Adina Pearson Nutrition

12/06/2022

The parallels strong.

10/27/2021

Big introvert hangover today, so let’s keep it simple: this dietitian cares more about you having *enough* to eat than *what* you eat

Refinement can come later but none of the scrutiny around nutrition matters much unless you’re first eating enough for your body

08/16/2021

Treating food addiction the way we treat other addictions doesn’t work because deprivation (in this case “trigger food abstinence”) is much of what causes that feeling of food addiction in the first place.

(We have tons of evidence of this, and the conditions of "food addiction" can even be recreated with lab mice with unreliable intermittent access to what would be considered, essentially, rat ice cream.)

Deprivation works on your psychology by increasing your interest in the banned food.

Willpower doesn’t work because eating is naturally internally regulated (like breathing or having to p*e).

So relying on willpower, which is what diets require us to do, is going to work some of the time but almost always fail eventually. Especially when your brain has just told you that the food you’re trying to avoid is the most amazing food ever and you MUST HAVE IT NOW.

That system is in place so you don’t starve (which was probably one of the biggest threats to humans for most of our history/pre-history). Most of us can’t override it.

(a very, very few can override, for reasons unknown. Some of them remain long-term dieters and others develop eating disorders. Taking our cues from these outliers is not a reasonable approach to health, however.)

When people start giving themselves unconditional, true PERMISSION to eat as much as they want, of the foods they want, something magic happens.

The addiction feeling goes away.

Controlling your weight isn’t going to work because your internal regulation does that for you. So letting go of that control and leaning full force into permission is the ONLY way to feel truly free of “food addiction.”

Letting go of diet culture is hard, but so worth it.

* * *
I wrote a great guide to help people address those feelings of “food addiction” and start to work toward food freedom. It’s practical and doable and NOT a diet!

Grab it FREE here: https://dare-to-not-diet.ck.page/4eb309e143

08/11/2021

I’ve been thinking a lot about how overeating has been and still is portrayed – that it’s an individual flaw involving “excess.”

And the only way to solve that “excess” is to deprive – of enough tasty food, energy, etc.

But the need to overeat is a primal one that is there to protect us from *not enough* (because for most of human history, *not enough* was a serious problem). It’s a natural response to deprivation.

So another diet isn’t going to solve overeating. Overeating was probably caused by a diet, or diet mentality, in the first place.

What to do instead? I wrote a really good guide for how to stop overeating, it’s not a diet, and it’s FREE.

You can get it here: https://dare-to-not-diet.ck.page/4eb309e143

07/26/2021

Don't overcomplicate eating.

Fun fact about me since no one asked: I effing love noodles.

I love everything about them. They quite literally light up the little pleasure centers in my brain and I imagine a 🔔 dinging when the carbs hit. Noodles are amazing on their own. Even better with a spicy sauce and stir fried veggies. Add an egg 🤤 omg it just doesn’t stop. But the thing I love most about them right now is that they come in an instant version that I can microwave in 90 seconds.

This is a big deal. Because when I overbook my week or my anxiety makes it hard to do the dishes, this is a quick meal that takes almost zero planning, time, or energy. I can’t be alone in sometimes needing an option like this.

Does every meal consist of instant noodles and nothing else? For me, no, but even if it did, instant noodles are a morally neutral food. No one is “bad” or “wrong” for eating in a way that delivers what they need, when they need it.

Don’t overthink it — you’re allowed to eat in a way that doesn’t twist every aspect of food into anything more than fullness, satisfaction, and ease. And as a dietitian, I’ll be the first to tell you including options like this can be better in the big scheme of things than excluding them completely or experiencing guilt or shame when you reach for them.

So this is my version of a low effort, last minute lunch for today. Sometimes it’s a bagged salad kit. Sometimes it’s reheated leftovers. Sometimes it PB&J. What’s your version of a low effort, last minute lunch that provides instant fullness, satisfaction, or comfort?

06/06/2021

Important for parents to know!

04/26/2021

I'm constantly learning things in the process of training my youngest dog. Learning things that can be applied to other areas. And, often I like to see the parallels with eating. So thank Milo for this tid bit ;-)

We had been doing well in training, but more recently, certain parts are regressing. It's so painful to know that your dog is sucking at something because YOU are sucking at that thing...but it's usually the case. Dogs only do as well as we do.

