Hear me out on this one folks.

“I just can’t keep that stuff in my house- I’ll end up eating it all” is a common refrain I hear so often- from clients, friends, you all here on IG.

And I absolutely spent MANY years keeping foods I deemed ‘addictive’ or ‘unhealthy’ out of my own house too.

A pint of ice cream would disappear REALLY fast.

But here’s what I’ve learned- not only from my own experiences with Intuitive Eating, but in years of digging into the research of dieting...

Restriction- in a real physical sense but also when you mentally label foods to avoid- is the BIGGEST predictor of binging.

If you never allow certain foods in your house, then OF COURSE you’re going to eat it when you get your hands on it for ‘just this once’.

I don’t believe any food or ingredient- nope, not even sugar- is addictive (and the studies that say sugar is as addictive as cocaine were done on AND were determined after...

Friend and family can be the worst offenders when you’re done with diets and want support.

If I had a dime for every person who told me about their loved ones who ‘didn’t get’ them not dieting anymore, well…I’d have a LOT of dimes.

The casual way in which people share their diet tricks and offhand comments about how ‘bad’ they were for eating the brownies last night can be overwhelming sometimes.

And can make you feel like you’re the only one who isn’t avoiding gluten or carbs.

Diet culture and the ‘wellness’ industry is LOUD. And EVERYWHERE. And no one is unaffected by it.

Not even those closest to you.

Three ways to offset these messages…

Diversify your media. Do you see people of all shapes & sizes doing the things, or is your view of health on your screen presented by mostly thin, white humans? No judgement; there’s a huge lack of diversity when it comes to the wellness industry and who gets a...

There's a history behind how you feel about your body shape and size.

I’m white, thin, non disabled, & cis gender- and those are just a few of the many privileges I have that must be acknowledged to be an effective coach who works with humans.  Period.

And I continue to learn from people of color with lived experiences and knowledge in this field- and you should too.

So here’s just a quick synopsis of why I coach the way I do, and a list of resources at the bottom.  The more education you have, the easier it is to see how racism and fitness are linked to each other ...

Why do we idealize thinness?

A big part of it stems from the 1800’s, when white European men felt they needed to create a bullshit evolutionary hierarchy to place themselves at the top. So they ranked people according to physical traits and catalogued them to fit their narrative.

These men decided that fatness was a sign of ‘savagery’- only because it was a trait they were seeing...

Friend and family can be the worst offenders when you’re done with diets and want support.

If I had a dime for every person who told me about their loved ones who ‘didn’t get’ them not dieting anymore, well…I’d have a LOT of dimes.

The casual way in which people share their diet tricks and offhand comments about how ‘bad’ they were for eating the brownies last night can be overwhelming sometimes.

And can make you feel like you’re the only one who isn’t avoiding gluten or carbs. 

Diet culture and the ‘wellness’ industry is LOUD.  And EVERYWHERE.  And no one is unaffected by it. 

Not even those closest to you.

Some ways to offset these messages?

Diversify your social media feed.  Do you see people of all shapes & sizes doing the things, or is your view of health on your screen presented by mostly thin, white humans?  No judgement;...

Some facts about me that have nothing to do with fitness...

• In 1985, we got my moms dream dog- a toy poodle named Monique- and she was a wild first dog experience.  My dad didn't like her and my mom treated her like a baby- she regularly painted her nails and played with different haircuts on her (my haircut here is also courtesy of my mother).  Monique was far from a good fit for our family; she's wearing a cast in this pic because my brother would chase her around our small house and she broke her leg on our brick fireplace.  Somehow, she lived a long life and died while my brother and I were in college (and she was living with an elderly lady who was a much better fit for her, but that's a whole other story).
• I had brain surgery a few years after this pic to remove a large benign tumor from the base of my brain.  My surgery date was set for the next week and they sent me home.  The day before my surgery the tumor slipped while I was blow drying my hair,...