The road to reaching your natural weight is tough, and today I want to talk about that tough part. Because if I can be honest with you… It’s going to suck. Stick with me, please. This is important. Being your natural weight is a lot of fun. There will be many joys — many already in your dreams, like fitting into form-fitting clothes, and even wearing clothes that aren’t all black! But getting to your natural weight and staying there isn’t the fun joy ride that many of us think it will be. You can get there, though, if you are willing for life to suck more than expected… Side ..read more

Staying occupied is not a long-term solution for learning how to stop eating when bored. Many of us already know this, though. We’ve witnessed first-hand that forcing ourselves to watch a different show on Netflix isn’t compelling enough to stop the urge to reach for food out of boredom. Why is boredom so hard to tolerate? What makes us feel such a strong pull to keep ourselves occupied with food and flavor even if we strongly desire to stop overeating? To answer these questions, I dug into both clinical evidence and my own experience as both a coach and someone that has personally climbed ..read more

Is food your love language? Do you love baking or preparing a home cooked meal to show people that you care? Or do you struggle with the opposite problem where the people in your life use food as their love language, and you feel obligated to eat even when you aren’t hungry? While there is no problem with using food as a love language, it can pose a problem when boundaries are crossed. Where do we draw the line between celebrating with food and becoming overreliant on food for emotional needs? Let’s delve into this deliciously complex topic, guided by the wisdom of Gary Chapman, the pioneer ..read more

Time flies! I can’t believe it has been two years since test piloting Gentle Weight Loss. This is a really exciting update. But honestly, I still feel shy talking about my wins. It’s easy for me to talk about my struggles — I mean, helloooo, my entire book is filled with stories of lessons learned from the struggle — because struggles are relatable. But success? For those of us struggling with compulsive eating, success can be unrelatable at best and triggering at worst. I will speak for myself. Back in my darkest days of depression and dieting (with each one fueling the other) it used to b ..read more

Does intuitive eating help with weight loss? Clinical studies say yes — but weight loss isn’t really the point, is it? Also, many anti-diet advocates rally against intuitive eating for weight loss. Why? On one hand, a focus on weight loss might negate the positive effects and efficacy of intuitive eating. The very philosophy of intuitive eating is centered on a weight-inclusive or “health at every size” approach, which involves focusing on body acceptance and health over weight loss. That said, will you “ruin” your intuitive eating efforts if you still want to lose weight? If you adopt intu ..read more

You’ve probably heard it before: willpower is a finite resource, and it also gets stronger with practice, much like a muscle. What most diet campaigns fail to share, however, is that using your willpower towards restrictive dieting does not help with weigh loss — at all. Clinical evidence demonstrates this. I dug through twenty one clinical studies to create a compelling case for redirecting your willpower away from dieting and, instead, focusing it on eating psychology. Restrictive diets don’t work, and they are a waste of willpower. When you redirect your willpower towards your psychology ..read more

I can’t tell you how many times I used to find myself knee-deep in free-for-all eating the weekend after successfully sticking to my diet. I’d beat myself up thinking, “Why do I self-sabotage my diet every single week — every single time?” I didn’t know it at the time, but part of the reason for my weight loss self-sabotage was actually biology. The body is wired to rebel against dietary restriction by increasing hunger for junk foods.1-3 For many of us, though, the reasons why we self-sabotage our weight loss goals are rooted in our beliefs. Even if we really want to lose weight, we might ..read more

When I gave up dieting back in 2016, I distinctly remember feeling strangely obligated to eat unhealthy foods. In hindsight, I was struggling with entitlement eating. Instead of eating dessert because it’s what I genuinely wanted, I felt obligated to eat dessert because it’s what you’re supposed to do, right? While I didn’t know it at the time, entitlement eating is a well-meaning but misguided attempt to eat intuitively. It’s actually our intellect masquerading as intuition. You’re about to learn what entitlement eating is, how to identify the signs, and the steps you can take to address t ..read more

I’ve been there many times before, sitting at my work desk, promising myself that I can have a sweet treat once I finish the project at hand. If you want to learn how to stop using food as a reward, it’s important to address both the biological and psychological triggers. High-reward foods are formally known as “hyperpalatable foods” – those high in fat, salt, carbs, or sugar. Biologically, these foods activate our brain’s reward system and trigger the release of dopamine, the “feel good” chemical. Not only are hyperpalatable foods closely linked with our brain’s reward center, but they als ..read more

Typical advice on how to stop snacking at work is to put food out of sight so that they’re “out of mind,” pack meals ahead of time, and have more willpower. To me, these tips perpetuate the stigma that compulsive eaters lack willpower, and these tips completely overlook the psychology of eating. Sure, putting the dish of candy away is helpful, and we will dig into the clinical evidence behind it later, but environmental design is not as powerful as eating psychology. From my experience navigating my own obsession with office snacks and coaching others through their own eating psychology, I ..read more