Early ulcers as a child led to a lifelong need to control what Hannah ate. Together with Lisa, she takes us through her journey from developing an eating disorder to relapse, pregnancy, exercise addiction, and a devastating back injury. Chronic pain and the work of Nicole Sachs led her to realize she was still using food to replace her feelings and she began the intense work of finding freedom.

Topics include:

[2:30] A childhood illness and growing up with a sister who modeled were contributors to an early awareness of food and her body. The way we react to our parents/caregivers and their involvement in our upbringing. Embracing and accessing her inner child.

[16:18] Feeling lucky to be thin but knowing that puberty was just around the corner. Eighth grade formal and trying to fit into a dress was the beginning of a 10 year eating disorder. Not getting the reaction she wanted when she finally told her mom.

[28:31] Discovering a flyer for a bulimia study while in college, finding healing through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CPT Coach, the app Hannah recommended, can be downloaded at https://mobile.va.gov/app/cpt-coach

[36:53] After falling in love with an ROTC cadet, Hannah moved from Philadelphia PA to Oklahoma to marry him. Wedding preparations prompted a relapse of her eating disorder, but becoming pregnant shortly afterwards was the final motivator she needed to truly commit to making a difference, at least until the baby was born.

[45:37] Exercise became her next addiction, taking an extreme toll on her physical and emotional health. Excessive protein and fiber wrecked her digestive system, and ignoring her body’s limits eventually led to a drastic back injury.

[55:48] Joining the group coaching program and the impact it had on her. The community connection made a huge difference and helped her discover herself more fully. The necessity of addressing spirituality in your relationship with yourself.

There is still room for the September group coaching program! Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

The first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat is happening this September in gorgeous San Diego! Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

At long last, a highly requested topic is discussed on the Out of the Cave pod! This week Lisa talks about intuitive eating and compares the principles set forth in the book of the same title by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch with the idea of truly intuitive, instinctual eating and understanding of yourself as a spiritual being in a physical body.

Topics include:

[4:06] Belief systems in relation to food and our body. The two different kinds of “intuitive eating” and what it can really mean for you, your body, and your relationship with food. Who it works for and who it doesn’t (and why you are one or the other).

[14:31] The challenge of intuitive eating when it’s not just about getting out of diet culture, it’s about the emotional reliance on and addiction to food. The relationship between overeating and restricting (whether mentally or physically).

[28:29] Feelings and trauma are held inside our body. The importance of creating safety in order to achieve embodiment. Understanding the entanglement of the emotional and the physical.

[34:41] All foods have equal moral value. There is still varying nutritional and neurobiological value, but it’s not about shame vs pride, good vs bad, safety vs danger.

[46:12] Forming realistic expectations around the presence food will have in our life. Digging deeper into the goal that so many people start with that is not wanting to think about food ever.

[54:42] The way intuitive eating needs to be mindful of all the different aspects of our selves. The difference between trusting yourself and knowing yourself.

[1:02:18] Authenticity vs attachment, our true self in all its complicated and emotional glory. Embracing the deeper levels of understanding ourselves. Going deeper than just eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full.

[1:11:36] Outsourcing to your higher self. Letting all the parts of yourself say their piece and then making the decision that aligns with the kind of person you want to be.

Join us for a Community Reflection and Integration call following our 21 day journal challenge! Get all the details at https://www.outofthecave.health/event-details/community-reflection-integration-call

There is still room for the September group coaching program! Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

The first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat is happening this September in gorgeous San Diego! Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

Sherene has been a part of the group coaching program, as well as the alumni aftercare group. Today she shares with us her experience with multiple childhood moves, yo-yo dieting, body dysmorphia, and taking back the power to make decisions in her life.

Topics include:

[4:25] Sherene’s earliest memories about her body, experiencing a growing awareness of her body and shape. Learning how to be a human being and what society’s acceptable standards are. Feeling out of place as a tween following a big move to a rural public school.

