Happy Wednesday friends! Today I’m talking about trusting my body and sharing my eats from Sunday (linking up with the WIAW party!)
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I am currently in the waiting period between graduation and my dietetic internship. It’s not the kind of waiting where I am sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring and it’s not the kind of waiting that has me anxious for time to speed up. Rather, it is the kind of waiting that allows me time to relax & recuperate plus get a fun job at a cupcake shop.Yes, this chick with her masters in nutrition is working at a cupcake shop and she totally loves it.
Breakfast: Banana cocoa baked oatmeal (recipe) topped with peanut butter plus dark chocolate and coffee x 2
However,not everyone agrees that you can have a healthy diet that includes both nutritious foods and cupcakes. I used to never eat food that was high in calories, for fear it would lead to rapid massive amounts of weight gain. I didn’t trust my body. I didn’t trust my metabolism to work like it should. So I ate the same things on repeat. I ordered the ‘healthiest’ sounding thing on the menu. I turned down spontaneous treats. Sure, other people could probably eat those things and not see a weight change, but I didn’t trust my body to do that.
<insert a few handfuls of homemade granola here>
My fear probably came from being overweight as an adolescent. During that time I would often eat out of boredom and didn’t exercise very much. My body was different than my friends. It’s likely something that would have evened out over time, but we’ll never know. Even as an adult, however, I thought those same emotional eating habits would carry over and I wouldn’t be able to trust my body to burn food and maintain my weight.
Lunch: Chicken sausage and homemade veggie sauce (tomatoes, carrots, onions, broccoli chicken broth, milk, and spices), farro.
One of the greatest personal things I took away from studying nutrition was that I could trust my body. My body wants to use food as fuel and is pretty equipped to do. I eat burgers, fries, and cupcakes and my body doesn’t change.
Snack: strawberries, plain Greek yogurt, & corn flakes
Most food has value- whether it is nutritious value or experience value or taste value, it’s value. And I can trust my body to handle to it. My intake doesn’t have to be closely monitored and tracked in order for me to maintain. If I am eating based off my hunger and sometimes my enjoyment, I’m going to hang around that natural set point my body prefers (usually within +/- 5 lb).
Dinner: Breakfast nachos with eggs, cheese, onions, tomatoes, spinach, hot sauce, salsa, and sour cream.
I understand that trusting ones body isn’t the norm much. That’s why we tend to label food as good or bad. That’s why people assume they’d gains 100 lb working in a bakery ( I hear that often.) However, if we listen to our body cues, we’ll soon learn that we don’t have much of a desire to gorge on sweets day after day. This past Saturday after sampling a fair share of sweets, all my body wanted was a fresh salad with grilled chicken. I didn’t want it just because I thought that’s what I needed to eat after eating sweets, but it’s actually all I could think of. Fresh veggies + salty protein sounded so good after having sweets.
Dessert: “peanut butter puff in a mug” (recipe) and almond milk
I’m sharing this because I know it can be scary to trust your body- to trust that it won’t want 100 fries after the first one. Yet it is possible, you can enjoy a cupcake and then move on, thinking nothing of it. Like most things in life, we tend to over complicate food. There is no perfect way to eat and you don’t have to have total control over your diet. Your body was created with the ability to fuel your and keep you healthy!
I now trust my body’s cues to help me consume a balanced diet full of both nutrients and the “other” things I find delicious. I don’t have to work to maintain my weight. Sure, I exercise frequently, but I also know I can go a couple days without exercise and nothing happens then either. It’s a really good relationship, the one I’ve built with my body. Life is 100 times more fulfilling and fun than it was before, all because I loosened the reigns and trusted my body.
Now it’s your turn, let’s hear your thoughts on body trust.
The Domestikated Life 
Thank you for the reminder that my body does not need a constantly pre-calculated intake. It is so hard for me to trust my body sometimes! It is good to hear from a nutrition major that God made our bodies so wonderfully to know what they need!
I’m still working on trusting my body. I feel as though I’m at a point where I allow myself to eat “scary” things on the weekends but during the week it’s routine routine routine. I am also realizing now that I can eat a lot more than I thought and not gain a thing (it’s an amazing feeling, isn’t it?). I love your posts like this because they truly set my mood and attitude for the day. It’s my boyfriend’s birthday today and we’re getting sushi–maybe I’ll order something out of my comfort zone!
…”nutritious value or experience value or taste value, it’s value.” This is such great insight. Taste and experience ARE values and I need to remember this.
Definitely some trust issues going on here, especially with my current whack up of non existent hunger cues and slowed metabolism. But, I really need to trust that my body knows exactly what to do with the extra nutrition and will put it to darn good use.
Thanks miss.
Breakfast nachos for the win, lookin all delicious. I think the reason people may assume they’d gain 100 lbs working in a bakery or ice cream shop is because they don’t trust themselves. I’m all on board the sweet train and treating ourselves to cupcakes and cakes and doughy sandwiches, but like you said, I’ll probably crave all the veggies after doing so!
Love this post and the meaning behind it. That’s our mission as RD’s: to show people that by allowing themselves to have their favorite foods, they will actually be more satisfied and their weight will remain stable. The difficult part is getting them to listen to us ;). I was actually thinking about putting together a similar post related to how my body has adapted to my healthy weight-gain journey. Thanks for the reminder and motivation to do so!
I loveeeee this post. I think it is such a bold statement as an RD to work at a cupcake shop. SO many people think healthy is an all or nothing lifestyle. What the frick is healthy about that??
Homemade veggie sauce looks so good. Also, I love the truth and honesty behind all your words here. Totally relatable!
Sounds like you are in a great place now with eating balanced! Working in a bakery would be a dream of mine- love being surrounded by homemade beautiful deliciousness!
