This week we have a very special guest. Savanna is my third intern at Full Life Nutrition Counseling, and, on a personal note, I can’t believe I’ve been running my internship for 3 years now! She has already been doing lots of work behind the scenes (check out her posts on Instagram and this post she co-wrote here on Substack - she’ll be co-writing the Decoding series on the first Monday each month!). She jumped in at a chaotic time - about 3 weeks before I went on maternity leave - and has been amazing at finding her rhythm and keeping the ship running while I was mostly on leave. I love getting to share my professional world with future nutrition professionals, and Savanna is going to make a great health care provider in the future.

Tell us about yourself!

Hello! My name is Savanna Huang (she/her), and I am a senior studying Nutrition and Dietetics at Saint Louis University (SLU). I’m originally from the Chicago suburbs, but I’m in Saint Louis for most of the year. Since beginning college, I have worked as a STEM teacher, admissions office tour guide, pharmacy technician, resident assistant, and swim coach. I also lived in rural Alaska for two months (shoutout Nome!) as a nutrition-focused intern. While the environments of these roles differ, I deeply enjoy the associated personal relationships and the tailored problem-solving. Still figuring out what that means professionally🙂.

As I begin senior year, I am excited to intern with The Full Life and continue my role as a research assistant in a psychology lab. Between these exciting senior year adventures, I love to run, swim, bake, and snap a million foodie pictures.

What is an amazing meal you've enjoyed recently?

I visited Las Vegas over the summer and checked out their Chinatown (exploring Chinatowns is one of my favorite things!). There, we ate at a spot that specializes in Shanghai food, where my mom’s side of the family is from. Some favorites of the meal included the pork soup dumplings and Kao fu (wheat gluten). Of course, I had to follow the meal up with a green tea boba with lychee jelly.

How would you describe your relationship with food? How has it changed over time?

Like many areas of my life, my relationship with food is ever-changing. Growing up, food meant community. Nearly every meal eaten at home was done community style, common for Chinese food. I often spent long hours in the kitchen, folding dumplings with my mom, eager to apply my latest knowledge from the Food Network.

Near the start of high school, my relationship with food and movement unexpectedly took a detour. At an age where I felt easily influenced and lacked foresight, comments about my body instilled a deep self-consciousness. These feelings quickly transformed into laborious days, tracking food and monitoring exercise.

Thankfully, food no longer drives my life in an obsessive, restrictive manner. I’m thankful that this period of my life introduced me to what a dietitian is and also helped me find what relationship I truly desire with food to align myself with my values. Most days now, I find myself saying things like “What is my body craving now?” or “I should text ___ so we can run a race together. That sounds fun!”

What’s something in your pantry that you’re excited about right now?

I got Pokémon Goldfish the other day! I am especially excited for the Pikachu and Pokéball crackers. The taste of nostalgia is strong.

What are your signs that you are living life "fully"?

When I am living life “fully”, I overflow with questions. As a naturally reserved person at first, it can feel daunting to reveal the fullest version of myself, yet I find when I surround myself with the right people, I have no fear in sharing who I am and all the questions I have.

For example, when I found a research lab where I felt comfortable, I knew I could ask all the questions, even the ones that felt silly and like they should just be intuitive. Because I was surrounded by a team that allowed me to be fully myself, including the version that stumbles and takes longer to learn, I felt comfortable.

I know this to be true through my experiences with food and movement, as well. There was a period of my life where food and movement felt like merely caloric numbers that cycled through my body. Since then, I’ve reunited with the version of myself who loves to ask questions like, “How do I pipe the choux pastry to make cream puff swans?”, “What fuel makes me feel the strongest before a long run?”, or “Where can we find the fluffiest croissants during our trip?”. The reason questions are the root of my fullness is that they are the strongest expressors of my emotions. And emotions, in their full range, are what make me feel full.

What are your favorite ways to celebrate big or small wins?

To me, a celebration isn’t complete without tasty food. I grew up at family dinners with table-wide Lazy Susans and bubbling hotpots. Recently, my way of honoring food in celebrations has been baking my family and friends personalized birthday cakes.

Follow Savanna on Instagram!

What’s something you wish you had understood earlier about your body, movement, and/or food?

What and who I surround myself with has the power to impact my relationship with my body, movement, and food.

Looking back, during times of my life where I felt the urge to restrict food and enforce movement, I was also viewing creators who normalized those patterns. As I grew out of that season of my life, I began to engage with professionals I had never heard of - dietitians!

I also pivoted to creators that felt more aligned with my long-term goals, creating a space to reshape the previous stringency I formed with food and movement. One of my favorite creators that I have been watching for a few years now is Linda Sun - I really admire her openness to sharing her journey with food, movement, navigating friendships, etc. Besides media, I realized I felt much more comforted and connected in relationships where body and appearance were rarely the center of conversation.

How do you show up for yourself?

Showing up for myself most days looks like a willingness to enter a state of discomfort. Growing up in a family with differing personalities, I am thankful for the way my family has shaped my courage and path to facing discomfort. Of course, there is no day that feels the same. Some days my courage towards discomfort manifests itself as a fleeting thought, while other days discomfort is faced with a powerful stance and beating heart.

One of the times that I am most proud of myself for showing up is training and completing my first half marathon. As a college freshman, who was no longer attached to a rigorous 15 hour/week high school swim schedule, I felt lost on how to approach movement. After attending a college run club, where I trailed half a mile behind the group, I felt embarrassed. In the months after, I showed up for myself by committing to training, challenging the ingrained notions that I had to only pursue activities where my innate strengths lie. As I crossed that finish line, I knew I had shown up for myself, not only on race day but also during the 3 months of training prior.

What's something that you really love about your life right now?

I feel deep gratitude to be entering my senior year of college! The longer I’ve been in college, the more appreciation I have for the opportunity of a well-rounded education, a warm community, and so many people to learn from. I can be a rather shy and timid person at first, with lots of questions that I am afraid to ask. At SLU, there have been so many people who have graciously met me in my times of questioning, confusion, and fear. Long story short, I love back-to-school season.

Read Savanna's Personal Substack

What's your personal definition of "The Full Life"?

To me, “The Full Life” is a state where one feels compelled to express. Because of the fullness that comes from being surrounded by the right people, safe surroundings, and things you love, there is a peace to express emotions and interests fully in an unbounded type of way.

Thank you so much, Savanna! I’m so happy to have you as a part of the team. :)

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I couldn’t be more excited to announce the details for a new body image group that I’ll be co-leading this Fall. Hannah Kirby, MS, RD, CEDS-S and I will be running the group together from September - November with a small cohort. It’s going to be super fun + helpful for anyone (18+) who needs a little extra support in developing a healthy relationship with their body.

Both of us worked for years in eating disorder higher levels of care and absolutely loved getting to lead groups and foster environments where human connections brought about conversations, friendships, and insights to help people feel better about existing in their bodies. It’s something we both miss dearly since moving into the private practice world and primarily working with people 1:1.

When we were working together in higher levels of care, we would spend our free time hanging out in our offices dreaming about leading retreats together in the future. I actually still have a dream of opening a Fat (Positive) Camp for young people to spend a week of their summer swimming, playing, and building a positive body image. UGH someday!!

This group will last 8 weeks and offer a combination of education, guidance, deep conversations, activities, and a little bit of homework. The goal is that every participant can walk away with more trust in their body, a felt sense of camaraderie, and useful blocks to start building a sense of self-worth that goes beyond the physical look of their body.

If this sounds like work you’ve been wanting to do for yourself, we would love to have you join us. You can find all of the details and sign up for the group here:

Register Here!

You can also reach out to Hannah or me to learn more about equity pricing, ask questions that aren’t covered on the website, or find out more about plans to host groups in the future!

With this topic at the top of my mind, I wanted to take today’s post to get into some of the things I’ve noticed about my own body image journey in the past few years + dive into how I hope to raise a daughter with a positive sense of self even as the world adds pressure to look a certain way. It’s a 5-Monday Month, so this one’s behind a paywall, but might I say, this one might be worth the upgrade!

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Join Me for Getting Full!

The next Getting Full will be posted on August 18th at 5:30 pm. I am leaning into the pre-recorded option for a little bit longer while I figure out what my work balance is going to look like long-term. In the video, I’ll be walking through some ways to get more comfortable being in your body and noticing your body’s cues. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

September: Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30 pm CST, Mindful Meal

October: Friday, October 23rd at 10 am CST, If Candy feels SpOoKy

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support!

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Hi! While I am technically back from maternity leave at this point; I haven’t been writing for a couple of months! So, today we’re taking a step back in time to this post I originally wrote in 2024. While access to the archive is usually a perk for paid subscribers, today’s post is free to read for everyone. I may have written it more than 2 years ago, but it is still as relevant today as ever! I hope you like it.

I have a love/hate relationship with using social media to combat disordered thoughts and beliefs about food and our bodies. First of all, thank goodness there are people out there who are combating the harmful myths and bad nutrition takes - I am grateful that they exist. What I do notice happening, though, is that it is really hard to add in all the necessary nuance to a short video (that is also cute and funny and engaging to watch).

So, we see all of these cute little clips of engaging and important content, but without the individualization aspect that would come from a 1:1 session or a longer video or article. All of this is fine until it comes to implementing that information into our own lives. We see someone online talking about their own experience of intuitive eating, body neutrality, or self-acceptance cut into a 30-second video when the reality is they have probably spent a really long time getting to this place. They’ve probably given a lot of energy to unlearning all the BS that leads to poor body image and crappy relationships with food.

The question then becomes… what does it actually look like to shift our mentality and create a better relationship with ourselves and our humanity? And to be honest, I think the answer is… a whole lot of work.

