Why I Devoted My Life to Helping Those with Eating and Weight Issues

At age 12, I was told I was too fat and, no surprise, went on my first diet - the Alpine skiers diet. I lost a chunk of weight and of course, gained it all back. So I did it again. When I got the same results I began to try different lower calorie healthy eating plans. 

By age 14, my life was completely entrenched around food and the scale. I read every book about dieting and nutrition. I went on the Atkins diet (the first time it was released it didn't work any better than it does now). When I was 16, my mother took me to meet with a Registered Dietitian. I left that meeting with new levels of hopelessness. She simply did not 'get it.'

But that did not dissuade me from the goals I set when I was 12--to be thin, or the goal I set at 14--to be a dietitian. After all, if I had enough knowledge, I would be able to get thin.

On the contrary, my struggles got worse. Why, with all the knowledge I gained, was I not able to lose weight? Why, with all the dieting, did I keep gaining weight?

I will never forget when a major professor for the dietetics program at my college called me in to tell me I was too fat to be a dietitian**--I would be a poor role model. I don't recall, but I bet that was worth a few binges! Possibly she thought I didn't know that it was uncool to be fat, and that by telling me, she would get me to lose weight? Shheeesss!

Well, a degree in nutrition did not help. Maybe a degree in exercise would. So, off I went to get a masters degree in exercise physiology. As you may know by now, that knowledge did not help either. I was still totally out-of-control regarding food and weight.

Turning My Back On All That Education

Over the years, I began to understand that the problem was not with me, and began to realize it was restricting food intake that was causing my eating problems and causing weight gain. Slowly, over time, I began to devise a new approach to food and weight, an approach that other professionals were beginning to experiment with at the time. 

This phenomenal nondiet / intuitive eating approach was the cornerstone of my recovery from food and weight issues, and has become the basis of my professional work. Along the way, I developed many different tools and techniques that we offer at this website, as well as with our clients.

There is nothing like the freedom that comes from a mindful, intuitive approach to eating and weight, especially after being trapped for years.

I Love What I Do

My life's passion (one of them) is to help others break out of this food/weight prison and get back to the freedom around food and body that is so rightfully theirs. And, since the 80s, I have devoted my work to helping women and men heal from eating and weight issues, including those with eating disorders. 

My life and work are validated each time I help someone avoid or shorten the pain I went through. It is the most incredible experience to be a part of another's healing journey.

I appreciate the trust my clients place in me as they begin this journey. I have learned a great deal from them over the years. And watching them walk out of diet prison, knowing they will never go back, is incredible! That is why I do this work!

And, About That Professor….

P.S.  I ran into this professor, a dietitian, at the biggest and most important nutrition conference in the country. Not only had I just presented at the conference, on topics rarely mentioned at this conference, intuitive eating and Health At Every Size, but my first book had just been released and I was attending a book signing.

You know what she said to me? You guessed it, "Oh it looks like you've lost some weight since college." I wish I'd had the nerve to say, "Uh, yeah, I quit doing what you taught me to do (diet and watch my weight) and did something completely different. Oh, and I just presented at our national conference on this different approach, and I'm going to my book signing. Want to come?"