A to Z with Sarah B.

Photo Courtesy of My Signature Nutrition, LLC

Which of these consequences of diet culture have impacted you? For me, I've experienced several of these in my years of dieting. Here's a couple:

1. Normalizes disordered eating: Dieting glorifies not eating when you're hungry; I was excited when I had the "willpower" to skip a meal so it was easier to hit that low-calorie goal I had for the day. It glorifies an obsession with your steps, your food tracking, and your body weight. It defines success as if you had a loss and failure if you had a gain. And my emotional well-being many days rested on that number.

2. Makes digestion worse: One thing that has fascinated me since I stopped dieting is how few issues I have with my stomach. It's not 100% because I've had digestion issues my whole life. But I remember trying to eliminate different food groups and hardly being able to eat anything at certain points in life. And nothing solved the issue. But the past year has brought the least issues with my stomach for the better part of a decade, and I think not dieting and making peace with it is a huge contributor.

3. Waste of time: Losing weight didn't "fix" my PCOS as some doctors told me it would. In fact, I actually gained back some of the weight I lost before my cycle came back to something resembling normal. And at my current weight, I have a regular cycle because I'm working on managing my stress, trying to incorporate more intentional movement, and not stressing out about how much I'm eating or if it's "good" or "bad." Instead, I'm just trying to listen to my body when I feel full and eating on a regular schedule so I don't get too hungry.

I promise I'm working on blog posts over here and hopefully will get back to twice-weekly publishing soon. I'll be honest that I've been so burned out recently, and I think Ryan's been feeling that too. Parenting a two-year-old is hard on top of all our other responsibilities. Thankfully, my friend Emily took her for a few hours on Saturday so Ryan and I could have a childfree sushi lunch and time together, and I think it helped us a lot. I even remembered to take a selfie with my cute guy to commemorate it. (Yes, we visited a library in our adventures because we're big nerds.)

Library PSA: If you’re going to use these little tabs (and I highly encourage you to over dog-earing or marking up the books), then please remove the tabs before you put them in the book drop. This book wasn’t full of them like some I’ve seen, but it still irritates me. Thank you.

You're hired. 🤣

Credit: https://imgflip.com/i/5rok25

Actual quote from a library customer. 😂 Even as we're helping her use our computers to print something 5 minutes before the lab shuts down.

Pro tip: Make sure you bring your library card and know your email password before you come to the library. It helps a lot. 🙃🙃

I LOVE this adaption of Romans 8:38-39 to remind me of my goal in loving my daughter. While I will not always live up to this, I know God will - and I hope I can point her to him.

Credit to Connected Families for creating this. You can download this for your background on your phone or computer or to share on your social media here:

https://connectedfamilies.org/resources/romans-8-download/

True?

Things I've personally found in the book drop:
A soggy piece of bread and some stray pieces of lettuce
Pee-soaked library books
$20 in cash used as a bookmark
A rusty nail
A cockroach

Relatable. 😆

Been there. 😅

Via Toddler Memes

Once upon a time, I lost my keys for a whole 45 minutes, and now my husband thinks I'm losing my mind.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/losing-my-mind-and-my-keys/

Losing My Mind And My Keys - A to Z with Sarah B. This is a story about how I lost my keys yet again and may also be losing my mind. At least, I have an understanding husband.

Spotlighting just a fraction of the incredible knowledge that Jim and Lynne Jackson share with their parenting help resource, Connected Families.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/parenting-help-spotlight-connected-families/

Parenting Help Spotlight: Connected Families - A to Z with Sarah B. You aren't given a parenting help manual when you bring a child into the world. But I've found a resource called Connected Families that helps.

The last time EB was silent I found the living room floor covered in sprinkles so I've learned the hard way. :D

I will never cease to be surprised by the things I have to say to my toddler. Turns out parenting involves some weird conversations.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/things-ive-actually-had-to-say-to-my-toddler/

Things I've Actually Had To Say to My Toddler - A to Z with Sarah B. I will never cease to be surprised by the things I have to say to my toddler. Turns out parenting comes with some weird conversations.

