About Us
Our mission is to help you stop obsessing about food, diets, & your body...for good!
You’ve read all the research and tried all the diets, but you still can’t make the new habits stick...
It’s not your fault. The diet game is rigged against you. (And there's research that shows this).
At A New Health Code, our mission is to lift the wool from your eyes so you can get off the diet rollercoaster.
We want to teach you new ways to heal your relationship with food that are actually effective. Since we love research as much as you do, you can rest assured that none of our offerings are dumbed-down or diluted. Just 100% unfiltered, researched, & actionable content.
Short- and long-term relief from the preoccupation with food and body
We seek immediate relief & long-term change through a multi-layered approach, including:
- Change eating (and dieting) behaviors
- Understand the biology of dieting and bingeing
- Identify how food is being used other than to physically nourish your body
- Understand, and cope with feelings that may be driving use of food
- Strategize ways to get needs met other than using food
- Shift focus from weight loss/diet mentality to health
- Stop “shoulding” on yourself
- Understand functions of food and body obsession
- Uncover core beliefs about body size and their source
About You:
A New Health Code clients are smart, determined, and can do whatever they set their minds to. They're resourceful researchers who try to figure things out for themselves. They’ve read so much they could probably qualify to be a nutritionist or personal trainer.
Our clients also tend to be perfectionistic, and unabashed rule followers. They attribute parts of their success to following the rules and are extremely uncomfortable breaking the rules. This quality can be what attracts them to diets or weight loss plans. By trying to lose weight, they are 1) following society’s rules of what a body should look like, and 2) following the rules of the diet or workout plan itself.
This same quality can be the source of shame that surfaces when a diet fails them. They broke the rules, maybe even just a little bit, and their perfectionistic tendencies throw them into the “screw it” mode which may result in binge eating, or what feels like binge eating.
We want to help you break free from this spiral.
About Me
Samantha Barr, MA, LPC, NCC
As a psychotherapist working with high-achieving people who seem to have it “all together” (with the exception of feeling out of control with food and ultimately being dissatisfied with their bodies), I found myself saddened.
My amazing clients were über powerful and capable people. They could accomplish SO many things despite being completely preoccupied by food and body thoughts all. day. long.
They were already contributing so much to the world, but I couldn’t help but wonder what else they could be accomplishing without their relentless inner critics jabbering away about fat and self-discipline.
My clients were – the world was – missing out on their gifts. So, I founded A New Health Code to do something about it
Why Seek "A New Health Code"?
The best way to get to know Our New Health Code is to learn the story behind the name. What’s in a name?
Our first session with a client almost always involves the following:
Client: I just want to be healthy.
Me: …and when you say “healthy” is that actually code for “thin”?
Client: (begrudgingly; often with a sigh) Yes.
Why "Health code"?
Health Code refers to this common usage of the word “healthy” to mean “thin”. It requires speaking in code because some part of you feels guilty or ashamed of the desire to be thin because you "should know better” and are “smarter than that”.
We've all been taught to live by this code. On the one hand, we're told to value what’s on the inside. But on the other hand, we've also been taught, both covertly and overtly, that the inside stuff doesn’t count for much unless the outside is also acceptable.
The pressure to be the “whole package” can drive our food behaviors crazy. What if we could change that?
Why "New"?
For eons, the old code has dictated our bodies must look like X (insert unattainable prescribed ideal here) to be healthy, acceptable, successful, valued, desirable, good enough. To high-achievers like you, the pursuit of X can seem like a preoccupation. You can't help thinking about food and your body all. day. long.
Extinguishing the old code, and the old connotations of "healthy" requires new thinking.
Healthy doesn't have to mean thin because health can come in any size. Thin doesn't have to dictate your worth because health isn't just about what you look like, but is a holistic term inclusive of mental health and self-esteem.
It's up to us
We Define the New Health Code
You are not alone: These struggles and pressure are not unique to you. The “have it all together” exterior may fool you, but there are a ton of other perfectionistic high-achieving people who are also frustrated and mystified by their ability to conquer and accomplish in seemingly every area of their lives but this one.
With a fresh approach rooted in research and innovative ways of thinking, we can crack the old code together.
