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Welcome to the Nourishing Words newsletter.

Nourishing Words includes articles about healing food and body image concerns, raising kids to have healthy relationships with food, their bodies, and themselves, and living a fully embodied life — all the way into midlife and beyond.

I write from almost thirty years of experience as a nutrition therapist and eating disorders specialist near Boston, Massachusetts. I endeavor to communicate in a trauma-informed way as a Somatic Experiencing (SE) Practitioner. I also bring to my writing lived experience as a person who has recovered from an eating disorder, a proud and bumbling parent of two amazing young adults, and a lifelong dancer embracing a 50+-year-old body. I also don’t think we talk enough about what it feels like to let go of the children we raise and fill the “empty” nest.

I’m a Health-At-Every-Size (HAES) practitioner and believe all bodies deserve care, love, and to take up as much space as they do. I also believe that the body is just one part—and not the most critical part—of the whole self.

I’m an independent author of the award-winning book Nourish: How To Heal Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Self (Hummingbird Press, 2018), and new second book, Nurture: How to Raise Kids Who Love Food, Their Bodies, and Themselves (Hummingbird Press, 2024). The latter is a compassionate guide for parents and caregivers who are navigating the challenging waters of raising children and teens in a culture that is pretty weird about food and bodies.

Subscriptions, particularly paid subscriptions, support my work as a writer and change-maker and the production of my books. (Book #3 is in the conception phase.) I am reserving some of my “meatier” articles in 2024 for paid subscribers, to keep the writing for Substack sustainable. If you can’t pay for a subscription, no worries. You can help by liking, commenting on, and restacking my posts so more people have an opportunity to read my work. I also won’t be offended if you can’t get to the emails in your inbox sometimes. I completely get that. If finances are an issue, reach out to me and ask for a free paid subscription. (An oxymoron, I know, but no questions will be asked.)

Please feel free to share all or part of my newsletter with friends, fellow parents, those who aim to be more embodied in their lives, or anyone else you think might benefit.

Every new edition of Nourishing Words goes directly to your inbox. I hope you will enjoy being part of a community with shared interests. We all need supportive communites that help us thrive and feel nourished.

(To learn more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.)