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1. Meal prepping vs. Just Cooking

Something I did in my eating disorder and something I see a lot of client doing is meal prepping rather than just cooking recipes.  I’d prep the quinoa/sweet potatoes, protein source, and roasted veggies…then compile it into a meal during the week.  While that works, now I’m all like, “i’m just gonna cook.”

I recommend finding a cookbook to work your way through and making every recipe in it that looks satisfying.  My favorite cookbook is Seriously Delish.  It’s oozing creativity, the recipe are delicious and there is zero calorie counts on the recipes so you can focus on eating satisfying foods.  So maybe instead of meal prepping, just choose 3 recipes to cook that week.  

Meal prepping sounds so sterile to me.  Cooking sounds warm and inviting.  

2. Freshman 15

So there’s always the distasteful joke made when someone leaves for their Freshman year of college to be careful to not gain the “freshman 15.” Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how the “Freshman 15” is really just a woman/man transitioning from their teenage body into their adult body. Not many people are meant to or should stay at their high school weight.  Our thin-obsessed, diet culture has taken something that is a side effect of being a human (hello, bodies change.) and turned it into something we should feel shameful about.  Gaining weight when you go to college is no different than gaining knowledge and gaining friends in college…it’s just part of life.

3. Weight Fluctuations

What I want to explain here is best explained in a graphic…

So many people perceive their body changing drastically throughout the day.  I think it’s a helpful reminder that even if you feel like you body is having massive weight shifts in a day or in a week, the reality is probably closer to the black line.

4. I was on another podcast!

I can’t remember if I’ve shared the link to this podcast yet, but I was on my friend Heather’s podcast.  Here’s the link if you want to listen! The last question she asked me about not going to vet school was my favorite and something I hadn’t been asked before.

5. Blog post topics

Are there any blog posts you’d like to see me write? I’d love to hear what you would find helpful!

59 comments

  1. Hi, I really enjoy your content. I have my own journey and there is one thing that I am really trying hard to process – the anxiety of hunger.

    Trusting hunger as a natural cue. Being OK with this cue is something that I haven’t regained. Hunger causes me a lot of anxiety because of my restricting/binging past. Have you seen others regain peace when they are ‘hungry’? Is there healing from this?

    Thank you for your insights.

  2. Wow, your Freshman 15 comment is HUGE!! I think we should make flyers and hand them out at all campuses so girls can just LIVE LIFE and not worry about gaining weight, and if they do gain weight, let’s celebrate that GROWTH in LIFE and SPIRIT and HEALTH as toward becoming a real woman. Thank you, Kylie. Goodness, you are a bright one.

  3. Totally agree on the meal prepping stuff, it seems so rigid and boring to me. Cooking dinner is one of my favorite parts of the day!

  4. I did a rotation at a college student health center and the RD showed me research about how people entering college gain about the same amount of weight as someone who doesn’t go to college but is the same age. Kind of supports what you’re saying about teenage body -> woman body. 
    Also, I like to not so much meal prep, but meal plan, because it saves me $$. Sometimes I prep the lunches I’m going to pack, like make chicken salad, so I am not rushed in the morning. 

  5. I would love to see a post addressing the ways in which intuitive eating can be twisted into a diet mentality (and has been by some who promote it as a means of weight loss).

    I would also love to see a post talking about set point weight and how it can be raised by weight cycling. I was reading a post on another blog recently talking about how learning to eat intuitively will allow your body to settle on a weight where it wants and needs to be naturally, but I think if people aren’t aware of the effect of weight cycling it can set them up for thinking that intuitive eating automatically could equal major weight loss.

  6. Practicing intuitive eating as an athlete. Often times I don’t feel hungry for what I know my body needs. Why is this and how can I feel in tune with my cues and still lead this active lifestyle, but not stay stuck on a rigid “meal plan” on/off my seasons? I run XC and Track.

    • I second this as well! I live a very active lifestyle by choice, I lift weights, run, and swim when I get the chance. It really does help me relax and deal with my anxiety. While I’m happy with my body, I do have trouble with intuitive eating and being an athlete when I want certain foods but I don’t feel well enough after eating them to move in ways that make me feel good, then anxiety kicks in, and so begins the vicious cycle.

