The past few weeks have been challenging, I'm not going to lie. The sudden need to isolate at home and all the changes that has brought to most areas of my life have been gut wrenching. And...this continues...
As I have transitioned my nutrition counseling practice to my home office, the conversation that has come up repeatedly with most of my clients has been about their struggles with the home food environment and the non stop joking online about food, eating, and weight gain. For many, there comes significant struggles when suddenly there is an abundance of food in the house. Binge eating behaviors may flare as the need to calm high levels of stress and anxiety go through the roof. And, the fear of food scarcity is highly problematic for some.
The high number of posts and jokes on social media about eating all the food in the house NOW, or the bare grocery store shelves, or the stress eating, or the lack of exercise, and especially, the comments about weight gain, are highly inappropriate (and fat phobic) for everyone. And, these jokes can been especially problematic for someone struggling with an eating disorder which is estimated to be at least 30 million people of all ages and genders in the US. De Elizabeth's article Can I Socially Distance Myself From These Terrible Jokes About Gaining Weight While Quarantined? discusses this current trend and the unintended consequences for millions of people.
I totally get the intended desire to make a joke, get a laugh at such a challenging time. This makes perfect sense! That's part of how we humans survive really difficult stuff. However, perhaps, we can laugh at a funny comedy movie on Netflix or the endless ridiculous things people are doing at home and posting online...I'm pretty sure I've seen at least 3 videos of people replicating a part of Phil Collins's song In the Air Tonight, here's one example. Ha!
Perhaps we can eat the food if it feels and tastes good without the constant judgement and commentary? Perhaps we can just leave our body and others bodies alone?
As if we don't have enough to worry about right now!
Take care! Be safe!
Traci
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