​​Step one: ​discover Your Food history

​Knowing your food history is a big component in healing your issues with food and yo-yo dieting. If you are someone who has been struggling with weight issues ​since you were a child, or found yourself using food for comfort, then it's important to look back and understand why.

Many of us take in the information that is being modeled to us from our parents and turn them into our truths. We also take in information we hear from other people, especially our peers. One of my coaching clients shared with me that when she was 7, she climbed a tree, and the boy down below told her that her legs were fat. 

From that day forward, at a very young age, she ​formed the belief that something was wrong with her, and so she started to turn to food for comfort. There are millions of instances like this that happen when we are young.

I was constantly made fun of for being flat-chested and having a big butt. These things stuck with me and started my crazy, obsessive 30+ year journey with food and skewed body image.

So, in order to truly understand why you struggle so much, it's important that you take some time to discover your Food History, which is where your beliefs about food, and even your weight started. ​

​ACTION: With a journal, sit down for 30 minutes and write out ​all the messages you got about food and your body from a very young age, through where you currently are with food. Include what you saw your parents do or say around food and their weight. Did they diet a lot? Did your mom say she was fat? Or was always trying to lose those last 10-15 pounds? Put it ALL on paper! This is a very eye-opening and cathartic process, so allow yourself the full 30 minutes.

​step two: ​Identify your food rules

We all have rules around food. Sadly, that's a by-product of Diet Mindset. We hear ​"experts" sharing their two cents on what is good and bad, or what we should or shouldn't eat based on the current diet trends.

​The problem with ​that is we are all so different as human beings. No one way of eating could ever work for every person. This is where the diet and health industry is extremely flawed. 

Look, I've been a vegan/vegetarian most of my life because that is what works for me. It changed my life and helped me heal from many childhood illnesses, but that doesn't mean everyone should eat that way. It also doens't mean that I will be that forever. What I have learned is that I need to be flexible based on what my body needs.

​The things we hear about food are detrimental to our physical, mental and emotional health. Food is what we need to survive, and with all the emphasis we put on how to eat, takes away the sheer pleasure of eating. I know that many of us ​understand on a basic level what foods are nourishing and what foods aren't, yet we are still confused. ​Your body is actually the one source that will tell all, if you really listen. 

​ACTION: For the next two days, I want you to notice all the things you say about food to yourself or others. What are your inner thoughts about food when you go to eat it? Do you label foods good or bad? Healthy or unhealthy? How do you feel about what you are eating? Do you feel bad if you eat a donut? Do you berate yourself for going off your diet? Do you tell yourself, "What's the point?" if you mess up? 

Take time to write down all these thoughts either in a journal or your phone. After two days, see if you notice any themes. Also take note of ​how you feel about this process. This will give you great insight in to just how much you think about food and feel bad about choices you make.

​​The holidays are a time where many of us get caught up in a whirlwind of overwhelm and stress. Our to-do lists double and even triple, with the addition of holiday parties, decorating, shopping and cooking.

It's easy to get sucked into the eye of the storm and not see a way out until January 2nd hits. By this time, it's almost too late and burnout has set in. But this doesn't have to be the case for you this holiday season. You do have a choice.

You ​CAN ​thrive through the holiday season in a peaceful and balanced way, so when the New Year comes you​ feel ready to move forward in an empowered way, instead of feeling like you have to start at square one and fix all the damage you did.

Below are my Top ​3 ​Actions to Help You Avoid Burnout this Holiday Season: 

​ACTION ​1: HOW To ​Avoid ​​Burnout this HOliday Season

​Choose Wisely

​​​It's no secret that this time of year can be filled with obligations and family traditions that often feel overwhelming. During my annual 7-Day Balanced and Blissed Holiday Challenge, I challenge ​hundreds of participants with the action of choosing things that feel aligned with them, versus participating out of obligation​.

