My Life as an Eating Psychology Coach: Tanya Mark

What made you want to become an Eating Psychology Coach?

As an expert in fitness and nutrition, I learned that even with these two “magical” strategies that are supposed to solve all our food and weight issues (according to our culture and the media), I wasn’t able to help many clients feel and look the way they desired. There was something missing. I felt like I was a failure as a coach just as my clients felt in their efforts to achieve their goals. I learned that I was a great coach and that my clients weren’t willpower weaklings. Instead it was the strategies that were outdated. I am grateful to have discovered the IPE certification program because I’ve found strategies that produce meaningful change.

What do you love about being an Eating Psychology Coach?

I am deeply passionate about my work as an Eating Psychology Coach because I am now able to serve clients on a deeper level. While I love fitness and nutrition, it was the highly unique education that I received at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating that has made me understand that wellness has a much broader definition beyond food and exercise. I love being able to teach cutting-edge strategies that are nourishing rather than punishing. I had grown tired of repeating the same old eat this, not that and do the “right” kind of exercise, and you should look like the woman on the magazine cover. This is important work and I feel proud to call myself an Eating Psychology Coach.

What does your practice look like?

I help clients who eat “well” and exercise (or try to!) and still struggle with food, weight or body image. My specialties include peri-menopausal and menopausal health challenges, digestion, busy professionals, weight loss, fatigue, and emotional eating. I am available for private and group coaching and work with clients around the world via Skype or phone.

How did your education at the Institute prepare you to work successfully with clients?

The education I received at IPE gave me the confidence and skills necessary to comfortably explore primary life dimensions with my clients such as work, money, relationship, family, intimacy, life stress, and so much more. It’s refreshing to finally learn how to help clients shift their relationship to food, weight, and body image in an industry that is focused solely on exercise and food. I am inspired to help my clients discover their highly unique and individualized “why” behind their challenges instead of telling them only what to eat and how to exercise. The results my clients have achieved have gone far beyond improving their digestion, weight, energy, etc. and have helped them lived more purposeful, vibrant lives.

What was your favorite aspect of the Training?

The case studies and “scientific mind cookies” were powerful ways to communicate that eating psychology strategies really work.
I mainly took advantage of the audios because I could conveniently listen to them on my smartphone, tablet or laptop while working full-time. I use the handouts provided for client intake, journal exercise ideas, and to initiate powerful client discussion. As an alumnus, I enjoy networking with other coaches around the world via the Facebook group and live events.

How has being an Eating Psychology Coach impacted your professional life/financial well-being?

This work is extremely satisfying because there is always an “ah-ha” – something new that my clients learn about themselves beyond food and exercise. I’ve had clients struggle on the “perfect” diet and exercise routine – particularly my female clients living in a world full of day-to-day low level chronic stress and entering into a new stage of womanhood (peri-meno/menopause). I’ve found that in addition to experimenting with food and exercise that is “right” for their individual, unique and changing body, exploring the person doing the eating was by far the more important piece to produce success. I’ve helped my clients understand that the definition of good nutrition is broad; it impacts our mind, body, and spirit.

How has being an Eating Psychology Coach impacted you personally?

Huge! After finishing nutrition school, I felt like I had become a “nutrition neurotic.” I felt like everything was going to “kill” me and that there were so many “bad” and forbidden foods leaving me stressed. I remember having my parents over for Thanksgiving dinner and everything was gluten free, sugar free, dairy free, everything free. And yes, eating healthy is important but I had taken so much pleasure and enjoyment out of my family holiday. Through my studies at IPE, I’ve learned to eat with pleasure and not feel like I would be judged as a fraud if I chose to have a slice of pizza or ice cream. I live in a small mountain town where I often see my clients at local restaurants or the grocery store. Now I can relax about my food choices and be authentically myself as an Eating Psychology Coach. I’ve applied the strategies to my own life and it’s been life (and career!) changing.

What do you see for yourself in your future as an Eating Psychology Coach – where is your work evolving towards?

Because the message of the work at IPE is so powerful, I feel it’s my responsibility to share this knowledge and be a leader in my field of nutrition and fitness. I plan to write a book focused on helping perimenopausal and menopausal women who are struggling with weight gain and other health challenges and teach strategies to explore the critical piece that we’ve been missing; who we are as eaters matters. I will explore how we need to move from the “princess” stage of life into “queendom” and embrace ourselves and age gracefully -mind, body and soul.

Why Would You Recommend the Training to Others?

There needs to be a cultural shift toward food and movement and a new definition of what “good” nutrition is. I feel every human being on this planet could benefit from this Training or working with an IPE trained Eating Psychology Coach. These teachings must be heard. We are often looking for the magic pill to transform our health. In this training, I’ve found it. And it has the potential to be life-changing!

Anything else you’d like to share?

The education that I received at IPE has helped me stand apart in my field as a wellness professional. The strategies that I learned are unique. I am making a difference in people’s lives by teaching IPE’s cutting-edge strategies that go far beyond food and exercise. Again, I am deeply grateful for this work both personally and professionally.

NAME: Tanya Mark, Nutrition & Eating Psychology Coach
BUSINESS: Body Nourishment Wisdom
WEBSITE: tanyamark.com

BIO: Tanya Mark has been passionately helping clients improve their lives for over 15 years. She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Nutrition Therapy Practitioner, Precision Nutrition Coach and Eating Psychology Coach. She loves spending time outside hiking in the Tetons, rock climbing, mountain biking, surfing with her husband and dog, Moxie.