Intuitive Eating Blog - Lifestyle Category - Stephanie Dodier

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Intuitive Eating Resources

Apr 14, 2020

I rounded up my best free intuitive eating resources, body neutrality resources, and Health at Every Size resources. It includes books, blogs, podcasts, programs, and courses.

Intuitive eating and body neutrality are increasingly becoming popular among women for a number of good reasons. For one, it’s been proven to lead to positive health outcomes. In addition, both are a healthy approach to health that puts you in control of your eating behaviours and body image.

Health at every size is the overarching weight-neutral health principle that drives the foundation of both intuitive eating & body neutrality.

This blog post is aimed at helping you discover intuitive eating resources to support you in your journey Going Beyond the Food: which means ditching diet culture, making peace with food and your body.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Body neutrality definition

The meaning of Health at Every Size

My top 4 free intuitive Eating resources

Intuitive eating resources

Body Neutrality resources

Health at Every Size resources

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is an evidence-based approach to eating that allows you to be the expert of your own body. And this self-care eating framework enables you to develop a healthy relationship with food and your body.

Moreover, it teaches you to trust your ability to meet your own needs, distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, and ultimately develop body wisdom.

Most importantly, eating intuitively is well–researched and proven health framework supported by more than 100 intuitive eating studies as of 2020.

What is Body neutrality?

Body Neutrality definition is about empowering you to embrace yourself as you are. That’s including the parts you don’t like about yourself. And its focus is to avoid self-hate while simultaneously relieving you from the pressure of having to love your body.

And the framework of Body Neutrality recognizes that not everyone is going to love every part of themselves all the time because that’s  an unrealistic expectation, to say the least.

In short, the goal is to respect and accept your body for what it is – and that’s it.

What is Health at Every Size?

Health at Every Size definition is a philosophy and an approach to health. Linda Bacon, Ph.D wrote the book Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight.

The book demonstrated through health at every size research and studies that health behaviours influence health more than weight.

Above all, the HAES movement promotes the simple truth that all bodies are good bodies. It shifts the focus away from dieting for weight control.

Instead, it steers you toward self-care practices that support your body’s natural wisdom and vitality.

My top 4 free intuitive eating resources

#1 The Going Beyond The Food Show

This is my intuitive eating podcast. A collection of 200+ episodes that cover all topics about intuitive eating, body neutrality, and health at every size.

I suggest you get started at show 199 and move your way up!

#2 Health at Every Size Manifesto

A free HAES guide is provided by Dr. Linda Bacon. And it explains the Heath at Every Size approach to health and provides sustainable research-based evidence that demonstrates that health is accessible at any body size.

#3 Beauty Redefined

Beauty Redefined is a non-profit, dedicated to promoting positive body image online and in live speaking events. This website is run by identical twins Lexie Kite, Ph.D. and Lindsay Kite, Ph.D.

These two experts teach body image resilience through research-backed online education available on their website, and social media. Visit their blog and TEDx Talk.

#4 Get Started Guide

I created this free guide to help women understand the basics of intuitive eating. Most importantly, this guide is followed by a series of educative articles to help you to get started on this new journey.

Get the FREE guide here.

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Intuitive Eating Resources

There are 3 levels of resources for you if you are ready to learn intuitive eating.

#1 Intuitive Eating Books

Evelyn Tribole is the ultimate intuitive eating expert, my teacher, and my mentor. She has dedicated her career to training health professionals with the intuitive eating framework.

All of our programs at Going Beyond The Food are certified by The Original Intuitive Eating Pro®.

The Intuitive Eating Book

The Intuitive Eating Workbook

#2 Structured Online Intuitive Eating Program

The Intuitive Eating Project is a 5-week online program.

In addition, it is a self-study program to teach you Intuitive Eating in an easy step by step, supported by an online community, and dozens of videos, guides and integration exercises. And it’s lead by myself, Intuitive Eating Expert, Stephanie Dodier CNP.

#3 Intuitive Eating Program Private Counselling

Two options for you:

#1 If you want to work with a local intuitive eating certified counsellor, then, you can visit this directory to locate someone to work with you 1-on-1.

#2 You can visit this intuitive eating coaching page on my website. Not only will you be able to read more on my coaching programs but also submit your application if you would like to work with me 1-on-1.

Most importantly, my 1-on-1 coaching is inclusive of body neutrality and health at every size alongside with intuitive eating.

Body Neutrality Resources

Are you ready to get started making peace with your body? Then, there are 3 levels of resources for you.

#1 Body Neutrality Books

I would suggest starting reading books. Things No One Will Tell FAT Girls by Jess Baker is a lived-experience book combined with research. This book was a game-changer!

The second book you should read is definitely The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf. This is a classic that redefined the relationship between beauty and female identity. Body image issue is a feminist issue! Must read for all women.

#2 Body Image Courses & Programs

I would suggest two online programs. Both of these programs are a step by step structured program to heal your body image and make peace with your body.

#1 Beauty Redefined Body Resilience Program. A 8-week program to build body resilience by helping you navigate body shame, objectification, and unreal ideals.

#2 The Body Acceptance Project, this is my baby. A 5-week self-study online program to help you accept your body using the body neutrality framework.

