FREE GUIDE - 6 Keys to Make Peace with Food: A simple process to release guilt, shame & anxiety around food & embrace intuitive eating--so you can enjoy eating again! Get instant access now.
If you're tired of fighting with your body, I can help.
I want you to know that you're in the right place if:
- You want to have a better relationship with your body (but wonder if it's even possible).
- You overeat/binge in private because you're sick and tired (and embarrassed) of your husband/boyfriend/partner saying, "Why can't you just eat healthy?"
- You wear clothes that hide your body -- even baggy clothes that are too big -- and you won't buy anything new until you reach a certain size or number on the scale.
- You’ve lost weight before (maybe multiple times), but it finds you again – sometimes more than where you started. And it's getting harder to lose. You want a lasting solution.
- You usually stick to your eating plan during the day thanks to your routine at work… but all bets are off in the evening.
- (Okay, sometimes you drop your meal plan at work when you're stressed… or when co-workers bring cupcakes or refill the candy dish. Also known as the, "what the hell..." moment.)
- You read a book about intuitive eating and gave it a try… but found it difficult to stick with it for very long on your own.
I get it.
I spent years trying the newest diets, binge eating in secret, and living in the gym - I even became a personal trainer (with no lasting results)... and I finally found a way past it.
I'm Gillian Hood, and I help women (who are sick and tired of obsessing over food & dieting) create a peaceful relationship with food and a positive, compassionate relationship with their bodies.
In my Intuitive Eating & Mindfulness Coaching Programs, we start by working together to stop the cycle of chronic dieting, endless exercise, & beating your body into submission.
Then, we'll work on aligning your mind & body to create a positive, trusting partnership in which you trust your body to do its job (keep you alive!), and it learns to trust you to meet its needs. This partnership will bring the peace and freedom you've been searching for while enjoying your food, trusting your body, and opening up the time and space to live your life and pursue your dreams - no more putting life on hold - your life is waiting and ready for you!
If you’re curious about my own story & how I made peace with food & my body, read on...
My Life as a Secret Binge Eater
turned Chronic Dieter turned Personal Trainer
I was born a picky eater. To make matters worse, around the age of 8 I began to eat food in secret, which turned into binge eating as an unconscious attempt to control unwanted changes in my life.
After puberty, the binging began to show up on my body. In an attempt to control my body and weight, I began a 15-year relationship with yo-yo dieting combined with body image challenges that further complicated my already disordered relationship with food.
Unfortunately, the more I tried to control my eating and my body, the more I binged.
My life centered around attempts to control my eating and my body, which increased the food obsession and body hatred. The more it didn't work, the more time and emotional/mental energy I put into trying to fix it.
I discovered exercise in college. I had done all I could to avoid movement throughout junior high and high school, but I was forced to take classes in college and became obsessed with exercise. I appreciated the stress release it provided, but truthfully, I saw it as another way to change my body.
My body changed, but it never stayed where I believed it "should" be. Thinking I could solve my issues with more information, I changed majors and pursued first a Bachelor's degree and then a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology.
The magical answers never materialized but with some curiosity and awareness, I noticed a pattern. Whenever I was feeling sad, angry, lonely, bored, etc., I was more likely to find myself turning to food to soothe these emotions.
That's when I realized...
The binging was how I dealt with unwanted emotions.
This was an important discovery, however, this awareness didn't immediately bring about any solutions.
By this time I was a full-time personal trainer with my own private practice. The majority of my clients were looking to change their bodies - to lose weight - which I had yet to achieve for myself. The more I worked with my clients, the more I saw very similar patterns with food. Many became quite fit, but weight loss, if it happened, wasn't sustained any longer than a few months.
I felt like a complete hypocrite - a personal trainer that couldn't manage her weight - or help her clients do the same.
Eventually I was introduced to a dietitian who I was promised was different. I wasn't sure there was anything left I hadn't tried, but what she taught me changed everything. She told me about a "non-diet" approach called Intuitive Eating.
It involved connecting to my body's hunger and fullness cues, eating food I enjoyed, and giving up dieting - for good. This terrified me... If I stopped dieting, if I let myself eat food I enjoyed, I'd never stop eating and would just gain weight!
What I didn't know at the time was...
the focus on my weight was actually driving the
eating issues, food obsession, and body hatred.
And, how I felt about myself and how I treated myself were contributing to the unwanted negative emotions that sent me searching for relief and a way to numb from these feelings by using food.
Truthfully, I had serious doubts... I had always been told it required incredible self-control, discipline, and willpower!
But what else was I going to do? I had tried everything.