[17:14] Becoming more aware of food as a pre-teen and teen. The way other people factor into our relationship with our body. Self-medicating by using food as a numbing agent.

[24:43] Expressing herself through artistic and creative outlets as a teenager but still feeling out of place. Falling in and out of various diets and health fads while watching her mom go through Weight Watchers. The impact body dysmorphia and perception has on what we experience as reality.

[33:45] Canceling plans and making choices based on how she felt about her body. The way that our brains tell us we can’t do something and takes away our power to make a choice based on what feels safe or unsafe. The difference between uncomfortable and unsafe and the ongoing daily practice of conscious awareness.

[41:53] Making the decision in her 40s to be more aware of how she feels and embrace the holistic mind-body-soul system. Asking ourselves how we really want our lives to be and beginning to move toward making that a reality.

[49:02] Looking for a spiritual solution, an initial interest in the Gabriel Method, and finding Lisa. Realizing that a diet wasn’t what she needed, it was a full holistic overhaul. Finding safety in the OOTC community, growing on every group call, and allowing herself to be more open.

[1:04:09] Sherene’s biggest takeaways from being in group. Being aware and allowing, letting go of our resistance to reality.

Join us for a Community Reflection and Integration call following our 21 day journal challenge! Get all the details at https://www.outofthecave.health/event-details/community-reflection-integration-call

There is still room for the September group coaching program! Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

The first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat is happening this September in gorgeous San Diego! Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

Ilona found Lisa through the Omega Institute and was so inspired by her journey that she joined the Out of the Cave team after going through group coaching! Today she shares her experience of growing up feeling completely disconnected and dissociated from her body as a result of trauma. Ilona and Lisa discuss when weight loss feels unsafe, the impact of trauma in our relationships with food and our bodies, and allowing yourself to speak your truth.

Topics include:

[5:40] Food as comfort from a very young age. Going with her mom to Weight Watchers around 7 or 8, personal perceptions of weight versus looking back at pictures with a more realistic mindset. Growing into a hyperawareness of body image during the normal changes that come with puberty and adolescence. “Fat is safe” as a response to trauma.

[13:29] “This is my body and we’re not friends.” Weight loss felt unsafe when it did occur, such as experiencing unwanted attention from a male coworker. Living in your head instead of living in your body - that sense of disconnect and dissociation from your physical self.

[22:40] The impact of trauma on our relationships with our selves and our bodies. Dissociating as a form of self protection.

[27:46] Discovering John Gabriel and the Gabriel Method, eventually leading her to connect with Lisa. Coming home fired up and ready to make the changes and the risk of immediate burnout from making too many changes at once.

[38:22] Joining group coaching, finding connection and support through shared trauma in food. The nerves and anxiety of wanting to share but holding back, concerned about how your authentic self and truth might be received by others. Moving into a space where she could allow herself to dress her body in bright colors and styles she wouldn’t have worn before.

[48:12] Embodiment and connection with others in our journey toward safety. Accepting your current body the way it is. The exhaustion of experiencing emotions and allowing yourself to seek refuge in friendship.

[57:51] Validating your own frustration about a lot of the unhelpful advice about dieting and losing weight from people who don’t understand that it’s not about food. Understanding that it’s about emotional progress, not about the number on the scale or the measurements of your body.

The 21 Day Journal Challenge is starting today, Monday July 25th! Take this opportunity to set a daily journaling practice with the support of a an energetic and understanding community. Learn more at https://outofthecave.health/journal-challenge

Early Bird pricing for September group coaching program is available now! Get $500 off your registration until July 31st. Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat in gorgeous San Diego! Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Jen’s journey began by listening to this very podcast! After going through the group program and aftercare (the alumni group), she’s here on the pod that started it all for her. Jen is a scientist in the field of cancer research, a wife and mom, and she struggled for years with losing and gaining weight until she finally discovered Out of the Cave through a friend. Together, Jen and Lisa discuss the relationship between body, identity, and culture, the journey of allowing and discovering, and how all your relationships change as you do this work.

