Positive role models shape a healthy body image Maybe you’re wondering “how can I improve my body image” in our body perfectionist culture? Well, what if you knew when you were younger that all bodies aren’t the same? Every body is different That’s what 26-year-old pop singer and former “American Idol” contestant, Jax, wished somebody had told […]

Summertime is (finally) here, and the warm temperatures call for shorts, tanks and swimsuits. If you love or like your body, no matter what it looks like, terrific. But if you don’t, baring more skin can produce body insecurities. Over 91% of women report struggling with some aspect of their appearance. It makes sense when women compare […]

There are three reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating. Rarely is being told “what to eat” by a nutrition expert (or some social media influencer who claims “eat like me, look like me” BS) the solution to the most common nutritional challenges. In fact, not knowing what to eat (16%) is nowhere near the […]

Wrinkles. Waistlines. Rippled thighs. It feels strange to look in the mirror at my 53-year-old body and no longer see my younger self. I’ll be honest, aging isn’t easy when 20-somethings Botox “wrinkles” and Instagram influencers filter and perfect their images and instruct midlife women to “just skip the carbs” to flatten our rounded bellies. (No thanks). […]

How can you possibly have a healthy relationship with salt and vinegar chips, cookies, and salted caramel ice cream – they’re “bad,” “hyper-palatable” – right? And still be healthy? It can feel like the chips (no pun intended – haha) are stacked against you because many of these “forbidden” foods are designed by lab engineers to be […]

Do you love the idea of ditching your scale, but you’re worried about your weight? If so, you’re not alone. You’ve been taught to focus on your weight (like all of us) – with your BMI number labeling your supposed health status. And holy moly, as a culture, we spend enormous amounts of time, energy and money […]

Do you struggle with body comparison, your body image? What if you could live your best life in whatever body you have? I’m reading Brene Brown’s new book Atlas of the Heart and was struck by her research on comparison. Brown says that humans are hardwired to default to comparison and that it seems to happen to […]

If your digestion isn’t great and/or you’re worried about gut health or food intolerances causing “inflammation,” bring the power of eating psychology to your plate. As a Nutrition Therapy Practitioner (NTP), I was trained back in 2012 to support clients through an elimination diet as the “gold standard” to find out what foods may be causing your […]

If you feel like you’re addicted to sugar, craving carbs, you can learn why and make peace with all foods by learning Intuitive Eating. Have you tried to solve this “problem” by restricting these foods? Perhaps you’ve tried a 30-day sugar detox or a “healthy lifestyle” eating plan “to fix” your cravings for carbohydrates, sweets. And maybe […]

No more dieting The first principle of Intuitive Eating is Reject the Diet Mentality. Why is this so important? Diets have taught you not to listen to your body. The good news is that you can re-learn by practicing the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. Diets don’t teach you how to have a healthy relationship with food […]

“Eating low-carb is part of my healthy lifestyle.” “I have to have a meal plan to eat healthy.” “I’m a sugarholic — I’m addicted to brownies.” “Without portion sizes, I’ll overeat.” Healthy eating has become synonymous with food rules, labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar and processed foods, and restricting the evil macronutrient […]

Maybe you’ve heard that diets don’t work and believe that diet culture’s “thin(er) is better” messaging is toxic. Yet you, like millions of other Americans, still want to lose weight. You find yourself wanting a healthy relationship with food but you’re bombarded by the “New Year, New You” pressure to transform your body. That makes perfect sense. […]

“When I was little, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up and I said, ‘Small.’ By the time I was 16, I had already experienced being clinically overweight, underweight, and obese. As a child, fat was the first word people used to describe me, which didn’t offend me until I found out […]

We’ve all been there. Standing in front of the mirror, pulling at our clothes that seem to stick a little too tightly to our stomachs or arms. Changing out three or four outfits before leaving for the day. Eating a nice lunch out with co-workers while secretly promising ourselves we’ll run an extra 3 miles later or […]