This very action includes being able to say No, which can be hard for a lot of people. In order to not burn yourself out this holiday season and avoid the overwhelm that often comes along with it, I encourage you to choose your experiences and to-do's wisely.

Here's how to do that:

Take out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Write the heading, "To-DO" on one side, and the heading "Events" on the other. Write out everything you feel like you have to do under the "To-Do" Heading (ie: getting a tree, baking cookies, decorating, buying gifts for everyone at the office, ​even long time traditions), and then write out all the events you need to attend including kids (if you have them) plays, holiday parties and bake sales under ​the "Events" heading. 

Once you ​complete your list, go down each column and circle anything that IS a priority or feels GOOD for you to do. Then go through the list again and X out anything that feels heavy or like an obligation. Note: This process won't be easy, especially if you are a people pleaser or someone who is afraid of being judged for not participating. You will also have to learn to let go a bit and really tune in to the things you WANT to do (see below).  

Once you complete the X + O process, go through the circled items, or any items that you are questioning on the list and ask yourself the following questions: 

How is this bringing balance to my life?
How is this bringing bliss and joy to my life?
Will this bring balance to my life if I do it, or will I feel resentful?
Is this something I feel obligated to do? If so, can I shift it to feel balanced instead? ​

If the item feels obligatory, overwhelming etc, cross it off your list and LET GO! You will be OK, I promise. Often we will do things out of obligation or fear of what others will think of us if we don't bake cookies for that bake sale, or show up to that party.

​Once you have gone through this process you will feel much clearer. Complete it by writing the remaining items in your calendar. Block out one hour windows of time to complete tasks such as shopping, baking or wrapping gifts. This will help you manage your time better.​

​​ACTION ​​2: How to ​avoid ​​burnout this holiday season

​Implement the 10 + 10

​​This practice will be one of the most powerful ​actions you take ​for yourself this holiday season. Life coach and personal growth guru, Tony Robbins says, "If you don't have 10 minutes to give yourself, you don't have a life...." This is so true and one of the main reasons why people feel stressed out and overwhelmed.

By starting your day with what I call the 10+10, you will set yourself up to feel grounded, balanced and connected this holiday season instead of harried, frazzled and buried under your to-do list.

The 10 + 10 consists of 10 minutes of movement and 10 minutes of "me" time first thing in the morning. ​Of course, both of these ​activities can be longer, especially if you like to do your workouts in the morning, but start with a minimum of 10 minutes for each.

​Most importantly though, is the 10 minutes of "me" time where you either meditate (I love using the Insight Timer App), breathe, read something uplifting​ excerpts from a book (here is my favorite,) connect to your own heart, journal ​by ​dumping whatever is on your mind on the page, or set intentions for the day.

This action is life-changing and will set you up to have a more empowering and connected day so that you don't' feel as overwhelmed by all you have to do.

Also, studies show that ​ people who have consistent morning routines are more successful than people who don't. Instead of hitting the snooze button 3 or 4 times, get up out of bed and give yourself the time you deserve. 

​​Action ​​3: How to ​avoid ​burnout this holiday season

​​P​ractice Presence 

​​Many of us are living in the future or the past. This causes anxiety and overwhelm.

​You are ONLY one person, who can only do so much. The more you keep thinking about ALL the things you have to do, versus staying present and doing the next "right" action, the more ​stressed out you will feel.

​Practicing presence is one of the most impactful and balancing things you can do for yoursel​f this holiday season. I know ​it doesn't come easy for most, myself included, but you can access it with a little bit of awareness and pause.

Every time you catch yourself feeling anxious or overwhelmed, STOP and take a deep breath. Seriously. It's incredible how quickly it works. Know that these feelings come from you not being present. Then take another.

Once you take 2-3 deep breaths, ​then ask yourself if you are living in the future and worrying, or are ​you focusing on the task at hand and what's in front of you?

By taking this pause, you will get reconnected to the present moment and then you can make a discerned choice ​ about what needs to be done next.

