Uncategorized Archives - Page 5 of 15 - Everyday Chocolate

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 by Libby

Navigating Food & Body Image at the Holidays

I can’t believe we are already well into December! As the end of the year draws near, I am looking forward to more time to rest, lots of walks outside, and getting to all the books I want to read that are piling up!

Since the holidays tend to be more challenging for most people when it comes to food and body image, I wanted to do a brief post on some tips and strategies for navigating food and body image this time of year.

First, I will provide some examples of what disordered eating could look like at the holidays. Then we will get to 5 strategies for experiencing a life-giving and truly healthy approach to food and your body during the holiday season.

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November 29, 2023November 29, 2023 by Libby

Everyday Eats {Thanksgiving & End-of-November 2023}

Hi everyone!

How was your Thanksgiving? I feel like it came and went so quickly!

Our long weekend was a mix of relaxing, getting some random things done, enjoying the actual holiday, and severely stressing during the final minutes of the Michigan-OSU game. Let’s just say my heart rate was rather elevated, but as they say, all is well that ends well!

At least here in Michigan, the weather leading up to and on Thanksgiving was amazing! While it is getting colder and grayer now, we have had the sunniest November I can ever remember. That has been such a blessing!

We enjoyed several long sunny walks over the time off. This beautiful sunrise was from one of my recent runs! I’m always grateful for this field that allows me to see some of the early morning sun.

On to discussing some November meals, snacks, and desserts!

As always, these posts are meant to inspire you in your own culinary and eating adventures! Each of us has our own nutrition needs, food preferences, and individual patterns/rhythms when it comes to eating… I recommend eating in a way that works best for you! 🙂

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November 15, 2023November 11, 2023 by Libby

5 Tips for When Anorexia Recovery Feels Overwhelming

When I think of what generally causes a person (such as myself) to feel overwhelmed by any sort of big goal or desired end result, there are often two key aspects that can cause overwhelm:

(1) the nature or difficulty of the goal itself, and

(2) how we are approaching the goal mentally and emotionally (regardless of its actual objective difficulty).

Overwhelm Source #1: The nature or difficulty of the goal (recovery) itself.

From an objective standpoint, recovering from anorexia is a very challenging process. There is a reason recovery rates are so grim. (BUT that does NOT need to be the case for you!)

There is the obvious physical/nutritional health component. This may include things like:

The often extreme GI discomfort (and unpleasant related symptoms) of the GI system getting used to more food
The challenges of extreme hunger as the body “re-awakens” from its starved state and is desperately needing ALL THE FOOD NOW
Working on balancing and healing hormones and the gut
The COPIOUS amounts of food that need to be eaten to achieve said weight gain (*cue head spinning*)

So much more could be said, but suffice it to say for the purposes of this post that weight restoration / overall bodily healing is often very uncomfortable from a purely physical standpoint.

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November 8, 2023November 7, 2023 by Libby

Everyday Eats {November 2023}

Happy Wednesday!

I feel like the week is already flying by!

I am definitely happy that daylight savings time is now over and that the mornings are lighter earlier on. I find that having brighter daylight earlier in the morning makes such a difference to my day!!

In other news…our Book Club is starting next week on Tuesday! We will be going through Soul-Deep Beauty. It’s not too late to join us! Reading/commitment level is meant to be rather minimal. You can contact me if you are interested or if you would like more information. This is open to anyone!

Read on for some November culinary inspiration!

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November 1, 2023October 31, 2023 by Libby

10 Common Thought Patterns Perpetuating Your Disordered Eating

Our thought patterns have a tremendous impact on our behaviors and our ability to grow and make changes.

Thinking about a non-food example — let’s say I am trying to have a productive work day (intended behavior). BUT, as life would have it, I slept miserably and have a terrible headache. I got out of bed later than I wanted and have barely crossed anything off my to-do list by the time early afternoon rolls around. Some common thought patterns here might be for me to start catastrophizing the day (Now my entire day is ruined! My whole week is going to be thrown off!), viewing the day as overly black-and white (I have gotten NOTHING done that I wanted… this day is an absolute failure) and continually judging myself for struggling to get done wanted I had planned and hoped.

Mentally reacting to my day in this way would likely cause me to continue spiraling throughout the day and week, veering even further from my original intentions.

Instead, a much more helpful response would be to recognize these unhelpful thought patterns, approach my day with flexibility and adjust as needed, show myself understanding and compassion, and live in the reality that I didn’t sleep well / am not feeling well instead of fighting reality by trying to plow ahead.

Like areas of our lives such as time/task management, habit-building, and health routines, many of us may have experience reacting to food with similar unhelpful thought patterns.

How we think about food has a great impact on how we engage with food.

In today’s blog post, I’m going to identify 10 common thought patterns that may be perpetuating any disordered eating you are struggling with.

For each thought pattern, I will provide an example as well as a way to reframe/look at the situation differently. I’ll also provide some additional tips and notes to consider. I hope you find this post helpful and something you can bookmark/come back to repeatedly!

10 Common Thought Patterns Perpetuating Your Disordered Eating:

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October 25, 2023October 25, 2023 by Libby

Guide to Debriefing & Intervening in Binge/Compulsive Eating Experiences

If you are wrestling with a compulsive-like behavior, such as binge eating or compulsive eating, it may currently feel like it is hard or next to impossible to change this frustrating pattern. When this happens, maybe you feel like you are on autopilot, somewhat akin to having an out-of-body experience, and feel like all your typical values, health goals, and intentions have gone flying out the window..

