The Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast
The Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast helps individuals address and manage all aspects of emotional eating and weight loss through understanding why it happens, how to recognize and stop it, and realizing that changing the body only happens after you have changed the mind. Restrictive diets and depriving yourself of foods you love is not the answer, and Breakthrough shows you there is another way to address this deeper issue. Listeners will learn practical tips and strategies that will guide them towards a healthy relationship with food, and with themselves.
Kristin Jones is a certified life coach and fitness instructor specializing in helping women break free from emotional eating and overeating. With over 17 years of experience in education, she understands the challenges of balancing a demanding career with personal well-being. Having personally struggled with an eating disorder, she brings a unique perspective and empathy to her coaching work.
Through her signature program, Breakthrough Emotional Eating, Kristin combines the power of Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) with practical tools and strategies to help clients cultivate a healthy relationship with food, and themselves. By addressing underlying emotional issues and limiting beliefs, she empowers women to find freedom, self-love, and lasting transformation.
In addition to being a certified yoga and fitness instructor at Life Time in Walnut Creek, CA, she also hosts a podcast, Breakthrough Emotional Eating, has a YouTube channel, Kristin Jones Coaching, and is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, When Food Is Your Drug: A Food Addict's Guide To Managing Emotional Eating.
The Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast
BEE #153: From Diet Prison to Food Freedom: Allison's Weight Loss Journey
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Have you ever wondered if real, lasting change is possible after years of dieting, restriction, and shame?
Meet Allison, a 48-year-old woman who lost over 50 pounds—not through another diet, but by finally breaking free from the cycle of emotional eating. Her story is raw, inspiring, and proof that freedom with food is possible at any age.
After decades of yo-yo dieting and using food to cope with stress, grief, and disconnection, Allison stumbled upon the Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast. What started as casual listening turned into a lifeline: she devoured over 100 episodes in six months and began to rebuild her relationship with food from the inside out.
With simple but powerful tools—like learning to ask herself “Am I really hungry?” before eating—Allison began to distinguish between emotional hunger and true physical needs. The result? She shed the weight and gained resilience to navigate profound personal losses without turning to food.
Her story isn’t about perfection. She’s candid about ongoing challenges with urges to binge—but the difference now is compassion over criticism, progress over punishment. For anyone doubting whether food freedom is possible, Allison’s journey is a powerful reminder: the path to transformation begins with understanding why you eat.
Connect with me online:
1. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinjonescoaching/
2. You Tube channel, Kristin Jones Coaching: https://www.youtube.com/@KristinJonesCoaching44
3. You Tube channel, Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@breakthroughpodcast-44
3 . Website: https://www.kristinjonescoaching.com
If you want to learn how to stop nighttime eating, get my 3 Day Nighttime Snacking Reset: https://go.kristinjonescoaching.com/nighttime-snacking-reset
Needing more specific and direct support for your emotional eating and overeating? Check out my online course, Stop Dieting Start Feeling, and my personalized coaching program, Breakthrough To You.
If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to leave a review on the platform you used to listen and share it with your friends on your Instagram stories. Also, be sure to follow me on Instagram @breakthroughemotionaleating, and don't hesitate to slide into my DMs to share your thoughts ...
Do you want to lose weight but struggle to stay committed to a meal plan because you constantly feel hungry? Does food provide you comfort when you're bored, angry, lonely, or sad? If so, you are in the right place. My name is Kristen Jones, and I'm a life coach specializing in emotional eating and weight loss. And I'm also a lifelong emotional eater. I want to provide you with information, motivation, and support so you too can learn to manage your issues with food and develop a healthy relationship with yourself. Welcome to the Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast. Hi, and welcome to the Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast. My name is Kristen Jones, and thank you so much for joining me this week. Well, y'all know that usually when I have an interview, in the recent past, it has been people that I work with and my colleagues at Lifetime and I have spotlighted them and their philosophies on eating and how that might differ from what I do and what I teach. And because I know that there are so many different ways to address losing weight. There's so many different ways to have a relationship. And sometimes I think that is such an odd term sometimes when we say have a relationship. And some people are like, what do you mean by have a relationship with food? Like, what does that mean? So when I say that, just getting along with food and not being at odds with food. And so there are so many different ways of doing that. And that's really what I am always interested in is finding out how other people are doing it and how they're coaching their clients. And that has kind of been a recent um investigation for me. But today's guest is so incredibly special because Allison is joining me today. And she is, and I'm going to be completely transparent with you all, this is the first time we've met. We have, we had never met each other before. Um, I would say, what was it, four or five days ago, Alison, that you that you reached out. So Alison reached out to me, um, sent me an email, and um just thanked me and let me know that she was uh a follower of my podcast and she listened to my podcast. And I'm not gonna ruin the story. I'm gonna let her share the story, but I am so excited and and you all are hearing it for the first time for you, and I am hearing it for the first time for me. So this is so, so very exciting. She was gracious and on um, just honored me so much by agreeing to come on and share her story, uh finding my podcast and then listening and then having her own kind of going on her own food journey and the success that she has had. So without further ado, Allison, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here.
