Today we’re sharing three common comments we hear from clients. Often, after we’ve been working with a client for a while, we begin to hear that being in therapy has proved positive in surprising ways!

1. I wish I had started taking care of my mental health sooner.

It is so easy to distract yourself from what you are really feeling—with work, your family, with food. Often it takes a big moment or event that is a tipping point for people to finally invest in supporting their mental health. It is scary to ask for help or admit that you’re not doing ok! While many wish they had started opening up sooner, you have to decide if you are ready to dig deep and start to make changes. Remember: support for your mental health doesn’t have to be formal in-person therapy; even taking small steps to support your mental health will be beneficial. You can start by setting boundaries with others, getting out for a walk regularly, or even just reading in the sunshine.

2. I wish I had known not ...

This blog post is the one of a series where we’re giving advice on tools you can try and see if they are worth adding to your ‘toolkit’ when you’re faced with emotional eating. Some tools will work for you and others you won’t find as helpful—check out our previous posts here and give some of them a try!

Getting a good night’s sleep plays a crucial role in maintaining a balance in our body and mind. It’s so easy to get caught in a bad sleep cycle: we wake up to a day that feels like an emotional rollercoaster and makes us eat emotionally as we try and counteract the effects of tossing and turning the night before. Overdoing it on these tasty stimulants—sugar, carbs, coffee, and soda—can not only add to those feelings of up and down but also prolong being stuck in the cycle, leading to another terrible night’s sleep and more emotional eating.

We have totally been there! Sometimes it’s anxiety that keeps you from falling asleep, or it maybe your partner tossing and turning wakes you u...

You’ve picked up a gorgeous new notebook, you have a specific pen you love the feel of. Finally, you have some quiet time to yourself, sitting down you open to that first blank page and… have no clue what to write!

We’ve previously given a few ideas on how to start journaling, but we know for ourselves that sometimes the words just won’t come. Either you’re distracted or have so much to say you don’t know where to start—both can feel overwhelming. So, here are a few ideas to get that ink flowing and fill up your pages. You don’t have to start with number one and work your way through all of the prompts, choose whichever you are called to write about. Or maybe reading one of the prompts gets you thinking about another topic you’d like to write on.

Remember: there is absolutely no wrong way to journal! Your notebook is truly your own space to be honest, vulnerable, funny, or sad.

These ideas below are to help you focus on things that are making you feel happy lately—even if you think ...

This blog post is the one of a series where we’re giving advice on tools you can try and see if they are worth adding to your ‘toolkit’ when you’re faced with emotional eating. Some tools will work for you and others you won’t find as helpful—give them a try! Did you catch our last post on journaling?

There are many ways you can practice breathwork, but at the core of every technique is a focus on how deep and the speed you inhale and exhale in order to bring awareness to your body. The main benefit of breathwork is to lower stress levels and even help calm intense emotions. But studies have shown that you may begin to also experience other benefits, such as increased focus, more self-love, better sleep, and it might even boost your immunity!

By intentionally focussing on steadying your breathing you can create a sense of calm throughout your body as you’re your heart will stop pounding in panic and may even lower your blood pressure. How often have you felt the flutter of anxiety in...

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

• You’re out to dinner with a group of friends and you all decide to ‘splurge’, only to spend time talking to each other about how you’ll make up for it tomorrow.
• Other parents are talking about how much wine they drink once their kids have gone to bed, and you feel the pressure to do the same to relate.
• You and your spouse are both complaining about how you both have no willpower to work out; thinking that if you plan to work out together, you’ll both get it done.
• You make a pact with a friend to both start a new diet in the countdown to a big event, swearing you’ll keep each other on track.

It has become a big part of our social interactions to commiserate with others about dieting, indulging, and what we should be doing in the name of ‘health’. Doesn’t it sometimes feel like sharing stories about failing on our strict diets is the only way we’re relating to one another? We’re focussing on the negative.

Let’s take back the conversatio...

This blog post is the first in a series where we’re giving advice on tools you can try and see if they are worth adding to your ‘toolkit’ when you’re faced with emotional eating. Some tools will work for you and others you won’t find as helpful—give them a try!

