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...

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. 

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 screamed so loudly that the guy wallpapering my house opened the front door to see what happened. 

I ran with my shaking dog over to where he was standing on my front porch and together we inspected her for blood. Turns out retired fire fighters turned wallpaper installers are good for emergencies. 

One minute earlier, the neighbor's dog came out of their yard into the street and attacked our dog. 

After we spotted a wound, I called the vet. 

Two minutes later, we loaded the still shaking dog into the car. 

Twenty-five minutes later we arrived at the vet's office. 

As I held our shaking puppy and paced the waiting room, I noticed a sign. 

In big bold letters, it said "Did you know that 50% of dogs are OVERWEIGHT?"

Ugh. Even the dogs aren't immune to the constant bombardment of weight loss. Thank god dogs can't read, use social media, read magazines or watch TV, but too bad their owners can. I'm all for taking great care of dogs, but I think...

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...

A friend of mine just celebrated the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.  A lengthy fast (usually 24 hours) followed by a big meal. She commented that she loved the holiday, but hated all those foods that made her "puffy". 

Breaking news, the holidays are here, and you just might get a little puffy and it's no big deal. 

And, it's good to remind yourself that one meal or snack or holiday isn't going to drastically or permanently change your size. 

Eat the bagels, the candy, the pie, the casserole that Aunt Linda has made since you were seven years old and the cookies from your Grandma. There's a reason it's affectionately called comfort food. Having foods to feel good or give you a sense of nostalgia is completely normal. 

Your body is smart and knows that not every day is a holiday. It will tell you when you need a little more or a little less food. It's a remarkably fine tuned engine that doesn't need help from the loud voices of diet culture, your...

My daughter texted me from school with a desperate plea for help. 

She couldn't make up her mind about a school decision and was beside herself. 

"MOM. HELP. I NEED YOU TO JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO."

Except, I didn't swoop in and tell her what to do. She knew what she thought would be right for her and I wanted her to practice trusting her gut or hut (heart +gut). 

"You've got this. I will support you 100% either way," I replied.

I wasn't worried because she knows how to make decisions and it's not from a way you'd traditionally consider. Every day for 4-6 times a day she's choosing what she wants to eat. Even with having meals prepared for her at school and home, she's still choosing what and how much she wants on her plate. 

I don't hover over her asking her if she's sure she wants to eat something or suggest she might not really be hungry and just bored or tell her that a particular food choice is garbage. I don't want to erode her body's intuition when it...

We managed to escape Hurricane Lee's path on the East Coast this weekend, but I haven't been able to escape the proverbial hurricane called back to school. I'm up to my eyeballs in parent meetings, room mom meetings, TPA meetings, coffees and back to school nights. While I love being back in the swing of things, schools are often a place where diet culture lurks. 

Leaving one in person meeting this past week, I hopped on a zoom for my daughter's school. They happened to be soliciting help for their "snack shack" which is a little spot on campus where kids can buy all sorts of food after school. 

The presenter said, "Now we really need your help and know that you can just pretend that everything being sold to your kids isn't all garbage". Her comment was met with a round of laughter that sounded like it was piped in for a game show. Hello, diet culture. It's these subtle, yet not so subtle, comments that perpetuate anti-fat bias. 

The messaging that you...

I didn't want to order my son the milkshake. It was 9am on a Tuesday morning and we had just arrived at The Nantucket Pharmacy Counter. 

He sat at the counter stool swiveling around and around looking at me through his straw-turned-telescope that he was hoping would be dunked into a milkshake. He remembered how good they were last year. 

"What about a croissant? Blueberry muffin? Bagel? Acai bowl? Eggs and toast?" I asked skimming through the menu. 

"No, no and have you lost your mind, Mom? I hate eggs. Remember??" he sighed. 

 "Ok, I don't even know if they make milkshakes this early in the day."

He looked at me with those sad puppy dog eyes, scowl on his face and arms crossed. 

The sweet woman behind the counter heard us talking and said she would make him a milkshake. 

His siblings kept reminding both of us that milkshakes are not a breakfast food. 

I ordered two of my sons a milkshake for breakfast. 

...