When I was doing my best to stay small and eat the “healthiest” diet possible, I frequently felt proud of myself for avoiding desserts and other “bad” foods at restaurants or parties. A weird, egotistical sense of pride and superiority swept over me, and I would think about how much more willpower and self-control I […]
An Introduction Welcome to part 2 of our discussion on how fat characters are portrayed in the media. Last week we went over some of the common traits characters in larger bodies are assigned in movies and TV shows. It paints a grim picture of some of my favorite shows, but I remain hopeful that […]
An Introduction Unless you live in a remote mountain village or intentionally get off the grid, you probably consume media all day long. Even if you are in those situations, you’re almost certainly exposed to at least some form of media, be it newspapers, books, and the like. Sadly, fat characters are portrayed in the […]
I am all about self-care. I love the idea of people taking time out of their day to show themselves some love, because I believe our culture encourages us to ignore our needs and keep working. Self-care became a huge talking point at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many people began baking bread […]
Most of us possess at least a bit of familiarity with the famous, or infamous, body mass index. Maybe you learned about it in physical education or health class, or maybe you have seen it on your medical chart after visiting the doctor’s office. Either way, a good majority of people have been acquainted with […]
When people find out that I hold the title of registered dietitian, they usually proceed in one of three ways. One, they ask me to make them a meal plan. Two, they want me to explain which foods are “best”. Or three, they tell me that they probably shouldn’t be “bad” and eat dessert in […]
One little known fact about me is that a love a good poem, especially when delivered by the poet themselves. You can hear the heart and soul put into the work, and it cuts much deeper than reading a poem on my own. I can spend hours watching poetry on Youtube, each poem giving me […]
An Introduction It’s 3am, and you find yourself deep in a Youtube, Instagram, or other application’s rabbit hole. If you’re lucky, you ended up watching hours of funny Vine compilations or cute cat videos. Others may instead stumble upon darker corners of the internet, where conspiracy theories and dangerous ideologies run wild. Maybe, if you […]
Eating disorders are notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat. Sadly, it is estimated that up to 45% of people with eating disorders never receive treatment.1 Some people live nearly their entire lives with an eating disorder that slips detection by a doctor, friend, or family member. Or, loved ones do approach them about their eating […]
An Introduction “How to reduce appetite”, “how to stop eating so much”, “how to stop feeling hungry”. Have you ever searched for the answers to these questions before? I sure have. I typed these inquiries into Google because I had a very specific body type I was striving for, and it felt like practicing restraint […]
Once again, welcome to 2021! If you tuned in to last week’s post, you have hopefully selected a New Year’s Resolution that does not focus on how your body looks or a certain number on a scale. Instead, I sincerely hope that you were able to shift your focus to a body positive/neutral goal, a […]
Introduction Hello and happy New Year! I love New Years because I like a fresh start. I enjoy wondering what the upcoming year will bring, and it’s interesting to speculate about all that could happen around the world and in my own life. With each new year, I also typically set a New Year’s resolution […]
Depending upon your personal situation, the holidays can be a wonderful, relaxing time with family and friends, or they can be stressful, full of drama, and exhausting. This year’s holiday season will be different thanks to the global pandemic, but many people still plan to get together either in person or virtually with family and […]
An Introduction Since starting this blog, I have had a blast connecting with people who read my posts and those who follow me on social media. I have heard incredible stories of people triumphing over disordered eating, body image issues, and diet culture as a whole. Another part of this whole thing called The Diabolical […]
An Introduction Picture this: you could swallow a pill that would help you lose weight, prevent diabetes, heart disease, and cancers. It would help you balance out your hormones, and it would make you happy, confident, and finally feel worthy of love. That would just be the bees knees, wouldn’t it? Many people turn to […]
If you have seen the amazing TV show Fargo, based on the movie of the same title, you may associate the term “aces” with beloved/hated antagonist Lorne Malvo. If you have not seen the amazing TV show Fargo, you should check it out on Hulu as soon as possible, because it is a dramatic masterpiece. […]
Welcome to part 2 of our discussion on youth sports and how they relate to diet culture. If you haven’t read part 1 yet, definitely start there, and come on back when you’re done. Last week, I did a fair amount of bashing when it comes to youth sports. These are thoughts and feelings I […]
An Introduction When asked about their youth sports experiences, many people will report nothing but good things. Some will say they always had great experiences, and that sports molded them into resilient, respectful, and resourceful individuals. Others, will say youth sports destroyed their confidence, body image, and overall well-being. Most people lie somewhere in the […]
An Introduction When I first heard the term “orthorexia”, I felt confused. I knew the suffix ‘orexia’ meant appetite, and I always associated the prefix ‘ortho’ with orthodontist. Could this be a condition where people can’t eat because of tooth and jaw problems? Well, after doing a bit more digging, I found that this was […]
