#NonDiet

Destructive Dieting Voices: Part 3 - The Diet Rebel

Hi, everyone! If you've been following my blog, you know that we recently explored two of the three destructive dieting voices which are listed in the fabulous book, Intuitive Eating. The Food Police and the Nutrition Informant. To wrap up our three-part destructive dieting voices series, let's talk about the third destructive dieting voice - the Diet Rebel! The Diet Rebel voice frequently has rebellious thoughts in response to being on the receiving end of critical or con

Destructive Dieting Voices: Part 2 - The Nutrition Informant

Hi, everyone! In last week's blog post, "Destructive Dieting Voices: Part 1 - Challenge the Food Police," we explored how the Food Police is a destructive dieting voice that symbolizes our beliefs and thoughts that label what we eat - and ourselves - as "good" or "bad" depending on our food choices. Well today, let's talk about a second destructive dieting voice, the Nutrition Informant voice! As the Intuitive Eating Workbook states, "The Nutrition Informant voice aligns wi

Destructive Dieting Voices: Part 1- Challenge the Food Police

Today I'm writing the first of three blog posts about three destructive dieting voices - the Food Police, the Nutrition Informant, and the Diet Rebel. All three destructive voices are discussed in the life-changing book, Intuitive Eating. But for today, let's focus on the Food Police! The food police prevents us from making peace with food and our bodies. The food police contributes to judging ourselves based on what we eat, how much we eat, and how frequently we eat. Cha

Why It's Helpful to Stop Plate Checking

Many of us have been there. We're eating a scrumptious meal - when someone nearby suddenly says to us, "You're still hungry?!" Or how about, "You're so good. Your meal is so healthy!" Or, maybe someone doesn't say anything, but gives that look of disgust which sends the message that what you're eating or the amount of food that you're eating is bad, gross, or wrong. None of which is acceptable. Yep. Being surrounded by diet culture frequently results in judging others b

5 Tips to Navigate Body Comparisons

You are worth so much. But if you're struggling with your relationship with food and your body, it doesn't always feel that way does it? In fact, it can feel down right scary when a big part of your self worth comes from the size of your body and your overall appearance. Bodies do change. How we look shifts throughout life. It can be so easy to compare ourselves to others in different areas of life. We are human after all. When I first begin working with new clients as

Respect Your Body - Intuitive Eating

In a world where we're surrounded by diet culture and are frequently told that we're not good enough, it can understandably be hard for many people to respect their bodies. It can be challenging for them to make their bodies feel comfortable and to meet their bodies' basic needs. To treat their bodies with kindness. The reality is that diet culture needs the fixing. You are worth so much NOW. This is one of the reasons why I love the 8th principle of Intuitive Eating so m

Strategies to Help You Navigate Diet Culture

As I wrote in my last blog post, "Diet Culture: Examples of its Influence in Our Society," diet culture presents its influence in so many areas of life. Among many things, diet culture can result in experiencing size discrimination (weight stigma). Weight stigma can then lead to internalized weight stigma - in which the person being discriminated against believes the labels that have been placed upon them. Both weight stigma and internalized weight stigma may be harmful to

Intuitive Eating: Grieving the Loss of a Loved One - Practice Self-Care

Grieving the loss of a loved one is HARD. It's painful. It's unpredictable. It's part of life. And It can affect our emotional, physical, and mental well-being. I am truly sorry if you're grieving the loss of a loved one - or have in the past. I am actually writing this post because I grieved a lot at the end of last year, and the beginning of this year after losing the physical presence of two uncles and our cat, Starla - all within a few months. I also found that the

Ditch the Scale - Focus on Behaviors

According to research completed for The Succeed Foundation, 30% of the women surveyed expressed that they would "trade at least one year of their life to achieve their ideal body weight and shape." A portion of those surveyed indicated that they would give up at least 21 years of life to obtain their preferred body weight and size. Obsessing about obtaining a specific body size or weight can contribute to doing things that may be harmful to your health - and distract you fro

Rejecting the Diet Mentality: Check in with Yourself

If you're trying to give up dieting once and for all - or are thinking about it - I am so very happy for you! Dieting can contribute to emotional, mental, and physical harm - some of which includes an increased risk of worsened cardiovascular health through yo-yo dieting/weight cycling - no matter the size of the body, and an enhanced risk of developing an eating disorder. When it comes to weight loss - which is the main reason that many people go on a diet - 95% of the peop

My Favorite Non-Diet Podcasts for the Holidays and Beyond

Here's a roundup of my favorite non-diet podcasts to serve as an additional tool for supporting you during the holidays and beyond - on

Dieting Doesn't Work for Most People and can be Harmful

For years our society has been bombarded with unrealistic expectations about how we should look. We're also regularly told what we should eat, and that in order to be "healthy," we should go on a diet and lose weight. We are surrounded by diet culture. As I've mentioned in the past, I previously dieted off and on for decades - prior to doing some internal housekeeping, and eventually becoming a non-diet dietitian who assists clients with making peace with food and their bod

You are Worth so Much

It's no secret that we live in a world in which we're constantly bombarded with unrealistic expectations about how we should look. These unrealistic images are everywhere - starting at a young age. There is always someone making a profit from selling the idea that you need to look a certain way - or preserve your appearance - to be good enough. It's no wonder that for some people, their appearance makes up a big part of their self-worth. Maybe some of you reading this are

Embrace Life. Celebrate Food. Be You.