And YES, I would love to take part in your Well-Nourished Women interview series. Would be so much fun and I’d be truly honored! Let’s talk soon, xoxo

As you know I very much see the “learned” behavior that gets passed down from mothers to daughters with regard to dieting. I lived it and now I observe it in my practice. I feel so hopeful when I see my clients recognizing this predicament without guilt or shame but rather with curiosity and then resolve. As we become more conscious of our own beliefs and early programming around food, we’re better equipped to provide our daughters with healthier role models and conversations around food and body image.

Let’s keep the dialogue going shall we? I would be happy to share your “Un-Diet for Moms and Daughters” with my readers. Perhaps you’d be willing to take part in my Well-Nourished Woman interview series. That would be a perfect place for our work to cross-pollinate don’t you think? Thank you for the work you are doing in the world and for gracing my page with your presence.

We’ve had this conversation before and I’m glad you’re bringing it to light here. We are very much on the same page;)

As you know, this is my passion, my mission, my purpose here;) I have a daughter, and I work with moms of daughters every day…I see the anguish, the pain and the wish: we all want things to be different for our girls. We don’t want them to experience the pain, the suffering, the angst, the insecurity that we did. Yet everywhere we look, it feels like we are alone in this wish. In a culture that preaches “anti-obesity” but markets junk food; in a culture that preaches “self-esteem” but markets “perfection” — it is more and more important that we women join together so our daughters hear our voices of sanity over the ROAR of the media.

But we must embrace the truth first ourselves (our own essential “good enough-ness”), which is not easy, when we too are victims of the same messages. We must learn to “be the change we wish to see in our daughters.” (Thanks, Ghandi)

Here’s my story (the short version;): I first learned to diet in 7th grade – when my body changed with puberty (which is a normal response of bodies, but our culture doesn’t allow us to embrace these changes in a health way, does it?!). I learned to diet from my mother who learned it from hers…who learned it probably from her husband (who was a “doctor” ;)

That diet, as many do, turned into a binge, which turned into another diet, and so on…until I discovered purging. For 9 years: diet, binge, purge…Not fun.

Luckily, I was able to recover, and through that recovery, discover bits and pieces of the truth – about myself and about what led to those years of struggle.

And as a mom of a daughter; and as a therapist and health counselor who has worked for years with women and girls struggling with the whole gamut of disordered eating, I know deep in my heart that if we have any hope to change things for our daughters, we must change the conversation, as you say here. We must begin to see that so much of this is constructed culturally as a way to keep women feeling like crap (so we buy more stuff, so we can finally feel good enough); but we can not do this alone. I do think a change of conscioussness is underfoot – more and more awareness of the craziness of this outdated, disempowering, deadly way of thinking that keeps girls and women “small” in their lives. Enough of us are sick of it!

You asked for different – empowering, positive – words. I just a few weeks ago created something called “The Un-Diet for Moms and Daughters.” It’s also a movement, but started with a little “handout” which I’d be happy to share if you’d like. It highlights the “diet” words/feelings/experiences and the “un-diet” words/feelings/experience,which are very aligned with the “skinny” vs. “healthy” conversation. (I don’t want this to feel like self-promotion, so I am not posting it here, but since our mission is similar, please let me know if you’d like to share it;)…

Thanks for speaking out so clearly against the insanity.