Psychology of Eating

If you're of a certain age, you've probably noticed that young people – teenagers, especially – have a strong need for approval from others.  Young adults want to fit in and feel accepted, a natural desire that is part of our normal developmental process at this stage of life. Feeling that we belong helps us to grow and expand, and gives us the confidence to explore our world.  As we grow older, however, people can become unknowingly stuck at this developmental stage. And when this happens – life can get miserable pretty quick. Left unchecked, we may never outgrow our desire for acceptance. In fact, this need may even increase, creating intense worry as we obsess over whether others like and approve of us. This can take many forms, but frequently shows up in our relationship with our weight and appearance. When we continue to solicit outside approval into middle-age and beyond, we find ourselves unable to find the gifts that are available to us at this stage of life – gifts that are discovered when we defer to the one opinion that truly matters: our own. When we reach our 40s and beyond, life is calling on us to once and for all love and value ourselves, to know our true beauty, and to stand in our power.  Sadly, in today's world, women especially have gotten the message that their value comes from their youthful appearance and slim figure. It can therefore be really hard to tune those messages out, and allow a deeper wisdom to come through.  These concepts are explored beautifully in this episode. Maggie, 68, is a culinary and baking teacher who is so afraid of gaining weight that she won't eat her own cookies. She's fearful that gaining weight would almost certainly mean being rejected by others –  even though she admits this has never happened to her before. Her caring husband and family have always loved and accepted her, no matter what.  Even so, Maggie has been dieting for 50 years – and continues to be caught in an internal weight loss conversation where her efforts are never enough, and where she doesn't feel good about herself, unless she has lost weight. As you'll hear, Maggie's fear of rejection points her to an important realization, one that can forever change her relationship with herself and her body. Episode highlights: ✅ How staying trapped in the need for “other” approval limits our potential and joy in life. ✅ How to take your personal power back from the collective voices around weight. ✅ Why the temporary high of reaching your goal weight doesn't last – and what really satisfies instead. ✅ Developing a daily practice to kick unwanted negative self-talk. ✅ And much more! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #selfacceptance #bodypositivity #foodfreedom #wisdom #dietculturedropout #psychologyofeating #innerchildhealing #selflovejourney #healing

Jill, 44, wants a new relationship with food – one where she can enjoy a more easygoing, intuitive way of eating. She'd like eating to be fun and lighthearted, and feel satiated after a great meal.  But her dreamy new relationship with food seems so very far away. Jill has an intense desire for food – so deep that it feels like her desire can never be quenched. No matter what or how much Jil eats, she doesn't really feel like she ever finds true pleasure and contentment with food. It just never feels like enough – and Jill has a lot of anxiety that she'll end up overeating and gaining weight in her pursuit of pleasure. Jill's experience is one that many of us can relate to.  We secretly – or not so secretly – love food. But we don't trust ourselves with it.  We're afraid of our own pleasure, and what it might mean if we actually allowed ourselves to fully enjoy food. In this episode, Marc David helps Jill and the rest of us understand why our desire for pleasure isn't something to be afraid of. Instead, Marc argues that our love of food and pleasure is something that should be fully owned and celebrated. When we honor pleasure, we not only enjoy life so much more – but often find that weight loss is ironically much easier and more sustainable.  Because when we own our love of food, we're in our power.  In this episode, you'll hear Marc share: ✅ What trusting yourself with food actually requires. Hint: it's not having a perfect track record with food, or never making a mistake! ✅ How to invoke your inner voice of wisdom when making food choices. ✅ The connection between trust and relaxation. ✅ How to honor our body's animal nature amidst the very unnatural modern times we live in. ✅ How to eat from your body instead of your brain. ✅ And much more! Pleasure is a beautiful aspect of being alive on this planet, but not very many of us have a healthy relationship with it. Instead of fighting desire, we can make it a powerful ally as we learn to live a radiant, embodied life.  So tune in to learn how to deepen your own relationship with food and pleasure! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #intuitiveeating #foodfreedom #pleasure #desire #bodyrespect #embodiment #trustyourself #selflovejourney #relationshipwithyourbody #psychologyofeating #foodpsychology #marcdavid  

Food is intended to be our source of nourishment, but all too often it can feel like a losing battle.  Perhaps you've been struggling with your weight, and why it's so hard to lose it – or keep it off. Or maybe you binge or emotionally eat, and are frustrated that you can't stop these behaviors.  Whatever your unique challenge with food may be, after a while it's hard to not come to a particular conclusion… Food has a POWER over you. It must – otherwise, you'd have been able to put an end to your unwanted habits a long time ago, right?! But is it really possible for food to hold power over you?  In this episode, we explore what's going on when we feel we've lost our power to food – and how to navigate the very real feeling of powerlessness that many of us experience when it comes to food.   Paulien, 58, has been maintaining her weight loss for the past decade, but she still doesn't feel at peace with food. She wants to be free of food fear, and instead embrace being a natural eater. But Paulien feels like food holds a certain power over her that she can't overcome. She gets lost in food, and ends up binge eating a couple of nights a week – provoking her fear that she'll gain weight back. Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, helps Paulien discover a vital new truth about owning our personal power with food, as well as: ✅ How to identify your inner eating archetypes or “voices,”  and why every voice must have a seat at the table. ✅ Embracing the parts of ourselves we're ashamed about, and how that strengthens a healthy relationship with food. ✅ How to transform nightly binges into conscious food rituals. ✅ Opening up our throat chakra and speaking from our authentic self as a way of healing our eating challenges. ✅ Why becoming the most natural YOU will lead to becoming a natural eater. This deeply spiritual conversation will provide an important reframe on the belief that food holds power over us. You'll come away inspired and feeling more compassion for yourself on this human journey. So be sure to tune in! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #personalpower #bingeeating #emotionaleating #weight #selfgrowth #eatingarchetypes #rebel #queen #wisdom #authenticity #foodfreedom

Negative body image is something that so many of us struggle with – regardless of our nationality, age, or background. It almost seems to be part of the human condition, something that is innate to our journey here on Earth. But is it, really?  While not liking our body – or constantly trying to achieve a certain weight or shape – is ubiquitous around the world, the truth is that is NOT a natural, normal part of being alive. Our beliefs around body image and beauty are instead ingrained from us at a young age. We were, quite literally, taught to believe that beauty looks a certain way, and that we must do everything we can to attain this beauty … or else.  Depending on our culture, family, and childhood, the beauty ideals we grew up with might be different from other people.  But regardless, these ideals have a very similar effect on us: they cause massive low self-esteem throughout adulthood, until we recognize and release them. That's what we explore in this episode, where we meet Sharon, 32, who has been trying to lose about 15 pounds – but can't figure out why she's unable to fully commit to her diet and exercise.  Growing up in Chinese culture, Sharon learned from watching Chinese beauty pageants on TV that to be thin and light was beautiful. She was mesmerized by the beauty contestants, and imagined herself one day being as pretty and elegant as they were.  Her parents and community also echoed this value, and her weight fluctuations were frequently a topic of conversation. All of this was even more confusing to Sharon because, in Chinese culture, sharing food is a way of sharing love. Her dad was an amazing chef and made delicious food – and she was encouraged to relish it, just not too much of it. Now as an adult, Sharon understandably has a lot of conflicted feelings about food and her body. She finds herself still wanting to achieve the ideal body, the one she dreamed of as a little girl.  But that thin, lythe body always feels just out of reach – no matter how hard she tries to diet or get to the gym. Sharon just can't quite get herself to consistently do the things that she thinks would help her lose weight – and she's wondering what to do.  So in this episode, Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, explores: ✅ The keys to recognizing childhood conditioning around body image – and how to begin to let it go. ✅ Why the belief, “I'm not good enough,” will almost always derail our weight loss efforts.  ✅ Weight loss as an emotional, non-linear type of goal, and why this matters in the weight loss journey. ✅ Learning to approach weight loss from a place of inspiration and self-love. No matter where we're from or what our background is, almost all of us have been taught certain beliefs around weight and beauty. But as this episode demonstrates, we don't have to keep feeding these beliefs.  We get to choose which beliefs we want to embrace – and one of the most important beliefs about ourselves we can ever choose is, “I love myself. I am enough.”  Enjoy this powerful episode! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #bodyimage #weight #selflovejourney #innerchild #selfworth #selfacceptance #radicalselflove #foodpsychology

Perhaps more than any other food group, carbohydrates can really freak people out. You might say, carbs are one of the world's great nutritional “hang-ups.”  And a big reason for this is we've been told carbohydrates will make us … fat. Eat the wrong kinds, too much, and too often, and you'll be popping the buttons off your jeans in no time.  So many of us then try to avoid or limit carbohydrates, but find ourselves struggling to sustain that.  Part of what makes carbohydrates so confusing is that we've come to believe they're not only problematic to both our weight and health – but that they're also somehow OPTIONAL. Like we can just skip them and be A-OK.

Many of us struggle with emotional eating. And that's because food is a reliable way to manage our unwanted emotions. Think: Bored. Stressed. Lonely. Angry. Anxious.  When we're experiencing difficult emotions, it's natural to turn to food.  But here's something that's also common: some of us label ourselves as emotional eaters, when that's not actually the case.  For some of us, something else altogether is going on: We just LOVE food. A lot. The truth is, some of us love food so much that we don't know how to contain ourselves.  We overdo it because we love it so much. In the midst of our food love affair, it seems we can lose our ability to manage how much food we eat.  So it's not so much that we have a “problem” with food – instead, we love it so much that we can easily go overboard. If this sounds familiar, this episode will really hit home. Marc David coaches 35-year old guest client, Romana, who has long assumed that she's an emotional eater. In an effort to put an end to her ‘emotional eating,' Romana wonders: how can she only eat when she's hungry? What does she need to do to control herself? And why does she go against her own wishes when it comes to how much she eats? But in the course of their session, Marc helps Romana recognize that her challenge is a bit different from what she imagines it to be.  What Romana believes is her “food issue” is actually just a deep love and excitement for food.   So how does Romana and the rest of us love food, without overdoing it?  By owning, honoring, and embracing that love. And also learning that loving food in a good way – in a way that supports our body, mind, and soul – means we must cultivate some real SKILL. The truth is, most of us who struggle with emotional eating and overeating simply haven't learned key skills around eating and pleasure. So in this episode, you'll hear Marc explore:

For those of us who struggle with weight, are in a battle with food, or who have ongoing anxiety around eating, it's no secret that these unwanted food and body challenges can have a myriad of possible causes. Well, one of the more overlooked causes is something that many of us experienced when we were young: ➡️ Having an absentee parent. This can mean:

