping mechanism. This is exactly what you are doing. You're letting go of food, bit by bit as you no longer need it."

She paused to reflect on this and we worked through this big block. She was so discouraged at having binged again and she was thinking about giving up.

It took a lot of courage for her to express that to me: she told me after that she wasn't sure if she should bring it up.

I'm so glad she did because it was a huge turning point for her.

She really dug deep into why she was doing this work and the next few months were transformational because she did stop bingeing.

Months earlier, she wasn't sure if she believed she could actually be binge free.

Often times, this path requires blind faith in the process. That spark of hope is so important, as it gets you through to keep going so you CAN move through to the other side!

Working with a coach can help you get unstuck from the mind numbingly frustrating diet and overeating cycle. If you’re ready to finally see a lasting change and experience true freedom, click here to schedule a free 15-minute introductory call to see how she can help you become a normal eater!

Jenn Hand has been helping women like you become normal eaters since 2015. She's worked with thousands of women, helping them to balance their bodies, end bingeing, stop obsessing over food, and start feeling amazing again!  As an accredited health coach with a background in nutrition, she knows how to support you into making real positive change that lasts.

Written by Jenn Hand, Holistic Nutritionist, Board Certified Health Coach, NBC-HWC

Ever wonder about those people who just go through their lives, not worrying about what they're eating? They're the "normal" eaters; the ones who just eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full. If you struggle with obsessing over eating, here's how to stop thinking of food and what to do instead! 

When I was in high school, I had a close friend who was naturally thin and didn't have any eating "issues" like I had. Debbie was tall, slender and ate like...well, a normal person!

I was desperately struggling with weeks of bingeing, followed by weeks of restriction, so I looked to Debbie for inspiration. How did she eat? What were her behaviors around food?

I studied her closely. When our group of friends hung out, she would indulge in whatever we all had: chicken fingers and pizza, cookies and chips. (<--how high schoolers eat ;) )

The difference was that she didn't eat a lot of anything. If we had a pasta party for track (the night before the event, the team gets together to "carb load", a sports tradition), she wouldn't only eat garlic bread, spaghetti and cookies. She had some salad, some veggies, and a variety of the food that was offered.

And because she was a close friend, I knew she didn't THINK about food all day the way I did. She ate at the pasta party and didn't give it another thought after the evening ended.

Me on the other hand?

I agonized over how to "save up my calories" leading up to the pasta party, fretted over what to eat when I got there, and hated myself for eating too much post-party.

Whereas she didn't think about food at all, I spent all of my waking hours worrying and obsessing over what to eat or not eat.

Over the years, I studied "normal" eaters. I learned how they approached food and how they developed a very non-chalant attitude towards what they ate or didn't.

If you prefer to listen to the podcast, do so here:

One of the reasons we think about food is when our bodies actually NEED to eat! When we're trying to control our food (or looking to lose weight), we often don't eat enough.

Those sneaky diet tapes in our mind think it's better to eat as little as we can and go as long as we can without eating.

We may try to be "really good" and not have an afternoon snack, but then arrive famished to dinner (and end up overeating).

I did a post on what I eat in a day and many people emailed me to say they were surprised and how MUCH I ate.

And my old diet brain says that too :)

But that's where my hunger was and I was honoring my body.

Our minds very easily can tell us "no, you shouldn't be hungry" or "no, you don't need that snack", when in reality our bodies actually need fuel!

Pay attention to how much you're eating and make sure the sneaky diet mindset isn't dictating what you eat :)

One helpful tip to ensure your body is balanced is to add protein to every meal and snack.

Adding in protein (any kind: lean meat and poultry, dairy, vegetarian protein, beans and legumes, protein powders, etc) helps you digest your food more slowly and reduces cravings.

Protein is what enables your body to regulate your blood sugar (it prevents a quick spike and crash when you just eat a simple carb) and then helps you feel more even-keeled.

You can experiment with different proteins and see how they impact your hunger/satiation levels. I still notice that when I eat more protein (i.e. eggs and toast for breakfast vs a bagel with butter), I'm way less cranky, can last longer without another meal, and feel much more balanced.

This is the cardinal sin when you're in the diet world.

Being satisfied with what you eat is non-existent (you follow a plan or regime no matter what it tells you to eat) and is almost blasphemy.

I did a talk a few years ago at a gym and I remember many of the people in the audience were so perplexed at this concept.

They didn't understand why it was so important.

When you're satisfied with what you're eating, you can leave the table and not think about food again until you eat next.

But when we eat according to rules and strict do's/don'ts, we are eating from our minds, not our bodies. (And usually we aren't very satisfied).

When you eat things you like, it's a game changer.

I did a retreat a few years ago and one of the women said to me, " I have no idea what I like to eat. I've spent my whole life following rules, I literally don't know what I want".

This is normal when we've spent a long time NOT knowing what we find satisfying.

Explore this concept to see what you find satisfying. Some questions to help:

• What do you like eating?
• What feels energizing to your body?
• If you didn't have a rule about what to eat for this meal, what would you pick?
• What do I find satisfying? (And if that word doesn't resonate--explore nourishing, nutritious, enjoyable, energizing, etc!)

Often times we think we're being "really healthy", when in fact, we're restricting or eating too much from a rule based mentality. 

The mind is a sneaky little devil :)

When we restrict in any way, our bodies always end up overcompensating (we overeat, binge or end up eating more, later).

I still find this naturally in my life: when I'm sick and don't eat much, my appetite comes back like a lion when I'm better.

When I've been busy with a day or outside on a weekend and don't eat as much, I find I'm extra hungry later in the day.

It's just our bodies balancing themselves out.

So if we restrict on purpose (or because we have that sneaky diet mindset embedded in our brains), it can make us think about food MORE than we normally would.

Explore what rules you're following or where your mind is telling you to eat less. This helps bring awareness so we can soften and release those rules :)

One of my favorite analogies on this path is the concept of a pendulum.

When you're dieting (using willpower, restricting, being super disciplined) you're on one side.

It's too much effort to keep it there, so it swings to the other side (overeating or bingeing).

Once we are there, we want to reign it back in by swinging it again to the dieting side.

But this is where the breakthrough can happen!

If we work to move towards that middle instead of going back on a diet (where we're working on finding our "normal"), it leads to less and less obsessing over food.

The middle can be scary, as it's unfamiliar and new.

But this is where the magic happens--by continuing to work to find the "middle" (where you're not swinging in between the extremes), food starts to become a lesser part of your day (instead of the entire focus).

One last note to explore...

Can you think about food, but in a different way?

When we're always obsessing and worrying, that can lead to emotional eating and bingeing.

But when we think about food in a way that is a gentle exploration, it can be very helpful.

For example, you can "think" about how much you need to plan your meals for the week.

That helps you plan trips to the grocery store so you don't end up with nothing to eat after work.

You can think about how to approach food when you go away for the weekend.

This helps you prepare snacks or look ahead at restaurant options.

You can "think" about food in a way that helps you take care of yourself and your body in a loving, kind way.

Jenn Hand has been helping women like you become normal eaters since 2015. She’s worked with thousands of women, helping them to balance their bodies, end bingeing, stop obsessing over food, and start feeling amazing again!  As an accredited health coach with a background in nutrition, she knows how to support you into making real positive change that lasts. If you’re ready to finally see a lasting change and experience true freedom, click here to schedule a free 20-minute introductory call to see how she can help you become a normal eater!