An Introduction Ah, weddings. They’re a beautiful celebration of love and a lifelong commitment. I truly do love weddings- I have cried at most of the ones I have attended, even if I’m not super close to the people actually getting married. There is just something about the ceremony and the vows that gets me […]
I was 18 years old and scared out of my mind to go to college. Sure, I knew some people that would be attending the same university as me, but that didn’t take away the fear of living with a random stranger in a tiny, box-like dorm room, and it didn’t ease my mind about […]
An Introduction I think it’s safe to say that we have all been there. At one time or another, the vast majority of Americans have looked in a mirror and felt concerned about one part of their body, or several. Maybe it was stretch marks, or thunder thighs, or bat wings, or any other number […]
An Introduction $35 billion. We collectively spend approximately that much money on dietary supplements each year.1 Another fascinating numerical value? Over 85,000 dietary supplements sit on shelves and appear in advertisements in the United States alone.2 As it turns out, supplements can be sketchy as heck. These figures may make it seem like dietary supplements […]
An Introduction Whether we realize it or not, we have all experienced the phenomenon of bad science. “Coffee Will Kill You and Your Entire Family” a headline in the local newspaper reads. One week later, you see a different headline bragging about how a “New Study Shows Coffee Can Increase Your Lifespan.” Many people who […]
An Introduction You have probably at least heard whispers of the phrase “intuitive eating”. It gets thrown around on social media, news outlets, and other mediums in such a conflicting manner that it can seem difficult to decipher what intuitive eating actually means. That feels so frustrating, especially since intuitive eating is supposed simplify our […]
For those of you that have been following along on this blog’s journey from the start, you know that we have been talking about different studies that show calorie restriction and dieting doesn’t work in the long term. We have discussed how focused our culture is on weight loss and getting a “better” body. I wanted to take a few steps back to discuss and define diet culture in more depth so that we can all be on the same page. Diet culture is all around us, and the more you know about it, the easier it is to identify and dismantle it. And dismantling diet culture is what this entire blog is about.
An Introduction: Calvin: If everyone looked at the stars each night, I bet they’d live a lot differently. Hobbes: How so? Calvin: Well, when you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day. Hobbes: We spent our day looking under rocks at the creek. Calvin: I […]
From 2004-2016, the show The Biggest Loser aired on NBC. I was definitely aware of this show as it aired, but I was busy watching SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly, and other wonderful programming instead.
Introduction Welcome to this week’s article all about the crappiness of calorie counting!!! I’m trying to be cheerful while talking about calorie counting, but it’s difficult because the premise simply makes me grouchy. Truth be told, there are many, many reasons why I dislike calorie counting. Most of them come from my experience of doing […]
Our society has worked hard to teach us that those who posses larger bodies are automatically unhealthy, and will die of horrible diseases. “If only they would take care of themselves,” our society preaches, “they would lose weight and be healthy!” Interestingly, research is beginning to show that being the victim of weight stigma may […]
I miss the good old days where research ethics weren’t so stringent, and we could run experiments more freely to learn about psychology and physiology. Think of all the cool stuff we could study if “human rights” didn’t stand in the way. I kid- thank goodness for research ethics, but they do prevent lots of […]
First, A Parable Stories have a way of getting through to us and sticking with us for the long haul. The discussion this week is an important one, so we will start this thing off with a parable about spreading ourselves thin from the The 4-Hour Workweek (affiliate) by Tim Ferriss: An American investment banker […]
When we find a bout of motivation, we feel like we could make huge, sweeping changes in our lives and move mountains. Unfortunately, that motivation wears out pretty quickly when we feel overwhelmed by our ambitious plans. It took me 5 years to work up the courage to create this blog and write regularly because I was frozen by my perfectionist tendencies, especially for an undertaking this large. I have since learned that dipping your toe in the water first and working your way in from there may be a more sustainable way to make changes and get things done.
An Introduction I feel so grateful and lucky to have grown up in a two-parent household that always had enough to eat and provided me with education in academics and life. At the same time, I could have really benefitted from someone teaching me how to not feel guilt or shame while eating “bad” foods, […]
I love jokes, comedy, and humor. Dad jokes are my number one choice of wisecracks. Those are my favorite because they’re light-hearted, and they usually don’t come at anyone’s expense. I actually just heard a really funny one the other day, here it goes:
Hot Bod: that was the name of one of my Pinterest boards when I was a freshman in college. It had pictures of females who had the body that I wanted more than anything. They could wear tight sports bras without that dreaded armpit bulge and spandex bottoms without a fresh-baked muffin top. For a […]
It’s a chilly Sunday morning in the middle of February. I pull up to the yoga studio to meet my sister for our weekly hot yoga sesh, which is a tradition I look very much forward to. It allows us to catch up about the week, work up a good sweat, and maybe go for […]
How many times have you gotten something new, thinking it’ll make you so unbelievably happy every time you use it? It’s fun for a while, and you appreciate it the first few times because you really notice the difference between the old and new things. Unfortunately, those feelings of newness wear off pretty quickly. We […]