I began working with Chris over a year ago, and I could never imagine feeling the way I do, or being the person I am today without his help. My world has got so much bigger, and so much better, despite letting go of so many things that I thought I valued, that told me they kept me safe, and that I thought gave me community.

They were all empty and all consuming. I think secretly I knew that, and that’s why I sought out help.

I first came across Chris through his blog posts.

It was the first time I’d ever read something that honestly spoke to everything I was going through.

They made me uncomfortable, like someone could read my mind, or see through my facade, but also made me feel understood and cared for, in a way that no one ever had.

I’d been back and forth to doctors, tried every therapy, holistic treatment, and wellness tactic going, but I felt like crap, every day, mentally and physically. I was convinced there was something seriously wrong with me.

To me, these were not ED symptoms, they didn’t make sense, I was eating so there must be something medically wrong.

This went on for years, through severe burnout, stress, depression, extreme highs and extreme lows. It was a number of years before I listened to Chris’ podcast on quasi recovery and I knew in an instant it was me. All those weird symptoms were not unrelated, they were very related, and I needed support.

I had of course read and intellectualised everything on the topic of recovery, nutrition, health, and in many ways knew everything about it. However, this was part of the curse. I believed I was an expert and was the healthy one, I was superior, and was disgusted by others.

The reality is I was lured in by a culture that feeds off vulnerable people, emotions and insecurity.

I had socially legitimised my ED in so many different ways. From mainstream diets or preferences, to fitness and hustle culture, to wellness gurus. I was living a lie.

Chris helped me see through all of this. It took time, but I never felt rushed, or like I was failing. I didn’t even notice how long it was taking.

He treated me and my emotions with respect, made them feel legitimate, but also normal, and totally without judgement. I had never experienced this before, it allowed me to break down my own barriers.

It was the first time I’d been totally honest with a practitioner, because I felt safe and understood. I still to this day don’t quite know how Chris ‘gets it’ so well!

He made me see that my ED reached way beyond food and had invaded so many areas of my life. Patterns, rigidity, control. It was everywhere and made it even harder to escape.

As I progressed through my recovery with Chris, I noticed it more and more. It made me sad. I’ve always craved freedom, and adventure, and aspire to be a free spirit but my life has been governed by rules, ‘discipline’, and achievement. I’ve lived with it so long it was hard to see where the true me lay, between the desire to run away and be free, and the ‘discipline’.

The truth is – somewhere in between, and they actually are compatible once they are both approached in a healthy manner. Both extremes were a way of numbing my feelings and I now see that.

From the outside, I appeared to have it all, but internally every day was a struggle, the wins were never enough and my thoughts were consumed by rigidity.

Today is the first time since perhaps being a child that I am able to thrive internally and externally. Yes, I still have work to do, no the thoughts don’t just magically disappear, but my capacity to live, fully, to love my work again, to maintain healthy boundaries, and to succeed, feeling great doing it, with healthy relationships, and a strong sense of self is something I’ve always wished for.

Chris was the missing piece of the puzzle.

I won’t sugarcoat and say it happens like magic. Getting from quasi recovery to where I am now is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Chris doesn’t dictate or give a plan. It’s totally self-directed and that makes it even more daunting, but I truly believe I wouldn’t have recovered without being put in that position.

It took me so long to find Chris, to commit to this, and to take the leap into the unknown with some unconvincing faith it would be for the best. But it’s true- the only lie is the ED.

I lost so many years of my life, so many experiences I closed myself off from, all for the sake of this false belief my control made things better.

Please don’t hesitate – it’ll only take more. If something feels wrong, if life is a little emptier than it should be, if your body just doesn’t seem to be working as it should, then there probably is something wrong, and it probably isn’t where you thought it was.

Chris gave me the keys to my life and I’ll always be grateful.

I reached out to Chris, two months after I had sworn to myself that I’d never again enrol in any sort of counselling. Almost ten years of struggling with a restrictive eating disorder, four attempts of seeking professional help, and countless times of trying to recover on my own, had left me feeling hopeless.

Moreover, the last shot I took at recovery resulted in an intense period of binge eating. When it started showing on the scale, I considered myself recovered and went back to a “I will restrict again but this time I‘ll be smart about it“ mentality.

So basically I got stuck in the limbo land of not appearing unwell, sort of doing better than I used to but definitely not there yet. A fact I was completely oblivious to, as, in my mind, I was doing great, if it wasn’t for the bingeing.

When I applied to the free initial chat, I didn’t know a lot about Chris. I had listened to two episodes of his podcast, where he stated that he was pretty good at helping clients get to a point of full recovery.

So I decided to work with him and I am really glad I did.

Whenever I sought help in the past I felt “not sick enough,” probably because it‘s hard to recognise all the areas in your life that are being compromised by your disordered behaviours, when you’ve just gotten used to feeling mediocre all the time.

The change I had been most desperate to make was to stop binge eating. Which at the same time constituted one of the areas I had been kind of afraid to talk about, as I feared being put on a meal plan and told that I needed to work on my emotional health.  A scenario I had experienced in the past on numerous occasions.

