I sat staring at the screen, squinting my eyes trying to make out the shape in the photo. It was somewhat round and vaguely resembled a cake, but it clearly wasn’t a birthday cake. Candles were stuck in the top, but that still wasn’t enough of a clue. I had to read the Instagram post to figure it out.

I have a love-hate relationship with social media, but recently I’ve been back on it with a new little project I’m working on here. Come join me and my happy little corner of the online world. I try to avoid doom scrolling, but whenever I go to post something in my account, I can’t resist looking at the home screen post which is how my photo investigation began.

I used to read this particular entrepreneur influencer‘s blog post but unsubscribed when she started posting about her new “healthy lifestyle” and “inadvertent” yet significant weight loss. Her so-called “transformation” was startling, mostly because she...

Fat and healthy? No way. 

At least that's what I used to believe. 

Just like you, I had been brainwashed to believe that health came in one size and one size only- thin. 

Over the years, I unlearned this harmful lie and now believe the truth. Health comes in all shapes and sizes. 

One of the best ways to get a visual for this is today, Marathon Monday in Boston. 

Nearly 30,000 people will gather in Hopkinton to start the race from 100 countries, from ages 17-82 years old. They will all have different body sizes, different running styles and will compete with the same goal of finishing a 26.2 mile run. 

Watching all these runners helps us all debunk myths about size, age and gender. 

If you want something, don't let size or age get in your way. 

Get out there and put one foot in front of the other.  

Don't do it because you're trying to manipulate your body size or punish yourself for existing in the size that was intended...

It was as close to Dwight Schrute’s world that I’d ever been. I wove my way through office cubicles downstairs into the break room. It was my first workplace wellness talk and the whole time I was wishing Michael Scott would walk through the door. 

I talked about ways to stay sane during 70-80 hour work weeks during tax season. Hours long mid-day trips to the gym were out of the question, so I started with your favorite topic and mine….dieting. 

I reminded the office crew how hard dieting makes it to stay focused and how much it stresses the body. If you’re looking to be productive, dieting would be a last resort choice. Dieting is about as far from productive as you can get seeing as it boasts a 97% failure rate, costs an enormous amount of time and money and leaves you feeling like a bonafide crazy person around food.

In my experience, people can get behind the idea of foods not being good or bad, but the same question always lingers. 

Emily Ratakjowski, model, author and podcaster, is next up in the line of celebrities saying and doing ridiculously fatphobic things. She posted a series of pictures on her Instagram from M Magazine and one of the pictures shows her standing in one leg of a pair of jeans that are several sizes too large for her very petite body. 

Think biggest loser, Jenny Craig or any other weight loss add showing someone holding up their "before" size jeans. 

What message does this convey other than blatant fatphopbia? Apparently the artistic director for this shoot has used baggy clothes before, but nothing to this extreme. Are the big pants supposed to accentuate her smallness? Do they show that being her size is healthy? Are they trying to continue promoting the ideal thin, white female? 

EmRata, as she's affectionately called, WROTE A BOOK ABOUT FEMINISM AND BODY EMPOWERMENT. The image posted hardly reflects her so-called body...

I see you, 2023. 

Bright, shiny and new, like all the new kid's bikes under the Christmas tree. 

Maybe you're eagerly sharpening your pencils for those New Year's Resolutions because those new shiny bikes already seem very 2022.

Maybe you're tempted to plop, "lose x number of pounds" or "cleanse every three months" at the top of your list. 

Don't do it. 

Those list toppers are for those who don't know that diets don't work, except for a tiny fraction of people. 

Those list toppers are for those who believe there's still a way out there that will make them permanently smaller. Believe me, there's nothing new here in the land of dieting. It's all damaging to body and mind and doesn't work no matter how it's packaged and sold. 

Those list toppers are for the ones who still hold out a glimmer of hope that they'll not only lose weight permanently, but also win the lottery. I'm not sure which scenario has the worst odds, but they're both pretty...

