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Weight loss and the Biggest Loser: What you really need to know about the NY Times article

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Patients, Facebook friends, and friends of friends contacted me in horror after reading the NY Times article on the Biggest Loser. Weight re-gain is inevitable. Most if not all of it.  And metabolic rate is screwed too. The control you believed you had? Doomed to dissolve. The hope you were given that you'd finally made it to your goal size or weight—or were getting closer—shattered. Overweight, obese, underweight or average size—the feelings knew no size boundaries. Fear. Anxiety. Hopelessness. Panic. The pain of regain extended well beyond the 14 Biggest Loser contestants studied and their loved ones. It was felt by those of you who shared their struggle and their joy and sought inspiration from this outrageous, extremist show.  The NY Times summarized the research: by 6 years after the show’s end, all but one participant studied had either regained some weight or gained beyond their starting weight; 4 contestants are now heavier than before they tortured themselves w...
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Recovery from an eating disorder is still possible. Even after all these years.

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Against all odds She's not someone you'd expect to recovery. Decades living with an eating disorder, endless barriers to jump over.  But seeing the progress that my patient (I'll refer to as) Amy has made should provide hope to anyone who has long given up. Yes, recovery is possible. Not easy. Not quick. But possible. Please read through the end and share your thoughts with "Amy".  In the last 50+ years, I cannot remember a time in which I was satisfied (even slightly) with my body.   As a matter of fact, I view it as disgusting and embarrassing.   Even at my sickest state, I was convinced I was the fattest one in the room.    In this point of my recovery, I deem it important to reflect on how far I’ve come.   Below is my life’s journey thus far. It is uncertain to me why I have suffered from Eating Disorders for most of my life.    However, in my past, could lay the meaning for all of this.   My mom had EDs always.   My ED could be...
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From eating disorder recovery & advocacy, to losing weight, to bread baking?

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Got 30 minutes? Check out this podcast I was interviewed on yesterday on Heritage Radio's Feast Yr Ears. http://heritageradionetwork.org/podcast/lori-lieberman/ Topics discussed include: Why I love working with people with eating disorders--the most challenging of all my patients More nutrition pet peeves, what simple step pediatricians can take to catch an eating disorder What to say and not say to someone who has lost weight The me and Cate story of Food to Eat and Drop the Diet aka why I adore Cate Sangster My major food obsession. You mean you don't already know? If you like it, please share it. And thanks for your recent comments which I promise to respond to!
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Pet Peeves. Just in Time for Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

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We will all rest more easily if we air these 'pet' peeves. Radio show host, Brooklyn Kitchen store owner and foodie Harry Rosenblum wants to know my food related pet peeves. He'll be interviewing me on March 16th on Feast Yr Ears about eating disorders and recovery with a particular interest in Cate and my book, Food to Eat : guided, hopeful & trusted recipes for eating disorder recovery . Pet peeves. Funny he should have asked; 'Thursday's patient' was just suggesting this for a blog post. We all have them. Pet peeves are those things that drive us crazy that people and companies say and do that make us want to scream. But most of you don't scream, or even express your outrag e. You might be annoyed, infuriated even, but you just keep it quiet and say nothing. Maybe you ruminate about it, or binge eat or don't eat at all. "I'll show them" may be your thinking. So readers, here's your prompt to share those things that piss you off....
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So you think you're recovered from an eating disorder? Take this quiz to find out.

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1) Recovery is about weight gain. Period. The simple answer?  It just might not be going the way you planned.  False.  Now don't let your eating disorder get all excited, saying "See! I told you so!" Weight restoration is surely a must for those who have fallen from their usual weight or in the case of kids, their weight for age and BMI curves. That is, their expected pattern of gain based on their age and their weight history. For kids, falling off their usual growth curve suggests a problem. It shouldn't be praised or rewarded, but evaluated. (Pediatricians, did you read that?!) But if someone's weight was high due to unhealthy behaviors such as binging, emotional overeating, or general disregard for satiety, and weight dropped with improved eating and coping, weight gain is likely unnecessary. Simply reaching a healthy range based on the charts also isn't enough. Perhaps your restrictive eating and suppressed weight began as a young teen, and you've liv...
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