Explore the difference between innate worth and self-worth, and how reconnecting to your inherent value can support your binge eating recovery as a highly sensitive woman.

What happens when you stop exercising to lose weight and start moving for joy? A short reflection on movement, pressure, and what feels good in binge eating recovery.

What happens when a former vegan starts eating animal products again? A personal story about reverence, nourishment, and food freedom in binge eating recovery from Binge Free & Worthy.

If you didn’t feel unworthy, how might your relationship with food change? A gentle reflection for highly sensitive women in binge eating recovery from Binge Free & Worthy.

Reading / watching time: 19 mins I recently received this heart-opening question from a sensitive woman in recovery from binge eating - and I know she’s not alone. She asked… “I want to find love but have been holding myself back because of fear of rejection as my body is larger than I’d like it to be. The way you talk about being a highly sensitive person really resonates and can see how I use food for comfort and also as a buffer to protect me from other people and situations. I’ve also tried so many times to lose weight but I know now it just makes my binge eating worse, and I’m now heavier than ever. I’ve got to the point where I don’t want to wait any longer for love, but I’m scared that I’ll like a guy but he’ll be put off by my body or I’ll have to tell a potential boyfriend about my binge eating and again, that will put him off. Any advice?” So in this video, I explore what it means to open yourself up to love when your relationship with your body feels complicated. Whether you’ve struggled with binge eating, body image, or the fear that you have to “fix yourself” before being loved, I hope this supports you deeply.

Reading / watching time: 19 mins This is a question that Ester emailed me directly and because it’s something that often comes up further along in binge eating recovery journeys, I asked if she’d mind me sharing it and my answer with you all. Thanks for agreeing Ester! She asked: “I strongly feel the wish to lose weight now that I’ve gained food freedom and I would really love to hear your experience about this. Do you still face the desire of being thinner, do you have any tips to handle it or do you suggest to just let it go and provide the unconditional love and appreciation that is needed underneath?” So in this video I share with you my most recent experience of wanting to lose weight, a couple of things for you to work with in your own journey and some words of wisdom from Ester…

Reading time: 1.5 mins Originally shared as part of Inbox Reflections - my honest, heartfelt emails to support your binge eating recovery as a highly sensitive woman. There’s a game called “enough” that many of us are unknowingly playing but know the rules of all too well. The game where we believe that our bodies aren’t; Slim enough Toned enough Curvy enough Smooth enough Beautiful enough Anything else enough And so we do the aaaaall the things to reach that winning destination (the diets, workouts, fasts etc). But when we reach our goals, that sense of “enoughness” almost immediately disappears… We worry about losing what we’ve worked so hard to achieve, the body shape “trends” shift or we fixate on another part of our appearance. This reality hit me (again!) on the weekend when I was having breakfast in a London cafe and got talking to a couple of women at the table next to me. One of them told me that she’d never wear a sleeveless top, no matter how hot it was because she thought her arms were “too skinny”. This particular insecurity struck me because: She had the kind of body I would have once done anything for. So many women don’t like their arms for the opposite reasons - they think they’re too big or soft. And I felt so much compassion for all women in that moment because there is no winning. No matter how your body looks, if you’re participating in this game, you will feel insecure about something. I’m not saying that it’s bad or wrong for having moments of insecurity, we all will at times and that’s okay. What I am asking you is whether you’re willing to spend your life trying to get your body to look “enough”, when “enough” defined by this game doesn’t really exist? Are you willing to continue playing?

Reading time: 1.5 mins Originally shared as part of Inbox Reflections - honest, heartfelt emails to support your binge eating recovery as a highly sensitive woman. There’s an outdoor swimming pool where I live that I went to a couple of times with friends when I was about 13. People come here to swim but also to hang out and lay in the sun. What I primarily remember about going back then is how insecure and judged I felt in my body. I was very conscious that my friends wore cute two-pieces and I had a one-piece - not that I would have wanted to show my tummy anyway. I felt mortified that boys from school were there and imagined them rating or comparing our bodies. And I wanted to implode with embarrassment at that dark hair on my legs. I moved back to my home area a couple of years ago and have found myself at this swimming pool plenty of times during the summers. And you know what? Two things have really struck me… 1. There are people there of all shapes and sizes who are unique and beautiful in their own way. Seeing women who may not have the “ideal” body we’re told to aspire to just getting on with their lives and enjoying themselves at the pool is incredibly healing. Yes, they probably have their insecurities too, but those insecurities aren’t stopping them! 2. Most of the judgement I felt before came from myself. When I now see other people’s bodies with a whole lot more love and compassion, it’s easier to see my own in the same way. I also realise that when I’m telling myself that my body isn’t good enough to be seen, I’m essentially saying that about other people’s bodies. When I question whether that is true the answer is always “of course not!”, in which case, that can’t be true for myself either. I'm basically saying that your local pool is likely a great place to expose yourself to the realities of what most people’s bodies actually look like, and that you’re as worthy as anyone else of baring all and enjoying yourself!