Julie Dillon
(245) Intuitive Eating while supporting someone with Diabetes with Rachael Hartley
Julie Dillon
How do you continue to fight diet culture when someone in your family lives with diabetes? Is rejecting diets hurting them? Does this diagnosis mean food must now be managed rather than met with curiosity? Listen to the latest Love Food Podcast with guest expert Rachael Hartley, author of Gentle Nutrition.
How do you continue to fight diet culture when someone in your family lives with diabetes? Is rejecting diets hurting them? Does this diagnosis mean food must now be managed rather than met with curiosity? Listen to the latest Love Food Podcast with guest expert Rachael Hartley, author of Gentle Nutrition.
Show Notes
Mentioned in this episode:
- Gentle Nutrition book by Rachael Hartley RD
- www.rachaelhartleynutrition.com
- IG – @RachaelHartleyRD
- Twitter – @RHartleyRD
- Submit your Dear Food letter here or https://forms.gle/pepKRGPC8JbHLHHn8
- Julie on Instagram: Instagram.com/FoodPeaceDietitian
- Find Eating Disorder Dietitians near you.
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Podcast Transcript
Listeners’ Letter
Dearest Food,
I love you. You are delicious and I enjoy you. I also sometimes feel angry towards you and
blame you for my problems. I’ve also felt scared of you and felt you were going to hurt me.
However, I’ve done a lot of work around this. These days, I often feel neutral towards you. I feel
we are getting into a groove and have a much better relationship. I’m so grateful for this. I even
ate a tuna on raisin bread sandwich to celebrate–one of my newly discovered weird food
combination loves. I’m so glad we can be playful together sometimes.
Nevertheless, I still have hiccups in this journey that make me doubt all of it. Recently, a family
member of mine, someone I love and cook for often, was diagnosed “prediabetic.” Honestly, I’m
not sure what this means. I do know he has been told to be careful about carbs and sugars or
he will become full on diabetic and this will ruin the rest of his life. This is not what was actually
said of course, but this is the message that seems to underlie what was said. I am scared. Did
my cooking do this? By embracing food, stressing less, and ditching diets, have I caused a
health problem for someone I love so dearly? What about when I get pregnant and have my first
child? What will I do then? How do I know that what I’m doing is best for those that will be
dependent on me? Don’t they deserve the best chance at a healthy life? And what does that
actually mean?
It feels as if I am able to work out my individual relationship with you a bit, but when others are
involved, I begin to feel the creeping in of doubt. I even googled diets for diabetes today. I had a
sinking feeling when I did that. As if maybe I would have to break up with you. Maybe all our
playful, fun, neutral times were over. Maybe we would have to go back to how things used to be.
Maybe I was wrong all along? It’s been hard to know what is right for me and I still struggle to
stay on course. When I start to feel my decisions may be impacting others I love deeply, the
doubt becomes fiercer and I actually become afraid. I become afraid of you, food. Will you hurt
my family?
Love,
Sad and scared
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