This is a place where we challenge diet-culture, reconnect to the wisdom of your body, and push back against societal "shoulds." Sign up below to receive monthly emails full of education and encouragement to support you on your healing journey with your body, food, and money!
Sugar ☠️
"Sugar is _____ [insert really extreme and scary-sounding adjective here]."
Sugar is bad. Sugar is evil. Sugar kills. Sugar is the devil. Sugar is *poison.*
The demonization of sugar… oh let me count thy ways.
I spoke with a client recently about the phrase “sugar is poison.” She said it plays on repeat in her head any time she eats something with sugar and, naturally, feels bad about herself afterward.
Poison. Poison. Poison?!?!
Come onnnnnn. Drinking bleach is poison. Eating rat poison is… poison. Sugar isn’t poison. (Just to make sure I’m not the crazy one, I just Googled “list of poisons” and sugar wasn’t on any of them).
Regardless of whether you actually believe sugar is poison, any time you hear this phrase you internalize and remember it on some level.
And… you probably also continue to eat sugar because it's everywhere and delicious.
But. You feel really bad about it. And you feel like you’re doing something wrong. Because there’s a part of you that’s heard and believes you’re eating poison!
👉The next time you notice yourself having an extreme thought about sugar try noticing the intensity of the thought.
“Wow, that was a really extreme thought.”
“Wow, that’s an intense perspective on sugar.”
Whether you believe sugar is harmful to your body or not, hopefully, we can all agree that it doesn't meet the definition of "poison."
It's important to call out and challenge these bold and extreme claims that diet culture makes. Diet culture lives in the extremes. That's part of what makes it shiny and tempting. No one wants to lose 1 lb. People want to lose 20 lbs. No one wants to extend their life by 1 year. People want to extend their life by 20 years. Diet culture uses extremes, big numbers, exaggerations, all-or-nothing-thinking to lure you in.
We’ve all heard that some foods are from the devil and some cure cancer. As much as I wish brocolli was a miracle worker, neither one of these statements is true.
Part of healing your relationship with food is moving away from the extremes. Finding the nuance. Leaning into the "maybe" and "sometimes."
I encourage you to try to stay extra aware of your narrative around sugar (and all foods, really) this week. What are some other intense phrases or sayings you’ve heard about sugar? How do those messages make you feel when you do end up eating sugar?
P.S. Not gonna lie, I've tried my breast milk. IT TASTES LIKE STRAIGHT-UP SUGAR WATER. (and so does formula so don't come at me saying it's because I eat sugar). Who knew. I mean, I know it has lots of life-sustaining nutrients in it, but that shit is SWEET. So. Let's all relax a little. Go eat some strawberries and cake.
⭐️ Random updates and things that are bringing me joy ⭐️
💰 I'm leading a FREE YNAB 101 Workshop next Thursday - August 24th at 6:30 pm ET. If you're like, what the heck is YNAB and why does Chelsea talk about it so much, this is for you! This will be educational, not salesy. I will actually be teaching you things about budgeting and answering questions and I would LOVE for you to join me! Sign up for the workshop here!
🌊 We're traveling to a beach for a quick 2-night family getaway this weekend. Cannot wait.
📺 We just started watching Only Murders in the Building this week and I *love* it. Primarily funny, with a side of suspense and mystery!
🤓 If you didn't know, my undergrad degree is in Child and Family Development and I am having SO MUCH FUN geeking out on child developement with our babe. He's officially 9 months old and Chelsea Daycare is in full swing with story time and music time and free play and I just love child brains and am obsessed with this stage!
I hope you have a wonderful week! Don't forget to check out my YNAB Workshop. It's free and I'm pretty entertaining and it's only an hour because I have to do baby bedtime right afterwards and it'safterward going to be fun.
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Pssst... I'm a real person, reading and replying to each and every email, so don't hesitate to reach out with thoughts or questions! I truly love hearing from you! |
Intuitive Eating Counselor & YNAB Budget Coach
This is a place where we challenge diet-culture, reconnect to the wisdom of your body, and push back against societal "shoulds." Sign up below to receive monthly emails full of education and encouragement to support you on your healing journey with your body, food, and money!
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