You have an eating problem that is interfering with your life and it has been going on for some time now. You know this. If you’re reading these words right now then eating is such a topic on your mind that you have a problem with your food thoughts. You know this.

If you have seen a doctor who has seen many other people with eating disorders and this doctor thinks that you would benefit from treatment, then yes. You have a problem that needs treatment. 

If you have family members and / or friends who have been telling you that you need treatment, then you need treatment. Just being honest here. 

Denial is worse. Don’t let this problem go on for years when there proven, simple measures that are risk free. In 3 months you can be free.

I’ve never seen somebody who doesn’t get significantly better. I offer a significant automatic 100% money back guarantee if your binge eating frequency is great than 1x per week after 3 months of treatment. 

Plus, it’s extremely common for people to continue improving well after treatment! 

Overall though, if you worry too much about when you’ll stop bingeing, you’ll just be getting in the way of treatment itself. What’s best is just focusing on what needs to be done to overcome the problem itself!

Such concerns are not uncommon among those with longstanding eating problems.

The main point is that the eating problem interferes with all aspects of functioning and that without the eating problem, you are much more capable and effective than you may assume!

It is usual for there to be major improvements in mood, interpersonal functioning and self-esteem. You may not need an “excuse” for things anymore. As for patients not knowing “who they will be” if they no longer have an eating problem, there is some basis for this concern as your  true personality may have been masked by the eating problem. 

My stance when faced with this worry is to ask you about how exciting and interesting it will be to find out what your true personality is like and that they should look forward to discovering!

Eating Enlightenment prides itself on objective success, primarily measurable reductions in binge eating frequency. 

This one measure is sufficient in and of itself in assessing the effectiveness of Eating Enlightenment.  But then think about all the wonderful consequences! 

Let’s remember the proven scientific benefits listed above:

Improved cholesterol levels

Lower rates of emotional and disordered 

Better body image

Higher self-esteem

Reduced stress

Improved metabolism

Higher levels of contentment and satisfaction

In addition to less binges and these proven benefits, there are so many harder to measure benefits:

What would your life look like if you no longer binged?

 What would your life look like if all the mental energy you spend thinking about food was redirected towards creative projects?

How would you live if you felt confident in social situations around food?

Eating Enlightenment clients report many other benefits, in addition to the concrete measurable reductions in binge eating, such as:

Becoming better parents

Better co-workers

Saving money to pay off debt because they no longer go on crazy binges

Not being shackled by obsessive thoughts

Simply enjoying food with family and friends

Developing a compassionate voice instead of inner criticism

Finding a greater sense of spirituality

Much less depression

Much greater self-esteem and appreciation for life

Overall, the benefit I think that’s most heart warming to me is getting to know someone and see their true personality emerge over time.

Usually when someone is trapped by bingeing, they are a shell of their true selves.

Jared loves the tools of Eating Enlightenment because of how quickly you can begin to see results.

Often within 1 week of food journaling, a client will experience an ‘Eating Enlightenment’. After another week or two of work, binge eating frequency can go down dramatically.

However, as with any real and deep process, these powerful effects deepen and spread over time.  Clients usually repeatedly access deep parts of themselves they didn’t even realize existed!

Over time, the effects become even more profound, including easier and even more consistent access to something Greater (whatever that is for you). 

Progressively deepening over time, Eating Enlightenment often shows up in life as a lightness of being and an opening of the heart and mind that enlightens you, your spirit, body, mind and soul.

Eating Enlightenment focuses on changing your deepest relationship with food. 

If you are anxious, trapped and restricting food, then you will binge.  And many people who diet and binge gain weight.  

In contrast, by ending the yo yo dieting cycle and by reducing binge eating frequency, you quite naturally lose a few pounds without even trying. 

In these situations, weight loss just happens as a natural byproduct of changing your relationship to food.

However, sometimes people are thin and yet are terrible binge eaters, or have bulimia! In these situations, Eating Enlightenment treatment probably won’t result in weight loss; weight gain may be more probable.

Again, the primary objective measure of Eating Enlightenment treatment is measurable reductions in binge eating frequency.

There are many, many other benefits like confidence, self-esteem, body image and so forth too - but weight loss is not being advertised here although it frequently does happen as a natural by product.

One last note: In order to change your deepest relationship with food, you’ll need to be willing to truly examine your fear about gaining weight. Oftentimes this fear of gaining weight actually causes weight gain! 

There are a few incredibly challenging aspects in working through the Eating Enlightenment approach to food transformation:

Food awareness journaling:

Before you can move onto learning Intuitive Eating, you must be able to routinely pass this milestone which is being able to journal in real time right before bingeing what you are thinking, feeling and appraising. On paper this sounds difficult but possible, but in practice, this usually takes clients a month or two to actually be able to do themselves on a frequent basis. It can be incredibly frustrating, but it’s worth it!

