Can you truly accept your body while still wanting to change it?

‘If I accept my body, then it means I’m giving up on myself’

This is an all-too-common sentiment when it comes to discussing body acceptance.

This notion reflects a common fear that embracing your body implies you will lack the motivation for looking after yourself.

This perspective fuels the idea that your self-worth is dependent meeting unrealistic body standards.

However, working towards body acceptance can be a profound act of self-empowerment, challenging the idea that your value is determined solely by your appearance.

What is body acceptance?

Body acceptance is about embracing your body as it is while acknowledging that you may have areas you want to change. It's about treating yourself with respect and care, fostering a positive inner dialogue, and letting go of shame. It is not about striving to be perfect.

A Different Perspective

Consider viewing your body as your partner, as you journey through life. Would your real-life partner or children only deserve your compassion and respect if they were perfect? Shouldn't they be deserving of compassion regardless? Accepting your body follows the same principle.

Contrary to popular misconceptions perpetuated by diet culture, body acceptance is not giving up on yourself, your health and your body. Instead, it is the start of the journey of reconnecting with your body from a place of compassion and not fear or hate and helps to remove the self-judgment that keeps you stuck.

To begin this journey ask yourself the following questions:

1. Why do I want to change my body? Be honest about why you want to change it. Write your thoughts down.

 2. Are these thoughts coming from a place of compassion, self-loathing or fear? Examine each thought individually and make a note.

A fear-based thought could be I want to lose weight because my husband won’t love me

A compassion-based thought could be I want to lose weight to be in less pain  

 3. Ask yourself if each individual thought is actually true? Do these beliefs hold up under scrutiny. How would you respond if a loved one expressed similar thoughts?

Recognise that attempting to punish yourself into change through self-hatred is unsustainable and doesn’t work. True transformation comes from a foundation of self-compassion and acceptance. By embracing your body with kindness and understanding, you’ll pave the way for genuine healing. You are inherently deserving of love, respect, and acceptance—just as you are.

Navigating the complexities of emotional and disordered eating requires a multifaceted approach—one that prioritises mental and emotional well-being alongside physical health. Reach out for support HERE if you would like to book in a complimentary call to find out how I can help.

If the idea of tackling your eating patterns feels overwhelming and you're unsure of where to begin, take a look at my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Is Losing Weight the Key to your Happiness?

Are you constantly striving to attain a smaller body? For many people, this preoccupation consumes their thoughts and impacts many aspects of their life. If this is something you have been battling with, have you ever considered if shrinking your body will genuinely make you happy?

 For many of my clients who struggle with their relationship with food and their body, this question resonates deeply. They begin to peel away layers of societal conditioning, personal insecurities, and the relentless pressure to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty.

What is fuelling your deep desire to shrink your body?

The desire to be thin often stems from the belief that thinness equates to happiness, acceptance, and love. But if you delve deeper into this belief, you may uncover something far more enlightening.

• Take a moment to reflect on times when you might have been thinner. Were you genuinely happier then? Or was it a fleeting sense of satisfaction? Perhaps, like many of my clients, you found that it was never enough, and you were still striving to lose more weight.

• It might be that you were happy then. If so, was it attributed to your weight, or were there other aspects of your life contributing to your happiness, such as being in a positive relationship or having a great job?

• Perhaps you didn’t truly find happiness at all then. If this is the case, it's valuable to reflect on this when thoughts about losing weight dominate your thinking.

What else might be driving preoccupation with your weight

Weight Stigma and Diet Culture: In a society that glorifies thinness and demonises larger bodies, it's no wonder that many of us internalise these harmful messages. From media representations to interpersonal interactions, the pressure to conform to a certain body size is widespread.

Seeking Control: For some, the pursuit of thinness becomes a way to exert a feeling of control in a chaotic world. By focusing on your body you might feel in control of something where stress and overwhelm has taken over many aspects of your life. Consider what you might be trying to block out with this focus on your weight.

Thinness as a Moral Virtue: Thinness is often equated with morality and being virtuous, perpetuating the harmful notion that your worth is tied to your body size. But being thin does not make us inherently better people. Our value lies in our character, our actions, and the impact we have on the world around us.

External Validation: The validation you might receive for losing weight may provide a temporary high, but it’s important to recognise that your worth is not dependant on the approval of others, it has to come from within. Bear in mind also that the validation you seek is often from others who are struggling with their own issues around food and body image.

So how can you break free from the shackles of diet culture and cultivate true happiness? It starts with embracing body acceptance and shifting your focus away from thinness as the ultimate goal.

Here are some steps to get you started:

1. Practice Self-Compassion: Recognise that your struggles with food and body image are valid and worthy of compassion. Instead of berating yourself for not meeting unrealistic body standards, offer yourself kindness and understanding.

2. Challenge Internalised Beliefs: Question your beliefs about thinness and worthiness. Challenge the notion that your value is tied to your body size, and embrace your worthiness, irrespective of your appearance.

3. Foster Authentic Connections: Shift your focus to the qualities that truly matter in relationships. Surround yourself with people who uplift and support you, not based on your appearance, but because of who you are as a person.

4. Pursue Meaningful Experiences: Engage in activities that bring you joy and fulfilment, regardless of how of your body size. Whether it's socialising, holidays or dancing, prioritise experiences that nourish your soul.

Try to remind yourself every day that true happiness lies in embracing yourself as you are, freeing yourself from the constraints of societal expectations, and embracing a life rich in meaning and connection.

If the idea of tackling your eating patterns feels overwhelming and you're unsure of where to begin, take a look at my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Overcoming Emotional Eating: 3 Common Mistakes People Make

Emotional eating is essentially eating food in response to emotional triggers rather than your physiological hunger cues. It can involve eating to numb or suppress uncomfortable feelings or seeking comfort through food. It often occurs impulsively and can lead to overeating or binge eating. Navigating this eating behaviour can be tricky, and many fall into common traps when trying to overcome it.

The three common mistakes people make:

1. Thinking Emotional Eating Is Always a Bad Thing

Emotional eating is a behaviour that’s deeply ingrained in human nature and contrary to popular belief, isn’t inherently negative. During celebrations we might eat delicious cake when we’re not hungry. Perhaps because it’s a happy event, to be sociable and connect with others.

However, it's important to recognise when emotional eating becomes problematic. This happens when these eating patterns become your primary coping mechanism or lead to feelings of guilt and shame. Instead of berating yourself for turning to food for comfort, it's important to embrace self-compassion. By understanding that seeking comfort through food is a natural human instinct, you can shift away from negative self-judgment that keeps you stuck in the never-ending cycle of guilt and shame.

