Archive for category: Blog

Let me first share what a QNRT session with me looks like. In the hour I am working with a client, we spend 20 minutes checking in to see how they’re feeling (therapy), several minutes of me using a cold laser along with muscle testing and the QNRT protocol to find the particular trauma that the client’s body wants to release, me sharing the age and emotions that were found during my testing, and then the client and I working together, using muscle testing, to determine what situation or event these emotions correlate to. I am very specific in finding the meaning behind all of the emotions that surface because the client learns so much about themselves and their patterns. I will also ask them how this past trauma and emotions might relate to what is going on in their life currently. I’d say 85% of the time there is a connection and it’s powerful for them to understand how their past trauma is surfacing today.

We then process the emotions that QNRT presented, I will put words to their trauma and they edit it if needed (they take this information with them), and then the last 5 minutes of the session I do a QNRT reset which includes resetting a point on a particular brain lobe, as well as their nervous system, hypothalamus and cranial nerves. I will give the client homework they can do after the session so that they stay conscious of what they are shifting in their life and this homework will also stimulate the new neural pathway QNRT created. QNRT works perfectly without doing the homework, think of it as ‘bonus extra credit’.

What you’re going to read below is the age, emotions and subsequent trauma that was found using the QNRT protocol and the client’s explanation of how the QNRT reset shifted them.

 

Background: Liana came to me after trying to take her life repeated times and couldn’t find any relief or results after years of talk-level therapy and medications. She was emotionally shut down, in an abusive relationship, hated her career and felt she was broken.

Over the last 3 years, Liana has transformed her life in profound ways. She recently traveled out of the country for an advanced yoga teacher training, has been in healthy relationships and has felt drawn to do art again. She now has a sparkle in her eye and her heart is full of love. She is also learning how to care for herself emotionally and physically which has been an important journey.

She wanted to share 4 of her resets that were especially impactful for her. You’ll notice that it’s her words explaining each reset and what it meant to her.

QNRT Reset Example 1: Age 11 – Releasing a lack of confidence, withholding love, unlovable, fear

“This reset was about my releasing the fear that nobody would love me at age 11 because I felt ugly, awkward, and not confident with how my body was changing. Also, I released a very deep, long-term pattern of withholding love from myself. This was an incredibly positive and impactful reset for me. That age was the most significant for determining my self-concept, self-image, and confidence and my trauma around this shaped my low self-worth and self-esteem in my teenage years that lasted well into my 20’s and beyond.

All of this was a catalyst for destruction—in behaviors, habits, men—seeking love and validations in incredibly unhealthy ways. I felt so deeply the positive impacts of this reset immediately! Embracing my divine feminine was something I had been trying to do for the past few years. But something was always holding me back from tapping into it.

Now, after this reset, I saw it was this trauma that started so early at age 11. Today, I feel so embodied by my beautiful feminine energy, so comforted by my body. I carry myself differently around others, my creativity has skyrocketed with art and writing, and my inner self talk is so much more loving.”

QNRT Reset Example 2: Age 25 – Healing the feeling of resentful, disappointment, loss and like her current situation defined her

“This reset was about law school and letting go of pursuing a career in law simply because that is my background. I released trauma around age 25 of feeling lost and allowing myself to be pushed into law, as well as influenced by society’s expectation. I also released a lot of internalized pain of feeling like I HAD to go to law school because I didn’t allow myself to say no and explore other options.

This reset was significant and positive, not only because I no longer feel any mental or emotional pressure to go back into a work field I disliked and is not aligned with me. It also radically shifted my perspective on my desire to do what others expected of me. There was a lot of forgiveness in this reset. I forgave myself deeply for not knowing what other options to explore, for not having the tools or support to do so, and for not having the courage to do so. I realized how scared I was at 25 to be my own person and figure out what my values in life were. This reset was recent, but was very significant because I feel I stepped into my own power in taking control of my life regarding work, vocation, and career focus.”

QNRT Reset Example 3: Age 17 – Releasing fear, disgust with a situation, resistance, things I don’t want

“This reset was about my experience with doing drugs and having a horrible trip and falling into a deep, existential depression that lasted for years. I deeply questioned my own existence, God, humanity, and life itself. It was an incredibly terrifying experience at 17 and radically changed my daily life. I remember waking up the next morning and staring at my ceiling with the most utterly empty feeling of hope and despair that I’ve ever known, and at such an early age. It was a fear I had never known. I pulled slowly away from friends, family, people in general and crawled into a dark, dark hole.