#3 Body Image Private Counselling

Two options for you:

#1 Jess Baker is a Recovery Support Specialist with a long history working as a Psychosocial Behavioral Specialist. With both formal education background and lived experience I’m pleased to recommend Jess. You can find more about working with her here.

#2 Would you like to work 1-on-1 with me? You can visit this intuitive eating coaching page on my website. Not only will you be able to read more on my coaching programs but also submit your application if you would like to work with me 1-on-1.

My 1-on-1 coaching is inclusive of body neutrality and health at every size alongside with intuitive eating.

Health at Every Size Resources

Ready to relearn health and adopt a weight-neutral approach to health? I have a few options for you. Three levels of resources for you:

#1 Health at Every Size Books

The first place to get started is to read Dr. Linda Bacon’s  Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. Think of this book as the bible of the weight-neutral approach to health.

Next, I would suggest my colleague, Christie Harrison’s book Anti-Diet. Her book is very well researched and structured for you to understand why health is available to you now!

#2 Health at Every Size Course

If you are looking for a step by step structured program to teach how to support your health in a weight-neutral holistic methodology…

Going Beyond The Food Health Mastery is a 9-module curriculum. And this program will teach you how to support your body towards the best health without having to lose weight. Not only without restricting food or taking any supplements! This program is taught by myself, Stephanie Dodier CNP.

#3 Health at Every Size Private Counselling

Want to work with a Health at Every Size care provider? You can visit this directory to locate someone to work with you 1-on-1.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive Eating definition is an evidence-based approach to eating that allows you to be the expert of your own body.

This self-care eating framework enables you to develop a healthy relationship with food and your body.

Teaches you to trust your ability to meet your own needs, distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, and ultimately develop body wisdom.

I hope this helps sister!

What is body neutrality?

Body Neutrality definition is about empowering you to embrace yourself as you are, including the parts you don’t like about yourself.

Its focus is to avoid self-hate while simultaneously relieving you from the pressure of having to love your body.

What is Health at Every Size?

Health at Every Size definition is a philosophy and an approach to health.

The HAES movement promotes the simple truth that all bodies are good bodies.

It shifts the focus away from dieting for weight control. Instead, it steers you toward self-care practices that support your body’s natural wisdom and vitality.

What are my top 4 free resources?

The Going Beyond The Food Show

Health at Every Size Manifesto

Beauty Redefined

Get Started Guide

What are the intuitive eating resources?

1. Intuitive Eating Books

a. The Intuitive Eating Workbook by Evelyn Tribole, Elyse Resch, Tracy Tylka (Foreword)

2. Structured Online Intuitive Eating Program

a. Intuitive Eating Project by Stephanie Dodier

3. Intuitive Eating Program Private Counselling

a. Intuitive eating certified counsellor

b. Intuitive eating coach, Stephanie Dodier

What are the body neutrality resources?

1. Body Neutrality Books

a. Things No One Will Tell FAT Girls by Jess Baker

b. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf

2. Body Image Courses & Programs

a. Beauty Redefined Body Resilience Program

b. The Body Acceptance Project

3. Body Image Private Counselling

a. Jess Baker

b. Stephanie Dodier

What are the Health at Every Size Resources?

1. Health at Every Size Books

a. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Dr. Linda Bacon

b. Anti-Diet by Christie Harrison

2. Health at Every Size Course

a. Going Beyond The Food Health Mastery

3. Health at Every Size Private Counselling

a. Health at Every Size care provider

What is Diet Culture and 4 Steps to Navigate It

Dec 2, 2019

If you’ve been following me on social media or reading my blog, you certainly have come across the term “diet culture.” I’ve mentioned it many times before. But what is diet culture? How does it impact your life? And what should you do about it?

This article tackles this topic and teaches you how to opt-out of it. Also, I offer some resources that will help you start a new life outside of this oppressive belief system. Here’s what you’re going to learn from this blog post:

What is diet culture?

How to navigate the diet culture

Diet culture educational resources

Now, let’s begin exploring the diet culture so you can take your first steps to freedom!

What is diet culture?

From the sound of it, you might think the term “diet culture” refers to a group of people who are on a diet. But it actually has a different meaning.

Christy Harrison, a colleague of mine, has the best diet culture definition. She defines it as a system of belief that worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue. It’s now prevalent in our society and oppresses women from all over the world!

How does this impact your life?

This means you may have spent your entire life thinking that you’re broken just because you don’t look like the impossibly thin ideal.

That’s just one angle. You can also look at the diet culture from three other angles:

The second angle is that it promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status. It makes you feel compelled, almost obligated, to spend massive amounts of time, energy, and resources, trying to shrink your body so you can fit into this thin ideal. Now, research is very clear that the dieting model has a 95 percent failure rate, so it might as well be an exercise in futility.

The next angle is it demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others. It forces you to be hyper-vigilant about your eating, shames you for making certain food choices, and distracts you from the pleasure of eating as well as from your purpose and power.

Last but not least, it oppresses people who don’t match the supposed picture of health or the thin ideal. This affects us most particularly as women, although it’s starting to affect men.

