Food is not the enemy
An intro to Understanding why you use food to cope
If you're like most of my clients, you probably spend a lot of time obsessing about food and thinking that food is the enemy. When, in fact, food is there to support you.
Diets focus on controlling the food instead of healing your relationship with it.
Many of my clients have said they’re exhausted because when they're not bingeing or thinking about food, they're restricting instead.
When you're frantic about food or using it to cope with an uncomfortable emotion, it can be hard to incorporate healthy foods into your life or discern a hunger signal from an emotional need.
And we know that dieting isn't the answer.
That's because most diets fail within the first couple years and the ones that work, people have devoted a lot of time and energy to their success.
Suzanne W
“Do not hesitate taking this course! It has the power to change your perspective on self care and attention! The tools are life-altering and life-long!”
Like me, my clients have tried everything from calorie counting to keto, from prescription drugs to surgery, yet the weight always comes back. That's because fads focus on the food rather than the reason we use it to cope in the first place.
So if you're feeling anxious, depressed, angry or demotivated because you can't keep the weight off or stick to the latest health trend, will-power has nothing to do with it.
You can't heal from a place of fear or shame—it doesn't work. Otherwise, when you reach your "ideal weight", it won't take long before the same insecurities and low self-worth come back again.
In this 80-minute class, you'll learn why food is not the issue and why bingeing to soothe pain, numb sadness, or stuff frustration deep inside isn't your fault. You'll begin to understand why you use food to cope with everyday triggers like stress, loneliness or boredom instead of feeling the emotion and turning inward instead.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
Why you’re using food to cope and why it’s not the issue.
What happens in your body when you reach for food and how your body responds to stress or difficult emotions.
How to have the freedom to live your life and do more of the things you enjoy.
How to stop obsessing about food and lessen the power it has over you.
Empowering new tools to help you tune into what’s going on underneath your need to binge.
How to understand your relationship with food to get you out of the shame cycle and start healing.
The underlying cause of why you’re turning to food to soothe.
The initial steps to help you change your relationship with food and to be gentler with yourself.
Yes it is possible!
WHAT YOU’LL Get:
1, 80-minute pre-recorded video. You'll be able to easily pause, rewind, and rewatch the video as many times as you'd like.
Written exercises to help you understand your relationship with food.
A journaling exercise and worksheet that will help you get to know yourself.
A prerecorded visualization exercise to start learning who you are without your food challenges.
The opportunity to learn from the real-life experiences from students who’ve attended the live class to help you process and apply the material in your own life.
About Natalie
Hey, I'm Natalie, a registered psychotherapist and life coach who's helped hundreds of clients and students get to the bottom of why they use food to cope.
I started this work because of my own struggles with emotional eating which started at the age of seven.
I tried everything from fasting to Nutrisystem, from Weight Watchers to pills, yet nothing worked. That's when my parents decided my only hope was liposuction at the age of seventeen.
You probably know how the story goes. I gained the weight back within a year and was crippled with shame and guilt. I couldn't understand why if I wanted something so badly as being "thin", why couldn't I do it?
Finally, I realized it wasn't about the food. Food was simply my tool of choice for dealing with the uncomfortable emotions I was feeling inside. Once I got to the root of why I was using food to cope, I could start the healing process and begin to see food in a healthy new way.
And that's my hope for you, too.
FAQ’s
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You’re not focusing on the food and trying to control it. You’re focused on connecting to what is underlying your drive for food. This class will support you in releasing the old shame that you have carried so you can start to heal in a new way.
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You’ll have access to ask questions, share your comments and your experiences in a private chat that only enrolled students in Food Is Not the Enemy get to see.
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I believe that when you emotionally eat, it’s because you are using food to cover our emotions. In my experience, you need to learn where there is a void in our lives (usually emotionally) to help us learn why you are turning to food in the first place. Once you learn this, you can learn how to re-establish your hunger signals and mindfully eat since those have been lost along the way.
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This is a self-study course and NOT a replacement for therapy, psychotherapy, or counseling. Therapy involves one-on-one relationships between clients and therapists. This course will help empower you to get to know yourself better, and provide you with tools to implement on your own, in an engaging, self-directed format.
Testimonials
“Natalie has powerful insights into emotional eating and its causes with such real and achievable tools to help deal with the core of the issues. She is warm, compassionate and caring and I am very grateful I came across her program. I would highly recommend Natalie for anyone struggling with emotional eating - it’s the best gift you can give yourself.” ~ Sophie W
“It is comforting to know that my thoughts and feelings towards food, stress, anxiety, and depression, are not unique to me. I learned that food is not something to be ashamed of but a tool that I have been using to express or comfort emotions that needed soothing. When it comes to Natalie as an instructor, the first word that comes to mind is soothing. Natalie’s voice and presence automatically helped me to feel at ease and open. She is incredibly intuitive and present. Taking this course gave me an understanding of what prompts a binge--connecting with what is causing it emotionally and realizing that it isn’t something to be ashamed of but something to be examined curiously. I feel like there is hope for me to understand myself and how to meet my emotional needs.” ~ Danielle W
“Before this course, I approached emotional eating by trying to curtail it, and beating myself up for every failure. I have found that how I talk to myself is usually critical. I feel now that I am learning more about myself, which is a gift to me after decades of abuse. The course is a self-acceptance, empowerment journey and Natalie is magical! She has a calm manner, wealth of information, and engaging style, and creating a life-long toolbox is a real confidence-builder.” ~ Kelly H
“This course is taken at a gentle pace and Natalie is truly a gifted and sensitive teacher. I appreciate her approach and style and I feel lucky to have found her and her course. I am using tools to become aware of my eating and my emotions. Several times I have caught myself and been able to bring myself back to centre which hasn't happened in several years. I know this will change my life as I know it and help me be better at loving myself and allowing for self care. To anyone who may not be sure if this is for you, I encourage you to give it a try. I am so glad I did!” ~ Dawn M
“This course has taught me so much about how my body can help me through intense feelings! I have learned so many tools that I am grateful I don’t have to go even one more day without. They were right here with me all along and they will be right here with me for the rest of my life! Priceless!” ~ Holly E
“Natalie walked us through how to actually feel our feelings. If you've never done that, it is terrifying but worth it and it gets easier as you go. It changes the game. I learned that I no longer need to shame myself for emotionally eating in any capacity. If you are struggling with food, weight, size, body image, self-esteem, anything really, take this course. If you are looking for another way to approach food, if you are looking to make friends with yourself, take this course.” ~ Michele S
Before this course began, I mostly tried to be mindful with food. Since taking the course, I’m aware that the biggest thing for me to do is to connect my body with my brain and to listen to my body. It’s about seeing how the feelings feel in my body and not running from them. What I find so helpful is how calm Natalie is! I want to go go go and think that’s the answer...just go and get it done, when I need to relax...chill...feel my feelings...feel my body with the feelings and breathe! The biggest takeaway from this course was the way it helped me tune into my feelings and to be gentle with them. ~ Joyce M
An intro to Understanding why you use food to cope
If you're like most of my clients, you probably spend a lot of time obsessing about food and thinking that food is the enemy. When, in fact, food is there to support you.