Body Info > Nutrition Info
Have you ever eaten a food that you believed to be adequate, and were annoyed to find yourself looking for something else? Sooner than you felt comfortable with?
Maybe this eating experience started by checking a black and white label. Assessing calorie totals, or grams of protein or fiber or some other thing that promises to tell you about what ought to feel sufficient or satisfactory. And maybe you have a food that you’d really like to eat, but because of that black and white badge, you skip it. And try something else that ‘should’ keep you happy or full or not distracted by food. But then you eat something else. And something else. And something else. Nothing is doing the trick, and by the time you eat the originally desired food, you feel mentally exhausted and physically dreadful.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
This is what happens when we allow black and white labels to dictate food choices. This is outsourcing body wisdom. This might work, short term, but can’t, ongoing.
This is why I LOVE working with satisfaction. Satisfaction is individual. It is subjective. It cannot be predetermined by checking a label. It can’t be appreciated if energy needs are not being met consistently. Satisfaction relies on all of your senses.
Satisfaction is like a fingerprint. It’s unique. It either IS or ISN’T. And yours, alone.
Body information is so much more important than nutrition information. Seeking satisfaction is health-promoting behavior. GET CURIOUS.
#InaccessibleViews For All
This is a story of privilege.
I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. With parents who loved the outdoors and made certain that my sister and I were exposed to the national parks that our state, and in the surrounding states. I grew up hiking and canoeing and fishing and camping.
I remember laying in the backseat of the van whining while being driven through Yellowstone National Park. Refusing to look outside because I was bored. I remember driving to the Badlands and exploring, but not without complaining about how long the drive was. The plains of South Dakota, with their wandering buffalo and cattle guards and endless horizons are beyond compare. I hiked in the Bighorn Mountains and clambered around Devil’s Tower. I dream about this place. I walk there while I’m dreaming. I haven’t been back in nearly two decades. I’d give a lot to have the opportunity to redo my youthful exploration in an able body, but that can’t happen.
When I started #inaccessibleviews, I did it selfishly. I wanted to go back to places that I’d once been able to enjoy in an able body, and always felt welcomed in. In the process, I have learned from POC that these places are inaccessible to them, too.
So when I saw this black family (selling a @subaru_usa) standing at the entrance to a National Park, I was doubly struck. I’ve seen ads for sporting goods stores. And National Parks. They’re full of white folx.
Who have the privilege of taking time from work, can afford park admission, own vehicles, and sport-specific gear.
My unearned privilege is humbling and the fact that this feels like a punch in the gut, is appropriate.
This is a continued plea for #inaccessibleviews - tag me in your stories. Please. Send your friends to the collections...nearly 300 photos and videos from all over the world with more than 10K views. I’m so grateful.
Tell me why you enjoy them, too!
Preference > Position
PREFERENCE > POSITION. Every time.
This concept applies to much of what is discussed in my office: Food choice. Movement selection. How people feel about food and eating, and how people feel about moving their bodies or not.
There is extraordinary power in acknowledging and knowing and trusting your preferences. If there is a certain food that you genuinely do not prefer, or a certain exercise style that is not preferred, excellent. You know you.
But this gets tricky when wellness culture pops it’s nose into decisions and instead of offering you choice, suggests that there is a correct way and an incorrect way.
Instead of saying “I prefer to eat fruits and vegetables regularly,“ the message becomes “I am THE KIND OF PERSON who eats fruits and veggies regularly.” This might seem like a subtle differentiation, but I don’t think it is.
Having a strong position about food actually takes away your choice. It does not allow for growth or change or development of authentic preference.
Position is solid. It is unwavering. And, in my experience, is brittle and leads to fewer choices.
Preference, on the other hand, is fluid. It acknowledges that preferences change, and leaves room for a change in opinion and a change with experience.
To illustrate this point, I will use myself as an example. I don’t enjoy salmon. Because this is a preference, I can go to a restaurant or a party or a friend’s house and eat salmon and be fine. I might not love them the most, and that’s okay. I will eat again.