By 8pm, I was searching for a way out. FAST. 

Last Saturday, I found myself bumper to bumper in a sea of people all vying for a view of the Rockefeller Tree and the Sax Fifth Avenue light and music show. 

There’s nothing like New York during the holidays and because it was a balmy 55 degrees, everyone and their mother, brother and sister were out trying to absorb some of the city’s magic. 

Thankfully, our stroller was a small buffer between us and the next person, otherwise it was body to body weaving through a narrow passageway bordered by metal barricades until you got your chance to take your picture and move on. Normally, I would balk at such a massive crowd, but It was warm and the three kids with me and my mom were willing to slog it out to experience some special holiday cheer. 

After a while, though, we were all done and needed to. Get. Out. We could only withstand that scene for so long before needing to find a less crowded street so our...

I had an epiphany this week. 

I was listening to, On Our Best Behavior, by Elise Loehnen, on Audible and in her chapter about gluttony, she talks about diet culture and the impossible standards to which women are held (cue America Ferrera’s speech in the Barbie movie). 

Out of the whole chapter, one key word stood out: satisfied. 

I got to thinking and wondered, do you ever feel really satisfied? Or do you spend more time thinking about how much you feel unsatisfied in your life? Whether it’s your relationships, your kids, your career, the things you own or don’t own, your house, your car, the things you did or didn’t do, how your time is spent or how your body looks, there’s always something that could be better. 

Americans thrive on the idea that their value and worth can be achieved just around the corner. We’re all baked into a culture of strivers. What’s next? How can I better myself? There’s nothing wrong with...

Sometimes you get news that makes time stand still and feels like someone has pulled the rug out from underneath you.

This past week our family received terrible news that my 49 year old cousin passed away after battling cancer for four long years. Even though we knew she wouldn't be with us forever, we were shattered to learn she was gone. She was one of my first best friends and remained close to me for over four decades. 

We bonded throughout our childhood over dance recitals, fancy parties at the Italian Community Center, hair styles (so jealous my Aunt was a hair stylist and could cut her hair!) and countless bad 80's fashion mishaps. 

Hands down, what bonded us the most was food. Every Sunday night we'd meet at my Nana's house for her famous pasta, every holiday we shared meals together, every birthday we cut cake together while our Uncles cut the cheese and we worked our grandparent's food booth at Festa Italiana. We ate food together, made food together...

In light of the news this week, I'm keeping things brief. Sometimes distraction is good and necessary, sometimes distraction takes us too far away from reality.

What do you do from so far away to help those suffering the unthinkable? Maybe a simple truce with your own body is a good place to start. Food (and your body) doesn't need to be the enemy or weapon. 

The diet industry is really good at making your mind be the "bad guy". They want you to believe that getting control over your food and body is a mind game. If you could just master the ability to control your "overdesire" and "overhunger" for food, you'd stop overthinking your food. Sound familiar? 

Guess what? Desiring food is normal and so is your hunger. You can't think your way out of or over your body's natural desire to be at a certain set point. Your body will win EVERY. TIME. You can meditate until you're a shiny golden Buddha statue, but you still wont be able to "overcome" natural and normal hunger and...

Eighteen 6th graders filled our yard last week for a back-to-school hang out. It's definitely not called a "playdate" at this point because that would, low-key, not be cool. The kids would all dip if they found out it was still called a "playdate". 

It was the classic pre-teen awkward social interaction with boys on one side of the line and girls on the other side of the imaginary line. They came together for the pinnacle of the event. 

The Kona Ice Truck. 

I don't know what genius thought up this dream machine, but every year it makes our summer at 4th of July, long swim meets and pool parties. There's nothing like getting that cup of shaved ice in the shape of an ice cream cone and playing flavor maker with the bottomless syrup dispensers. Ice, ice, baby. 

The kids mingled and shared their concoctions and then it was promptly back to boys v girls. All we needed was a disco ball, streamers and an awkward eight minute slow dance song from Journey and I would've...