Spoiler alert: I don’t ever talk about or promote dieting, weight loss and body transformations. Why? Because there is an incredible amount of people out there doing this. Also, we seem to know exactly what we have to do in order to achieve that “perfect body”. Nevertheless, the struggle with disordered eating and a crappy body image is bigger than it has ever been before. Hence, this article is about 5 ways to track your progress in terms of self-acceptance as well as in terms of improvin[...]
How do you know that you took your exercise regime too far? Here is what my life looked like a year ago. I exercised for about 1-2 hours per day and tracked my food and macronutrients in order to stay in a caloric deficit. I stayed in a caloric deficit for about 10 years, with several binge episodes in between. In previous blog posts, I have talked a lot about disordered eating, but how about an exercise addiction that you are totally unaware of? We often overlook the consequences of t[...]
My first thought about dieting was at age 13, my first diet attempt was at age 15. Nowadays, this would be considered pretty late. I hear about girls at the age of 7 wanting to go on a diet. We live in a crazy world! In the past 13 years, I have suffered through various eating disorders and "eating-styles/life-styles" that were eating disorders in disguise. Now that I am slowly recovering and finding peace through intuitive eating, I can look back and reflect. None of these diets worked for me.[...]
[Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, mental health care or eating disorder treatment.] As most of you know by now, I struggled with disordered eating and various eating disorders for over ten years - I would argue that my relationship to food has been rocky my entire life. I had heard of intuitive eating before, but always thought that I could never EVER allow myself to eat whatever I crave at any given[...]
A lot of people think that losing weight should be the number one reason to exercise. The number two reason is often preventing heart disease and diabetes. They treat their workout like a painful chore to maintain or change their bodies. Or, they exercise to prevent some illness in the unforeseeable future. If changing your body is the reason you go to the gym, there is a possibility you don't enjoy your workouts. There is a possibility you will start hating the gym or getting dis[...]
Health is something we all strive for. Over the past few decades, the media has done a very good job at putting out a specific image of what "health" is supposed to look like. Nowadays, it is usually a slender, white, young female eating a salad, while laughing and having the best time ever. I am sure you have the exact picture I am talking about in mind right now. Seriously, who loves salads this much that they have the biggest smile on their faces while eating them? The reality of "health" i[...]
Whichever diet I am talking about here that did not work out for me, this is my subjective opinion. It is not a substitute for medical advice, so always do you own research and experimentation. Maybe your diet does work for you (right now) There is probably plenty of people that thrive on one of the diets I will mention and that is great. However, if you tend to get obsessive over things and are a very type A person like me, you might be able to relate to some things I will[...]
Will food ever become my friend? This is going to be a tough blog post to write. I have never shared my full eating disorder story with anyone, except my husband. However, I want to be real and authentic with everyone and I have nothing to hide. I am not embarrassed or ashamed about my story with food anymore, I know it wasn’t my fault that things got so messy. It wasn’t me, who failed at dieting. It was my very first diet that failed me. So, here it goes, my relationship with food f[...]