2. Falling into All-or-Nothing Thinking

"All or nothing" thinking is a cognitive distortion that can exacerbate emotional eating patterns. This mindset categorises behaviours as either entirely good or entirely bad, leaving no room for flexibility. For instance, you might think, I've already eaten something I shouldn’t have, so I might as well just continue

Breaking free from this loop involves challenging the black-and-white thinking and adopting a more balanced approach to eating and self-care. Your relationship with food is a life long journey but one that gets easier as you collect the required tools and strategies along the way.

Rather than viewing food choices as moral judgments, it's critical to work on self-awareness and mindfulness around your eating habits. This includes recognising triggers for emotional eating events and developing alternative coping strategies.

3. Turning to Dieting as a Solution

For many people, the instinctual response to an emotional eating episode is to start a new diet. However, this approach often backfires, exacerbating the very issues it aims to solve. Dieting commonly fuels feelings of deprivation, leading to intensified cravings and an unhealthy preoccupation with food.

Rather than viewing dieting as a solution to emotional eating, think about what might have led to the eating behaviour. Were you sad, lonely, angry, premenstrual, tired or sleep deprived? Did you experience a body image situation, have a disagreement, or notice a recurring source of distress? Become curious without offering up self-judgement and you may be amazed at the transformative power it holds.

If the idea of tackling your eating patterns feels overwhelming and you're unsure of where to begin, take a look at my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Is the fear of weight gain stopping you from healing your relationship with food?

One formidable hurdle often stands in the way of making peace with food and your body – the fear of gaining weight. This fear is deeply ingrained, fuelled by societal norms, diet culture, and a pervasive belief that thinness equates to worthiness. But what if you challenged this fear? What if you dared to redefine health and happiness beyond the constraints of the scale?

The problem is that even if life feels all consuming, distressing, and these behaviours encroach on various aspects of your being, you still might feel conflicted about letting go because of the uncertainty that change will bring. The fear often stems from a nagging question about what might happen to your body if you abandon these familiar patterns. Diet culture, with its relentless pursuit of thinness, has normalised this fear, making it seem like the only acceptable goal is to be thinner.

Whether you struggle with chronic dieting, binge eating, bulimia, or emotional eating, it’s likely that your strict food rules and dieting behaviours have given you a sense of control. However, the longer they persist, its important to ask yourself if they are truly serving you now.

In order to move forward and overcome your fear its important to consider the following:

1. Understand Where your Fear has Come From

To overcome the fear of weight gain, it’s critical acknowledge its roots. Whether it stemmed from your childhood; perhaps you were made to feel unworthy because you weren’t the ideal body size? Perhaps comments were made at school, or your body felt different to others because you went through puberty early? Maybe the influence of social media, or the pervasive messages of diet culture have allowed these fears to take hold, dictating your choices and diminishing your self-worth.

2. Fixation on Weight Loss at What Cost?

Are you missing out on vital aspects of your life? It could be the lack of social connections with friends and family, or perhaps you're unable to share meals with your children, impacting your relationship. Maybe you find yourself with no headspace to focus on meaningful aspects of life that bring you purpose, joy, and fulfilment.

3. Reframe your Perspective

Challenge the notion that all weight gain is bad and all weight loss is good. Instead, focus on behaviours that promote overall health and fulfilment. This means reconnecting with our core values and remembering the things you loved about yourself and your life before weight loss became the priority. Many people’s unintentional weight loss is due to health issues- they may have an eating disorder or a chronic illness. For others gaining weight is a positive thing to help with hormone function, menstrual cycle regularity and, energy, vitality and health.

4. Embrace the Uncertainty

Life is inherently uncertain, and change can be uncomfortable. But by embracing the unknown and surrendering the need for all the answers, you can open yourself up to new possibilities. Yes, the journey may be challenging, but pushing through discomfort is where your growth begins.

5. Challenge Your Internal Dialogue

Challenge your inner voice that constantly equates your worth to your appearance. Your value, ability to be loved and worthiness are not dependent on the number on the scale. Instead, they are rooted in your experiences, relationships, and the joy you find in life. Talk to your self with compassion and kindness as you would with someone you care about.

Overcoming the fear of weight gain may be challenging, but it's also a journey toward reclaiming your health, happiness, and autonomy. By confronting outdated societal norms, reconnecting with your values, and embracing the uncertainty of change, you can free yourself from the shackles of diet culture and discover a more fulfilling way of living.

Do you long for a happy relationship with food, but are feeling lost on where to begin? Grab my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

All or Nothing Mindset? Here’s How to Break Free

I help many women who are desperate to break free from dieting, having spent years or decades trapped in the cycle – exhausted by the headspace it consumes and misery it brings. They feel overwhelmed and confused not knowing how to eat without being on a diet and worry about what will become of their weight.

Many of my clients are overly restrictive with many fears and rules around food. Some find themselves binge eating or feeling out of control around foods. Others may be compelled to exercise excessively.

ALL OR NOTHING THINKING LIES AT THE HEART

All or nothing thinking lies at the heart of all of these distressing challenges and the inner dialogue is often 24/7. It is a negative thinking pattern often experienced by those struggling with their relationship with food and their body.

Often termed as dichotomous or black-and-white thinking, this mindset involves viewing situations in extremes. It leads to attempts at restricting foods perceived as bad for health or weight. For most people this is unsustainable and often results in bingeing or emotionally eating the very same ‘forbidden’ foods.

The cycle goes like this; Eat the perceived ‘bad’ food, and automatic thoughts that follow are I’ve eaten really badly, I’m a bad person, I’m greedy, I have no willpower, I’ve blown it again. I need to start again tomorrow/ next week/ on Monday and so on.

Anxiety is often coupled with these thoughts. This may lead to skipping meals or severely restricting caloric intake. It may lead to a bout of punishing exercise to make up for ‘falling off the wagon’.

WHERE TO START

1. Adding in 

If this is something you recognise with the way you approach your food, try removing the moralistic value from the foods. Yes, some foods are more helpful for our health than others but it is ok to have all types of foods some of the time.  Instead, focus instead on quality, nourishing foods you can add in to your diet. These will help you to feel better, lift your mood and stop punishing yourself.

2.  Cognitive reframing

This is a technique based on shifting your perception of a situation. This can help you transform your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Begin by recognising the unhelpful thought and ask what else you can say to yourself that would be more helpful.

