You know what you could be doing but it’s challenging to gear up and get started again. It’s a pattern that seems to never end and you don’t know why since you want it so badly. You know food plays a big role, but you also realize it isn’t just about the food. There’s something else that keeps getting in your way, but you’re just not sure what.
Many diets and weigh loss programs focus on your "why." In this session, we want to get clear on your "why not."
Why do you know what to do but you’re not able to stick with it?
Why do you want to workout more but don’t consistently go to the gym?
Why do you tell yourself to stop at just one handful of chips but then finish the whole bag?
In Truce with Food, your “why not” is what we call a story. When you’re feeling out of control with food, it means you have a story that needs to be revised. When in your story you probably have rigid ideas of what it means to be “good” and “bad” (e.g., anything less than exceptional is complete failure).
We need to evolve those rigid ideas for more flexible thinking and self-trust that we can work through our emotions differently than we could in the past. And in turn, you no longer need to stuff down the uncomfortable emotions with food.
By identifying your story (aka the why not), it provides perspective as to how those “bad habits” are trying to protect you. Once you have clarity and get to the root of what’s driving those behaviors, it’s empowering that it’s something that can change beyond just needing more willpower or discipline.
What we'll cover:
See how your "bad" eating and exercise habits are protective and how they keep "bad" emotions and identities locked down
Understand the real root cause of why you "fall off track"
Shift the focus away from more tactics to resist food to you and who you have to become to not battle food
Clearly identify your 'one big thing' goal and how it would improve your life immediately when you reach your goal. (This is not just another SMART goal!)
Diagnose your story so you can see your story as something outside of yourself that can be changed
You will learn new things about yourself during this intensive and jam-packed session.
How others have felt after the session:
“I’m making a conscious effort to take care of myself and fill my emotional and mental cup. I feel like doing the deep dive session allowed me to peel back the first layer of the onion and think about some things that I hadn’t been aware of that were contributing to my out of control eating. I’ve been able to let those things keep simmering in the back of my head while taking better care of myself.” ~Katie M.
Details:
Session length: 1 hour 45-minutes
Homework to start connecting your story with your unaligned eating
Email support after the session to make further connections between your story and your eating in real life
Cost: $350 (investment gets credited if you decide to continue into a Truce with Food program)
"I have made more progress in the 2.5 hours I have spent with you so far than I have in years of therapy!”
“Ever since I've had the epiphany moments during the Deep Dive, I've been able to integrate what I learned and drastically changed my behavior! I have also seen the scale budge for the first time in MONTHS!”*
“Going into the Discovery Session I was hopeful but skeptical. We started out talking about the first step I could take towards reaching my goal and as I was talking about eating more vegetables (boring) I thought, ‘Am I really back here talking about fiber and veggies again?’
I was totally unenthused but then we made it to the story portion of the exercise and I felt a shift. I then remember thinking, ‘How did I start on vegetables and get to I’m not enough and crying?’”*
*Results may vary from person to person.
I have made more progress in the 2.5 hours I have spent with you so far then I have in years of therapy!
~ Truce with Food Client
Many diets focus on what you can and can’t eat and some provide tactics to help you resist food or redirect your focus. But those tactics only help for so long! They tend to focus a lot on willpower and self-control and when you’re being good you’re succeeding, and if you slip up, you’re failing.
This session helps you break down the things you’re currently doing to help you work towards your goal and the things that are keeping you stuck. When you’re stuck with your health goals, it’s a symptom there is a competing commitment with your goals and it needs to be revised. Throughout the process of each program, we work on story revision so you can bring self-awareness instead of self-monitoring to how your feelings shape your logic and trigger your food battles.
This is the first session in all programs and is a great way to get an idea of how the process works. We will meet virtually for one hour and 45-minutes to go through the structured exercise. Afterwards, you can decide if you would like to continue with a 6-month program.
During the 6-month program we will meet every two weeks and you will receive a homework exercise to complete between each session. Email support is provided (and encouraged) in between the meetings in case you’re feeling stuck along the way.
Meeting every other week provides the accountability you may crave while also providing the space to process and digest what comes up in sessions. Your life is the classroom so we use those experiences as data and information to guide our discussions.
Results vary by client based on where they are in their journey and how open they are to the process. In this session, clients are typically a little skeptical at first but tend to leave feeling relieved, hopeful, and like they’ve made the right decision about trying a new approach. They end up learning something new about themselves and have more clarity as to what is leading them to eat out of alignment with their goals. They are able to start to see there isn’t something wrong with them and their willpower, which gives them confidence that they’re on the right track.
This isn’t your typical weight loss program. Here, the emphasis isn’t solely on weight loss, and it’s perfectly acceptable to aspire to want to lose weight. Weight loss has become a highly charged topic these days, which I think is great because there’s a lot to unpack. However, if you do the work and make the process a practice so you’re consistent with eating healthy, you will likely lose weight.
My belief is that sustainable weight loss is a side-effect of sending physical and emotional safety signals to the body. Some may argue that this still aligns with diet culture, but I disagree. Sometimes our weight is a health issue (and sometimes it’s not). And sometimes weight is protective (and sometime it isn’t). I’m not here to tell you what you should do with your body. Instead, I’m here to support you to feel the best you can in your body and life.
By focusing on safety signals like sleep, physical pain, or stress, it helps us figure out what to do when. This approach not only enables us to feel great in our bodies throughout our journey, but also allows our body to come to a healthy resting place for each of our unique bodies.
While some clients lose weight, others stay the same. However, many clients who still desire further weight loss after Truce with Food will say, “I still have more weight to lose, but I trust it will happen without stressing about it anymore.”
The cost of this session is $350. If you decide to sign up for a 4- or 6-month program afterwards, the amount paid will be applied to the cost of the program. At the end of the session, we will determine which program is the best approach for you based on where you’re currently at and the type of support that would be most helpful for you.
Sessions can be done in-person, over the phone or via Zoom. You don’t need to be local in Chicago but many people who are close by prefer meeting in person. It’s really a personal preference and what works best for your lifestyle. Regardless of how we meet, clients tend to get similar results whether we meet in person or virtually.
When people come to me, they’ve usually tried everything else but aren’t ready to give up. In fact, they choose to lean into the voice that says, “I know there is something more for me.” This is often accompanied by a readiness to be patient with results if they confidently feel they are on the right track.
Have you tried so many solutions like Weight Watchers or a juice cleanse and felt, ‘this time will be different?’ Then, after a few weeks or months, you realize ‘nope, in fact it isn’t different because my weight is still weighing me down.’
When this has been a consistent experience, there’s usually a combination of expansion and excitement (plus some nerves) at the idea of starting Truce with Food. Many clients find my approach resonates and they’re up for the internal challenge.
This program does not provide more tactics, like take a bath, or steps to upgrade your life – although you will. It won’t be all sunshine and rainbows like some coaches promise…and then when things get hard, they tell you that your self-limiting beliefs are holding you back when their approach doesn’t work.
Being comfortable won’t get anyone the results they really want, like freedom and agency with our body. Like anything meaningful in life, this will be challenging and rewarding. You’ll find that it’s not about willpower or discipline. The challenge will be, how can you be a beginner and stay curious, even when it’s really uncomfortable?
If you have an FSA or HSA account, there is a good chance you can use it for Truce with Food. Clients have used their HSA/FSA credit cards and I can provide a receipt, if needed. Many plans reimburse for health coaching, but I recommend checking with your plan specifically for an exact answer.