Confronting the truth: 

The food awareness journal will bring to light your darkest distorted beliefs, but this is what will heal you too deep down in your soul.

My Journey

My journey began in the sophomore year when I became a wrestler athlete and began the dieting and bingeing cycle. I didn’t know this at the time, but I was dieting. I would constantly think about my precise caloric measurements so that I could make cut weight in a scientific manner for the wrestling tournaments. Of course I would eat large amounts of food after the tournament ended because I had been starving myself. This cycle just kept getting worse. 

In college I developed anemia, a blood condition because of my poor diet and binge eating. At this point in my life I was also becoming acutely and painfully aware of my humiliating social awkwardness and anxiety. I didn’t have any friends, and binge eating became for me a sort of friend. Marijuana also became a close companion, and to be honest, I still have a respectful, creative relationship with Marijuana. However, I now am 100% free of binge eating and have been for years.

Eventually, feeling that my life was falling apart, I had a sudden idea to become a Zen Monk. I’d always been an introspective guy and since my life was falling apart, I felt like this was the only solution. I decided to literally pursue Enlightenment. 

My heart was settled. I decided to forgo college graduation and became a lay-ordained Zen Monk in the Soto Zen Tradition. I spent 13 months up in the mountain monastery of Tassajara, located in the Big Sur mountain range of California. During my time in the monastery, I was accidentally introduced to the principles I would later need to stop binge eating 100%. But at the time I didn’t know exactly what I was learning. 

For example, I was eating 3 meals a day and a couple of snacks. I was eating mindfully. I was getting plenty of sleep. And most importantly, I was becoming much more mindful about my thoughts, moods, and emotions. Miraculously, I stopped binge eating up in the monastery (although this wasn’t the end of my bingeing). 

Having quit bingeing for a few months, I felt like I no longer needed the support of the monastery. After I had left the monastery after 13 months, I became a Personal Trainer as I waited for graduate school to start. Being in the gym working with other Personal Trainers quickly triggered my binge eating habits once again! 

Even though I’d learned a lot of mindfulness training, I still felt lost. 

Fortunately, graduate school started and I started seeing a therapist. As I started working with a therapist in the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approach and kept a Food Awareness Journal. Through this simple, but strangely difficult process, I quickly discovered my shameful ‘orphan’ beliefs which were at the heart of my embarrassing social awkwardness and loneliness. Deep down, I could see that I believed I was worthless. Deep down I hated myself. And even though it was painful to see these beliefs written on paper, upon seeing these false, but subconscious beliefs, I began to work on these subconscious beliefs and began connecting better to people and myself.

Later on in graduate school, I discovered Intuitive Eating and was able to piece together the restrict / binge cycle that I’d been stuck in for years. This was the turning point for me. Along with my work on my subconscious beliefs, my binge eating practically evaporated in a few weeks. 

Since then I’ve been fortunate to get experience working at Cielo House for Eating Disorders as a Recovery Counselor. I found my passion for writing the Eating Enlightenment blog. It seemed like my passion for blogging mirrored my experience working through the Food Awareness Journal I had used back in therapy. 

Various certifications followed, the podcast began, people began asking if they could work with hundreds and me of blog posts years later … here I am today. 

If you are burning to move forward in your life, if you “know” what to do but find that you really aren’t doing it, if you are ready willing and able to engage in a deep process now, please click here and fill out a quick application form for a Free Treatment Consultation. 

Together you and Jared will go over what you want, and how Eating Enlightenment, and working with Jared, might help you get there in a real and powerful way. 

As Jared works in close communication with a small number of private clients, he limits his work to people of heart and integrity who are burning to look, feel and be different inside and out, and want to see results. NOW.

Jared works with clients all over the world; his practice is not location-specific. Most of his work is by phone or Zoom.

While Jared’s work isn’t covered by insurance, many of his clients are able to take advantage of their company’s discretionary health payments. Of course, you’ll need to discuss this with your own tax advisor.

To learn more about Jared, head on over to the About Jared page. 

And there also is a lot of small, easy-to-digest, thought-provoking content about Eating Enlightenment and the integration of Eating Enlightenment into your daily life on his blog. 

Plus, you can also check out the podcast ‘Eating Enlightenment’ on iTunes, where Jared interviewed 43 experts in 2020 alone!

Eating Enlightenment is a unique approach to addressing binge eating, emotional eating, bulimia, compulsive eating and other food-related problems. 

Eating Enlightenment has four different, nuanced meanings:

A gradual or sudden realization where you suddenly perceive food differently. For example, you may hear about how dieting is terrible and eventually you suddenly realize one day how dieting when you were young lead up to your bingeing habits today. Another common realization is that trying Intuitive Eating without addressing your negative subconscious food beliefs will just lead to more bingeing.