This reset was one of the most important and profound for two reasons. First, it was one of the few physical reactions I had with a reset. I excreted immediately after the session which was the old toxins that were stored from this trauma. (Maggie has taught me that it’s medically validated that toxins are released after trauma work.) Secondly, this reset allowed me to let go of those doubting beliefs about God, life, and people. I let go of the constant questioning of WHY. I remember that night of doing drugs and in my head I kept psychotically repeating “WHY?” over and over again.

This reset helped me release all of this vague doubt and confusion. I also felt incredibly positive afterwards because I no longer felt I had to hold on to that lost 17-year-old girl I still identified with and very much held on to. In many of my depressive episodes in the years after, I would return to this young girl and her worries and fears, because I felt that I knew her so well, I was comfortable with her. But all that comfort in darkness was holding me back. This reset released her.”

QNRT Reset Example 4: Age 31 – Healing the feeling of disappointment, used, not confident, not being able to trust others especially those I love, and fear

“This reset was around the trauma of not listening to my body and taking care of her. This trauma was at age 31 when I experienced very scary, out of control, and debilitating health symptoms. With this trauma, I carried around a lot of disappointment that I was not taking care of myself and shame that I didn’t choose to when I knew, deep down, that I should. I did not treat my body well and this reset helped me realize that I didn’t quite see that my body was a separate entity of love, in a sense.

Before this reset, I didn’t view my body as its own precious gift. It positively shifted my mindset to subconsciously make the right, helpful choices for my body and health and ones that make me FEEL good! And, to lean into that feeling of goodness. I remember waking up the morning after this reset and doing all the little things that are good for myself without hesitation or questioning—sunshine, vitamins, water, a good meal, and just feeling deep gratitude for absolutely everything :)”

Liana’s Response about QNRT Therapy: “QNRT has singlehandedly changed my life. More than any other therapeutic method or external support system. I’ve been in and out of talk therapy and on various medications for over 25 years and before starting QNRT I was sure of one thing, I hated TALKING about my feelings. Mostly, because I didn’t understand them or why and how I was experiencing all of the emotional highs and lows. It was not only a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to talk, but also that I didn’t have to know WHAT I wanted to talk about—because that isn’t necessary for the healing to occur.

In my experience, what I think will come up during a session, or even what I feel like I want to talk about, is not often the subject of a reset. This doesn’t make it harder, but more powerful. And, I feel a deeper sense of relief in the aftermath. I find the emotion/situation that my body presents in QNRT often reflects what I’m going through in life currently. It’s not obvious to the logical brain, but only to the heart. This was something I didn’t realize in the beginning stages, but again, I didn’t have to know why or even how.

I started QNRT as an even more analytical and brain-centered person than I am now. I have to say one of the biggest gifts QNRT has given me is to step out of this and into my heart—to lead with it and to trust it, because that’s where all of our true emotions come from. With each session, I’m able to see more and more how my brain, and ego, have produced the fear, anxiety, depression, worry, doubt, shame, and guilt that I suffered from for so many years.

Every session is a new story of my life and without knowing how to talk about it, understand it, or even remember all of the details, I release the trauma that my body, mind, and heart have harbored for many years. Some are from childhood, but the most impactful stories have been in the last decade or so. I feel this is because what I absorbed as a child, I put into actions and habits later in life. The trauma became my life patterns. These were destructive and harmful and created the cycles of relationships and choices I was trying to break.

QNRT can sometimes feel intensely emotional for the 30 minutes or so when I am processing the story of the trauma, but this emotional discomfort is eased at the end of the session when the resetting of the brain happens. This is where Maggie has been a true gift. I’ve never felt more safe, secure, and encouraged to express or even experience any emotion than in her presence during a session. The support in the ability to feel is something that every human should be encouraged to learn as a child. Sadly, that is not the case for myself and many others. QNRT, and Maggie, have gifted me one of the most important lessons in life as a human being—the ability to feel emotions authentically, without judgment, and with love.

