Eating Disorder Recovery, A Cancer Diagnosis and Finding Greater Meaning and Purpose, with Cindy Spratt

Today I’m talking to Cindy Spratt, who's a holistic & functional nutritionist that specialises in eating disorder recovery. Cindy speaks about an all-encompassing approach that teaches fundamentals of nutrition, listening to the body, learning how to respect and love the body, and rebuilding a loving and joyful relationship with food, so that people can thrive long term and feel good about food and in their body.

Cindy has been on her own healing journey. As a young girl she loved being in the kitchen and creating and connecting through food. Her first job was at a local tea house, aged 11, and with a local catering company soon after.

Throughout her teenage years, however, Cindy’s relationship with food morphed into something different. She spent almost a decade as a competitive gymnast, where weight and body image were of heightened focus. When the time came to step away from gymnastics, the drastic drop in exercise, along with puberty and the complex mental/emotional challenges of adolescence, her once loving, and rather normal relationship with food, was replaced by something deeply dysfunctional.

From Cindy’s teens well into her twenties, her food journey became her biggest struggle. She found herself in the throes of bingeing and purging, starving, dieting, over-exercising, and popping pills. She describes the shame and guilt that engulfed her during those years as devastating, and the loneliness, unbearable.

In her mid-twenties, Cindy came to the realisation that her health was suffering, that there was more to her than an eating disorder, and more to this life than struggle. Determined to find a way to bring back her love of food and turn her life’s journey into something positive, she aligned herself to a new path and began to look to the health world for guidance.

And then…Cindy’s life was turned upside down

At 32, as a young wife and mother, and well on her way to being fully recovered from the eating disorder, doctors found a cancerous tumor in her colon. She endured a life altering colon resection and was advised to endure several rounds of chemo.

Opting out of chemo, Cindy set out to up her health game. She went back to school, turned to exercise for therapy, and opened up her spirit to life’s teachings.

What she found was a calling: to help others find their own positive food journey and to be the help she didn’t have when she was younger.

Since then, Cindy has spent years in school becoming a nutritional enthusiast, a kitchen muse, and a food and body advocate, receiving certifications in Holistic Nutrition, Functional Nutrition, Culinary Nutrition, Eating Psychology, and Eating Disorder Recovery Coaching. Her kitchen is now a joyful and creative space, once again. She has learned how to listen to her body, reuniting it with athleticism, dance, and the wondrous outdoors.

Cindy’s life story with food has taught her endless lessons: to embrace every moment with gratitude and compassion, to listen to life’s teachings, and that believing in oneself is half the battle. She hopes to pass this along to others.

In the episode today, Cindy explores her healing journey with food, and the ups and downs along this tumultuous path. She talks about getting started in recovery with nutrition and also shares some of her best tips for addressing psychology and a bigger picture of recovery. It's an inspiring episode and I hope that you enjoy it.

To find out more about Cindy: -

Website: - https://www.cindyspratt.com/

Instagram: - @cindysprattnutrition

This week's sponsor:-

Conquering Bulimia https://www.conqueringbulimia.com/

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course with Harriet Frew - 50% off with code FREEDOMISPOSSIBLE

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

 20% off course until 31st January 2024 with code LOV