In my last blog post, I talked all about how diet culture seems to have become society's new normal. It seems every supermarket aisle and recipe blog is loaded with labels like "low-calorie" and "sugar-free," and everywhere you turn people are talking about how they need to lose a few pounds or stop eating so much. Sometimes, this makes being in a position where you are struggling to keep your weight up rather difficult. You get tired of eating the same things all the time, but looking up "high-calorie snack foods" results in article after article about all the "bad junk foods" that are going to kill you, and online recipes only offer modifications to decrease the calories, rather than increase. Meanwhile, it can be hard to feel support from those around you when you don't know how to talk about an idea that seems blasphemous to a lot of people. Saying you need to gain weight or that you don't have an appetite is pretty much a sure-fire way to get the response, "I wish I were you," and what are you supposed to respond to that?
So, I decided to start a sub-section of our blog especially for anyone navigating a nutritional deficit, low appetite, or the struggle to gain/maintain weight, whether you're someone overcoming an eating disorder, fighting cancer or an autoimmune disorder or another malicious disease, a parent trying to help their child catch up, or anyone in between. I want to provide the support that I wish existed, through sharing recipes and reviews of my favorite nutritionally dense or easy-to-eat foods and snacks, posting things that are funny or relatable to make you laugh (like the really cute meme I put below!) and just writing some thoughts and support to help you feel less alone. I've decided to call this "Just Keep Eating," and I really hope that it will be of some help to at least a few readers. If you're not somebody who this directly applies to, I hope you can still find some relevant tidbits, but I will continue to post on our main blog as well!
To start off with a little motivation, I want to remind you that even Santa Claus needs some help gaining weight sometimes. If you need some inspiration or just want to know what I'm talking about, watch Episode 1 of "The Santa Clauses" on Disney Plus. There's a really funny part where Santa starts losing weight and his solution is smoothies made with candy, eggs, and butter, and workouts that constitute not moving a muscle, which I found surprisingly relatable. And even if you don't, who doesn't need a little Christmas in the middle of May? :)