I got to spend the weekend at the MEDA conference, a gathering of eating disorder professionals here in the Boston area, held over Friday and Saturday. It’s both invigorating and exhausting at the same time: a lot of new faces, new ideas, excitement, and enthusiasm for the work we do. There are so many dedicated and insightful clinicians and dietitians in the field, it gives me hope that the work we’re doing to heal body image and negative relationships with food will reach more and more of those in need.
A few of the Instagram accounts that are worth following include:
@DietitianAnna
@Jessihaggertyrd
@nourishingwords
@paigesmathersrd
If you’re looking for more positive nutrition messages and kind words about bodies and self care, these are good resources to turn to.
Here’s what I’m eating and reading this week:
WEEKLY MENU PLAN
All the options below are dairy-free and soy-free recipes now that we’re managing a dairy- and soy-protein intolerance in our little one.
Sunday: Pan-seared pork and all-the-alliums fried rice (using Earth Balance butter substitute)
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Pan-seared chicken with leftover rice (it made a lot) and roasted vegetables
Wednesday: Curried lentils with sweet potatoes, kale, and hazelnuts
Thursday: Pasta with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and broccoli
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Red-wine marinated flank steak
WHAT I’M READING AND ENJOYING THIS WEEK:
Ann Patchett on being fully present.
There’s no one right way to be human.
Stephen Hawking (who died this week) on the meaning of the universe.
BOOK REVIEW
Title: Home Fire
Author: Kamila Shamsie
Date: 2017
Format: Book
Initially on the fence about this one (it’s another modern-day telling of a classic tale, the tragedy of Antigone in this case, and I felt I’ve had my fill of these recently with Colm Toibin‘s House of Names and Tracy Chevalier‘s New Boy). In the end, though, this was a really engrossing, enjoyable book. The perspective shifted in different sections throughout the novel, and each new vantage point seemed to merge seamlessly, and I found myself thinking about these different people and their stories even after putting the book down. Maybe it helped that I’m not super familiar with the story of Antigone, but there was enough in the liberties the author took with the story to keep things interesting, and I was hooked.
