Halloween is synonymous with many things; dressing up in costumes, trick-or-treating, haunted houses, and yes, candy. Candy has become something that many people, whether they are struggling with disordered eating or not has become something that the general public fears or thinks is “bad”. The truth is there is no reason to fear candy. All of the things said about this food are simply not true. Let’s examine the most well-known myths about candy so that you and your kids can enjoy candy this Halloween, or any time!

Being a therapist that blogs and posts on social media is weird. You put yourself out there all the time, but also try to maintain some sense of privacy and hiding. Here are 5 things I’ve wanted to post about/ blog about that I have shied away from for various reasons.

Becoming pregnant and having a child was something I wanted for a long time. When I finally became pregnant I was elated of course. I had heard and read all about the nausea, food cravings, and food aversions that happen to most women during pregnancy. I ‘thought’ I was prepared for anything thrown my way during this time. And while I do think I navigated it to the best of my ability, nothing could actually prepare me for what happened during those first 14 weeks of growing a life.

I had an eating disorder from the time I was 16 years old until 26. Ten long years of misery. My eating disorder was not something I was proud of. I was very ashamed of it and the behaviors that accompanied it. I binged on huge amounts of food. I restricted and starved myself. I over-exercised and pushed my body to the point of exhaustion. All the while hiding behind a façade of working as a dietitian teaching others how to live a healthy life. I felt like a total hypocrite. Something had to change.  

I thought it would be helpful to see my meals and snacks on this vacation to see how to intuitively eat on vacation. Often times when we are working with clients they discuss how getting out of their normal routine really disrupts their eating and they find themselves going back to eating disorder behaviors when they were otherwise doing well at home.

The lists of food people avoid ranges from sugar, wheat, dairy, meat, “processed” food, even certain fruits and vegetables; the list goes on and on. When I was growing up there weren’t droves of people that couldn’t eat certain foods, or who chose to avoid entire food groups on their own volition. This leads me to wonder… are we actually causing ourselves to have more food intolerances by restricting ourselves of certain foods?

When you think of the word “fear” what comes to mind? For me I have thoughts and images such as ‘scary, panic, ghosts, dark alleys, heart racing, and skeletons’. When I add the word ‘food’ in front of fear what comes to mind? For most people it’s foods like pizza, donuts, ice cream, hamburgers and fried foods. I often wonder how food has become something as scary as something that might actually be life threatening, such as walking down a dark alley alone. Food is something that is basic to our survival. How did something so essential to our lives become something that so many people fear on a daily basis?