Happy 2011, everyone! I have a couple of tidbits for you:
Shannon interviewed me for his podcast, On Hold with Atchka! If you want to hear me sound like a valley girl, repeat myself endlessly, and completely lose my train of thought due to a sudden caffeine deficiency…then, by all means, listen!
It’s my first time doing that sort of thing, though, so be gentle.
Second, despite never having actually been pregnant myself, apparently I had some things to say about eating during pregnancy when the lovely Ann Douglas asked.
(Extra-special-fun bonus: look for the quote in that article that most made me want to hit myself in the face! I bet you can figure out what it is!)
Third…I love you guys and I’ve missed you. I guess I needed a break from writing. It happens — but I always come back eventually.
Comments
23 responses to “Little tasty things.”
Gee, I’m not pregnant, but I wasn’t aware that I needed a license to eat. Good thing you linked that certificate of authority!
Well, looky there! Glad to see you back, hope your time off was replenishing! Will have to send you an email, and catch up soon. Happy New Year!
Glad to see your post pop up in my Facebook newsfeed! I *have* been pregnant, four glorious times. I have to tell you, I find the “pregnancy is not a license to eat whatever you want!” admonishment incredibly irritating because it is so freaking condescending. I mean, who thinks that in our culture? I’ve never met such a person. Everyone is worried about the “baby weight”, everyone is feeling guilty and obsessing about that bar of chocolate. If people overeat, it is not because they think they have a “license” to, it’s because they feel there is a mandate to deprive themselves of pleasurable eating.
And the part about a proper diet consisting of “whole grains, lean meats, low fat dairy products and a plethora of fruits and veggies” — yeah, no. For me, while simple sugars/carbs were one of the few things I could keep down in early pregnancy, grains of any kind don’t work that well for my body, lots of good fats are crucial to me feeling well, if I’m going to eat dairy at all it had better be dairy that hasn’t been messed with (homogenized, pasteurized, de-fatted) or I feel sick. And while I do okay with some fruits I question whether anyone needs a “plethora” of them…
Good point, Linda. For a lot of pregnant women, good nutrition is whatever they can keep down. (My newly pregnant SIL is just about living on veggies and grains because meat triggers her morning sickness.)
I was a bit disappointed by the rest of the pregnancy-eating article. I doubt you would endorse the other viewpoints? Pregnancy isn’t a “license to eat”? It’s pretty infantilizing to assume that just because a woman is pregnant she doesn’t know how to feed herself anymore–that she is going to eat a pint of ice cream in one sitting. Plus, so what if she does? Who cares? There are *certain* things that one might want to know about food when pregnant, but not to eat it isn’t one of them. My midwife had to continually admonish me to eat more. And like KellyK’s sister, I had to eat whatever sounded good to me at the time because otherwise I wouldn’t eat. I barely managed to gain 9 lbs between 9 months of “morning” sickness and lack of appetite. So don’t freaking tell me that I better be careful or else I’ll catch the fat and never fit back in my size 4 jeans! Oooga-booga! (Not that I ever wore size 4 jeans. Or worried about fitting back into my prepregnancy clothes. Just exaggerating for effect.)
…that doubt would be correct! :)
But, you know, balance in reporting and all.
Darnit, I was picking the combination of “focus on the good things … by eating correct amounts of unfatty foods” plus condescending “~beautiful pregnancy glow~” wank.
Well…maybe we can list that as 1st runner-up :)
Hooray! :D You’re back-ish-sorta-kinda! I had missed your awesome, smart posts!
And arrgh, the article isn’t perfect… but your contribution to it definitely takes the edge off of the less-than-fab parts. Ending it with a statement about not making foods out as “good” or “bad” is positively refreshing.
Hooray! I’ve missed your writing SO MUCH. Glad you’re back (for as long as you decide)! :)
Welcome back! You’ve been missed.
Oh wow, you’re back!! I’ve missed seeing your posts tremendously.
Hope you write a lot more in 2011! :)
I personally also disliked talking about “the correct amount” of lean meat/veg/grain (frequently known colloquially as… oh right, “good food”).
Also, when other people comment on your body, you should internalize it! Even if you feel like crap, you look wonderful, so be happy. Because we told you to.
Hahahahaha. Good observations.
Man, I’m not even pregnant, but I’ve been taking my desire to continue living as a “license to eat” for years. Whatever shall I do when I start to have kids??
It’s great to see your blog update!
A large part of the advice in the pregnancy article is way to prescriptive for me. I want to see advice that mentions less than ten foods to avoid (and the scientific evidence to back up the danger) and instructions to simply eat a satisfying variety of foods until you’re full. But I guess that is a bit of a pipe dream.
I am also a bit leary of the issue of pregnacy being a time to change eating and other habits. I agree that it certainly can be a time of transformation but I feel like sometimes women are unfairly made to feel that they can magically transform themselves because they are pregnant. Than somehow it is easier, when you are pregnant. Perhaps you’ve struggled with eating all your life? Don’t worry, you’re pregnant so now, even though you’re nauseous, tired and stressed, you’ll be able to tackle all your food issues! Hooked on heroin? Get pregnant, it will transform you! A baby in your belly will get that smack off your back!
I think that’s a very good point.
This…this is priceless. I just read it today and it reminded me of your comment:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/01/18/the-nice-pregnant-ladys-guide-to-not-offending-polite-society/
Being pregnant started off as a white-knuckle experience for me, having dealt with food problems and self-care problems all my life, but I have managed to change my mindset and use the pregnancy as a teacher. It tells me in no uncertain terms that appetizing food is required in satisfying amounts, and on a regular, predictable basis. Last pregnancy, I tried like mad to control my weight, and it was a miserable time that ended up with a big weight gain and a lot of fretting. This time I have listened to my body and provided for it as Satter suggests we should, and the results have been very satisfactory.
I am quite certain you will have a very appetizing and satisfactory baby as a result!
Michelle, I just listened to the podcast today – I thought you were great. I’ve been reading your blog for a while, but I feel like I got more of the ‘big picture’ of your philosophy, your aims – your work, in short. And I think you are fabulous.
Thank you. I really appreciate that. I’m glad it made some sense!
Huzzah! So GLAD to see you posting again! And extra points, someone else talking about pregnancy on the fatosphere besides me! Yay!
No, not a perfect article but MILES better than many of them out there.
Yeah, managing eating in pregnancy is hard for women of any size (especially the typical advice now of “it’s not an excuse to eat for two”). It’s even harder for women of size with all the pressure for us not to gain pregnancy weight. But take heart! Women of size do manage to somehow do it sanely.
Finding a size-friendly provider who is not constantly on your case about weight gain is very helpful; midwives tend to be better than OBs about that but you always have to take it on a case-by-case basis and ask lots of questions. There are bad apples in every barrel.
I’ll be writing more about this topic in the future. It’s an important one for pregnancy, and especially so for pregnant women of size.