End the struggle and create a peaceful relationship with food and your body.

“When I first discovered Vania I was in a very lost, negative and difficult place. At 25, I was wrapped up in the conformity of today's diet culture and the need/desire to be something I thought I needed and wanted to be. Vania has revolutionised the way I see myself and my outlook towards life. Her help has enabled me to become an accepting and positive person, but also to know how to manage the more negative times - an invaluable skill I will never take for granted. Her support, kindness and generosity has encouraged changes that have been so welcoming and that are methods I can use now and going forward into the future...they truly have changed my life.”

“Our journey together has enabled me to let go tremendously of so much ingrained judgement towards my own or others people’s bodies. That alone is so freeing. I am definitely going to deepen my intention for more attunement and less disconnection. Thank you for your kind, honest, consistent, accepting, loving space you created between us. Thank you for helping me go to the darker corners within me and for never making me feel judged. You are a beautiful person and long may you continue to heal those who need it. Love and gratitude xx”

“Working with Vania has helped me make the shift from black and white perfectionistic thinking that was keeping me stuck in the dieting mindset, to living a life where thoughts of what I should or should not be eating hardly ever enter my head. I feel at peace with food and with my body and this is freedom from a struggle that I had been living with for decades. Thank you Vania.”

“I have known and worked with many coaches, counsellors and therapists at the top of their game, both personally and professionally. Vania is an undiscovered gem, with a magical combination of knowledge, intelligence, empathy and humour. She has helped me more than anyone, and not just with my relationship with food and my body, but my relationship with the world as a whole. Vania completely understood me from the get-go, and helped me begin to understand myself. The advice she has to give, and her way of joining the dots of what is going on for you, feels like being given the keys to the kingdom. I’m still working on things, but then that’s the point. If you struggle to feel relaxed around food or to feel anything but hatred for your body, then talk to Vania.”

“When I first found Vania online I was at a point in my recovery where I was expected by society to have achieved ‘full’ recovery from a restrictive eating disorder because of my appearance. However, I was anything but. I knew that I was far from recovered mentally, and Vania was the one who helped me achieve acceptance of my body and myself in general.

She was so kind, logical, and caring in her approach to helping me, and she made it clear that she was always there to support me outside of our sessions, something that I was really touched by and which made a huge difference. She was willing to talk about anything, making it clear that nothing was a ‘stupid’ or ‘meaningless’ thought, and she even offered her own experiences to help make me feel comfortable.

Over our time together, Vania has provided me with techniques and information that I will always be able to use. Through the use of these techniques, I am now in a much better place; I can eat more or less freely, I have a healthy relationship with food, I am more comfortable in my body and in myself as a person, I am calmer, I appreciate life more and I am happier!

My work with Vania really had changed my outlook on life, and I am eternally grateful to her for that, so thank you Vania; you’re truly very special.”

“I have been working with Vania for the past eighteen months and she has been invaluable as a firm, steady, loving companion on my journey towards a more healthy relationship with food and my body.

Having spent the majority of my life fighting to remain slim, fit, perfect – it has been a huge relief to let go of the fear surrounding eating and to learn, step by step to trust my body, to be kind to myself and to open up to myself and others. Whilst I started in order to address my out of control eating – the journey has become so much more than this, really a road to healing and growth through food and a deepening of my understanding of what it means to be human.

I cannot thank or recommend Vania enough. She has a rare gift of kindness and firmness combined with a warmth and sense of humour that really encouraged me to look within myself and at my patterns of living that extend far beyond just dieting and weight loss. It’s not about the food – that’s something I found hard to imagine when I first began to work with Vania, but she was right all along…”

“When I began my work with Vania, I was at an all-time emotional low. I am 54 years old, and have struggled with the diet-binge cycle since I was in 4th grade - virtually my entire life! When I contacted Vania, I had been steadily bingeing for about three years. I felt out of control. My life felt small and cramped and uncomfortable. The worse I felt, the more I ate.

