The Holidays and Food with Julzhealth

Understanding Body Matters Podcast

On this week’s episode I am super excited to be bringing back one of our much-loved guests Dietitian and Nutritionist in the making Julie- Ann Yap also known as Julzhealth. Julz works at BodyMatters as one of our very own client care specialists where Julz is currently completing a Bachelor of Science majoring in Nutrition and Psychology Science at The University of Sydney. Julz also has an instagram page where she inspires people with food, wellbeing and positivity content. Julz is currently studying an undergraduate degree where she endeavours to study her Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics to become a registered Dietitian. Julz has also been on the podcast in previous episodes where she shared her story with disordered eating and what helped her the most to recover. As Julz is now someone who embraces food, cooking recipes, and adventures on her social media Julz has overcome Orthorexia type behaviours and strict food rules. Where Julz shares with us today her gratitude for her ongoing relationship with food, cooking, exercise, and food experiences. Through lots of self- care tools and ways to create a positive mindset Julz best utilises some approaches that she uses to best get through the holiday season when those old eating disorder thoughts appear.

This episode is for anyone who struggles with the festive period as the holiday season can bring up lots of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, family conflicts, and grief & loss for those who have lost loved ones. As we are so close to the Christmas period filled with fun, friendship, activities, movies, celebrations, and decorations this period does bring up lots of different emotions for everyone. Especially for those with a history or current experiences with disordered eating these emotions may require a level of support which is important to speak to a trusted person about. In this episode we explore how to best support someone in the family who may be struggling with the festive period as well as some skills that everybody can use to care for themselves over this period. We also acknowledge that over the holiday periods there may be lots of difficult conversations or comments from family members or colleagues; however, it is always appropriate for us to state our needs and boundaries with those around us. So, to provide a little comfort to us over the holiday period, please enjoy our lovely guest Julz!

Podcast Summary:

1. Being flexible with food over the holiday period

2. The holidays are for family, friends, joy, and memories

3. Its normal to eat more foods over the holidays

4. It’s not appropriate to comment on people’s food or body

5. It’s okay to have difficult feelings around the holidays

6. Self- care and time for yourself over the holiday period

Links to Julz:

Instagram: @julzhealth

Tiktok: julzhealth

Links from the episode:

BodyMatters Australasia Website: ⁠https://bodymatters.com.au/⁠

BodyMatters Instagram: bodymattersau

Butterfly Foundation Helpline: Call their National Helpline on ⁠1800 33 4673⁠. You can also ⁠chat online⁠ or ⁠email