The things I love most about my friends have nothing to do with what they look like. Let that truth sink in. I know deep in your heart, dear reader, you feel this way too. But despite that heartfelt truth, weight and appearance take a front seat in most of our lives, driving or crushing our self-confidence. […]

I’m so proud to collaborate with some of the leaders in the wellness industry who subscribe to my philosophy of following an anti-diet approach to fitness and body acceptance! LoyoboFIT is one of them! Below is a brief description of their philosophy: “WE ARE NOT YOUR TYPICAL GYM AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY. We want to […]

Thin is “ideal,” and more body fat and weight gain are always “bad.” Everybody agrees those statements are true. But are they? Author and registered dietitian Christy Harrison dispels those myths in her book “Anti-Diet” and shares extensive research on the roots of diet culture to show us how we got to today — biased against fat. […]

Scrolling through my Facebook feed, I recently read a post by an over-50 woman lamenting that she could no longer eat pasta. Dozens of women commented below, offering low-carb recipe substitutions, commiserating with her on the unwelcome midlife “muffin top.” That post represents how most older women feel about their aging bodies. According to a 2013 study, […]

Body dissatisfaction and eating challenges are on the rise, affecting every sector of our population, from our youth to our elderly, but with an alarming increase among teens, young adults and children of increasingly younger ages. We’ve reached a point in history where nearly every person is in some way affected by society’s heightened focus on beauty […]

As pandemic restrictions ease, an alarming reality emerges. Instead of feeling only relief, many of us feel self-conscious about how our bodies have changed. We fear having our bodies fully seen, versus our neck-up, dressed-in-sweatpants view on Zoom. We have mixed feelings about returning to fitness spaces, excited to move and socialize but worried about being judged […]

Be more than a body. More than an empowering mantra, that is a call to action, led by Dr. Lindsay Kite and Dr. Lexie Kite, body image researchers and founders of the nonprofit Beauty Redefined. To take a powerful leap forward for positive body image the Kites ask us to see beyond the “all bodies are beautiful, […]

What if you didn’t start a new “diet” every January? No restriction. No elimination. No guilt. No shame. No “shoulds.” No “failure.” And what if you actually became healthier? No scale necessary. Sounds great, right? Got it, you say. I’ve got one in mind that says it’s “not a diet.” Such “non-diets” fill our inboxes or social […]

Every body deserves a traditional Thanksgiving meal. But as a nutrition student back in 2012, I would have found that statement reckless, disregarding the “epidemic” of weight/health challenges facing our country. That year my parents traveled from Maryland to Denver to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with me and my family. While I swung kettlebells and climbed revolving […]

My body is not better than or less than your body — or any body. But is it? As I type this statement I’m spammed. A text notification pops up on my computer screen reading: “Tanya, 1 cup at 8pm shrinks your belly while u sleep, this is why Shark-Tank judges back it! Learn more.” I question […]

We’re suffering from another health crisis. “Few of us are at peace with our bodies, whether because we’re fat or because we fear becoming fat,” says Lindo Bacon, author, researcher, and professor, Ph.D., MA, MA. So what’s driving this war on our bodies? It’s diet culture’s weight-centric portrayal of wellness — thin equals healthy and it’s solution… […]

Do you or someone you love struggle with healthy eating and/or suffer from body dissatisfaction? If you said yes, it’s absolutely not your fault. It’s diet culture’s. ​ Let’s break down two major drivers of these challenges: You compare your body to health and fitness culture’s perfectionist and unrealistic body ideals. ​ You’re stuck in “diet culture” […]

Having unbalanced blood sugar can lead to poor health because —- it’s so dang stressful on the body. When you’re, day-in-day-out, eating meals that are “unbalanced” – this causes high blood sugar which eventually crashes, known as low blood sugar, and leads your body to try and boost it back up as quickly as it can. And […]

