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I learned how to trick my brain by accident. You see, several years ago (before my attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis), to lose the weight I gained from my second pregnancy, I went on a diet. After learning the ins and outs of nutrition, I began meal prepping and working out four times a week, with only one caveat—Wednesday was "cheat" day. My weekly 10-piece nugget meal accompanied by a medium, mountain berry Powerade was the absolute highlight of my week. However, once Thursday hit, I was back to my daily egg whites, chicken, and broccoli.
How can a healthy morning routine help if you're not a fan of getting out of bed in the morning? You're not alone in that feeling. Convincing yourself to leave your bedroom and enter the real world can be a daunting task. However, creating a healthy morning routine can help you learn to greet the morning with a smile.
Convincing myself that I feel poised, satisfied, uninhibited, confident, free, and at home in my own body all the time sounds excellent in theory, but I find it does not always work in practice. For this reason, I maintain that body acceptance is a more realistic goal than body positivity. Of course, it would be ideal to stand in front of a mirror and genuinely admire the curves and contours of my reflection, but this just happens sometimes—it's not an outlook I can manufacture out of sheer obligation to praise my body.
Near the end of my last post, I briefly suggested the structure of the modern Internet itself contributes to digital self-harm, and that based on that structure, there can be no separation between the mere act of being online and digital self-harm.
A self-esteem affirmation is a positive statement about yourself that, when practiced regularly, can improve your image of yourself. We believe what we hear repeatedly, and when we replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations we can change our belief that we are less worthy of love and happiness than others.
Do you know what learned helplessness is? Well, have you ever felt that no matter how hard you try to achieve a goal, the outcome is totally out of your hands because, in the past, your efforts to do the same proved to be futile? Does this feeling make you feel stuck and powerless, and does it cause you to stop trying in the first place? If your answer is yes, you probably have a case of learned helplessness.
How does dissociative identity disorder (DID) affect self-care? When you hear self-care, you might think of a person practicing yoga, meditating or taking a bubble bath to relax and unwind. While it’s true that all of these activities can fall under the umbrella of self-care, it’s also worth going beyond the run-of-the-mill bubble bath once in a while to make sure everything is in check.
Family dinner with disordered eating is always uncomfortable. Here's my deal: I was born with an autoimmune disorder called Behcet's Disease. My symptoms include gastrointestinal ulceration and pain when I eat. This has created a complicated relationship between me and food.
I don't think plus-size Barbie dolls promote positive body image. I have two daughters under eight years old, at least a half-dozen plus-size Barbies in my home, and I fail to see how these dolls showcase a plus-size body—which as far as I can tell, was the point in making them.
Waking up the morning after binge eating is a horrible feeling. As the gray light of dawn filters into my room, the furniture begins to emerge from the darkness, and I emerge from sleep into a growing sense of trepidation. My bloated and uncomfortable belly bluntly reminds me I've binged again.