Breaking down the beliefs and shining light on the systems that create poor body image is tough. It’s particularly tough because 99% of us are still living in said systems and are surrounded by people who still hold those beliefs. It’s like trying to unlearn algebra while taking an algebra class, hanging out with friends who love algebra and want to talk about it all the time, and when you still kinda think that you should be learning and appreciating algebra. Except that it’s not algebra1. What we’re unlearning are things that feel incredibly, personally impactful in our day-to-day lives: Will people like me? Will I look acceptable? Am I letting go of my perceived control over my health outcomes in a way that will lead to disease and early death?

And that is super scary! It makes sense that we’re somewhat resistant to this particular challenge. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth working on.

At the core of this issue is the fact that many of us have learned to associate our overall “okayness” as a human being with our appearance. Many times, this also means our body size, our pretty privilege, our proximity to health, our fitness, and our ability to follow trends and styles. We believe that there is a connection between our relationships, worthiness, acceptability, and what we look like.

It can be hard to challenge this narrative if we’ve had friends or family make comments that support this thought process. A parent congratulating you on weight loss or a friend making a negative comment on how you dress can feel a lot like we have to protect our place in those relationships by adhering to societal norms of weight and aesthetic.

These small (or big) comments add up over time and paint a picture of what it takes to be accepted as a person. Being in a small body, being conventionally attractive, being fit and/or healthy all become ways to measure our worth as a human, whether that was the intention of our loved ones or not.

The extra fun part of all of this is that we also probably have an idea that these things are within our control and are therefore reflections of our flaws if we don’t “control” them “well”2. And here comes the cycle of using body control tactics as a way of affirming our self-worth, followed by feelings that we have “failed” said body control tactics, followed by diminished self-worth/self-image.

Our self-worth and our self-image are (unfortnately) connected. The way we view ourselves impacts the internal parts and the external parts - and we can actually confuse the two pretty easily. An example comes to mind:

A client comes into my office convinced that she has gained weight. There is no doubt in her mind, and it is incredibly distressing. The fact is, her weight has not changed that week. It is exactly the same as the week before.

When we investigated her experience of her body weight further, we realized she had a couple of factors that felt important to consider. She was going to a job fair that day, where she would be “judged” for her compatibility with a company/job. This also meant dressing in business wear, which was tighter and showed her body shape more than her typical clothing choices. As we leaned into these experiences, we came to recognize that the perception of “judgement” as well as feeling more seen (or perceived) was increasing her body consciousness. That increase in body consciousness felt like poor body image, and that body image distress led her to believe that she must have gained weight.

What was really going on here? As we talked through the experience, we were able to recognize that there was internal discomfort with this experience, which is perfectly normal. It’s really hard to be perceived; it’s challenging to go into a situation where we are knowingly being assessed. If we want to find a reason for this discomfort, or maybe even try to pinpoint a way to reduce this discomfort, it’s pretty common to land on our bodies.

If we believe we can just diet or exercise our way to a “perfect” body that could never be judged poorly, we have already started to “solve” our problem. It can alleviate the stress connected to not being able to control other people’s perceptions of us. The trouble, of course, is that attempting body control is not a neutral behavior, and it doesn’t always work the way we want it to.

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Body acceptance is a way of working toward neutrality with our bodies. Being obsessed with your body can go either direction - spending significant amounts of your day feeling crappy about yourself… or spending significant amounts of your day being really invested in your looks and maintaining your beauty/weight/etc.

If the end goal is to love your body, it may actually be harder to maintain for your entire life. What happens when you get wrinkles? When you gain weight? When you don’t want to pay to dye your hair anymore? If your energy is spent trying to love your body as it is right now, are we also putting in the effort to love every possible version of our bodies? OR would it be more productive to figure out how to love ourselves and see our bodies as only one piece of who we are?

If we can get to work diversifying the ways we appreciate our humanity, it takes some of the pressure off of loving our bodies. Accepting our body as one small piece of what makes us who we are means that on days when we wake up with zits and a bloated tummy, we aren’t automatically zapped of self-confidence. We have more to lean on. Like our sense of humor, our passion for baking, our kindness as a friend, and any other skill or trait we appreciate about ourselves. We might feel bummed about our body and not be absolutely loving how we feel and look, but it doesn’t take up the entirety of our brain space or demolish our self-image.

I have a challenge for you this week: see what it feels like to find alternative ways to appreciate yourself if you are used to focusing on your body as the validation for your worth.

When/if you wake up with some crappy body thoughts, see what it feels like to accept that your body isn’t designed to show up the same way every day or feel the same way every day.

What would it look like to find peace with the fact that your body doesn’t always show up for the day in the way you prefer, and you’re still a good person?

The quality of your day doesn’t have to change based on the way you’re feeling about your body. When you notice judgmental thoughts coming up about yourself, see if you are able to let them go and maybe even think of an alternative thing to appreciate yourself in that moment.

At the end of the day, bodies change throughout life, and bodies change day to day. The pursuit of a perfect body that is acceptable and appealing in the same way day after day is simply not a likely outcome. Being able to shift your focus to an acceptance that your body, no matter how it looks, is the one you have is an incredible gift to give yourself.

Accepting this means that we can invest more time into caring for this body, being compassionate toward ourselves, and digging into hobbies or activities that align with our values/ethics/joy. When we invest time into things outside of body control and manipulation, it opens up a lot more time and space to live a life that brings us joy.

When we’re living a life that brings us joy, there’s less space for beating ourselves up for the size of our clothes or our adult acne or whatever insecurity is currently showing up for you. Body acceptance is the ability to let go of the pressure around loving your body and giving in to the power of knowing that you are so much more than what you look like.

The next Getting Full will be sent out on August 18th at 5:30 pm. I hope to someday be back on the Live game, but for now, it is much easier to schedule something pre-recorded. I’ll be walking through some ways to get more comfortable being in your body and noticing your body’s cues. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

September: Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30 pm CST, Mindful Meal

October: Friday, October 23rd at 10 am CST, If Candy feels SpOoKy

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support!

Links:

As a person who writes health and wellness advice on the internet, I would argue that a lot of the time, health and wellness advice on the internet is… not great. Misinformation is a huge problem, and it’s surprisingly easy to make it seem like you have the credentials to give good advice even when you aren’t actually qualified.

A really great deep dive about growing kids from Laura Thomas, an RD out of the UK. Part 2 can be found here. And there’s even a part 3! A super helpful breakdown of what to know about your kid’s growth by age. She writes an excellent newsletter if you’re a parent!

Sometimes it’s a good idea to remind ourselves that not all the faces you see are even genetically possible, and they had a little help to look like that.

A moment for feminism in your day. We love supporting women in achieving their goals and dreams in a world that doesn’t always do the same.

I love a love letter to food. This one is perfect for one of my favorite summer vegetables.

While there are people who are genuinely helped and supported by GLP-1 medications, there has to be an acknowledgement that many of the ways the drug functions are similar to eating disorder symptoms and behaviors… There has to be more oversight over the prescription and monitoring while people take them.

It is particularly hard to challenge beauty standards when certain life events are coming up. Read ’s advice on how to navigate this when prepping for a wedding.

Drug marketing is icky. I hate that it’s everywhere and I hate that so many people find it triggering but can’t avoid it.

Don’t sleep on these helpful guides from FEAST if you are the family member of someone with an eating disorder!!

A brief intro to anorexia in sports for kids. Know what to look for! Not all coaches or sports or kids struggle with how to experience peaceful body image, neutral food behavior, and exercise at the same time, but sometimes it happens!

Thoughts:

I’ve been focused on meeting my mental health needs in the postpartum period while my nervous system adjusts to the biggest change thus far in my life! Here are some things that have made a difference:

• Walks outside daily! It’s annoying, but the mental health walk isn’t just an internet trend. It does help.

• Being proactive about having water near me at all times. Sometimes my body “feels anxious” when I really just need a snack or some water. I also keep snacks by the spots where I spend a lot of time during the day in case I get “nap trapped”.

• Prioritizing sleep. These first couple of months, where I have had to wake up with the baby in the night, my husband takes the morning shift. I get an “extra” 1-2 hours of sleep while he hangs with the baby.

• Staying connected (or reconnecting!). We talk a lot about holding boundaries, protecting your peace, and getting enough alone time in the mental health space. I’ve been noticing that what I need right now is people, conversation, and connection. It’s vulnerable to reach out and ask for friendship, hut it’s worth it!

I’d love to hear your advice in the comments— what helps your mental health when you’re going through a big change or a tough time?

The food that inspired me this month: Greek Bowls

I was the lucky recipient of some great frozen entrees and meals from my parents at the beginning of my postpartum journey. One option was frozen falafel patties. All they required was a quick pan fry to get them warm and a little crispy, and then I could serve them with any vegetables, carbs, and sauces available. While my mom visited at the end of July, we made really yummy (and really easy!) bowls. Here’s what we did along with some ways you could personalize them to your preferences!

Ingredients:

• Falafel

  • You can find frozen falafel at many grocery stores

  • You can also find boxed falafel “mix” at various stores - especially specialty international grocery stores

  • You can also make your own falafel!

• About a fistful of your preferred veggies - I love a raw veggie bowl, myself

  • Chopped tomatoes

  • Thinly sliced onion or shallot

  • Diced cucumbers

  • Diced peppers

  • Lettuce

  • Marinated mushrooms

  • Roasted red peppers

• Sauces

  • Plain Greek yogurt with Greek seasoning

  • Hummus

  • Baba Ganoush

  • Greek salad dressing or olive oil//wine vinegar

• Tangy flavors

  • Feta Cheese

  • Olives

  • Pepperoncini Peppers

  • Marinated artichokes

• Carbohydrates

  • Pita bread

  • Orzo

  • Rice

Build your Bowl:

1. Cook your carbohydrate

   1. Make any rice/orzo ahead of time and chill while making the rest of your food. I like to heat my pita a bit so they’re soft!