My 25-year journey inside diet culture

As you probably know, I used to have a love-hate relationship with food and my body. A 25-year career in dieting left me obsessed, frustrated and confused about food. I was also at a loss on how to take care of my body.

Dieting was stealing my life and at 39. Then I decided that I had enough… I finally chose to take my power back and free myself from dieting and body shaming. The Going Beyond The Food Method™️ was born out of my personal journey.

Now, as a health professional, I’ve helped hundreds of women work their way out of this oppressive culture and develop a healthier relationship with food using intuitive eating and body neutrality.

Is diet culture affecting you, too? I invite you to consider its impact on your life. Take our quick self-assessment tool we created to help women determine if intuitive eating is the right solution for them.

How to navigate the diet culture

I invite you, and honestly all women, to become diet culture dropouts! Below are the four steps you need to take in your journey towards freedom:

Understand that you have a choice.

Now is the best time to be a woman. Unlike the generations before us, we’re liberated and empowered! You have to understand that diet culture is a tool that the patriarchy uses to keep us from being in our power. It keeps us busy minding our calories and macros. It induces guilt and so we feel inclined to punish ourselves when we fail.

Whether you want to stay in the diet culture and be oppressed or to break away from it and change your life, it’s totally up to you. But you should know that you have the power to make that choice.

Take responsibility.

With great power comes great responsibility. Now, that sounds like a quote from a Spiderman movie, but as an empowered woman, you are responsible for your life. No one else is!

Now, you can be the victim of diet culture and drown yourself in self-pity and helplessness. Or you can say, “Screw this! I’m going to take responsibility, and I’m going to work myself out of it and change my life.”

It’s your call.

Educate yourself.

Read books and blogs. Listen to podcasts. Consume content that supports the choice that you’ve made for yourself. Be on guard against the content that might suck you right back into the diet culture. As I’ve said before, beware of diet culture programs disguised as wellness practices.

I’ve made it my personal mission to empower women by educating them so they don’t allow themselves to be oppressed. And so, I have put together some resources for you.

We have anti-diet culture podcast episodes on the Going Beyond the Food Show, where I interview health professionals. I invite you to listen as they share their expert insights and opinions on our relationship with our bodies and with food.

You can also read our anti-diet culture blog posts on this website. Here, we go deep into the research and the studies around diet culture as well as dieting and its impact on health.

If you’re looking for an anti-diet culture book, I recommend Health At Every Size by Linda Bacon, PhD. Dr. Bacon does research around health and dieting. It’s a book that gave me a lot of “aha moments” and subsequently changed my life.

Find a framework to help you reconstruct your relationship with food and with your body.

You’re going to shift from the way of life that diet culture has taught you to a more empowering way of thinking and doing things. This means there’s a lot for you to unlearn and relearn, so you’re going to need all the support you can get.

The Going Beyond The Food Method™️ is a 5-step strategic process to help women move out of diet mentality and into self-care. Our 5 pillars are: mindset, emotional wellness, mindfulness, body neutrality and intuitive eating.

Diet culture educational resources

As a clinical nutritionist, I’ve found that intuitive eating is the most effective tool for developing a healthy relationship with food and your body. Intuitive eating teaches you to tap into your innate hunger and fullness cues. It requires you to relearn how to engage with food without restriction and without labeling food as “good” or “bad.”

The trauma around body image is more powerful than the one around food. What I have found over the years is that when we work through our relationship with food, it’s a lot easier and faster to heal body image issues.

We offer a variety of programs that will help you should you decide to opt-out of diet culture:

1) The Intuitive Eating Project – This is a self-study program that will help you relearn how to eat intuitively at your own pace.

2) The Going Beyond the Food Academy – This is group coaching program where we teach the Going Beyond The Food Method™️ and offer support and coaching in a more in-depth approach. In this program, we talk about mindset, emotions, body image, intuitive eating, and mindfulness.

3) Conquer and Thrive– This is a six-month, high-touch intensive program where you work one-on-one with me. Here, you learn how to work your way out of the diet culture and heal your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.

Diet Culture FAQs

What is diet culture?

Christy Harrison defines it as a system of belief that worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue. It’s now prevalent in our society and oppresses women from all over the world!

How to navigate the diet culture?

1. Understand that you have a choice.

2. Take responsibility.

3. Educate yourself.

4. Find a framework to help you reconstruct your relationship with food and with your body.

What are the diet culture educational resources?

Intuitive Eating Project – This is a self-study program that will help you relearn how to eat intuitively at your own pace.

The Going Beyond the Food Academy – This is a group coaching program where we teach the Going Beyond The Food Method™️ and offer support and coaching in a more in-depth approach. In this program, we talk about mindset, emotions, body image, intuitive eating, and mindfulness.

Conquer and Thrive – This is a six-month, high-touch intensive program where you work one-on-one with me. Here, you learn how to work your way out of the diet culture and heal your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.

How to Achieve Mind and Body Connection

Oct 16, 2016

Not many of us know the importance of learning how to achieve mind and body connection. Generally speaking, we tend to think of our body & mind as two different systems and we believe they function separately. Yet instinctively, you and I know that is not the whole story. Let’s look at a common experience that all of us have had in the past with our body & mind connection.

