What are the signs of an unhealthy relationship with food?

Common signs include guilt or shame after eating, strict food rules, cycling between dieting and overeating, eating to cope with stress, and anxiety around meals or social events. These patterns are very common. If you also restrict severely, binge, purge, or feel afraid of eating, please see your doctor or a mental health professional.

Is emotional eating normal?

Yes. Eating in response to stress, boredom, sadness, or celebration is very common, and food is one of the first comforts we learn about. It becomes a concern when it’s your only way of coping. We need to have several tools in our back pocket that can help us during emotional times. Coaching 1:1 can help you build other tools alongside food.

How can I stop feeling guilty after eating?

Guilt often comes from strict rules and “good” and “bad” labels on food. It usually decreases when you reduce those rules, eat regular balanced meals, and practice responding to yourself with less judgment. If guilt is intense or persistent, a therapist can add valuable support.

Can you help me stop yo-yo dieting?

I can help you step off the dieting cycle by building flexible, sustainable habits and moving away from strict plans and short-term fixes.

Is this therapy or eating disorder treatment?

No. This is education and support for everyday habits and routines. It’s not therapy, and it isn’t treatment for an eating disorder. If you’re currently experiencing disordered eating, you’ll likely need a therapist or a registered dietitian who specializes in this area.

How do I know if I’m hungry or just stressed, bored, or tired?

Physical hunger tends to build gradually and can be satisfied by many foods, while eating for other reasons usually comes on suddenly and feels like a craving for one specific thing. It isn’t always easy to tell, and it takes practice. We work on noticing the difference without judgment, since the goal is curiosity and not another rule.

Why do I keep going back to dieting even though it hasn’t worked?

Many people return to diets because they promise a clear plan and quick results, and it’s hard to trust yourself. Strict plans are also hard to keep up, so when they fall apart it can feel like a personal failure, even though it isn’t. We focus on small habits you can actually live with.

How long does it take to change my relationship with food?

It varies from person to person, and I don’t promise a timeline. Many people notice small shifts in how they think about food within a few weeks of working on it, while deeper change usually takes longer. We focus on steady progress and patience, not a deadline.

Can I still lose weight while working on my relationship with food?

Weight can change when habits change. If weight is something you’d like to address, we can do that gently, without calorie counting or strict rules. See my Weight Management page for more.

RELATATIONSHIP WITH FOOD

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Fostering a Healthy Relationship With Food

A healthy relationship with food means you can eat without constant guilt, rigid rules, or second-guessing. I offer one-on-one coaching in the West Island of Montreal and online across Canada for people who are tired of fighting with food and want eating to feel simpler and calmer.

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What Is a Positive Relationship With Food?

It can include:

Enjoying the flavours, traditions, and cultural and social meaning that food carries.
Paying attention to how, why, and where you eat.
Tuning in to your body’s cues for hunger and fullness.
Seeing food as fuel, nourishment, and a source of pleasure.
Accepting that eating habits naturally shift with appetite, mood, daily routine, physical activity, and other influences.

What Can Affect Your Relationship With Food?

Early experiences

Household rules around eating, such as being expected to clear your plate.
Watching the adults around you diet or cut out certain foods out of their meals.
Growing up in an environment that put heavy emphasis on appearance.

Media influence

Measuring yourself against the bodies and lifestyles you see on TV, magazines, and on social media.
Exposure to advertising and health claims for foods and supplements.

Mental health

Past trauma or ongoing conditions like depression or anxiety.
Struggling to cope with or regulate emotions.

Attitudes toward weight

Holding negative beliefs about people based on their body shape or size.

Food access

Going without reliable food, whether in childhood or as an adult.

Restrictive eating

Cutting back on certain foods or overall amounts in order to lose weight or alter your body.

Does This Sound Familir?

You finish a meal and feel guilty, even when you ate exactly what you planned.
Foods are “good” or “bad,” and your mood changes depending on which you ate.
You’ve been on and off diets for years, and each one ends the same way.
You eat when you’re stressed, bored, or tired, and then feel bad about it.
You say “I’ll start Monday” more often than you’d like to admit.
Eating out or eating with other people makes you anxious.
You’re not sure whether you’re actually hungry.

