it's been a sparse week around these blog parts. so i sat down last night to write a really meaty FED post. so i sat down on the couch with the computer. and then i moved to my desk. then climbed into bed.
and i came up with a lot of dribble that filled about three drafts that are now tucked away somewhere in my archives. but it just wasn't ready. the words weren't coming.
so instead i'm going to say this:
read this:
JANNA DEAN, HEALING THE BODY IMAGE (on the glorious CJANE's blog)
now this:
JANNA DEAN, HEALTHY BODY IMAGE FOR OUR CHILDREN (again, thank you CJANE)
watch this video to learn what FAT TALK is:
and let's be clear what the word diet means and how it is used (i emailed tom {my very, very smart therapist who happens to be an eating and weight disorder expert} so as we'd get this really, really right):
diet as a noun is "the food that you eat"
in our culture we use diet as a verb to describe some process designed to alter one's body through what we eat--most often this means restricting. this has led to the misuse of the word diet as a noun to mean "the food that you eat to lose weight"
so from here on out when i (or someone else) say diets don't work what is meant by diets is a specific, regimented process designed for the ultimate task of losing weight.
now for extra credit: check out mark bittman's food manifesto.
i want to know what you all think about all this. because on monday you better believe i'm gonna let you know what i think. let's hash through this...
12 comments:
Food is love. It won't be bound. It can't be mass-produced. I can't always say, "I love you," but I can cook it. For family, for friends, for me. To place rules on food is to place rules on your soul. Who needs those?
Thanks for the blog. It's the bright spot in my gray mornings.
I love you. this is so good.
where to even begin? i adore mark bittman and thank you for posting the manifesto!
i live in italy, in a small town where probably all of the vegetables and fruits are grown locally. everyone cooks at home and eats together and people know what's going in their bodies. but i have noticed a great deal of body image issues among girls here and i think that eating well in the home can't always solve that.
thanks for this! finally someone in the blog world posting about real things and not about what they're going to make their boyfriend on valentine's day! :)
i love the combination of articles here! i've made a goal this year to start talking about my journey to health through eating disorders and body image, and these are so... real! i sent your post to my mom and sisters because i think every woman needs to realize that we all have to wake up and join the right fight!
thanks! :)
That video is brilliant. You always give me something to think about.
Ok first of all - that video brought me to tears. I was walking to work this morning thinking - why can't I just let myself off the hook? WHy can't I accept that what I am is not a bad thing? My weight has fluctuated for my whole adult life and always always thought that I should be thinner. I spent two years as a model (from age 18-20) - being asked every week when I went to see my agent "how much weight have you lost this week?" Modelling made me think that the way I was, was wrong. And it has stuck. It destroyed my self confidence.
I've been realizing that I have spent so many years thinking that I should be something else - and now, in some ways, I don't know who I am. I'm 40. I don't want to be like this anymore. Diets don't work. Restrictions lead to rebellion and the whole thing bites you in the butt and you feel so, so much worse. I don't like to eat in front of other people. I always think they are watching and thinking "Oh that's why". Obesity runs in my family.I've watched friends destroy their bodies with anorexia and bulimia (which, thankfully, I never turned to) and I am completely guilty of fat talk.
Thank you for posting this. I'm going to post that video on my blog - because it saddens me beyond compare - and because it also gives me hope.
xo
k
http://janesnextdoor.blogspot.com/
Haven't read Bittman yet, but I did read Janna's posts.
From someone with a severe food addiction, I am not at the place where I can listen to my body and have all food in moderation, eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full. I just don't recognize these things. Her first post wasn't that helpful to me in this area. I need to have a plan of what I will eat and I need to not eat flour and sugar, ever, or it throws me into some sort of tizzy that I can't control.
But I do like that she talks about eliminating fat talk and that's something I can probably do.
I will read them both again, along with the manifesto, to prepare for what your comments are on Monday.
The video made me feel quite emotional. That and the articles really strike a chord in me. I have such a food obsessive personality and have been working very hard on learning to just be. To stop always wanting to be a different, longer, leaner, skinnier me...but to just be. It's hard, but I have to. My daughter is 6 and I overheard her make a comment about a diet and "that's what my mom is going to do because she wants to be skinny" and it BROKE my heart.
I have gotten rid of my scale and am trying to dance and play and eat healthy and ....just be. Thanks for your blog, I always enjoy your posts.
Jessica
that video gave me chills. can't wait to see what you post next week.
oh meg, i love these. you are like my older sister that guides me through my recovery from that abusive little mean man named ED. thanks for always showing me there's a light at the end.
and oh man, i love the fat talk video. it's quite powerful.
I love the video you posted (just watched it)--seriously makes me think about how often I hear this. OFTEN. And how "fat thinking" is even more burdensome to me than "fat talk"--how often I think about how my stomach looks pudgy when I sit a certain way, how I think my arms look too thick in certain sweaters, how heels make my legs look skinnier. It's hard to admit to all those thoughts . . but they are there, and it's so sad to think that so many women, myself included, have to bear these heavy thoughts so often.
Oh thank you for sharing this, I'm sharing that great link right now. Ace.
Pepper x
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