277: Food, Movement, and Body Respect as Radical Self-Care with Jasmine Hormati

277: Food, Movement, and Body Respect as Radical Self-Care with Jasmine Hormati

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Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: [00:00:00] Welcome to the top global ranked and award nominated grad school femtoring podcast. The place for first gen BIPOCs to listen in on conversations about grad school, and growth. In this podcast, you'll learn about all things higher education, personal development, and sustainable productivity. This is Dr.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yvette Martinez Vu, and I will be serving as your femtor, providing you with tips and tricks and everything else you need to know to successfully navigate grad school. For over 14 years, I've been empowering first gen students of color along their personal and professional journeys, and I'm really excited to support you too.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Grad School Femtoring Podcast. This is your host, Dr. [00:01:00] Yvette. Today, we're going to be talking all about food, movement, body respect, and radical forms of self care. Our guest is Jasmine Hormati and she's a registered dietitian, certified intuitive eating counselor, and founder of Mending Ground Nutrition based in New York, New York.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: She specializes in disordered eating, eating disorder recovery, and body image work for adults. Jasmine uses a non diet, weight inclusive, anti oppressive, and intersectional approach to help her clients heal their relationship with food, their body, and reclaim their inherent worth. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, baking, and playing board games.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Welcome to the podcast, Jasmine.

Jasmine Hormati: Thank you so much, Yvette. I'm so excited to be here.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: And I just had a couple of dings. So I'm like making sure that I set my my phone to do not [00:02:00] disturb so that I do not disturb our convo.

Jasmine Hormati: I hear you. I know I have to do that a lot with like my calls and stuff. I'm like, oh yeah, go on, do it, disturb so I don't get distracted by all the things.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I do that too. And I was like, we're good to go. And then I'm like, wait, no, I forgot, but it's okay. We're good. Um, this is how it goes sometimes with, uh, recording on the spot. But now that we're good, I wanted to ask if, you know, whatever you're comfortable sharing to kind of get us, lean us into this conversation.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I want to hear more about you, about your background, your backstory, essentially, like, How you got to where you are today. I love hearing people's backstories because it gives us so much context and it helps folks to like sometimes see themselves reflected in other people's stories. So anything you're comfortable sharing would be great to hear.

Jasmine Hormati: of course, happy to. And yeah, I feel like it's almost like the origin story of like, you know, superheroes and stuff, like finding

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yes.

Jasmine Hormati: So I love, I love hearing them as well. [00:03:00] so yeah, so I, my parents are Iranian immigrants and they came in 1980. Um, and I was born and raised in Los Angeles. Um, and so yeah, I'm an only child. Daughter of Iranian immigrants and a girl so I feel like I'm a triple threat. I always tell people like when you're talking about basketball Um, so anyways when I was um finishing up high school and transitioning to undergrad I actually went to community college and like a good Iranian kid.

Jasmine Hormati: I chose one of the for approved professions that most parents like want to see their kids do, which is doctor, lawyer, engineer, or dentist. And so I was pre dental I, yeah, it was going to be essentially Become a dentist like my parents really wanted me to, but I always kind of knew in the back of my mind that I didn't really want to become a dentist. Um, I kind of had it in my mind, like, okay, I'm going to go to school, open up a practice, hire people to work for my practice. And then I'll go off and do these other things that I'm really [00:04:00] interested in, interested in, which was like more like the environment and helping,

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Mm hmm. Mm.

Jasmine Hormati: flag of like, you don't really want to be a dentist.

Jasmine Hormati: Like, why are you, Pushing yourself and pressuring yourself to do this. But anyways, I took all the classes and then I transferred to UC Berkeley. And I had sort of a create your own major within the environmental science department. And I had no idea what I was going to focus on when I first got there.

Jasmine Hormati: Um, I just knew I wanted to like have that freedom and flexibility, just like create the major that I wanted. Um, and so in one of my classes, we had to figure out, you know, what classes we're going to take and how we're going to sort of create this major. I heard people talking about the food system in urban agriculture and I was like, hmm, this sounds kind of interesting.

