What Ignores Clean Eating: Katie Hurley and a Teen Client’s Advice on a Clean Vegan Diet/Self-Management Program

Editor’s Note: Katie Hurley, author of “No More Mean Girls: The Secret to Raising Strong, Confident and Compassionate Girls,” is a child and adolescent psychotherapist in Los Angeles. She specializes in work with tweens, teens and young adults.

Ads for dieting and exercise programs like this started appearing in my social media feeds in early October, often accompanied by photos of women pushing shopping carts full of Halloween candy intended to represent the weight they no longer carry with them.

Diet culture is spreading quickly, and spiking in particular among young women and girls, a population group who might be at particular risk of social pressures and misinformation.

“My mom is obsessed with (seeing) Her Facebook friends lose a lot of weight. Is this real? The question came from a teen girl who later revealed she was considering hiring a health coach to help her eat ‘healthier’ after watching her mom overhaul her diet. Sadly, the coaching she was falling victim to is part of a multilevel marketing brand that promotes quick weight loss through caloric restriction and buying costly meal replacements.

Later that week, a different teen client asked about a clean eating movement she follows on Pinterest. She assumed that a strict clean vegan diet is better for the environment because of a pinned article she read. It seemed legitimate. A deep dive into the credentials of the writer shows they were not responsible for the clean eating practices that they shared.

Modeling Healthy Emotions: A Parent Coach’s Perspective on Parent-Aided Children’s Diet during the Supermomentum Loss

Oona Hanson, a parent coach in Los Angeles, said that teen and preteens need to gain weight to grow into their adult bodies. “Weight gain is not only normal but essential for health during adolescence.”

The good news in all of this is that parents can take an active role in helping teens craft an emotionally healthier narrative around their eating habits. “Parents are often made to feel helpless in the face of TikTokers, peer pressure or wider diet culture, but it’s important to remember this: parents are influencers, too,” said Hanson. We say what we say, and do what we do.

Parents and caregivers can model a healthy relationship with food by enjoying a wide variety of foods and trying new recipes for family meals. During the holiday season, when many celebrations can involve gathering around the table, take the opportunity to model shared connections. “Holidays are a great time to remember that foods nourish us in ways that could never be captured on a nutrition label,” Hanson said.

The holiday season is full of opportunities to gather with friends and loved ones to celebrate and make memories, but these moments can be anxiety-producing when nutrition shaming occurs.

When extended families gather for holiday celebrations, it’s common for people to comment on how others look or have changed since the last gathering. While this is usually done with good intentions, it can be awkward or upsetting to tweens and teens.

“For young people going through puberty or body changes, it’s normal to be self-conscious or self-critical. To say you’ve developed isn’t a welcome part of the conversation.

Talking to tweens and teens about this throughout the season — and at any time — brings a taboo topic to the forefront and makes it easier for your kids to share their inner thoughts with you.

What makes Trayler-Smith feel that way? “When I was young, I didn’t know what I was going through,” she tells CNN

Trayler- Smith said the issue took over his teenage years. Being overweight made me feel like I wasn’t a good enough human being. I felt that way. So this project has been to sort of challenge that look at it. I didn’t know why I felt that way. How are you going to move on? If I feel that way, there must be many other people who feel that way.

She would go outside more in order to avoid stress at school. Kids would kick footballs at her, she said, and then pretend they didn’t do it on purpose.

“Someone once threw a golf ball at my leg, and I’ll never forget it,” said Walton, now 26. “It literally looked like the golf ball was still on my leg because it was a white mark and then a massive red bruise around it.”

It was a difficult time for Walton, who in primary school had been diagnosed with a condition called premature adrenarche. Her body was developed much earlier than her peers. She had a condition called poly cystic ovary syndrome, which affects the ability to use insulin and can lead to weight gain.

Walton still gets the occasional remark about her weight, usually on social media where people will leave rude comments. But she says that hateful words don’t bother her anymore, and she offers advice for anyone who might be going through what she has.

At some point when she was about 14 or 15 years old, Walton said enough. She was fed up with people who made her feel bad and decided that she would not allow them to stop her from doing what she wanted to do.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/10/health/obesity-kiss-it-wellness-cnnphotos/

The Big O: How Fat is That? Abbie Trayler-Smith, the Journey Into Womanhood, When Fat You Feel Like It

“I believe that making healthy choices, whether it’s food or whatever it is in your life, starts when you feel good about yourself,” Trayler-Smith said. It is not a place where anyone will make healthy decisions if they are told they are fat and lazy and greedy. …

This transition, and Walton’s journey into womanhood, has been documented by photographer Abbie Trayler-Smith, who grew up overweight herself and started a project, The Big O, that tackles obesity.

