body/self image
Why You Can’t End The Diet-Binge Cycle
Here’s the thing about the diet-binge cycle that nobody talks about…it’s not dieting, in a vacuum, that triggers it. It’s wanting to control your weight, that triggers the dieting (in various forms), that triggers it. Every time I ask a client, “why is it so scary to let go of controlling your food?” the answer is invariably, “I’m afraid I’ll gain weight.” Duh. Fear of weight gain controls us. Fear of weight gain is why “it’s so hard to let go,” or “I’m not there yet,” Fear of weight gain backs us up against a wall and says “you don’t have a choice in this matter,” Get thin or die. When you let yourself be controlled by your fear of …
Have you “fallen off the wagon?”
The only time a person EVER “falls off a wagon” is when there’s a wagon to fall off of; a set of rules, ideals, or beliefs around food that we let determine how we feel about ourselves. “I was sooo good with food yesterday, and today, I SUCK.” sound familiar? and I’m guessing that when you go into the place of “I suck,” when you “fall off the wagon,” you fall hard. Like knee-deep-in-brownie-batter-hard. Not fun, and so avoidable. If you want to make peace with food, and stop shame-eating cookies in the middle of the night, Ask yourself, what “wagons” am I trying not to fall off of? Where am I judging my performance with food? …
How emotional eating is saving your ass.
Most of my clients think that emotional eating is a curse. That it’s an unfortunate defect they’ve been blighted with, and they were dealt a bad hand in life when it comes to food and weight. “Poor me! I’m sick of this! Will this food problem ever not torment me?!” Or something along those lines. But here’s my take on it… I’m not sure emotional eating is a bad thing. In fact, I think it might be my guardian angel. I know this is the part where you think I’m a crazy person, but hang on a sec. Emotional eating is an attempt to deal with a tough problem, feeling, or situation we don’t otherwise know how to deal with, and often don’t even …
The Most Common “Emotional Eating” Mistake
Emotional eating, at the end of the day, is just a coping mechanism. I’m all about “feeling your feelings,” and there is no doubt that getting in touch with your emotions is incredibly important for reasons that have nothing to do with whether or not you eat over them, but unless we practice new coping mechanisms, we will continue to eat when emotionally uncomfortable. Thinking we can live a life without coping mechanisms is totally unrealistic — it goes against our biological instincts to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Not to mention that coping mechanisms are what allow us to function during times of emotional duress. We need breaks from crying when trauma occurs. Feelings can’t be processed every moment of every day. We have to …
Before You Eliminate Foods for Health Reasons…
Dear Isabel, I’ve tried to start weaning myself off of certain foods that I’ve learned may be negatively impacting my digestion—not for weight loss, but for my digestive health. That being said, I’m having a hard time, and fear I may be falling back into restrict-binge-type cycling. Am I just biting myself in the foot for doing this? Honestly, it really depends. I absolutely believe that people who are recovering from diet-binge cycling (or restrict/binge cycling) can learn to eliminate certain foods for health reasons (e.g. allergies, etc.) BUT doing so effectively without falling into old patterns or diet-mentality requires an enormous amount of honesty with yourself about what’s motivating your choices. Here are some important questions/comments to consider …
maisukii: A reminder that trans people do not need to look a certain way to be trans you can be a…
maisukii: A reminder that trans people do not need to look a certain way to be trans you can be a man and wear dresses and makeup you can be a woman and be a weightlifter or have facial hair you can be nonbinary and not be “androgynous” your outward appearance does not determine how “trans” you are, Having started your transition or not does not matter. You define who you are.
Happy Trans Day of Visibility to those still in the closet.
maritroniuity: You are important. You may not be in a position to come out yet, but we support you and the community loves you. Stay safe and be careful.
blackbrownandpink: Happy trans day of visibility! I’m posting…
blackbrownandpink: Happy trans day of visibility! I’m posting this because I always feel a little guilt about the fact that I don’t look #transenough, and feel like eurocentric beauty standards and definitions of ‘woman’ and ‘feminine’ have poisoned me in too many ways to count. I write for those of us who struggle to keep from literally carving the vision of ourselves we see in the mirror out of us/ I write for the silence after someone yells ‘hey tr**ny’ when we’re talking in the streets, and no one speaks up to tell them they’re wrong/ I write for those of us who have leaped over every hurdle put in front of them, but are covered in bruises and scars from falling on the hurdles inside of…
aceastronauts: (I’m not feeling super today, so have some…
aceastronauts: (I’m not feeling super today, so have some selfies from Easter when I felt a little better about myself) Happy Trans day of visibility to everyone in the community! You deserve love, respect, and praise every day of the year. Keep pushing forward, we can do it ? ?He/they?
with-a-song-of-rebellion: happy trans day of visibility to all…
with-a-song-of-rebellion: happy trans day of visibility to all my trans/nb/gnc siblings – yall are loved and beautiful whether you post selfies today or not ? (they.them)
transphilosopher: Socially sanctioned excuse to post a lot of…
transphilosopher: Socially sanctioned excuse to post a lot of selfies? Yes, please! Happy Trans Day of Visibility! <3</p>
wheeliewifee: Announcing our April Autism is Awesome SALE Join…
wheeliewifee: Announcing our April Autism is Awesome SALE Join the fight against anti-neurodiversity fear rhetoric, support a shop owned by an autistic couple, and save big $$ in the process! Just visit our little store and browse for already marked-down items, or search using keywords like neurodiversity, autism, spoonie, or even just “sale” 🙂 https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePaperPoppyStore