BODY IMAGE COUNSELING IN DENVER, CO

We understand that disordered eating is typically related to other struggles that you might be having in your life. Negative thoughts about your body are just the beginning. You may also be experiencing anxiety, depression, shame, stress, burnout, or uncertainty. Our therapists work to understand the whole person and all the different parts that make up you and your life. We work with you to identify the roots cause of your difficulties so that you can make lasting change. 

Body Image Struggles Aren’t The Only Struggle I Have 

Make food choices that honor your preference and body‘s need. Honor your body by balancing what you eat over time rather than day by day. Being healthy doesn’t mean only eating certain foods deemed to be healthy; it’s finding balance with what you enjoy eating and what your body finds nourishing over time.

10. Honor Your Health – Gentle Nutrition.

Shift your focus to how it feels to move, rather than how many calories you are burning. When you learn to be intune with the positive feelings that come with movement – more energy, strength, accomplishment can lead to more movement and a healthier relationship with movement. You may enjoy chosing to go for a walk over snoozing or watching another show.

9. Movement – Feel the Difference. 

Accept the genetics you were blessed with. All bodies are different; even within in families. When you are able to learn how to see and treat your body with dignity and respect, healing, acceptance and freedom follow.

8. Respect Your Body.

Often we turn to food to comfort ourselves when we experience uncomfortable feelings. You may find yourself eating when you are anxious, bored, lonely, angry to sooth instead of feeling the feelings as they come up, acknowledge them with compassion and learn to cope effectively without using food to numb, distract or avoid. Food won’t solve the problem you are facing and in fact, may lead to you feeling worse in the long run.

7. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness.

Learn to honor when you feel full. Take pauses while you eat to get to know the way your bodyfeels when it has had enough and when it needs more. Becoming intune with when you are full and honoring that feeling helps you build trust with yourself and your relationship with food.

6. Feel Your Fullness. 

“When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes just the right amount of food for you to decide you’ve had “enough.” – Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, the Original Intuitive Eating Pros.

5. Discover the Satisfaction Factor. 

The food police are those thoughts and voices in your head that equate “good” with eating certain foods and “bad” with eating others. Learning to say “no” to these policing voices can be hard and can lead to a sense of freedom from being ruled by food.

4. Challenge the Food Police. 

Take the “shoulds” out of eating and enjoy eating what you want. Giving yourself permission to eat the foods you enjoy, yet prohibit yourself from eating, reduces the liklihood of binging on these forbidden foods and a following shame spiral.

3. Make Peace with Food.

2. Honor Your Hunger.

Keeping your body nourished throughout the day with adequate energy helps regulate your mood and keeps you from over eating out of excessive hunger. Learning to recognize when you are hungry and nourishing your body with what it needs helps to rebuild trust in yourself and in food.

Diet culture has caused great harm in people’s ideals and quest for health. Dieting doesn’t work long-term in weight management for most people. In fact, the majority of people who restrict food gain more weight back once the diet stops working for them. Dieting can turn into obsession over finding the next trend in weightloss and health. Dieting prevents you from being able to eat intuitively what your body needs.

1. Reject the Diet Mentality.

There are 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:

Intuitive Eating focuses on the client being the expert of their body and increasing attunement to internal cues. In other words, we will help you to become more aware of what your body needs and provide support around emotional obstacles that prevent you from connecting with those needs. Diet culture can be extremely harmful to our mental and physical health.

What is Intuitive Eating?