When we swear off signing up for any program that promises weight loss (aka not dieting and eating normally), we try to banish the weight loss topic from our minds. But if you're not dieting, how do you lose weight?

That question often looms in the back of our minds, like a secret desire refusing to be extinguished.

We don't want to obsess over weight loss (because we know our old way of dieting/cutting out/following a specific plan doesn't work long term)...

So what gives?

Is it possible to have the weight loss conversation alongside the "trying to not diet" one?

Yes, indeed, it is.

Weight comes up in almost every 1:1 conversation I have with clients.

Why?

Because we typically diet in order to control our weight.

Whether it's for health reasons, for comfort reasons, or for body image reasons, size is never far from our minds when we're dieting.

At some point on the journey, though, we realize dieting isn't sustainable so we work to "listen to our bodies".

And then the desire for weight loss gets squashed, because we don't know how to hold it in tandem with the "trying to eat normally".

Well if you struggle with this one, you're in luck!

PS--the Audiobook is now available! Grab it on over on Audible or Amazon. 

This is the million dollar question in our day to day lives: should you eat what you want or follow a rule?

You may think I'm a big advocate of "eat what you want, screw the rules!" but it's not quiiiiiite as simple as that :)

Because food is complex and how minds are even more complicated!

You know how the food battle goes.

Mind #1: "Just allow yourself to have the cookies. You know you want them!"

Mind #2: "But you know cookies aren't healthy! Don't do it! You'll get mad at yourself after!"

(***I swear there are 27 different minds all within my main mind and it gets damn confusing in there sometimes 🤣)

So which mind do you listen to?!

Enter today's podcast.

It'll give you the "how to" of figuring out whether to eat you want or follow a rule.

So let's dive in to the podcast and get you on your way to figuring out which one to choose next time you eat!

PS--I have a very in depth "How to Make 'Healthy' Food Decisions" series if you want to explore more!

I turn 40 today and for some birthday reflection this is part two of the "Decade of Reflection: 40 lessons learned at 40" blog post series. 😉

Part one is here.

Part two is below.

(If you prefer the “extended” version that’s more in depth, check out the podcast below)

21. You can never get it “wrong” because you can never get it done. You’ll always be eating, growing, learning, and evolving, so there is no wrong way to do it—only lessons to be learned. ♥️

22. You are enough. Always.

23. You are enough even if you’ve gained weight, can’t lose the baby weight, eat emotionally or ____________ (fill in the blank with whatever you think you need to change to be enough. And see #2 ♥️ )

24. Release the “should’s”. They get in the way of those whispers deep within.

25. Feeling in "control" around food isn't learned through more rules, willpower or discipline. It's learned in baby steps, as we learn to trust ourselves our food. When you trust fully, you feel in control. (I know, the paradox!)

26. You are allowed to say no (*still working on this one!!)

27. This journey requires immense courage, as it is the path less traveled. Dieting is the "easy" solution to a very complex issue. But the payoff to this lesser traveled path? Deep, lasting change (and a never having to rely on a diet program again!)

28. The biggest paradox on this path is that we don’t change and THEN accept. We accept and then we change.

29. Life keeps giving us the same lessons until we learn what we need to learn from them.

30. The only way out of it is through it (an emotion, a challenging time, a hard conversation, etc)

31. Expressing emotions can feel vulnerable, terrifying, liberating and chaotic all at once. But learning to express them is a huge part of learning to let go of coping with feelings by using food.

Want my 3 best resources to end emotional eating? Click here for all the goodies

32. Our fixation on weight/food/body is always a mask for something deeper. Our food "issue" is black and white--we know how to fix our problem (diet, lose weight, etc). But the bigger issues (eating when we're stressed because we're so busy, feeling overwhelmed with what's on our plate, relationship not working out, a terrible career, etc) are harder, so we distract ourselves with a fixation on controlling food, losing weight, etc.

33. There is no one right way to eat (or to live). The "right" way is what works for YOU.

34. We don’t have a happy ending to an unhappy journey. We don’t hate our bodies every step of the way, get to the “end” and magically love ourselves (even though this is what we learn in the diet world!)

35. We listen too much to our minds and not enough to our hearts: if that incessant critical voice of "should" in your head quieted down...what would you eat? How would you live?

36. We're taught to run from pain and seek pleasure at all costs. But some of the greatest shifts happen when we stop, pause, and face the thing we've been desperately running from.

37. Doubt means don't. If you feel doubt, pause, breathe and see where you're being guided instead.

38. Our busy-ness can be a distraction from....ourselves. We can be terrified to be alone with our thoughts and feelings so we distract (food, phone, etc). But the courage to be alone in silence is one of the greatest gifts you will ever give to yourself.

39. We are all secretly afraid we are not enough; this is the human condition. We're all feel imposter syndrome, we all worry what people think about us (or our weight, our parenting, our clothes, etc) (But see #2 and 3!)

40. Happiness isn't something we "reach" or "get". It's something that happens in the little moments, day in and day out

I turn 40 in two weeks and with that comes much reflection :) For whatever reason, this birthday is making me think and reflect on my life more than ever before. It may be because my life looks different than I thought (more on that in perhaps a different post!), but I'm not sure.

Regardless, I wanted to share some short and sweet lessons I've learned thus far (many of them related to this food/body/weight journey).

(If you prefer the "extended" version that's more in depth, check out the podcast below)

1. You will never not be afraid when you reach the edge of your comfort zone (and if you’re living as a human on earth, you will be led to the edge again and again...)

1. That voice that whispers inside your soul that won’t go away? Listen—it’s your intuition speaking.

1. When you’re spiraling around in your mind with indecision (around what to eat, what job to take, where to move, etc), pick ANYTHING. Deciding and doing will always give you feedback for next time.

1. Listening to your heart rarely makes sense to your mind. Follow it anyway… it always knows.

1. If you wait to reach your goal weight before you’re happy with yourself, the goal inevitably changes.

1. People will judge you. It’s ALWAYS about them, not you.

1. The battle with food is the doorway into some of life’s greatest discoveries about yourself. (I know, so annoying when you’re struggling. And so deeply true)

1. There will never be a time when you “fix” your body on the outside so that you like what you see in the mirror. It always comes from within first.

1. Dieting will never bring us what it is we desperately seek: a deep level of trust with ourselves around food.

1. Always question the status quo and how “things have always been done”.

1. Your one job on earth is to keep becoming more of who you really are.

1. True joy comes from creating YOUR own life path; not following someone’s expectations of you.

1. Bingeing is always a pointer into “what is it that I’m hoping this food will do for me”?

1. We always want to just “get there” already. Except there isn’t any there to get to.

1. Don’t ask for permission, just go for it. So often when we wait, we overanalyze, we wait for permission and then… that choice may pass. But what if you didn’t ask for permission and just jumped in instead? Go on that trip, book the class, sign up for the thing that scares you. I’ve never regretted something I did—only what I didn’t do.

1. So much of anxiety comes from an internal misalignment—a not being true to YOU. It’s a sign, a guidepost for you to see where you aren’t being authentically yourself.

