Happy Monday!
The Full Life is getting an upgraded schedule. For the foreseeable future posts will follow this structure month to month:
Week 1: A general essay about food/bodies/exercise/life
Week 2: Links/Thoughts/Reflection - basically the highlights of things I read or thought about that month!
Week 3: An eating disorder specific post - right now that is my Navigation series
Week 4: The Full Story interviews
And for any weeks with a 5th Monday (it turns out that happens about every 3 months?? Am I the only one who didn’t know that?), I will be posting an extended essay for my paid subscribers. It will be longer, involve more research, and the next one will be answering a reader question about influencers and how they can be/cannot be supportive. Upgrade to a paid subscription to read these posts as they come out!
We’re in week 2, baby, so let’s get on with it:
Links:
When you start to learn more about fatphobia you start to see fatphobia… everywhere.
Be wary of any claim that one particular thing is a miracle cure - including the current evangelization of weight loss drugs. We don’t currently have the long-term data to know exactly how people will be affected by taking these medications for weight loss. This article provides details on the possible pros and cons of being on a weight loss injectable.
I want more love letters to food in my life. I mean what could be more beautiful than a full-on love affair with things that nourish your body and soul?
Someday I’ll do a deep dive into food enjoyment and longevity, but for now here’s a study that found that better well-being is associated with reduced risk of morbidity and mortality from heart disease. Is it too much to ask that public health initiatives spend less time trying to scare people into dieting to lose weight and more time encouraging supportive and fulfilling behaviors to support our mental and physical health? It’d be really cool if we could take a quick look around and see that nobody is doing better with this hyperfocus on body size and health.
This was such an interesting piece connecting many women’s desires to be “easy” and “pleasant” and “flexible” and “unobtrusive” with chronic disease. According to the author, suppressing our emotions and needs might have long term side effects? Who would have thought that striving for perfection and avoidance of any conflict might not sit great with our bodies?
On the gift of being raised by a mom who believes in body acceptance and loving yourself. Loving yourself doesn’t have to come with the caveat of always fearing the possibility of your body growing larger. Similarly, “We are not iPhones, and we do not have to be constantly upgrading our lives like software, nor do we have to constantly be making ourselves the newest, shiniest version.”
A moment to bring more awareness to Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and the ways that weight bias continues to impact treatment for those impacted.
I wouldn’t have used all the same words, particularly the pathologizing language about fat bodies, used in this article, but it was incredibly interesting, well written, and made me think. Which is really what I’m looking for in Substack pieces. Read more about how we shift language in our cultures based on common diseases and how capitalism capitalizes on our own existential fears. And a teaser quote to get you hooked: “Our belief that medicine is a great neutralizing force because it somehow exists outside of and above social mores will not be rational as long as medicine is a for-profit enterprise. Perhaps a stronger push for public health—community health, communal health, commun… nevermind—will liberate both disease and health from their individualism.”
If you’ve ever hated shopping, found yourself struggling to find clothes that you like AND that fit, or you just want to support a really fantastic writer - here’s “How to lose 1000+ Hours - and an Awful Lot of Money”
Thoughts:
I recently bought a frozen cheesecake as part of my third anniversary celebration. I also bought some jarred caramel, strawberry jam, pumpkin butter, and cinnamon roll spread to put on top. Can I just say that everyone needs to head to the grocery store today to buy themselves a cheesecake and make mini cheesecake bites with different toppings? Today. Do it today - there’s no need to put off this happiness in your life.
I made this cute little clay ghost situation with air dry clay and let me offer that the particularly cute part of the project is to put your ghost over a tea light or a little incense cone. Since there are holes for the eyes and mouth, it will make it look like light or smoke is coming out of your ghost! I want to make 100 more.
I’ve been in a food rut this month. I tend to struggle with the changing seasons - it’s still too warm to go all in on soups and casseroles (IMO), but I’m getting tired of my go-to summer recipes. This has resulted in bad grocery shopping with lots of things in my house, but no plan for how to use them and a lack of interest in spending time and energy cooking. Offering this fact without much of a solution because - hey - dietitians are people too.
I have dreams of making our yard a native plant oasis over the years, so to start us off I’ve been collecting various seeds around our neighborhood, in parks, and on hikes for plants that I can identify as beneficial native species to plant in our yard. We’ve dedicated about a third of our current garden space to plant these seeds and see what comes up in the spring. I’m hoping to slowly let this wildflower garden spread into the full space and maybe convert a couple other areas of our yard in the future.
Cozy tea season is coming back around. Let me know your favorite brands or types of tea so I can stock up for winter. I’ve been doing an herbal vanilla tea, but I just finished it today! I have also been feeling quite European over here having a nice cup of tea in the morning with a little biscotti, so let this be your inspiration to grab some breakfast cookies to ease the transition to cold weather.
I’m having SUCH a hard time finding food I want to eat right now!
About tea, I drink Harney and Sons. Mail order. Extensive inventory. Reasonable price points. I usually buy 2-3 ounce canisters which are enough to last a few weeks of daily drinking. Of course I have about a dozen varieties of green, white, black, caffeinated, decaf, and herbal, organic and not. Give them a try.