About Selena:
Your Non-Diet Copywriter
If you don’t mind, I’m about to get a little personal...
I’d like to show you how I know where your clients are coming from, and how I can help.
I went on my first diet when I was 12.
Fairly late by today’s unfortunate standard.
As a pre-teen in the early 2000s, I was deep in the thick of diet culture messaging. I told my 5th grade teacher — who was a nun, by the way — that I wanted to be a “Victoria’s Secret Angel” when I grew up. Really glad that didn’t pan out.
I became obsessed with “eating healthy." I restricted calories and food groups based on whatever diet trend I read about in Shape magazine that month.
A few months into college, I'd gained some weight. Still believing that weight=health, I was devastated. I felt out of control around food and started binge-eating most nights.
You know what's messed up?
To everyone else, I was the “healthy” friend.
Everyone admired my “discipline” and complimented my body. On the inside, I was tormented. 99% of my mental energy was sapped by thoughts about food and my body.
Therapy helped a little. I learned to recognize my black-and-white thinking around food and confront the anti-fat bias that was driving my thoughts. But I was still having the thoughts.
I finished my degree in psychology and thought I might become a therapist to help women with eating disorders. I decided I couldn’t — it was still too raw.
For the next decade, I fought for recovery. I journaled. I meditated. I yoga-d like my life depended on it. But still, I saw myself as a sugar addict, as someone who would always struggle. Someone who would never be “normal” around food.
And then, one evening, at exactly the right moment...
I heard about intuitive eating. I downloaded the Intuitive Eating book and devoured it all in one sitting. It was medicine for my soul. It made perfect sense to me:
That restriction was actually the root of my food issues.
That I wasn't the problem — diets were.
That I could learn to trust my body around food.
Still, I felt in over my head. I knew I needed someone to walk with me on the road to food freedom.
I searched the registry of certified Intuitive Eating counselors online. True story: I chose the one that had the most awesome website copy and social media presence. It's all about the vibes, baby. It screamed, "I know where you're coming from, and I can help."
Over my time working with this wonderful non-diet, Intuitive Eating dietitian, my life completely changed. Today, I consider myself healed from disordered eating — or as healed as one can be in this diet-y world.
I’m no longer preoccupied with food.
I enjoy meals out with my friends and family.
I keep all of my favorite foods in the house — something I NEVER thought I could do.
And I became so. darn. productive. I mean, who knew how much brain space you actually have when it’s not totally preoccupied with food and body thoughts?!
Now, I recognize insidious diet culture messaging everywhere. I get into *not always fun* conversations with friends, family, and strangers about diets and health. I believe that a weight-neutral, non-diet approach has the power to transform the world. That might sound dramatic, but I’m sure you can understand.
My life’s work is now to amplify voices that empower others to find the kind of healing that I found. Voices like yours.
I know the principles, the science, and the lingo. Let’s tackle diet culture together!