Again, you are ONLY one person, and can only do so much. DELEGATE if you need to. Ask for help and don't think you need to be Superwoman or Superman. 

By following these 3 empowering actions this holiday season, I guarantee you will feel so much more balanced and peaceful by the time the New Year arrives. And if you are concerned about weight gain this holiday season, ​check out my recent blog about How You Can Avoid Holiday Weight Gain.

​​Long term dieting, counting calories, restricting and depriving yourself of your favorite foods can lead to one thing: Food Obsession. Being on a diet creates a constant stream of thoughts about food; what you can't have, what you can have, how much you can have, how many calories, and so on. It's exhausting....

And ​included in those obsessive thoughts, are ​are all the ​judgements and food rules that you have been taught along the way. We try to eat perfectly, and stay away from the "bad" and "forbidden" foods that we feel out of control around. When we are "on track," we feel good, but we have to fight to stay there...it's not consistent and then the dreaded pendulum swing happens.

Learning to love your food and enjoy/savor it versus obsessing about it, will be the key to shifting your relationship to it. It will also free up a whole lot of brain space in your head, and the energy you spend thinking about food all the time.  And when I say "loving your food," I don't mean the out of control feeling you have when you're around it, or that you can't stop eating it. That's not what truly loving and being connect to your food is. The obsessive, out of control feeling is how you are ​​giving ​your power away to it. It ends up controlling you.

When I was dieting, binge eating and struggling with food obsession, I was afraid to eat and I ​there was a constant, running total in my head of the calories I consumed. I then based how I felt about myself that day as a result of the calories I ate, or didn't eat and if I was "good" or "bad" with my eating. Or the weight I lost, or didn't lose. It was such a vicious cycle. 

​Over the years of coaching hundreds of ​clients and supporting them in truly shifting the way they approach food, I have ​witnessed ​incredible ​courage and powerful transformation happen. And what my clients come to realize, is that their struggles with food have nothing to do with the food! The food is just the symptom of something deeper.

​The diet industry is notorious for ​instilling food rules. And we all know the diet industry does not provide long-term solution. Look, I know it can feel scary to let go of food rules, because we feel as though we might get out of control without them. But having food rules keeps you stuck in deprivation and also creates bad feelings ​every time you eat something you think is "bad." Another important thing that having food rules prevents​ is a connection to, and trust of, our bodies.

​By identifying all the rules you have around food, you can then start to shift your mindset so you experience some more freedom and a loosening of the grip on food obsession. This journey is all about being able to trust yourself and your body to make choices that will serve you. I used to have a hard rule about not eating past 8pm. Or that eating pastry and candy was bad. And guess what? I'd end up bingeing on both of those things and doing it in the middle of the night. SO much for those rules.

The moment we put rules on food, our brain goes into survival mode. Especially when we deprive ourselves of the things we love.  And guess what? Then we want those foods even more. ​

When I finally let go of my food rules, I realized that I didn't even really want cupcakes or candy anymore. So, now if I want sweets, I choose to have ​them sweets in a form that feels good to me and my body. I take the time to truly savor them without judgment, and I give myself FULL permission. 

• Take out a piece of paper, and write down ​the top 3 food rules you have that you can think of.
  
• Choose ​the one out of those 3 that feels like it would be the easiest to break; focus on that one for the next few days. For example; if you have a rule about ​​a cheat ​meal on weekends, allow yourself to have ​those foods more regurlarly during the week so you don't feel deprived and go overboard.
  
• Notice what happens when you start to allow yourself permission to eat these foods and let yourself ENJOY and SAVOR them. Do your best to take away the judgment. It might feel hard at first, but you can do it. 
• Every time your mind wanders to the rule, and you go into judgement, bring it back to the present moment and focus on what you are doing. Tell yourself it's OK!!! Because really, it truly is OK!
  