Jasmine Hormati: Like, I like eating food. I like talking about food. I love learning about people's like food cultures and things like that. So this sounds like a great opportunity. And so, yeah, I started taking classes, um, like in public health and [00:05:00] nutrition and sort of learning about like all the issues about our food system and how it was sort of contributing to maybe health disparities that we were seeing in this country and things like that. Um, this time I was also starting to develop some of my own disordered eating and so I was doing some like clean eating of like trying to eat more whole grains and more fruits and vegetables and organic this then I would have like my cheat days on the weekends because like I couldn't sustain that every single day. Um, and being in Berkeley and I feel like the Bay Area in general it's like perfect for someone who's a foodie because there's a lot of talk around like food and like local food, farmers markets and that kind of stuff. so anyway, there was like this whole storm of stuff going around me, like education wise, being in this, in this town that was sort of like shifting how I was. viewing food. this is also around the time when, like, soda taxes first started coming out. Um, so Berkeley had, like, a soda tax. There's a lot of discussion about, like, again, like, public health, public policy, and how that can affect people's, like, health. [00:06:00] Um, so anyways, as I was going through school, I started to realize, okay, I don't want to become a dentist. And I didn't know what I was going to do next exactly, which really stressed out my parents and made them feel really disappointed. but I eventually learned about like this role of like a dietitian and like what they do and I was like Oh, this sounds kind of nice because I still get to help people.

Jasmine Hormati: It's within health care and the people has the food component. And so I went to Teachers College, Columbia University and got my master's in nutrition and public health. this is when I started to also learn a little bit more about things like intuitive eating and health at every size, weight inclusive care, which helped me shift back to sort of like a more, um, normal eating pattern as opposed to like that more disordered pattern that I had before. Um, and yeah, it was a really great time. I learned a lot, met a lot of wonderful people in this program. then to become a dietitian, you then have to do supervised practice. So we have this internship that we have to do. And I moved back to Southern [00:07:00] California and I was in San Diego for that. And it was a very clinical heavy, um, internship.

Jasmine Hormati: I figured I'd get that kind of experience. Um, cause I had some experience already in like community nutrition, um, but I kind of already knew I wanted to do private practice. So I figured, let me round myself out and learn some more about what it would look like to work in a hospital. Um, and so I did that.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah. And then COVID happened like right towards the end of my internship, were all sort of like hunkered down and everything was remote. my roommates who were also interns, we just essentially studied for our certification exam together and did that and passed. And then we, um, started looking for jobs. And this is sort of the first opportunity I had to potentially start working on my private practice, but I was really nervous and stressed because financially it was a lot to just do grad school plus the internship. I mean, I didn't get paid in the internship. You're working like full time hours, which kind of sucks. And so, yeah, I was like not ready to like go out on my own and take that [00:08:00] risk. I wanted to work in someone else's private practice, but they all wanted someone who had experience. So I was like, okay, that's not going to happen. And, um, I worked in food service at a hospital for a year, which was wonderful.

Jasmine Hormati: I had great time working with my team and the food service staff were amazing and such hardworking people. Um, and so I did that and it was a really rewarding experience, but like, it wasn't what I was passionate about. I had no desire to sort of like move back. up in the company. so, um, after about a year, I back to New York with my partner and Started my private practice, which is what I do now. Um, I started off first like part time in mine, part time in another practice, which was great. Um, but I, yeah, eventually started to transition more to full time and yeah, my team and I now, like you said, support people, um, with better food, a body image, movement, um, and we do it all together. via telehealth, which is great and more accessible. And we also accept insurance, because accessibility is something that's a really deep [00:09:00] value of mine. And if I can get people to get the care that they need without having to pay a ton, that's great. So that's sort of like the long story.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Oh, I am so glad you shared all of those details. In fact, I was already like, I was like picturing your journey on a map.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Going from LA to Berkeley, from Berkeley to NYC, from New York to San Diego, and then back to New York.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah. I know. It's a lot of back and forth. And it's like all, yeah, cross country sort of like movement.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah, and I know we have some shared values in terms of like anti oppression work and in terms of the, you know, accessibility that you just mentioned right now. And even actually, um, you said you started learning about intuitive eating. And one of the things that came to mind for me is like when you, Mention, which I'm grateful that you're open to sharing about you starting to develop some disordered eating habits.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Um, like [00:10:00] what is the difference between, you know, what would be more disordered versus what would be You know, more on, I don't like using the word normal, but like not disordered. Um, how, how do you know that? Cause I, I mean, I like to follow what I think most similarly sounds like intuitive eating. Um, just like what my body needs and not restricting myself, but, or at least to the best that I can, cause I do have food allergies.

Jasmine Hormati: yes, yes.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Uh, but yeah, I'm curious about that. Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, no, that's a great, that's a great question, uh, like point to bring up. And yeah, I, I agree with you that like, okay, if someone has food allergies, I don't want them to be eating that thing that they're allergic to. Um, but yes, with intuitive eating, essentially it is a non diet framework, right? Um, it's, um, Approaching food, movement, and health in a way that feels like aligned with your values and that works for you. Um, you're connecting more towards like [00:11:00] internal cues, internal, um, decision making versus following someone else's rules, right? If we think about like a diet, there's rules to follow, there's like, you know, guidelines you can apply. Pick it up really quick and are able to do it for a certain amount of time until you're like not.

