Addressing the elephant in the room.
It’s not something I ever wanted to address; the subject of eating disorders has nothing to do with my website nor what I stand for, which is why I’ve let the rumors go unchallenged for so long.
But readers have recently been leaving an even higher number of weight-related comments than usual, now calling me both too thin and too fat. (I’ve even been called pregnant and anorexic in the same post.)
As I know girls are using photos of me for “thinspiration” and citing my blog as a reason it’s okay to eat 100 calories a day and starve down to 70 pounds…
I feel addressing it at this point is the right thing to do.
If you’ve ever googled “chocolate covered katie,” you’ve probably seen the search engine’s lovely (I say this facetiously) list of related searches, which includes “chocolate covered katie anorexic” and “chocolate covered katie eating disorder.”
It’s self-perpetuating: curiosity will cause people to click on the terms, and therefore the suggested searches will most likely never disappear.
Although I don’t have an eating disorder and have always eaten well, I did have an unhealthy relationship with exercise in the past that took a toll on both my appearance and mental health.
While I’d thought I was happy during those years and was technically healthy—with normal lab work and a good relationship with food—the over-exercising was sabotaging my efforts to gain the curves I desired. I wouldn’t allow myself to entertain the possibility my running routine could be partially responsible for my inability to gain weight.
When I finally did make the choice to give up running (that story is linked above), I gained about 10-15 pounds quickly, easily, and happily. Imagine discovering, almost overnight, that you suddenly have the body you’d always wanted.
Looking back, I wonder why I didn’t realize sooner the extreme exercise was not the healthiest thing for me: it had become a source of stress in my life and was draining me of energy, which was manifest in my appearance.
I am a million and a half times happier now, and it shows.
It’s difficult to make guesses about a person’s life simply by looking at a photograph or by judging his or her online persona.
No, my life is not all about food; and yes, I occasionally do indulge in “unhealthy” meals and desserts. I just don’t post about these occasions because it isn’t relevant to the theme of my website.
Hateful things are written on the internet under a cloak of anonymity, and it’s unfortunately women putting down other women all too often, writing words they would never feel comfortable saying in real life.
In my years of blogging, I’ve been called everything from “skeleton” to “fat slug” to “anorexic with a boob job” (neither of which is true; but even if they were, would it mean someone had any less worth as a human being?). The comments eventually forced me to realize my self worth needs to come from something other than the opinion of a stranger on the internet.
The routineness with which I receive these acrimonious messages has at least given me the ability to shrug them off.
Although… when I saw the “fat slug” comment, I could not stop laughing.
I completely stopped reading the internet rumors and conspiracy theories about myself a long time ago, even if that means letting some false claims about my life go unchallenged. While I could defend myself against the rumors, doing so would become a full-time job, and I’d rather focus my time elsewhere.
The people who know me in real life are easily able to tell the truth, which is all that matters.
However, the one thing I feel I do need to clear up is that anyone who tells you my blog promotes eating disorders is grossly mistaken. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Chocolate Covered Recipes have healthy fats, whole grains, and real-food (non-artificial) ingredients, and you’ll never find me promoting dangerous cleanses, calorie restriction, or touting any one food as a “miracle” cure.
I’ve turned down so many high-paying offers from companies to promote such things on the blog.
In consideration of the readers with a medical need, lower-calorie and sugar-free options are included in my posts when available. But the recipes are not specifically “diet” choices; just healthier choices, and you can choose the ingredient options that suit your own personal needs.
I go further into detail on this topic in my Chocolate Covered Katie FAQ Page.
Please, the next time you read any kind of gossip online, take a moment to consider the source before believing it as fact. And if you ever come across something written about me that you don’t understand, please always feel free to ask.
I’m one of the most candid and open people you could ever meet, and I don’t get embarrassed easily. If a stranger really wanted to know everything about my life, I’d have no problem leaving in every detail.
At the risk of sounding clichéd… all of the stupid mistakes I’ve made in my life have made me who I am today, and I’m not embarrassed about a single one.
If you want to use me as thinspiration, keep in mind that the thinspiration you are using is a healthy woman who eats a balanced diet heavy in calories, healthy fats, and carbs.
I’d hope that what people can get out of my blog is the message it’s important to treat your body kindly; to nourish it with real-food ingredients; to truly enjoy the foods you are eating; and to take in enough calories for the strength and energy to live your best life possible.
No crash dieting. No cutting out food groups. No starving. Please take good care of yourselves. ♥
I also wanted to write this post because I know there are many other girls out there (and guys too) who receive similar online comments. To anyone who might need to hear it, please do not take any of the messages you receive to heart.
