Eat For You Dietitian

My earliest memory of being made aware that ‘something was wrong with my body’ was when I was 8 years old. I was running around with my cousins and when I went over to my mum, I overheard one of my Aunt’s saying to my mum that I was fat. I don’t remember how the conversation continued but that first memory has stayed with me. I think I tried my first ‘diet’ when I was 11 years old as part of a bet with my older brother. A bet which I didn’t win and made to feel shame because I didn’t lose any weight. As I think about it now, I feel sorry for how my 11 year old self felt about her body. I wish I could tell her, ‘your body is not your worth’ and those telling you it is are not right.

I think every decade has its theme for the ‘diet’ to follow and it continues to grow, and now with the stamp of wellness on it as the industry wants us to continue to buy into these calorie-restrictive ‘diets’ and rules around our food. 

Are you ready to eliminate any guilt around food? Are you finished with ‘trying to be good’? I’m not here to over-complicate anything. I want you to be able to enjoy food because it’s not only fuel and energy for our bodies, food holds more value and is shaped by many different factors that are uncontrollable. 

Step 1: Let’s put pen to paper and find out what rules around food you have. 

When I ask an individual for a typical day of eating for them, I will also discuss what happens on the weekend, on non-working days etc. Everyone is different. However, I often hear the same rules around food followed, for example ‘I can’t eat after 7pm’, ‘I must eat breakfast’, ‘I can’t have 1 biscuit, I’ll eat the whole pack’, ‘I can’t eat that I’m diabetic’. 

My question to you is Why? 

Step 2: Try to remember the why. 

Who told you this and did it make sense at the time? 
Step 3: If you are fortunate enough to afford food let’s start with thinking of all food as equal. They are not ‘healthy’ ‘superfood’ ‘unhealthy’ ‘guilt-free’ ‘good’ ‘bad’. It’s all food and nourishing. This includes whether its frozen, tinned, dried and fresh.  Why do we crave our favourite food, quite simply, because they are designed to taste good and release the happy response in our brain which our brain then remembers. So when someone offers us our favourite food, even when we’re not hungry, we want to eat it. It’s not a bad thing.

Step 4: Have self-compassion. Let’s give ourselves a break. Society is constantly telling us to be smaller and take up less space. I am tired of how much time I have wasted worrying about the calories eaten and calories burnt. I have more to contribute and more to live. Our bodies are amazing and our health is not shaped by its size, there is much more to our health and wellbeing.

Step 5: Keep going on this journey with me