Obesity Is Hormonal – October 2022 Mantras

Obesity Is Hormonal – October 2022 Mantras

by | Oct 12, 2022 | Body Positivity, General, Self Acceptance, Self Care, Teen Health and Wellness

Obesity is hormonal. Don’t be a Diet Culture Zombie!!!

TikTok testimonial from one of my followers (adult) who I coach on my TikTok lives:

“I have great news!! A1C was 6.1 in March.  Made changes to diet and did Intermittent fasting.  Lost 30 lbs and as of June A1C is 5.5. Smiley face emoji! Thank you!”

Her labs show a reversal of pre-diabetes.  She said I was the one who connected her to a new way of thinking by introducing her to “The Obesity Code” and coached her to make changes and show up as a curious compassionate scientist for her health.  Her doctor told her to diet and exercise and that’s it. So, the same old eat less and move more. She didn’t let that get in her way. She went to her doc, got her labs drawn, did some research on her own, and showed up for my TikTok coaching and videos. 

My Own Weight Loss Journey

My own weight loss journey started five years ago. It was very shocking for someone like me, who’s been a pediatrician working to address the childhood obesity epidemic for nearly two decades, to learn that the old calories in minus calories out is too simplistic and leaves out the role of hormones.  

It made total sense after I learned about it and because that’s what I was seeing in my pediatric weight management clinic. Insulin Resistance and what are called comorbidities, like type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The number of children and teens with NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), which I call the silent epidemic, was and is, worse after the pandemic, truly frightening! 

I love disrupting the status quo.  How about you? 

I also loved getting chocolate when I was a young one, trick or treating. Anything chocolate, except for Mars Bar or Almond Joy. Yuck! In my neighborhood growing up, we always knew which houses handed out full size Snickers and which ones gave out apples or dimes.  Steer clear of those buzzkills, for sure. That’s enough about candy, candy, candy. My mouth is watering. 

Stay Out of the Scarcity Mindset

By the way, stay out of restriction and scarcity when it comes to Halloween candy.  Don’t think, “This is the only time I get to eat candy.” 

Pace yourself, people! I know. I know. I get it. You’re going for all the m&m’s first. Which color is your favorite? Brown, for sure, for me. Those taste the most like chocolate.  Did you get that I love chocolate?

Let’s switch gears, like completely. 

October is all about metabolic health! I’m launching IME Health and disrupting the status quo that is not working, is unhelpful and seriously unfun. My only point with my Obesity is hormonal mantras is to get you thinking in a different way about unfun and unfunny zombie diet culture. 

Sure, I get my share of TikTok trolls, but I also get my share of metabolic health coaching wins. 

Let’s start getting you some results too.

October 2022 Mantras: Obesity Is Hormonal

So, let’s dress up as nerdy scientists this Halloween and dive right into my October mantras: 

Obesity is hormonal and not simply caloric.  What does that even mean? 

You’re probably thinking, “It’s the month of candy, candy, candy, so give me a break!” 

What does it mean when I say that obesity is hormonal?

The 4 Major Hormones Associated with Weight Gain or Loss

I’m talking four major hormones: Insulin, Cortisol, Leptin and Ghrelin

The way our society is so stuck in the Energy Imbalance Model of Obesity, or weight is only a result of overeating and lack of physical activity and both of those are blamed on lack of willpower.  Makes me almost puke like I did after eating too much Halloween candy one year.  JK. 

It’s just not scientifically true that weight gain is simply due to total calories eaten minus calories burned with exercise! I’m not saying what we eat and how much we move aren’t important, it’s just that this model doesn’t include the most important part of a human that controls our hunger, appetite, and energy expenditure- the BRAIN! Think about it! 

Our ultra-processed food system (yes, that includes Halloween candy but don’t get your undies in a double bubble wad) along with a bag full of bad diet culture advice has created an epidemic of Insulin Resistance and diseases like pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, PCOS, and fatty liver disease. 