Do you remember the first time you had to give a speech in front of an audience? Maybe you felt “butterflies” in your belly.

Or went on a first date with someone you were really trying to impress? Maybe you felt the palms of your hands becoming sweaty.

In either case, there is no doubt that you wanted to appear calm and collected, but at the same time you were feeling self-conscious and nervous. Self-consciousness will result in tightening your buttock muscles (so you are literally sitting on your tension), you will sweat more than usual, you may feel slightly nauseous, and you’ll probably fluff your words just when you want to appear suave and confident.

My Personal Experience

In my own personal experience of the mind-body connection, when I felt nervous or anxious I would eat – particularly carbohydrates such as chips. Sound familiar to anyone? Food cravings were the way my body was signalling to me that I was stressed, nervous or anxious. What I knew instinctively, and what we are at last beginning to prove scientifically is that there is an intimate and dynamic relationship between what is going on with our feelings and thoughts, and what happens in the body.

Illness is very real, accidents happen, and medicine can really help. But the role of the mind and emotions in our state of health particularly with chronic conditions is vital one, and by understanding this relationship, we can play a greater role in our own well-being. It is only a part of the overall picture, but it is the part that is invariably overlooked or ignored.

The idea that our minds and emotions play a critical role in our health—a fundamental aspect of the Going Beyond The Food Method—is far from new. Many ancient healing systems emphasize the interconnection between mind and body in healing, including Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine; Ayurvedic Medicine – Indian traditional medicine with written records dating back more than 5000 years; and Traditional Medicine with a history of more than 2500 years. All of these traditional medicines have taught us that good health depends on a balance of the mind, the body, and the environment. Thus, learning how to achieve mind and body connection is essential.

Science of the body & mind connection

Modern scientific research supports this age-old tenet of medical wisdom. It began in the 1920s when a Harvard scientist by the name of Walter Cannon, MD, identified the fight-or-flight response through which the body secretes hormones called catecholamines (such as epinephrine and norepinephrine). When they enter the bloodstream, these hormones produce changes in the body—i.e. a quickened heart or increased breathing rate—that puts the person in a better physical state to escape or confront danger.

Since that time, scores of scientific breakthroughs have highlighted the mind-body connection in health. Psychologist and PhD Neal Miller discovered that we can be trained to control certain physical responses such as blood pressure that were previously considered to be involuntary. This discovery gave birth to biofeedback, which has now been found to be effective in the treatment of anxiety, attention deficit disorder, headaches, hypertension, and urinary incontinence.

Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD, identified the flip side of the stress response which he called the “relaxation response.” Benson demonstrated that meditation, yoga, and other relaxation techniques can bring about physiological changes including a lower heart rate, lower breathing rate, and decreased muscle tension along with positive changes in brain waves. Mind-body techniques that elicit this relaxation response have been successful in treating many stress-related disorders.

How to Achieve Mind and Body Connection: The Next Steps

If we separate either a machine or an organism into its component parts, it can’t function. Each piece has a role to play, even if it is a very small role and even if only one part is malfunctioning it affects the whole. If we ignore the role of our feelings and thoughts play, we are ignoring one of the most important parts that make up our whole being.

Understanding the mind-body relationship and knowing how to how to achieve mind and body connection may not cure your physical difficulties. However, by learning the language of your body messages, you can discover what is being repressed or ignored in your psyche and emotions and how this is influencing your well-being. From this vantage point, you can discover that there is an extraordinarily intimate two-way communication going on between your mind and body that affects both your physical state and your mental and emotional health.

The first step in sharpening your mind-body connection is to eliminate any interference from the outside environment from food and toxins. Our signature program the Going Beyond The Food Academy is a step by step plan that will help you begin your journey in crushing your cravings and achieving total health. One of the main benefit of a more mindful approach to life and a peaceful relationship to food. You can get started here with mindful & intuitive eating by click here.

8 Powerful Questions For Your Life Transformation

Aug 30, 2016

The moments with the biggest impact in my programs such as Going Beyond the Food Academy or my retreats are when powerful transformation questions get asked at just the right time. These 8 powerful questions for transformation have allowed many amazing transformation.

The right question can do more to motivate a student into playing a bigger game than reading a whole bookshelf of inspirational books or attending several ‘how to’ seminars.

Why is that?

Transformation questions, when phrased and timed well, entice us to go inside and look around the many rooms of our body-mind. We emerge knowing ourselves better than we did before and willing to take on new challenges.

https://youtu.be/39E8OqyWPg8

Transformation Process

These questions are the kick starter to any profound and permanent transformation process and that’s exactly what I teach. I simply chose to use food as a tool to teach transformation. That you try to transform your diet or your love life or your health the process is all the same.

You must first get clear with yourself on what you want.

Then learn new skills and or make a decision that will allow you to reach your goals.

8 Transformation Questions

You will need a journal for this exercise, a place where you can gather your thoughts, observation, and feelings.

I would suggest reading all questions at first without answering any. Let the questions sit with your spirit for a few days.

In the following days take 1 -2 question at a time maximum per day and write your answer in your journal. Set the environment that will allow you to get the life-changing answer you are looking for: be alone, no one to disturb you, be in a relaxed state with no pressure about time, in a positive mindset.

