Back from the dead! I've decided to share this episode to my old anti-diet feed as well as my new podcast "Problematic," since it has some crossover content... If you wanna find my new stuff, or the video version of this episode, you can find it at carolinedooner.substack.com. If you're still struggling with your relationship with food, make sure to read the book The F*ck It Diet!!! Find Isabel here: Her Website Her Instagram Her Twitter (aka Instagram for Men!) The Bitcoin Podcast Episode Isabel mentioned
Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2024
Big update! The chaos is ending. Listen to this episode's intro for the explanation. This podcast is about to become an archive of old episodes, dedicated to The F*ck It Diet. But before it ends, I need one more chaotic moment: having to repost this episode that I already posted last month. Why? After all of that, trying to merge my old podcast into substack, I decided instead, to "split" my podcasts again, and leave The F*ck It (Diet) Podcast as it's own, standalone archive, that's specific to the food healing journey. This way, it will better be able to support new people who are reading the book, or just finding the information for the first time. But because I had the podcast merged for a few months over on substack, there were a few episodes that were posted on the new substack feed, that were not posted on the old feed. My episode with Irene on our nervous systems is one of them, so now that I've "split" the podcasts, it has to be "reposted" over here again, if I want it to be on this feed. And, I think this episode is really relevant to "The Emotional Part" of The F*ck It Diet. So I want it to be here! You may have already listened to my conversation with Irene back when I posted it last month! If that's the case, you can just listen to my new intro where I explain why I'm ending this podcast, and starting fresh somewhere else. My new podcast will be over at carolinedooner.substack.com (there, you can find the actual podcast link listings. So if you want to find my new podcast on spotify or apple, you're going to have to separately follow me over there!) Also! If you've listened to my conversation with Irene already, she is currently enrolling her yearly program Smart Body, Smart Mind through September 19th, 2022. If you've been wanting to go deep on nervous system and trauma work, make sure to check it out. To get some of her trainings for free, check out her free video series (it's like 2 hours worth of video lessons!). My Conversation with Irene Today I am sharing my conversation with Irene Lyon, a trauma expert, educator, and trained somatic practitioner. We talk about some of the basics of the nervous system, the body holding onto trauma, and some myths and misconceptions about how healing works. If youâve read The F*ck It Diet or Tired as F*ck, you know how passionate I am about this method of healing, even though⌠I have been thinking about how much I should be getting back into focusing on it... And, as I say at the end of the episode, I actually just now am back into focusing on it. I just took Ireneâs 21 Day Nervous System Tune Up. And I love it all so much, that I am now an affiliate for it. What that means is, if you use my link for her program, and sign up, I will get a commission. As I mentioned above, Irene is currently enrolling her yearly program Smart Body, Smart Mind through September 19th, 2022. If you've been wanting to go deep on nervous system work, make sure to check it out! To go through some of her trainings for free, check out her free trauma healing video series (it's like 2 hours worth of video lessons!) You can also find Irene on instagram here. *** If you're reading the F*ck It Diet book and want some structure + extra belief work + bonus content + 32+ hours of video Q&A rep...
Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2022
Note: This episode was actually recorded for my other podcast, Problematic. But I originally recorded the conversation when, for a short time, my podcasts were merged. So don't let the outtro confuse you! Today Iâm sharing my conversation with Seerut Chawla. We talk about her brief foray into cancelling someone on the internet, her change of heart, and both of our experiences waking up to the insanity and cult dynamics of cancel culture⌠Itâs a good one! Find Seerutâs instagram, twitter, and website. THANKS! BYE! HAPPY BELATED MEMORIAL DAY AND/OR HAPPY TUESDAY
Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2022
Today I am sharing my conversation with Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN, CSCS, CEDRDS-S, where she talks about diet culture and purity culture in the church (and how is mirrors our culture at large!). We also chat about Gwen Shamblin, the infamous "Christian" cult leader, and the way the bible was (mis)interpreted. Though, today's episode is from the perspective how to change the mindset in the church from a focus on purity, to one of love, acceptance, and "grace" (a word Leslie breaks down in the conversation!). This episode is for all people, regardless of your religion, because the parallels run so deep. And next episode will be a different conversation of leaving Fundamental Christianity and finding trauma healing. Find Leslie on instagram and her website here Read the beginning of Tired as F*ck or The F*ck It Diet Find Summer Innanen's free Body Neutrality Workshop here: bodyneutralityworkshop.com
Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2022
Hello! Today's episode is short and sweet... I'm starting off with a 10 minute audio-chapter from the audiobook of Tired as F*ck. And, that audio clip just so happens to be about anxiety, and what it's like to be a person with a normal amygdala (aka, not a psychopath). Then, I go over the three different "categories" of anxiety you will deal with when healing your relationship with food and weight! This episode is brought to you by Tired as F*ck, coming out on February 8th! Read the beginning! Get your pre-order bonuses! And Summer Innanen's Free Body Neutrality Workshop. bodyneutralityworkshop.com
Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2022
January 5th was the 10 year anniversary of The F*ck It Diet!!! (and my 34th birthday!) It's not the ten year anniversary of the book... but of my actual journey on The F*ck It Diet. So, in celebration, I got on instagram live and read two excerpts from my new book Tired as F*ck, where I talk about what my TFID "epiphany," and what the beginning of my actual journey looked like. THEN the next day, my computer broke, so I'm currently posting this from my new $126 backup chrome book while my macbook pro gets fixed. But in this episode, I'm sharing the clip from instagram live where I read those two excerpts!!! Tired as F*ck comes out in exactly one month! On February 8th!!! If you want to receive the rest of the excerpt where I share the beginning of my own f*ck it diet, pre-order Tired as F*ck, screenshot your proof of purchase, and then go to thefuckitdiet.com/fun and sign up for the pre-order bonuses!
Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2022
Today's conversation is with Africa Brooke! Coach, writer, podcaster, and author of the viral open letter, "Why I'm Leaving the Cult of Wokeness." We talk about her journey to where she is now, the dynamics behind what we call "cancel culture," the parallels between our own healing journeys, and tons more. Find Africa on Instagram here Find Africa's website here  And if you want to help me/the podcast: Check Out my second book Tired as F*ck!
Transcribed - Published: 20 December 2021
In today's episode, reporter Jessica DeFino explains how our skin works, and how beauty culture is actually damaging our skin health with skin "care" products. This is one of my favorite episodes on my podcast so far, (up there with my Laziness Does Not Exist episode from a year ago). Just like our relationship with food and diets, where we are led to believe we need diets, which leads to worse health and a worse relationship with food longterm⌠the same thing is true for our skin. Beauty companies have convinced us we need their products, but their products are disrupting our natural skin barrier and biome, and lead us to needing MORE of their products. Great for them. Not so great for us. Important Links: Find Jessica's Substack: The Unpublishable Read the beginning of Tired as F*ck Pre-order Tired AF and get your pre-order bonuses (including Author's Commentary on The F*ck It Diet book)
Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2021
Today's episode is a conversation I had with Tash Ngindi, aka @thethicknutritionist. We talk about her early diet days, her disordered days in nutrition school, and her journey to realizing that weight loss does NOT work the way we think it does. Find and follow her here: @thethicknutritionist and thethicknutritionist.com *** And, as I mention at the end of the episode, you can read the beginning of my second book, Tired AF here: thefuckitdiet.com/tired And learn about pre-order bonuses here: thefuckitdiet.com/tafbonus
Transcribed - Published: 18 October 2021
This post and episode is brought to you by my live program, The F*ck It Diet Club. It's only running one time in 2021. Two months of live support, community, video Q&As, daily prompts, weekly beliefs to focus on, and all of us using TFID book as a textbook. Enrollment closes January 14th. Six years before I started my own "F*ck It Diet," I read the Intuitive Eating book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, and decided I was going to heal my eating. I was 18 years old, and I'd already been extreme dieting for over 4 years. I was an extreme dieter, and an extreme binger. My weight violently yo-yo'd up and down every few months. And I was sure I was a food addict. Reading the Intuitive Eating book was the very first time I had any idea that dieting was toxic, and wired to backfire. It spoke to me. I wanted to heal. But I was young, and desperate, and still stuck in extreme self-objectification. I was about to go to school at NYU for Musical Theater, and I also had a lot of health issues that I'd been trying to heal with my extreme diets. I wanted to heal my relationship with food, but I wasn't ready. I also didn't really understand some very important parts of the journey to food and body freedom. Remaining thin was still my top goal, and there was really no way to fully heal while continuing to prioritize weight control. So over the next 6 years, while I thought I was eating intuitively, I was actually not. I was still dieting, and obsessing over my hunger and fullness cues, and calling it "intuitive eating." Then I'd read the books and blog posts from other "mindful eating" gurus, and assume they were continuing my education on intuitive eating, when in reality, they were taking me further and further away from true intuitive eating. Sometimes people read my work and think I'm ragging on Intuitive Eating and saying it doesn't work. I promise you, I am not. Intuitive eating is life changing, evidence based, and the dietitian authors of the book are trail-blazing experts who have changed more lives than anyone could begin to count. But people do misinterpret intuitive eating, en masse. A lot of those people become influencers themselves, and water down the intuitive eating teaching. There are a lot of deeply ingrained diet beliefs that many of us hold, that will keep us from truly eating intuitively, and instead, keep us in a quasi-healed state, where we're still sneakily micromanaging our food intake, which will inherently still keep us obsessed with food, and feeling out of control around food. I made a lot of mistakes during those 6 long years, so I'm sharing those mistakes in the hopes that you won't make the same mistakes I made. Ready???  1. I thought I had to listen really, really closely to my hunger and fullness cues Listening to your body is one thing. It's what we want! But listening obsessively? Not exactly what we want. And not exactly what is gonna lead to a better relationship with food. Here is the thing: after years of dieting, we usually feel REALLY out of control around food, so it makes sense that we assume that we need to pay extreme attention to every bite we take, and our exact level of hunger or fullness. The problem is, we don't trust ourselves or our bodies. We are still operating under the belief that our appetite has to be micromanaged. It actually doesn't. In the beginning of stepping away from diets, we are often extremely hungry, hungrier than we think is ok or healthy or rational. And we think it's a sign that we are out of control, and that our hunger needs to be curtailed. But actually, our hunger needs to be fed. Which brings me to....  2.