But with Chris, I never felt judged and he treated my problems with compassion rather than playing the role of the expert.

I think that’s a key aspect of why I kept working with him, after I prematurely quit every other treatment I’d ever attended.

Their advice and endless ideas of what’s best for me caused overwhelm ultimately morphing into frustration and anger. So I’d stop showing up.

There is no point in pressuring people into making changes they are not ready to make. Chris seems to be really aware and respectful of that. I felt like he was helping me move in the right direction from the point I was at.

Before I had been able to give myself permission to eat, I needed a lot of external reinforcement and Chris was able to provide that, sometimes multiple times of the week, as I wrote him an email after every binge during the first few months.

At the same time, he encouraged me to eat satisfactory meals and quantities of food, whenever I felt hungry. I now actually cook for myself, following real recipes!!! And the binge eating did stop!

From when I got ill at the age of ten, to the age of 20, I thought of myself as an anxious, depressed person, chronically bored, chronically numb, no interests, no hobbies, essentially failing at life.

During the course of my work with Chris, I regained the ability to experience joy, and feel the love I have for my family and dogs (who are family too – I am a proud dog mother of two and I always feel like I need to tell people about them).

I also now have interests outside of listening to food and nutrition podcasts, which frankly is something I am super relieved about. Chris always encouraged me to try new activities in my past time. Once he sent over a list of his favourite podcasts so I didn’t have to listen to the same Keto diet-related ones over and over again like a music track.

The idea of not having to go to the gym every day anymore also helped to free up some brain space for me to explore what I actually want to do with my life. I feel like from a personal development standpoint, I am a little behind compared to my peers, as it’s really hard to figure out your life when all you do is to obsess over food and exercises.

Talking to Chris I became more aware of my values and what I want to achieve.

But one of the biggest accomplishments for me is that I am not constantly anxious anymore.

I can highly recommend working with Chris. He has a ton of knowledge, is compassionate, intelligent, and most importantly he knows what he is doing.

I always looked forward to our consultations, which says a lot, as I have never enjoyed talking to any other practitioners.

If you are unsure about seeking help because you don’t feel like you have “enough of a problem”, go seek help anyway. Life is so so much better without having eating issues, no matter how tiny they may seem to you!

Thanks for everything Chris!

I cannot imagine where I would be today were it not for Chris Sandel of Seven Health. I came across his work at some point in 2019 after entering treatment in March of the previous year for a very long history of anorexia nervosa that had begun almost four decades before.

Despite working with a nutritionist and a therapist for more than a year, I was still firmly entrenched in the hellish prison of “quasi” recovery, unable to comprehend how I could completely walk away from what I believed to have been my identity for as long as I could remember. Nor could I imagine a way forward without it.

No doubt searching for every last bit of information I could find on the recovery process without actually doing much about it myself, I came across the brilliant Chris Sandel and his “Real Health Radio” podcast.

I cannot remember which episode I listened to first, but I do know that I was quickly impressed by his sharp intellect, engaging interviewing skills, and refreshing perspective on the meaning of health, often at odds with the diet culture nonsense we are constantly bombarded with our whole lives.

When I later heard Chris talk about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment in the first of three episodes he has released to date, I made the fateful yet frightening decision to contact him.

I instinctively believed that he could be the one to help get me past this miserable impasse that so many of us find ourselves stuck in on our recovery journeys.

I scheduled the free initial chat that Chris offers but didn’t go through with it at first, probably afraid of committing wholly to the recovery process. A couple of months later, I felt ready. I knew from the first few minutes of speaking with Chris that working with him was going to be the best investment I could make for myself and my future.

For someone who has built his life’s work on combining science with compassion, Chris offers exactly that to his clients. Sharing his vast wealth of knowledge in the area of eating disorders, body image struggles, and mental health issues.

In his characteristically gentle way, he serves as an incredibly sympathetic and steadfast anchor in a swirling sea of internal chaos and confusion.

Without ever having experienced an eating disorder himself, Chris somehow intuitively understands us when most others cannot, and even when we are unable to make sense of it ourselves.

Without ever telling his clients what they should do or which plan they should follow, he is brilliant at delicately guiding us to explore our own true selves and find the way forward. He does this in a manner that’s both empowering and authentic, supporting us during what will likely be the most harrowing journey we will ever take in our lives.

Although Chris was trained as a nutritionist and not a therapist, I have gotten more out of our sessions together than any other therapy or psychotherapy I have participated in before or since.

Through our long conversations and the additional resources that Chris recommends, I came to the surprising conclusion that I also have ADHD, and this has helped to explain so much about my past and present struggles. Although I am choosing not to be treated specifically for this condition, having this self-knowledge has been incredibly eye opening and has allowed me to give myself grace for why I am the way I am.

My work with Chris began in October 2020, when I was struggling with debilitating anxiety and feeling absolutely hopeless about the future, believing, like everyone who embarks on this path, that we are the unicorn for whom recovery will not be possible.

