Erica Thomas, LMFT

08/12/2026

Maybe it's not a willpower problem.

Sometimes I wonder if we're simply asking food to do too much.

To comfort us. To celebrate with us. To give us something to look forward to. To bring a little pleasure into a long day.

This week I'm thinking about what happens when we make room for more sources of joy in our lives, without taking the joy out of food.

I wrote about it in this week's Love Letter. 💗

What brings you joy that has nothing to do with food?

https://mailchi.mp/01a0c59b3167/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12757880

08/11/2026

Does food take up more space in your head than you want it to?

What am I going to eat?

Should I eat that?

Why did I eat that?

Maybe I'll have something later.

I shouldn't be hungry again.

Sometimes the exhausting part of emotional eating isn't even the eating. It's how much noise there can be around food.

One of the things that can help isn't trying harder to control our thoughts about food. It's learning to create a little space around them.

A pause.

A breath.

A moment to notice, What's happening for me right now? What am I feeling? What do I need?

That's what we'll be exploring in my upcoming workshop,

"The Power of the Pause: Mindful Practices for Emotional Eating."

We'll practice simple ways to step out of autopilot and become more present with ourselves and with food, including mindfulness, journaling, and small everyday eating rituals.

Not so that you can eat perfectly.

So that food doesn't have to take up quite so much space.

The Power of the Pause: Mindful Practices for Emotional Eating
Monday, August 31 PST
Online via Zoom
$19

Learn more and register here:

07/30/2026

I'm so excited to share my next workshop...

Over the past several years I've been exploring how self-compassion, body image, and mindfulness all fit together in healing our relationship with food.

This workshop grew out of something I've been practicing myself: the power of simply pausing.

Emotional eating often happens so quickly that we don't even realize we're doing it. What if the goal wasn't more willpower, but creating just enough space to notice what we truly need?

In this gentle, interactive workshop we'll explore mindful practices, journaling, and simple rituals that help us reconnect with ourselves—one compassionate pause at a time.

I'd love to have you join me.

07/29/2026

Maybe you're not self-sabotaging.

For years, I thought that's what I was doing every time I promised myself I'd "be good tomorrow"... and then found myself eating dessert that night.

Now I wonder if that part of me wasn't trying to ruin my plans.

🌟Maybe it was trying to get my attention. 🌟

I wrote about this shift in this week's Love Letter. 💗
https://mailchi.mp/e049ac4d205a/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12757611

Have you ever noticed that the moment something feels forbidden, you want it even more?

07/22/2026

Do you ever eat just to keep yourself going?

Today I caught myself doing that thing where I kept saying, "Just one more thing.

The truth was, I was tired. I needed to just take time for rest.

And I already know that when I keep pushing through exhaustion, I'm much more likely to reach for food because I'm trying to keep myself going.

Today, I tried something different.

💗 I wrote about it in this week's Love Letter: https://mailchi.mp/4627cfb93629/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12757498

Do you ever notice yourself reaching for a snack when you're trying to get through just one more thing?

07/15/2026

✨ Does overwhelm ever make you want to eat?

I've been noticing something about myself.

The more overwhelmed I feel, the more likely I am to reach for food—not because I'm hungry, but because I'm looking for relief.

This week, I tried something different.

I wrote about what happened in this week's Love Letter.

https://mailchi.mp/eatingwithselflove/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12757369

Does overwhelm ever make you want to reach for food?

06/24/2026

✨ What if you didn't have to push so hard?

For most of my life, I believed that pushing was how I accomplished things.

Pushing was how I lost weight, it was how I built my career.

To be fair, it worked, it got me this far.

But lately I've been sitting with a different question:

What if pushing isn't the only path to change?

What if listening to ourselves could be just as powerful?

I explored this question in a very personal way in this week's Love Letter.

You can read it here: https://mailchi.mp/5892259a3a77/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12756635

06/17/2026

✨ For a long time, I thought freedom lived in a smaller body.

I thought life would be easier. I thought I would finally feel at home in myself.

Then I lost over 130 pounds.

And while some things were easier, I eventually discovered that I was still me. Still facing the ordinary challenges of being human. Still searching for peace, belonging, and ease.

It made me realize something I wasn't expecting:

Maybe I wasn't really searching for a smaller body.

Maybe I was searching for something else entirely.

I wrote more about this in this week's Love Letter:

https://mailchi.mp/4e61c6ff7eaa/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12756628

06/12/2026

This week's love letter started with a compliment that made me pause.

I no, it was meant to be kind. And it reminded me of how much we equate beauty worth and success with weight.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

✨ There's so much more to notice about us than our bodies. ✨

This weekend I heard someone compliment a woman on her weight loss.

It was meant kindly.

And still, something inside me hurt.

Because I know how deeply we've been taught that smaller means better. More worthy. More admirable. More deserving of attention.

It made me wonder:

What if we learned to notice different things?

What if we said:

✨ You look happy.

✨ You seem peaceful.

Sometimes we aren't only longing to be smaller.

Sometimes we're longing to feel seen.

What are the ways you hope people see you that have nothing to do with your body?

If this resonated with you, I wrote more about it in this week's Love Letter. You can read it here: https://mailchi.mp/49ff14967f13/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12756626

06/10/2026

✨ There's so much more to notice about us than our bodies. ✨

This weekend I heard someone compliment a woman on her weight loss.

It was meant kindly.

And still, something inside me hurt.

Because I know how deeply we've been taught that smaller means better. More worthy. More admirable. More deserving of attention.

It made me wonder:

What if we learned to notice different things?

What if we said:

✨ You look happy.

✨ You seem peaceful.

Sometimes we aren't only longing to be smaller.

Sometimes we're longing to feel seen.

What are the ways you hope people see you that have nothing to do with your body?

If this resonated with you, I wrote more about it in this week's Love Letter. You can read it here: https://mailchi.mp/49ff14967f13/your-weekly-love-letter-may-12756626