Transcribed - Published: 11 January 2021
Today I'm sharing my chat with Annie, one of my very best friends from all the way back in High School. We talk about our disordered eating that started in high school, and how we got out of the diet cycle in our twenties. Annie also just had a baby and has things to say about toxic diet culture during pregnancy. Content Warning: Talk about disordered habits, disordered thoughts, and pregnancy weight gain amounts. Annie's current favorite pregnancy & post-partum accounts: @Drsterlingobgyn @drcassidy @mypelvicfloormuscles @ourmamavillage @prenatalyogacenter @karrie_locher @drnicolerankins @onestrongmamaprenatal Annie also mentioned that if anyone has questions for her about pregnancy/post-partum, they can follow her private instagram @anniebmccarthy and DM her :-) *** Sponsors: -TANYA MARK. Tanya is a non diet nutritionist, body image coach, and sheâs professionally certified in Intuitive Eating and Eating Psychology. She gets it. Itâs not easy ditching diet cultureâs BS messages. And she has a plan for you. If youâre ready to ditch food guilt and body shame for good, grab her free guide: 5 Steps to Stop Feeling Crappy About Your Body & Make Eating Easy. Grab the free guide and get started today. And follow Tanya on Instagram! -SIDE BY SIDE NUTRITION. Side By Sideâs dietitians work to empower people to become their own nutrition experts. Their team of health at every size and weight inclusive nutrition therapists work virtually all over the United States - and locally in Colorado. They work both individually with clients of all ages, genders, and diagnoses in addition to running ongoing online groups - including an IE and body image support group, meal support groups, Binge Eating Disorder Support Group, and Restorative Yoga. They put out free weekly content on their YouTube channel, blog, and instagram to help inspire your journey to a trusting and self-compassionate relationship with food and your body. They offer one on one nutrition and body image therapy to those who struggle with eating disorders, disordered eating, chronic dieting, they also take a variety of insurances including the large commercial insurance companies Cigna, Aetna, and United Healthcare. If you are ready work one-on-one, you can email [email protected] or call 708-717-7394. sidebysidenutrition.com
Transcribed - Published: 4 January 2021
Today I'm chatting with Kara Loewentheil, host of the Unf*ck Your Brain podcast, and former women's rights lawyer turned Master Certified Coach. And today we chat (mostly) about New Year's resolutions, and why they usually backfire, and how to approach them (if you even want to - which you don't have to want to!!!) Kara's Website Unf*ck Your Brain Kara's Podcast Unf*ck Your Brain  Sponsors!  Tanya Mark is a non diet nutritionist, body image coach, and sheâs professionally certified in Intuitive Eating and Eating Psychology. She gets it. Itâs not easy ditching diet cultureâs BS messages. And she has a plan for you. If youâre ready to ditch food guilt and body shame for good, grab her free guide: 5 Steps to Stop Feeling Crappy About Your Body & Make Eating Easy. Grab the free guide and get started today. And follow Tanya on Instagram!  Lu Uhrich is a  Certified Eating Psychology Coach and Body Image Mentor Lu Uhrich (pronounced YER-ick) and her online course, The Mend Sessions. The Mend Sessions is a self-paced, 10-week course for the woman whoâs ready to find food freedom, befriend her body and move on with her life.It serves as a powerful starting point OR a comprehensive refresher for those committed to anti-diet, weight-neutral living. The Mend Sessions is full of downloadable lessons, resources, and worksheets on the topics of intuitive eating, body image, joyful movement, self-compassion, intuition, self-talk, binge and emotional eating and more. Plus youâll get access to expert interviews, optional community support and monthly Q+As with Lu. To learn more about the Mend Sessions and hear from past participants visit Luâs website at luuhrich.com. And exclusively for our listeners: Use code âfuckitâ at checkout to get $30 off your Mend Sessions enrollment. And follow Lu on Instagram!
Transcribed - Published: 21 December 2020
What to Say To a Doctor, when intro-ing anti-diet stuff  This episode's sponsors are Juliette Sakasegawa - Your Empowered Life, and StitchFix (and my desire for as many $25 coupons I can get). More info on both all the way at the bottom đđź  This week I had an appointment with a cardiologist because my dad has a heart condition that can be genetic, so I was being screened for it. Turns out I DONâT have it, but while I lay there getting the echocardiogram he asked me what I did, and I said that I was a writer. "About what?" Sigh, here we gooooo. "I write about diet culture." I don't always know how to approach the subject with people in the medical field who I USUALLY assume will be extremely indoctrinated with food-fearing, weight centric beliefs. I usually tread lightly because I never know how people are going to respond. I said, "I think we have a blind spot when it comes to disordered eating. There's nuance of course, but it is more rampant than we tend to think." He seemed open, and said was interested in hearing more about it, because he is often put in the position of telling people to make changes to their diet, but he knows itâs not his area of expertise. He also said he is rather âatheisticâ about diets, and that he is aware that different things work for different people. Which all seemed like a good sign! So he said he may want to follow up with me on the subject so he could learn more. So! I went home and figured out what I would want to say to best intro the subject to someone who is likely entrenched in diet culture already, and a weight-centric paradigm. What I wrote: First and foremost, we have a problematic way of approaching weight in the pursuit of health - or in the pursuit of improved health. There is an assumption that weight is just a simple calorie math equation, and that is inaccurate for lots of people who have naturally higher weight set ranges, genetically or because of underlying health issues- and that belief leads to a dysfunctional way of approaching weight and weigh loss, and often leads to a dysfunctional relationship with food, that will ironically lead to poorer health outcomes long term. This hyper-focus on weight is a cultural issue first and foremost, but what we tend not to understand, is that health habits can and do change peopleâs overall health for the better, often without any change in weight. When there is a change in weight, longterm, thanks to better health habits, itâs usually because the dysfunctional relationship with dieting (and often bingeing in response to dieting) has been healed. There is a lot of talk about people having a âfood addictionâ or âsugar addictionâ which doesnât actually have data to back it up - in fact the studies that show food addiction actually starve and restrict the subjects (rats) beforehand, and then the rats act food addicted, and it lights up pleasure centers of the brain (that also light up with things like hugs and playing with puppies). So the âaddictionâ part is actually the consequence of the restriction. Simply⌠restriction leads to something that looks a lot like food addiction, and then often starts a viscous cycle. Another issue is the lack of fluency around the social determinants of health, as well as how much weight cycling, not weight alone, accounts for a lot of health issues- and weight cycling is a direct results of attempted weight loss. The following quotes are pulled from this article: Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift, and if you want to find the references for the quotes below, they can all be found at that link above by going to the referenced study number below. "Ob*se people who have had heart attacks, coronary bypass [50], angioplasty [51] or hemodialysis [52] live longer than thinner people with these histories [49]. In addition, obese senior citizens live longer than thinner senior citizens [53]. " "Weight cycling can account for all of the excess mortality assoc...
Transcribed - Published: 7 December 2020
Today I'm reading stories that were sent in by listeners, and answering some questions that were sent in! Just me and you babyyyyyyyy.  Today's Sponsors: Alissa Rumsey is a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor who empowers women to eat and live unapologetically. Her weight-inclusive private practice specializes in intuitive eating, body image healing, and disordered eating recovery with virtual 1:1 coaching, group programs, and online courses. She is also the author of the upcoming book, Unapologetic Eating. You can check out all of her offerings at alissarumsey.com or access her free guide: 5 steps to Getting Started with Intuitive Eating at http://alissarumsey.com/getstarted Stefanie Michele - A certified health coach and Mother of 3, Stefanie healed from binge eating and orthorexia after years of struggling (thanks in part to TFID) and now helps other people through the process as her job. She also specializes in helping women heal from long standing body image issues. Follow @iamstefaniemichele and go to iamstefaniemichele.com/get-started to get her Free Guide: Unsubscribe from diet culture).
Transcribed - Published: 26 October 2020
Today I chat with Jenny Weinar, LCSW of @homebodytherapy about recovery and ethical veganism and Overeater's Anonymous. We talk about how to figure out the motivation for your veganism (or any other "health practice" during recovery!!!!) We also talk why Overeater's Anonymous isn't recovery... and it's really just another way to restrict. We also talk about a way to approach navigating friends and family who aren't on board with your recovery process. It's a good one! Find Jenny's website here  Instagram Quick Links: Jenny Weinar, LCSW - @homebodytherapy Lu Uhrich & The Mend Sessions - @luuhrich Elizabeth Armstrong, PCOS therapist - @pcostherapist Unmeasured Barre Classes - @movementunmeasured The Full Diet & Cult-Mentality video on my IGTV  More info on this episode's sponsors: LU UHRICH & THE MEND SESSIONS.  Lu Uhrich (pronounced YER-ick) and her online course is a Certified Eating Psychology Coach, Body Image Mentor, and creator of The Mend Sessions. The Mend Sessions is a self-paced, 10-week course for the woman whoâs ready to find food freedom, befriend her body and move on with her life. It serves as a powerful starting point OR a comprehensive refresher for those committed to anti-diet, weight-neutral living. The Mend Sessions is full of downloadable lessons, resources, and worksheets on the topics of intuitive eating, body image, joyful movement, self-compassion, intuition, self-talk, binge and emotional eating and more. Plus youâll get access to expert interviews, optional community support and monthly Q+As with Lu. To learn more about the Mend Sessions and hear from past participants visit Luâs website at luuhrich.com. Use code â fuckit â at checkout to get $30 off your Mend Sessions enrollment. ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG, PCOS THERAPIST. Elizabeth is a therapist and coach who specializes in supporting people with PCOS who want to move away from diet culture and make peace with their body. With 15 years of lived experience with PCOS, she understands how deeply PCOS affects not just your physical health but your mental health as well. Elizabeth offers 1 on 1 online therapy and coaching as well as small intimate support groups. You can find her over on instagram @pcostherapist or PCOStherapy.com UNMEASURED is a virtual monthly barre membership that trades the toxic diet culture BS for body celebration. For just $25 / month you get access to a virtual library of do-anywhere barre classes refreshed weekly, curated playlists, form + modification tutorials. UNMEASURED was created for you by barre instructor Simi Botic. Free from shame and judgment, you can honor your body and enjoy a fun, intuitive relationship with movement. you can go to unmeasured.simibotic.com
Transcribed - Published: 12 October 2020
Today I chat with Casey Bonano, a dietitian specializing in eating disorders, about what to expect when you are in the early stages of re-feeding. For instance, what if someone eats a whole box of waffles?! Is that too much? We also focus on how to support a loved one who is healing their relationship with food, as well as how to talk to your loved ones if you are healing your relationship with food. * Instagram quick follows: Casey Bonano - @dallasnutritionalcounseling Side By Side Nutrition -@sidebysidenutrition Kirsten Ackerman - @theintuitive_rd Unmeasured - @movementunmeasured Simi Botic - @simibotic * Learn more about this episode's sponsors: SIDE BY SIDE NUTRITION. Side By Sideâs dietitians work to empower people to become their own nutrition experts. Their team of health at every size and weight inclusive nutrition therapists work virtually all over the United States - and locally in Colorado. They put out free weekly content on their YouTube channel, blog, and instagram to help inspire your journey to a trusting and self-compassionate relationship with food and your body. They work both individually with clients of all ages, genders, and diagnoses in addition to running groups -including a body image group and binge eating group. They offer one on one nutrition and body image therapy to those who struggle with eating disorders, disordered eating, chronic dieting, they also take a variety of insurances including the large commercial insurance companies Cigna, Aetna, and United Healthcare. If you are ready work one-on-one, you can email [email protected] or call 708-717-7394. sidebysidenutrition.com KIRTEN ACKERMAN, NON-DIET DIETITIAN. This episode is brought to you by Kirsten Ackerman, who was my guest on the April 12th episode where we talked about Weight Loss Surgery. Kirsten works virtually and can help guide you to restore trust in your body, attune to your own internal cues, and explore practices of body image healing. She is also the author of The Intuitive Eating Plan, host of the Intuitive Bites Podcast, follow her on instagram @theintuitive_rd. Or go to theintuitiverd.com/ UNMEASURED is a virtual monthly barre membership that trades the toxic diet culture BS for body celebration. For just $25 / month you get access to a virtual library of do-anywhere barre classes refreshed weekly, curated playlists, form + modification tutorials. UNMEASURED was created for you by barre instructor Simi Botic. Free from shame and judgment, you can honor your body and enjoy a fun, intuitive relationship with movement. you can go to unmeasured.simibotic.com
