My Philosophy…

On Food

Food is meant to taste good. Eating is meant to be pleasurable. If it wasn’t, then what would motivate us to eat and survive? Food is a basic biological need, one that was not meant to be governed by diet rules, food worry or restriction. The constraints of a diet prevent us from reaching optimal nourishment, which includes all foods from fruits and vegetables to cookies and potato chips. There is no doubt that some foods are nutrient dense while others are not, but the variety and freedom to eat all foods without self judgement is what truly satisfies both body and mind.

Rejecting the diet mentality, making peace with food, aiming to eat for satisfaction, honoring hunger and fullness, respecting your body – these are all principles of Intuitive Eating® that I incorporate into our work together to help you and your body get to a happy and healthy place.

On Exercise

For many chronic dieters, exercise feels like an on again/off again romantic relationship that comes and goes with the start of a new diet or “lifestyle change”. If you can relate, you may find that the desire to exercise has little staying power for 3 possible reasons:

1. You’re exercising only as an adjunct behavior for weight loss, which likely means that working out goes hand in hand with the negative experiences of ineffective dieting.

2. You put your body through unrealistic amounts of exercise and workouts that don’t feel good, which leads to injuries or muscle soreness to an uncomfortable degree. Why would you feel motivated to continue such abuse?

3. You pair exercise with dieting, which could very well mean you aren’t eating enough calories or carbohydrates to consistently fuel your workout.

Healing your relationship with exercise is another important principle in the Intuitive Eating® framework.  Part of finding your body’s happy place with movement is to discover ways to be active and move your body that feels good and works for you. You may uncover new self-motivators to exercise that are way more effective than chasing a calorie burn or number on the scale – such as increased energy or stress reduction.

On Body Image

A poor body image can be paralyzing, and for many people it is at the core of a negative relationship with food and exercise. Unrealistic standards of beauty are not static, and have existed for decades, across all cultures. Your body is not the problem.

Body image work is hard and comes with a lot of emotions. You are not in this alone. No matter how much progress you make in healing your relationship with food and exercise, bad body thoughts may continue to pop up - no one is immune to the harmful effects of diet culture.

What I love to help my clients cultivate is body resilience. You might feel that you must lose weight in order to feel positively towards your body. Though this emotion is real and understandable, the tireless pursuit of weight loss often leaves you feeling shameful, hopeless and more negatively towards your body in the long term.

A positive body image can be achieved without changing your body on the outside. Body image work includes cultivating inward attitudes of acceptance, kindness, compassion and respect, learning to work with your body rather than against it, and adjusting your inner dialogue to be forgiving and gentle.