What Is Food Counselling?
The diet industry is a multi-million pound business, helping individuals to lose weight. However weight re-gain after following a diet plan is very common, and I’ve often heard people say that going on restrictive diets makes them want to binge on food. Unfortunately, the majority of weight loss clubs or programmes are literally that, a weight loss solution, and they don’t look at the psychology of eating in great depth. If a person has problematic eating habits, the only way to tackle overeating for good is to improve their overall relationship with food. They need to explore the main factors driving them to regularly overeat, eat mindlessly, binge eat or graze. Having the opportunity to talk about your eating in a safe, confidential, non-judgemental space can be really helpful, and can help a person to appreciate the value of reflection and building self-understanding in terms of the origin of eating habits, any particular eating issues and how to address them.
In-Depth Personalised One-To-One Support
Food counselling may or may not involve weight management advice- a person can still have a difficult relationship with food and be a normal weight. Food counselling sessions involve in-depth one-to-one help and advice for anyone who is in need of support to make healthier, more balanced food choices and form 
healthier eating habits, whilst helping the individual to develop a better relationship with food overall. Depending on individual needs, knowledge and skills, this involves looking at the nutritional aspects, the psychological components (mindset) or both. Sessions can benefit anyone who:-
~ Regularly overeats, binge eats or grazes throughout the day
~ Swings between ‘good’ and ’bad’ eating (all-or-nothing thinking and behaviours)
~ Has a history of yo-yo dieting, yet might still be overweight
~ Describes themselves as an emotional eater, ‘comfort’ eater or mindless eater
~ Regularly turns to food in an attempt to ‘cope’ or feel better
~ Feels lost in terms of how to approach healthy, balanced eating and / or weight loss.
A Person Isn’t Greedy- They’re Struggling
A person might blame themselves for being greedy, when in fact they’re not greedy, they’re struggling on some deeper psychological level. A person can start making changes to their eating habits, but trying to form better eating habits is futile unless a person deals with whatever has been causing them to overeat or make poor food choices in the first place, and it’s often being happening for quite some time. A person might regularly binge on chocolate, for example, and whilst they might manage to stop overeating chocolate for a few days by completely cutting it out, it might be a real effort for them, and within a few days they might be back to eating chocolate again. This is because they’re not dealing with the main triggers that give them the urge to overeat.
Helping The Client To See The Whole Picture
Eating habits, body image, self-worth, lifestyle, personality, mental health and past experiences are some of the topics covered, as it’s important to consider the whole picture when it comes to understanding a person’s relationship with food and eating behaviour. A range of factors need to be taken into account, as a person’s situation and life circumstances can significantly influence their relationship with food. For example, whether a person has good overall physical and psychological health, feels fulfilled in life, enjoys good relations with others, feels a sense of belonging, has good self-esteem, feels valued, financial status, stress levels, sleep quality and past/current life events. Through in-depth counselling sessions the client is invited to explore the most significant factors that have influence over their eating habits and relationship with food.
Emotional Eating: Identifying What A Person Really Needs
Emotional eating or ‘comfort’ eating is very common, and food can symbolise different things for different people. Eating can be a way of taking a break, or helping a person to feel calmer; eating can be a distraction from uncomfortable feelings or thoughts, or a person might eat instead of talking (communicating their needs to others); eating might be done as a way to procrastinate (eating instead of doing a task), or if a person feels judged by their food choices they might eat secretly. Food can feel like a ‘friend’ (it doesn’t talk back to you, and it’s a constant companion). Whilst mindful eating is about cultivating a good relationship with food, food can end up being put on a pedestal if a person relies on it too much to cope or feel better. Unfortunately eating often only provides momentary relief, if a person is using food to detach from what’s going on around them or if they’re trying to numb or block out negative thoughts or feelings. Eating can prevent us from problem solving or doing something that’s in our own interest- a person might feel a need to eat, when they actually need something else. Working out what a person really needs and how to meet their needs is an important part of food counselling. Read more here about emotional eating.