I know it’s not as fun as eating loads of candy, but let’s try my October ghostly mantras out: 

  • 10/1 Insulin is a hormone that keeps my blood sugar stable. 
  • 10/2 Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps me focus, stay awake and helps me when I’m stressed. 
  • 10/3  Leptin is a hormone that lets me know when I feel full and satisfied.
  • 10/4 Ghrelin is a powerful hunger hormone that lets me know when I need to eat. 
  • 10/5 Obesity is hormonal. It’s not just simple calories in minus calories out. 
  • 10/6  It’s okay to challenge societal beliefs that are clearly not helpful.
  • 10/7  Diet thinking restricts me and my health goals.
  • 10/8  My body is always working. 
  • 10/9  My body is not a machine.
  • 10/10 Not all calories are created equal or are used the same in my body.
  • 10/11 A balance of real food is good for my health.
  • 10/12 I don’t control my body with willpower.
  • 10/13 I don’t cause weight gain or health issues. 
  • 10/14 There are many causes for weight gain.
  • 10/15 I’m kind to myself and stay out of self-judgment.
  • 10/16 Insulin Resistance is a way the body adapts to sugar intake.
  • 10/17 My body is able to adapt and change.
  • 10/18 My body and brain work together. 
  • 10/19 I understand when I don’t sleep well, I go to food for energy the next day. 
  • 10/20 Sugary foods create dopamine zings in my brain. 
  • 10/21 Stress creates cortisol release and cortisol raises my blood sugar.
  • 10/22  My body wasn’t meant to be stressed all the time. 
  • 10/23 Better sleep is one of the most important ways I can improve my health. 
  • 10/24  Circadian rhythm is my body and brain’s natural sleep and wake cycle. 
  • 10/25 All health behaviors are equally important. 
  • 10/26 Sometimes I have a hard time knowing when I feel full and that’s okay.
  • 10/27 I’m a curious and compassionate scientist for my health.
  • 10/28 Every body is totally different.
  • 10/29 I focus on all of my health, not my body size.
  • 10/30 I don’t have scarcity thinking when it comes to sugary treats. 
  • 10/31 Boo! It’s okay to eat candy. Just choose my favorite and make it a true treat. 

Have a fun Halloween however you do or don’t celebrate!

Self-love superpower,
Dr. Karla

Debunking Diet Culture – Story vs. Facts – September 2022 Mantras

Debunking Diet Culture – Story vs. Facts – September 2022 Mantras

by | Sep 10, 2022 | Body Positivity, General, Parenting and Teens, Self Acceptance, Self Care, Teen Health and Wellness

Ready to challenge beliefs? Like, really challenge beliefs? Let’s do some necessary self-care by debunking diet culture beliefs that many people have accepted and internalized.

Do you know your thoughts have power? 

Your current thinking creates your current reality.

Your Now thinking creates your Now result.

The IME Community Think/Feel/Do Circuit

Check out the IME Community Think/Feel/Do Circuit below. 

Your brain is a story making machine.  

Most of what goes on in your brain, the thousands of unconscious thoughts coming up on the daily are just stories.  Thoughts are a rainbow that comes and goes; a sentence in your mind; a cloud going by while the real you is the quiet confidence of the blue sky.

You see other people and all of your life through a lens of your thoughts and most of the time you believe your thoughts to be true without challenging or questioning.  

Maybe you spend time protecting your ego and take action to protect your brain’s story and prove you are right?  I personally don’t know anything about this ego thing!

It’s not a problem for you, unless you get stuck in life, or blame other people for how you feel and for your actions. That’s called emotional childhood.  I’ll coach more on that later. 

Thoughts: The Power of Your Mind

Don’t believe me?

Check out my podcast or YouTube interview with my friend and colleague, Pete Allman where we talk about his book, “Thoughts: The Power of Your Mind”.  

It’s epic. 

Epically helpful, that is.

What Is a Belief? (Especially As It Relates to Diet Culture)

So, what’s a belief? 

It’s a powerful thought on a loop in your brain, mostly left unchallenged.

Did you know you can drop beliefs that don’t serve you like a book? 

Thought awareness is powerful.  

Most of the time, thoughts come up as a feeling, a vibration in your body. When it comes to diet thinking and beliefs and also with parenting, most of the time it’s disappointment, shame or fear that comes up as a vibration in your body.  

Here’s how it works. 

