Fat Girl at Dunkin Donuts: An Intuitive Eating Perspective

"Tomorrow, I'm going to enjoy play food for what it is."

A couple weeks ago, I saw an event posting for the opening of a new Dunkin Donuts franchise. I'm always on the lookout for fun, local, social activities, so I RSVP'd yes!

And then I had to deal with these thoughts:

People are going to make fun of me for being fat.

People are going to think I'm fat because I ate too many donuts.

People are going to think I don't care about healthy eating.

People are gonna take pictures of me and make fun of them.

I better dress up so at least they don't think I'm lazy.

I'm grateful that at least now my negative thoughts about my size are mostly about how I'm perceived by others. It sucks, but at least it's better than actually believing those things about myself, that I'm unhealthy or lazy or unworthy of belonging because of my size.

Well, no one in line made judgmental glances. No one made negative comments. Actually, I chatted the whole time with two women in line about normal-people things (any-size-people things) like weather, traffic, careers, places we've lived, pets, and of course, which flavor of donut we wanted to try. And I realized something, no one goes to a donut shop opening unless they appreciate play food.

What is play food? According to Intuitive Eating, it's food that has little nutritional value, but is enjoyable to eat. It is morally neutral, meaning it's not good or evil. It's not even "healthy" or "unhealthy." The idea is that once you're tuned in with your body's cues to hunger, fullness, and energy, you'll naturally eat the types and amounts of food that are best for you.

I was content with my one donut and small hot chocolate, genuinely content, because I knew I could choose to eat a second or a dozen without internal shame. It did feel playful, fun, indulgent in a good way. I wasn't thinking about how to burn off those calories later. It was pure gratitude:

These flavors, textures, and smells are pleasant.

Active businesses are great for our city.

I could be friends with these women I met in line.

It's fun how many people came out for this. I'm glad I'm a part of it.

I am good enough to be a part of whatever I want to be a part of.

Part of me knows it was luck that there weren't any bullies out that day. Or well-meaning "fitness" advocates. I also know that happiness comes from within. I hope I can build up enough self-love and gratitude to stop fearing the disapproving glance once and for all.

~

I'm not affiliated with Dunkin Donuts. It just happened to be the perfect setting for this message so I didn't bother changing the name.

To read more about Intuitive Eating, check out the book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch (Amazon Affiliate link).

Today's curated art prints are "Fruity Donuts" and "Donuts in Balloons" by Ivy Niu. There are 41 pages of donut-related prints on society6, if you can believe it. Ivy Niu's stood out to me as charming, imaginative, and meaningful. They make me smile.

Going Paleo and Gluten Intolerance

“Tomorrow I’m going to go paleo and never look back.”

“Hello, my name is Katie, and I eat Paleo.”

That’s my husband’s favorite quote to taunt me with because he thinks it’s funny how I nerd out about eating Paleo. What’s Paleo you may ask? It is eating lean meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, healthy oils and nothing more.

Why did I start eating this way you might also be wondering? Well changing my diet and lifestyle came about because of serious health problems I started developing a few years ago.

When some kids are little they love fries, corn dogs, and fried chicken. I was one of these kids, but my stomach and bowels didn’t seem to be able to take on the ‘fried’ food. Consuming anything that was battered and fried generally constituted that I would have a bout of a stomach ache or be in the bathroom in mild pain for hours.

A family history of IBS and GI issues preceded me, so everyone wrote symptoms off to the fact that I should just avoid fried foods because that’s what probably was causing issues.

Then came the sensitivity to richer dairy products like butter, cream cheese, cheese and ice cream. I would eat and eat and eat, knowing full well that my stomach was going to cramp, my plumbing would surely become backed up and I’d get the biggest wave of ‘brain fuzz’ sweeping over me momentarily. Again there was a family history of lactose intolerance.

Over this past spring and summer I began training at Crossfit (a gym) and discovered they were promoting the ‘Paleo Diet.’ The coaches said to try it for 30 days and see if I noticed a difference in training and other areas of my health. Wowee! Let me tell you! That 30 days in July had me feeling the best I’d felt since I could remember. My skin cleared up, no more IBS-like symptoms, no more GI problems, regular bowel movements, weight loss (and in my stomach no less!), energy that could rival five red bulls, no cravings for bread and cheese (two of my weaknesses).

Once the 30 days were up I went on a bender of having candies, cakes, bread, pizza, pasta and anything else non-Paleo I could lay my hands on. Cue IBS, GI issues, dizziness, nausea and a multitude of other unpleasant side effects. Normal souls may find this a time to reassess treating my stomach like a garbage pit, but it turns out there is a thing called gluten intolerance (also linked to gluten addiction) and lack of will power that seemed to be a major roadblock. I saw my doctor within the past two months and confirmed with her all the symptoms I was experiencing which mirrored (aside from vomiting) all of the symptoms for gluten intolerance. She recommended I infuse my diet with gluten  (equivalent of 4-6 slices of bread a day) to determine if that was what caused so many of my issues, and boy, was that the worst experience ever. Thanksgiving was a real drag with all of the gluten filled foods and major weight gain.

Starting this past Sunday 12/2/12 I committed to myself to go paleo for good since I had completed the allotted time recommended for a gluten rich diet. Thank goodness for eating paleo! Within this past week I have lost 11 pounds, my IBS/GI problems are fixed and my skin is clearing up. Makes me feel like the sun is shining and it’s shining on me. So read through what I’ve linked and if it sounds like something you’ve been experiencing don’t hesitate to ask your doctor about whether you may have a gluten or dairy intolerance.

1) Information about gluten intolerance: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/features/gluten-intolerance-against-grain

2) Information about going Paleo:
http://assets.paleoplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Paleo-Plan_Quickstart-Guide-and-Paleo-Challenge-Sample.pdf

Hi I am Katie, and here’s me in a nutshell. I love to eat, and used to live to eat. Now I eat to live. There is never a day that goes by that I am not reading a new scientific article about gluten intolerance and fitness or perusing a blog on gourmet paleo cooking ideas. I Crossfit and am on the Couch to 5k running series. Hit me up with your nutritional, health and fitness based questions.