Taryn Brumfitt posted a before-and- after photo of herself on Facebook. But with a twist. Instead of the conventional “before” photo, where you’re sad and miserable and your body is viewed as “undesirable,” Brumfitt first posted her body-building competition photo, posing in a silver bikini and high heels. Next she posted a photo of her natural woman’s body […]

Is the Quarantine15 on your mind? It needn’t be. We’re living in unprecedented times, and the fears are real. But fearing weight gain shouldn’t be one of them. Social media’s latest pandemic hashtag — quarantine15 — is just ol’ diet culture ramping up again to prey upon our body insecurities, body shaming us for profit. I’m sure […]

Remember the little girl who used to run through the sprinkler wearing her swimsuit, shouting and giggling with pure joy? Not once did she think about her body’s appearance. She had full body freedom. Then she grew older, and culture’s body perfectionist ideals engulfed her thoughts about her body. That girl may now be you, struggling with […]

Radical Acceptance is a new column focusing on promoting healthy body image and redefining health. Amy Pence-Brown, a 39-year-old mother of three, is a body image activist internationally known for her radical stand for self-love at the Capitol City Public Market in 2015. Pence-Brown stood blindfolded in a black bikini, with the following message written on a […]

Your thighs are too big. Your belly isn’t flat. You have too many wrinkles. Your stretch marks are ugly. Your grey hairs make you look old. Your cellulite is hideous. Millions of women hear hurtful statements like those when they look in the mirror. I was one of them. These were my statements. I bet they’ve been […]

Your body is not a billboard for your health. Your body is your home.” — Amy Pershing, founder of Bodywise When we look at our health and bodies from this perspective, we can make room for self-compassion, tolerance and patience. Yet American culture focuses the lens on our physical appearance, convincing us that our health is defined […]

Though we believe fat is bad, it’s not our fault. “Fat” has been promoted as a dirty word in American culture since World War II, when the diet and fitness industries promoted mass obsession with weight and body shape. “In the United States, fat is seen as repulsive, ugly, unclean, obscene and above all as something to […]

Dear Diet Culture, Things just aren’t working out between us. You make me feel ashamed when I’ve eaten a “bad” food. You make me feel dirty if I haven’t eaten “clean.” You’ve taken away my personal autonomy to choose what to eat and enjoy eating. I will no longer allow you to judge my self-worth by my […]

“Mom, I’m fat.” No mom ever wants to hear that comment from her daughter. Yet never before have our girls been more obsessed with their weight and appearance. They are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer or losing their parents, according to the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination. Chronic dieting, […]

Do you know what’s healthier than kale? A good relationship with food and your body. If our pursuit of healthy eating doesn’t consider our relationship with food we are missing a critical ingredient. While we understand the importance of healthy human relationships we often overlook our relationship with food, though it’s one of the longest relationships we’ll […]

“Defy your age — get your body back.” ”Take the 10-year social media photo challenge.” ”Fifty is the new 30.” What do all these messages tell us about aging in today’s body-centric culture? Don’t. When I turned 50, I’ll be honest: I’d been thinking about aging a lot leading up to that birthday. There’s no doubt that […]

Repeat after me: “The body is not an apology.” This mantra, coined by world-renowned activist, poet and author Sonya Renee Taylor, challenges us to shift away from shame for living in a perfectly imperfect human body. Instead of viewing our bodies as problems that need to be fixed, we can heal from generations of body shame created […]

Fit. Lean. Ripped. Strong. Men use those powerfully masculine words to describe the “ideal” male, which many Jackson Hole, Wyoming men feel is expected as the norm in our fit-centric mountain town. Masculine, as defined by Google, is “having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with men, especially strength and aggressiveness: muscular, well built, brawny, shredded.” Yet many […]

“No one is going to stand up at your funeral and say, ‘She had a small waist and a great thigh gap.’” —Ailey Jolie, registered clinical counselor As a woman, former exercise professional and “eat this, not that” nutrition coach, that could have been how I was remembered. My identity was health and wellness. And my professional […]

