Discover the fascinating science behind gratitude and how it can literally change your brain chemistry to help you make better food choices. In this episode, Dara explores research from Harvard, UCLA, and other major universities showing how gratitude releases the same feel-good chemicals as comfort food - without the calories.

Key Takeaways

🔑Willpower is Limited: Like a cell phone battery, willpower depletes throughout the day

🔑Gratitude Replenishes: Shifts you from depletion to abundance state Three Before Three: Practice gratitude 3 times daily before eating

🔑Savoring Matters: Notice and appreciate good moments as they happen

🔑Foundation Change: You're not just changing one behavior, but the foundation all behaviors spring from

Try This Week The "Three Before Three" Practice:

Three times a day, before you eat anything, take 30 seconds to think of three things you're genuinely grateful for. They can be tiny things:

That you have food That you have taste buds to enjoy it

That you have people to share it with (or peace to enjoy alone)

That you have electricity, a house, warmth

Get on the waitlist for the Black Friday Offer - Cut Your Emotional Eating in Half. Hurry, spots will fill up fast! - https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/emotional-eating-course

Ready to join the lifetime membership with exclusive coaching access with Dara? Check it out here - www.daratomasson.com

Follow Dara on IG and Pinterest for more:

Instagram: @dara_tomasson

Pinterest: https://pin.it/6DkwKmfTp

Feeling that familiar knot in your stomach about Thanksgiving dinner (or any upcoming event)? Not just about family dynamics, but about the actual food?

This episode gives you practical tools to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner without the emotional food hangover - the shame, regret, and "I can't believe I did it again" feeling that can last for days. Dara walks you through her proven 4-step process to prepare for any eating event from a place of self-compassion instead of self-control.

Key Topics Covered

🗝️Why "Being Good" Before the Event Backfires

🗝️How restricting before dinner triggers scarcity mode in your brain

🗝️The "I've been good, now I can be bad" mentality trap

🗝️Why showing up hungry makes balanced eating nearly impossible

Practical Strategies Shared

Before the Event:

Eat normally - don't try to "save" calories Remember: this is one meal, not your last meal

During the Event:

Put food on a plate instead of grazing while standing

Check in with hunger and fullness during the meal

Give yourself permission to enjoy foods you want AND skip foods you don't

Have a plan for what to do with your hands during conversations

Connect with Dara

Website: https://daratomasson.com

Instagram: @dara_tomasson

Ever wonder why you keep buying fabric when you already have enough for three lifetimes? This isn't about budgeting or organizing your stash - it's about understanding what you're really shopping for.

In this episode, Dara explores the emotional drivers behind fabric shopping and how the same patterns that create overflowing fabric stashes also drive emotional eating and other distracting behaviors.

Key Topics Covered

The Real Problem: Thinking, Not Knowledge Why you don't have a knowledge problem - you have a thinking problem

How emotional distraction shows up as shopping, eating, scrolling, and staying busy

The connection between fabric shopping and emotional eating patterns

Four Emotions That Drive Fabric Shopping:

✔️Stress Relief - That gorgeous new collection feels like a promise of peace

✔️Excitement Management - Buying fabric feels like taking action on excitement ✔️Boredom/Emptiness - Shopping gives us something to focus on when feeling restless ✔️Connection Seeking - Buying what others have feels like joining the community

Are you ready to dive deeper into this? Then get in on Dara's FREE Mini Course: 12 Mini Lessons on Why We Have So Much Extra Fabric

Special November offering: Emotional Eating Course - https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/holiday-sprint

Connect with Dara:

Website: daratomasson.com Instagram: @dara_tomasson

In this episode, Dara addresses the root cause of weight struggles: our inability to process emotions healthily due to childhood conditioning that taught us feelings were dangerous or weak.

Key Topics Covered:

• Childhood emotional suppression: How messages like "If you wanna cry, I'll give you something to cry about" create adults who lack healthy emotional coping strategies

• Unhealthy vs. healthy coping strategies: Recognition that we all developed coping mechanisms - they just weren't serving us

• Body wisdom and emotional storage: Where emotions land in the body according to ancient wisdom traditions (Ayurvedic, Chinese medicine)

• Personal breakthrough story: Dara's vulnerable sharing about discovering inherited fear of success through body awareness

• The feeling process: Understanding that emotions are just vibrations from thoughts that take 10-20 seconds to process when done correctly

The Coping Strategy Revelation:

🧠A successful client realized she didn't lack coping strategies - she had many unhealthy ones:

✔️Saying yes when wanting to say no

✔️Self-criticism after mistakes

✔️Food rewards and numbing

✔️Exhausting people-pleasing ✔️Late-night phone scrolling

✔️Overeating until uncomfortable

Main Takeaways:

Weight struggles aren't about food - they're about missing emotional life skills never taught in childhood

Feelings are safe - they're just temporary body vibrations that process quickly when allowed

Your emotional style is unique - don't compare your way of feeling to others

The body keeps score - unexpressed emotions can manifest as physical symptoms and weight retention

Action Step: Notice where you feel tension or discomfort in your body and get curious about what emotion or situation might be stored there, without judgment.

