Last weekend in Chicago we experienced some spring snow. Yes snow in the middle of April! A couple days later, the temperatures rose again into the 60’s. The interesting thing is, the day after the snowfall I was walking around and noticed the flowers were still blooming and hadn’t died from this crazy weather we had. It made me realize how resilient nature can be. That thought reminded me of the parallel of how my clients build resilience through the process of understanding and uncovering their relationship around food.
Often when people come to me they’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed and are at a loss of the steps to take to reach their goals. They’re in what they call automatic pilot and don’t know how to get out of it. Uncertainty and vulnerability can be a trigger for this and since life is uncertain they often feel unsafe as a result. They may not realize it but that’s often when they eat out of alignment with their goals either by their specific food choices or the quantity of food they consume.
Throughout the process of the program we conduct small tests to push them outside of their comfort zone so they realize there is safety beyond the automatic pilot they’ve been in. And this is how we build their resilience. Not only does their resilience increase, it also creates freedom and possibility in various areas of their lives. This helps decrease the excitement around food and while they’re still able to enjoy the food they eat, they more naturally want to eat in alignment with their goals as a result.