Most often, people just like to write things online because they can (especially if it’s anonymous), and it has nothing to do with your worth, no matter whether you are underweight, overweight, or have anything else about your physical appearance that makes you feel insecure or less than.
Now, can we put this subject to rest and get back to the food?
I’m going to hashtag this photo #fatslug 
Great post Katie! It was really brave of you to address the elephant in the room. This should be a post that serves as inspiration to all girls! Whether girls think they are too thin, too fat, too curvy or anything in between, so many need to really learn that happiness comes from within. I’ve struggled with body image issues as a result of being too thin ( due to medical issue) and can happily say, once I ignored what others and the scale said, I was truly able to find happiness, body satisfaction and a healthy weight for me.
Wonderful response! I appreciate the time you took to answer these questions. My daughter is like you, genetics keep her extremely thin. No matter the amount of food she eats she (and she can out eat my husband at times!). At birth she was in the 5% for weight. As a teen, one doctor was concerned she would fall off the charts and had us give her protein shakes between meals, it did nothing and she didn’t like them. When we saw her regular doctor again, he said not to worry. She is very healthy and he was not worried, she just has a great metabolism and genes. He said if she had been in a higher percentage and then suddenly dropped they would worry but since she is still growing on a curve, there is no cause for concern.
So glad you can be a role model for girls like this! I love your recipes and am always checking for new ones! Thank you for being you.
I really appreciate your honesty with this post. People are so quick to jump to conclusions and make unwarranted assumptions about people they have never even met (and likely never will). I would say that if you are happy with your body, it really doesn’t matter, but I see what you mean about perpetuating an image and you don’t want people to think that your blog is supporting an ideology that it absolutely does not support. We can all be judgmental but sometimes it is just way too over the top!
The body image issue is so complicated and personal for those who struggle with it daily. It’s unfortunate that some people feel the need to deal with their struggles by saying hurtful things about others. I always thought you were very pragmatic and fair when providing nutrition info for your recipes, and letting people know this is not a “diet” or “weight-loss” promoting blog. In my opinion, your blog is unique in that you DON’T make people feel like their diet or way of eating/exercising isn’t GOOD enough or virtuous enough as I’ve seen in some blogs. This blog promotes delicious food and creative use of healthier ingredients. Keep doing what you’re doing. Clearly you’re happy and you’re enriching the lives of a lot of other people. Rock on girl.
Katie, you addressed those nasty rumours/comments so gracefully and truthfully. It is unfortunate that there are so many negative and judgemental people out there. Your blog and your recipes are truly unique (and delicious!). Try to remember that you have more fans who come to your blog, or search you on the internet because they enjoy your recipes and draw inspiration for their own creativity in the kitchen!
It really is terrible to see how many women feel it is acceptable to shame other women about their bodies, and come to conclusions based on photos from the internet- especially on a blog that is designed around healthy alternatives. Hopefully all of the supportive comments will be remembered more than the accusations.
You’re the prettiest anorexic fat slug I’ve ever seen 🙂 People are going to judge you no matter what, sadly. You’re rad just the way you are! 😀
BRAVO. I especially like this: “eventually forced me to realize my self worth needs to come from something other than the opinion of a stranger on the internet”. As someone who has also faced ridicule and persecution in online forums I 100% agree with that statement. I need to stop letting negative people bring me down and start living with the things I know to be true. This is truly inspiring Katie and I give you so much credit for facing these rumors head on. Honesty is power!
Hi Katie,
I’m sorry people have written such hurtful things about you. When I was growing up there was no internet but people would say to me *you’re soooooo skinnnnny*! I eat mostly paleo now but have been able to enjoy some of your recipes ~ thank you. :0)
I learned a long time ago not to judge whether or not someone has an eating disorder/other disorder simply by looking at them, or even by reading what they choose to put on the Internet. You look fantastic, but that’s not the point — you’re an inspiration, and I hope I speak for all of your readers when I tell you that the fact that you shared your struggle means more than I can say. Thank you, and congratulations on finding the courage to share. <3
I hate that people can be so mean to each other, especially adults. Life is difficult enough–I wish people spent as much energy building each other up instead, what a difference it could make in the world. I hope you ignore the negative nellies and keep up your wonderful blog. As a breast cancer survivor trying to figure out the whole foods thing, I am appreciative beyond words of you sharing your cooking talents with the rest of us. It keeps my life ☆sweeter☆