Join Dara for Cut Emotional Eating in Half Over the Holidays (and Beyond) — a 2-week live experience to calm your brain, stop stress-eating, and feel confident around food. Join here - https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/holiday-sprint

In this deeply vulnerable episode, Dara explores why we resist the very tools that could transform our lives, using a client's confession about avoiding thought downloads as the starting point for understanding our patterns of self-sabotage.

Key Topics Covered:

🗝️The paradox of resistance: Why we rebel against ourselves by buying unnecessary fabric, saying yes when overwhelmed, or avoiding helpful practices

🗝️Family history revelation: Dara's discovery of her great-grandfather's traumatic childhood and how it illuminates our tendency to run from difficult emotions

🗝️The boogeyman effect: How avoidance makes problems seem bigger and more frightening than they actually are

🗝️Shame as a mushroom: Understanding how shame grows in darkness and secrecy, but loses power when brought into the light

🗝️The five pillars framework: Weight loss science, making your own eating plan, feeling feelings instead of eating them, taking 100% responsibility, and building self-confidence

Key Insights:

🔑Resistance is information - When we avoid something, it's usually because we're afraid of what we might discover

🔑Worth isn't tied to results - Your value remains 100% regardless of weight loss success or failure

🔑Vulnerability neutralizes shame - Speaking our fears aloud removes their power over us

🔑Avoidance amplifies problems - Whatever we resist grows bigger in our minds

Action Step: Identify one tool or practice you've been avoiding and ask yourself: "What am I afraid I might find?" Then gently explore that fear with curiosity rather than judgment.

Special Offer: 25-minute free coaching sessions (5 slots available in one session) to help identify sabotage patterns and create holiday success plans. Book Here

Check out my free webinars happening in October - Webinars

In this episode of the Quilter's Coach Podcast, Dara explores why food has become the "old faithful" in so many women's lives and provides a roadmap for changing this dynamic.

Key Topics Covered:

🗝️The reliability factor: Unlike relationships with people that can be unpredictable or disappointing, food provides consistent comfort and never "abandons" us

🗝️Childhood coping strategies: How early experiences with scarcity, emotional neglect, or family dysfunction create patterns where food becomes our primary emotional outlet

🗝️The counterfeit friend concept: Understanding how we use food to fill emotional needs that should be met through self-compassion, presence, and healthy coping strategies

Member success story: A powerful example of learning to eat mindfully after spousal loss, including a touching moment with a Red House Finch that appeared as a symbol of good fortune

Main Takeaways:

✔️You don't have a knowledge problem - you have a thinking problem. Most women know what to eat; they struggle with why they eat.

✔️Diets fail because they address the wrong problem. Restricting food without addressing the emotional relationship will always lead to rebounds.

✔️Food relationships are unique to each person. Whether it's the crunch of chips, the comfort of ice cream, or the companionship of popcorn during TV time, each person has specific emotional connections.

Struggling with the snacking and want some healthy alternatives? Try this Healthy Food Swap Guide

Want to try a coaching call? Dara is offering free coaching calls this month so you can get a taste of what is possible. There are a limited number of spots available so be sure to book your time slot now! This free opportunity doesn't happen often so don't miss out. Book HERE

In this deeply personal episode, Dara reveals how her childhood struggle with mathematics became the foundation for her revolutionary approach to weight loss coaching.

Key Topics Covered:

✔️The French immersion math disaster: How ambitious goals without proper fundamentals led to years of struggle and self-doubt

✔️The memorization trap: Why trying to follow steps without understanding concepts creates frustration in both math and weight loss

✔️Emotional self-preservation modes: How trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, people-please) keep us stuck in cycles of avoidance

✔️The teaching breakthrough: How becoming a math teacher finally revealed the missing fundamentals and transformed Dara's relationship with the subject

The Weight Loss Connection: Dara draws powerful parallels between struggling with math and struggling with weight loss:

✨Both involve missing fundamental skills (emotional regulation vs. mathematical concepts)

✨Both trigger shame and "I'm broken" narratives

✨Both can be solved by going back to build proper foundations

✨Both require self-compassion during the learning process

Main Takeaways:

🗝️You're not broken - you're missing fundamentals. Weight loss isn't about willpower; it's about building emotional regulation skills.

