Category Archives: Unified Theory

The denial of life.

By Michelle | Published: March 13, 2012

When I was 14, and sitting in a circle with my mom, my best friend, her mom, and her mom’s best friend, I came to a sudden understanding that has become the foundation of everything I write on this blog. I believe the occasion was a cookie exchange, and it was something my friend did […]

Also posted in Definitions of Health | Comments closed

Pictures of you.

By Michelle | Published: May 29, 2011

If all you ever saw were daisies, being confronted with a rose might freak you out. I’m thinking today about body image. My body image, to be specific, and the way I feel when suddenly confronted with photographs of myself taken by other people, showing my whole body. The experience is one of immediate shock, […]

Also posted in D-d-dancing with myself, Fatness, Liking Yourself | Comments closed

Food you like is food that feels good.

By Michelle | Published: January 24, 2011

French version of this post here, courtesy Stéphanie Potin-Grevrend. One of my most scandalous messages is that you should eat whatever you want, in whatever amount you want. What scandalizes me is how people often interpret this message. Over and over again, this is how people respond: “I can’t do that because I would eat […]

Also posted in eating, Humane Nutrition | Comments closed

Meals, or The appropriate use of discipline.

By Michelle | Published: August 30, 2010

I define structure as the space within which things can happen. And I think discipline (or “willpower” or “control” or “forcing yourself”) is best applied in the service of creating structure. It seems to me that everyone has a little tyrant living inside them. The tyrant, if it cannot be exorcised, must be exercised — […]

Also posted in eating | Comments closed

Don’t be poor (and other New Year’s resolutions.)

By Michelle | Published: January 4, 2010

Diabetes death rate drops — primarily among rich people. This is my SURPRISED FACE. Especially since, in 1995, the World Health Organization identified poverty as “the biggest single underlying cause of death, disease and suffering worldwide.” In a hilarious-because-it’s-sadly-true list posted to the Wikipedia article on the social determinants of health, a typical list of […]