Support for eating difficulties and an unhealthy relationship with food in Anna Paulowna
Do you spend a great deal of time thinking about food, healthy living or your weight? Do food and your appearance take up more space in your mind than you would like?
Are you trying to lose weight, but finding it difficult to sustain this in a relaxed and lasting way? Or do you sometimes eat to cope with emotions, stress or fatigue without consciously choosing to do so?
Perhaps you also notice your eating patterns affecting your body, hormones, cycle or women’s health. This might include irregular or absent periods, PMS symptoms, fatigue or hormonal imbalance.
You long for a healthy relationship with food and a loving connection with your body. And perhaps you have felt for some time: it is time to begin caring for myself differently.
An unhealthy relationship with food is about more than nutrition alone. It also involves control, perfectionism, stress, emotions and how you see yourself and your body. For many women, food becomes a way of coping with tension. You may notice that you eat in response to stress, fatigue or restlessness. Or perhaps you are very strict with yourself about dieting or healthy eating, or repeatedly “start again”. Emotional eating and binge eating are also common.
Eating difficulties and women’s health are also closely connected. Restrictive dieting, eating too much or too little, or experiencing a great deal of stress around food can affect your hormones and cycle. The reverse can be true too.
Meanwhile, thoughts about your body, weight and what you are doing “right” or “wrong” can take up a great deal of mental space. Recovery is therefore not only about eating differently. It is also about breaking patterns around emotional eating, dieting or weight loss, and understanding what lies beneath them. You learn to listen to your body and trust yourself again, so that food becomes less of a struggle and brings greater calm.
What does support for eating difficulties in Anna Paulowna look like?
An unhealthy relationship with food and your body does not usually arise without reason. Stress, perfectionism, trauma, a negative self-image and repeatedly overlooking your own needs can cause you to lose connection with yourself and your body. This can manifest as eating difficulties.
In the sessions, there is space to slow down and feel what you truly need. Together, we look at what your relationship with food does to you and what it asks of you. By combining ACT coaching with body-oriented exercises, we explore not only your eating patterns themselves, but also what may lie beneath them. Step by step, this can bring greater calm to your mind and body. From there, space for recovery can emerge.
“From the very first moment, it felt safe and familiar, and I am incredibly grateful to Lotte for her warm way of coaching. Thanks to her, I feel happier, lighter and full of energy again.” — Isa
What is an unhealthy relationship with food?
Many women immediately think of anorexia or bulimia when they hear “eating difficulties”. Yet an unhealthy relationship with food can take many more forms. You may think constantly about healthy eating, be very strict with yourself, diet or try to control your weight. Or you may feel guilty after eating, alternate periods of strict dieting with binge eating, or eat mainly in response to stress or emotions. Even if you do not have a formally diagnosed eating disorder, food can cause a great deal of distress.
What causes eating difficulties?
An unhealthy relationship with food does not usually arise from a lack of discipline. Stress, perfectionism, a negative self-image, uncertainty, trauma or distressing life events often play a part. Food then becomes a way to maintain control, numb emotions or reduce tension. In my support, I therefore look not only at what you eat, but above all at what lies beneath it.
Why am I unable to change my eating patterns for good?
Many women know exactly what healthy food is. Yet they still find it difficult to make lasting changes to their eating patterns or relationship with food. For one person, this lies in being increasingly strict with herself or wanting to do everything “perfectly”. For another, it lies in repeatedly trying to lose weight, only to find that old habits keep returning.
Repeatedly starting over, dieting or trying even harder often does not help in the long term. Lasting change does not begin with more rules, but with insight into what lies beneath your eating behaviour, such as stress, emotions, fatigue, perfectionism and a troubled relationship with your body. It also involves learning to make choices from a more loving place, with more self-care, gentleness and trust in your body and food.
I can help you with this: to loosen the hold of these patterns and gradually find more calm, trust and a more loving relationship with food and your body.
How do eating difficulties affect my hormones and cycle?
