Meet Sandra Elia | Best Selling Author, Speaker and Food Addiction Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sandra Elia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sandra, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had spent the bulk of my career in a corporate job, working with really smart people who I admired and had fun with. But there was always a feeling I was meant to serve in a bigger way, the job didn’t fulfill my soul’s purpose and it lacked fulfillment.

Then I had a beautiful baby girl 12 years ago, and the prospect of being a single mom and returning to my old position didn’t fit any longer. It was time for the next chapter, but I never planned to help food addicts.

Then one day, a good friend, a soul sister said to me, “Well, Sandra, I guess you are going to help food addicts.”

“Food addicts?” I gasped. “Oh, no no no, I can’t help food addicts. That is complicated. I wouldn’t have anything to offer them.” Granted, I had lost 100 pounds and was a recovering food addict myself, and had sponsored and mentored countless people to recover. I figured that food addicts wanted skinny people to help them, like those on the covers of Beauty and Shape magazines. I thought, Don’t you know that my biggest fear is that they will call me fat? And
if they call me fat, I will crumble. “I can’t,” I concluded. “I just can’t help food addicts.”

“But what if you just tried?” She replied.

So I did. I put one tiny toe on the path. As soon as I set my foot down, the universe responded with a resounding YES.

The opportunities, partnerships, and doctors came, and I was able to create Ontario’s first outpatient program for food
addicts. Then I helped create Canada’s first residential treatment program. The programs were filling up. People were recovering. And the best part is, I was living my passion.

I took what I thought would be the greatest downfall of my life and turned it into a blessing because I get to serve each day.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sandra Elia is a Certified Food Addiction Counselor and a trailblazer in the field of addictive eating. Her expertise has brought about partnerships with Canada’s top obesity and addiction doctors. Her Food Addiction Recovery Program has yielded tremendous success. Patients report improved health, improved sense of well being, most importantly, changing their relationship with food.

Sandra created and facilitates an outpatient Food Addiction Recovery Program in medical clinics across Canada. She co-created Canada’s first 28-day residential treatment program for food addiction at Renascent Addiction Rehab Centre in Toronto.

Sandra knows firsthand the struggle of living with obesity. She has lived two lives: one as a morbidly obese woman for 15 years. She experienced a world that was not made for her size, seeking assistance from biased healthcare providers, and dealing with fat-shaming. Since those difficult days, Sandra has transformed her life and her body, losing over 100 pounds.

Sandra is the Chair of Obesity Matters, a not-for-profit whose Mission is to bring Hope and Empower People affected by Obesity through Education, Community, and Advocacy.

Sandra is an Awarding Winning Motivational Speaker (Several talks have gone viral -over 4M views)

Sandra is a Best-Selling Author of Never Enough: Three Pillars of Food Addiction Recovery.

Sandra’s work has been featured on:
National Post
Global News Toronto
Global News Edmonton
CTV News – Atlantic
Toronto Star
Toronto Sun

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Life to Paper Publishing and Tabitha Rose, for helping me with dyslexia write my first book.

Website: sandraelia.com

Instagram: sandraelia.ca

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-elia/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodaddictionprogram/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@foodaddictionrecoverybysan4611

Image Credits
Darius Bashar Photography