As Bob and I are deep in our journey through Middle Earth I took a short detour and read Body Talk by Katie Sturino and let me tell you... this book is important! Body Talk is part workbook and part really positive chat with a friend. I have been following Katie Sturino on Instagram for a little over a year now and she is terrific. I love following Katie's #makemysize where she calls out brands who are not size inclusive! Katie writes this book the way she talks on her Instagram videos and it's so relatable and honest, I felt really seen reading every page of this book.
I not only read this book cover to cover but I answered every question in my journal, I doodled, I wrote big, bold reminders to be kind to myself and I really tried to take every word to heart. We as a society have been controlled by diet culture for way too long, those of us who live in larger bodies have been made to feel like we are less then, that we have to earn our food, that we have to wait until we are a certain weight before we can wear stylish clothes, that we have to look a certain way before we are allowed to have a happy, healthy life. Body Talk breaks this down for us, makes us feel like we are not alone. No it's not a single book that will solve all of your problems immediately but wow it's a great start. I plan to read and re-read this book, and make the book work for me and remind me that I'm ok. It will take work but I am worth it!
I can't recommend this book enough for women, for men, for those in the small bodies, for those in larger bodies, for those who don't like their ears, nose, hair. This book will help you talk to yourself nicer, it will help find that confidence to take photos in workout clothes that make you feel good, it will help your relationship with people in your circle and your relationship with yourself and I'm here for it! I have struggled for a long time with how I look and I've been on diets, Weight Watchers and no carb and low carb and liquid and I've taken diet pills and you know what - none of that made me happy OR thin! They always made me irritable, annoyed, like I was missing out, and they would always, always lead to a binge that sometimes lasted years!
During this pandemic and all the time I spent at home with myself it felt really important to be kind to myself, to take care of myself and to give myself grace. I like to workout and I shouldn't be worried about what anyone thinks because I happen to be a chubby gal, I shouldn't be concerned about the eyerolls and the "yeah sure she does" that may be whispered behind my back. I love to workout but I also want to do it I don't ever want to feel I have to do it and I don't want to feel like I have to do it in order to eat a piece of cheese or some ice cream cause you know what - I also love cheese and ice cream and I'm not apologizing for that anymore either. Body Talk has really helped me see what my body has to offer, what I should be and am thankful for and that no matter my size, I get to love to workout and I should do the workouts I want for the amount of time I want and make no apologies to anyone! No matter my size I get to wear cute leggings and dresses and be stylish. I get to post photos of myself on Social Media and I get to have a happy healthy life. I encourage you to do the same!
This book is important because there is such a powerful movement happening to get rid of the diet culture, for size inclusivity, and for just kindness towards people who may not look the way you have been taught they should look. I follow more and more strong, confident and awesome women of all sizes who are trying to change the world and Body Talk is an incredible start and I'm so grateful to Katie Sturino for writing this book, for having this tough conversation and helping to open my eyes to toxic thoughts and feelings. Also, if you haven't tried Katie's Megababe products I totally think you should!
Looking for another great resource, I strongly recommend my friend Anne's podcast A La Mood where she ditches the diet culture and talks about the benefits of intuitive eating also how to have a happy, healthy relationship with food.
Have you read Body Talk? Let me know if you have or when you do. What was your biggest takeaway? You can share in the comments or you can always feel free to email or DM me. Know that I'm always here for you and ready to push you towards loving yourself whenever you need a nudge!