Finding Freedom with Food

The holiday season is officially upon us. This is the season where we are encouraged to “eat, drink and be merry.” However, if you've struggled with dieting and body image, it’s natural for this time of year to feel extra challenging because FOOD IS EVERYWHERE. We’re also bombarded with chatter about how many calories are in our favorite holiday treats and how many miles we have to run to earn that holiday dinner. In this episode I am sharing 7 strategies to help you navigate the holida...

A common cause of disordered eating comes from the pressures of an aggressive dieting culture. However, sometimes disordered eating can be a coping tool that a person may use to try to fill the void left by overwhelmingly painful or frightening experiences. Today on the show, I have a special guest. Her name is Alexandra Becker. She is an LCSW who works primarily with young adults who have experienced trauma & struggle with anxiety disorders, poor body image and issues with self-est...

In America alone, statistics show that 45 million people go on a diet each year. However, only 5% actually keep the weight off. If you’re a serial dieter, there’s a good chance you’ve lost and regained the weight (or more) several times in your life. This vicious cycle of losing and regaining weight is often a result of restrictive dieting and drastically reducing the amount of food you eat. The desire to lose weight is not bad. But all too often, in our quest for a quick fix to lose weight f...

Many critics of Intuitive Eating express concern that encouraging people to listen to their body encourages them to eat with reckless abandon and nutrition goes out the window. That couldn't be further from the truth. It’s actually quite the opposite. Intuitive Eating encourages you to eat a wide variety of foods and adopt health-promoting habits that are rooted in self-care, and in a way that's actually sustainable. Studies have shown that Intuitive Eating is associated with improved n...

Summer can be a really challenging body image time of year. As the weather gets warmer, diet culture gets even louder and we’re bombarded with an onslaught of messaging about being “summer body ready”. As the weather gets warmer and clothes get lighter, wearing shorts, tank tops, and bathing suits can trigger anxiety and can cause those struggling with negative body image to avoid some summer activities and experiences that should be enjoyable for everyone. And diet companies and influ...

Today’s topic is one that so many people struggle with and that is emotional eating. Eating is a common response to resisting negative emotions. Doing so is actually a coping skill. However, it’s an avoidant coping skill instead of an active one. Not a big deal when we do this occasionally. But when we are using food as our main coping strategy for managing negative emotions this can be harmful. So, when food is being used in a way where it doesn’t leave space for other forms of coping,...

Today I’m talking about a topic that many chronic dieters struggle with - binge eating. It’s common to have feelings of a lack of control and heap on the guilt and shame after a binge eating episode. But if you’re thinking you need to “get back on track” and “be good again” after you’ve binged, this episode is for you! Instead of spending your precious energy shaming and blaming yourself for binge eating, what you really need to do is get curious! And redirect your attention to what is ...

As a society, we spend SO much time and energy investing in the quest to shrink our bodies and criticizing ourselves for what we perceive as body flaws. This obsession with shrinking our bodies has some real and detrimental consequences. The sad reality is that it keeps us playing small when we could be putting ourselves out there to create, connect, experience and contribute to the world. You truly can have a healthy relationship with your body and body image, even if you don’t curren...

Learning to understand and trust our body’s hunger and fullness cues is one of the most powerful tools you can harness to have a truly healthy and sustainable relationship with food. However, years of dieting, food rules, and seeking external sources to guide our eating can cause us to become incredibly out of touch with these internal cues. In this episode, I dive deeper into how hunger and fullness truly works within the Intuitive Eating framework and share some strategies for helping you r...

For so many of us, dieting has been a regular part of life. This drive to obsess about shrinking our bodies has been totally normalized because we live in a dieting culture. However, the sad truth is, dieting is the quickest way to short circuit a healthy relationship with food. In fact, the system of dieting itself creates a set up for failure. In this episode, I’m unpacking some of the science behind why dieting has been shown to be the #1 predictor of future weight. The good news is, there...

Welcome to the Finding Freedom with Food podcast! I’m Cindy Fox, RDH, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and Certified Coach. If you’ve been stuck in the weight loss and regain cycle of dieting, struggle with binge eating or are simply tired of having stress around food control your life, you’re in the right place! My goal with this podcast is to help you step into the version of you who is done with restrictive dieting and is able to nourish your body in a healthy and sustainable way, with...