Ditch the Diet - Become a Mindful Eater

Diets are frustrating. Constant weighing and calorie counting can seem daunting. Staying on a diet requires discipline, which only stretches so far. What happens after you reach your weight loss goal and "Life happens?" Most of my clients have been on countless diets throughout their lives. After they reached their goal weight, the weight cycling and yo-yo effect started again for many.

How does Mindful Eating fit into all of this? I believe that Mindful Eating is part of a much larger umbrella, which we can call Mindful Living. Mindfulness can apply to all areas of your life, from becoming aware of our energy and stress levels, to the quality of our relationships, our sense of purpose, and lastly what to eat and how we feed our bodies.

Mindful Living incorporates living with intention and being present. It takes practice to not dwell on the past or tense against the future. Living in the NOW is a skill worth practicing... staying awake and aware of our true needs, our stress levels, our boundaries, our sense of fulfillment, our connection to others and more. *Take a look at the image below and see if it resonates with you. I created the Emotional Eating Iceberg visual to help clients understand which emotions drive them to turn to food when they aren't physically hungry.

Diets fail (in most cases) when emotional eating is not addressed. When food has taken on the role of "mood regulator" we can't just rip the emotional bandaid off and expect someone to follow a strict diet.

Behavior always makes sense. When a client has coped with anxiety or stress for many years, my job as their counselor is to support them in establishing new self-soothing rituals, which will replace the powerful ritual of eating to cope (or take the edge off) over time. The therapeutic goal is to go to the core need and bring compassion to the fact that food has helped the client survive emotionally.

As you can see, the therapeutic approach has many layers. I love supporting my clients in living a more balanced life and creating a lighter existence for themselves - both physically and emotionally. It is my mission and my calling to help former yo-yo dieters find peace with their body and have a relaxed and healthy relationship with food - for the rest of their lives.

I offer a complimentary initial consultation. Please reach out to me to schedule a phone or Zoom meeting so we can assess whether we are a "good match" for this deep, gentle and meaningful work. I look forward to hearing from you.

With compassion,

Petra