intuitive eating

Question of the month #2: I'm all or nothing with food - help!

Question of the month #2: I'm all or nothing with food - help!

Chances are, if we’re taking an all-or-nothing approach to food, we are likely doing this in other parts of life as well. This isn’t just about food. It’s about LIFE and the intimate connection between the way you eat and the way you show up in the world.

As Geneen Roth so beautifully says, ‘Our relationship with food -- how, when, what and why we eat -- is a direct expression of our underlying feelings, thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. It has to do with stances we take that get reflected not only in our relationship with food, but in all our relationships. It just so happens that the relationship with food causes enough conflict, grief, shame and hurt that we're willing to look at it.’

Question of the month #1: I'm addicted to junk food. What do I do?

Question of the month #1: I'm addicted to junk food. What do I do?

The belief that food is addictive is deeply entrenched in diet culture. And I get it, when I myself was stuck in the disordered eating trenches, I genuinely thought that I was addicted to “junk food” and especially sugar (hello Ben & Jerry’s ice cream!) and that the only way out was complete abstinence. It felt like I could not allow myself even a tiny bite, because the second my taste buds got the sweet hit of sugar, all good intentions and willpower went out the window.

Everywhere we look, sugar and other kinds of “junk foods” are demonised. We are even told that sugar is more addictive than cocaine — I’m sure you've heard of those studies? Unfortunately, what happens when we buy into this story is that we become afraid of consuming these foods, and consequently label them as forbidden foods that are to be avoided at all cost. 

There’s a few things I want to say on this topic to help you reframe your "I'm a food addict” story. But before I do so, I’d like you to ponder on a few questions:

5 Tell signs that you have an unhealthy relationship with food

5 Tell signs that you have an unhealthy relationship with food

If you’ve landed here, I’m guessing it’s because you’re trying to figure out if your relationship with food is a healthy one.

Chances are that if you’re thinking about this, it probably isn’t as balanced as it could be and it’s affecting your life in some shape or form.

And I wouldn’t blame you. Toxic diet culture and disordered eating is everywhere - so much so that we don’t realise the cumulative effect it has on us over the years. It’s so normal for people to say things like “I’m having a cheat day ” or to follow up their pizza order with “I worked out this morning - I earned this.”, as if they needed to justify themselves.

Are You An Emotional Eater? Here are 7 Tell Signs

Are You An Emotional Eater? Here are 7 Tell Signs

ver had a fight with your boyfriend, or a frustrating day at work, then end up cozying up with a nice cold pint of Ben & Jerry’s at the end of the day? Do you reach out for food to feel better even when you weren’t even hungry? Is your first impulse always to open the refrigerator whenever you’re stressed, upset, angry, lonely, exhausted, or bored?

You may be an emotional eater. Meaning that you’re someone who uses food as a way to deal with feelings (typically negative ones) instead of to satisfy hunger. Instead of seeing food as what it is, i.e. something you consume for survival (like air and water), you misconstrue it into something else.

As I’ve touched on in previous posts, emotional eating is not a sin! When we become stressed, anxious, or worried, it’s only human to gravitate towards food to cope with our emotions. The problem arises when food is the only coping mechanism to dealing with emotions.

A Journaling Prompt For Eating Disorder Recovery

A Journaling Prompt For Eating Disorder Recovery

Writing can be incredibly therapeutic for someone recovering from an eating disorder or working through disordered eating struggles. In fact, starting up a journaling practice was one of the best things I ever did for my own recovery. After I shared this blog post with you on the three ways that journaling could change your life, I received many questions from you guys asking about specific journaling prompts that you can use. So that’s what I’m doing today. The exercise that I’m sharing with you today is incredibly powerful because it taps into the power of visualisation and allows you to imagine a life without food struggles. It’s one of my favourite exercises to do with my clients, and I hope that it will help/resonate with you. PS I’m sharing one of my lovely client’s journal snippets with her permission, as it’s beautifully written, almost brought me to tears and will hopefully be an inspiration to you, my dear reader.

Introducing the 6-Weeks Intensive 'Ditch The Diet' Coaching

2020 Coaching.PNG

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.


Planning on Going On A Diet in 2020? Watch This First.

If you plan on going on a diet in 2020, watch this video first. The truth is this...

Diets don’t work.

Self loathing your body into change doesn’t work.

Using control and willpower to shape your body doesn’t work.

If it would work, it would have worked a long time ago.

And if you’re reading this, I’m guessing that deep down you already know this, but you are too scared to let go of the diet mentality. Because, how else are you supposed to know what to eat? So many of us are so out of touch with our body and so used to listening to external voices, they we don’t even know how to listen to our own bodies. I say F the diet in 2020, and instead I challenge yourself to the three small challenges I propose at the end of this video.

Much love, Stef xx

Cart (0)