Elements For A Healthier Life Magazine Issue 09 | January 2017 | Page 26

One Woman's

Story of Healing

Indira's Journey

Monthly column written by Rachel Kieffer

26 | ElementsForAHealthierLife.com | January 2017

In the 35 years that I have been working as a health coach I have met some incredible women. I am happy to share their stories with you. May they inspire you and help you realize that healing is possible, that you have all the resources you need inside you, and that every step forward you take is significant. All the stories are true but names and some details have been changed to protect the privacy of my clients.

A few years ago I got a call from a doctor who wanted to start a weight loss group for her patients and asked me to lead it. We met at her office and the meeting started with her patients getting on the scale and celebrating their weekly weight losses.

My approach to weight loss is that weight is not the issue but the result of REAL issues, and if those issues are not addressed and healed, any weight loss management tips and tricks will be short lived. At this particular group we took a look at our lifestyle, learned about healing and nourishing foods, focused on creating healthy rituals and delved deeply into the food-mood connection; especially patterns of emotional eating, eating for comfort and compulsive overeating.

Indira was one of the doctor’s patients, a vivacious and beautiful woman, she was always cheerful, smiling, participating in the group discussions very enthusiastically and radiating kindness and positivity. The doctor was very concerned about her and would often talk to me after the meetings about the fact that Indira was not losing weight. I did not share her concern since Indira did not look upset at her weekly weigh-ins and seemed to be learning and incorporating many of the recommendations.

In the beginning of January we had a wonderful meeting where everyone celebrated all that they accomplished the previous year and set up goals for the new year ahead. Indira stood up very proudly and announced to the group that this had been her best year. She shared with us that for years, she had been gaining at least 20 pounds and that this was the first year that there was no weight gain.

She told us that she feels so much better, has more energy, she is cooking healthier for herself and her family, she’s getting more active, and that she loves participating in the ‘healthy life’ classes.