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 
I’ve been reading your blog off and on for about a year now, I guess, but just stumbled upon this post right now. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why ANYONE would use the words “fat slug” to describe you. That just blows my mind! I’d hate to see what they would say about me since I’m about 30 pounds overweight. Yikes! LOL
As I’ve gotten older I’ve made a point to refrain from judging others, especially women. I’m not always perfect, and have caught myself making snap judgements, but I’m noticing when I do it, and changing my thinking. I remind myself that I know nothing about the person, so how on Earth could I even attempt to judge them? And as I’ve learned some stories of what others have gone through in their lives, I’ve come to appreciate that you just never know what someone is battling. It would be nice if we could start a movement of kindness. In the spirit of that…I think you’re beautiful, inside and out. I hope you’re able to ignore the haters and remember that they are obviously battling some of their own demons. xo
I had actually never read your blog till I googled sugar free marshmellows and I became interested in your blog when I saw on another website a woman who had been saying hateful things about you I thought well this website sounds like the kind of recipes I need so I’m going to it out anyways after searching your blog looking for a substitute for marshmellows in sweet potatoes because my fiance is diabetic I google your website I saw g he links saying you had an eating disorder and obviously I had already seen pictures of you on your blog and thought thats total bs but I wanted to see what people had said about you and now I’m glad I did you have gained a huge fan not because of your cooking or recipes or fame but because of your strength courage and conviction about this Y
You are someone to be admired not bullied or harassed. I’ll be watching for more blog posts and plan in getting my fiance into your blog as well. You keep doing what your doing.
Thank you so much, Casey 🙂
You look fabulous. Seriously. Radiant, fit, happy, and healthy. I have been in the public eye in the past and got comments about being too fat (the camera does add 10 lbs!). I lost some weight a year or so ago and started getting the too thin/eating disorder comments and they sting. I can understand concern that comes from genuine caring, but I’m so sorry people have been gossipy and trollish. You don’t deserve that at all.
As someone who has dealt with some medical dietary restrictions and various food allergies in my family, I am very grateful for your blog. I love how healthy and customizable and DELICIOUS your recipes are. Keep up the good work and I hope the trolls back off!
Katie, you literally helped me get over SO many of my “food phobias” that I had to get over after being hospitalized for a REAL eating disorder!!!! Without your blog I KNOW I wouldn’t have been able to fully recover and get my health back 100%. Everyone in my hometown is whispering about me, “She’s different….”…. Well yes, I am different …. I recovered! No one could eat like you and have an eating disorder… I would know because your recipes have supplemented my meal plans almost every day for a year, and I look SO MUCH BETTER NOW… actually healthy in body AND MIND. Haters are gonna hate, as the saying goes. I’m glad “I”m different now”, and I’m glad you gave up the hardcore exercise. I did too. THREE , NO FOUR CHEERS FOR HEALTHY EATING and moderate exercise 😉 <3
I realize this post was made quite awhile ago, but I’ve recently found my way to your site, and I really feel moved to comment on this post in particular.
Women can’t win, can we? My best friend is naturally very thin like you, and has to put a lot of intention into not losing a dangerous amount of weight when she’s stressed. People are frequently joking about her being “anorexic” and such, and it really bothers her. As her friend, it bothers me, too. What also bothers me is the way in which other women will sometimes think it’s OK to talk to me about it, with the ever-present “she’s so thin, oh my god, don’t you just hate her?” riff. I know this kind of thing is meant as a joke, but it has never sat well with me. No, I don’t hate her. She’s my best friend and we are not in competition. Don’t try to forge a bond with me using the resentment of another woman as the driving force. It’s not cute, it’s toxic.
