Ever wonder what happens inside my coaching programs? This week, I’m giving you a sneak peek at the intuitive eating, health and body image conversations that happen on the daily in my Intuitive Eating Made Easy Facebook community. Four community members got in the “hot seat” to ask their questions and get coached by me as if they were my private client sitting right in front of me. 

You’ll not only get a taste of my coaching style, but also real answers to questions you may be having right now. Let’s dig in! 

Wait, What’s Hot Seat Coaching?

Glad you asked! If you’ve never done this before, “hot seat” coaching is where a person asks the coach or mentor questions about a situation in a group setting. In this case, my Intuitive Eating Made Easy Facebook community members submitted anonymous questions to me and I posted my answers so everyone in the group could see. Hot seat coaching could also be done in a live group setting, whether in person or virtual.

It’s an incredibly valuable experience for both the person who’s getting coached and for everyone else who sees it because you might have the same or a similar question, or you might end up in a similar situation in the future. This way, you’ll have the tools and strategies you need to tackle the situation head-on instead of stressing. 

If you enjoy this and you want more of it, this is exactly what we do inside Non-Diet Academy! Learn more about the program and how you can get in on the fun here.

“How can I give myself grace when I’m struggling with emotional eating?”  

This question is from K*. She gave me some more background to her question, namely that she was introduced to intuitive eating when she went through bariatric surgery a few years ago. She understands that giving yourself grace is important, but she struggles to do so because she’s struggling with emotional eating. 

Let’s dig into that.

First, I want to point out that it’s common for people to still struggle in their relationship with food post-bariatric surgery. I know this procedure is promised as a magic cure-all, but that’s not always the case, so I want to melt any shame that might be present there. 

Next, I want to acknowledge that when you’re stuck in a cycle of beating yourself up, it’s hard to give yourself grace, especially when you’re doing the behaviors you don’t want. Here’s how to move forward: 

1. Recognize that being hard on yourself is a natural human tendency…and that giving yourself grace may feel unnatural. 

However, there is actual research that shows having self-compassion will help you move forward with more sustainable and health-promoting behaviors. 

2. Start practicing self-compassion right now. The easiest way? Ask yourself “What would I tell a friend right now?” Because I can nearly guarantee that you would never say to a friend what you’re saying to yourself. 

When it comes to emotional eating, the first thing to do is identify the driver behind it. 

– Are you eating enough throughout the day? 
– Is diet culture still telling you to deprive or restrict yourself? 
– How much of the urge to overeat is emotional?   

How? First, make sure you are eating at consistent intervals (at least every 3 to 4 hours) throughout the day, starting with breakfast first thing. Combine protein, carbohydrate, fat, and fiber most of the time and aim to consume two thirds of your body’s total daily nutritional intake before dinnertime. Recognize any foods that might be charmed. 

If there’s still the urge to overeat or eating feels emotional after all that is going well, ask yourself “What is the food doing for you?” Is it helping you cope with an uncomfortable emotion or avoid feeling certain things? Is it functioning as entertainment or a companion? 

Addressing the biological drive and psychological mental restriction first will help identify the emotions behind it. The key all along? Being gentle with yourself. It takes practice, but it’s worth it. 

“How does candy fit into intuitive eating?”

Next up is E*’s question. E read the intuitive eating book almost two years ago and has been slowly healing her relationship with food, learning to listen to her body, and break free of diet culture. Her question? “I have such a sweet tooth, and I don’t know where candy fits in and how.. Diet culture says candy and sweets are so bad, they’re so unhealthy. How much of that is true? How do you think about candy in particular?” 

Candy is one of those things that diet culture definitely puts in the category of “bad”. But candy is also something that is created to taste good and bring us joy. That’s why I take issue with labeling something as blatantly “bad”, like how dare we enjoy something that brings us pleasure and joy?

There are  ways of eating candy that aren’t harmful or destroy our health, even if you have blood sugar issues. Inside Non-Diet Academy, I teach mental reframes that break down foods – yes, even candy, sweets, dessert – into carbohydrate, protein, and/or fat. 

If we set all judgement aside and look at candy as it is broken down inside of our digestive system, what is it? Sugar, which is a carbohydrate (some also include fats). Carbohydrate is energy for your body. 

Would I suggest eating candy all day, every day? No. The same way I wouldn’t suggest eating kale constantly. If you’re eating candy for the taste, mindfully taste and enjoy it while recognizing that it likely won’t keep you full, so pair it with something that will provide sustained energy.

If candy is charmed for you, we need to move into a full-on decharming plan, which I teach inside Non-Diet Academy.  

“Is diet soda really bad for you?” 

E*’s next question was about diet soda. “I’m an avid diet Coke drinker and I’m worried that it’s unhealthy.” 

We hear that all of the time: Diet soda has all those artificial sweeteners, it’s so bad for you, blah, blah, blah.

First of all, I also like Diet Coke. Second, the research on aspartame and artificial sweeteners shows that you would have to drink a nearly impossible amount of it for it to have adverse effects on your health. The notion that diet soda will give you cancer or diabetes has been debunked. 

If we compared diet soda to regular, the regular would increase your blood sugar because it is a quick-absorbing carbohydrate. That’s not a judgement, it’s not bad. It’s just a fact.

How to break down if diet soda is the right choice for you:

Get curious why you’re drinking it. 

– Do you drink it because you like the taste or the caffeine? 
– Are you trying to trick yourself into feeling full? (This is also known as fluid loading for fullness, which is appetite suppression and needs to be addressed) 
– Are you drinking it for hydration? If so, could you work in some water or other beverages? 

Then consider if it’s causing you any harm. 

For example, I can’t drink a lot of it because it destroys the enamel on my teeth. For you, it might prevent you from drinking water or interfere with being able to recognize your hunger/fullness cues. 

If so, experiment having some gentle boundaries around it, or even taking a break from it and reevaluating where you want it to fit in. 

Or notice if you feel guilty drinking regular soda. If this is you, it’s important to unpack and understand where that’s coming from. 

One major takeaway from this question that I want everyone to note is when we notice the judgments we’ve been taught by diet culture, we can set them aside and get curious about what we actually feel/need. The judgments are what get us stuck in diet culture’s cycle. Setting them aside is how you start to break free. 

I hope you were able to file some of these tools and strategies away, even if they don’t apply to you right now. That way, if they do in the future, you can pull it back out. 

And if this is exactly what you needed, and you want to ask me your questions and get direct guidance, that’s exactly what we do inside Non-Diet Academy. Reach out to me via email or through the DMs, and we’ll get you the support and coaching you need.

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Search for Ep.204 (Transcript): Brutally Honest Conversations that Happen Inside Hot Seat Coaching

Looking for more support on your journey to food freedom and body acceptance?

– Check out my course, Non-Diet Academy
– Join my Facebook group & community “Intuitive Eating Made Easy”
– Take my FREE quiz “What’s Your Unique Path to Food Freedom?”
– Save $120 on HelloFresh, my fav food delivery service!