Your eating patterns and women’s health strongly influence one another. If you eat too little or irregularly over a long period, or eat under a great deal of stress, your body receives the signal that it is not safe. Your nervous system enters survival mode and your hormonal balance is disrupted. This may appear as irregular or absent periods, more intense PMS symptoms, fatigue and lower libido. Conversely, hormonal symptoms, such as those associated with PCOS or menopause, can lead to more binge eating, weight fluctuations and dissatisfaction with your body. In my support, we therefore look not only at food, but at the whole picture: your body, nervous system and women’s health.
Can I also receive help for anorexia, bulimia or an eating disorder?
That depends on your situation. If you have, or suspect you may have, a serious eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge-eating disorder, specialist treatment is often the appropriate first step. I do not provide treatment for serious eating disorders. My support may be suitable when you notice that your relationship with food and your body is out of balance, for example through emotional eating, restrictive dieting, a strong need for control, an obsessive focus on healthy eating or a negative body image.
What can support offer you if you experience eating difficulties?
✔ Your mind becomes calmer and you worry less.
✔ You feel more relaxed in your body and pelvic area.
✔ You learn to listen to and trust your body’s signals.
✔ You gain clarity about your boundaries, needs and desires.
✔ You live according to your own rhythm and cycle, and what truly suits you.
✔ You feel more in control of how you deal with eating difficulties.
VERBINDING Programme
VERBINDING is for women with eating difficulties who feel: things are truly allowed to be different now. Women who do not only want to gain more control over their symptoms, but above all long for a deeper connection with themselves. Over nine weeks, we meet every other week for a total of five sessions (online or in person in Anna Paulowna, the Netherlands). Between appointments, you receive inspiring exercises and support via WhatsApp. You will also receive the workbook De Verbonden Vrouw (The Connected Woman) to support your process. The fee for this programme is €595.
Book your free discovery call today
Practice in Anna Paulowna
I support women with eating difficulties at my practice in Anna Paulowna, the Netherlands. Sessions take place in our welcoming garden room, surrounded by greenery. The practice is easy to reach for women from the surrounding area, including Julianadorp, Callantsoog, Schagen, Wieringerwerf, Breezand, ’t Zand, Hippolytushoef and Den Helder.
Words from other women
11 years’ experience as a therapist | More than 10,000 hours of therapeutic support
“I really appreciated looking together with Lotte at where I was getting stuck and what I needed. She thought things through with me and helped me find my way, but did not do it for me. It truly was a journey we undertook together. Thanks to Lotte, I have come closer to myself and experience far fewer physical symptoms and negative thoughts. I always found the atmosphere warm and pleasant. Lotte is very attentive and radiates calm, while also being direct and honest. A lovely combination. I would certainly recommend coaching with Lotte if you want to find more calm within yourself.”
Marianne
“During the programme with Lotte, I went through an enormous transformation. Her approach is particularly valuable because it is not a quick fix, but a complete programme. When I encounter challenges now, I consciously pause with those experiences and apply the new insights. This has changed my entire perspective. I felt safe with Lotte from the beginning; she proved to be a warm and skilled coach. It felt like a shared journey in which you are not alone.”
Nikki
“Over the past few months, I followed a coaching programme with Lotte. Through many exercises and conversations, I learnt an incredible amount about myself and my symptoms. It is a very personal programme, but Lotte is highly knowledgeable and had a good sense of what I needed. There was also always space for me to say what felt right for me. From the very first moment, it felt safe and familiar, and I am incredibly grateful to Lotte for her kind and warm way of coaching.”
Lisanne
“Among other things, I was looking for more calm in my mind and a deeper connection with my body and feelings. Lotte has a great deal of knowledge and experience, and works with gentleness, love, calm and creativity. She always seemed to know exactly what I needed. The combination of ACT and yin yoga was the ideal way for me to engage more physically alongside our conversations. It was something I had never experienced before and proved very valuable. I also received personal exercises to work on. I learnt a great deal and am grateful that I was able to do this together with Lotte!”
Merel
Women from Julianadorp, Callantsoog, Schagen, Wieringerwerf, Breezand, ’t Zand, Hippolytushoef and Den Helder, among other places, come to my practice in Anna Paulowna for support with eating difficulties.