Abusive Relationship

It seems like every day a new client comes into my office in a very abusive relationship. One that I'm always shocked to find that none of her friends, parents or coworkers have ever mentioned anything about. One that has been going on for far too long. One that eats her up inside, but that she can't seem to shake. A very abusive relationship with food. "Yesterday was a good day." "I stayed awake for awhile before bed just thinking about the bad choices I made. Feeling guilty about that ____(piece of cheese, doughnut, cake, meat, you name it!)" "I cut all my meals in half-but my body still won't lose weight." Letting their lives be controlled by food-letting it dictate where they go out to eat, who they see, and what they order. If someone was having that much remorse or joy pulled from their life from an intimate relationship I would hope someone would have intervened to stop it.

And I guess that's my job. To step in and help take the power away from food. Because when we dig ourselves into these abusive relationships with food-where our mood and our self-worth hinge on what we eat, we are giving food an awful lot of power. Food is Food. An inanimate object that is fuel for life. Eating it doesn't make you any better of a person than abstaining. It is just fuel. Not that it can't be delicious, gross, phenomenal, or so-so depending on who cooked it.

It doesn't happen over night. And it takes a lot of work. Especially when you've been dieting on and off for more of your life. Taught that food was the end all be all. That food, and eating less, and getting smaller would make you a better and happier person. Sorry to crush dreams, but that's not where dieting will get you. But maybe it will get you to seek real help. Help to get back in tune with your body and learn again to listen to your hunger, while respecting your fullness. Help to learn about what can really fuel YOUR body-since every body is unique and just not made out for a cookie-cutter diet.

One more note-if you have 2 minutes today I'd love for you to read these true stories of women who quit dieting. I found them so inspiring!

Here's to an empowering and amazing week!