I think we can all believe that those who love and care for us have good intentions. However, when all of us grow up with a narrow perspective of what health looks like, being “healthy” can feel like a cage. The dominant view on health seems to be fixated more and more on a thin body, a meticulously curated diet, a rigid exercise routine, and a denial of existence in authenticity. 

One of the biggest reasons I love my work is because I get to witness the incredible capacity of courage, strength, and love through my clients.

Many businesses started the initiative of putting caloric information likely with the best of intentions to help consumers make informed decisions in a weight stigmatized world. However, diet culture has turned this tool into an omnipresent food police, a moral compass. High calorie bad, low calorie good- regardless of individual needs or preferences. The shame it can create often perpetuates more self-harming behaviors.

With so many conflicting messages out there about nutrition, how can we filter out misinformation? How can we decipher which tidbit is true and which is not? Obviously most of us do not have the time or capacity to go through scientific journals or clinical practices ourselves (that’s what healthcare professionals are there for!). So here are the steps to help us to think a bit more critically next time someone presents a new nutrition recommendation.

You know what else is also an estimate? Your daily caloric needs from a random online calculator. Heck, even the fancy equations that dietitians use to calculate daily energy needs or protein needs are ultimately estimates. Estimates are guesses which means if I somehow designed a meal plan for a client using tools that offer a best guess for their needs, and if this client noticed they remain hungry or dissatisfied on the meal plan- this means the estimates are wrong, not their body. 

I invite you to take a moment and think about a loved one or a close friend. Picture their faces and think of all the reasons you love them.

This person had just been accepted into law school. They possess many qualities- intelligence, perseverance, discipline, creativity, and kindness just to name a few… qualities and values that led them to such an achievement. Yet, they have often overlooked these qualities and values because of their ED.

How can we protect ourselves from false nutrition information? How do we filter out the irrelevant anecdotal nutrition advice, and focus on the facts rooted in robust evidence and get a useful perspective on the big picture ?

This article discusses some popular nutrition ‘advice’ that has been splashed all over the internet, and in part 2, we will provide some tips on how to filter nutrition messages so you can make the most informed decision for you.

Our world doesn’t talk about weight gain and its positive effects enough. I want you to know that weight gain is okay. It is more than okay, and it can be the necessary step for gaining back your health, your joy, your confidence, your social life, your relationships, your passions, your hobbies, your strength, and your mental wellbeing.

There are a vast number of reasons as to why you chose to challenge your ED. So when you can, gently remind yourself of your reasons for embarking on this journey.

Acknowledging and confronting the fear of letting your body change is extremely difficult. It’s a gentle process that cannot be rushed.

It can be so easy to get caught up in comparing ourselves to other bodies we see on social media. In fact, algorithms make it their mission that you do.

This was a quote from their caregiver, who was baffled at the change in personality ED brought to the client.

A common sentiment I hear from clients once they’ve spent some time in treatment is they start to notice how much diet culture exists in their daily lives. Lunchroom chats at work, family gatherings, parties with friends, or even interactions with strangers can have you run into diet talk.

It’s hard to believe in recovery, to believe in the notion that we don’t have to micromanage food and control our bodies this way when it is modeled by our environment and culture.

If incessant diet talk is unsettling for you, there are ways to navigate these conversations so that you can support yourself and the people around you. 

This sends quite a confusing message doesn’t it? Sometimes I hear from clients that they get frustrated when caregivers urge them to eat yet they themselves might be on a “diet” or restricting food in some way. 

Our family can love us and have the best of intentions, AND be hurtful and wrong about us at the same time. It’s okay to hold two conflicting truths at the same time. We’re allowed to feel conflicted.

Notice how different it feels when we commit to nourishing rather than depriving. 

If we pay attention, we might notice that diet talk is all around us. After all, if our friends and family have talked non-stop about their keto diets and intermittent fasting and have been encouraging us to lose some weight, it’s probably for the best, right?

While messaging such as these, especially from our close ones, may seem innocent at first, it can be incredibly triggering or have a negative impact on ourselves and others.