Wendy

How To Support Your Friend with Chronic Pain w/ Jessica Murnane

May 19, 2021 by Wendy Leave a Comment

Being in constant pain all the time is incredibly debilitating and can impact all areas of life. Oftentimes invisible to others, so many people (especially women) suffer in silence and have their experience with chronic pain questioned or dismissed. Today we’re talking with Jessica Murnane, author of the new book Know Your Endo: An Empowering Guide To Health + Hope With Endometriosis. Jessica talks with us about her experience living with endometriosis, a painful condition that is hard to diagnose and doesn’t get enough research and funding.

In This Episode We’ll Cover:

The ways chronic pain can impact ALL areas of life
Strategies for supporting loved ones living with chronic pain
How Jessica has been able to cope with the mental toll of it all
Figuring out what is actually helpful amidst so much wellness information & MORE!

Resources

Know Your Endo mailing list
Jessica’s Instagram
Know Your Endo Instagram
Get Jessica’s newest book

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Our podcast is released every Wednesday and each week we take a deep dive into topics like health at every size, food & culture, intuitive eating, mental health, and body acceptance. If you’re looking for a sustainable and inclusive path to wellness, come hang out with us to learn how to take care of yourself from the inside out.

Can You Practice Intuitive Eating and Want to Lose Weight?

February 25, 2021 by Wendy Leave a Comment

The honest answer is no. A dietitian explains why.

Intuitive eating is an evidenced-based approach that helps people trust their own body and instincts when it comes to food choices, versus being guided by external food rules. There’s an overwhelming amount of nutrition information out there, and figuring out what to eat can be confusing to say the least. Intuitive eating helps you tune into what your body needs at the moment, with the goal of cultivating a more peaceful and joyful relationship to food.

One of the principles of intuitive eating is respecting your body exactly where it is now, which brings up questions for people about whether or not it’s possible to pursue weight loss while eating intuitively. You may find that some of the principles are useful, like honoring your hunger or engaging in joyful movement. But can you incorporate these principles while also trying to lose weight? It’s complicated, but ultimately the answer is no.

Head on over to FOOD NETWORK to read the full article! Can You Practice Intuitive Eating and Want to Lose Weight?

How to Identify When You’re Hungry or Full — and Why It’s Important

February 11, 2021 by Wendy Leave a Comment

A dietitian explains how to tune into your body’s natural hunger signals, especially after a restrictive diet.

Part of intuitive eating is exploring what pleasant hunger and satisfaction feels like for you. Sounds simple right? Well, it can actually be quite challenging especially if you’ve had a history of extreme dieting, restricting and/or bingeing. On most diet plans, external cues determine what and how much we should eat. This can look like eating at certain times (even if you’re not hungry) or eating certain foods (even if you’re not into them) because ultimately, you can’t trust yourself.

I’m here to tell you that you are the most trustworthy source of information when it comes to what foods work best for you. (Go ahead, read that again.) If you’ve been dieting for a long period of time, you may find that it’s really hard to tune back into those internal cues that we were all born with. Years of drinking water when you were actually hungry or having a snack when you needed a meal can completely throw those cues off, so it’ll take some practice to figure out what hunger cues and that full feeling look like for you!

This is Part 3 of a series on intuitive eating. Check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Hunger Is Different for Everyone

It’s important to note that hunger and satiety are not static, and they vary greatly depending on a number of factors like physical activity, hormonal changes, age, medications, sleep and more. Eating intuitively can help us tune into what our body needs as it goes through these different changes, and being flexible with food choices helps tremendously. If you’re about to menstruate, for example, it’s normal for your body to crave certain foods and what you eat during this time doesn’t necessarily have to reflect how you eat regularly. Eating patterns fluctuate and learning to identify what you need at the moment, outside of all the noise from outside sources, will be helpful in getting started.Head on over to FOOD NETWORK to read the full article! How to Identify When You’re Hungry or Full — and Why It’s Important

Chai Hot Chocolate

February 8, 2021 by Wendy 1 Comment

Winter is coming which calls for all things warm, which is why we’re bringing you this Dark Chocolate Chai.

Growing up, my mom would make hot chocolate by melting 100% pure Dominican chocolate with milk. I was lucky enough to get my hands on some pure chocolate from my friend Ryan’s farm and whisked it in with the milk, chai, and maple syrup. SO comforting and delicious!

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A post shared by Wendy & Jess, RDs, CDEs (@foodheaven)

The chai adds rich notes of cinnamon and cardamom. You can make your own chai, but wasn’t in the mood to do all that so just steeped a chai tea bag as a shortcut.

Steep 1 bag of chai tea in 1 cup of water for 4-5 minutes. In a small pot, add the milk and chai tea and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the chocolate, sweetener and continue simmering for 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently, until all chocolate is melted. For a smoother consistency, strain into a mug. I skip straining because I enjoy the chocolate bits in there. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, and enjoy!

