This post originally appeared in my May 2025 newsletter and has some updating for current Fall-life.
Oh my gosh, y’all, this season has been wild! How is it already fall out?! It’s mid-October chaos, and I feel like I’m crawling to the finish line. If you’re in the same boat, hang in there- we’re gonna make it… and then New Year’s chaos begins. Loooool.
This post was originally in one of my summer newsletters but I think we can still apply the concepts here in these winter holiday months. Here’s what I wrote back then:
Our family heads to the coast a few times each summer, and I’m already dreaming of the sand, the pool, the shrimp… repeat!
This time of year, body image comes up a lot in sessions.
The shorts. The bathing suits. The tank tops! Diet culture loves to tell us we have to look a certain way to enjoy our lives- to feel comfortable, to belong, to not make others uncomfortable with our bodies.
But what if we focused on ourselves? Our comfort. Our joy. Our experiences. Our needs.
When we allow ourselves to be comfortable, it’s easier to stay present- to actually live the moments we’re in. I want to be present with my kids building sand castles, hunting for sand crabs, taking solo beach walks, playing Marco Polo in the pool. I want to enjoy my traditional Blizzard on the way to the coast, fried shrimp at Dirty Al’s (iykyk), and watermelon on the beach.
Being able to focus on those things- without worrying what others think about my body- is freedom. Eating without judgment is freedom, too.
Diet culture loves to tell us we have to look a certain way to enjoy our lives- to feel comfortable, to belong, to not make others uncomfortable with our bodies.
But what if we focused on ourselves? Our comfort. Our joy. Our experiences. Our needs.
How does body image show up in winter? The holiday pictures, the friends and family gatherings, putting on jeans we haven’t worn in a year. The different foods that show up in abundance. This year, I’m really looking forward to making my dad ravioli for his birthday, eating all the cookies at a friend’s cookie exchange party (I always make these each year- it’s a multiple day ordeal but doesn’t disappoint) and mmmm my MIL’s fudge is sooo good.
So I’ll leave you with this:
What would you do if you were free from the constraints of diet culture?