The more attachment to your thoughts or beliefs, the more powerful that think/feel/do circuit becomes in your brain. In my book I’m writing to help GenX parents deconstruct 80’s harmful and unfun diet culture so you can help your teen create healthy habit sticks for life. I’ll share more about how important “the work” is to do for yourself and in your home in my book, so get ready. 

The reality is if you don’t do “the work”, your teen will adopt diet beliefs and perpetuate the diet thinking cycle. 

When you are aware that you are not your thoughts, your thoughts are optional, same with beliefs, you can start to let go of what doesn’t serve you and create beliefs on purpose that do serve you.  It’s called a belief upgrade and it’s an epically powerful life coaching tool. 

In the book, “Helping People Change (Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth)”, coaching science shows humans are motivated to take action from a place of PEA or Positive Emotion Activation.  

Telling people (teens) what to do is authoritative compliance and evokes NEA, negative emotion activation and amotivation. For teens, for anyone to transform their health, they need PEA. 

Let’s start with some of the common diet thinking beliefs I’ve heard and thought about myself.  You may be following along with my Self-love superpower monthly mantras.  September is a month to challenge beliefs and create belief upgrades. 

Once you become aware of the beliefs or thoughts creating your feelings, you’re there.  Just pause.  You can then shift to create a belief upgrade or thoughts to think list.

30 Current Diet Thinking Beliefs

  • The only way to lose weight is to go on a diet.
  • The only way to lose weight is to deprive myself and watch what I eat all the time.
  • I have to count calories and be strict.
  • If I gain weight I will feel like a failure.
  • If I binge all of my work is gone.
  • I’m out of control when it comes to sugar.
  • I have to work out every day to lose weight.
  • A calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight. 
  • Weighing myself is the only way to see if I’m successful or a failure.
  • I have to set a weight loss goal.
  • I can’t eat what I want and lose weight.
  • Everyone else gets to eat what they want.
  • I should be able to stick to eating less sugar, but I can’t.
  • I don’t believe it’s possible for me to eat sugar in moderation.
  • Every time I have something I need to do, I just grab my phone and put it off.
  • I’m such a procrastinator.
  • I hate exercising.
  • I’m not an athlete.
  • I’ll get bullied if I try out for a sport.
  • I love sports, but I’m not good enough to make the team.
  • Every time I exercise I get so out of breath.
  • Exercising just isn’t for me.
  • There must be something wrong with my body.
  • I would have less worries in life if my body was smaller.
  • I’ll feel good about myself when I reach my goal weight.
  • I know I need to love myself, but how is the question.
  • I wish I could just live my life but everyone is so obsessed with my weight.
  • Truth is I don’t really care about my health.
  • I wish I wasn’t judged by my body size.
  • I wish people didn’t feel so entitled to make comments about my body.

Changing Diet Thinking Beliefs

Now, check out my 30 belief upgrades for each day of September:

  • I’m curious to discover a non-diet approach to reach my health goals.
  • Deprivation never works long-term, is harmful and leads to binging.
  • I always get to choose how to measure my success.
  • I never make gaining weight mean anything is going wrong.
  • When I binge eat, I use my self-compassion mantras to disrupt the binge-restriction cycle.
  • My over-desire for sugary foods is a habit pathway in my brain. 
  • My body was created to move.
  • Creating healthy habit sticks is the way to help my body reach a healthy weight set point range.
  • I never have to weigh myself if I don’t want to, especially if it’s triggering for me.
  • Setting a weight loss goal dehumanizes my body and puts all my success at the finish line. 
  • I choose to eat delicious food that serves me and my health goals.
  • I stay out of self-judging by not judging body sizes and what others eat or don’t eat.
  • I’m curious to learn more brain science about sugar craving pathways.
  • I am not powerless over sugar. 
  • Going on my phone is a habit and I can easily get unstuck.
  • I can take one action step and that’s enough.
  • I get to try new ways to be active and move my body. 
  • I am an active person.
  • My past experience trying out for new things doesn’t have to be in the way of my future self.
  • I try out for the team with every intention of making it. 
  • When I’m out of breath exercising, I can take a break.
  • I trust I will discover fun ways to be active.
  • My body is working.  Shaming my body never works.
  • Wishing my body was smaller creates unnecessary drama in my brain.
  • I fully love and accept myself now. 
  • Self-love is my daily intentional habit practice. 
  • I’m choosing to live my magical life.
  • I get to create my own definition of health that works for me.
  • I connect with people who value body diversity.
  • I let people know my body is my business.

