Today’s episode is a recording of my recent masterclass, Hello Food Freedom! I discuss my own history with disordered eating and give you practical tools you can use to kick-start your own journey out of emotional eating.

I always used to feel like my external world and physical body didn’t match who I was on the inside- a strong bad-ass. I felt misaligned. Growing up, I was really short (I'm still short) and all my friends were tall. All my friends were “sticks” and I was the athletic build. I never felt like I fit in. I was also taught from an early age that feelings are weak. I didn’t cry. I didn’t express emotion. Instead, I ate. Food was the accessible thing for me. It helped me cope with hard things. It helped me soothe and helped me numb out. Food was the one thing that always had my back. And then I got sucked into dieting culture. Restrictive eating. Dieting culture taught me that skinny equaled happy. I broke free and now I teach women to do the same.

Top Takeaways

You are good enough right now. Generally, emotional and disordered eating is not about the food. It's your beliefs and conditioning that have held you back from reaching your goals and potentials. Through societal conditioning, you’ve been led to believe that being smaller means you are worthy. That is not true. You are worthy and deserving and good enough right now. Make this a mantra in your life: I am good enough. I am deserving.

You are conditioning your truth.

You can start living your life right now and you can start putting yourself out there right now.

Listen to your body and its needs. You're in a partnership. Your body is always trying to reach homeostasis and it will tell you what it values and what it needs. We can then learn to trust it, instead of fearing it and trying to control it. Listen to your inner child and ask her what she needs. Listen to your hunger cues. Are you eating for hunger? Or something else?

Change the language you use. It's a really small shift but it makes so much difference. You can use tools like mantras, affirmations, visualization, breath, work, meditation or  journaling. Tell yourself every day things like “My body loses weight naturally and easily” “I eat enough to maintain a healthy body weight” “I eat for hunger and health, not to avoid feeling.” It might sound cheesy but it works.

Food freedom is about finding the middle ground. All foods are good foods. Some foods are good for your physical health. Some foods are good for your mental and emotional health, but they're all important as part of the overall health. Listening to your body's needs is the middle ground. The goal is to stop dieting and to start giving yourself permission to eat the things you love in an amount that feels good. This is about finding a balance.