The history of diets   What is diet culture? To understand the origins of diet culture, it’s important to first establish what is actually meant by the term “diet culture”. Diet culture can be understood as a system of socially constructed and conditioned beliefs that thinness is synonymous with health and associated with a sense of moral virtue. It often offers a culturally prescribed body shape – an ideal that preaches an ever-shrinking, “skinny”, and sickly form, often only attainable through restriction and deprivation. This system advocates weight loss as a method of attaining a high ..read more

Feel more in control around food   What is secret eating? As you may have already guessed, secret eating is a form of disordered eating where someone will deliberately hide what they are eating, or how much they are eating, from other people. This may involve finding a place to eat where they know nobody will see them, or only eating at times where nobody is likely to be around – for example, staying up late to eat after everybody else has gone to bed. Secret eating behaviours can begin in childhood and continue long into adulthood, forming a vicious cycle that may seem impossible to brea ..read more

If you’re relatively new to the world of intuitive eating and don’t know where to get started, Embody Health London is the place to be. You may have just recently learned about intuitive eating as a concept but aren’t yet fully confident in trying it out for yourself. If this is the case, we will guide you so that you too can become an intuitive eater! This blog post will discuss the sorts of foods that people who eat intuitively may eat, as well as a few top tips for what to do if you are considering becoming an intuitive eater yourself.   What are the benefits of being an intuitive eat ..read more

How to undo the damages of dieting   What is metabolism? Metabolism refers to the collection of complex chemical reactions that occur in our bodies 24/7 in order to keep us going. At rest, we need a baseline level of energy to maintain the normal functioning of our organs – this is known as resting metabolic rate. Your metabolism is more dynamic than you think – it can be affected by a range of factors, from your physical activity level to the functioning of your hormones. In this article, we’ll discuss the ways in which metabolism can be affected by dieting, and subsequent methods to hel ..read more

  What is binge eating? Contrary to what you might think, binge eating is not the same thing as overeating. Binge eating consists of episodes involving eating large quantities of food in a short space of time, until you feel uncomfortably full or even sick. Those who binge eat usually do so alone, and will often experience feelings of shame, embarrassment, and guilt after an episode. According to statistics, binge eating disorder affects up to 2.8 million adults across the USA, making it more prevalent than both anorexia and bulimia1.   What causes binge eating? A mixture of several ..read more

Feeling out of control?   Do you feel like you are thinking about food non-stop? Are you constantly distracted by fantasies of which snack you might want to grab next? Or do you seem to spend hours daydreaming about what your meal later may consist of? If you feel like this describes you, then keep on reading to discover some potential reasons which might explain why you can’t stop thinking about food.   Are you eating frequently enough? This may sound incredibly obvious – but when we think about food, it’s usually just because we’re hungry! When our bodies go for long periods of tim ..read more

Moving from resolutions to intentions As 2023 creeps in, so do the standard messages of “new year, new me”. Everyone seems committed to setting resolutions which are usually completely unachievable. In fact, one survey found that only around 9% of Americans feel they are successful in keeping their goals by the end of the year1. The reality is, making – or breaking – new year’s resolutions really isn’t the be all or end all it’s made out to be at the beginning of January. Keep reading to find out our suggestions for some more fulfilling (and slightly more obtainable!) goals for the year ahead ..read more

What to eat with PCOS   Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, more commonly known as PCOS, is a condition affecting between 4-20% of women of reproductive age around the world1. Among other symptoms, many women with this condition will also struggle with their weight: in fact, between 50 and 80% of people with PCOS are classed as obese2. HOWEVER, and this is a big however… Most nutritional advice out there can be rooted in fatphobia, misinformed, and focuses on dieting to lose weight. In reality, this unnecessary dietary restriction can actually cause more harm than good and can even lead to harmful ..read more

Body ideals change but your worth never does   Throughout history, the ‘ideal body shape’ for women has been constantly and abruptly changing, with new trends around every corner. Historically, women have been objectified, scrutinised, sexualised, and crucified for what they look like. Society has continued to construct new ideals to strive for, ideals which, often, cannot even be achieved naturally. Interestingly, these socially constructed standards have been vastly different and polarising over time, meaning the ideal body type has never stayed the same for very long. This article will ..read more

Nutrition as one of the keys to a good night sleep   We all know that sleep is crucial, not only for our physical health but also for our mental wellbeing. Getting adequate amounts of sleep at night helps our body to rest and repair, getting us ready for the day head. However, sometimes falling asleep isn’t all that easy – in fact, around 10-30% of adults across the globe report experiencing insomnia, with this figure being as high as 50-60% in some parts of the world1. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the best foods for improving your sleep, as well as some other helpful tips o ..read more