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Today’s episode is a really powerful one, all about cooking and mental health. I speak with writer and recipe developer Christina Chaey. She’s a former senior food editor at Bon Appétit, where she developed recipes, wrote and edited stories, and starred in their YouTube channel. She currently writes the newsletter , which is where I found her. In fact, one of her newsletters, On Breaking up with Perfectionist Cooking was the spark for this episode.
Christina shares her journey with cooking, mental health and depression, and how cooking has become a barometer for her to better understand her emotional state. She describes how she’s had to let go of the performance of perfectionism when it comes to cooking and instead use cooking as a way to “practice the art” of meeting herself where she’s at. This means turning to cooking as a tool for self compassion instead of as a way to prove her worth.
We also discuss cooking on low days, and how the act of preparing a meal—no matter how simple or non-Instagram worthy it is—can become a small win, helping to make life feel more possible even during hard times. Christina describes how she shifted from a mindset of “Why am I feeling this way?” to “What choices can I make in the kitchen that will support me right now?,” and how she uses her good days to prepare for low periods.
Finally, Christina shares her recent journey of discovering she’s pre-diabetic and what that’s meant for her relationship to food and cooking.
This is a really deep and beautiful episode, and I think you’re going to walk away with a better understanding of how you can use cooking as powerful tool for self compassion.
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xo, Nicki
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Episode Links:
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Find Christina on Instagram
Christina mentioned my podcast conversations with
and , which you can listen to at the links below:
Recipe Episodes:
Navigating Food Sensitivities, Identity and Health with Giulia Scarpaleggia | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Vietnamese Cooking, Evolving Cuisines & the Diet Illusion with Andrea Nguyen | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
The Power of Rituals (in the Kitchen and Out) with Michael Norton | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
The Best of Spring Cooking with Ali Slagle | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Beyond Just Food: Whole Life Nourishment with Vaness Henry | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Intuition, Food & Freedom with Bella Lively | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Cooking and Mental Health