My Journey to Finding True Food Love

My own personal journey to discovering true food love didn’t happen until later in my career as a clinical dietitian. For years I had an unhealthy relationship with food and restricted myself through dieting, counting calories and following rigid meal plans in efforts to reach my ideal body image. I unwittingly allowed the system of dieting to influence my eating decisions, which ignored my true preferences, hunger cues and nutritional needs. This resulted in me losing trust with my body and ultimately having feelings of deprivation.

Almost every few months, I would get on a restrictive new health kick and only allow myself a cheat day on the weekend or during a special occasion. Each time, my diet plan would crash and burn only after a week or so, resulting in severe food cravings and eventual binge eating. As far as exercise goes, I viewed it as more of a chore than something I actually enjoyed doing. I exercised primarily for weight loss purposes and to burn off the calories from the last cheat meal or treat I had indulged in.

I continued down this self-destructive path of yo-yo dieting until my early thirties, until I eventually hit diet bottom and started developing some severe gastrointestinal issues. I realized that I needed a lifestyle reset—beginning with rebuilding my relationship with food.

Today, I follow the “everything in moderation” approach and enjoy real, whole foods—and yes, that includes dessert! Through positive change, mindfulness and intuitive eating, I have found my happy weight and now have a healthy relationship with food and exercise. I founded True Food Love Nutrition to help others like myself, who struggle with body dissatisfaction and a negative relationship with food.