SPEAKER_01:Well, thank you so much, Kristen.
SPEAKER_00:Excited to be here and share my story and looking forward to chatting with you today. Absolutely. So let's back up and let's go back to where you were and what was happening in your life when you came up upon my podcast. There obviously was a reason you were looking for something for a podcast or looking for some answers. Um, so I would just love to have you share what where you were, what was happening, and uh and how you found me.
SPEAKER_01:Sure. And I mean, you'll probably hear a lot of the same things through a lot of the podcasts that a lot of the women that you've worked with. I was just really struggling with the roller coaster of dieting and yo-yo dieting and trying to figure out why. Um, and as you get older, um, I'm 48 years old, going on 49 here in a couple months. And as I progressed through aging, dieting just wasn't working. And you just kind of grew up since high school dieting, gaining weight, dieting, gaining weight, and going through life cycles of just everything. And I realized something else had to be going on. Um, why, and then it was to where I couldn't lose the weight. Like I would diet and I wasn't losing the weight. And I was like, okay, well, what's really going on here? Why can't I do this? All those emotions that come along with that, all the the sadness and the frustration and the am I gonna just gonna be this weight for the rest of my life? You know, I'm uncomfortable, I'm unhappy, I can't do the things I want to do. Um, and so I just started like, there's gotta be something else. And just the word kind of emotional eating. I kind of knew, you know, I was an emotional eater, but didn't really know what that meant. You know, I I you catch yourself eating when you're bored or, you know, or or again, the happy emotional eating, right? You know, going to a party, having a piece of cake with someone for a birthday or something like that. So that kind of stuff, you're like, okay, emotional eating, but getting really down to the binging. And that is really where I never admitted to anyone, um, let alone almost myself, the struggle I was having with dieting and restricting and then going way overboard with the binging and going back and forth. And I did, I do have children. So I have twins. And so I was pregnant with twins, and so they're 16 now. Um, and I never really lost the weight. Like I just, after having the kids, like I couldn't really diet, I couldn't get it back. You know, I tried working out. I did this great group called Stroller Strides, um, where you run with the kids, loved it. It was amazing. And then I had an injury, which kind of set that back. And then probably for the last 10 years, it's just been it's just been really like uncomfortable. And um, and I really got back up there again, and I just I didn't know what to do. And so I'm like, okay, what's emotional eating? And then I don't know, even know how I came across your podcast, but I saw your name. I listened to, you know, the first episode, and I was like, this is amazing. And this was a year, this was a year and a half ago. So this was you had already started the podcast, you know, I was listening to to it, you know, after the fact. Um, but this was a year and a half ago, and I kind of binged your episodes. Like I listened to probably all of up to like 120, 130, like within the first six months or so. Like I was just really, really, really listening to it and practicing your, you know, intuitive eating. Like, what is intuitive eating? And then the emotional eating side of intuitive eating. And really, so then I picked up the um intuitive eating book, um, Kriebel, um, Evelyn's book. And I so I was kind of reading intuitive eating along with listening to your podcasts, and just really, like you said, redeveloped my relationship with food and why am I eating and and why do I want to figure it out, right? You know, what is the true long-term why of why I want to be healthy and why I want to be comfortable? And so that's really how I started. And um, and I mean, I've I've lost over 50 pounds. Um, and just, you know, doing just listening to your podcast and trying to practice intuitive eating principles, I you know, incorporated working out again. But again, it was just, it was a savior to me. It really turned my life around the last year and a half. And that's why, again, I think the maintenance is what's where where I'm at now, and finding struggles with the maintenance and coming back and re-listening to the podcasts, right? And you know, not hating myself when when I on a when I fall back on my old habits. Um, but um doing the maintenance, and that's where I was like, I started re-listening again and I started branching out and trying to learn more. And that's where I emailed you. I just it was like for a year and a half I've been wanting, I've had you in my literally in my head, in my ear pods while I'm walking and stuff, and just wanted to thank you. So now thank you.
