About

Author: Serena Hodge, Dietitian (BHealthSc & MND)

The beginning of Coconut Mason
Fed up with the fake environment that exists online, I recently came to a point where I no longer wanted to be someone who continued to only project the highlight reel of my life; simply adding to the problem. I made a decision that if I was going to continue sharing my life on social media then I wanted it contribute something a little more real.

The struggle that I have experienced around finding balance with food and accepting my body image in the past is I side of myself I seldom share with anyone. As I witness so many negative images and messages surrounding these topics on social media on a daily basis, this is the one side of me that I feel the most compelled to be open and transparent about.  

In my opinion, so many people miss the opportunity to create genuine connections with other people because they are too busy trying to hide behind a socially acceptable mask of who they think they should be. I believe that if more of us were able to let go of this falsely perfected image that we project, we would be able to better connect with each other and feel less inadequate for being imperfect.

My journey with food and my body

During my final two years of studying health and nutrition at university, I began to feel a shift within myself regarding how I no longer feared my body and food as much as I had done so in the past. I initially began writing these posts to serve as a place where I could refer back to as a reminder of how I now choose to approach food, my body and my lifestyle. What started as a therapeutic outlet for me to understand how my attitude towards food and my body has transformed over the previous five years turned into the blog that you are now reading.

All of the things I write about here I wholeheartedly believe, and make a conscious effort to practise daily. In saying this, I want you to understand that in no way do I want to portray that I have a perfect relationship with food and my body. To this day I still experience moments where I feel anxious around food or find myself engaging in negative self-talk about my body. Part of my journey has been learning to accept that this is okay and normal. 

Know that there is no quick fix to healing your relationship with food and your body. Getting to a place where I now experience freedom with food required a countless amount of patience and perseverance to say the least. I am now comfortable in knowing that food and my body will always be a central focus in my life. There is so much peace in being able to no longer fear this. I know that the struggles I have faced in this space have brought so many beautiful opportunities and people into my life as a result of the path that it veered me onto. 

One of the biggest lessons I have had to learn throughout overcoming my struggle with food and my body is how to be patient, gentle and forgiving towards myself. Being someone who has always been extremely critical of myself, this has not been easy. In deciding to give up the pursuit for perfectionism with food and my body, I have finally been able to practise self-acceptance. I now find so much comfort in simply understanding that I am not perfect, and I never will be. 

I know that I am not alone in my struggle with food and my body. This is because I recognise so many of the unhealthy habits and conversations I used to engage in among other women around me on a daily basis. For this reason, I am choosing to share what I have learnt with you. I don't claim to have the answers; in fact, I cant tell you right now that I don't. Rather, my wish is to connect with and encourage other women to dare to love and accept themselves in a world that thrives off of our insecurities around food and our bodies.