🗝️Avoidance keeps you stuck. Just like avoiding math homework, avoiding difficult feelings maintains the problem.

🗝️Curiosity beats perfectionism. The member who keeps asking for help with bread is making more progress than someone who gives up.

🗝️Small traumas create big patterns. Childhood experiences of feeling "not smart enough" can drive decades of self-sabotage.

Perfect for: Anyone who feels "broken" around food, women who've tried every diet without lasting success, and those ready to address the emotional fundamentals of weight loss rather than just the surface behaviors.

Action Step: Identify one area where you feel defeated and ask yourself: "What fundamentals might I be missing?" instead of "What's wrong with me?"

Ready to take it the next step further? Book a call with Dara or jump into her program and discover your next breakthrough! Check out all the support options HERE

Also, don't forget to sign up for the Quilter's Life Summit - a free virtual summit that runs from October 21-23, 2025. Sign up HERE

Watch this episode on YouTubeHow Hating Math Will Guarantee Your Next Breakthrough (Yes, Really)

In this transformative episode, Dara introduces "The Golden Pen" - a powerful tool for rewriting the stories that keep us stuck in cycles of self-sabotage and weight regain.

The Golden Pen Process:

Step 1 - Raw Writing: Write out your current story without judgment. Let all the victim language flow onto paper.

Step 2 - Curious Questioning: Why might others behave the way they do? Is there any truth worth examining in criticism? How would different people interpret this situation?

Step 3 - Intentional Rewriting: Consciously choose how you want to think about your circumstances, putting yourself back in the driver's seat of your life.

Main Takeaways:

✒️Everything is a story - and you get to choose which version serves you best

✒️You always get the last word because it's your life and your interpretation

✒️Perspective is power - changing how you see situations changes how you respond to them

✒️Success must be self-created - following someone else's plan won't create lasting change

Perfect for: Women who feel like victims of their circumstances, anyone stuck in repetitive self-sabotage patterns, and those ready to take ownership of their transformation journey.

Ready for more? Check out all my webinars happening in October! You don't want to miss them

And...the Quilter's Life Summit returns this fall, October 21-23, 2025! With 30 presenters, prizes and exclusive offers, you won't want to miss this event. Sign up now - Quilter's Life Summit

Watch this episode on YouTube

Have you ever bought something — a class, a program, a tool — full of hope… Only to feel regret, resentment, or disillusionment when it didn't work the way you thought it would?

You're not alone.

In this episode, Dara explores what's really going on when we feel let down by something we've invested in — and how those emotions are often rooted in a misunderstanding of what we expected from ourselves.

From quilting tools to coaching programs, from parenting regrets to free-motion quilting frustration, Dara walks you through a powerful reframing:

• Why resentment is a sign of unmet expectations

• How to label your emotions honestly so you can move through them

• The sneaky way perfectionism and victimhood can keep you stuck

• What Elizabeth Gilbert, chocolate chip cookies, and Christmas planning all have in common

• Why your emotional weight must be addressed before lasting physical change can happen

If you want to stop abandoning yourself every time something feels hard — this episode will help you turn pain into perspective, and regret into power.

Want to see the power of coaching in a free live coaching call? Grab your spot (this is a limited time offer!) - https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/sample-coaching-calls

Or if you want to take the next step and see if Dara is the right coach for you, book a free curiosity call with her -

https://connectwithdara.as.me/schedule/c1f1dcdc/appointment/26364389/calendar/6005908?appointmentTypeIds[]=26364389

Stop outsourcing your power! Learn why constantly asking "just tell me what to do" keeps you stuck in weight loss and life goals. Discover how to become your own expert and trust yourself for lasting results.

• The "How Greed" Problem - Why expert dependency kills results
• Good vs Bad Pressure - Diamonds or crushed cans?
• Member Win - From Starbucks rewards to real connection
• 5 Pillars of Permanent Weight Loss - Build your own foundation

1. Stop asking "just tell me what to do" - Build foundational knowledge instead
2. You already know how to learn - Look at your quilting/hobby skills
3. Pressure can create or destroy - Internal motivation vs external shame
4. Become your own scientist - Test, adjust, repeat with YOUR results

1. Weight Loss Science (simple basics)
2. Make Your Own Eating Plan
3. Feel Your Feelings Instead of Eating Them
4. Take Responsibility (no shame/blame)
5. Build Self-Confidence

"The more you outsource answers, the less you actually learn for yourself. When you trust others more than yourself, you never get the results you want."

• Book a Curiosity Call with Dara
• Join Love Yourself Thin and start your transformation!

Subscribe & Share if this resonated with you! New episodes every week on weight loss mindset for quilters and creative women.

Watch this episode on YouTube