For example:

Situation: Binge eat a pack of biscuits

Thought:  I failed again

Reframe: I notice that I’m thinking I’ve failed because I had a binge, slipping up is part of the process, I am learning how to manage this

Or this is a learning experience

 3.  Challenge your thoughts

To help with reframing, begin to question the validity of the thought

Ask yourself Is this really true? How strongly do I believe that it is? What is the evidence to support it? What is the evidence against it? It’s important to note that thoughts are not facts; they are just your mind's way of interpreting and processing information. Recognising this distinction empowers you to challenge and reshape your thoughts, leading to a more balanced perspective.

 4. Visualise your journey

 I help my clients to change their perspective by approaching this work as a journey and this is something you can do too. I encourage them to envision themselves embarking on a cycle ride. Along the way, they will encounter obstacles and setbacks—falling off the bike now and then is both normal and expected. Importantly, these setbacks don't signify a return to square one. Instead, they learn to recognise setbacks as part of the process, dust themselves off, and get back on their bike, to continue forward on their journey. 

Do you long for a happy relationship with food, but are feeling lost on where to begin? Grab my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Sleep Your Way to Better Eating: The Surprising Connection You Need to Know

Your eating habits play a significantly role in how well you sleep, but did you know that your sleep patterns can have quite an influence on your eating behaviour?

While much attention is typically placed on the food itself when it comes eating challenges such as emotional and binge eating, there are many other factors to consider and sleep should not be overlooked.

THE HORMONE CONNECTION

Lack of adequate sleep can lead to physical consequences such as hormonal imbalances, which may increase your hunger and trigger cravings for the less helpful foods. Acknowledging that insufficient sleep can exacerbate these cravings as a physiological response, rather than a personal failing, can foster self-compassion. Why is this beneficial? Instead of trying to offset binge eating episodes by restricting your food later, it encourages a shift towards self-care rather than sabotage. A focus on improving sleep won’t just help with eating challenges; It will also bring about significant health benefits across the board.

MEAL TIMINGS

What and when you eat can impact your sleep; insufficient daytime eating followed by overeating in the evening, especially close to bedtime, can disrupt your sleep. Malnourishment can elevate your stress levels and adversely affect sleep. Ensuring you eat enough and stabilising your blood glucose with sufficient protein, fibre, natural fats and slow-releasing carbohydrates can make a difference. Consider the balance of your meals rather than striving for perfection (which doesn’t exist – by the way). Of course, a good night’s sleep will make it easier to eat in a balanced way the next day.

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT

Poor sleep quality also has psychological ramifications, affecting the higher brain functions responsible for self-control, decision-making, and rational thinking. Adequate sleep is necessary to restore these cognitive processes, allowing for more constructive decision-making. Conversely, chronic stress driven by negative thoughts about food, dieting or your body is also likely to disrupt your slumber. This can keep you stuck in a perpetual cycle of negative thinking, poor sleep and unwanted eating behaviours.

Furthermore a reminder that alcohol consumption, which you may turn to in times of stress, can disrupt your REM sleep, impacting overall sleep quality. It’s also worth reflecting on your individual sensitivity to caffeine, which varies from person to person, and may be playing a part in night time wakefulness.

Six Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep:

Focus on one small adjustment at a time and remember that consistency is key!

1. Experiment with Eating Earlier: Consider experimenting with eating earlier a few days a week. This is about understanding your body and finding what works best for you. If needed, have a nutritious snack before bedtime to avoid going to bed hungry.

2. Eat Enough: Ensure you are getting enough food throughout the day to help stabilise your blood glucose and to help prevent disturbed sleep.

3. Embrace Outdoor Time and Daily Movement: Spend time outdoors when you can and take some gentle exercise every day. A brisk walk ticks both boxes.

4. Set Up a Sleep-Friendly Environment: Dim the lights and limit electronic device use before bedtime. This will reduce your exposure to sleep-blocking blue light and minimise nighttime stimulation. Ensure your bedroom is dark and kept at a comfortable temperature for optimal sleep conditions.

5. Keep to a Consistent Sleep Routine: Avoid napping during the day and go to bed at the same time every night. This can positively impact your body's ability to reset your circadian rhythm, promoting better sleep.

6. Minimise Alcohol and Caffeine Intake: Avoid using alcohol to help you sleep. Alcohol is a stimulant and can mess with your sleep. Similarly, limit caffeine consumption and avoid drinking it later in the day.

As you work on your eating challenges, remember that fixing your relationship with food involves a multifaceted approach. By addressing the physical, emotional and psychological aspects, you can gradually build a lifestyle that supports you on this journey.

 Do you long for a happy relationship with food, but are feeling lost on where to begin? Grab my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

5 Reasons Why Diet Apps Can Harm Your Health

In a world driven by technological advancements, dieting apps like Zoe, MyFitnessPal and Noom, have risen to prominence as tools for weight management, fitness, and health. Despite their apparent benefits, there are many unforeseen issues that come with using these apps. Contrary to the many claims made, there is an unexposed dark side of diet apps that can potentially have significant adverse effects on your well-being.

This week, I'm shedding light on the unseen challenges that you might face with these platforms also highlighting why these apps often fall short of delivering on their proclaimed benefits.

1. The Numbers Game

A 2021 study found that diet and fitness apps often foster disordered eating by emphasising ‘quantification’, such as calorie counting. This focus on numbers creates a fixation that can lead to rigid diets, obsession and app dependency. Have you ever found yourself constantly checking back with notifications and craving a sense of achievement from sticking to strict numerical goals? The apps' 'negative' messages serve as motivation for some users, creating an unhealthy cycle.

2. Overlooking Mental Health

The emphasis on weight loss aligns with Western cultures' fixation on thinness and dieting, potentially exacerbating psychological problems. The previously mentioned study revealed that participants often felt rewarded or shamed based on the visual feedback provided by the apps, contributing to their mental health issues.

3. The Gamification Trap

Many participants described feeling trapped in an unhealthy competition with themselves and the app, to eat less and less each day because the app ‘gamified’ eating, exercise, and tracking. Apart from disrupting their metabolism and increasing the risk of rebound weight gain or binge eating, undereating can lead to heart problems, dangerously low blood pressure, digestive issues, hair loss, infertility, osteoporosis, and a myriad of psychological and emotional issues, including panic attacks and depression.

The use of progress visualisations, particularly in apps like MyFitnessPal, contributed to feelings of guilt and shame if exceeding their calorie budget. Even the Zoe app (which sells itself as a health promoting programme) creates a fixation, by heavily relying on blood glucose data that disregards other aspects of nutrition and disconnects users from their body’s natural appetite needs.

4. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Notably, diet companies and apps that position themselves as lifestyle platforms may still perpetuate the same problems. Many of these apps have got wise to the anti-diet rhetoric such as Noom, that despite labelling itself as psychologically driven to help you stop dieting, continues to promote calorie counting and daily weigh-ins.

5. A Diet is a Diet is a Diet

At the end of the day, many of these apps are promoting dieting of some kind and as research has shown diets are ineffective in the long term and cause more harm than good. As you embark on the journey to heal your relationship with food, I encourage you to download my guide, 'What the Diet Industry Doesn't Want You to Know.' This resource debunks common dieting myths in an easy-to-read format, empowering you with knowledge and insights to make informed choices on your path to a healthier and happier relationship with food.

Do you long for a happy relationship with food, but are feeling lost on where to begin? Grab my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Decoding Your Relationship with Food: 8 Tell-Tale Signs

Do you view yourself as a normal eater? It's possible that your eating habits have become so ingrained that they feel normal to you, even if there might be underlying issues. You may not have identified as a disordered eater, as many of the signs are accepted as normal with in our culture.

Often, I’m approached by people seeking help for weight loss when they are struggling with problematic eating behaviours that need to be addressed. Focusing on weight loss

So, what sets apart normal eating from disordered eating or eating disorders? It’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week so I’m shining a light on the differences of something that is often complex and misunderstood.

ARE YOU A DISORDERED EATER? 

You do not need to have all the signs to suffer with disordered eating. Here are 8 signs that you may be: 

1.      You restrict your food, be it counting calories, avoiding food groups, or engaging in severe dieting

2.      You experience some bingeing episodes (but do not meet diagnostic criteria for Binge Eating Disorder)

3.      You find yourself excessively exercising in order to change your body size

4.      You sometimes vomit after eating (self -induced)

5.      You use laxatives or diet pills in order to change your body size.

6.      You experience a degree of body image distortion

7.      You make judgments about yourself and your value based on your body size, weight or shape

8.      You are persistently preoccupied with food, dieting, eating and your body

The path of disordered eating may be a precursor to an eating disorder. Both are on a continuum, making it easy for someone with disordered eating to transition into eating disorder territory. Individuals might also cycle through various eating disorders in their lifetime.

The eating disorder charity BEAT estimates that 1.25 million people are currently suffering from an eating disorder in the UK. This is only the only the tip of the iceberg representing those who have been officially diagnosed. Many others remain undiagnosed, so the figure is likely to be higher.

Eating disorders are not limited to a specific demographic; they can affect individuals of any background, ethnicity, gender, age, or body size. Contrary to the common misconception, someone need not be underweight in order to have an eating disorder.

WHAT DOES A BALANCED RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD AND BODY LOOK LIKE?

· You exercise for fun and health

· You have a good body image – accept it without trying too hard to change it, or evaluate it

· Your overall eating patterns are balanced (perhaps you miss the odd meal or occasionally overeat)

· You do not obsess over food, eating, diets or your body

· You might emotionally eat sometimes- but this is not your only coping mechanism and it does not cause you distress.

Do you long for a happy relationship with food, but are feeling lost on where to begin? Grab my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Steps to Overcoming Binge Triggers

In last week’s blog and bitesize video we explored what might lead to an emotional or binge eating episode. This week I’m discussing what you can do once you have recognised the trigger in order to break your behaviour pattern.

Once you have observed the key triggers of your eating behaviour, its critical to explore different ways of coping with difficult emotions, stress, loneliness, or anxiety that will serve you better than turning to food.

Take a moment to identify non- food related , self-care activities that can become a part of your daily life. What brings you joy? What makes you feel good? How can you relax and de-stress?

THIS NEEDS TO BE INDIVIDUAL TO YOU- HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES TO CONSIDER:

🎵 Immerse yourself in calming music

🧘‍♂️Dedicate a few minutes to yoga or Pilates

🚶‍♀️ Take a gentle walk in peaceful surroundings

📰 Enjoy some quality time with a favourite magazine

🌿 Find tranquillity by sitting quietly in the garden

🛁 Indulge in a soothing bath

📞 Connect with a good friend over the phone

🧘‍♀️ Take 10 minutes for peaceful relaxation

Use this as an opportunity to improve the quality of your life and build in new ways of managing your emotions .

THE SIMPLE STEPS TO TAKE:

1️⃣ Recognise when you are turning to food as an emotional crutch.

2️⃣ Seek out alternative ways to make yourself feel good. (That do not involve food)

3️⃣ Try out the new choices - see what resonates with you.

4️⃣ Adjust and adapt until you find a helpful solution.

5️⃣ Keep practicing until it becomes second nature. You might find you don’t always manage - this isn’t about berating yourself. Instead observe without judgment what might have happened and try again next time.

Do you long for a happy relationship with food, but are feeling lost on where to begin? Grab my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, to kickstart your journey today

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Unmasking Your Binge Triggers

Have you ever thought about the emotions, experiences, and life situations that trigger your emotional eating? From boredom to stress, sadness to loneliness, or the ever-lingering anxiety, these triggers can lead us to seek comfort from food. A gruelling day at work often leaves us craving a reward for making it through, and that's where emotional eating can come in.

For many, food has become a coping mechanism, a temporary relief from life's challenges. However, it's a fleeting escape that rarely brings lasting comfort. More often than not, the aftermath leads to shame, guilt, and self-loathing - far from the reward you were seeking.

Think about it – when faced with a hard day, a packet of biscuits becomes the automatic response. But what if, beneath the surface, what you truly need is a way to de-stress, find stimulation, or simply get some rest?

This survival mechanism often turns into an ingrained habit, one that's developed from early childhood – were you ever given a treat to sooth you as a child? With the prevalence of dieting behaviours you are likely to have become disconnected from your body, making it all the more harder to know if you are eating for hunger or something quite different.

When working with clients, one of my goals is to guide them towards more helpful ways of feeling better by focusing on self-care and non-food-related rewards. Often, they do not feel worthy of doing positive things for themselves – is this the same for you?

It can be an empowering exercise to reassess your behaviours in a non-judgemental way – and helpful to make a note of them. Ask yourself – is this truly serving me? Is it time to explore what does?

Next week I'll delve into the steps you can take once you have identified your triggers

Do you long to have a happy relationship with food, but don’t know where to start? Download my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with FoodFood, to begin your journey

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Is food tracking helpful or harmful?