Jasmine Hormati: It's because it's really hard to maintain. Intuitive eating is like the opposite, right? There's guiding principles, but for the most part, like each person is going to have a different experience with it because we're all so different, right? We all have

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: experience, very unique lived experience. Um, and so yeah, there's sort of different ways to sort of adapt intuitive eating for each person. Like for example, I've worked with folks who have ADHD. And like, honoring their hunger when the cues come up doesn't always work for them, especially with

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: have to pivot that a little bit to say, Let's look at your schedule.

Jasmine Hormati: Let's like figure out a more consistent way for you to eat throughout the day. Um, and sort of work around medication times and things like that in order to make sure

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Uh [00:12:00] huh.

Jasmine Hormati: your body. So, um, yeah, essentially if it's like an external rule, someone's telling you what to do, I say that's like a diet versus like when you're making decisions from, um, from like, yeah, yourself, from your sort of like inner knowing, I would say that's more of like the intuitive eating type. approach.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I love the example you used too because Yeah, a lot of people I know Um have ADHD and that is a thing. That is the thing It's like you can just keep going on and on without remembering to eat. So, um, that was that was an excellent example Actually, i'm also thinking about how um Even in your bio, you say that you, your approach is a non diet weight inclusive, anti oppressive approach.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: And I know that's not true for dietitians everywhere. So I'm curious about, you know, how your approach is different, especially, you know, as it relates to who you support and who you serve. You just mentioned you've worked [00:13:00] with neurodivergent folks. I also know you have BIPOC clients as well. So just curious how your approach differs, um, from traditional, yeah, the traditional field or from other forms of, or other dietitians.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I know, as you can tell, I don't know a lot about the field. So just whatever you're comfortable sharing so you can

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: demystify it for all of us.

Jasmine Hormati: yeah, I think you need to give yourself some more credit. I think you, you have a good picture of what it looks like, Um, because yeah, like the field right now is predominantly white, and predominantly female. Um, there is some shifts and changes happening there. I think a lot of providers are also trying to do more work to, you know, expand and understand different people's lived experience, which is good, but there's still. Um, and I think a lot of times when people think about a dietitian, they sort of picture, you know, they're going to give me a meal plan. They're going to tell me to cut these foods out. They're going to tell me go to the gym and work out and like lose weight and all that [00:14:00] stuff. And yeah, I would say my approach is very different from that and my team as well.

Jasmine Hormati: We've, we've worked together. Yeah, we both sort of like operate from the same perspective of, you know, really seeing that all foods can fit into a person's diet. And when I say diet, I mean eating pattern, not like we're dieting. Um, I also believe that all bodies Regardless of size are deserving of respectful care and should have access to care. And that, contrary to populated belief, your weight and your body size don't actually tell us much about your health. so there's a lot of other things that contribute to like what a person's body ends up looking like. Um, but it doesn't actually tell us like, oh, now you're unhealthy, right? It's not an automatic, like, it doesn't equate to each other.

Jasmine Hormati: So there's that. And, um, Yeah, because I have people with different lived experience that I'm working with, um, I like to understand their lives and how our work sort of fits into the context of their life and vice versa. because I [00:15:00] truly believe that my clients are the experts in their life and I have some, you know, nutrition education and knowledge and I can provide some guidance and help, but ultimately we're working together to figure out the solutions that are going to work for them and what's going on in there.

Jasmine Hormati: So I think it's more nuanced approach. Um, And it allows the person to have autonomy to make decisions that it's going to work for them ultimately.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I love that. I love that. I feel like I could have just been like, raising my hands or clicking my fingers. Just every I resonate with a lot of what you shared. I'm curious for you with working with first gen BIPOC clients in particular, that population in general, have you noticed any common challenges when it comes to both nutrition and also body image?

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, definitely. Um, I think that First off, to maybe take a broader view, we have to understand like the culture that we're living in. And the two that I see a lot that come up [00:16:00] that can affect my clients is diet culture, is like focusing on food and bodies, and then hustle culture as well. So with diet culture, you know, we're equating, oftentimes diet culture like equates thinness, with health and happiness and attractiveness, right? And it's really an industry and a system that's rooted in oppression. It tells people that they can't really be accepted as they are. They need to like fix themselves, right? And most of the times the bodies that we see, um, that are elevated are white thin bodies. And so BIPOC folks, and even folks in other marginalized identities, like fat bodies, for example, um, are being othered, right?