Topics include:

[6:45] The early years of Jen’s childhood. Grocery shopping with her mom was a bonding activity and she loved cooking, but she and her brother were left on their own while both parents worked which often left them feeling lonely. The difference between ‘innocent’ and ‘harmless.’

[13:19] Struggling with her Filipina identity growing up in America, not looking like a ‘typical’ Filipina. Minimizing herself to avoid attracting the attention of bullies. The relationship between body, identity, and culture. Growing up with judgmental parents who focus on flaws.

[18:24] Age 8-18, food brought her happiness and became a reliable companion. Feeling the pressure to look a certain way to be accepted by her peers.

[23:49] After reaching her highest weight in college in response to the confusion and discomfort of her parents’ separation, Jen spent 16 years on Weight Watchers to try and get her weight under control. Realizing that she was gaining confidence from her boyfriends, from their compliments and their attention.

[33:18] Examining the belief that we exist now as a ‘before’ picture and that once we become the ‘after’ picture, we can stay there. But as human beings, we are in our bodies every day until we die - it doesn’t end or stop, change is a constant in our lives.

[35:44] Discovering the Out of the Cave podcast and connecting to the brain science that filled in the missing pieces from her history with Weight Watchers and therapy. Building an understanding of what actually caring for your whole self looks like, not just your physical self.

[43:07] Lisa’s recollection of Jen’s first emails. Jen’s experiences upon gaining new tools from the podcast and group coaching. The way her relationship with her husband and her kids has changed just from the way she talks to them.

[50:10] The shift in awareness that came about from learning the reason WHY we think, say, and do certain things. Challenging limiting beliefs, recognizing your humanity, meeting your own needs.

[1:02:23] Desiring and manifesting a deeper level of relationships. What it means to be out of the cave as a spiritual being having a physical experience. Making the decision to end the cycle.

[1:08:09] Allowing yourself to be open and truthful and authentic. Learning to put yourself first. Understanding the way everything that came before impacts your present day.

The 21 Day Journal Challenge is starting on Monday July 25th! Take this opportunity to set a daily journaling practice with the support of a an energetic and understanding community. Learn more at https://outofthecave.health/journal-challenge

Early Bird pricing for September group coaching program is available! Get $500 off your registration until July 31st. Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat! Today and tomorrow, July 4th and 5th, 10% of all ticket sales are being donated to Home Start, a local San Diego agency dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse through early intervention and support. Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

This week we have former client Monica joining us on the pod! She recently completed the 14 week group coaching program and is here today to share more about internalizing the voices of others and how to heal from that. She and Lisa discuss the importance of having a supportive community while doing this work, as well as building an awareness of when you are perpetuating abuse against yourself.

Topics include:

[2:40] Food and its role in early childhood trauma. The role external figures play in creating our inner voice around food when we aren’t old enough to have authority and autonomy. They’re not our thoughts to begin with but we internalize them and believe that they’re our own.

[11:29] Monica’s decades long journey from experiencing an industrial accident that led her to the work of Nicole Sachs and then to Lisa. How awareness around food and emotions is built gradually, Monica’s fears but internal desperate desire to do something different upon beginning the group coaching program.

[19:12] Changing your reality only comes through action - actively making different choices than you have in the past. Unfamiliarity prompts fear in the brain, but only by moving through that fear can we make the change we want. Fear of sharing and being vulnerable in group was an initial concern but became one of the biggest benefits for Monica.

[27:10] Authenticity over attachment, learning to express your truth rather than live your life according to your perception of what other people want or think. The importance of a healing community to help you practice this. The shift that comes when you become aware of your limiting beliefs.

[39:00] Since going through the group program, one of Monica’s biggest life shifts has been living in eating regularly, after learning about atypical anorexia. Prioritizing overall wellness rather than focusing only on how much or how little you eat.

[50:09] Building an awareness of when you are perpetuating abuse against yourself. Taking back the power to set the course for our own lives.

Early Bird pricing for September group coaching program is available! Get $500 off your registration until July 31st. Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat! Today and tomorrow, July 4th and 5th, 10% of all ticket sales are being donated to Home Start, a local San Diego agency dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse through early intervention and support. Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

THANK YOU to every single person who took the time to listen to last week’s pod. We received more feedback than ever before, and your texts, emails, comments, and DMs made a huge impression. Sometimes the most important thing is just knowing that you’re not alone, and that your struggle is echoed by so many others around the world. Thank you so much for all your support and kindness, and I hope that you also feel all of the love that our community is putting out into the world. ❤️

Today Lisa continues the conversation about relapse and recovery and shares the moments in her life that taught her the greatest lessons.

Topics include:

[6:34] Turning 25 the month after Lisa’s dad passed and how she learned to survive without him. How one moment showed her that she could survive feeling so much emotion that she thought she would die.

[17:00] Working with similar deep emotion and trauma with another coach. The way her body tried to distract her from the feelings by being physically cold, and how accepting that physical sensation opened up the emotional sensations.

[23:30] How do we not get distracted by body image or weight gain or food when the emotional issue is the true source? Recognizing what your body or mind needs in order to express and release the emotions you’re holding onto.

[31:05] Getting to the root of our conditioning - feeling happy or feeling comfortable allllll the time is not a realistic expectation for ourselves and it’s not what life is like. Getting into our bodies and into stillness to understand what those feelings are trying to tell us.

[41:00] Even as a child, Lisa didn’t feel like an emotional eater - eating in response to feeling emotions. Her emotional eating was preemptive, helping her ignore that the feelings were happening at all. This can be food, work, exercise, anything that we can focus on that isn’t our emotions.

[45:23] The “did do” vs “didn’t do” list. The temptation to return to old habits and disordered eating.

Early Bird pricing for September group coaching program is available! Get $500 off your registration until July 31st. Apply now at https://www.outofthecave.health/work-with-me

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat! Today and tomorrow, July 4th and 5th, 10% of all ticket sales are being donated to Home Start, a local San Diego agency dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse through early intervention and support. Get your ticket now at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

After a recent upheaval in her life, Lisa experienced a relapse in her relationship with food, dealing with emotions by eating and feeling like she needed food to survive. Despite the intense shame and fear, she was able to use years of doing the work to help herself out of it, but it wasn’t easy. Alé Cardinalle returns to the podcast to interview Lisa about these recent changes in her life, how to deal with intense emotions and fear, and what relapse actually means. Together they connect the lessons from several past episodes to create a fuller picture of what living with disordered eating and struggles with food actually means.

Topics include:

[4:50] Life changes and upheaval contributing to a relapse of old fears and ways of thinking, using food as an emotional survival tool.

[13:30] Experiencing fear of ‘will it be like this forever’ alongside the desire to give yourself grace and understand that some days are more difficult than others. Allowing yourself to feel the fear but not believe what it’s telling you.

[21:56] Not making meaning out of the thoughts and feelings you experience. What to do when feeling shame even after years of doing the work, because that’s what our brains think we’re supposed to do.

[34:26] Reminding ourselves that the end goal is not to be a certain way all the time, because that’s just not realistic. When emotion interferes with intuitive eating, self compassion vs. fear.

[44:24] When you’re not eating food to taste it, you’re eating as a way of escaping your experience. So how do you stop and realign? How spiritual fitness fits into recovery and resilience during recovery.

[59:37] Fear vs. truth, feeling scared that the cycle would begin again and it would last the rest of her life this time, but simultaneously knowing that it wouldn’t be easy forever. What if this IS the most afraid you’ve ever been?

[1:07:24] The beginning of coming out of the relapse, talking to Caroline Lee Dewey during a period of regression when Lisa’s own inner child was throwing a full blown tantrum. Letting yourself acknowledge that you need human connection when you don’t feel like it and you don’t want to.