What do you think of the dark chocolate & chai mix? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Chai Hot Chocolate

Servings: 1

Ingredients

1 bag of chai tea
1 cup of unsweetened soy or almond milk
1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped
Maple syrup, to taste (we used 1 tablespoon)
Whipped cream for topping

Instructions

Steep 1 bag of chai tea in 1 cup of water for 4-5 minutes.
In a small pot, add the milk and chai tea and bring to a simmer.
Whisk in the chocolate, sweetener and continue simmering for 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently, until all chocolate is melted.
For a smoother consistency, strain into a mug. I skip straining because I enjoy the chocolate bits in there.
Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, and enjoy!

3 Steps to Ditch Diet Rules and Feel Healthier

January 28, 2021 by Wendy Leave a Comment

Intuitive eating means figuring out what food habits work best for you.

Dieting can oftentimes leave people feeling discouraged, exhausted and hungry. It almost seems impossible to not go on some kind of diet because we’re constantly getting flooded with messages around the newest diet trends that promise to solve all our health problems. As I wrote about before, dieting, restriction, and intentional weight loss can negatively impact your health and quality of life. Whether you’re completely cutting out food groups or have more subtle rules around food, the restriction mentality can get in the way of helping you develop an enjoyable and pleasurable relationship to food.

Here’s how to ditch diet rules for good.

This is Part 2 of a our series on intuitive eating. Catch up on Part 1 here.

No food is off-limits.

Unless there is a medical reason, completely cutting out certain foods or food groups is just not necessary. I’ve actually found that when people label certain foods as “forbidden,” they tend to crave those foods more. Does this mean you should have chocolate every day for breakfast? No, because your body will probably not feel so great after doing that for a few days. Think more about eating varied and balanced meals throughout the day, and if you want to incorporate fun foods like sweets or chips as part of those meals or in between those meals, then that’s totally fine. Finding a middle ground between nutrition and pleasure is a much more sustainable way to eat than cutting out foods you love.

Think about what healthy looks like for you.

It’s easy to define health through the lens of your favorite influencers and health professionals, but health is individual and multifaceted, and it should reflect your personal needs and values. Think about what foods, activities and practices help you feel your best, and start there. You don’t need to add spinach to every smoothie or be a certain size for good health. What movement do you actually enjoy doing? What social relationships bring you happiness? How are you sleeping? These are all great questions to help you define your version of health..

Respect your body.

Diet rules are usually tied to losing weight or changing how your body looks. Most health care providers use Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine how healthy you are, however BMI doesn’t give you a full picture of what’s happening with your health. Aside from being outdated, the system of classifying who’s at a “healthy weight” is closely connected to the history of slavery and racism in the United States. Because of how normalized fatphobia is in our society, accepting and loving your body can be an incredibly difficult thing to do, especially for people who are of a larger size. Being gentle with your body, showing it respect for allowing you to move and do the things you enjoy doing. Also, if you are concerned about your health, keep in mind that lifestyle changes that you do consistently, independent of weight loss, are a much better predictor of good health.

Head on over to FOOD NETWORK to read the full article! 3 Steps to Ditch Diet Rules and Feel Healthier

What Is Intuitive Eating? A Nutritionist Explains How and Why It Works

January 25, 2021 by Wendy Leave a Comment

First things first, it’s not a diet.

You’ve probably seen the term intuitive eating recently on social media or while looking up diet trends online. However, there’s a lot of confusion about what intuitive eating is, and how to actually incorporate it in a practical way. Does it mean you eat donuts for breakfast? Or that you ditch meal planning and go with whatever your body wants that day? Well, not exactly. As a registered dietitian who has been practicing intuitive eating for years now, this approach has completely transformed my relationship to food for the better and I’m really excited to dive into intuitive eating with you!

What Is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is an evidenced-based approach to eating that was first introduced by two registered dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Instead of focusing on external food rules to guide your eating choices, one of the goals is to cultivate trusting your own body and instincts. There’s so much confusing nutrition information out there, and intuitive eating can help us quiet the noise and tune into what habits help us feel our best.

If you’ve gone on a diet before, you’re probably familiar with how food rules manifest. Eat less carbs (or completely cut them out), don’t fry anything, eat between these times, drink your meals …it seems like an endless list of restrictions and some are more subtle than others. It’s important to note that these food rules are usually tied to losing weight, toning up or changing your body in some way. Dietiting, restriction and intentional weight loss can negatively impact your quality of life, increase your risk for disordered eating, slow down your metabolism, and research has shown that most people who try to lose weight ultimately end up gaining the weight back.

Intuitive eating helps to ease the pressure of unrealistic body type and weight loss goals. Instead of focusing on how to change your body, the goal is to learn to shift how you feel in the body you’re currently in. To get you started, below is a breakdown of the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating and in the weeks to come, I’ll be exploring these principles more with you and will provide practical ways to incorporate them into your daily life!

Head on over to FOOD NETWORK to read the full article! What is Intuitive Eating? A Nutritionist Explains How and Why It Works