As the five-month mark of working with Chris was soon approaching and some of the fog was beginning to lift, I knew that I was not ready to go it on my own and still continue with the progress I had been making. I signed up for another five months of session and after that, yet another.

Living with an eating disorder for so many years necessitates a mountain of unlearning…

…and unpacking close to a lifetime’s worth of beliefs and behaviours before rebuilding anew. I am now at the end of my third term working with Chris, with just one session remaining.

I had started spacing out our conversations a while back, mainly for the reason of not needing such frequent support. But also, if I’m being perfectly honest, because I am going to miss the steadfast presence of this extraordinary man whose kindness, empathy and wisdom have become paramount in my life.

Although there will no doubt be many ups and downs along the way and times when I struggle, I believe that I will be able to continue the journey on my own from this point on.

I am eternally grateful to Chris for the gifts he has given me in our time together and know they will continue to illuminate my path ahead to a free and fulfilling future.

I started working with Chris at the beginning of this year, and our work together has transformed my relationship with my body and how I feel about myself.

I first reached out to Chris because I had a lot of anxiety around my health, and I started to feel that I could only eat things that were very healthy for my body, otherwise, I would be putting myself at risk of all kinds of diseases.

I had completely lost the connection that allowed me to listen to my body and what it needed.

I mainly ate things that I had categorised as ‘good’, regardless of how these things made me feel. I tried to cut out many different food groups, but nothing properly stuck as it just felt unrealistic. I also had periods of intense sugar cravings that were impossible to shake off unless I indulged them. I became a vegetarian about 6 months before starting our work together, which made me even more anxious about getting what I needed from my diet. It felt like a no-win situation.

I have suffered from disordered eating and exercising in the past, however, when I started working with Chris I felt that I had arrived at a place where I was more accepting of my body and had a relatively good relationship with my weight. As we started exploring how I felt about these areas it became clear that this was not the case.

Even though my relationship with my body and exercise had improved, I still had latent feelings of low self-worth around the way I looked. Our work together also made me realise I was having some digestive issues, which previously I had thought was normal.

I was at a stage where I felt lost. I found it difficult to make any decisions about what I ate, which increased my anxiety and led to me eating a very repetitive diet that wasn’t nourishing my body at all, I still felt uneasy about my weight and I would sometimes freak out before attending a wedding or another event because I felt that I didn’t look good enough.

I knew I wanted to change the way I treated myself and my body, and when I started working with Chris I very quickly felt relieved. I didn’t have to do it all on my own and I had someone that I trusted who could guide me through the journey.

I always really looked forward to our conversations, Chris is interesting and funny, and he always had a great podcast or documentary recommendation for me. One of the most important things is that Chris doesn’t just tell you what to do to get better (although I desperately wanted him to at the start!), he helps you to make changes yourself, so you have the tools you need for the rest of your life. I now feel confident in experimenting with new things and listening to how my body feels.

For me, the writing exercises were transformative. I realised that I needed to properly listen to my body and look after it and that the most important thing for me was how I felt rather than what I looked like. I needed to have the energy to be able to live my life the way I wanted, and I wouldn’t have this if I was constantly worried about what I was eating and being skinny.

It also made me reflect on how I have felt in the past when I weighed less, and these were always the times when I was hardest on myself.

I now feel so differently about how I look, it’s not like the critical thoughts never cross my mind, but I am able to see them for what they are and let them go more easily, and realise that how I look isn’t what is most important to me, it’s how I feel.

I started to introduce different foods back into my diet so that I was getting the nutrients I needed. We discussed introducing meat and fish back into my diet a few times a week. I didn’t feel great about this to begin with, but the more we spoke about it the more it became clear that I wasn’t putting my health first. I thought about it and decided to start eating fish rather than meat, and this has made a big difference.

I’m not constantly worrying that my body isn’t getting what it needs and it adds some much-needed variety. I also started to try and eat more satisfying meals, as it turned out I was eating quite ’empty’ food and that unconsciously under fueling might be contributing to my sugar cravings. This also had a really positive effect, and I’m much less inclined to reach for the Lindt after a meal now!

My digestion improved a lot as well. Chris helped me to understand that whatever I’m eating will have very little effect if I’m not properly digesting my food. We spoke a lot about foods that are easier to digest and how to incorporate these into my diet. There has been a massive improvement in my digestion by doing these things.

I also now understand that food isn’t the only thing that impacts digestion, stress also has a lot to do with it, and that during a slightly unstable period in my life it was more likely that I was going to have some digestion issues.

Working with Chris also had a really positive impact on other areas of my life.

When we started working together I was unemployed and was having massive issues with deciding where to go next. As time went on I started to find it easier to make what previously seemed like very daunting decisions.

I am now about to train to be a yoga teacher before starting a new job in the public sector. I feel like I can trust my own decisions and have so much more clarity on how I want to live my life. A huge part of this is down to the support and guidance I received from Chris, and I can’t thank him enough!

It’s hard to put into words the immense gratitude I feel towards Chris and our work together.

