My Thoughts on Body Acceptance at Eat the Damn Cake
As promised, my guest post on Eat the Damn Cake is up. You can find it here. Because brevity is not my personal forte, Kate has split my post up into a two day shebang. Part 1 is up now; part 2 will be up tomorrow. Sorry for the prolixity!
This post offers you guys a glimpse into my thoughts about body transformation, body acceptance, and the culture of self-beautification. It’s all framed with my personal story, which is this: once upon a time, I wanted more than anything to be better looking than I was. Once upon a time, the majority of my feelings of self-worth came from being a waif (or trying to be one). This is no longer the case, and there are specific habits I’ve abandoned or replaced, attitudes I’ve embraced, and realities I’ve come to terms with in order for this change to happen. I hope you’ll check out the post today or tomorrow and let me know your thoughts! I love to talk about body image with you, and always marvel at your responses.
xo
P.S. That photo up there? It’s raw cake. Courtesy of the Raw Food Gourmet.
13 Responses to “My Thoughts on Body Acceptance at Eat the Damn Cake”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Leave A Comment...
Testimonials
–Lyn D., MarylandBefore I started working with Gena, I wasn’t sure whether it would be worth it, since I knew what I “should” be doing. Her counseling, however, turned out to be a key factor in my success.
Not only does she have great advice when I am struggling, but her realistic approach helped me make major changes despite having no time and limited funds. Her recipes and ideas are for real people with lives beyond their diets, and they are great. Gena is down to earth and non-judgmental. She strikes a great balance between encouraging me to go a little father but to keep things in perspective and have fun with the process.
Read more >>
FAQ
So where do you get your protein?Ah, the million dollar question. I know that my fellow raw foodists are uttering a collective sigh of frustration with me. But it’s inevitable, so here goes:
I get my protein from a wide array of vegetables, sea vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes. The notion that we need to supplement our diet with large amounts of protein, especially in the form of animal products, is mistaken: our bodies are capable of assembling amino acids from all of the foods we eat and building the “complete proteins” that we’ve all been told we need to get in a single sitting.
Read More >>
Recommendations
Juicer (average $50.00 - $500.00)If you’re like me, and juicing is a crucial part of your lifestyle, then the cost of a juicer will absolutely be worth it! It will buy itself back again and again and again. The juicer I recommend is the Breville Two-Speed Juice Fountain Plus. It’s the only juicer I’ve ever owned, and it has never let me down. I recommend you invest in a juicer that has at least this level of performance in order to juice leafy greens.
Some of you have asked me whether it’s wiser to buy a juicer or a Vitamix.
Read More
Hi Gena! I haven’t had a chance to comment on the body comments topic, I also feel very disturbed when someone comments my appearence: if they say I look slim or thinner, I’ll inmediatly feel proud and happy, but if the comments come from my parents, I feel like they are critizicing me for not eating enough and I feel attached. If someone tells me I look “healthy” or “curvy” (voluptuous) (which is a very popular compliment in latin and mexican culture, let me tell you!!), I feel like they are calling me fat, and I just want to bury my head in a hole!! Which is why we should never make a comment about weight loss or weight gain, we don’t know how someone is going to take it in a positive or negative way!
I think we should learn to compliment people on their personality traits, intelligence, feelings, anything but the appearence!! The inside should be more important than the outside, always!
I commit myself to stop the fat talk with me and with others and to stop commenting on people’s body!
Just wanted to saw your guest post is wonderful – so eloquent and so honest. And also, thank you for posting about your interaction at the gym – it was so helpful.
Oh! I just read the guest post and I had to comment again!!! I just came back from a 4 day retreat (I was depressed and ªalmostª suicidal hehe so my parents send me to a christian retreat) and it was SO freeing to be there, not worrying about makeup, the clothes I would wear, and specially, the food I would eat!! I had to eat what they gave me, and that was that. It was the most liberating thing, and I shared it with 75 other girls, who I’m sure felt the same way i did.
Congrats!!!! I am going to take a look xoxo
Gena this is a beautiful post. There was a period in my life when I didn’t buy many fitness or beauty magazines either. Too much pressure! As you get older you realize the true importance of what matters in life, but there certainly are hurdles along the way. I just hope that more women can come to find peace with their bodies overtime. Sites like yours are a great inspiration and resource.
Hi Gena!
I just wanted to offer my praise for writing another magnificent series of posts on body image and candidly sharing your own evolution in this area. You handle this topic with such eloquence and insight, it takes my breath away. I love your blog always, but mostly when when you include us in your own journey along the “disordered thinking” spectrum and challenge us to reflect on our own beliefs/behavior. You are such a generous spirit, Gena!
Best,
Karen
Great article, Gena! Can’t wait to read the rest of it. It’s important for women to think about WHY they are doing all these things for physical modification, and how much time and power they are giving up in their lives.
I stopped buying and paying attention to fashion magazines too. And I don’t shave my legs anymore (you can’t even tell anyway! It was a waste of my time).
You are a wonderful writer. Thank you for speaking on such an important topic that truly touches us all!
i love that book, i pretty much drool over all the pictures and recipes (as i do with any quality recipe book).
I love that you put up a cake photo. And the cake looks fantastic.
I can’t wait to read the second part of your guest post. that first one was amazing. beyond anything.
you are my inspiration.
I want the cake!
I’m going over there to read right now. Not going to hide it: I had to look up waif on google and wiki told me it is similar to “sea urchin” …so you can’t trust everything on that site…