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Yesterday, Julie Norman, a registered dietician, yoga instructor and Health At Every Size Supporter, talked about how women can heal their body image and food issues.

Today, in part two of our interview, Norman offers insight into the biggest nutrition myths, how to eat mindfully and why yoga helps to heal a negative body image. She also lists some of her favorite yoga resources. (By the way, I’d like to add Anna’s Curvy Yoga to the list. She’s amazing!)

Check out Norman’s website to learn more about the great work she’s doing.

Weeks ago, I was browsing the excellent More of Me to Love blog and came across Julie Norman. As soon as I read her website, I knew that I had to interview her for Weightless.

Norman is a registered dietician, yoga teacher and Health At Every Size supporter. She helps women heal both their body image insecurities and negative relationships with food.

Below, Norman discusses how readers can improve how they experience their bodies, make peace with food and interpret nutritional info.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part two!

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Whenever I tell someone that diets don’t work, they follow up with, “OK, but then what does?” or “What should we eat?”

We’re so used to the idea of dieting that we yearn for rules, for barriers, for restrictions to keep us eating “right.” And when we don’t have any regulations, we get confused, uncomfortable and maybe even disappointed.

Years ago, I remember sitting with my furrowed brows, thinking, “So I can eat whatever I want? Really?” What do I do with that information? And, wait a minute, how do I keep myself in line?

“Many eating problems aren’t really about food. They are about self-soothing,” writes clinical psychologist Susan Albers, Psy.D, in her book 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food.

And the holidays may be a time when we need extra soothing. While the holidays are filled with joyful moments, they can be stressful.

You might have to see family you’re not particularly fond of. Or add 20 tasks to your already long to-do list. Or travel across the country. Or deal with more responsibilities at work.

All the while you might be in desperate need of comfort and calm. And perhaps looking for it in all the wrong places.

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Now is the time when women’s magazines crank out a slew of articles about the horror of overeating during the holidays, the tragedy of high-cal “sinful” foods and the shameful weight gain that will inevitably result.

Reputable health websites also add their two cents, churning out slideshows that offer lists like “Frighteningly Fattening Fall Foods.”

Some of this is hit-you-over-the-head bad advice. But other suggestions may be more subtle. What about articles that share supposedly healthier substitutions that you can make during the holiday season?

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts the week on a positive note!

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky at gmail dot com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. I’d love to hear from you!

Mindfulness, or paying full attention to the present, is a valuable practice that can help you cultivate a positive body image. Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, compiled and edited by Melvin McLeod, offers 365 insights to help readers “train to meet every moment of life with 100 percent attention.”

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Last week, I wrote about 30 habits that can help improve your body image every day.

Today, let’s chat about the beliefs and habits that can prevent us from building a more positive body image. Some of these may come from society, the media or even your own home.

While you don’t need to tackle all these at once, I hope they help you in possibly creating some body positive goals.

1. Not listening to your body’s needs, such as skipping meals when you’re hungry or exercising hard when you’re tired.

2. Hyperfocusing on supposed physical “flaws.”

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I lived alone for several years in my early 20s, and I often felt very alone, especially when it came to dinnertime. I loved the solitude, space, peace and quiet. But I just felt lonely.

I’d eat my meals in front of the TV and spent very little time preparing wholesome foods. I’d throw a few things together and then continue to eat odd foods like crackers with jelly throughout the night.

I felt disconnected from myself and from my body. I felt empty, and used simple carbs to fill the void.

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In our society food has become a villain. A caloric-filled foe. A tease. A treat that we aren’t allowed to have, because it’ll inevitably go to our thighs, arms, behind or belly.

We curse food with its sinful ingredients of straight-to-your-hips sugars, bloat-inducing sodium or pound-packing proteins.

So we turn to sugar substitutes, fake ingredients (what’s in those super low-cal chips?) and low-fat alternatives and turn away from wholesome foods that may have more calories, sugars, fats and other things shunned by our society.

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I receive Dr. Michelle May’s e-newsletter regularly, and in the latest issue she recounted a story I knew I had to share with you guys because it’s definitely a perspective-adjuster – in a vital way.

Dr. May and her husband went to Italy for their 25th anniversary and the best way, she writes, to describe her trip was as “sensuous.” Sensuous is, according to Dr. May:

1. Relating to or derived from the senses.
2. Appealing to or gratifying the senses.
3. Readily affected through the senses.
4. Highly appreciative of the pleasures of sensation.

For her, eating in Italy was exciting. Her senses perked up any time she had pizza or pasta or any other delectable Italian dish.