Depending on the story that comes up in a session, the changes can vary. I’ve had physical releases through the digestive system and my skin. I’ve also had major subconscious shifts that show up in the choices and decisions I make each day, whether that is what I eat or how I spend my time. More specifically, it has shifted my mind to make choices for myself that feel good and are good for me. I don’t doubt or question the nourishing things in life anymore. I’ve also had more conscious changes like the ability to set boundaries with family, removing toxic relationships, being off all medications and stepping out of a career that no longer aligns with me.

What I find amazing is that these shifts feel effortless. I will just begin to show up in a new way and it feels natural. It isn’t something I have to ‘work’ on changing about myself. QNRT does the work. I have chosen to make the effort to change my life, but that felt possible after a specific trauma was healed.”

Let me first share what a QNRT session with me looks like. In the hour I am working with a client, we spend 20 minutes checking in to see how they’re feeling (therapy), several minutes of me using a cold laser along with muscle testing and the QNRT protocol to find the particular trauma that their body wants to release, me sharing the age and emotions that were found during my testing, and then the client and I working together, using muscle testing, to determine what situation or event these emotions correlate to. I am very specific in finding the meaning behind all of the emotions that surface because the client learns so much about themselves and their patterns. I will also ask them how this past trauma and emotions might relate to what is going on in their life currently. I’d say 85% of the time there is a connection and it’s powerful for them to understand how their past trauma is surfacing today.

We then process the emotions that QNRT presented, I will put words to their trauma and they edit it if needed (they take this information with them), and then the last 5 minutes of the session I do a QNRT reset which includes resetting a point on a particular brain lobe, as well as their nervous system, hypothalamus and cranial nerves. I will give the client homework they can do after the session so that they stay conscious of what they are shifting in their life and also stimulating the new neural pathway QNRT created. QNRT works perfectly without doing the homework, think of it as ‘bonus extra credit’.

What you’re going to read below is the age, emotions and subsequent trauma that was found using the QNRT protocol and the client’s explanation of how the QNRT reset shifted them.

 

Background: Sophia came to me through a referral from a good friend of hers. This is what made her feel open to trying therapy again. When she first started, she was emotionally shut down and didn’t know how to get her emotional needs met in relationships. She would engage in sabotaging relationship patterns versus sharing clear communication from her heart. She would take the temperature of what others thought might be good for her life versus accessing her own desires. She felt the need to caretake other’s feelings at the cost of her own happiness. It’s also important to note that she loved being creative as a kid, but when the trauma started stacking up, she ‘lost’ that side of herself.

She wants to share 10 of her favorite resets that were especially impactful for her. Notice her response to each reset is in quotations below.

QNRT Reset Example 1: Age 19 – Healing the feeling of resentment, disappointment, anger, used, lost and wanting to run from pain

This reset was about trying to recover from an unwanted sexual experience and not being able to have intimacy feel safe anymore. It was about her anger at the person and feeling trapped in these uncomfortable feelings. As many women do, she tried to experiment sexually to heal her pain, but this only made her feel worse.

“This reset helped it to click for me to really pay attention to my body by loving and validating her.”

QNRT Reset Example 2: Age 19 – Releasing the feeling of powerless, fear, unlovable, settling for less and trying to earn love in all of the wrong places

This reset was about being in a relationship with someone who had vastly different motivation levels and accepting so much less than she deserved.

“This reset supported me to finally start to understand that I was worthy of love. This is when I started to let go of the ‘unlovable and unworthy’ belief.”

QNRT Reset Example 3: Age 16 – Releasing the inability to communicate, abandoned, difficulty connecting to others, fear those you love with leave you, loss of love early in life

This reset was about a devastating loss of innocence with an unwanted sexual experience. She also felt abandoned by a friend who should have had her back in this situation.

“This reset helped me to take my power back and not feel that I had to prove I’m loveable.”

QNRT Reset Example 4: Age 28 – Releasing feeling used, not confident, lost and unlovable

She had two resets on the same topic addressing different emotions – Defective, unworthy, disgusted, can’t get rid of

These two resets helped her heal the trauma around adopting a rescue dog who behaved aggressively due to trauma. (The body stores different types of emotions in different parts of the brain, so sometimes a person will have more than one reset on a particular topic.) This left Sophia feeling helpless on how to help her dog. She also had to heal the trauma of not knowing how to get Charlie to not howl when she would leave the house. She ultimately had to rehome the dog which was devastating.

