To be honest, we're sick of all the blog posts circulating this time of year that promote "saving calories" for holiday parties or skipping the ranch with your veggies to "lighten up" your holiday spread. These "tips" not only steal the joy from holiday foods, but likely set you up to binge on the foods you're trying to avoid. There's nothing like eating plain raw celery instead of a slice of pie to make you feel unsatisfied and deprived. With diety messages like these, it's

Ever found yourself staring down an empty bag of candy corn after the kids are in bed on Halloween night? Perhaps you've felt a bit sheepish as you remember strictly ordering your kids that they could "only have two" pieces, only to demolish a bag of your favorite candy once the kids are in bed. Maybe it feels like you just "can't keep yourself in check" during the holiday season. Today, we're sharing our tips for preventing binges around the holidays and truly enjoying the

[Photo by Christina Branco on Unsplash] "I can't keep ice cream at my house without eating the whole carton." Does this sound like something you may have said or thought before? Maybe you yourself have turned down cookies from a friend or thrown out food from a party simply because you knew you couldn't control yourself around that particular food item. Perhaps you know what it's like to have a plate of cookies in your cupboard and to find yourself going back for thirds, four

If carbohydrates were people, they'd be the the most misunderstood, underappreciated guys on the block. Instead, they're just the most misunderstood, underappreciated macro-nutrient...and they have been ever since South Beach became much more than a vacation destination. Food personification aside, it's understandable if you're confused about carbohydrates. Of all the food groups, this is the one people seem to have the most questions about these days. And rightly so. Media d

While most people are familiar with the characteristics of "classic" eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, other disordered eating patterns tend to fly under the radar. Perhaps you have wondered if you struggle with disordered eating, but have ruled out the possibility because your weight is in the "normal" or "overweight" BMI category. Or, maybe you feel constantly stressed about food, but have received positive feedback from friends, family members,

Photo by Bethany Newman on Unsplash Whether it's chips and salsa, doughnuts, pizza, ice cream, or french fries, so many of our clients have certain foods that make them feel out of control. Oftentimes, we hear the stories of individuals who swear off their "trigger foods" only to polish off multiple servings of that same forbidden food hours later. Ashamed and afraid, they restrict the next day to compensate, only to overindulge again. This cycle consumes an incredible amount

If you take a second to type "guilt-free" into your search engine, the large majority of suggestions will be about food! "Guilt-free cheesecake," "guilt-free ice cream," and "guilt-free comfort favorites" are all popular Google searches. On the flip side, other foods are described as "sinfully delicious" to communicate that these foods are especially guilt-inducing. This plays out in advertising as well. Halo-Top Ice Cream, Eat-Me-Guilt-Free Brownies, and many other food bran

Photo by Fancycrave on Unsplash "Avoid carbs! Carbs are great! Avoid sugar! Don't eat meat! Eat lots of meat! Fat is bad! Fat is best! Only eat organic! Skip butter! Add butter to your coffee! Switch butter to coconut oil! Gluten is bad! Choose only whole wheat products!" Man. No wonder people are confused when it comes to nutrition! What was supposed to add 10 years to your life yesterday is now the root of all evil. How are you supposed to know what to eat or, more importan

"I can't be trusted around cookies." "I'm addicted to sugar." "If I buy chips, they don't last 10 minutes in my house." Does any of this sound familiar? When you have spent years feeling out of control around food, it makes total sense to want to point to something like food addiction. But, is addiction the appropriate way to describe this experience? As someone who works daily with people who have spent years trapped in diet culture, being told that their bodies need to be m

[Photo by Konstantin Dyadyun on Unsplash] Eating is an emotional experience. Mom's cookies can make you feel like you're at home, even if you're eating them from a UPS box hundreds of miles away. A cold lemonade takes you back to stress-free summers at the pool as a kid. Hot soup makes you feel cozy on a cold night. There's no doubt that food affects our emotions. Food is also used to celebrate. Whether birthdays, graduations, weddings, or just a reason to hang out on a Tuesd

Jennifer's Story Jennifer is sick of food battles. She loves ice cream, but avoids it because she is trying to lose weight. Swearing off ice cream works for a time, but as soon as she is presented with an empty room and a carton of Haagen-Dazs, she feels completely out-of-control. She promises to eat "only a few bites," but once she breaks her rule, she spirals into overeating. After all, this is my last chance to eat ice cream, she tells herself. Half a carton later, the fea

Food + Body = War. This is the bare-bones message that inundates our culture. We're told messages like, "Feel hungry? Try drinking water or diet beverages to take the edge off your hunger pangs." or, "Craving carbohydrates? Here's a carbohydrate-substitute that will trick your body into thinking it's getting what it wants." From a young age, we've learned that our body is the enemy and that food is its dangerous co-conspirator. We've believed that we must override, ignore, an

It happens. Maybe you were stressed and couldn’t help but hit the cookie jar—hard. Perhaps you had sworn off chocolate for the entire month, only to cave and dive face-first into your child’s Halloween candy stash. You promise yourself you'll just eat a few pieces, but half an hour later, you're buried beneath empty candy wrappers. Either way, it’s done—you ate well beyond your body’s fullness cues, and if you’re like many people, you feel terrible. What’s a person to do? Her

In an effort to make healthier choices, you've started changing up your usual food routine. For breakfast, you have a granola bar and an apple on your way out the door. At lunch, you sit down to a salad packed with healthy vegetables, feeling great about your new way of life. By mid-afternoon, you're ravenous and having trouble focusing so you break out your banana for a healthy snack. You're still hungry but you've been doing so good! This must just be what healthy feels lik

Have you ever felt like you have no willpower when it comes to food? I would like to give you permission to stop feeling that way. It is not due to any personal flaws or missing character traits that people end up feeling out of control around food. It’s biology. Our bodies are built for survival. Various studies have shown that restricting calories leads to a preoccupation with food and, when you do eat, food is more rewarding and you can experience intense eating that feels

The holiday season seems to bring up a lot of guilt around food for people. They feel bad for eating "unhealthy" foods and then try to "make up for it" by skipping other meals or only eating salads for a week or something along those lines. If your game plan for Thanksgiving involves skipping all meals until the actual Thanksgiving meal is served - STOP! The only thing restricting food intake will do is set you up to overeat. One of your body's responses to food restriction i