If I had a very strong position about salmon, for example, It might go something like this… “I am not a person who eats salmon, so I won’t be coming to your party, and I won’t be coming to that event, or I will eat later.“ And perhaps salmon is not a great example here…If it doesn’t feel right for you, play with some diet culture trends. (Gluten, Whole30, paleo, etc.)
If you are making choices based on positional beliefs, I welcome you to consider evaluating your preferences. They might be the same, but the energy of the preference is different.
Happy eating this weekend! Play with this!
*allergies need positions
Compassion. Compassion. Compassion.
Diet and wellness culture are exhausting.
And sell lies. Repeatedly. And when the lies/solutions don’t pan out, it’s your fault.
YUCK.
There is no such thing as a perfect food.
There is no such thing as a food that will save you from being a human. there is no such thing as a food that will boost your longevity, or prevent you from dying.
There is no such thing as a food that will heal you. Scurvy as a possible exception.🍊 Wellness culture disputes these concepts daily.
Not. Here. For. It.
Diet culture gets all of us at our weak points. This is intentional.
For those with long stories of being made to feel uncomfortable in their bodies, of being told or feeling that their bodies were problems, diet culture offers ‘solutions.’ One after another after another. With increasing degrees of self-sacrifice and risk. With the same outcome, for most. And an enormous risk of disordered eating and eating disorders on the side.
For those living with chronic illnesses, diet culture promises a cure, a solution dreamed of but never imagined. An answer. An end to a confusing experience. This shows up as confusing messages, egregious false promises, and bold faced lies. And if you choose not to go down the road of ‘solutions,’ you’re not doing all you can.
I appreciate that you might be dieting, right now. You’re so welcome here. And if you’re trying to get away from dieting and diet culture, but are surrounded by it and tempted as a result, you’re so welcome here. If you’ve gotten angry at the time wasted on dieting, I’m sorry you can’t get that time back, and you’re so welcome here.
Compassion. Compassion. Compassion. Wherever you are. Compassion.
Boring Food is Still Food
Moving away from diet culture and disorder means freedom with food. And freedom with food hopefully means variety, adequacy, flexibility, excitement, and fun.
AND
Sometimes food is boring. Sometimes food is eaten because we know we need energy, we know we need to perform a task, or do a job, or simply need fuel to be alive. Sometimes we eat something simply because it is around. Not because it is something that we want or that we are craving or that necessarily leaves us feeling excited. Not because it is the best thing we’ve ever eaten.
And this is so hard when we are newly free from the handcuffs of diet culture or disorder. When we might be interacting with food freely for the first time in a long time, or maybe for the first time period.
And of course, because this permission and flexibility and freedom is new, it feels like everything we eat should be the next BEST thing.
This, to me, is one of the beauties of intuitive eating. As we give ourselves permission to eat food, we can also give ourselves permission to eat food that we don’t deem to be exceptional.
There will be more food.
There will be more exciting eating opportunities.
Boring food is still food.
The Real Key to a Healthy Diet
A concept for your consideration: a healthy diet includes a trusting and respectful RELATIONSHIP with food.
If you have the privilege of having access to adequate food, I am far more interested in how you feel about a food, how you feel in your body while you’re eating it, and how you experience a food, that I am in the details of it.
Regardless of what it is.
Vitamins aren’t great for you if all you can think about is getting them.
Macros don’t matter if you’re paralyzed by the concept of eating freely.
Eating food in a manner that is dictated by an arbitrary rule? Not good for you.
What would your experience with food look like if you focused on your relationship to it?
Humans Have Needs
Humans have needs. This doesn’t make you needy. It makes you human.
Humans can’t do this life thing alone. This doesn’t make you needy. It makes you human.
My friends, you are allowed to ask for help in the process of being a person.
Even if you don’t want to be a bother.
Even if you don’t want to rely on another.
Even if you don’t feel comfortable asking.
Even if you don’t know how you’ll be received.
Even if asking has been unsuccessful in the past.
Even if you don’t know exactly what you need. But are willing to be curious.
Especially if you want to be more successful in your experience of being.
