A new year, a new challenge:

New Year’s resolutions bring an onslaught of weight loss/fitness program commercials that get us pumped up, excited, and committed for a new day, a new outcome, a new body.

Then, a few weeks later, life continues to happen, we over-eat, we stop working out, shame re-enters the scene- and we are back to where we started.

In most other areas, we have strong resolve, but when it comes to food, we struggle with over-riding this behavior and eat how we really don’t want to.

Eating is a coping skill we have employed for a very long time, and when life happens, we eat.

According to Research and Markets, “in 2021 the weight loss market was up 24% to $72.6 billion.” That is unreal! But there is a reason for that; we WANT to lose weight and are willing to pay for dietary help and workable solutions. So why does this not seem to work? Because we haven’t dealt with the underlying issues in life that cause us to use food as a coping skill.

We are over-eating due to stress, pain, loneliness, compulsion, convenience, amongst other reasons like painful marriages, abusive pasts, and many more.

We continue this eating behavior – coping skill - even though we seriously struggle with its dangerous side effects of:

Health risks

Self-esteem (we desperately want to wear “those smaller” jeans and cute clothes)

Damaged Self-worth

Disrupted Intimacy

Shame

And along with that come depression, anxiety, and quality of life issues.

That is why we spend billions of dollars for a fix - we want out of that cycle. Counseling can help safely look at these underlying issues and learn different coping skills to use to overcome these destructive patterns that are causing pain.