1. Emotions are not good or bad, they just are. What if you looked at sadness, happiness, fear, loneliness, passion, and anger all as just the emotional experiences of being a human being?

1. Foods are not good or bad, it’s just what works for YOUR body. The less we judge and label our foods, the less we judge and label ourselves.

1. Asking the question “what do I really, really, really want” can (and will) change the trajectory of your life.

1. Criticism and self-loathing never changes our habits. We are convinced we have to have more discipline, more willpower and more rigidity to change, when in reality it's kindness, curiosity and compassion that shifts us towards what we deeply desire.

Part two coming next week!

If you struggle with overeating in social situations, you are not alone.

I was recording my book for Audible and so many of my stories involved food anxiety and fear around upcoming events, dinners out, happy hours and other social situations where there's food (although, that's almost every social gathering!)

Today's podcast will teach you how!

If you say no to social invitations in fear that you'll overeat, this is a good one to keep on hand to help you have some tools in your back pocket.

I was reading my book aloud for its Audible recording this weekend, and I got super in my head about it.

(Mainly, it brought up some shame around food habits and what I used to do with food).

Writing my story in a book was one thing; reading it out loud when a sound engineer was sitting right there was another thing :)

Often times, what we do with food can bring up a lot of shame and embarrassment.

We want to hide--eat in secret, pretend we eat a certain way in front of others, or plan to eat something without others knowing.

Or maybe we've engaged in some habits that we don't want anyone to know about (picking something out of the trash, finishing the cake that was supposed to be for someone else, sneaking the rest of a coworker's candy, etc) and we get embarrassed.

I used to hide everything I did—eating in secret, bingeing after everyone went to bed, dressing so I covered my body.

All of the “hiding” made me even more ashamed. The more I kept it secret, the more embarrassed I was about what I did.

It’s the darkness in which we put our shame that keeps it within us.

How can we bring a little bit of it to light?

Maybe you share something vulnerable with your spouse, best friend or sister.

Or you tell someone about the journey you’re on and your struggles.

Or maybe your “sharing” is your journal because you’re not ready to say it out loud yet.

Whatever it is, bring a little bit of light to the hiding, the secrets.

The light always dispels the darkness that surrounds our shame.

(Prefer to listen to the expanded version? Check out the podcast below)

When I first started my blog, I wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out again.

I did NOT want anyone to read it.

I wanted to share my story and help other women, but I didn’t want anyone to know what I did with food.

Once my blog started to gain traction, I had people come out of the woodwork to tell me they struggled with food, body image issues, and disordered eating.

Some people were still struggling, others had healed from it.

I was amazing at how many people I know in the world (acquaintances, people I worked out with, Facebook friends from high school, etc) who reached out to me to share their “secrets”.

We all have things we are ashamed of. Except we think no one else does because no one talks about it out loud!

But they do. We all do.

Rest assured that you are not the only one.

A part of making embarrassment worse is thinking we “shouldn’t” feel what we feel.

We feel shame over what we did with food or around something we ate, and then we berate ourselves for feeling embarrassment. (Or just think “get over it, it’s fine” or something along those lines).

Where can be create some extra compassion for yourself?

Can you create a post it note affirmation? A note on your mirror? A nourishing song to listen to?

Reach into the depths of your "kindness" reservoir and dig deep to bring some extra love to yourself.

I like to think that kindness, light and sharing are the antidotes to shame :) 

When I was reading the chapter in my book where I talk about stuffing my face with peanut butter, inhaling Reese’s cups (describing a binge I had)…I felt myself get all hot, bothered and embarrassed.

The sound engineer who was working his magic on my recording was right in front of me listening.

“Does he think I’m super weird?!” I thought.

“What if he doesn’t know what bingeing is and thinks I’m gross for doing those things with food?!”

I kept thinking about what HE was thinking…

(And honestly, he probably wasn’t even thinking anything because he was immersed in making sure the sound levels were right :) )

A big part that contributes to shame is what OTHERS will think of us.

We fear what they think, so we hide it.

How can we make what others think less important?

(I know, easier said than done!)

But it’s worth paying attention to and being aware of how much we’re letting our fear of judgement take over our minds.

When I could feel the embarrassment creep into my body yesterday, I started really breathing into it.

I took a quick break and went outside to take some deep breaths and feel the feeling of shame/hotness/wanting to hide.

It felt sort of tingly in my chest and made my body feel hot/fiery.

It helped to dissipate the emotion to release it.

Your breath is like magic when it comes to releasing an emotion.

I try to picture inhaling and expanding my whole self, then as I exhale, I envision a release of where the emotion feels like its stuck in my body.

This may be helpful when you feel that shame energy arise.

I used to ache for what food did for me--take away my pain, soothe my heartbreak and comfort my inner emptiness. How do we move forward on this path and deal with the "hard" stuff when we miss what food does for us? Tune in today to find out! 

Have you ever had a really solid day around food, you're feeling positive and then BAM...it all falls apart in the evening?

I call it the witching hour.

(Witching hour=the time after work (5pm ish) and before bed)

How does one actually fill the time between work and bed WITHOUT eating?

Tune in to today's podcast to find out!

PS--Here is the "How to Fill the Void without Food" that I mentioned in the podcast if you want more info!

You what what is SO mind numbingly frustrating?! When you know what to do but can't make it stick...

I had a long list of things I knew I "should" do:

• Don't turn to food when I'm stressed
• Stop myself after one bowl of ice cream
• Eat vegetables with every meal
• Don't eat a lot of sugar
• Exercise 4-5x a week

I also know I "shouldn't" binge, eat at night, go to the store for a secret dessert run, bake cookies because I'd eat them all...and on and on the list went.

Why is it so hard to shift from the knowing in our heads to doing it in life?!

In today's episode, I explain why and share some tidbits to help you change this.

This is for the "you know what to do but can't make it stick" people :)

(**Which is most likely all of us in some form or fashion!)

PS--If you haven't yet read the "How to Be a Normal Eater" book or the "7 Biggest Obstacles to Making Peace with Food & How to Overcome Them?", whatchya waiting for?! :)

It's the crave-y-wanting-of-sweets that we sometimes can't shake: "I have a bad sweet tooth and all I want to do is eat!"

I was chatting with one of my friends earlier this week and I said this exact thing to her.

The last week or so I've been battling cravings and just wanting to eat lots of goodies.

This can be a complicated subject when you're trying to be "normal" around food.

See how confusing it can get?!

I wanted to share in today's episode how I'm working through this sweet tooth and what tactics/things I'm utilizing.

One of the most useful things I find on this path is real life stories.

While not everything I say may resonate, when you hear HOW someone got through a craving or HOW someone felt an emotion or HOW to get a through a bad body image day...those can be so immensely helpful.

(It's the part of us that loved diets--we like checklists, we want the steps and formula to follow :) ).

I'm going to Poland for 10 days (and am excited!) and was getting in my head about eating while I'm there. The "how will I feel in control around food when I'm eating out and staying in a hotel?!)

I realized I was doing a bunch of things to mitigate this anxiety...

...and decided it'd be a great podcast episode!

In the world of intuitive eating, we're told to "just listen to your body" and eat according to that.

But what if all your body wants is junk food?

