Tag: self care

Interview With Caroline Dooner – Creator of The Fuck It Diet

Untitled-design-12Recently I had the absolute pleasure of connecting with Caroline Dooner.  Caroline is the creator of The Fuck It Diet, which teaches radical normal eating to chronic dieters. She also teaches intuition and advocates hardcore for #rest. You can follow her on instagram, and get her free intro course, “Eating Should Be Easy” over on The Fuck It Diet.

When I was going through my own recovery I stumbled upon her website and it felt as if her words were speaking directly to me.  Caroline has been through the ringer of diet culture and found a way out that I strived to emulate.  Her writing and philosophies on making eating simple were such powerful sources of inspiration for me and many others trapped in diet culture.  Today she continues to help people through her blog, podcasts, and e-books.  She believes that eating should be easy because, fuck it, it’s just food right?

I was delighted when she agreed to answer some of my burning questions and it was wonderful to be able to get her seasoned perspective.

RR: Why the name “The Fuck It Diet”?

CD: It’s how I felt when I finally realized that dieting was backfiring and doing the opposite of what I have always hoped it would. It’s how I felt after being on diet after diet, hoping that the next one would finally heal my food addiction. It is the true exasperation of realizing it’s never going to work.

RR: What was the life event that inspired you to start the site?

CD: I had been dieting obsessively for 10 years. You could call it an eating disorder, or you could just call it obsessive dieting, there is a big overlap for lots of people anyway. But I was Paleo, and bingeing on all the paleo treats I could get my hands on, and finally started hearing whispers in the Paleo community, that not eating enough carbs will hurt your metabolism, and wreck your hormones, and make you more insulin resistant, which had been the thing I was trying to heal.

But the event/moment that spawned it, was my 24th birthday. I binged on squash pancakes and low sugar almond flour cupcakes, and had a legitimate epiphany. I can’t do this anymore. This is going to keep happening over and over and over, until I step out of this cycle, learn to eat normally, and heal my relationship to weight.

 I had tried to heal my eating many times before, going on stints of intuitive eating, or something similar. But it was never truly the cure, because I was still trying to eat the smallest amount possible, and still petrified of gaining weight. The Fuck It Diet was different.

RR: How long did it take for you to heal your relationship with food? 

CD: It was a process that evolved over the first few years of my no-holds-barred eating, and my work on deeper and deeper body acceptance. But I would say that between 6 months to a year is where I noticed a big shift.

Even still, just over the course of eating a certain food for a week would change my relationship with that certain food. So there were small victories, and then bigger shifts that happened over time.

RR: In your opinion, what you think the most negative impact of diet culture is?

CD: It’s really hard to choose just one, but diet culture puts you at odds with your body. The way you trust it, and your appetite, and your weight. It makes you totally out of touch with your own wisdom, intuition, cravings. And ruins your health and self-esteem.

RR: Do you think that diet culture is responsible for the rising rate of eating disorders?

CD: Hell to the yes.

RR: Your blog and podcast focuses a lot on spiritual healing – do you think it’s harder to recover if you aren’t spiritual?

CD: Ah yes, it’s such a good question. I have always been seeking guidance, or peace, or help, or knowledge on a spiritual level. And I know that is why and how TFID revealed itself to me. But there are some pretty basic facts and truths, like the biological and metabolic reaction to restriction. Even energetic principals aren’t necessarily “spiritual”. And I am expressly anti-dogma of any kind, diet dogma, spiritual dogma, or otherwise.

Trust in a bigger picture, and a bigger purpose than just being tiny and beautiful will certainly be a big help, but short answer: no. You don’t have to be spiritual to recover.

(pssst. she has a great podcast about this topic here)

RR: What would you say to girls who are afraid of this mindset because of their fear of getting “fat”?

CD: That this is what those businesses want you to fear. That that is just this heartbreaking thing that we have been perpetuating, and it’s so destructive and toxic. And I understand, I was the same way for years. Fat was the last thing I would ever accept being. It’s also because we have so many beliefs about what being fat means. But it’s just so misguided. What’s that JK Rowling quote? “is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’?”

RR: What is your most important tip to successfully practice intuitive eating?

CD: Do not get caught in the trap of believing you need to be eating the smallest amount possible. That’s a diet. We need to actually feed ourselves.

RR: What has been the most inspiring recovery story you’ve witnessed/had a hand in?

CD: It’s honestly too hard to choose, but in general, my favorite kind of story, and this happens again and again, is that healing from food and weight obsession, opens up a confidence and creative spark that allows people to really trust their own genius, go against the grain, choose a life that people might not understand. It let’s people really listen to their true desires.

RR: What is your number one piece of advice to someone struggling to recover/normalize their relationship with food?

CD: Do not discount how interconnected our relationship with weight is with our relationship with food. You cannot heal the one without the other.

RR: And finally, just for fun – what’s your favorite food?

CD: My favorite food is cheese. No contest.

giphy

Huge thanks to Caroline for giving me the opportunity to pick her brain.  It meant a lot for me to be able to have this opportunity considering how incredibly helpful I found The Fuck It Diet and everything she put into it while I was struggling to recover.  If you’ve never heard of The Fuck It Diet – it’s about time you checked it out!