Jasmine Hormati: They're, again, being told that they're, they're the problem, they need to be fixed, right? And the diet industry is kind of taking advantage of that, saying that they can't trust themselves around food or trust their body to communicate, like, when they need to eat or not. And this often leads to people going on diets, sort of like, quote unquote, control their eating

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Mm hmm. Mm [00:17:00] hmm.

Jasmine Hormati: by society, right? So I feel like that's like a major issue that I'm seeing across the board. And the problem with that is that culture has a lot of negative effects, like it affects our self confidence and our self esteem. get more preoccupied with like food and our bodies. There's a lot more stress. There's more cravings and binging and things like that.

Jasmine Hormati: So it's not working for anybody, even more so, I think for folks with like marginalized identities. And then we took like put on hustle culture on top of that. for a lot of my BIPOC and first gen clients, feel like often get caught up in it sometimes because they feel like they have to prove themselves, right?

Jasmine Hormati: They have to work harder. Um, there might be some societal pressure there contributing to that. There might be familial, familial pressure, right? Like maybe their parents or family had to like sacrifice a lot to get them to where they are and they feel like, oh, I gotta, I gotta be like top of my class or I gotta like get a really good [00:18:00] job and take care of my family and things like that. what that. Sometimes what I'm seeing with my clients is it leads to like them not having boundaries with work. A lot of perfectionism showing up and they're so like focused on the work they have to do. They have to finish the task at hand to meet that deadline and the, the eating and the food stuff can come later or the self care can come later.

Jasmine Hormati: I can go exercise later, right? Um, and that eventually what I'm seeing too is like, it can lead to burnout and you know, that's a really hard place to be in. It's a hard place to come out of. So if we can work on preventing that. That would be great, but there's again like all these like systemic other things going on that I think keeps showing up and it's really hard to, that's a bigger battle, I think.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah. I'm glad that you mentioned the systemic factors, though, because a lot of times folks internalize it and they make it seem as if it's, oh, I'm the problem because I can't get my body to look a certain way, or I can't eat a certain way, or I can't, you know, meet the certain [00:19:00] workplace performance expectation when really it's systemic.

Jasmine Hormati: exactly.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I'm thinking about, about this in relation to You know, we're here to also talk about radical forms of self care, and I would even say radical forms of care more broadly. Um, so when thinking about these radical acts, how can Yeah, how can viewing food, viewing nutrition, even movement as a radical act of care, how does that then impact, um, you know, well being or even impact workplace performance?

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Because I, I'll be, I'll say I'm, I'm a little bit biased in that I believe that intending to ourselves, it can actually improve our performance and then in many ways, um, to some extent, right? Like, I don't, I'm not, I don't endorse like you try to, Rest so you can do more. No.

Jasmine Hormati: Exactly.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: endorse figuring out what works for [00:20:00] you and what feels good for you and setting boundaries or doing what you need to do to advocate for yourself to stay there.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Um, but yeah, and in your, from your perspective, thinking about food, nutrition, movement, all these things as a radical form of self care, what happens then? Like what impacts does that Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

Jasmine Hormati: like, these things can kind of help set us up for success. only when it comes to like education and work, but also just like in our lives in general too. Um, and yeah, I think before we even start to see it as self care, I almost think the starting place is like, let's bring awareness to what happens when you're not doing these things. What does it look like if we're going prolonged periods of time without eating? What does it look like when you haven't moved your body in a way that feels good to you? And, um, you're not doing it in maybe like a consistent way. Like what, what happens to your mood? What happens to your energy and your, um, your stress and anxiety?

Jasmine Hormati: Right. [00:21:00] When that happens, I can come into a session and say, Hey client, like have all this experience and knowledge and I'm saying, I'm noticing these gaps. So this is what we have to work on. Right. I think it's actually more powerful when a person understands, like, how does it impact their lives before we actually start doing the work of adjusting it and starting to view it differently. Um, so, don't know if you've ever experienced it, but it sounds like you have, of like, what happens when you, yeah, don't eat a meal, you know, or go for a long time without eating.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: make you feel, you know? Yeah.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I will be frank. I don't, I don't really share this publicly or I don't think I have, but when I was a teenager in high school, I did have an eating disorder. And I remember for me, it was all about control, trying to take control of my life because I felt so out of control in my surroundings and in my home.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: And I mean, you, you asked how it felt. I just [00:22:00] remember I was I never gave myself time to like take a break and to rest. I was just always hustling. It was just from one thing to the next, to the next, doing a million things and trying to, I used to describe myself, this is so bad, but I used to describe myself as a machine.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I was like, I can just keep going and keep going and keep going. And. At some point it caught up to me. So, you know, I had a friend who was really, really worried about me and reached out to a counselor in high school and then that person brought me in and I got help for it. And I'm really, really grateful.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: This has happened more than one time, not about the disordered eating, but just like in general, I have been very grateful that I have had folks who have watched out for me and have advocated for me. Um, when I was in my youth, um, this happened even when I was younger in middle school. I was struggling. I got support.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I got therapy. Not everybody has someone out there watching out for them. So yeah, [00:23:00] for me, it, it didn't feel good, but I didn't think I had another option. And, um, that's why I'm really, you know, passionate about this kind of work of, of shedding light on this because I know that some folks might still be there and I was able to overcome it.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: But, um, You know, for some folks, it might take longer. Maybe they don't have access to that support. Those privileges that I had of loved ones keeping an eye out, community keeping an eye out. So yeah, I know that's a very like overextended answer to what was probably a quick question for you

