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