Welcome to
The world of Dynamic Eating Psychology
and
Mind Body Nutrition
Where we council you to heal in the realms of;
• Holistic Health and Nutrition • Permanent Weight Loss
• Digestive Health • Low Immunity • Energy and Fatigue
• Chronic Dieting • Over Eating / Binge Eating • Body Image
But first a question……..
What exactly is Health – physical health, mental health, social health, spiritual health?
Is it the absence of illness or disease? Or is it more than that?
One mainstream definition of health is; “A state in which a person is not suffering from any illness and is feeling well.”
So the next obvious question is; what is feeling well? Is that the absence of pain and disease?
Is health just not having the bad stuff – like living in an empty space? Or is it something that is inclusive – meaning having all the good stuff? We think so. Health is more of a holistic state of well-being; physical, mental, social and spiritual. It includes a sense of knowing and fulfillment of our purpose in life.
Our ancient ancestors knew this. They got it, they lived by it, they ate by it, they wrote texts about it and they passed the knowledge down. All the while they respected each other and intuitively connected with the Earth and Mother Nature. But somewhere along the line, mankind forgot what that sort of deep health really is.
Large (and wealthy) food conglomerates succeeded in brainwashing us with advertising and taking over our food choices.
Science took over delivering a pile of ‘research’ and ‘facts’ that just confuse us. Plus modern medicine got into the mix and merely fills us with drugs after we get sick from our man made toxic world.
Or worse, scares us into believing we need dozens of vaccinations (often before we are even 2 years old) when the body in its perfection has its own immune system better than any doctor can give us.
Also entering our lives is a whole pile of other influences to our health like all forms of the media, social platforms and peers. You must look like this, act like this, be like this. Otherwise you are ugly, a loser or worse – both!
But is that how life should be? You can only be you; look like you, act like you, eat like you, work like you, grow like you, love yourself unconditionally just for being you, love others unconditionally just for being themselves. And above all, be your very best you in fulfilling your own purpose.
Now that’s health.
So with that said, let’s look at some of our goals for ourselves. Yes we want education, success, money, security, a house, travel/holidays, cars, family and friends, – a pile of stuff.
- We save up our money (or borrow) to buy things.
- We pay a financial planner to assess our financial needs and guide us towards our short and long term financial goals.
- We pay loss of income insurance in case we cannot work.
- We pay for medical insurance for when we need to get ourselves “fixed” when we have health issues.
- We pay for superannuation for when we retire (assuming we live long enough or stay healthy enough to have a retirement).
- We spend a huge amount of money on everything except our health.
Ask anyone if they would have money and rich lifestyle or their health. Especially ask someone who has or has had a debilitating illness or disease.
Health is beyond doubt our biggest asset for happiness.
So why don’t we spend money on increasing our health or preventing of loss of health? The answer is simple – most of us don’t know we should. We don’t worry about our health until we no longer have it.
We are brainwashed by the 2 world giants – the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry.
Between them, we are addicted to all the wrong foods; then when we get sick the medical profession gives us drugs which all too often make us sicker than we were in the first place. Often we are given no hope of quality of life. Our own culture is failing us.
We need more healing and less medicine.
We need more farmacy and less pharmacy.
Can we put a monetary figure on this? Not really.
But….buying good food ultimately is cheaper than the cost medical insurance and makes us feel better as well.
The statistics of people getting life debilitating or life threatening non communicable diseases or autoimmune diseases, are growing exponentially.
NCD’s – Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, some cancers, mental illness and so many more….
Autoimmune – rheumatoid arthritis, MS, thyroid disease, celiac, lupus, IBF, psoriasis, depression and so many more….
And the ever growing issue of obesity (no pun intended!). Read more about these here
The problems of non communicable and autoimmune diseases, and that of obesity, are mostly the result of such things as our lifestyle, environment and stress – and often from choices we make.
But as individuals we are not always to blame. These are also collective and societal problems; environmental toxins, the food we eat (well we think it’s food), the drugs dished out to us and the increasing influences from the media – magazines, television, movies, internet, social media and so on.
We are bombarded from all these angles every day, day in and day out. We cannot avoid them as they are part of life on planet earth.
OK, so back to the topic of health – I mean health in the full sense or wholeness of our being.
The expression “we are what we eat” is a little outdated and is now more appropriately “we are what we metabolise”.
Expanding this further, there is another side and that is “who we are as eaters”.
This is where Dynamic Eating Psychology and Mind Body Nutrition come in.