Check off the mantras that resonate with you and write one of your own.  Let’s go:

Current belief:_________________________________________________

Belief upgrade:_______________________________________________

When you sign up for my Cut the Cringe parent coaching workshop, you’ll get entered into a drawing for a signed copy of Pete’s book, “Thoughts: The Power of Your Mind”. 

Thoughts, anyone?

Self-love superpower,

Dr. Karla

Abundant Self Love – August 2022 Mantras

Abundant Self Love – August 2022 Mantras

by | Aug 17, 2022 | Body Positivity, General, Self Acceptance, Self Care, Teen Health and Wellness

What does abundance mean to you? 

The opposite of abundance is scarcity. 

Fixed, rigid, all or nothing, living small, negative self-talk, inner critic, fear of missing out, scarcity mindset, like you’ve got this one chance and you better not blow it?

I bring you a mind-blowing, or in coaching talk, belief-blowing discovery.

Did you see the Webb telescope’s image back from 13 billion light years ago?  Within a snippet the size of a grain of sand of the universe, the first image closest to when time began is full of galaxies, solar systems, nebulas of dying and birthing stars.  You can feel small or you can feel, like I do, a part of the incredible expanding abundant universe.  

When you think of your unlimited potential for self-love, you can use the tools of life coaching to snap images of your self-love universe. 

For August, there’s a lot of transitions, like summer wrapping up, school starting, activities getting going.  It can be really tough to avoid feeling dread and also like you have to get all this fun stuff in before summer ends. 

Abundant Self Love Mantras

Try my IME Community Abundant Self-Love Mantras for August:

  • 8/1 When I get stuck in fear of missing out then I miss out on my fun life.
  • 8/2 Scarcity is fear in disguise.
  • 8/3 The world is full of amazing humans I get to connect with.
  • 8/4 I’m not worried about trying new things.
  • 8/5 There’s never just one chance to try something
  • 8/6 I stay away from food rules because they’re too limiting.
  • 8/7 Restricting food creates an over desire for what I’m restricting.
  • 8/8 I can create an abundance of believable self-love thoughts.
  • 8/9 I know there are endless ways I can show self-worth.
  • 8/10 The more self-awareness, the more self-love.
  • 8/11 I haven’t even started to discover all the ways I can be kind to myself.
  • 8/12 When I feel fear of new beginnings, I always have my back.
  • 8/13 I never limit my dreams.
  • 8/14 People change and grow.  Maybe this year will be a new start.
  • 8/15 I am full of abundant self-love and compassion.
  • 8/16 When I feel anxiety, I know there’s nothing going wrong.
  • 8/17 FOMO with food is a waste of my time.
  • 8/18 Sometimes, YOLO thinking helps me when I’m stuck.
  • 8/19 When I overeat past being comfortable, I know it’s because I’m having scarcity thoughts.
  • 8/20 I love to eat an abundant variety of food.
  • 8/21 There’s never just one chance to get it right.
  • 8/22 I’ve got tons of great ideas and things I’d like to try.
  • 8/23 There’s a whole universe of health opportunities out there.
  • 8/24 If I feel stuck, I create awareness of my stuck thinking.
  • 8/25 I measure my success in endless ways.
  • 8/26 I never let anyone else create my narrative.
  • 8/27 My story is mine. I own it.
  • 8/28 My success in life is because of me.  It’s never because of or in spite of my weight.
  • 8/29 A number on a scale does not determine my actions.
  • 8/30 Every change I choose is from a place of infinite self-love.
  • 8/31 Just chilling out and resting when I feel like it, is intentional self-love.

Self-love superpower,

Dr. Karla

Finding Food Freedom – July 2022 Mantras

Finding Food Freedom – July 2022 Mantras

by | Jun 22, 2022 | Body Positivity, General, Self Care, Teen Health and Wellness

Welcome to Finding Food Freedom, the IME July Self-love mantras!  I felt really free writing these mantras and hope you will feel free as you read them.  

