I LOVE my weekend runs with my friends, and I thought I was doing good with my diet because I always stayed in calorie limits. But if I ate more than I thought I should, I would feel guilty and frustrated because I didn't have enough willpower to stop. If I didn't burn enough calories I didn't feel like I deserved to have my post-run brunch - and that sicked! Cindy helped me get to the root of my issues, and showed me how I could take small steps to gain control. Now, food is just food. And my relationships—and my weekends—feel lighter than they have in years.

As a fellow sporty girl, Cindy totally understood my food battles. I ran track in high school and every coach told me that if I wanted to be faster, I had to be smaller. I was terrified to gain weight. When we started working together, we focused on three things: letting go of food guilt, rebuilding body trust, and moving for joy instead of punishment. The day I ate pizza without guilt was the day I knew that I was on the road to recovery! I wish I had started working with her sooner!

Every morning I walked past an amazing bakery, and it filled me with dread because I knew that I was going to want to buy a croissant, but I also knew that I shouldn't. It was torture. If I bought the croissant, I’d spend the rest of the day negotiating with myself—what to skip, how much to work out, how to “make up” for it. It was exhausting. If I kept on walking, I would think about that damn croissant and want it even more the next morning! Cindy really listened to my struggles and helped me unravel what was going on in my brain. In other words, she made me feel like I wasn't food crazy! Just knowing that I wasn't alone made me feel like there was hope.

The tools that I have learned helped me define things I had been feeling for years. I have so much more peace around food and I have learned so much about my own body's needs. The weight off my shoulders has been lifted!!!!

I was familiar with Intuitive Eating, but every time I tried it, I’d run right back to tracking and rigid rules. I didn't know I needed to get to the root of my issues and then build myself back up for the change to happen. Cindy's support was vital to my transformation, and I am forever grateful.

For years, I tied my workouts to what I ate. Dessert meant extra miles. Bread (if I even touched it!) at dinner meant an extra spin class the next morning. I thought this was totally normal. I grew up hearing "eat less, move more". What the eff?? Learning how these messages affected my relationship with food has been eye-opening. With Cindy's help, I am moving forward with less noise and more control.