Online Coaching for Binge Eating
here at reclaim therapy, we offer to counseling in pennsylvania and coaching services for people struggling with disordered eating and body image.
Since opening our doors in 2016 the most common experience we’ve heard from our community is that they just can’t seem to shake the stream of food and body noise in their heads.
Between years of counting, tracking, weighing- revolving their lives around how they could control or compensate for what they’d consumed that day, week, weekend- it has felt like a full-time job.
one epically unfulfilling, working-constant-overtime...job.
In my (Sarah’s) personal recovery journey from disordered eating and exercise, the 3 things that were game-changers, helping me understand the roots of portions of my relationship with food and my body, were Intuitive Eating, the Health at Every Size Movement, and finding community in recovery.
and, these are the roots of online coaching in pennsylvania at reclaim Therapy.
So what does that mean? Let’s talk a little bit about Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size.
Let's start with Intuitive Eating
Intuitive Eating is a framework that helps people feed themselves in a way that is connected and self-caring. It’s a process that helps people make decisions about food based on their internal cues- hunger, fullness, and cravings. It shifts people away from food rules, meal plans, and all of the ‘shoulds’ that we’ve been taught by our families and our culture.
intuitive eating also acknowledges that eating serves many purposes.
Yes, eating is vital for us to live, but it is also so much more. Food is inherently emotional. It connects us to tradition, celebration, heritage and is effective in regulating emotions and distress.
Intuitive eating is about caring for your body in the best way you know how in each moment, instead of denying it and disconnecting from it. This inherently helps to rebuild trust between our minds and our bodies. When our bodies can relax and trust that they will be fed adequately and often, we can begin to trust that our bodies will send us the signals we need to feed it in a way that is attuned.
so why is intuitive eating an important part of online coaching in Pennsylvania at reclaim?
Working with an intuitive eating coach in online coaching helps people choose what to eat that will make them feel good- physically and emotionally- instead of suffering from the least amount possible. the lowest carb, fat...whatever.
Generally speaking, as people who identify as women, we’re used to the latter; restricting until we can’t take it anymore. Grasping for control over our bodies.
But what we tend to forget is that all of the graspings for control shift us away from our minds and our body’s natural ability to regulate our existence around food.
Ping ponging us back and forth between diets and bingeing.
For most people, a significant part of healing from binge eating is addressing deprivation. We commonly see the physical restriction of food and the restriction of emotions are what swings people into binges.
intuitive eating is a practice of responding to your individual needs, both mind and body, which slows the most common causes of bingeing- restricting food and emotions.
The work that we do in online coaching for binge eating is starting to understand the dieting mind, how it has and does play a role in your relationship with food, and doing work to loosen the grip on the dieting mentality.
what is the dieting mentality?
The dieting mentality is complicated and complex. It’s how we view food and our bodies. And how those views were influenced by our society. Additionally, it is about how our mentality around food and body- typically how we think they should look- has disrupted our ability to feel normal around food and at least neutral in our bodies. The dieting mentality is steeped in judgment and shame. And only fuels diet-binge cycles.
Read more about it here.
Now, Let’s Talk About Online Coaching and Health at Every Size
An important aspect of our work is acknowledging that there is no evidence to support that intentional weight loss is effective- in maintaining a lower body weight for the long term, or for addressing health concerns for the long term.
There are, however, more and more bodies of research that cite the importance of intuitive eating and weight-neutral health practices.
weight-neutral health practices are behaviors that you engage in without focusing on weight loss, or body change.
These are the types of health practices that you are more likely to maintain over time. Because they’re typically what you enjoy and aren’t forced or steeped in guilt and shame. And, people who pursue these types of practices have been shown to have better health outcomes in the long run.
Health at Every Size is a paradigm that celebrates body diversity- acknowledging that bodies come in all shapes, sizes, races, classes, and gender identifications. It encourages people to engage in health-promoting behaviors by finding joy and pleasure in their current body, instead of waiting for the body they have been conditioned to believe they ‘should have.
health at every size supports people feeding themselves in an attuned way- honoring hunger, fullness, craving, and satiety (some of the work of intuitive eating).
This is a part of online coaching in Pennsylvania for binge eating and body image because doing the work of shifting away from the sole goal of weight loss to the pursuit of sustainable health outcomes is difficult. Especially, in a culture that stigmatizes certain body types and sizes.
Body image issues arise for many reasons. One that we often overlook is how fatphobia and living in a body-oppressive culture impact us in so many ways.
Here is the thing about body image issues…
It’s important to take a hard look at body image. Its definition, its roots, its impact on your ability to shift away from the dieting mentality and your ability to connect to and trust your body. Throughout online coaching at Reclaim Therapy in Pennsylvania, we look at the intersection of your body story and the cultural narrative about bodies.
We do the hard work of shifting toward neutrality about bodies. Not love, maybe not even acceptance at first. But, acknowledging that this is your body. End. Statement. That’s a place to start that doesn’t fuel ongoing binge and restrict cycles.