Transcribed - Published: 28 September 2020
Today I'm talking to my college best friend, Melanie Morgan. I met her freshman year when I was a raw vegan, and she tells the story of when we first met (and she thought I was nuts). And apparently, six years later, I also forced her to become paleo with me. I totally forgot that. In this episode we chat about mental health, my diets before The F*ck It Diet, and lots of other absurd things. You can find Melanie on instagram here, and Melanie's podcast with her husband and other friends at Have You Seen The Podcast! This episode's anti-diet sponsors! (In the very least, I recommend you follow them on social media and get their free content!) Side By Side Nutrition Free Video Series: Weight Gain WTF The #1 Thing stopping people from successfully Intuitive Eating? Fear of Weight Gain. If that's your fear around healing your relationship to food, you're not alone! The Body Love Society is offering a free 5 day video series called Weight Gain WTF! It will provide mindset shifts and tools for you to see past your fear of weight gain, and move forward in your journey to food and body freedom. You can access the video series for free at bit.ly/weightgainwtf Linda Tucker Coaching Linda Tucker is proud to call herself an Anti-Diet Coach, supporting people as they re-learn how to enjoy food and trust their body again. She has a specific interest in the nuances of how to stay on the non-diet path while also trying to manage chronic health issues. Keeping her coaching accessible and affordable, she offers virtual sessions to people all around the world. Linda has hosted multiple book clubs, including The Fuck It Diet !!! - and she provides free consultations for anyone who may be curious, reach out and say hi at LindaTuckerCoaching.com ! Lauren Redwine of Wellness with Redwine Lauren is an anti-diet coach, and her mission is to challenge âwellness as usualâ and give you some motherf*cking freedom. She received her health coaching certification back in 2013 from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and her Masters in Psychology in 2019. She follows an Intuitive Eating, anti-diet approach with her clients. When Lauren was going through her health certification she tried diets, cleanses, and âhealthy lifestyleâ eating in order to live like she thought a health coach should. After each attempt to follow a plan she would inevitably find herself in a violent binging phase only to start a new diet plan all over again on Monday. Lauren felt extremely alone because NO ONE was talking about this, especially in the health & wellness world. But she has since found freedom -- and can help you get there too. In Laurenâs 1:1 coaching program, she helps health-conscious entrepreneurs: lose the obsession with food & gain freedom, stop the diet-binge cycle, learn how to connect to & trust their bodies again, and separate their self-worth from their appearance. If you are interested in learning more about Lauren's work, you can find her on Instagram @wellnesswithredwine or sign up for her newsletter at laurenredwine.com
Transcribed - Published: 14 September 2020
Is bingeing the same thing as Binge Eating Disorder? (No, not exactly.) Does Binge Eating Disorder require restriction to treat? (NO.) Is bingeing a response to physical and/or mental restriction? (YES.) Can trauma/emotions/anxiety cause Binge Eating Disorder without the presence of restriction?? (Yes! However it is extremely rare in our culture for restriction/guilt to not ALSO enter the picture after the fact, and therein lies the importance of addressing restriction, even if and when it isnât the cause.) The line between disordered eating (bingeing) and Binge Eating Disorder is blurred, just like it is for all disordered eating/eating disorders. People binge in response to restriction, and they binge in response to trauma, anxiety, or difficult emotions. The important thing to remember though, is even if restriction isnât the main cause of your bingeing, it is probably a big piece of it, just because of the culture we live in. Addressing restriction is extremely important, along with any other emotional/trauma-based treatment. Anyone with an active eating disorder should be getting treatment, and The F*ck It Diet is just a supplement. (Note: This particle post is associated with an episode that I recorded on August 1st, 2020, responding to a disgruntled instagram follower who was angry that I was âignoring binge eating disorderâ in my instagram posts, and saying that I imply that all binge eating disorder is a response to restriction. To get the full drama, (anonymous) angry comments and DMs, the accusations of being unethical and predatory, and my full response, listen to the episode above. For the purposes of this post, I am going to distill it down to discussing the nuance of bingeing vs. BED.) The first and most important thing I want people to know about bingeing, is that when it is in response to calorie restriction, it is the body's attempt to protect you against past and future famine. In a very basic sense: it is protective. And if you've tried to diet a lot, whether you were "successful" or not it is also going to be a response to diet thoughts. That's an example of what people mean when they say: "mental" restriction. Restriction doesn't have to be literal and physical (ie, less calories), it can just be mental guilt, rules, or diet ideation. A LOT of our collective bingeing is because of our collective dieting, and out collective diet culture. The question then becomes, is that all? Do we binge for other reasons? To make sure I've covered my bases, I consulted Casey Bonano, CEDRD-S to weigh in on bingeing vs Binge Eating Disorder (BED). She is a Dietitian specializing in Eating Disorders, an anti-diet approach, HAES, & Intuitive Eating. You can follow her on instagram here, and find her Food Freedom Guide here. Here is Caseyâs breakdown of the difference between bingeing and Binge Eating Disorder: âBingeing is usually based on restriction, and with incorporating all foods, some self reflection, and general coping skills it can be resolved. BED is more complex and will take a deeper dive into the psychological or emotional components, usually requiring mental health professions such as a therapist and a dietitian, but restriction (whether physical or mental) is often a component of BED as well and must first be addressed or ruled out before the emotional work can be done.â There are people who believe that avoiding binge trigger foods is the way to treat Binge Eating Disorder, along with addressing the emotional/mental components of BED. I do not consider this a full recovery, as it uses restriction as a treatment. This is treating one eating disorder with another eating disorder. This will tend to backfire longer term, or just be manifested as restrictive disordered eating. When people claim that avoiding binge foods is how they ârecoveredâ â I would never tell them that their lived experience isnât valid, people should do what they feel is working for them,
Transcribed - Published: 2 August 2020
Welcome to this non-episode episode where I talk about how I am doing not-that-great during month 4 of this quarantine, how me and my soul are boiling alive, and share some inspiring listener stories with you. If you want to send in your own stories for the podcast, please send them to [email protected]
Transcribed - Published: 6 July 2020
Diet culture demonizes cultural foods. Today I'm sharing my chat with Dalina Soto, MA, RD, LDN, on instagram @Your.Latina.Nutritionist who chats with me about her journey to intuitive eating and why nobody needs to avoid simple carb cultural foods: white rice, potatoes, pasta, etc. #WELOVEWHITERICE Show Notes 00: Hellooooooooo 3:38: My conversation with Dalina! Find Dalina's website here Find her on instagram @Your.Latina.Nutritionist 25:25: My oily hair saga 41:30: My Marvel movie watching overview
Transcribed - Published: 25 May 2020
Common question: "So you say that restricting food causes food fixation, what about alcohol? Should I stop restricting it?" The answer isn't straight forward, but the short answer is: food and alcohol are different beasts. So, today I'm sharing my conversation with Amanda White, LPC. This one is about alcohol culture, disordered drinking, and the overlap it can have with diet culture and our relationship with food. This episode, and my perspective, is not anti-alcohol. I am hoping we can all have curiosity around our relationship with alcohol (and everything, really!) And this conversation may be helpful to reflect on your own relationship with alcohol, and our culture's relationship with alcohol too! Follow Amanda White on Instagram! Therapy For Women Website
Transcribed - Published: 11 May 2020
Hello! Here is an erratic and haphazard Q&A! Just what you've always wished for! The Fuck It Diet book club is only enrolling for a few more days, check out the details here! And this is the link I promised during the Q&A
Transcribed - Published: 4 May 2020
Listen this Q&A! That's all I have to say
Transcribed - Published: 20 April 2020
Let's talk about bariatric surgery/weight loss surgery! Today I am chatting with registered dietitian Kirsten Ackerman, who specializes in intuitive eating and health at every size, who also used to work with patients who had a bariatric surgery. We talk about lots of risks and common experiences that people who have undergone bariatric surgery experience. We also talk about how now, during this pandemic, is a really hard time for people to begin healing their relationship with food, and why! I also talk about my new quarantine activity: watching all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and watching every Sebastian Stan interview. A Sebastian Stan Stan, if you will. Show Notes: 00: HELLO YOU COOL CATS AND KITTENS 2:40 My chat with Kirsten Ackerman on intuitive eating weight loss surgery. Follow Kirsten on instagram! Kirsten's website and podcast! 28:45 Reading two listener emails! 37:57 EFT Tapping / Energy Work 43:19 Rambling about tiny head concert series, marvel, and how I'm reverting to old coping mechanisms of living in a fantasy life during quarantine.
Transcribed - Published: 12 April 2020
This is a bonus episode! Today is a shorter little minisode where I talk about letting go of the unnecessary shoulds during this weird time (like: I gave myself permission NOT to do this bonus episode... but...), plus I read some listener emails and answer two questions. I'll be back next week with a full episode! Sign up for free book bonuses and ::5 Tools Workshop:: on April 17th!
Transcribed - Published: 6 April 2020
We are talking about both type 1 and type 2. Did you know that sugar does not cause diabetes? Not even type 2? Did you know that weight gain does not cause diabetes either? Did you know that the issue with diabetes is that your cells aren't getting sugar, not that you shouldn't eat sugar? Today I'm talking to dietitian and diabetes expert Lauren Newman RD, LD, and busting lots of unhelpful myths about diabetes. In the episode we also break down the difference between type 1 and type 2, but debunk a lot of blame that people with type 2 get. Type 2 is caused by metabolic factors, often genetic or chronic stress related - itâs a dysfunction of the way the body metabolizes sugar. And/or insulin resistance, which means the cells arenât getting sugar even though itâs in the blood stream. But our cells need sugar to keep us alive. Insulin resistance is not caused by consumption of carbs or sugar or (or higher weight). There are lots and lots fo reasons people might have insulin resistance, one of them, is yo-yo dieting and weight cycling. The other important thing to remember, is that Type 2 diabetes it can and does exist in thin people and people who eat an objectively âhealthy diet.â Conversely, lots and lots of people eat a lot of sugar and never get diabetes. People blame it on the carbs or sugar, but itâs the underlying conditions in the first place. Another example, is that exercise is good for insulin resistance, with or without weight loss, but if people start to exercise and lose weight, and their symptoms improve, weight loss tends to gets the credit, when exercise should be getting the credit. Blaming sugar is easy, but it is still missing the mark, and is an oversimplification that can also make people dysfunctional with food which ironically, can exacerbate insulin resistance all on its own. Listen to episode for way more context from Lauren!  Show notes: 00: Lots of rambling housekeeping today, you can fast forward and here is the gist: The F*ck It Diet Book Club is coming up and if you've read the book, I'm releasing a free Workshop on The 5 Tools, sign up to be sent the free workshop here. 8:45 Reading listener emails about TFID + Quarantine Silver Linings. Send yours to [email protected] 16:48 My convo with Lauren Newman! Be sure to follow her on instagram at @gofeedyourself_ 47:56 More listener emails! Plus Tiger King and RHOC Podcast Sponsor: Better Help! Get 10% off of your first month of online counseling at betterhelp.com/tfid and use code TFID.