I imagine I was one of his clients who falls on the more severe end of the eating disorder spectrum and needed extra support, patience, and time for progress to be made.  I suffered from severe anorexia that eventually turned into orthorexia and over exercising for almost 10 years.

I had done treatment programs in the past but I was not successful for numerous reasons:

1. Me not trusting the practitioners I worked with

2. The practitioners not prioritising the food and focusing mainly on the emotional aspect of recovery.

I listened to Chris’s podcast for months while I continued to overexercise and starve myself and his approach really blew my mind.  I could tell he knew what he was talking about.

It was clear he is okay with challenging the norms in the health and fitness industry when they don’t align with the research or the way bodies function.  The nutrition and health advice Chris discussed began poking tiny holes in my beliefs – I began to slowly realize my health was suffering despite all the “healthy” things I was doing.

The fact that he is receptive to updating his beliefs when he discovers new knowledge, research, and facts made it SO much easier to trust that he is doing right by his clients and not simply trying to sell them an idea of health that he is invested in for profit.  

I would not have been willing to do any of the work I have done this year if I did not believe in Chris’ guidance.

There are not enough people doing what he is doing – prioritizing health over appearance and over the ability to make a profit by selling people ways to achieve the appearance they want.  Yes, working with Chris has cost a good deal of money, but he is selling a service that helps people discover the person they are underneath the body image, the eating disorder, the shame and disgust, the food rituals, and exercise obsessions.

When I met Chris I didn’t have my period, had just been diagnosed with osteoporosis, was underweight, and barely eating 1000 calories day.  I was peeing about 5 times a night and was struggling with waking up and wanting to eat in the middle of the night. I hated being alive.

Fast forward 10 months later and I have had my period for almost 10 months and am eating way more than I was before.  Recovery has been ugly, messy, and painful.  It was not the sunshine and rainbow stories I had heard from others. 

I struggled with a lot of water retention and am still dealing with it but to a much lesser degree.  The first 6 months I felt like I had been hit by a train and was in a large amount of physical pain. Chris reassured me this was all normal and helped me ground me in the facts.

Eating disorders are tricky in the way they attach to logic and health, trying to fool you that actually eating food is responsible for your symptoms not the years of starvation.

I wanted to quit every day – but I didn’t. 

Being able to reach out to Chris to ask questions and vent kept me on course.  He grounded me in what was true, that starvation had hurt my health, and I trusted him.  I still have a long way to go but I am not the same girl who met Chris in 2018.  I am starting to see that my body is capable of functioning normally.  I feel like a teenager again.  I am enjoying life, eating whatever I want, and having fun. 

Our work together these last 10 months is just the beginning for me and I am excited.  As time passes, my body and mind will continue to heal and I will be able to enjoy my life, pursue goals, and navigate stressors and emotions without using the eating disorder to keep myself distracted and numb.  I will have a life and a body capable of living. 

I was in such bad shape in 2018, I could have died if I didn’t throw myself fully into recover like Chris and I have done these past 10 months.  Our work together has both saved my life and created an opportunity for me to truly live.

My wife and I were going to get a divorce. I felt like I was completely hopeless. She’s been struggling with an eating disorder throughout her entire adult life. The problem for me was that she was hiding it from me. I felt betrayed, hurt, hopeless, and helpless. I love my wife so much but I felt like I was contributing to her struggles and enabling her avoidance of them all together. Little did I know at that point I had my own struggle with eating.

I was at a point where I was willing to do anything I could to help the situation. I decided that if I could stay strong and seek help we would have a chance. My wife had been listening to Real Health Radio and thought that if there was anyone that would be able to help, Chris might be someone who would understand us both.

I met with Chris initially to find out if he had ever worked with anyone like me and if he felt like he could actually help. After our first call I felt like I was in great hands.

Chris had this unique ability to talk me through my experience while seeing things through the lens of my wife.

I had no idea what I didn’t know. EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. Chris brought new ideas, new resources, and was able to create new learning experiences for me to discover more about what my wife was going through, find out what I could work on, and help me explore how my wife and I could find a path forward.

I am happy to say my wife and I are happier than we have ever been!

1. We have a very clear way to openly communicate our experiences around food.

2. I know how and when I could be triggering my wife and what I can do to avoid it.

3. I took a path of discovery around my own relationship with food and feel like I’ve unwound a lifetime of confusion.

4. My wife and I genuinely feel prepared to handle anything that comes our way now.

5. My wife and I plan to renew our vows and promise to “co-regulate for the rest of our lives together”.

Chris is an amazing human who genuinely cares so much about his clients.

He was going through unimaginable struggles in his own life while still showing up to every call with the intent on helping make my life better.

My wife and I are forever grateful for the impact he had on us and I will never forget the incredible experience I had working with him.

I took the plunge and emailed Chris about a month or so after my wedding. It had been a long time coming, I knew things weren’t right and I had got myself to the point that I couldn’t fix things single handedly. Pre wedding I had done the usual diet, keeping calories low, working out like a demon, shunning carbs, I even went on a 4-day bootcamp. I knew it was only a short-term fix because my body was essentially broken.

