Do you ever wonder about how the fitness industry works?
Have you ever thought about gyms, health clubs, and gyms as an industry?
I love movement. I love that it's always been part of me. Over my life, I’ve been a dancer, cheerleader, fitness class teacher, personal trainer, kickboxer, runner, yogi, yoga instructor, and collegiate rower.
I believe that movement is sacred. I know it in my bones.
In my last blog (SoullessCycle: The Pack and The Pact), I wrote about my mixed experiences at a SoulCycle fitness studio. Over the last two years, I’ve done lots of embodied/somatic research for the book I’m writing about exercise addiction and the fitness industry.
Today’s blog describes my latest SoulCycle visit.
Ten years ago, I tried SoulCycle in New York City. In a dark studio with loud music, I got lost in the crowd for a rhythmic, freeing, and sweaty workout.
I liked the no metrics/no screens method and choreographed workouts, but was less fond of the cliques. I didn't like how SoulCycle promoted their instructors like products–or used celebrities to manufacture a reputation as the newest and coolest place to “trendercise.” Turned off after a few classes, I didn’t go back.
In our past blogs we have voiced our clinical opinions regarding the need for increased screening for disordered eating. Who should be screening? Primary providers such as pediatricians, therapists and dietitians come to mind. In the news this past week it was reported that there is no clear evidence at this time to recommend specific guidelines for or against screening for eating disorders (HealthDay, 2022).
HAES® is the acronym for a movement that has been around since the 1960s, otherwise known as Health at Every Size®. HAES® is a weight-neutral approach to health, emphasizing healthy behavior changes to promote health rather than weight loss. It encourages individuals to appreciate their bodies for what they can do and provide rather than for how they look.
Like many eating disorder nutrition practices, this year we’ve seen an influx of complex, complicated and even atypical cases come to our virtual doorsteps. The pandemic has given us an opportunity to work with a more robust and complete picture of eating disorders that span the spectrum of age, gender, race and symptom presentation.
The macronutrient, Fat, has a bad reputation in diet culture and especially in the eating disorder world. It doesn’t help that society’s views on body image further create a PR nightmare for the macronutrient. The common misnomer that eating fat will make you fat is understandable as the name itself, gives off that impression. In addition, scientifically there is some logic behind that myth:
Weight and weight loss can be tricky subjects, especially when it comes to eating disorder treatment and recovery. At times, our patients have inquired about needing a “jump start” to weight loss. For some, the idea of “jump starting” can symbolize a beginning of something dramatic and different. When it comes to weight, this usually involves a drastic change that can include some degree of restriction, cutting calories, limiting food groups, or meals all together.
“New Year, New Me”. The start of a new year usually brings sayings such as this- especially as we eagerly await 2021 to begin. This unassuming quote brings significant pressure to change who we are overnight. We envision that at the stroke of midnight, all our habits that we endeavor to change - will change. We’ll take up that streaming yoga class, start a juice cleanse, or give up sugar. Not only do internal forces drive that desire, but external pressures are abundant via social media, news articles, and influencers touting all the things one should do on January 1st.
Although it may feel different from previous years, the holiday season is upon us. The holidays have the potential to bring warmth and the sense of normalcy we are all craving. However, it can also bring on overwhelming emotions. Given this year’s atypical cocktail of COVID mixed with a bit of food and family it may be an even more challenging time for those recovering from disordered eating.
There has been significant controversy over the past month about fiber; what it is, how it has been used, and what constitutes excess. Tanya Zuckerbrot, founder of the F-Factor Diet, has recently made headlines for the negative consequences imposed by too much fiber in diets. While fiber intake is an integral part of good nutrition, fiber also can cause a body major distress when over-consumed. Fiber - is it friend or foe?
An increasingly common refrain with respect to diet is that sugar in all forms is bad for you. The topic of fruit or “overfruiting” arises with increasing frequency in all circles: patients, friends, family. It usually starts with “I think I eat too much fruit...” or “portion size matters with fruit because of how much sugar fruit has”. Fruit has recently developed a bad reputation with concern largely stemming from the amount of sugar fruit contains.
As we all adjust to our new COVID-19 normal, sleep patterns have become collateral damage. Our new work -from-home/ stay-at-home schedules amplified by rising anxieties have altered how and when we rest. Some of us may find going to sleep harder or waking up much later because of more time we have on our hands. This disruption can wreak havoc on our mood, brain activity, and regulating hormones that are imperative to food choices and behavior.
Jillian Micheals has made some seriously unfriendly waves among the body positive crowd as well as those of us in eating disorder recovery with her response to Lizzo’s body. Although Micheals goes to great lengths to remind the public she supports body love at any size she emphatically does not agree with celebrating Lizzo’s body along with her music.
Recent holiday ads such as the one from Peleton of a woman recounting her year long journey with her new stationary bike or the Mercedes ad of Santa getting shisted out of his red shiny sleigh by a tween who threatens to leak his photo to social media, has gotten heat for their undertones suggesting all bodies, thin or not need changing.
With an increased awareness of health and wellness, nutritional supplement use amongst Americans are at an all high. According to the 2017 Annual Survey on Dietary Supplements, three fourths of Americans took dietary supplements last year. At Integrated Eating, we believe nutritional supplements can provide certain nutrients to your body for optimum health.
One common query that often presents itself in our nutrition sessions is how bodies maintain their ideal body weight. A myth most often related and recounted is that weight maintenance is simply the sum of calories consumed versus the calories expended. If we consume more than we burn we will gain weight.
