October 2009 Newsletter: Weight, It’s Not About Calories and Willpower?

Welcome fall! The seasons are changing and so are the times in which we find ourselves. I know I’m wondering how I got to be 31 (birthday is today!) and why are the Steelers 1-2, losing to the Bears and Bengals. Really, is this happening?

It seems a 31st birthday has hit me more than my 30th. All of a sudden I’m like, “Woo, I’m really not getting any younger” (even though I feel it), and life is what you put into it. Hallmark wasn’t lying. Two years ago I left my corporate job and would have never imagined life would be this rich, spectacular and challenging (I have some really exciting news to share with you next month so stay tuned!). I see so many people like myself, reconfiguring their lives to match these crazy times, bucking the status quo and going for it, whatever “it” may be.

As someone who is not a huge fan of authority or of old-fashioned institutions, I find this all very exciting. People are finally starting to question and wonder, “Why” and “How”, and they are searching for new meaning. A little dose of skepticism (or intellectual curiosity for those Pollyannas) is healthy!

I see my clients understanding how much more powerful food is than pills. I see them getting savvier about what food even is! They are educating their doctors about food and healing themselves from diagnoses that were slapped on them by outdated medical information. For example, there is Dan, a former client, who had various diagnoses and struggled with digestive problems for most of his life. In four short months, his health was completely restored. Hear from Dan here with what life looks like now.

It’s empowering when you know you can heal and control your body. If you can do that, what else is there to master?

Before we get back to debunking myths, a few housekeeping items:

1.    Many have written that you’ve missed some of the Lounge & Learn classes but are interested in the various calls. All class recordings are available on my website. The $30 is an introductory price and will be going up along with my new website in two weeks. So get them here now. From “Gluten-Free” to “Supercharging Your Metabolism”, each one is designed around radical changes through rational strategies.

2.    The next Lounge & Learn will be Monday, October 19 @ 7:30 p.m. We’ll be discussing “The Divine Secrets of the Unemotional Eating Sisterhood”.  Sign up here (space is limited and these calls are growing immensely in popularity because of all the juicy information discussed).

3.    My new website (www.alishapiro.com) will be up very soon. If you want to continue to receive my newsletters, you will have to sign up from the new website. There will be a complimentary Lounge & Learn for signing up. I’ll send out an email giving you instructions but be alert!

As you have followed me the past couple of newsletters, I’ve been debunking popular health myths.  We are now onto myth number 4: I just can’t lose weight. I’ve struggled with my weight all my life and probably will forever. No matter how much I count calories or exercise, I can’t seem to get my weight under control.

Sound familiar? It has to, because 95% of people aren’t losing weight and keeping it off. And it’s for three main reasons:

1.    Weight^loss is not about calories in, calories out
2.    Conventional cardio makes you fat
3.    Most of weight^loss isn’t about weight

Remember what I said about times are changing – keep that open-mindedness even with what may seem obvious!

There’s a new emerging equation and by now, some of the mainstream media is picking up bits and pieces of it (my “Supercharging Your Metabolism” call ties all this information together in a nice and neat 7-step equation). And well, food companies have been aware of this information for years which is why they meticulously design their foods to exploit your genetic weaknesses and raise their profits.

While calories are important, equally important are caloric quality and balancing your hormones. When eating poor quality, processed foods, signals that keep your metabolism running smoothly don’t get delivered and the memo that you are full never arrives. On the hormonal side, which is affected by food, environmental toxins and lifestyle habits, hormones control satiety, appetite and the thyroid, (which is the gas pedal to the metabolism). When they are out of whack, so is the scale (here’s an article on plastics role in weight gain).

Our food quality and lifestyles have gotten so out of sync with our ancestral heritage that our bodies are on the fritz. Yes, evolution is real.   Because there is so much added stress on our bodies, from poor diet to lack of sleep to environmental toxins, doing long bouts of cardio can actually  stress the body even more. The excessive adrenaline and cortisol production that results from this exercise further aggravates the hormonal dance.

$%!*$%(*) It really isn’t that complicated though, I promise.  If you try to make it complicated and dramatic, then you are probably using your weight as an excuse not to address some other issue that is more painful to your soul than your pant size. Furthermore, if you get annoyed just reading that, then I’m probably speaking directly to you.

So enough with the problems, give me some answers! Here are five tips to get started on melting the weight off, permanently:

1.    Get on the “Cook It Yourself” diet. If you want to eat it, cook it. To understand how processed and restaurant food messes with your appetite for DAYS (yes, not just one meal), read this .