Ever hear the phrase “health is wealth?”  For many people, we don't quite recognize how valuable our health is until we find illness or injury knocking. Enjoying robust health is truly the foundation of a happy, fulfilled, and connected life. But it's also true that worrying about our health, or being vigilant about every aspect of our diet and lifestyle, can actually take us in the opposite direction of vitality – as Marc David explores with 53-year old Daniela.  Daniela's health anxieties – like many people – were born at a young age.  As a child, Daniela had always thought she was pretty – gorgeous, even. But at the age of 15, her father told her she was overweight, and in that single instant, her whole world flipped. She began to have constant intrusive thoughts that she was fat, and that something was wrong with her – something that she just had to figure out how to fix. Now almost 40 years later, Daniela has endured a series of serious health challenges: a pituitary tumor, thyroid dysfunction, knee surgery, and more.  The more health challenges that develop, the more she worries.  And her doctors do little to alleviate her concerns – with all their talk of visceral fat, and cholesterol, and how important it is to lose weight. Daniela's life feels like it's constricting around her.  She's tired of the decades of yo-yo dieting. She just wants to eat food that nourishes her, be at a moderate weight, and enjoy a healthy life.  But she can't escape the feeling that her body is against her.  So in this session, Marc helps Daniela see her story and her relationship with her body from a different perspective: that of her soul. Because it's Daniela's soul that is calling out for a different kind of life: one where she can stop fighting herself and instead embrace the precious life she has the opportunity to live.  If you're like Daniela, caught in worries about whether your health and weight is on the right track, be sure to tune into this episode!  You'll hear: ✅ A much-needed wake up call for why it's time to surrender and let go. ✅ 5 key steps Marc shares for how we can release our health anxieties. ✅ How our metabolic capacity is connected to our personal power.  ✅ A soulful exploration of our collective beliefs around weight and lovability. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #health #healthanxiety #spiritualgrowth #personalgrowth #eatingpsychology #foodpsychology #mindbodynutrition #marcdavid

A surprising fact about the weight loss universe is that despite so many built-in difficulties, plenty of people have success. So often, we DO actually lose the weight, we hit our target number - or come close to it, we celebrate, we feel good, we fit into our clothes, and life is finally great. We did it. But then, something happens. Somehow, the weight we lost finds its way back home.  Our efforts worked, but only for a brief time. If this sounds at all familiar to you, you've probably asked the question, “Why does the weight come back on? And what can I do to ensure that this unwanted result never happens again?” This is exactly what you'll find answers to in this episode. Marc works with Liz, age 54, a mother of four who's looking to lose about 40 pounds. The good news is, Liz has lost the weight before. The bad news is, it came back.  So on the one hand, Liz knows what to do, but on the other hand, she knows that what she does doesn't last. Marc helps Liz see that the weight comes back on for one very common reason: She FORCED her body into weight loss. If we have to go to extremes to lose weight, if we need to artificially push the body, deny it any pleasure, demand that it go hungry, follow a super strict diet, and devote all of our mental, emotional and physical energy into weight loss - then, well… we're going to rebound. In fact, it's predictable. So, the key to making sure that the weight we lose doesn't come back on is to make sure that the WAY we lose it isn't forced.  Tune in as Marc helps Liz see that success with sustainable weight loss means: ✅ Practicing mindful eating rather than willful eating. ✅ Listening to her body rather than overriding it. ✅ Finding the middle ground with food instead of being “all or nothing.” ✅ And nourishing her body rather than punishing it.   If you're interested in the kind of weight loss that's more relaxed and truly lifelong, then you won't want to miss this session! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #weightlossjourney #chronicdieting #foodfreedom #mindfuleating #eatingpsychology #foodpsychology #holisticnutrition #marcdavid

When it comes to nutrition and health, there can be a lot to worry about:  ✴️ How do I control my desires and avoid the foods that are bad for me?  ✴️ How can I eat to successfully lose weight?  ✴️ How do I stop sabotaging myself?  ✴️ And can I stick to a good nutritional program for the sake of my health?  If you find yourself having multiple worries around food, weight or health, you're not alone. So many of us sincerely want to get things “right.” But it can often seem like an impossible task. Our worries tend to get the best of us. They persist, and they're happy to follow us everywhere.  Ultimately, our job is to learn how to find inner peace and calm in the nutritional storm. And that's exactly what you'll learn about in this episode. Tune in as Marc David works with Kesia, a mother of five who has multiple food and body concerns on her mind. Marc helps Kesia begin to let go of worry by showing her the very place where those worries are coming from: ➡️ Her beliefs.  Kesia knows quite a bit about nutrition and health. She's an acupuncturist who's committed to helping others. And like so many of us who've learned a thing or two about what to eat, Kesia has some hard and fast rules: ✅ She believes that gluten and dairy should be avoided. ✅ She's convinced that she must lose 5 kilos so she can be healthy. ✅ She's certain that she needs to follow her own food rules perfectly. ✅ She wants her children to eat the same way she does. ✅ And she tells herself that her diet must guarantee her good health. The challenge is though, life isn't always so neat and tidy. Kesia finds herself eating gluten and dairy as “reward” foods. She knows her kids will rebel if she eliminates these foods. And she finds herself worrying about her own long term health. The good news is, Kesia – and the rest of us – don't have to be plagued by nutritional beliefs that cause us to worry and fret.  As you'll hear, Marc helps Kesia unravel her beliefs one-by-one, while helping all of us understand how we can apply his strategies to our own life.  So be sure to tune into this episode, where Marc empowers all of us to discover how to create a nourishing relationship with food – minus the worrying, obsessing, and perfectionism!  --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #nutrition #nutritionist #healthyeating #healthyhabits #healthylifestyle #anxiety #perfectionism #selfsabotage #eatingpsychology #foodpsychology #psychologyofeating #marcdavid

Chances are, you've had the experience of hearing conflicting voices in your head when it comes to food and body. One part of us can clearly say: “I absolutely must lose weight.” While another part of us can simultaneously whisper: “I'm tired of dieting. Maybe I should just give up and love my body as it is.” And from here, an inner conflict unfolds.  On the one hand, we can find ourselves motivated to stick to a diet, get to the gym, and do everything we can to control our appetite. After all, we know how much happier we'll be when we hit our weight loss number. But another part of ourselves can feel uncomfortable with making our happiness contingent on how we look. After all, shouldn't the goal be to unconditionally love and accept ourselves, no matter what? This question of whether you should change your body – or embrace it – is something many of us are struggling to answer – and that Marc David takes on in this episode. Marc works with James, 52, who has long wanted the body of his dreams: trim, fit and muscular like a lifeguard.  It's a bucket list kind of wish, a goal that James knows will make him feel a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. He's even reached his dream goal several times, and has loved the feeling of having a fit, sculpted body. But James is torn, because another voice inside just wants to love his body as it is right now, and feel like he's good enough without the need to change anything. So, with all these conflicting voices living inside of his head, what should James do? Tune in to hear Marc help James discover a way through the paradoxical journey of learning to love oneself amidst the desire to have a certain body. They explore topics of weight loss, body acceptance, emotional eating, and the path to greater self-love. Episode highlights: ✅  The unexpected ways our inner critic can drive emotional eating, and weight challenges. ✅  Why we withhold self-love, and how to turn this around. ✅  Unwinding the negative belief that you can't have the life you want until you have the ideal body. ✅  Keys to satisfying the needs of our various inner archetypes, or “voices.” ✅  And much more… This is a powerful session that explores the many voices or archetypes that live inside of us, and how to empower these voices to become our best allies. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #bodyimage #weight #bodypositivity #bodyacceptance #bodyliberation #foodfreedom #dieting #emotionaleating #selflovejourney #eatingpsychology  

Picture this:  You're trucking along your day – everything's going pretty well, when BOOM: You see a picture of yourself, and you're instantly triggered.  “Is that really what I look like?” you ask yourself.  You can't believe your appearance. Maybe it's extra weight, or the shape of your hips or stomach.  But whatever it is – you feel your heart start to sink, and a crushing sadness races in.  Before you know it, you're spiraling into that incorporeal place made famous on Netflix's acclaimed series.  (And let's just say, it's not “The Good Place.”)  Sound familiar?  Most of us have had the disconcerting experience of getting triggered around our weight or appearance. So in this episode, we take a special look at body image triggers, where they come from, and how to begin healing them.  You'll hear Marc David work with 41-year old Jen on her triggers with weight and body image.  While Jen is hungering for weight loss – she'd love to lose around 40 pounds – she comes to realize in working with Marc that there's something she'd like even more: Being able to love and stand by herself, even if she's not yet at her goal weight.  Because Jen's body image triggers have been preventing her from so many things, such as: Taking photos of herself with loved ones.  Role modeling a healthy body image to her daughters.  Feeling confident in her own skin. Living in a state of freedom and joy.  Tired of feeling sad, afraid, and anxious about her weight, Jen is ready for a big shift … even if she's confused about how to get there. While her wisdom, self-kindness, and high values have served her well so far, her body image triggers are clearly still blocking the way. But one thing she's clear about? It's time to break the door down.  Nothing is going to stop Jen from doing the inner work she needs to do, so she can finally embrace herself – and the life she so deserves.  Listen in as Marc shares:  How to understand the root causes behind your weight and body image triggers. Reframing the core negative beliefs and old traumas that are often at the root of body image challenges.  How to recognize and shift how you speak to yourself about your body. A powerful exercise for learning to embrace your appearance.  And much more… Don't miss this remarkable eating psychology coaching session, where Marc lays out the path for all of us who are ready to release our body image triggers, and discover just how good life can be on the other side.  --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #bodyimage #bodypositivity #bodypositive #bodyneutrality #selfimprovement #selfawareness #selflove #weight #weightloss #dieting #psychologyofeating

Managing emotions with food, otherwise known as emotional eating, is something that humans have been doing for millenia. And the reason is simple: when we eat, we reliably feel better – no matter how fleeting those “feel-good” feelings may be.  While many people intuitively understand that emotions play a key role in our eating habits, it can often be a lot harder to understand the emotions themselves. The truth is, our inner emotional world is fantastically complex, and influences our relationship with food in so many diverse and fascinating ways.  Which brings us to guest coaching client Beverley, 70, whose deepest desire is to understand the “dark places” inside herself that drive her to food – and to finally bring healing to the challenging emotions she's been feeling for over 50 years.  As Beverley shares with Marc David, she's never really been able to understand her negative feelings, where they came from, or why she has them.  Beverley reflects that she's had an “amazing life,” with so many blessings. She's developed a fulfilling career as a theater director, helping young people develop their skills and confidence as an actor. She raised four incredible children of her own, and was, herself, born to a remarkable mother who always inspired and supported her.  And it's this latter feature of Beverley's life – her special bond with her mother – that is especially interesting. As Marc explores with Beverley, her love for her mother runs so deep, and a very real part of her – her Child Archetype, doesn't seem to want to let go. Even though Beverley's mom has long since passed away, a part of Beverley still wants to be her mother's daughter.   Her uncanny way of staying connected with her mom is by continuing to engage in a behavior – emotional eating – that she knows her mom would have always encouraged and supported her to not judge herself for. By turning to food and being childlike when it comes to soothing her emotions with eating, Beverley has found a way to symbolically stay connected to her mother.  As Marc reflects, sometimes our “dark places” aren't actually what they seem. They aren't actually dark, or sinister, or even flawed. They're just young parts of ourselves that hold onto a pattern out of fear of letting go of something – or someone – we love.  So be sure to tune into this powerful, wise, and heartfelt session that highlights the mother-daughter connection when it comes to food, and how we can continue to learn, grow and transform at any age in life. Episode highlights:  ✅ Why “going dark” with food isn't always what it seems.  ✅ Key transformational tools to bring consciousness to your own unique relationship with food.  ✅ Why overcoming emotional eating often requires us to “graduate” from our parents house.  ✅ Learning to see yourself as equal to your parents – and why that matters when it comes to food. ✅ How to forgive yourself around food and emotional eating. ✅ And much more! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #emotionaleating #emotionaleatingjourney #relationshipwithfood #wisdom #innerchild #childarchetype #selflovejourney #selfsoothing #bekindtoyourself #loveyourself #elder #holisticnutrition

