People often think that as a food & wellness coach I spend my days telling people what to eat. Because if we want to lose weight or get healthier, it's all about the food right? Yes and no.
In my experience, excess weight is a symptom of imbalance occurring somewhere in a person’s life. There are so many factors that influence body weight, in addition to the food we eat. Metabolism, heredity, hormonal makeup, lifestyle, predisposition to stress and your relationship to food all have an impact.
Two of the factors we have the greatest ability to influence are the food we put in our mouths, and our relationship with food and wellness.
So yes, there's often some guidance around food to ensure that my clients know how to sift through the dietary misinformation out there and nourish themselves well. And for some people this is all they need.
But for many people I work with, the path to a healthier, happier life almost always involves some kind of journey into their inner world. Because we are so much more than our physical bodies.
You see, you will never heal your relationship with food or balance your weight from a place of self-criticism and judgement - and yet that’s the basis of the entire diet industry. It's a recipe for disaster that sets people up to fail.
And it’s no secret. Extensive research shows that restrictive dieting practices almost always end up in more weight gain in the end. Yet they keep offering dieting as the solution.
Instead, when you learn to recognise and acknowledge your emotions, question your limiting beliefs, and choose kinder, more compassionate ways of being with yourself, the results are exponential. This journey is unique for each of us, and involves tuning in to YOU. This is key, because no-one know more about what you need than you do.
A skilled coach or therapist can assist you in learning to tune back in to your body, your emotions and your innermost desires, so that your choices reflect what you really want, deep down, for yourself and your life. They reflect what matters to YOU.
It’s powerful stuff.
You see, often, when you bring your relationship to food and your body into alignment, other areas in your life come into alignment too. The result is that you begin to experience a feeling of freedom from constantly thinking about food and your body. You experience more joy. Feel more at peace in your own skin. More filled with love for yourself and others.
And so, taking care of yourself becomes easy. You want to make nourishing choices because of how good they feel.
Yes, my clients experience weight loss, if that’s what their bodies need. But it comes as a side effect of loving themselves better, not from punishing themselves. It’s a reflection that things are coming into balance.