Feed Yourself - by Leslie Schilling (Paperback)

About the Book

Dietitian and nutrition therapist Leslie Schilling wants to help you free yourself from a diet-obsessed culture and live out your purpose, which isn't counting calories, reaching goal weights, or hating your body. Feed Yourself teaches you to see diet culture for its lies so you can reclaim trust in your divine design and care for your unique body.

Book Synopsis

Dietitian and nutrition therapist Leslie Schilling turns diet culture on its head with a radical new message: We aren't designed to diet.

Diet culture is a system of oppression that values only certain types of bodies and equates thinness with health. It permeates American society and even lurks in our safest spaces, such as schools, medical offices, and places of worship. But when you begin to see its lies for what they are, you can fight back, build resilience and self-esteem, and trust your divine design.

Leslie Schilling has counseled hundreds of people every year who struggle with food, body image, chronic dieting, and disordered eating. She helps them understand diet-culture myths, fight the lies we've been told (and sold), and discover the truth about health, well-being, and how God sees our bodies--all bodies--as good.

In Feed Yourself, you'll learn how to:

• Identify the lies of diet culture.
• Understand that health is far more than what we eat or how we move.
• Escape the shame and guilt you may feel about your body.
• Trust your body and recognize its cues and needs.
• Find freedom in food and learn to define health on your own terms.

Review Quotes

Feed Yourself is an incredible resource for anyone ready to renounce the religion of endlessly seeking to make their bodies, needs, and appetites smaller. This book will enlighten you and challenge you, in the best way possible, and it has the power to change you as well. Feed Yourself is a gift that feels like a tight hug from its author, Leslie Schilling, and one I will recommend highly to Christian clients and colleagues alike. Anna Sweeney, MS, RD, LDN, CEDS-S, owner of Whole Life Nutrition Counseling

At a moment when entirely too many voices and images keep telling us what we should look like and aspire to, Leslie Schilling pierces through the noise and reminds us of what matters most. Oh, how I wish twenty-one-year-old Candice could have read this, but how grateful I am that Feed Yourself is in the world today! Candice Marie Benbow, author of Red Lip Theology

Feed Yourself is a deep dive into diet culture from a Christian perspective. It's not a book you forget about moments after reading it; it's a step-by-step, practical guide to gentle self-care that honors our bodies exactly as they are right now. If you know you want to move away from diet culture and need a faith-based place to start, this is it. Megan McNamee, MPH, RDN, co-owner of Feeding Littles and co-author of New York Times bestseller Feeding Littles and Beyond

In Feed Yourself, Leslie Schilling writes from the heart with wisdom, kindness and grace. The book's two parts allow the reader to fully comprehend the destructive impact of diet culture and then to create a path to healing and to the embracing of a peaceful relationship with food and body. Leslie's professional experience and connection to higher power and divine wisdom create a magical touch that is so vital for unlocking the oppression of diet culture, freeing the reader to take the journey to peace and real health. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, MD, fellow at the Academy for Eating Disorders and founder, of Galen Hope and Within Health

Leslie Schilling has gifted us with a wise and beautiful book that teaches cutting-edge concepts about rejecting diet culture and replacing them with compassionate, scientifically sound alternatives that honor weight inclusivity, all of which is delivered through a loving and honest Christian lens. Every Christian who is interested in true health and well-being for themselves, their family members, and their communities should read this book. Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-S, FAED, founder and medical director, Gaudiani Clinic, and author of Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders

One of the first steps toward living a life full of wellness is to confront shame and guilt with grace and the truth that we are liberated through God's unconditional love. Leslie Schilling reminds us that grace must accompany us on our journey toward healing our relationship with food and our bodies. Dr. Terence Lester, founder of Love Beyond Walls and author of All God's Children and I See You

What a compassionate and pastoral book! As Leslie Schilling dismantles the lies of diet culture in our world and in our churches, she also teaches us God's good plan for nourishment, embodiment, and even joy in our particular bodies. If you've experienced the damaging oppression of diet culture at the intersection of spirituality, this book is a healing must-read. Sarah Bessey, author of New York Times bestsellers A Rhythm of Prayer and Jesus Feminist

With warmth and honesty, Leslie Schilling guides the reader away from the 'enemy' of diet culture and toward the understanding that their body has never deserved the shame and hatred imposed upon it. This book will be particularly meaningful for readers who have experienced food and body shame in the context of a faith-based community, which should have been a safe space in which all bodies can peacefully exist. By helping you reject harmful messaging and tune in to your inner voice, this book will help you reclaim a full, rich, and spiritual relationship with your body. Paula Freedman, PsyD, licensed clinical psychologist, HumanKind Psychological Services