What I hear most often from clients is that their lack of discipline is driving their decisions. But it’s rarely about discipline. It’s that they haven’t yet built the physical foundation that makes their body’s signals readable (steady energy, balanced blood sugar, good sleep) that makes those signals easier to hear. Once that’s in place, a more intuitive relationship with food becomes possible.

How I Can Help

I work with you one-on-one, and we go at your pace. Together we can:

Spot the patterns behind your eating, including when, where, and why they show up.
Loosen rules that aren’t working for you and build flexible, balanced eating.
Look at stress, sleep, and routines, since they affect how we eat.
Practice noticing hunger and fullness.
Plan simple meals and snacks so you’re not relying on willpower.
Build coping tools for stressful moments that don’t depend only on food.
Set goals around how you feel and function, not only a number on the scale.

If weight is part of what you want to work on, we can do that in a gentle, non-restrictive way. See my Weight Management page for more.

Ready For Food To Feel Easier?

Schedule an appointment with me to discuss your health concerns & goals.

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Intuitive Eating: What It Is and How to Get There

Most of the clients I work with arrive believing they have a discipline problem. They tell me they can’t stick to a plan, they give in at night, and they start over every Monday.

After years of doing this work, I see something different. Take someone who has a small breakfast, drinks coffee until 3pm, and ends up in the pantry at 9pm. Nothing is wrong with their willpower. Their body went all day without enough fuel, and now it’s making up for it.

Intuitive eating means making food decisions based on your body’s signals, like hunger, fullness, energy, and satisfaction, instead of rules and numbers. Mindful eating is the practice that supports it: paying attention to what you’re eating and how it makes you feel, without judging yourself.

Here’s the part most people skip. Your body can’t give you clear signals when it’s depleted or running on stress.

How to Rebuild Trust with Your Body?

Start with steady fuel

Eating regular meals every three to four hours with protein, fiber, and fat. Sleep and hydration matter here too. The goal is stability, not perfection.

Observe before you change anything

For one week, rate your hunger from 1 to 10 before eating, check in halfway through, and notice how you feel an hour later. You’re collecting information, not grading yourself.

Slow down enough to taste

Eat one meal a day without your phone. Set your fork down between bites (this really forces you to slow down). Pay attention to when the food stops tasting as good as it did at the start. That’s often your first fullness cue.

Name what’s driving the urge

Before you eat, pause and ask whether you’re physically hungry, or tired, stressed, bored, or avoiding something. Sometimes the answer is still food, and that’s fine. The point is that you’re choosing instead of reacting.

Loosen the rules gradually

Rules like “no carbs after 6pm” keep you listening to outside instructions. Bring back one off-limits food at a time, with a regular meal, and see how you actually respond. Foods lose their pull when they stop being forbidden. What can help with is focusing on adding ''more'' to your plate, as in more nourishing foods (this can be more volume from fruits and vegetables, or ensuring an adequate protein portion on your plate). Naturally, this pushes out the excess without putting focus on rules or foods you're trying to avoid because you simply feel full and satiated.

Practice, then adjust

Some days you’ll nail it and some days you’ll eat past comfortable. Both teach you something. Over time, the gap between “I’m hungry” and “I know what I need” gets shorter.

Intuitive eating isn’t a diet, and it has no finish line. It’s a skill that gets sharper the more you use it.

If you’re tired of relying on willpower and want support building this foundation, I’d love to talk. Book a consultation with me

Relationship With Food FAQs

What Does Working With Me Look Like?

Discovery call: a conversation about your goals and whether we're a good fit.
Initial consultation: a thorough assessment of your medical history, lifestyle, and current health concerns.
Personalized plan of action: I consider all aspect's of a client's health, including physical, and mental/emotional well-being. I prioritize education, empowering clients to take an active role in their health. Recommendations encompass a combination of food, supplement, and lifestyle guidance that is supportive to your needs and goals.
Regular follow-ups: we review progress, adjust and discuss new recommendations , and keep you accountable.
Ongoing support: your personal client portal gives you access to documents, journaling, progress tracking, and chat access between sessions.