What a great message- I also crave veggies etc after a day (or two) of sweets, eating out, etc.And I have never heard of breakfast nachos but omg i want them for dinner!
This is so great- I had a similar experience being overweight/chubby as an adolecent and i didnt look like my friends, ate a lot of processed foods, didnt work out too much so i still battle those feelings at times! Luckily, I’ve been more able to trust my body this past year and allow it yummy treats AND healthy fuel! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You’re so right! I think, in general, most of us have lost our trust in our body! Although I’d say that the kind of food we eat is often to blame. So many people eat “food products” rather than actual food! And that stuff is built for us NOT to know when we’re full!
It sounds like you’re in a great place 🙂 I hope you have fun at the cupcake shop while you wait to hear more info!
Sometimes it’s hard for me to completely trust my body due to my training at this point. When I get done with long runs, I don’t want to eat anything! However, I know I have to and not would derail my goals. However, I do usually get hungry at regular intervals, and I honor that when I can.
Breakfast nachos look great 🙂
Oh my goodness this post just really spoke to me. I was also a little overweight as a teen and I have this constant fear that I’ll revert back to that if I don’t “control” what I eat. Even though I eat whatever I want (for the most part) and my body has yet to really change!
It’s amazing how smart our bodies are if we just trust them. We shouldn’t try to control ourselves. We should just listen to our bodies and eat what we feel like! 🙂
Love you for this post girl! Happy hump day!
It is one of the most important leaps of faith a person can make to trust their body. It is also important that information like this is shared. I see far, far too many people who are afraid to trust their own bodies for the reasons you describe and resort to restrictive dieting and over-exercise to try to control something that we have much less control over than we might like to think. Our bodies are AMAZING, they are the most incredible machines on this planet and yet so many of us continue to abuse them. It’s almost revolutionary to have a positive, compassionate and intuitive relationship with our bodies and that makes me hurt inside. That is why I am so happy that people like you are our nutritionists and dieticians of the future.
Honestly, I am still struggling with body trust. Some days it is easier, because everything are fine and life is amazing. But bad days are coming too and when I wanna eat a entire bag of chips because I am bored or sad. I think we can never trusted body perfectly, it is process for working every day.
I know exactly what you mean about getting your fill of sweets and just craving veggies! It routinely happens to me after Christmas/holidays.
And I agree that our bodies are so much smarter than we give them credit for!
This is so great – I definitely identify with being over weight as a kid and then after losing it not “trusting” my body. I will say, once I had Ryan it all changed – partially because I realized how crazy the human body is and partially because I was too tired to care or count calories or pre-plan food!
I’m glad your waiting is the relaxed kind. That edge of your seat, anxious waiting is the worst! “Most food has value- whether it is nutritious value or experience value or taste value, it’s value”-I LOVE this. I am struggling with trusting my body right now, it’s nice to have healthy role models like you that are able to trust your body and set that example.
“Most food has value- whether it is nutritious value or experience value or taste value, it’s value. “ It took me years to understand this, and it’s something I still find myself working on. I used to think food had to be at it’s optimum for my blood levels or whatever random bodily statistic I was obsessed with at that moment in time. It’s only now I realize that yeah, ice cream might not be the physically healthiest food for me… it’s emotionally healthy and delicious!
Argh, this ate my comment!!! Long story short- Preach 🙂
Kate, you speak such words of truth and say them so beautifully too! Thank you for this post, I needed to hear this, and you said it so perfectly. We’re taught not to trust our wonderful bodies, but it’s really amazing how they’re actually quite resilient and will really let you know what is needed. Also, your meals look amazing! I’m excited to try out your oatmeal recipe!
I love this, Kate! I, too, was overweight when I was in junior high and high school, and partly for that reason, I’m often afraid that my body will “revert” back to that place. But it doesn’t.
And you’re right–if I allow myself to eat foods I enjoy, my body doesn’t crave them out of control to no end. I’m satisfied and crave healthy food.
I think it’s so awesome that you can have a master’s in dietetics and still work at a cupcake shop. It’s not a contradiction, at all, and a lot of folks with disordered eating habits could do to learn that! 😉
I’ve found that my body has that natural set point as well, no matter what I do, and honestly I can go two weeks without working out, I’ll stay in the same weight range. It’s important to understand that. If we believed fries made us fat then we would also have to believe that one work out made us skinny! Makes no sense!
Also, that breakfast looks delish.
I’m just kind of going, ‘Yes!!!’ and nodding my head in agreement. It is so true that when I got off the scale and got back to the way I used to eat, not worrying about it and just eating when I’m hungry, stopping when I’m not. That’s when I’ve been truly healthy, and I’m SO thankful to say that it is really true. It’s hard, but it’s worth every step of trusting the body God made. Ultimately I’m learning that I’m trusting God because His purposes are perfect. I LOVE reading this, because your example, your story of what God has done is constantly pressing me to embrace and really rest in the love of God, the wonder of God, the beauty of God making me exactly how He desired. I am thankful that He does redeem and heal our bodies and minds.
You are going to make an amazing RDN! I wish everybody had the mindset that you have on body image and food!
I love you! I’m so glad a girl like you is going to be an RDN!!
Wow, I love this Kate!! Found myself nodding my head to everything you said. Amen to trusting our bodies, amen to giving our bodies rest, and amen to not stressing about eating that cupcake- if our bodies want it, give it to them! xoxo ❤
You’ve done an amazing job loving yourself! Keep being a revolution!!
Just thank YOU for writing this!! It’s so great, helpful and comforting to know that you can allow your body to trust you again and it will actually begin to trust you once more. You are strong, beautiful and inspirational 🙂
Gosh, those are such kind words!!! You seriously made my day.