When you write your answer leave plenty of space for each question to be answered as you may want to add to it in the process. Read your answers and add more thoughts as you go.

Where do I want to be in five years?
How do I want to feel on the inside in 5 years time? Where will I be emotionally, physically and spiritually?
What bad habits do I need to stop? What do I need to take responsibility for?
What mistake have I made? What would I do differently?
What story have I told myself? What conditioning did I receive?
If no one judged me, who will I be?
Who would you be if you weren’t concerned with pleasing and caring for others?
Why do I like food more than my own health (self)?

So, next time you feel stumped, stuck, or unsure where to go, ask yourself these powerful questions that will serve as a kick starter to your transformation.

If you ready to start your journey in transforming your health with nutrition you should check out my free Crave Cure Guide.

Improving Women Empowerment: The Journey to You

Aug 24, 2016

Empowerment is a word that’s used and overused – what does it really mean? Empowerment is our goal, our mantra and our way of being in my free and private community: truly supporting each other in our journey achieving our health goals and living a purposeful life. We continually work towards improving women empowerment.

Improving Women Empowerment: Start With Yourself

In today’s world of instant gratification and quick fixes, empowerment is learning that you can rely on yourself and create the life that you want to have, even when making that happen seems like more that you’re capable of. Because the truth is that you can do more than you think you’re capable of. Your potential is far beyond what you think is possible. What’s more, you don’t have to have someone there with you every step of the way.

You’re Not Alone

What empowerment doesn’t mean is that you’re all alone in this journey to yourself. It’s OK to get help along the way. Humans are creatures of community, of connection. Successful people are almost always quick to point out that the spark of their accomplishments came from within, but that it was the support and help of others that facilitated their final success. They were empowered by people along the way to believe that they could do it.

Improving women empowerment requires more than just platitudes. Words can help along the way most certainly, but it’s the helping someone to see that they are capable of growing to be more that is the real heart of support. You don’t just know how to eat healthy and take care of your body properly – these are skills that must be taught by someone who knows how. But they aren’t magical secrets either, and everyone is capable of mastering them.

Independence vs. Dependence

One of the biggest pitfalls of getting help is the danger of becoming dependent on that aid that you’re getting, often to the point that you backtrack without it. That’s really what yo-yo dieting is all about, and it’s a cycle that millions of people find themselves trapped in. The key to overcoming dependency is empowerment.

“I felt like I was walking up a very steep cliff. I needed someone to tell me where to begin, how to manage/organize myself, where to get resources easily, when to push forward and when to stop and wait. In just 6 months of working with Stephanie I did not just organize myself, I learned patience. I learned how to listen to my body and interpret it. The best thing I have ever done for my family is work with Stephanie and the results I’m seeing are nothing short of a miracle.”- Amal S.

Good support is support that scaffolds your growth, giving you the tools that you need in order to master your own life independently. Great support stairsteps you up out of the canyon that you find yourself in, then shows you that you can walk the path without a hand to hold, and maybe even that you can offer a hand to another down the line who needs it. It is always good to become part of a community whose goal is improving women empowerment.

Transformation

A great way to think about this whole process is the analogy of a wounded wild animal. In many ways, life gives us wounds that put us in danger for one reason or another. Those wounds can heal on their own, but leave us vulnerable and less able to care for ourselves, just as a wounded wild animal is vulnerable and less able to care for themselves.

Once they get the care that they need, then can be released and sent back out, fully empowered to take on the challenges that they face. The same is true for you. Once you’re supported and healed through the process, you’re able to then step up and take care of yourself again. This time wiser and with more experience. This is exactly how Crave Cure program program has been built.

This is the second article in the series “Journey to YOU”. You can find the first article of the series on Body Image right here. Hope you enjoy!

5 Good Holiday Eating Tips You Can Teach Your Kids

Dec 22, 2015

Note: This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. At the end of this article, you’ll be directed to the next 4 articles.

The most common feedback I get in my community is about unhealthy “treats” the kids receive during the holiday season.

It’s a way to celebrate and to be a part of the magic of the season. Candy canes and sugar cookies are a natural part of the season, aren’t they?

I hope to help you get a jump-start teaching good holiday eating habits to your kids by sharing some holiday eating tips.

My Top 5 Holiday Eating Tips

The good news is that parents can still be celebratory and infuse magic into the season while helping kids to learn intuitive eating habits. Here are five ways to help your kids know the right thing to do.

Holiday Eating Tip #1 – Don’t cut treats out

Let your kids enjoy all the holiday food on special nights or celebration, don’t limit instead have them slow down and actually enjoy the food.

Take the time to ask them how they feel after eating all the food and treats… have them pay attention to the sensation in their body. Help them understand that food as an impact on how they feel.

At home during holiday periods, keep the junk food out of the lunchbox and off the counter, replacing them with other kinds of special things like holiday stickers or special healthy snacks.

Moderation is an essential lesson to teach kids during the holiday season, and one that they’ll carry with them.

Holiday Eating Tip #2 – Offer your attention

What kids want more than anything else is our attention. Instead of treating your child to junk foods, treat them to your time. Make holiday cards together, decorate or go out and enjoy a festival.

