Some Loving Inspiration
As a culture we’ve been taught that overeating is a bad thing: something we shouldn’t do. The reality, however, is that eating when you have passed the point of fullness is actually a part of normal eating. It’s especially an important, even critical, part of normal eating when we haven’t been feeding our bodies enough or allowing ourselves to eat what we really want to be eating. Even knowing these truths, if you’re in the recovery process, the fear of overeating for most is very real, valid, and also again, ...
As we embark upon the holiday season during this challenging (and strange) time in the world, there’s likely to be more exposure to family and friends. And with this, there often (unfortunately) comes fatphobic comments about food and body – fatphobia being the fear and hatred of larger body types. During the recovery process from diet culture or an eating disorder (and generally speaking), these comments are harmful, unhelpful and can often send an individual into a state of anxiety and worry, leading them to question all the positive things they’re actively doing to heal ...
Have you ever heard the word “attunement”? I ask because attunement in eating disorder recovery (and recovery from diet culture) is an essential part of healing. Attunement is also one of my favorite words in the work that I do, and I try my best to have it be one of the guiding principles in my life. Just the other day, as I was beginning to feel claustrophobic in my house, I strapped by daughter in her stroller, leashed up my dogs, and hit the pavement. I was craving outside. Craving fresh ...
The other day I was on a call with my supervisor. In the dietetic space, this is basically, someone who holds space for me so I can best hold space for others. On our call, she brought up the power of “noticing.” Noticing what you’re feeling. Noticing the physical sensations that are coming up for you. Noticing the thoughts running in your mind. Noticing what you can hear, smell, taste, feel, see. Noticing. Just noticing. There are so many things to notice. NOT to judge, make assumptions about, or go down ...
How do you nurture a better body image? There’s so much to explore here, but before we dive deep into the topic of better body image, I’d like you to first think about how you describe yourself? Would you start off naming things like your height, hair color, body size, gender, and your line of work? Or, would you start off naming things like: Your passions, Your values, What drives you, What gives you pause, What and who you’d stand up for, or How you take care of yourself when ...
Coping with emotions without using food (whether that be restricting, emotional eating or not eating, overexercising, or binge eating) is a freeing skill to learn and practice. Because when we don’t have ways to cope with our emotions without using food that are aligned with our values and that feel nurturing, we can feel lost and controlled by our emotions. And, if we don’t allow ourselves to feel our feelings, or more importantly, express them or give voice to them in an appropriate way, then we may use food or ...
The fear of weight gain as you become an intuitive eater is real and often heavy. Because you don’t really know what will happen to your body. It’s an unknown. And, in life (especially when it comes to body size in this culture), we’re (for the most part) afraid of the unknown. We just don’t like not knowing what will happen. And, when we embark upon the journey of making peace with food and embracing the natural intuitive eater inside of us, the unknown of, What will happen to my ...
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being no self-compassion whatsoever and 10 being so much self-compassion you just can’t contain it anymore, what number would you rank yourself on the self-compassion meter? Seriously. What number would you give yourself? Why? Because self-compassion (showing yourself the same kindness you’d show a friend) can be a game-changer in your intuitive eating and body image healing journey. For the simple reason that it’s really hard to make peace with food and your body, if you’re constantly at war with yourself. Really hard. At first, ...
If you’re here, reading this, that might mean you’re beginning to look at your body, and your (exhausting) efforts to try and change your body (or lose weight) differently. You might be realizing that all the dieting, restricting, working out, and counting calories or macros is not working. That it’s not worth it. And in fact, all this focus on trying to lose weight, control your body, or “get fit” is making you unwell – mentally, emotionally, physically, and/or spiritually. And, maybe you’re feeling hopeless in your journey to lose ...
The other day, I was on the phone, talking with my little sister. As we were catching up, Madelynn, my now four-month-old baby, started crying. As her lip did her sad, exaggerated upside down frown (who knew she could literally get her mouth to frown like that?!), I sang her favorite little mantra: It’s OK. You’re going to make it. You’re going to survive. It’s OK. You’re going to make it. You’re going to survive. It’s OK. You’re going to make it. You’re going to survive… And slowly, Madelynn started ...