Trust Me I'm a (mom)(yogi) RD

Last night I was reading an excerpt from my copy  Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories about Beauty, Bravery, & Loving Your Body and I came upon the following quote:  "You teach best what you most need to learn." . . . Wow... This resonated with me so much - and not just in the aspect as a yoga teacher - but as a dietitian, and really any other interpersonal experience I've had.  For example, when I'm counseling a client, I often validate their experiences because 1)  I've been there before, or 2) The message is something I should be hearing loud and clear. I mean if you think about it, anytime you're passionate about a topic, the message you are spreading to others is going to resonate back with you in some way, shape or form.  I'm not sure if my clients believe me or not, but when we do 1-on-1 counseling, or when I lead Body Image group, I inform them I get JUST. AS. MUCH positivity or energy...

I recently recorded a podcast on the topic of weight stigma, health at every size, body image & binge eating disorder.  While I am ecstatic with how the conversation turned out, I was a little bummed that an important segment piece was cut out of the final edits.  This is because it is a much needed - and DIFFICULT - conversation to have; and it happens to be around 'Why body positivity isn't accessible to everyone.' This topic is something that I’ve been humbled by & have been reflecting on a lot lately, because of course we’d like to think that body positivity is just that – all positive – and it’s just not the case. In fact, there has been a lot of criticism that this movement is being co-opted by the dieting industry, and coining the term "wellness" as the newest fad diet…….or companies will use #bodypositvity on an ad for a new dieting technique. There’s also been criticism that body positivity is clouding its precurso...