2. Cook your falafel or other protein while preparing the rest of your bowl.

3. Chop all of your veggies - smaller pieces mean more flavors in each bite. Aim for about a cup of veggies per portion.

4. Dollop any sauces and tangy items on top of your veggies.

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Happy Monday, everyone! Take care of yourselves. Eat yummy food. You deserve all the good things.

Gretchen

We’ve all heard them.

“Everything in moderation.”

“No pain, no gain.”

“Cheat day.”

“You are what you eat.”

These phrases are so common that we often repeat them without stopping to think about what they actually mean. While the phrases become a normal part of conversations, hearing these phrases often can do some damage to our relationship with food. They begin to shape the way we think about food and ourselves. In our new series, Decoding, we’ll explore familiar diet sayings, their origins, conventional meanings, and reframe some perspectives. We’ll do our best to answer, what is the fuller meaning?

I don’t believe we need to throw out every common nutrition phrase. Like many things, eliminating perspectives is not helpful; rather, let us see what new perspectives can be extracted. Let’s be honest, these phrases don’t seem to be going anywhere; however, our ability to reframe, critically consider, and self-regulate can shift.

Without further ado, let’s start with the all so common…

“You Are What You Eat”

A quick look at the origin story: An 1825 Paris politician coined the phrase to highlight the undeniable link between food and identity.. The phrase did not begin as a manifesto to market a new diet. It was however used to communicate the social, religious, and cultural identities that food elicits. Read more here about the roots, if interested.

More commonly now, most people associate the phrase with an encouragement to eat healthier. The idea is straightforward: the foods you regularly eat provide the nutrients that build and maintain your body. Protein helps repair tissues. Calcium supports your bones. Carbohydrates provide energy. Vitamins and minerals allow countless systems throughout your body to function.

In that sense, there’s some truth to the phrase. Our bodies are literally built and fueled by the nutrients we consume.

But somewhere along the way, “you are what you eat” became something much harsher.

Instead of describing how nutrition supports our physical health, it began to imply that our food choices reflect our worth. Eat foods that society labels as “healthy,” and you’re disciplined, responsible, and successful. Eat foods labeled as “unhealthy,” and suddenly you’re lazy, careless, or lacking willpower.

A Fuller Meaning

If I could rewrite the phrase, it wouldn’t be about nutrients alone or a judgement on the morality of your choices.

Sometimes the meal on your plate represents your family’s traditions. Maybe it’s your grandmother’s soup recipe that’s been passed down through generations or a holiday dessert that instantly reminds you of home.

Sometimes food represents your relationships. It may not be obvious, but food choices often mirror the community that you grew up around or aspire to cultivate. You may find yourself opting for the food choices that your family instilled within you.

Do you celebrate around a warm, bubbling hot pot during holidays, just as your family did? Do you reminisce about the ice cream cake with the corny decorations because it reminds you of childhood birthday parties? Food is a powerful reminder of the communities we’re a part of. It is a core connection to the people who matter to us.

Sometimes food reflects your values and goals. When you head over to the neighborhood Christmas party, are you eating buttery, chocolatey cookies because you are “lazy, careless, and lacking willpower?” Or could it be that your values foster curiosity to make new friends and compassion to share what they care about?

Could it be that your goals include experiencing cultures, including through an edible lens? What you eat often tells a deep story, including how your values and goals are manifested through food choices, just not in the healthy & unhealthy/black & white story kind of way.

Food Choices Don’t Happen in a Vacuum

One of the biggest lessons I learned studying community nutrition is that food choices are shaped by much more than knowledge or motivation. The story often begins with factors beyond an individual’s control: location, accessibility, and cost.

A prime example of this is food deserts. Food deserts are defined as areas with “limited access to affordable, nutritious foods”. It would be ill-informed and plainly incorrect to say that a phrase like “you are what you eat” can fully encapsulate the intricate history and structures that lead people toward their food choices. This label fails to address that what you eat is determined by your surroundings. Thus, you are not only what you eat. You are also a product of your surroundings and the products of the system that constructed these surroundings. If this is a topic of interest to you, I welcome you to read about some interesting organizations that I came across addressing food insecurity here.

A personal experience illustrated food systems especially clearly, for me. During my time interning in Nome Alaska, a rural town in the Bering Strait region, my eyes were opened to food infrastructures vastly different from those in Saint Louis or Chicago. With two grocery stores in the community, the availability of food was largely dependent on weather and supply. Many community members relied on ways to acquire, prepare, or preserve food that had been passed down for generations. These practices too, depended on weather, time constraints, and a pretty specific lifestyle that is different from the one many of us are accustomed to with more access to resources.

When we ignore the systemic nuances sewn into food choices, phrases like “you are what you eat” can unintentionally place blame on individuals for circumstances they don’t fully control while underestimating the bigger picture that created their circumstances.

So... What Are You?

If we have to keep the phrase, I think there are so many things that make you, you. Here are some that may feel true for you today:

You are the friendships strengthened over coffee.

You are the busy student grabbing something to fuel your brain.

You are the loving parent making a dinner that will actually be eaten after a long day and within a tight budget.

You are the athlete fueling for performance in a sport that brings you joy and purpose.

You are the baker who brightens friends’ days with a fresh batch of cookies.

You are your own advocate making choices that support your needs when life is feeling hard.

Some days, you are one of those things more than the other. Every day, food continues to nourish our relationships, our cultures, our identities, our celebrations, our grief, our comfort, and our communities. There is beauty to that complexity. You kind of are what you eat, but you are also so, so much more.

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I’m so excited to introduce Cait Van Damm to the Full Story! Cait is an occupational therapist specializing in chronic pelvic pain coaching. She writes Adventures in Vaginas (and other parts) here on Substack and is about to launch a therapeutic movement platform called Tidal Work for pelvic health and complex bodies that aims to improve body autonomy. She genuinely loves her work, which includes a lot of movement, and when she’s not working, she loves walking in her neighborhood, fermenting things, and cooking kid food to meet her neurodivergent kiddos’ tastes!

What is an amazing meal you've enjoyed recently?

My dad makes this grilled salmon dish that is out of this world. He uses Montreal steak seasoning, his favorite spice blend for about the last 30 years, and it’s nostalgic for me in the best way. When we last visited, he grilled mushrooms, eggplants, and onions (my favorite veggies). And then he made sure we were stocked with dark chocolate for when we chatted into the night. He’s a great dad.

How would you describe your relationship with food? How has it changed over time?

I’ve been in eating disorder recovery for 11 years, and this is the first time I’ve been super public about it! I first experienced an eating disorder when I was twelve. I vacillated between anorexia and binge eating disorder for over a decade. Working on my relationship with food and my body changing -- throughout multiple autoimmune diseases, a difficult and medically complex twin pregnancy (the pregnancy was intentional, but the twins were unexpected!) -- is by far the hardest personal work I have ever done. And of course, I am still doing the work. At this point, I feel deeply grateful that I get to enjoy food without perseverating on it. It is no longer the center of my life (in a good way!).

Read Cait's Substack

What’s something in your pantry that you’re excited about right now?

We just moved to Baltimore, and there is a delightful local company called TomCat that sells a vegan parmesan. I am definitely not vegan, but I LOVE this stuff! It’s basically nutritional yeast with cashews and a ton of spices -- more than I could replicate at home. It’s SO GOOD. I put it on everything -- from pasta to salad to roasted veggies. I cannot get enough.

Read an article from Cait!

What are your signs that you are living life "fully"?

I think a lot about presence in general. When I was in my teens and twenties and deep in disordered eating, it was impossible for me to be present. Now, I feel like the ability to spend a regular weekday with my six-year-olds as a fully present parent is a killer success. I experience so much joy simply snuggling with them before bed and walking them to school. I am also acutely aware that my relationships are so much deeper now. Presence is a powerful currency!

What are your favorite ways to celebrate big or small wins?

Lattes are my love language! That’s my favorite little celebratory treat. That, and alone time.

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What’s something you wish you had understood earlier about your body, movement, and/or food?

Oh goodness. I was conditioned to diet at a young age, and it left me scared of carbs for so long! I wish that I could tell myself what I tell my children: Bodies are different. Brains are different. Your body is perfect exactly the way it is. That, and that carbs are, in fact, so necessary for both joy and my particular body’s needs! Keep eating mashed potatoes, 12-year-old Cait!

How do you show up for yourself?

I have this practice that I do with coaching clients where I ask them to tune into the physical, emotional, and energetic sensations in their body -- whatever that means to them. And then the practice is to ask the sensations directly, “What do you need?” I do this for myself regularly, particularly when my body is giving me a hard time. It’s really helpful, and often my body is asking for more rest, more softness, more comfort, and more alone time. What can I say, I’m an introvert!

What's something that you really love about your life right now?

My house! We bought a classic Baltimore row house in December. It's the first house I've owned, and I love it so much. It has a lot of original features, like a curved wall(!) and a gigantic mirror built into the entryway. We were unsure of where we would land because, up until now, my husband was working on a PhD, so it is really special to put down roots.

What's your personal definition of "The Full Life"?

A life of joy, community, and care!

What else, if anything, would you like to share with the readers of The Full Life?

Diet culture really affects pelvic health. Sucking in one’s tummy, for example, can have profound effects on the pelvic floor, and constipation can have countless downstream effects on pelvic health outcomes. Breathe, let your belly live, and enjoy your poops!

Thank you so much, Cait. I loved reading through your journey and relationship with food and professional knowledge, and I know that so many people will see themselves in your experiences. Thank you for sharing your story with us; you are doing amazing work! We are so lucky to have clinicians like you in the world!

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Join Me for Getting Full!

