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...

Does the thought of Halloween candy conjure up scary feelings of being out control when candy is in the house? If you’re feeling stressed about keeping Halloween candy in your house for fear you will binge eat the candy and not be able to control yourself until the candy is out of the house, this episode is for you. Here’s what I want you to know. It’s completely possible to keep your favorite Halloween candy in the house without feeling out of control. And you can eat Halloween candy ...

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...

Do you find yourself thinking about food 24/7 and are you tired of feeling like food holds power over you? You’re not alone. The way that we approach food in our society is making us obsessed with it. It’s really easy to get caught up in diet culture practices, labeling food as “good” or “bad” and following restrictive food rules that leave us thinking about food all the dang time and feeling like food holds so much power in our lives. If you’re ready to stop obsessing & create a m...

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...

How many times have you said a version of this sentence? “I blew my diet. I’ll start over tomorrow…or on Monday…or after vacation.” The infamous "starting over tomorrow" mantra is a common response when we are stuck in the diet cycle. In this episode I’m diving into the different causes that keep us stuck in the cycle of starting over…again and again and again. You will have an opportunity to uncover what food rules, thought patterns, beliefs and restrictive eating habits are in the dri...

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...

There is a lot of incomplete information about what Intuitive Eating is. If you’ve been learning about Intuitive Eating from social media, it’s easy to get the idea that it’s simply “not dieting" and eating whatever the hell you want. Wrong! Intuitive Eating is SO much more than just "not dieting." In this episode, I debunk some of the most common misconceptions about Intuitive Eating. I am breaking these down for you, so you can feel more confident in making the decision t...

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...

In this episode, I delve deep into the detrimental effects of all-or-nothing thinking, specifically how it contributes to self-sabotage and binge eating behaviors. Listen as I explore the underlying drivers behind these patterns and offer practical strategies to break free from the cycle of destructive thinking and behaviors. Confronting and challenging all-or-nothing thinking is a key element to building long-term healthy eating patterns and a healthy, balanced and sustainable relationship w...

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’s topic will hopefully spark some healthy self-reflection when it comes to your eating patterns and relationship with food and your body. Eating behaviors occur on a spectrum. At one end sits healthy eating behaviors and on the other are clinically diagnosable eating disorders. ⁠There are a lot of gray area eating behaviors in between that fall into what is now recognized as disordered eating (DE) behaviors. The term “disordered eating” refers to food- and diet-related behaviors ...

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 mom of a daughter who has two daughters of her own, I have spent a lot of time thinking about and researching ways to keep them from internalizing unrealistic body ideals and instill a healthy attitude toward their bodies, so they don’t fall into the negative body image trap that plagues so many women of all ages. Negative body image is not something we’re born with, and it does not live in fats cells! In this episode, I am sharing 7 strategies to help our daughters and any young women w...

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...

One of the most common concerns people have when they’re at the place where they are ready to step away from dieting and learn how to apply the principles of Intuitive Eating is if they stop dieting, they will keep gaining weight. When you've been following diets and food plans for so long, the idea of getting to the place where you can fully trust that your body knows how to keep you nourished and thriving, without going overboard with certain foods can seem too good to be true. in thi...

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...

There is a lot of misinformation out there about Intuitive Eating, especially if you're getting much of your information from social media. There are a lot of well-meaning influencers that turn intuitive eating into simply a hunger/fullness diet. However, there is so much more to it than simply hunger and fullness. Others make it seem like it's an eating free-for-all which is also not how it works. Intuitive Eating is an eating approach that encompasses 10 principles that work together ...

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...

In this first episode of the podcast, I’m sharing a bit of insight into my professional background, personal journey with food and body image issues, what led me to Intuitive Eating and why I do this work to help others break free from the vicious cycle of dieting to create a healthy, sustainable, and pleasurable relationship with food and their bodies. I’ll also be sharing some of the incredible, research-based benefits of Intuitive Eating that I and my clients have experienced ...

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...