Andrea – Teacher of Stress Management and Body Image

As a speaker and body image coach, I work with professional women who struggle with self-esteem issues and emotional eating and give them tools to be more confident and feel relaxed around food. Before I met Susan I had already put so many of the puzzle pieces together for myself relative to changing my relationship with food and my body. Since 2006 I had made the decision to stop dieting and for nearly 8 years I had successfully maintained my weight and was easily able to manage my eating without feeling deprived. The duration, intensity and frequency of my binges had nearly disappeared. I had gotten to a point where I felt completely safe being surrounded by all the foods I loved. I prided myself on being able to keep ice cream, candy and any other treats at home and eat moderate portions and feel satisfied, walking away or just refusing them altogether. Many times I ended up throwing food away because it had gone stale. I had written a book called, “Lovin’ the Skin You’re In” sharing the importance of taking a combined approach of dealing with stress, being more assertive, and cultivating self-compassion and body nurturing as a means of teaching women how to reclaim their personal power.

But when my personal life fell into chaos, I stopped using all the stress relief tools that had worked so well for me. My old patterns of binging on carbs and being inactive re-emerged with a vengeance. I found myself at my highest weight of 234, caught up in depression and having chest pains. My allergies were out of control and I had a persistent skin irritation over my eye that made it impossible to wear makeup because it was so itchy. I had leg and foot cramps that plagued me every day. Managing stairs had become an exercise in sheer agony. I knew that my body was being overtaxed by the excess weight I was carrying, but I had no idea what to do to stop the weight gain.

When I first met with Susan and she shared her story with me, I knew instantly that I could trust her because she was so relatable and real, unapologetic in her transparency. She shifted my whole paradigm around weight control and made me realize that by managing my calories, and journaling my food, I was only empowering myself with knowledge to make whatever choices I wanted.

Susan taught me about how eating carbs, especially at breakfast was affecting my blood sugar and causing my body to crave junk food and become insulin resistant. My pancake and donut breakfasts were causing me to be moody, depressed and exhausted. She also talked to me about food allergies and explained that a sensitivity to gluten may be behind my skin irritations. Because I was in so much discomfort, I was ready to change.

When I followed her advice and began having protein with every meal, I felt more satisfied after eating. I noticed an immediate change and improvement in how I felt. My constant irritability lifted and I felt more peaceful and resourceful. When I made the decision to radically reduce my consumption of gluten, my allergies and pains disappeared.

I had more energy than I had for the first time in years. My feelings of sadness were lifting and I was able to think clearly again. The idea of downsizing, becoming an empty-nester, caring for my ailing mother, and figuring out the future of my 25 year marriage was not so overwhelming. Susan helped me to see how each of these changes could actually be of great benefit to me and to my business.

When she suggested thinking of exercise as a part time job to pay back the debt of calories, I immediately got it. For the first time in years I felt inclined to want to be more active. I starting going to the gym, and moved quickly from very low impact workouts burning 200 calories to higher cardio burns of 600-800 or more. In the early months, I spent all my exercise calories on eating frozen yogurt and other sugary treats. Then I quickly grew bored of eating all those carbs and realized that I could put the extra calories towards enjoying a great steak, or covering my veggies with a special rich sauce. I rarely eat carbs anymore because I realize how good I feel without them. No more pain in my legs and joints.

Thanks to Susan, exercise has been renewed in my life as a much beloved method of caring for myself and managing my stress.

Early on in our coaching, Susan pointed out the fact that insulin resistance would make it hard for me to lose weight. I saw that as a good thing because I realized that I had many inner emotional conflicts around feeling safer at a smaller size. As I began dealing with those conflicted emotions and I became more secure around letting go of the pain from my past, I watched the pounds slipping away.

It’s been about 9 months since I began working with Susan. I’ve lost about 20 pounds, but I’m in no rush. It’s nearly effortless for me to maintain a daily calorie budget of 1800. But the biggest takeaway that I continue to receive from working with Susan is the knowledge that in every way, I’m in control. I choose to journal. I choose when I want to do a Skinny day, or go to the gym. I now feel that it’s my choice.

I think my biggest takeaway is realizing that my life will probably always be stressful. To a certain extent, I thrive on it. But I don’t have to continue to play the part of a victim by not adequately preparing for my needs and anticipating them in advance.

Preparing food a week ahead is the biggest success tool for me. There’s nothing better than knowing that no matter what kind of crazy my life is serving up, I can always look forward to something special that I prepared just for me. I absolutely adore working with Susan. She’s a professional in every sense of the word and her wisdom is absolutely priceless. If you’re struggling with food issues, Susan will be there for you.

Andrea Amador, New York