It’s time I shared this story with you…

Me and food.

If I were to give us a Facebook status it would have to be “It’s complicated.

We’ve had our ups and downs to be sure. And our relationship has taken on many different textures over the years, from casual indifference, to fear-invoking nemesis, to what felt like my only source of comfort, and now to this awesome space of gratitude, pleasure and creativity.

Although I went through a brief period of being overweight, my food challenges mainly showed up a little differently. You see, I associated so much unhappiness and fear with that period of being heavy that I was terrified to go back to that place, and took extreme measures to make sure that it never happened again. So for almost 20 years I waged a war against my body and my appetite, either purging, starving or exercising any “excess” calories away

But no matter what I did or how “in control” I tried to be, I could still never achieve the imagined state of body perfection that I thought would make me feel safe from that pain. In my mind, having the perfect body meant that I would be safe, I would be lovable and I would be supported. Nobody would leave me.

Maybe you can relate to my story, or maybe just to parts of it.

But the story I want to share with you today isn’t about me.

Even though I myself wasn’t overweight long-term, this food and weight thing has been in the backdrop of my life as long as I can remember.

There are women in my own family who I’ve watched battle their weight unsuccessfully for a lifetime. They did everything they thought they were supposed to do…. Depriving themselves of pleasurable food, struggling to control their appetites, and investing thousands of dollars over the years on whatever the diet du jour happened to be.

I have early memories of my mom making us a hearty dinner and then herself eating nothing but a plate of iceberg lettuce topped with a can of tuna. Our refrigerator was frequently stocked with the colorful albeit vacuous containers of Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri System, and other various and sundry fat-free or sugar-free (aka real-food-free) concoctions

I witnessed my mother and other women I care about enduring weeks on end of point-counting, measuring, weighing, and disavowing their hunger as they tried desperately to adhere to their measly 1000 calorie a day limit, all in an attempt to move the needle at weigh-in. (Just one little pound in either direction somehow had the power to label them a success or a failure.)

Eventually it was too much to sustain, their deprived and physiologically stressed bodies overtaking even their best intentions, and they would revert to eating whatever and whenever with reckless abandon, until they became so disgusted with themselves that they mustered enough willpower to try again.

And what did they get for all of this? A destroyed metabolism, their weight creeping up and up and up over the years, and a host of health problems including high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, and diabetes.

A couple of them, my own sweet momma included, now spend much of their time on the sidelines of life. There are no mother-daughter walks. There’s almost no movement at all. Their minds sharp are as a tack but their knees, hips and back are broken down from decades of carrying extra weight. (Not to mention the extra weight on their hearts from a lifetime of body shame, failed attempts, and feelings of powerlessness to change things.)

It hurts my heart.

And it pisses me off.

I believe these women I care deeply about were given the wrong information (incomplete information at best) that didn’t work then and doesn’t work now, and eventually they gave up.

They didn’t know there was another way.

Nobody explained to them that putting all that metabolic stress on their body was keeping weight attached to them. Nobody came alongside them and offered them support to find out what they were truly hungry for, so that the way they were playing that out with food could be released.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones, because I discovered a body of work that profoundly shifted my relationship with food, helped me nourish my true cravings, and radically changed my life. (Here’s a little taste of what’s changed for me.)

When I learned the principles in my initial food psychology training 2 years ago, I was literally cracked open to a whole new way of approaching our food challenges that I SO wish I had discovered 20 years ago, and that I wish I could have shared with my mom and with other women in my life who have also struggled so needlessly. And I knew I wanted to take it deeper.

So you could say it’s kinda become a mission.

That’s why I am so excited to announce that I’ve been accepted by the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, and I begin their advanced Eating Psychology Coach certification program in October. (Woohoo!)

For the next 9 months I will be feasting on this revolutionary work that is totally shifting the way we think about food, eating, dieting and body image. It’s a new paradigm that I believe this world is deeply hungry and ready for. (So much so that when the founder of the Institute held a virtual conference last summer, 45,000 people signed up!)

It’s a movement, and one that everything in my life has prepared me to be a part of. I’m saying yes to the calling. I’m going all in. And now I’ll be able to bring that forward and share it with you in a much deeper way.

So in a way this story is about you, too. It’s about what’s possible for you if you are willing to lay down your arms and cease fire with your body and your appetite, to say NO to dieting and deprivation and the places that could be leading you, and open to a new way of approaching your relationship with food and what it may by trying to teach you.

And, in celebration of this exciting new step I’m taking (and in honor of my mom’s birthday), I want to offer you a gift of appreciation for being part of my community.

I’ve cleared time in my calendar to offer five “Make Food Your BFF with a Personalized Metabolism Makeover” Breakthrough Sessions.

This 20-minute laser session is your chance to get my eyes on your daily eating habits, so I can help you spot red flags that may be hijacking your metabolic power, and give you specific recommendations to help you release cravings and overeating, break the cycle of food obsession, dieting & deprivation, and discover your personal path to pleasurable eating and freedom with food.

To apply for one of these 5 spots, simply email me at michelle@unlockyourpossibility.com and tell me what’s important to you about having this session… easy as pie.

Thank you for letting my share this story with you. Like I said, it’s your story, it’s my story, it’s all of our story, and WE get to write the ending.

I hope you’ll stick around for this journey with me no matter what your food issue or where you are starting from, because I’ve got SO much to share with you and the party is just getting started.

And I’d love for you to join me on Facebook where I’ll be sharing a ton of exclusive content about what I’m discovering along the way.

In celebration of your future food freedom and a life that fills you up!

xoxo

Michelle