The point is to share you with your children because family is what this time of year is all about. This also offers you the opportunity to complete the next step with them!

Maybe plan an afternoon with them to prepare a healthy holiday treat. Have fun in the kitchen with them and take this opportunity to teach them about cooking.

Holiday Eating Tip #3 – Model intuitive habits

Your children will do whatever you do. If you jump and eat all the sugary treats, then they’re going to think that it’s the right thing to do. If you drop off your intuitive habits during the holidays, then they’re going to see that as something that’s supposed to happen.

It’s not what we say rather what we do that makes an impact.

Kids, no matter age, hold their parents up as an example of the right way to be. They’re looking to you as a role model. Perhaps take this opportunity as motivation for you to stay on top of it yourself.

Holiday Eating Tip #4 – Talk about it

Be open and honest with your kids about the ramifications of food choices and the benefits of intuitive habits – no matter what their age. Talk about how good it makes you feel when you eat well and stay active.

It’s important that this conversation doesn’t happen when you’re confronted with temptations, but rather that it’s a conversation that is woven into your everyday life together. This will help them to stay on the path when they’re faced with the possibility of unhealthy choices.

Holiday Eating Tip #5 – Simmer in the season

The joy of the holiday season doesn’t come from cookies or candy – it comes from something so much more! Celebrate the season in ways that don’t involve food. Make memories for your children that will last for a lifetime but that won’t instill habits that will take them away from good health. Don’t see healthy habits as limiting your ability to participate in the magic, but rather as opening new doors to take part in the sparkle of the season!

I hope you will find my healthy holiday eating tips helpful. However, remember that the most important thing is to make the holidays a positive and memorable time for your children, and for you.

Long after the sweet treats are gone, your children will remember how you made them feel during the holiday season, and that’s really all that matters!

Teaching your children a healthy relationship to food is an ongoing practice all year long. My colleague and children intuitive eating expert Dr. Murphy has written a series on this exact topic along with a free audio series that you can access right here.

Next: The Holiday Survival Guide

This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. Continue your journey and take the next step in reading:

The critical importance of self-care during the holiday period

How to navigate the holiday parties and enjoy it!

Must do during the holiday: Stress Management and dealing with negative family members

My top 5 healthy baking tips

Happy holidays!

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Surviving the Holidays Through Self Care

Dec 19, 2015

Note: This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. At the end of this article, you’ll be directed to the next 4 articles.

Surviving the holidays can be tough. You can get crazy busy. However, there’s one thing you must keep in mind: YOU are important.

Your health is important.

Without you, all of the people who depend on you would be out of luck.

So during the holiday season, it’s important that you don’t take shortcuts when it comes to your wellness! I’m the biggest cheerleaders for my ladies in community so they take time… we even have a day when we plan our self-care routine!

Self-care or taking care of you doesn’t make you are selfish, it means that you’re making sure that you’re able to give your best to everyone else.

Self-care is essential for surviving the holidays, and by centering that self-care around good healthy habits you’re making choices that will not only help you to feel great now, but that will help you to feel great for the long run.

Surviving the Holidays: Essential Tips and Advice

What does great self-care during the holiday season look like? It looks like this:

Time & Self Care

Giving time to yourself is the most powerful form of self-care that you can offer. That means time to prepare healthy meals, time to plan them, time to exercise, time to relax and time to get enough sleep. Those few minutes spent making your lunches ahead for the week are a form of self-care. Or the time that you spend stopping at the grocery store on the way home from work to get fresh ingredients for dinner. And of course getting to bed early to get enough sleep to power you through your day.

It’s easy to make unhealthy choices when you’re in a huge hurry, so allowing yourself the freedom to have time to take care of the things that you need to for your health is important. You’re allowed to have time for your health, to do the things that are needed to support it.

Treats & Self Care

Treat yourself to things that make you feel great during the holidays. This might be something as simple as a movie or as extravagant as a day at the spa. Treating yourself with food isn’t out of the realm of possibility either – make it a conscious choice. Not a victim choice. Chose to make homebake cookies instead of store bought.

The point is to do something for yourself while you’re in the fray of doing things for other people. That means saving some treats that are just for you, no sharing allowed.

Exercise & Self Care

Whether it’s a yoga class or a weight session at the gym, exercise is one of the most basic forms of self-care. You’re quite literally spending time with you that’s for your body. During the holiday season it’s quite tempting to give up your exercise routine in favor of the myriad other things that there are to do, but when you realize that this really is “me” time, it can make it a lot easier to get up and get it done.

Take solace in your workouts and how much stronger and more fit they make you feel. This time of year is also a great time to begin exercising, as waiting until the new year to begin generally means you’re busted by February. Let a love of you drive your workouts!

Generosity & Self Care

One of the hallmarks of the holiday season is the notion that we should give to others rather than to receive from them. You’re not taking from others by giving to you! In fact, when you nurture your own well-being, you’re actually creating a much bigger well of energy and effort to be able to give to others. Being generous to yourself is absolutely a legitimate way to celebrate the season. It’s beautiful!

