What You’re Doing Now is Incredible
Eating disorder recovery doesn’t happen on a schedule.
Ups and downs are the norm, not the exception. And while none of us could have anticipated the stress and toll of this long moment, I see you doing the best you can.
In the name of building yourselves up, please celebrate your wins, no matter how small or compared-to-normal-less-significant. There is no need to compare what you’re doing now to what you might have done before.
What you’re doing now is incredible.
Things you can consider in this moment to challenge your eating disorder:
1. Start writing down an eating disorder self/healthy self-dialogue. Take any topic that your eating disorder throws at you. Write it down. And using your healthy self, or wishes that you would send to a human that you love, write your way through the discussion. Be sure to end on the healthy self voice.
Simply engaging your eating disorder in this fashion starts to create new neural pathways to help you fight back. Even if you don’t believe the arguments that you make with your eating disorder to be true for you, and are doing so only on behalf of a human you love, starting the dialogue changes your brain.
2. Follow a structured eating pattern. Even if you don’t want to. Especially if you don’t want to. Regular meals, regular snacks. This is helpful for all eating disorders.
3. If you are in a place to incorporate a challenge food, try doing so by incorporating it as part of an organized meal or snack instead of attempting it on its own. Coming at a challenge food from a place of body hunger will add an extra layer of difficulty. Be gentle.
I hope you have access to a treatment team. Please keep your appointments. And if you don’t have a treatment team, please take advantage of the support that is being offered virtually.
You matter. Your healing matters.
Share an in-this-moment recovery win here. Inspire me. Inspire each other. WRITE IT DOWN. Let yourself progress be acknowledged.
#edrecovery #eatingdisorderrecovery #recovery #nutrition #haes #dietitianapproved #antidiet #intuitiveeating #canceldietculture #riotsnotdiets #nourishnotpunish #mindfulness #dietitiananna
Please Meet Brady
For something new and different and lovely, please meet Brady.
Scroll >> He’s part of making this moment a bit easier. Stick around through the video. Worth it. Volume up.
He hopes to help you, too.
Brady was adopted eleven years ago. He was in two other homes before he joined our family. He was five then.
Brady hated the sound of motorcycles, fireworks, and thunder when he was younger. He can’t hear them now, which he appreciates.
He used to lose his mind around cardboard boxes, but has been desensitized. Exposures have been helpful.
He is scared of things in the sky, relative to him. I used to walk him over a bridge with large globe lanterns. He’d look up and turn us around. Same thing with hot air balloons and the very pesky, but consistent, moon.
Brady has been a part of many life events: he was present when my husband proposed to me, he kept my mother-in-law company in the last years, and very attentively, in the last days of her life. When I have hard days, he finds me. Although his human preference is tilted steeply toward my husband.
Brady is a disabled dog. (Like his mama!) Although he has four legs, he doesn’t really use his right hind leg in a functional fashion. He has steps to get onto our couch, and a ramp to get onto our bed. He spends most of his time sleeping. His cataracts have made his vision quite limited, and his hearing is terrible, but his sense of smell seems to have been piqued in lieu of other senses.
Brady makes me laugh. Every day. It is very rare that I wake up without his head near my pillow. He loves bagels. And begging for them because although they smell like nothing to me, he can’t get enough. He loves being on @instagram Live and loves that you ask for him. He’d love you, back.
Happy Saturday, friends.
Sending love,
a
#stayhome #dogsofinstagram #dog #ilovemydog #selfcare #pup #eatingdisorderdietitian #haesdietitian #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitiananna
Eat Food. Regularly. Forever.
Reposting this reminder. This is a post to retort all the bogus messaging about food/weight/exercise that is flooding the interwebs.
✨METABOLISM BOOSTING TIP!✨
EAT FOOD. (Like whatever satisfies, nourishes and appeals to you...this applies right now, too. Even if you’re eating different food, even if it’s processed, even if it’s comforting, even if you’re moving your body differently. Even if, even if, even if....)
REGULARLY. (Like every couple of hours...)
FOREVER. (Like tomorrow and always...). To have a fully functional metabolism, you have to FEED it!
Also fantastic for:
💩Prevention if constipation💩
💥Prevention of hunger💥
🙏Increased sense of calm🙏
🤬Avoidance of the HANGRY🤬
💤Prevention of untimely fatigue💤
💃🏼Increased energy for fun💃🏼
🧠Increased concentration🧠
And so much more... With side effects like this, everyone should jump on the METABOLISM BOOSTING BANDWAGON, ditch diets and commit to eating on the regular.j
It’s not sexy, it’s science.
Why do you prioritize regular eating?
#edrecovery #nourishnotpunish #riotsnotdiets #metabolismbooster #metabolism #burncalories #calories #allbodiesaregoodbodies #effyourbodystandards #effyourbeautystandards #nondietdietitian #antidiet #haes #nofaddiet #healthateverysize #diet #dietculture #science #scienceissexy #covid #metabolicbalance #caloriesincaloriesout #ditchthescale #eatrealfood #dietitianapproved
Nutrition Noise is Everywhere
Dr. @google, your favorite @instagram influencer, your friend on @facebookapp, that random website that your mom thought you would enjoy...whatever.
Nutrition noise is everywhere.
And because nutrition lessons are taught, at younger and younger ages, for the sake of “prevention,“ but really #WeightStigma, and because we want to believe that what we eat matters so much, and because in the midst of a pandemic, nutrition to boost an immune system sounds necessary, this noise won’t stop.
Nutrition noise is just that, noise. 🗣🗣🗣Information provided as gospel for all the people, when it is only applicable for some of the people. If applicable, AT ALL.
The science of nutrition is new. It is an ever-evolving thing. And so, when you hear an influencer disavow gluten as though it is satan, or the @medicalmedium sling some non-scientific BS or when you read about ways to make your immune system fight an illness that you have or are trying to avoid, it makes sense that you feel jostled and confused. Of course.
EATING FROM A POSITION
Black-and-white rules.
Elimination of room for preference.
Elimination of genuine curiosity and fun.
EATING WITH PREFERENCE
Willingness to experiment.
Willingness to be a rule breaker.
Curiosity around how a food makes you feel.
Willingness to try, be disappointed and try again.
Ultimately, my wish for you is that food be gentle, that it not be dictated by position, but by your knowing. Knowing comes from experimentation. Experimentation allows for development of preference.
What have you learned about your preferences in the last few weeks?
I’m very drawn to warm things right now.
Covid is here.
So is healing.
#eatingdisorderrecovery #nutrition #nourishnotpunish #allfoodsfit #selfcompassion #selfcare #health #healthyfood #wellness #diet #dietculture #allfoodisgoodfood #dietitiansofinstagram #bodypositive #nofoodrules #foodrules #dietitianapproved #rdchat #preference #dietitiananna
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