Transcribed - Published: 30 March 2020
Let's talk about the coronavirus panic, the food and resource hoarding, the current realities of this global pandemic, AND let's also talk about the silver lining, find a little thread of optimism, and figure out what's reasonable panic and what's unnecessary panic! And let's also start viewing dense food as life sustaining OK!?!?!?!  This episode's show notes:  I answer the following questions (and more): I find myself food hoarding and stress eating with the coronavirus panic. Is this a bad sign? What can I do about it? I bought and stocked up on lots of food but have not been eating it, is this an ED flare up? Do I have spring allergies or the coronavirus???  Plus, I also talk about: How diet culture is trying to co-opt our panic Some simple ways to stress relieve and take care of yourself when everything feels scary And other tiny silver linings of self-isolation. Plus! At the end, I have a convo with my (weed-loving) friend about coronavirus and... weed & the munchies & disordered eating. (She also is a therapist and has an LMFT!) You can follow Katie's dog here: @henryphillypup And you can follow the HAES aligned therapy group we mentioned here: @wctherapygroup! Check them out! You can find Christy Harrison's twitter thread about COVID-19 and ob**ity here (mentioned in the episode) And for online therapy, click here for Better Help, this podcast's sponsor. You'll fill out a questionnaire and then you'll be matched with an online therapist within 24 hours (without leaving your HOME). Get 10% off your first month with discount code TFID !!
Transcribed - Published: 16 March 2020
Ever since The F*ck It Diet book came out, I've been paying attention to the most commonly asked questions, and trying to address them. And one of the biggest question themes is about weight set point. And the first thing I want to always point out, is that it's a weight set range. Whenever anyone refers to weight set point, the point is actually a weight range where your body feels safest. This is not exactly a newbie question, this is usually a question people ask after they've read the book and start worrying about what this process is going to be like for them, which is understandable. There is usually a thought process that goes something like: "Ok, so you're telling me that my bingeing and food addiction is not actually a food addiction, but more of biological food fixation thanks to food insecurity, past attempts at dieting, diet mentality, food guilt, and the threat of future diets? Ok. And you're telling me that when I get out of the yo-yo, stop restricting, start truly trusting and feeding my body, that my appetite will normalize? OK... And you're telling me that my body has a weight set point where it wants to be, and will settle there if I can just trust my appetite??" Well, again, it's a weight range, not a static point. And with the disclaimer that The F*ck It Diet book will do a way better job of explaining the nuances of this process beyond the 95-word inner monologue synopsis I wrote above, let's get to the common questions about weight set range: HOW MUCH OF A RANGE IS MY WEIGHT SET RANGE? HOW LONG IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO STABILIZE IN MY WEIGHT SET RANGE?!?! HOW WILL I KNOW THAT I'VE SETTLED IN MY WEIGHT SET RANGE???? In a way, I regret all of the focus I have to put on normalizing in a weight set range because it can become, in it's own way, a diet-like mentality. It puts the focus on weight. It makes a promise about weight that people focus on in a way that can undermine healing. I tend to prefer focusing on how allowing food, and eating more food, can calm down fixation on food, compulsive eating, binge eating, feelings of food addiction, and even emotional eating. At the same time, I also understand the focus on weight. I understand that's an essential piece of the puzzle. And if I said: Just eat a lot, gain lots of weight, fuck weight stabilization and frankly: fuck everything and everyone, most people would say: Eh, No thanks. Sounds like anarchy. Though, it should be said that I think that anarchy would be healing in its own right, it's still not really the full picture. Because... what the fuck is going on with our weight? Why do we struggle with weight? Why do we seem to gain weight at the drop of a hat, while other people don't? How does weight work? Of COURSE WE WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS! And without some sort of assurance that you will have a more stable experience with your eating and weight, I'm not sure many people would take the leap. And, contrary to what The F*ck It Diet's biggest detractors think, I'm not encouraging people to gorge themselves into oblivion just for the freaking sake of it, even though, again, I support it if that's what your soul is calling you towards. Because after being forced to obsess over something as soul sucking as the size of your body for years, fuck everyone, really. But, the truth is, that we are obsessed with food, act out of control with food, and feel addicted to food because of our fear of food and weight. The biggest predictor for future weight gain, weight cycling, and binge eating, is dieting and intentional weight loss. So if what you want is to feel calmer around food, and stop putting your body through the ringer, you've gotta step off the treadmill, figuratively speaking, in the very least. Talking about how feeding yourself can help you stabilize in your weight range is a selling point for TFID and listening to your hunger, because, first of all, it's true, and second,
Transcribed - Published: 2 March 2020
In this episode, Maddie Deakin (of Messy Health) shares her experience with extreme dieting while she was in nutrition school, being the only larger bodied person in her nutrition class, using dieting as a coping mechanism to feel a sense of control, and her experience recovering from disordered eating in a larger body. She also shares great advice and inspiration for people who are recovering from years of dieting and disordered eating. Maddie Deakin (the mind behind the account Messy Health) is a HAES and Non-Diet Nutritionist (BFoodSc&Nutr) in Australia, and she explores the intersection between food, health, and the body - without dieting. Listen to the episode for my convo with Maddie. Plus! I share a new listener email about their experience, and a story about my dog Molly being in a fight with a tapestry of Jeff Goldblum. Follow Maddie Deakin at Messy Health
Transcribed - Published: 3 February 2020
Let's start 2020 with a F*ck It Diet 101. A Primer. (Again!) My instagram grew by 100,000 followers in 2019. That's an average of 273 new people a day. Big picture, that's fantastic and super exciting. But day to day, it means new people are seeing random, one-line posts that speak to one tiny piece of this whole puzzle, and they are intrigued, but more: they're confused. And instead of saying: ok let me check out this woman's site, podcast, or better yet, book, they ask for me to explain The F*ck It Diet to them, right there, in the comments or direct message. The hardest part is that there is no short answer. It's complicated. It's nuanced. There is a lot to explain!!! Also, when I am writing things for social media I have to make a choice: Am I posting on social media for newbies? Or for people who've read the book and already get it? That's a pretty wide divide, but I kind of have to do both. So if you're new, and confused, a great way to get a basic primer on TFID, is to sign up for the "Free Fun Stuff" right here! I send the beginning of the book, and three free primer lessons. Another really great way to understand WTF The F*ck It Diet is and why I think what I think, and how to actually do it, is to read the book. But also, here is another primer on WHY DIETS DON'T WORK: Our bodies are wired to push us off any diet or restriction - and, even though we tend to think this is a horrible thing, or something we need to overcome and conquer, it's actually a good thing. Our resistance to dieting is a biological advantage for famine survival. But that inherent protection against dieting is why dieting is so hard, and leaves us so obsessed with food. And why we get so hungry. Itâs why we canât stop thinking about food. It's why we binge. And why we almost always gain the weight back. We are wired that way. So, what counts as restriction? Calorie restriction, macronutrient restriction (like keto), time restriction (like intermittent fasting), any over thinking or micromanaging of eating amounts or times or purity, over-exercising, over-thinking and over-worrying about hunger and fullness (yes!), and any intentional weight loss. Dieting causes food addiction. Well... sort of. This is nuanced. And semantics. Food addiction is both real and ... not very real at all. It's not an addiction in the true sense of the word. But we definitely feel addicted when we are restricted in any way. Even just mentally restricted (more on that soon). It's that same protection against famines I just mentioned. Dieting makes us fixated on food. Chemically. In our brain and in our body.) Dieting and restricting make us feel (and act) addicted to food (and carbs). It feels VERY REAL, but it is just the state we are in when the body is screaming indiscriminately for food. (âPLEASE DONâT LET US DIE THIS WAYYYYY".) Our culture has a disordered relationship to weight. Which gives us a very disordered relationship to food. Our culture is extremely and insidiously fatphobic. What's fatphobia? For our purposes here, compare it to homophobia. A very cultural fear and judgment of certain people. We make assumptions about people. We believe the stereotypes. Not only is this messed up, but it messes up all of our eating - wide scale. Insidiously. Subconsciously. We have to unlearn all the things weâve learned about weight, especially as it relates to health. Our relationship to weight is f*cked up, and based on faulty information. Weight is not a direct result of our habits. And you cannot tell someoneâs habits or health from looking at them. That widespread belief is simplistic and causes a lot of harm, cruelty, and mistreatment. Our own healthy weight range is very genetic, and can only be manipulated so much, without consequences. This requires more than an instagram post or a blog post to unpack. I recommend lots of further reading on this. Read my book. Research weight stigma.
Transcribed - Published: 6 January 2020
In Episode 61, I chat with Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CDN. She is an anti-diet registered dietitian nutritionist and certified intuitive eating counselor, and her book ANTI-DIET is coming out December 24th, 2019! (So... like, now.) I read the book early, and it's great. It's a super comprehensive look at why obsessing over what you eat is bad for your health. If you've already read my book, I think you'd love it as further reading! (It's super aligned with The F*ck It Diet, obviously!) Show Notes: 00:00 - Hello and I technically changed the name of my podcast again, and this might be a mistake. 3:52 - My Chat with Christy! We talk about the social justice end of being anti-diet, what people usually get wrong with intuitive eating, Christy answers a listener question about pre-diabetes, and about medication that causes appetite increase or weight gain, and a lot more! Find Christy: ChristyHarrison.com Food Psych Podcast Christy's Book, Anti Diet 48:35 - Whoops I forgot to mention that Christy and I are doing an event together in Philadelphia on January 30th at Head House Books, at 7:15 (it's free!). It's her Philly book launch, in conversation with... me! Come hear us chat and get signed books. Head House Books Events 51:00 - Goodbye, and also maybe soon I'll talk more about "Moongate," the time on instagram where 3 people told me that talking about the full moon made my book lose credibility in their eyes. I can't wait to talk about how science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive, and how black and white thinking, and science absolutism feeds eating disorder mentality. (Also... I literally never even said anything definitive about the full moon so: pshhhhhhhh!)
Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2019
"How do I get to a place where I am confident enough to tune out diet culture? (When it's ...everywhere?)" The truth of the matter is that weight loss and diet talk are everywhere. It's actually, in many ways, the definition of diet culture: a culture where dieting and weight loss attempts are the norm - and are everywhere. But when it gets hard, or when we don't feel so great, or so confident, we wonder if we've made a mistake. If maybe, the diet that your co-worker is now on is maybe the one you should have tried before you gave up dieting. You wonder... maybe... maybe I really didn't give it my all. Maybe I really was happier then. I don't think it's much about "tuning out diet culture" as it is about being super honest with ourselves when we start to get pulled in by the siren song ... what are we looking for? What are we craving or missing that we think intermittent fasting is going to give us? What beliefs might be rearing their head? It's an opportunity to look at how our minds work, get some more awareness, and do some more healing. One of the big core fears, (or beliefs if you will) is the fear that when we stop dieting, "we are not taking care of ourselves". That dieting is responsible, and not dieting is irresponsible. And when we are having a rough day or a rough week, or new or recurring health woes, wanting just want to know that we are taking care of things and taking care of ourselves. Feeling responsible is often what we are craving. And nobody will stop talking about how responsible dieting is. So... we panic. Oh no. Oh no. Maybe I really should be intermittent fasting. Maybe I really would be happier and healthier if I were on keto. Maybe I should be intermittent fasting and doing keto. Dieting is not the answer. And dieting is not a cure-all. And dieting is wired to backfire. It's even not so good for us long term. So if you're having trouble remembering that, remind yourself: "Why did I stop dieting in the first place?" Answer the question. If that doesn't remind you (or if you haven't actually stopped yet...), start reading. Read The F*ck It Diet. Read Body Respect. Read or listen to whatever helped you wake up and snap out of it in the first place. And then, ask yourself: "How can I make sure I'm taking care of myself today?" Health is not a black-and-white thing. Sometimes all we want to know is that we are, in fact, taking care of ourselves, and in the moment we sometimes assume that a diet is best (or only) way to do that. (It's not.) So, take a moment. Ask, "what can I do to take care of myself today?" Maybe the answer is to take a walk. Maybe the answer is to lie down. Maybe the answer is to cry. Maybe the answer is to call a friend. Maybe the answer is to cancel plans. Maybe the answer is to make plans. Maybe the answer is to stretch. Maybe the answer is to eat two pieces of cake. Maybe the answer is to go grocery shopping for vegetables and sautÊ them up. Maybe the answer is to make a doctor's appointment. It doesn't matter what the answer is, but ask yourself what little thing you can do to take care of yourself today, and then do it! Even if it's just: take two deep breaths! The Holidays are here, and with them will come ... lots of diet talk. If you haven't read the book yet, you can check read the beginning and get some other helpful intro lessons from here. And if you've read the book you can get lots of resources to support next steps over here. Show Notes: 0:00 - New podcast music!: "Extremely Sneaky Cat" 7:00 - Q&A: How do I tune out diet Culture? 16:52 - Story about how my sweet angel dog got attacked on Thanksgiving and how I'm now traumatized, but realized I was traumatized right after, because I'm fascinated by how trauma works. (+ lots of musings on trauma). And I just realized that I talked about this for 44 minutes on this podcast....
