Weight. Food. Obesity. Exercise. Fat.

This country is obsessed with bodies and weight loss, but also obsessed with food and getting more of it. Social activities, celebrations, magazines, and television ads provide a continuous stream of mixed messages: losing weight will make you feel great, but the perfect dessert might also do the trick. Eating disorders are rampant, and, sadly, childhood obesity is quickly becoming this nation’s greatest health concern.

The sad and overwhelming truth is that people who lose weight usually gain it back. The problem with “dieting” is that while people can muster the willpower of a short-term behavioral change, they’re not taught how to change their addictive mindset about food. The emotional connection to food remains powerful. And when feelings are in charge of the choices you make about food, nutritional knowledge and long-term goals are easily ignored.

Taking Control

Until you can manage the thoughts and feelings that lead you to food, you will not be able to consistently manage your food choices. Until you can recognize and detach yourself from the emotional connection with food, you will continue to eat impulsively and excessively. Unless you learn to look honestly at the behavioral patterns that consistently make food available when the impulse hits, you will continue to experience that “out of control” relationship with food.

My seminars focus on developing the mindset necessary to lose weight, but more importantly, the mindset necessary to make permanent, manageable changes in HOW you decide what to eat, HOW you decide when to exercise, and HOW you purposely manage your emotional interactions with food on an ongoing basis.

The goal is to provide concrete information and skills that will teach you to:

Recognize and manage emotional impulses to overeat, often caused by anxiety, stress, and sadness
Increase awareness of physical cues that guide hunger, fullness, and exercise
Use external structures to support your healthy goals
Create a plan based on the mindset of maintenance, rather than the cycle of starts and stops, success and repeated failure

I offer evening, full day, or weekend seminars. This program is also offered as a series of weekly or monthly classes. While interactive seminars are beneficial in addressing many aspects of weight and emotional eating, sometimes individual counseling is the preferred approach. If you would prefer an individual session, please contact me directly to schedule a private appointment.