The holidays are around the corner and that usually means an onslaught of articles about healthy eating during the holidays. A recent article was published about how to prevent holiday weight gain. Since some of the advice was contradictory and fatphobic, we felt compelled to give a more weight inclusive side of the story and challenge the weight loss rhetoric that too often co-ops the holiday spirit.
Can intuitive eating can help me?
The concepts of intuitive and mindful eating have grown enormously in popularity in the last few years. These new ways to think about food and eating are very different from the traditional ways of the 80s and 90s and even 2000’s. And when new & (wildly) different ideas about nutrition are suggested, it can take a while to understand how they can relate to your life and help you improve your health. Even if you are familiar with intuitive eating concepts, you may be wondering, “How can intuitive eating help me?”. Let’s discuss how familiar food issues and concerns can […]
Intuitive eating is more than savoring every bite.
You’ve probably heard about intuitive eating or mindful eating. Unfortunately, since they are hard to describe in a sound bite, you likely have been given the overly simplified version or worse, an inaccurate one. To make matters worse, these now popular terms have been co-opted by weight loss sellers (ahem…WW) to pretend that their programs aren’t diets and thus keeping up with the times. Mindful and intuitive eating is more than savoring each bite or slowly eating raisins (see more about that below 😉 ). To help clear up any misunderstandings, I’d like to tell you what they are not rather than what […]
Let Kids be Kids at Halloween
Halloween and the upcoming holiday season can send anyone who is vulnerable to body hate and emotional eating screaming. There is also a lot of pressure in messages from our family, friends and the media to fear Halloween treats and make sure they are immediately taken out of the house. So, if you would like a fresh approach to keeping candy (or any other yearly treat) in your house, you’ve come to the right place. Here is a round up of some non-diet, intuitive eating blogs about Halloween and the delicious treats that come with the celebration: To Treat […]
Like Bullying, Let’s Ban Food Shaming in Schools
Co-written with Naureen Hunani, RD The school year has been underway for almost 2 months. How are you coping with school lunches and snacks? If you are feeling stressed, frustrated and overwhelmed by the food rules, you are not alone. I am not talking about banned foods due to life-threatening food allergies but so-called “healthy” food rules. Food rules like these lead to people feeling ashamed and guilty of eating the banned food- emotions that harmful, not helpful for our health. Here is my take on why we should ban food shaming in schools. Although I do not yet have […]
Are SMART goals the answer for successful habit change?
If social media and health “gurus” (I use that term lightly) are to be believed, it seems like all you have to do is want something hard enough and set a SMART goal in order to achieve your dreams. However, the business of helping people achieve success is a big one. You can hire someone to help motivate you, push you and pull you to success. But are these promises of success really as easy as they sound? Are SMART goals helpful? Are SMART goals helpful? One of the oldest bits of advice about changing your habits that remains from […]
Is Hashtagging Harming Our Health?
Co-written with Nisha Parker I bet you have spotted at least one of these hashtags recently (maybe even today): #cleaneating, #lowcarb, #paleo, #weightloss, #diet, #cheatmeal or #whole30. Is it possible that these tags perpetuate lies about healthy eating? Are they being used unwittingly (which is bad), or deliberately (which is worse) by well-intentioned health practitioners? Do diet hashtags harm our health? Do diet hashtags harm our health? I feel that we are now living in a hashtag hell where intuitive eating, basic healthy eating, and science go to die. Perhaps what is most angering is that health practitioners who claim […]
Does Intermittent Fasting Work? Could Going Without Do More for Your Health?
Fasting has been used for health and religious reasons for hundreds of years and due to an explosion of new interest from the media, intermittent fasting is becoming the newest trend in dieting. But is there any supporting scientific evidence that would make it anything more than another weight-loss fad? Does intermittent fasting work and hold up to their claims? What is intermittent fasting? There are three types of intermittent fasting (IF) diets: alternate-day fasting, whole day fasting, and time-restricted feeding. Alternate-day fasting involves alternating between fasting days and days of eating until satisfied. Whole-day fasting involves 1 to […]
How Ending the War on Fat Can Improve Your Health
It seems like a day doesn’t go by without hearing or reading something about the “war on obesity” to improve our collective and individual health. But should ending the war on fat really be a priority? Ending the war on fat This is thoroughly frustrating for a few reasons. Firstly, it assumes that certain body sizes are bad/unhealthy/need to be fought. Secondly, it assumes that once “obesity” is taken care of, people would be more healthy. Mounting research shows that body size and weight are in no way indicators of health and losing weight does not automatically improve health. The messages […]
For Health’s Sake, Stop Reading Food Labels!
Contributions by Naureen Hunani, RD and Julia Lévy-Ndejuru, B.A. Psychology, B.Sc. Dietetics (completing) I am a dietitian and I admit that I was very dismayed to read that Canada’s Health Minister is encouraging warning labels be slapped on the front of food packages. This may seem odd since a dietitian’s role has been traditionally seen as an advocate for “proper” or “healthy” eating. However, simply put- these sorts of initiatives do not improve healthy eating NOR are the nutrients they imply are “bad” actually harm our health to the degree that they’ve been promoted. I reached out to fellow dietitians and […]