2.    For meals and foods you can’t cook, focus on nutritional value, not caloric value. Real food is packed with nutrition making you feel full and your hormones balanced. See here how I surprised Bill Henley on NBC about what real food is!

3.    Upgrade your grocery cart with these metabolism-boosting choices

4.    Integrate interval and weight training into your work-outs. This is crucial! You can work out less and get better results.

5.  Sit somewhere quiet. Be with yourself or a trusted friend who will be supportive yet candid. Ask the questions, “What would I have to deal with if I weren’t trying to lose weight?” Once you figure that out, get moving on solving that. Weight loss will be much more effortless when you have a life void of emotional landmines.

If you are really serious about weight^loss (and don’t want to wait years till doctors and the mainstream media catch on), I’m going to plug my “Supercharging Your Metabolism” call again, because it’s that good – and accurate. It will save you months of frustration and lay out the entire seven pieces of the real weight^loss equation (it includes great interval and mental exercises for weight^loss). And it’s only a $30 investment. Remember, prices are going up when I launch my new website.

And if you know it’s more an emotional-eating problem versus a logical one, join us on “The Divine Secrets of the Unemotional Eating Sisterhood” call on Monday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. We’ll peel back the onion and explore what is making you eat emotionally and then provide a plan to end this de-habilitating cycle. It will be liberating and packed with great insights and mental exercises to have you stop eating and start living.

As I close, I want to give a special thanks to all my clients who have worked with me over the past two and a half years. Thank you for trusting in me to co-pilot your health and for being a rebel rouser. Many of my clients would never think of themselves as rebellious but they are, in the most quiet and influential of ways. They have bucked a social milieu and an economy that can only exist when we feel inadequate – in our bodies, our health, in our knowledge and in effect, our power. They are living and breathing inspiration to their families, friends, communities and doctors, of the power of whole foods and whole living.

You see, when you adopt this lifestyle, you aren’t just changing how you eat; you are changing the world. The times are definitely changing and for those people like my clients, it’s definitely for the better!

Here’s to some fabulous fall foliage,

Ali

It’s time to stop hiding and start living

I am on vacation this week and have a testimonial in place of a blog entry. It’s from a former client Sera. She’s wicked smart, focused and fearless, although she didn’t always know that until life tested her with a Desmoid tumor. She took the challenge, is recovering spectacularly and is now running to help others who have Desmoid tumors in the upcoming Philadelphia Distance Run (PDR).

Her story is below. I know marketing gurus tell you testimonials are only supposed to be a formuliac paragraph, but if you’ve ever struggled with your weight, body or food, you can learn so much from Sera’s story. She’s a fiesty young woman who makes you believe people are kind, honest and trying to be their best. I didn’t edit a thing. It’s all straight from the heart, and a very big and courageous one at that.

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.” ~ Benamin Disraeli

There are many people who’ve come in and out of my life in the 27 years, but  very few have touched me like Ali. I still am not sure how Ali came into my life or how I was so fortunate to gain such a valuable friend, but I know one thing for sure – I will forever live a better, stronger, happier life because of her influence.

When I first met Ali I had no idea that she would become such an influence on me. I would venture to guess that many would not know what kind of caring, knowledgeable and charismatic person lives inside that 5’4”, petite frame.

After our first consultation I knew I had met someone that understood me – finally! Someone could speak to my innermost fears and help me answer questions that I had spent 27 years hiding from. I remember leaving our first meeting so light and free with so much hope, something I had not had in a long time when it came to my body.

I reached out to Ali because I had a tormented relationship with food and my body and I was so tired from it. I had spent 27 years starving myself, binging, purging, over-exercising, winning and losing my every day battle with food and my body. I knew I had to stop this battle, but I had no idea where to start.

I was skeptical when I first met Ali. It’s true she was a jolt of light and inspiration that I needed in my life, but she asked me to do things I had been utterly opposed to for years of my life: drink whole milk (no way: skim = slim), get off artificial sweeteners (and just how am I supposed to drink my coffee??), try new vegetables (hello, I eat so many fruits and veggies – how could you possibly show me anything new)? I did not follow  every idea she gave me right away and it took weeks (and months) for some things to sit well with me.

But that’s the special thing about Ali – I have never met a more patient, yet politely persistent, ‘I know what I am talking about and can give you more info if you want it’ individual then Ali. During the process of working through some very difficult patterns in my life, that I learned were the foundation of these eating problems, Ali unwearyingly sat on the sidelines and was my coach, interjecting just the right cheers when I needed a push, but letting me blaze my own path to set myself free. With Ali’s encouragement, wisdom and patience I have set myself free.

