Confession time, Reader. I used to have a lustful affair with food. My 20s were fraught with food rules and conditions. My healthy eating habits were more about not eating and less about health. During the holidays, I gave myself seasonal permission to eat chocolate, baked goods, and other high-calorie foods sworn off-limits for the rest of the year. From Thanksgiving to New Year's, I'd sneak chocolate toffee bars (recipe below), mini-pecan pies, and chocolate peanut butter balls. I ate...
about 23 hours ago • 3 min read
Did you see the picture from Thanksgiving on Facebook, Reader? How did it make you feel about your body? On a recent call with the Midlife Feast Community, we talked about ways to support self-care and negative body image moments during the holidays. Movement and the mindset are at the top of the list for many Featers. Finding fun ways to move your body this season is a great way to help decrease stress and the critical body image voice. But what if it’s difficult to get in exercise due to...
9 days ago • 3 min read
Hey, how was your Thanksgiving Reader? "That's a loaded question," said Liz at the start of our session this week. "What happened?" I asked "I hit a deer on the way to my sister's for the holiday - well, almost hit the deer. I swerved to avoid it, skidded through a ditch, and took out a farmer's fence in the process." "Whoa! Fine for the deer, how about you?" "I'm fine. No major injuries other than a little soreness. My car, on the other hand. Totaled." "And I got a traffic ticket for...
15 days ago • 3 min read
"It's not Thanksgiving unless you hear that slurrrp, plop as the cranberry sauce exits the can," said one of my grad school housemates. With the rings of the can tattooed loud and proud around the middle of the burgundy-colored jello-like cylinder, that sound was the holiday for her, not in my world. I'm NOT team-canned cranberry sauce. Can it even be called a sauce if you have to slice it with a knife? My culinary dietitian brain exploded when my housemate assured me that the canned cran...
23 days ago • 1 min read
We’re 2 weeks out from Thanksgiving. How’s your stress level, Reader? I used to get super anxious about Thanksgiving. My dieting mind threw caution messages left and right, like driving through a construction zone that went overkill on the orange barrels with the flashing orange lights. “How many miles do I have to run to burn off pumpkin pie? What if I just eat the filling and not the crust?” “How can I make holiday cookies healthier so I don’t feel guilty about eating them?” “I’ll just have...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
"What's wrong with me?! Why can't I get my shitake together? I used to bake the pies, host the party, cook the turkey, and look reasonably put together doing it all, and now? I'm lucky if I remember to take the Costco mac'n cheese out of the freezer with enough time to thaw before my kid gets home from soccer - and don't even look at the pile of laundry and dishes that are mocking me from the corner of the kitchen. I'm tired all the time! I got no more figs to give!" Tell Jess, you can...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
"Gah, it's so hard to get my nutrition right these days," Laurie said. "I'm trying to add in more fiber, get enough protein, eat more foods with omega-3s…all the things! But then I just get overwhelmed and I don't do any of it." "Why does nutrition have to be so difficult?" Whoa. That last comment stopped me. Nutrition being difficult is THE LAST thing I want for any woman over 40. Remember. Food should be easy. "Show up. Think about it (but not too hard). And give a shit." - The Bike Guy Hi...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Are you taking HRT, Reader? Do you want to take it? Are you a candidate to take it? Just curious while I'm considering my life choices. Menopause is having a moment in the media these days. Thank goodness the silence is finally breaking on this very normal season of life for anyone born with ovaries. Our grandmothers and moms weren’t as lucky – stuck in cultural narratives centered on jokes, shame, and a “just deal with it, you’re being too sensitive” attitude. But what’s missing from today's...
2 months ago • 2 min read
"Gah! Why am I feeling like this?" I thought as I stabbed my hiking poles into the trail with each step, desperately trying to keep up with my friends. We were only 5 days into a 17-day hike of the John Muir Trail in the NE Sierra Mountains of California. Sure, we were hiking above 7,000 feet most days and carrying 30-pound packs, but I had trained for this all summer! My legs felt great. My heart and lungs were strong. But what was wrong with my head? I felt faint and dizzy even on flat or...
2 months ago • 1 min read
What if there were a recipe for thriving in menopause? Would you use it, Reader? A recipe you can make on any crazy, busy day to help you feel less like you're on the menopause struggle bus. "I just need an easy recipe," Jenn said as we sat on logs eating our overnight oats on a recent backpacking trip. Jenn struggled to find the right combination of food to fuel our outdoor adventures without offending her sensitive late-40s digestive tract. I gave her a simple, few-ingredient recipe for...
3 months ago • 2 min read