I kept my calories really low on a normal day (mentally beating myself up if I went over this). I was up at 6am for a 7am cardio class every weekday morning, taking pro plus and metabolism boosters to get me there. About 3 days a week on average I would do two rounds of exercise per day.

My muscles were constantly in pain; I developed injury after injury, never giving myself time to recover.

All of this effort was still only just keeping me at the same size and it was becoming more and more of a challenge every day. I was exhausted. And this had been my routine for circa 18 months, incorporating phase one of the Dukan diet every few weeks to maintain my size.

Once the wedding was over, the dress sold and my life back to normal, it sunk in that I just couldn’t carry on like this. I wanted to start a family, but the idea of getting pregnant (fat) filled me with fear. I was terrified I would be tempted back into my old ways and diet or over exercise and put my pregnancy at risk. Not to mention, my periods were all over the place and at some points completely absent – I didn’t even know where to begin.

“Good days” were low calorie, high exercise, no carb. “Bad days” would include a massive booze session, no morning exercise the next day, comfort food all day, feelings of self-hate and a promise to “do better” tomorrow.

I had no clue what markers of a (truly) healthy body were. My metabolism was essentially on strike it was so slow. My thyroid was under performing and my body was doing the bare minimum to survive – hence the periods. I would constantly have water retention around my ankles and calves; my hands would puff up regularly (I would even get Raynaud’s disease in the winter).

I didn’t know what to expect from my first appointment but I can tell you I felt an overwhelming relief.

Relief that I was not past fixing, and relieved that all of my various symptoms were interlinked.

Six months later and I am admiring my growing baby bump. Hit the halfway point today and have bags of energy, am TRULY healthy and despite my fears, have not gained any weight (actually inches as I refuse to weigh myself) anywhere I don’t need to. No puffy ankles or water retention.

It was hard work and took dedication but I was determined to get myself properly healthy. I now know how my body works, I know what it needs, and I know the warning signs when it’s not getting what it needs.

I’m still exercising regularly but because I love the energy it gives me, the endorphins make me feel amazing, and it keeps my muscle in tip top condition. Gone are the days when exercise was just about exhaustion and calorie burn.

It’s amazing how easily you get used to feeling utter crap when things are bad. Also amazing is the turnaround you can feel in a few weeks.

I could not recommend working with Chris highly enough. He is young, he is smart, he is funny, he is human.

He does not bamboozle you with science, he helps you understand what you need to get the best out of your body.

He helps you to realise what you need to do rather than try to brainwash you into believing it.

Chris can’t do anything FOR you – he won’t prescribe you tons of supplements – you have to want to put the work into getting yourself to a better place. It’s addictive, feeling amazing. And feeling anything other than is a stark contrast when you get used to being well – its simple motivation to be good to yourself, for yourself.

My advice to anyone reading this and wondering – don’t be scared to admit that things are not right. It doesn’t have to stay that way. And when you are out the other side you will wonder why you left it so long. It’s your right to feel great.

I just finished working with Chris for 5 months. During this time, he empowered me to take control of my health by building new habits and observing how the changes I made were affecting all facets of my life and health.

He does not tell you what to eat or prescribe a “plan”. He makes suggestions as to what foods may be added that may benefit your health and then you decide if you want to add them and then through observation if adding those foods are a benefit to you.

He also provides input on other self-care actions that could be of benefit, e.g. more sleep, red light, light therapy, etc.

I left my time working with Chris, eating more food, more variety and more often! I learned the importance of properly feeding myself a variety of foods at regular intervals throughout the day. That feeding myself is a competency and that it is one of the most important things I do for myself every single day. It is the most basic of self-care practices.

I am also going to sleep earlier and find most nights I sleep right through the night.

The work I did with Chris was very different from previous experiences with a nutritionist/dietician as he looks at you as a whole person – not just what you eat. He wants to know how you live your life and then helps you implement small changes that can shift how you take care of yourself.

This was a very good experience as I now have new habits in place that I’m not sure I could have gotten to without his help. I now also see the power in working slowly, getting one habit in place before adding another.

Most importantly for me, was that Chris follows a non-diet approach and this was one of the main reasons I decided to work with him. I had no intention of restricting food or using my weight as a marker of health. It was very important for me to work with someone who understood this completely.

I wanted to write to you as it’s been about 6 months since we finished working together and to update you on how things are going. I am now on period number 7 with no major complications and pretty regular too!! This feels like such a massive achievement and it was awesome to share this part of my journey with you and your help.

I’m still in Switzerland and I’m coming up on about half way through my PhD, analysis and write up are well under way with some interesting results too. I start my practice as a trainee sport psych next month which has always been something on the cards but I wanted to be in a secure enough place in my own head before I pursued it.

I’ve been doing some weight lifting and more recently got into powerlifting. Turns out I can get really strong when I fuel for performance. I just registered to compete in the Swiss nationals!! It’s wonderful, food is just a vehicle for gainz now, it doesn’t stress me, I don’t overthink it and I’m loving all the carbs.