SPEAKER_00:Oh well, thank you. And and I I I it's it's honestly, it's honestly like having you here and hearing that is is really a dream come true because because I because of my struggles and the struggles I went through, and and that was exactly what I always hoped for other people is I hoped that other people would see that there's a different way of doing things. There's there's a way that we don't have to be so uh uh beholden to the whole re and again, what you said is exactly, I mean, gosh, I feel like we could be sisters. That it was I it was you know, the the being so good and just restricting yourself and just feeling very um, I know for me, I was very self-righteous, like, oh, I'm just doing so well. And then all of a sudden it would be like a cliff, and I would go off the cliff, and it was like, all right, well, we gotta restart again, we gotta go back and and do this again. And it was the doing it again that just became so demoralizing. And I was just so devastated. And when I for me, when I realized that this was impacting my ability to to interact with friends, to interact with family, to to want to be around people in general, because also because I was so embarrassed and ashamed that like what ever like people know how to eat. Why don't I know how to eat? Like, what what's what's my problem? And um, you know, and so it's it's it's that it's it's that type of thing. And I I just I always vowed when I started, when I became a coach and then I um started working with people, I always vowed that I really would never, I never wanted anyone to struggle. I never wanted anyone to have to struggle as much as I had because it had been such a long struggle. And and I remember saying, if I just helped one person, then that would be fine. I mean, just to know that I helped somebody make that change and that they resonated with what I talked about, that that was like there I've you know, okay, I've done my you know, God sent me to do this, and that's where I'm and that's what I've done. So um it it just it could not have it, it just it couldn't have come at it at any a better time. So again, so I thank you, thank you so much for that. Um in in a sense of for you, what were the things what were the elements that I talked about that were that you felt that you embraced and that you felt um you did really well? Which which what aspects that you know there's a a number of different things that I kind of ask people to do? And again, now even more so I it I now coach in a way that it is very suggested. I I don't there is no hard because again, I don't want to be that hard and fast. Okay, if you're working with me, this is how things have to be because everybody's so individual. And so I know sometimes some pieces don't resonate with people, and that's totally okay. Um, but I would love to hear from you what were the things that were that you were really that you felt really jibed with you, they really resonated with you, they worked with your lifestyle and that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_01:Sure. And yeah, I get that. I mean, I'm a planner in my profession, and everybody's situation is different, right? And every plan is different for everyone and how they react to different things. So for me, it was first just the realization that there's other people out there that have the same feelings and the same thoughts and the same issues. And so that sense of community, even though I didn't talk to anybody, I wasn't a part of community, um, I felt like a part of it by just listening. Um, and so first realizing that there's other people out there struggling and that there is a solution to to this issue. And so learning that first was the first thing. And then really kind of diving into the why. Um that's still the ongoing struggle I have. So that's like maybe for another another interview. But the the deep down dive, which is what you've kind of kind of jumped into, the subconscious and like why do you go there to begin with? Right. That I'm still working on. But the why I want to do this is was the the next step. Like, okay, why do I really want to focus? You know, the long-term goals of why do I want to be healthy? Why do I want to lose weight? Why do I want to maintain what I consider a healthy weight for myself? Um, and so discovering those those whys, and those whys really kind of ended up taking a few different branches because it got into more longevity, health span, you know, wanting to, you know, play baseball with grandkids one day, if I ever have grandkids, that kind of situation. Um, you know, so it got into kind of discovering more about myself and what I really want out of life. Um and then obviously just losing weight. I mean, that was that was a reason why, right? Uh then the main immediate driver. Um, but as far as the tools kind of that you gave me, um, I mean, I I I don't write down my meal plans. So I don't, because I just don't take the time to do that, but I do meal plan. I mean, I do, you know, during the weekends, I go shopping, I I do spend time and money on nutritious foods because I I've learned through my food discovery, which I did, which I don't restrict what I eat. I eat what I feel is was healthy for me, that I enjoy. Like used to be like fire on a diet, I can't have cheese. Cheese is an absolute no on a diet. Like, no way can I have cheese, any fat, right? High school was fat-free diets, right? I eat white bread and apples. Like that was you know, and in in well, we were joking about Alestra the other day, you know, the fat-free Doritos they came out with at one point, right? So getting away from all of that and just focusing on true nutrition, I realized I love, I love nutritious foods. And then I bought the omega-3 versus omega-6 fatty acid book, and I started researching more about just nutrition in general and being okay with fats. And so just discovering food again, what I liked, and then learning the nutrition about it, and then developing my meal plans around that. Um, and then freezing a lot of foods. And I don't eat with my family most of the time. I mean, I have a husband and two boys. My boys are in high school, they play football, they eat a lot. We have crap in the house all the time. And we have everything in the house, right? So those cravings are hard. I've I've put notes in the cabinet that say, are you