    • Thirding this!! I train for marathons and as my mileage peaks I have difficulty keeping up with the nutrition aspect. I practice intuitive eating as well but I’ve found that often times I will fall short when I am running 40-50 miles per week and also balancing living my life and sometimes I think I’m getting enough but when I sit and look at it, I’m really not. Or I’ll feel guilty having a treat because I tell myself, “my body really needs nutrients, I should be eating something more nutrient dense. everything has to have nutrients for recovery”. Aaahh.

    • Throwing my hat in to say I’d love a post on this as well!

  7. The comments people made after I gained Freshman 15 were actually a big contributing factor to my ED. Even though I was still probably at a healthier weight with the added pounds, everyone was pointing it out ?
    Can’t wait to give this podcast episode a listen!

  8. I try so hard to meal plan but it always makes me frustrated and bitter about having to cook. When I just go to the store, buy our weekly staples, and create meals based off what’s available and looking good at the moment I find we eat so much better and waste less food.

  9. Also, you should list off all your favorite Kodak cake combinations! I’ve seen you do a lot on your instagram, it would be cool to see them all in one place :)

  10. LOVE the squiggly line graphic! I’m gonna have to use that with some of my clients. I’m always having to tell them that although their emotions are very real and that they definitely feel a certain way, their perception of reality is not in line with reality (they perceive they’ve gained weight and they actually haven’t). Thanks for sharing!

  11. Love your blog! Would love to see a post and hear your thoughts on intuitive eating as a parent with young children (like starting from
    babies) and really modeling intuitive eating for them!

  12. I love this list <3 i mean i always resonate with your posts but this one particularly. Thank you!

  13. Thanks for your thoughts, so many are dead on, and applicable when it comes to a healthy mind set on being “Healthy” both physically and mentally. I would love to hear more about basic steps to make sure your menstrual cycle stays more consistent when you’ve come back from hypothalamic amenorrhea. That’s where I am and would be grateful for any insights you might have. ♥

  14. This blog is just what I need each day. When you were on the Food Psych podcast the other day you were discussing how life events like having a child, adolescence, and others were times when your body is biologically supposed to change. Yet society/marketing(?) uses that to prey on our insecurities while it is a natural and necessary life change. I was hoping you could expand more on those. In general, you are so down to earth and approachable and awesome that I love everything you post. Oh, I sometimes see people who are in recovery afraid of gaining weight while that is the point of some recoveries. For many learning to eat intuitively means gaining weight but there is sort of this …thought that intuitive eating won’t make you gain weight. I don’t know if I’m articulating this right. Ugh, hopefully it makes enough sense that you can write a good blog post about what I need to hear! haha!

  15. I would love your perspective on accepting my new post-baby body. I had a traumatic emergency c-section when my son was born at 26 weeks (he’s now a healthy, happy 19 month old) and while I’m active and eat well for the most part, I have a c section shelf that is not budging and that I’m having a hard time making peace with.

  16. that graph is so on point….i do a lot of meal planning simply because of the time/lifestyle factor but i do love the idea of actually cooking instead of simply reheating food..

  17. Hey!
    I would love a post about dating and getting comfortable with your body in those settings, eating out, drinking while having a past of an eating disorder.

  18. Your thoughts about the Freshman 15 are spot on. I was OBSESSED with fitness/eating during college and actually lost weight. Looking back I realize just how unhealthy I actually was because I missed out on a lot during college because I was running miles instead. Another thought, I actually think I didn’t transition from teenage body to woman body until my mid-twenties. Is that possible? It seemed like overnight I gained 10 lbs, and my shape just changed. It was very uncomfortable at first, but with the help of this blog and others, I have come to understand this is natural. I like how Robyn Coal put it… She said, “I’m in my non-diet woman body now.” That just really resonated with me as does your post here.

  19. I’d love for you to write about self-coaching. I recently had a bad anxiety episode over my self image and I tried to talk my mind out of being stressed about it, but it didn’t really help. I’ve had the same thing happen to me when I’m very stressed. I tell myself that it’s fine and worrying won’t help but my whole body still feels very stressed. 

  20. Love these kinds of posts!! A few topic ideas:
    – intuitive eating when you work a desk job, have a strict schedule, etc. where you have to pack food and don’t have has much flexibility.
    – how to stop body checking
    – body positivity/kindness “pick me ups” when you’re in triggering situations
    – how to understand if you’re eating emotionally or truly hungry… it can be easy to overthink!
    – books/podcast you reccommend
    – easy, satisfying lunch ideas
    – how to talk about/approach food freedom and intuitive eating with people who are struggling with the diet mentality
    – favorite places to shop for clothes and groceries :)
    – more posts about maggie!!!