Transcribed - Published: 30 November 2019
Hello cruel world, I am back. I've been on a sort-of hiatus from writing these posts, and from podcasting - even though I spend approximately 9 hours a day on instagram, and tried to go on a vacation but still posted on instagram every day. I also tried to say to myself: "Caroline, why don't you just relax and not worry about what you're going to do next. You just spent 3 years on a book, you just released the book, people are reading it, buying it, loving it. And you just ran the book course in the summer. Just chill." And I listen to myself and I say, "Ok, I'll chill, but first let me figure out xyz and post xyz and bring back a more legit version of the podcast, and run an even better version of the group, and figure out my second book and ..." This is sort of similar to telling yourself you're allowed to eat and then judging yourself for every little thing you put in your mouth. Telling yourself you're allowed to relax and then worrying that you're really not allowed to be relaxing because you haven't figured everything out yet. News flash: Everything will never be figured out. And what I mean by that is: as soon as you figure things out there will be new things to figure out. I am trying to take my own advice. And trying to let myself float in the metaphorical pool. I don't usually start these posts with a diary entry like I just did, I usually get right to my F* It Diet advice. So let's do it. Here we go. This is one of the most asked questions since my book came out by both book readers and by people new to my site or my instagram: AM I ALLOWED TO BE VEGETARIAN/(OR VEGAN) ON TFID?!? Short answer: Yes. But there is also a long answer. There is always a long answer. Long answer: It is totally possible to be vegetarian, or vegan, for the right reasonsđš. But (BIG but), when you are dealing with chronic dieting, disordered eating, or eating disorders, it is rarely (fully) for the right reasons. EVEN IF you tell yourself you are only being vegetarian for ethical reasons, if you have some sort of eating issue, then a disordered and fear-based reason for being vegetarian is often tangled in with your ethical reasons. A lot of people hide their disordered eating, even from themselves, behind vegetarianism or other moralistic ways to eat, and call themselves responsible, instead of acknowledging it is still a manifestation of control issues. A lot of people recovering from eating disorders adopt veganism or vegetarianism as a sort of buffer, because it feels safe. "Ok I'll eat more, but I'll only eat ___________". It's another (socially acceptable) set of rules and another way to exert some control over your eating that makes you feel safe. It's understandable. And it's common. But there is still more to unpack on the reasons why you are eating the way you are eating. It's also a common expression of orthorexia (a fear of impurity and a disordered worry about food and health.) Here is a barometer: if you are doing it because you genuinely care, but you don't feel any sort of stress over slipping up and eating some soup with a little butter or stock in it, then it's closer to a healthy relationship for you. If you are trying to be vegetarian or vegan and you over worry, over think, over scrutinize menus, and get panicked when think you might have eaten something that doesn't fit your rules, that's a big sign that there is something else going on, and that being vegetarian might not actually be the healthiest for you at the time. So! If you are recovering from dieting or disordered eating, and want to be vegetarian (or vegan) for whatever reason, I would say: see if you are willing to go through a time where you are either not vegetarian or vegan, or in the very least, see if you can stop being stressed or over-worried about it. Sustainability matters, but your mental health matters too. It isn't mutually exclusive. This is a matter of constant checking in on why we do the...
Transcribed - Published: 29 September 2019
Here is another podcast episode with life updated and answering your questions!!!! I'm going to take a 3 month podcast hiatus to focus on The F*ck It Diet Book Club, see you at the end of the summer!
Transcribed - Published: 4 May 2019
IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ME YELLING ABOUT IT ALL OVER MY CORNERS OF THE INTERNET, MY BOOK IS OUT! You find lots of purchase links here (or read the beginning for free). Today... there's no new post. Just a new podcast episode where I ramble, tell you to buy my book, and answer some listener questions! ENJOY.
Transcribed - Published: 12 April 2019
Lots of people have been asking me: "Is TFID the same as Intuitive Eating?" It is and it isn't. They have the same goal: body trust, appetite trust, and food trust, with different ways of teaching and explaining how to get there. A lot of my writing over the years has talked about how I turned (what I thought was) "intuitive eating" and "listening to my body" into a diet. I turned it into a weird stressful attempt to eat the smallest amount possible. I interpreted good advice through a fat-phobic, food fearing, diet culture belief system. Lots of people do the same thing I did: they take good advice and twist it into a diet that they convince themselves is not a diet, because they let themselves eat a few squares of dark chocolate 3 times a week! Moderation is intuition! Right?! (UGH!) But... the more I've been asked to answer if TFID is the same as intuitive eating, the more I realize it's important to reflect on how I've referred to IE over the past seven years of writing this site, as well as in my book that's coming out in less than a month. First of all, Intuitive Eating is a book written by two registered dietitian nutritionists, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, that came out in 1995. The book is revolutionary in its genre and field, completely evidence based, and I recommend you read it. However, my experience with official Intuitive Eating and the official Intuitive Eating book is actually pretty limited, which means the way that I've referred to it (or not referred to it) should probably be examined. In fact, the book Intuitive Eating and Geneen Roth's books are mixed up in my mind at this very moment as I write this. Maybe that's because there is a hunger scale in both of them? (And I DEF turned that hunger scale into a diet.) I only read Intuitive Eating book once, when I was 18. And I'm not positive if I even finished it because I became a raw vegan 2 weeks later. I obsessively dieted as a teenager. I went on every fad diet that existed at the time. It was disordered, it was extreme, and I felt more and more and more out of control with food the more I dieted. When I read the book Intuitive Eating, it was the first time I realized that my dieting was dysfunctional. Before then, I thought that this was just the way it had to be. I remember the book really spoke to me. But I still didn't fully understand how deep it all went for me: culturally and metabolically and emotionally and on and on. And I didn't see how messed up my relationship was with weight, and how that was actually the core of the whole thing. I needed very, very explicit instructions to F*** IT: f*** all diet and weight loss noise, and be willing to gain weight and take up space and be angry and prioritize my mental health over my desire to be a pretty little thing. But I was also young, and clearly needed to suffer a little more before I really understood that dieting was always going to backfire. (***I bleep curse words for iTunes) Weeks after reading the book, and just a few weeks before I went off to college, my mom told me she had cancer, and we both became raw vegan to try and heal all of our earthly ills (it didn't work) (my mom is fine, but not because of raw veganism, she ditched it soon after starting chemo) (also, I have complex feelings about pharmaceutical companies too, but raw veganism was still not the answer).(Yes I was a raw vegan in freshman year of college.) I was raw vegan for almost a year - and then after I realized it wasn't "working" (read: I was less healthy, starving all the time, horrible skin, horrible digestion, and crazier than ever around food), I started trying to "eat intuitively" again... for 6 years. My general idea was that if I could listen to my body, and "not eat too much," that that was intuitive. But I didn't revisit the book, instead, for six years I did some version of "listening to my body sooooo closely and constantly trying to eat the smallest amount possible".