hungry? Yeah. Do you need to eat this right now? Like, will you be hurting if you don't eat this? You know, but it's really facing like, am I biologically hungry right now? Do I really need to eat this? You know, what am I doing today to need this nutrition? And so really focusing on why I'm eating the food and then planning accordingly. And then the big hardest part, manning the managing the daily emotions around it. And and you know, not going to the I'm the night eater. You know, it's like, you know, I do really well during the day, during, and then it's like, you know, if things were rough or you get angry about an issue or upset or sad or bored or whatever it is, it's like that's where I turn to food. So it's that trigger is still very hard to like stop and be like, turn that thought back, like redirect those thoughts. So listening to you and trying to redirect those thoughts to recreate the emotions, to prevent eating the foods to satisfy the couple minutes of happiness that you want. Right. That's the real, the real gist of it. And so just really working on myself, um, you know, and going down that route of, you know, self-talk and good, you know, not hating yourself if something goes wrong. Right, right. Getting back on it. I mean, that's really, really, really what helped. And so, and then just, you know, getting back into the exercise and all that and listening to all the all your speakers about all the little things, all the things. I love that saying, all the things, right? Um, you know, and I've enjoyed the hormone discussions because I I'll share with with everyone, I had a I'm going, I had a full hysterectomy at 42. And so I kind of got forced into menopause very early, like immediately. And I went cold turkey, no hormone replacements. And so kind of discovering that side of everything as well. So listening to your newer podcasts about, you know, how to just overall health and adding on to the nutrition is something that I'm I'm learning more about now as well. Um, hair loss, something I feel like women do not ever talk about. Right.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But I as far as the the eating and just feeling better, it was just really focusing on why I'm eating and trying to prevent the emotional eating by using, you know, the tools that you gave us with the more the thought control for me was really where I needed to focus for myself. I've always enjoyed healthy foods. I um, but I would catch myself going through the drive-throughs. Going through the, you know, I listen, I connected a lot with the women who were like, you know, I'd go through the drive-thru on the way home and eat the food in the car before I got home and then hide the trash. I mean, it was it it's and to hear other people, it really, really helped me understand that, you know, it's not just me. Right, right, exactly.
SPEAKER_00:And and I think, you know, you you you said uh you said so so many, so many important things, but I think the the the thing that I'm always trying to focus on, and I think I think one of the things that kind of kind of helps me kind of stand out from the crowd when it comes to who people that are online that are helping people lose weight is the fact that I I don't believe that weight gain is a re is a it's not about food. It's about what's behind it. And the food is just the onduit that got you there. It's just the vehicle that you got into to get you to the place that you really didn't want to be. And so it's figuring out why that is. And and to be totally honest, most people, I mean, there are people that I've that that I have talked to about, you know, about working together or, you know, they they talk about losing weight. And honestly, I can't work with people who are not willing to look at what they're thinking and to look beyond, like I just want to control food. There are so many people who are just like, let me just control food or let me just exercise and I'll be good. Then then I can I can handle that. But the you're gonna ask me to like start talking about my feelings. Oh no, that's not, you know, that's not acceptable. And um, so it's it's really it's and it's it's hard. It's I mean, it's not easy, it's scary because I can't even tell you how, especially since I've started doing hypnosis, how many times um I've heard someone say, I really want to do this, but I'm almost afraid of what I'm gonna find. And I don't and I don't think I can handle it. And you know, my response to that is it's totally valid and I totally understand, but but then you're letting that thing control your life and it's gonna be there no matter what. Because you can try you can think that you can try to ignore it, but your your body doesn't let you ignore it. It's not it's just going, it's not going anywhere. Um, you're gonna have to uncover it and you're gonna have to figure it out uh before it ever's gonna go anywhere. And uh and that's hard. I and I and I and I I understand that. I mean, I went to therapy a number of times and uh and had to talk about had to talk about you know my father and talk about my relationship with him and my the real dynamics within my family. And I felt so like like I was just betraying my family by talking about that kind of stuff. But it but but I knew that and I and I remember my mom just saying, but but all of it's true. Like what you were saying was the truth, and your father and I didn't know any better, and and we just we raised you the best way we could, and we didn't know we were sending you those messages. We didn't know that was why, you know, that it ended up being this way. Um so I always tell people like I I totally understand and I get it, and it is scary. And so everybody has to come to it in their own time. And it sounds like you were at that place where you were ready and you were completely open and willing. And and I love the I love the fact that you felt part of the community, even though you weren't a part of the community. And that you still felt connected with you know with what was happening, you know, on the podcast and and and and felt connected to you know my community, which is which is wonderful. I mean, that's just like that makes me that makes me so happy because that's always what I would hope that people would feel a connection with me and in turn then a connection with the community as well.
