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Juleeta C. Harvey

Empowering Women to Believe Body Truth

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Two Words that Tear Down Our Kids (That Aren’t Even True)

April 3, 2019 By Juleeta 6 Comments

Thanks to Alexis Brown on Unsplash for capturing happy teenagers.

Recently, I met with young women, ranging in ages from 11-18. More insightful than anything I shared with them about the steady growth of negative body image in today’s culture were the responses they shared with me. Specifically, their response to one question keeps coming to mind.

In two different breakout sessions, I asked, “What words have you heard that negatively describe a girl’s body?” and these were the first two responses.  In both groups.

Fat.

Ugly.

In that order.

Now, those answers didn’t come immediately after I asked the question. In fact, I waited a long quiet minute before anyone spoke up. In both sessions, the group of chatty girls were initially silent after hearing the question. No one wanted to speak the words that they had either said about someone else or had heard about themselves.

And these two words, spoken aloud, fat and ugly, opened the floodgates of discussion concerning negative body image talk. How hurtful it is. How deceiving it is. How destructive it can be, if believed.

If our young people wake up in the morning thinking they are fat or ugly, if they go to the restroom and see fat or ugly as they glance at the mirror before walking out the door, if they believe they are fat or ugly as they brace themselves to stand in the ever-changing opinions of their peers, if they believe they are fat or ugly as they return home and sink into their beds for some much needed reprieve, then they live overwhelmed by lies.

From the moment they wake up until they close the day with some shut eye, our precious young people need to hear the truth from us. The twinkle in their eyes and the smiles on their faces are beautiful. The growing statures of their bodies are strong and can serve in life-changing ways. These growing people need to hear that their bodies are good.  [Read more…] about Two Words that Tear Down Our Kids (That Aren’t Even True)

Filed Under: Eating Disorders, Food, Healthy Bodies

Good Food vs. Bad Food and the Battle Eating Away at Women

February 21, 2019 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

Photographer Alex Loup captured this beautiful food moment, and my mouth is watering.

As we envision a world where women of different sizes can thrive in their God-given bodies, we ask ourselves: How can women advocate positive change for the female body?       

One place to start is examining our relationship with food.

Currently, we live in a culture that demonizes some foods and idolizes other foods.  Meat is bad; veggies are good.  Starches are bad; fruit is good. Fruit is bad; lean dairy products are good.  Who can keep up with all of the latest “research”?  Choosing good food over bad food is a constant battle, and I, for one, am tired of fighting a battle that threatens to eat away at any more of my time and energy.  Ain’t nobody got time for that. [Read more…] about Good Food vs. Bad Food and the Battle Eating Away at Women

Filed Under: Control, Eating Disorders, Food

Loving Lovely : Body Shame, No More

October 17, 2018 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

Let’s talk. Body Shame No More in the #Sisterhood.  Photo by Brandi Ibrao on Unsplash

How do we Love Lovely? 

Lovely is the daughter that looks up into your eyes and asks you quizzically, “Why did that little girl call me fat, Mommy?  Am I really fat?”

Lovely is the friend who subtly nudges you at dinner and asks, “Hey, can we talk for a few minutes after dinner?  I’m feeling weak, losing weight, and I’m kind of scared about what is happening to my body.  I heard Jody telling another mom that she thinks I’m anorexic.”

Lovely is the young woman in your workplace who, obviously, has had plastic surgery, and she keeps to herself.  You’ve considered asking her to join you for lunch, but there’s this voice whispering in your head, “Is she fake?” and so you leave it alone.

You leave her alone. We leave her alone.

We don’t really mean to leave her alone.  We want to Love Lovely. But we struggle. [Read more…] about Loving Lovely : Body Shame, No More

Filed Under: Addiction, Control, Eating Disorders, Food, Grateful Moments, Healthy Bodies, Moms and Daughters, The World Out There

Symptoms, Early Intervention, and Treatment: Licensed Dietician, Kristin Williams, Speaks Up

July 10, 2018 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

How stunning is this mother-daughter pair as walk the length of the dock together? Even with deep waters ahead, we join together in faith, trusting He desires us to seek healing where there is hurt.

Readers and Friends,

After a bit of a hiatus, I bring you a gem — an interview with eating disorder specialist and licensed dietician, Kristin Williams, RDN. In her very gentle approach, Kristin shares with us a wealth of information concerning Symptoms, Early Intervention, and Treatment of Eating Disorders. Conversations about mental illnesses are at an all-time high, and patients meeting criteria on the DSM 5 for such illnesses as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Orthorexia need help! I sincerely hope this interview guides us into more fact based conversations that equip women to see themselves as God ‘s beautiful children – valuable, powerful, and completely lovely.

Juleeta: Hi, Kristin. Thank you for taking time to meet with me today. Readers, Kristin just gave a birth to a beautiful baby boy, Kipton, just over two months ago! Besides being a mom, she is also a licensed dietician who works part-time in her own practice and part-time in a local eating disorder treatment facility. Kristin, thanks for finding time to meet here.

Kristin Williams: Of course. I’m honored to answer some of the questions your readers have about body image and disordered eating. Ask me anything, and I’ll answer as best I can.

J: So, here it goes. My first question is about how it looks when parents approach you if they are concerned about eating disorders in their children. For example, when parents are concerned about the weight of their child, what steps do you take in guiding them?

KW: When parents approach me with weight concerns about their child, I first offer them a listening ear and validate their concerns. A lot of parents of children with eating disorders are overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and shame, believing that they have somehow caused the problem. [Read more…] about Symptoms, Early Intervention, and Treatment: Licensed Dietician, Kristin Williams, Speaks Up

Filed Under: Addiction, Control, Eating Disorders, Food, Healthy Bodies, Moms and Daughters

Living in My Best Beachbody

March 15, 2018 By Juleeta 2 Comments

The beachfront view from our room, where the ocean meets the sky.

 

Beachbody is a word, ya’ll.

When I typed the two words, “beach body,” in the space offered by social media’s detective magnifying glass, the Internet offered a few responses like what I expected.

But I admit, I was surprised to see that “beachbody” actually functions like a single noun, all by itself. At least it exists in the Google search engine and various social media outlets. What does that mean for healthy body image? [Read more…] about Living in My Best Beachbody

Filed Under: Food, Grateful Moments, Healthy Bodies, The World Out There

An Invitation

March 2, 2018 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

This exquisite image of piercing light is captured by photographer, Andrew Bui.

My fingers tremble as I click the keyboard. I can’t believe I am doing this, but I’m sending out the invitation.

On Thursday nights, Northwest Bible Church hosts Recovery for Life, 6:45 pm.  It’s a gathering of believers that unite for the purpose of connecting and sharing about how the biblically-rooted 12 Steps invites individuals to seek healing over hiding.

Next week, March 8, I am speaking to the group about body image distortion and disordered eating.   The discussion will include factual information about different stages of body image distortion and the role that the body of Christ plays in helping people heal from the wounds that negative body image incurs. I am inviting you. [Read more…] about An Invitation

Filed Under: Addiction, Eating Disorders, Food, Healthy Bodies

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