My Story

Hello and thank you so much for visiting my site! My name is Joy Tanksley, and I live in beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia, with my husband and two precious dachshunds.

The truth is, I’ve always been a pretty positive person. However, like so many people, I used to feel like something was missing from my life, even though I had a successful career, a wonderful marriage, a supportive family, excellent health, etc. I believed that my problem had to do with my weight. I hated my body and thought that if I could get thin I would finally achieve true happiness. Years of dieting in search of the ideal body lead to a seriously damaged relationship with food and a lack of trust in my body’s signals. I lost (and regained) many pounds over the years, and really had nothing to show for it. At my lowest weight, I still hated my body, was still panicked about food, and still felt something wasn’t quite right in my life. Thin wasn’t the answer.

Three years ago, my binge eating became so out of control that I was motivated to seek help. The teachings of Geneen Roth, Martha Beck, Brooke Castillo, Evelyn Tribole, and Eileen Resch, as well as the support of my brilliant life coach, Simone Goudreau, helped me understand a simple truth — life becomes a joy journey when we operate from a position of love rather than fear. Viewing my life through this lens lead me to unravel many unhelpful beliefs systems and build a new foundation of empowerment and self-care.

Today, I love my body and food is a non-issue. No rules. No restrictions. I simply listen to what my body needs. What a glorious difference from the frightening pendulum swing from binge eating back to major restriction! Now I know, without question, that I am whole and worthy without relying on the scale for validation. The thing that was missing from my life was love — love for myself. A radical, all-out, unconditional sense of self-acceptance. I can confidently tell you that I will never struggle with my weight again, because I now know that struggle is a choice. Even if my weight goes up, I can choose not to struggle.

In my coaching practice, I teach others to apply this strategy of dropping the struggle (which means dissolving many limiting beliefs) so they can live every moment from a place of love rather than fear. The really cool thing is that this strategy not only heals eating and body image issues but is highly effective with any area of dissatisfaction, including clutter, relationships, and career.

I want to personally thank you for visiting and taking the time to find out more about my journey. You can read a lot more about me by visiting my blog. For more about how I healed my weight issues, check out ‘How I Made Peace With Food’ and ‘Wanna Know My Weight?’. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with comments or questions.