SPEAKER_01:So I yeah, well, you I mean you do an amazing job of that, really bringing everybody in and making them feel connected. It it really was it was a lifesaver for me. I it was amazing because I it was it'll be two years February when I started listening. And that year, I started February, March, April that year. I had kind of three, I won't say tragedies, but so three big issues that happened outside of my control. Um, you know, an animal death, my dog died. Oh no, that's no tragedies, you know. Um family dog, um, the boy, you know, um my mom had a stroke and went to memory care. And we had a family member die. And I was like, I don't think I would have made it through that April if I didn't have your podcast. Right. Because I had already been on the trail of food is not my savior. Like I can't go to food. And that month, I who knows how much I would have been if I were trying to deal with all of that emotion and feelings and stress um by turning to food to just get past it. And so I think really the the idea is you just food isn't the answer. You're right. Food is not, and it's not the problem either. It's it's not the type of foods, right? It's it's the why are you eating it? You can eat as much healthy food as you want, but you can overeat it and you're still gonna gain weight. It doesn't, it doesn't matter what you're overeating, it's the overeating and why the overeating is occurring. Um, you know, stopping when you're satisfied and not and just being like, this is great. And if I really enjoyed, I can eat it tomorrow, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Um, so but yeah, it's been it's been amazing. And so no, I appreciate it. And I I've shared the podcast with people that have asked because they saw the dramatic change. And of course, I got asked the I got asked by many people, did you do the shot? Did you do the thing? Right. Because I had started this like apparently right when that became kind of more known, right? So a lot of people didn't see me for a few months, saw the dramatic changes, and I would get asked that question. I'd be like, no, but do you want to hear my story? I'd be happy to share with you and share the podcast, share the book that I read, the intuitive eating book. And um yeah, I mean, hopefully it's it's helped some other people too. But yeah, it's been incredible. Um and yeah, I hope you keep keep with it. And um yeah, I'll continue to re-listen to those podcasts, you know, because it it's so helpful. But it's that next step, the subconscious and the the really getting to the root of why that I think is challenging for most people. And you're right, they have to be in the right time in their life to to face it and to address it.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And it's uh it's a life, that's the lifelong journey right there.
SPEAKER_00:And and and that's and that's something I really try to um because I I remember I used to think, and I used to actually even say this when I was starting my business, like I want, I want people to never have to think, yeah, to never have to, you know, think about food to never have food be a part of their life, not not a part of their life, but never have food dominate their life. And I and I still want people food not to dominate a person's life. But I also know in my own recovery that it is always something I have to be aware of. I always have to be aware, not necessarily of food, but of my very deep connection with food and making sure that I'm doing the maintenance and the things that I need to do on a daily basis. You know, I, you know, remembering to be grateful, remembering to, you know, do a little bit of journaling, remember to um to stop myself when I have that hair trigger response of somebody says something and I want to immediately go from zero to howler monkey and and be all and you know, be up in their face and then and then and then go and and eat everything that I can eat, and realizing that that that that's a practice and it's a and it's something that we have to we have to create and make it a habit in our lives. And that I've come to accept that I will always I will always have to be cognitively aware of how I interact with food, and I'm okay with that now. Whereas before I was like, oh, I just wanted this to be done. And um I remember having um a therapist and I remember going into the office the next the day after having a binge and me saying, like, I don't understand like when is this ever gonna stop? And like, yeah, I said, when is this ever gonna stop? When am I ever gonna stop having these horrible feelings and thoughts and feelings about myself? Or when am I gonna keep now, you know, keep doing these things that I just am sabotaging myself all the time? And she said, You're you're not gonna stop, because that's just a part of who you are. And it's like you're trying you're trying so