New to Ladle by Ladle?

Check out my Youtube channel where I make new videos about recovery, recipes, and intuitive eating: Ladle By Ladle

SOCIAL:
Instagram – @ladlebyladle
Facebook – facebook.com/ladlebyladle

Recovering From a Binge

Binge eating, the uncontrollable impulse to eat mass quantities of food despite any feelings of hunger or fullness.  Most people entrenched in diet culture can empathize with the terrible feeling that comes in the aftermath of a binge.  Whether they are suffering from BED, bulimia, or are just experiencing the effects of fad/yo-yo dieting, a binge is one of the most common disordered relationships with food.  Binge eating typically stems from an emotional attachment to food as a source of comfort followed shortly by feelings of guilt.  Many people who have binge eating episodes engage in dangerous purging behaviors such as throwing up or laxative abuse to regain an “empty” feeling.  These binge/purge cycles often seen in bulimic individuals are physically dangerous.

Personally, when recovering from anorexia I had several binge eating episodes.  The only way I can describe my own experience is that it was like my brain turned off and all I could focus on was the food.  I was in a blind effort to eat as much food as I could find and fit inside of me.  After consuming thousands of calories in just 20 minutes I would then cry and feel terrible and guilty.  While I was supposed to be eating a lot for my recovery, the binges were still not the normal relationship with food I actually needed.

giphy

Here is my quick guide for recovering immediately after a binge eating episode.  This process is what eventually allowed me to begin overcoming binge eating:

  1. Do not be hard on yourself about the binge – One of the worst parts of any binge is the abrupt feelings of overwhelming guilt that bubble up. These feelings are what lead to the continuation of dangerous behaviors such as purging.  The purging then eventually leads to more binging and the cycle is continuously perpetuated.  After you have a binge, recognize your feelings of shame or disappointment as temporary.  Remind yourself that what happened has happened and the best thing you can do for yourself is be kind and forgive yourself for the binge.  Regularly practicing this internal dialog will help stop binges from happening again.  Remind yourself over and over again that you have worth, that this misstep does not define you, that you are going to be completely fine. They key is to identify and replace the feelings of guilt with feelings of forgiveness.
  2. Distract yourself – After quickly having a loving reconciliation with yourself, quickly distract yourself before you can backtrack on the positive internal dialog. Put on a movie, go for a walk, paint your nails, take a shower, call a friend, do anything that takes your mind off of the binge that just happened.  The more time you take to separate yourself from the episode, the better you will begin to feel.  My go to way to distract myself was to brush my teeth and call a relative (almost always my dad) to catch up.  If you decide to exercise to distract yourself remember to take it easy.  Do not use exercise as a way to punish yourself.  Keep it simple with a light walk or calming yoga.
  3. Do not restrict your food – This might be the most important tip here. After your binge, when you have hopefully successfully identified and replaced the negative emotions, forgiven yourself, and then distracted yourself for a while to keep your mind off of it, CONTINUE TO EAT NORMALLY FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.  You may be less hungry naturally, but if you binge mid day you still need to eat dinner and if you binge at midnight you still need breakfast!  Restricting your intake to compensate for the binge will only put you back in a cycle where another binge becomes possible.
    tumblr_mv06gngkXJ1rca9l9o1_500

Binge eating is complicated, the reasons behind a binge are multifaceted and unique to everyone.  Often therapy can help with BED, bulimia, or just mending a very bad relationship with food.  However, there are a few things to remember to do to help yourself outside of seeking professional treatment.  Binges can be physiological and/or emotional.  The best ways to prevent them is by protecting yourself from both.

The first step is practicing consistent self care.  Treating yourself with love and respect will nurture a positive connection between yourself and your body which is an important step in repairing a damaged relationship with food.  Keeping a daily journal to write down feelings of gratitude and affirmations is a good first step.  It can often feel silly and awkward at first but eventually you will begin to notice the permanent changes it brings to your overall mindset.  While recovering, I wrote all over every mirror of my room positive quotes and self esteem boosting mottos.  Make sure you look upon yourself with love, and treat yourself to nice things whether it’s manicures, bike rides, or long colorful bubble baths.  Remind yourself that your body is merely a vessel for the beautiful soul underneath.

The next step is stop dieting.  Stop restricting.  Diets don’t work, they encourage an abundance/scarcity mentality which upsets your brain and your metabolism.  Practice eating intuitively.  There are many resources available that teach this way of thinking.  The way I achieved it was by eating my minimum 3500 calories to gain weight, reset my metabolism, and shift my perspective on restriction.  Eventually, when the mentality of restriction began fading away the urge to binge left too.

Binge eating is not a solitary experience, many people go through it every day.   You are not alone.  With a determination to make a change and by practicing self love and no restrictions, binge eating is something you can recover from.

Resources used:
https://www.recoverywarriors.com/ten-tips-recover-binge-emotional-eating/

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder/binge-eating-disorder-medref#1

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/binge-eating-disorder