The key to healing a pattern of overeating, binge eating, or emotional eating is radical: it’s to become intimate with it. Rather than turning from our “bad” behavior in shame, trying to hide it, or indulging the urge to eat, we simply allow the urge to be there. We befriend it in kindness. As a… Continue Reading
Emotional healing through unconditional love & acceptance
Category Archives: Sugar
Breaking free from the “broken self” trance
One of the most painful results of struggling with an eating disorder, addiction, depression, or any suffering is how we identify with it. While labels can be helpful, they can also be harmful. And they become harmful when they become the way we define ourselves in the deepest sense. When we think of our eating… Continue Reading
How to say “no” to sugar with compassion
It’s lovely to say yes to ourselves. But sometimes, we say no – we choose to honor a deeper “yes,” what we most want – which means saying no to a “surface” yes – what feels good in the moment, but not what’s in our best interest over the long haul. You may be choosing… Continue Reading
The alchemy of self acceptance – how acceptance makes change possible
In The 30 Day Lift, I talk about how you can change painful habits through self kindness, self compassion and self acceptance. Many people email or ask me, “But how? How does being accepting or kind to myself help me change how I eat?” It’s a great question! In this post, I’m going to focus… Continue Reading
Your cravings aren’t “wrong”
This past weekend our family celebrated Easter. I’d imagined writing and saying that I had no sugar cravings whatsoever, but that’s not what happened. Yes, I craved sugar. And – I didn’t eat it. The day started fine: our family had a hearty brunch and then went paddle boarding on Lake Austin. I felt okay… Continue Reading
Healing the “inside stuff” of sugar addiction and overeating
In last week’s post, I talked about how emotional and physical healing from overeating coincide. In today’s post, I’m going to dive deeper into the how of emotional healing. What does the inner journey of healing from eating disorders and addiction look like? In a nutshell, it’s a journey of unconditional self love, forgiveness, and… Continue Reading
Emotional and physical healing – how do they work together?
I got an email from a reader last week with a question about the emotional vs. physical aspects of healing a sugar addiction. In 2008 she’d read my book, Overcoming Sugar Addiction, and was curious about the updated, 3rd edition, where I added more information on emotional healing from sugar. She felt confused about how… Continue Reading
Softening your need to overeat
It’s my belief that overeating, binge eating, or sugar addiction are not character flaws, but misguided attempts to care for unmet needs: in particular, basic needs for safety, connection/attachment, unconditional love, mirroring, emotional validation and “holding” (what helps us regulate intense emotions.) When these needs aren’t met, it’s like trying to breath underwater: we can… Continue Reading
Finding faith on the path of growth
I wrote this post for my Austin, home yoga studio, as a participant in their 40 Days of Yoga Challenge. Enjoy this exploration of faith, growth, and breaking free. What brings me to my yoga mat? What brings you to yours? Why do we do yoga, anyway? On a physical level, I come to yoga… Continue Reading
When your heart says no
I was going to subtitle this post, “When you shouldn’t give up sugar.” Because I get a lot of emails and questions about when/if you should embark on this path – and for many people, my honest answer is no. (I’ll explain why below.) But this seemingly simple question speaks to a deeper issue: how… Continue Reading