hard to get rid of this, this thing that you say is is is is ruining your life. But in the reality of it, like you really need to embrace it and realize that it's your reactions to what's happening, that it's it, these things are gonna come up and you're gonna have these opportunities to practice this. And you get to decide, do you want to practice it or do you just want to fall in, you know, fall into the same routine of doing the same reactions over and over and over? And uh, and when when I realized that I got the choice, I had the choice to make that it was like I can decide how I want to respond and how I want to how I want to either accept it or not accept it. And for me, um accepting it and realizing that it wasn't something um it wasn't something that God did to me, it he did it for me. And it was I was supposed that I was supposed to be here. This is what was supposed to happen in my life, and I'm supposed to be sitting here interviewing you and doing all of this because this is why, this is why I was put here. I was put here to help people with this, and this is just what I'm supposed to be doing. Um so it it uh and and there's time there have been times that I've questioned that, and uh and I will always have your your email somewhere around my house. I can always refer back to it. Uh, because it just it just reminds me that yeah, that that that what I have discovered and and how I've changed my life, that other people can do that. Other people can do that, and they can do that on their own. And that's the part that also is so exciting for me is that for some people it is really, it is something that they do need support. They do need either to be in a group, they do need to work with me one-on-one. Um, but you know, I love the fact that you have been able to take what you, you know, you took what what you learned, and then that kind of spurned you to go on and discover other aspects of it and get do your own research and and things like that. And you were able to almost kind of be your own coach and your own support system.
SPEAKER_01:And and I think that's I I think there's a huge benefit to being a part of the community and the group. And if I were closer to you guys or part of it, I I would join for sure. Cause I do like sharing that. I think that's very important. Yeah, my personality, I was able to take it and run with it and make it work. But I think that community and that group is extremely important for people. And that's where I'm learning in the maintenance stage. Okay, how am I gonna maintain this now? Right. You talk about it, the original part being similar to a diet. It's exciting, it's new, it's working, right? What happens when that newness is over? And so that's where it's like, okay, you know, you need to keep talking about it. You need to keep, you need to keep addressing it. And so um, yeah, I think it's I think it's uh wonderful that I just again, thank you so much because you shared so much information, so many people, and just so much um on those podcasts that honestly it did, it changed my life. It has made my life a thousand times better, and I will always have it to fall back on. So it's been amazing. It really has. And I continue to listen and learn, I continue to learn from you and continue to review all of the stuff that you have.
SPEAKER_00:It's just it's really incredible. Wonderful. That's that's so that's so good to hear. If you don't, if you don't mind, could I ask you, I could ask you what and I think this would be helpful for to for people who are listening, what aspects of maintenance are you struggling with?
SPEAKER_01:Um just the the falling back on the bench every once in a while. It's really just like, and it is, it's catching that that reason and and and going to it and being like, okay, yeah, I know why I'm going to the cupboard right now, but I don't care. And it's just it's that's that's basically it. That that's like the trigger. And it's so it's just training my brain um to not do that. Now I have the tools that you've given me the next day to not continue down that spiral, right? That's that was that's now where I'm realizing, man, that's the savior. It's like I'm not gonna gain 20 pounds before I get back on top of it. Right.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's and in that can happen so quick. I mean, when you do what what what's considered, you know, what we all probably consider binging and probably don't even want to admit to ourselves how many calories we can consume in a binge. Um, that it's um, yeah, it's it's it's getting back from that quickly and getting back on track and not hating myself the next day and not and and giving myself that that positive talk and being like, it you're not perfect. It's not about perfectionism, it's about maintenance. And it's you're gonna mess up and it's okay, but it's about not messing up too much.