In September, 2017, I started my weight loss and life coaching journey with Dr. Katrina Ubell, who coaches busy women physicians.  Nearly five years later, I can say it was one of the best investments of my life.  To say learning the tools of life coaching was life changing is a massive understatement.  To be successful with any change in your life, you have to start with your pain point.  Though I was clinically obese at the time, my weight was not a pain point for me.  My pain point was feeling stuck, feeling like I was living a smaller life ruminating about food, diet coke, seeking false pleasures and not showing up for my human life.  I was living an external life seeking achievements without any regard for what I really want.  Now, I have freedom WITH food and fully trust myself to not restrict or punish or use food to cope with my human emotions.  

Food Freedom Mantras

Let me know which Freedom with food mantras ring true for you and send me your own.  There’s so much power in writing your own self-love mantras! 

  • 7/1 My relationship with food is my relationship with myself.
  • 7/2 I fuel my body with quality delicious food.
  • 7/3 I commit to never restricting or depriving my body of food.
  • 7/4 I love my family’s holiday food traditions. 
  • 7/5 Food is a fun part of life.
  • 7/6 I feel adventurous when I try new foods.
  • 7/7 When I sit down to eat I intend to nourish my body and enjoy my food.
  • 7/8 I have the power to choose food that serves my body and my health goals.
  • 7/9 When I overeat, I don’t shame or restrict myself. 
  • 7/10 I am not stuck in eating patterns that don’t serve me.
  • 7/11 I am free to eat what I want.
  • 7/12 I am free to allow my human emotions. 
  • 7/13 My life is more than the food I eat. 
  • 7/14 It feels good to be free with food. 
  • 7/15 I have as much willpower as anyone else.
  • 7/16 Restricting food is the opposite of freedom with food.
  • 7/17 I am free from diet culture’s restriction of calories.  
  • 7/18 Committing to not judging my body is so freeing.
  • 7/19 When I have an urge or craving, I don’t make it mean anything.
  • 7/20 I overdesire sugary foods sometimes and that’s okay. 
  • 7/21 I trust myself to create freedom with food.
  • 7/22 My pain point is feeling stuck ruminating about food all day.
  • 7/23 I get true pleasure and reward from self-worth. 
  • 7/24 Freedom with food starts with self-love superpower.
  • 7/25 Freedom with food has little to do with food.
  • 7/26 Staying out of good or bad food thinking helps me find freedom with food.
  • 7/27 I am free to discover my body’s healthy weight range. 
  • 7/28 There is no food police judging my food or judging me.
  • 7/29 I am working with the intention to notice my attachment to my inner critic voice. 
  • 7/30 I am free to be in the moment with food. 
  • 7/31 I am free to fully love and accept myself. 

Self-love superpower,

Dr. Karla

Debunking Diet Culture – Story vs. Facts – September 2022 Mantras

Body Image Thoughts – June 2022 Mantras

by | Jun 1, 2022 | Anti Bullying, Body Positivity, General, Self Acceptance, Self Care

Do You Bully Your Body? Here’s How to Get Unstuck from This Habit

Welcome to summer!

Whew! So far, it’s been a whirlwind for our family with my daughter’s graduation from High School and tomorrow I’m headed to Texas to move my oldest daughter into a new house (for her) with new roommates! I’m grateful I get to do it.

IME is six months or half a year, however you slice up that summer fruit, through a year of self-love superpower mantras! This glorious month of June let’s do fun stuff and get out of self-judging and hating on our bodies.

We just wrapped up Celebrate Measures of Success in May. You get to decide how to measure your success. How’d you do? If you were busy like me and didn’t get to it, no worries (I can’t stand when the Starbucks drive-thru person says, “No worries” after I place my order), you can create your measures of success this month.

Since I’m on social media a lot and lately have been going all in with my cancel diet culture posts, helping everyone stop their pursuit of thin privilege and live their magical lives, I figure June would be a great month to focus on body image.

Do you bully your body?

Do you have a certain body part that you fixate on wanting to fix? We all do sometimes.