What are you supposed to do then? 

Enter today's podcast where I'm answering this question in depth.

Next time you think "can I trust my cravings", let me know which one in the comments will help YOU the most!

I haven't recorded a podcast in a while. 

To be honest, I've been in sort of a rut.

All my social media was hacked and it got me super down about my work.

(All of the Instagram and Facebook posts I've done over the years--gone in an instant).

Even though I'm not a huge social media fan, it did make me feel more connected to my community (aka you)

Since it's been gone, I've had a hard time getting inspired.

But I'm back now 😉

If you do read my blog or listen to my podcast, email me (info@jennhand.com) and let me know what you'd like to hear more of.

CONNECTION is one major reason I began this work and connecting with my readers & listeners is what keeps me inspired. ♥️

Know that I read and respond to each email, so you are always welcome to 1) say hi, 2) give suggestions, or 3) say anything else. 😉

PS--the Food Freedom Toolkit will be taken down at the end of the month. I'm "cleaning house" with my offerings, so if you do want the After-Binge Toolkit, Let Go of the Scale Challenge or Body Love Meditation, grab it while it's still up!

The single most common struggle I hear from women?  The struggle to win the evening food battle. Don't know what else to do besides eat at night?

That's what we're talking about on the podcast today!

Evenings can be the most challenging time for most of us around food. The day is done, the busy-ness settles, the distractions fade.

And we're left with that whisper from the pantry that seems to call us off the couch.

(It can also be annoying when you hear suggestions like "go take a bubble bath" or "go for a walk" as substitutions for eating--and when they don't work, we just feel like we're the failure)

(If you do need more support, check out the self-paced "How to Stop Overeating at Night" challenge.

• How to Stop Emotional Eating (video training)
• 4 Helpful Hints to Deal with Discomfort (blog)
• The Biggest Cause of Overeating at Night (podcast)
• An Inside Look at What I Eat in a Day (blog)

When you look around, it can feel like everyone has their eating under control.

Except you.

Looking out at the world, it can feel like you are the only one that battles food.

Everyone else has it all together--at ease in their clothes, eating what they want, not worrying about weight gain.

So why does it feel like this?

And what can help move you through it?

Listen in on today's podcast for answers :)

I just got back from a week with my extended family in the Outer Banks and was in a bathing suit much of the week.

Now, as you know from my blog and podcasts, I've done A LOT of work on body image over the years.

The one thing that can still trip me up?!

Seeing myself in a bathing suit in a photo.

It's like I suddenly take a magnifying glass to the photo to scrutinize every single detail of my body and what I don't like, what I think looks weird, and what I think should be changed.

When we criticize ourselves in photos, in one instant all of our good feelings and progress is discounted.

Here are some of the things I did to help myself NOT go down that rabbit hole!

Prefer to listen to the podcast? Do so here:

One of my clients told me a story about taking photos when she and her family were in Vegas.

She has this photo framed on her mantle of her family at the hotel that she loves.

She told me that her daughters told her how to "pose" so that she looked "good" in the pic.

The other photos from just a few minutes earlier/later?

She hated them and thought she looked terrible.

Same outfit, same people, totally different perspective in how she saw the photo.

There are 100 different angles, styles of lighting, and poses that impact a picture.

I learned SO much about posing when I did a Boudoir photoshoot a few years ago (which is a story about body image for another day!).

The photographer had me in poses that were insane--weird back arches, head tilts, crisscrossing of body parts...completely ABNORMAL poses you would never do in real life that make the female body "curve" like you see on magazines.

What if the photo you're criticizing is just one perspective out of a million?

You know how people can witness something and see it totally differently? That's how it is with photos.

That pic is literally one angle, one pose, one perspective.

As soon as I hear the critical voice in my head, I like to close my eyes and ask myself what I wanted to remember about that photo.

When I get in touch with these reasons: playing in the sand with my 18 month niece, swimming with my 13 month nephew, running down to the ocean with my older nieces/nephews...it helps to soften the criticisms.

(**I know this isn't a bathing suit photo, but my philosophy is that I don't really post photos like that... I want this to be about your body/mind/journey and not mine :) )

We all have that critical voice that can ruin any moment.

We feel great about our progress and then we see ourselves in the mirror.

Or we're feeling solid that we're eating more normally and then someone makes a comment.

Or our neighbor raves they're counting macros and having "success".

In the snap of a finger, that critical voice can send us into a spiral.

I like to remind myself that photos are supposed to give us feelings of a memory.

What is it I want to remember from the picture?

I certainly don't want to remember me criticizing myself for 20 minutes.

I want to remember the little smile on my niece's face when she sees the sandcastle I built for her :)

I remember looking through my wedding photos a few years ago and was fixating on all the pictures I didn't like.

I said something to my husband about how I didn't like how I looked in some of the pics.

And he said something life changing to me:

"Well, not every photo is great".

Those simple words hit me like a ton of bricks.

You mean, NOT EVERY PHOTO WILL BE A PRINT IT OUT, BLOW IT UP TO 8X10 AND HANG IT ON THE MANTEL ONE?!

Who knew?!

When we get critical about photos...it may just not be a great picture.

It could be who was taking the photo, a weird angle, you turned a weird way, the lighting or any other number of reasons.

What if when you started going down the rabbit hole in the critical mindset, you instead just shrugged and said...

"Well, not every photo is great".

And then moved on with your day :)

So the next time you find yourself being critical of a bathing suit picture, try one of these out and let me know how it goes :)

Fear of weight comments can pop up at the most inconvenient times.

What will they think?

Will someone notice I've gained weight?

Will people judge me for this outfit that looks terrible?

I kind of just want to hide instead of seeing people who may comment on my body.

We can get mired down in fear and paralyzed in a negative mind spiral.

What to do?

You know when you just feel plain exhausted thinking about food?

Maybe it's the fears of weight gain and anxieties of the food battle (what you should/shouldn't eat).

Or it's the criticism of yourself and how you're not "getting" it fast enough.

Maybe it's the stress of trying to be really "good" because you have a big event or vacation coming up.

Whatever it is, today's podcast is a must listen if you feel exhausted thinking about food!

If you wanna get unstuck, grab the "7 Biggest Obstacles to Making Peace with Food & How to Overcome Them" e-book and workbook! 

If you get flustered when something unexpected steamrolls through your day, listen in for 4 tips to help! 

Written by Jenn Hand, Holistic Nutritionist, Board Certified Health Coach, NBC-HWC

If you’ve been in the diet world for any length of time, you know how frustrating the weight battle can be. But what if we’re believing the wrong things about weight loss? After helping hundreds of women overcome late night bingeing and finding their normal, I know a thing or two about what works, what doesn’t and what keeps us stuck! This blog is going to debunk the 7 biggest myths of weight loss and show you where to focus instead.

I recently received an email from a blog reader who said:

“Is it normal that this journey is mind numbingly frustrating at times? I feel like I’ve made great strides in the areas of “normal” eating. I’ve let go of dieting overall (although I do still overeat at times). But my weight hasn’t budged. What is the big secret to losing weight?! How can I view this part of the journey in a different way?

It can be incredibly frustrating when you’ve been desperately trying to find your “normal” around food but feel like you’re not making any progress in the weight realm. There are so many “old tapes” we cling to and myths about diet and exercise that can keep us stuck. We’re exploring all of this and more in today’s blog!

