I'm a guy who grew up thinking I needed to block off my emotions.
See, I lost something in childhood from decades of emotional neglect and for most of my adult life I've been seeking answers.
I'm here to tell you that bingeing is a symptom of something which you're not consciously aware. No amount of willpower can help - only enlightenment.
As The Buddha supposedly said right before dying, "Be your own light".
I'm here to help you shine your awareness inward, oftentimes with the aid of a journal, so you can unite with your true self.
A normal, peaceful relationship with food is simply a natural byproduct of finding the answers already within your Self.
I'm a JUBU (Jewish-Buddhist).
My old patterns from childhood - numbing, disconnecting, and spacing out are still here to some degree.
I just don't need food to relax or manage my emotions anymore.
I'm thrilled for many years now, my bouts of shame and bingeing are 99% gone (I suspect some trace will always remain, to be honest).
But despite the 1%, I'm on my purpose. Here. Now. With these words you're reading right now.
No I am not "Enlightened" with a Capital E. But I have tasted a piece of Enlightenment.
Enlightenment is in my Soul, and I can live from this space more often and easily.
Here's the good news - I believe you have Enlightenment within you, too.
Everybody has this Light within themselves. Yes, you too!
1. Grew up in Sacramento, California (1990). Childhood defined by emotional neglect. Began bingeing while wrestling in high school in 2009. Routinely gained and lost 10-15 pounds. At this point, I could not yet feel my body or emotions. I only knew how to "think" - and deep down I hated myself.
2. Things get worse in college (2009). I started bingeing in high school and now 6 years later I am totally caught. Very lonely. Extremely blocked in terms of emotions, highly analytical and can't stop thinking. Out of desperation, I skip college graduation to live as Zen Buddhist Monk for 13 months and learn mindfulness and regular eating.
3. Start graduate school for counseling (2015). By now I am doing better in terms of bingeing. My training as a Zen Monk really paid off! I am more connected to my emotions, body, hunger, fullness, and satisfaction levels. I start working with a specific type of therapist on my childhood attachment. Between food and finally working on the root causes, I finally put the nail my compulsive overeating habits.
4. Up to current day (2022). After breaking through and healing the roots of bingeing, I continue going to therapy for years. While I go through therapy, I also go through a period of profound learning, where I become educated and get various certifications ...
Trial 1 Month = $500 | Upfront = $1200
Only requirements: willingness to journal and share/talk about your journaling.
Key Differences Compared-With Other Programs:
Transparent up-front pricing 60-minute session per week Journaling accountability Email support between calls Worksheets and training videos Basic meal plan 3-Month 99% Binges Gone Guarantee Flexible commitments Community No Weight Loss Emphasis But Likely
. No hiding pricing details. Sessions longer than 50 mins. Accountability easy!. Support beyond therapy. To be fair most programs have worksheets too! . Meal plan optional - not mandatory!. Instead of vague goals like "feel better". Try 1 month to see if right fit for you. Connect with other past clients. Focus on what really matters insideYou'll journal for a few weeks and aren't expected to journal forever.
Through journaling you'll unlock a new way to relate to yourself which through consistent practice will permanently change how you think, feel and act.
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.
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.
I'm proud to say that my integrity, honesty and straightforwardness is what makes me qualified.
I can help you use a Awareness Journal to hold the mirror up to your own consciousness. It's my lifes work.
Through this Awareness Journaling process with my help I guarantee you can stop urges to overeat and heal fully.
Please note: I've found over the years that I must insist we start out with the expectation that you will keep a daily Awareness Journal.
This is really the key to success, and because I can get you to experience success if you journal, so that's why I'm qualified :)
Here’s my educational qualifications, experience and certificates too:
Awarded Thumbtack’s Bay Area Top Professional for Mindful Eating Coaching in 2018 and 2020.
Master’s In Counseling From Santa Clara University
8+ Years of Yoga Teaching, Certified Yoga Alliance 200 Hour
Certified Wellness Coach with Wellcoaches
Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor
Recovery Counselor at Cielo House Eating Disorder Residential Treatment Program (view on LinkedIn)
Some other interesting facts about me include:
I lived as a Zen Monk for 13 months and am a Lay-Ordained Zen Buddhist Monk.
I’ve taken numerous, supervised, guided psychedelic journeys led by shamans, which have led me to profound life-changing insights.
I reached level 1420 in chess, which is within the top 28th percentile.
To read more about Jared, visit my About Page.
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.
Jared works with his private clients in personalized programs and packages carefully designed to fit their unique needs.
When you meet with him for a Free Treatment Consultation, you and he will go over what you need and want and which Private Program works best for your concerns.
Jared believes in deep, lasting, meaningful work and does not offer single stand-alone sessions.
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 Internal Family systems (IFS) to finally reach Intuitive Eating (IE).
A lightness of being and ease around food, body and mind.
Sometimes counseling and therapy don't dig deep enough.
Other times counseling and therapy are too general and don't specifically focus on food issues.
Our approach is unique too.
We combine proven Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques for beginners.
However, we admit the shortcomings of CBT and then switch to Internal Family Systems (IFS) when someone is ready.
Finally, Intuitive Eating happens naturally.
There are a few main differences between Eating Enlightenment and working with a nutritionist or dietitian.
For starters, there are many great dietitians and nutritionists who are equally suited to treat eating disorders!
However, the biggest difference is that we specifically focus on the psychology and less on the nutrition side of things.
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.
However, we recognize nobody sticks with journaling forever!
We approach journaling like training wheels.
You journal for a little while to get your balance, and then stop.
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. Knowing your Psychology.
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.
In Stage Two, you start exploring parts and your inner world through 'dialogue'.
This method of journaling is completely different to anything you've experienced.
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.
In Stage One, the 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.
In Stage Two, the journal is based on the science of Internal Family Systems (IFS)
As for the science behind Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, check this meta-analysis of meta-analysis studies on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
This synthesis about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looked at 269 meta-analyses!
This alone is insane!! Most therapeutic approaches, even if they are highly effective, have only a few meta analysis studies, but Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is so simple, popular and effective that there are over 269 meta analysis studies!
Want to know the conclusion of over 269 meta analysis studies on CBT?
“In general, the evidence-base of CBT is very strong.” Silly scientists, they always speak in such boring language!
Overall, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is well established treatment models that have shown a variety of measurable benefits.
Here is a final example, a “Meta-analysis of the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for binge-eating-type disorders” of over 27 studies found that:
You can see this for yourself immediately in the link above:
“The percentage of treatment completers who achieved abstinence at post-treatment was 42.1%.
This is crazy stuff, ladies and gentlemen.
42% of people who completed treatment achieved abstinence.
There are many other reliably measurable benefits including: