Why Do You Need An Eating Psychology Coach And Not Another Diet!
- Sep 1, 2021
- 5 min read
Written by: Suzy Bessett, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Eat this, not that. How many calories are in that? Should I be counting micronutrients? How much do I weigh? What should I eat? Am I fat? Does she think I’m fat? Did my clothes shrink?
Is the scale broken? How did I get here?
I wish I could just eat and get on with my day…
My name is Suzy Bessett and while I have been a Certified Personal Trainer for almost 10 years, my sole work now is as an Eating Psychology Coach. I have a proven track record helping my clients learn who they are as eaters (fast, emotional, bored) and unwind generational, and compulsive eating habits.
I’m successful because I understand the fight, on a deeply personal level.
I was born to a lower/middle-income family in Norwalk, Connecticut. While I have older siblings, they were more than 12 years my senior, so I was raised as an only child. My parents had their troubles but were married for 56 years until my father passed in his 80’s. My mother is 92, still goes to the gym, and runs her house on her own. She is my hero.
As a child, I was very social. School and learning didn’t come easily (later in life diagnosed ADD), but I made up for it in the social department. To this day I believe, “friends are the family you choose”. Music was my savior, and I love live music and even have a band as a hobby.
I put myself through college at 21 years old after 3 years in the cosmetic industry. I had big plans in college hoping to be the next Barbara Walters but the Universe had other plans for me. I had a very successful 10-year career in the investment business and left it in 2000 to start a family. I have two children that are healthy, and confident. I’m a proud momma.
How did I get here? Twofold.
The first was learning at 33 years old that I had PCOS, PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome. I spent all of my teens and 20’s struggling with a variety of health issues that I didn’t understand. These struggles lead me to have battles with my self-esteem, body image, and the scale that only years later, would make sense.
The second was about 6 years ago when I was conducting a series of seminars (one was at the famed Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA), named “It’s Your Hormones Silly”. A woman approached me after and changed my life forever. She told me that ironically her daughter was doing something similar in NYC, but that she was an Eating Psychology Coach. We had coffee a couple of days later, and that night I applied to the program and began this incredible journey. About a year later, while I was still training clients in my studio, the journey began. Just like that, clients started calling and my business was born.
Here’s the kicker. When I started my journey, I had a dirty little secret (or so I thought) that I had been stuffing down for many years. I remember telling family and friends at the time that I thought it would be interesting to see how my studies would help my PT clients.
I grew up with parents from the depression era. Food was scarce, and so influenced their relationship with food. They both stayed very thin and there was a lot of “weight around weight” in my home over the years.
So what was my dirty little secret? I was obsessed with the scale. I was never one to restrict, binge, or try fad diets. That said, I had a vice-like grip with my scale; my baby… my truth-teller… my mental torture device. You get the picture.
You know the drill. You wake and make sure you’ve gone to the bathroom and are naked. You do a mental scan of the previous day. “Okay, I was good (or not). I ate… I worked out…I binged…"
You step on the scale and voila! That little number defines you. If it’s up, do you pick the scale, move it and try again? Are you yelling at it, “Are you KIDDING me?” Does it tell you if you will have a good or bad day? Do you say terrible things to yourself like, “You’re a bad person (or worse), you’re never going to be thin, your day is ruined” on and on... start again tomorrow?
I have happily changed my relationship with the scale. As I help my clients change their relationship with food, the scale, and compulsive behaviors; it’s about CONTROL.
When my life was out of control, I would weigh myself sometimes 8-10 times a day. I remember even eating and weighing myself right after. Yeah… it was that bad.
We have little control in life. In this case, I believe we control what goes into our mouths (food) and what comes out of our mouths (what we say). In the work that I do, food is not an addiction, because we MUST eat. We don't need alcohol (100% downside, ZERO% upside), gambling, and the like. But we MUST eat.
Unwinding a lifetime of generational, compulsive habits with food and the scale takes time, but you can do it.
As I get older (almost 55), I have been thinking a lot about legacy. Defined as “An amount of money or property left in a will”. I think legacy is way more than that.
When we leave in our earthly bodies, I believe legacy is what we have learned, and given back. I believe that breaking the cycle of compulsive, disordered eating gives us the platform to be the best versions of ourselves. It’s not about being perfect. It's about being healthy, productive, and living to our greatest capacity. It’s about teaching our children a healthy relationship with food, their bodies, and living their best life.
Obesity costs Americans over $200 Billion a year in health issues, lost wages, and absenteeism. It’s a daily, exhausting grind for over 70% of Americans. Can you just imagine what you could do in a day with less weight on your joints, freedom from joint pain, freedom from the weight of your weight?
At The Metabolic Connection, we work with you to help sort your relationship with food, coupled with an (or your) Endocrinologist that will help you with metabolic issues (high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid, and more).
My legacy? I am going to be the voice; helping Americans end the Obesity Epidemic. What’s yours?
Suzy Bessett lives in Norwalk, CT. The beach is her happy place, loves live music, sings in her band Gypsy Brown as a hobby, and is obsessed with travel.
Suzy Bessett, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Suzy Bessett, Certified Eating Psychology Coach and founder of The Metabolic Connection. We offer a unique and complete approach to disordered eating and metabolic issues. Suzy has a proven track record helping emotional, disordered eaters get off the diet roller coaster and get on with living. Combining her work with the client's endocrinologist is the winning combination.