I have become a new, courageous individual that not only has a positive relationship with food, but I have become a woman with a little more hope, a little more faith and a lot more patience. Ali came into my life to help me transform my relationship with food, but she did so much more than that. Sure, she got me drinking whole milk, preaching to others when they use artificial sweeteners (you would really put that in your body?!), picking up kale and bok choy every time I go to Whole Foods (yes – there are many, many greens and veggies I knew nothing about), but more importantly Ali showed me how to trust myself, be patient with my body instead of torturing myself, be aware and accepting of life and the “mistakes” I make or challenges I face and learn from them.

I never anticipated how important the lessons she taught me would impact my life and how quickly I would reap the benefits. Several months after I started working with Ali and began to break down the walls I had so meticulously built around food and my body image a routine doctors appointment turned my world upside down when I found out that I had a tumor in my abdominal wall.

For a girl that lived and breathed, nutrition and exercise and how I looked, the news of this tumor and the accompanying surgery that I would need to go through to have it removed was the biggest, darkest nightmare I had faced in my life. Thank my lucky stars that I had Ali as a part of my support system during this process.

Her faith, hope, support, nutritional and meditative advice through the diagnosis, surgery, and recovery were nothing short of amazing. From pre-surgery meditations, to post surgery healing recipes and to recovery chats of confidence (not to mention a heroic realization during this whole process that I had a horrible gluten intolerance) Ali was a friend, mentor, health coach and ray of light. I may never figure out how she came in my life and how she joined me on my journey at just the right time, but I will forever be changed because she was a part of it.

Thank you Ali, for being you, for always having hope, for sticking by me when I wanted to give up and for believing I had a beautiful, promising future waiting for me – you were right and I am forever grateful. ~Sera S. Philadelphia, PA

To donate for the research on Desmoid tumors and help support Sera during the PDR, click here: www.active.com/donate/sera_dtrf

Are You Settling for Mediocre Health and Don’t Even Know It?

Here is a great testimonial and incredible inspiration from one of my recent clients. The reason I love T.P’s story so much is because she refused to accept she had to live with horrible PMS symptoms. I’m talking dehabiliting, life interrupting symptoms.

She might have been skeptical at first (read her story and you’ll get a laugh!) but she was open to dreaming about possibilities. And knowing how smart T.P is, I know she’ll now be better equipped to challenge other things that might come in her path about how things “have to be”. She’s in charge now of her health and her life.

Here’s her amazing story:

When I originally started to work with Ali, all I wanted was to lose weight. What I got was a new positive relationship with food, an understanding of how important balancing all areas of your life area and an end to emotional eating & PMS symptoms…oh yeah and I lost weight. Thank you Ali, for giving me my life back!

Ali’s approach is not a diet and it’s not only about food. I learned a lifetime worth of lessons in months. In addition to learning about new foods and food combinations, my love/ hate relationship with food became one of love/ love. I now understand that cravings are not just about food and taking time for yourself is just as important as eating foods that are good for you.

I also found the answers to my emotional eating. I have always been an emotional eater, but by asking myself the right questions, I no longer let my emotions control my eating habits. What I loved about working with Ali was that she would always suggest things; she would never say, “You MUST do this.” She would say, “Let’s try this and see if it works for you.”

It was through these suggestions that I realized that I have gluten sensitivities. I discovered that gluten was wreaking havoc on my body. Since being gluten-free, I have noticed an incredible difference in how I feel and how much easier my body digests foods.

One of my biggest issues was that due to my crazy PMS symptoms, I would have 1 good week out of the month. My symptoms included: sore breasts, very drastic manic mood swings and intense cramps. These symptoms would last for 3 weeks out of every month. But I had just assumed this was my plight and there was nothing I could do about it.

Ali said that changing my way of eating would lessen these symptoms. To be completely honest, I thought Ali’s great and all, but she’s lost her mind. I mean that’s just crazy. I’m a woman! Of course I’m going to have crazy PMS symptoms. It’s just the way it is! I could not have been more wrong!

After a few months of working with Ali, my symptoms have not just lessened…they are gone! Yes, you heard me, I said GONE! I actually had to check the calendar to see when my period was coming because I had NO symptoms! This has changed my life in the most drastic way…I can actually have one now! Gone are sore breasts that lasted for 2 weeks, drastic 3 week long mood swings and intense cramps. Now every week is a symptom free week! To say that I’m downright giddy is an understatement!