The next Getting Full Live will be on August 18th at 5:30 pm. I’ll be walking through some ways to get more comfortable being in your body and noticing your body’s cues. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

September: Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30 pm CST, Mindful Meal

October: Friday, October 23rd at 10 am CST, If Candy feels SpOoKy

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support!

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Good Morning! While I’m on maternity leave, I have a couple of posts from the archives scheduled out for you. This one is from way back in 2024, but it feels just as relevant to the world today. You’ll get one more post in August from the archives, and then I’ll be officially back on my normal posting schedule. The archive is accessible to any paid subscriber, so if that’s you, go check it out! There are some good pieces from way back when only 50 of you were subscribing to this newsletter.

This is for the person who has been working through their relationship with food, their body image struggles, and their ability to move their body kindly, only to find that the rest of the world didn’t do that work alongside them. It can be lonely to be in recovery, or when you’re in a better place with yourself, without the rest of your people joining you. It can feel a bit freaky when you have opened your eyes to the realities of body shame, only to find that the people you love are still chasing self-acceptance at the end of a Botox needle or new wellness routine.

Body discrimination, or anti-fat bias by another name, is rampant today. So, when we decide to take a step out of that cesspool of self-hatred and low self-esteem to be a kinder human to ourselves and others it can feel surprisingly isolating.

When a person is in a diet mindset and their self-worth is rooted in their body being small and “healthy”, they soak in the messaging that their worth is connected to the aesthetics of their body. And that thought isn’t perceived as concerning. After doing the work of recovery and growing in self-love, it can feel like diet culture is magnified.

All of a sudden, we see diet culture in regular conversations with friends or coworkers, it shows up on TV, the celebrities we used to love are less impressive when they consistently make fat jokes on their podcast. It can feel incredibly isolating to be able to see through the discriminatory conversations about a person’s body - it can also bring up shame, guilt, and sadness to remember the way you used to feel about bodies.

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It’s common for people to ask me how to deal with all of the diet-y bullshit that they are suddenly so profoundly aware of after working their way through recovery for a while. It usually happens around the time when recovery is starting to take shape, their urges and disordered thoughts are quieter and less alluring, and they are better able to stay afloat in the diet culture waters. These moments are so cool because, wow, what a journey it is to go from feeling trapped in the nonsensical aesthetic values of the patriarchy to seeing your own true value and worth outside of your looks.

It also reminds me that while the loneliness can be so real, more people are questioning the standards of beauty/self-worth every day. And, in the future, it might feel a bit less lonely to allow an existence at peace with body diversity, aging, growth, and change.

I believe that resilience to diet culture requires community. We need to find our spaces online and in person where body acceptance is normal. It could just be with your therapist or dietitian, it could be with a fat activism group, or, if you’re lucky, it could be with your friends and family. Diet culture stems from a desire for belonging. From the belief that looking a certain way or achieving a certain health-related aesthetic will increase your social capital. Divesting from diet culture doesn’t mean you are all suddenly okay with lacking community. So, we need to find it in new spaces.

A core belief in my practice as a dietitian is that body image work is never about changing your body to be more “likeable”. Body image work, at its core, is self-worth work. Rather than hyper-focusing on how to like what you see in the mirror, we focus on how to feel more aligned with your own values and ethics.

You can’t diet your way into a positive self-image. While it feels a bit obvious when you are on the other side of the journey, it is unfortunately not a common way to think about body image. You wouldn’t believe (or maybe you would…) the number of humans who have been recommended exercise videos or diets by their providers to “improve” their body image - and it drives me crazy when this happens.

The idea that our sense of self will be healthier if we just change how we look to meet a discriminatory body ideal is absolutely wild. There isn’t an -ism that exists outside of the context of body judgment (sexism, racism, classism, and on and on). To insinuate that the solution to your own self-judgement is to change your body is inherently discriminatory. This isn’t to say that any and all body change is rooted in discrimination - people get sick, change routines, and start new hobbies - but it is to say that body change can’t be the solution to a problem as profound as discrimination.

This is also where it gets extremely complicated. Depending on how many -isms you experience based on skin color, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, etc., the more protective it will feel to have some version of bodily control. There is reasonableness in the desire to fit into a particular aesthetic to feel more acceptable in a culture that discriminates against bodies. Unfortunately, it typically doesn’t result in the outcome of improved self-acceptance. Meeting the expectations of a discriminatory culture is protective, but it isn’t liberating. There is inherent safety in conforming to societal standards, but we aren’t able to liberate ourselves from those standards while actively participating in them.

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All this to say, this piece is for the person who has recovered in spite of it all. Who has chosen to challenge themselves to live outside of the expectations they believed they had to meet in order to be acceptable.

This is for the person who hears the diet culture in what used to just feel like friendly workplace conversation, dinner table chatting, or well-meaning advice.

If you have started the process of reclaiming your own self-worth, I’m proud of you, and I hope you find a community that can understand the challenges and frustrations that exist through this process.

If you are new to this journey, I really do believe it is worth the time and effort.

If you are struggling to believe that you could feel okay accepting yourself as you are, I hope you can give in a bit to the kindness of loving even a few aspects of your authentic self.

We all deserve to feel at home in our bodies. I wish it weren’t so hard & I also believe that although it is hard, it is possible to exist in the world with neutral, if not positive, feelings toward ourselves.

In this video, I share more information about the group including how it will be structured, what topics will be included, and how you can sign up! Thank you for tuning in!

If you are interested in more information about the group, or would like to sign up, please send Gretchen or me and email, or reach out through the SubStack chat! Please include your name and your email address.

Hannah’s email: hannah@thewholebeingnutrition.com

Gretchen’s email: gretchen@full-lifenutrition.com

We look forward to connecting with more of you soon!

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The next Getting Full will be on July 16th at 12 pm. This time, it will be sent out via email with no link to a live version since I will officially be out on maternity leave. I’ll be covering nutrition basics. The things I wish everyone understood about nutrition. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

July: A special guest is joining us! Hannah Kirby (a long-time friend and colleague of mine and the owner of Whole Being Nutrition) will be coming on to talk about a new group we’re running together in the fall. This will be pre-recorded and available to everyone - not just paid subscribers. Look out for it to learn how to join us for a fantastic body image group! I will send out her video via email on July 16th.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support! A reminder that I’m running 50% off all subscriptions from now through the end of my maternity leave.

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Links:

Large Weight Swings Risky in people with CVD

I think this is an important reminder of how we pursue health matters. We talk a lot about the supposed benefits of weight loss for cardiovascular disease, but we don’t spend nearly as much time acknowledging the potential harms of repeated cycles of losing and regaining weight. Sustainable behavior changes tend to be far more supportive of long-term health than extreme approaches that leave people trapped in a cycle of restriction and rebound.

Exercising Can Help You Have ‘Healthier’ Belly Fat (healthday.com)

I loved the messaging in this piece because it reinforces something many of us in healthcare have been saying for years: movement has value independent of weight loss. Exercise can improve cardiovascular health, mood, insulin sensitivity, strength, and quality of life, even if your body size doesn’t change. If your only reason for exercising is to make yourself smaller, it’s easy to miss all the other ways your body is benefiting.

High intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with lower grades in school

Research like this is always interesting, but I think it’s important to approach it thoughtfully. Studies can identify associations, but they can’t tell us that one thing directly causes another. Kids who eat more ultra-processed foods may also face barriers related to food access, household stress, time constraints, or other social determinants of health that influence academic performance.

Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Early Death Risk

I know ultra-processed food headlines can feel overwhelming. My biggest takeaway from this body of research is not that we need to eliminate all processed foods from our lives. Instead, it’s a reminder that overall dietary patterns matter. Many processed foods are convenient, accessible, and play an important role in helping people meet their nutritional needs. The goal is to build a pattern of eating that includes a variety of nourishing foods while recognizing the realities of everyday life.

Study Reveals: Childhood Obesity Triples Weight Stigma Risk

This one broke my heart a little bit. We know that weight stigma doesn’t motivate healthier behaviors; if anything, it often contributes to poorer mental and physical health outcomes. Children deserve support that focuses on behaviors, environments, and well-being….not shame. If we truly care about children’s health, reducing weight stigma has to be part of the conversation. It’s unfortunate that they missed the fact that pathologizing weight with terms like “obesity” can also increase weight stigma…

Don’t Sweat The Weight — Healthy Eating Helps Your Heart Regardless

Yes, yes, and yes.

Improving the quality of what we eat benefits heart health even if the number on the scale doesn’t budge. We’ve become so conditioned to use weight change as the primary marker of success that we overlook improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, energy levels, and overall quality of life. Health is so much bigger than weight alone.

Impact of polyphenol oxidase on the bioavailability of flavan-3-ols in fruit smoothies: a controlled, single blinded, cross-over study - Food & Function (RSC Publishing)

The study found that adding high polyphenol oxidase fruits (like bananas) to berry smoothies reduced the absorption of flavan-3-ols, a type of beneficial plant compound. It’s genuinely fascinating nutrition science. At the same time, I don’t think this means anyone needs to stop putting bananas in smoothies they genuinely enjoy.

Nutrition science is full of these nuanced findings. If you’re specifically trying to maximize flavan-3-ol intake, you might swap the banana for another fruit. But if bananas help you enjoy smoothies more consistently, provide carbohydrates for energy, or make breakfast easier to eat, those benefits matter too. Remember that there are tons of other beneficial compounds and nutrients in your smoothie beyond flavan-3-ols - having a decrease in just that compound in your smoothie won’t change much about your health.

Thoughts:

The theme I kept coming back to this month was that health isn’t nearly as simple as we’ve been led to believe.

Weight alone doesn’t tell us whether someone is healthy. Exercise offers benefits beyond changing our appearance. Processed foods exist on a spectrum and can absolutely have a place in a balanced diet. Children deserve healthcare free from stigma and shame. I think we all benefit from approaching health with a little more humility and a lot more compassion. There are very few nutrition topics that fit neatly into a headline. Most of the time there is no “answer.”