I still like to eat well but there are no rules on that. I can get through my lifting sessions without feeling so tired as I used to. I’m no longer engaging in the mathematics of food in and energy expenditure. I’m just interested in adding weight to the bar.

My life has really turned around for the better this year and many people have commented how well I look, even that I always look like I’m glowing. My head is switched on, I get through my working day with heaps of energy and just laugh so freely now.

I nearly got into a situation dating someone with depression but it started to affect my mental health, I noticed it and put my own needs before his. I wouldn’t have done this in the past. I recognise my own worth much more strongly now and my vibrancy has allowed me to make some really good connections with myself and with others.

I am simply bursting with life.

I still have ups and downs but nothing like before and now I know when to take a break, rest, sleep, watch a movie, whatever it might be.

I really wanted to share all of this with you because you took me on at a point at which I was really low and feeling very lost. Like I said my life has flipped 360 and I’m thriving and you helped me face a lot of the challenges that brought me to this place.

The work you do is invaluable. I hope you and the family are all doing well. Thanks once again for your kindness, frankness and generosity.

Working with Chris was a game changer for how I approach food and see my body – it was a lifestyle game changer, really. His style is based on scientific fundamentals, overlaid with how one feels about things – his/her body, as well as what (s)he “feels” like eating. He was crystal clear from the beginning about what (not) to expect, and I appreciated that honesty. For example, he was clear that I would probably some pounds instead of lose in the near future. Not what one wants to hear, but the level of honesty and expectation-setting intrigued me.

From there, Chris acted as almost a body / food counselor. Someone who would instigate conversations I wouldn’t have with anyone: “What do you see when you look in the mirror?… How does this / that food make you feel?..” etc. He prescribed some reflection and soul searching activities that were the right thing for me – and then pushed me through the uncomfortable step of talking about them! On the food front, step 1 was no calorie counting and really listening to what my body needed (a nightmare for someone who has been counting calories every day for 5+ years).

One of the other key facts about Chris is that he doesn’t assign judgement. Food is not “good”or “bad,” “healthy” or “unhealthy.” This is critical for someone trying to overcome years of programmed negative self-talk.

This process was challenging, perhaps most of all because it requires trust of what had been an unknown for me and willingness to work through the journey (adding a few pounds along the way). However, the outcome has been that I have more energy than ever before – and my brain can take on more complex issues at work for a longer time. For the first time (literally, in my life), I can hear what my body wants to eat. The ultimate testimonial of this for me is that I (sometimes!) turn away sweets – not because I’m scared of the calories but – because I authentically don’t feel like them.

For me, I never thought that I’d have a lifestyle not based on: calorie-counting, being at the gym twice per day, and constantly feeling fatigue like I was dragging myself from one activity to the next. Now, I am moving toward the opposite of all those things. I know how to listen to my body – both what it wants to eat and when it needs to rest.

My brain and energy functioning is at an all-time high.

And lastly, my final acceptance of the body I already have has given me the confidence to keep these habits going and feel better in my own skin every day.

I wanted to let everyone know how wonderful and valuable it was to work with Chris. I made the decision to work with Chris but at the same time was very hesitant and skeptical that he could actually help me. I thought that surely he didn’t work with a lady such as myself, self-described as fairly overweight with conflicted, painful thoughts regarding food and weight.

I really didn’t know what I was looking for with regards to help from him but decided to trust the process anyway, not knowing at all what would lie on the other side of our work together. I had heard him speak during a class with Isabel Foxen Duke and liked his talk. I recalled she mentioned that he was one nutritionist she really trusted. I was really not looking forward to keeping track of my food, for even one day, but somehow he convinced me to at least give him 2 days a week of data with which to work.

During the 5 months we worked together, I learned many things, a few of which I will mention. I learned that I wasn’t eating enough food early in the day and that caused me to have difficulty thinking. I learned the protein bars I was consuming 1-2 times per day made my stomach hurt. I learned that I cannot have caffeine or concentrated sweets on an empty stomach.

I finally started to be okay with having to nourish myself with food, as I previously thought that was too much work and not something I should really have to do. I had wanted to eat easy-to-grab foods and not think about what to make. I became more willing to find some crock pot meals and started to enjoy (gasp!) thinking about what to make. I felt especially nourished with split pea soup and chicken noodle soup. I ended up buying a second crock pot as my first one was too small.

I began to feel so much better physically and mentally when I began to actually eat regular meals and snacks. Bloating and indigestion I had prior to working with Chris resolved. Trouble digesting certain foods such as yogurt and other milk products resolved.

It was a very organic process to learn gradually, with curiosity, what makes me feel good and what doesn’t and to want to choose differently. It wasn’t forced. Chris never told me what to eat or not to eat.

Perhaps more importantly than the food changes, I finally learned how to help myself deal with the constant weight and food noise I was exposed to daily. This happened towards the end of our time together. I hadn’t realized how much it was still really getting to me and pulling me off base. I know that I am so much more relaxed about what I eat compared to others who are still in the diet-mentality space. I can get pulled in again sometimes but I remember what we talked about and it really helps me. I remember laughing about some of the most spot-on observations he made regarding my ideas with body image.