Personally, I have always struggled with my weight. I’ve been quite overweight most of my life, but I’ve been reasonably healthy and active regardless for a long time. Recently, however, I discovered that I am prediabetic, and it scared me into action. In the past, I have tried some pretty unhealthy approaches to weight loss. I have straddled the line of an eating disorder more than once. For a long time I didn’t weigh myself at all, but instead focused on being kind to myself and worked on getting to a place of self-acceptance. I am so glad that I did, but now I find myself NEEDING to lose weight. It has become a pressing medical necessity that I cannot put off any longer. And shifting gears back to a weight loss focus has been a more emotional experience than I was truly prepared for. But–and this is the point I’ve been gradually building up to–your blog has been an ENORMOUS help. The idea that anyone would see this space as something that fosters and encourages eating disorders is absolutely ridiculous. I found myself looking at pamphlets for managing diabetes, my heart sinking at the idea of putting artificial sweetener and diet margarine into my body. I knew that giving up dessert altogether was just a set-up for me to falter, but I also knew some changes needed to happen. Finding CCK was like seeing the light. So far, this blog has helped me to stay on track, with treats that are low-sugar or sugar-free but genuinely healthy, full of healthy fats and fruit and whole grains and without any artificial crap whatsoever. I’ve been losing weight (15 pounds so far…about another 75 to go, but it’s a start), but most importantly, I haven’t felt like I’ve had to sacrifice any piece of my hard-won self-love to do so. Eating whole grain treats sweetened with bananas and dates and rounded out with peanut butter and avocado and coconut oil and even beans supports a nurturing and self-loving relationship with food. There is never an air of judgment or deprivation on your blog, only one of celebration and indulgence and camaraderie and good health. This blog is really something special, and it’s because you made it that way. Your inherent kindness is palpable (even toward those that are not kind to you), and it’s obvious that you get real joy out of sharing good health and great food with people. Thank you so much for that. It means the world to me already, and I know I’m not alone in that.
Trolls are sad little creatures. This always cheers me up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz2jbCJXkpA
Katie,
I have been following your blog on and off for some years, and I remember being a little concerned that you appeared too thin. At the time, some (majorly rude) people were challenging you in the comment section about your weight, and you kept insisting that you were healthy. I remember writing in just to say that you did appear very thin in your photos, but that I trusted you knew for yourself whether you were healthy or not. I haven’t been on your site in a while, and was surprised to read this. Never gave a thought to over-exercise! Too much of a good thing, I guess.
Your blog is very inspirational. Like others, I enjoy reading your words. You seem like a lovely person, inside and out. You have shown a lot of growth since I ‘ve been reading the blog. Keep doing what you’re doing, as long as you’re enjoying it. Perhaps (like running) you’ll get tired of this blog one day, but know that you have encouraged many people – including me. Merry Christmas!
Hi! So let me first just say that I LOVE your blog and that you are such an inspiration. I am 12 (almost 13) years old and I love baking so much. Recently, my parents have decided that I need to put on some weight (I am a bit too thin for my age), but they want to make sure I do it in the healthy way. Although many of these recipes are low in some things (like calories and sugar), I love using them all, and it’s great that you still include all of the healthy fats and stuff. Let me just say that there is no way that you are trying to promote anything bad, and these recipes are just HEALTHY. Also, considering most recipes are desserts, isn’t good that you’re lightening them? Even if I don’t know you in person, I’m sure that’s you are awesome, and I love everything on your blog. Whoever says all those bad things needs to just stop beating up other people for their own problems. Someday, I hope that I can start a food blog like this one, and make it just as awesome as yours. Also, it’s amazing that you could realize that you had a problem, and have a strong enough will to fix it. Currently, that’s what I’m trying to do, and you are such a great inspiration. You are awesome, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Oh Katie! I am so sorry you have had to put up with all this online abuse. It is not fair. People can truly be so thoughtless rude (especially online). I mean “fatslug”, really? Whoever put this probably wrote this because they are unhappy with their own body and jealous of people, especially ones that are fit themselves. It’s crazy! How can they treat someone this way and still feel satisfied with themselves as a person? You don’t deserve to be prey of gossip on weight and eating habits. Don’t listen to them, Katie, you are a sweet and amazing person with so much value.
Add me to the list of satisfied customers. Made this for dinner Wednesday and my fiancé and I agreed it was an excellent meal. The only minor change I made was to up the cider vinegar to 3 TBS since I thought the sauce was a bit too sweet with just the one TBS. I used less than the 3/4 tsp of red pepper flakes also. This is a fairly healthy dish, certainly low in fat, and one we’ll enjoy often. I did have to simmer it longer than the 20 minutes, since we had a delay that came up, so I just added a bit of water periodically and it turned out fine.