Food that inspired me this month:

• Restaurants so I didn’t have to spend time cooking

• Food made for me by friends and family so I didn’t have to spend time cooking

• Frozen food (especially from Trader Joes) so I didn’t have to spend time cooking

It turns out, having a baby takes a lot of your time and energy - I’m maximizing my time spent with her instead of spending my time in the kitchen this month.

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Happy Monday, everyone! Take care of yourselves. Eat yummy food. You deserve all the good things.

Gretchen

Join me for “Getting Full”!

The next Getting Full will be on July 16th at noon. It will be a little bit different than usual, with my colleague, Hannah Kirby, joining us to talk about body image and a group we’ll be running this fall. It will be pre-recorded and available to everyone, not just paid subscribers. I hope you’ll give it a listen to learn more about this new group! It’s going to be great!

July: A special guest is joining us! Hannah Kirby (a long-time friend and colleague of mine and the owner of Whole Being Nutrition) will be coming on to talk about a new group we’re running together in the fall. This will be pre-recorded and available to everyone - not just paid subscribers. Look out for it to learn how to join us for a fantastic body image group! I will send out her video via email on July 16th.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

September: Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30 pm CST, Mindful Meal

Although this month’s group will be free to all, I’d still love for you to consider supporting this project with a paid subscription. There will be a discount for the body image group for people who are paid subscribers. And the 50% off discount is still going strong through the end of the month. Thank you for your support!

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Series Introduction

Welcome back to Nutrition Skills We Never Learned. This series is designed to bridge the gap between knowing what “healthy eating” looks like and actually feeding yourself in real life. Most nutrition advice focuses on what to eat, but very little teaches us how to recognize what our bodies are asking for in the first place.

Many people are taught to ignore hunger and push through exhaustion. Many are unaware that we are constantly adjusting our energy needs based on stress, movement, hormones, illness, sleep, growth, recovery, and daily life.

Learning how to recognize those needs is a nutrition skill, too.

Signs Your Body Might Need More Fuel

Needing more food is not always obvious. It can look like fatigue, brain fog, irritability, cravings, poor recovery, or feeling like your energy crashes.

Your body is not a machine with identical needs every day. Trying to eat the exact same amount every day typically means that we aren’t responding to the ways our needs change.

Common Signs You May Need More Fuel

Constant Fatigue

If you feel exhausted all the time, food may be part of the reason

Low energy intake can make it harder for the body to:

• maintain blood sugar stability

• support physical activity

• recover from stress

• focus and concentrate

• maintain normal hormone function

Sometimes people assume they need more caffeine when they may actually need more calories.

Helpful ways to increase energy intake:

• Add snacks between meals

• Include carbohydrates

• Add fats like nut butter, avocado, olive oil, or cheese

• Eat something within an hour of waking up

Feeling Hungry Soon After Eating

Meals that leave you hungry again an hour later need to have something added to them. Just because something seems like a meal, doesn’t mean that it’s covering your needs in a way that will maintain your fullness for a couple of hours.

Meals are usually more satisfying when they include:

• carbohydrates for quick energy

• protein for fullness and repair

• fat for longer-lasting energy

Examples of more filling combinations:

• Toast + eggs + avocado

• Oatmeal + peanut butter + fruit

• Rice bowl with chicken, veggies, and sauce

• Yogurt + granola + nuts

Intense Cravings or Feeling Preoccupied With Food

Sometimes cravings are based on emotions, sometimes they are because your body needs more energy; both are okay.

When the body consistently isn’t getting enough energy, it often increases food thoughts, cravings, and urges to eat quick sources of energy like carbs and sugar.

This is a normal survival response, but right now, we hear this described as “food noise” often in the media. Oftentimes, we can reduce food noise that is related to hunger by eating more often or increasing the quantity at meals.

Ways to support more stable energy:

• Avoid skipping meals regularly

• Eat consistently throughout the day

• Add more satisfying foods instead of trying to rely on “healthy” low-calorie options

Feeling Weak During Workouts or Daily Activities

If workouts suddenly feel harder, recovery takes longer, or you feel shaky during activity, your body may need more fuel.

This is especially common when:

• increasing exercise volume

• starting a new workout routine

• walking more than usual

• working long shifts

• recovering from illness or injury

Simple ways to support energy needs:

• Eat carbs before activity

• Include protein and carbs after movement

• Add extra snacks on active days

• Increase fluids and electrolytes when sweating more

Waking Up Extremely Hungry

Waking up ravenous can sometimes be a sign that your body needed more food the day before.

This can happen when:

• Dinner was too small

• Activity levels increased

• Meals were skipped

• Protein or carbs were too low

The solution to waking up hungry is simple for most people: increase your intake the day before

Seasons of Life That Often Require More Energy

Bodies naturally need more fuel during:

• growth and adolescence

• pregnancy and breastfeeding

• intense training or sports

• physically demanding jobs

• illness recovery

• surgery recovery

• chronic stress

• eating disorder recovery

These are normal physiological situations where increased intake supports healing, performance, and daily functioning. In these instances, some people may not feel physical hunger, but hunger shows up in feelings of fatigue or irritability.

Practical Tips for Supporting Your Energy Needs

• Keep portable snacks nearby

• Eat before you get to the point of being completely starving

• Don’t wait for “perfect” hunger cues

• Repeat easy meals often

• Build meals from familiar foods

• Use convenience foods when needed

• Pay attention to patterns instead of judging individual meals

Remember- nutrition does not have to look perfect. Flexibility is key to having a consistent food relationship that feels supportive and helpful. Some days require more convenience; others provide enough time and space for more food labor.

Bottom Line

Learning how to recognize signs of under-fueling and respond with nourishment is a skill many people were never taught, but it can make a huge difference in how you feel physically and mentally. If body awareness is particularly difficult or feels triggering, working with a therapist and/or dietitian can help!

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I’m so excited to introduce Virginia Newman today to the Full Story. Virginia Newman (she/ her) is the owner of her practice, the Radical Dietitian, based out of Seattle, WA, where she virtually provides eating disorder care for queer, disabled, and fat communities. She has her Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, an undergraduate degree in Sociology, and is a certified body trust provider through the Center for Body Trust.

Passionate about healing, Virginia melds her personal experiences of neurodivergence, survivorship, and recovery from orthorexia, in combination with a strong clinical background and understanding of systemic factors in healing and health, as a means to support clients in understanding and gaining agency with their own stories.

She supports clinicians in understanding anti-fatness, trauma, and neurodivergence and provides them with the tools to provide safer containers for care within their practices. She authored the chapter on Orthorexia in Springer’s 2020 Adolescent Nutrition.

Because this work has such a heartbreaking component, Virginia fills her heart in her free time with gardening, crafting, dancing, snuggling with Bug and Filius (her cats), cooking delicious food, and going on adventures with her partner.

What is an amazing meal you've enjoyed recently?

My partner makes a pork loin roast from our friend’s farm’s pigs, and it is so deeply delicious. We brine it, and then he makes a spice rub that forms a crust with the fat cap, and it is SO GOOD! We often don’t eat much with it, a side salad with (now) local greens and feta cheese and store-bought dressing- either a feta vinaigrette or caesar. It’s a new way for me to enjoy pork, one of my favorite meats. And it’s always more delicious when someone is making it for you!

But, now that I’m thinking about food, we are going out tonight for his birthday to a steakhouse, where I usually get a pork chop and some fried artichokes with a caesar salad and a pot de creme dessert! It’s a fancier restaurant that we go to on special occasions (or when we need a pick me up), and I love the people, the atmosphere, the time with my partner, and they have a cocktail “the French teacher” which I love so much I literally talk about it with my partner, wondering the next time I’ll get to have one. I’m so excited- it’s a special time, and that makes the already delicious food taste even better.

How would you describe your relationship with food? How has it changed over time?

I deeply cherish my relationship with food. It feels filled with trust, pleasure, nostalgia, and practical functionality. My relationship to food meets me where I am at. From a provider’s lens, my relationship with food is trauma-informed. It is gentle, forgiving, deeply satisfying, and nourishing. It is a source of pleasure, a source of grounding, and a source of calm. It has been a beautiful gateway into a deeply nourishing embodied relationship to myself. Because I have a history of an eating disorder, this relationship with food has not always been the case! For the first part of my life, like so many, I was indoctrinated into the system of body control, pursuing thinness and later pursuing health, which led to my eating disorder. My dieting behaviors were always disguised as health choices, and I think that is related to growing up in a family with two medical providers as parents. All of this formed the foundation for my eating disorder, orthorexia.

My orthorexia arose from a back injury, chronic digestive distress, and seeking help in the naturopathic realm. Within it, I was praised for my health behaviors. I smugly made my ketchup from scratch and bought only local organic foods and products (that my financial lineage made possible for me at that time). Meal planning took my mind off my- at times- crippling anxiety and depression. The pursuit of relief, the perfect way of eating, propped me up with thin privilege and the social praise I gained from both that and for performing health. It also gave my undiagnosed ADHD a place to both focus and rest in containment. Underneath, I was undernourished and deeply self-loathing.

Today, that self-loathing has shifted enough such that I have permission and access to the foods that I enjoy, love, and that provide me comfort, relief, nostalgia, and connection.

What’s something in your pantry that you’re excited about right now?

I’m super stoked that right now, I have peanut butter (from the grinder at the grocery store), cheese, the crackers I like, and a few other easy, delicious items that will work for me when I feel badly or don’t have much access to my appetite. Foods that I’ll still light up around in those instances, so I can still nourish myself. Because I’m currently in a perimenopause flare with hormone shifts making me feel crappy and unmotivated to eat, it’s nice to have the things I need. It feels like self-care when I look in my pantry and see multiple things that will make food possible and even a little enjoyable during these times.