We all have parts of us that we would choose to change. Maybe you can and that’s okay too. Maybe once you realize you can, you will decide not to.

Any decisions we make about making health behavior change or taking action in life must come from a place of self-acceptance and self-love. We cannot hate ourselves to what we want. Lots of psychology and coaching research shows this. It’s called PEA or Positive Emotion Activation. It’s cool stuff.

After years of being a pediatrician and taking care of so many patients, I can assure you that once you decide to focus on what you want in life and you have full love and acceptance for yourself, the healthy lifestyle changes become so easy. I’ve seen this time and time again with my patients and with myself.

One of the obstacles in our way is staying stuck in negative body image thoughts or staying attached to thoughts that don’t serve us. I’m not asking you to flip a body positive switch and just love yourself all day. That’s cheesy and not realistic.

When you say the letters I M E out loud, it sounds like I aM mE. The power of you as an individual with the support of a body positive community. How cool is that?

Quick Tip to Stop Bullying Your Own Body

Wear clothes right now that are comfortable that you love and feel-good in. If you have stuck thoughts that are creating negative body image feelings and actions, try my IME Community June Body Image Thoughts to Think!

IME Community Mantras for June 2022: Stop Bullying Your Body

  • 6/1 I define beauty by actions.
  • 6/2 If I want to change something about my physical appearance, I don’t
    make it mean that I’m sacrificing my values.
  • 6/3 I am deciding not to decide right now.
  • 6/4 I am never stuck.
  • 6/5 I fully love and accept myself no matter what.
  • 6/6 I make decisions from a healthy place of self-love and
    self-acceptance.
  • 6/7 Self-acceptance is always available to me like a nice warm blanket.
  • 6/8 I don’t let society define me or make decisions for me.
  • 6/9 It’s okay to wish something was different about me.
  • 6/10 I may re-decide at any time.
  • 6/11 When I decide, there is no right or wrong.
  • 6/12 I always like my reasons for deciding.
  • 6/13 I can create a thought about myself that serves me.
  • 6/14 I trust myself to stop self-judging.
  • 6/15 There are so many beautiful things about me.
  • 6/16 I am kind to myself no matter what.
  • 6/17 I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to be perfectly kind to myself.
  • 6/18 I recognize when my brain gets stuck in a thought loop and I create a pause.
  • 6/19 It’s okay to allow sadness as part of my human journey.
  • 6/20 When something is hard, I say it, “This feels really hard right now. May I be kind to myself.”
  • 6/21 I recognize that life is 50/50 positive/negative right now and if I
    change my body.
  • 6/22 I don’t convince myself if I’m not feeling it.
  • 6/23 If I don’t feel body positive, I don’t lie to myself. That feels like toxic
    positivity.
  • 6/24 Being hard on myself is not helpful.
  • 6/25 Fixating on changing my body is a waste of time.
  • 6/26 I’m living my life and doing what I want.
  • 6/27 When I’m in a body negative space, I stay off Instagram.
  • 6/28 I don’t look for how to fix my body on the internet.
  • 6/29 All I must do is create space for self-kindness when I’m being hard on my body.
  • 6/30 I don’t like any of the cheesy love your body always sayings.

Be okay with having an authentic human experience which means sometimes you love your body, sometimes you don’t, sometimes you are meh.

Get Unstuck from Self-Bullying Your Body

I just want you to get unstuck from attachment to body negative thoughts. Let me know what self-love superpower mantra theme you want for July! Stay tuned for my upcoming Cut the Cringe Life Coaching Workshops for Parents of Teens where I will coach you to cancel diet culture and raise a body positive teen in a body negative world!

Please follow IME Community on social media and share with everyone you know!

Self-love superpower, 

Dr. Karla, ActivistMD

Abundant Self Love – August 2022 Mantras

Interview: Teen Eating Disorders Thrive in Secrecy, So Let’s Talk About It

by | May 17, 2022 | Anti Bullying, Body Positivity, General, Parenting and Teens, Self Care, Teen Health and Wellness

If you are struggling with an eating disorder or believe you may be, Go to the National Eating Disorders Association for their Free online chat, call their Help Line at 1-800-931-2237 or contact their Crisis Line by Texting “NEDA” to 741741.