1. 1. So What Are the 7 Biggest Myths of Weight Loss?
   2. The True Key To Weight Loss
   3. Three Areas to Focus On Instead of Weight
   4. How I Found My Happy Weight (Personal Story)
   5. What’s Next?

If you google “how to lose weight”, approximately 4 million different articles come up. Most of the advice is fad diets, unsustainable food programs and advice that doesn’t consider our preferences, lifestyles and complicated relationship to food.

Since we are not robots (It’s not as simple as drink kale smoothies + run 5 miles = weight loss), our relationship to weight is complicated. Here are the top weight loss myths debunked:

I wish this one was true! I can’t tell you how many times I yearned for this process to be linear and straightforward.  The reality is, underneath our food and weight struggles is a lot of other stuff!

(I.E. we don’t trust ourselves around food, we feel out of control, we loath our bodies which impacts food choices, we try to be “good” all the time, we feel guilt over good vs bad foods, we don’t know how to stop bingeing, etc)

If you’re feeling like this process is a few steps forward, a step back, a detour to the side, a missed step, and then questioning any progress at all? That’s normal. You ARE making progress. It’s just not linear. Sometimes seeds are planted and sprout down the road. Other times we need to hear something multiple times before it clicks.

The beliefs that become ingrained in our minds from the diet world take some time to “unlearn” as we are strengthening the habits and beliefs that better serve us. (Read my "How Long It Took Me to Be a Normal Eater" here! I tell you the exact details of my diet journey.)

Carbs get a bad rep when we’re dieting. I work with so many women on breaking the “carbs are bad” food rule (that was one of my most stringent rules I tried to adhere too when I was trying to control my food!)

Almost all of us have the “carbs make you gain weight” belief in our minds. But remember that vegetables, fruits, beans, peas…are all considered carbohydrates!  I’m a firm believer in all foods have their place.

That doesn’t mean you just eat noodles and bread every meal, but it means that working to find a balanced approach where you can enjoy a piece of pizza IS a part of the larger strategy in finding a comfortable weight.

No food is good or bad; it’s about finding what works and nourishes YOUR body instead of adhering to some prescribed plan. (And that usually includes finding a more balanced relationship to carbs! More on carbs here!)

So many of us have experienced “success” with this formula:

Eat less + restrict sugar/carbs = weight loss.

When we’re working to find a more peaceful relationship around food, we cling to this old notion.  We think we’ll NEVER find a comfortable weight if we eat normally. But sustainability is the name of the game. Restriction, in any form, leads to frustration, crankiness, and inevitably going off whatever “plan” we were trying to follow.

(Followed by feelings of failures, guilt and blaming ourselves). The best way to restore our bodies weight equilibrium is NOT to restrict!

(**Thanks a lot, diet world, for messing with our heads on this one!)

 Have you ever bitten into a fresh garden grown tomato? Eaten watermelon on a hot summer day? Tasted simmering homemade spaghetti sauce hot off the stove?

There are incredible whole foods that taste delicious and satisfying. In fact, I posted a poll in the Normal Eaters Club a few years ago and asked: If you could eat ANYTHING for your favorite meal, what would it be?

The answers were not donuts, cake, cookies, and brownies. They were “my mom’s homemade spaghetti”, “my grandma’s roast chicken with potatoes”, “a meal from a restaurant I went to in Italy”, and “a Greek dish with cheese and dairy (that I’ve always told myself I couldn’t have) that’s been in my family for years”, among others.

There are tons of foods out there that taste good AND are satisfying and nutritious. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of experimentation!

 The reality is that diets rarely result in long-term weight loss. Have you ever wondered why we keep going back, again and again, to diets? Because if we go on something, we inevitably go off, and so we keep searching for the next “solution” that’ll be the one to last.

But none of them DO last. (*A UCLA study found that almost 2/3 of people who dieted gained MORE weight back than they initially lost.)

Diets are too hard to maintain. They are usually restrictive, signal to our bodies that we need to “keep fuel” instead of “burn fuel” and miss out on giving us all of the nutrients we need to thrive.

Plus, diets make us feel like a failure and we usually get even more frustrated and disillusioned than before!  A more balanced, sustainable approach truly is what works for the long haul.

This one might be controversial, especially because most of our “success” around weight has been when we’ve eaten less and moved more.  But hear me out…

When we eat less, we can move our bodies into “conservation mode”. This means that our bodies hold onto fuel instead of burning it, in fear it needs to conserve energy for the future. In addition to that, our relationship to food is complicated!

Imagine a doctor telling someone who is overweight battling diabetes to just “eat less, move more”.  If it were that simple, millions of people wouldn’t battle their weight. Food is emotional, mental and even spiritual.

So much of our relationship to weight is healing the deeper beliefs, emotions, and habits that keep us stuck if we want the change to last.

Counting calories might seem like a great strategy for weight loss. But I could eat 1600 calories of Oreos, bread, steak and donuts or I could eat 1600 calories of vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins.

When we fixate just on calories, it misses the bigger picture of nutrition and health. Calorie counting gives us the illusion of control. It gives us a security that we can control what we eat.

The reality is, like another other form of trying to control our food, it usually backfires. We go on and off the counting. We rebel at the end of the week and binge on the weekends. Instead of focusing on calories, it can be helpful to focus on balance (see below for more tips on where to focus!)

If you prefer to listen to the podcast, check it out here:

So what is the biggest factor in weight loss?  The most mind numbingly annoying secret to weight loss...

… is that it’s actually NOT as simple as the diet world makes it out to be.

Here is the short list of things that impact weight loss:

• Genetics
• Metabolism
• Hormonal imbalances
• Stress
• Seasons
• Thyroid/Adrenal Glands
• Gut health
• Sleep
• Food sensitivities/allergies

And that’s just the start!

When we’re sold this idea that it’s OUR fault if we can’t lose weight, it only perpetuates the feeling of blame and shame if we struggle. One of my favorite blog posts I’ve ever written is “The Secret to Lasting Weight Loss” (read it here).

There is this deeper component to weight that’s missing in the diet world. The real key to weight loss is that depth. Exploring emotions and mindset. Redefining food rules that don’t serve us. Discovering what nourishes and satisfies us. Understanding our innate sense of worth (which can reflect out in how we eat). Learning the art of feeling emotions without turning to food.

None of this is addressed in the diet world (which is why our “results” don’t last!) So where do you start to begin to shift out of the “old” way of viewing weight?

If many of our weight beliefs and myths of weight loss aren’t true, where should we focus instead?

Here are three areas to explore:

When we fixate on weight, we often miss the big picture of overall health. We want to spot reduce, get rid of our flabby bellies or thighs, and get down to a smaller size. What would it look like to focus on health instead?

Explore what types of foods would feel nourishing and nutritious. Play around with different ways that you can move your body. Find new recipes to try.

Restoring our bodies to their comfortable weight doesn’t involve hating ourselves into change. Lasting shifts come from kindness, curiosity, and compassion in learning to let go of habits that don’t serve us and replace them with ones that do.

