Sydney Gatward, MS RD LDN

07/27/2023

As the summer heat turns up, it can be extra challenging living in a body and feelings about our body can be dificult. See our newest post for some tips and journaling prompts to help get you through!

We all have a body, so we all have body image (essentially, how we perceive this earth suit we call home). Some days, it might be neutral, others it might be positive, others it might feel hard to get out of bed and navigate the world in your skin. The truth is, our bodies do not change much on the

04/02/2022

https://www.liberatednutrition.com/blog/why-what-i-eat-in-a-day-posts-are-doing-more-harm-than-good

Thank you to our fabulous intern blog contributor, Erin, for this post! Social media can be a great tool for connection and inspiration, and it can also be a breeding ground for disordered eating and eating disorders due to posts like “what I eat in a day”, which promote unrealistic, often orthorexic, standards with eating.

**I want to preface this up front by saying – you should not be getting your nutrition information from any sort of influencer. Please only take advice from credentialed nutrition experts (who can support you in discovering your own inner, innate nutrition expert).**

05/28/2021

“The truth is, health and weight are not nearly as entwined as we think they are. Overemphasizing weight loss is stigmatizing and can actually be detrimental to individual health....Relentlessly encouraging weight loss does more harm than good. ‘Fat-shaming messaging increases weight stigma, which increases stress and inflammation—which are negative health outcomes’...”

Highly recommend this read, and impressed to see this messaging from Outside Mag!!

Body fat is not a reliable indicator of health. So why are we obsessed with it?

12/02/2020

Very interesting read!!

“The same neurons lit up when they were shown creamy cheesy pasta or refreshing berries when they were hungry. The cells produce dopamine. The lonelier or hungrier the participant felt, the bigger the response. The size of the effect of isolation and fasting were also very similar. This showed when they were isolated they craved people just as much as food when they were hungry.”

“Hunger is known to delay development on the cognitive, social and emotional level. This includes reading, language, attention, memory and problem-solving capabilities.”

Scientists say we yearn for company when lonely the same way we yearn for food when hungry

11/24/2020

Thanks to diet culture, Thanksgiving - a holiday that’s supposed to be about gratitude, abundance, and let’s be honest, stuffing and pecan pie - has been taken over by food anxieties, “healthy” swaps and diet talk. Read this post to learn tips for how to eat intuitively on Thanksgiving - however you're celebrating this year! Hopefully safely!

https://www.rachaelhartleynutrition.com/blog/2015/11/wellness-wednesday-eating-normally-over-the-holidays

11/06/2020

Suggested reading for you or anyone you know who is struggling with weight concerns this year!

So you’ve put on some weight during lockdown. You can obsess over it, but you can also be kinder to yourself. Here’s how.

09/07/2020

Hi friends! I hope you are taking care of yourselves in these uncertain times. Somehow, its been nearly 3 months since publishing a blog post! Here is a brand new one all about how stress can impact hormones, what to look out for, and some strategies for reducing stress. My stress bucket has been pretty full these days, but I am grateful for the gorgeous weather that has made for some beautiful time outside recently.
What have you been doing to keep your stress bucket from overflowing?

Stress comes in many forms; it can be situational, or it can be perceived . Sometimes it looks like wondering if your outfit makes sense for a specific occasion, and other times it’s stressing over a family member’s health (or your own). We all experience inevitable stress during our lives, and ...

06/15/2020

New blog post is up! All about our basal metabolic rate and how to maintain an efficient metabolism 👍

We love to complain about our metabolism. We love to say that our metabolism is not working fast enough, or “if only I had a better metabolism, I could eat ___.” Or “I didn’t workout today so I can’t eat ___.”  But, get this—we can still eat the cookies, the bread, the nachos, all...

06/08/2020

Thanks to my intern, Jennie, for her contribution to the blog!
We need food regardless of the presence of hunger. If you're noticing that your appetite has been impacted in recent times, you aren't alone.
We need plenty of energy to fight diet culture, eating disorders, systemic racism and oppression of black folx. Eating is self care 💛

Hi friends! This blog post is a contribution from my intern, Jennie. She is a current dietetic intern at the Massachusetts General Hospital finishing up her rotations to become a registered dietitian. Thank you, Jennie! Our world has a new norm. So far, 2020 has been entirely revolutionary wit

04/03/2020

Now is the perfect time for self care, compassion and tenderness. If that means more emotional eating than usual- you’re being resourceful. Let go of the judgement. You’re doing better than you think you are.

Your trauma response may explain why you can’t stop snacking

03/28/2020

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-SmmF2JuXb/?igshid=z4qmbfh76855

03/23/2020

If you're working from home or finding more time on your hands, what better time than now to dig deeper into intuitive eating! If you're anything like my clients right now, this crisis is really illuminating some disordered thoughts around food and body (fear of overeating, stress eating, use of restrictive behaviors as a form of control, fear of weight gain, etc.). I have so much compassion for you. I also want to name that these fears were placed in you because of diet culture (the 70 billion dollar industry that profits off these fears and insecurities).
This podcast episode in Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris and Evelyn Tribole (one of the coauthors of Intuitive Eating) is a wonderful place to start if you want to learn more: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/220-the-anti-diet-evelyn-tribole/id1087147821?i=1000461282851

Please reach out if you have questions about working 1:1 (virtually!), or would like some more resources! So happy to help. Stay well!

‎Show Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris, Ep #220: The Anti-Diet | Evelyn Tribole - Jan 1, 2020