When it comes to body weight, most of us are focused on one thing: losing it! But many people aren't prepared for what happens after weight loss.  Any thoughts we may have about post-weight loss life are pretty dreamy. We imagine we'll feel uber confident, accomplished, and ready to boldly move forward in life.  But all too often, that simply isn't the case.  For many, the striving and struggle for weight loss ends up getting replaced by an equally unwelcome visitor: WEIGHT WORRY. That can look like constant fear that we'll gain the weight back, or nagging anxieties that we really should lose another few pounds.  Our food worries continue, and the voices in our head never stop criticizing. We judge our body, we shame ourselves for having body fat, and we belittle ourselves for not having absolute control over food. While weight worry might fit into that box called a “1st world problem” – it can nevertheless be pretty debilitating.  So what do we do when losing weight doesn't stop us from worrying about weight? Tune into this episode to find the answer. You'll hear from guest coaching client, Armine, 51, who has dieted for most of her life – and recently lost weight after a gastric sleeve operation. Armine thought she'd feel happier, but instead is often consumed by intense anxiety that she'll gain the weight back.  How can Armine shift into a new relationship with her body, where she's not constantly worrying and fretting about her weight? As Marc David helps Armine see, it's a question of how she finds peace with herself and her body. Through a powerful new approach focused on personal growth, embodiment, and self-compassion, Armine discovers how to reframe her lifelong struggles with weight – and forge a beautiful new path forward.  Some of the key episode highlights include: ✅ How to send the body the unmistakable message that it's a safe and welcome place, and why that matters when it comes to weight worry. ✅ Using a favorite form of “embodiment” to quiet the mind. ✅ Let go of perfection through the power of the Queen archetype. ✅ A key breathing technique to shift energy out of the mind and into the body. This fascinating session demonstrates that weight loss by itself doesn't guarantee inner peace and happiness. Freeing ourselves from weight worry ultimately comes down to living in joy – which is a daily practice we devote ourselves to, no matter how we look or what we weigh. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #weightworry #dieting #yoyodieting #weightlossjourney #selfawareness #personalgrowth #marcdavid #psychologyofeating #foodpsychology #positivepsychology

Night-time binge eating.  It's a pastime that many people struggle with, and can feel truly insurmountable. But nightly binge eating doesn't have to get the best of you.  The reality is, there's a clear road to recovering our power and being in control with food – all that's needed is a deeper understanding of why nighttime binge eating – otherwise known as “nighttime eating syndrome” – happens, and a wise framework for overcoming it. In this episode, we meet guest coaching client, Megan, who would like to finally break free from this challenging nighttime habit.  As a former fitness competitor, Megan spent many years on a low-calorie diet. Eating only 1,200 calories a day, and exercising extremely hard, Megan would find herself ravenous at night. And this would inevitably lead to giving into unwanted cravings – and heavy duty self-rejection. Years later, Megan is no longer competing, and isn't so restrictive with her diet. She eats well, and takes care of her body. And yet, she hasn't been able to kick her nightly binge eating … a habit that takes a full 2 hours every night snacking, munching, and roaming the kitchen for food. Disempowered and deflated, Megan feels like a failure with food. As Marc David helps Megan see – it's understandable given her history that she's having a hard time kicking her nightly binging. Bringing compassion and self-awareness to the table is the first step in transforming nighttime eating syndrome. The next step is identifying an effective approach that addresses the root problem. And that's where things get really interesting in this episode! Marc offers Megan a soulful, unusual approach to healing binge eating that you won't hear anywhere else. So, please be sure to tune into this powerful episode to discover this beautiful tool in overcoming binge eating! Marc gets to the heart of why we eat at night, and how to gently transform it without the fight or struggle.  Some of the key insights & practices you'll learn: ✅ The concept of “conscious ritual” – and why it matters. ✅ Identifying nourishing nightly rituals that powerfully transform binge eating. ✅ The relationship between “fast eating” and nighttime cravings ✅ The counterintuitive need to stop fighting and criminalizing nighttime eating. ✅ Learning to trust pleasure & how to make friends with food. ✅ And much more… --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #nighttimeeatingsyndrome #bingeeating #nightlybingeeating #consciousritual #fasteating #emotionaleating #mindfuleating #sloweating #foodpsychology #marcdavid

Like so many of us, Cherie, age 56, wants to lose 20 pounds – but without the constant fight and struggle. Cherie has been battling these 20 pounds just about all her adult life – and she's feeling ready for a new approach. Cherie's kids are about to leave the house, and she'd like to focus on her life for the first time in many years. She dreams of letting go of her day job and taking on an exciting new career, and she knows that now's the time to step into her power. Everything is falling into place for Cherie to take a big leap in life.  But her weight continues to weigh her down. In this week's episode, Marc David coaches Cherie to finally have a breakthrough with her weight. And it's all about focusing on this one weight loss secret: ➡️ Becoming a natural eater. You see, Cherie has been a rather *unnatural* eater. Since age 13 when she was a young gymnast, her life revolved around working out, looking trim, having very little body fat, and winning the approval of others. For young Cherie, food quickly became the enemy. Eat too much of it, and everyone will notice your extra body fat. Starve yourself, and you're doing exactly what you need to do to keep being loved and successful. Unfortunately, Cherie has taken this same unnatural relationship with food that developed during childhood into her adult years. She has no idea what it's like to truly enjoy food and not be on a diet. As their conversation unfolds, Cherie opens up to what being a natural eater might feel like, including: ✅ Making friends with food. ✅ Letting go of the inner bully that's beating herself up around weight. ✅ Allowing herself to feel hungry, eat a meal, and enjoy it.  ✅ Stop looking at food like it's going to become fat on her body. ✅ Give dieting a long vacation.  ✅ Listen to her body's wisdom when it comes to food. As this episode explores, having an honest and sustainable approach to weight loss means that we need to look beyond dieting, calorie restriction, and self attack. Instead, finding a natural rhythm as an eater, finding nourishment in food, and discovering what our individual body needs is key. When we've been trying weight loss strategies for decades and they continue to fail us, it's time for a new approach. Tune into this fascinating session and watch as Cherie realizes why her approach to weight loss hasn't worked, and how she can have a whole new and inspiring weight loss journey.  --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #naturaleating #intuitiveeating #bodywisdom #stopdieting #antidiet #weightlossjourney #weightloss #marcdavid #psychologyofeating

Raelene, 46, would love to lose about 40 kilos. And she's had great success in the past: all she has to do is eliminate sugar, cut down on the carbs, watch her calories and portion sizing, and the weight will eventually come off.  But the problem is, she just can't seem to stick to a diet plan for more than a few months.   A cooking teacher and mother of two, Raelene says she simply doesn't have the discipline to stick with it. And after 15 years of off-and-on-again dieting, Raelene still hasn't reached the promised land – and like so many of us, is pretty frustrated and confused about what to do.  This is clearly a conundrum.  She knows what she needs to do, but she just doesn't have the discipline to do it.  In this episode, Marc David helps Raelene realize something important:  Diagnosing the cause of her weight challenges as a lack of self-discipline is misplaced. And we know that to be true, in part, because her many years of trying to simply muster more discipline hasn't been working. Discipline by itself will never solve her weight loss problem.  The reality is, Raelene hasn't been in the right conversation with herself, all because of an incorrect assessment she made about herself many years ago.  As you'll hear in this episode, Marc helps Raelene refocus on the true heart of the matter:  ⇒ Understanding what's truly driving her relationship with food (her eating psychology), and changing her core beliefs about food, weight, self-worth, and lovability.   So many of us focus on our weight from a place of judgment. But we deserve so much more than that. When we can bravely learn to step away from our harsh inner critic, and instead evoke compassion towards ourselves, we can discover what's really behind our patterns with weight.   For Raelene, part of that is understanding the impact of what she learned in childhood about weight loss: she was a “good” girl only if she was slender. Fat girls would never be loved and accepted.   It's no wonder that food became a source of anxiety, and the simple act of eating took on so much stress and pressure. If being overweight means being unlovable, then everything she eats must be just right, and her appetite must be in absolute control so she can finally receive love.  But the reality is, Raelene knows deep down inside that this is a battle she can never truly win. So a part of her rebels against dieting because her dieting is being driven from a place of low self worth. Eating to prove one's self worth is unnatural, and it goes against our humanity and our dignity.  Marc helps Raelene see the beautiful truth that she is unconditionally loved by her kids, her husband, and the people who care about her the most. There is no one in her life who needs her to lose weight so she can be more lovable. Except for herself.   And it's time to give herself some love when it comes to her body and her weight.  Episode highlights:  Eating psychology tools to help change unhelpful beliefs about food and body How to take the pressure off of weight loss, while also setting ourselves up for weight loss success How to shift out of dieting mentality Discovering who you are as an eater, and why that matters when it comes to weight How to quiet the unwanted inner conversation around food And more…  ---------------  Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/   Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food.  Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych  #weight #bodyimage #sellove #weightlossjourney #sustainableweightloss #foodandbody #eatingchallenges #emotionaleating #chronicdieting #yoyodieting #antidet

Barbara, 60, is finally ready to explore the world, go on adventures, and find the man of her dreams. She's done lots of therapy, read all the books, and it seems like nothing should be in the way. But something is clearly holding her back.   A lifetime of dieting and disliking her body, and a string of unfortunate dating experiences in the past has her majorly doubting herself. Barbara so deeply wants to move on and create the life she feels like she's long overdue for – but there's part of her that is having a really hard time trusting that it's possible.  For all of us who struggle with weight and body image, this can be an all-too familiar story.  What do we do when we're ready to embrace life, but we feel held back by negative constructs about our body, our weight, and our past? How do we heal patterns that have been around for decades? And how do we find trust in life when we've been previously hurt?   In this episode, Marc David identifies some of the hidden forces at work that are driving Barbara's confusion, and delivers some powerful advice to help her take a big step forward.   At the core of Barbara's challenge is a lack of confidence in herself, and her body – which are intimately entwined. To help Barbara find her confidence and self assuredness, Marc focuses on a surprising area: cultivating her dating and relationship skills.  Previously, Barbara wasn't clear about what she wanted, and what she was willing to put up with when it came to dating men. But as Marc helps her to see, it's time to bring clarity to this important part of her life.   Using the powerful frame of our eating archetypes (or inner personas that drive our life and relationship with food) – Barbara realizes that her inner Child Archetype has often been the one making her decisions. But as Marc shares, it's Barbara's Queen Archetype that is best suited to help her find her inner confidence and choose the right partner.   When our inner Queen or King Archetype is leading the way, we can finally transform our lives through the maturity and self-knowing that these personas represent … and make the very best decisions for our life and relationships.  Episode highlights: ✅ How our relationship with food often reflects our intimate relationships. ✅ How developing dating and relationship mastery can help us transform old insecurities into massive self-confidence. ✅ Why listening to your dating intuition is essential to finding the right partner.  ✅ Owning the power of “no” without needing to apologize.  ✅ How to restore our trust in ourselves, our body, and our relationship with food.  ---------------  Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/   Struggling to understand what's at the root of your challenges with food and body? Discover the eating archetypes, or hidden personalities, that may be driving your eating challenges in our free mini-course, THE 8 EATING ARCHETYPES: A Self-Discovery Tool. Sign up here: https://psychologyofeating.com/eating-archetypes/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food.  Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #bodyimage #bodyconfidence #bodypositivity #weight #weightlossjourney #dating #datingafter60 #relationships #foodfreedom #selfconfidence #selflove