Movement was another stuck place for me. I am no longer thinking that I HAVE to move but I like to move, especially with a walk or a short hike. I want to continue to move my body and slowly get stronger so that I will not be too dysfunctional in my older age.

We talked about my fear of exercising in public and what he said really helped me.

I finished working with Chris feeling very fortunate that I had not allowed my fears to stop me from working with this amazing person. I will miss his FaceTime calls but I know I can call on him again at any time, if needed. Thank you Chris from the bottom of my heart!

If you are thinking of getting some help with improving your health you won’t find a better guide than Chris Sandel. He is compassionate and non-judgmental regarding whatever has been going on with you and he listens patiently.

Looking back I know I probably talked his ears off sometimes venting stress I had accumulated from listening to all the wrong voices over too many years, but Chris helped me calm down and see the healthy view.

People sometimes talk about how some things will make you crazy, and today’s climate around health issues can certainly do that, but in the same fashion working with Chris can help give you back your sanity about these things. 

Even after years of being totally out of touch you can re-learn to hear what your body is trying to tell you.

Also, Chris is refreshingly honest and will not tell you any of those pretty lies that you so commonly hear about losing weight. In fact, if you have dieted a lot you will likely have to be willing to accept that you may well have to gain some weight, at least for a while, before you can hope to be your healthiest self. However, if you follow the things Chris recommends you will see your health improve. More importantly you will gain some confidence regarding managing your health in the future which can help immunise you against all the heath craziness that abounds in our world.

Five months may seem like a long time but it goes by swiftly. I was 8 hours out of sync with Chris time wise but he arranged all our Skype sessions and answered my many emails promptly and professionally.

In closing I just want to say that if you are considering signing on with Chris you’d best not procrastinate. Perhaps Chris will always do these sessions as he is certainly great at what he does. However, my own personal feeling is that Chris is special and therefore could be snapped up by some forward thinking employer at any time. This means that your chance to book personal consults with Chris could well be a limited time offer, and if you miss your chance you will have missed out on a really good thing.

He cuts through all the faddy nonsense and teaches you how to eat properly, working with you on a very personal level so everything is tailored to suit your individual needs. I was constantly impressed by his wealth of knowledge, but also grateful of how patient he was with me, particularly when I was a less than impressive student who had to give in to the demands of a hectic schedule! He always understood and found the time to gently steer me in the right direction.

At age 60, I’d spent 30 failed years yo-yo dieting. I had struggled with overeating, weekly restriction/binge cycles, menopause, hormonal imbalances and low self esteem. This problem was driven by the need to “people please” and be a perfectionist. I also struggled with self sabotage and an obsession with food and my weight and a lack of joy.

My attempts to “fix myself” failed time after time and led to a life of guilt and shame. I knew that I was sabotaging my own success. I was in my own way and could not see a clear path to improve my life. I distracted myself with overeating splurges, followed immediately by self beatings of guilt and shame and then drastic extreme dieting. Repeat.

At an all time low, I contacted Chris and signed up for his help. I committed to being transparent and totally honest with him and to completing every assignment on time. This process worked and we made tremendous progress each session.

He is a great listener and skilled in seeing underlying issues that were hidden even to me. He is highly intelligent and yet sensitive and kind. He has a vast array of knowledge and tools that helped me surface and resolve issues. He personalized our work together to my specific needs. Every week he provided insight and exercises to dig deeper. Our focus was on the thoughts and emotions not so much the food. Once I became aware of each issue I was able to resolve them and make more progress.

Today, I have true joy. My weight struggles and low self esteem issues are dead and buried. I love me as I am.

I highly recommend working with Chris Sandel if you want to identify and resolve the root cause of your struggles. He tunes in to your specific needs and surfaces underlying issues that will surprise even you. Once these issues/opportunities are exposed, you can address them in an appropriate way.

Chris exceeded all of my expectations. I can’t thank him enough.

With a past of suffering from an eating disorder I had always had issues around my body and my relationship with food. Even though I had overcome my ED and thought I was following a healthy diet I constantly felt tired and didn’t really know what I was doing wrong.

I had been following Chris’ work for quite a few months and therefore contacted him for an initial chat. After speaking to him I knew straight away that he was the right person for me to work with. Chris made me feel at ease from the start and I felt comfortable about telling him my story.

One of the most important things I achieved through working with him is that he completely changed my relationship with food and how I feel in my body. He took away my fear of “eating too much” and rather showed me that I can feel so much better.

Chris is not only very knowledgeable in his field but also a very genuine nice guy who really cares about his work & his patients.

My sleeping patterns have improved noticeably which had always been an issue in the past. I don’t get cold hands & feet anymore which had been part of my whole life. And I just feel like I have a lot more energy throughout the day and generally feel a lot more relaxed and happy.

The program is not simple; it demands time and commitment but Chris is hugely supportive and always on hand with new ways to face a problem. Chris poses difficult questions and keeps things holistic; it’s not just about your relationship with food but also your view of yourself and what fundamentally drives you. Prepare to be challenged. I was initially resistant to some of his suggestions but his consistent motivation helped me to introduce good habits and now they’re just part of my everyday life and I feel much better for it.