Before you can love anyone else, you’ve got to love yourself. Before you can teach your kids good holiday habits you have to first lead by example.

Make an effort to take care of you in healthy ways this holiday season, and you’ll find that people around you take notice and appreciate how much happier and healthier you are – remember that they want you to be happy during the holidays too! Surviving the holidays is all about loving and taking good care of yourself.

Next: The Holiday Survival Guide

This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. Continue your journey and take the next step in reading:

Teaching Good Holiday Eating Habits to Kids

How to navigate the holiday parties and enjoy it!

Must do during the holiday: Stress management and dealing with negative family members

My top 5 healthy baking tips

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Surviving The Office Party

Dec 15, 2015

Note: This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. At the end of this article, you’ll be directed to the next 4 articles.

Holiday office party season is a worry for many women as when they first go through a holiday season of going beyond the food. However, surviving the office party isn’t as difficult as you think. Fear no more!

So it’s time for that end-of-the-year celebration – the holiday office party. Whether your office offers a small drop-in with treats and holiday punch, or a huge formal bash that pulls out all of the stops, staying true to yourself and your own choices during the holiday festivities can be a challenge for you to stick to your true self.

How can you enjoy your holiday party without getting into trouble? Here are some strategies that are both practical and doable.

Fun off… Have fun!

More than anything, the holiday office party is about connecting with your co-workers and celebrating the season. Keep your momentum going when it comes to wellness by emphasizing the connections first not the food.

Plan to connect with all your close co-worker and connect heart to heart. Inquire about their personal life, kids, family… what they do outside of work. Create connections that will take you beyond work-based relationship.

Important Tip on Surviving the Office Party: Avoid Excess Alcohol

It is really just not a good idea to indulge in alcohol at any event associated with work anyway since alcohol consumption can lead to all kinds of other issues with coworkers, etc. Remember that above all, this is still your job and you don’t want to risk doing something that you’ll regret. It’s really best to just say “no” or stay within moderation. If there’s pressure to have something in your hand, then try a non-alcoholic drink. No one has to be the wiser.

Bring Your Own to the Holiday Office Party

This is really great for potluck meals which are so common for workplace holiday gatherings. Bring something really wonderful but healthy that will have everyone talking. Treats are something we can all agree on! You don’t have to be a gourmet chef – try picking up a box of pre-made chocolate treats or some super tasty jerky and be the talk of the office. There’s strength in numbers, and you might find that you start a trend by exposing your officemates to some molasse cookies !

Keep Your Hands Busy at the Holiday Office Party

This one sound crazy, but it really works. Carry an empty plate or cup of ice water around with you at the party so that you have something in your hands. Our hands tend to get bored and we fill them with food in order to decrease our nerves or to find a way to fill some empty time. Keep your hands busy with something else and you’ll be less likely to eat without thinking.

Organize it!

Perhaps the best strategy for surviving the office party is to step up and lend a hand in the organizing of the holiday party. This way you’ll be able to steer the food towards healthier fare, not to mention being a good co-worker by contributing to the improved health of your fellow employees! Ok – this one requires you to go way above and beyond, but the pay-off is a much easier time for you at the event.

Speak Honestly at the Holiday Office Party

Just talk about why you’re avoiding junk food at the holiday office party. Explain to your coworkers that you’re committed to a healthy lifestyle. Being honest is also going to hold you to a seriously high level of accountability, so if you tell your coworker that you’re avoiding her chocolate marshmallow Christmas log, it’s your choice! Be careful not to preach – answer honestly when asked.. Answer questions, but don’t steer the conversation towards the topic. Your commitment to self care will inspire others and will help you to feel great about your choices!

Next: The Holiday Survival Guide

This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. Continue your journey and take the next step in reading:

Teaching Good Holiday Eating Habits to Kids

The critical importance of self-care during the holiday period

Must do during the holiday: Stress Management and dealing with negative family members.

My top 5 healthy baking tips

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Holiday Stress Management: Healthy Living Tips

Dec 9, 2015

Note: This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. At the end of this article, you’ll be directed to the next 4 articles.

The best approach to holiday stress management is through healthy living. However, it might seem like healthy living is impossible during the holidays. I hear this frequently in my community.

Is it the same for you?

Here are 4 healthy living tips that can help with your holiday stress management.

Holiday Stress Management Tip # 1: Dealing with Negative Family members

This is by far the source of my stress for the ladies in my community… aunt Edna and cousin Nancy! I’m sure you’ve experienced this for yourself. Maybe comments about your body or weight or perhaps it’s judging comments about your kids or partner choice… I mean everything it’s up for judgment for these people.

Here’s my #1 tip… You’ll need to take personal responsibility for the relationship between you and them. At this point, there’s no hope for you to change “them”. You have to accept that. Remember one thing: Every human being seek love and acceptance even the most negative family members.

If this is something your struggle with I’d suggest you listen to this Youtube video to help you shift how you deal with negative family members. Click here to watch video.

https://youtu.be/MHKmW7bMXHQ

Holiday Stress Management Tip #2: Lower Anxiety

A great deal of the foods that we love around the holidays are actually full of caffeine, which will naturally raise your level of anxiety. That means those peppermint mochas and sodas with Santa Claus printed on them are making you feel even more stretched and out of control. Even decaf coffee has some caffeine in it! It might taste good in the moment, but within a few minutes your heart will be pumping just a hair faster and you’ll feel jittery.