You may have been raised with the strong message of independence trumping all. You may uphold this ideal independent of messages from another human.
Please don’t misunderstand independence & unnecessary self-reliance.
We are so much better, together. Together is how we fight diet culture. Together is how we change the narrative about idealized bodies. Together is how we fight racism. And fatphobia. And patriarchy. And homophobia. And transphobia. And ableism. Together is how we heal from diets and disorder.
Together is how we change the narrative of having need.
T O G E T H E R.
So I invite you to be a human with needs. Because your need is OUR need.
This is one of my favorite parts of IG; community. Whether you have a real person or people to share your needs with, you can be seen and acknowledged here. I’m unendingly impressed by how you show up for one another.
Let’s start the week together!
In that vein, what do you need right now?
I See You...Again.
I’ve had this conversation one too many times.
A struggle that is invisible to others.
Or unaddressed.
Or unnoticed.
Or unspoken.
A doctor that doesn’t see a problem.
A family member that admires your “dedication.“ A stranger who asks for tips.
A friend who asks what you’ve changed. Or suggests that you make one. “Because it works so well!!”
If you were struggling with an eating disorder and no one said a thing, did a thing or expressed concern about a thing, that doesn’t make your struggle any less real.
I S E E Y O U.
I am so glad you’re here.
Be gentle this weekend, fam.
You Have Permission to Snack
I don’t know why snacking is something we encourage our children to do, but move away from as adults.
Life gets busy. Stress gets in the way. Perhaps we think about diet culture more than we did as kids. Perhaps we have the belief that snacking is an unhealthy behavior. Maybe a belief that eating between meals is off-limits.
This is diet culture. This is family culture.
This is socially accepted among adults, adulting. Ugh. Let’s be kids, again!
Many of us have memories of the excitement of coming home after school, in search of an after-school snack. And if you were fortunate enough to have a healthy relationship with food that time, and access to food, I imagine you looked forward to this snack!
Human bodies do not operate like vehicles. We do not have an external gas tank to provide us with fuel when we need it. We always need it. Our engine runs, always. Eating regularly allows our engine to run more efficiently. It promotes happier digestion, a more stable mood and less erratic interaction with food, itself.
Not that you need my permission, but in case you do: You have permission to snack. Many times a day. Every day.
Going back to the afterschool snack conversation, what was your favorite?
My go to? Tortilla chips with microwave melted cheese with blue 🔹 gushers.
Navigating Diet & Wellness Culture is Hard
Navigating diet and wellness culture is hard. And if you’re on this planet, in one way or another, you are doing so every day.
Navigating diet and wellness culture in the context of having a chronic illness is hard. And just like everyone else, we contend with this noise on a daily basis. But I think it’s okay for me to recognize that in the context of managing a chronic illness, these messages feel a little extra, extra.
A little extra pressure.
A little extra stress.
A little extra self-doubt.
A little extra urgency.
A little extra sense of responsibility.
A little extra sense of should.
A little extra sense of shouldn’t.
A little extra sense of the need for out of body expertise.
I wish that this were easier. I wish the messages were a little less loud and a little less convincing and a little less assertive. I wish that Dr. Google didn’t have seven answers for every question. I wish I never felt compelled to search Dr. Google for an answer.
There are obvious exceptions to my suggestion that focusing on getting enough food is more important than focusing on specific minerals, vitamins, nutrients. If you’re allergic to a thing, don’t eat it. If something makes you feel poorly, don’t eat it.
But if you have done body healing work already, if you are practicing intuitive eating, if you’ve moved beyond diet or disorder and feel as though you need to outsource your dietary expertise, I would ask you to pause.
Living with a chronic illness is stressful. Being terrified of food? Also stressful. Feeling unable to eat food without the risk of harming yourself? Also stressful.
Stressing about minutia in terms of what you’re eating may provide temporary relief because self-care works that way. But in the long run, stressing about food is good for no one.
Food is not medicine.
Stress reduction is not medicine.
And diet culture’s message that food is the cure for or cause of any and everything? Definitely not medicinal.