What are your signs that you are living life "fully"?

Such a good question! I think the thing I pay attention to in my body is when I feel crunched over and clenched. Sometimes I notice it in my posture (or other people point it out to me). Alongside it, my brain is usually whirring on something that I don’t have any control over, but I’m trying to force some control onto. It’s usually an indicator that I need to take a few things off of my plate if I can, and or that I need a day or a weekend or an afternoon to just dink around, putter, or tinker. Time to be unproductive and nonlinear and to follow a flow.

That usually helps reset me back towards the full life, which for me has me broad chested and head held high, so that I can see and take in everything around me in my world. Because there is so much beauty for me right now, I feel privileged to say. There is so much grief in my heart, always, but there is so much goodness in my life all around me all the time, and the full life for me is letting that soak in and fill me up as it’s meant to.

What are your favorite ways to celebrate big or small wins?

Ugh, celebrating myself is still a learning curve I’m on, but I’m getting there! I like to light a candle and take a bubble bath, go out for a nice dinner with my partner, purchase something I’ve had my eye on for a bit, or give myself some other kind of gift (dink around time, a favorite movie or show, etc)

What’s something you wish you had understood earlier about your body, movement, and/or food?

You know, I think back to younger me who was just trying to do it the way I felt it was supposed to be– eating the foods I liked, consistently, engaging in movement that felt good and pleasurable when I felt like it– but because I was on the higher end of the weight spectrum that intuitive nature of being with food and movement was taken from me and pathologized as wrong because my body became a beacon of the problem.

I would restrict and exercise would feel punishing. This would get me the results I wanted, and then I’d burn out and do the whole diet deal that so many of us have done.... Eventually, I had my eating disorder and then later, recovery. Essentially, I’d do what adolescent me did, what felt best to her, and I’d keep doing that no matter where my body wanted to be within it.

Anyway, I wish I could go back and tell younger me to skip all those chaotic steps and just keep doing what feels best and learn to be okay with where your body wants to be, despite how painful it can be to navigate all the anti-fatness, diet culture, and healthism. I wish I could go back and tell younger me that her intuition was right, she had good instincts on what felt best, and that she can keep on trusting that.

How do you show up for yourself?

Another great question! Lately, it has been within boundaries. I’d say I first really learned boundaries starting in 2019, and although setting them is getting easier, I still really struggle with the process. I set them, but they are accompanied by so much internal grappling. I maintain them, but it is always alongside internal chatter about my meanness or wrongness. I’m in a couple of life situations where boundaries are how I show up for myself, to protect my peace. Because of the nature and complexity of these relationships, I navigate internal strife while knowing that setting boundaries is necessary and the only way to show up for myself.

What's something that you really love about your life right now?

I’m getting married in July, which has me thinking about my relationship to my partner, and he is the thing that I really love about my life right now. Life with him is just so sweet and fun and supported and safe. We have so much fun together, eat delicious food together, work hard alongside each other, and cherish the lives we share together with our two awesome cats. I’m really marveling at all of that right now.

What's your personal definition of "The Full Life"?

For me, the definition of “the full life” is expanding my capacity to hold both the grief and joy and all of the complexity within. I often talk about it with my clients, as getting really wide to build the capacity to hold it all. There will always be grief, and there is so much of it these days, which I think beckons us to look at the glimmers, the beauty, the connection, and the love that is all around us while our hearts break with our own griefs and traumas and the collective systemic violences happening all over right now.

Thank you so much, Virginia. I loved reading through your journey and relationship with food, and I know that so many people will see themselves in your experiences. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your story with us. You are doing amazing work! We are so lucky to have clinicians like you in the world!

Work with Virginia

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Hello from maternity leave! Taking a few minutes to officially introduce the newest member of my family, Solenne Marie. She has been the perfect addition to our litt…

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As always, the first few minutes of this video are free for all, so I hope you watch what you can. If you are feeling bummed about missing the rest of the video, feel free to upgrade your subscription! I even have a code for 50% off - and this code doesn’t expire after a certain amount of time. You’ll get 50% off your subscription for as long as you stay a subscriber!

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In the video, I’m talking about the 4 most basic things I want you to understand about food and nutrition to be competent in feeding yourself. There’s no biochemistry or organic chemistry involved. Just understanding the basics to make food and nutrition (hopefully) a little less confusing. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or questions in the comments!

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Join me for “Getting Full”!

The next Getting Full will be on June 18th at 12 pm. This time, it will be sent out via email with no link to a live version since I will officially be out on maternity leave. I’ll be covering nutrition basics. The things I wish everyone understood about nutrition. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

June: Thursday, June 18th at 12 pm CT, Nutrition 101 (this will be pre-recorded since I will be on leave and will just be sent out as an email - AKA it will not be a “Live”)

July: A special guest is joining us! Hannah Kirby (a long-time friend and colleague of mine and the owner of Whole Being Nutrition) will be coming on to talk about a new group we’re running together in the fall. This will be pre-recorded and available to everyone - not just paid subscribers. Look out for it to learn how to join us for a fantastic body image group! I will send out her video via email on July 16th.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support! A reminder that I’m running 50% off all subscriptions from now through the end of my maternity leave.

Get 50% off forever

I’ve been an owner of Full Life Nutrition Counseling since 2021 - almost five full years of having Full as a part of my core values as a business owner and dietitian. Being “full” is something I look to in almost every part of my own life, something that feels important to ensure I’m living in alignment with my values, interests, and goals. I want to feel full in all aspects of my life on a pretty regular basis - even when that may rotate depending on the phase of life I happen to be in. When I don’t feel full, I can tell I’m out of alignment with the things that bring me joy and happiness. The fullness of life can encompass every emotion, ups and downs, and bad days. It’s not about perfecting every moment, but embracing possibilities and seeking out good experiences.

I chose Full as a tenet in my business because it is a constant theme in my day to day life as a dietitian. I’m working with clients daily to help them achieve fullness in their bodies, not just with food but in their physical and mental experience of the world. Being full can have hidden meanings that we’ve created or been exposed to since we were little kids. Being full can bring up uncomfortable feelings both physically and mentally. Depending on how we’ve navigated the world in our bodies, fullness can be a completely neutral or even pleasant sensation, or it can bring up significantly unpleasant emotions.

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Join me for “Getting Full”!

The next Getting Full will be on June 18th at 12 pm. This time, it will be sent out via email with no link to a live version since I will officially be out on maternity leave. I’ll be covering nutrition basics. The things I wish everyone understood about nutrition. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

June: Thursday, June 18th at 12 pm CT, Nutrition 101 (this will be pre-recorded since I will be on leave and will just be sent out as an email - AKA it will not be a “Live”)

July: A special guest is joining us! Hannah Kirby (a long-time friend and colleague of mine and the owner of Whole Being Nutrition) will be coming on to talk about a new group we’re running together in the fall. This will be pre-recorded and available to everyone - not just paid subscribers. Look out for it to learn how to join us for a fantastic body image group! I will send out her video via email on July 16th.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support! A reminder that I’m running 50% off all subscriptions from now through the end of my maternity leave.

Get 50% off forever

Links:

Notable content warning for specific mention of eating disorder symptoms and behaviors. This article goes into the lack of education about eating disorders that medical providers receive (it’s specific to the UK, but the US is very similar). In reality, almost all healthcare providers have to seek out their own post-graduate education in eating disorders if they are interested in the field. I had maybe 2-3 lectures about eating disorders in total over 6 years of under- and post-graduate education. It scares me to think of how many people seek help with their PCP or a general, outpatient dietitian and aren’t given the support they truly need because their team doesn’t know what they don’t know.

Diet culture really is everywhere, and makes it hard to exist comfortably in our bodies. If you’re struggling with body dysmorphia or poor body image in general, seeking help can make a difference!

Very on board with the messaging from this article! If weight loss is your primary goal at the gym, you are so, so, so much more likely to burn out and quit. There are so many reasons to invest time into your movement routine that have nothing to do with changing your body. And finding a trainer who gets that makes a world of difference!

I’ve written before about my complicated personal and professional opinions about GLP-1 use. This piece shares an interesting narrative of some of the gifts the author perceives from their GLP-1 use, as well as some of the sadness and lifelessness that come from losing interest in something as human as eating. Skip it if GLP-1 discourse is triggering for your own relationship with your body or food.

I found this to be so wholesome. I love that it’s only 10 minutes. I love that it’s free and just played over the radio. I love that it doesn’t require any tools or weights. I love that it creates a sense of community and encourages the use of public spaces. Movement doesn’t have to look one specific way to promote positive outcomes!!

Thoughts:

Full Plate by Abbie Attwood

Hands Off My Jell-O: On Who Gets to Decide What a Sick Body Deserves

If you’ve ever spent time in the hospital as a patient—or the loved one of a patient—you probably know firsthand how complicated our appetite can become when we’re sick, recovering from surgery, or enduring a variety of treatments. Sometimes it fades gradually, other times it comes and goes in waves, and often it disappears altogether like a light switc…

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4 months ago · 5 likes · Abbie Attwood

Cheating by sharing both a link… and my thoughts. I’m not going to do a full deep-dive on this memo, so I thought I’d share this one from and add a little more context (and my own frustrations) here!

If you don’t click the link, the post covers a recent memo from RFK Jr. about “improving” hospital food/nutrition standards. Something nobody in the world would fight too hard against, but, of course, he has the worst plan imaginable for how to go about this.

Rather than improving policy guidelines or funding for hospital nutrition programs, he’s going against specific foods without fully understanding why they are offered in the first place. covers her own experience with needing simple, easy, digestible nourishment via Jello, which is one of the specific foods RFK Jr. is targeting.