My first session with Vania felt like someone opened a door and let a draft of cool mountain air into my claustrophobic existence. She immediately understood me. Her kind, sweet, non-judgmental presence is truly like a balm - it’s soothing and comforting. Yet she’s not soft - she is always able to call me out on my b.s. - my black & white thinking, my old patterns, my self-doubt, and old family patterns. We’ve talked about it all! With humor and love and miraculous attention to detail, Vania lovingly and astutely becomes a mirror for me to see myself clearly.

One of the most important gifts that I continue to receive from Vania is the art of mindfulness. Even though I’m a yogi and meditate daily, I had never really understood mindfulness until I worked with her. I can’t emphasize enough how valuable mindfulness is in recovering from disordered eating. Learning to inhabit my body with loving, non-judgmental presence has been a crucial step in becoming whole again.

Mindfulness has been the most important tool, but it is not the only one. Each week, Vania would give me a bit of homework, something to work with when things got difficult. I have been to many different therapists, but Vania is actually the first to give me any practices that I could use myself. This is powerful because it creates a sense of empowerment that has long been missing for me in this area of my life.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I am grateful every day for Vania’s presence in my life. I’m on a little break from our work right now, just working with my tools and learning and growing, but I will return to her warm light very soon - to be reflected in her eyes is truly like coming home.”

“I wish I remember how I ever found Vania, but it’s really not important. I’m just so glad I did! She helped me work through so many thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings, and frustrations about food and my body. She helped me uncover reasons why I have struggled and how it might have began, without spending too much time focusing on the past. Though, I will say that connecting the dots to the past was immensely helpful for my own journey. I found so much validation in that. And from there I was able to start observing and dismantling the thoughts and feelings that were guiding the behaviors I wanted to change. The process took time and I don’t think it will ever be completely done. Though, the suffering has been so greatly diminished. It shows up so much less frequently, and so much less intensely. When we can start to observe our thoughts as thoughts, and no longer as truths, everything begins to shift. Thank you for helping me find a peace I never knew existed, Vania.”

“Vania has helped me do something I never thought possible – let go of a lifetime of body angst and find peace with myself, at whatever size. But not only that – she has helped me ease up on my judgements in other areas of my life too and see falsehoods in my thinking I have held onto for years without really knowing. Vania once commented that once you “see” something for what it really is, you can’t “unsee” it, and this is so true – even on the days when my head tries to persuade me back into dieting and body-bashing, I know that all of that makes no sense, in my heart, and I can let it go, peacefully, with joy, and carry on living in a way that really matters to me. I can’t recommend Vania enough – the work we have done has changed my life, no exaggeration.”

“When I first contacted Vania, I was lost. Overwhelmed by self-doubt and stuck in an intense binge-restrict cycle, I felt like I had nowhere to turn and no-one to talk to. It was an isolating experience.

I’d read about intuitive eating before and as a pro-active feminist I knew vaguely that diet culture was an oppressive tool of patriarchal capitalism. But knowing or reading about these things had never really translated into change in relation to food or my body.

Working with Vania has been life-changing. And I know that sounds hyperbolic but there is really no other way to describe the night and day comparison between my life now and before we started working together. I found her support invaluable as she guided me through the steps towards eating intuitively, rejecting diet culture and recognising the ways in which my own behaviours may contribute to fatphobia and discrimination based on the size of our bodies.

I’m not saying this is an easy journey and I’m definitely still working on it but I have more days where I feel wonderful about myself than not. After almost a year, I’m still having “a-ha” moments about my eating behaviours and how they’ve served me in the past and are still serving me in the present. As these moments come up I’ve now got the tools and resources to approach them with openness and compassion, which is valuable beyond measure. As a coach, Vania is kind and understanding. She manages to be non-judgemental whilst still holding you to account to challenge the learned biases that underlie some of our most disordered thinking. I appreciate her dedication and activism, as I’m sure do thousands of other people in the Peaceful Eating Facebook group and beyond.”