[1:20:14] Human beings constantly experience stress and emotions, things which constantly influence our interactions with food. Investigating and unpacking the truth of ‘intuitive’ eating.

[1:29:57] Our bodies are our literal homes. When it changes without our permission or conscious thought, it can feel terrifying.

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat! Get all the details at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

Caroline Lee Dewey is a transformational coach, healer, medium, all around amazing human being, AND one of our amazing guests for the Out of the Cave and Into Your Power Retreat happening in San Diego this September. We are so thrilled to welcome her onto the podcast, where she shares with Lisa and with you her story, the aspects of healing, her definition of spirituality, and so much more.

Topics include:

[6:00] Meeting each other through the Omega retreat with Nicole Sachs and passing on messages from Lisa’s recently deceased father within hours of being introduced. The influence Caroline had on Lisa’s integration of spiritual modalities in her own work.

[25:10] How the circumstances we’re born into affect our lives. Being born into the grief of losing two grandfathers in a very short time and how that led Caroline to take on responsibility for other people’s emotions. Developing intense anxiety as she went into her teens began to affect her appetite and morphed into a self-punishing mechanism.

[35:44] Losing her social network upon going to college, admittance to psychiatric programs, how everything she learned and everything that helped led her back to herself and embracing authenticity.

[40:46] Moving from absence to presence (ex. the absence of pain and fear into the presence of joy and love). Using food and physical discomfort and body issues as a way of distracting from emotional and spiritual upheaval instead of making space for those feelings.

[54:15] Integration and what it means for our lives - mind, soul, and body. The role that intuition plays in rediscovering ourselves and our spirituality.

[1:04:05] Now what? How to take these new realizations and start integrating that into our lives and our practices. The somatic component of healing and self-expression, where all the different parts of ourselves come together into a whole being.

Connect with Caroline!

www.carolineleedewey.com

Facebook and Instagram: @carolineleedewey

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat! Get all the details at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos

One of Lisa’s early clients, Kristen is not alone in being unable to recall the early years of her life in relation to food. Under pressure to keep the peace in the family, get good grades, and participate in sports, she turned to food unknowingly as an emotional coping tool.

Topics include:

[8:20] Kristen was the peace keeper in her family, under an immense amount of pressure to bring home good grades and participate in sports. Food and reading and schoolwork became things she could immerse herself in to escape from what she was feeling and what was happening around her.

[19:30] The decade after high school saw a continuing trend of weight gain as Kristen entered college younger than her peers. She and Lisa relate to each other over the feeling of needing to be perfect in the things that are accessible for them.

[31:49] Having her child and realizing that she wasn’t setting the example she wanted to be giving her young son prompted Kristen to seek help when she connected with Lisa in her mid-40s. The feelings of shame and fear that got in her way for so long before pushing through to take that first step in reaching out about starting the work together.

[45:10] The most impactful memories from Kristen’s one on one sessions with Lisa in the early days of the program. The everyday changes that Kristen began to see through doing the work. Allowing herself to deal with her emotions in ways that will honestly feel good to her body, brain, and soul.

[58:20] Moving into the pandemic and experiencing extreme stress brought old habits back, but her awareness and acceptance of what was happening kept her present and allowed her to move through that time while maintaining self-compassion. Kristen ended up returning to join Lisa’s group coaching and learned even more from a new communal healing experience.

[1:09:45] How approaching your healing as part of a community helps us be more honest and more authentic. The never-ending journey of extending yourself compassion and love, accepting the ebb and flow that each day brings.

Join the first ever Out of the Cave and Into Your Power retreat! Get all the details at https://www.outofthecave.health/retreat

Become a Member of the Out of the Cave Online Community - Includes Two Live Coaching Calls Monthly

https://www.outofthecave.health/membership

Email Lisa - We welcome questions, comments and feedback!

[email protected]

Out of the Cave Merch - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10

https://www.outofthecave.health/shop

Socials

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisa.schlosberg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthecavellc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lees325/videos