For anyone who works in healthcare, this is a silly request. Beyond that, it could be a dangerous request. You see, the people who are eating the most Jello in hospitals likely aren’t doing so because they prefer to exist on a diet of sweet gelatin. They do so because they can’t tolerate much else. For some of them, they aren’t actually allowed to eat anything else because they are on a clear liquid diet as part of their present medical need. They’d likely love to be offered something more substantial.

A clear liquid diet is one of the most restrictive diets you can be placed on in the hospital, and you are limited to, you guessed it, mostly broth or other drinks and drink-like options. This includes Jello. RFK Jr. is hoping to get all sugar-sweetened drinks and “processed foods” out of the hospital. Which is all fine and dandy until you realize that it means there are no foods or carbohydrates left to support the people who need this particular type of restrictive diet.

It’s the type of advice that can only come from a man who has no awareness of his own ignorance in food and medicine. You see, this restrictive diet isn’t just for the “sickest of the sick”. It’s for anyone who is coming up on surgery and needs to be put under anesthesia. It’s for pregnant women going through labor. It’s for people recovering from GI surgeries who can’t tolerate more complicated foods. There is a good chance that at some point in your life, you will have to follow a clear liquid diet in the hospital.

Usually, this diet is prescribed for as short a time period as possible. Why? Because dietitians and doctors don’t want you existing on Jello and Coke. Believe it or not, we are aware of the need for other nutrients. This diet isn’t prescribed as a health detox program, to put it in terms RFK could understand. It’s prescribed to get you through a specific period of time when adequate nutrition is really hard to come by.

Honestly, I’m a little fired up. Do I sound fired up? How do we get this man out of our medical system? I’m so tired of seeing this type of ignorant nutrition advice in the news.

The food that inspired me this month: Convenience!!!

Okay, convenience is not actually a food, but more of a food group. Or maybe a food type. Right now, the convenience and ease of making food are among the more important factors in what I eat. For that reason, here are some of my favorite convenience foods and what I add to make them a more full/complete meal.

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Happy Monday, everyone! Take care of yourselves. Eat yummy food. You deserve all the good things.

Gretchen

Join me for “Getting Full”!

The next Getting Full will be on June 18th at 12 pm. This time, it will be sent out via email with no link to a live version since I will officially be out on maternity leave. I’ll be covering nutrition basics. The things I wish everyone understood about nutrition. It will be recorded and sen…

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Jamie is a favorite of my fitness follows on Instagram. She was recommended as a resource long ago by a colleague of mine, and ever since then, I’ve been happy to recommend her to anyone and everyone who wants some grounded, compassionate, and quality exercise advice. Jamie does a fantastic job of breaking down movement into supportive and helpful practices, but also bringing her own humanity into the practice to help you feel more at peace. You can learn more about her below and find links to follow her on Instagram or work with her!

What is your name & who are you?

Hi, I’m Jamie Carbaugh (she/her), a weight-inclusive personal trainer and group fitness instructor. I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2009 and later became a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant in 2015.

I worked in a skilled nursing facility for nearly five years before starting my own business, where I now work 1:1 with clients virtually and host a monthly non-diet movement subscription.

My work focuses on helping people reconnect with movement for reasons beyond the scale, movement for strength, flexibility, connection, autonomy, and joy.

You can follow me on Instagram @fitragamuffin or learn how to work with me at fitragamuffin.com.

What is an amazing meal you've enjoyed recently?

Some of my favorite meals lately have been simple ones shared with people I love, the regularity of pancakes on a Saturday morning, or sharing fruit and cheese around a crowded table while playing a board game.

To me, an amazing meal has more to do with who surrounds you than what’s on the plate. Food reminds me that nourishment is about so much more than fuel. It can be safety, connection, memory, and community all at once.

How would you describe your relationship with food? How has it changed over time?

I’m going to be annoying here and shift the question to my practice of exercise, so I’m going to replace food with movement (if that’s okay). (Gretchen’s note: of course!!)

My relationship with exercise has shifted over the years from a pretty harsh one to one where I regularly practice compassion and curiosity. I grew up as an athlete, so I learned to always “push through,” even when my body pleaded for rest. Now, I allow rest and even welcome it, knowing it’s all part of the push/pull, inhale/exhale dynamic of movement.

Working in skilled nursing also completely changed my understanding of exercise. Strength stopped being about aesthetics and became about dignity, autonomy, and staying connected to daily life. I saw how meaningful it was for someone to be able to get up from the floor, carry groceries, walk outside with confidence, or simply keep doing the things that made them feel like themselves. That shifted something in me permanently.

I now see noticing and slowing down as movement strengths instead of nuisances like I used to. Noticing how I feel each day, energy-wise, has given me the awareness to adjust my movement practice accordingly. “Low battery” days might require softer options or decreased intensity, while “high energy” days allow me to ramp things up a bit. But I no longer place those experiences on opposite “good” or “bad” pedestals. They’re all part of the continual journey of showing up over time.

What’s something in your pantry that you’re excited about right now?

My most recent kitchen ‘win’ has been letting go of the intimidation around learning a new kitchen gadget. I may be a late bloomer, but learning how to work an air fryer has been a game-changer for me when it comes to day-to-day meal execution.

What are your signs that you are living life "fully"?

I like to write poems, and a couple months ago I wrote this one that feels fitting here:

Sit. Type. Work.
I hear a sad song.
Throat wells up.
I want to cry.

I used to dam it up.
Now I notice the feeling,
and instead of capping it,
I release the valve.

From throat to mouth,
nose to tear ducts,
sadness falls.

Hand on heart,
I allow myself to lie on the ground
and listen to the song.
The lyrics reminding me of your presence,
your laughter, your company.

I allow grief to cover me like a weighted blanket,
but one I’ve chosen,
not one that’s been forced upon me.

My knees rock.
I cry out,
unabashed by who might hear.
The song ends.

I feel relief.
Not only because I chose to release,
but because I recognize the work it took
to get me to this point.

To me, that is a full life.

A life where I can notice an emotion
whether sadness, joy, jealousy, or curiosity
and lean fully into it
without regret or harshness.

When I’m able to feel it all,
that’s when I sit comfortably,
knowing I’m fully human.

What are your favorite ways to celebrate big or small wins?

I’m going to be annoying again, but I tend to decategorize “big” and “small” wins. I used to play basketball in high school (or rather, mostly sit the bench in high school), and something I noticed was that the game-winning shot is only possible because of all the shots that came before it, the second one made, the seventeenth, the quiet plays in between that no one remembers.

The crowd celebrates the final shot differently, of course. There are fans rushing the court, people crying, and all the visible excitement. But there is no game winner without the ordinary moments that led there.

So, when a client tells me they had a “small” exercise win, I celebrate it just as deeply as a traditionally “big” one, because they’re all part of the lifelong process of coming home to ourselves. Sometimes the win is taking a walk without shame attached to it. Sometimes it’s resting instead of pushing through. Sometimes it’s simply noticing their body with curiosity instead of criticism.

One of my own recent wins had nothing to do with movement at all. It was sitting with my daughter and telling her that I had let my emotions get the best of me. Apologizing for placing something on her shoulders that was never hers to carry. I made a mistake, noticed it, sat with it, and repaired it.

That felt like a win to me, not because I handled things perfectly, but because we’ve created a relationship where emotional safety exists alongside honesty and repair.

What would you go back to tell younger you when they struggled with their body, movement, or food?

Dear 12-year-old Jamie,

I know you’re hurting right now.
I know you’re wishing for things to be “better,”
or to somehow go back to the way they were.

But I promise you
what you are learning right now,
by continuing to be exactly who you are,
will not only save you,
it will eventually become your superpower.

You will learn that nothing ever truly stays the same,
and one day,
that truth will stop scaring you
the way it does right now,
curled up on the bathroom floor.

You will develop a deep compassion for other people
moving through hard seasons,
and eventually,
you will learn to offer that same compassion to yourself.

You will sit on bathroom floors again
at other points in your life,
but the sadness and despair won’t frighten you
the way they used to.

Because you will grow into a woman
who knows how to hold herself
with warmth and gentleness.
A woman who no longer feels the need
to constantly perform happiness for other people.

You will become
and are still continually becoming
fully yourself.

And surprisingly,
you will grow to love that process.
Not always,
but most of the time.

Who you are right now
is necessary for becoming
who you are today.

So just keep swimming.
(You’ll understand that reference soon.)
I love you immensely,
exactly as you are.

Love,
your 40-year-old self.

Follow Jamie on Instagram!

How do you show up for yourself?

I show up for myself when I allow things to be imperfect. I’ve realized there’s rarely going to be a perfect time to “start” something meaningful.

For example, I currently live overseas, and staying connected to family and friends through letters is really important to me. But for a long time, I kept pushing it to the bottom of my to-do list because I had this vision that every one needed to be beautifully hand-lettered, deeply thoughtful, colorful, and time-consuming.

Eventually, I let go of that expectation and started sending short postcards instead, little notes that take less than five minutes. I had to decide that the connection itself mattered more than whether it looked impressive or “done perfectly.”

That’s become a bigger theme in my life. When I let go of perfection and allow myself to do things imperfectly, I’m much more able to actually show up for myself and for the people I love.

What's something that you really love about your life right now?

I currently live in Germany, and our daughter is 9 years old. I love that we get to experience another culture together; the bread, the rules, the trees, the language, all the little rhythms of daily life that slowly become familiar.

The other day, my daughter and I climbed a tree and sat in its branches for nearly half an hour just watching a caterpillar make its way across one of them. I loved that. The slowness of it. The simplicity. The reminder that a meaningful life is often made up of very ordinary moments that we actually allow ourselves to notice.