Been a little MIA with the blog this past week. I had a post in rough drafts that I’ve not posted, but after the news of the school shooting in Uvalde, I haven’t felt much like working on it. It didn’t seem appropriate to post quite yet. So I’ve been holding on to my EB a little tighter and spending time with family. I’ve been angry and heartbroken over this tragedy. My prayers are with these grieving families but also about what small part I can play in helping to prevent these tragedies.

Congratulations to my baby sister on her graduation from college. I couldn’t be more proud of her. 🥰

For the past few months, I've made it a goal to buy potato chips every week as part of my grocery trips...it's a key part of my intuitive eating journey.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/potato-chips-in-my-house-again-an-intuitive-eating-journey/

Potato Chips In My House Again: An Intuitive Eating Journey - A to Z with Sarah B. As I continue on my intuitive eating journey, a big hurdle I've had to surmount was being able to eat potato chips without guilt.

If you are interested in getting the latest blog post emailed to you, I'm hoping to start doing that with the next blog post. I am learning this whole email your subscribers thing as I go so hopefully it will work. I know the algorithm on here isn't always friendly so I'm hoping to find a way to make sure you see the blog posts if you really want to. Click the link below to subscribe to the blog:

https://atozwithsarahb.com/subscribe

Subscribe - A to Z with Sarah B. Hi, I'm Sarah B, and I'm a thirty-something mom to a toddler, passionate library worker, and newly minted intuitive eating, anti-diet advocate. I love writing about these things and hope you'll read and join in the conversation. 

Apparently, this was never shared properly on the day that it came out so trying again. Like toddlers, pages can say one thing and mean something completely different! :D

Getting My Toddler to Eat Something - A to Z with Sarah B. Toddlers don't seem to want to eat anything you want them to eat, and mealtime can be stressful. Here's what we do in my family to help.

EB and I hit up our local library today for story time and exploring the kids area on my day off. What can I say? I love libraries. 🤷🏻‍♀️🥰

I’m pretty much the worst for 3.5 seconds. 😂

Pretty proud of my National Pet Month Display at work. The cat garland from E's party did double duty by coming to work with me and making my display cuter. 😍

A job interview at a creepy, old house? Not my best idea unless I really wanted to be a horror film heroine, but I went and checked it out anyway.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/my-hour-as-a-horror-film-heroine/

My Hour as A Horror Film Heroine - A to Z with Sarah B. I found myself at a job interview at a creepy, old house. Will I die like a horror film heroine or get the job?

I think library customers seem to think I have more power than I actually do.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/keeper-of-the-email-passwords/

Keeper of the Email Passwords - A to Z with Sarah B. If only I knew all the customer's email passwords while working at the library...I wonder what I could do with that power?

How’s my morning going? Funny you should ask…. 🫣

This was my daughter and I this morning at the dentist's office. The guy sitting in the truck was definitely judging me as I picked her up and carried her under my arm, but it got her safely to the car so there's that. 😜

(Source: Pinterest)

Today, I wrote a letter of what I would have told myself in 2020 as a mom to a newborn. Because it was a rough time for me.

https://atozwithsarahb.com/a-letter-to-new-mom-me/

A Letter to New Mom Me - A to Z with Sarah B. It's 2022, and I'm writing a letter to new mom me in 2020 and what I would have told her if I could sit her down now.

It’s been nearly a year since I discovered intuitive eating, and it not only changed my eating but also my relationship with food, how I look at my body, and my relationship to diet culture.

Goodbye, Dieting. Hello, Intuitive Eating! - A to Z with Sarah B.

A snack tastes so much better when there's not a child crawling on you, saying, "Bite, bite, bite!" 😂

I wondered how we got to this moment and how in the world we could keep it from happening again....

https://atozwithsarahb.com/difficult-toddler-gods-grace

A Difficult Toddler & God's Grace - A to Z with Sarah B. Parenting One hectic morning, my difficult toddler taught me an important reminder about God's patience and grace towards me.

Just so you all know, It’s important to clean out your purse before flying in case you accidentally try to smuggle contraband on a plane. Please learn from my story. 😅
http://atozwithsarahb.com/?p=105

The Accidental Terrorist - A to Z with Sarah B. It’s important to clean out your purse before flying in case you accidentally try to smuggle contraband on a plane.