Smiling is Not a Treatment for Depression
Smiling is not a treatment for depression.
Dieting is not a solution for negative body image or a disharmonious relationship with food.
#throwback #antidiet #depression #mentalhealth #diet #nodiets #fatactivism #fatpositive #haes #bodypositivity #bodyautonomy #bodytrust #eatingdisorderrecovery
Body Talk is Only Damaging
Body talk is ONLY damaging.
It might feel like lifting someone up, but that is only reaffirming the message that getting smaller, or larger, is the goal. That changing a body, is the goal. We can accomplish more than temporarily altering a body. Aim higher.
It might feel like an innocuous water cooler conversation. Just the thing that you do with your pals, casually. And this might be a thing that you have done for years. Decades, even. And in real life, it has done nothing good for any of the humans engaged in the conversation.
And you may have whispered, under your breath, about a human who you observe and feel inclined to pass judgment on. You may believe that human is unaware of your dissection. I assure you, they are not.
Body talk is only damaging.
It misses a struggle.
It perpetuates weight bias.
It is not about you.
And it can do REAL harm.
Body comments are helpful for no one.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
#bodyimage #bodytalk #body #health #healthyliving #weightbias #weightloss #weightgain #weightneutral #weightstigma #haes #fatpositive #fitness #wellness #fatliberation #eatingdisorderrecovery #bodyautonomy
A Body is Not a Destination
READY OR NOT.
One minute: walking 40 yards.
Two minutes: putting on socks & shoes.
Three minutes: putting pants over my e-stim devices, balancing, and buttoning.
Four minutes: putting on and zipping a jacket, hat, and gloves.
Five minutes: putting on a bra - sitting, hooking in front, (trying to do this repeatedly, often settling for one, but not both hooks) twisting to position. Shirt on while holding something for balance.
Six minutes: getting from my car in a handicapped spot, grabbing my walker from the back seat, holding the car for balance, walking to most any place I go now. Not many, at the moment.
Ten minutes: changing my earrings. Which is why I don’t, mostly.
Twenty minutes: washing my hair. Holding onto the railings and the walls. Lathering with one hand at a time.
All of the rest of my time: getting accustomed to living more efficiently, limiting my output, nesting. Staying in. Getting good at asking for accommodation. Enjoying friends who think about space before I ask them to.
Mine is a body with more experience with multiple sclerosis than anything else.
Early on, from age 15-24 or so, I lived as though I didn’t have a chronic illness. I avoided it. Was complimented on “looking so good,” despite my diagnosis. I treated 13 flares in high school. One more in grad school. Then things got quiet. Fast forward to a change in a disease state, I can’t avoid my reality. My skin burns and tingles in patches, randomly. I can’t move the way I do in my dreams. Some days are better than others.
This body is not what I expected. But it is still in process.
This body is not a destination.
And this body gives me the gift of doing work that I love. My destination of choice. Where I sit and connect to other humans and my disease, my disability, is rarely part of a session. My brain, however demyelinated, is still great at nutrition counseling. I ask clients for physical assistance; open a bottle, a bag, a door. Because my body is not why my clients arrive, this doesn’t matter.
Two humans in a space, together.
Earth suits carrying stories.
I’ll put all of my minutes into this. ❤️
#ThisIsMS #MultipleSclerosis #ChronicIllness #Disability #spoonie #NutritionTherapy #fitness #fashion #relationship #style #human #help #nourish #BodyStories #bodyimage #TheBodyIsNotADestination
Calories Are Good
Here’s the thing, it’s alright to choose a lower-calorie item.
Diet culture might encourage this choice. An eating disorder might encourage it.
Sometimes this will be reflective of what is available to you. Sometimes this will be reflective of the way you feel about eating in a given moment. Maybe you’re eating with a human who has a lot of energy about food. Maybe you’re eating in a way that feels self-protective. Maybe you’re eating in a way that will limit unwelcome input from friends and family and strangers. Maybe you’re eating in hopes of changing your body.
No matter the reason, not getting enough food, energy, will lead to food preoccupation, seeking out of food, ultimately, eating. Usually in a way that does not feel comfortable or is reflective of body desires.
Calories are good. You need them. And likely, many more than you believe you do.
So yes, you can choose a lower-calorie something. And trust that you will eat more, later. This is not a mistake, but rather your body accommodating your food choice and reestablishing homeostasis.
Often, this process of reestablishing homeostasis leads my clients to feel pretty crummy about themselves. I don’t know if that’s part of your story. And as I say in session, this is not a reflection of your humanity. This is biology. This is your body having your back.
Want to be a little less obsessed with food? Think about choosing meals and snacks that are satisfying. In my book, satisfaction can only come with adequacy. This won’t work perfectly. Because nothing about eating is supposed to be perfect.
Experiment with what works for you.
This process is not about getting it right on the first go.
BE CURIOUS.
BE GENTLE.
BE KIND.
#intuitiveeating #foodhacks #energy #nourish #eatingdisorderrecovery #bodytrust #lowcaloriemeals #antidiet #wellness #dietitiananna
You Are Loved
You are loved.
You are loved.
You are loved.
Platonic love is just as important as romantic love.
Self-love makes all the other kinds of love better.
I love that we are here, together.
You are loved.
#valentines #happyvalentinesday #love #loveyourself #selflove #community #eatingdisorderrecovery #beloved #allbodiesaregoodbodies #selfcare
My Wish For You
My wish for you is that your interaction with food be gentle.
That it leaves room for both nutritious food, and delicious food, not assuming they are mutually exclusive.
My wish for you is that your interaction with food be self-directed.
That is rooted in body trust and preference and curiosity.
