The Truce with Food Process
The intersection of food, psychology, and change, rooted in research in Adult Development Psychology and Behavioral Change. Tested, iterated, and proven with over a decade of clients.
Discover & Deconstruct
Get to the root cause. Most therapy, emotional and intuitive eating approaches don’t get to the non-food root cause. Discover the four emotional eating root causes and a tool to change your reaction (no willpower required).
Release & Rebuild
Release your old story. Learn the skills and tools to rewrite and implement a new story in alignment with your values and vision for your life. Here, food loses its power as an outlet and fixation.
Eat & Rebalance
Now, we can do the important work of balancing your blood sugar, rebuilding your gut health, and discovering what foods best support your health, mood and the life you were meant to live.
Have you ever wondered why every diet works at first and why you fall off track?
This led to multiple certifications in Integrated Nutrition and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania (essentially an MBA in Human Behavior) studying and researching theories in adult development and lasting behavioral change.
I married this with over a decade of work with clients in the real-world to develop and refine this framework to release you from food fixation and gain life-changing freedom.
How the Truce with Food Process Compares
How Is This Different?
KEY DIFFERENCES
CALLS TO CLARITY
BEING “BAD” OR “OFF TRACK”
Depression, anxiety and inconsistency are valuable and telling symptoms that key life choices aren’t in alignment with your values. We explore these as invitations to discover the life you were meant to live.
ROOT CAUSE
BEHAVIORAL BANDAIDS
Overeating or work stress isn’t the problem. The root cause is our story about how we have to handle real life. Without addressing the root cause, counting points, calories or carbs is a corset that we bust out of when real life happens.
RESET INTERNAL COMPASS
RESTRICTION
We can trust ourselves around food and become the person not tempted by food when we don’t just manage stress and lack of fulfillment but create a “real life” of satisfying and liberating choices, food included.
“Truce with Food raises excellent questions that helped me analyze parts of my thought process I had never questioned and beliefs I hadn’t realized I was living by. A huge weight has lifted from my shoulders and the way I look at food has changed dramatically. It doesn’t hold all the power it did before.” – D.D.
What clients are saying about The Truce with Food Process:
“Thanks to Truce with Food, I have permission to listen to my body and not the magazines! It’s really a sweet combo of ease and awareness.” – B.D.
“Starting with Truce with Food, I thought I was going to learn about healthy nutrition, figure out how to tackle Hashimoto’s and touch on ’emotional stuff.’ I’m taking away SOOO much more knowledge and power than I could’ve imagined.” – J.P.
“You’re the first nutrition person I know I won’t need for the rest of my life.” – K.L.
I am academically, practically, and empathetically aware of how the medical system, diet culture and body positivity movements all have their own flavor of crazy. I never found an approach that explained which foods would keep me healthy, and why I wasn’t eating them despite my good intentions.
That’s exactly the kind of knowledge gap that sparks my insatiable curiosity – and led me to return to school for nutrition, adult development and the change process, and to ultimately make a major career change from Corporate America. From my academic research, which I applied and tested over a decade of working with clients and groups, I’ve learned that what we traditionally thought of as eating issues actually have very little to do with food.
While the right foods for your body support physical and emotional resilience, “food issues” are actually life issues. They are symptoms of patterns and habits from other areas of life that no longer serve us and are a cry for healing through out of control eating patterns. It’s been an honor and a privilege for me to work with hundreds of people over a decade and help them to uncover and live the life they want to live through hearing and resolving what they initially thought were food issues. This work has led me to create Truce with Food, run major corporate wellness programs, be a regular on television and a keynote speaker, and to host the top-ranked podcast, Insatiable.
Credentials & Awards
Masters of Science, Organizational Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania, 2013.
Concentrations in Change Management, Coaching and Leadership
Lois A. Ginsberg Community Award, University of Pennsylvania, 2013
Functional Medicine Apprenticeship, 2008-2012
Institute for the Psychology of Eating, 2010
The Institute for Integrative Nutrition/Columbia University Teachers College, 2006-2008
My Personal Story
I thought I needed to be fixed when I entered the suburban strip mall Weight Watchers at 11 years old.
A cancer diagnosis at 13 years old confirmed my suspicions. I became a binge and emotional eater in college. By 23, I had Accutane and antibiotic-resistant acne, depression and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I put on 30 pounds between high school and college.
Weight loss became an obsession. I knew sugar fed cancer, but I loved carbs too much. Facts weren’t enough – I assumed the problem was me. Specifically, my willpower. Food held power. I did not.
Cue: Indigo Girls “…how long till my soul gets it right?”
When I finally examined my health, my body and my battle with food, life-changing magic occurred.
I reversed my acne, IBS and depression. I lost 30 pounds as a side effect of healing my chronic health issues and the emotional patterns that were causing my out of control eating*.
My own Truce with Food gave me the perspective, skills and tools to be a discerning patient and wellness consumer. Our bodies and health change and I have been able to navigate subsequent thyroid issues, fertility choices and other “fork in the road” health-care choices on my terms. Today, I feel in charge and confident in my health-care and body choices in a way that I am grateful for every damn day.
My partner along for the ride is my best friend, husband, and favorite comedian, Carlos. He’s a brilliant writer who challenges me when I’m frustrated that the world is unfair, especially to women, and I want to make sweeping generalizations about smashing the patriarchy. He makes my ideas stronger because he’s a feminist too.
We recently moved to Pittsburgh, my hometown. I left for 18 years and never thought I’d come back.
I recently got my first dog ever, Coffee. He’s stolen our hearts. And I’m now pregnant – at 40 – after Western Medicine told me this was impossible. The Truce with Food transformation and tools are gifts that keep on giving.
I’m a city person at heart. I spent 12 years in Philadelphia, a city that will always have at least half my heart.
It’s where I grew into a free-thinking woman.
Word on the street
“I have made peace with food.”
My body feels so good. Read about my experience with Ali
“It reshapes the way you will approach life for years to come.”
I've found deeper confidence. Read about my experience with Ali
“Truce with Food cultivated my self-trust.”
I feel incredible -- LIKE A BOSS! Read about my experience with Ali
“Working with Ali was the best investment I’ve made in myself.”
I rebuilt my confidence. Read about my experience with Ali
“I wanted to get control once and for all.”
I think about the work I did with Ali every day. Read about my experience with Ali
I am committed to diversity and inclusion.
I believe that innovation, strength and power come from different perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. I open-heartedly invite diversity in clients and attendees, including ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, body size, religion, and physical ability.