Dr. Karla talks with Dr. Jillian Rigert (DMD and MD) about what teens, parents, doctors, and teachers can do to help teens recognize, get treatment and heal from eating disorders in adolescence, starting with self-worth and self-compassion.

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month and this helpful information is needed now more than ever!

You get to live your magical and FUN life! 

Dr. Rigert wrote an incredibly helpful blog for IME Community, titled, “Lessons from a recovering perfectionist”.  I found Dr. Rigert’s blog and my interview with her to be so helpful and healing.

Teen Eating Disorders Video


We’re talking about teen eating disorders in this video, so just know that if you are not feeling it, go ahead and stop listening.  Also, the video is super helpful and healing, but doesn’t take the place of going to your doctor and working with a therapist who specializes in eating disorder treatment.  The earlier you are diagnosed and receive treatment, the better your outcome.  

First, if you are experiencing disordered eating, know that you are not alone, that it’s never your fault, you are worthy of help and treatment and healing no matter where you are with your diagnosis.  

Recognize, you are not broken and you can heal and live your beautiful life.  

You don’t cause and you don’t control all the things in life.  Eating disorders are a mental health diagnosis.  They are a medical condition.  You are not a diagnosis. 

I simply love you and want you to know that you are deserving of a self-love superpower life.  

Eating Disorders in Adolescence Are Common

Eating disorders are unfortunately common, cross gender lines, and do not have anything to do with weight.  What do I mean by that? You cannot determine if someone has an eating disorder based on their weight and external appearance. 

In our society and culture, we feel entitled to comment on bodies and sizeism is a thing and so is weight bullying, weight stigma and bias, and the false association between weight and health.  It’s all 100% harmful.

Dr. Jillian and I talk a lot about social media in this helpful discussion. It’s very very helpful. 

Welcome to National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.  I mean, I guess it’s a good thing to have an awareness week? What do you think?  I spent some time figuring out how to be helpful and not just share the typical talking points that are out there on eating disorders.   

How IME Community is addressing eating disorders starts with sharing the story of Dr. Jillian Rigert and her experience with an eating disorder, but most importantly, how Dr. Jillian is intentionally healing through her journey of self-worth and self-compassion.  

Sound familiar?  It’s self-love superpower! 

Eating disorders are “suffering”, a word Dr. Jillian used many times in this discussion.  Parents, note that your teen’s weight has absolutely nothing to do with their internal mental state.  If you believe your teen’s thinness means they should be happy, you’re wrong.  If you believe your teen who exists in a larger body, needs to shrink their body and their emotional and mental health and well-being will be fixed, wrong. I’m not saying that improving health habits won’t improve well-being.  Our focus on weight being equated to health and emotional health is just wrong.  

Stop Believing the Pursuit of Thin Privilege Gets to Happiness

Silence is fuel for an eating disorder.  Not talking about it, not knowing how to talk about it, staying stuck in diet culture, focusing too much on weight and not on mental health are all ways that parents and doctors contribute to the perpetuation of eating disorders and potentially create continued harm. 

Just like many issues in healthcare, eating disorder screening and treatment is another thing we’ve not been that helpful in addressing. Dr. Jillian and I talk about how we can start by having discussions with physicians and get rid of the focus on BMI (Body Mass Index) and weight-based diagnostic criteria.  When she talks about how harmful BMI at the doctor’s office was for her, I was overcome with emotion.  Her story is very powerful.  

Here’s a link to one of the many helpful Dr. Jillian Rigert articles on eating disorders, Eating Disorders Thrive in Secrecy, So Let’s Talk About It, published in KevinMD.com.  

Next up, I will discuss the different types of eating disorders.  Parents, please let me know what needs you have for coaching on this important health issue. 

Reach out to me at drkarlaactivistmd@imecommunity.com. Teens, 12 to 18, and parents of teens, go to imecommunity.com and subscribe to the IME Community newsletter – you’ll be automatically added to the IME Community and get my coaching to create a Body Positive Community for Teens in a Body Negative World!

Self- love superpower, 

Dr. Karla, ActivistMD