​You will need to dismantle​ your rules one by one in order to keep your ego from freaking out! The ego doesn't like change and notices immediately when you're taking a different action. Like I said, pick one that doesn't feel so big, but would feel freeing if you let it go. Over time you will build the trust and confidence in yourself and you will not need to have food rules ever again

​Most of us have been on a diet at one time or another. There is one thing I know about dieting; it keeps the obsessive food thoughts VERY alive. And it also is the creator of all the food rules we tend to live by, as mentioned above.

If you truly want to begin to loosen the reins on your food obsession, you must be willing to give up dieting. Over 90% of people who lose weight on a diet, gain it back (and then some.) This vicious cycle is exhausting and keeps us stuck in survival mode, and self-loathing. When we are dieting, we are in survival mode, and our mind will latch on to anything it can to create safety for us. This means obsessing about the food that we are depriving ourselves of.

I'm sure you've had the experience time and again of telling yourself you will start over on Monday, or "be good" for the rest of the day, or never eat sugar again; and what happens? You quickly fall off track or overeat those foods you swore off just hours earlier. The natural order of things will always create a pendulum swing, so when you are constantly obsessing over food, and restricting yourself, there will be a swing to the other side to balance things out.

The first step is to start to pay attention to your dieting mindset. Identifying your food rules will definitely help with this. Notice all the times you think about food, and all the negative talk you have around it. Awareness is the first step in giving up the dieting mindset. The more you put these new strategies into practice, the more you will begin to trust yourself.

​Yep, that's what I said. With social media and the internet, there is a constant barrage of information coming at us all the time that can be confusing, and feel overwhelming. The other day a client of mine emailed me to say how confused she was after hearing two different experts talk about the best diet for curing Type-2 diabetes. 

One of them said a high carb, low fat diet was the best way of eating, and the other one said a low carb, high fat diet is the answer. Who is right?? ​This is why we are all so dang confused, and feel like we will never figure it out. We search for answers all over the internet ​but never check in with our​ most important source of wisdom, our bodies!

​I do believe that most of us understand the basic rule of thumb when it comes to healthy eating, but then why do so many of us struggle to figure out how to eat? Because we are listening to everyone outside of us, versus our own body. By getting off all nutrition, diet and health lists, you can start to learn to rely on yourself and your body to give you the information you need. And trust me, it will.

When I stopped looking for answers outside of myself, and started to attune to and listen to my body's own wisdom, it changed my world. My body knows exactly what it likes, and what it doesn't like. But so many of us will override these signals our body is giving us, or the things we are craving to follow some diet because it worked for your neighbor's-daughters-boyfriends- sister. NO!

Start by unsubscribing from all those email lists you are on. The ones that confuse you, or leave you feeling like you still don't know what the answer is, or how you should be eating. Look, when it comes to nutrition, there​ really isn't that much new information out there​. And most of the time people are looking for the next quick fix, or that THING that will finally make them lose weight. But none of those things will be the answer, or work for the long term. But building trust with your body, and shifting your behaviors and mindset around food WILL!.

Continue to practice taking different action when it comes to your relationship to food. By doing that, you will begin to create new neural pathways, that will eventually become brand, new healthier habits down the road. Remember, this is not a quick fix solution, and takes consistency, and patience. You have to be more committed to your freedom, then getting sucked into another external diet or program that will only lead you back to the same place.

YOU GOT THIS!

​Binge eating is a mystery to many of us, and it's hard to understand why we actually do it. What is it that drives us to overeat and binge on food until we feel sick, ashamed and at the end of our rope?

​One of my current clients who has struggled with binge eating most of her life, never understood ​why she couldn't heal even though she sought help from multiple therapist​s, nutritionists and organizations. ​During her binges, she ​would feel completely out of control and like she couldn't stop. She would binge ​all day long, not just at night, or in mini-sessions. She would ​overeat in massive quantities, all the foods that have been on her forbidden list for years, like bread, tortillas, chips, etc.