If you've been dieting for many years, you know it can get to be a little “much.” Chronic dieting can leave us frustrated, exhausted, and exasperated. Why does something so simple – weight loss – have to be so hard?  Millions of people around the world are realizing that they're just plain tired of dieting. So much so that an increasing number of people are deciding to take a break from weight loss altogether.   But taking a diet break doesn't alleviate the very real fear that many of us experience: that the second we stop dieting, we're going to gain weight.   In this episode, Marc David works with Stephanie, 47, who has taken a 1-year break from weight loss – but has gained a stone (about 14 pounds) during that time, and is afraid she'll only gain more.   Nevertheless, she's given herself this time to move away from “weight loss at all costs” to approaching her weight from a mindset perspective, and doing all the reading and learning she can from self-help experts like Dr. Kristin Neff and Brene Brown.   As Stephanie shares, she's at an inflection point. She's been dieting since she was a teenager, often with the help of slimming clubs that are popular in the U.K. She became so disenchanted by her experience in the weight loss world, that she knows she can't go back.   She believes that her spiritual path lies in trusting her body and accepting it the way it is – but three decades of dieting have lodged deep-seated fears around weight gain.   Stephanie asks, “What can I do to overcome the conditioned fear of weight gain?”  Regardless of where we're at with our weight, this is one of the very best questions we can ask of ourselves. Because the truth is, we may want to lose weight … but deep down, we're wanting to love and accept ourselves even more.  Episode highlights:  ✅ Why finding the right foundation for ourselves as a person – one based on our true value instead of our weight – is so important. ✅ Why it's unrealistic to think you'll 100% accept yourself one day – and why allowing yourself to be imperfect can help you heal and grow.  ✅ How our collective judgment around weight clouds the notion of what it means to be truly healthy. ✅ Why BMI science is outdated, and can contribute to our weight gain fears.  ✅ The interplay between “self” and “self-improvement” and why we need to sometimes let go and allow ourselves to simply “be.”   ---------------  Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/   Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food.  Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #dietbreak #antidiet #dieting #weight #relationshipwithfood #selfimprovement #selftrust #selfacceptance #eatingpsychology #holisticnutrition #marcdavid #podcast

Emotional eating always has a psychological or biological reason for showing up in our life. It never just “happens” … it's almost always an unconscious psychological strategy to regulate difficult emotions.  That's the case for guest coaching client, Katy, who's going through a period of massive change – and is struggling to manage her feelings about it all. As a newly-turned 30-year old, Katy is figuring out what's important to her in life, what sort of career she wants to pursue, and how she wants to earn money. She's hoping to find a life partner, and would one day like to become a mother.  And all this great change is bringing up major uncertainty, as well as feelings of anxiety, fear, and self-doubt.  Amidst all of this, Katy has been experiencing on-off cycles of emotional eating, overeating, and body judgment. She wishes her food habits didn't feel like such a roller coaster ride, and that she could just feel consistently joyful and positive about her relationship with food and her body. But as Marc David explores with Katy, it can be pretty difficult to maintain a consistently positive and joyful relationship with food when the rest of our life is in a state of change and upheaval.  The truth is that our relationship with food is a reflection of the rest of our life. If we find ourselves in an uncertain time of life, it's natural to feel uncertain and inconsistent with food.  Through self-awareness and self-kindness, we can begin to see food as the powerful and effective emotional regulator that it is – and stop making ourselves wrong for turning to it sometimes when we aren't feeling so good about life.  As Katy looks to the bigger context of her life, she realizes that her love-hate cycles with food and body, and in particular, with emotional eating, are simply reflecting the cycles of change she's experiencing in her inner and outer worlds. And with this new awareness, she can bring some much-needed forgiveness and self-compassion to herself – which ironically, can begin to free herself from the very unwanted eating patterns that are weighing her down.  Episode highlights: ✅ Why seeking to be in a constant positive state with food can keep us trapped in our eating patterns.  ✅ How to find forgiveness and self-acceptance in your relationship with food – and why times of change call for it more than other times of life. ✅ How to know whether fasting or cleansing is right for your body, or when it might exacerbate yo-yo dieting tendencies. ✅ How to take baby steps with mindful eating. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #emotionaleating #overeating #bodyimage #relationshipwithfood #eatingpsychology #foodfreedom #intuitiveeating #mindfuleating #slowdowndiet #marcdavid #podcast

It's no surprise that many people around the world would like to lose weight. In fact, between 2017 and 2021, 55% of all Americans have expressed the desire for weight loss. And unfortunately, many people who are single and would like to find love in their life are instead putting it off until they're at their desired weight.  That's the case for 41-year old Shawnna, our guest in this episode of the podcast.  Shawnna would like to lose about 50 pounds, and find a more peaceful relationship with food – one where she's not constantly thinking about what, when, and how much to eat. As she shares, she's tired of feeling like food and her weight is holding her back from following her dreams, including finding a significant other.  But despite her best efforts, Shawnna has struggled over the last decade to not see her weight as one of the most important aspects of life to overcome.   She's tried every approach she knows to lose weight. And she's tried everything to try to forget about her weight, move on, and have a happy life.   No matter what she does, Shawnna feels limited by her relationship with food.  So what should she do next?   As Marc David shares with Shawnna, part of the solution is remembering that our relationship with food is a great teacher – one of the key tenets of eating psychology, otherwise known as food psychology.  When we understand that our eating challenges are here to help us learn and grow, we can then turn to a powerful question: What is my relationship with food and body trying to teach me? What can I learn from this situation?   And for Shawnna – like so many of us, part of the answer lies in being clear about what we truly want from life – and learning how to prioritize and put those things first.   Episode highlights: ✅ How our family “tribe” influences our eating challenges, and what's important to know as you're healing your own relationship with food.  ✅ Why learning to pay attention to our desires is key to transforming our food and body challenges — and how to start. ✅ How to be the “real” you now and have the life you want, even if the weight isn't gone yet.  Tune in for a beautiful episode on not waiting to lose weight to find love. Because we all deserve to experience love in our life…  ---------------  Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/   Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food.  Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightloss #weightlossjourney #bodyimage #selflove #selfimprovement #foodfreedom #eatingpsychology #foodpsychology #marcdavid

In this episode of The Psychology of Eating Podcast, we're going to take a look at why we need to get past the label of ‘body dysmorphia' – a medical term – and instead look to understand why body dysmorphia is actually present. And to do that, we must explore our personal story from childhood to adulthood – because our history contains the clues for where this pattern developed in the first place. The reality is, many of us have dysmorphic tendencies. Meaning, we see our body differently than it actually is – and not in a good way. That's the case for Rory, 62, who reports struggling with body dysmorphia since childhood. As he shares with Marc David, he's never had a problem controlling what he eats. He's been able to maintain his body fat at 8-10% consistently since his 20s through extreme sports and rigid dieting.  But none of his efforts ever feel like enough. Rory's body hate runs so deep that he avoids mirrors and glass windows so he doesn't see his reflection. In his mind, he wishes he had the body of an Olympic athlete, strong and lean and muscular. But that's never been the body he sees reflecting back to him. He considers his body overly thin, with too little muscle regardless of how much strength training he does. Despite all his internal struggles, Rory has a pretty incredible life: 5 kids and a beautiful marriage, and a lot of commitment to his own personal growth. He really wants to discover how he can stop the voice that says, “I hate my body” – and instead find peace and self-acceptance.  Whether you or a loved one is struggling with body dysmorphic tendencies – or find yourself, like Rory, telling yourself “I hate my body” – this episode is for you! Episode highlights: ✅ Why self-labeling as “body dysmorphic” unnecessarily medicalizes our human condition, and why understanding our food and body story is more important ✅ The connection between body dysmorphia and our childhood strategies for self-protection and love ✅ Why bringing self-compassion to our inner child can powerfully shift body hate ✅ How to move from doing things TO your body to instead creating a nourishing conversation WITH your body – and why that's key to fostering a positive body image ✅ How to create the optimal conditions for releasing body dysmorphic tendencies… ------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #bodydysmorphia #bodyimage #bodypositivity #weightloss #weightlossjourney #selfawareness #selftalk #eatingpsychology #marcdavid #podcast

We all have different reasons for wanting to lose weight: Feeling lighter  Being healthier Fitting into your “skinny” clothes Or sometimes, just feeling more confident… And sometimes, there are hidden reasons for wanting to lose weight that we don't even realize we have. For Nataliya, 46, weight loss has been a lifelong journey. Nataliya wants to be more confident in her body, and to feel lighter. She jokes that her goal is to feel “like a squirrel” and be able to jump from branch to branch. But what she doesn't quite realize is that her desire to feel lighter is driven by a part of her that's thinking some “heavy thoughts.” And as Marc David explains, those heavy thoughts are all about her resistance to something that so many of us would like to avoid: ===> Aging.  Even though she is youthful, has a young child, a great marriage, and is in good health, Nataliya is starting to feel older – and her unwanted weight is just one more reminder of the aging process. She finds herself often longing for the body she had as a young girl. As Marc points out, making peace with aging is a spiritual practice. And to find peace with our age, we ultimately need to connect with that part of us that's wiser and more mature. Because it's perfectly understandable to have a hard time saying goodbye to our youth – but it's also vital that we develop a healthy relationship with aging. Along the way to making the powerful connection between weight and aging, Marc also helps Nataliya see that if she truly wants to lose weight, she needs to focus on a whole new approach, including: ✅ Letting go of needing the approval of others to feel that her body is “acceptable” ✅ Noticing when the “teenager voice” within her is taking over the weight loss conversation ✅ Finding peace with aging, and making it a spiritual practice  ✅ Learning that body confidence doesn't come from future weight loss … it happens when we do things, right NOW, that help us feel better in our body  ✅ And much more… Tune into this wonderful episode on aging, weight, and making peace with ourselves and our lives. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #aging #bodyacceptance #weight #spiritualpractice #selfacceptance #selflovejourney #foodfreedom #eatingpsychology #marcdavid