Because this approach is completely different - counterintuitive in many ways - I gave it some time and effort to see if it could help me finally make peace with food and my body. It wasn't easy! Part of the process is unlearning beliefs you've been told all your life.
It also requires reconnecting with your body and finding a way to relate to it with acceptance and kindness.
These concepts challenge our thoughts & beliefs. It's hard!
But all past attempts to "control" myself/my body brought exactly what I didn't want - stress, binge eating, & body hatred.
Embracing something completely different felt like
the only viable option...
I still remember the day I gave up dieting for good. I had never felt more peace.
I pursued recovery and learned all I could about breaking free from dieting and the cultural standards that kept me trapped and unable to live a full life, including...
An intense focus on my weight...
Obsession over food and calorie counts...
Spending all my free time at the gym beating my body into submission...
It took time (but it also took time to disconnect from my body and become brainwashed by diet culture)... but it worked...
I got my life back. I was free - making my own choices around food, exercise, my values, etc. I was free to visit friends and attend events without worrying about what food would be served. I created my own beliefs and thoughts about what I eat (as well as when, how much, why, with whom, etc.)
Most important... I was free to accept myself in the present... yes, I'll change, learn, grow, but I will do it on my terms and because it's right for me. No more "shoulds"!
What Will Making Peace With Food
& Your Body Do For You?
No more deprivation, no more restriction, no more guilt or shame!
If you're wondering, "Can I become an intuitive eater?" the answer is, "Yes!" This is how babies instinctively eat! They eat based on their bodies' cues. They are innately connected to to what they need and will cry until the need is met regardless of how busy mom or dad are!
Intuitive eating is effortless & sustainable because:
• Food always tastes best when you're hungry
• You eat what you enjoy & finish when you're satisfied
• When you're done, you feel good & have energy to focus on what's next in your day.
Food is NOT the issue - it's a coping mechanism. We use it to numb emotions because we lack the tools or skills to effectively process and feel our emotions. We were never taught!
I’ve been helping clients through my own Intuitive Eating & Mindfulness Coaching Programs since 2002.
I have nothing but gratitude for my challenges with food and my body. I learned so much about myself and overcame more than binge eating and body hatred. I was a hard core perfectionist and control freak. It was so disruptive and paralyzing in all areas of my life. Years after I recovered I realized I had let go of the need to control and be perfect without knowing it. This is true freedom.
This experience has also brought me to my purpose in life and work that is fulfilling and meaningful. I know what my clients are going through. I understand the way they think, feel, and behave when it comes to food and body.
I also know how important it is to have the support of someone who's been there to help you move through your challenges. While a few may read a book, apply it, and get to the other side, most need a guide who will show them the way, understand how they feel, and pick them back up when they fall - without judgment or admonishment.
It oftens takes the help of someone else...
• someone who's been there
• who won't judge you
• who understands why you do what you do
• and who has recovered, knowing it's completely possible
You can't see what is holding you back when you're stuck in the middle of it.
If you're struggling, please know that I'm 100% sure you can find freedom, too. I see you and I'm holding this certainty for you!
The "Official Bio"
Gillian Hood, M.S.
Intuitive Eating coach Gillian Hood supports women in breaking free from disordered eating, body hatred, and a life revolving around food.
Women sick and tired of yo-yo dieting and the disordered or binge eating that follows, are able to create a peaceful relationship with food and a compassionate, positive relationship with their bodies as a direct result of their transformational work with Gillian.
As a certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, whose work is trauma-informed and aligned with the Health at Every Size® approach, Gillian knows these challenges are not about the food.
“Your thoughts & beliefs are key in overcoming struggles with food and your body,” she says. Clients trust her because she faced many of the same issues and overcame them using what became her proven Mind-Body Mutual Trust™ approach she uses with her clients.
For over 20 years, hundreds of women have embraced Gillian’s unconventional yet powerful and proven approach to rejecting diet culture, ever-changing food rules and unrealistic societal expectations for good.
Instead, by making peace with food and cultivating body respect, they learn to use self-compassion in response to difficult emotions and they develop self-acceptance, often for the first time in decades.
Clients say the best result from Gillian’s approach is their newfound freedom:
== Freedom from endless dieting
== Freedom from using food to cope with painful emotions
== Freedom from the self-loathing & body hatred that drives more overeating
Clients learn their body is on their side, and with Mind-Body Mutual Trust™ they work with it, instead of fighting it, for sustainable outcomes that don’t require dieting, restricting or punishing exercise — allowing for more time and energy to enjoy life and pursue their dreams.
Selected credentials:
• Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor
• ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP)
• National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC)
• International Coach Federation Professional Certified Coach (ICF-PCC)
Ready to make peace with food and your body?