For many people, food tracking is commonly associated with following a diet. Over the past century, various diets have emphasised the importance of keeping a record of meals, evolving over time to include tracking calories, points, and macros etc. Even diets claiming to be anti-diet, such as Noom and WW, still require users to log their food intake to stay within a designated calorie goal. Several of my clients who have used apps like MyFitnessPal in the past, report that this tracking of exercise and calories contributed to their unhealthy fixation on food and their body.

However, food monitoring in a healthy way can initially serve as a tool to help relearn your sense of fullness and hunger. It can allow you to identify foods and quantities that promote a feeling of satisfaction. None-the-less , it’s important to view this as a temporary tool whilst you gain confidence and trust in yourself.

Recognising which foods work well with your body can be insightful, but if you struggle with disordered eating patterns, it's advisable to avoid being overly focused on this initially. Some individuals can become excessively fixated on specific foods, causing stress around eating and potentially exacerbating any existing digestive issues.

A healthy focus would instead be on ensuring you eat enough food and working towards a balanced diet that leaves you feeling energised and satisfied. However, if journaling becomes a means to avoid food, obsess over your intake and even count calories, this will hinder your progress.

In my experience, food journaling in a healthy way can serve as a valuable tool for learning and moving forward. It can help you to observe the impact your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have on your eating habits, alongside gaining appetite awareness whilst developing trust in yourself.

If you would like to try a healthy journaling approach, be sure to down load my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food, which explains how to get started.

This invaluable resource will also help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

5 Ways to Improve Your Self-Worth

Do you find yourself constantly seeking validation from others?

Maybe you question your worthiness based on your appearance, weight or shape?

Cultivating self-worth is not an overnight process. It's a cumulative effort, and sometimes, the smallest steps make the biggest impact. Accept that you are not perfect, and that's perfectly okay. This is an ongoing, active practice that involves embracing your imperfections without judgment.

Improving your self- worth is perhaps the most powerful thing you can do when it comes to overcoming emotional, binge and disordered eating behaviours.

Here are some practical steps to get you started:

1.       Nourish Yourself First: Prioritise nourishing yourself in all aspects of life – not just food. Take time for rest, engage in self-care, and meet your emotional needs. Neglecting yourself can lead to feeling resentful, tired, and overwhelmed. By putting your well-being first, you'll be better equipped to care for others.

2.       Set Boundaries and Prioritise Self-Respect: Respect from others begins with self-respect. Let others know that your needs matter, and it's okay to prioritise yourself. Establishing boundaries is critical; it's like building a fence around your home. Say no when necessary and set clear rules for others to understand how to respect you.

3.       Trust that you are the expert of yourself: Don't let others dictate who you are or what you should be doing. Trust yourself and let go of old identities that no longer serve you – especially those tied to dieting or societal expectations.

4.       Define Meaningful Goals: Focus on goals that truly matter to you. Consider what brings happiness to your life in the present moment. By aligning with your purpose, you not only foster your self-worth but also create a sense of fulfilment that goes beyond physical appearance or external validation.

5.       Recognise Your Value: You are more than just your body. Reflect on the qualities and values that define you as a person. Ask yourself and those close to you: What do they value in you beyond your physical appearance? Why do they enjoy spending time with you? Make a list and add something to it daily.

Take one step today – no matter how small – towards growing your self-worth. Whether it's setting a boundary, prioritising self-care, or acknowledging your achievements, each positive action contributes to the foundation of a healthier relationship with food, your body and yourself.

Do you long to have a happy relationship with food, but don’t know where to start? Download my FREE guide Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with FoodFood, to begin your journey

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

Thinking of going vegan this January?

I’m often asked about the benefits of adopting a plant-based diet and especially in January with the annual health push and Veganuary promotions. It sounds easy right – cut out animal products from your diet and you’re good to go. But is it really that simple and what are the potential pitfalls?

Here are some things to consider…

What actually is a vegan diet?

A vegan diet is a stricter version of a vegetarian diet. On top of not eating any meat, fish or seafood –a vegan diet also omits any foods derived from animal sources (some of which are the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat) – so, this includes eggs, milk, yoghurt, butter, cream and honey, as well as certain desserts (due to gelatin content) and even non-vegan wine.

Vegan doesn’t automatically mean healthy

Over the years, prominent claims, (notably in recent documentaries such as 'You Are What You Eat,' 'What The Health,' and 'The Game Changers’) have been made about a vegan diet being the most healthy of all diets. Without delving into all the issues with this statement, it's important to recognise that merely labelling food as 'vegan' doesn't guarantee its healthiness or that it's a healthier alternative. A diet consisting of only white bread, margarine, and jam would be classified as vegan, for example.

Of course, incorporating more plants into your diet is advantageous for various health reasons. However, completely excluding animal products requires careful consideration to ensure the intake of essential nutrients through other sources. Opting for processed plant-based options might seem convenient, but the manufacturing process of these foods requires additives, including stabilisers, gums, thickeners, and highly processed protein extracts and may be nutritionally inferior to what you are replacing.

Even with a non-processed, whole-food plant-based diet, meeting all your nutritional requirements may pose a greater challenge. Here are some of the nutrients to be mindful of:

Protein

Ensuring you have sufficient protein intake is important – and it is often lacking in the diet of people who struggle with binge eating, emotional eating or who crave sugary foods. Amino acids – the building blocks of protein play a vital role in making hormones and brain chemicals such as serotonin as well as muscle growth, repair and numerous cellular processes. Achieving this requires careful planning and organisation. Legumes, such as chickpeas, borlotti, kidney, and cannellini beans, alongside lentils, provide plant-based protein options. However, these choices contain lower protein levels compared to animal sources and also contribute significantly to carbohydrate intake. Tofu, derived from soybeans, serves as an alternative protein for vegetarians. Opting for high-quality organic tofu is recommended. Tempeh, a traditional Asian food, is made from fermented whole soybeans and offers another vegetarian protein source.

Vitamin B12

This nutrient has a variety of important roles within the body. Vegan diets are low in vitamin B12 (several studies showed 68% of vegans tested were deficient), as it is only found in animal products like eggs, poultry, shellfish, red meat and dairy products.

B12 deficiency can result in fatigue, depression and anaemia and can lead to potentially irreversible brain and nerve damage, If you’re thinking of going vegan, you’ll need to be taking a B12 supplement. But be aware that the synthetic form of B12 is less well absorbed than the natural forms. You should also be spreading your intake throughout the day by eating B12 fortified foods, too, such as plant-based milks and nutritional yeast.

