Food and Body, Part Two
Picking up their conversation from the first episode, Dr. Dan Allender, Diane Summers, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD, and Matt Tiemeyer, LMHC, continue talking about the connection between desire, shame, and food. Not only are we at war with food, but we are also at war with shame in regard to our relationship with our bodies and how we relate to the people around us.
One way that evil seeks to disrupt our relationship with food is by turning our own pleasure, the things we find enjoyment in, against us. We begin to fear good things, including food, and want to “tune out” our bodies. This is not dissimilar to those who have experienced sexual trauma and wish to be away from their bodies so as not to experience interest, desire, or appetite.
“God gave us food for more than nutrition. God gave us food for play and pleasure and for communion, engagement with yourself, and others. That’s a radical but elemental part of talking about this war with food and the debris that comes.” Dr. Dan Allender
“In our fear of our own bodies and desire, we turn that into a weapon against the people around us. There’s no place on the body spectrum of size and shame where anyone generally feels safe and at home and happy with themselves.” Matt Tiemeyer
“We don’t have an honor of bodies changing and aging. We expect someone to have the body of a 20-year-old when they’re 70. When you layer on these ‘isms’—sizeism, ageism— it’s possible to become buried in these forms of intersectionality, in the forms of oppression that we have.” Diane Summers
“It’s horrendous to think we’re talking about a culture committed to its own self-decimation.” Dr. Dan Allender
“We are all too willing to turn over our awareness around our bodies to something outside of ourselves, whether its praise or shame of some kind. We give the words of others a great deal of credence with regard to our bodies. We sacrifice listening to our bodies for the sake of the opinions of those around us.” Matt Tiemeyer
“These are acts of resistance that are holy. When we take a stand against body oppression we take a stand against diet culture […] we are reclaiming what we were made for, we’re returning to how we came into this world: as intuitive eaters, connected to our bodies, enamored with our bodies.” Diane Summers
Resources
If you are interested in going deeper with the resources mentioned in this podcast:
- Listen to the first episode in this series, Food and Body, Part One
- Matt Tiemeyer practices at Blue Harbor Counseling
- Diane Summers practices at Hope Nutrition Therapy Center
- Read more about NEDA’s The Marginalized Voices Project