“I don’t want anyone finding out I need help”

Hey,

Ever said to yourself, “I don’t want anyone finding out I need help”?

I’ve heard this from just about every woman I’ve ever worked with in the last 13+. 

I’ve even said this myself. 🙋🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

There was a time in my own food-healing journey that I didn’t want anyone finding out that:

(1) my emotional eating was out of control 

and 

(2) I really wanted, needed, specialized support. 

So I isolated myself…silently drowning in my own ocean of shame.

I worried, “What will other people think of me?!”

At my core, I believed that healing my relationship with food meant I would lose love and respect. That people would see me as weak, broken, crazy, high-maintenance, etc. 

My emotional eating destroyed everything it touched – my body, my mind, my work, my finances – I didn’t want it to rupture my relationships too. 

Believing the cost and consequences of change were too high paralyzed me for years. 

So, I want to share with you a few things I’ve learned from my food-healing journey so you can learn from my experience, just like my clients do. 

1. FOPO is real. 

FOPO = “Fear Of Other People’s Opinions is a hidden epidemic and may be the single greatest constrictor of human potential,” according to high-performance psychologist Michael Gervais’s research. 

In my experience, my desire to fit in, the paralyzing fear of being disliked or being labeled as “other”,
enabled my emotional eating to continue for YEARS. 

During that time, I traded my authenticity for other people’s approval. 

I wouldn’t raise my hand or take a risk if I couldn’t completely control the outcome. 

I pursued power, instead of purpose. 

I chased the life that people told me I “should” have, rather than create the life I truly wanted. 

As I would scurry around the world trying to please others, I became disconnected and out of touch with my own needs. 

I hustled SO HARD for my self-worth. And was always coming up short. 

No wonder I was used food to cope. 

2. FOPO enables self-silencing. Self-silencing enables emotional eating. To break free, reclaim your voice. 

The first thing that changed everything for me in my relationship with food was allowing myself to receive the right support and accountability. 

Setting that appointment, showing up to it, and using my voice to honestly share what was going on was scary. 

So scary that I attempted to cancel and reschedule 3 different times, because (as I shared above) it felt risky and I couldn’t completely control the outcome. 

However, that conversation changed my life.

From that day on I had an ally — someone who saw me for who I really was and what I was really struggling with. 

Someone who held my hand, taught me, and guided me to have courageous conversations. 

I was finally able to jump the hurdle of, “Oh no, what will they think of me?” and start creating the life I truly wanted. 

3. Don’t let the hurdles stop you. Instead, learn to jump them. 

When it comes to committing to change your relationship with food, you will encounter many hurdles. 

      > There will never be a “right time”. 

      > You will experience FOPO many different times. 

      > And you will doubt if freedom and peace with food is even possible for you.

But don’t let these things stop you. 

When I work with my clients, I teach them how to jump these hurdles. 

When your life gets busy, we collaborate on personalized adaptations and evolutions, so they continue their healing journey AND tend to the intensity of life. Not one at the cost of the other. 

When you are frozen with FOPO, I teach them how to navigate it. 

And every time they doubt themselves, I hold the faith – steady and strong – until they are able to trust themselves again. 

My clients call me one part “loving teacher”, one part “tough love” and one part “dear friend”. 

Support + Accountability + Confidant 

Receive these key ingredients by clicking here right now. 

In service to your freedom,