Instead of my usual body image booster, today, I’d like to talk bout dieting. That’s because, today, is International No Diet Day (INDD).

INDD was started by Mary Evans Young, the director of the British anti-diet campaign “Diet Breakers” and author of the best-selling book Diet Breaking: Having It All Without Having To Diet.

Today, it’s celebrated all over the world.

{via etsy by April}

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 your 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 can be helpful in improving our body image. It can remind us to savor the here and now (and stop chasing thinness). To tune out the noise of women’s magazines and other unhelpful media — and tune into ourselves. To savor our food and tiny moments. To observe our bodies, thoughts and feelings without judgement. These are incredibly powerful things.

A few years ago, professor and author Michelle Lelwica, ThD, explained the benefits of mindfulness in an interview here on Weightless.

{via etsy by Elle Moss}

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 your 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!

I’ve always been afraid of feeling too much pleasure, joy or comfort.

For instance, I’ve believed that work must be arduous, even miserable, at times. It’s work, after all.

If it’s easy and enjoyable, then clearly you can’t do a good enough job. Clearly, in order to submit good work, you must feel the difficulty, the rigor, and barrel through it.

{via etsy by Anita Waters}

People often ask researcher and author Brené Brown, Ph.D, “Where is the line between pleasure or comfort and numbing?”

This is a powerful question to consider when thinking about how we tend to our needs, process our emotions and truly soothe ourselves.

In her newest book Daring Greatly, Brené cites Jen Louden’s term “shadow comforts,” which refers to the various devices we use to numb ourselves.

Brené writes, “When we’re anxious, disconnected, vulnerable, alone and feeling helpless, the booze and food and work and endless hours online feel like comfort, but in reality they’re only casting their long shadows over our lives.”

{via etsy by Debbie}

One of the biggest reasons we turn to food for comfort is disconnection. We’re disconnected from ourselves. 

As author Julie M. Simon writes in her book The Emotional Eater’s Repair Manual, “You’re cut off from your most basic signals, your emotions.” In her book Julie shares a helpful strategy for reconnecting to ourselves.

{via etsy by birdandbloke}

Our relationship with food is often complex, so it takes time to develop a healthy relationship with eating. But I’d like to share a strategy that’s been really helpful to me throughout the years.

In college I used to turn to food when I was upset, bored, anxious or lonely. Which meant that I turned to food very, very often. (It also didn’t help that I thought dieting was the answer to my woes, and I spent some days pretty hungry.)

{via etsy by Carl Christensen}

A positive body image goes beyond liking your looks. It encompasses taking good care of yourself and leading a fulfilling life. In this weekly series, I share some of my favorite posts from some of my favorite bloggers on this topic. Hope you find these links inspiring, too!

This month many amazing holiday-themed pieces have popped up on the Web. They focus on truly enjoying the holiday season and nourishing ourselves, body, mind and spirit. Here’s a round-up of these beautiful posts.

This is the last part of my interview with Dr. Katja Rowell, M.D., a feeding specialist and author of the must-read book Love Me, Feed Me: The Adoptive Parents’ Guide to Ending the Worry About Weight, Picky Eating, Power Struggles and More. (I highly recommend it for all parents!)

Below, Dr. Rowell reveals the practical and effective ways parents can help their children build a healthy relationship with food. Specifically, she follows Ellyn Satter’s evidence-based feeding models: The Trust Model and Division of Responsibility. I wish these models were standard practice in every pediatrician and dietitian’s office.

Dr. Rowell also discusses healthy eating and feeding in our earlier interviews on Weightless. Be sure to check out parts one, two and three.

Learn more about Dr. Rowell at her website, and read her fantastic blog. Also, check out these valuable additional resources from Dr. Rowell’s website.

One of the things I love about feeding specialist Dr. Katja Rowell’s new book Love Me, Feed Me: The Adoptive Parents’ Guide to Ending the Worry About Weight, Picky Eating, Power Struggles and More is that it debunks many damaging myths about what it means to raise a healthy child with a healthy relationship with food.

The problem with these myths is that they steer parents in the wrong — and unhealthy — direction. They often cause kids to obsess over food and create needless conflict between parents and their children. Mealtime becomes a battle.

Below, in part two of our interview, Dr. Rowell shares seven common myths and facts on everything from limiting portions to forbidding foods to controlling weight.

Love Me, Feed Me is truly a comprehensive, wise and practical guide in nourishing your child, ending food obsession and addressing common concerns, such as developmental delays and sensory problems. And, ultimately, it empowers parents to connect with their kids through feeding.

Learn more about Dr. Rowell at her website, and read her fantastic blog. Also, check out these valuable additional resources from Dr. Rowell’s website.

November is National Adoption Month, so I wanted to talk about an often neglected yet critical concern for adoptive and foster families: problems with feeding.

It’s a very complex issue, but kids who are adopted or in foster care tend to be especially susceptible to eating struggles. And, unfortunately, the resources on feeding are scarce. Or, if parents do receive advice, it’s often misguided, exacerbating the problem and leading kids to obsess over food.

That’s why I’m so honored to present my interview with Dr. Katja Rowell, MD, a family doctor and feeding specialist. I’m a huge fan of Dr. Rowell and her positive work in helping parents raise healthy kids. (I’ve also interviewed her before on Weightless.)

Recently, she’s published an excellent book called Love Me, Feed Me: The Adoptive Parents’ Guide to Ending the Worry About Weight, Picky Eating, Power Struggles and More. It dispels common — and damaging — myths about healthy feeding and is packed with evidence-based practices for helping your child build a nourishing relationship with food.

It’s a compassionate, practical and safe resource, which I highly recommend to all parents. (By the way, you can win a copy below!)

In part one of our interview, Dr. Rowell delves into why adopted and foster kids struggle with eating and how a healthy relationship with food is at the core of children’s happiness.

Learn more about Dr. Rowell at her website, and read her fantastic blog.