“You can live the rest of your life without knowing how much you weigh.” Does that sound radical and maybe even unfathomable? The statement comes from registered dietitian Christina Frangione, who suggests we all can say “no weigh” to measuring your health with diet culture’s ruler: the scale. While we may believe health is manipulating our bodies […]

This is the season when holiday festivities — and “diet talk” — are in full swing. “I feel so fat.” “Just skip lunch so you can indulge tonight.” “I’ll burn 500 calories at the gym to earn my food.” “I’m bringing the gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free cheesecake” … despite having no medical reason to and, if we’re honest, […]

(This is the second of two articles on dropping diet mentality. Read part one, “A healthy eating tip for the New Year: Ditch the diet,” here.) Imagine if you woke up New Year’s Day and weren’t consumed with thoughts of having to fix your body. Imagine not refusing the brownie because it’s not on your list of […]

This is a shout-out to all the women and girls working on liking their bodies. This s— is hard. Why? Because today’s perfectionist, fat-phobic (weight stigmatizing) body culture feeds our dissatisfaction. It fuels poor body image by spreading the conventional “wisdom” that healthy equals thin and fat is bad. “Diet culture leads most women to see themselves […]

But what if you swapped the endless pursuit of “fixing” or hiding your body, believing that it’s not enough or too much, to pursue a healthy body image instead? Your body is not the problem. It’s your perception of your body that needs some love. Having a healthy body image is determined by what you think about your body. […]

What’s your “ideal” weight? I have no idea!!! because “ideal” weight is a myth. But, I can hear you now, “but I DO have an ideal weight. When I used to weigh _____ (fill in your number, when I was 22, last year, before the baby, according to BMI calculations, etc.), that’s when I felt my best” […]

I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with food over my lifetime of almost 50 years. I’ve been all over the place with my eating: from dipping pizza in blue cheese at 2:00am with my sorority sisters and chasing it the next morning with a Big Gulp of Coke and bagel with cream cheese to removing all gluten, dairy, […]

What’s micro-resilience and how can it help you minimize the impacts of daily stress? Let’s think of micro-resilience this way: What’s the normal way you live your life? Do you power through your emotions, fatigue and stress? Do you end up collapsing at the end of the day? Do you believe in pushing yourself to prove yourself […]

Compliments are great, right?! Of course, we want to tell someone when they look great. Who hasn’t complimented someone who has obviously lost a significant amount of weight?! We probably all have. But we may be doing more harm than good… In 2013, after finishing nutrition school, I weighed the least I’ve ever weighed, which was far […]

Kale’s all the rage. Everyone’s talking about it because it’s healthy. But do you want to know what’s even healthier than kale? Having a good relationship with food! I used to think that because I loved eating healthy food I had a healthy relationship with food. Over time, though, and with further education, I had the courage […]

Fill Your Feed with Body Positive Goodness Improve your body image by following these positive body image social media feeds. Fill your feed with realistic and positive images of bodies and health. The messages that you see and hear everyday matter and influence how you feel about your own human body. Pick the ones that speak to you, the […]

I am standing for anyone who has struggled with a self-esteem issue like me, because all bodies are valuable. To support self-acceptance, draw a heart on my body. Amy Pence Brown Taking A Stand If you haven’t seen Amy’s incredible display of humanity and self-love, I highly recommend you take 4 minutes to watch her video. I had […]

When we were born, we instinctively knew how to eat. But as we move through life, we are impacted by the messages from the world around us. We’re taught over and over again about what to eat. And the “what” we should eat shifts year after year. These lessons come from family members (more often than not […]

The High-Fact Diet Do you ever feel burdened by the fact that you know so much about nutrition? This is what is called a “high-fact diet”. Many of us are almost too well educated about what we eat, and this is actually creating stress in our bodies. And yes, I am speaking from personal experience. If we […]

