Yum & Yuk

From Minnesota Public Radio, The immigrants' story, told through letters.

It's been said before, but it can't be said enough: the time to love your body is now. not tomorrow, not tuesday. now.

Clearly my favorite thing about living at home is quality time with my mom and stepdad. BUT, if I HAD to choose a second thing, it would be the cooking. I cannot even tell you how my quality of life has improved - Lean Cuisines no longer! My mom makes the best healthy yet comforting cooking. My most recent favorite was her take on this quinoa soup - she added some chicken and corn, and the potatoes and quinoa made it so filling and creamy. It reheated perfectly for lunches. I hope they don't ever expect me to move out....

Beautiful image: Inhale by Teagan White.

Interesting discussion of How to Defend Yourself Against Other People’s Food and Body Weirdness. This is an issue I have definitely been on both sides of. One of the things that most helped me heal from having an eating disorder was realizing how much I was affecting people around me - to the extent that I began to feel that many of my comments were acts of violence against women in the room. Saying things like "you're so lucky you're skinny," "ugh I wish I could eat that!" and other things "disguised" as "compliments" weren't just about me - they were a way of encouraging women to feel badly about themselves and their bodies, to base their self worth on their appearance, and perpetuated the idea that criticizing our bodies and weights are appropriate ways of engaging with other people. They aren't.

When I realized what a negative impact I was having on others (which took me years to realize, believe me) I was deeply shamed, and wracked with guilt. But it also helped me realize that eating disorders are not a solitary disease, they are diseases of community and society - that is a hard truth to accept, but in that truth there is also the positive realization that healing can be healing for those around you as well as yourself. We can drag each other down with our self-obsession and self-hate, or peacefully resist the messages around us, and actively influence others with our self acceptance and love. Every time you choose not to engage with the body hate around you, you are not only protecting yourself, but you are silently offering a person who may be hating themselves the chance to take a brief, probably very needed, break from attacking their own worth.