Transcribed - Published: 3 March 2019
I started writing about how to heal from disordered eating and body hatred seven years ago, back when I was f---king* sick of being afraid of rice, and being full, and gaining weight. My life was hijacked by the obsession with beauty and thinness and health and purity. And I was f---ing over it. I didn't start this website to become instagram famous or become a "thought leader" or "influencer" in this space. (Ew?) I didn't set out to work with people or run groups. And I definitely didn't think I was going to have a book coming out on not-dieting. I was just a writer --and I was anonymous for the first three years. I was just f---ing exhausted of diet culture and my own f---ing brain and I felt very strongly that I needed to write about it, for my own sake, on a little blog that no one read. I was writing about what I was applying to myself as I clawed my way out of the miserable hole I was in. We all just needed to f---ing eat and rebel against absurd body standards. I kept writing, and learning, and eating, and writing. Eventually I put together workshops and courses, teaching some of the ways I helped myself process fear and resistance and diet culture. I've always had a special interest in the way we avoid our bodies, and our emotions, and our humanity, plus all of the subconscious cultural beliefs we are operating under that need to GTFO. My "expertise" is on how we are afraid of our hunger - and how that will always mess up our eating. And a huge part of that, if not the core underlying factor, is our fear of our bodies, and our cultural fear of, and misconceptions about, fatness. That's always been clear to me: Fat-phobia is the reason we are messed up around food, and the reason we fear gaining weight above anything else. But still, no matter how much I care, or how important it is to me: I will always inherently have blind-spots in writing about the full scope of these issues, because of my many privileges. It's just a fact. I am not an ultimate authority on body image, body acceptance, body positivity, or fat liberation, even though I know how important those things are. My thin privilege inherently becomes one of my shortcomings on this subject. In the BIG PICTURE, me learning to accept my body isn't really that radical, because I have always naturally been on the thinner side. And even when I've yo-yo'd A LOT, I've always had thin privilege. A thin girl saying: "stop dieting! we should be allowed to get full and gain weight" feels safer to people. (But still ...not that safe. People still tell me I am giving dangerous irresponsible advice). But if I were fatter saying the exact same thing, so many more people would say: "Woa woa woa, stop trying to make excuses for your lack of willpower and laziness. Stop 'glorifying obesity'. Stop leading people into disease." And then they'd probably tell me to die of heart disease along with other explicit and aggressive threats. I have always been able to say things that people in larger bodies also say, and people listen to me, because they assume TFID is "working" for me, because I am thin. And this is based on major misinformation about how much control we have over our weight, and what weight means about us and about our health and our habits... and all the other s#@t our culture teaches about fatness. So that is one of the first problematic things - I have been given a voice and a platform because of the systemic prejudice I am trying to talk about - the assumptions we make about people based on their size. The assumption that I'm doing something right, and that fatter people are doing something wrong. Also, TFID is meant to be for every body and every size: the instructions are the same. But one piece of those instructions is to rebel against societal beauty standards, and a fat person learning to rebel against society will experience a lot more pain and pushback than me being like, "oh,
Transcribed - Published: 2 February 2019
Some people assume that The F*ck It Diet is unnecessarily extreme. They assume it's a steady diet of donuts, McDonald's, and fried ice cream for the rest of our short little lives. That we're a group of lazy anarchists who are reveling in our newfound food-related health problems, and not taking any personal responsibility for our health, and who refuse to make any attempts at self-improvement. Or they think: Why can't we just be balanced? Why can't we just enjoy cake every so often but mostly try to eat a healthy, moderate diet? The answer is because: we've tried that. Also, chronic dieting is somewhere on the eating disorder spectrum, so for people who've become obsessed with dieting, trying "to be balanced" doesn't work. It doesn't heal us. And ironically, it perpetuates feeling totally out of control with food. There is nothing wrong with true balance, but for many people, "just trying to be balanced" becomes the new diet. Not to mention that after years of restriction and dieting, balance is eating a hell of a lot, for a good chunk of time. The beautiful thing I found, once I truly allowed myself to eat with total abandon, is that my body actually spoke up. After years of bingeing and restricting and bingeing again, once I stopped judging myself for eating and stopped trying to micromanage my weight, my body actually finally felt fed, and my lifelong food obsession melted away. Note: I never thought that could happen. I thought I was born a food addict, and would die a food addict. The F*ck It Diet is the (seemingly) counter-intuitive way to stop feeling insane around food. Allowance paves way for easier, nourishing health choices, and getting in tune with what your body wants and needs. It's a way to get to a place where you can easily feed yourself a varied diet, without too much overthinking, and get on with your life. However, I know it feels more complicated for some people. I understand why people still fear certain foods, especially if they don't feel well, or if certain foods make them feel sick. And some foods really do make people feel sick. I understand this first hand: wanting to heal your obsession with food and dieting, but wondering if you're actually causing your own pain and misery, and fearing that you need to be avoiding certain foods. And so here are a couple things I want to remind you about food, weight, dieting, and health that may calm you down. The biggest issue with dieting is assuming that weight is the cause of our health problems. That's like blaming coughing for causing your cold. Weight can be symptom of underlying health problems, (and it can also just be... your body). But either way, focusing on weight loss is not your best bet to improve health, not matter what. Stress from weight stigma has also been shown to cause the health problems that are blamed on the weight itself - including increased mortality. The other issue with dieting is assuming that you can't trust your hunger and your appetite, and that the less you eat the better. No. That makes no sense. That is not good for you. That is not supportive of health or a good relationship with food. It's not supportive of a strong metabolism, or good digestion, or good sleep, or anything really. The Fuck It Diet is calorie positive. Calories aren't a problem or the problem. Same with carbs, sugar, fat, and protein. Food is good for us. So... once you can step out of both of those ways of thinking (demonizing weight and demonizing hunger/food) you can eat however makes you feel good. For people who have food sensitivities or who feel better eating a certain way, you can do whatever feels good and right, as long as you have healed your relationship to food and weight. Does that make sense? And once you have healed your relationship to food, if a certain food makes you feel terrible, you can re-evaluate your relationship to it. Do you want to eat it if it makes you feel bad?
Transcribed - Published: 2 January 2019
I am in the last stages of finalizing my book, and I just found a glaring error about weight and starvation which shows my bias and assumptions about weight. In the book I wrote that if a famine never ended, you would eventually become emaciated and die. BUT THAT ISN'T TRUE. If a famine never ended, you could still die in 8-12 weeks, even if you're fat, because your body would break down your muscles to convert to ketones to keep your brain and body running, and in the absence of food, would weaken your heart so much that you'd die. If you still had some access to food, and were eating only a little, the same thing could happen, just slower. You can also die just from not having the electrolytes to keep your heart working. You will die from malnutrition whether you are skinny or fat. And if you don't need to be skinny to die of starvation, guess what the fuck that means about dieting? Still think weight and weight loss are fully within our control?!?! Also, the fact that I had it wrong in my book (a book that talks a lot about how weight stigma affects our relationship with food) is scaryyyyyy to meeee. It also just goes to show how deep weight stigma and weight assumptions run. (And yes, I just emailed my editor in a panic that this HAD TO BE CHANGED, even though it is VERY last minute.) So while we are at it, let's talk about some more weight facts: You can have anorexia in a fat body. Anorexia does not make everyone skinny. You can still be fat even if you barely eat anything. You will still experience the same effects of starvation and malnutrition, no matter what your external weight set point is. A person's weight does not give you any information about how they eat or their health. Our weight is not really as easily manipulated and controlled as we think - we have weight set ranges that are set by genetics. The body does not want to be above or below our particular range. Most (if not all) weight loss studies have only looked at the short term results. And the ones that have looked at long term results have seen weight regain and poorer health because of the diet and weight cycling and stress/stigma. Every health problem under the sun seems to be blamed on a high weight, but weight is just a scapegoat. Sometimes weight gain is a symptom of other health issues, but blaming the issues on weight is not only missing the mark, but also may be causing the very health problems it claims to be fixing. Yes, weight stigma is terrible for us, and the health problems blamed on weight (including increased mortality!) are more likely caused by the weight stigma itself. Weight stigma is the real national health crisis, not "obesity". "Obesity" being called a health crisis alone is weight stigma - see how cyclical this gets??? In addition, weight cycling and dieting are detrimental to our health. Especially yo-yo dieting or restrictive fad diets that are focused on weight loss. People can and do improve their health without losing weight. People also hurt their health by focusing on weight loss. And I haven't even touched on the MENTAL HEALTH ASPECT of weight focus, dieting, weight stigma, and body fixation. I can't believe that I got that tidbit about starvation so so so wrong, even with all of the other things that I know about weight, health, and weight stigma. So here is to doing better, here is to learning, and here is to listening. The truth about weight stigma and fat phobia, is that it permeates the very air we breathe. None of us can avoid it. We all have it and can perpetuate it, even with good intentions, and we need to just be super aware of our assumptions. I've probably missed some other essential facts too, so, message me on instagram and let me know what I'm forgetting about the BASIC PHYSICAL FACTS ABOUT WEIGHT AND WEIGHT STIGMA. Oh and pre-order my book! I promise I'm fixing that mistake! The book tackles weight stigma and diet culture...
Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2018
Some of the angriest comments I get on instagram are from people who swear that the keto diet is helping them and that I'm soooo incredibly ignorant and/or deceitful for saying that the body prefers carbs. However, for every comment where someone is swearing by keto, there are twenty more comments with people saying that they too tried keto, with hope bursting in their hearts, only to find that after a few months it had fucked up their metabolism, hormones, energy levels, sanity, and has been really hard to recover from, mentally and physically. I've spent a long time trying to decide how to be diplomatic and to not claim to know what's best for everyone's body. Because-- everyone is different. Some people are allergic to fucking tomatoes. We are all different. I'm also not a doctor or nutritionist or dietitian so I have no authority or desire to weigh in on diets that people claim are medically necessary and helpful to them. TFID is concerned with the mental and spiritual ramifications of chronic dieting, it just so happens that there are very physical consequences to dieting, too. So in my attempts to be diplomatic, I say things like: I'm so glad you feel good on keto, but this is an account for people trying to heal from chronic dieting or disordered eating, and your comments about keto do not belong here. And many many people have had opposite experiences on keto. I've also compared keto to wheelchairs or mobility devices. Meaning, just because a select number of people are benefitted (read: children with seizures, maybe), that doesn't mean that it cures any underlying condition, and also doesn't mean that people who don't need keto/mobility devices should be using them, in fact if they do, it will probably make things worse in the long run. (I also asked Anna Sweeney, MS, RD, LDN, CEDRD-S, who uses a wheelchair, if this was a cool comparison and she gave me the green light.) But the most honest thing I can say about the keto diet is: what the fuck do you think I'm going to say? Keto is a very, very restrictive diet, and therefore it has no place in or on or around The Fuck It Diet. It has no place in the lives of people recovering from disordered eating or eating disorders. And if you are someone who is on the keto diet and you feel great, then you don't need the Fuck It Diet either. Why are we fighting? If your diet is truly supporting your mental and physical health: that's great. Round of applause. Most people don't have that experience, and I'd love for you to check in with me in two or three years and tell me how you're doing, too. More frankly: I don't care how you eat, Pamela. Eat a no-carb-diet to your heart's content. I have no desire to evangelize you. If it is 'working' for you - I'm not going to try and tell you it's not working. If you want to know what I think, the short term "benefits" of the keto diet, and any diet for that matter, are just that: short term. The long term effects can be physically and mentally devastating, and have yet to be truly studied. So, where does this leave us? Do you need to do keto? If you want to recover from chronic dieting: NO. HELL NO. But could keto cure your chronic health problems? Probably not. It was shown to help children with epilepsy in the 1920s, but it still comes with side effects (kidney strain, hypoglycemia, dehydration, GI issues, etc). Are those side effects worth it for kids with epilepsy? Yes! Potentially! Is it the cure-all that people claim it is? I don't think so. Will keto help you lose weight? Temporarily, yes. Like all diets. But now we are getting into our usual TFID rigemroll. Diets backfire longterm. It's how we are wired. And, diets and weight loss can actually negatively impact health, against all our cultural common knowledge. We are all confused about weight loss and health. We are assuming weight loss is always good for us - often it's not . But more importantly,
Transcribed - Published: 5 November 2018
Lots of people ask me, âok -- I can get behind the âno dietingâ thing, but arenât there foods that are inherently âŚÂ shitty? Shouldnât I still avoid shitty food, even while Iâm ânot dietingâ? Here's the thing - and it's important: If I told you stop dieting but to try and avoid or even limit âshitty food,â that would first of all, be a rule, which is a diet, which would turn into restriction in many peopleâs heads and fuck up their eating anyway. But people would also think, oh jeez⌠So there IS food that I should be eating and food I shouldnât be eating? But which food is shitty food? I thought we were neutralizing food? What will happen to me if I do eat it? If it's a sometimes thing, how often is it okay to eat shitty food? Should I really just avoid shitty food always?  And that way of thinking is not the Fuck It Diet, and it will not help you. Look, let me play devil's advocate with myself. If we zoom way out: We have polluted our planet and our food and our water and our air and our soil and our homes. We have. Itâs a fact. It goes way, way deeper than food or packaged food or "shitty food". There are way worse things in the air than whatever food additive you're afraid of or whatever fried food you're avoiding. Pollution is everywhere. I could make you afraid of drinking water and taking a breath and taking a shower. But that would not help you. You could easily spend every moment of your day thinking about it and worrying about it and trying to avoid all pollution - but you cannot avoid it. You canât. Itâs a dark reality. I actually care deeply about environmental sustainability, and cleaning up our planet, but I also care deeply about helping people heal disordered eating and restore their mental health and quality of life, and focus on resilience instead of fear. In a way, pollution and disordered eating are both issues of quality of life, and they arenât mutually exclusive. You can feed yourself organic foods when you want or when it is possible, you can vote with your dollar, (if you have the luxury and privilege of being able to afford it), you can volunteer for environmental sustainability groups and charities, and eat packaged snacks when thatâs what you crave, or when thatâs all thatâs available. We can and should be able to do both. Food perfectionism has gotten you nowhere. Stress over the food you eat is arguably worse for you than the food itself. Stress has been shown to change gut microbiota, can shut down or slow digestion, and raise inflammation. The lining of the gut is literally a part of our nervous system, and every process in our body is interconnected. Stress physically affects your body, your nervous system, and your bodily functions and processes. On the other hand, under calmer circumstances, our bodies are wired and equipped to take the good from food and process out the bad. These are all reasons to just surrender during this process and let yourself eat whatever food you want, âwholeâ or âshittyâ or somewhere in between. Fuck it, listen to your body, and eat the funfetti.