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: about how did it feel?

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah. Yeah. Well,

Jasmine Hormati: it's not easy to talk about sometimes. And, um, I think it sheds light on, yeah, like the importance of having community and importance of a support system to be able to get the help that you need. Um, you know, you mentioned sort of like being sort of like a machine and sometimes the analogy I use in this case [00:24:00] is like, yeah, sometimes when we're operating in a way. Um, like sort of a, yeah, focus so much like on the work that we're doing and just trying to like survive, right. Especially dealing with maybe trauma or other things that are going on. like, we're a car that doesn't have a full gas tank. Like we can go for a certain amount of time. We can drive that road for a certain amount of time, but eventually the gas is going to run out and like, then what? Right. Then what do we do? Um, and so. Yeah, I mean, I think for a lot of folks, like, disordered eating and eating disorders can come up for a lot of different reasons, and sometimes it is maybe because there's a, like, lack of feeling of control in their lives, or again, like, there might be trauma history that happened, so that might lead to it, um, but, you know, one thing that we can do is notice, okay, this is why this is here, and start to ask, like, is this working for me or not?

Jasmine Hormati: And if not, how can we start to shift away from that?

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: thank you. Thank you for, uh, [00:25:00] That because it requires it sounds like it requires a lot of deep like reflective work. A lot of times folks think I'm going to work with so and so they're the expert and they're going to tell me exactly what to do. Like you said, they're going to give me a plan and I'm going to be good to go.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: And what you're reminding me and reminding the audience is that It's, it's about you making a commitment to yourself, better getting to know yourself and what you need. And at the end of the day, it sounds like, maybe I'm misinterpreting this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like we know best what we need.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah,

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: and and know all those the details right of how to move forward So that's where you know, a dietitian can help or a therapist can help

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: But yeah, I think ultimately there is an inner wisdom and knowing that each of my clients, I see them, they have it.

Jasmine Hormati: And so we can just tap

Jasmine Hormati: to move forward, right? Um, [00:26:00] and yeah, I feel like the work that I do, it is very therapeutic. Like, it sort of feels like nutrition therapy.

Jasmine Hormati: I'm not trying to

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Mm hmm.

Jasmine Hormati: But we are working on healing this relationship that has been disconnected for so long, um, and helping people so that they can show up in their lives as their most authentic self.

Jasmine Hormati: They can show up and enjoy the things, right?

Jasmine Hormati: up to class and have enough energy to focus on what the professor is

Jasmine Hormati: show up to work and, like, get their job done and be able to go out with their friends or family afterwards and have a good time. Um, so I think there's, there's a lot there, but, um. Yeah, that's sort of like the, the goal is that so people can just be themselves and be accepted for who they are.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah, it sounds like it's um, it's holistic support that you provide. You know, it's not just in one area, it impacts everything. And um, I'm thinking about, you know, for folks that are in need of this kind of support, in need of this kind of guidance, maybe they, have been [00:27:00] wanting to work with a dietitian and then the folks they've been referred to have just not been it.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I can say just, um, speaking from experience, having seen multiple medical doctors, I have always felt more comfortable with folks who have some sort of like shared, like, experience, shared identities, or at least some awareness. So that brings me to really thinking about that cultural background, cultural awareness piece that is very much missing in a lot of other Folks who provide this kind of support.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Well, in your opinion, or, you know, from your perspective, what role does cultural background play in our relationship to food and body image? And why is that so important when you're looking to get your own support or hire someone to help you?