“These two resets allowed me to forgive myself and release guilt around not being able to help my dog, Charlie. And also feel that it was possible to get another dog in the future.”

QNRT Reset Example 5: Age Birth to 1 – Healing from taking on her Mother’s feelings of resentment, frustration, feeling lost, feeling like her current situation defined her, and allowing her emotions to keep her from going after what she wanted

Often when you have a reset during this early period of life, it’s about taking on a parent’s feelings which is of course overwhelming because babies don’t have the capacity to process intense emotions by themselves. And interestingly, Sophia took on the same pattern with men as her Mom. She allowed a relationship to be on her partner’s terms versus asking to get her needs met.

“This reset was the start of my being more empowered to stand up for myself and feel comfortable voicing my feelings and desires.”

QNRT Reset Example 6: Age 20 – Releasing jealousy, lack of confidence, lost, questioning self, angry, thinking she can please everyone, not being able to express herself

This reset was about her feeling excluded by her family on trips, like she didn’t matter and belong. She didn’t know at the time how to ask for what she needed so she made up stories about not being valued and then showed up angry and resentful towards her family.

“I started to notice when I was feeling uncomfortable and was able to start voicing my feelings in a healthy way.”

QNRT Reset Example 7: Age 16 – Releasing the inability to let go, feeling trapped and anxious

This reset was around an unwanted sexual experience that made her feel completely overwhelmed and unsafe in her body and in her surroundings. She felt hypervigilant around her safety and this continued long into adulthood. She felt she had to do things ‘right’ in order to be safe.

“This reset allowed me to leave my house with more ease and feeling more confident about what I wanted and showing up in a way that felt authentic to me.”

QNRT Reset Example 8: Age 13 – Releasing anger, feeling used and unable to take the action she needed to

This was about her experience of being depressed and feeling like nobody cared enough to notice she was suffering, including herself. She was stuck in the belief that she shouldn’t communicate her pain because she should be able to figure it out herself.

“I was able to release the guilt I had been harboring about feeling depressed and was able to ask for help and actually allow people to help me.”

QNRT Reset Example 9: Age 26 – Releasing feeling angry, not confident, blaming others, not being truthful to others, can’t admit mistakes and can’t accept the wrongs I’ve done

This was about being dishonest with someone she cared about because she didn’t know how to get her needs met any other way. She was scared and not sure how to have a real, vulnerable conversation and voice her needs.

“This reset gave me an even deeper release of my old ways of showing up in relationships. This reset allowed me to be more calm, open and willing to have hard conversations even when it’s uncomfortable.”

QNRT Reset Example 10: Age 29 – Releasing resentment, lack of confidence, and not able to accept what doesn’t work in my life

This reset was about having to learn a new role remotely during Covid from someone who was a terrible teacher. She felt it was about her lack of ability even though anyone would have struggled in this situation.

“This reset allowed me to actually feel excited about seeking out a new career path that feels right for me.”

Sophia’s Response about QNRT Therapy: “I was scared for years of going to therapy. My first experience was going to a school counselor in junior high after a boyfriend told on me for cutting myself. I saw that first counselor once just before he retired and then I went to see the female counselor who took over for him, a couple times and even though I liked her fine enough, I didn’t go back after that.

I felt scared and misunderstood and didn’t feel comfortable telling a stranger what was going on with me when I didn’t fully understand what was going on with me. I also didn’t want to be seen going to the counselor’s office by anyone at school – more pre-conceived judgment.

For years after, the thought of going to therapy scared me because I didn’t want to be judged for things I’d done/been through, which only accumulated and felt “bigger” as the years went on. I got comfortable with being uncomfortable, so I stuck with what I knew and let fear dictate how I showed up.

After a romantic relationship of mine fell apart back in early 2022, I moved back to Saint Paul and I finally had a sincere desire to change my ways. I recognized there were things that I could’ve done better, my inability to speak up was at times so paralyzing because of my extreme discomfort in talking about hard stuff. I knew I could be a better version of myself and I really wanted to get better.