The desire to lose weight unites so many people around the world. And while it may be a common global phenomenon … what's not frequently recognized is how unique all of our weight loss journeys turn out to be. The truth is, if we want to lose weight and keep it off, we need to intimately understand our life story and how it affects our journey with weight. In this episode of The Psychology of Eating Podcast, you'll meet Wendy, 57. She's been on a strugglesome journey to lose weight. And one thing that particularly stands out in Wendy's life story is the prominent role a particular archetype has been playing all these years: Her Inner Child. Each and every one of us has an “inner child” – which you can think of as an archetype – or “voice” or “personality” that shows up in different parts of our life. Here are some descriptions of the child within us: Our Inner Child wants immediate gratification. It loves pleasure and fun. It's a part of us that's very innocent and naive. Notably, the Inner Child doesn't care about the consequence of its actions. This personality often takes over our decision making process when it comes to food and diet. So what does this have to do with weight loss? Well, when the Inner Child is sitting at the head of the table and making our food choices, it will go against our better judgment. It will make decisions that run counter to our goals of health and weight. As you'll hear in this episode, Marc David, master eating psychology expert, works with Wendy to explore her Inner Child and help her demystify her weight loss journey. For a long time, Wendy's Inner Child has been at the head of the table, making nutritional decisions with little regard to the negative consequences.  Marc ultimately helps Wendy see that the best way for her to work with weight is to take charge of the different personalities inside of her, to accept her Inner Child's desire for pleasurable food, and to let the voice of her Inner Adult run the show when it comes to her eating choices. Along the way, they also cover some fascinating topics such as: ✅ Weight loss during Covid times ✅ Grieving and weight ✅ The impact of our primary relationship on weight ✅ The dynamics of the “good girl” and “bad girl” archetypes with food ✅ And much more… -------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Struggling to understand what's at the root of your challenges with food and body? Discover the eating archetypes, or hidden personalities, that may be driving your eating challenges in our free mini-course, THE 8 EATING ARCHETYPES: A Self-Discovery Tool. Sign up here: https://psychologyofeating.com/eating-archetypes/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightlossjourney #eatingarchetype #innerchild #innerchildhealing #nourishnotpunish #foodpsychology #selflove #marcdavid

In this episode, Marc David works with Richard, 72, who is living in a constant state of vigilance when it comes to his weight and health.  Like so many of us, Richard has developed a belief that his diet must be perfect in order to maintain his health, avoid illness, and keep weight off. And what happens if he can't maintain the perfect diet? The moment Richard gains a pound, he imagines that he's just around the corner from a heart attack. He believes that if he doesn't eat 100% perfectly all the time and at every meal, then his family history of arteriosclerosis will instantly catch up to him. On top of that, Richard has an intense fear of gaining weight … having bounced back and forth between extreme weight gains and losses starting in his early twenties. He acknowledges that his lifelong challenges with weight were born from his early struggles with dyslexia, learning disabilities, and childhood feelings of isolation.  So even though Richard is a mature, successful and healthy 72-year old man, he simply can't find a way to let go of incessant weight and health worries. Listen in as Marc guides Richard into greater awareness of the emotional triggers that contribute to his quest for perfection and cause him to disconnect from himself whenever he eats.  Together they explore how to put an end to his worries about weight and health by focusing on his deeper purpose in his remaining years. Because ultimately, Richard is here to do more than feel trapped by his constant worrying – he, like the rest of us, is here to have a fulfilling and truly meaningful life.   You'll also hear:  ✅ How savoring the experience of eating can enhance the mind-body connection, improve digestion, and help regulate appetite. ✅ Why learning to minimize and manage stress is critical to lowering the risk for a variety of health conditions. ✅ How embracing food and body challenges as great teachers can help us to live a happier and more fulfilling life.  --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #antidiet #dietsdontwork #weightlossjourney #selflove #embodiment #foodfreedom #eatingpsychology #foodpsychology #marcdavid

When it comes to weight loss, so many of us feel that we need to restrict our food, punish the body with exercise, and be in a constant state of worry. We expect our weight loss journey to be an ongoing battle where we can never truly relax and live. But there's a much better way. In this episode, Marc David works with guest podcast client David, and challenges the belief that weight and health goals have to be difficult. At age 74, David wants to lose weight and eat healthy, but he's tired of all the hard work.  He knows what he wants, but he's confused about how to get there.  David would like to enjoy food and not live in a state of restriction, but at the same time, he wishes he could be 40 pounds lighter. Fed up by the cycle of working hard to lose weight, and then gaining it right back, David wonders:  “Can't I just be me? When do I get to just live my life?” Listen in as they explore the power of cultivating a more natural and easy relationship with food and body. Instead of punishing the body into weight loss, Marc helps David develop a strategy to nourish himself into finding his natural weight.  “You have a natural relationship with food and with your appetite. You just have to create the conditions for that to emerge,” Marc says. Paradoxically, by taking weight loss off the table, not only can we finally relax and enjoy life, but we actually create the ideal conditions for real and lasting weight loss.  You'll also hear Marc share valuable insights on: ✅ How putting “pressure” on food to make us lose weight doesn't work. ✅ Creating a relaxed relationship with the body that gets us closer to our natural weight. ✅ How having a spiritual reckoning with ourselves can help us have a more loving body image. ✅ Why clarity about our life's purpose is especially powerful for older men and health. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #ditchthediet #chronicdieting #weight #wisdom #bodyimage #holisticnutrition #mindbodyconnection #selfawareness #selfkindness #eatingpsychology

So many of us are trying to lose weight.  We can put all of our energy, our heart and soul, into fulfilling what seems like a simple desire - just lose a bunch of body fat. When our efforts aren't working though, things can get complicated. We can become a bit anxious, and adopt the kind of beliefs that are intended to motivate us, but actually hold us back. These beliefs can include:  I'm not good enough as I am I am not lovable Something is wrong with Once I lose the weight, then and only then can I finally be happy If I just work harder, then the weight will come off When we think such thoughts, oddly enough, the body itself does not feel safe.  And when the body doesn't feel safe, our physiology tends to hold onto weight. That's the dilemma Marc David helps our guest coaching client Carrie untangle in this episode. After a recent weight loss, Carrie feels conflicted about the praise and positive comments she receives from the people around her. Far from feeling validated by the feedback, it seems only to raise the volume on her own self-judgment.  What's most problematic though, is that Carrie equates losing weight with spiritual growth.  Meaning, Carrie believes that if she can work hard enough on her spiritual growth, then the last remaining pounds she wants to lose will magically drop away. From there, she imagines she can finally be her best and truest self, which she's admittedly put on hold the last 20 years. But as Marc helps her to see, that's an extraordinary amount of pressure to pressure on our body, and ourself.  When we put off our happiness and satisfaction into the future, when we tell ourselves that “I can only be the real me once I lose weight” - we are assuring that the life we have right now is at best only half lived. Follow the conversation as Marc guides Carrie in a process of decoupling weight loss from spiritual growth.  In the process, Marc helps Carrie redefine her approach to her own spiritual journey. He reminds her that, “just because there's places where you need to grow doesn't mean there's something wrong with you.” He helps her see that true healing goes far beyond the size and shape of our body.  After all, when we look at our weight as proof that we are broken and defective, we just perpetuate a cycle of unhappiness, discontent, and constant judgment of our body. Sometimes, finding peace with food and body simply means loving and accepting our body just as it is – right here, right now. From this place, our journey to actually lose weight can be far more successful. This episode also explores how: ✅ Owning our preferences means we don't have to explain ourselves ✅ Self-acceptance creates an embodied sense of safety ✅ Our inner rebel can be a powerful ally in weight loss and in life   --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightlossjourney #dieting #spiritualgrowth #healing #selfhealers #selfawareness #wellnessjourney #eatingpsychology #foodfreedom

When it comes to weight, many people can identify with the concept of “weight extremism” – otherwise known as yo-yo dieting.  We're “all in” with our health commitments, whether that's daily exercise, a healthy diet, getting to bed early every night. We analyze, assess – and maybe even obsess about – every little morsel of food we put into our mouth. And then, well – life happens. Tragedy happens. Stress happens.  Our habits start to unravel, and before we know it: our healthy lifestyle is kaput. We're secret-eating in the dark and binge eating when we think no one is looking.  The weight starts to creep back up, and before we know it, our weight has swung widely to the other side of the spectrum.  And every bite of food is accompanied by terrible, self-attacking thoughts like, “I'm so disgusting. I can't believe I'm doing this again, I can't stand who I've become.”   As Marc David explores in this episode, the extremist mentality can go way beyond the realms of food and body.  But in every case, our extremistic mentality simply isn't sustainable – and when we fail to notice that, our heart, mind and body suffers. That's what's happening with guest coaching client, Jeff, 53, who has gained and lost 100 lbs many times since he was young. Through extreme approaches like juice fasting and running marathons, Jeff has always been able to lose the weight. But inevitably, something happens in life that throws him off. He gets divorced, his parents die, he moves. Grief arises, as does loneliness – and he turns to his familiar friend, food. But Jeff is deeply tired of the yo-yo dieting, and of all the weight that piles on – and that's so much harder to lose as he gets older.  And he's exhausted of all the shame-filled, hurtful thoughts his brain hurls at him about how he's “weak” – a message that's all too familiar from the childhood lectures his parents used to give him around his food and weight.  So how can Jeff and the rest of us move beyond weight extremism, yo-yo dieting, and the “all or nothing” mentality? How do we find the middle ground with food? Find out in this moving conversation… --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightloss #emotionaleating #bingeeatingrecovery #shame #healingjourney #selfworth #selflovejourney #eatingpsychology #foodfreedom #mindfuleating

Food is so much more than just fuel for our bodies. It's also a powerful connector.  Food brings us together with family and friends, and allows us to express and receive love and appreciation, spark new relationships, create memories, discover and care for the world around us, and even navigate and explore our inner emotional and spiritual landscape. Because food helps us feel connected, we may also reach for it in moments of disconnection, distress, isolation, and loneliness. We can turn to it for comfort, or for a sense of familiarity and reassurance. And that's because of a foundational, biochemical truth for every human being on this planet:  When we eat food, we feel better.  As Marc David unpacks in this episode, using food to self-soothe and comfort ourselves isn't all bad. In fact, the conscious use of food to feel better can actually be beneficial. Fifty-nine year old guest coaching client, Debra, endured the death of her late husband several years ago – and now finds herself again grieving the loss of a relationship – this time, a breakup.  In response to her grief and sadness, Debra has noticed she's started eating compulsively in the evenings. And she feels ashamed of having gained some extra weight in recent months. Follow their conversation, as Marc explores how the loss or absence of close relationships and social ties in our lives can mean we look to food to satisfy some of our most basic needs – and how, at different times in our life, that can be a therapeutic strategy.

