Anyone who followed my previous blog or spoke with me during my transition from teaching knows that my long-held goal was to become a dietitian and write about nutrition. And so here we are; I did it (I can't believe it). I'm a dietitian working in public health. My current position allows me to support local wellness policies (specifically nutrition, environment, and physical activity) in school settings and focus on health equity in our county (helping provide resources and opportunities to lead healthy lives). And now I'm ready to move forward with my original goal. I'm so glad you're here - I have so much information to share about nutrition, health, and overall well-being!
A Little More Background & A Glimpse Of What To Expect
"Clean Eating"
Back when I was a teacher, I spent much of my free time reading books about nutrition and health. I wanted to understand how to make better choices for my body after spending a number of years as a young adult doing the exact opposite. I ended up focused almost entirely with eating "clean". Book after book detailed which foods I should avoid, the methods I needed to detox my body to get it "back on track", and the only ways one should consume certain foods to best achieve nutritive benefits. Even though I don't agree now with much of what I was discovering at that time, my interest remains fully invested in learning more about nutrition and its impact on the body.
Changing Careers
When I decided to pursue a career in nutrition it required my going back to school for a degree in dietetics. It was during this time that I began to understand the kind of reach diet culture has on our society and just how prominent (and socially acceptable) it is to discuss weight as the sole indicator of health (which it just isn't). Particularly, a massive amount of nutrition misinformation is spread via social media and word of mouth with the most common method of proposed "healthy eating" gained through popular diets and their myriad of restrictive eating behaviors.
One major takeaway I've learned when it comes to eating behaviors is that restriction does not work. Not only is avoidance not sustainable in the long-term (meaning most people won't adhere to a diet's rigid guidelines beyond a goal or time frame), it actually doesn't produce the same effects (i.e. weight loss) that it may have achieved early on.
But, this is a really hard concept to accept because engaging in restrictive behaviors in order to achieve weight loss has for decades been pushed on us by a multi-billion dollar diet industry. It's like we're all stuck in an endless health fair in a gymnasium where the folks with the free samples and quick fixes, bullhorns, and music, are selling us "health", and no one else can be heard over the bullshit.
A Speedbump
My two year dietetic degree became three when I encountered some side effects to medication prescribed for a bee sting. I covered this extensively in my previous blog so I won't spend too much time here doing the same; but in short, just like dominoes, one physical issue turned into or blended with another, and before long I was experiencing severe anxiety in the form of repeated panic attacks (panic disorder).
The anxiety was completely debilitating to the extent that I dropped courses and regularly didn't leave the house. I also didn't want to be left home alone. I barely slept. I couldn't eat, and I (unintentionally) lost 12% of my body weight in less than three months.
This cascade of experiences literally changed my life. It was at this time, while working toward rebuilding a version of myself that could function in the day to day, that I realized just how important overall well-being is - how nutrition, while being immensely important, is just one piece of the puzzle that makes a person okay.
Finding Well-Being
Learning how to rebuild oneself amid chaos requires being open-minded. I was willing to try anything that could possibly help my situation because I had absolutely nothing to lose at that time. I read too many articles on various key components of health and well-being (shout out to student unlimited access to peer reviewed research with the university library) and found many ways to help myself, including the following:
Movement
Mindfulness: being present in moments (both good and bad)
Community (and feeling connected to the world around us)
Spending time outdoors
Gratitude
Giving back beyond ourselves
Self-care (in a way that encourages self acceptance as opposed to conforming to societally-driven expectations)
Creative hobbies
Moving Forward
So, what can you expect to find on this website/blog? All of the above mentioned items, specifically focusing on nutrition. This is not a site dedicated to weight loss, but instead discussion around nutrition and eating for health. The overarching philosophy I've adopted is "add, don't subtract" meaning forget all about restriction - let's try some new foods and new recipes, let's grow a garden, let's go outside, and let's figure out what makes us feel good.
Subscribe for new post updates and check out the following pages:
Evidence-based nutrition concepts broken down with references on the Nutrition page (with corresponding videos).
Step-by-step instructions, progress, and use of an Indoor Tower Garden can be found in the Indoor Garden page.
An introduction and "how to use" different foods can be found in the Meet This Food page.
Recipes connected to the nutrition concepts can be found in the Recipes tab.
General health and well-being promotion related to movement, mental health, hobbies, etc. can be found in the Lifestyle page.
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