SPEAKER_00:Right, exactly. And that you know, I think that's the that's the key to, and I think that really is the key to maintenance is is is understanding, and they all go hand in hand because you can't you can't bounce back if you're constantly belittling yourself and berating yourself because that is what is that cycle of just continuing to, you know, we we feel bad, we eat, we feel bad again, so we eat some more. And it's just this this I call it the triangle of doom. And it's just that's where that's we we get caught in that, and we get caught in it, and it's three weeks later, and we're still caught in it, but we're 15 pounds heavier. And that's and you know, it's always been one of my and I don't and I don't even know where I where I picked this up from, but this is like this, and this has been for most for almost all my life that I really never when oh no, I shouldn't say all my life. It's a I definitely didn't do this in high school, but um as an adult, it was usually a a binge would be isolated because I knew I was like, you gotta get back, you gotta get back on. There was something that told me, like, you can't let this go because if you let this go, it's gonna get completely out of control. And but I didn't, but I I stopped it, but I was stopping it with the the the beatdown and the negative. self-talk and so yes it was stopping it but I felt so horrible in the process um and that's and again that just infiltrated so many aspects of my life um and and really I feel like this I feel like everything most of the things that I do are it they're really not I mean they are about losing weight but they're really about like understanding who you are and understanding what um where we look for happiness because I know you know I was looking for happ happiness for me was food there wasn't a whole lot of things that that made me happy other than food and so when that was the case well of course I'm gonna be you know thinking about food all the time of course I'm gonna be you know having to having to you know figure out okay what's my next meal when oh if I can be good for two days then on Saturday oh Saturday's the day that's where everything's gonna be amazing and getting halfway through the day I'm being like oh my gosh I feel so sick like what what am I doing and then just again that that cycle back um so so what what is what is on the what what what is on the future for you in a sense of of your kind of your next steps as you move as you kind of you know and it's been it's been a couple of years so you're getting coming across your almost two year anniversary of this so what do you what what are you really wanting to focus on moving forward?
SPEAKER_01:Well I mean I think you know I've got the nutrition side of it pretty well down. I do I do like that side of it to keep it going that way. I think it's just the you know the whole the subconscious the emotional like I've got to go down that therapy route probably at some point for for just overall wellness. So that's where you know I think kind of when I emailed you to say thank you, I was just really like realizing that this is something I really have to focus on going forward. And exercise I I just want to get stronger. I mean I've been doing my own I've got friends that do Pilates in yoga and I keep telling them two years my boys are juniors they'll be out of the house I'll get my life back you know I'll I'll make more time for myself um I do the elliptical in the house. I live in Jackson, Wyoming so I have all of the outside wilderness has to offer so hiking walking like I have an amazing you know so so my goal really was to get into the point where I could be out you know skiing and hiking with people that can do a lot more than I could have done you know a year or two ago. And being able to be physically active for myself but for my children and everybody else. I was an athlete growing up I played five sports in middle school three sports in high school you know played in college. So like getting back to who I was and rediscovering who I was as an athlete is really you know where I want to be. I started playing tennis again but you know injuries and this and that. So it's just really trying to get back to kind of I mean I'm back to like college clothes, you know, back to where I was before I kind of got married and had kids. Right, right.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:You know, they're about to fly the nest. So for me I'm looking at you know an empty nest here coming up in a couple of years and you know what's next for me and my husband and how am I going to be move on to the next phase in my life and be active and healthy. But emotional eating is a massive part of that and just understanding how to keep myself healthy um is very involved with with I mean weight is we don't weigh ourselves because you know I bought my scale you know when I started this for data purposes only. Right. You know um but and and to track it and it was great to help with that tracking but um just you know trying to maintain it and um and spread and and talking with people about it too that ask. There's still a lot of people I haven't seen in a couple of years that probably when they see me they'll be like what happened you know and um talking to them about it. So spreading the word and and getting more involved in the physical side of things yoga Pilates. Everything you guys gosh what was it the there was one exercise on the more recent podcast you guys were talking about. It was like between a Pilates and something else I don't know but I I would really like to like really push myself as far as you know the physical side of things next.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. Oh that's that's awesome. That's so good. Um what would you say to someone who's listening right now who is feeling the way you felt two years ago what would you what would what would be your advice to someone who you know is like well Alison you some for some reason you were able to do it. I just don't think I can do it. What would what would your advice be to them?
