This is About Me
This is not about me.
This is not about you.
THE ONLY WAY THROUGH THIS IS ACTIVELY, TOGETHER.
For the grocery store heroes, the folks who are continuing to deliver our mail, for the pharmacists and healthcare workers, for all the folx who are making this odd moment a little less odd, THANK YOU.
As an immune suppressed human, I am fortunate to be able to limit the time I spend outside my home. That choice is a privilege. There are plenty of humans with compromised bodies that don’t have that choice.
The choice to not see my family or friends or clients or colleagues is a hard one. Virtual connection is wonderful, and it is not the same as being with humans in real life.
I FEEL YOU.
I appreciate the appeal of gathering socially. And watching a crowd gathering gives me the chills right now.
Practice social distancing.
Stay home, if you’re able.
Wash your hands.
Thank the countless humans who are working in this crazy time to make your life as normal as it can be.
Thank you for staying inside so that we can all go outside sooner.
HUGE virtual hugs,
a
#healthcareworkers #doctor #Nurse #rd #rd #hero #Dietitian @usps.official @fedex @ups #amazondriver #drivers #grocerystore #everydayheroes #chronicillness #autoimmunedisease #immunesystem #ms #thisisms #multiplesclerosis #spoonie #stayhome #covid #socialdistancing #staysafe #covidkindness #quarentine
@cdcgov @cdcglobal @who
Food Won't Fix This
I can’t tell you how many humans I have spoken with over the last several weeks who have described turning to food as a primary method of managing right now stress.
Managing a stress that no human on this planet has experienced before.
Managing a stress that is laying low underneath all of the other stresses that life still sends our way.
Managing a stress that cannot be eliminated until we enter the after-all-of-this-phase.
To be honest, I’ve had a very hard time connecting to body-based hunger sensation in the last several weeks.
My body is not communicating hunger sensations frequently. This feels odd. I am accustomed to my body telling me several times a day that I need to eat. And the messages are not uniform.
My “time for breakfast,“ message is different from my “you’re hangry, eat a morning snack,“ signal and is different from my “boy, am I tired,“ afternoon message.
In this moment, I’m getting none of them.
And acknowledging my privilege here, I am eating anyway. I am eating so that I can show up for my clients, for my partner, for you. I’m eating so that I can feel well while I simultaneously feel more drained than I can recall ever feeling.
I am lucky. I am working from my home. I won’t leave my house for another month, when I get my next infusion. I am appreciating my partner doing all the things for me.
Depending on where you live in the world, this virus is closer or further away from you. My degrees of separation from it are getting smaller.
People I love are being treated. People I love are recovering at home. People I love are being made to make decisions about living arrangements. People I love are losing jobs, homes, and security.
If you’re not interested in food, you still need to eat it. If you are using food to cope by means of any eating disorder behavior, eating with structure is still helpful. Please be gentle. You’re so human.
Please let yourself eat.
#EatingDisorderRecovery #eat #food #nutrition #nourish #healthylifestyle #healthyfood #healthyliving #wellness #well #influencer #haes #healthcoach #nutritionist #dietitian #intuitiveeating #antidiet #covid #quarantine #dietitiananna
Compassion. Compassion. Compassion.
Compassion is key in this moment.
According to compassion researcher Kristen Neff, compassion literally means “to suffer together.“ And we are. And if you are, you are not alone.
Wherever you are, please be kind.
I’m talking with folx who have been in eating disorder recovery for years, and are noticing the disorder knocking at the door in the context of isolation and food scarcity and the world.
I’m talking with folx who have been in higher level of care eating disorder treatment, have been asked to leave programs, and/or move to virtual programming, and are being tested in a brand new way.
I’m talking with folx who have engaged in behaviors, every day, multiple times a day, since entering quarantine.
I’m talking with folx who are making incredible strides in recovery, in surprising ways, in this challenging moment.
There is no one right way to do this, in this moment.
Engaging in eating disorder behaviors won’t change this moment, and, please offer yourself compassion if that’s something you’re wrestling with. I see you.
Making progress in this moment may feel scary and, for several humans that I’ve spoken to, doesn’t seem to make sense. Moving forward despite the circumstances seems to be leaving folx feeling almost guilty. I see you.
Wherever you are, I see you and I care about you and I’m grateful that you are here.
COMPASSION. COMPASSION. COMPASSION.
#EatingDisorderRecovery #Food #Eating #Eat #weightloss #weightgain #weightneutral #allbodiesaregoodbodies #haes #recovery #sobriety #healthylifestyle #healthyfood #selfcompassion #health #anxiety #depression #haes #fatpositive #mentalhealth #love #life #wellness #well #love #covid #quarentine #dietitiananna
Please Let Yourself Rest
No prizes are awarded to the human who burns out first. ZERO. We’re in this moment until we’re not.
Please let yourself rest.
Please let yourself rest.
Please let yourself rest. .
Be extra gentle this weekend, friends.
Big love,
a
ps: I forgot that I have my infusion this morning. So I’m getting ready to leave the house for the first time in three weeks. Three weeks, today.
I won’t be on for breakfast, but I will see you on Monday!
#rest #resting #selfcare #covid #quarentine #shelterinplace #mentalhealth #anxiety #depression #eatingdisorderrecovery #sobriety #love #food #nourish #nutrition #haes #antidiet #burnout #healthylifestyle #indulge #edrecovery #selfcompassion #health #dietitian #dietitiananna
Because You Don't Need a Reason to Eat
Because you don’t need a reason. Eat.
Sending big love.
a .
