Nina’s Intuitive Eating Experience [Workshop Discount Ends Jan. 3!]

I know how tempting it is in January to jump on the diet, detox or deprivation bandwagon. Instead, what if you resolved to make peace with food and your body this year?

How would it feel to liberate yourself from our oppressive, toxic diet culture—one that makes you feel ashamed of your weight and what you ate, causes physical and psychological damage, and distracts you from more meaningful, fulfilling life pursuits?

Intuitive Eating can help.

While you can read all about this proven approach here, it's helpful to hear what other people's experience with Intuitive Eating has been like.

Nina's Experience
Here’s what one of my clients, Nina, has to say:

“Renee’s Intuitive Eating Workshop has made a huge impact on my life. Prior to the workshop, I was stuck on a 3+ year diet-binge-diet cycle. I used food to cope with a stressful job and cross-country move and as a result gained weight.

I started bouncing from one fad diet to another and eventually became preoccupied with food. I also began binge eating whenever I “failed” at following a new diet precisely. It was a miserable experience. 

With the help of Renee’s workshop, I have slowly learned how to reject the diet mentality, allow my internal cues to guide my eating choices and better identify when I am using food to cope with uncomfortable emotions. As a result, my preoccupation with food and my binge eating have diminished significantly.

Moreover, I have been able to shift my focus from food and eating to other parts of my life such as my relationships, finding a new job and other life goals. 

I really think anyone living in today’s diet-obsessed world could benefit from taking such a workshop.”

Nina's experience demonstrates that, with patience, compassion, curiosity and support, it is possible to break free from diet culture.

Liberate Yourself
If you’re ready to finally make peace with food and your body, check out my private coaching program and upcoming workshop (early bird discount ends January 3!).

5 Gifts to Give Yourself this Holiday Season

If you’re desiring a more peaceful, loving, trusting and relaxed relationship with food and your body, here are five gifts to consider giving yourself this holiday season.

1/ Wear Comfortable Clothing
You know those holiday party clothes in your closet that haven’t fit comfortably in years, if ever? Get rid of them. 

Instead, buy, borrow or rent an outfit that fits your here-and-now body—one that makes you feel fabulous instead of frustrated. 

2/ Smash Your Scale
It’s so easy to let the number on your scale define you, to dictate how you feel about yourself and determine how you go about your day.

By smashing your scale, you're reclaiming your power from a worthless piece of junk that’s completely incapable of measuring your innate worth and overall wellbeing.

Of course, you can donate your scale; however, it’s a lot more fun to smash it! Just be sure to wear safety goggles.

3/ Silence Your Food Grinch
Silence the Grinch (a.k.a. the Food Police) in your head that says you’re being bad and will have to pay for eating all the yummy holiday fare.

Unless you stole the food or harmed someone to get it, there is absolutely no reason to feel bad, guilty or ashamed about your food choices. Nor do you ever have to make up for your eating. 

(For more holiday Intuitive Eating tips, click here.)

4/ Take Timeouts
Despite all the delight the holidays bring, the season can be quite stressful. When you’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to become disconnected from your body and its needs. 

Strive to take regular timeouts for rejuvenating, centering self-care, whether it’s going for a walk, soaking in the tub, meditating by the fire, or getting lost in a book. 

You can also try my number-one holiday stress buster.

5/ Ditch Dieting
Resolve to not jump on the dieting bandwagon come January. And when I say dieting, I mean any plan or program with a bunch of rules and restrictions. 

Diets erode your ability to trust your body and your instincts, and negatively impact your physical and psychological wellbeing. Plus, they suck all the joy out of eating and living.

Beyond the Holidays
If you want to give yourself the gift of a more peaceful relationship with food and your body that lasts well beyond the holidays, consider my private coaching program and upcoming Intuitive Eating Workshop (early bird enrollment ends January 3!). 

Nourishing My Soul in Jordan

I just returned from traveling around Jordan for a few weeks.

It was a very memorable adventure, especially hiking in the prehistoric city of Petra, one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites.

The act of travel feeds my soul on such a deep level that food often becomes a secondary form of nourishment.

This also happens when I’m immersed in other pleasurable pursuits, such as reading a captivating book, strolling in the park or losing myself in a creative project.

Lack of Soul Food
When you don't regularly engage in soul-satisfying endeavors—whether it’s traveling, singing, dancing, drawing, gardening, volunteering or communing with Mother Nature—your life can become pleasure deficient.

As a result, you can become over-reliant on food to fulfill your inherent desire and need for pleasure.

Of course, food should be a tremendous source of pleasure. Problems can arise, however, when it becomes your only source of pleasure.

If you struggle with food obsession, cravings, emotional eating or overeating, consider if your life is lacking "soul food." 

Jot down a list of everything that feeds your soul and gives you genuine pleasure, then reflect on how frequently you engage with each item listed. If rarely, consider what needs to change so you’re experiencing more pleasure in your daily life.

Although there are many reasons for food preoccupation, cravings, emotional eating and overeating, once you start nourishing your soul with more pleasurable pursuits—the things that make you feel truly alive, energized and free—you may discover you rely less on food to enrich your life.

This has been true for me and for many of my clients. It certainly can be for you, too.