My wish for you is that your interaction with food be functional.
That it is used to calm and soothe, as well as to energize and concentrate and perform.
My wish for you is that your interaction with food be a bit rebellious.
That you break an eating disorder rule, or a diet culture rule, or a rule that was passed down from someone else, carried on without examination, and is now being questioned.
My wish for you is that you hold food as only one, of many, parts of self-care and health promotion.
Yes, food is important. And if you have access to it, it is nowhere near as precious as wellness culture attempts to convince us all that it is.
My wish for you is that food be conceptualized with a wide lens.
Your body is not looking at every item you eat, putting it on a good or bad list, or analyzing anything in a binary fashion. Allergies, notwithstanding. I am far more curious about how a human interacts with food over the course of several weeks than I am about how a human interacts with food in a single day.
My wish for you is that you forgive yourself for any perceived missteps in eating.
Your body can manage all of it.
Leave a food wish for you, your younger self, or a being you love.
#food #eat #Wellness #HealthAtEverySize #yourbodyisgood #Nutrition #Nourish #orthorexia #exerciseaddiction #allbodiesareworthybodies #intuitiveeating #nourishnotpunish #EatingDisorderRecovery #mindfulness #diet #osfed #arfid #bingeeating #bulimia #anorexia #WellnessCulture #DietCulture #AntiDiet #antidietdietitian #disableddietititian
Do What You Can
Today, I ask that you arrive.
And if that’s all that you can do, know that that is enough.
And if you need to ask for support, that is allowed. And that is enough.
And if you need to consider setting limits, that is allowed. And if you set limits to preserve your mind, that is enough. And if you have goals, and want to work towards them, that is enough. And if you want to find quiet space, that is enough. And if you don’t do anything, that is enough.
DO WHAT YOU CAN. THAT IS ENOUGH.
It is my pleasure to be on this planet with you.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
#recovery #chronicillness #eatingdisorderrecovery #mentalhealth #disability #BingeEatingRecovery #BingeEating #osfedrecovery #osfed #orthorexiarecovery #orthorexia #bulimiarecovery #bulimia #anorexiarecovery #anorexia #arfid #arfidrecovery #Antidiet
Please Let Yourself Cry
Watery eyes? Not releasing stress hormone.
Teary eyes? Releasing stress hormone.
What a beautiful system, and another reminder that your body is on your team. That in any moment, more is going right in your body that is ever going to be wrong.
Crying does not make you less anything. And while it may not change your scenario, it will change your physiology.
I think that’s brilliant.
PLEASE LET YOURSELF CRY.
#selflove #selfcare #Cry #Crying #Heal #Healing #Grief #Anger #Feelings #AllBodiesAreWorthyBodies #BodyTrust #BodyWisdom #eatingdisorderrecovery #chronicillness #osfedrecovery #bulimiarecovery #anorexia #anorexiarecovery #arfidrecovery #bingeeatingrecovery #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety #bodyimage #science
Thin Privilege
This post is in reference to multiple conversations that I’ve had over the last few weeks.
One in which the concept of thin privilege was challenged.
Another, in which a human in a larger body shared stories with me that were poignantly convincing of the fact that fat privilege is in fact, not a thing.
Thin privilege: Being able to go to the store and find clothing that fits your body. Not being worried about your body fitting into a seat. On an airplane, at a theater, at a doctor’s office. Being able to eat without concern of judgment from humans around you. Not necessarily loving your body, but not having a running social commentary that your body is a problem, a risk, or some other deleterious thing. Having the ability to go to the doctor and have your concern heard without receiving input about improving your lived experience by losing weight, first. Regularly seeing images of bodies that look somewhat like yours in the media, without mockery or unpleasantry.
Fat privilege: read above. Reverse all outcomes. This is called OPPRESSION.
Add racism that underlies the thin ideal. Add the impact of discrimination and stigma and then research > allostatic load. We’re hurting humans by not examining prejudice and by not owning our sh*t.
All humans are deserving of respect.
All humans are deserving of inclusion.
All humans are deserving of representation.
I will never understand the experience of someone who lives in a larger body.
This is why naming privilege and lack of expertise matters. And this is only the beginning of the work that is required for fat liberation. Fat liberation is good for all bodies. Thin privilege exists because normalized oppression of fat bodies does, too.
I can hold stories with compassion, but only, ONLY because I recognize and NAME that I am not the expert of that lived experience.
If the concept of thin privilege, or privilege in general, makes you uncomfortable, you are being pointed toward your work.
#thinprivilege #haes #healthateverysize #bodystories #bodyrespect #bodypositivity #bodyautonomy #antidiet #fatpositive #fatpositivedietitian #racism #ableism #fearingtheblackbody #fatactivism #fatliberation
You Can Stop
You can just stop.
You can leave a class.
You can stop a video.
You can decide to lay down.
You can put down the weight.
You can cancel a membership.
No pain, no gain, it’s a stupid expression. And certainly, if you are competing, against yourself or others, you might want to push. And if that competition is coming from a healthy place, then, by all means, get it. And if that competition is coming from an unhealthy place or a place that leaves you feeling yucky, you can leave it.
You can just stop. Come back when it feels better. Reevaluate the nature of your relationship with movement. Get curious about how you want to feel.
AND, YOU CAN JUST STOP.
#Movement #Exercise #Fitness #Wellness #personaltrainer #athletes #Coach #Fitspo #HealthAtEverySize #yourbodyisgood #Nutrition #Nourish #orthorexia #exerciseaddiction #EatingDisorderRecovery #mindfulness #WellnessCulture #DietCulture #AntiDiet