Ali really works with you to come up with a way of eating & living that works with your schedule and lifestyle. She is a joy to work with!

T.P., New York City, NY

You Wanna Go Where Everyone Knows Your Name…But Not Your Weight

I’m thinking this is how Kirstie Alley feels right now. She was so great on Cheers. She was great as a Jenny Craig spokesperson too. And she was great on Oprah a couple of weeks ago when she hysterically discussed gaining back 80 plus pounds. But for anyone who’s been in her plus then small then exta plus sizes knows, after putting on her funny face, she went home and stuffed it.

I do feel a deep empathy for what she is going through as I myself was an emotional eater for about 20 years of my only 30 year old life. However, I don’t feel bad for Kirstie . There is enough research out there to know this wasn’t going to work. Diets like Jenny Craig, South Beach, Atkins, Nutra-System and Weight Watchers are just that, diets. They make people who are hungry for life, feel deprived on life’s most basic level. They make eating rigid and restricted versus fun and flexible and all you end up doing is focusing on food, versus living! You lose massive amounts of muscle mass and when you are thinner, you are really fatter and burn less. But most importantly, they don’t focus on the cause of weight gain, only the symptom. If losing weight was about counting calories and fat, anyone who made it past 5th grade math would be at their goal weight.

But losing weight is more about CREATING a life you love. And I’m not talking about cooking more, eating less and hitting the gym religiously. I’m talking about actually finding out how to feed your hunger.

For many who are emotional eaters or struggle with eating, there is a deep hunger for something that isn’t being fulfilled. It might be for a career that provides meaning and not just a pay check. It could be a spiritual hunger that will help you make meaning out of the haphazardness of life. Or it could be for self-love that can only come from the self-confidence, esteem and reliance that comes from carving out a life you want versus looks good on paper to your family, friends and community. This is where the work needs to lie, not in counting calories. Because when your life is firing on all cylinders, you get an energy and optimism surge that makes food a non-issue.

And for me, as someone who dieted for 66% of her life, I never believed people when they said they forgot to eat or weren’t wracked with guilt for overeating. I thought they were full of bullshit…or had some other addiction like cocaine that stunted their appetites. I thought everyone, at least secretly, had the same tormented relationship with food…they were just better at control. But they weren’t lying. I just wasn’t ready to stop using food as a crutch to distract me from the real pain in my life. But once I was, what a simple process weight loss became.

And believe it or not, for celebrities like Kirstie Alley or Oprah who seem to have it all, there is something that needs to be healed. It could be from being afraid they will lose everything or feeling they don’t deserve their success. I don’t know. And my guess is they are trying to figure it out themselves. But if they keep asking the questions, the answers always come.

And while it’s simple, it certainly is not easy. It requires allowing all food, and the options in your life, to be “legal”. It means exploring how your mind and body works – without judgement. It means fully embracing your hunger for the experiences in life you want – like falling in love or being a published author. It means you have to start playing to win versus trying not to lose. It involves asking questions that don’t always have obvious answers: What ingredients make your body and heart feel alive? What really makes you feel at peace versus what society tells you should make you happy? What makes me feel safe and centered in an ever-changing world? It’s all about being mindful.

For many of us who live on auto-pilot, just learning to fly with mindfulness takes time that doesn’t match with a high-school reunion you are trying to be 20 pounds thinner for or a Jenny Craig photo-shoot. But regardless, it must be done if you want sustainable weight loss and more importantly, a life that feeds you mentally and spiritually.

I know personally for me, it involved finding a career that matched my values of integrity, health, love or learning and supporting others. It meant finding faith in something after being diagnosed with cancer at 13 and not belonging to an organized religion. It meant being open to an amazing guy named Carlos who is my best friend and one of my soul-mates this time around. I wouldn’t have quit my Corporate job, or committed myself to yoga and Carlos if I wasn’t playing to win.

None of this happened overnight or in time for a summer swimsuit season. Feeling safe in a fear-based society takes some soul-searching. But it’s an amazing process of discovery. The rewards are incredible. Regardless of what the mainstream media tries to sell you, life is magical and completely in your control. I’m so thankful I gave myself that space to explore because now, food is a non-issue for me and ironically, (like most of life (and not Alanis Morissette Ironic” which isn’t!), I’m at a great weight without food pre-occupying me or having food determine if I had a “good” or “bad” day. The judgements (including comparing myself to society’s ideals) have stopped and the living has begun.

