“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Rebecca Scritchfield, RD and mother of the “mefirst” movement, tweeted the above quote a few days ago, and it got me thinking about how this relates so much to body image and eating.  I am a crusader against “fat talking” and people belittling themselves, but more importantly I am a campaigner for everyone knowing they are worthy of love and acceptance for just being themselves.  We all have gifts, qualities, and personalities that are unique; we all have something special to offer that no one else could.  However, through believing spoken or unspoken words, comparing ourselves to others, and setting unattainable standards, we consent to feeling inferior instead of objectively understanding that we all have strengths and weaknesses. Words are powerful and we need to watch how we talk to each other, but in addition to that we need to watch how we internally talk to ourselves and what we consent to believing.

Think about this quote in terms of eating.  Have you ever felt inferior for listening to your body?  With so many myths (1,2,3,4), diet commercials, and nutrition misinformation, it is easy to get confused about what healthy living and taking care of our bodies truly looks like.  The truth is you alone know what you need to feel your best.  YOU know when your body is telling you that you are hungry or need energy.  You can tell when you are comfortably full or what foods you like the best.  You can tell the best when you need rest or when you need some endorphins.  You are YOUR body’s expert and you can choose to stand by what it needs.

This holiday season be choosy with what you consent to.  Don’t let the “fat talk” surrounding you influence what you know to be true about yourself.  Know your strengths and unique capabilities and use them in ways that only YOU can.  Choose what your body needs, whether it is family time, alone time, a moment to be thankful, extra rest, exercise, a piece of your favorite dessert, or a salad.   Most of all, I hope each of you consent to taking care of YOURSELVES, enjoying the true meaning of the holidays, and choosing not to listen to misinformation, lies, or messages that have no value.  You have a choice; choose knowing and believing you are SPECIAL (not inferior) because that is exactly what you are!

Also, feel free to check out a great post by Green Mountain Fox Run this week about Interpreting Holiday Eating through an intuitive perspective!

This post is by Janet Zimmerman, a University of Memphis Nutrition Student and Schilling Nutrition Therapy, LLC Intern. You can follow Janet on Twitter as well at http://twitter.com/JanetZimmerman