Are you a woman in midlife looking to end your struggle with emotional eating?

Are you frustrated because you want to lose weight, but find yourself eating for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with hunger, like stress, boredom, exhaustion?

Do your cravings for sugar and comfort foods feel out of control?

Do you want to be healthier and feel better in your body?

Marla Berns, LISW, Certified Health Coach

Marla Berns Hi There

Hi there! My name is Marla Berns. I am a Certified Health Coach, and I specialize in helping women in midlife end their struggle with emotional/stress eating so that they can live the vibrant and healthy life they want and deserve. Many of the women I work with are very accomplished in most areas of their lives, but have trouble getting a handle on their eating. They are tired of trying all kinds of diets, because they know from experience that diets don’t work. They just want to feel at peace around food so that they can put their energy into more important aspects of their lives.

What exactly is emotional/stress eating?

It’s eating in response to your emotions rather than your physical hunger. So if you’re feeling stressed, bored, sad, angry, tired or even happy, you find yourself reaching for food when you’re not physically hungry. Often the foods you are craving are the typical “comfort” foods that are high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. You may have thoughts like, “I really shouldn’t eat this, I know it’s bad for me,” but you can’t seem to help it. You may feel like food controls you rather than you controlling it. To make matters worse, you then feel guilty about overeating and beat yourself up for your “lack of willpower,” which perpetuates the cycle of overeating.

Maybe you are cooking dinner and eating along the way without thinking about it, or you see food and just grab a handful because it’s there. Maybe you eat at a certain time of day because that is what you’re used to, or you eat when you see other people eating. This kind of habitual overeating is often not related to hunger either, and can also lead to unwanted results.

It is just a habit that you developed, a pattern of dealing with stress or emotion that you have likely been practicing for many years for various reasons. It seems automatic, but that’s only because you are not aware of how your brain is working to keep you stuck in these unhelpful patterns. It is completely possible to retrain your brain and find freedom from your struggle with food.

Why is midlife a great time to finally get a handle on your overeating?

Maybe you gain weight easier or have more digestive issues. This is because as our hormones decline with age, it becomes harder to keep them in balance. Hormone imbalance can lead to all kinds of negative symptoms besides weight gain, such as sleep problems, brain fog, fatigue and anxiety to name a few.

When we eat foods low in sugar and refined carbohydrates, we can keep our insulin low, which in turn helps us keep our other hormones in balance. So embracing a diet full of nourishing whole foods becomes even more important for improving our overall health.

It’s stressful to feel out of control of your eating and to be constantly preoccupied with food and weight. At this point of your life, you’re probably tired of it, and you just want to feel more at peace.

Maybe you want to start a new business, or develop your hobbies. Maybe you want to travel, or spend more time just enjoying life with those you love. Wouldn’t it be amazing to create the life you really want rather than spending your time and energy obsessing about food and weight? You have accomplished a lot in your life and have given so much of yourself to others. You deserve to put an end to your struggle with overeating and live a life of health and fulfillment.

My approach

It is my belief that emotional eating is a learned behavior. For whatever reason, you have learned to use food as a way of coping, or you have developed habitual patterns that lead to overeating. The great news is that this can be unlearned.

Most women think that if they just had more willpower, they would stop overeating. Or if they could just stick to a diet, they would get their eating under control. But willpower and diets are NOT the solution. We already know this based on what research tells us, and more importantly, from our own experience. We know that willpower is a finite resource that we can’t depend on long term. We know that 95% of diets fail. Why?

First, diets tell you what and when you “should” be eating. This alone is problematic. Every person is unique and responds differently to food. But even more to our point is that diets don’t address WHY you are overeating in the first place.

Sure, you can follow a food plan, you can do everything “right”, but you will be relying on willpower and it won’t be a permanent solution. If you just change your behavior without changing your mindset, if you just follow food rules without looking at why you feel compelled to overeat, you will eventually revert to your old patterns.

I believe that if you can understand and change your habits around food, you will never need another diet again. The solution lies in understanding why you are eating when you don’t want to be eating and learning how to change those patterns.

Marla is an exceptional coach who helped me create a healthy relationship with food. As a 50-year old woman, I knew I was experiencing physical and hormonal changes that were triggering some old eating issues. I also knew I wanted to feel my best, most vibrant, and fittest as I age. Marla is so knowledgeable and compassionate and really helped me navigate this. I can’t recommend her enough!  – Jennifer

 

About Me

If you are ready to end your struggle with food and start living your healthiest life, I can help!

Free Gift

Do you find yourself giving in to the urge to eat when you know you’re not hungry?
 
If so, you need to download my free guide that will teach you how to take control of those urges and end your struggle with food for good!

 

 
“My time with Marla was an incredible experience. She created such a lovely and safe space for me to examine my relationship with food as well as my habits that were not serving me. Marla allowed me to find and voice my truth, as well as guiding me to find solutions for myself that would work. I am very grateful for my time with her. Thank you so much Marla for all your help and support.”
-Tamara