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

The first time I ever tried meditation (in 2013),  I HATED IT! I was in my yoga teacher training, and could not wrap my head around why I (or anyone for that matter) would want to sit still with their own thoughts for any period of time.  During training, I couldn't even get through our pranayama (breath work) or meditation intensives without uncontrollably giggling, (which today makes me so embarrassed to admit).  But nevertheless, I got through this portion of yoga teacher training, and went on my merry way leading yoga classes in a number of different settings for about 2 1/2 years (with some breaks along the way due to pregnancy). When I moved to Minnesota in 2017 for my dream dietitian job, I was heartbroken to give up teaching yoga classes regularly in Iowa.  I felt I had finally found my community of like-minded people, and it took a lot of soul searching to give this up for the potential of something greater.  Since I've been in Minnesota, I ...

In our diet-obsessed and "thin-spo" food culture, it's no surprise that ANY form of pleasure around food or eating is demonized.  We have been brainwashed to believe that we have to be extremely rigid around how we nourish our bodies; that somehow our bodies and metabolism aren't already extremely intelligent beyond our control.  Then when we restrict our eating, it's no wonder our physiological hunger takes hold, continuing the diet/binge cycle. What exactly is  emotional eating?  According to wikipedia (this was the only neutral definition I could find that didn't include diet-talk or food-shaming): Emotional eating is defined as "The propensity to eat in response to positive and/or negative emotions."    So by this definition, any form of eating could be considered emotional, because we as humans are never absent of said feelings.  However, if a client comes to me and claims they have a "problem" with emotional eating, it's u...

  Below is the speech I gave at my grandpa's funeral last week.  This is something I've always wanted to do for someone who has passed, and I'm so proud of myself for having the courage to honor my grandpa's life in a way that (I was told) really touched so many people <3   When I was getting ready to write this speech honoring my gpa...one word kept coming to me over + over again; one word that described him perfectly. And while it may not be earthshattering to most, it’s still true. MY GPA WAS FUNNY! …(And ornery)…but mostly funny. I hope to capture some of that humor with the highlights of his life I share today.   My grandpa grew up in a small town in Iowa (Ackley)…which when I was younger, I could have sworn it was hours and hours away from Perry…but come to find out the trip only seemed that way when my grandma or grandpa drove us J (Unlike me, they like to follow speed limits).   I know that my grandpa grew up on a fa...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!   We are already 3 days into 2020...and I don't know about you, but I love the idea of a new year representing a new start; a new beginning to an entire 12-month calendar ahead of us.   And I'm not just talking about traditional 'resolutions' here.  It's safe to say I'm not a fan of most of the public's reported New Years' resolutions, because a majority of them are infused with diet culture and the belief that we're not already good enough.   Newsflash:  we are ALREADY, INHERENTLY, GOOD ENOUGH.     The New Year does NOT have to include a "new you."  While some may resonate with that lingo, for me I'd rather focus on continuing to learn, grow, and bringing out my best self (which is always present internally - I just have to work to bring those qualities and traits into my main focus)!       Growing up, I don'...

It's mid-December, so that means we are well into the holiday season by now.  Both Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone; now the countdown to Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa (and don't forget New Year's) begins.   Unless you've found the secret to avoid all the diet messaging out there, chances are you've actually been inundated with "holiday dieting tips" instead. Back when I worked in a grocery store setting, the fall and winter months were actually a slow time of year [company wide] for dietitians - the assumed rationale by management being "Well, who wants to be HEALTHY over the holidays anyways!?"  As naïve as this sentence sounds (and very one dimensional of what a nutrition expert actually does), it was the narrative we were told.  So instead, we filled our days with food demos, store tours, or holiday-themed cooking classes.  On the off-chance a customer act...

After coming off the 'high' of my first therapy appointment in almost two years, I figured it was time for yet another {short and sweet} post.  So if you're reading this, you also need to hear this: SELF-CARE IS NOT SELFISH! I know I've written about this topic in other posts, but I truly believe in this statement (though easier said than done). It may sound ridiculous, but even during my therapy appointment, the entire time my brain was spewing off self-criticisms like "You don't need this! You're not 'sick enough' or 'worthy enough' to receive therapy."  My negative self talk was literally trying to tell me I needed to earn  therapy...how ridiculous is that!? But after an hour of both tears and feeling refreshed (those of you who go to therapy will understand the irony), I decided to spend the rest of my PTO day doing exactly what I want.  I'm scheduled to attend a yoga class for this afternoon, I'm going to...

"Stop being a worrywart!" "Nothing's wrong with you!" "You're such a hypochondriac!" "Why are you so scared of everything?!" "Abbie's so sensitive!" "You're so weird!" I heard all of these statements (in addition to many, many others) most of my childhood.  What I didn't know then - and only learned much later - was that I've been suffering with undiagnosed anxiety my entire life.  But growing up in an Irish-Catholic family, I learned pretty early on that we don't talk about our feelings - instead, we push them down, and forget they ever existed. So it's not surprising that I didn't have the vocabulary to completely explain what was going on in my growing, anxious-wired brain.  It wasn't until 6th grade, when I was forced to receive therapy for my eating disorder, that I started taking anti-depressants - and yet it still didn't click until my adult life that my...