“When I came to Vania my bingeing was out of control. I knew dieting wasn’t the answer but I couldn’t find a balance between all or nothing. I felt like I had tried everything and this was kind of a ‘last ditch attempt’. I’d read an article in the Huffington Post on her work and I looked at the website. It seemed like a big investment but I reckoned that I’d wasted enough money on slimming clubs, self-help books and bars of chocolate – this was money to do something proactive and positive, just for me. By the end of our first taster session I came away already feeling calmer. Vania shows no judgement, even over your most destructive thoughts and habits. Her kind, spiritual approach allowed me the chance to heal. I started to understand myself and my motivations in a deeper and more loving way, knowing that I was only a week away from another session. Along the way there has been laughter, companionship and a lot of tears but slowly, bit by tiny bit, food has lost its hold over me. Of course there are still times when the old thought patterns return but I have ways of returning to my centre and being kinder to myself. If you can, if you are prepared to really commit, then I would wholeheartedly recommend Vania’s method.”

“I have had body image issues and have been dieting for over 20 years. I was utterly unhappy, ashamed of myself, had no self esteem and I ended up in a destructive cycle of starving, bingeing and purging.

My work with Vania started a around year ago and the difference between where I was then and how I am now is nothing short of miraculous. Vania is highly skilled at what she does, as well as being kind, compassionate, caring and nurturing. And she gives you the tools to be able to be these things to yourself, which is something I’m sure a lot of us struggle with.

I never thought I’d feel the way I do now, about myself and my body. But here I am, accepting, proud and most importantly, living my life...something that was previously always on hold until I was this weight, or that size. I can’t thank Vania enough.”

“Honestly Vania I have no complaints or recommendations on ways that you could improve your service. You are extremely patient, knowledgeable and professional. Even from the other side of the world you have been accessible to me (via Skype, WhatsApp) and always reliable and honest. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

“When I first sought Vania’s help, in March 2016, I was feeling pretty desperate. Two years before that, at the age of 28, I had started my first diet. I had experienced a few big changes in my life recently, and the diet became a bit of a project, a new hobby. I felt so excited by it, I was running and following a calorie-controlled meal plan, and it felt so easy for the first few months. It wasn’t a huge weight loss, but enough to get me hooked, and enough to get a new wardrobe. It wasn’t many months in before I started to binge. It started small, but over the next year it grew to become my biggest shame and biggest secret. Sneaking and hiding food was a regular occurrence, all while maintaining the outside persona of a super-healthy, super-active, super ‘together’ girl who had it all going for her. I compensated for the binge-eating with exercise and further restrictions, and started learning about clean eating. Mid-way through 2015, around my 30th birthday was my lowest point. I couldn’t have anything sweet in the house, I couldn’t enjoy my food, I was running most days, my relationships were suffering. I started to reach out through Facebook groups and podcasts, and learn about anti-diet philosophies. I surrendered to all my cravings and gained back the weight I had lost pretty fast. In March, with my wedding 6 months away, I was struggling with the weight that I had gained, and still feeling quite out of control with food, and I found Vania. She appealed to me because her blogs implied that she could relate to my story. In our ‘discovery session’ over Skype I talked about so much so quickly – it was such a relief to talk to someone about it and she made me feel really safe. For the first 3 months we spoke every week. The biggest difference was how quickly I felt that she ‘got’ me, how she remembered things I had mentioned in previous sessions, and how quick she was to offer support when I was struggling. But at the same time, I didn’t grow to feel dependant on her. She truly helped me to help myself, in a very gentle and loving way. She offered so much support in the weeks before and up to my wedding.

Over the last six months our sessions have been much less regular, but I still am very much aware of her presence in my life. Even my new husband will sometimes ask ‘have you talked this through with Vania yet?’

As we are coming up to Christmas, the peace I feel around food is immeasurably different. My house is full of party food and sugary food, and yet I feel calm and grounded. I can hear my body when I’m making decisions about what/when/how much to eat. I have zero interest in feeling uncomfortable with food, and the ‘sugar addiction’ I was trying to solve has completely disappeared, and my old likes/dislikes with food have returned – I hate dark chocolate, avocado and porridge! (even though I convinced myself that I loved them for months, because they were ‘good’ – ha!).