Over the years I’d occasionally get curious about finding someone to talk to, but the idea of finding someone who I would be comfortable with was so daunting. I didn’t want to work with just anyone. Having the referral from a friend of mine and seeing/hearing firsthand what QNRT did for someone who I loved and trusted, helped me to feel safe to work with Maggie. I somehow knew I didn’t want to do just talk therapy, that wasn’t really going to be enough for me, even if I didn’t totally understand what QNRT was all about at the time.

Fast forward TWO YEARS and I still get so excited for every single session (even if I’ve been in emotional heart, the deepest resets, for what feels like forever 😉) because I can feel myself showing up differently. I notice when I’m having big feelings and take the time to understand them. I’m still me, but I’m so much lighter and my creative side came back! I feel like I’ve been unearthing the version of me that I’d ignored and hidden for so many years. I see the patterns that I’ve created and no longer expect myself to be perfect. I have finally started to believe that there is more to me than my traumas, and that my traumas aren’t who I am. The gratitude is endless; I have loved learning more about myself and my body with each new session.”

If you’ve ever wondered why you want to eat well, but continue to get derailed, let me explain. I built my practice around my passion of supporting people who are stuck in this exact rut. We certainly aren’t lacking enough “how to” information in our culture. So clearly it’s not a lack of information around nutrition, even though I know it can be confusing at times for some people to understand which foods are best for their unique body.

There’s something more to the equation of healthy eating…our emotions. You may have noticed that when you’re exhausted and stressed from a day’s work, you probably aren’t very interested in a salad. Or when you have an argument with your partner, you might not want to snack on an apple. People don’t tend to choose healthy foods when they’re feeling angry, hurt or frustrated. What’s interesting to notice is how processed foods like potato chips, mac & cheese and cookies shift your attention away from the uncomfortable feeling. Most people are afraid to feel their emotions so they distract themselves with habits such as overworking, over scheduling, over achieving or getting mindlessly involved in emotional drama, Facebook or their phone.

Not only is our quality of food negatively impacted by our emotions, but so is the quantity of food we consume. Eating too much food can dampen your current negative emotion, only to leave you with a new disappointing emotion such as shame or guilt. Again, people often eat too much so they don’t have to feel their emotions or subtle beliefs about themselves or be present with their current life situation. Other people may avoid emotions in other ways such as restricting food and not allowing themselves to eat when they’re hungry. Most people aren’t aware of their emotional avoidance until they start to observe their patterns. I believe most people eat unhealthy not because they don’t know how to eat healthy, but because they are avoiding negative thoughts/feelings/beliefs/fears or traumas based in the past. Science has recently discovered these painful memories and beliefs are stored in the body.

Emotional pain and negative self beliefs get formed when we experience difficult circumstances or events which can be called trauma. Everyone has experienced trauma to varying degrees. Trauma is when something difficult happens to you and it doesn’t get fully expressed or emotionally resolved so it’s stored in the body. It can be an ongoing situation or a one-time event. Let me share a couple of examples of what trauma can look like so you can recognize it in your own life. It does not need to feel like a significant event to you for the negative energy to be stored in your body.

• An ongoing experience of parents being distracted and not present with you
• Kids making fun of you at school
• Transitions of any kind such as changing schools, getting laid off or fired, moving to a new city/state/country
• Getting divorced or parents divorcing
• Growing up in poverty or experiencing financial insecurity
• Being criticized
• A parent making negative comments about you either overtly or subtly
• Feeling like you don’t fit in with your peers
• Not getting your emotional or physical needs met
• Not being able to fully express your feelings in childhood or adulthood
• Any physical, sexual or emotional abuse
• Making a mistake and getting in trouble for it (or not)
• Experiencing a break up with a partner
• Losing a friend
• Witnessing violence
• Physical pain or injury
• Surgery
• Losing a loved one
• Being separated from someone you love

I could list many more examples, but hopefully you understand it doesn’t have to be something significant for a subtle, negative thought, feeling, belief or fear to form and adversely impact your nervous system. It’s important to address past trauma so it becomes easier to have a healthy relationship with yourself and food. When you begin to experience more ease, you can choose foods that feel right for your body versus eating (or not eating) to cover up uncomfortable emotions like shame, fear or anger. Eating well should ideally feel easy and natural.