Childhood: Helping The Client To Understand Their Eating Habits
Childhood is a time iin life where many habits, and attitudes towards food, are formed, which can last into adulthood. Examples include believing that you must clear your plate, that food is a reward, that you mustn’t go hungry, that it’s ok to always eat meals in front of the TV, not at a table, that going on a diet is the best way to control food intake or manage weight, that foods are either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. We can also create and internalise ‘scripts’ that arise from our caregivers (eg parents) or other adult figures (eg teachers), or codes of living that we try to live up to, such as “Work hard”, “Be good”, “Be strong”, “Be perfect”, “Please others”, “Try hard”. Living according to someone else’s script, values or belief system, such as striving to be a very high achiever, trying to always get positive feedback, striving to always avoid failure or judgement from others, or having a strong inner critic originating from childhood experiences and parental messages may have a negative impact on the individual and affect their quality of life, especially if they have an all-or-nothing mindset and struggle to find balance in their lives. This can be a contributor to emotional eating or drinking. Looking into the client’s childhood is not about blaming others- it’s simply about acknowledging what went on in childhood which might, in part, be influencing the client’s self-concept and eating habits today.
Helping The Client To Switch From Mindless To Mindful Eating
When we’re rushing about, it’s tempting to grab food on the go, rush the eating process and choose something that’s quick and easy. Whilst healthy choices 
can be quick and easy, it’s all too easy to grab ultra-processed foods that are ready to eat by simply opening a packet. Eating is so easy to do that it can be done on autopilot- we can be doing other things whilst eating, but the trouble with ‘distracted’ eating is that there is usually little enjoyment, and because we haven’t noticed or savoured the food it’s easy to end up wanting more because the body and mind haven’t had adequate time to process what’s been eaten. Fast eating is linked to overeating, although a person doesn’t need to be eating quickly to overconsume food. Mindless eating isn’t usually a satisfying process and there can be little consideration of what, and how much, to eat (and whether to eat in the first place). Becoming a more mindful eater is about being present with food and having more positive eating experiences- food is there to be enjoyed and needs to taste good, but other aspects of food satisfaction are eating foods that keep you feeling fuller for longer, whilst also eating a meal or snack that offers nutrition to fuel the body and eaten in a relaxed frame of mind and thereby offering a sense of psychological satisfaction and well-being. Read more here about mindful eating.
An Individualised Approach Is Best
Once you’re more aware of your relationship with food and how you might use food for emotional reasons, you’ll be in a better position to find strategies to 
help you start meeting your true needs, rather than turning to food as a knee-jerk reaction as soon as things start getting stressful or difficult. Everyone has their own needs and challenges, and this is why an individualised approach is needed- an approach that might work well for one person might not work for another. For example, one person might describe themselves as a mindless eater, have little nutritional knowledge, not really think about what to eat, eat a lot of ‘junk’ foods, eat large portions at meal times, eat quickly and do very little snacking in between meals, whereas another person might think carefully about their food choices, plan and eat healthy balanced meals, but they might graze on food all in between those healthy meals because they’re an emotional eater- or they might eat healthy and balanced meals and snacks throughout the day but then binge on snack foods late in the evening. To have a better relationship with food, you need a better relationship with yourself. Working with clients, I help them to adopt better self-care and self-compassion.
Much More Than An Eating Plan: Building Self-Insight For Empowerment
Exploration with the client is key, because awareness is power. Once the client has had an opportunity to think about why and how they eat, they’re in a much better position to do something about it, and they feel more empowered. The more empowered a client feels, the more likely they are to feel more motivated, hopeful and confident to take action. This is why food counselling in the form of in-depth personalised one-to-one sessions can be so helpful- the psychology of a person’s eating needs time and thought given to it, and with better self-understanding as the foundation, it gets the client working towards something so much more valuable and long-lasting than simply following a prescribed eating plan.
If you feel you could benefit from my services and would like a FREE chat to discuss, give me a call (Emma Randall) on 07961 423120, or email me: info@mindfuleating.org.uk. I offer sessions via Zoom. For face-to face sessions I’m based in Lightwater, Surrey.
One-to-one sessions special offer: buy 3 sessions up front and get a 4th FREE. You can contact me to book a session or batch of sessions.
For more information about my online workshop ‘How To Change Your Eating Mindset’ visit my ‘Workshops‘ page.
See ‘Services‘ for more information.
If you’d like to come to one of my workshops please click HERE for latest topics and dates.
