eating disorder recovery — MISFIT WELLNESS

WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH: WHY MEDITATION APPS & ON-DEMAND THERAPY WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH

Now more than ever, it is imperative that companies create cultures where employees have the awareness, language and psychological safety to speak up, ask for help and leverage the mental health and well-being resources available to them. Changing the culture and communication around mental health won’t just increase utilization of mental health benefits, wellness programs and preventative measures. It will increase productivity, job satisfaction and sense of community within the organization, while decreasing attrition rates, absenteeism, presenteeism, organizational risk and disruption to teams. Perhaps most importantly, it will also give employees the tools, resources and support they need to survive one of the most challenging years in our country’s history.

WHY I'LL NEVER HAVE IT ALL (AND I'M LEARNING TO BE OK WITH THAT)

I’ve always found the concept of “having it all,” for women and men, to be terribly flawed. If you really break it down, it simply isn’t possible. There aren’t enough hours in the day to show up fully as our best selves in our careers, partnerships, families, friendships, communities, service efforts, spirituality practices AND still have time to proactively care for ourselves mentally and physically (which is what allows us to show up fully in the first place). Add in the basic human needs for joy, connection, fulfillment, adventure… How can we possibly expect to find time for all the aforementioned in the 24 short hours we have each day? I don’t believe we can, and I don’t believe we should have to.

HOW I LEARNED TO TRUST MY BODY AND HAVE FAITH IN MY ABILITY TO HEAL

I struggled on and off with disordered eating in some form or another for the better part of two decades. Combined with clinical depression, hormone imbalances, infertility, hypothyroidism and spinal osteoarthritis, my ongoing battle with my body was fueled by fear and a desire to control everything I couldn’t control. For years into recovery and my holistic health journey, I couldn’t quite figure out what kept me in the two steps forward, one step back cycle. And then I realized, I was missing two important things I had lost when I was a little girl: trust in my body and faith in myself.

RESHAPING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH EXERCISE

Many of us forget too easily that it is a gift to be able to move even in the most basic ways; and in a world where many people don’t have the time, money or ability, it is a privilege to be concerned with exercise at all. Over the past 7 years, I’ve found that the below have helped me make the most of the gift and privilege of regular movement.

WHY I (MOSTLY) BROKE UP WITH BOOZE

Food comas, books and escapism helped me avoid my feelings through the first decade+ of my life, but once adolescence and the associated hormonal hell came a-knocking, they weren’t enough. By junior year in high school, I discovered how blissfully detached alcohol could make me. For a naive teenager looking to avoid feelings of discomfort, fear, sadness and loneliness, alcohol seems like a good option. For a lost young woman struggling with depression, disordered eating, body image issues and a desperate need to escape all of the aforementioned, it seems like a great option.

WHY I SOLD 90% OF MY CLOTHES AND WHAT I LEARNED IN THE PROCESS

To be honest, I am still a little surprised by the resistance I felt every step of the way to accepting myself in whatever shape or form prioritizing health created. Intellectually, I knew it was the right choice, a no brainer. Logically, I knew there was no other choice but to put my health first. But emotionally? That was a whole other story. All of a sudden, I became painfully aware of all the negative associations I, and society, have with bodies that aren’t slim and tight and taught and perfect. It took a lot of therapy, hugs from my husband, reassurance from a few dear friends, reinforcement found in my work as a health coach, journaling and more therapy to free myself from the limitations of those associations.

WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT MAKING PEACE WITH FOOD & YOUR BODY

Although I’m grateful that there is more openness and dialogue around making peace with food and our bodies in the media, often what we see is over simplified, prettied up and packaged (often to sell products or services) in a way that I believe is a bit misleading and does a disservice to people embarking on this journey. If the expectation is that this is a simple, 30-day, sunshine and roses process, people are destined to feel as if they’re doing everything wrong when it’s anything but, and they’re likely to give up. The truth is a lot more complicated and loaded with things I wish I knew from the start. Below is my version of it.

6 UNCONVENTIONAL WAYS TO STAY SANE, HAPPY & HEALTHY THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS

There seems to be a thin line between loving and hating the holidays for most people, but a few years ago, I thankfully learned a few tricks for staying (mostly) on the love side. Amidst all the fanfare, it can be difficult to find time and energy to care for yourself, but I learned I’m much much more likely to be present, enjoy the season (and handle cranky relatives with grace), if I’m a little more proactive about putting my mental and physical health first. Here’s how I make that happen between gingerbread men and rolling my eyes at my cousins.

9 SURPRISING THINGS THAT HELPED ME HEAL MY GUT

The benefits of eating to support gut health (and health in general) are so intangible and incomprehensible to anyone that has never tried to do so that it can be easy to ignore the hype and chalk it all up to "health freak BS". Without experiencing the incredible reality of how much more amazing I feel when I eat/live to support that crazy microbiome within, I’m not sure I would have ever truly committed to healing my gut myself. Now that I've experienced what it is to ignore gut health and conversely, to focus on it (read more here and here), I'm excited to share the below things that have had the biggest impact on my health during my gut healing journey!

11 THINGS THAT ARE HELPING ME HEAL MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD & MY BODY

I've spent more years of my life at war with my body and food than I've spent at peace with them. I've experienced both the mental and physical fallout of a war waged on oneself AND the liberating contentment of moments of peace. After over two decades of stumbling through half-assed solutions and quick fixes in a desperate attempt to break the cycle, I'm excited to finally be able to share a list of things that have truly been transformative on this path to healing.

GRAIN-FREE BREAKFAST BOWL + MY GUT STORY

Ever get crampy after eating quinoa or uncomfortably bloated after a big bowl of forbidden rice? How about sleepy after a bowl of oatmeal? Compromised gut health, lack of sufficient digestive enzymes or mindless speed-eating (womp) can make whole grains difficult to digest for a lot of people (including myself). Cue this warm and cozy breakfast bowl. It boasts a well-rounded nutrient profile, a super satisfying texture and all the coziness offered by the cereal grain alternatives. P.S. It's free from added sugar and loaded with fiber and healthy fats so it's also the perfect way to feel full, satisfied and energized without negatively impacting your blood sugar or hormones!

FUNDAMENTALS OF HEALTHY EATING PART III: EAT MORE GREEN VEGETABLES

So! You're ready to dig that fork of yours into a big pile of health and wellness and wake up a changed woman, eh? But what the heck actually goes on that fork?

The conversation around nutrition in this country has grown maddeningly confusing. It can seem impossible to get straight answers to questions around whether or not things like red meat, gluten, saturated fats, or even little ol' brown rice are harmful or perfectly healthy. Add increasingly high rates of food allergies, hormonal imbalances, gut issues, and autoimmune diseases and no wonder many of us feel beyond overwhelmed.

5 SIMPLE CLEANSE-FRIENDLY SMOOTHIE RECIPES + TIPS FOR JANUARY RESETS

It seems like 50% of the people I know are cleansing, resetting, detoxing or rebooting in some way this January. There are dozens of popular programs designed to overhaul your diet, restore your health, or simply shed the holiday pounds. People go gaga for the promised results then get a little discouraged when they see the "eat this not that" list. I feel ya. It can get a little confusing and frustrating when the "don't even" list looks way longer than the "go for it" list.

Below are some simple, nourishing and delicious smoothie recipes to take the headache out of creating a compliant meal in 10 minutes or less. These recipes comply with most of the popular protocols (including Whole30, 21 Day Sugar Detox or my fave, the Clean Program ) and are also wonderful on-the-go meals any time of year!