Jasmine Hormati: no, I agree with you. I think it is, it is helpful when the person across from you can just get it and you don't have to do that sort of like explanation or deep dive into it as much. I [00:28:00] still think that there is going to be nuance from person to person, but, um, it is nice to see someone maybe like of color if you're a person of color or if you're a fat person and the provider's also fat, like, It makes a big difference to just

Jasmine Hormati: sort of a little bit. Um, but yeah, I mean, I do think cultural background plays a significant role in how people start to view their bodies and food. Um, I know for example, like in a lot of cultures, food is used as a way to express love and care, right? Like from maybe like caregivers, aunts, you know, parents, things like that. And it can be rude when you're offered something to eat and you refuse it, right? Um, And so this can be really challenging because like, if you don't accept the food, that's rude. But if you do accept it, you might eat past comfortable fullness and that doesn't feel good. on top of that, there's like comments that get made about bodies and, Oh, I shouldn't have eaten this.

Jasmine Hormati: Oh, I gotta go run five miles tomorrow cause I have this. Um, and so it's very [00:29:00] confusing for people to be like, okay, like I have to eat because it's going to be rude, but if I don't, you know, it's very messy and complicated. So, um, and I think that sometimes too, like a lot of, Things that show up for my clients is like they have these like food rules and things that have they've just grew up doing, right?

Jasmine Hormati: Like clean your plate. Don't waste food,

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah.

Jasmine Hormati: and I agree with that, I don't like wasting food either Um, and I get also that, you know, it's not easy just to be able to provide food on the table Um, and are there other ways that we can go about sort of shifting these ideas? These, um, old patterns that have been there since like people were children. and so I think that a lot of times I'm working with my clients on their values to understand, okay, what are your values and what parts of your culture do you want to continue and, um, on in your day to day versus things that we may be willing to let go of or shift a little bit, right? Because there are some beautiful aspects of, traditions [00:30:00] around food and bodies and things like that, like family meal time or like celebrations or like traditions that we have with food. there are some things that are harmful, like the commenting that we get about bodies. Like when you see someone maybe like a relative that you haven't seen in a long time.

Jasmine Hormati: And the first thing they say is like, Oh my gosh, you lost weight. Oh my gosh, you gained weight. What happened? You know, like those things don't feel good. So like what are some

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Oh, I get triggered by those comments.

Jasmine Hormati: Exactly. I know. And it's understandable. Like, it's so uncomfortable for that to be the first thing that someone tells you, right?

Jasmine Hormati: And you haven't

Jasmine Hormati: them in a long time. Um, so I think there's a lot there. And I also think, for like BIPOC and first gen people, more complicated, too, because might be hearing multiple perspectives, right? They have a culture of origin that might be having a certain view on food and bodies, and then there's also the culture that they're living in, in the country that they're living in. And they might not see themselves represented in the media. Foods might be demonized by [00:31:00] diet culture, right? And so they're, we make decisions to sort of like fit in and be accepted. I like a very vivid memory from like when I was in high school. I was like playing basketball. I was very athletic. And I don't know where I got this message that like white rice was not healthy. It was like Not good to have. And maybe just, maybe comments I was hearing from like, you know, you know, elders talking about it and stuff, but I had this like little bump under my belly on my stomach and I remember calling it my rice pooch.

Jasmine Hormati: Like it was a bad thing and like, oh, the

Jasmine Hormati: this thing. Right. Like I was, I was blaming rice on like what was happening on my, like on my body, but it's just like, no, this is just my body and rice is just rice. It's okay to have.

Jasmine Hormati: Right. Um, and so, yeah, I had to do a lot of like, I'm learning there, but you know, it's something that I do also work on with my clients.

Jasmine Hormati: It's like, how do we bring back some of the traditional foods that you grew up having that diet culture has demonized, right? Um, it's okay to have those things. We should have those things because food is so much more than just [00:32:00] nutrients. Like it's our culture, it's comfort, it's tradition. That was a really long answer, sorry.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Oh, that was a great answer. You gave so, it was so multifaceted. You know, it wasn't just like the cultural piece of like the culture that you come from, that you may be raised with, thinking about the culture that maybe you're part of, based on like a dominant, like, uh, the country that you're living in, like you said, even thinking about the cultural background, um, or differences between the person that you're living with.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: You are in the person you're working with, like all these things. It really sounds like it's a, uh, a sociocultural approach because it's not just the culture. It's also socially the dynamics that you're having with the people that you're surrounding and realizing that food is about so many things. It impacts so many things, which is why we're not just talking about, uh, food today.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: That's why we're also talking about body image. We're talking about, um, movement too. And really thinking about all these things. I'm wondering [00:33:00] what Does the healing process look like or how can it look like? How can folks improve their relationship with food or with their bodies or with movement?

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Especially you highlighted it. You highlight that like hustle culture comes up. You highlighted that like diet culture comes up. So many pressures can come up. Uh, and I know it's also not a prescriptive approach. I know it's not a one size fits all approach, but really just kind of to Bring it all together.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I know you've already kind of started hinting at it, but what what are some things that folks who Know they're kind of struggling and want to at least take a baby step in a better direction What are some things they can do or they can consider or they can learn more about?