The act of writing down your emotions and experiences has a lot of benefits: it can help calm your anxious mind, be an outlet for angry thoughts, or even create a happy memory for you to return to whenever you’re feeling upset. Journaling can also seem like a way of meditating: making you slow down and allowing you to focus only on yourself for a moment.

There is no on-size-fits-all to journaling (which means you can’t fail at it!) but one good way to start is to get off the digital devices—laptop, phone, tablet—that take over our days and pick-up pen and paper. Even buy yourself a notebook! Something with a quote or art on the cover that speaks to you. Some people love lined pages, others prefer ring-bound books, it is ent...

No, we don’t mean calling your emotional eating Bill or Angela (although if you think that might be helpful—go for it!), we suggest trying to name the emotion you’re feeling while reaching for food. Emotional eating is trying to satisfy a feeling with food that may make you feel good for a moment. Maybe that’s chips for you or maybe your sweet tooth calls for chocolate bars, no matter: when you find yourself reaching for these try and check in with naming what you are feeling.

You may start off by thinking “Am I angry? Or am I feeling sad?”. But these well-known emotions aren’t just the only ones you might come up with, emotions can be linked to each other and there can be a few layers. Other ones to think about that may be less obvious:

• If you’re angry, maybe you’re also feeling irritable or frustrated or jealous.
• If you’re sad, it could be that you’re feeling lonely or grieving or not good enough.
• If you’re nervous, think about if you’re also feeling embarrassed or confused ...

3 Causes for Nighttime Eating and Tips to Conquer It

Ok, if you’re reading this blog you must know 2 things. First, you’re certainly not the only one reading this blog. Second, you’re undoubtedly not the only one who struggles with overeating or binge eating at night. Breath a sigh of relief before you continue reading.  

Here’s what I’m hearing from other people about nighttime eating. See if you relate!

• “The evenings are the worse for me. I can’t stop snacking. I bounce from the fridge to the cupboard looking for anything sweet…but then sweet doesn’t cut it, I need salty after! I’m so good during the day but then blow it at night. I have no control”.

• “I snack way too much at night! I wait for my husband to go to bed so I can watch TV and eat my snacks alone, in peace – it’s MY TIME. I feel resentful when my husband stays up later than usual and I have to wait to eat my snacks. I also get really annoyed and irritated when my kids don’t go to bed on time and my precious ...

"What do you mean it's not about the food?" Here are 7 Compelling Reasons WHY

Most people believe their struggles with food and weight have to do with FOOD itself.  Before I go any further, the good news is you don’t need another Diet, you don’t need another boot-camp, you don’t need to buy apps that tell you when you should stop eating, you don’t need any of this stuff….bare with me!

You can save yourself thousands of $$$ by addressing the true root cause of why you struggle with food and weight. Think of how much money you’ve already spent on these products and services that lead you right down the rabbit hole, yet AGAIN.

Emotional eating, overeating, and binge eating have NOTHING to do with eating less and exercising more. You can absolutely try these 2 strategies, but often they will FAIL YOU because they don’t lead to long term change…or happiness!

If it’s not about the food, then what is it about?? Here are the ROOT causes for emotional eating: 

1. SOCIETY: the fo...

Crunch, crunch, crunch! 3 tips to reduce anger eating during COVID-19.

Feeling angry lately? How about resentful?

So many people are talking about feeling angry during this pandemic. If you feel angry but think you shouldn’t be feeling this way because a lot of people have it worse than you….well, I’m blogging today to let you know your feelings of anger are totally VALID!

Here’s why!

You are grieving so many losses and anger is part of grief. Many of us are grieving and have been for a few months now.

Here are some of the losses that may cause you to feel angry or resentful:

• You loss your social connection with friends and family
• You loss your regular routine or work
• You loss all options to keep yourself busy
• You loss the summer activities that you were looking forward to (ex; no soccer, no baseball, no ultimate Frisbee)
• You loss camping or going to your cottage
• You loss your vacation or your well-deserved summer get-away
• You loss travel
• You loss the activit
...