Nutrition with Kristen

Some good tips here. Know that you're not alone and that it's okay to stay committed to recovery.

"If you are feeling particularly triggered by scrolling past these memes, take time to acknowledge those feelings. It’s okay to feel however you’re feeling. Allow yourself to process those feelings, whether through journaling, seeking therapy, or talking to someone who is aligned with your viewpoints. And then, I would highly recommend filtering who you’re following online and unfollow any accounts posting fat phobic content.

Today was day spaghetti for dinner of quarantine at my house. I know lots of people have had spaghetti lots of times already, so hear me out. I don’t like spaghetti. I tolerate it, but I’ve never liked it. My mom thankfully let me eat buttered noodles on spaghetti night when I was a kid, and I more than tolerated the spaghetti at the babysitter’s house because of the copious amount of sugar she put in the sauce (bless her). I like cooking, and I’ve really enjoyed more time... for cooking lately. I have an ongoing list of quarantine dinner options, but it’s been dwindling for awhile now. We’ve repurposed random leftovers into meals and enjoyed them, but spaghetti felt like a sort of quarantine defeat. We have it sometimes because it’s easy and I’m in the minority in not liking it, but I’ve put it off every single day of quarantine so far. The point is one that I discuss so frequently with clients: Not every eating experience is going to be perfect, and that’s okay. Sometimes we have to eat what our family or friends like, or what’s left over, or what we can grab on the way out the door, and all of that is okay and part of having a healthy relationship with food. Food doesn’t have to taste a certain way, look a certain way, or meet specific criteria to be worth it. This meal nourished us, and for that I am grateful. I spruced up our side salad with homemade croutons, and I declared we were having The Grandma Betty Special, which was sugared spaghetti sauce. I did what I could to maximize enjoyment, and that was good enough.

"Friend, when we have been taught we are lesser because we ate our way through to survival using food for soothing or numbing or distracting or landing in or distancing from our body, we have been taught the way to judgement. We have been taught a social script that ignores trauma. We have been taught to ignore the value and meaning of our own experience. We have been taught that some bodies and lives are more equal than others. We have been taught to deny our interconnection. We have learnt to think in a way that is oppressive and all this is wrong wrong wrong. . . . Let’s divest from the idea that our worth is in any way linked to what we eat or earn or weigh or wear or owe or look like and instead sanctify the knowledge that we are all deserving of love and worthy of respect."

Here's one dietitian's perspective on scarcity-driven overeating episodes, which are extremely common even when there's not a global pandemic. I've heard several variations this week on how scarcity mindset is influencing eating behaviors. Even if you don't identify with this particular article, know that you are not alone, and keep fighting for your recovery.

Some good tips here. Know that you're not alone and that it's okay to stay committed to recovery.

Today's statistic brought to you because disordered eating can lead to an eating disorder and shouldn't be considered "normal" behavior for athletes or anyone else.

This is an extremely relevant read for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. #NEDAwareness #ComeAsYouAre Binge eating disorder is THE MOST COMMON EATING DISORDER in the United States, but most people struggling with it will never receive *helpful* treatment. "Research estimates that more than two-thirds of people who currently have BED are going untreated, and fewer than half of people who develop BED will ever receive treatment. Weight stigma and bias are partly to blam...e. Although people of all body weights can develop BED, two-thirds of people who actually get diagnosed have a body mass index (BMI) in the obese range. Because of the false assumption that many people in higher-weight bodies binge eat, they are more likely to be diagnosed, but they’re also more likely to experience weight stigma and feel more pressure to diet, both of which can trigger and sustain BED." See more

It's National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. As a dietitian who helps individuals form a healthier relationship with food, and as someone who used to personal...ly struggle very much with body dissatisfaction and disordered food behaviors, I think it is important to talk about our relationships with food and body. Suffering often occurs in silence and secrecy. I want to bring light to the fact that our medical profession (and society) needs more education on the serious harms of weight stigma and fat-phobia. We need to talk about the very serious, even deadly harms of diet culture. We need to talk about the fact that individuals suffering with eating disorders/disordered eating do not at all have the stereotypical "look" that is often perpetuated by the media and within the medical field. I could go on and on but I will get off my soapbox now and just say this: if you have been dieting most of your life, if you feel ashamed or frustrated because you can't "control" yourself with food or your weight, if you find yourself consumed with negative food/body image thoughts or behaviors -- please, get support from a licensed, registered dietitian, who preferably has specialized training in the treatment of disordered eating or practices from a Health at Every Size approach. "People feel like they have no idea what to eat anymore," Al Bochi said. "They've been listening to all these different food rules -- don't eat carbs, don't eat after seven, eat this to increase your metabolism -- and intuitive eating helps you unlearn that unhealthy relationship with food and bring enjoyment back to the act of eating."

I urge everyone to read this. Though we vary in shape and size, we're all humans here. To forget that is not helping any of us. "My body size is not going to change in any significant way. However, my life, and the lives of other fat people, could change. If only the world would accept that bodies come in a variety of sizes, our lives could be so much better."

I LOVE this concept and have seen it be so beneficial to those feeling scared and overwhelmed. Try recovery.

I highly encourage this read for any parent of a picky eater or any parent desiring their child to eat "healthier". Bribing with dessert so often does more harm than good, but treating dessert like any other food is often a very hard transition for parents. See what other parents have to say about their experience in trying!

Free online event! "Diet culture is in full swing in January, banking on our insecurities and bombarding us with unhelpful messages about food and weight. In this special Say It Brave event, we’ll give you tools to ditch diet culture in 2020 (and beyond), so that you can reclaim your energy and focus on what really matters." You'll learn how to:... -Heal from unhelpful messages about food and weight -Set boundaries with your resolutions -Turn towards internal cues for value-based living Here's the link to register: https://webinar.ringcentral.com//register/WN_W_nqK5ttRayYt

We hear it all the time: "I'm fine!" If I were REALLY struggling, I wouldn't... a) be this weight b) have normal labs c) be able to parent/be a partner d) go to school or work e) all of the above Dr. G discusses how to "combat fine" in one of her original Gaudiani Clinic blogs: https://bit.ly/2QXsE5c