To lower your anxiety during the holiday season, try cutting the caffeine. You’ll quickly find that your level of stress is less and that you feel much better! Try drinking ice water or hot peppermint tea to replace soda and coffee. The short-term sacrifice of letting it go will be worth it!

Holiday Stress Management Tip #3: Reduce Guilt

Guilt is a driver of stress. If you’ve committed to a healthy lifestyle but then abandon it during the holiday season, then you’re going to find yourself feeling guilty. That’s because you feel as though you’ve betrayed yourself more than because anyone is telling yourself that you’re bad for indulging … sound familiar?

Sticking to your healthy living plan will feel much better long term as you conquer temptation on your own than the momentary good feeling that you get from highly sugary foods. Allow yourself to indulge in ways that aren’t related to food during the holidays.

If you need to know how to stay on track during office holiday parties, my blog post can help you. I also have a blog post on how to teach your kids healthy holiday eating habits. Teaching those habits to someone else is one of the best ways to make them stick!

Treat yourself to that guilty pleasure holiday movie or to a holiday concert as a reward instead of food. Give to yourself during the holidays, but do it in ways that line up with your healthy living philosophies, and you’ll feel much better!

Holiday Stress Management Tip #4: Release Happy Hormones

Exercise makes you happy, right there in your brain. If you’re feeling the holiday blues, getting active will fundamentally combat that stress by releasing endorphins. The reality is that there is an emotional payoff for those bad habits, but when you jump into a physical activity you’ll get a much bigger one! Exercise (even moderate exercise) will help to clear your mind and improve your mood.

Your exercise time is your “me” time. This is you taking care of yourself, treating yourself to something that you get a real benefit out of. You might also think about treating yourself to that yoga class that you’ve always wanted to try or the fitness book that you’ve been eyeing. Indulge in inspiration, and get a physical payoff that will lower your holiday stress level.

Next: The Holiday Survival Guide

This post is part of a 5 part series titled Your Holiday Survival Guide. Continue your journey and take the next step in reading:

Teaching Good Holiday Eating Habits to Kids

The critical importance of self-care during the holiday period

How to navigate the holiday parties and enjoy it!

My top 5 healthy baking tips

SaveSave

Body Messages: A Personal Story

Nov 1, 2015

What are body messages?

As I teach the ladies in my tribe, think of it as a knock on the door. It is a way your physical body talks to you.

Let me give you an example from my own life…

Body Messages: My Personal Story

My latest project of taking my nutrition practices and my business in the stratosphere in the online world is so scary, yet so exciting all at once. I have fears just like all of you. Fear is an absolute normal emotion. Fear means that we are working outside of our comfort zone which also means that we are growing.

My comfort zone didn’t include being in front of a camera because of my body image. I had huge issues looking at myself in the mirror – let alone having someone take a picture of me.

I have conquered this fear by working on my body image during the past three years. Am I now super comfortable to be in front of a camera? No, I’m not but it is much better than it was. I can now see beauty when I look at pictures of myself… I can see now what others see…because we are all beautiful. Yes, we are.

This weekend was another one of these moments in my life – professional photo shoot with a designer, makeup artists, and the best photographer in town.

Body messages

I felt nervous for 3-4 days leading up to the shoot.

I was anxious and craving carbs.

My body was tense which, for me, equals pain in my lower back.

I had poor sleep quality the night before.

I listened and observed my body messages with interest. I realized through my body that this experience was a huge and significant step for me in my life journey because of the intensity of the messages. I didn’t worry about the “symptoms” (body messages) or take a sleeping pill or supplement to help me sleep. Rather, I enjoyed the process. I felt the sensation in my body of each body message and was grateful for the growth that was happening within myself.

How to listen to your body messages

What are your body messages when you are working outside your comfort zone?

Do you listen to your body messages or simply ignore them?

Do you find that your body messages are just an annoyance?

You just can’t wait to shut them down with food or another drug of choices?

Guess what happened the day of the shoot? I had the best time of my life with the best team…. I shared with my team of three brand new people that I had never meet before, my life journey and my anxiousness about the day.

I was vulnerable and shared in a positive manner so they resounded with nothing but love for me on my journey. Without their support, I couldn’t have put my true self out there and the pictures wouldn’t have been nearly as gorgeous and powerful as they are. I’m so grateful that I have crossed paths with these three professional and loving human beings – Nikki, Luis and Onna = xoxox. I will forever be grateful to have met you.

Listen and Feel

Listen to your body messages aka symptoms, disease, discomfort and imbalances with care, patience and love.

Feel your body messages – the intensity, the location, when, where and how it happens.

Learn from your body messages.

Make decisions in your life based on your body messages and on the communication between you and your body.

Everything happens for a reason for the best outcome possible.

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Welcome!

I’m Stephanie Dodier - Clinical Nutritionist, Intuitive Eating expert, Podcast host, and Creator of the Going Beyond The Food Method™️, which was born from my own journey with chronic dieting & body image and has since grown into a global movement.

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