Our culture is quick to praise dramatic weight loss. But it rarely acknowledges the heaviness that so often lingers afterward – the fear of gaining it all back. When we're afraid of being overweight, it's easy to see food as the enemy. We'll often try to skip meals and deny our appetite. And it seems to make sense … After all, it's food that makes us gain weight, right?  The challenge is, when we fear or blame food – or try to repress our biological need for nourishment, we can develop other unwanted eating habits like “sneak eating” or binge eating. Which often leads us to spiraling into even more fear about our weight. That's what we explore in this episode of The Psychology of Eating Podcast, where Marc David finds our guest coaching client Tamara at a critical crossroads. Tamara's journey with weight began at age 10, when she was bullied for being heavy as a child. Through a series of lifestyle changes, Tamara, 48, has lost nearly 270 pounds – and yet, Tamara is still haunted by her weight. With 10 more pounds she'd like to lose, Tamara lives in fear that her “addiction” to food and late-night eating will prevent her from further weight loss – and may well cause her to gain weight again. So many of us can relate to Tamara's fear of gaining weight. In fact, fear of weight gain is one of the most common food and body fears out there.  But as this episode demonstrates, being afraid of weight gain can take a huge toll on us. It undermines our mental and emotional well-being, and it can keep us in survival mode.  As Marc explores, one of the keys to healing our relationship with weight is learning to trust life, and seeing the beauty in our personal journey. “Until you embrace the beauty of your journey, and the success of your journey,” Marc says, “all the little tricks and tools – they're not going to work.” Follow along as Marc offers essential insights for understanding the toll our fears can have on us, and why learning to trust our journey is an essential ingredient in repairing our relationship with food and body. You'll also learn: ✅ Key tools for working with fear of weight gain ✅ Why the concept of  “food addiction” can do more harm than good ✅ How food is the solution and not the enemy ✅ How to move from food fear to food freedom… --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating:  https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #bodyimage #dieting #foodfreedom #antidiet #healingjourney #psychologyofeating #foodpsychology

When we're facing a chronic health challenge, one of the great ways to help ourselves is to turn to food and diet. So many of us have had great success when using the “food as medicine” approach. But what happens when our healing diet routine feels too restrictive?  And how do we reconcile our need to avoid certain foods with our natural desire for freedom and exploration? These are just some of the questions Cecili's hopes to unpack as Marc's guest on this episode. Cecili is a nutritionist who's spent more than a decade self-treating her own inflammatory bowel disease. After rejecting conventional treatments, Cecili embraced a food-as-medicine approach which eliminated her symptoms within months.  Now, Cecili seeks support in one area that continues to confound her – fear and anxiety around introducing new foods into her diet, and their potential for causing unwanted symptoms.  Follow along as Marc supports Cecili to reframe her journey, from a focus on fear and anxiety to the development of self-trust.  “As you become more explorative in your life, it's going to be a little bit easier for digestion to relax,” Marc says. And when we pair the experience of safety with the knowledge that we are capable of caring for ourselves amidst unwanted symptoms, then we can finally create a more relaxed and joyful nutritional journey.  Listen now to learn more about:  ✅ How mental and digestive processes can mirror each other ✅ Why discerning between trust in body and trust in self creates space for exploration ✅ How to cultivate a relaxed and resilient mindset around trying new foods ✅ The importance of challenging limiting beliefs about what we require to be healthy --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #foodfear #ibs #anxiety #chronicillness #foodasmedicine #wellnessjourney #foodrelationship #eatingpsychology #nutrition #intuitiveeating #healingjourney

When it comes to food and weight, many of us have learned to treat our bodies as a kind of machine.  We know what our Body Mass Index (BMI) “should” be, and we strive to stay within it. We may severely restrict our caloric intake, increase our weekly exercise to the point of exhaustion, or take other extreme measures to lose weight. And here's the thing: these efforts often work, but the cost can be huge. At one point or another, most of us who pursue weight loss in this way end up feeling starved for pleasure and enjoyment in life. That's the world that Jacques, 55, has been inhabiting since childhood. As a rabbi, Jacques counsels members of his community and helps them find wisdom in their challenges and tribulations.  But when it comes to his personal relationship with food, Jacques is struggling to let go of what he refers to as his “obsession with food.”  Jacques has tried so many things to lose weight, such as addressing his gut microbiome, taking hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) for weight loss, and committing to work with a personal trainer three times a week, despite his extreme dislike for working out.  None of these efforts have led to lasting weight loss. Instead, Jacques is feeling even more anxious and confused about what seems like it should be a pretty simple thing: to be at his natural weight, to feel nourished by food, and to live a good life.  For so many of us focused on weight loss, we tend to think about what needs to be lost, removed, or restricted … when what would actually serve us is embracing our love of food, and opening up to pleasure as a source of healing and transformation.  As you'll hear in this episode, Marc David reframes the idea of “food obsession” as it pertains to weight loss - and explores why cultivating a nourishing relationship with food necessitates inviting pleasure into our lives.  As you'll hear, Marc explores: ✅ Why embracing our love of food is one of the most life-affirming steps we can take ✅ Finding the wisdom in our love of food and pleasure ✅ How to unwind the cycle of self-punishment that so often defines our relationship with food and body ✅ Following our joy when it comes to movement and eating ✅ Why finding our natural weight can only come when we're truly embodied --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightlossjourney #pleasure #relationshipwithfood #embodiment #loseweightnothate #slowdowndiet #dietsdontwork #healing #selflove #psychologyofeating

For so many of us, numbers hold power. Whether it's our bank account, the calories on our plate, or our final exam score, we give tremendous meaning to numbers. But there's one number we often give the greatest meaning of all – and that's our weight. Most of us have a “number” in mind for what we “should” weigh, and we tend to believe in it wholeheartedly. We can place almost mystical significance on that figure, believing that the world – our world – will be so much different when we finally achieve it. In this episode, we meet 52-year old Reni from Australia, who has been dieting since her 20s. At one point, she *almost* reached her weight loss goal of 55 kilos, but missed it by 1 kilo.  As Marc David explores with Reni, that 1 extra kilo held significance for her far beyond the weight itself. Reni holds the common belief that she'll feel more confident about herself once she loses the weight. And that extra confidence boost could be just the thing she needs to get out of a job that's draining her soul, and move on to more fulfilling work – something that is of great importance to her. But as she shares, it's challenging to focus on life goals when she hasn't reached her goal weight. So how does Reni – and the rest of us – get out of this never-ending loop? How can she take her power back, and place it where it matters most: on who she really wants to be, and how she wants to live her life? As you'll hear, Marc explores: ✅ Why we place magical or quasi-religious significance on weight, and how this can hold us back from the bigger life we're yearning for ✅ The key mindset shift so many of us can benefit from: focusing on WHO you want to be instead of how much you want to weigh ✅ How to recognize when it's time to have a weight loss “reckoning,” and how we can begin to think differently about our bodies – and our life ✅ The role of baby steps when practicing being the “real you” ✅ And more… -------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightloss #weightlossjourney #bodyimage #dieting #emotionaleating #selfacceptance #selflove  #confidence #wellness #healthcoaching

One thing we learn very early in our journey with food and body is that everyone's got an opinion. We find no shortage of health and nutrition experts offering a variety of strong, and often conflicting, perspectives too. About healthy eating. About the ideal weight and body shape. About what we're doing wrong. “But who is right? Will it work for me? What if it doesn't?” And so we try everything – only to end up feeling overwhelmed, stuck, defeated, and lost. That's where we meet today's podcast guest. Hara is an accomplished 55-year-old business woman who enjoys confidence in all areas of her life – except in her relationship with food. Hara first started dieting at age 12 and has felt caught for decades in an unending cycle of perfectionism and restriction, followed by rebellious eating and overeating. Though she managed to free herself from dieting in recent years, Hara says a peaceful relationship with food still eludes her. In her words, “Loving myself didn't magically make the food conversation go away.” She longs for more comfort and confidence when it comes to food and body, but can't figure out what's in the way. In this episode, Marc explains and explores how our relationship with food has a way of humbling and humanizing us. It brings us face to face with our imperfections and the reality that perfection is unattainable. During their conversation, Hara comes to the realization that a hidden perfectionism has been ruling her inner dialogue. She learns that by changing the way she speaks to herself and to her body, she can actually change the game. “Everything depends on how we speak to ourselves,” Marc says. Follow along as Marc offers powerful insights for how we can reclaim a sense of peace in that inner dialogue. He also shows how shifting that conversation can support a sense of renewed overall empowerment in our relationships with food and body. You'll learn about: ✅ How our inner dialogue shapes our experiences with food and body ✅ How personal relationships can support us in creating space for a loving inner dialogue ✅ How embracing preferences over perfectionism supports us in having the body we want ✅ Why being present and aware while eating is more effective than following “the rules” ✅ And more... --------------- Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #selftalk #perfectionism #foodfreedom #weight #overeating #selflove #selflovejourney #disorderedeating #eatingpsychology #foodpsychology #psychologyofeating #intuitiveeating #marcdavid

Regrets. They're something all of us have experienced over the years.  Whether it's not following a dream career, missing out on the trip of a lifetime, or wishing you had been able to say that final goodbye, regrets can be truly hard to move on from.  As we explore in this episode, our regrets and disappointments in life can not only be difficult to get over, they can end up massively influencing every area of our lives – including our relationship with weight and food.  Think of it this way: regrets and disappointments are a burden. They hold us back mentally and emotionally, and keep us stuck in the past.  While we may not be consciously aware of them, our regrets can be a heavy weight – and we can end up associating that emotional weight with any physical weight we may be carrying.   As you'll hear in this episode, Marc David works with 60-year old Mardeen around her desire to lose 7 pounds. Mardeen has already lost some weight, and would love to lose a little more. Like so many of us, one of the key beliefs Mardeen holds is that she'll feel lighter once she's lost the weight.  But as Marc explores with Mardeen, it will be difficult to feel lighter so long as her lost dreams and past regrets continue to loom. For Mardeen, the dreams she never realized – losing the chance to have another child after an unplanned hysterectomy, and not pursuing her lifelong desire of becoming a professional artist – have become a kind of emotional weight.  And as long as the emotional weight isn't addressed, no amount of physical weight loss will give Mardeen the deeper experience of lightness she truly desires.  So please tune into this episode, where we explore the important topic of life's regrets and disappointments, why it's so necessary to honor and release them – and how doing so can give us the peace and freedom we're looking for, and ultimately support our weight loss and fitness goals.  --------------- Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #regrets #disappointment #weightlossjourney #bodyimage #emotionaleating #emotionalwellbeing #eatingpsychology #selfcare #selflovejourney #healthcoaching #holisticnutrition

When it comes to weight, most of us are focused on improving our physical metabolism. We've been taught to think that weight loss is largely about reducing our caloric intake and increasing our daily exercise.  But what's often not talked about are the role of hidden negative emotions in our weight journey. We may acknowledge the importance of processing and integrating emotions like anger and depression for our mental health. However, emotional metabolism is also essential for our physical health. So in this episode, we explore anger and depression on the weight continuum. Because so many people (especially women) have been taught that being angry isn't OK … leading to depression, heaviness, and feeling stuck.  And while honoring and giving space for anger won't necessarily translate into weight loss, it's a vital step to: ✅ Affirming we are enough, just as we are – paving the way for greater self-acceptance and self-love ✅ Opening up to pleasure, whether we're at our “ideal” weight or not ✅ Giving anger a voice, which many of us have never given ourselves permission to feel since childhood As you'll hear, Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, works with 49-year old Julie who would like to lose about 30 pounds. Despite many lifestyle modifications and different diets, Julie's weight won't seem to budge – and she's not sure what to do.  Through their conversation, Julie realizes just how long she's been seeking her family's approval – especially from her mother. Both sad and furious, Julie is ready to let go of her family's commentary on her body, her choices, and her life, and discover what she finally hungers for out of life.  Tune in now for a moving conversation about how giving space for our anger is one of the most powerful and self-loving things we can do. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #weightloss #weightlossjourney #anger #emotionalwellbeing #emotionaleating #relationshipwithfood #eatingpsychology #selflove #selfacceptance