Metabolism and the Mind The satiated man and the hungry man do not see the same thing when they look upon a loaf of bread. The great poet Rumi It’s true. We all come to the table with different perspectives and life stories. I like to think of this as a direct reflection of how everybody’s metabolism […]

Vitamin P. Pleasure. We need it. Without it our lives just aren’t complete. And neither is our metabolic potential. Pleasure, a Study Let me share a scientific example with you. Scientists conducted a study around the relationship of iron absorption and pleasure. Their test subjects included a group of women from Sweden and another group of women […]

Fittness Marketing and its Harmful Message I love fitness. I loved it so much that I made it my career. I used to be a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Yet my perspective on fitness has changed. Have you stopped to think about most fitness marketing and what metaphors are underneath its messaging? Crush your goals. Burn calories. Get rid of unwanted […]

There is so much stress and confusion around what to eat these days that many of us have no idea what normal eating is anymore. You may even be suffering from disordered eating or an eating disorder and not even know it as it’s becoming increasingly more common in younger girls and middle-aged+ women because of perfectionistic […]

Do you or someone you love struggle with health, self-esteem or body image? Perhaps this has gone on for years and you (or, they) have finally had enough of feeling anything less than fantastic. I encounter this every day! People are fed up with feeling sick and tired, and they’re ready to enjoy life to the fullest […]

Sugar and Its Effects It seems like sugar-bashing is all the rage lately. Sugar-less diets and detoxes are everywhere, but I want to tell you something: Sugar isn’t evil. And trying to quit it 100% by using willpower can be super stressful and isn’t necessary. Phew! Right? Having said that, let’s look deeper at sugar and its effects on our […]

3 Mind Body Nutrition strategies to help you conceive a healthy baby When it comes to fertility, diet and how you nourish yourself matters. Eating good quality food is a part of nourishment but how you and your partner nourish your whole selves is another critical ingredient of good nutrition and the ability to conceive. I recommend […]

Fatigue. Cravings. Mood swings. These are three common complaints that can be avoided by building healthy balanced meals. One of the most important strategies to improve your nutritional and overall health is to learn how to create meals that stabilize your blood sugar. When Your Blood Sugar is Stable You will feel stable You will feel more […]

“Grumble grumble grumble” Uh oh… You’re hungry and didn’t bring a healthy snack! All you see around you are chips, cookies, candy, crackers, soda… And even if you do make it through the afternoon, you know you’re going be tempted by the instant gratification of fast food joints you’ll pass on the ride home. We set ourselves […]

Are You In a Constant Battle With Food? As a former exercise trainer and current holistic nutritionist, I thought I had a healthy relationship with food because I ate healthy foods. Not so. The key word is RELATIONSHIP. Only a few years ago did I learn to begin making peace with food and my body. What’s your […]

I Get Asked ALL the Time… How much protein do we actually need? The Better Question to Ask Is… Does it really matter? YES and NO!!! I really hope you will read through the end of this email because the “no” could be the secret ingredient you’ve been missing. Sports Nutrition – The Masculine Approach Let’s first dive into […]

Running on Empty Maybe you’re rushing to get out the door, maybe you don’t feel hungry, or maybe you’re even trying to save those calories for later on in the day. What you might not realize is that skipping meals can be counter-intuitive to your health. Your body prefers a steady source of fuel throughout the day […]

Do you live your life like it’s an emergency? I was guilty of that, too! I had an ah-ha moment at the grocery store one day while I was rushing around like a madwoman. Out of nowhere, I had this moment of clarity and said to myself, “What am I doing!?” I couldn’t believe the tizzy I […]

The New Epidemic Lately, I’ve noticed a new epidemic happening for women. They’re experiencing a laundry list of symptoms: fatigue, forgetfulness, brain-fog, mood swings, insomnia and so on. Basically, they’re incredibly overwhelmed. This has been, typically, spread through Generation X (those born approximately between the years 1965 and 1984), but I also see it happening in women […]