Does Your Body Suffer From Absentee Parent Syndrome? – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Release Date: 06/26/2024
Letting Go of the Need for Approval from Others – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
If you’re of a certain age, you’ve probably noticed that young people – teenagers, especially – have a strong need for approval from others. Young adults want to fit in and feel accepted, a natural desire that is part of our normal developmental process at this stage of life. Feeling that we belong helps us to grow and expand, and gives us the confidence to explore our world. As we grow older, however, people can become unknowingly stuck at this developmental stage. And when this happens – life can get miserable pretty quick. Left unchecked, we may never outgrow our...
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Trusting Ourselves with Food & Pleasure – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Jill, 44, wants a new relationship with food – one where she can enjoy a more easygoing, intuitive way of eating. She’d like eating to be fun and lighthearted, and feel satiated after a great meal. But her dreamy new relationship with food seems so very far away. Jill has an intense desire for food – so deep that it feels like her desire can never be quenched. No matter what or how much Jil eats, she doesn’t really feel like she ever finds true pleasure and contentment with food. It just never feels like enough – and Jill has a lot of anxiety that she’ll end up overeating and...
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Does Food Hold Power Over You? – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Food is intended to be our source of nourishment, but all too often it can feel like a losing battle. Perhaps you’ve been struggling with your weight, and why it’s so hard to lose it – or keep it off. Or maybe you binge or emotionally eat, and are frustrated that you can’t stop these behaviors. Whatever your unique challenge with food may be, after a while it’s hard to not come to a particular conclusion… Food has a POWER over you. It must – otherwise, you’d have been able to put an end to your unwanted habits a long time ago, right?! But is it really possible for...
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Healing a Negative Body Image by Embracing Your “Enoughness” – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Negative body image is something that so many of us struggle with – regardless of our nationality, age, or background. It almost seems to be part of the human condition, something that is innate to our journey here on Earth. But is it, really? While not liking our body – or constantly trying to achieve a certain weight or shape – is ubiquitous around the world, the truth is that is NOT a natural, normal part of being alive. Our beliefs around body image and beauty are instead ingrained from us at a young age. We were, quite literally, taught to believe that beauty looks a certain...
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Our Beliefs About Carbohydrates: How They Freak Us Out & Make Us Fat – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Perhaps more than any other food group, carbohydrates can really freak people out. You might say, carbs are one of the world’s great nutritional “hang-ups.” And a big reason for this is we’ve been told carbohydrates will make us … fat. Eat the wrong kinds, too much, and too often, and you’ll be popping the buttons off your jeans in no time. So many of us then try to avoid or limit carbohydrates, but find ourselves struggling to sustain that. Part of what makes carbohydrates so confusing is that we’ve come to believe they’re not only problematic to both our...
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How To (Skillfully) Love Food – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Many of us struggle with emotional eating. And that’s because food is a reliable way to manage our unwanted emotions. Think: Bored. Stressed. Lonely. Angry. Anxious. When we’re experiencing difficult emotions, it’s natural to turn to food. But here’s something that’s also common: some of us label ourselves as emotional eaters, when that’s not actually the case. For some of us, something else altogether is going on: We just LOVE food. A lot. The truth is, some of us love food so much that we don’t know how to contain ourselves. We overdo it because we love...
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Does Your Body Suffer From Absentee Parent Syndrome? – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
For those of us who struggle with weight, are in a battle with food, or who have ongoing anxiety around eating, it’s no secret that these unwanted food and body challenges can have a myriad of possible causes. Well, one of the more overlooked causes is something that many of us experienced when we were young: ➡️ Having an absentee parent. This can mean: 👉 A parent who was never there, or was seldom there, or who came into and out of life in an erratic way. 👉 A parent who was around, but was emotionally absent and didn’t really show up for us in a meaningful way. 👉...
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The Soul’s Call to Release Our Health Anxieties – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
Ever hear the phrase “health is wealth?” For many people, we don’t quite recognize how valuable our health is until we find illness or injury knocking. Enjoying robust health is truly the foundation of a happy, fulfilled, and connected life. But it’s also true that worrying about our health, or being vigilant about every aspect of our diet and lifestyle, can actually take us in the opposite direction of vitality – as Marc David explores with 53-year old Daniela. Daniela’s health anxieties – like many people – were born at a young age. As a child, Daniela had...