If they can get some last-minute funding through the crowd-sourced website, they will be able to publish the photo book that was inspired by Walton.

“To be that raw and real in front of the camera, I think it’s quite unusual,” Trayler-Smith said. “Most people are aware of the camera, and she just wasn’t and we just had this kind of amazing connection. If I was going to write a book, maybe I should do it about a single person and go deep.

This project is not about saying that it’s okay to be fat. I’m not saying that’s healthy. I’m saying there’s a difference. There’s a balance between body positivity and and health, and I think we need to find that balance.”

Many of the photos show her at her lowest points, when she was being bullied and one of her lowest points being her early years. In the beginning of the project, Walton told Trayler-Smith to show the full picture of her life; the good times with friends and family, and the empowering moments.

She said that seeing the pictures as years have gone by will show how confident she has become and how her life has turned out.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/10/health/obesity-kiss-it-wellness-cnnphotos/

The Good Things BES Don’t Tell Us About You: Reflecting What You Eat, Eat, and DON’T Tell Me About Your Body

She works at a hospital and will soon qualify as a nursing associate. She met James when she was younger and was actually her first-ever boyfriend. They lost touch for a bit, but eventually came back together.

“It’s been such a privilege to see her grow into a beautiful young woman,” Trayler-Smith said. She’s still battling with her weight but she’s doing what she can. But to see her in a happy place within is a really beautiful thing.”

You can get help for someone who is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health issues. In the United States, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, to connect with a trained counselor. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide has contact information for crisis centers around the world.

It’s Girl Scout cookie season again, which means young female entrepreneurs are outside your favorite stores and community centers selling you the latest flavors and old favorites.

I believe it is important that an open line of communication is established about these topics. A space to process the information they’re receiving can be provided by talking to the children about media they consume or comments they hear about body image.

Repeated exposure to diet talk can have an effect on the girl’s thinking around eating and body image.

What might feel like a humorous way to deflect a cookie purchase in the moment could do more harm than anticipated. Young entrepreneurs hear negative commentary during a shift. Given that over 200 million boxes of cookies are sold each year, that’s a lot of girls fending off a lot of snarky remarks about bathing suit season or earning the confection through extra workouts or starvation.

Some steps parents, teachers and troop leaders can take can mitigate some of the negative messaging that girls are exposed to.

“The best thing that troop leaders and parents can do for their kids is to model their own healthy body image,” said Dr. Cheri Levinson, associate professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Louisville and director of the university’s Eating Anxiety Treatment Lab. The good things bodies do for us, like being able to hug people and dance with our pets, should also be discussed.

Practicing gratitude as it relates to our bodies is a powerful way to reframe thinking away from unrealistic expectations or negative thoughts about our bodies and toward being mindful of the many ways our bodies carry us through our days.

Girl Scout Cookies: Stand Up to Diet Talk about Children’s Wellness and Their Bubbling of Adverse Food Choices in the Classroom

Having treats and enjoying the foods that we consume is part of balanced eating. When adults label foods or eating choices as bad, healthy, or even harmful, children may be less likely to eat them. This can make you feel embarrassed around eating sweets that are limited to certain categories.

“One thing troop leaders can do is talk about the joy around food by sharing their favorite combinations of cookies,” Hanson said. “This tips the scales in the direction of creating a balanced relationship with food.”

After the shift ends, it is possible to do a debriefing on the girls. A troop leader can say, ”We heard a few jokes and comments that talked about diet and not eating cookies.” I wonder how you felt when you heard those things?” This opens the door to a discussion about negative body comments and how girls can reframe their thinking.

Sometimes an adult has to step in and make a correction if another adult is making strange comments, but still girls can use their voices to stand up to diet talk.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/health/girl-scout-cookies-body-image-wellness/index.html

Thick Mints: Giving Back to Local and Regional Troopers Through Cookie Driven Non-Girardeau Activities for Girls’ Clubs

The local and regional troops get the money earned from cookie sales back to help with activities for girls throughout the year, which happens only once a year. Whether you donate the cookies to someone else or pick up a box of favorites to enjoy yourself, your purchase empowers up-and-coming leaders. Go ahead and grab those Thin Mints.