I have been a naturopath and nutritionist for almost 10 years now and having an unhealthy relationship with food is one of the most common issues I see with my clients. I have had my own ‘interesting’ relationship with food too over the years, have seen my weight fluctuate and there have been times when I have hated my body. I look at photos of me in my 20’s when I thought I was fat and cannot understand why I thought that. What a waste of time and energy.

Now I’m in my 50’s and I still look at my body in the mirror and cringe at what I see. The difference is – I am aware of it and I stop myself. I learning to accept myself as I am. I am learning to see myself as others see me. Not an easy task.  

I have worked with clients on weight loss in the past and I found it really frustrating because health was never the focus, just the scales. 

I am at the point in my life – where I eat what I want. I don’t binge, I don’t feel guilty, I won’t eat something just because it’s healthy if I think it tastes like shit and I won’t not eat something just because I know it’s unhealthy.  I eat really well 80% of the time and that is good enough. 

In coaching, we use the idea of a wheel – aspects of health and life- that all need to be balanced for the wheel to work otherwise its a bumpy road. In naturopathy, wholism is a part of our philosophy – the idea that as a human we have to address not just our physical and mental needs but our emotional, social, spiritual and energetic needs too. Traditional societies have always known this. The Maori Model of Health (Te Whare Tapa Whā) has 4 dimensions to health and wellbeing – the physical, mental, family and spiritual health. 

Physical health is not just our body, our food but also our physical environment.

Mental health includes our thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Family health relates to our relationships with others – how they can support our health or drag us down.

Spiritual health (the one aspect that tends to be ignored the most in the western model of health) relates to  unseen and unspoken energies, our faith and beliefs and also whether physical manifestations of health might actually be due to emotional or spiritual aspects that have been ignored. 

This is a fantastic model to follow when it comes to eating and our relationship with food – the food we eat, our thoughts, feelings and emotions, our relationships with others, our physical environment and our own spiritual and energetic all have a part to play in disordered eating (and weight). 

‘Empowered Eating’ encompasses all of these aspects and covers 8 principles (which are the backbone of a healthy relationship with food and ourselves) according to Michelle Yandle, a health coach. 

The 8 principles are:

1. Finding your ‘Why’
2. It’s not your fault
3. Pressing Pause
4. Tuning In
5. Fall in love with food again
6. Feed the need
7. Gentle Nutrition
8. Live the life you crave

I will be covering these aspects in webinars over the next year but to summarise:

Finding your ‘Why’

All behaviour change needs this. You need to know why you want to change – What you really want from this change? and Why now?  You might think you want to improve your relationship with food because you want to lose weight but if you delve a bit deeper it might actually be because you want to be fit and healthy and live a good quality life in your old age.

 

It’s not your Fault

This is about understanding that diet’s DO NOT WORK – you lose weight in the short term but they are rarely sustainable and they are rarely about health.  

 

Pressing Pause

This is about introducing mindful practices into your eating. Stopping before you eat and working out how you really feel and why you are eating. 

 

Tuning In

This is also about mindful eating – using your senses and listening to your body’s messages. 

Falling in love with food again

Removing all the silly restrictions, this is all about enjoying food again. No more rules, no more guilt. Time for food to be fun!

 

Feed the Need

Emotional eating needs to be addressed. Its time that food is food and you stop using food to fulfill your emotional needs. If food isn’t the problem then food will never be the answer!

 

Gentle Nutrition

This is where you learn about what your body actually needs in terms of nourishment. Simple healthy eating that suits YOU! No bliss balls, chia seeds or kale salads in sight (unless you want to eat them of course).

 

Live the Life you Crave

Time to get rid of your obsessive thoughts around food and start living life and having some fun again. Be comfortable in your own body, learn to respect and accept yourself and nourish and take care of you. 

 

If you want to know about where you are in terms of intuitive, empowered eating then I have a quiz for you to complete. 

If you want to find out more about my Empowered Eating Reset programme then please email me admin@sarah-brenchley.com and I will send you the information. 

 

Email me at admin@sarah-brenchley.com or book a free discovery call to discuss how I can help you. I offer a 1:1 sessions and various programmes on gut health, empowered eating (non-diet approach to food and weight) and menopause. Go to https://sarah-brenchley.com/links for information and free resources and join the best Facebook Group ever  – Women’s WellBeing Circle. 

Go to my You Tube channel to watch the video versions of my blogs: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmS_kdkO4JsbqyhvfLwOPtA