After a consult with a trainer, I figured out how to do better. Today we had a much better session of heeling and I was so proud of Milo for being so resilient.

Lesson from this that can be applied to other areas: Don't work so hard at doing something "right" that you forget the relationship that's involved in the process.

How does this apply to eating? Don't get tangled in food rules or trying to be a perfect intuitive eater. Your relationship with food and body is THE THING that deserves your ultimate focus. As you eat broccoli or a cupcake; snack or plan a meal; walk, run, lift or choose to rest.

04/23/2021

Yep, let’s not hold the breath....

It may take a lot of exposures before kids are ready to accept a new food. And, let’s face, some food will never stand a chance.

Like cucumbers for my husband. And I served cucumbers a few times weekly for the last 17 years. 😐

So what counts as exposure?

For each child, it can be a different thing or a combination of any:

🥦talking about the food, seeing pictures of it
🥦growing the food
🥦picking up the food from a shelf in a grocery store
🥦being in the same room with the food
🥦seeing other people eating the food
🥦serving the food on their own plate but not eating
🥦touching the food but not eating
🥦licking the food but not eating
🥦taking a bite of food and spitting out

Some kids are ready to give it a go right away, others need the food to be part of their environment for years 😬 before they try it.

How do you know when they are ready to “meet” the food closer, by having it on their plate or playing with it?

It’s simple. You don’t. Neither do I.

That’s why the interaction with food needs to be driven by the child, not the grown up.

How to create a perfect environment to facilitate this interaction?

If you can, try:

✅ shopping together
✅ looking at recipe books
✅ cooking together

But above all:

✅✅✅ eating together!

Hugs,

Natalia

Edited to add: the numbering doesn’t reflect the birth order, I meant just different kids in general. :)

12/22/2020

"It’s not that your body is acceptable because Adele’s or Lizzo’s or any other larger-bodied woman’s is acceptable; it’s that your body is acceptable, period."

I mean, we shouldn't be looking up to celebrities to be our guides or gurus no matter what. Great article on body image.

Is your body anxiety triggered by seeing Adele’s smaller body and all the praise? We understand why and want you to see it as an opportunity to rethink the ways you might view and value bodies -- your own and others’.

11/11/2020

Have you been tempted by those "food sensitivity" tests you can order online? DON'T DO IT. These tests have NO diagnostic value, mean nothing, and will send you down a rabbit hole of food fears. If you like videos, this is a great explanation about how these tests work (they don't):

I tried out the Everlywell food sensitivity test and my results were...interesting. The at-home test measures antibodies to diagnose food sensitivities, but ...

10/03/2020

I said what I said 💁🏻‍♀️ (CW: fasting)

As a dietitian, I spend time every week staying up to date with new research, reviewing old research, and thinking critically about the research (trust me, it’s just as thrilling as it sounds) 😆 this week, the most interesting one was a chart review of clinically ill patients who water fasted for >2 days. The objective was to find out if this is “safe”. The definition of “safe” was no “severe” or “life-threatening” adverse effects (AE) or death.

And by interesting I mean, JFC, what are we doing here.

We don’t need to always over-intellectualize what we inherently know - if the best you can say about your dietary intervention is “it didn’t hospitalize or kill anyone, it must be safe” we need to be looking at this in other ways. Such as:
• Were participants screened for eating disorders/disordered eating?
• What did the follow up period involve, and for how long?
• Was subjective/qualitative data included or only objective/quantitative data?
• Did participants drop out because they couldn’t or didn’t want to adhere to study protocols?
• Are the authors conflating weight and health? In other words, if the results are reduced body weight or BMI, are they saying it’s a positive result *even if* there are other markers of health that deteriorate?

If so...there’s your sign that it’s not about health, it’s about finding socially acceptable ways to lose weight by any means necessary. Now, this particular study was observational (so things like screening weren’t possible) but it’s just one of many examples of how something that gets published doesn’t necessarily add to what we already know. Often, it attempts to build a case for disordered eating behaviors disguised as healthy habits.

I know this isn’t the kind of thing most of us spend time thinking about every day. But as Weight Stigma Awareness Week draws to a close, I want to remind you to question why it is that you believe what you believe about food, health, nutrition, and weight. We have decades of research in these areas - some of it is good, a lot of it is flawed, almost all of it is influenced by weight bias and can’t control for the negative impact of weight stigma.