I owe Vania my sanity. I truly never thought I would be able to write the second half of this story, and was afraid of what the future would hold. But as it turned out, I was the person I wanted to be at my wedding – happy and peaceful and engaged in the moment, and my husband loves how much more relaxed I am, and that I’ve got my boobs back (!).”

“My life changed when I began working with Vania a year and a half ago.

I am 67 years old. I have been working on my eating issues and size acceptance issues for most of my adult life. I have done dieting of every shape and color, lots of therapy, many workshops with people whose books I am sure that you have read, Overeaters Anonymous, Smart Recovery, given up, etc. etc.

Although I had heard of Binge Eating Disorder, I had never really identified with it until I did a little more research and it finally fit. I did some more therapy with a binge eating disorder therapist and found some Binge Eating Disorder Facebook groups.

There I found this beautiful “voice” that kept popping up in posts. Posts that sounded incredibly authentic, understanding and connected to a type of psychology that I had studied. This was Vania.

I set up an “exploratory conversation” with Vania. After we talked, I felt an incredible relief. Together, we began talking every week, “unpacking the spaces” between what I already had learned/knew and what I had not healed, did not understand and needed support and guidance around.

I did not need more information. I could have written many books on eating issues! I needed a non-judgmental person who could help me explore myself and feel safe doing that.

A step at a time. Two steps forward and one step back.

But when I stepped back, Vania’s arms of love and support were always there, asking, listening, suggesting a way if I wanted it. She is an amazing being and amazingly gifted. The magic began to happen.

Little baby steps, little awarenesses, allowing, more allowing, more trust in me and in my body. This process did not happen in my head. It happened in my heart, thoughts and core being.

So here I am – the same size. I may or may not ever have that change for me. I’m accepting of that.

I eat when I am hungry. I eat wonderful, nourishing food and sometimes not so nourishing food. When I do the latter, I can feel it in my body…no shame, just learning. My husband has just been diagnosed with lymphoma – and I’m not eating to numb my feelings! It’s always my choice – to be aware or not.

But, I have the choice. It is totally mine now. I choose to feel good naturally most of the time. I am happy, peaceful and do not need to look for answers any further.

Vania is a gift. Please work with her. You will never, ever be sorry.”

“You are simply the best. With your help I have found my way out of ED, emotional eating AND I have found mindfulness, meditation and overall love for my own body and self. Thank you for doing this for me. It has taken a long, long time but all the work, commitment and patience bring the results :-). Your support and blogs in the Facebook group supported me for the entire time, during my ups and especially during my down times where I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now, 2 years after, I can not only say that I have defeated my eating disorder but I also have learned to love myself and to take care of my body. I am a completely – very happy – different person now. Oh and I just started my own blog (yeah my writing is still very messy so I’ll have to find a more structured way), a meditation and yoga journal. It probably wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t “met” you two years ago in the Facebook group!”

“I am pleased to say that I have been binge-free for some months now and I very rarely have any thoughts where I put myself down for not doing as I “should” have.

I don’t often think about food unless I am hungry and I listen to my body’s needs about what type of meal would serve me best in that particular situation.

I regularly enjoy “joy foods” but in much smaller quantities than I did. I have the occasional over-indulging but I don’t dwell on it and put it out of mind straight away. I don’t try to head to the gym to work it off or punish myself. I explore my feelings and educate myself that what I have eaten was more than enough and perhaps the next time I can half the portion.

This has all been possible after working with Vania.

I have learned what triggers used to cause my sugar binges/ orthorexic/ anorexic mentality and what I can do to try and reduce these and most importantly start living my life normally again.

At first and for several months it was extremely difficult to get out of diet mentality but with Vania’s support I was able to let go of many things but one thing in particular that had turned my life upside down – dieting.

I have also learned about the real me and people around me and can now place boundaries around how much help I can offer to others without putting myself last.

Working with Vania has been an absolute pleasure and forever insightful. She is a fantastic individual who is humble, patient and genuinely caring who understood each problem I encountered throughout my 6 months of working in a non-judgmental way. This for me was extremely important given that I had already had a bad experience with another therapist who did not understand my problem and labelled me as “depressed” without listening to me.