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. Um, and yeah, like you said, it's not going to be a one size fits all, but there are certain themes that do show up, um, and yeah, there's a little bit of that [00:34:00] individualizing each, with each person, of like, what's going to work for them, where are we starting, based on, you know, Yeah, where they are right now. Um, but one of the, one of the core pieces that I like to work on with my clients at the beginning is like, why are we doing this work? Why is it important for you to do this right now? Um, and what do you want like this relationship with food or body or movement to look like? Um, so I think that can help ground us in the work because Doing this stuff is hard.

Jasmine Hormati: It's challenging. It is very emotional at times. And if we have a motivation and we understand it very clearly, we can always come back to that and say, okay, yes, this is hard. And I'm doing this because it's going to help me think less about my body in a negative way. Or I can just be able to eat the food I need to eat to be able to move on with my day and enjoy my life and get back to work and that kind of stuff.

Jasmine Hormati: Right. So I think the why is really important piece. To start off with. And then the other thing I would also say is going slow. [00:35:00] A lot of times I think we have a lot of maybe motivation at first, and we just want to do like a complete 180 of like what we're currently doing. That's not working for us, that's not always a sustainable approach.

Jasmine Hormati: So like to take baby steps and like build the foundational pieces with my clients that we can get to a place where they're seeing an overall transformation after making all these like little changes over time. But yeah, it requires a lot of patience. It requires a lot of, like, support and care. Um, it's not always easy, but yeah, I think those two pieces, um, are definitely good starting places. Um,

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: What are those foundational areas that you cover or just some of them if you're comfortable sharing? Because you said, I like to work on like baby steps in the foundational areas and I was curious, wait, what, what are those?

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, no, that's a great question. So, when it comes to, like, movement, for example, um, I'm asking my clients a little bit about like, what have they done before and what do they like to do? And we kind of build from there. Like, okay, [00:36:00] you like to go swimming. All right. Let's break that down. Where do you have access to go to a pool and um, where they're open like lap hours, if you want to go lap swimming, do we fit this into your schedule?

Jasmine Hormati: Is that realistic or not? Um, do you like Zumba or dance classes? What are the options there? And so, Starting it very slowly instead of saying like, okay, I'm going to go five days a week from going from zero to five. Right. It's not, it's a lot to do like a for your body, but then also just like emotionally and time and stress.

Jasmine Hormati: Right. picking like one day a week to start, let's see how that goes. Did you actually like the class? Did you like the instructor? Um, did it work out like commuting from work to the gym or do we have to change that up a little bit? So we're getting, I get into like the details, very detailed, like how is this fitting into your life?

Jasmine Hormati: And we've built from day one. Uh, going once a week to maybe going twice a week or three times a week, right? And just thinking about how do we piece all the different movement pieces together so that you're able to move your body in a way that feels good and that you actually enjoy. [00:37:00] Um, so that's like movement.

Jasmine Hormati: And then with food, you know, a lot of times I start off with maybe doing some food journaling to understand a little bit about like, what does it look like for this person's eating in a day? Am I noticing any gaps? Are they noticing gaps? We look at them together, but the food log entries and say, all right, like you went maybe four hours between meals and that felt okay.

Jasmine Hormati: Or one day you went like seven hours in between your meals. How did that feel? And starting to notice these patterns. And so we start working on sort of like consistent eating, try to have maybe three meals. Some snacks in between if needed, um, throughout the day. We work on the foundational pieces of like, how do we build a balanced plate so that you're having these very satisfying meals and very nourishing meals that are going to hold you over until the next time you're going to eat. Um, those kinds of things to kind of like build that foundation while also working. And like, I think alongside these things, the body image, right? Body [00:38:00] acceptance, body respect. are your clothes fitting your body? Are they comfortable? Do you like wearing these clothes? Um, and then working on some of the like emotional and food rules that maybe have been in the background too.

Jasmine Hormati: Like we're working on unlearning some of those things that we can move more towards the place the person wants to move towards.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: That's so great. Thank you for that. I'm glad I asked.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, me too,

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I have a much fuller picture of the breadth and scope of what you do, which is great. Um, do you have any other words of advice that you would share primarily to my audience, which a lot of them are college students, grad students, early career professionals who are still trying to figure out their life and what feels good for them in terms of, you know, Either healing their relationship with food or developing, you know, like a, like maybe a feel good or just like a better kind of way, something that feels better for [00:39:00] them in terms of, well, actually not just food, but food, image, movement, all the things that will help to, to promote their well being, um, in light of the fact, as you know, that like they might have busy schedules or they may have a limited access to financial resources or just resources in general.