I am passionate about helping men and women find a way off of the roller coaster ride of dieting and restricting. That’s why I’m very excited to offer Quantum Neurological Reset Therapy in my practice. Science shows that when difficult things happen in our life, negative energy patterns can be stored in the nervous system and brain, creating fear, anxiety, sadness and the inability to move forward. QNRT is a science-based modality for bringing balance to the nervous system and brain.

QNRT resets are an option to request with any session you schedule with me. I’ve been delighted with the positive results I’ve seen in myself and in my clients who have utilized this technique. It has made it easier for them to apply the changes I recommend for healthy eating and living. Something interesting to note is when you experience traumatic stress in your life, it covers up your gifts such as freely expressing love, having a witty sense of humor or passionately pursuing a creative talent.

I hope this article gives you hope that you can change the way you eat and care for yourself. The reason you haven’t been able to eat well is not because you lack willpower or discipline, it may be because you have emotional pain stored in your body that you’ve been working hard to avoid. QNRT is an effective, easy and results-oriented way to support your health. You will still need to follow through on the action steps I recommend to improve your health, but it won’t feel as challenging. QNRT, along with the support of a therapist and holistic nutrition counselor, is a powerful combination to help you heal, grow and evolve your body, mind and spirit.

I thought it might be helpful for you to read an excerpt from the program binder that you would receive as part of your 4-month program. This sample material will give you a better understanding of the work so that you can decide if this approach is a good fit for you.

Why You’ve Invested in this Program

You probably decided to invest in this program because you want to experience a change in how your body and your life looks and feels. Some people want to lose weight, others need to gain weight and still others don’t care as much about the weight, they just want to feel better. By upgrading the way you eat and how you care for yourself, you have tremendous potential to create positive changes in your life.

This Program is Unique

This program is unique in that it will address both the physical and emotional side of your health. Keep in mind that you want to find a way of eating and caring for yourself that’s satisfying so that you want to continue it. The goal with eating is to truly feel satisfied. Many people try diets that help them lose weight, but they are unsatisfying and their cravings are so intense that they eventually quit and then they revert to their old way of eating and put the weight, plus a couple extra pounds, right back on.

It’s important that you understand how this journey is different from what you may have done in the past. Many people have been on diets. I’d say one of the characteristics that most people associate with a diet is willpower. The downside to using willpower to improve your health is that willpower often has a negative, depriving quality to it. It’s pushy and demanding. And it’s not sustainable. Nobody stays on a diet for years. Instead they keep searching for a new way of eating that they hope will finally lead them to the change they’re seeking. I’m going to invite you to explore a sustainable, gentle and effective approach to improving your health that is grounded in love.  (Gentleman, stay with me, this applies to you too!).

Love, not Willpower

Self love, a transformational energy, will help you improve your health. Love is an ACTION. We tend to think of love as static, meaning “yes, I love myself or my partner.” But love is also an action that we decide to take based on how we feel. Consider a couple who says they love one another, but they don’t treat each other respectfully, they aren’t affectionate, and they rarely do anything for the other person. That’s not how love acts. But interesting enough, many people treat themselves this way.

For example, how many men and women, either don’t eat breakfast at all or if they do, they just grab something convenient and processed, they power through their morning running on coffee, they mindlessly eat their frozen lunch with a Diet Coke, and then grab some low-quality food from the vending machine around 3:00pm. When they get home from work they eat crackers and cheese standing up at the counter, then devour several large handfuls of chips, and finish with a couple of cookies. Then they feel guilty, throw themselves on the couch to watch some TV they don’t care about while their thoughts start to ruminate on beating themselves up for eating poorly yet again. They numb out in front of the TV, go to bed late only to be awakened by a loud, demanding alarm asking them to do it all again. This isn’t love. This is an unconscious, unkind way to treat yourself. Even if this isn’t your same scenario with food and self care, you probably can notice some patterns of neglect that you have in your daily life whether it’s lack of movement, not enough joy, too much work, etc.

If you feel a bit nervous about exploring unconditional self-love, you’re not alone. Many people find this a brand new concept and feel uncomfortable with it. I’ll help you understand and apply this concept at a pace that challenges you, but does not overwhelm you.