    Long time fan/reader, first time commenter here and I love your blog so much <3

  21. I’m new to your blog, so I apologize if you’ve already covered this. But I’m overweight to the point where it’s not just aesthetically unpleasant for me but is affecting my health as well. I would love to see a post about justifying the intuitive eating approach when I know my doctor would want me to go on a structured eating plan to lose the weight. I’m not saying he would want me to crash diet and lose it quickly, but I don’t know how he would feel about intuitive eating. :) Hopefully that makes sense.

  22. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about “real world intuitive eating”…. or something like that. Like, for example, my thought right now is, “Sometimes, life gets in the way of eating intuitively”… except I feel like that CAN’T be true. But certain seasons make eating harder. For example, we were renovating our kitchen and only had a microwave, crock pot, and griddle to cook with. We only had a bathroom sink, so dishes were hard to do. And because we were doing our kitchen, we were on a tight budget and couldn’t spend extra money on eating out. I didn’t know how to honor my hunger and cravings. Another time is when I spent a semester teaching English abroad at an orphanage. I didn’t really have control over the food presented to me. I did have SOME options, but it was still a very compromised situation. Or sometimes we go through seasons that are just very busy and crazy, like when you have a family member in the hospital for an extended amount of time. While I don’t have an issue with eating out, it’s pricy! And eating out the things that I’m craving and are more balanced is even more expensive!

    So perhaps advice on how to mentally approach situations like this…

  23. Would love to see a post about tips for eating out for someone who struggled with ED thoughts – there’s such a pressure to order a salad, a plain meal, or to change what you’re ordering based on what OTHERs are eating – or if not, to go all out and make it a “cheat” meal. So would love to see your thoughts/advice on that!

  24. Once again you are spot on!! I’m in college and this campus is just horrible for the diet mentality – I can’t get through a meal without someone commenting about their diet.
    As I’m recovering from my eating disorder, I’m still struggling with the all or nothing mentality of fun foods. I would love a post on how to incorporate these foods without any restriction, whether intentional or unintentional.
    Your posts keep me going!!

  25. Hey. I love your blog and Instagram account. I felt the part about weight fluctuation was really helpful for me today. I’ve been trying to stop dieting and practice intuitive eating and have been gaining some weight as a result. It’s tempting to want to diet again but I know that’s not what is best for me. Maybe you could do a more in depth blog post about weight fluctuations and how to be comfortable with weight gain after stopping dieting? If you haven’t already done that. Also I find it hard to figure out how to eat healthy without feeling like I’m back to dieting again. So maybe something about that would be nice. Thanks for your consistent encouragement!

  26. Re meal prep I do think different stages in life call for it- sadly! I LOVE cooking and would so enjoy making a new recipe every night but with two little girls to entertain and care for it’s just not feasible. I do try and make my Sunday meal prep Time me time though and listen to podcasts and sip on iced coffee with a side of chocolate ?

  27. Hi Kylie!

    Thank you so much for your content, your blog has helped my personal journey so much!

    I would love to see a post about how to help loved ones with their issues around food and weight. I am actually pursuing dietetics into my adulthood, just beginning to learn about food and nutrition but knowing that I want to practice from a HAES perspective. I have a great boyfriend who supports my personal journey with intuitive eating, but doesn’t believe it can work for everyone. By BMI standards, he is overweight. He is a former athlete and says he is interested in losing weight for the physical relief (he doesn’t feel his best right now, his belly causes him chest pressure, etc.). I’ve shared as much as I can with my limited knowledge, and have tried to encourage him to read up on intuitive eating and its health outcomes, but he is unconvinced it would work for him and is determined that weight loss is his solution. What I want to know is, how should I approach this? Could some weight loss really be the answer for him? I tend to believe that through the pursuit of mindful eating and movement, he could feel a lot better physically and mentally… And perhaps even lose some weight if that’s what his body needs. But he can’t accept the idea that letting go of weight loss as his goal could benefit him. But of course, I am no expert, and I can’t force him!

  28. I’d love to see a post or just even a reply on how you deal with intuitive eating and food waste — for example, sometimes I’m not hungry enough to finish my plate but I don’t want to waste food and it’s really not any good as leftovers.
    A post on intuitive eating for picky eaters would be good too. There are some people who may feel the need to eat more fibrous foods or more protein or whatever but they may just not like those foods.

