Emotional Eating Coaching

When my grandmother and my mother passed, barely a week apart from each other, just before the pandemic started, I spent isolation cooking all of the things I used to cook for them when I was growing up, as part of my grieving process.

Because they were in charge of nurturing me as a child, and they took their maternal responsibilities very seriously, they would serve hearty meals for everyone at home. Sitting at the table was always a feast, surrounded by love and happiness. Subconsciously, I related feeding someone food with feeding them love.

My nanny, who had been my grandmother and mother's nanny, liked to have me around in the kitchen since I can remember. I would harvest peas from the garden with her and then sit at the kitchen's table to peel them in time for her to cook lunch. Later in life, a freshman student at a Catholic school, I was taught by North American nuns how to make simple dishes, as well as cakes and desserts. This is how I was taught cooking was an important part of a woman's role in a family.

Of English ascendance, tea time was important at my grandmother's house, so she and my mother rejoiced whenever I made biscuits, cookies, and cakes for them.

I have these and other many reasons to be grateful for my childhood and the love I received from the maternal side of my family. So it was no surprise for me when I realized I was dealing with the grief of separation by turning to the comforting food I used to share with them when we were together.

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As soon as I realized I was doing this, I started dealing with it in the best way I could: going to therapy and investigating everything I could about emotional eating. This is how I realized it was not the first time I was reaching to food for comfort: by delving deeper into my story, I realized that when I was working as a model in my early 20s and then as a corporate leader in my 30s, stress-eating had been a part of my life as well.​ 

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In 2017, I graduated from the Indian Board of Alternative Medicines, where I learned about the dietetic and nutrition care needed during the different periods and stages of life and the specific diet therapy for several disease conditions, as well as the physiology, biochemistry, pathology, and clinical medicine as related to nutrition. As a healthcare provider, I had started to notice among my patients that those who had experienced trauma had difficulties in maintaining a nutritious diet and a healthy lifestyle.

This is why, at the beginning of 2022, I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I learned innovative coaching methods, practical lifestyle management techniques, and over 100 dietary theories –Ayurveda, gluten-free, Paleo, raw, vegan, macrobiotics, and everything in between– as a complement for my practice. There, I studied with the world's top health and wellness experts. Upon graduation, I continued my education, by studying an Emotional Eating Psychology enrichment course, as officially recognized by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC), to empower my clients in developing enjoyable and sustainable habits around food that support overall health and well being.

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There, I learned that an estimated 50% of the population has an unhealthy relationship with food, their body, and/or exercise. In fact, we all struggle with emotional eating at some point in our lives, turning to food for comfort, reward or another purpose besides satisfying physical hunger. I learned the possible roots and drivers of emotional eating, including how emotions, stress, body image, social and cultural influences, and a one-size-fits-all mind-set contribute to using food for reasons outside nourishment.

​This education has equipped me with extensive, cutting-edge knowledge in holistic nutrition, health coaching, and prevention. Drawing on my expertise, I now work with my clients to support them while making lifestyle changes and choosing health-promoting ways that produce real and lasting results. By working together, you will focus on how to deconstruct cravings, apply principles of habit change, and overcome unhelpful patterns that may be hindering your health and happiness.

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In time, I learned how to ditch dieting, overcome the need for food to be my default go-to for stress relief, and treat my body with the respect it deserves. Healing my relationship with food amidst the challenging messages in society and my own world was a long self-loving journey that required me to learn how to incorporate several health-promoting behaviours into my life with a focus on my wellbeing rather than on my weight.

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In my private practice, I integrate my experience and studies to guide you, so you can feel better than ever in the healthiest way possible for you.

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