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, I think I have two thoughts that come to mind. The first is You are worthy as you are. It's hard to internalize that, but I think the more a person can start to really believe that for themselves, I think that opens up the doors for all the other work that we could do in this space. Um, so you are worthy as you are. one is, is something I talk to my clients about a lot, is just eating something is better than eating eating nothing. I feel like I have a lot of clients who like, again, like they'll skip their meals because they're just not paying attention to the time because they're really focused on whatever task they have at hand or like the deadline [00:40:00] that they have coming up. And they'll wait until it's done and then they'll eat something. And, you know, I can encourage anything. It's like, you know, if you need to use like a Pomodoro timer app or something to sort of like remind you to take a break and just like even just check in, like, do I need water? Do I need a snack? and if it's not possible to like go and make, lunch or dinner or whatever it is. you have convenient food options? Do you have option to have like a frozen meal in the freezer and just put it in the microwave and eat that? Um, I think there's a lot of like negative connotations around convenient food options like canned goods or frozen things. Um, but I often find that those actually help my clients make sure they're able to feed themselves regularly.

Jasmine Hormati: So bring those in. Let's have like a, you know, options around snacks and food so that way If you're in a bind, you can have something instead of not eating anything at all.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: I'm a huge fan of convenience and frozen foods. I just had [00:41:00] frozen kimbap for dinner yesterday, so I'm like whatever makes your life easier and helps you to stay feeling good. So I'm glad that you even brought that up because that's another thing too that comes up of the shaming of certain demonizing and shaming of certain foods or certain ways of eating.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Anything else? Any other closing words before we wrap up?

Jasmine Hormati: Oh gosh. I mean, I feel like there's so many things. Even just like talking about convenience foods, I'm like, oh my god, there's like, that's a whole like topic in and of itself

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah,

Jasmine Hormati: like it makes it easier. And I think that's another thing. Like. I think that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves thinking like, Oh, I have to make it from scratch and I have to like get the fresh stuff and like all that stuff.

Jasmine Hormati: And it makes it really hard, um, for a student or for a person who's just starting out in their career. If you're living on your own and sort of responsible for like the shopping and the cooking and everything, like it's, It's a lot for one person to do. And so I am like, I just want to say like, I'm a big fan of [00:42:00] convenient options to make our lives easier. Um, and yeah, whether you are living on your own or you have a family or partner, like we don't have to spend hours in the kitchen if that's not something that we want to do, right? Let's nourish our bodies. Let's take care of our bodies. Um, again, move in ways that feel good. And, um, Yeah, enjoy life.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: that's great. Thank you so much. So for folks who want to learn more about you, about your work, connect with you, support you and your work. How can folks reach and connect with you?

Jasmine Hormati: Yeah, the best way to stay up to date is through our newsletter, um, and I can send the link to you if that's helpful, um, but it's

Jasmine Hormati: com, um, backslash learn dash more, um, and then working with us one on one. We, we have openings, um, to, to work and support you however we can. And, um, yeah, to do that, we just have a connection call.

Jasmine Hormati: We can hop on a call and Chat about it for 20 minutes or so and see what's going on and [00:43:00] how can we support you and kind of get started from there.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: We can definitely include both links on the show notes so folks can stay in touch and potentially work with you too. I am so excited. Thank you so much for just connecting with me, for reaching out, for having this conversation with me and having folks kind of learn a little bit more about, like I said, the breadth and scope of all that you I really appreciate you for, you know, making time for this and for coming on the show today.

Jasmine Hormati: Oh my gosh, thank you so much as well. It was so fun like I would chat about this with you and I hope it's helpful ultimately you and your audience. So

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Yeah, definitely. I know. So many, so many gems today. So, thank you for sharing all of them and yeah, we'll we'll definitely stay in touch.

Jasmine Hormati: sounds good. Thank you.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: Thanks so much for joining me in the Grad School Femtoring Podcast. If you like what you heard, here are four ways you can [00:44:00] support the show. The first is to make sure you're subscribed and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you email me a screenshot, I'll send you a surprise freebie. The second way is to get your copy of my free Grad School Femtoring Resource Kit.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: which includes essential information to prepare for and navigate grad school. You can access it at the link in today's show notes. The third way to support my show is to follow me on social media. You can find me on Instagram with the handle at grad school, femtoring and on LinkedIn by searching my name.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu: The last way to show your love is to order a copy of is grad school for me. My graduate school admissions book for first gen BIPOCs. Thanks again for listening and until next time.

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