  29. I really love this cooking vs. meal prep point. I have found that meal prep doesn’t really work for my ED journey as it takes me back to control and that mindset of x amount of carbs/protein/calories and so on. I also find that when I prep my meals for the week I will have days where that isn’t what I feel like at all! Just last week I had a salad and sweet potato all packed for work but that morning realized that my hunger was crazy that day and I just wanted a huge carb-tastic sandwich.
    I ended up leaving that at home and having to buy a lunch that would properly satisfy me, whereas if I had waited till the morning to get lunch ready I would have allowed myself more time and been able to pack something better. I would love to see a post about how ED recovery and intuitive eating is a journey. I started with the mindset that once I started IE everything would slowly balance out but I find some days I have set backs. These can be because someone (unintentionally) said something or I am just in a down mood, but I struggle with it just because I have the mindset that it should all be past me. I am wondering if you have days like that and how you deal with triggers.

  30. I love these posts Kylie! I think it is important to address the issue of “the freshman 15.” During my freshman year I participated in a study on BGSU’s campus to debunk the myth of the freshman 15. It felt good to be able to share with others that it is false, and even if you do gain weight it is part of your body transitioning into adulthood. I would love to hear more about how weight fluctuation is perfectly normal! I think it is something that definitely needs to be addressed more often. 

  31. Next year I will be in grad school, and will need to budget to afford living in a city and keep up with other payments while most likely only working part time. I also know in general there are people who just can’t afford certain foods even when we want them. I was wondering if you could post about intuitive eating on a budget!

  32. i love reading your posts so much. you are so honest and real and it’s incredible. i’m super with you on numbers 1 & 2 – gaining weight in college for me was so much less about eating/drinking than it was about getting curves and maturing into my own body. nothing wrong with that at all whatsoever! happy to have them, in fact :)

  33. Always love hearing your thoughts, Kylie! Totally agree about the freshman 15– i feel like I got tricked into being paranoid about that and it totally impacted my college experience (for the worse). I already know I am going to drill it into my kids that that is NOT a thing to even be thinking about when you enter college! Also good point on “meal prepping” vs cooking. Any time I hear meal prepping I just think of dry grilled chicken in a tupperware container and it makes me feel sad! But cooking? Yes. :)

  34. As much as I enjoy cooking, I rarely have the time during weeknights to spend time on even thinking about making a recipe. For that reason I find a bit of meal prepping on the weekend a lifesaver. When I say meal prepping, I’ll roast some vegies, maybe make a sauce or marinade, and I usually cook something for dinner on Sunday night that results in lots of leftovers for use during the week. I might bake something yummy too!
    Freshman 15 is such an American concept. In Australia, I can’t remember ever hearing that kind of phrase when I went to university. Granted, that was a long time ago now! I really enjoy your blog – I like the mix of personal day to day insights, as well as the more inspirational / educational posts. Keep doing what you’re doing!

  35. Kylie, I am a long-time reader but first-time commenter. Your blog posts resonate deeply with me, and your points have me always nodding in agreement as I read. Although I don’t know you personally, I feel as though I do. You are incredibly wise, genuine, relatable, and insightful – a true breath of fresh air. Keep on doing what you are doing! You are changing lives and helping people, including me, break free from obstacles that have been holding us back for far too long. Thank you for all that you do and for being YOU! You are a beautiful soul.
    Wishing you much love and happiness,
    Vanessa

  36. Love your points about meal prepping! I tried to do it in college for practicality’s sake, but it often ended up stressing me out more than helping (what to make? will I feel like? will it stay fresh? etc). Now, I just try to make sure I have all the basics (veggies, avocado, some carb) available for quick cooking and go from there!

  37. You sure were on the podcast! LOVED chatting with you girl. Come back anytime! ;)

  38. I love these style of posts too! Thanks for bringing up great topics and being willing to discuss them. It’s much appreciated!

  39. Hi Kylie! New reader here, and I am obsessed with you posts and loved your episode on Food Psych :) I would love to hear a bit more on the exercise front..how you moved away from obsessive exercise and into movement that feels good? What you did to combat feelings that you needed to have an intense workout for it to “count?”