I also deeply love the work I get to do. Recently, a client told me, “Every session with you makes me more open to movement,” and that stayed with me. Helping people discover movement that feels accessible, tolerable, compassionate, and sustainable feels incredibly meaningful to me. I love getting to witness people soften toward themselves over time.

What's your personal definition of "The Full Life"?

My personal definition of a full life is probably best described through a poem by William Martin.
In it, he speaks about teaching our children (or maybe ourselves) to notice “the wonder and marvel of an ordinary life.”

He writes about things like tasting pears and learning how to cry when pets and people die.

I love that because those aren’t the kinds of things that usually make the “bucket list” cut, and yet they are the very things that make up a whole life. The quiet, ordinary experiences that slowly shape us over time.

The poem ends by encouraging us to “make the ordinary come alive,” trusting that the extraordinary will take care of itself. That idea has stayed with me for years.

To me, a full life is one where I’ve allowed myself to feel the depth of despair and the height of joy. It’s appreciating how burnt toast can somehow taste like a five-star meal when shared with someone you love, or understanding the patience and trust it takes to build a meaningful friendship over time.

It’s climbing trees with my daughter. Crying when I need to cry. Reading books that crack me open a little. Sitting around tables with people I love. Moving my body because I care about being alive inside of it.

A full life, to me, isn’t necessarily the most impressive one. It’s the one I was actually present for.

Work with Jamie!

What else, if anything, would you like to share?

I think so many of us are carrying the belief that we need to become “better” versions of ourselves before we’re allowed to fully participate in our lives. But more and more, I’m learning that life is happening right now in the ordinary moments, in imperfect attempts, in repair, in rest, in laughter, in grief, in movement and in connection.
I hope people know that the ‘before and after photo’ has always been them, and to think of themselves as not a project to ‘fix’ but as a whole human being to experience life through.

Thank you so much, Jamie! I loved getting to read through your thoughtful answers to each question and know they’ll be just as meaningful to everyone reading this today! You are making such a difference in this world just by changing the way we all experience movement and being in our bodies.

Want to be featured in a Full Story piece? Complete this questionnaire!

Join me for “Getting Full”!

The next Getting Full will be on June 18th at 12 pm. This time, it will be sent out via email with no link to a live version since I will officially be out on maternity leave. I’ll be covering nutrition basics. The things I wish everyone understood about nutrition. As always, the first few minutes…

Read more

Join me for “Getting Full”!

The next Getting Full will be on June 18th at 12 pm. This time, it will be sent out via email with no link to a live version since I will officially be out on maternity leave. I’ll be covering nutrition basics. The things I wish everyone understood about nutrition. It will be recorded and sent out for paid subscribers within the week.

June: Thursday, June 18th at 12 pm CT, Nutrition 101 (this will be pre-recorded since I will be on leave and will just be sent out as an email - AKA it will not be a “Live”)

July: A special guest is joining us! Hannah Kirby (a long-time friend and colleague of mine and the owner of Whole Being Nutrition) will be coming on to talk about a new group we’re running together in the fall. This will be pre-recorded and available to everyone - not just paid subscribers. Look out for it to learn how to join us for a fantastic body image group! I will send out her video via email on July 16th.

August: Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm CST, Getting Comfortable with Body Awareness

Paid subscribers will receive the email link to the live event a couple of days before it happens. Remember that this is a perk for paid and comped subscribers, so if you haven’t made the plunge yet, there’s no time like the present. The overview is always free to all, but to watch it live or see the full recording, you do need to be a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support! A reminder that I’m running 50% off all subscriptions from now through the end of my maternity leave.

Get 50% off forever

Links:

I’m always interested in new “diagnoses” that are proposed and how they relate to the work I already do with clients. This study on “Cosmeticorexia” was pretty interesting and feels very pertinent at the moment. The hill I will continue to die on: if you’re stuck in an all-or-nothing mindset about anything, it’s likely disordered. Mental flexibility is key to having a healthy relationship with almost everything.

They still have to eat in space! Defying the laws of nature in some ways, but definitely not in all ways.

Unfortunately, companies make a lot of money off of your (our) health anxiety. It’s a lucrative business to sell a way to make all disease and sickness go away.

An informative article about weight suppression and how it can drive bingeing behaviors in bulimia nervosa. Weight suppression isn’t just for thin people. You can be in a larger body and still be experiencing weight suppression.

A really interesting analysis of current data surrounding interoception and eating disorders! Asking your therapist to explore ways to get more in touch with your body might be a good idea if you’re struggling with an eating disorder.

Ah, food noise. The topic of the moment. This article contains the usual diet culture/fatphobia, but it also kind of challenges some of the common narratives about weight control methods? There’s a lot to unpack here, but overall, my takeaway was the same as usual: food noise is basically a version of hunger. When your body has not had reliable access to food (or even just mental restriction or guilt when eating), your body is going to overcompensate by increasing thoughts about food.

Is food noise in the news more often right now? Yes. But I’ve had the concept of “food noise” on my nutrition assessment since 2016. I ask every new client what percentage of time they spend thinking about food or weight. A majority of them report thoughts about food roughly 90% of their day or more. When someone “graduates” from nutrition work? Usually, we’ve decreased their thoughts about food to <25% of their day.

A great reflection from about weight loss in diabetes care.

broke down the difference in policy action with different administrations of the past 20 years. The idea that MAHA was the first pro-health policy action is just simply not an accurate representation of reality.

Will I ever have a links and thoughts post without something from in it? Here’s another reminder to follow her on Substack if you want to challenge your assumptions about beauty and self-worth. Here, she gets into the tricky conversations that can come up when someone brings up worries about their appearance. My thoughts?

• I heard someone say on a podcast once that their internal response to bad body image days is to say, “I’m being really impacted by the patriarchy/capitalism/beauty culture/diet culture (insert your favorite) today”. It externalizes the experience from being “true” to being… an experience related to social inequities.

• I have a general rule not to reassure people about how beautiful they are when they are feeling self-conscious. Instead, I like to say things like “it’s really hard to have a body in this world” or “it can feel so challenging to love ourselves when the world is trying to convince us of all the ways we should look better.” I also always make sure to throw in a mention about how the way they look doesn’t impact how I feel about them.

• It’s not that I don’t think we can acknowledge someone’s beauty, but I’ve found that when someone is already feeling vulnerable about their looks, reassurance is a balm that doesn’t last long. Soon, those worries come back, or they never went away, and people get stuck in the cycle of seeking external validation instead of starting the work of self-acceptance.

Thoughts:

1 - My favorite shoes to wear all summer long are my Teva’s, and I found the cutest pair of baby ladybug Teva’s to join our crew.

2 - A statue we found at a local consignment store. We didn’t buy it, but I thought it was a hilarious idea for our nursery.

3 - A PSA that you can add Tajin to the rim of any drink… it doesn’t have to be alcoholic.

4 & 5 - There’s nothing more heartwarming than my dogs napping in the new nursery. I mean, seriously.

6 - I asked my dad to paint some sailboats for our nursery since he had painted fun animals in my nursery as a baby. I’m happy we’ll be able to take them with us if we ever move!

7 - My husband and I tried something new and got the tripod and our camera out to take some pictures. We’re hiring someone for newborn photos, but I wanted a couple taken while I’m still pregnant!

8 - My dog, Barry, has favorite lawns in our neighborhood, and he’ll take a short break in the middle of our walk to literally just enjoy the grass. It’s endearing and also very annoying.

9 - A fun fact that my husband and I met as blind dates for prom our senior year of high school. I had never seen this picture before, but my MIL found it and gave it to us. We’re just babies!

The food that inspired me this month: Summer Berry Salad

I can go most of the winter without eating a single salad, but the second spring arrives, there is something that sounds so amazing about fresh produce. I will also admit that my first and second trimesters of pregnancy had some pretty intense food aversions, so my variety was low. I may have had a bit of a rebound this past month with wanting so many fresh fruits and veggies. The human body is fascinating. And, maybe this can be a small bit of assurance that if you’re currently in a produce rut, it likely won’t last forever.

Ingredients:

• Salad mix of choice (I’m a butter lettuce gal!)

• Fresh berries of choice (strawberries looked amazing and blackberries were on sale!)

• A soft, fun cheese (I chose goat cheese, but I think feta or even brie could be fun here!)

• Nuts or seeds of choice (My husband has a tree nut allergy, boo, so I put some walnuts on my salad in addition to our shared mix of hemp hearts and pumpkin seeds)

• Something for a little crunch (I chopped up some snap peas, but you might go for celery, carrots, radishes, or anything you like!)

• An allium (I used thinly sliced shallot, but green onion, chives, or thinly sliced red onion would also be great!)

• Vinaigrette of choice! I made a red wine vinaigrette, but go crazy! Have fun!

• This isn’t a super high-protein meal/entree, so you could always add chicken, beans, or another protein of choice to bump up the satiety factor.

• You need a grain! I opted for a baguette on the side, but you could totally add quinoa/orzo/couscous or croutons.

Directions:

• Chopping your lettuce and veggies makes it more likely that you get variety in every bite.

• Same with mixing your dressing in and tossing your salad prior to serving.

• If you aren’t adding in another protein, add lots of cheese and nuts/seeds to the salad to make sure you’re getting adequate energy for fullness and satiety

• Be mentally prepared to want a snack in an hour or two. And maybe a bigger snack than is normal for you. Or maybe something that feels less “healthy”. I almost always find myself craving a denser snack after having a salad for a meal - even when I think I’ve done a good job of getting in a source of carbohydrate and protein! I don’t make the rules!

• Chop your salad right before you eat it or prep it the day of if you plan to pack it as your lunch. Save the dressing until right before you’re eating, or things are going to get nice and slimy.

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Happy Monday, everyone! Take care of yourselves. Eat yummy food. You deserve all the good things.

Gretchen