Y’all are catching me in a whirlwind of life. Last weekend, my high school friend group spent a weekend together in Knoxville and this weekend I’m off to Texas for family time. Wherever you are this weekend, I hope one of these reminders helps you feel a smidge more grounded with food.

connection > disconnection

Our food rules are about food *and* nothing about food. If we dig deeper, it’s pretty clear that we restrict to soothe ourselves, find a sense of security or belonging…there’s lots of reasons. They usually boil down to very normal human needs that are best met through our very own human connection. Disordered eating disconnects us from ourselves, others, and our whole world in the pursuit of meeting these needs. Feeling the urge to review the menu? Consider what updates or stories you have to share with your girlfriends that night instead. Thinking of skipping snacks to save up for dinner? Go ahead and consider how hunger feels in your body & chose to nourish for the sake of being more present as you all gather. Wanting to cancel plans so you don’t have to dress yourself? This will only confirm that your body is something to avoid and shy away from and my guess is your friends are dying to squeeze ya tight. Choose connection over disconnection.

eat regularly

Just like we appreciate dependability, reliability, and consistency in our friendships…..our body values that too. All the girlies on social media love to joke about tummy issues, but what if all that bloating, IBS, mood swings, and stomach pains could be explained by all the behaviors diet culture has us engaging with? Our digestive track needs adequacy, consistency, and variety (and in that order). No matter when you wake up on Saturday, eat breakfast and start the timer for 3-5 hours after that, and then do it again the meal and/or snack after that.

give your body the gift of not knowing

Unless you always have a new outfit, the odds are you have a few go-to outfits and feel confident it goes together and matches. Here’s my pitch: put it on away from the mirror, ask yourself “do the clothes feel comfortable on my bdoy?”, and if the answer is yes….move on. Do not stare in the mirror. Do not change your outfit 5+ times (science shows we are more likely to feel displeased with every outfit we take off and try again with!). Do not pick apart your body. Do not practice posing for pictures. All of those things primes our brain for self objectification. You are a human that deserves dignity and kindness – dressing for the male gaze or for the perfect content will only feed the fire of your already struggling body image.

don’t start over on monday

Hot take: Mondays are less dreadful when we aren’t haunted by the restriction, intense exercise protocols, and rigidity that “monday reset” mentality brings. If you want off the rollercoaster of restrict-binge-restrict-binge, you have to stop the restriction. You can’t just “stop bingeing” if the restriction isn’t fully resolved (it will backfire, I promise and IYKYK). You can however, intentionally lean into nourishing despite feelings like a) you don’t need it b) don’t deserve it and c) aren’t sure this will actually work. While there is SO MUCH science proving that a decrease in restriction reduces binging behaviors, it often takes a huge leap of faith to take this step.

These are just four ideas that I could think of as I sit in BNA waiting on a flight to visit my grandmother for the weekend. It’s going to be a weekend of a lot of sitting around, eating birthday cake (and fajitas), and chit chatting. What a gift.

We’re accepting new clients at Meant To Eat Nutrition Counseling where we help women learn all they’re meant to eat and meant to be apart from disordered eating. We’d love to offer you a free 15 minute discovery call to see if we’d be a good work fit! Click here for more.