Chances are, if we’re taking an all-or-nothing approach to food, we are likely doing this in other parts of life as well. This isn’t just about food. It’s about LIFE and the intimate connection between the way you eat and the way you show up in the world.

As Geneen Roth so beautifully says, ‘Our relationship with food -- how, when, what and why we eat -- is a direct expression of our underlying feelings, thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. It has to do with stances we take that get reflected not only in our relationship with food, but in all our relationships. It just so happens that the relationship with food causes enough conflict, grief, shame and hurt that we're willing to look at it.’

The belief that food is addictive is deeply entrenched in diet culture. And I get it, when I myself was stuck in the disordered eating trenches, I genuinely thought that I was addicted to “junk food” and especially sugar (hello Ben & Jerry’s ice cream!) and that the only way out was complete abstinence. It felt like I could not allow myself even a tiny bite, because the second my taste buds got the sweet hit of sugar, all good intentions and willpower went out the window.

Everywhere we look, sugar and other kinds of “junk foods” are demonised. We are even told that sugar is more addictive than cocaine — I’m sure you've heard of those studies? Unfortunately, what happens when we buy into this story is that we become afraid of consuming these foods, and consequently label them as forbidden foods that are to be avoided at all cost. 

There’s a few things I want to say on this topic to help you reframe your "I'm a food addict” story. But before I do so, I’d like you to ponder on a few questions:

Perhaps you have found your way to this blog post because you recently graduated from The Institute For Integrative Nutrition (IIN) and are starting to set up your own coaching business. Perhaps you are still studying at IIN or are considering doing the course at some point down the track. Whatever it may be, the goal of this post is to provide some guidance on how to set up a successful coaching business and to inspire you in carving out your own path.

I have been working as a Holistic Health Coach since 2016 and have worked with hundreds of people from around the world helping them take charge of their physical and mental health.

As I’m a strong advocate and supporter of the Institute For Integrative Nutrition - where I studied to get my coaching certification - I routinely get emails from prospective IIN health coaches asking how I’ve built Wholesome Stef and my health coaching business over the years.

And so I wanted to put together a resourceful and insightful blog post distilling some of my health coaching business knowledge that I have acquired of the years, in the hopes that it will help you find the confidence to create your own coaching business. There’s a lot of things that I did right early on, but there are also many things that I wish I would have known or done sooner, and I’ll be sharing all of those lessons with you. So, let’s dive in!

Hi from the itty bitty titty committee. 🙋🏼‍♀️

I feel like the conversation of small breasts often gets overlooked in the body positivity space. It’s all about embracing your weight, your curves, but what if you’ve got no curves and especially no breasts?!

Why don't people ever talk about small breast and the shaming of flat-chested women? For years, I struggled with this. I felt less of a woman because of my small breasts. Unfeminine. Unsexy. Boyish. Not like a proper adult.

When my journey with binge eating started is hard to define, I think I had a distorted relationship with food as long as I can remember. I only understood I had an eating disorder when I started working with Stef back in 2016. Let me backtrack a few years and take you through my personal journey, I'll try to be as concise as possible but bear with me.

ver had a fight with your boyfriend, or a frustrating day at work, then end up cozying up with a nice cold pint of Ben & Jerry’s at the end of the day? Do you reach out for food to feel better even when you weren’t even hungry? Is your first impulse always to open the refrigerator whenever you’re stressed, upset, angry, lonely, exhausted, or bored?

You may be an emotional eater. Meaning that you’re someone who uses food as a way to deal with feelings (typically negative ones) instead of to satisfy hunger. Instead of seeing food as what it is, i.e. something you consume for survival (like air and water), you misconstrue it into something else.

As I’ve touched on in previous posts, emotional eating is not a sin! When we become stressed, anxious, or worried, it’s only human to gravitate towards food to cope with our emotions. The problem arises when food is the only coping mechanism to dealing with emotions.