Whenever an eating episode like this occurs (whether it is once in a while, every day, or multiple times a day), you likely feel some sort of combination of discouragement, disgust, and embarrassment regarding yourself and the eating behaviors. You may vow to change your ways, possibly restricting the next day or meal, yet the pattern continues.

UGH!

Maybe you even fear feeling hungry, you avoid social situations, and you are confused about what body size might be healthy for you. I can imagine that if you are dealing with something like this it is likely affecting your work, relationships, and overall self-care. You may be feeling alone and isolated, with no one knowing about your struggle.

If so, this post is for you!

When dealing with compulsive eating behaviors, it can be helpful to have tools and strategies for debriefing (or looking back on) the behavior, in order to identify patterns, triggers, and possible avenues for intervention and (ultimately) healing.

In today’s post, we will think about 4 areas to debrief when it comes to binge/compulsive eating experiences.

Overall context/situation
Nutritional/physical factors
Psychological factors
Emotional factors

We will then consider a few ideas for intervention and healing. Because, if you’re like me, when it comes to frustrating, negative and unwanted dynamics, I’m guessing you are wanting this to eventually be a thing of the past! Which it can be!!

Guide to Debriefing & Intervening in Binge/Compulsive Eating Experiences:

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October 18, 2023October 17, 2023 by Libby

Everyday Eats {October 2023}

Hello everyone! I hope your week is going well so far.

Two weekends ago we were able to make it up to Tahquamenon Falls to enjoy some fall colors and time outside. I was feeling a little unsure about the trip with the colder weather and rain that was forecasted all weekend (of course just a few days prior to our trip it was 70s and sunny there!). However, I’m really glad we ended up going!

The bulk of the rain was overnight, so wasn’t too bad. As my dad likes to say, “There is no such thing as bad weather… only bad clothing decisions!!” So I was sure to pack ALL the cold weather gear, perfect for staying warm while camping outside in the 40-degree rainy/drizzly weather.

It was a quick trip! Saturday we went on a long hike (between the upper and lower falls). We also went up to Whitefish Point, went to an absolutely delicious restaurant for dinner (more details later in post), and watched the Michigan game from our car/tent.

Time continues to fly by (at least from my perspective!)… we are already over halfway into October and it feels like the holidays are fast approaching! I am trying to slow down and focus on each day/week at a time… enjoying the things to be grateful for each day instead of constantly looking ahead OR overly looking at the negatives!

Delicious eats from the past few weeks… October edition!

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October 11, 2023October 10, 2023 by Libby

Different Factors to Consider in Eating Decisions (Beyond Hunger/Fullness)

Sometimes intuitive eating can get overly simplified to “eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full.”

I think it’s super important to listen to your hunger/fullness signals. At the same time, I also think there are other key factors to take into consideration when deciding what/when/how much to eat.

If feeling biological signals of hunger –> a clear sign to eat!!

BUT there are other “signs” or things to think about that may also indicate a need to eat.

We may think we are doing something “wrong” if we are eating when we aren’t technically feeling hungry, yet this may be just what our bodies need! If you *only* eat when you are feeling physically hungry, I’d bet you most likely aren’t eating enough.

In this post we will explore…

A few personal examples of me taking into account “other factors beyond hunger/fullness” when it comes to eating
Different factors to consider when making food decisions, including:
- Tuning into your bodily signals
- Thinking about your daily life situation / overall life circumstances
- Trusting your overall intuition
Some closing thoughts and questions

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October 4, 2023October 4, 2023 by Libby

Quinoa & Veggie Bowl with Pumpkin Sage Hummus

This hearty quinoa & veggie bowl with pumpkin sage hummus features everything you love about fall! Warm spices, fresh sage, and plenty of in-season veggies come together for a nourishing, easily customizable dinner or lunch. Top with freshly grated parmesan for the finishing touch!

Today I have the best fall dinner recipe for you!

This creation was dreamed up out of a desire to have a fall/winter version of the summer quinoa/veggie bowl with sun-dried tomato hummus that I love so much. Thankfully what I have come up with has met my high expectations!

One of the best parts about this recipe is that everything can be made in advance, making it perfect for meal prep or for busy evenings when you may have more time to cook earlier in the day. It also makes plenty of leftovers to enjoy all week long.

Read on for full recipe details!

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September 27, 2023September 26, 2023 by Libby

Intuitive Eating Day in the Life {Saturday in September}

Happy Wednesday! How is your week going so far?

I have been loving the sunny days lately, fall cooking/baking, and crisper (but not too cold) temps.

Today I’m posting a day-in-the-life recap post full of delicious eats from an intuitive eating perspective!

To review, intuitive eating is a framework of eating designed to guide you in re-learning how to tune into your natural intuition when it comes to nourishing yourself. It is a combination of head knowledge (nutrition wisdom), listening to one’s body, tuning into what simply sounds good, and trusting one’s overall intuition when it comes to eating decisions.

The 10 principles are:

Reject the diet mentality
Honor your hunger
Make peace w/ food
Challenge the food police
Discover the satisfaction factor
Respect your fullness
Cope with your emotions w/ kindness
Movement – feel the difference
Respect your body
Honor your health w/ gentle nutrition

I don’t necessarily think about these principles formally in my head when I go about the day eating, but they do represent a lot of my natural/intuitive ways for navigating my own food decisions. I find the principles to be help to introduce to clients who are working through a disordered relationship with food and all the conflicting messages society tells us about what/when/how to eat.

On to an eats-focused day in the life post! As always, the heart behind these posts is to show an example of what it might look like to navigate food throughout the day from a more natural, intuitive, non-disordered perspective. What/when/how much to eat is always individualized and your eating choices and patterns probably look a lot different from mine!

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