A yogic way of relating to food, through which you unite with the divine qualities within you and find freedom to be your authentic self.

A hybrid coaching treatment model that first teaches Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and then Intuitive Eating (IE) to treat Binge Eating Disorder, Emotional Eating, and Bulimia. More info on CBT and IE down below, and why CBT comes first.

A lightness of being and ease around food, body and mind.

In-The-Moment Support®:

Basically more frequent communication, including optional real time support before a binge.

Simple, Effective Approach:

Many therapeutic techniques fail to address the underlying mechanisms at the core of binge eating. Other approaches such as Intuitive Eating are often too complicated, at least in the beginning. 

Measurable Progress (or Money Back):

Many therapy approaches are difficult to measure objectively and do not offer money back guarantees.

There are three main differences between Eating Enlightenment and working with a nutritionist or counselor. 

While there are other differences such as the style of treatment, friendship, and In-The-Moment Support®, these have already been discussed above!

Subconscious Food Beliefs Not Addressed:

Oftentimes, sadly, dietitians and nutritionists do not provide the deep emotional and mental transformation work that underpins successful recovery from binge eating and bulimia.

For example, oftentimes clients work with many nutritionists who have prescribed various meal plans. 

A client will try to follow these meal plans, but usually will be unsuccessful because their deepest subconscious beliefs remain untouched and unexamined. Then the client blames themselves and their binge eating gets worse!

With Eating Enlightenment, you will naturally discover the meaning of regular, nutritious eating yourself, without a counselor commanding or telling you what to eat. 

Very Simple Meal Structure:

3 meals per day, 1-2 snacks, don’t let more than 5 hours go by without eating, and when you do eat your meals be sure to eat a balanced proportion of carbs, proteins and fats.

Oftentimes nutritionists and dietitians get bogged down on the nutritional details, and clients are left feeling overwhelmed. 

You can think of the above meal structure as training wheels to keep you somewhat in balance as you do the real, deep work of CBT in the beginning.

No Weight Loss Emphasis:

Oftentimes nutritionists and dietitians have an implicit or explicit goal to lose weight. Eating Enlightenment the primary objective is eradicating binges. This point is discussed further down below as it’s a very common FAQ.

Location:

At residential centers you have to go there! Having worked at a residential treatment center it's a bigger commitment than 3 months of journaling.

Working with Jared instead of a treatment team,

Obviously a treatment team is great, but sometimes prohibitive costs and difficulty in coordination make treatment teams near impossible.

Very Little Paperwork:

You don't have to deal with insurance!!!!!!

Lower Cost:

Residential treatment can cost $1000 per day, which is nearly the entire cost of working with Jared for 3 months.

Yes. In the beginning CBT part, a daily food journal is mandatory. 

As the Food Awareness Journal is such an important step in the beginning, please do familiarize yourself with the introductory concepts.

While you likely have recorded calories or weight, that’s not what we are doing here. The exact opposite. 

Our emphasis is on how your mind works. Awareness.

The food awareness journal makes no mention of amounts or calories, and instead places emphasis on time, place and most importantly, feelings, thoughts and physical sensations like hunger or the sensation of anxiety in your body.

It is true that starting to monitor in this way increases preoccupation with thoughts about eating, but this is a constructive and illuminating preoccupation.

It increases your awareness of your behavior and the thoughts and feelings that accompany it. It is the beginning of your becoming an expert on your eating problem and starting to understand it. And the preoccupation fades after a few weeks.

Ideally. This may be difficult under some circumstances but it should be possible. The day’s record can be stuffed into a pocket or wallet, for example. We have yet to encounter a situation in which recording was truly impossible.

For example, you can use the bathroom in a social situation to jot down notes.

The overall emphasis in this program is that putting pen on paper is a spiritual process that yields near magic results.

However, it’s the 21st century and we realize that. You may journal electronically, but remember the overarching principle is to write with awareness before you eat.

The Awareness Journal is based upon the science of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most popular and researched therapy treatment approach for all disorders in the United States. 

CBT also has been extensively researched for eating disorders as well.

A hallmark of CBT is self-monitoring your thoughts with a written record, such as the Awareness Journal.

Overall, CBT is very simple and highly effective. 

CBT is based on the idea that your subconscious thoughts underneath conscious awareness control your behavior without you even realizing it.

So while it’s possible to eat mindfully or avoid bingeing for a short period of time, eventually you revert back to your subconscious beliefs and self-sabotage.

In The Eating Enlightenment philosophy, we start with CBT because when people try Intuitive Eating first, they usually totally fall off the wagon because deep down they haven’t uprooted their negative subconscious beliefs about food.