You know the drill. Whenever you feel sad, lonely, or even just empty inside, you start emotional eating and reach for food. Food provides a comfort, allows a brief sense of fullness, and for a moment you no longer are focusing on whatever emotion you are feeling at the time. Yet, you never are satisfied.…

Bouncing back after binge eating begins with an acceptance of our imperfection. It also requires a belief in our ability to recover. Living fully, striving for improvement, means we must risk imperfection. So, for example, one of your goals might involve recovering from an emotional condition or self-harming pattern. A self-loving perspective allows for the…

Here is our fourth tip in our series on coping with the unique food challenges the holiday season brings. What better time to comfort ourselves with food than during the holiday season when comfort food is everywhere! But let’s also look at some other ways to soothe during this time. Dealing With Soothing or Comfort…

You’ve been hiding the food wrappers, the take-out boxes, and the truth for too long. Food has become an obstacle. A secret. An outright enemy. You need help for binge eating now.   Here are six solid ways to get help for binge eating and create the peace of mind you need to eat well…

The old potato chip ads said, “’bet you can’t eat just one!” It’s true that some snacks are designed to tempt us into eating them (and maybe overeating them). And many of our best social situations and holidays revolve around eating large amounts of food. These can be okay on occasion and part of normal…

Emotional eating refers to eating food when not hungry, often in response to or to cope with feelings such as boredom, stress, shame, anger, sadness, and anxiety. Emotion-driven eating also occurs when sleep deprived, fatigued or burned out, or emotionally and physically depleted. Emotional eating is not only about eating when experiencing negative emotions – exciting,…

bMillions of people embark on diets every year. Yet, for some, this is only the start of a destructive relationship with food. Dieting may seem harmless at first, but it can lead to binge eating, eating disorders, yo-yo dieting, and obsession with food and body. In many cases, dieting triggered the start of an unhealthy…

  Susan works hard. This past week in particular was taxing; she juggled more projects and meetings than she really had time for while unanswered emails steadily filled her inbox. “If I can get through this week,” Susan told herself, “I’m going to treat myself.”   Researchers at the University of Illinois suggest that most…

Jennifer has long been told by friends, family, magazines, and movies that to be beautiful is to be thin. Jennifer’s sister has never struggled with her weight; growing up, Jennifer listened to countless friends and family members remark how pretty and put-together her sister appeared. As Jennifer’s sister seemed to float effortlessly over all of…

As a parent, you want the best for your child. Particularly when it comes to the arena of food. You don’t want your child to struggle with obesity or an eating disorder and want him/her to have a natural, intuitive relationship with food. What can you do to help your child have a healthy relationship…

Do you struggle with food cravings or overeating? This man’s story sheds some insight into how blocked or unprocessed emotions can contribute to a cycle of food cravings and negative feelings. We often block, repress or push down painful or difficult emotions that we don’t want to feel, but are a part of us. When…

Recently, Amy Wrzesnieswski and Barry Schwartz wrote an article in the New York Times titled “The Secret of Effective Motivation.” They studied two types of motivations: internal and instrumental.  Internal motivation or sometimes known as intrinsic motivation is a desire that is based on the actual activity. For instance, a student wants to study in…

Once again, our very own Casey Radle contributes wise bits of advice on counteracting negative self-talk. She suggest speaking kindly to ourselves, “like we would our best friend”.   Please click here to read the entire article.         I you would like to speak with one of our counselors about providing you…