You may have noticed it’s been a little quiet around here—on the YoYo Podcast and in these weekly emails.
Here’s why.
When things get tough, some people cope by working out, or talking it through, or meditating, or watching cute-cat videos.
While some of us turn to alcohol, or shopping, or reality TV, or hook-ups.
Whatever the thing, when it’s happened many, many times in the past, it can show up again almost by default … a wanna-be knight in shining armour to save the day.
For me, that default is food.
So, when a few curve balls hit at once (think work issues, winter viruses, a kiddo struggling at school, visitors, and simply spending too much time outside my comfort-zone), my automatic reaction was to want to eat to take the edge off … to use food to zone out.
It makes sense. So much sense.
And it’s also painful and humiliating, especially in this space of offering help to others who struggle with eating and body-image.
That lurking pressure—Look perfect. Act perfect. Be perfect.
My guess is, you recognise those feelings of embarrassment and self-flagellation, to some degree at least.
Then comes the impulse to hide. To grow smaller in my life while I grow bigger in my body.
The urge to opt out is strong. To eat and to disappear. The shame and feelings of brokenness bubble to the surface.
But this time it’s different. I know I need help. I know where to find it. I go and get it.
I believe in this work. I see the healing is real and possible. I know a bump in the road is not the end. I can draw on the power of an approach that has helped me before, and helped so many others too.
So, it’s time to reach out for that support again. To come back to myself. That’s what I’m doing right now.
Which is why these messages will shift a little.
From being a guide describing how to heal from overeating and binge eating, intrusive thoughts about food, and body-self-consciousness, I’m inviting you to join me as a companion on that journey.
Someone to walk alongside toward feeling more alive, more resilient through the ups and downs of everyday life, with greater freedom to be and do and feel and exist.
To step tentatively yet unapologetically into life, at this time and in this body.
If you’d like to hear the raw version of what’s going on with me, and the exact ways that help (as well as those that really don’t), I’d love you as a friend along the way.
If that doesn’t sound your cup of tea, please listen to and honour your inner voice.
Whether you stay, or sign off, you’ll know what’s right for you.
Struggling with food can feel lonely and saturated with shame.
My deepest wish is that you know you’re not alone and there is a way through.