It's hard to learn Normal Eating on your own from a book, and you don't have to.
I offer personal coaching in the Normal Eating method via Skype or FaceTime. Since coaching uses the Normal Eating method, all clients must have access to the book Normal Eating for Normal Weight. You'll benefit most from personal coaching if you read the book first.
Emotional eating is never about the food, it's about your life. The starting point for discussion will be your eating, but we'll spend a lot of time talking about the life issues behind your emotional eating (eating when not hungry, eating past full, bingeing, purging, restricting, grazing), weight obsession, and body hatred.
Sessions consist of a 45-minute phone conversation plus my preparation time (reading your weight history, eating experience logs, or other written material - sometimes I give other assignments).
As homework for the first session, I'll ask you to write your weight history in the special Normal Eating style described in the book, and send it to me prior to our appointment so I have time to read it before we speak. The NE weight history is designed to reveal patterns and triggers in your emotional eating that you may not realize are there. We'll spend our first appointment going over your history, and then talk about where you are now and what you need to work on.
What happens next depends on your individual situation. I may ask you to keep a special type of eating experience log that helps us to see your emotional eating triggers in real time. It's somewhat different from what's described in the book since I've refined the technique; I'll send you instructions. I'll ask you to email the log to me before our appointment so I have time to read it, and then we'll discuss it in our session.
Logging is a very powerful tool. Emotional eating is like a big red arrow pointing at the areas of your life that need attention, and the logs will show it. Typically people are not able to make these connections on their own at first, so this is an area where coaching really helps. Over time, you will learn to do this on your own, instead of translating all discomfort into "hungry". We'll identify these trigger issues and work through them together.
For some people, weight obsession looms very large, and we'll explore the roots of this so you can be free of it. If you're stuck in a junk food rut, we'll work together on food experiments so you can reconnect with body wisdom. Everybody’s issues differ, everybody’s needs differ. We'll talk about what you need to talk about. Coaching is an individualized process, not a course or a class.
In general we'll talk about life more than food - your eating patterns will point to the parts of your life that need focus. In the end, both your life and your eating will improve.
Most of my clients who are overweight lose weight - not by dieting, but by relief from food cravings and weight obsession. People with bulimia seem to do particularly well with Normal Eating compared to other approaches. Normal Eating works!
You can read testimonials from real clients at the bottom of this page.
I talk to clients all over the world using internet video - Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, or WhatsApp. All are free. The Skype software can be installed on Macs, PCs, and most smartphones. FaceTime is on Apple devices.
I'm on the east coast of the United States, and schedule appointments from 11am to 6pm Eastern Time (US). If you are in the UK, evening appointments often work well - 8pm your time is 3pm my time. If you are in Australia, morning appointments can work - 10am in Sydney is 6pm the day before for me. For people in California, my hours translate to 8am to 3pm. That can be tricky if you have a 9-5 job, but not impossible. Often people speak to me from their cars during their lunch hours, using their smartphones to Skype.
Coaching works best when it's ongoing - weekly sessions over a number of months. I recommend a minimum of four weekly sessions to start. Since coaching isn't covered by insurance, I try to keep the per-session fee low, and you can save money by purchasing multiple sessions at once.
If you're interested in personal coaching, please send me email to set up your first appointment before purchasing sessions.
Once we have scheduled an appointment time, you can purchase sessions below. Payment is due in advance and is processed by PayPal, but you don't have to be a PayPal member. You can pay by credit card.