All they give you is juice? NO THANKS! Now that it’s the day after Christmas you will no doubt be starting to get trolled by instagram, television, facebook, your friends… everyone who wants to start a 2022 weight loss challenge. It’s so difficult to avoid the allure of these juice fasts, quick starts, all keto all the time fads…. There are so many reasons that diets are so seductive. They take away our choice- we don’t have to make decisions-

Thanksgiving is a hard day for everyone. Family, lack of family, plans, lack of plans… Most people don’t actually binge at Thanksgiving dinner. They usually eat until they are comfortably full or even uncomfortably full. The binge comes when they get home or later that night. Because for people with eating issues, being full is NEVER comfortable. Usually the binge comes when you’re in the kitchen cleaning up, or after you get home, or after everyone has gone to sleep.

Today is the first day of Autumn- which means- disordered eating season is upon us. There are so many reasons for it, especially now after a year and a half of lock-down- when people have become obsessed with their Covid weight gain and ads for diets and workout plans are popping up everywhere. It starts on October 1st, the day that Starbucks introduces its pumpkin spice latte and other limited edition coffee drinks. They begin to tempt us with warnings

Your Best is No One Else’s Best I was at a Yoga class the other day when the teacher made this off-hand comment: “Don’t worry about what other people in the class is doing, everyone is doing their best, just like you…” I thought it was a brilliant comment. I often see people afraid to start something because they base their goals on what other people are doing. For instance, “I can’t go to that yoga class because I won’t

How can I make people like me? Why Don’t People Like Me? And What Can I Do About it? What has always been generally accepted in the thinking about eating disorders is that they are about “control.” But what does that mean? Is it about controlling food? Not really, food is just the symptom. What control means at its core in eating disorders, is trying to control what other people think about you. We stop focusing on the people who

Well… most people don’t binge at Thanksgiving dinner… It’s usually after. Thanksgiving Binge? It’s okay. most people don’t binge at Thanksgiving dinner. They usually eat until they are comfortably full or even uncomfortably full. The binge comes when they get home. Because for people with eating issues, being full is NEVER comfortable. Usually the binge comes when you’re in the kitchen cleaning up, or after you get home, or after everyone has gone to sleep. And it’s pretty much always

There are many people who come to me with a desire to stop binge eating. They tell me that they have tried for years to get over their binge eating disorder, but that they have no willpower, no ability to stop overeating. For most it’s a ritual that happens when they are all alone, a letting go, a release. A time to be alone, to not be bothered, to totally shut their minds down. Upon further investigation, we usually find

                      2pm Pacific 5pm Eastern 9pm UK 8am Saturday October 31st in Australia. TO REGISTER CLICK HERE. SPOTS ARE LIMITED SO REGISTER NOW!!! Will you come? We will be discussing how to keep yourself safe on and after Halloween with all the candy and leftovers, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and how to keep yourself feeling safe and comfortable. I will be answering all your questions about binge eating, intuitive eating,

Several people have emailed me to ask about why they seem to have some issues with compulsive shopping since the shelter-in-place has begun. The Eating Disorder brain is multi-faceted, but in my many years of treating people with many different kinds of disordered eating patterns, I’ve noticed a consistent set of traits across the board. Those traits are: #1. A brain that doesn’t stop moving, thinks too much, moves too quickly and tends to obsess. #2. A deep seated belief

In a Global Pandemic, you don’t have to stress yourself out more over weight gain Many, many people are finding that in addition to everything they are scared of right now (a global pandemic, the demise of our economy, loss, etc…) they are really, really, really scared of gaining weight during this lockdown. It says something about diet culture and society’s expectations and pressure on women to be thin that in the midst of this whole world crisis, women are

Midsection of mid adult Asian woman adjusting balance weight scale Dear Leora, Is it possible to recover from binge eating without putting on too much weight. If you’ve starved yourself for a while and lost weight but now bingeing and slowly starting to put it back on, how can I stop the binge cycle without putting on all the hard work I’ve lost? Dieting in Denver Dear Dieting, I understand why you are confused. On one hand, the whole world

Dear Leora, I’ve been in a 12 step group for food addiction for many years. I lose lots of weight, then I relapse and I gain it all back and then I drop out of program and then I go back again and lose the weight. This cycle is exhausting. I’ve been up 70 pounds and down 70 pounds for years. Every time I go back, my sponsor and the program people tell me that I’m an addict and that

Look at me! It’s a whole new me! I’m better, smarter, faster, thinner, I can play guitar, surf, play the piano, I learned how to dance like Britney Spears, and man I loved Corona Quarantine! I’m Going To Emerge From This Quarantine as a Whole New Me!!! This quarantine has a special way of holding a mirror up to each of us. What is reflected back is what we need to work on. For me, it’s learning how to get

So all of you living in the United States are undoubtedly being bombarded by Halloween candy. There are giant, larger than life displays at every store you walk into, and most likely, it’s sitting in giant bowls in your house as you get ready to pass it out to little ghouls and goblins and witches and Batmans and Wonderwomans, Trumps and Melanias… (and maybe some Stormies, who knows!)  And, if you have kids, you will have bags and bags of