by Admin | Aug 16, 2019 | Ditching Diet Culture
A few weeks ago, a negative article shaming Nike for using plus sized mannequins circulated around. There was a lot of backlash on most of the HAES© friendly social media accounts I follow. People were rightfully upset that Nike was being shamed for this. This response wasn’t surprising to me to see within the HAES circle. But what was pleasantly surprising to me was that I saw lots of people from other circles; friends, family, acquaintances, etc. who were just as openly appalled by the post that shamed Nike. There was the article was fatphobic. And it promoted really damaging messages that society tends to promote, such as a fat woman working out because she enjoys it rather than to lose weight is “wrong”. The idea that there’s a way to look “fit” or “healthy” is restrictive, damaging, and outright wrong. But I think some good came out of the article, regarding the magnitude of the backlash. I think it shows that while there’s obviously lots of work to do, that people are starting to be more accepting of body diversity, and there’s more rejection of body shaming. The purpose of this blog post is to provide information on how you can play a role with this progress. Like I said earlier, there’s still lots of work to be done to make being inclusive of all bodies the norm, and every bit helps. I recognize I’m writing this resource post as someone who has thin privilege, and its so, so important that if you’re a thin ally to not take over/define movements that aren’t about you. The... 
by Admin | Jan 25, 2019 | Ditching Diet Culture
Oh, January Resolutions… The month in which we are all bombarded with diet talk galore. We all feel the pressure to make New Year’s Resolutions and somehow reinvent ourselves in the New Year. But, truly, all that happens is the sun sets and rises on another day. The diet industry has completely taken over New Year’s to, well, make a huge profit. The diet industry is worth almost 70 billion dollars. What this means is this industry knows how to play it to get our money. And they do this by making us feel badly about our bodies. And driving us to want to change our bodies to meet this unrealistic ideal. Think about it… how many New Year’s resolutions are about some kind of weight loss or toning or shaping our bodies? I don’t believe it’s anyone’s “fault” if they fall victim to the diet industry. It’s constantly in our face. We are constantly bombarded with those messages. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You do not have to measure your worth by the number on the scale. Thoughts of food and body image take away from you living your full and best life. Overall, I do think New Year’s Resolutions are overrated. We get all hyped up for the New Year and what’s going to be better, but the resolutions don’t last. And that’s okay. If it’s a diet, it wasn’t meant to last. I’d like to talk a bit about reframing resolutions if you do decide to make one. Which, keep in mind, there is absolutely no pressure to make one. Personally, sometimes I... 
by Admin | Jan 4, 2019 | Ditching Diet Culture
Happy New Year! When I think about the New Year, my brain automatically goes to “New Year’s Resolutions.” I think about all the messaging out there about “weight loss” and becoming a better YOU (usually by some form of losing weight). *cue eye roll* And this messaging is just so damaging, well to all people, but particularly to those struggling with eating disorders and those who are working on improving their relationships with food and body. The diet industry sells us a false sense of happiness. When our self worth is based on our appearance and the way our bodies look, we will never truly be content. And the diet industry makes a HUGE profit out of our discontent. Encouraging words to remember! When I help my clients make New Year’s Resolutions, if they decide to make them, we never talk about resolutions about food. We instead talk about self care and compassion and silly things like…. Putting your clothes back on the hanger after you try them on. In this blog, I wanted to talk about diet culture terms to watch out for in 2019. The reason being…. I feel it is important to call out diet culture. This is because diet culture can often be difficult to see. It can often be difficult to understand the ways it can shapeshift and insert itself into a “non-dieting approach” (making it non-non-dieting). Once you see it, and are able to point it out. It gets WAY easier to un-see. Please keep in mind: some of these below terms may seem harmless, so you may be a bit confused. That’s... 
by Admin | May 25, 2018 | Ditching Diet Culture, Maryland Eating Disorder Expert
Last week, I took my spring finals. I celebrated finishing my last exam with ice cream and a 2 hour nap and it was honestly a great afternoon. After finals, I was staying in town to watch my roommate graduate and I was excited about all of this new free time. However, a few days into my break I was really tired and confused about why. I was sleeping in. AND taking naps. My time was spent mostly with friends. Compared to my past weeks of intense school commitments, my first week of summer was a breeze. I felt like I should be bursting with energy. However, once I considered my dramatic routine change my exhaustion made a lot of sense. Throughout the course of the semester I woke up around the same time. I ate my meals around the same time. I had pretty set routine of when I exercised, relaxed, and studied. Then summer started and with that came the physical and mental effects of changing up a schedule. Your body will most likely “notice” when your routine shifts. I was doing pretty much everything on a different schedule than what I was used to and my energy ended up a little wacky. I listened to what my body was trying to tell me and practiced a little self-care to help reestablish my energy. I specifically wanted to write about the fatigue that can accompany routine change because Summer tends to come with schedule shifts for many people. School lets out. Kids may be home for the summer. Family comes into town. People may take off from... 
by Admin | Apr 27, 2018 | Ditching Diet Culture, Maryland Eating Disorder Expert
I recently gave a presentation to therapists titled “Practical Approaches to Treating Eating Disorders.” As you may or may not know, eating disorder work is a very niche group. I love working with this population and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But, it’s important to know that it’s not for everyone. For example, just as I love eating disorder work, working in the kidney disease population is not for me. I find it quite confusing and I have a ton of respect for dietitians who do that work! There are many therapists out there who do amazing work with their client and they don’t have adequate training in ED. Either they aren’t often exposed or they having gotten training. I was appreciative of the therapists who came out to my training. Many of them had seen an influx in clients with eating disorder symptoms and they wanted to know how to best support their clients. Even if best supporting them meant referring out. 1. Ask yourself, is eating disorder work right for me? Like I said, it’s not for everyone! And that’s totally fine. It doesn’t have to be a good fit for you. Marci Evans, a dietitian in Massachusetts, created a quiz for health practitioners to take in order for them to see if ED work is a proper fit. You can find the link to the quiz here. If it’s something that interests with you, I encourage you to get additional training. Training is very necessary working with the eating disorder population. Many health practitioners in the ED field also get supervision from colleagues who may have...