Comments on: Seared Steaks with Caper Relish

By: Morgan

Morgan — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 21:07:03 +0000

i am a long time admirer of your writing, your recipes and of your photography. you’re truly so gifted and i aspire to be able to write as well as you one day.

your instagram post for this recipe about “healthy eating in the way our society views it” resonated with me and brought me a sense of clarity on how i view food. i’ve been struggling for the past year with this incessant need to “eat clean foods” only (which includes indulgences) but left me feeling crazy guilty if i ate gluten or doritos or something that wasn’t considered “clean”. moderation and a time and a place for every kind of food is so true. i also believe in flour, butter and sugar as much as i do green smoothies. thank you for helping me figure this out and articulating it so beautifully. you have no idea how much it means to me. THANK YOU.

By: Karen Simon Peterson

Karen Simon Peterson — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 16:34:55 +0000

Thank you, Ashley. Eating disorders are an important issue and if I can help anyone with my story, I’m happy to do it.

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 17:49:01 +0000

Karen, I can not thank you enough for your vulnerability. I so appreciate your bravery in sharing your story. I really do believe that it will be helpful to many. Thank you so much for being here.

By: Karen Simon Peterson

Karen Simon Peterson — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 21:56:05 +0000

In respose to your question- after a lifetime of dealing with anorexia and being very underweight, when I hit middle age I gained 50+ pounds and developed diabetes. My husband and I had a discussion and decided we both needed to start eating more healthfully with more fruits and veggies and less junk. It took me two years to lose fifty pounds and in the process the diabetes also went away! In the five years since, I’ve kept the weight off and we continue to eat healthy, lots of veggies, mostly chicken or fish and desserts once a week or on special occasions. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, but I haven’t regreted for a minute. I don’t feel in the least deprived because I eat what I want, but always in moderation.

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:03:19 +0000

I’m so happy to hear you are off the roller coaster. IF you feel comfortable sharing I would love to hear how you healed your relationship with food. It’s such a common struggle among women especially. I hope that we can bring it more to light and help one another.

By: Kacie

Kacie — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 14:58:45 +0000

So much love for you and this post. You’re certainly not alone. I share a very similar path and story and I share that same gratitude with you. x

By: Karen Simon Peterson

Karen Simon Peterson — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 22:01:24 +0000

Thank you for being so open and honest about a subject that many share and is so difficult to talk about openly. I struggled with the same issues for many years and I’m happy to report that seven years ago, at the age of 63, I finally got off of my food roller coaster and developed a more healthy relationship with my body and food. I have maintained a healthy weight and we, also, practice everything in moderation.

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 17:53:52 +0000

Thank you for sharing your heart here with such honesty. There is so much wisdom in your words. It’s an issue that I’ve spent more time pondering as of recently, especially now that I have a daughter who is becoming more aware of her appearance. The world can send such hurtful messages. To know that we are completely loved and valued just as we are because of God’s grace is such a gift. I find myself daily needing to surrender my tendency to prove myself to the world and simply rest in His love and grace. Thank you for this beautiful reminder.

By: Mimazine

Mimazine — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 12:51:07 +0000

What gorgeous photos… and that relish looks to die for!! xx

http://www.mimazine.co.uk/

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:53:26 +0000

Ashley,

Thank you so much for sharing such a personal story- I know it just be scary to put it out into the world like that. As a women in her mid-twenties I constantly struggle with my relationship to food. Whether it’s accepting that my metobolism isn’t like it used to be when I was 16 or watching the other girls at my office count calories while they take out their lunches. There is so much pressure to look a certain way and I’ve definitely succumb to low times where I drag myself down. I love good food so much, and like you say everything in moderation (cool ranch doritos are the best by the way!!) A good meal brings me so much happiness, but I still have those days where I regret having not eaten like I “think” I should have. Working on changing that step by step. Thank you for sharing your story! Your posts and recipes are something that I look forward to every week 🙂

By: Joanne

Joanne — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:13:49 +0000

Thanks for this beautiful post. The words touched my heart as I have very similar feelings for the food that nourishes my body.

By: renee

renee — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:12:43 +0000

I thank you and could not agree more. I thank you for you message of “moderation’ in this crazy food world we live in and, for you and I, one in which we also work. I especially love when you pointed out the beautiful and so true bit of wisdom, that I have experienced myself: when you were your thinnest you were still unhappy. with your body This is the truth and it is what keeps me grounded. I wish you the best and thank you again:)

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 21:33:00 +0000

Ashley,
This is wonderful. I so appreciate you putting words on these feelings that I have as well. Thank you for your recipes, reflection, vulnerability, and example. You really blessed me today with this post. I want to share it with so many people and I know there is that healthy balance out there for all of us. Keep up the great work! Heather

By: sara forte

sara forte — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 20:23:59 +0000

What a beautiful and sweet response. I love how you put this all to words, knowing only a little bit of your story. Having a chapter of my life sounding similar, I can relate to that exact secret: “even at my thinnest, I did not like my body” – I still remember the very spot in my parents front yard I was sitting when I thought it. I still think of this moment when I look at the full length mirror in our bathroom before I get in the shower, squeezing my hips or hating how tired the skin on my tum looks, entertaining the thought of “IF I was more fit, IF my eyes weren’t so droopy, IF I had a longer torso, THEN I’d like this body” and I believe in my heart that is not true because I’ve seen a glimpse of the other side. Anyway, I just agree with so much of this and am proud of you for sharing it here. Thank you xo

By: Peabody (SweetReciPEAs)

Peabody (SweetReciPEAs) — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 17:47:47 +0000

I talk about this a lot on my blog. Not only being a positive body advocate but a former WW leader.
I like you get obsessive when I diet. I start to lie to people that I ate. I work out hours upon hours. It just isn’t healthy.
Find that balance is hard. Even friends who think they have a good relationship with food say things like ugh, I ate like a pig I better double it up at the gym tomorrow. And I simply point to their children and say “they’re listening…they’re learning”.
My issues with food came from my mother. To this day she diets. Then gains. Diets then gains. Over and over and over. Her life sadly is either talking about the diet she is on or worried that she’s gained so much that she has to go back to dieting. I have tried to help her and it’s just something you have to reach on your own. Her generation came from the clean plate club. She passed that on to me. It took a long time to get to the point to say it’s okay that I left food on my plate. Unless it’s bacon…you should never leave bacon behind.
It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with a chronic illness and put on Prednisone that I realized I couldn’t let my weight define me because from time to time my weight goes up due to meds.
I guess you could say I am an intuitive eater. My mother doesn’t get it. She is in awe when I make cinnamon rolls and take one…only to eat a few bites (because I wasn’t that hungry at the time). But then she is horrified if I eat a big meal, which I often do after playing hockey.
Thanks for sharing your story. The more of us that tell it the more people can hopefully come to terms with their relationship with food.

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 16:53:20 +0000

Thank you so much for that encouragement. I really appreciate it. And bless you for teaching! What an incredible challenge but what opportunity you have!

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 16:52:33 +0000

I owe you an email! I’m so thrilled that you’ve come out of that season. What joy there is in freedom!!

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 16:51:35 +0000

Molly, thank you so much for sharing. Faith absolutely helps. I know that I’m flawed and yet so loved. That hope is often my motivation.

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 16:50:41 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I appreciate the vulnerability and perspective. I too get that silly comment all the time, “Do you even eat the food you make?” I do, I enjoy it all the time but I don’t over do it. I listen to my body and trust its cues.

By: Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley Rodriguez — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 16:45:27 +0000

Amen. I’ll raise a cookie to that!! Thanks so much for commenting, it means so much to me.