When my journey with binge eating started is hard to define, I think I had a distorted relationship with food as long as I can remember. I only understood I had an eating disorder when I started working with Stef back in 2016. Let me backtrack a few years and take you through my personal journey, I'll try to be as concise as possible but bear with me.
I just announced my first coaching intake date for 2020, and it’s going to be a SPECIAL one! This is an intensive 6-week program starting on the week of the 27th of January, and is designed to help you rid the diet mentality for good and finally make peace with your body and the food on your plate.
I'll never tell you to deprive yourself or cut out certain foods from your life. Instead, my goal is to help you recognize the toxic diet culture mentality that is no longer serving you and instead help you tune back into your body’s inner wisdom about how to truly nourish yourself—so that you can free up space in your life for bigger and better things.
I’m a big believer that your relationship to food is a direct reflection of your relationship to life itself. In that sense, food can be a beautiful doorway to a deeper understanding of oneself. And this is where health coaching can be really powerful – because whilst we may initially look at what foods are best for you to eat, we soon start looking at how you eat and why you eat the way that you do, and that can be a beautiful catalyst to big change and deeper healing.
Throughout the 6 weeks, we’ll have weekly 1 hour long on-one-one calls and there will be homework/assignments in between sessions. You will also have email support in between sessions and WhatsApp access to me personally. Essentially, I will be your accountability partner along every step of the way.
If you want to learn more about the specifics of the program, my approach, cost structure or want to make sure the two of us vibe before you commit, go ahead and book in your initial free 20 minute Discovery Call with me today. You can also read up about my approach in more detail by clicking the More Info button below. I’m super excited to hear from you.
For about two years, I struggled with my inner daemons on my own.
That is, with my eating disorder, of course.
It was a debilitating feeling, knowing that no one else knew that side of me. I wanted to let someone in, but at the same time I couldn’t think of anything worse than someone finding out the truth.
When I finally found someone who I could confide in – and who didn’t seem to care in the slightest that I had “issues” – it changed the way I dealt with my problems. I finally let someone in. That person was Phil.
Christmas holidays are supposed to be a magical time, filled with loved ones, laughter and sharing beautiful meals together…There are occasions to look forward to, people to see and things to celebrate. But for someone suffering or recovering from an eating disorder, Christmas can mean panic, fear and overwhelm.
First off, there’s the plethora of parties like the office luncheon and the Secret Santa parties. Then there's the gift baskets full of food everywhere, left-over cake in the office kitchen and your well-meaning grandma who has baked you all your favorite childhood cookies. And there is also a lot of stress, a lot of busyness, a lot of un-self-care.
Yoga, meditation, journaling: all these things are invaluable tools to make me feel zen, yet I often struggle to do them even though I know I feel more in touch with myself afterwards.
It's not that the activities are hard in themselves (though yoga can be grueling at times). It's the internal debate that starts up every day when you know you should do them but there's a part of you that is holding back.
The same goes for our diet. We know we should be eating more fruits and veggies, but instead we go for the heavily processed stuff. Why is that?
I used to think that it was just me - that I was 'wired wrong' and that I was somehow incapable of learning from my mistakes. I knew I'd feel good after eating a light meal and that I would feel crap after eating crap, but all too many times I would still opt for what made me feel bad, both physically and mentally.
We’re a generation of go-getters, always striving for faster, better and stronger. Without taking breaks, not even when it's time to eat. And that's a big problem. Digestion is a complex process that requires communication between the gut and the nervous system, and it can take up to 20 minutes before the brain realises "I'm full". Consequently, eating too quickly can lead to overeating and stress your digestive system.
Un-mindful eating eventually leads to unhealthy eating habits and "self-medicating" with comfort foods. Mindfulness might sound like a hippie concept to some, but it’s really just about being present. It’s easy to be on auto-pilot and go about our day-to-day lives without really living. Mindfulness is about paying attention to what you’re doing and soaking up every moment, rather than letting your mind race ahead, worrying about the next thing you’re going to do.
