Category: Lifestyle Medicine
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Overcoming emotional eating
Emotional eating isn’t solved by willpower… We need to dig into the root cause: the emotions themselves. Food isn’t just food. Food is memories and pleasure and comfort… and yes, food can also be a way to cope with overwhelming emotions. Stress, anxiety and depression are running rampant in our fast-paced society, and alongside this…
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Body neutrality over body positivity
The body positivity movement encourages loving your body, but should you be aiming for body neutrality instead? “I thought doing this all body image work would help me to love my body.” She had been trying so hard, but she still looked in the mirror and saw all of her flaws. “I’m actually not so…
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Permission to binge
You may think the answer to beating binge eating is more willpower and restriction, but Dietitian Lucy Carey says permission to binge is key. “You’re kidding me,” she said, mouth agog. “Absolutely not,” I replied. “I’m deadly serious. You need to give yourself permission to binge. If that need overwhelms you, I want you to…
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Visualization – using neuroscience to hack health
Vision is our most dominant sense. But can we hack it to improve our health? Dietitian Lucy Carey delves into the world of visualization. Vision is our most dominant sense. In fact, just seeing someone do something can create new neural connections in our brains (that’s the way most children learn to do things, right?…
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What is grounding and does it work?
Is the health practice of grounding sold by snake oil salesmen, or is it rooted in science? Dietitian Lucy Carey finds out. “Where are Daddy’s crocs?” My son asked, searching fruitlessly for the pair of old crocs we leave outside the back door. “Not sure but you don’t need them anyway. Get the feijoas in…
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Overcome your fears while fast asleep
Could your nightmares actually lessen your daytime fears? Dietitian Lucy Carey explores the role of dreaming in fear reduction. I clambered down the stairs, clutching my newborn to my chest tightly and praying the sound of running feet on the floors above us would muffle our own scramble to safety. My heart beat wildly as…
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The man whose donor heart tried to give him bulimia
Are memories stored in our organs? And if they are, do organ transplant recipients get the memories of their donor? He was the grumpiest fellow I’d ever met, and I was unimpressed. I tried a couple times to exchange pleasantries but after another minute or two, I gave up and stopped trying altogether. I turned…
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Meals plans aren’t the answer
Everyone asks you for a meal plan, but should you give them one? Dietitian Lucy Carey gives her thoughts on meal plans. It’s what everyone wants. At least, it’s what they think they want. A written plan that tells them exactly what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it to eat.…
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The 3 most common nutrition coaching mistakes
Dietitian Lucy Carey explores the most common nutrition coaching mistakes that she sees in her practice (and that she’s made herself). Let’s dive right in, shall we? In my opinion, these are the 3 most common nutrition coaching mistakes that coaches of all levels of experience make. I’ve made them all myself, so I’m not…
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Weight loss is beneficial, but focusing on it is detrimental
Weight loss could greatly improve the health of many people, but focusing on losing weight often backfires. Dietitian Lucy Carey explains. “I know you keep saying that the weight isn’t what this is about but…” She was agitated, her blonde hair flicking into her eyes as she spoke. She had clearly steeled herself to ask…