The Psychology of Eating Podcast

In Session With Marc David: A 29-Year-Old Woman Works with Wanting A Different Body

The Psychology of Eating Podcast

A 29-Year-Old Woman Works with Wanting A Different Body

Lauren, 29, spent much of her life feeling underweight, until about three years ago when she went through a traumatic breakup and gained weight. She comes to her session with Marc David seeking to feel good about herself regardless of her body size or shape. As Marc reflects, that’s a beautiful goal, but the path to getting there might just be a little different than she’s imagining right now. Tune into their inspiring conversation about love, loss, body image, and so much more.
 
Key Insights:
  • Sometimes a traumatic incident such as a bad breakup can have us turn to food for comfort. This is a natural coping mechanism that, while not ideal for our health and weight, is understandable. 
  • An important first step in changing unwanted eating behaviors is recognizing the usefulness that these patterns can have at difficult times in our lives. As we step away from self-judgment and towards self-compassion, we can more easily establish healthy habits for ourselves.
  • Wanting to feel good about yourself at any size or shape is an admirable goal. However, for some of us, there can be an unhelpful thought process that undermines our ability to love our body as it is right now. We often think that we need to totally get rid of the thought, “I need to lose weight for me to be happy.”
  • Instead, as Marc invites Lauren to do, the way to let go of any thoughts of needing to lose weight to be happy is to instead tune into other kinds of hopes and wishes that are more interesting. As we create a life we love, letting go of unwanted eating habits or a negative body image happens naturally.
  • It’s also important to recognize the natural human desire to take pride in our appearance. That’s not necessarily a “bad” thing. The paradox for all humans is allowing ourselves to be OK with this desire, while also unabashedly embracing ourselves, as we are in any given moment. The two are not mutually exclusive.
With his dual training in clinical nutrition and psychology, Marc David, M.A., has spent the last 40 years helping people around the world heal their relationship with food. As the founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, Marc is the author of the bestselling books, Nourishing Wisdom: A Mind Body Approach to Health & Well-Being, and The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy, and Weight Loss. He reaches millions of people each year who are struggling with unwanted eating challenges and body image concerns through his speaking engagements, celebrated podcast series, and his internationally-acclaimed Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training. 
 
Learn more about The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/
 
Watch our special masterclass on the Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training to learn more about how you can positively transform your own relationship with food while helping others do the same. Tune in here: https://psychologyofeating.online/ss/
 
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