#EatingDisorderRecovery #Food #Eating #Eat #weightloss #weightgain #weightneutral #allbodiesaregoodbodies #haes #recovery #sobriety #healthylifestyle #healthyfood #health #healthateverysize #wellness #well #love #covid #quarentine #dietitiananna
Maybe Just Don't
Maybe just don’t.
Because your relationship to gravity is arbitrary (mostly dictated by genetics) and will change with life.
Because living things change.
Because your body, your Earthsuit is the least interesting thing about you.
Because if you’ve been waiting for permission to NOT weigh yourself, consider this your permission slip.
This advice stands in this moment and will persist after we know what day it is, again.
#eatingdisorderrecovery #nutrition #nutritionist #antidiet #antidietculture #weightloss #weightgain #weightneutral #scale #scalesmash #wellness #well #selfcare #health #mentalhealth #healthylifestyle #healthateverysize #nourish #food #eat #haes #allbodiesaregoodbodies #allbodiesareworthybodies #covid #quarentine #dietitiananna
You Have Permission to Skip
Despite what you may be seeing on social media, no amount of exercise can make this moment less frightening.
If you’re feeling stressed, living in fight or flight mode, (which most of us are, to some degree) actually ENGAGING in the flight response via movement, can keep you in the stress cycle.
Am I saying that all exercise keeps people stressed? Of course not. But if your relationship with movement is unhealthy, perpetuating a practice out of stress won’t make it healthy. And might not do anything but exasperate your stress.
Clients are “arriving” to sessions feeling overwhelmed by the volume of home-based HIIT exercise routines that are espoused as critical for making it through this moment in time. Frustrated by the push-ups and sit-ups and feats of athleticism that are being featured on social media.
Comparison, in a moment calling for compassion, is good for nothing & no one.
If your well-intended friend, coach, influencer, whatever, is making you feel crummy, unfollow. Mute notifications.
Protect yourself.
If you are safe and able to move your body, that is your prerogative. But you do not need to exercise to successfully get through this long moment.
This is not forever, but how you care for yourself now will impact the future. .
#eatingdisorderrecovery #fitness #wellness #well #influencer #healthylifestyle #healthcoach #personaltrainer #nutrition #health #haes #optout #selfcare #covid_19 #quarentine #dietitiananna
Normal Responses to Right Now
If your relationship with food and body is changing or challenging in this moment, I see you.
If you are someone who wants to have all the answers and are struggling with uncertainty, I see you.
If you are watching the news and staying informed, I see you.
If you can’t watch the news and are choosing to make your bubble safe and self-protection oriented, I see you.
If you are chatting with friends via virtual connection, I see you, and if you’re feeling extra lonely in this moment, I see you, too.
None of us have been here before. Everything, every response, is normal.
Human.
Be gentle, friends.
So much love,
a
#EatingDisorderRecovery #Food #Eating #Eat #weightloss #weightgain #weightneutral #allbodiesaregoodbodies #haes #recovery #sobriety #bingeeating #healthylifestyle #healthyfood #health #wellness #well #love #dietitiananna
Need Structure? Use Food
So many of us are contending with the reality of life at home. Lacking the structure that we use to allow our days to feel scheduled and comfortable.
If you’re in that boat, consider using food as structure. Eating regularly will not only help keep your blood sugar stable, your mood as regulated as possible, (no hangry) and your regulars, regular (💩) but it can also promote the creation of a schedule that might otherwise be lacking.
It doesn’t matter when you do this. You can start at 1 AM, and that’s fine. Despite what diet culture suggests, your body doesn’t care what time you eat. Food is metabolized without judgment.
But aim for the guideline of threes: all three macronutrients, grains, fats, proteins, approximately every three hours.
Meals are a combination of 3 to 6 food groups at a time, and snacks are a combo of 2 to 3 food groups at a time. Thereby, the guideline of threes.
Ask yourself, what I feed this to a friend?
We are in this together.
Join me for breakfast, and utilize the extensive support that is available here via @covid19eatingsupport and @theshirarose and others, for comfort and connection and EATING in this wild moment in time.
#EYFF
Love,
a
#EatingDisorderRecovery #Meal #Snack #Eat #mealplanning #structure #metabolism #metabolismbooster #antidiet #allfoodsfit #protein #macro #carbs #fat #nutrition #rdchat #covid_19 #dietitiananna
Your Recovery Might Feel Shaky Right Now
If this unprecedented moment is leaving you feeling stressed and vulnerable in an unprecedented fashion, you are so human.
If this unprecedented moment is leaving you feeling less equipped to manage urges that you are usually able to ride out with relative ease, you are so human.
If this unprecedented moment is making you question your efforts for recovery, you are so human.
If this unprecedented moment is resulting in a reemergence of behaviors that have long since been extinguished, you are so human.
Most all of us need comfort and connection and humanity right now.
At the same time, we are being asked to practice social distancing and are using virtual connection, instead. Harder than hard.
So stay connected if you can.
Stay connected to your team.
Utilize the daily Weekly Support hours with the crew tagged here.
Have weekday breakfast with me.
Tune in to other sources of support that are available on social media.
It’s not the same, and we’re glad to be with you.
As a practitioner, working virtually does not feel the same as sitting in a room with another person. I am fortunate to feel deeply connected to all of my clients, so know that we can withstand this moment, however temporary, and come together on the other side while still having made progress.
And progress is going to look different. And the way I might support a client is going to look differently than it would have, were we not contending with a global pandemic.
This is the reality of now. Thank you for being human with me.
I see you.
I care about you.
I believe in you.
Love,
a