Did you quit drinking only to find yourself obsessed with your body?

While quitting drinking can bring us so many benefits, it can also trigger unexpected feelings around food and body image.

 

Now that you have left the booze behind, do you find yourself:

  • Experiencing new cravings for foods that you think are "unhealthy" or "junk"?
  • Carrying shame around weight gain or fearing the possibility of weight gain?
  • Suddenly more aware of intrusive negative thoughts about food and your body?
  • Finally ready to let go of food and body image issues you have carried for years?

Eating patterns in sobriety

– especially in early sobriety - can sometimes lead to, or exacerbate, restrictive eating (dieting), which then leads to binging, which then leads back to restriction. This cycle can be extremely painful and all-consuming, particularly for those who are clinging to sobriety. Dormant eating disorders may also be re-ignited, or new eating disorder behaviors can begin to emerge.

The Beyond Shrinking & Drinking Course is Designed For:

  • Those who have parted ways with alcohol and are struggling to get to a place of peace with their body.

  • Those who turn to alcohol as a way of coping with how they feel about their body.

  • Those who are aware of an uncomfortable relationship with food, or specific food types, now that they’ve left the booze behind.

  • Those who are considering going back to drinking in hopes of getting back to what felt like a manageable place with food and/or to escape uncomfortable feelings about their bodies.

  • Those who are struggling to get to a place of peace and freedom with their body and/or food (absent any issues with alcohol).

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Understand

    How the relationship to alcohol, food, and dieting do and don’t intersect

  • Identify

    the diet/binge cycle

  • Recognize

    diet culture, its roots and its consequences

  • Discover

    what a life beyond shrinking and drinking can look like

Imagine

  • How much of your time and energy have you spent on "Will I, won't I, and if I will, how much" internal debates about food? (Which look very different from internal debates about drinking except for the fact that they are equally EXHAUSTING). Can you imagine getting all of that time and energy back from here on out??

  • Picture a future where you know that you can trust yourself, you can trust your body, and that you will always have your own back.

  • You deserve a chance at your best possible life.

  • The world needs you as your most liberated self.

Course Outline

Module 1: We'll cover why the real comparison isn’t between booze and food – it’s between drinking and dieting.

 

Module 2: I want to assure you that you’ve never, ever, EVER “failed” at dieting. The system was rigged from the start.

 

Module 3: You know those thoughts it may feel like you’ve always had about which bodies are “best” or “healthiest” or what foods are “right” or “wrong”? They were put there by people and organizations that only care about getting your money and not one bit about you. And you can absolutely kick them out.

 

Module 3a: It's a surprise!

 

Module 4: We’ll explore the false narratives we’re told about fat being unhealthy, what factors actually do influence health outcomes, and avoiding the harms of healthism.

 

Module 5: You’ll learn when the concept of a body hierarchy was institutionalized, why it matters, how your identities shape how privilege or oppression is experienced, and how they intersect.

 

Module 6: You’ll deepen your understanding of how proximity to privilege impacts your relationship with diet culture and substance use, and how the Queer community can be particularly vulnerable to both.)

 

Module 7: Finally, we’ll tie it all together, ask why this all matters anyway, and where to go from here.


Course Structure

  • Intro Module and Seven (7) Course Modules; each will include:

    Workbook (both text and audio), Journal Activities, Suggested Challenges, Recommended Resources

  • Audio Recordings of Guest Interviews

  • An Optional Private Coaching Session to Support Integration

    .

  • Access to the Course Materials for One (1) year

Instructor

Lael A.

Hi, I’m Lael (they/them). I used to be heavily invested in both drinking and shrinking (dieting). I parted ways with alcohol soon after coming out as queer, and I did it without identifying as an alcoholic (or any other label).  I mention that because if labels work for you, great!  But they are not necessary to examine or question your relationship to either drinking or dieting.  

If any part of you wonders if your life would be better without one, the other, or both – that is more than enough reason to explore further. It’s actually pretty effed up that both our drinking, and our relationship to food and our bodies, can be seriously messing with our lives, but society sends us the message that unless we fit the stereotype of an alcoholic or someone with an eating disorder, there’s no cause for concern. Not only are those stereotypes problematic and not actually representative of huge groups of people, but why wait to address something that we know is causing us harm now? 

During my experience of parting ways with alcohol and then tackling a lifetime of dieting, disordered eating (including an undiagnosed eating disorder), and body shame, I found resources that addressed giving up drinking OR that addressed food and body issues. Yet I could not find any sources that spoke to the intersection of the two.  And in my personal experience, and in the experience of most of those I have worked with, the two do indeed frequently intersect. Hence, the idea for this course was born.  

In addition to my lived experience, my credentials include being a Certified Professional Coach, Certified Professional Recovery Coach, She Recovers Designated Coach, Tempest Designated Recovery Coach, Certified Holistic Health Coach, Certified Diet Recovery Coach, and Certified Weight Neutral Coach.  You can access my coaching website here.

I also firmly believe in the healing powers of both profanity and humor.

Pricing Options

Standard (For those who have sufficient resources to cover themselves); Equity (For people with marginalized identities and those in need); Standard Plus (For those who have sufficient resources to cover themselves and also donate to increase access for marginalized folks and those in need).

Reviews from Course Participants

5 star rating

Moving On

t h

I have had such a rough year and this course helped me to move on from past failures and mishaps. The resources from the course were very helpful and sent me down a rabbit hole. I have had this vague sense that something was missing from my sobrie...

Read More

I have had such a rough year and this course helped me to move on from past failures and mishaps. The resources from the course were very helpful and sent me down a rabbit hole. I have had this vague sense that something was missing from my sobriety and I feel like I am moving in the right direction, moving from fear toward a mindset of freedom and empowerment

Read Less

Please Note

The content of this course is meant for informational/educational purposes only, is not a substitute for medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment, is not a replacement for 1-1 counseling, and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

If you have an active eating disorder, please only take this course if you are also being supported by a mental health professional. If you are unsure, Project Heal offers a free clinical assessment).  

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]