As a registered dietitian I specialize in the science of using food and nutrition to help people lead a healthy lifestyle and/or achieve specific health-related goals. As I meet with client after client it is obvious that a huge part of finding success on the journey to live a healthy life is related to what is in their head. When anyone is on a weight loss journey, what they believe about themselves, what they tell themselves and how they think are all important parts of the plan.
Today I am going to bring you a professional psychotherapist and weight management expert to weigh in on the effect our brain has on weight loss.
Eliza Kingsford is a licensed psychotherapist, mind-body practitioner and behavior change specialist who helps clients struggling with food addiction, body image and emotional eating. Eliza’s work has been featured on Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, NBC Health, CNN Health, Health Magazine, Shape Magazine, Mind Body Green and many more. She is the author of Brain-Powered Weight Loss and has sat on scientific advisory boards with the leading researchers in the field of food addiction, obesity and weight management. Eliza is turning the diet industry on its head by combining the science of nutrition with the psychology of eating to create lasting results for her clients. She utilizes group coaching, online courses and one on one immersive programs.
Eliza’s book, Brain-Powered Weight Loss, delves into the mind set and psychology that’s needed to understand your relationship with food. When she sees someone who is struggling with food issues and body image, being over-weight isn’t the problem it is always a symptom of something else that is going on with their mindset, belief systems or past trauma. Changing the way they think about and behave around food is what it takes to permanently achieve weight-loss success.
Brain Powered Weight Loss was the foundation of her work. It is a stepping-stone to the
next level of her work that has evolved since she wrote it five years ago.
There are both Intrinsic and extrinsic emotional eating factors that influence you.
Intrinsic factors could be carrying parent issues or childhood issues into eating. Extrinsic factors could be that you really like food and ads make you hungry. There are typical responses to emotions that we have learned. For example, when we got hurt as a child our parent gave us ice cream, which made us feel better. Now we think we need ice cream to feel better about anything. That is a trigger that can be changed. We need to pause before we dive into an innate behavior. The pause is what is important. You need to sit back and be willing to analyze your behavior. Be intentional about what you want your story to be and don’t repeat patterns just because that is what you have always done.
There are steps to take to create a new story.
1. Awareness.
Be aware of patterns of behavior that you are stuck in.
2. Shift.
Shift your narrative: &n
