The Hard Thing
Body Image“Pageant Face” is a phenomenon that many people don’t quite understand. It is what I would call the art of smiling through anything. From the outside looking in, a pageant girl seems like she has it all together. Flawless hair &…
The Body Project, Help Prevent Eating Disorders in Your Community
Body Image, Special Topics
2019 was an important year for me! It marked my 10th year in recovery from an eating disorder, and it was the year that I discovered the Body Project. At that time, I was in my 8th year as a high school counselor. Over the years, I have worked…
No Diet Day: Free to be me (you)
Body Image, Special Topics
No Diet Day was started by Mary Evans Young in 1992 and is an annual movement to reject diet culture. NEDA would like to encourage you to consider the impact diet culture has on your relationship with your body and join the movement to practice…
The Dangers of Diet Culture
Body Image, Special Topics
Growing up in the early 2000’s, diet culture was a major part of my life, and played a significant role in the development of my first eating disorder. I still remember when I was little going to weight loss meetings and consults with…
Diet Culture Domino
Body Image, Special Topics
You came into this world
A beautiful being
How amazing!
Only one of you
Only one of me
Mama wonders about your personality
No thoughts of a child hating their body
As you grow up, messages pop up on the tv
Photoshopped…
Dear Diet, I’m Done and It’s Over
Body Image, Special Topics
How young were you when you first dieted?
I was a very young 12 years old when I first jumped on the diet train, and I rode that train one way or another for ten years of my life. For the entirety of my adolescence and beginning of my young…
The Consequences of Diet Culture on Weddings
Body Image, Special Topics
When I told my friends and family that I was dieting for my wedding, no one batted an eye. That statement didn’t seem out of the ordinary. In fact, it felt more like an assumption or expectation.
Unfortunately, that’s what diet culture…
Cultivating a Culture of Body Acceptance within the Fitness Industry
Body Image, Special TopicsSupporting someone with an eating disorder is challenging. I know, because I struggled with an eating disorder for many years in my late teens and early twenties. My road to recovery was long, and almost thirty years later, I still have times…
Let’s Take Back and Redefine “Beauty”
Body ImageEating Disorders are complex illnesses. As a young girl growing up in a larger body in the 80’s and 90’s, I often struggled with body image, to the point of almost falling into the trap of Bulimia while in college. Thankfully, I received…
Real Solutions not Resolutions this NYE
Body ImageUnfortunately, it’s impossible to live in America and not be bombarded with messages about the new diet fad that promises to give you the security of “optimal” health. The idea that there’s something wrong with your body, is a toxic…