In this episode, we explore how, for some people, the lifelong desire to lose weight can reflect an unconscious attempt to “fix” parts of ourselves that we think are broken or somehow wrong – something that is common for those of us who have endured childhood trauma or abuse.  As we know, childhood abuse and trauma can take many forms. And for too many, the effects of that abuse linger on well into adulthood, touching just about every aspect of life – from our intimate relationships, mental and physical health, self-confidence, and so much more.  Those of us who have endured abuse, trauma, or abandonment can end up feeling very unsafe in our bodies, or that there is something wrong with us that needs fixing.  As Marc David explores with 50-year old coaching client, Denise, one of the many ways people will sometimes try to re-establish safety or restore wholeness is by controlling their weight and diet. While Denise has largely healed from the childhood abuse she endured, she still struggles with not feeling worthy or that she's “enough” just as she is. She often turns to food for comfort or emotional support, and in her words, “would like to be more consistent with what I know is best for me, and not self-sabotage, or let emotions take over my bigger health and weight goals.”  What Denise and others are attempting to do is feel in control – of their feelings, and their body. And it makes a lot of sense. When we couldn't control our circumstances as a child, we'll try to find ways to feel in control as adults.  But the challenge is that the core issue – feeling unsafe or unworthy – isn't really getting healed by our attempts to control food or our body.  So, that's what this episode is all about - how we get to the real heart of abuse and trauma, and heal it from within – rather than trying to create a false sense of safety in our outer circumstances.  If you or a loved one can relate, then tune into this wonderful episode! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #trauma #abuse #emotionaleating #dieting #safety #innerchild #selflovejourney #eatingpsychology #foodfreedom

Many of us have had the thought, “I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin.”  But have you ever stopped and truly considered this phrase? When we talk about feeling comfortable in our skin, we're usually thinking about our weight. We want to be thinner, have a flatter belly, or trimmer thighs. We're eager to feel good in our clothes, and want to like what we see in the mirror. And it seems like a reasonable desire to have the body that we want.  But as we explore in this episode, there's an implicit negative belief behind this seemingly innocent goal: that, once we lose the weight, we'll finally feel good about ourselves, and be happy. And perhaps that we'll finally feel proud of ourselves, and that we've accomplished something important, and are therefore “worthy.” We can finally let go of all the guilt and self-blame, and bask in a glittering pool of self-acceptance. Here's one thing we know, and at some level, you probably do, too… Believing that we'll finally love and accept ourselves after losing weight is simply false. Can we prefer to have a different body? Might we enjoy being at a certain weight better than others? Yes, and yes. But we can't reach our ultimate goal – to feel good about ourselves – when we're not loving and accepting ourselves along the way – in all our forms, shapes, and sizes.  So be sure to tune into this episode, where Marc David works with fitness instructor, Brenda – who would like to eat healthy all the time so she can keep the weight off for good, and feel like a great role model for her clients.  Like many, she judges herself for not being able to eat healthy all the time, and worries that she's turning off potential clients who don't see her “walking the talk.” As you'll hear, Marc covers some important terrain we can all use to hear, including: ✅  Where the roots of feeling uncomfortable in one's skin comes from (and why that matters) ✅  Why the unrealistic expectations we put on ourselves can be destructive and self-abusive  ✅  How to work with challenges around emotional eating and yo-yo dieting --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #weightlossjourney #dieting #emotionaleating #bodyimage #bodypositivity #embodiment  #selflove #psychologyofeating

Ask anyone who has diabetes what it's like living with this disease, and you'll probably hear a lot. … About the hundreds of decisions that have to be made on a daily basis to manage their condition. … About how scary it often is knowing that blood sugar dysregulation can be life-threatening. … About how depressing it can be knowing this is a lifelong condition. … And about how exhausting it is to do all of this, WHILE managing the other demands of life.   Diabetes management is a big deal, and living with it isn't easy.  Affecting an estimated 422 million people globally, diabetes is one of the most common chronic modern illnesses we currently face.  And while there's increasing awareness of how to manage diabetes, there's not enough focus on the emotional impact that diabetes has on those affected by it. The truth is, we simply don't hear enough about the emotional havoc our illnesses can play on us.  In this episode of The Psychology of Eating Podcast, we take a special look at the very real issue of emotional burnout around managing diabetes (and other chronic, life-threatening illnesses).  Living with diabetes is far more than just learning how to eat the right diet, or monitoring glucose levels, or making the right lifestyle changes. It's also about: ✅ Being able to still live the life we yearn to live, and honor our desire to feel happy and free. ✅ Recognizing when self-compassion is needed, and discovering what that truly means for us. ✅ Letting go of the guilt and shame we can feel from having diabetes in the first place. And what does all of this ultimately mean? It means that living well with diabetes requires us to cultivate a healthy emotional relationship with it, and that we learn to embrace it as a spiritual and emotional teacher. Because we may not be able to put an end to the daily decisions, tasks, and vigilance – but we can use it as a fuel for some of our deepest personal growth. And this ultimately leads us to a place of greater peace, acceptance, and vitality. If you have diabetes or other chronic illness, we HIGHLY recommend you tune into this powerful episode! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? We're currently enrolling for our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training! Download a copy of our School Catalog to learn more about our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/  Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #diabetes #mentalhealth #selfcompassion #diabetesawareness #emotionalwellbeing #embodiment #weight #podcast #eatingpsychology #marcdavid

In this episode, we explore some of the gifts and hidden messages our health challenges are here to teach us. For 56-year old Lynn, there's been a lot of adjustment to her previously active lifestyle since sustaining a knee injury. Previously, Lynn was very active and has always enjoyed helping others. But since her injury, she's been in such pain that she isn't moving her body like she did before – leading to weight gain and digestive issues. And yet, Lynn's spirits haven't been dimmed. Instead, she's feeling hopeful and inspired about what's next.  As she explores with Marc David, Lynn has found her health challenges have taught her a lot. She's learned that perfectionism is no longer her highest value, and that setting boundaries with herself and accepting “what is” have been key to her emotional and physical well-being.  So in this special episode, we celebrate one woman's journey in discovering how our health challenges don't have to be our downfalls – they can be our allies, spurring tremendous personal growth and deeper life fulfillment. Key insights: ✅ Perhaps the hardest lesson of life is that we die. Illness and injuries are a sort of “mini-death” along the journey of life, and profoundly change our relationship with our bodies and our lives. ✅ Accepting, grieving, and other important emotional processes can help us through hard times in our life. They can also help us move forward into our next chapter of life, and open up to the beauty and wonder of life in a whole new way. ✅ There's a distinct power in “owning” who we are as individuals, and reckoning where our true value comes from.  --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  {Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/} Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weightgain #injury #spirituality #eatingpsychology #healingjourney #weight #chronicpain #illness #marcdavid #podcast #eatingpsychology

In this week's episode, Marc works with 52-year old Hulya on the important topic of how we learn to manage stress and regulate our emotions, so that we can experience the most optimal conditions for health. And Marc takes a special look at anxiety, constipation, and midsection weight gain, including some of the hidden wisdom these conditions have for us.  As researchers have discovered, there's a profound connection between gut and brain health. So much so that “the gut-brain axis” is now established as one of the most important and complex systems in the body.  The gut is often referred to as a “second brain” due it's separate but interconnected system of over 100 million neurons. This complex system, the enteric nervous system, is responsible for all the major digestive functions including enzyme production, nutrient absorption, and elimination. What's fascinating is that research is now revealing the intricate relationship between our gut, and our thoughts, mood, and emotions.  When we feel happy, our body naturally goes into parasympathetic dominance (the relaxation response), and our absorption and elimination typically improves. Conversely, when we're under stress, the gut feels it – and the normal, healthy functions of our digestive system can become impaired.  Many of us are aware of how various stressors, like work or marital challenges, can make us feel physically unwell. Perhaps you get heartburn or a knot in your stomach after a big fight, for example. But what most people do not realize is that our challenges with food and body can become yet another source of stress. For example, when we worry about our weight or feel self-hate for our body for years on end – this creates a powerful neurohormonal cascade in our physiology that can cause gastrointestinal issues like constipation or acid reflux – and ironically, can also lead to further weight gain. Over time, sustained negative emotions can wreak havoc on every part of our body, but the gut is often the first place that we'll experience illness.    {Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/} --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #constipation #overeating #stress #stresseating #emotionaleating #weightloss #guthealth #foodfreedom #bodypositivity #mindfuleating #healthateverysize #eatingpsychology #marcdavid

Let's be honest: trying to figure out what's best to eat for our unique body – and stick to it – can be really hard. So can trying to lose weight. If we're not careful, our whole life can become dominated by food, what to eat – and what not to eat, trying to be “good,” and constant thoughts about our diet.  Diet anxiety can happen to all of us, and it often drives us to what Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, refers to as “all or nothing eating.”  One of the hallmarks of this behavior is we're either eating 100% clean and healthy food, or we've ditched our diet and binge on sweets, carbohydrates, or fatty foods. There's no in between. This “all or nothing” approach keeps us trapped in a cycle that simply doesn't work.  We may successfully lose weight for a time, but our healthy habits reach a point where they're no longer sustainable. Our diet starts slipping, and our weight will often go up. Self-attack, shame, and guilt quickly follow.  If you're prone to all or nothing eating, you'll want to tune in to this episode, where Marc works with 60-year old Lee. Like so many of us, Lee has been dieting for decades, and goes through, in her words, “healthy” and “unhealthy” phases. Her unhealthy phases seem to last forever, and when they do, she can't stop thinking about her diet, the 20 kilos she'd like to lose, and what she needs to do differently in order to commit to a healthier lifestyle.  Watch Lee's breakthrough in her challenges around nutritional extremism and weight – you'll come away with some life-changing tools and takeaways. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://ipe.events/EEB  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #antidiet #healthateverysize #weightloss #bodypositivity #foodfreedom #disorderedeating #eatingpsychology #marcdavid #podcast

If you've ever tried to lose weight, you know it's not so easy. In fact, it can be incredibly challenging (just look at all the billions of dollars we collectively spend on weight loss every year).  So that begs the question: why is losing weight so hard? While challenges with weight loss are multifactorial, today we look at one of the hidden psychological obstacles that often gets in the way. And that's feeling like the things we must do to lose weight are a form of self-punishment.  It can seem like we're being forced to do things that we don't enjoy, and eat foods we don't love, and the real kicker? We must do them F.O.R.E.V.E.R.  Healthy decisions like: Eating vegetables at every meal Minimizing processed foods and sugary snacks Fitting in time at the gym most days Prioritizing meditation or yoga over Netflix or surfing the web… … can have us feeling like there's no longer any pleasure or enjoyment in life. Friends, as long as weight loss feels like self-punishment, we're always going to be in a battle with ourselves.  As Marc points out to guest coaching client, Adrianne, it's pretty hard to find freedom in weight loss when getting there has us feeling imprisoned.  As you're about to learn, a big part of the weight loss journey is reversing the old belief, “I must punish myself in order to lose weight.”  That's what this episode is all about: learning how to transform this negative belief that holds so many of us back.    {Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough, set to release in early 2023! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/} --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #emotionaleating #weight #dieting #sustainableweightloss #foodfreedom #intuitiveeating #healthyhabits #healthylifestyle #bodypositivity #psychologyofeating #marcdavid

