The Momma Bites! podcast and blog is a project that I am incredibly excited about. A combination of firsthand experiences and observations, as well as series of interviews with notable experts who happen to be moms on their expertise and imperfect experiences of self-care. In summer 2020, Self-care for New Moms: Thriving in Your Postpartum Year will publish with many of the interviews from this fun podcast.

The Embodied & Well Moms Show is an island of sanity in all the craziness of motherhood. Tune into to feel comforted by Lindsay Stenovec's kind voice as she interviews a variety of experts in the field of intuitive eating. Lindsay is a dietitian and practice owner in California, as well as busy mom of two little boys.

Jessica Foley is a fantastic psychotherapist specializing in the fields of binge eating disorder and postpartum depression. Her blog invites readers toward mindfulness, self-acceptance and treating ourselves with kindness.

Marci Evans is a dietitian working in Harvard Square.  She is wonderful and spectacularly active on the internet.  I recommend her newsletter and following her on social media.  http://www.marcird.com/_blog/blog

After having two kids, I realized all the bullsh!t I'd been told about self-care was unhelpful and often shaming in my journey as a new mother. Wishing for something else, I sought out experts in every area from nursing to postpartum sex to find real, helpful advice. Written from the perspective of busy mom and clinician, I truly hope you find this book to be a caring arm around you when you most feel alone on the struggle bus of motherhood.

I'm a big fan of this book.  While cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectic behavioral therapy are fairly well-known modalities, their cousin acceptance & commitment therapy is a little less known.  Russ Harris brings a highly readable explanation to the table with this book.  With focus on values and what is most important to us, this book invites the reader to manage challenging feelings and difficult thoughts while continuing to move our lives in the directions we want.

A classic cognitive behavioral therapy book helpful for understanding how cognitive distortions keep us stuck.  With many helpful and informative activities that build on the reader's insight, this book can be read in parts and is a wonderful source of support when in or out of struggle.

Did you know that people who practice self-compassion are less likely to burn out, more pleasant to be around, and have a generally better outlook?  I know this seems obvious but in this life of chronic overscheduling and hyperstimulation, the idea of being gentle and taking care of yourself might seem archane and ridiculous.

When Food is Love (and all other books) by Geneen Roth.  This books has brought many of my clients to tears but also validation, "you mean I'm not the only one?"  Roth starts by talking about her own struggles with eating disorders, food obsessions, and the struggle to make food just food.  If you start with one book, this might be the place to begin.

Dr. Gaesser blows apart the myth that fintess is based on weight.  He dares to ask the question, 'can one be fit and fat?'  Focusing more on incorparting health promotion behaviors rather than the much more difficult and traditional focus on weight loss, this book was one of the pioneers in the the health at every size movement.

Susan Albers' work is a wonderful invitation to many different activities for understanding and practicing mindful eating.  All her books are helpful guides to return to over and over.

Considered one of the most important texts in the mindful eating movement, this book is full of activities and helpful offerings around practicing mindful eating.  One of the most helpful parts of this book is her discussion of the seven hungers, an instrumental concept to mindful eating.

The first of Michelle May's series of books on mindful eating and the eat-repent-repeat cycle.  Michelle is a doctor and former mindless eater.  She brings a medical and nutritional perspective to the tenets of mindful eating.  She also has two other books in this series -- Eat What You Love for Diabetes and Eat What You Love with Binge Eating Disorder.

Co-written by a model and a body image expert, this is one of the few books that speaks commonsense about the body changes around pregnancy.  These authors invite women to consider how to respond to the weight insanity around pregnancy. 

The work of Karen Koenig is a wonderful resource for support in mindful eating.  One of my favorites is Rules of Normal Eating which I expected to hate since it has two of my least favorite words in the title.  With a particular cognitive behavioral focus, Koenig speaks plainly and offers bulleted lists of techniques for navigating the challenging waters of eating.

I know, this sounds crazy.  All these experts and I'm recommending a 'for dummies' book.  I really like recommending this book for loved ones.  Learning that your wife or son has an eating disorder can make your head spin.  Having a straight-forward, approachable book to turn to can be extremely helpful.

Health at what size?  Every size.  Let me say that again.  EVERY.  size.  This is a book that started a revolution in the industry.  What if our obsession with obesity is misplaced?  What would it be like to focus less on weight and more on health?  

Aimee Liu did something incredibly brave.  After publishing a very successful memoir on recovery (Solitaire) she published an even more honest follow-up memoir/research text on the long term experience of recovering from an eating disorder (primarily anorexia).  Thouroughly researched and thought-provoking.

I was so profoundly moved by this book it began my "book of the month" series in my office.  Silverman wades in waist deep to the struggles with body esteem that our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters are dealing with.  Caution:  this book just might make you into an advocate.

I love Ellyn Satter!  When I recommend her books to clients I warn, 'she's a tough cookie with clear opinions,' but she's earned them.  Satter began as a nutritionist advising people on how to lose weight.  Realizing that she was hugely missing the mark with her directives, she studied individual and family counseling (she's got a lot of little letters after her name).  From years of clinical experience she derived her division of responsibility in eating method.  It's revolutionary and yet sad that we live in a society were it would be revolutionary that meals are planned, diverse, structured, compassionate, and balanced.  Oh, and kids get to decide how much they want to eat.  Wait, what?!

You'll never look at a group picture of the Disney princesses the same again.  A damning analysis of the big business behind all things pink.

Shapesville is a fun and great kids' book that introduces the idea that all shapes are acceptable.  What a concept!

I try and get a copy of this for every child who is born to a loved one in my life.  It turns out that in addition to being an actress and hawking yogurt, Jamie Lee Curtis is a pretty great author.  I often recommend this book to adult clients to help introduce the idea that every feeling is okay and that moods just come and go.

Ugh, why does my kid do that?!  A fascinating read written by a psychologist and neurologist, Welcome to Your Child's Brain offers helpful insights around development.  Most helpful are the concrete strategies to provide help and support to your child, and hopefully help with less eye rolling (from your kid too).

This is a book that I come back to over and over again.  It is written by a buddhist monk and mom of a young child.  She talks openly and bravely about her struggles to keep her inner and outer calm, balancing extremes, and even the pull to buy the toys that just keep your kids quiet.

Heidi Schuster is a nutritionist out of Lexington who introduces her clients to intuitive eating.  Her blog offers the same gentle and kind approach that one could expect in a session with her.  http://anourishingword.com/blog/