I learned a tremendous amount not only about dieting but about myself, others around me and life in general and I will never forget the support, guidance and reassurance Vania gave me at a time where I felt completely stuck in my life.

What I have included in my testimonial is not an exhaustive list of what I learned during my time of working with Vania, however I have listed some of the most important lessons that I learned during my work with Vania.

The experience of letting go of diet mentality was harder and took much longer for me to do but now I genuinely feel free from the prison of my own actions and thoughts and I do not think I would have been able to overcome this without Vania’s help. Thank you very much Vania ... as I embark upon a new chapter in my life (married life soon), I will always remember what you have taught me xxx”

“The reason why I was interested in working with Vania was what I noticed on a Binge Eating Disorder Facebook page! I just felt the way she answered questions and responded was intuitive, knowledgeable, understanding and empowering. Her responses resonated with me and made me feel better about myself and what I was going through and I hadn’t even spoken to her! I did some research and found her Peaceful Eating website.

Before I worked with Vania I was stuck. Although I had made efforts to stop dieting, I still carried that mentality with me. I was binging a lot, confused, frustrated and it all seemed rather hopeless! I was having some very dark days indeed!

With Vania’s help I have learned to find space between my thoughts and actions. I have learned how meditation helps with this. I have learned more about self-care and how essential and simple this can be. I have learned about Intuitive Eating and really how to tune in to my body and listen and importantly, I have learned to recognise my hunger signals and how to find satisfaction. I am still working on this but feel empowered and set free to try things, make mistakes and still be ok. I have learnt to breathe! I have learnt to be much kinder to myself.

'It’s a practise' is what you will hear from Vania. Gone are the days when I am so hard on myself and things have improved immeasurably for me. I am no longer binging, although if it happens it’s no big deal and is there to teach me something. I am much more able to stop eating when I am full and I found learning about the brain and how it works fascinating! I am much more free of thinking about food non-stop and I feel like less of a failure and more of a human being than I ever have before.

I never felt like there was a timeframe with Vania. We went at my own pace and every session I came away with such rich, personal learning. I am so grateful for that and I miss her!

If you would like to be more at peace with food and yourself, I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Vania’s expertise. She truly is an amazing person to work with and I consider myself so lucky to have found her. She has such knowledge and sensitivity. She seems to have the ability to get to know who you are and is an expert at figuring out what would work best for you. She makes herself available to you and was able to give me advice and guidance between sessions if I asked.”

“I have struggled with an eating disorder for most of my life. In my mid 40s I had read every book, installed various Apps and visited numerous websites on BED, to no avail. I came across Vania’s facebook page and website and took a ‘leap of faith’ and took up the invitation to have a discovery session.

Vania has since supported me on my journey to develop the self love and respect that my life was missing. Through practising mindfulness and meditation, I am conquering my issues with food. The Skype sessions helped me immensely; I had never before opened up to anyone about my eating disorder. Vania is non judgemental and caring in her approach and provided me with the expertise and guidance to work through various challenges.

I never thought that I could escape that vicious binge cycle that I was caught in; it was all consuming – I am so grateful that I took that initial ‘leap of faith’.”

“Overall you have helped me to come to a better place within myself – your service has been wonderful, personal, heartfelt, thought through – as have you. Thank you.”

“I went to Vania because she showed up in my life at the right time, when I decided I had had enough. I was fed up with my obsession with weight, diets, and the never-ending roller-coaster of self- loathing that came with them as a bonus, that for over half of my life eroded any traces of self-respect and acceptance. Vania showed me in a kind, clear and encouraging way the path to live in the present moment and to self acceptance, which makes it possible to find a place within you where the chase for being thin never led you. I am so grateful I know how to free myself from the prison of my negative thoughts. They will keep coming, because I’m human after all. But now I have the tools to challenge them. Thank you so much, Vania!”