Calcium

It is possible to get the calcium you need from greens rather than dairy. Kale is one of the best vegan sources, along with collard greens. Spinach and chard also provide calcium but, unfortunately, they also contain natural molecules called oxalates that bind to calcium and make it less available to your body. Rhubarb, beetroot, carrots, potatoes and broccoli also contain oxalates – although cooking reduces it, so raw veg isn’t necessarily the most helpful choice for calcium absorption! Other good sources include tofu, beans, and nuts and seeds. 

Iron

Iron from animal sources is much easier for your body to absorb than plant sources of iron. It is a fact that vegetarians and vegans have lower iron stores than meat eaters. It’s not that you can’t get enough iron in this kind of diet, but it is something to be aware of.

To maximise the iron intake from your food, you can soak your nuts, seeds, legumes and grains overnight before cooking or sprouting them. This reduces the phytate content which can interfere with iron absorption.  Eating foods rich in beta-carotene (usually orange or yellow foods) and vitamin C can increase iron uptake too.

Omega -3 fats

Omega-3 is an essential fatty acid, meaning you need to eat or supplement it as the body can’t make it on its own. There are several types of omega 3 fats. While oily fish provides DHA which is needed for brain health, only seaweed provides a plant-based DHA option. Seeds such as flax, hemp and chia contain another form of omega 3 that must be converted to make DHA. Most of us only convert about 5% so it’s likely you will need an algae-based omega 3 supplement to get your quota.

The connection with disordered eating

While many people genuinely want to go plant based for the benefit of the planet and animal welfare, I regularly see some individuals turn to veganism as a socially acceptable way to restrict their food intake. I would not recommend adopting a vegan diet if you have a history of disordered eating or an unhappy relationship with food. Restricting any food groups has the potential to lead to nutrient deficiencies that help exacerbate an eating disorder.

Furthermore, the rigidity around eating can for some develop into an eating disorder such as orthorexia – an unhealthy obsession with clean/pure eating. Sadly, it is not uncommon for this eating disorder to morph in to anorexia.

Instead, why not adopt a more flexible, balanced approach by increasing your plant food intake, incorporating a variety into the diet, without the rigid rules that come with a restrictive diet.

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and making peace with food?

Start by downloading my FREE guide,

Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Know when you’re really hungry and when you’re not

✔️Learn when to eat that’s best for you

✔️Know the best snacks to help you stop craving and feeling out of control

New Year, New Perspective; Escaping the January Diet Trap

Christmas day has come and gone – the day when we are told to indulge. The final opportunity to ‘allow’ yourself to relish chocolates, cakes, biscuits and whatever else is on offer without restraint. Very soon you’ll be heading into the month of deprivation hopping back on to the diet hamster wheel. Sound familiar?

And yes, it is important to be able to enjoy treats, alongside to the foods that will sustain you -keep you energised and optimise your health. Allowing yourself complete freedom to eat these foods at any time of the year will decrease your desire for them and reduce the likelihood of binge behaviours.

Diet culture opposes this notion.

The diet and fitness industry heavily invests in the ‘New Year- New You’ narrative – after all it contributes to the industry’s multi-billion-pound bank balance. It benefits them when we overindulge over Christmas, feel bad about it, and are quickly  propelled headfirst into the next dieting regime.

At this time of year, we are bombarded with a deluge of this messaging, and it’s everywhere. The before and after images, the promises of dropping a dress size or shedding pounds so that you can finally be ‘good enough’ and everything will come right in your life. And I get it – this narrative is powerful.

My message to you is different. Protect yourself from the misery that dieting brings. If you’ve been there before then don’t expect a different outcome by returning down that same path. We know that dieting doesn’t bring lasting results. Your body has inbuilt regulation mechanisms to slow your metabolism and amplify your hunger when you try to restrict. It’s not that you have failed in the past; rather, it's the diets themselves that have let you down.

This January can be different for you. There is a way to create balance in your life. and dieting and restriction prevents that.

Start here and now by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.'

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas

<<<I work with a small number of clients each month to give them the maximum support for a minimum of 6 months to help them transform their life. If you are struggling with your relationship with food, book in a complimentary call HERE to see how I can help >>>

Georgina's Journey to Food and Body freedom

This week I’m delighted to bring to you a short interview with a former client about her challenges with food and her body. Within our conversation, she discusses how she was able to create transformative change in her life leading to numerous unexpected benefits.

She consistently held the belief that change was unattainable for her—a belief that you might also share. Even at the beginning of the process, she doubted that it would ever be possible to find peace with food and her body.

I think you’ll find her journey both motivating and inspirational. And I want you to know this is possible for you too.

Ready to embark on your own journey of self-discovery and making peace with food?

Start by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.'

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas

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Coping with Diet Conversations this Holiday Season

As the festive season approaches, so does an abundance of food-centric conversations, diet talk, and weight-related discussions. This period can be triggering, unsettling any peace you may have begun to build around your relationship with food and your body. Following last week's blog about overcoming guilt during Christmas, this week's focus remains on strengthening resilience and managing diet-related conversations that commonly arise at family gatherings and festive events.

Here are some effective strategies to navigate these challenging conversations:

Understanding your Origin of Beliefs:

Acknowledge that your beliefs about food and body image have deep roots, often stemming from childhood caregivers and societal influences. Recognise that these narratives have been ingrained over the years and takes time to unravel. Having compassion for yourself in acknowledging your origin story is the first step towards resilience.

Compassion Towards Others:

Remember that those engaging in diet talk may not be aware of its impact. They might not be on the same journey as you towards a healthier relationship with food and body image. Try to remain compassionate towards them as you navigate these conversations.

Prepared Thoughts and Boundaries:

Prepare yourself with pre-thought responses for these discussions. For instance, if someone mentions a diet, you might say to yourself, "Their solution may be dieting, but it doesn’t have to be mine."

Establish Your Boundaries:

Establishing boundaries is critical; you have the right to step away from triggering conversations or clearly state that these topics are off-limits for you. Communicate your boundaries firmly but respectfully. Letting others know that you're not comfortable engaging in diet or weight-related discussions during festivities sets a clear precedent. Remember, your well-being comes first, and taking care of yourself is paramount. Note: If you are a people pleaser, this might be tough for you. However, I want to assure you that you absolutely have the right to do so.

Thought work is important here and something I work on with my clients to help them Reframe unhelpful thoughts and beliefs, so that they are able to manage triggering comments and situations more effectively. Learning to think differently, fostering acceptance of your body and self, can lead to making positive changes without succumbing to the pressures of diet culture.

