Support &
Learning Group
Eating
Intuitively
A new group starts soon!
Sign up below to get an invite to the next introductory call over Zoom to learn more about this group. It will also be a nice opportunity to meet each other, answer your questions and share any thoughts you may have.
About this support & learning group
A lot of us, including me, have unknowingly developed an unhealthy relationship with food and it’s often a challenge to unlearn this pattern. The goal of this group is to create a safe environment for a small group of people going through similar struggles with food, so we can improve our relationship with food with a sense of support and community🙌 . I strongly believe that getting together every week with a common intention and focus will greatly help us in our journey of becoming intuitive eaters.
Group Meetings
- A new group will be starting soon.
- We will meet virtually for 1hr 15min once a week over 15 weeks.
- You can attend the group for as many weeks as you find helpful.
- Time slot suitable for PST morning, EST noon & CET evening.
- The exact day & time will be decided based on your input.
Course Completion
- For some structure and guidance in our journey, we’ll complete a low cost course created by experienced psychotherapist, author and teacher – Andrea Wachter, hosted on Insight Timer.
- The course goes into the psychological reasons that lead to overeating and offers to address them through various tools based on the principles of intuitive eating.
Voluntary Initiative
- This is a voluntary initiative, motivated by my personal challenges and learnings.
- The group is free to join but you can make optional donations to cover the costs of running the group and support this initiative.
- The access to the course on Insight Timer can cost between $10 to $60, depending on location and account type. More details in FAQs.
- I have no affiliation to this platform or course.
Learning Together
- We’ll listen to the course material and work on the exercises together.
- We will also benefit from the discussions and insights shared in our group.
- No extra time commitment will be required.
- We’ll be relying on the course teacher for guidance through the Insight Timer platform.
About the course
The course we’ll follow is called “Getting Over Overeating” by Andrea Wachter, hosted on a platform called Insight Timer.
While I do not have any monetary affiliation to this platform or course, I have completed this course along with others in multiple iterations of this support group and I believe the approach is very incremental, insightful and deeply healing. The course teacher is an expert in her field and has built this course by bringing in learnings from her own healing journey from overeating and her vast experience helping her clients with the same.
Course Details
“Getting Over Overeating” is a 30 day course which contains short 10-15 minute lessons to help us learn a variety of tools and exercises to understand the deep-rooted reasons behind our behavior and helps us transform our relationship with food. It is based on the principles of intuitive eating. We will structure this course into our weekly meetings.
A Psychological Approach to Overeating
The course approaches the behavior of overeating from a psychological perspective, instead of focusing on nutrition tips. It helps us gain a better understanding of our habitual patterns and break from cycles of dieting and rebelling. It also offers tools to deal with emotions, learn a kinder way of communicating with ourselves and find ways to fill our spirits so that the reliance on food to deal with the stressors in our lives goes down.
Course Teacher
Andrea Wachter is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and teacher who uses professional expertise, personal recovery and humor to help others. She is the author of “Getting Over Overeating for Teens” and the co-author of “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Breaking the ‘Feel Fat’ Spell” and “The Don’t Diet, Live-It Workbook.”
Teacher Support
The course teacher responds to almost all questions/comments on Insight Timer which serves as a great guide to answer the queries and challenges that come up in the group. During every meeting, we’ll discuss any questions coming up in the group and I can help communicate them to the course teacher via Insight Timer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Learn more details in this section
How do I know if this group is right for me?
This support group would be great for you if the following apply:
- Your current eating habits are negatively affecting your life in some way.
- You want to learn to eat more in tune with your body’s needs rather than the emotional and mental stressors in your life.
- You are curious about, somewhat agree with or strongly support the ideas of intuitive eating.
- You are interested in incorporating long term practices into your life and are not looking for something that will quickly impact your weight/appearance.
- You would benefit from a sense of community and are open to sharing a little about your learnings and struggles in a confidential setting during our meetings.
You can attend for as many weeks as you find helpful, there are no hard commitments.
What is the time commitment required?
Other than attending the group meetings, no other time commitment is required. But we’ll naturally try to reflect on the learnings and try to apply them in our lives.
Do I need to pay to join this group?
