When I coach, clients are often quick to defend their eating history saying that they don't diet. Diet has become a four letter word in some ways. People are embarrassed to say that they're on a diet... because dieting is getting a bad rap. But, in reality, a lot of...

"CRASH!!!!" Cue crying from one of my kids, perhaps a little screaming. Inevitably, I'll need a band-aid. Band-aids, the real-life ones, have purpose - i.e. keep out germs and help keep the wound clean so it can heal. I'm not against band-aids. But... I am against the...

I hear from coaching clients all the time that "food is the enemy" in their life. I want to write a blog post addressing this common belief and why it happens. So... Is Food the Enemy? Short answer... NO! But the longer answer is that we are often made to feel like it...

So you’ve decided to ditch diets for good. So that means you’ll never have a bad body image day, right? Oh if only that were true!! I just wanted to write a quick blog post about what I do and how I coach my clients when these days happen… because they will happen....

Let me ask you a question - What do you value? Perhaps it seems like a simple question and it is. But let me elaborate a little to give you a little more context and talk about why it’s important to see what you value. First a little background, earlier this week my...

Today I want to write a short blog post about the Food Police, our first Food Voice! Characteristics of the Food Police The Food Police are constantly criticizing and second guessing your choices. These thoughts and voices have you unsure of your next move when it...

What do you hear when you go about choosing the food you eat each day, at each meal? Is that voice considerate and kind? Judgmental and harsh? Where do these thoughts originate? As you begin doing the work of healing your relationship with food and your body, you have...

Ever had a food that you just COULD NOT trust yourself around? Just smelling that food would leave you obsessing about it, craving it? And then, what if you actually let yourself have some of that food? Oh, boy - Hold me back, I'd go crazy and definitely eat it until...

"Have you checked the serving size on that food yet?" "That candy bar has so much sugar and fat in it!" "Refined carbohydrates are bad for you!" Do any of these messages sound familiar to you? This food voice, the Nutrition Informant, seems helpful. This is the voice...

The first in my series ALL about Intuitive Eating.... If you've ever wondered what Intuitive Eating is and how to implement it into your life, stay tuned as I go through a beginner's guide to Intuitive Eating.  ABOUT THE AUTHORBrooke Spendlove I'm a certified...

  Reject - to dismiss as inadequate, inappropriate, or failing to meet standards or satisfy tastes That definition seems about right for diet culture and diet mentality. My hope is that by the end of reading this blog post, you will have a better understanding of...

When you first start down the path of Intuitive Eating, you literally have to relearn how to recognize your hunger. Watch this short video for tips and ideas on how to implement this principle into your life! Seems like an interesting title, doesn't it? Why does our...

Ever feel like you're at war with food? I know I did. Food was so complicated when I was deep in the world of counting and tracking. I always felt like I couldn't have what I wanted. Feeling deprived was an emotion I just got used to feeling. I wasn't necessarily...

When you go to eat food, whether it's a snack or a meal, what voice do you hear? Is it a voice counting calories or macros? Is it a voice telling you that you should choose "good" foods and criticizing you for wanting "bad" foods? Are you mentally wondering if you...

How many times have you sat back after a meal or snack and thought, "Why did I eat that much? I wasn't even hungry! And now I feel sick!" This was me, so many times, especially when I was restricting my food in other areas. It's VERY difficult to honor your level of...

When I was deep in the world of counting macros, I convinced myself that the fake, lower calorie ice cream was really tasty. In reality, it was just tasty enough that I could kind of feel like I had a treat. But I often found myself looking around the pantry for...

Emotional Eating has a bad reputation. We often talk about eating our feelings or google search "How to stop emotional eating." But in reality, we eat for lots of different emotions - some are helpful and some are less helpful. But lumping all emotional eating...

  Loving your body is easier said than done, especially if you're like most of my clients, and you've lived decades of hating your body - wishing it were different. So what can you do? Just pretend, and lie to yourself, telling yourself that you love your body,...

Letting go of my unrealistic exercise goals was one of the most liberating moments of really diving into Intuitive Eating. I had spent years pushing my body, believing that lifting harder and pushing further would change my body. Yes... I was stuck in the need to...

As a coach, I frequently hear the fears of women around me. "I can't let myself eat food! I'll never stop eating!" While this thought is based in fear, it also based in the misconception that Intuitive Eating is some kind of methodology that says "Eat everything you...

As you start on this journey towards becoming an Intuitive Eater, it's important to know where you're starting from. As with anything in life, we want to know our starting and end point. So... How do you figure out where you're starting from? All of my clients AND...

I get asked this ALL THE TIME!! For as popular as it is, very few people really understand what it is. There's a lot of misinformation out there, so I'm happy to set the record straight. And I will be going into more detail in future posts. But for now, this post is a...

Let's talk about food cravings!! A few months ago I asked my Facebook group what they thought of when they heard the word "diet." The responses were quite interesting and telling. Over and over again I heard that they thought of having cravings for “bad” or “sinful”...