Do you love going against the rules? If so, you might have a strong “inner rebel” – an archetype that lives inside us, and can unwittingly make us go against our own best interests, especially when it comes to our health. As Marc David explores in this episode, our inner rebel is often behind the scenes unconsciously making choices for us about things like diet, exercise, sleep hygiene, and so much more.  Thirty eight-year old Daniela from Mexico wants to improve her health but frequently gets tempted by frappuccinos, sodas, and junk food. Daniela, a psychologist, knows that making changes to diet and exercise are important to her weight and health goals, but she just can't seem to stick with it. As the session unfolds, it becomes clear that Daniela has two competing voices inside her duking it out for control: the part of her who wants to make healthier choices, and the part of her that doesn't want to feel restricted and controlled. This latter voice is her inner rebel, causing quite a lot of difficulty, confusion and frustration. So how can Daniela - and the rest of us - work with the inner rebel?  Is the inner rebel here to vex us, or is there a hidden wisdom and message this archetype has for us?  You'll hear the answers to this, and more – and hear some life-changing takeaways, including: How childhood food restriction, food scarcity, and other limitations with food at a young age can lead to a strong inner rebel as an adult The origins of the inner rebel shown in the Biblical “Adam & Eve” story How we can use our inner rebel for constructive and positive purposes when it comes to our health Why positive reinforcement from our loved ones can go a long way in creating healthy habits And more… --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough, set to release in early 2023! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #emotionaleating #weight #mindfuleating #rebel #foodfreedom #healthyhabits #healthylifestyle #healthydiet #foodpsychology #marcdavid

When it comes to emotional eating, so many of us focus on the habit itself -- the mindless munching on potato chips or the quick relief from a piece of chocolate -- without considering the emotions that drive the behavior in the first place. In this episode, we explore the true root cause of emotional eating (our emotions) -- and the role of the criminal mind in driving us to engage in this unwanted eating challenge.  The criminal mind is that part of us that does something in secret out of fear of disapproval or wanting to get away with something we know we shouldn't be doing. It's a natural part of the human psyche that's typically born at a very young age. As children, when we're told we can't have something we really want, we find ourselves in conflict. We want to be a “good” girl or boy, so we don't lose our parents' love for doing something “bad.” But we also still crave the thing -- often food -- that we're told we can't have. This can lead kids to break their parents' rules and do it anyway -- which is how the criminal mind is born.  When we continue this unconscious pattern as adults, we can find ourselves in unwanted behaviors that we just can't seem to break. We may still have a deep desire to be “good,” while also having that same strong childhood urge for forbidden foods. Here's the thing: when we try to be “good,” the desire for the forbidden is still there - along with the thrill and rush of breaking our own rules. There's simply too much temptation for forbidden foods, and we end up going against what we know is best for our well-being. So in this episode, we look at the role of the criminal archetype in emotional eating, and how our childhood desire to be “good” can derail our best laid plans with food, body, and life. We also consider some of the ways we can begin to shift the criminal mindset, including: The key role of awareness, and how it can help us shift emotional eating How “What Else” questions can redirect emotional regulation Tuning into our our own unique food story {Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough, set to release in early 2023! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/} --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #emotionaleating #foodcriminal #sneakingfood #secreteating #bingeeating #weight #healthyhabits #foodfreedom #bodyacceptance #selflove #relationshipwithfood #emotionaleatingbreakthrough #psychologyofeating #marcdavid

In this episode, we explore stress eating – a type of emotional eating – from the perspective of eating psychology. But first, for those unfamiliar with the term ‘eating psychology,' a quick definition: eating psychology is the study of our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about food and body. It's a positive and transformational approach that views our eating challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow. Stress eating has a huge psychological component to it. Whether we're conscious of it or not, our daily stresses can be a HUGE driver behind emotional eating.  But the key is understanding that it's not really our circumstances that drive us to emotional eating. It's the negative and anxious thoughts we have about those circumstances that often cause us to turn to food.  Reaching for junk foods – frequently carbohydrate-rich foods like chips, cookies, and candies – is a quick and effective way to quickly relieve stress. The only problem is that the “feel good” feeling doesn't last, and we can gain weight or develop health issues over the long term. Most of us know this, and we feel guilty and ashamed for what we perceive as “giving in” or being weak around food. And here's the clincher: shame will often lead us to feel we must be punished for being “bad.” Ironically, an exceedingly common way of self-punishing is with food: eating more “bad” food to punish ourselves for being “bad” with food to begin with. Kind of crazy, right?!  If you can relate, then tune in to hear Marc work with guest coaching client Denise on how to “graduate” from the self-punishment cycle behind emotional eating. --------------- Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough, set to release in early 2023! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/ Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #stresseating #emotionaleating #weight #selfpunishment #dieting #relationshipwithfood #wellnessjourney #intuitiveeating #psychologyofeating #marcdavid

In the weight loss world, the concept of a weight “set point” is pretty common. Meaning, our bodies seem to have an intrinsic natural weight that can be different for each of us. For many of us, that natural “set point” isn't what we think it should be. We want a lower set point weight than we have, so we'll often fight the body and make Herculean efforts to lose weight. And while you'll find lots of resources out there on how to change your set point, in this episode we explore weight set point from the perspective of eating psychology.  One of the key teachings of eating psychology is that our challenges with food and body are a great teacher. They're not here to torment us or drive us crazy, they're here to show us where our deepest personal growth lies.  So in this episode of “In Session,” you'll hear Marc work with 62-year old Joanne, who has lost and gained about 15 pounds over the last 30 years. She has a clear idea of what her weight set point “should” be, it's just that her body doesn't seem to agree.  Every time she puts herself on a diet, Joanne loses weight. It seems like her “set point” has adjusted – until she starts to eat more pleasurable foods, when she gains the 15 pounds right back.  For Joanne, life just seems like it would be a whole lot easier – and she would be so much happier – if she could simply learn how to reset her weight set point.  But is changing her weight set point truly going to lead to happiness and fulfillment with this one precious, beautiful life she's been given?  Tune in to find out! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food. Follow us on social:  - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Psychologyofeating - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPEfanpage - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatingpsychology/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eatingpsych #weight #bodyimage #midlife #dieting #relationshipwithfood #happiness #fulfillment #selflove #selfacceptance #eatingpsychology #psychologyofeating #marcdavid

In this episode, we meet 53-year old Lydia, who has been dieting for 40 years. As an adolescent, Lydia developed anxiety about how her body was developing, as is often common for girls and boys at that age. Aerobics was becoming hugely popular at that time in the 1980s, diet culture was booming, and Lydia embraced it all with the hopes that she could shapeshift into the lean, long-legged body type she hoped for. Fast forward all these years later, Lydia is fed up with dieting. But she doesn't know a life without it. She can't imagine who she would be, or what her relationship with food would feel like.  All Lydia knows are the “boom and bust” cycles of dieting that define her life. When she loses weight, she feels confident in her clothes, but there's also a constant fear lurking in the back of her mind that she's going to regain the weight. And when she does gain it back, Lydia feels like a total failure.  As Lydia shares with Marc, she believes she'd be happy if she could only learn to eat and live like a thin person. But is there really such a thing as thinking like a thin person? And if there is, does it make them happier?  As this episode demonstrates, chronic dieting is not only a way of life – it's a mindset. And while it usually doesn't give us the results we're looking for, it can become so hard to know what to do – and who to be – instead. Because dieting and body image challenges nearly always reflect our own self rejection, part of the solution is learning to accept ourselves and our bodies as they are right now, something that many of us worry means giving up our weight loss goals.  --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Watch our special masterclass on the Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training to learn more about how you can positively transform your own relationship with food while helping others do the same.

Ahvanya, 27, from Goa, India, has one wish when it comes to food and body: to never engage in negative self-talk again. Meaning, she would always trust herself with food, and she would never again judge her appearance. She would simply feel good about herself and feel confident all the time.  But is it realistic to think we can somehow stop the negative internal chatter, all those voices that tell us we should be different or better?  And if we could, would this finally allow us to be in perpetual bliss and balance when it comes to issues around emotional eating, body confidence, and weight?  As Marc explores with Ahvanya, it's natural to see our negative self-talk as a problem. We can feel powerless and paralyzed by the difficult emotions they cause us to feel. But when we try to deny our thoughts, we're ironically swapping out one type of perfectionism (“my diet and body must be perfect”) for another (“my thoughts are unacceptable and I'm unwilling to allow them”). And this sets us up for feeling like a failure yet again, just in a different way. So what do we do in a world where we've been taught to be perfect, inside and out?  Find out in this episode, where we explore the unrealistic expectations we often put on ourselves when it comes to our thoughts and feelings about food, body, and life. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Watch our special masterclass on the Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training to learn more about how you can positively transform your own relationship with food while helping others do the same.

Good health is the foundation for every other wonderful thing we could want in life: relationships, career, wealth, happiness, and so much more.  But striving for good health, like anything else, can be taken to its extreme.  One of the manifestations of this is orthorexia, a type of eating challenge hyper-focused on making only the very healthiest of food choices. On paper that can seem like a good thing, but orthorexia has a real dark side.  People suffering from orthorexia eventually find themselves severely bound by the strict food rules they've created for themselves about what, when, and how much to eat. And this can feel a lot like prison, except it's a food prison existing only in one's mind.  In this episode, you'll meet 29-year old Rachel, who is overcoming orthorexia – but still has a lot of questions about how to quiet the voices in her mind that drive her to follow certain food rules, or feel really guilty when she fails to meet them. Rachel is exhausted from feeling so bound up by all the rules she follows, and wants to find more freedom with food. As Marc David explores with Rachel, orthorexia can present as the desire to eat healthy, but the fuel that perpetuates the disorder is often rooted in body dysmorphia. When we make the connection between orthorexia and body image/weight, we get to the real truth behind our vigilance with healthy food choices. From there, we can start to implement the key practices that will help us get out of our mental prison, and into a much more natural and intuitive relationship with food.  Whether you have orthorexia, or simply overdo the food rules and restrictions, be sure to tune into this revelatory episode! --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Watch our special masterclass on the Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training to learn more about how you can positively transform your own relationship with food while helping others do the same.

In this episode, Marc David coaches single mom, Eva, on her challenges with emotional eating. The eldest of 8 siblings, Eva has felt alone since childhood. Her mother was a hard-working single mom herself who was hardly ever at home, so Eva often stepped in to help raise her seven younger brothers. To ease her overwhelm and loneliness, she began comforting herself with food, especially with breads and sweets – a habit she's continued into adulthood.  Now many years later, Eva still feels many of the same emotions she did as a kid. Whether it's raising her autistic kids, dealing with the stress of single motherhood, or simply getting thrown off track by everyday challenges, life can just feel like too much, too often. When she's having a bad day, Eva reverts to her familiar pattern of binging on her favorite foods … a habit that is especially concerning given her bariatric surgery back in 2015. As Marc explores, we all have many different voices living inside of us at once – some of which are often in conflict with each other. When it comes to emotional eating, there's typically an inner child who learned early on how to cope using food. To unwind emotional eating, we need to evoke our adult self who can overcome the desire for instant gratification from food. As we do that, we can develop practices that help us shift emotional eating, including celebrating our small and big successes, and learning to stop punishing ourselves when we slip up. --------------- Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/  Watch our special masterclass on the Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training to learn more about how you can positively transform your own relationship with food while helping others do the same.