Here are some reflections to get you started:

• What would feel like a nutritious meal?
• What does it mean to be healthy?
• How does my body want to move?
• Where can I bring in more balance around food?
• How does it feel to explore health over weight?
• What is one healthy habit you want to play with?

When I used to desperately try to “stop” the diet/binge cycle, I neglected a huge piece of the puzzle: my emotions and mindset.

I ate when I was stressed, bored, had anxiety or felt angst. But I also ate because emotionally, I didn’t know how to deal with life. Mentally, I was insanely critical of myself and hated my body (which would always cause me to overeat).

Our thoughts and emotions play a critical role in how we eat. This is a big missing piece of any diet; it doesn’t look more deeply into WHY we do what we do around food.

Explore where your emotions and mindset play into how you’re eating. This can be very eye-opening and insightful! Because when we get to the root of why we do something, we can address the real cause of the problem.

Often when we have a lot of things we want to change, it becomes overwhelming, and we shut down (and then don’t change anything)! What can you focus on today or this week?

Bring yourself back to just ONE thing you can change. It could be physical, mental, or emotional. This process is small daily habits that build up to big changes over time.

(The opposite of what we learn in the diet world…we do XYZ to “get” a result. This path is learning how to create small shifts over time vs getting to the “end” for a result).

Here are a few ideas to experiment with:

• Meal plan dinners for this week
• Moving your body for 10-15 minutes a day
• Eating a vegetable with dinner
• Trying one new fruit or vegetable 3x this week
• Packing your lunch for work Monday-Friday
• Say one nice thing to yourself in the mirror every morning

The path to weight loss is all about letting go of the myths we believed, exploring more deeply our emotions and mental tapes and redefining our areas of focus!

I always hesitate to share my own "weight" story, as I think for some people, it can detract from the overarching goal: finding food freedom and being "normal". But I've had many women ask about my own weight journey and here are some of the things that helped me arrive at my body's comfortable weight:

• Putting Weight Second 

I always had this desperate battle between wanting to lose weight but also wanting to stop dieting/bingeing. When the desire to stop bingeing/dieting moved into the "top priority", it helped me heal what needed to heal.

That doesn't mean I didn't want to lose weight. It just meant that I was determined to learn how to stop bingeing, trust my body, figure out how to eat "normally", look at my emotions, explore body image, and do the hard inner work it takes to shift habits at a deeper level.

• Learning What My Body Needed 

I've gone through a thousand different phases of how I eat over the years to learn more and more what works for my own body. This is important because we are not designed to just "follow" a plan. We need to learn what works for OUR OWN bodies! Each of us is different.

Some people do better with more or less animal protein. Others can handle higher carbs (others lower). Some people need to eat more often than others.

I've gone vegetarian, explored more vs less animal protein consumption, experimented with higher and lower amounts of carbs, eaten less dairy to see how it would impact my skin, played with amount of fat and fiber for satiation, and have learned to keep tuning in to see what my body is needing and wanting. This has helped settle my weight over the long haul.

• Hormonal Balancing

I've seen natural health practitioners and used many holistic health remedies over the years. My belief is that often times our out of balance weight may be a reflection of an internal imbalance. So when I've had weight stuckpoints, I've turned to the natural health world to calm my adrenals (hormonal balancing) and to help my body come back into balance.

(*This is my belief, so may not resonate with everyone!)

There are a bunch of different resources for you to explore different aspects of weight in more depth:

• Can You Lose Weight without Dieting?
• Food Freedom Bundle
• How to Be a Normal Eater Book
• 3 Best Tools to End Emotional Eating (And the Quiz)
• "I Gained Weight and Feel Like a Failure"

I’ve been helping women like you become normal eaters since 2015. I’ve worked with hundreds of women, helping them to balance their bodies, let go of the scale, stop obsessing over food, and start feeling amazing again!  As an accredited health coach with a background in nutrition, I know how to support you into making real positive change that lasts. If you’re ready to finally see a lasting change and experience true freedom, you can schedule a free introductory call with me.  Click here to schedule a free 15-minute introductory call to see how I can help you become a normal eater!

Women often say to me (sometimes ashamed and embarrassed)... "I've gained weight and I feel like a failure".

In some form, I hear these words frequently.

I thought these same words thousands of times in my journey.

"Everyone must think I'm a failure because I've gained my weight back."

"How can I have it all together if I can't even control my weight?"

"What's wrong with me...I can't even manage something as simple as food?!"

And on and on it went in my head (and in the minds of those I work with).

So if you think this, you are most definitely not alone.

What to do if you gained weight and think you're a failure?

Tune into today's episode!

Related Post: 7 Biggest Myths of Weight Loss And Where to Focus Instead of Weight

When I was trying to stop dieting, I wrestled with serious dessert cravings. I often would have this internal battle with myself, fighting back and forth about trying to NOT give in.

So what is the happy medium? Do you try to fight the craving? Do you wait to see if it subsides? Or should you just say "screw it" and give in?

If you ever get stuck in a food battle around cravings...

"Don't eat it! You'll get mad at yourself after."

"Oh just have it. You deserve it."

"But I have weight to lose, I shouldn't!"

And on and on...

Find out how to decide on the podcast!

Check out the "7 Biggest Obstacles to Making Peace with Food and How to Overcome Them" here!

It's easy to be confused over the right way to eat.

There are approximately 3,456,878 articles on google talking about what's "good", what you're "supposed" to eat/not eat, and research supporting each claim.

(And every one seems believable!)

Every "expert" says something different.

Some people claim Keto is the best, others say Intermittent Fasting, and still others claim that Weight Watchers is it since it's just a "lifestyle" (and claims to not be a diet).

Tune in as we're diving exploring that topic today!

Prefer to watch the video? Press play below.

Wan to listen? Head on over to the podcast underneath.

Struggling with the diet mindset? Grab the "How Not to Get Stuck in Diet Mentality & What To Do Instead" bundle!

Written by Jenn Hand, Holistic Nutritionist, Board Certified Health Coach, NBC-HWC

Do you feel shame and/or want to hide your body?

I’ve been talking a lot lately about shame around our bodies and how we, as women, want to hide our bodies.

We often carry this deep feeling of being ashamed of our weight and that, in turn, makes us want to hide.

We want to cover up, wear baggy clothes, hide during intimacy and not allow anyone to see us at our current size.

This only perpetuates the shame and then makes us want to hide even more!

• Are you constantly trying to hide your body?
• Do you always look for ways you can disguise, camouflage or cover those parts of yourself that you hate?

Then listen in, my dear, because this is for you. 🙂

BTW–I’m linking to a sample chapter in my book (click the book image or this link) where I write about a time in my life where I wanted to hide the most. I had gained 30/35 pounds and was asked if I was pregnant. It may be helpful if you need more support.

Join 8000+ women who are overcoming overeating, binge eating, and breaking up with dieting forever. Get Jenn’s inspiring and actionable weekly newsletter with the latest posts, podcasts, and tips on how to love your body, find food freedom, and lose weight holistically.

Working with an emotional eating coach and holistic nutritionist can help you get free from the frustrating binge and restrict cycle and stop yo-yo dieting.

You don’t have to be obsessed with food or have a million rules around eating to find your natural weight and learn to love your body. Ready to actually see a lasting change and experience true freedom?

Jenn Hand has been helping women like you become normal eaters since 2015.