These foods were not allowable in her eyes, and they were "evil," because ultimately they would lead to weight gain, ill-health or she had heard from some "expert" along the way, that these foods were "BAD," and she needed to cut them out of her life.

As we dug deeper into her eating patterns and this out of control feeling with food, I would often ask her, "What's beneath the binge?" In other words, what's driving your binge eating? And it was always difficult for her to answer, but she knew that was where the real healing would happen.

This question, for many of my clients, often stops them in their tracks, and leaves them speechless, and it did with her too. ​She is the reason why I am writing this blog, because she suggested​ it so I can help others who struggle in this area too.

​The question is something ​most people never consider, or think of. They've always blamed the food, or their bodies or chalked it up to addiction, and never​ took into account that it ​could be something outside of the food that was responsible for the binge​s.

​Food, it turns out, is usually the symptom of something deeper that we are not addressing. ​I know this can be a hard pill to swallow for many, because isn't it easier to blame the food for our issues? ​Well, maybe, but that won't solve anything or help you understand WHY you are bingeing and what is driving it. It also will do nothing to help you shift your relationship to food and heal​.

​Binge eating is often a by-product of restriction and dieting. It can also be ​linked to other areas in your life such as relationships, money, career, sexuality and more. ​Often times when we are not living our authentic truth, food can be an escape to that. It's a way to fill a void, if you will. ​When I was bingeing regularly, it was due to feelings of loneliness, being unsafe in the world, and uncertainty. 

Being raised in a violent household created tons of uncertainty and ​feelings of being out of control. Food became my safe haven. The place I could go to get comfort in any given moment, and feel like I had control over something, even though I ended up feeling worse afterward. It was a vicious cycle for years but I didn't know how to change it.

When I ​started to ​get curious about what was underneath my binge eating, ​​I started to heal and shift my relationship to myself, which led to shifting my relationship with food. ​It's not an easy road, but it's one that​ is worth traveling because ultimately it leads to freedom. Awareness will always be the first step in healing, and then comes the action.

Below ​I am sharing a few of the powerful actions I took to bring awareness to my binge eating and ultimately heal it. 

Get Curious and Lean In...

The first step to getting to the core of your eating issues is to be curious about them and bring awareness to the patterns. It's common to immediately go into judging ourselves and feeling guilty about what we ate, or the binge we had. Studies have been shown that as humans, we are wired for negativity and it's easy to spiral down into a well of negative thoughts. Judging yourself will never help anything and it will continue to ingrain the pattern even further.

When you get strong cravings or find yourself obsessing about food, take the time to pause, take a breath and then check in with yourself. Once you pause, you can ask the following questions to bring awareness to your patterns:

What am I really craving right now? What is that I am looking for food to give me other than nourishment? What am I avoiding? Why do I want to binge? What would a binge solve in this moment? 

Start here and see what comes up. You might want to spend a few minutes writing it out and just dumping these thoughts on paper to interrupt the pattern. Remember, awareness is the first step.

​Let Go of Dieting and Restriction + Attune to the Body

​Dieting is the number one culprit to binge eating AND emotional eating. Any time ​you restrict yourself, there will be a pendulum swing to the other side, guaranteed. I ​know ​we are taught that in order to lose weight, we must diet, but what that does is keeps us stuck in the dieting mindset, which will keep us in a food prison.

I understand that the idea of letting go of dieting can bring about feelings of being out of control, but what it also does is sends the message to our body that we don't trust it. Your body has it's own innate wisdom, and wants to be balanced and healthy. Unfortunately, our society doesn't support that and it's almost the cultural norm to be on a diet these days.

I believe that whatever we control, ends up controlling us. Control is an illusion, pure and simple. One thing to always remember is that you have a CHOICE. When you can start to let go of dieting, and remember that you have a choice, then you will begin to heal even further.  

