Diet Culture

I was a guest on a recent SoulShift podcast, “Reclaiming Health, Culture & Connection Through Meal Making.” Following is a comment by co-host Mindy Gorman-Plutzer which deserves a further conversation: Early in our podcast, Mindy brought up Diet Culture, saying: “I’m so drawn to the work Mary does because in my work with women around … Read more

Missing the Mark? What if you just need to build different muscles?

The next couple weeks are going to be make-or-break time for healthy eating resolutions. That’s when most of them fall by the wayside. So here’s a thought if you start missing the mark on one or more of yours: What if it’s not all your fault?!! What if bigger forces are at work, diligently plotting … Read more

Transformation: What Does New Thinking Look Like?

This is the fourth of six articles on Transformation: Being New in Our Thinking. It’s time to see exactly what this deeper level, “new thinking” looks like, i.e., what do we believe to be worthwhile uses of our time? The previous post explained the difference between surface level resources and the deeper level resource of … Read more

Food for Thought: A Life Ignition Strategy

What is one of the best things wecan do for a happy food life–and life in general? Ramping up our “intentionality,” says Jeff Karp, author of LIT (Life Ignition Tools.) In a recent podcast, Karp explained that if we really want to lead our best lives and do our best work, it’s critical to understand … Read more

How to go forward by going back . . . and the bigger picture

This is the final part of a series on Food Marketing that explores why we need a different kind of smarts to stay healthy in an unhealthy food environment, i.e., “marketing-smarts.” The last few posts talked about the dangerous influence of marketing when it comes to making food choices. You might remember the mac ‘n … Read more

Another Quick Marketing Quiz: Guess the Message

This mac ‘n cheese ad looks like a perfectly normal ad, right? Lusciously tempting food pic + catchy tagline. You see it, it registers, but likely as not it “goes in one ear (or eye) and out the other.” At least that’s what we think happens. The creators of these ads are not stupid. There … Read more

Want to Save Money?

With grocery prices front and center in the news, who doesn’t want to save a few dollars? Here’s a simple way to save both dollars and your health: Steer clear of the snack aisles. In almost all cases, snack foods are highly processed (i.e., ultra-processed) and provide little in the way of nutrition or, more … Read more

Sunscreen for Dessert? for Dinner? in Your Coffee?

You might remember this post: “Do You Put Antifreeze on Your Skin? In Your Mouth?” That article explained how propylene glycol, an ingredient in anti-freeze, is also used in both cosmetics and food. Since posting that article, I’ve run into a couple readers who mentioned that they were now taking a closer look at ingredient … Read more

It Ain’t Easy! Learnings from a Garlic Party

How Does This Happen to Smart People? (Part 3: Learnings from a Garlic Party) This is part of a continuing series on Food Marketing that explores why we need a different kind of smarts to stay healthy in an unhealthy food environment, i.e., “marketing-smarts.” (Find Part 2 in the series here) A few days ago … Read more

What Is an Ingredient Listing? How Do You Read One?

This is part of a continuing series on Food Marketing Shenanigans that explores: How does it happen that when it comes to food, smart people are often not so very smart? It’s because we need a different kind of smarts to stay healthy in an unhealthy food environment, i.e., “marketing-smarts.” Ingredient Listings: The best defense … Read more