  40. For a future blog post can you talk about how you manage health with intuitive eating? I know the point is not to “manage” anything and just listen to your body, but it’s unreal how addicting sugar is :| to the point where my body, instead of course correcting, seems to just crave it more and more and more which long term can not be good for my blood sugar, insulin, etc.

  41. Kylie, that freshman 15 part spoke to me!! I am beyond excited for college, but there’s always that little voice in the back of my head that is worried about gaining weight. I know if I listen to my body, find some type of joyful movement, etc. whether or not I gain weight won’t (and shouldn’t) matter. with that being said, I do have some posts I would love to see!!

    -how to handle intuitive eating when I know I am above my set point (without making IE another diet)

    -being OK with being hungry/not allowing hunger to turn into a binge (obviously, you never want to purposefully go starving, but sometimes that’s life… Ive become stressed out when making meal plans with friends and family because “what if Im hungry an hour before?” I don’t want to be full for those plans, but I also don’t want to binge once I sit down) 

    -IE as a college student: (meal plans, lots of snacks in dorms (easy to binge,) struggling to find a movement I enjoy/ not making it into “keep the weight off” exercise (Ive fell in love with yoga, but I dont think my college has a yoga studio)

    -handeling PMS- I find that Im super sensitive to binges/ bad body image/diet thoughts during this time (and my PMS symptoms last SO LONG aka almost half of my month is spent struggling) 

    Sorry for the long comment, but your posts always speak to me, in ways you cold not imagine. I wish I would thank you a million times over. XO,
    Rachel 

  42. I really would love more posts about eating for runners. I run a lot and I am always afraid I am not eating enough. I fill up pretty fast so I think I am full but Then I second guess myself. I just don’t know how much I need to eat! Looking at my history I sometimes think “hey I used to run less and eat more” but then I tell myself I’m just worrying too much about it and I try to stop worrying. But then something happens that triggers the worrying over eating enough. I just need some guidance. I’ve also heard so many different viewpoints – eat high protein, eat high fat, eat high carbs, don’t eat carbs, don’t eat soy, blah blah blah. I’ve always thought distance runners need more carbs to recover but with all the conflicting info I just get confused!

  43. I’m loving these “thought” blog posts you do! I’d love to hear your thoughts about the bulletproof coffee concept. I have a hard time wrapping my head around drinking such a calorie dense drink and then not eating for hours, or essentially fasting all day. I feel like this could cause an unhealthy relationship with food and really increase binging, etc. It doesn’t seem like it is a nurturing way to start the day (both physically and mentally). There are so many mixed reviews out there and it’d be great to hear a RD’s perspective.

  44. I’m not a huge fan of leftovers, so I love just cooking recipes too! I have a few cookbooks that I need to dive into. I also love that weight fluctuation graphic. Sometimes you feel like you’ve gone up or down in weight so much but you really haven’t! As far as posts go, I enjoy the topics you discuss. What about eating for runners, do you have any insight for that?

  45. As usual I loved this blog and the discussion you get going. Meal prep seems to mean different things to different people by the sounds of it! I love preparing my lunch for the next day(s) using leftovers from dinner, or making a large pot of rice to use for meals during the week, and I usually make some overnight oats for 3 days in advance to have for breakfast.. Everyone is different though and I do love to cook and create, but for me it isn’t either/or but just both :) Blog recommendations… I’d love to hear your thoughts on how to create a ‘new identify’ when moving away from being a ‘healthy / fitgirl’ .. I feel like I AM that healthy sporty girl, and now that I am taking a break from exercise and am focussing on gaining some weight I am feeling a bit lost.

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  47. I have a couple of questions that I would love for you to address!
    1) I follow you on instagram, and you have mentioned several times about a book you listened to on audible but I can’t remember what it was! It was the one where at the end you thought he was contradicting what he had been saying, and then someone clarified. I don’t know if discussing that book is a good blog idea, but I would love for you to remind me what the book was because I want to read it!
    2) In that same idea, I would love a blog post about books that you recommend concerning HAES/IE/Self Care, etc.
    3) You mentioned somewhere that you didn’t care for Dr. Oz. Could you explain why you feel that way?
    I am fairly new to your blog, but I absolutely adore it, and you may have already discussed a few of these things. Thanks for what you do!

    • Hey Courtney!

      1) The Gluten Lie!
      2) Body Respect, HAES, Intuitive Eating, Playing Big by Tara Mohr
      3) That’d make a great post! Great idea!

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