This group is a voluntary initiative and free to join. But the Insight Timer course itself is not free.
You can purchase the course directly on Insight Timer (roughly $40) and get unlimited access to it. Alternatively you can get a year-long subscription to Insight Timer (roughly $60 per year) or a month-to-month one, both of which would give you access to our course as well as other courses for as long as you have the subscription. They sometimes offer a 7 day free trial when you create an account. You can choose any of these options based on your preference.
Depending on where you’re located and how you’re accessing Insight timer, the prices and offers may vary and you may or may not see a monthly subscription option. In case this is all too confusing, please reach out and we’ll figure it out together.
Running this group takes a lot of time and effort and also money (paid zoom account, advertising, website hosting, etc). We would be very grateful if you make optional donations to support this initiative and also help cover some of the costs. The donations will be accepted monthly and you can donate any amount that seems appropriate to you.
Are you affiliated to Insight Timer or the course instructor?
I have no monetary affiliation to Insight Timer or the course instructor. As I started hosting these groups, I’ve become personally acquainted with the course instructor and she’s also offered some guidance to help me host groups better. I have also personally benefited from the guided meditations and courses on Insight Timer.
What would be the number of participants per group?
I hope to have 10-20 people per group but the actual number will depend on participation. In my experience, a group roughly this size encourages a wide range of ideas and inputs while still being small enough to not be overwhelming. We will also be splitting up into smaller groups of 2-3 people during our meetings (using breakout rooms) to encourage more focused discussions.
What if I cannot make it to a meeting?
In case you miss a meeting, you can complete the lessons on your own by accessing the course on your Insight Timer account. But you would miss out on the group discussions and support. It is highly encouraged to attend as many meetings as possible to stay in touch with the ideas being shared as well as ensure the success of the whole group with your regular participation.
Who will answer the questions that come up in the group?
We will be mainly relying on the active Q&A forum of the course on Insight Timer to answer any questions. The questions are answered by the course teacher Andrea Wachter. I do not have any expertise in psychotherapy or nutrition and will be mainly focused on hosting and facilitation of the group.
What is the rough structure of a group meeting?
The following would be the rough structure of our weekly meetings (this is a loose plan and could evolve over time):
- A few minutes of intro
- Start with the first lesson of the day from the course (typically about 15 minutes)
- Complete any exercises that are part of the lesson, either a writing exercise, short meditation (3-5 min), visualization or reflection on tools shared.
- Discuss our thoughts from the lesson and anything else that comes up (either in break out rooms of 2-3 people or the full group).
- Complete one or two more lessons in a similar format as above.
- Discuss as a larger group towards the end about key insights that came out of the meeting as well as any questions that can be shared with the course teacher.
Where are the weekly meetings conducted?
The meetings will be virtual and held over Zoom. All the details will be shared after you sign up.
Have you hosted a group like this before?
Yes, I have hosted three iterations of this group by April 2023.
Here’s what members shared
About Me
Sneha Venkatesh Yelimeli
I’m a software engineer living in Zurich, Switzerland. Having gone through several health challenges over many years, I am deeply interested in lifestyle based self-care methods for good health and wellbeing. Since August 2021, I have hosted several support groups around topics I really care about. I will be hosting and coordinating the meetings as well as participating in them. I do not have any expertise in psychotherapy or nutrition. I am mainly doing this out of my own interest.
My Motivation
I have personally struggled with overeating as a coping mechanism for my health issues and have been wanting to eat more in tune with my body’s signals rather than my emotional needs. While there is no dearth of resources on this topic, I have found that often the hardest part is integrating them into my life all by myself.
My participation in other group classes and communities made me realize the true value of learning in a group with a feeling of community support. While hosting this support group, I have felt that I am not alone in my struggles and that together we can lean on each other and take small steps in a common direction. This has motivated me to continue hosting and learn this course with others going through these challenges.
I hope that this work will help me heal my own trauma and remember these experiences as something that helped many of us learn and grow.
How do I sign up?
Please complete the form below to sign up and share time slots that work for you.
Even if you’re not sure yet, feel free to indicate your interest by filling up the form anyway.
Have more questions?
Join the introductory call
Reach out over email or social media