The value of an online coaching community is immeasurable.
Like I shared, finding community in my personal recovery process made all the difference. Because disordered eating is fueled by isolation, guilt, and shame.
Most of the conversations I have with women about their relationship with food and their body includes hiding. Hiding that it feels this bad. And hiding that they don’t have all their shit together like they try to show the world. Hiding the pain, the guilt, the self-beratement.
our online coaching community is here with open arms…
The Dieter’s Rebellion (online group coaching) is a place for women struggling with binge eating and body image to gather, share, process, and learn new ways of being around food in their bodies. Ways that incorporate intuitive eating, health at every size, self-compassion, and ways to build trust in your current body.
The best part of being in a community is that it cuts through the feeling of being alone. It allows us to be seen as human, as a whole (not broken!), and as deserving of grace and support.
now, let’s talk about some of the most common questions we get about online coaching in pennsylvania!
What is Online Coaching in Pennsylvania?
Online coaching for binge eating and body image issues is focused support based on what you feel you need most in healing your relationship with your body and food. Because the thing we hear most from folks in our consult calls is that they just want to feel more normal around food. Online coaching is meant to get the ball rolling, to kickstart your personal process. Check out the FAQ here.
Is online coaching offered individually or in an online group coaching setting?
Individual online coaching for binge eating and body image is personalized. We spend 13 weeks laser focusing on what you need to start to feel more normal around food and in your body. Drawing from the principles of Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size, individual online coaching provides concrete support and strategies. The goal is to lay a foundation for relearning to eat and be in your body in a way that is rooted in compassion and self-care.
Online group coaching, via The Dieter’s Rebellion Coaching Group, is a 13-week group with a predetermined curriculum to help you reclaim trust in your body and your ability to have a nurturing relationship with food. Over the course of 13 weeks, the group explores cyclical behavioral patterns, the dieting mentality, your relationship with your body, and how to begin to heal through a non-diet, body trust lens.
Who is Online Coaching in Pennsylvania for?
Online coaching at Reclaim Therapy is for women who are ready to take a step back from the typical weight-centric paradigm, and explore what has interrupted their ability to connect to their bodies.
It’s for women who are ready to take a hard look at external forces that have interrupted their ability to feed their bodies in a way that their body is asking for.
What are you willing to do?
Online coaching at Reclaim Therapy is for women who are willing to put weight loss on the back burner in order to have a healthy relationship with food. This is hard work- and is part of the work we do in coaching. In order to understand how the pursuit of weight loss and thinness has backfired, and only increased body hatred and painful binge eating cycles.
It is for women who want to pursue weight-neutral self-care practices that are sustainable for the long term.
Who online coaching isn’t for?
Coaching isn’t for people who would benefit from the deep-dive, healing work of therapy. Coaching is concrete, focused, and provides strategies to help you normalize your relationship with food.
Online coaching for binge eating and body image issues also isn’t for people who are in the pursuit of intentional weight loss. This is because intentional weight loss is not only ineffective for the vast majority of people but is also the greatest predictor of developing an eating disorder. Supporting intentional weight loss has caused harm to most of us, it colludes with fatphobia that is perpetuated throughout our society and increases disordered eating behaviors. The exact behaviors so many people are looking to overcome.
if time is of the essence for you, coaching isn’t for you
Coaching isn’t for you if you don’t have the time or the space to practice what we talk about in sessions (both individual and group!). We want you to see progress in your relationship with your body and with food. And, the only way to achieve what you’re looking for is to get a bit uncomfortable and practice the strategies we talk about. Remember, there’s a difference between knowing and doing. And, the way to healing is showing up consistently, even in small ways, to rebuild trust.
How do I know if online coaching is right for me?
Are you prepared to take actionable steps toward healing your relationship with food and your body?
Do you have the time and emotional bandwidth to challenge difficult thought patterns and beliefs?
If you are suffering from trauma or PTSD, therapy is likely a better fit for you.
Can you commit to 13 weeks of support?
Are you willing and able to show up in support of other women who are probably just as nervous as you are about getting vulnerable?
Schedule a 15-minute consultation call to discuss what’s happening in your relationship with food and body and your goals for healing.
Begin Online Coaching in Pennsylvania for Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues!
If you’re here and you’re struggling with binge eating, dieting cycles, and body image, we want you to know that there’s support available to you. We would be honored to introduce you to the healing power of intuitive eating, health at every size, body positivity, and body trust. When you‘re ready begin your journey at Reclaim Therapy in Pennsylvania. Schedule your 15-minute consultation call and learn more about your online eating coach and intuitive eating coach Sarah.
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Looking for another kind of support?
Here at Reclaim Therapy in Pennsylvania, we offer specialized online therapy and online coaching for people struggling with disordered eating, body image, trauma, and grief. We provide in-person therapy at our Horsham, PA office and online therapy in Pennsylvania via zoom. We’re passionate about helping people reclaim their lives from diet culture, eating disorders, and self-loathing. Contact us to schedule your free consultation today!