There is no ONE perfect diet for anyone, and that mindset will keep you spiraling. Constantly searching for​ the perfect way of eating will keep you on edge, and in continued obsessive food thoughts.

Instead start to tune in to your body to see what feels good for it. After you eat, notice any physical sensations you have, or emotional reactions. Make a note of these, as they will start to give you information on why you struggle and binge.

​In my Food Freedom LIVE Group Program, we ​use a tool called Food/Mood Tracking where the participants will write down what they eat and how they felt before and after they ate. They will even tune in to see if there was a trigger present for their eating like stress, feeling tired, sadness, etc. This is a powerful process that attunes them to their body and emotions. The key is to track the food without judgement and to use it as a tool to uncover your patterns. Give it a try and see what you notice.

​Get Honest and Show Your True Self

One ​thing I learned about myself in ​the journey of healing my binge eating was that I wore many masks. I was constantly hiding who I was, worrying about what others thought of me and trying to please everyone. This resulted in major feelings of resentment, loneliness and NEVER feeling good enough. Which ultimately led me to a box of licorice and bag of oreos. 

​I wanted people to see me in a certain light, and to think that I had it all together when in truth I was struggling inside. I look back on photos of myself when I was deep in my food struggles and ​I have a big old fake smile on my face. But no one knew it was fake, I was pretending everything was A-OK but the truth was, I was in a world of pain and battling internally with myself, my body and food on a daily.

​When I started to get real, to say what I felt, and to stop worrying about what others thought of me, my food issues started to wane. The pull toward food became less powerful and I started to feel more empowered and aligned in my life.

Showing ourselves to the world can be scary, because we are taught that vulnerability is weak.  ​But what I have learned through my journey, is that vulnerability is strength. Being vulnerable, speaking my truth and standing in my power ​has resulted in so much richness in my life. I have zero desire to hide anymore, and because of that, I no longer find myself wanting to binge, mindlessly eat or numb out with food.

​Start small, and share with people you trust that are in your inner circle. Get honest about your struggles, and let people know you need their support. I guarantee a HUGE weight will be lifted off your shoulders.

Binge eating is something many Americans are faced with daily, and the feelings of shame, disappointment and self-criticism can be overwhelming. By implementing these 3 keys, you will be taking steps toward your deeper healing, and getting to the core of what is beneath your binge. The key is to practice patience and be consistent with taking action in the moment to break old patterns. 

​​These are just a few strategies to build a normal way of eating. ​If you start to put these into practice on a daily basis, you will notice small shifts in how you relate to food. 

​To learn more on how to become a normal eater, check out the video below to hear my story around normal eating, and the person who modeled it for me in my life.

​Overeating is something most of us have done at one time in our lives or another. It happens more often than not, especially this time of year with the holidays looming around the corner. How many times have you stuffed yourself full to the brim on Thanksgiving or ate more cookies, cake or pumpkin pie than you needed to?​​ I know I have. 

One year I ate a whole pound of black jelly beans on Christmas eve. A whole pound. Needless to say, I was up vomiting all night long from sugar poisoning. My system couldn't handle it. 

Unfortunately, holidays are not the only time people overeat. It can happen any time, and for most people it happens in the evenings during the time of transition from dinner to nighttime, when things start to wind down.

​​It can be easy to ​ingest more than a third of ​our daily calories just in the evening, and I'm talking AFTER ​dinner has already been eaten. Overeating happens very often when people sit in front of the TV and eat mindlessly. It also happens when we feel bored or {insert emotion we don't want to feel} and need to numb out.

Overeating is only a symptom of a deeper issue. When ​you start to look at WHY you overeat, you will be able to gain insight and understand your motives.

In my coaching practice, I work with all kinds of busy professionals who overeat on a regular. Evenings and weekends tend to be the most difficult times, or at parties or social gatherings. Food seems to be something that brings comfort in uncomfortable situations, or relieves boredom and bad feelings. But this often leads to a too-full-tummy and ​emotions of regret, guilt, shame...and TONS of judgement.