The holiday season can be about joy, celebration, and connection rather than becoming a battleground for body image insecurities and diet pressures. Building resilience against diet culture during Christmas can be challenging, but with self-compassion and proactive strategies, it is possible to navigate this time of year by prioritising your mental and emotional well-being.

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and making peace with food?

Start by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.'

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas

Breaking Free from Christmas Food Guilt and Diet Culture

As the holiday season approaches, the word ‘indulgence’ often triggers thoughts of food guilt, leading to a familiar cycle of shame, binging and restriction. For many, this time of year brings conflicted feelings of enjoying festive treats and the pressures imposed by diet culture.

True indulgence is about allowing yourself the pleasure of something without guilt or restraint. However, the pervasive influence of diet culture constantly steers us toward the thin body ideal, promoting messages centred around control and restriction. Christmas, on the contrary, celebrates the abundance of food and particularly treat foods, for those not exposed to food poverty.

‘Last supper’ thinking

During this season, a common phenomenon emerges known as "last supper thinking." It's a mentality that justifies excessive eating over the festive season, with the intention of starting a diet once January arrives. This mindset creates a sense of deprivation, perpetuating a cycle of guilt-laden consumption followed by strict control.

How to break the cycle

Instead, consider the idea of granting yourself unconditional permission to enjoy these foods at any time of the year. Would these particular foods hold the same power over you during Christmas if you were free from the constraints of guilt and restriction? Clients often express fear that allowing themselves permission will lead to uncontrollable eating, however moving towards this mindset shift can make a significant difference to your eating behaviour going forward.

Though there are other areas to be addressed to help with this transition, giving yourself this permission helps to remove the power of the foods in question. It shifts the narrative to having these foods when you chose and not the other way around.

Develop Awareness

Now is a good time to begin to observe your thoughts around the holiday season, and how food, weight and dieting discussions manifest in your interactions with others—be it family, friends, or your children. At the same time, be aware of the media messages at this time of year. Developing this awareness without self-judgment is critical and will help you to foster a healthier relationship with food and yourself.

I acknowledge the anxiety you may experience when faced with discussions around food, weight, and dieting. Additionally, I recognise that spending time with family or reconnecting with people you haven't seen in a while may present challenges for you. So do look out for part 2 next week where I will be addressing how to navigate diet-related conversations during festive gatherings.  

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and making peace with food? Start by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.''

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

This invaluable resource will help you:

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas

Eating behaviour Change (& Conflicting Motivations)

The relationship we have with food varies significantly among those navigating complex struggles in their eating habits. You might have found yourself somewhere along the spectrum of disordered eating, facing various challenges. You may have experienced patterns of yo-yo dieting for years, or battle with binge eating. Perhaps, rigid food rules dominate your thoughts and actions, and this might have progressed into more severe eating disorder territory, accompanied by compensatory behaviours such as compulsive exercising or purging.

CONFLICTING EMOTIONS

Regardless of the form it takes, the psychology of disordered eating and eating disorders reveals a common thread of ambivalence toward change. You might recognise the behaviours as problematic yet feel fearful or stuck in changing them, because they offer you some form of benefit. Yet the behaviours are simultaneously taking away from many aspects of your life.

This may include relentless thoughts about food and your body consuming your mental space, leaving little room for anything else. Thus, leading to a strain on relationships, work, your social life, feeling connected and diminishing your overall enjoyment of life. And of course, these behaviours wreak havoc on your physical, emotional and mental health.

The perceived benefits, such as the belief that you will be accepted by others because you have shrunk your body or using food as a coping mechanism, are often short-lived. Studies have shown that weight loss does not solve body image or low self-esteem issue – because it is not getting to the root of the problem. Binge or emotional eating might provide a momentary relief or distraction from your life's stresses, but this often comes at the steep price of the shame, guilt, and self-loathing that follows.

RECOGNISING YOUR MIXED FEELINGS

Recognising this ambivalence around changing these behaviours therefore becomes vital. It's about observing these benefits constructively, acknowledging that they serve as automatic coping mechanisms but also realising their detrimental effects on all aspects of your life.

One effective way to tackle this ambivalence is with the ‘Pros and Cons’ exercise. This involves categorising the pros and cons of change versus staying the same in your eating behaviours. It's a reflective process that requires honesty and introspection, allowing you to understand what you are gaining (if anything) and losing by maintaining these behaviours.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Take a piece of paper and divide it into four sections, and label it as illustrated in the image below.

2. Find a quiet, interruption-free space to focus for 10 to 15 minutes. Consider setting a timer if necessary.

3. Delve into each section honestly, brainstorming your thoughts without holding back.

4. Reflect on your responses. Were you taken aback by what you wrote? Is this something you want to continue impacting your life indefinitely?"

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and making peace with food? Start by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.'.' This invaluable resource will help you:

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

In this guide you’ll learn how to: 

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas

Navigating weight stigma in healthcare

What is Weight Stigma?

Weight stigma is the unfair or negative treatment of people based on their body weight or size. This results in discrimination, the reinforcement of stereotypes, and harmful behaviours, affecting many areas of people’s lives.

There’s no doubt that weight stigma is widespread in our society. It is evident within policy, healthcare, the media, workplaces and education. There is a common misconception that a person’s body weight is determined by their individual choices and that it can be easily addressed by ‘eating less and moving more’. This form of stigma has an emotional, psychological and physical impact on those in larger bodies.

IN THE HEALTHCARE SETTING

Many of my clients describe encountering this prejudice regularly in healthcare settings. Contrary to the notion that weight stigma is an effective tool for health promotion and behaviour change, research indicates that it leads to higher stress levels, increased calorie consumption, binge eating, and the development of eating disorders.

Though medical professionals are well intentioned and do incredible work, there is a growing body of evidence of the presence of weight stigma within the health care setting and that it is extremely harmful to the health of individuals in larger bodies.

Unfortunately, this discrimination is deep rooted in within our culture. Weight stigma must be addressed by the governments and policy makers themselves, to enable significant change . Though I and others will keep shouting about it in the hope that we can do our small bit to help to instigate change.

Jacky’s Experience

A member of the Food Freedom Collective community (I’ve changed her name to Jacky) reached out to me with a question regarding her recent experience of weight stigma. This occurred during an appointment with a consultant doctor, about a condition completely unrelated to her weight.

Despite Jacky’s ongoing efforts and success in addressing her eating behaviour and adopting new health-promoting habits, the medical professional concentrated exclusively on her weight. Without prior discussion, the specialist then wrote to her GP, requesting a referral to an NHS weight loss programme.