I applaud Oprah for embarking on this mindfulness path, which she declared after gaining 40 pounds herself. If she can be patient in the public eye, we can all give ourselves some space for exploration. Wouldn’t it be great if next time Kirstie Alley came on Oprah, she laughed about how she used to think dieting worked? If she gives herself the time and space to find what she’s truly hungry for, she’ll have a great figure, life and attitude. What more could one ask for? I don’t know – what are you hungry for?

Spring Clean Your WHOLEself Workshop for Women

It be hard to imagine with the wind, the layers and the downright chill, but sun dresses and inspiration for change are just around the corner when Spring brings its long awaited sunny and warmer days.

Be ready! It’s time to dust off the cob webs inside your body and outside your life! Fast track getting your WHOLEself in shape for 2009 and beyond with the “Spring Clean Your WHOLEself” workshop. It’s time to stop putting your life off and jump in!

Come join Certified Health Counselor Ali Shapiro, Psychologist Dr. Nicole Lipkin and like minded women for this workshop designed to balance your Mind, Body and Spirit.

During this four week boot camp, you’ll benefit by walking away with:

• What foods work best for your unique body
• The real equation to permanent weight loss, including identifying certain food and attitudes that keep on the pounds (hint: it’s not about fat and calories)
• Strategies for managing and eliminating cravings
• A healthier relationship with food and exercise
• The savvy to fit healthy eating and a balanced mindset into your busy life
• Cutting-edge exercise science to show you how to get more out of your work-outs in less time
• Understanding how to eliminate self-sabotaging behavior and keep your priorities straight
• A detox workbook and action plan to support you in doing a spring detox designed for your body and life
• Development of a healthy mind, food and spirit action plan to keep you motivated throughout the year

Come connect with other women while getting incredible support to help you make the changes you desire in your life. Each session is from 6-8 p.m and will include healthy snacks and recipes.

March 11: Finding the Best Foods and Mindset for Your Body and Your Life
March 18: The Best Way to Exercise Your Body and Strengths to achieve a body and life you love (with special guest and Philadelphia premier trainer Brandon Mentore)
March 25: Detoxing Your Body and Life for Spring
April 1: Making Healthy Habits Last

You will have the combined expertise of well known Philadelphia professionals who have been helping individuals accomplish their goals and preferred lives for years.

Investment for this workshop, which will provide you with strategies for sustained life change, is only $349 per person and payable by credit card or check. Bring a friend and you each come for $299. Payment is due upon RSVP (deadline for sign-up is March 1) as space is limited. Contact Ali Shapiro at alishapiro@pyournutrition.com or 215.279.7491 for questions or to RSVP.

Location: 525 S. 4th Street, Suite 471, Philadelphia, PA, 19147

O’ Oprah

I’m excited. Partly because the Eagles and the Steelers have a great chance of being in the Super Bowl. I’m a Steeler fan by birth and choice, but cannot help root for the Birds because of my love affair with the city of Philadelphia. But I’m also excited because the conversations around weight, and thus health, are starting to evolve.

I have to give Oprah a lot of credit for this. She has openly discussed her struggles with weight and how it is never about weight. She has also introduced spirituality into the lexicon of the everyday American. This is great because the two are inseparable (Spirituality doe not mean religion, it’s more feeling connected to something greater than yourself).

And while I think Oprah is a visionary in many ways, I’m not surprised that she’s still talking about weight (what caught me more off guard in her recent show is that Oprah went to four doctors and not one figured out she had a thyroid issue. OPRAH – who probably has access to the best doctors in the world, was diagnosed by her viewers. How’s that for an argument to be your own healer and health advocate).

Oprah’s Best Life Diet Plan that she has on her show is created by her trainer Bob Greene. Bob knows a lot about exercise, training, the body and about fat and calories. And he espouses the importance of the emotional tie to food and having to sort out your “stuff” so you don’t turn to food. So to lose weight, exercise, sort out your emotional mess and then eat the Best Life endorsed products. Right, right, WRONG!

Here’s the problem: you are still eating products and not food. 90% of the average Americans diet goes towards processed science experiments and not towards food. Food is something usually without a label, or if it does, you can identify everything on the label as a whole food. And your Great Great Grandmother would know what it was too from back in the Old Country. Potatoes yes, ketchup no. Lettuce yes, Luna bar, no.