​Wanting to stop overeating is not as simple as making up your mind to do so. As I mentioned earlier, the overeating is merely a symptom of something deeper happening. When I was overeating, it was due to loneliness and ​hating the way I felt in my body. You would think that would stop me from eating, but as soon as I thought about restricting myself, I'd want to, and often would, eat more. It's a vicious cycle. 

​Getting curious about why and when you overeat will be one of the biggest steps you can take in this journey. Like I mentioned above, there are many reason why we overeat and it usually has ZERO to do with the food. When you find yourself in a situation where you are overeating, start to ask yourself why you are doing and what you are feeling right in th​at moment.

Instead of continuing to shovel food into your mouth, PAUSE. There is a part of you that KNOWS what is going on, even though you may not want to admit it. Unfortunately, that part tends to fly under the radar, whereas the part of you going for the food and too much of it, is way louder.

If you start to lean into your behavior with non-judgement and curiosity, you will start to be able to tune into what is really happening that is leading you to overeat.​

​One of the biggest reasons why people overeat is because they are in a rush. Everyone is SO busy and eating can feel like one more thing we have to do. People want to rush through meals to get it done, or eat at their desks so they can keep working, but this is a surefire formula to overeat.

Every time you are going to eat a meal or a snack, find somewhere quiet to sit down and enjoy your food. Make eating an experience. ​It's common for people ​to rush through eating because they feel guilt or shame around what they are eating. I used to hide in the kitchen at night when no one was around, and shove 2-3 cupcakes down my throat as fast as I could. It was almost as if I was trying to trick myself, but that never worked.

​Slowing down while you eat will allow your body to slow down and absorb the food better. You will also be able to tune into your body's satiety signals much easier. I know that when I eat at my desk while working, I eat WAY more food than I need to. And half the time, I don't even remember I ate because I plowed through it so fast. It also happens when I watch TV and eat...bag of chips...POOF!

​When I say nourish yourself, I mean more than with food. Overeating can be a by-product of not taking care of yourself and feeling nourished on a deeper level.

When you are stressed and out and overloaded, food can feel like the quickest way to change your state and bring you some other feeling. Most people don't want to admit they feel stressed or overwhelmed, and food is easily accessible. When you eat, dopamine is released in the body, and it feels good. Especially if you are eating something sugary, gooey or crunchy. 

This release can become addictive, and that is why so many people turn to food when they are feeling stressed, ​depleted, overwhelmed, etc. So, find other ways to nourish yourself on a deeper level in your life. Find things you love, and do those, and make sure to put it in your calendar or it will never happen. This whole self-care thing is NOT a cliché, it's one of the most important things you can do for yourself in this lifetime. Trust me.

​Most of us live in our heads all day long. Our egos run the show and tell us all the things that are wrong with us, or the things we should do or shouldn't do, especially when it comes to eating.

The diet culture is SO prominent today and it's almost the norm to be on a diet. It's the first thing people turn to when they feel as though they need to lose weight or have been eating "bad."  It creates massive disconnection and mistrust of our bodies.

Your body wants to be healthy, balanced and vibrant. It's actually working really hard every day to do that, but sadly we are listening too much to what other people are telling us to eat, or the latest diet fad that is out there that we think will be the answer.  Being disconnected from our bodies is one of the biggest reasons why we overeat. We are SO in our heads all the time, we can't feel what is happening in our bodies.

Next time you eat, when you slow down (Step 2) take a deep breath and connect to your body. See how it's feeling and what it wants. Get quiet enough to listen and hear it. It is always talking to you, trust me on that. Your body doesn't want to be stuffed to the gills, it actually hates it. Your body wants to be nourished, cared for and respected. So, connect, tune in and listen. Then take your next step.

​Try these steps on for the next 7 days and see how you feel. I would love to hear your comments and insights below! 

