Am I the only one in the world who doesn't dread going to the dentist? I'm very relaxed in the chair, with slurping things hanging out of my mouth and whirring, shrieking things going in. No problem. My favorite dental story is about the time I had this older,...
Previous post on fat and health: Exercise that feels GOOD (and I don't mean morally) I seem to have taken a slide into weight and body issues on this blog. Oh, well. That's where my focus is these days. Food issues are a huge part of my self esteem building and...
Previous post on this topic: I want to bend easily again After years of being a gym rat (and between size 6 and 10), I stopped all exercise last March, except for dog walking and yoga classes at my workplace. Since there haven’t been any workplace yoga classes since...
(Can you find the dog in this photo?) Previous post on this topic: Gaining 25 pounds in 3 months I want to be part of the fat acceptance movement, but I'm having doubts. The 25 pounds I put on since October have added to and subtracted from my happiness. I love...
Previous post on this topic: How to be overweight When one suddenly becomes chubby after being not-chubby all one's life, one might do the following: 1. One might hate how tight everything fits. 2. One might hate buying new clothes, which is not fun if the reason is...
A one-on-one session with Lili Betancourt has melted the frozen suppressed anger that’s had me down (see yesterday's blog photo). Locked into emotions I couldn’t release on my own, unable to focus or function, I made an emergency appointment for her powerful blend of...
The Black Dog by Regina Rodríguez-Martin I took this photo with my Macbook Pro. It's me with a black dog and another black dog ("black dog" is a metphor for depression). I felt very alone when I took this even though I wasn't quite alone.
The owner of the dog lay in bed until after 10:00 a.m. with the dog's body curled up next to hers in the blankets. After a brief phone call, she began to weep loudly. The dog, still in his relaxed position, pricked up his ears. At the first shriek, the dog's head...
What causes a depressive episode? Not staying on the meds consistently enough? Actual external events? Random fluctuations of body chemistry? For those of us with chronic depression it can feel like the trigger is nothing that's within our control and that leads us to...
(By the way: Happy New Year! I hope.) One morning as I walked to the train station, someone handed me a booklet entitled "25 Reasons to Try Vegetarian." Not counting the front and back covers, it's 14 pages of persuasive writing with excellent presentation and quality...
Previous post on weight and health: Uncomfortable with the new me I'm a small-boned, petite woman who is all of five feet two inches tall. I'm 46 and a half years old. Most of my adult life, my weight has hovered between 120 and 135. With my sweet tooth and use...
Previous post on my fatness. I'm fatter these days, but also happier. I've kicked my harsh inner critic out of the driver's seat and am treating myself gently and kindly. I'm not restricting food, I'm not eating for emotional reasons and I feel physically great: more...
We are such a self-punishing culture. Americans, especially women, often try to achieve ideal health or appearance in truly painful ways. While there's no getting around the pain of laser treatment or pelvic exams, there are many ways that we hurt ourselves completely...
One stunning side effect of my recent achievements in self-nurturing and loving myself is that my digestion has improved. I've struggled with self-loathing behaviors and low self esteem my whole life, but my digestion only started having real problems a few years ago....
Mental health days are a great idea. That's what some poeple call those days when you're just feeling burned out and overwhelmed and you call in sick to work because you need to take care of your spirit and morale. It's a perfectly legitimate use of a sick days,...