Let’s be real: all diets are awful. Intentional restriction is unhealthy for the body, mind and spirit. A life spent fixated on food rules and self-criticism is a small life. Dieting is associated with a whole host of negative psychological and physical health outcomes including eating disorders and disordered eating, body image dissatisfaction, and weight
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to be “healthy.” Thanks to diet culture, “health” has become synonymous with thin, white, young, and wealthy. It’s a path paved with $12 cold pressed juices, $30 barre classes, and $60 vaginal jade eggs (thanks Goop, insert eyeroll here). But is that what health is
Halloween is just over a week away and I’ve been slowly coming to terms with the fact that it’s going to look pretty different this year. In the midst of a global pandemic, many (if not all) the annual traditions have been cancelled. No Halloween parades, no trick-or-treating, no big parties. Like many parents, I’ve
Dear Parents, Please do not put your children on a diet. As a parent myself, I get it. We want the best for our kids. We worry about our children. When we think that there could be something wrong with our child, we want to do whatever we can to fix it. That’s what being
Can mindful eating help me lose weight? Maybe, but we’re missing the forest for the trees. Mindful eating isn’t a weight-loss tool, and I’m here to tell you why. I believe that mindful eating is an excellent tool to add to your arsenal when trying to change your relationship with food. I use it with
Your head feels fuzzy and your stomach feels like it’s about to burst. The cabinets are strewn open, and the wrappers surround you like a halo. The shame and guilt builds inside of your chest, and the panic about how to fix it send your brain into a tizzy. You’ve binged. You probably want to
Warm weather is arriving! And while visions of al fresco dining, pool floats, and frozen daiquiris can make us giddy with excitement, for those of us struggling with body image issues (and research shows that is over 91% of us), the thought of baring more of our bodies can send shivers down our spines. All
Heal your relationship with food! And lose weight too! These are the claims that many programs focused on treating emotional eating make. And it’s easy to understand why. It’s enticing, right? The problem is, it’s not always true. When I see this kind of marketing, I can’t help but feel like it’s diet-culture-in-disguise capitalizing on
In our self-improvement obsessed culture, year-end reflection is focused not on gratitude for what we have, but on striving for what we have not yet obtained. And for many of us, our biggest self-improvement project is our body. Last year, the #1 resolution was to “eat healthier” (read: diet). Despite the fact that diets fail
Halloween is here! Let’s leave the scare-factor to the horror films, not the candy. The holiday season is about to officially begin, and the first celebration is Halloween. Halloween is an exciting and spooky holiday that so many of us enjoyed as children. But, as with most things in this world, diet culture has ruined