Real food connects you to the earth that provided it to you, it connects you to the people you cook and eat with. Above all, it provides a life force that no chemicals can match.

See when you start eating whole, real food and not fragments of food, you become whole yourself. The equation looks like this: Whole foods = Whole self = Best self.

Best self = the confidence and self esteem to put yourself on your priority list and the joy that comes from those decisions. That’s how you never fall off your priority list, lose weight and keep it off. You get a life you love. It doesn’t have to be a battle forever.

It’s about finding what feeds you on and off your plate. But to do that, you must start with eating food*. I think Oprah will get there eventually…maybe us, her viewers, should tell her.

*For a great read on this, check out Michael Pollen’s “In Defense of Food”.

.

JL Trades in Food for Fun

Last spring, I began meeting with Ali for nutritional counseling. At the beginning of our sessions together, my main focus was to end my cravings and bring closure to an almost twenty year cycle of trying different diets/exercise programs, where I would meet with success for awhile, but then succumb to cravings – only to start the search again for a new “solution”.

By working with Ali, I began a transformation not only with my eating but also with my life. My “aha” moment came the week I worked on finding more time for myself and listing things I already love or would love to do. By taking time for myself, I have begun to cultivate new interests (singing and songwriting!) and, in general, have learned how to nourish myself without always turning to food for comfort. Some of these seemingly simple changes have been nothing short of amazing in my life: my always-hectic, frenzied schedule has become more calm, I am finding more productive ways to deal with people and have felt empowered as a result, and when I find myself facing life’s challenges I feel that I can meet these obstacles and come out on the other side stronger and better.

My stormy relationship with food has improved significantly: in fact, I find that I spend less time thinking about food and more time enjoying life! Because I am able to eliminate energy-wasting activities and thoughts at this point, I feel more relaxed, sleep better, and have more energy each day. My chronic sinusitis has subsided significantly, and my weight fluctuations have ended.

Ali is such an exceptional listener, and always has timely advice and resources that enhance whatever we’re discussing. In addition, her nonjudgmental nature makes room for open, honest conversation. I especially enjoyed the weekly goal-setting and follow-up e-mails. By revisiting goals reflectively, working on the present productively, and making subtle changes for a better future, I felt that our time together was purposeful and always moving in a positive direction.

Ali’s knowledge of mind/body health is extensive, and I would always leave our sessions feeling energized, inspired, and filled with new, exciting information. I believe that anyone working with Ali will experience success if that person is willing to be honest with him/herself, be introspective, and follow through with his/her goals! Ali certainly possesses the expertise and personality to help anyone achieve success!

~ JL, New Jersey

Pat’s Story: Connecting Food and Life

I am 61 years old and have gained a lot of weight over the past few years due to quitting smoking and falling into poor eating/exercise habits. I met Ali when I was recuperating from a back injury. When I first went to her I struggled to walk the distance from the train to her office. We worked together for six months and during that time, she helped me to focus on weight loss and health from a holistic point of view.

I began to see that my health issues and steady weight gain were directly connected to other areas of my life where I felt inadequate. We worked on identifying the things in my life that made me overeat or eat inappropriately. In addition, she gave me tools, introduced me to many new foods and showed me that I had options. She celebrated every success – even the tiny ones – without judgment or pressure. I am so appreciative of her guidance and broad knowledge – she is a gift I gave myself.

~ Pat Tillson, Media, PA

Christine’s Story: Stopping the Emotional Eating Cycle

After working with Ali for six months, my approach to food, which included 20 years of a vicious cycle of dieting, binging and emotional eating, has changed dramatically. She helped me work towards making positive food choices that nourish my body and gave me tools that helped to free me from the emotional eating that I had engaged in almost all of my life.
I also figured out which foods I was eating that didn’t agree with my body and left me lacking in energy and not feeling refreshed. With this knowledge, I was able to make better decisions about what I to eat.

Ali is a special soul. She radiates positivity and joy in a way that makes others inspired to do the same. I feel very lucky that I was able to work with her and cannot recommend her highly enough!

~ Christine G, Philadelphia

After The Cure: A personal essay on a personal journey

Here’s an article I wrote for the Philadelphia Women’s Journal on my healing from cancer. It was the first time I wrote about my experience in its entirety. Writing it was emotional but therapeutic.

I hope anyone who reads it walks away understanding there is a big difference between curing and healing. Curing a disease is stopping the physical deterioration. Healing is finding the meaning and the strength to use trauma constructively…without losing your sense of humor about the whimsical nature of life.

After the Cure