My life today is a transformational departure from any of my previous stories. I had already outgrown or actively discarded many stereotypes of my generation when I found myself facing down a demon I couldn't evade or ignore. No matter how much I learned or how hard I tried, I just could not make peace with food or with my body.

I had even spent many years in 12-step recovery for disordered eating only to learn finally that food was not the problem. Nor was compulsive eating, emotional eating, or binge eating. Deprivation dieting was the culprit. So I called it out for the addiction it was, and was excluded from speaking at 12-step events. Exit stage right.

Diet culture had been so insidiously woven into the inner workings of my mind and body that it was hard to even recognize at first, much less dislodge. I had learned so many 'touch not, taste not, want not' rules around food that I had to take a proactive approach to breaking the cycle.

I began looking for alternatives online and found several coaches who claimed a non-diet solution to my problem. What I discovered, however, were they were using intuitive eating terminology to lure last-chance dieters into a very expensive hybrid model of a hunger-and-fullness diet sometimes called mindful eating. Couched in non-diet terminology, it promised a new approach but ended up tapping into women's shame and pocketbook just like all the others had.

So i did what I always do, I went to the source and became a certified Intuitive Eating counselor through the original dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch who wrote the book. I did not do that so I could sell it to you. I did it so I could get the fast track for myself. What I hoped would be a 3 month process turned into more like 3 years. I learned important things about the biochemical response to deprivation dieting that results in binge eating and obesity. I learned the essential steps to release myself from a lifetime of dieting and deprivation, and I am a purist about the message I carry.

I chose to co-create at EveryBODYdiet.com because I see an overzealous reaction forming in the non-diet community just as I do in diet culture. I don't have the energy for schoolyard fights. I'm here to carry a message of hope and healing to those who are weary and wounded from the battle.

It is my purpose on this earth to hold safe space for people who want to be well. I encourage you to lean into this healing community, monitor your media and being to notice and remove anything that smacks of before-and-after deprivation dieting no matter what new label they slap on it.

You can't hate your way into a body you love. But you can at least accept the skin you're in and spend your energy creating a life you love in your natural body size.