“1. You hold the space.
2. You encourage.
3. You create a safe space.
4. You help me understand that my feelings/fears are manageable.
5. You help me create a path from fear to acceptance by questioning, challenging, validating, honoring, empathizing...
6. You offer another perspective when I can’t find one.
7. You gently guide me.
8. By naming what I may be feeling and thinking, you help me remove the shame and stigma I attach.
9. You offer small, manageable alternatives, stepping stones.”

“When I reached out to Vania for a Discovery Session I was binging regularly and consumed with thoughts about food – what and when was I going to eat, it was my joy and has been for many years. I tried every diet, read books, etc on how to lose weight and spent thousands on therapy to stop eating. I tried practicing mindful eating and was about to give up as it wasn’t working. I decided I will just be fat the rest of my life. The blame voice was constantly around. And then I found the Peaceful Eating website and after going back and forth to it several times and reading all the information there I sent an email to book a free one hour session. Afterwards I felt a strong connection to Vania as someone who can relate to my eating struggles. Each week we talk by phone and sometimes I have very manageable homework to fill out about different aspects of my relationship with food and my feelings. She also often sends meditations that help me connect to my body. They build on one another and at some point I truly got it that my body needs me. I never really understood or felt that way, my emotions and my inner voice ruled. Because I have made that connection, I now care about what I put in my body and how I take care of it. I am so much more aware of all that is around me and the feelings of hopelessness and blame have diminished. Vania believes this is a “practice” and this makes so much sense to me. I am practising mindful eating and it is working, I now nourish my body with food that sustains me and gives me joy and I no longer binge eat. The realization that I needed help to change was when the turnaround began. I couldn’t ask for a better coach than Vania, she is caring, compassionate and best of all I feel safe sharing all my feelings with her.”

“Before I met Vania I’d had a lifetime of eating emotionally, yo-yo dieting, always being conscious of food around me and how other people were eating and what they were eating; body conscious, and of comfort eating. Vania has helped me enormously become “peaceful” around food and I feel really proud of the steps I’ve taken and the journey I’ve gone on and am continuing on. Vania has a lovely warm style, but is firm, she picks you up on things, and makes you question yourself, when appropriate, but always done in a nice way, coming from contribution and love. She helps you see the issues from a completely different perspective using tools that are simple to understand and comprehend. I haven’t weighed myself for months – and I’m very comfy with that! I’ve stopped comparing myself with other people and I’ve started to enjoy the social functions for what they are, rather than being completely focused on the food on my plate! If anyone has been struggling with food for years, I would urge you to contact Vania – she helps you see that it’s not the food that’s the issue, but the emotion behind it, and it’s THAT you deal with and so you then become PEACEFUL with food. Thank you SO much for helping me Vania – it has been a privilege and a pleasure knowing and working with you. Much love. Xxx”

“I found an ability to be honest with myself and approach my eating and my life with peace and respect. Vania is a wonderfully caring coach. She challenges and supports, and the tools she has to hand are incredibly valuable. You will find what works for you. But it’s not magic – you actually have to do the work.”

“I have sought support from Vania a number of times over the past couple of years, and each time she has responded quickly and willingly. Without question, she has an ability to listen and hear beyond just what I’m saying. I have found our interactions to be incredibly helpful, and the time we’ve had together has been used wisely and purposefully. She has listened to me, questioned me, and given me bold support with what she’s seen, support that is wise and insightful and without a doubt, loving in intent. In return, I have always come away from any call with Vania feeling empowered, stronger and clearer in myself. I would happily recommend a conversation with Vania.”

“Working with Vania is a very gentle and non judgemental process. Vania firmly guides you to find your own answers and question your thoughts. Vania creates a safe space for you to feel what you need to feel. I have gained so much benefit from our coaching and would highly recommend Vania to anyone who wants to end their struggle with food or anything for that matter!”

“In a mere 7 sessions, Vania has already enabled me go places that 4 years of psychotherapy did not touch. I feel held, supported and safe. Nothing is too deep or daunting to touch. She is a warm, sensitive, mindful, humourous, insightful woman. I relish my sessions as I know each week some form of transformation will take place. Our work together is invaluable.”