She’s worked with thousands of women, helping them to balance their bodies, end bingeing, stop obsessing over food, and start feeling amazing again.  As a board-certified health coach and holistic nutritionist, Jenn knows how to support you in making real positive changes that last.

Her articles have been published on Mind Body Green, Tiny Buddha, Thrive Global and other local and global media platforms. She’s the author of How to Be a Normal Eater and the creator of The Normal Eater’s Club program. Listen to Jenn’s advice and tips on the Cake Doesn’t Count Podcast, or read more of her articles for free on the Food Freedom Blog.

Whether you’re new to learning how to eat normally or have been on this path for years, inevitably the fear will arise: what if I gain weight?

Typically, when we’re focused on dieting it can seem to give us a sense of control around food.

We feel "safe" knowing we are following something.

So when we go off the plan and are working to find our normal, it can feel very scary!

It can seem like we're jumping off the proverbial cliff into the unknown.

(Prefer to listen to the podcast instead of read? Do so here!)

When I went to my first Overeaters Anonymous meeting years ago, someone (who saw me struggling) leaned over and said to me:

“Your job is to stay in today”.

That’s it.

Don’t think about tomorrow, 6 months from now, or your best friend’s daughter’s wedding next summer that you think you need to lose weight for.

Just for today, focus on nourishment, on trust, on fueling your body.

Of course, thinking about fixing anything forever is overwhelming.

It shut any progress down immediately and would send me into a binge.

So how can you focus on today?

What food would feel like a balanced meal today?

What’s one thing you can do to help you trust your body today?

And when the anxious thought comes back in around needing to fix the issue forever, remind yourself of the 12 step slogan:

One day at a time.  

Here’s the thing. There is always something beneath our biggest fears.

If you would gain weight…

What does that mean to you?

• Maybe you’re afraid of people commenting on your body
• Or you have a fear that you won’t be enough (or desirable, confident, etc)
• Maybe you’re afraid for health reasons (aka your doctor told you you needed to lose weight to prevent diabetes)
• Or you have a fear of spiraling out of control

Explore your fears. Ask. Listen to what comes up.

And then address THAT.

Think about it: a rainy day is just a rainy day.

Unless you’re on the beach in Jamaica and it’s ruining your vacation.

Then it’s terrible, awful and has put a damper on what's supposed to be an amazing week.

It’s neutral until we put a meaning on it.

Same with weight. It’s a neutral number until we assign a meaning.

(And trust me, even though I don’t weigh myself anymore, I have put a meaning on every weight in my binge/restrict history. It’s still a challenge for me, as I can look back on any photo and have a meaning etched into my mind of my size and where I was in the binge/restrict cycle).

Explore your fears, begin to bring those to light and it’ll lose some of its power.

This process of letting go of dieting and learning how to listen to your body, to build a new relationship to food, and to find your "normal" is just that.

A process.

It's challenging in this world of "quick fix" diets and instant gratification.

Every food plan can taut a temping promise:

"Do XYZ for 30 days and you'll lose X pounds!"

Freedom.

Freedom to trust ourselves around food.

A peaceful and joyful relationship in what we choose to eat.

Tuning in to hear the wisdom of our bodies (yes, it's in there!)

This path gives us an incredible gift...

One where you don't HAVE to buy another food plan again because you've learned how to listen to your body.

So what would help you have faith in this process?

A support group? A book? Starting a journal?

Meditation? Prayer?  1:1 support? Research to remind you why diets don't work?

Writing about what you really desire and your "why" when things get tough?

Explore whys to help you have faith in the process.

This path is not the easy path. But it IS the path that ends up giving us what it is we really want: freedom.

When we are trying to let go of dieting and be more "normal" around food, it can be verrrrry challenging to know when to stop eating.

Are you supposed to listen to your body?

Measure or count something?

Get specific portions?

When we're left with just ourselves (without following a food plan), how in the heck are we supposed to know when to put down our fork and leave the table?!

I'm sharing 3 different approaches today on the Youtube channel and podcast (below).

You'll find different "levels" based on how much structure vs allowing you need.

Dive on in!

(And be sure to let me know whatchya think in the comments :) )

Other related posts:

How Do You Stop Eating When You're Full?

3 Way to Quit the Clean Plate Club

How Do You Know When You Are Full?

If you prefer to listen to the podcast, dive in here:

If you haven't yet checked out the "How to Be a Normal Eater" book on Amazon, grab it here!

Have you ever gotten on the scale or glanced at your reflection in the mirror and have it completely ruin your day?

Maybe you've had a few days where you feel pretty good and decide to "check in" on your progress.

One glance or hop on the scale and BAM, it sends us spiraling into a rabbit hole of negative thoughts.

That negative spiral can derail our best laid plans, sink us into a dark place and keep us stuck at thinking we're a "failure".

Other related helpful posts are linked below.

The 10 Day Let Go of the Scale Challenge

When You Can't Face Your Body in the Mirror

Why I Stopped Mirror Checking

The "Love Your Body" Resource

A quick check in question: what's your relationship to exercise?

For some women, exercise can mimic the diet mentality.

(AKA the all or nothing type of thinking)

(As as aside, FitBits and other tracking devices have exacerbated our hyper focus on tracking steps/calories/activity...I know I used one for a day and quickly got super obsessed in an unhealthy way).

Regardless of where you are on the exercise spectrum, I'm addressing both in today's podcast!

I'm sharing 3 actionable takeaways for each "side", so you can find the middle ground with exercise (dare I say make it a positive, enjoyable part of your life?!)

It is hard to let go of holiday food guilt.

For some reason, we think we have to be really "good" around food.

But enter the holiday Trifecta of dessert overload and it can be challenging:

Halloween + Thanksgiving + December holidays = lots of sweets.

I went to visit my niece in Raleigh over Halloween and had a few too many Reese's pumpkins.

Because I was a bit hungry and hadn't had enough dinner before we went trick-or-treating, I ended up eating more than I had "planned" in my mind.

I started feeling guilty, caught myself and channeled the 3 tips I'm talking about in the podcast today.

It's easy to get down on yourself when you've gone "off" whatever it is you think you should have eaten.

But keep these 3 tips in mind to help you let go of holiday food guilt that comes up!

There's also another way to look at approaching Thanksgiving, with the "Thanksgiving Challenge" post I wrote a few years ago here. 

Also if you struggle to say to the food peddlers or the extra pie, check out the 4 Tips to Say No To Extra Food This Holiday blog post  here!

And if you need some gratitude support? Brene Brown has some good thoughts on that :)

If you feel like you "fail" daily at eating healthy, check out the podcast for tips to help! 

If eating is your only excitement (and what you really look forward to), dive into today's podcast (below)

In honor of my brand new offering, we're exploring filling the void without food :)

So often in the world of weight loss and diets, we get seduced into the "secret formula to solve XYZ".

We often feel terrible about ourselves to try to get "motivated" enough to push/punish ourselves into change.

My new offering is just about the total opposite of that.

This "Fill the Void without Food" exploration doesn't give you the "secret formula"...

(Because there is none!)

Instead, it's giving you the gift of going inside you to learn how to fill yourself up.

I can't think of anything more important in today's world--to be brave enough to learn how to feel fulfilled from the inside out.