SPEAKER_01:You know I mean honestly it was shocking to myself I was shocked to watch the weight just literally drop off and I I won't say it was easy because it wasn't easy. But honestly if you just follow those the very simple intuitive eating principles like if you can just do that and again it's the what willpower whatever you it's not willpower you know we talk about what really is it the thoughts driving the emotions and all that but I'd say you know pick up the intuitive eating you know read about intuitive eating itself and really just I don't know I mean for me I guess it has to be the right time if you're listening then you're you're ready. Right. And so if you can just try to listen to your body and try to understand what makes your b take a break and take a pause and really listen to when you're hungry and when you're not and then figure out what foods make you feel good and not. Because once you start like I mean my probably my calories probably I probably went to like a third of the calories I was eating. Right. And I didn't need it. Like I was not hungry. I really wasn't hungry. And so I think focusing on actual physical hunger and realizing that you only you should only be feeding your body for energy. That's why we feed our body and if you can if you can it's really really hard but if you can stick with it and separate the emotional eating with the the with the biological hunger that's what I was able to do. And and I have all of the I mean I again with the kids in high school I got there's all the foods around me. So it's like I've got there's a box of Twinkies downstairs right now. You know I mean it's like it's always there. It's so not you know when I'm packing lunches at nine o'clock at night and I may be you know I'm I I'm like literally like what you say no snacking. That's a huge one huge like literally don't even lick the spoon when you're you know making someone else something to eat. Like just no calories in between meals. Um allowing yourself to be hungry it's okay to feel hungry. That was a huge one for me. Like if like I'll if I I feel a little like like lightheaded maybe I need some food like I do I go to my water um and again this is if you're trying to lose weight right um if you're trying to maintain you might maybe you need to eat but um you know go to the water until it's your next mealtime um and eat what you want like it's okay to eat what you want but stop as soon as you like eat it eat and half eat half of the plate you know and stop and drink some water and really be okay pushing the rest of the food away. Be okay throwing the food away for all those all of you who had to clean your plates growing up lived on budgets you know my grandma in the depression right you know um she used to yell at me not yell at me it felt like yelling it was probably just a mean look but you know how it is it feels like yelling if I cut the cantaloupe too far away from the rind right if I left too much cantaloupe on the rind right you know so we all kind of grew up so with some of that on on the back of our uh back of us um so if you're you know be okay throwing food away just think you feel like you're wasting money but you're weight it's even more of a waste to put it in your body right right if you don't need it you're you're then having to spend probably more money to take that weight off at some point in some way. Right. Whether it's an emotional cost or a financial cost. Yeah absolutely um so to be honest it was just all of those little all of those principles I just really focused on them and I literally listened to your podcasts like two or three at a time while I'd walk every day. And I just really every time something came up where I was like okay I I need to get back on it or you know I'm feeling really bad about myself today because I went overboard last night with something and it was a true binge. It wasn't just like I ate a little too much of what I was eating. It was like a true true binge where like out of control, mindless eating and um you know just getting listen relistening to the podcast that applied to that and being like you're okay just every day is a new day. Every choice is a new choice. So all all of those things all of those things were helpful and if anyone can just stick with the principles that you're teaching um it's gonna it's gonna happen. It really is the weight is going to come off. Right. Right perfect and it may take a month or two for your body to adjust and you hit those plateaus like you talk about and yeah maybe you need to eat a little bit more and and you know so again everything everything you talked about worked for me.
SPEAKER_00:Right right that is so amazing. Well I thank you again so much for again for reaching out for taking the time today um to to record this with me and um and I just I I know I mean y'all I have my biggest cheerleader right here with me. It's very exciting um but I just again I I can't I don't think I can I can adequately explain how much it how much it meant it means to me that you took the time to do that. And that I'm just so thrilled that you are that you're so happy and that and that you've that that it's that it's really that it's really working for you. And uh and I know that uh I I feel very confident in the fact that you will be you will you know glide through maintenance and maintenance will be a maintenance will become your lifestyle um and that's just that that's just it'll that's what your kids will know that's what your friends will know and and uh and you will end up being exactly where you want to be so again thank you so much I I can't even can't begin to say really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:Well same here I feel the same I can't thank you enough. I mean really it's it's been a a savior thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely y'all it's a love fest here. So uh thank you so much for joining both Allison and I this week and um again if you have any questions about about you know again the podcast is here you're listening to it so you just go back. Um Alison would you recommend just starting back at number one?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah I mean go down to number one I've got it on I l I've got it on Spotify because that's what I have. So I I'm on I've got I've got basically all my favorites downloaded so I can listen to them anytime anywhere because I live in Wyoming and there's a lot of places when there's cell service but um yeah I just I go back and start at one um and and kind of go through them.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah okay all right you heard you heard it from her y'all all right well thank you again everyone for for listening and for being a part of the podcast and being part of of this community and again if you have any questions please don't hesitate to uh to reach out all my contact information is in the show notes and uh would be happy to answer any questions that uh that any of you have so again thank you so much for being here and I will see you all next week take care thank you for listening to this week's episode if you are interested in learning more about how I can help you understand and manage your emotional eating including the use of hypnosis to uncover the root cause of your eating go to my website Kristen Jones Coaching dot com