Transcribed - Published: 6 October 2018
Maintaining a low weight is one of my core values. How am I supposed to be happy if I sacrifice one of my core values? I have heard something like this again and again, and I think... maintaining a low weight is one of your core values? Like treating others the way youâd want to be treated and being honest? Maintaining a low weight is not a core value. Itâs a fear-based ingrained societal standard, created to make money off of your insecurities. Keeping your weight below where it wants to be relies on fear and fixation. The only thing we like about it is the high of fitting in, getting praise, feeling safe, and the temporary relief that comes when we reach a goal weight. Whew, now everyone will leave me alone and approve of me. Now Iâllllll leave me alone. That's until it isnât good enough anymore, or we gain it back and feel horrible about ourselves, and the cycle continues. Better focuses like health, self-care, movement, eating what feels good, and dressing yourself in clothes you like arenât even core values. They are, however, awesome ways to take care of yourself. Feeling healthy and strong and embodied is a perfectly legitimate desire or goal, but living in a constant food and weight obsession is not. âStaying healthy and thin/fitâ as a core value also relies on the belief that health and weight are fully within your control, and that controlling your food and weight will actually lead to better health - all things that that have been proven untrue. Goals and core values that are more self-loving and self-forgiving will almost certainly end up being better for your overall health anyway. A core value thatâll serve you better is âprioritizing your needsâ or âtaking care of yourself,â and if you have a weight obsession or eating disorder, prioritizing your needs is gonna look a lot like The Fuck It Diet and eating what you want. You have every right to remain someone who judges your daily worth based on your weight, but itâs not gonna be fun for very long.
Transcribed - Published: 3 September 2018
How expensive is this whole thing? I am just supposed to let myself eat anything, anytime, anywhere? How can I afford this? Will I spend all my money out at restaurants? Or will I have to make everything at home?! How do I grocery shop now that nothing is off limits? How will I know what Iâm going to crave in a few days? Woa! Calm down! First of all, there is nothing more expensive than being on a diet. Diet food and low-calorie food is often marked up to be way more expensive than normal food (when most normal food is more filling because it usually has more calories). But yes, staying alive on enough food costs money. And youâll need to prioritize that if you want to heal. Frugality is sometimes a necessity but beware of the irrational fear of spending money on food. Iâve known people who had that as part of their disordered eating. Someone I knew in college refused to eat any food unless it was free and they didnât have to pay for it. It was an eating disorder, but they were able to formally call it a financial decision. Everyone on TFID will be in totally different financial situations, so, like all things, it will need to be tailored to what you can access and afford. And when I say eat whatever you want, in any quantities, I donât mean that if you crave a lobster feast and strawberry shortcake at 11 am in the middle of winter, that you need to go get that for yourself. I mean⌠you can, but you also can and should satiate your hunger and cravings with whatâs around, and what you can afford. Maybe you can compromise with some lemony, buttery seafood for dinner, with some sort of cake or cookie and fruit. If you have never grocery shopped for what you want, as opposed to what is on your diet, there is going to be a learning curve. You are going to have to try things out. Get things you think youâll like. And next week, edit your choices depending on what you learned, what you liked, didnât like, what you wanna try and have around this week. Or try going food shopping more often. If youâre looking for cheap ways to make sure you get in lots of calories, look to build meals around rice and potatoes, bread and peanut butter and cheese. See? Canât do that on your diet. Itâs that simple. But I get it, I am a terrible grocery shopper, and also a really basic cook. But my first two years of The Fuck It Diet included a lot of sourdough bread and cheese, avocado toast, and granola and ice cream. So much ice cream that my original secret Fuck It Diet pen name was Caroline Haagen (as in Haagen Dasz ice cream brand). Now I sometimes make elaborate vegetable stews from scratch. If you are like most people and canât afford to eat your favorite foods out at restaurants all the time, welcome to the world. You need to learn to cook the things you like and save eating out for special occasions. Or just eat sourdough sharp cheddar grilled cheeses for a year like me. If youâre cooking for a family, navigating your cravings with your kids and partner will probably always be hard, but maybe now that you can eat Macaroni and Cheese, some nights will get easier. And you may not always have what you crave in your pantry, so youâll either go out and get it, or make do with what you do have. If you can make grilled cheese, you can do this. I believe in you.
Transcribed - Published: 2 August 2018
Can you teach a control freak to become more chill? Food and body issues are a manifestation of the underlying fear that everything is falling apart. It's a way we try to mitigate the panic of being alive. If we donât control and micromanage this, weâre all screwed. We canât trust anything to work if we arenât actively controlling it and tending to it. Disaster. Chaos. Destruction. The idea is that by controlling the way you eat, and therefore (we hope) our looks and health and mortality, we can save ourselves from being powerless and/or mortified and/or judged or... fill in the blank. Weâre not usually fully aware of this panic, it's still the thing running the show. We are afraid of being alive. We are afraid of dying. We are afraid we have to be the ones to fix and control and heal everything. We are making the stakes for everything so extremely, unnecessarily high. And if we don't ____________ then _____________ will happen and it will be all our fault. And we will live or die in misery, wishing we tried harder. Taking action is great, but the panic, control, and worry is just not a sustainable way to live. So the biggest advice I can give anyone who identifies with being a perfectionist or a control freak is to lower the stakes. Unless you are performing brain surgery, or conducting a military coup, or ⌠well, doing anything with legitimately high stakes⌠you are making the stakes too damn high. Catching that train, looking amazing in your pants, making sure your children finish their yogurt, making sure you buy the right yogurt, getting the best seat in the restaurant, making them like you⌠all are things with low stakes. Most of the things we do throughout our days and our lives are very low stakes, but still, we hype it up to feel like if this doesnât go the-way-I-arbitrarily-think-it-should, everything is going to fall apart. The underlying belief that things are supposed to go a certain way, and we are supposed to single handedly make them go that way, is crazy making. And so many of us are operating under that programming. The (il)logic of it tends to go something like this: I have to make things go a certain way and make them think Iâm doing so well, or else I am failing, and if I fail, I will become ugly and poor and nobody will love me and then Iâll die and people will roll their eyes at my funeral. You canât live your life to try and eliminate eye-rolling at your funeral. And that leads us to another side of this: the illusion of control. We have some control over what is right in front of us. And we can take action. And that⌠is about it. Everything else is out of our control. The results? Other peopleâs actions? Other peopleâs opinions? We canât do anything about it. Nothing. So we can walk around with the stakes unnecessarily high, feeling like we have control over everything that is happening, worrying that we are letting it all fall apart, and failing, and letting everyone down. But we are just making ourselves miserable, stressed, and sick. You can let go. You can lower the stakes. And you can let go of your control. You donât much control anyway.
Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2018
How DOES a normal person eat? This totally depends on your definition of ânormal.â Hereâs the truth: most people are a little disordered with their eating these days. Obsessive or disordered eating is common, so you could call it normal. But itâs not normal - it shouldnât be normal. And itâs definitely not healthy. So instead of calling it normal eating, I call it ease with food. This is how a person who has ease with food eats: -They can go through their day and pretty much only think about food when they are actually hungry. -They have a strong, healthy appetite for lots of food, and yet their weight stays stable in their weight set range, because their metabolism isnât compromised and stressed from dieting. -They eat what they crave, and crave what they need. Sometimes salads, sometimes cookies, sometimes fruit, sometimes steak, etc. -They can eat a meal and stop in the ballpark of satiation and fullness without overthinking it. -They can eat distracted, or tired, or stressed, or sad and still stop once they get full, because when food is neutral, and the body is fed, food intuition is easy. -They will have a strong sense of what food they want, when, and how much, but it wonât be that important that they follow it perfectly, because life is too short to obsess about food, hunger, and satiation levels. How do we get there? How do we find ease with food? How to feel neutral and even joyful with all foods, not just your âsafeâ diet foods? Eating. BELIEVE ME, back before the F*** It Diet, I was so far from normal and so fixated on food and weight, that I wasnât even sure what the other alternative was. I had no idea what it was supposed to look like. I would look at people who didnât overthink food and think, âWell â I guess they are just lucky to not have a food addiction.â I didnât realize that my âfood addictionâ was biologically driven, and constantly being made worse by every diet I went on. I didnât realize that, in a way, we are meant to be fixated on food. Because food is a fundamentally important part of staying alive, so when the body senses that food access is scarce, our food fixation increases. Thankfully the reverse is also true. Hallelujah. Once the body knows it will be fed, it can calm down.   (**Bleeped words are just for iTunes rules. Blerg. I know.)
Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2018
Over the weekend I did this weird dancing video to Jesus Christ Superstar when I was reunited with my weird sister, and I shared it on TFID instagram. As I shared it I thought maybe it was a mistake, because watching it back I noticed I looked so thin. I donât show my full body often in my work with TFID - when I do, it raises lots of questions that I think are ultimately unhelpful distractions. Like this comment from a follower:  First of all, think about what it means when you say, "you are thin and you look great." What are you implying? That if I wasn't I wouldn't look great? That people who don't look thin don't look great? Think about the implications of the way we choose to compliment people, women especially. This is why we are dysfunctional with food. This is why we are at odds with ourselves. I understand that this was a lead-in to her questions about what happens with weight on the fuck it diet, but still. I am not trying to be aggressive or difficult... this just happens all the time and it's tiring. I have a fat mirror A year ago I moved into a house that had put up a flimsy full length mirror on the bedroom wall to cover the water damage to the exposed brick. This also means that the mirror puffs out and turns into a WIDENING or âfat mirrorâ. I know this and I accept it because I am currently too overwhelmed to deal with the brick water damage in the house I bought. What this also means is that every morning I look wider in the mirror than I actually am. In my laziness I figured this maybe was also a sort of interesting TFID experiment. Because, no itâs not fully accurate, but like, ultimately so what? This is not something that I would have ever been ok with say⌠5 or 6 years ago? Back then all I did was check out how wide I looked in windows, mirrors, everything- just always so so so afraid of being wide. Everyone who comes over to my house and looks in that mirror says, âCAROLINE THIS IS A HORRIBLE MIRROR!?!?!? WHY DO YOU HAVE THIS?! I LOOK HORRIBLE?!?!?â What they mean is they look SLIGHTLY wider than they do IRL. They say, âCAROLINE, YOU NEED TO GET A NEW MIRROR!â And I say, like ok, eventually. But itâs not like a fucking emergency. Calm down. Anyway, what this means is that when I see a rare video of myself, even I am shocked that I look so thin. Woa, I have some extra padding in my warped bedroom mirror. Thin Privilege I am steeped in thin privilege. Because yes, I yo-yoed hardcore, 20-30 lbs, all the time, many times a year, for 10 years. And Iâd gain weight in my face and boobs and I would vacillate so much that clothes, bras, dresses wouldnât fit and acting teachers didn't know what kind of scenes to give me because like, was I mainstream pretty or not? Who knew. It changed month to month. In college, a freaking creep of a headshot photographer told me at my creepy headshot photoshoot that when we had our consult he thought I was the chubby friend, but now I looked liked the hot, thin ingenue. (Screw him and his epic creepiness.) But yea, there was always a microscope on my weight, thanks to acting, and even though I was like âingenue chubbyâ, I was probably always real-world thin, and that is also why media beauty standards are extra fucked up. But all of this to say: Yes, I have yo-yoed. Also, yes I am sometimes a bra size G. Yes I also have always had a naturally lower weight set range and have lots of thin privilege. With this out of the way, letâs talk about the questions people ask me about my weight. BUT CAROLINE WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WITH MY WEIGHT THO?! When I show my full body on TFID these are some of the questions I get: Can I/Will I become thin by not dieting? Can I NOT trust you because you are thin and I am not? How much weight did you gain? How much weight did you lose? Are you thinner now than you were before? And Iâm positive that the answer to those questions isnât necessarily helpful,
Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2018
Diet companies are thrilled that diets seem like they work. Diet companies are also thrilled that diets, ultimately, almost always fail. And diet companies are thrilled that everyone seems to think that it's their own personal fault that it failed. Weight loss studies last long enough to take note of the weight thatâs lost, they donât go on long enough to see what happens after the weight is lost. Thatâs very convenient for the companies funding the studies, who are almost always the companies who are selling the drug or diet in question. Weight loss is not confusing. Well⌠at least thatâs what we are told over and over again. It is a simple equation of calories in versus calories out. Or itâs a simple balance of macronutrients. Or itâs a simple avoidance of certain food groups. Or itâs a simple rotation of different food groups. Or itâs a simple amount of hours during the day youâre supposed to eat and not eat. Or itâs a simple supplement that ancient cultures used to induce euphoria and perfect health. Or⌠Or⌠Truth is, all of those things can cause initial weight loss. In my diet heyday I tried lots of them. And most of them worked. For a time. What none of these studies account for is the inevitable regain. They never stick around long enough to see what happens to your body biologically and mentally as you try to stay on the diet. We are also now all living under the assumption that eating less, restriction, and constant micromanagement of our intake is a healthy, normal activity. Itâs so common that we assume it is normal. And itâs so ingrained and ânormalâ, that we assume itâs healthy. But your body does not want you to restrict your food, and it does not want you to lose weight, especially when it feels like food is scarce. So it will sabotage your efforts almost every time and make it harder and harder to lose weight in the future, the more âfaminesâ you put it on. How does the body sabotage your efforts? It makes you exhausted and slows down your metabolism so you expend less energy and burn less calories. It makes you fixated on food. It makes your hungrier. It makes you binge. It forces you to gain weight back. Sometimes in one fell swoop, sometimes over the course of a year. Your body does all of this on purpose. It does all of that to get more calories in, and expend less calories. After all, your body has no idea you are trying to fit into an arbitrarily small bikini. Your body thinks there is a motherFing famine. But if you have ever ended up at the same weight (or higher) after a diet, itâs not because you just needed to try harder. Itâs because your body is baller at keeping you safe from famine. And diet companies are lucky their clients âfail,â because it means they keep coming back for more, determined to try harder and âbe good this timeâ. They remember back to that one time they lost a lot of weight, and give all the credit to the diet but fail to see that the yo-yo is all part of it. Itâs incredibly rare to have the initial weight loss and not have the following regain. And the people who seem so good at staying on diets, are either people who are not actually dieting at all and are truly listening to themselves, or they are people who have disordered eating and can only focus on their diet and little else. So whatâs the answer? Your best bet at being a stable and healthy weight (which might not be as tiny as youâve been hoping forâŚ) is to learn to truly feed yourself what you want and how much you want. Thatâs the only scenario where your body wonât fight you back. The answer is to stop fighting your weight, and youâll find your weight stops fighting you back. (See supporting science here.)
Transcribed - Published: 3 April 2018
"I shouldn't be this hungry." Judging your appetite is one of the things that will keep you very stuck. We are trying to heal the body and mind of all restriction, not just physical under eating, but the guilt and overthinking that comes along with restriction, too â mental restriction. If you feel guilt over your eating, you are experiencing mental restriction. Itâs the kind of guilt that makes you feel like you should or shouldnât be eating a certain way. It is very common to make major improvements with actual physical restriction and finally be eating what youâre hungry for, but still be completely plagued by mental restriction. Guilt and overthinking about food affects the body, metabolism, hormones, stress, and appetite, and will keep you stuck in the yo-yo just like physical restriction. Mental restriction will also take the form of anxiety, panic, and constant cycling thoughts about what you should or shouldnât be doing, or what should or shouldnât be happening. Without mental restriction, this whole thing would be pretty easy. The body would fix itself in a few months, and eating would normalize. But thanks to our brain. Our brains freaking get in the way. Mental restriction often sounds something like this: I shouldnât be this hungry⌠Maybe Iâll just do this for another week and then go on another diet if I keep eating like this. Ok, Iâm allowed to eat whatever I want, but if it doesnât prove to me that itâs working soon, Iâm quitting. I can eat this brownie, but Iâd better only eat half. I shouldnât be craving so much. Iâll eat this piece of pizza and then have a salad later. Oh I shouldnât be eating all of this bread. Iâm ruining everything. Oh if I were really being intuitive Iâd probably be eating more vegetables! If I were really being intuitive Iâd be eating less by now! Mental restriction is constant bargaining, judging, guilt, and is normally run by old diet rules and subconscious beliefs. A lot of this mental restriction is so habitual, and feels so normal, that we barely notice itâs happening. What we notice more, is just the general anxiety and mistrust of the process. It also doesnât help that everywhere you look, every person you talk to, and every magazine youâve ever read seems to confirm, add to, and applaud your âresponsibleâ mental restriction. Our collective and cultural disordered eating just makes it harder to identify that the way we are thinking about food and weight is really weird and messed up. Most of us have always believed that this constant judgment and worry about food was âresponsibleâ. Itâs not. It is actually the reason you may still be bingeing, and the reason why your relationship with food became so dysfunctional in the first place. Without mental restriction, bingeing would just be eating a lot and it would do exactly what it was supposed to do: re-feed the body. Once we start judging the food we are eating and subconsciously deciding there will be a diet (famine) the next day, it spirals out of control. So if you are bingeing, but havenât been restricting physically, the cause is mental restriction, and the answer is awareness of the beliefs that are perpetuating the anxiety.
Transcribed - Published: 20 March 2018
We are a culture of Yo-Yo Dieters. So many of us try to stick to diets, only to find ourselves bingeing, then restricting even more, then bingeing again, then restricting more, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. Our eating is all over the place, our weight is all over the place, our sanity is all over the place, and we feel totally out of control with food. So why does that happen? Why do so many of us seem to have such terrible will-power when it comes to what we put in our mouths? It comes down to a very fundamental biological mechanism: Your body does not want you to restrict food. At all. In fact, when you restrict even just a small amount, your body responds with more fixation on food, irritability, higher stress hormones, slower metabolism and digestion, less energy, holding onto more weight... and bingeing. That binge is your body is purposely forcing you off your diet. But because we still assume that our diet is the best thing for us, we turn around and try to restrict even harder, and then we fail even harder. That's the Yo Yo. Here is the thing people never really realize: chronic yo-yo dieting is disordered. And since eating disorders are a spectrum, the yo-yo diet is on the that spectrum. No it's not necessarily anorexia or bulimia. (Though since yo-yos often include bingeing, there are yo-yo dieters who think they have Binge Eating Disorder. But what the bingeing really is, is a biological response to physical restriction). Instead of letting ourselves eat, re-feed, and heal, we keep dieting harder, and that continued mental fixation on food and weight loss is where we perpetuate the disordered eating. This means that there are wayyyyyyyy more eating disorders and disordered eaters than we think there are. And they go undiagnosed because we've been taught how normal it is to obsess over food and "losing a few".  We think it is normal to live in a chronic binge/repent cycle for the rest of our lives, blaming ourselves endlessly for our lack of willpower, and having the topic dominate our conversations with other women. "Well I gained weight", "Oh me too", "No you look tiny!", "Oh! Well thanks." "I would do anything to not be obsessed with crackers." "Tomorrow I'm gonna be good". And on and on. What is important to remember is that this cultural obsession with a tiny body is relatively new, and our cultural relationship to food is also new. Never did we treat food with such judgment and obsession. Never before did we try to abstain from arbitrary foods based on ever changing fads. Never before did we pray to be able to walk away from the table hungry. Never before would this kind of feeding and eating have made any sense. And even though this way of eating is now extremely common, it is still disordered. And our bodies are not having it. We also believe that the only way to have an eating disorder is to be emaciated. NOT SO. You can be thin, middle ground, or very fat, and be suffering from a restrictive eating disorder. The difference here, is that the disorder will be praised. I really, really hope that in the coming years we can start to have a different dialogue about health and food that is not so black and white. I hope we can move into a place that's a lot more supportive of different body types, understanding weight science even more, and that a nourishing and intuitive version of eating can replace this restrictive madness. (If you are suffering from an eating disorder, please seek treatment. The Fuck It Diet is geared towards yo-yo and chronic dieters, not extremely restrictive eating disorders. TFID will never stand in place of treatment, this is simply a supplement and not specifically geared towards anorexia. Check out The Eating Disorder Institute which is more geared towards EDs.)
Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2018
We've been told that calories in versus calories out is how-weight-works. "Eat less than you expend and you'll lose weight". But this is what really happens: "Eat less that you expend and you'll lose weight at first, but then you'll gain it all back and think it's your fault- but it is actually because your body will compensate your metabolism in order to keep your weight stably around the same place, because biologically that is how we have survived as a species during all those years when food wasn't as easy to ensure or come by." I understand that it's a mind trip after the simplicity of calories in vs calories out. Because first few times you dieted, I bet you really did lose weight easily. Then, when you gained it back, you were sure it was your fault. But it wasn't. Your body made sure that that happened. And it even wanted you to go a bit ABOVE where you started, just for good measure. But now you're convinced that if you can just do it like you did the first time, you'll lose weight again, but THIS time you'll keep it off. This time you'll do it right. This time you'll succeed and be beautiful and happy foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr. But it's harder to do now because your body isn't having any of this shit. You've already pressed your luck, and now your body is fighting back harder. And even if you happen to muster the willpower to override your body's efforts to make you eat and keep on weight, and even if you actually do lose weight again, your body will immediately lower your metabolism and make you expend less in order to eventually bring your weight back up. It will also wire you to crave more food than you ever would have wanted under normal eating and metabolic conditions. It should be noted that increasing exercise will have the same effect. The body will encourage rest to make up for your exertion. And if you force more exertion, it'll just slow down your system altogether. There's a good reason why Michael Phelps ate 12,000 calories a day. That's what extreme exercise requires. (And it's also around the amount that men rehabilitating from semi-starvation ate after the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.) So, for any of you who thinks that weight is just a matter of decreasing your consumption, and are confused and frustrated that it's not working anymore... it's just because your body wants you to chill the eff out and start eating normally again. It also wants you to put on weight. You know why? Weight is actually healthy. Letting yourself gain weight actually is the only way to heal your metabolism. Paradoxically, once you stop trying to control your appetite, and finally eat whatever it wants (even if that's a LOT), it'll heal. It'll speed up. It'll trust that there is food. And that is the surest way to have a healthy stable weight for you. Bring on the calories.
Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2018
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