love our bodies, love ourselves

February includes Eating Disorder Awareness week, and we need YOUR help to spread awareness about eating disorders! WHAT:  A time where we stop and honor eating disorders awareness, education, and prevention across Canada! Eating Disorders Awareness Week runs from February 1st - 7th, 2017, and we invite everyone on Friday to wear PURPLE or our…More

WHAT:  The Hunt to Love Our Bodies, Love Ourselves challenges residents of B.C. to complete missions for points using an app for Android, iPhone and tablet devices called “GooseChase.” GooseChase is a free app that hosts mass scavenger hunts!  The game has a list of missions/tasks for everyone to complete. Each of these missions relates…More

You are simply beautiful. You are stunning, and radiant. But darling, you will soon learn that everyone defines beauty differently. You will be taught to strongly believe in one definition, society will force on you another, and all those around you will undeniably have their own classifications. You may scoff when you are told that…More

 *Reprinted from "Body Image" issue of Visions Journal, 2016, 12 (1), p. 5 Few of us today escape some kind of dissatisfaction about the way we look. In a 2008 study, only 10% of BC adolescent girls in Grades 7 through 12 rated themselves as very satisfied with their body image, compared to 19% of…More

 *Reprinted from "Body Image" issue of Visions Journal, 2016, 12 (1), p. 35   I don’t think anyone can be fully prepared for working in the field of eating disorder prevention. It is frustrating, empowering and challenging all at the same time. Having struggled with an eating disorder and negative body image myself, I felt…More

  They say that pain is more bearable in the company of another human being.  It is healing and comforting to share perspectives without being judged.  Now, imagine yourself trying to support a loved one through recovery from an eating disorder.  Their irrational and critical thoughts, unhealthy rituals, vicious behaviors – How can you empathize…More

Laughter.  Joy.  Happiness.  Peace.  These are all things I never thought I would feel again.  At the height of my anorexia, I was numb.  The only things I thought about were food and exercise.  Every day centered around what and when I would eat, as well as when I would exercise.  My plans for each…More

Over and over and over again my brain questions: Why?  Why am I struggling today? Why do I feel this anxiety now? Why do I feel so fat, so ugly?  Why? What is different today from yesterday? Why did my clothes fit better last week? Why do I feel so differently today then I did…More

My approach and views on body weight have changed a lot since I became a dietitian back in the late 90's. I was taught that weight control could be achieved by simply balancing calories in with calories out. My diet plans consisted of a list of foods to eliminate. Moving to Canada in 2003 was…More

Looking back on Eating Disorder Awareness Week, the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) was a bustling campus. Adding to this busy feeling, the team at UBCO made efforts in several ways to promote the awareness of eating disorders throughout the campus and valley. On campus, information booths were held in the afternoon throughout the…More