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Why You Gain Weight After Losing It & What To Do – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
A surprising fact about the weight loss universe is that despite so many built-in difficulties, plenty of people have success. So often, we DO actually lose the weight, we hit our target number - or come close to it, we celebrate, we feel good, we fit into our clothes, and life is finally great. We did it. But then, something happens. Somehow, the weight we lost finds its way back home. Our efforts worked, but only for a brief time. If this sounds at all familiar to you, you’ve probably asked the question, “Why does the weight come back on? And what can I do to ensure that this...
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Finding Calm In The Nutritional Storm – In Session with Marc David
The Psychology of Eating Podcast
When it comes to nutrition and health, there can be a lot to worry about: ✴️ How do I control my desires and avoid the foods that are bad for me? ✴️ How can I eat to successfully lose weight? ✴️ How do I stop sabotaging myself? ✴️ And can I stick to a good nutritional program for the sake of my health? If you find yourself having multiple worries around food, weight or health, you’re not alone. So many of us sincerely want to get things “right.” But it can often seem like an impossible task. Our worries tend to get the best of us. They...
info_outlineFor those of us who struggle with weight, are in a battle with food, or who have ongoing anxiety around eating, it’s no secret that these unwanted food and body challenges can have a myriad of possible causes.
Well, one of the more overlooked causes is something that many of us experienced when we were young:
➡️ Having an absentee parent.
This can mean:
👉 A parent who was never there, or was seldom there, or who came into and out of life in an erratic way.
👉 A parent who was around, but was emotionally absent and didn’t really show up for us in a meaningful way.
👉 Spending time in foster care, or being under the care of different relatives or friends because our parents were somehow unable to consistently parent us.
So how can having an absentee parent impact our relationship with food, body and weight?
When a child has an absentee parent, they experience that absence as a lack of love.
The child thinks, “If my mother or father isn’t communicating love and acceptance in a way that really lands for me, then something must be truly wrong with me. So I have to do something to be more lovable.”
The child might become a people pleaser, or become obsessed with winning approval. And for many young people, they eventually turn to their body to win that approval.
“If I can weigh the right amount and eat the right food and have the ideal body, then I will be lovable.”
And so begins a life of dieting, food restriction, binge eating, emotional eating, and a constant battle with food. 💔
This is exactly what Marc David’s guest coaching client, Maxine, has been experiencing for decades – and that she explores with Marc in this episode of The Psychology of Eating Podcast.
Maxine, age 58, was placed in foster care for 5 years at a young age. She loved her mother deeply, and couldn’t understand why her mother gave her away. She wondered how she could possibly be lovable if her own mother gave her away?
How does a child make sense of their world when the person who brought them into it has abandoned them?
That’s what Maxine has been grappling with throughout her adulthood, even as she’s raised 4 amazing kids of her own.
What Maxine hasn’t quite connected is how her mother’s abandonment has affected her relentless battle with food – including daily binge eating, weight, food anxiety, and harsh judgment towards her body.
So how ARE they connected? Is there something Maxine can uncover in the relationship with her mother that will shine light on why she’s struggled with food and body for so long?
And if so, how can Maxine begin to find healing from absentee parenting syndrome – and allow that to transform her relationship with herself and her body?
Episode highlights:
🌟 How our relationship – or lack thereof – with our parents can mirror our relationship with food and body.
🌟 The ways that absentee parent syndrome can cause us to reject and abandon ourselves later in life.
🌟 How to spark self-love when we never got that from our parents.
🌟 Healing our relationship with our parents when they’re no longer alive.
🌟 Why letting go of “longing for” a different body is so important to maturing into our Royal Archetype, and how we can begin to embrace ourselves, as we are.
For those of us whose parents were not able to be there for us, Marc has an important message – and one we hope you won’t miss!
Be sure to tune into this heartwarming, life-affirming episode…
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Learn more about us at The Institute for the Psychology of Eating: https://psychologyofeating.com/
Ready to call a ceasefire in your battle with eating, and find peace and freedom with food? Learn more about our newest program, The Emotional Eating Breakthrough! https://learn.psychologyofeating.com/
Interested in becoming a certified coach in eating psychology? Then tune in to hear Marc talk about our Mind Body Eating Coach Certification Training, and download a copy of our School Catalog: https://psychologyofeating.com/info-kit/ Learn our powerful, cutting-edge approach, and discover how you can create a unique career helping others find peace and freedom with food.
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