Who we are absolutely influences how we digest and metabolise our food. In other words, just because a food has specific nutrients, does not mean we will digest well that food and absorb those nutrients. The mind has a profound influence on the body when it comes to being in the optimum state for digestion, assimilation and calorie burning when we have a meal.
Dynamic Eating Psychology
is for anyone who eats! So it’s for everyone. It’s about the primary importance of our relationship with food. How this relationship is ever changing and unique to each and every one of us. We see challenges with weight, food and health not as things that need “fixing” but as opportunities for growth and transformation.
These challenges with weight, food and health are intimately connected to our other life dimensions; relationships, work/career, social interactions, sexuality and the search for our own purpose and its fulfilment.
Eating psychology used to be focused on those who had clinical eating disorders. However Dynamic Eating Psychology is a new field and is for anyone who eats. Our strategies and techniques make a real and sustainable difference. This approach embraces who we are as eaters as a whole – body, mind, heart and soul.
Mind Body Nutrition
is a way of exploring how our thoughts, feelings and beliefs impact our metabolism and our health. The focus is on the connections between our brain, our body and our behavior. These fascinating connections go way beyond classical nutrition – in other words, what we eat is only half the story. The other half of the story or the new way to look at nutrition is “who we are as eaters”.
So Mind Body Nutrition is more about how we think and feel, and how that impacts and creates a lasting metabolic difference.
Mind Body Nutrition bridges the gap between how our digestion, assimilation of nutrients and calorie burning are impacted by; stress, relaxation, pleasure, awareness, meal timing, eating speed, beliefs, feelings, thoughts and more….
The nutritional value of food is so much more than the list of nutrients in the food. The field of nutrition makes the assumption that those nutrients are all that count – the macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates) and the micronutrients (vitamins, minerals). In other words, what you read on the label – the nutrient profile. But nutrition goes far deeper than this. Just because a meal has the perfect mix of healthy foods does not mean you will absorb all the nutrients from that meal. If we are not in the optimum state of digestion and assimilation, we will absorb maybe as little as only 10% of the nutritional value of the meal.
For example, stress has a huge impact on our health, as most people know these days. What most people don’t know is how that stress actually impacts us.
Well accepted research shows stress has the following impact on the body:
- Appetite de-regulated which drives us to eat more
- Cortisol and insulin is increased which signals the body to store fat
- Severely reduced calorie burning
- Muscle growth decrease
- Digestive issues
- Very intense nutrient excretion
- The killing of healthy gut bacteria
- The increase of unhealthy cholesterol levels
- Increase our susceptibility to food allergies
- Lowering of thyroid and growth hormone levels
The definition of stress is “Any real or imagined danger and the body’s response to that danger”. Meaning the brain cannot distinguish between the lion chasing you and you worrying about getting into trouble for being late to arrive at work.
So stress chemistry can be created day in and day out simply by the thoughts you think.
These stressors can take many forms – especially in this day and age of speed and hurry up. Plus the collective issues (mainly from the media and social platforms) around what we should do, be, have or look like.
So it is now very common to have stress in the form of self loathing, shame about our bodies, guilt around food or self judgement about our health.
My training and certification from the Institute for The Psychology of Eating is an internationally acclaimed programme where I learned new and powerful tools and protocols which enable me to work with a variety of nutrition related health concerns.
As a certified counsellor in Dynamic Eating Psychology and Mind Body Nutrition, I can offer practical and life affirming strategies in the realm of commonly seen eating challenges and health issues of our modern times. Issues like; weight loss, body image challenges, overeating, binge eating and chronic dieting. Plus various nutrition related health concerns such as digestion, fatigue, mood and immunity.
I can show how digestion, assimilation and calorie burning are profoundly influenced both negatively and positively by; stress physiology, relaxation with food, deeper breathing, awareness, pleasure, meal timing, body wisdom and gratitude.
My coaching is a positive and compassionate approach to all these challenges with food, body and health. My emphasis is on teaching body-centred practices around eating and nutrition which give you hope if you are tired of struggling.
As a collective society, we are bombarded with negative messages about food, weight and diet.The advice from ‘experts’ is often conflicting, confusing and seems to change on a daily basis.
As a professional, I eliminate those ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts’. I focus on what is right for your body and your personal life. I will guide you to tune into your own body wisdom so you will hear what is right for you.
You are not here to be punished; you are here to be nourished.
Your challenges are opportunities for growth and self-improvement.