Eating Processed Foods is Not Love

When I suggest a person is going to improve their health by applying greater self-love, they get confused and think they can just eat that second piece of cheesecake or go through the drive-through window because that is being kind to themselves because they are feeling stressed and tired. Let me be VERY clear. It’s not love to eat food that damages your body. That’s actually abusive. Loving yourself does not mean eating processed foods and skipping the gym. It means getting in touch with what you’re truly craving and actually giving that to yourself. Not because you ‘should’ but because you’re choosing to care for yourself. You might truly be craving a delicious, whole foods meal, more connection with friends, you may desperately need more sleep or you may want to spend time exploring a creative activity you used to enjoy.

Everything is Food

I’m suggesting you begin to tune into what your body is truly craving. This takes time and patience. I will support you in creating this awareness. When you’re having an intense craving for sugar and processed foods, know that isn’t what your body actually wants, that is an addiction (studies show sugar is as addictive as heroine!). People often have intense cravings for sugar or processed foods because their body is not getting the quality food it needs and/or it is helping them to numb an uncomfortable feeling.

What I know is that the body was made to run on real food from nature. And when it doesn’t get these nutrients, health doesn’t go well. But let’s expand our definition of food in a way that helps you get what you need from this program. Here’s a concept that is probably new to you. EVERYTHING IS FOOD. What do I mean by that? We are ‘feeding ourselves’ with other things besides food. For example, if you have a passion in your life like knitting, hunting, sewing or competing in a sport, that is food. Meaning it’s feeding you with joy and satisfaction. We are meant to have lives that satisfy and fulfill us. Interesting concept, huh? When we aren’t getting what we need in life, often we’ll reach for something else to fill that void, such as food. Food wasn’t meant to fill the gaps in our lives by making us feel less bored or happier. That being said, it’s so important to get pleasure from your food and thoroughly enjoy it, but if that is your only pleasure in life, it’s going to be more difficult to change your habits with food. So in this program we will be talking about ways to ‘nourish’ yourself separate from food.

Why Do You Want to Be Healthier?

Many people use the word ‘should’ when they talk about eating and exercising. I invite you to approach this in a more self-satisfying way. Get in touch with WHY you want to be healthier. Is it because you want to have more energy for your kids or grandkids? Is it because you are passionate about your work and want to have more energy to invest in it? Is it because you feel like you’re not really living your life because you feel shame around your body? You’ll see in this first binder tab that I’m going to ask you to write why you want to invest your time and energy into improving your health. You don’t have to do this work. You get to do this work for reasons that mean something to you.

When someone starts a diet (which I don’t recommend), they focus on what they can’t have. That usually doesn’t feel very good.

I’d like to offer a unique, effective, loving approach to upgrading the way you eat. Start to notice what you want more of in your life and give yourself that. Sound dangerous? Well let me clarify something very important. I hear many stories of people ‘rewarding’ themselves with sugar and processed carbs because they ‘deserve it’. Interesting…..does that mean they deserve more pounds, more guilt, more stomach aches, etc.? There is nothing loving and kind about eating processed foods that don’t nourish you. It’s actually being really unkind to yourself. I’m not overlooking the 5 or 10 minutes of relief or joy people feel from eating a Snickers bar from the vending machine, but those feelings don’t last, do they?

I invite you to dig deeper, much deeper. Allow yourself to explore what you want more of in your life. I am so fortunate to work with some amazing clients who do the work necessary to change their relationship to food. These people start treating themselves kinder, exploring their long forgotten creative side, engaging in dating, allowing themselves more fun, rest and relaxation. And guess what? They start to eat more whole foods.

People often reach for food that doesn’t serve their health because there are unmet needs in their life. Some people want to deepen their spiritual practice or relationship with others, but they ignore these callings and eat sugar instead. I’ve been doing this work for 9 years and I see amazing results when people begin to create a life they enjoy and treat themselves with a deeper kindness and respect. The results are that they are able to change the way they eat without pain and deprivation. When they get more of what they need in life, they stop using food to stuff the uncomfortable feelings they have from not meeting their heart’s desires.

More discipline, self-hate and deprivation won’t create lasting results in your health. It instead creates a roller coaster of painful emotions and intense shame for continuing to gain the weight back.

Ask yourself, what are you truly craving in life?