I think most of us wish we had the Perfect Diet or the perfect way of eating that would keep us thin, fit and healthy. The problem is, there is no perfect diet, and thinking there is will likely result in consistent feelings of failure and disappointment​.

Living in black and white thinking and all-or-nothing thinking are two examples of wanting to be perfect with our eating.

If you wake up every day and vow to start over, or eat perfectly, or restrict yourself in some way, then I can guarantee you are going to be disappointed in yourself at the end of the day, or maybe by the time breakfast is over. [Yikes]

Boy oh Boy, do I remember those days. Yep, I admit it, I'm a recovering perfect eater who was in the search of The Perfect Diet. I thought having the perfect diet would be the answer to all the issues I was facing with food and my body. Little did I know that it kept me stuck in a vicious, yo-yo cycle for years.

Anytime I would get off track, or not eat "perfectly," I would consider myself a failure, and throw all my healthy eating efforts right out the window. I'd take a huge (not intentional) pendulum swing to the other side and go off the rails. Can you say cupcakes?? And shame....?

You see, there is no such thing as a perfect diet. There is no such thing as being a perfect eater. ​Th​inking that there is will set you up to feel a whole heckuva lot of frustration, disappointment, restriction and ZERO balance.

It's hard to know why we behave this way with food. Sometimes it's linked to weight loss, sometimes it's link to body image, sometimes it's linked to wanting to be healthy.

Most of the time, it's linked to needing to feel a sense of control in our lives over something.

​Make a list of all the rules you have around food. Every single one.

 Here are a few examples of ones I had:

• I can't eat carbs
• I can't eat sugar
• I can't eat after 7pm
• Cupcakes are BAD
• Candy is BAD
• I can only eat candy on the weekends
• I can NEVER eat candy
• I will only eat salads for the next 10 days
• I am giving up chips forever

​Choose one of those rules, the one that feels the easiest to let go of, and tell yourself you are going to practice letting it go for the next 5 days. Every time you catch yourself wanting to believe whatever you tell yourself about that food, say out loud, "I'm letting that go...." Observe what happens.

Food rules keep us stuck. They are loaded with judgement which is shortly followed by shame. We can never feel successful if we have a ton of food rules that we aren't able to follow.

Often when we let go of the tight reins we have on certain foods they lose their pull, meaning it's very possible we might not want it as much ​when it's no longer forbidden. You get the idea.

​Check in with your Body. 

So many of us are completely disconnected from our bodies and what they need. We get ourselves into trouble by listening to our minds, which will often not make ​the best most optimal choice.

​Before you eat, pause. Ask yourself what you are needing. Check in with your body. Connect with a deep breath. Are you even hungry? If so, what would feel good. If you aren't hungry, what are you needing? Wait for the answer, and then make the next best choice from that place.​

​Sadly we all-too-often listen to our minds ​which will usually overrule the subtle sensations of the body. Our body, at it's core, wants to be healthy and balanced, but our mind, behaviors and patterning have different ideas for us.

You can break these patterns and behaviors that have been ingrained for a long time, you have to do it in the moment, consistently by making a different choice then the one you've always made. 

By connecting to your body each time you go toward food, you will start to shift this pattern and eventually break it.

​Needing to be perfect in any sense of the word is detrimental to our self-esteem and well-being. Perfectionism keeps us stuck and disconnected from our authentic truth. It also keeps us distant from others; it creates a suit of armor around us.

​Let yourself be OK with not being perfect. Remove the judgements, cut yourself some slack and give yourself permission to start living in a way that feels authentic, joyful and connected.

​Try out these 3 awesome steps and see what starts to change in your relationship with food, and yourself. Give up the need to have the Perfect Diet and see what your body chooses instead. I think you will be pleasantly surprise. And always know that you are doing your best, no matter what! 

Check out my video below to hear my Whoopie Pie Story and how I was stuck in Perfect Eating for years.