Aligned Nutrition

I was recently asked: 🛑 “How do I stop punishing myself for overeating?”

The question made me sad but I know this person is not alone in how they feel.

Overeating can feel really frustrating, defeating, and hopeless.

While it’s normal for everyone to overeat sometimes but when it happens all the time - it can feel shameful and out of control.

⚡️ When I work with clients on how to reduce overeating, we first start by figuring out the cause or causes.

SOME OF THE MOST COMMON REASONS I SEE CLIENTS OVEREAT:

▪️You were overly hungry
▪️You had gone several hours without eating
▪️Your overall pattern of eating is not enough to meet your energy needs
▪️Your eating doesn’t support your physical activity levels
▪️You are stressed more than usual and/or not getting enough sleep
▪️You regularly feel guilty for “how you eat”
▪️You tell yourself you “shouldn’t eat” certain foods
▪️Food is part of a coping response for mental health challenges you may be facing or have a history of

SOMETHING TO NOTE: We often have very good reasons for overeating.

🖤 Hopefully, seeing some of these causes can help you have some compassion for yourself.

If you’re seeking more support and want to work with a dietitian, you can inquire to become a new client for 2022. Link in bio.

🥦 As a dietitian, I’m in support of meals including protein and vegetables BUT…

👉 For some of us this concept of “always needing to eat a vegetable or protein” can become quite disordered.

❌ Rigid
❌ Rules
❌ Guilt if not

CONSIDER THIS:

✅ Carbs gives us energy and keep us full.

✅ Proteins feeds our body tissues and keep us full.

✅ Fats feed our body processes and keep us full.

‼️ Each is important but they do not need to be included at every single meal every single day.

*If you’re in early recovery from an eating disorder and working with a dietitian, please follow the meal plan you have.

I’M BACK 💕 Being present and enjoying my wedding was really special. Expect new food relationship posts but FIRST…

…I wanted to share a couple things about food freedom and weddings.

Weddings - whether it’s:

➖Your wedding
➖Being in a wedding
➖Attending a wedding

Or really any big social event, can bring about:

⭐️ Pressure to look a certain way
⭐️ Seeing people you don’t always see
⭐️ Lots of food and sweets
⭐️ Food anxiety and guilt
⭐️ Temptation to restrict food intake
⭐️ Fear of losing control around certain foods

I’ll never forget a conversation a special client of mine and I had about her wedding. 💍

She said something profound:

” I WANT TO FOCUS ON HOW I FEEL ON MY WEDDING DAY, NOT HOW I LOOK”

💎 This kept her present on the people around her and enjoying the moment. 💎

I feel really grateful that I healed my relationship with food and my body and that I could:

➖Enjoy cake with my husband
➖Not worry about how I will look in my dress
➖Look at wedding photos without being critical
➖Not stress or even think about what I will be eating ahead of time
➖Zero distraction or guilt with thoughts about food

🤗 Thanks for your understanding while I’ve been away. How have you been?

I really enjoy connecting with you on Instagram and I’m glad to be back.

Do you compare your eating to other people? 👇

We live in a society that praises disordered eating.

SO YOU LEARN TO:
⁣
▪️Compare to others and past versions of yourself.
▪️ Feel guilty not being the healthiest eater.
▪️ Identify with being that one always orders the salad.⁣
⁣
YOU WANT TO:

Feel free eating but you feel torn.
What if you’re the only one getting seconds or ordering carbs? ⁣
⁣
THE PROCESS YOU GO THROUGH IS:⁣
⁣
I call it dethroning yourself.

👑Take off your crown 👑
⁣
Let go of the part of your identity that is defined by what you eat.

You’re so much more than that. ⁣
⁣

“I haven’t eaten yet today” 👉 if you’ve ever said this or been around someone who did READ THIS

This past week, I’ve been talking to a lot of my clients who are college students and this phrase has come up SO MUCH.

Our society is disordered.
College campuses are disordered.
It’s seems everywhere is disordered.
We become disordered by internalizing these messages.

💎 I’ll tell you what I tell my clients 💎:

“It’s not cool to not eat.
I’m sorry for you and the person who said that to you.
Keep eating and being cool with what you’re doing.
Eating is normal.
Let’s normalize eating.”

🖤 SAVE THIS post for any time you need this reminder from a registered dietitian!

Need more?

If you struggle with having a support system while heal your relationship to food and want professional help, inquire to work with me via link in my bio.

📣 If you feel guilty about not having a fruit or vegetable with every meal…

I was talking with a client this morning about how she feels guilty for eating unhealthy - aka - if a meal doesn’t include a fruit or vegetable. 🥦

She’s tired of always feeling bad if she just feels like having pizza - no vegetable in sight! 🍕Diet culture gasps. Do you relate?

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT WAS THIS:

〰️Your body breaks all foods into carbohydrates, proteins, and fats - the three main macronutrients.

〰️ Fruit and vegetables are carbohydrates, too.

〰️ All carbohydrates whether they are from bread or fruit break down into sugar in the body.

〰️ Our body uses this sugar to fuel our body processes and our brains run exclusively on sugar.

I’M NOT SAYING:

Fruit and vegetables have no purpose. In addition to fiber, fruit and vegetables are great sources of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.

WHAT I’M SAYING IS:

Let’s take the lens wider with eating beyond single meals, weekends, vacations, etc.

✌️Enjoy your meals this weekend - even if there isn’t a vegetable on the plate!