This offering gives you the space to discover that. (All of the info is here)

A woman emailed me to say she was struggling:

"I'm having a hard time letting go of adhering to a program or following some sort of rule; I use dieting as a security blanket."

I have never heard dieting explained this way and I thought it was absolutely something we needed to explore!

Why is dieting so hard to let go of?

Because it can be safe, familiar and our security blanket.

We default back into it even when we know it doesn't serve us.

Or we'll convince ourselves that we will do it "for a just a bit, until we lose the weight".

We'll explore reasons why we default and explore how to move out of it.

There is so much on body acceptance and body love out there that gives tips and tools for how to love your body.

But what if you never DO actually learn to love your body?

Is that okay? Or should you keep trying?

Dive in here!

You can also check out the "Love Your Body" challenge here.

So I kind of got talked into doing a burlesque show.

(*Disclaimer--this is my summer of "yes"--saying yes to things I normally wouldn't!)

It was a 6-week class with a performance at the end.

In booty boy shorts underwear 😮😮😮.

Needless to say, it was WAY outside my comfort zone, absolutely terrifying and brought up tons of body criticisms that I didn't know were still in there.

I'm talking about what I learned in the body department in today's podcast.

If you want to see the virtual showcase that I talk about, the link is here.

My dance class is first and it begins at 2 min 35 seconds.

I watched it again and CANNOT believe I am putting this out there for all to see. Lol.

I recommend watching (or skipping around to see) some of the other classes.

Talk about a space filled with CONFIDENT incredible women, showing up as exactly who they are in the skin they're in :)

PS--The "Stop Overeating at Night" 30 Day challenge is BACK! We begin September 1st, 2021.

This is one of the most common struggles on this path and the time of day so many people tend to struggle.

With that in mind, a challenge was born!

All of the info is here!

You know when you are just having one of those bad body image days?

It could be you caught a glimpse of your reflection in a window, saw a photo of yourself you hated, put on an outfit that didn't fit or are just in your head about your body.

Regardless of what causes it, we all have those days.

(Yep--even that woman you look at and think "I'd kill to have her figure")

Bookmark this podcast to come back to for when you're having one of those days.

I'm diving into four things to help!

Check out the resources page here for more on body love!

Have you ever gone on a diet, "failed" and then blamed yourself for not sticking to the program?

No matter what it is--a food program, a diet, or any other plan...

...whatever thing that you blame yourself for not having more willpower to adhere to.

(Hint: this is almost everyone that comes into my community because we all blame ourselves!)

Today is a must listen!

PS-How to Make Healthy Food Decisions is now available! All of the info is here.

On our path towards "normal" eating, there is usually a lot of fear. How do you move through fear on the path to freedom?

That's what we're talking about in today's podcast!

We usually fear weight gain, rusting ourselves, bingeing, judgement around our bodies, comments from others...

And that's just the start of the list!

How do you move through fear when you're working towards being more free?

Here are four tips to help!

When we want to lose weight or are uncomfortable in our body, we often hold onto this concept of a "future thin body".

This may show up as a yearning to be at a size you were before or a subtle desire that you try to push down (one that wishes you could “get back to” a certain weight).

Exploring this topic can help you dig deeper into what it is that you’re REALLY wanting from that size/weight and create the space to let go of this fantasy (to truly accept where you are now!)

The temptation of dieting can give us hope, a promise, a thrill of reaching that future thin(er) body.

Tune in to the podcast today for the 3 things to reflect on around this topic!

PS--if you want to dig deeper into body love, you can get the self-study body love kit in the food freedom challenge bundle!

The all or nothing mindset plagues us in the diet world.

When we're on a diet, we pick up this way of thinking:

...that we're either good or bad.

We're on or off.

We're eating perfectly or not.

There's no gray area.

It's just "are we doing the plan" or not?

It ends up keeping us stuck, because if we're not "good" with food, we feel like a failure.

We can spiral down a rabbit hole, thinking it's not worth it because we can't do it right.

We self-sabotage.

This mindset is so common in dieting, and it keeps us stuck when we want to find more freedom around food.

If you struggle with this black and white thinking, you're in for a treat with today's podcast!

PS--The Normal Eaters Club is now open for the Spring enrollment! If you want to find your own "normal", join us!

Anxiety used to hit me when it came time to wear spring/summer outfits. If warm weather clothes are a trigger, then today's podcast is a must listen.

I wanted to hide my body and crawl under a rock until winter came back around again.

The thought of baring my body in a bathing suit or shorts invoked deep shame and embarrassment.

If you struggle with the transition from winter to summer clothing, tune in to the podcast :)

PS-Break Free from Emotional Eating challenge starts next week! (April 14th, 2021)

Sometimes on this path it can feel like you're trying hard to make change happen--and nothing seems to be happening.

I look back and feel like SO much of my struggle was wondering why I wasn't further along.

“They” said if I could just follow this plan, cut out these carbs, refrain from all sugar, it would all click.

“They” said if I followed all of their rules, I would lose the weight, stop the binge, and like what I saw in the mirror.

I did all of the things I was supposed to.

(And spent thousands upon thousands of dollars trying)

The result?

Me banging my head against a wall, wondering why nothing changed.

Fast forward 10 years.

It’s 2015 and I started a business.

“They” said if I just follow this formula, create this type of product, market in this type of way, it would all click.

"They" said if I just built an Instagram following, created a Youtube channel, did a podcast, I'd achieve "success".

I did all of the things they told me to.

(And spent thousands upon thousands of dollars trying)

And the result?

I don’t have the thing I so desperately want.

Maybe it's around food, body or weight. Or maybe it's in your career or relationship.

Whatever it is, I'm sharing more on this topic in today's podcast.

Tune in here:

(PS--Break Free from Emotional Eating challenge starts in April 2021! Info is here. )

If you struggle with grazing and feeling like you can't stop snacking all day, then this is for you!

I'm sharing five tips to help you find your balance with snacking.

PS--Explore the Break Free from Emotional Eating challenge if you need more support. ! All of the info is here.

It could be at the gym when you wonder if people are criticizing your body...

Or at an event where you feel uncomfortable in your skin and are afraid someone is judging you...

Or anywhere there's a gathering and you wonder why everyone seems to have it altogether except for you (who is struggling to be in the outfit you're in). 

I have had these thoughts a billion times in my own journey.

PS--if you'd like more support with your body love, grab the body love challenge here!

So what does it actually look like to NOT turn to food when we're upset? I'm diving into a real life play by play of feeling emotions instead of eating in today's podcast.

These last few days, I've felt a ton of emotions I don't want to feel.

I'm chalking it up to being sick of restrictions, the "new" normal we have going on and the dread of not seeing an end.

Yes, it's been 11 months now and we are still doing this, and while I've had ups and downs emotionally, I've tried to maintain my positive outlook.

But lately I've been so frustrated, incredibly antsy, insanely bored, feeling stuck, a deep sadness and everything in between.

And you know what sounded good amidst all of those emotions?

Cookies. Fudge. Chocolate covered anything.

I even read you one of my journal entries ;)

Tune in to today's episode to get a play by play of feeling emotions without eating!

You are welcome to explore the Break Free from Emotional Eating Challenge if you need more support.