I really enjoyed working with Chris and can’t recommend him highly enough. You can tell Chris has a genuine passion for what he does and he genuinely cares to get the best out of you; this was consistently shown to me throughout our 5 months working together.

From all the conflicting information out there I had a lot of confusion and lost confidence in what I could eat. I thought I was eating a pretty ‘healthy’ diet but I still had some niggling health issues. With Chris’s knowledge I was able to overcome these issues and we could see improvements within the first month to month and a half.

In between our fortnightly Skype sessions, Chris was always available to me via email if anything came up and he always replied to any question I sent him.

Thanks Chris for all your help, I really feel I have wiped clean my old way of thinking about food from when we first met. I’ve been able to follow and implement your recommendations so easily and this has instilled positive and relaxed eating habits that have now become my norm.

I contacted Chris in April 2016 when I came out of hospital after following a course of treatment and being formally diagnosed with endometriosis. This meant that I had to eat in a different way and have a much better understanding of women’s health and nutrition. I didn’t know how to do this and felt stuck. I didn’t think I was ‘unhealthy’ as I didn’t eat junk or processed food and exercised regularly but in order to manage excruciating period pains, extreme fatigue and nausea, I knew I had to do things differently in order to get better. After seeing Chris’s bio on the frame blog, I contacted him direct.

After an initial discussion with Chris I decided to work with him over a period of 6 months, the reason I did this because from the outset I found him to be honest about expectations (what he can and can’t do) and gave practical advice. Over the next couple of months, Chris worked with me to monitor my own health and wellbeing by using data that was personal to me to identify a set of patterns (e.g. food log, pulse, pain threshold, sleep patterns etc.). I also had to follow the fodmap to work out what worked for my body; this was a new area for both of us but he did his research and gave good advice.

I found Chris to be patient and supportive; he let me try things in my own time but was consistent in his approach and didn’t let you get away with things (I may have a stubborn streak).

He always said it was a whole person approach, and it was important to get the basics right: breakfast, sleep, reduce stress, have a balanced diet. I liked the fact that he didn’t subscribe to fashion diets and even questioned some of my gym choices which may have been more of a hindrance than a help. I was very reluctant and sceptical but actually after three months I noticed that by watching what I was eating, especially during my cycle as well as having larger breakfasts (this was the most challenging aspect) and sleeping better, I had little or no pain and other side effects during my menstrual cycle. It does take that long to notice changes in your body and I had to learn to be patient.

I have to work at it and can lapse from time to time, but it took someone like Chris to show what works for my body. I will probably have to go back into hospital at some stage, but right now I am in a much better place now than I was 12 months ago. I’ve learnt a whole new way of eating and living. Thanks Chris.

Whilst suffering from a variety of ailments from dizzying head rushes after eating carbs to constantly ice cold fingers and toes, relentless heartburn and a general confusion about what on earth to eat after the bombardments of different diets, I came across Chris doing a workshop at Frame gym.

Our work together kick started better health habits due to greater knowledge and the resources he recommended to me due to my great personal interest in nutrition (books, webinars and people to follow) have made a big difference in my life.

His common sense way of explaining things combined with his forte for gently making you aware of what can make a huge difference in your health is invaluable. His manner is supportive yet resolute and firm, but all-importantly, not admonishing.

With our fortnightly meetings and continuous email support to my never ending questions (as I’m so detail orientated), he brought stability and routine to my eating habits combined with some deep knowledge about managing stress hormones – and some cracking recipes!

Since I was setting up a business, finishing a diploma, working full time and looking after a household alone, by far the most valuable thing I took away from working with Chris was his input in reminding me of my stress levels when no one else had enough of a look-in at my life to really suggest to do this.

Our work together definitely influenced my decision to completely leave my full time job and take it easy on myself, which meant spending money on taking care of myself physically, emotionally and mentally. Money that I could have chosen to save for when I left work but a decision I don’t regret.

Thank you Chris – you’ve set me up with a new mindset of what it means to be truly healthy, which is priceless.

Working with Chris has been one of the most empowering and informative things I have done for myself. Having always considered myself and my friends as “healthy” eaters, it was eye opening to keep a food diary that revealed the truth. Whilst my choice of food and snacks wasn’t unhealthy, it highlighted a lot of areas for improvement, learning and growth that led to an overall feeling of better health.

I had 2 children in 20 months and the toll on my body then and over the next two years was huge, I didn’t adjust my eating in line with the new demands. When we started working together I had all sorts of concerns, some of which I had been living with for so long that I thought they were normal.

I now no longer have energy slumps in the day, I sleep all night long, I don’t have mood swings. I have learnt what my body needs me to eat to function optimally, and most importantly when. I now feel totally in control and loaded with tools to fall back on when I feel myself slipping back into old habits on a stressful day.

Most importantly I know I have Chris’s support whenever I need it. Thank you Chris!