Why the “Diet and Exercise” Model Is Based on a False Cause and Effect
A friend challenged me when I called diet and exercise “a lie.” She had a point — so I looked up the definition of lie. What I found, plus a story about a banana and a tunnel, changed how I talk about this forever.
How Ice Cream Ads Are Secretly Shaping How You Think About Food
I was watching a TV ad for ice cream when I realized the company wasn’t just trying to sell me dessert — they were reinforcing the belief that ice cream is bad in the first place. Here’s how advertising shapes your thought process around food without you even noticing.
The 5 Steps to Healing Your Relationship With Food and Your Body
A reader wrote to me about celiac disease, food allergies, and feeling like she wanted to trade her body in. Her situation was unique — but the path forward was the same one I’d recommend to anyone. Here are the five steps that change everything.
Why Women Bond Over Body Shame (And What It’s Really Costing Us)
A reader asked me to dig deeper into something I noticed — that the diet culture small talk I receive changes completely depending on what I’m wearing. Here’s what I think is actually happening, and why it matters more than it seems.
Why Being Smart Doesn’t Make You Thin (And What That Says About Diet Culture)
I heard a radio host say “if you’re smart and you’re not rich, something’s wrong with you.” I turned it off immediately — because I recognized the exact same assumption hiding inside every diet culture message. Here’s what it is and why it keeps women stuck.
What a Pile of Women’s Magazines Reveals About Our “Weight Problem”
A friend tagged me in a photo of a store display — women’s magazines piled up with the words “Shed Your Weight Problem Here.” The Facebook comments it sparked were pure chaos. And that chaos tells you everything about how broken our cultural conversation around weight really is.
“You Earned It” — How Casual Small Talk Reveals Diet Culture’s Deepest Lie
A cashier saw my workout clothes and told me I’d “earned” my Diet Coke. He meant it as a compliment. But that one throwaway comment reveals everything wrong with how our culture thinks about food, exercise, and our bodies.
How Weight Loss Programs Sell You the Problem Before They Sell You the Solution
A friend confessed she’d signed up for Weight Watchers like she was admitting to a crime. But that’s not what caught my attention. It was a Word Watchers commercial where a woman cheerfully explained how much food she’d “earned” through exercise. Right there. Out loud. Here’s why that one word is the whole problem.
The Difference Between Emotional Eating and Eating for Fun
I drove behind a Frito-Lay truck with the slogan “Food For the Fun of It” and thought — yes, exactly. But “fun” food gets misunderstood constantly, especially around the holidays. Here’s the distinction that actually matters when it comes to emotional eating.
Why You Eat the Whole Bag of Cookies (It’s Not Lack of Willpower)
Your body whispers that it wants a cookie. You ignore it. It asks again, louder. You ignore it again. By the time you finally listen, the whole bag is gone — and you think you have no willpower. Here’s what’s actually happening, and why willpower has nothing to do with it.