Further details presented by Jacky suggest that she was neither listened to, nor provided with equal treatment as that of someone in a smaller body with the same health condition. She has a history of challenges around food and found this experience upsetting and triggering.

Jacky was therefore seeking advice on how to be prepared with potential responses in case she encounters weight stigma again in future medical appointments.

what can you do to protect yourself?

The first thing to remember is that as with any service provider you expect fair and equal treatment. When you seek help from a medical professional, whether within the NHS or through private services, it is no different -you are essentially the customer. I’m aware that some people may feel that they cannot speak up during this interaction because the medical professional is the expert in the room. However, it’s important to acknowledge that you are the expert of your own body and to speak up if something doesn’t feel right. You have the right to ask questions during a consultation, challenge advice and ask for a second opinion if you don’t feel happy with the treatment offered.

Secondly, you are entitled to the same ethical, evidenced based healthcare treatment as anyone else. You have the right to be treated with respect, to state your own needs and opinions, and say no or yes for yourself.

Keep in mind that, although most doctors provide dietary recommendations with the best intentions, many have minimal training in nutrition.

Having a card ready with key responses can be helpful. Here are some suggestions:

• I do not wish to be weighed unless medically necessary (e.g. for correct dosage of medication)

• If you need my weight because it is medically necessary, please explain why to me so I can give you my informed consent

• Please do not tell me my weight unless I request it

• I pursue healthy habits regardless of my weight status

• When you focus on my weight- it increases my stress levels and has the potential for relapse into disordered eating behaviours (if applicable) or lead to weight cycling and that is not healthy for me.

• Do people in smaller bodies suffer from this condition? If so what advice and treatment would you offer them?

• Do you have any research you can share with me that this method of weight loss you are suggesting worked for the majority of people in the long term (ie. Between 3-5 years?)

• I would like to focus on X, in the limited time that we have in this appointment

• I would be happy to share some research with you on weight stigma if you would like to find out more about it. (See below for research links)

Use your own discretion as to which responses may be appropriate during your interaction.

Finally, If you have encountered weight stigma, offer yourself compassion and understand that it is not your fault.

I would love to hear if these suggestions have been helpful to you so do hit reply and let me know.

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and making peace with food? Start by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.' This invaluable resource will help you:

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

In this guide you’ll learn how to: 

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas

Research Papers

The weight of stigma: cortisol reactivity to manipulated weight stigma - PubMed (nih.gov)

Associations Between Perceived Weight Discrimination and the Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in the General Population - PMC (nih.gov)

Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality - PubMed (nih.gov)

Weight stigma and health behaviors: evidence from the Eating in America Study - PubMed (nih.gov)

An Evidence&#x02010;Based Rationale for Adopting Weight&#x02010;Inclusive Health Policy (jeffreyhunger.com)

Weighed Down by Stigma: How Weight-Based Social Identity Threat Contributes to Weight Gain and Poor Health (jeffreyhunger.com)

Long‐term Effects of Dieting: Is Weight Loss Related to Health? - Tomiyama - 2013 - Social and Personality Psychology Compass - Wiley Online Library

Perceived weight status and risk of weight gain across life in US and UK adults (jeffreyhunger.com)

Weight stigma as a risk factor for suicidality | International Journal of Obesity (nature.com)

Overcoming Weight Bias in the Management of Patients With Diabetes and Obesity | Clinical Diabetes | American Diabetes Association (diabetesjournals.org)

What triggers your emotional eating?

Have you ever thought about the emotions, experiences, and life situations that trigger your emotional eating? From boredom to stress, sadness to loneliness, or the ever-lingering anxiety, these triggers can lead us to seek comfort from food. A gruelling day at work often leaves us craving a reward for making it through, and that's where emotional eating can come in.

For many, food has become a coping mechanism, a temporary relief from life's challenges. However, it's a fleeting escape that rarely brings lasting comfort. More often than not, the aftermath leads to shame, guilt, and self-loathing - far from the reward you were seeking.

Think about it – when faced with a hard day, a packet of biscuits becomes the automatic response. But what if, beneath the surface, what you truly need is a way to de-stress, find stimulation, or simply get some rest?

This survival mechanism often turns into an ingrained habit, one that's developed from early childhood – were you ever given a treat to sooth you as a child? With the prevalence of dieting behaviours you are likely to have become disconnected from your body, making it all the more harder to know if you are eating for hunger or something quite different.

When working with clients, one of my goals is to guide them towards more helpful ways of feeling better by focusing on self-care and non-food-related rewards. Often, they do not feel worthy of doing positive things for themselves – is this the same for you?

It can be an empowering exercise to reassess your behaviours in a non-judgemental way and ask yourself – is this truly serving me? Is it time to explore what does? Take a moment to identify activities that can become a part of your daily life. What brings you joy? What makes you feel good? How can you relax and de-stress?

This needs to be individual to you, but here are some examples to consider:

🎵 Immerse yourself in calming music

🧘‍♂️Dedicate a few minutes to yoga or Pilates

🚶‍♀️ Take a gentle walk in peaceful surroundings

📰 Enjoy some quality time with a favourite magazine

🌿 Find tranquillity by sitting quietly in the garden

🛁 Indulge in a soothing bath

📞 Connect with a good friend over the phone

🧘‍♀️ Take 10 minutes for peaceful relaxation

Use this as an opportunity to improve the quality of your life and build in new ways of feeling joy and enriching your experience of life.

THE SIMPLE STEPS TO TAKE:

1️⃣ Recognise when you are turning to food as an emotional crutch.

2️⃣ Seek out alternative ways to make yourself feel good. (That do not involve food)

3️⃣ Try out the new choices - see what resonates with you.

4️⃣ Adjust and adapt until you find a helpful solution.

5️⃣ Keep practicing until it becomes second nature. You might find you don’t always manage - this isn’t about berating yourself. Instead observe without judgment what might have happened and try again next time.

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and making peace with food? Start by downloading my FREE guide, 'Breaking the Cycle - Your First Steps to Healing Your Relationship with Food.' This invaluable resource will help you:

This structured 4 step guide is an essential resource for anyone who suffers from emotional or disordered eating.

In this guide you’ll learn how to: 

✔️Understand the best way to structure your eating routine

✔️Develop a better understanding of your body’s appetite cues 

✔️Navigate snacking to help you reduce cravings and feel satiated

✔️Use the journaling pages (included) to gain a deeper understanding of your eating behaviour, thoughts and emotions 

Also included: 

✔️My free appetite tool 

✔️My free journaling pages

✔️Snack ideas