From age 11 until my early twenties, I was dieting (or worse). I was always chasing after weight loss or thinking I had to restrict myself in order to be "healthy". I feared a lot of foods and had a very negative relationship with both what I ate and how I looked.  Healing that relationship is what led me to intuitive eating and HAES.  The notion that I didn't have to eat a certain way, use dieting tools or that food did not have to have any power over me was so freeing. I was able to stop binge eating because I learned to trust that there would always be more opportunities to eat the food I wanted. I stopped restricting calories (or even counting them) when I realized my body knew how to eat when hungry and stop when satisfied naturally.

I myself am vegan (have been for 7+ years) which to some may sound very restrictive  (because for some people it is!) but it has never ever felt that way to me. Being plant based feels intuitively right to me and so I do it. I've always said if it ever stops feeling right, I won't do it. And it has evolved for me since having kids. Sometimes I do have something that I know has a little dairy in it and I have eaten eggs a handful of times.  So I don't necessarily love to label myself as "vegan" as much anymore except that 98% of the time I am!  With my kids I realized I wanted to focus on compassion for all living things but I also didn't want them to feel restricted or like they were missing out- so sometimes at a birthday party or something they may have something not 100% vegan because I care more about the memory they are making but majority of the time they are happy with not eating animal foods.

As a wellness coach, there's a lot of pressure to eat a certain way or to not eat certain things. Society tells us that we must do XYZ in order to be healthy...but in reality we're all unique individuals with different needs and desires. The same thing isn't going to work for everyone. That message was really driven into me when I attended IIN to become a health coach but it took me a while (and practicing intuitive eating) to not get overwhelmed by "wellness culture".

I also see a lot of people obsessed with health and wellness. It's called "orthorexia" and it's really becoming more and more common. There's also "the wellness diet" which is where people are cutting out food groups unnecessarily, trying to eat perfectly "clean" and labeling foods as bad and off limits- yes, they claim to do it in the name of health but ultimately it's an unhealthy mindset that doesn't leave room for intuitive eating. It's still diet culture or sometimes even a form of disordered eating (orthorexia is an actual eating disorder just like anorexia and bulimia).

So it's no wonder women are feeling so overwhelmed and confused when it comes to taking care of themselves!  Diet culture has worked hard to convince us all that we need to tightly control what we eat, that we need to exercise more and that we need to change our bodies.

*I* want people to realize that obsessing over health doesn't make you healthier... or a better person!  You're never going to eat perfectly because there is no such thing and chasing after weight loss will never make you happy with your body.

I hope that by spreading the word about intuitive eating and being able to nourish yourself in a loving non weight-focused way that more people (especially young girls) will realize that they don't need to diet or restrict what they eat; that they have the intuition to make the right food choices for themselves naturally.

My approach is to combine educating my clients on non-obsessive nutrition, joyful movement and how to best support their bodies (gut, liver, hormones etc) along with embracing how to listen to and trust your body.  I believe we deserve to feel at peace in our bodies and to enjoy the food we eat without guilt or shame.