faulker053

Blogging should have been far from my thoughts, as I sat in Temple yesterday, the first day of our High Holidays. But food and eating and Judaism seem inseparable, and so my thoughts turned to Drop It and Eat. At this time of introspection, at the start of the Jewish New Year, a time of re-creating, what’s the chosen text we read each and every year? A tale of a woman named Hannah, who by my interpretation is clearly struggling with anorexia. Is it me and the lens I view life through?   Perhaps. But I don’t think so.  Read the full, (translated) passage from 1 Samuel 1, dated from before 600 BCE. online if you‘d like.  http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et08a01.htm Here’s the synopsis, relevant to this blog topic, as I see it. There was a man, who had two wives, one named Hannah, one named Peninah. Peninah had children, Hannah was childless. Hannah was his favorite, although God had closed her womb. Her rival, Peninah, to make her miserable, would taunt her that God had clo...

I just returned from two weeks abroad, 24-7 vacationing with my husband of 25 years (and yes, we still remain happily married). One week hiking in the Swiss alps, one week eating and drinking my way through Italy’s Piedmont and Tuscany regions have left me with so many thoughts to share. So enjoy the photos and commentary in the next several posts, and please share your thoughts and comments with me! The lovely town center of Bagno Vignoni we pushed our bikes to. I get it now. This week I was struck by how much I utilize, maybe even rely on nutrition information to make my eating decisions. Sure, I eat intuitively, and I stand by absolutely everything I’ve told you throughout Drop It And Eat’s many posts. But I had an interesting revelation this week while in Tuscany. Until then, I hadn’t fully realized just how much nutrition info is a part of me, my food choices, my portioning. It came to light in a big way this Wednesday in Italy. A lovely lunch, except for the 1/2 cup of oil! Of co...

Hard to tell, but it really was pink! I lost a bit of weight then, but it was unintentional. It’s hard to recall the details—it was 25 years ago—but I certainly recall my pre-wedding jitters, my perseveration over details of this NY Wedding’s menus and seating and flowers, and the stress of commuting to work 3 hours daily. And then there was the wedding gown hype (Imagine Say Yes To the Dress ; I bought it at the same Kleinfeld’s of TV fame). But as PJ points out in her guest post below I was not typical—I did not try to lose weight before the big day. And who buys a pink wedding gown, like I did, anyway? Who Is PJ Anyway? First and foremost, she’s a bright, sweet, thoughtful, determined Follower of this blog, who I adore. She’s an Aussie, a mother of three young children and an adult new to acknowledging and tackling her own long-standing eating disorder. And she’s approaching her recovery with gusto, true to her nature. She’s using her resources 100%, while painfully honest about he...

From my seat in the kitchen I could only see his butt. But I could hear the probing of his snout, which piqued my curiosity. Then his head emerged, his eyes beaming at mine. After catching my glance he guided me with the movement of his head, pointing toward the 25-pound bag of kibble. Waiting patiently for his favorite biscuits. What could he want, I wondered. He has food in his bowl. He repeated this gesture talking to me without my comprehending. But then my husband got it (he speaks dog better than I do). He wants the fresh, new dog food, he realized. The  stuff in the bowl was from the end of the last large bag and it’s just not what he wants. So my husband opened the new bag, a new variety in fact, replacing the previous batch. And he chowed down (my dog, I mean, not my husband). Yes, even my dog Mica has absorbed the lessons living in this household. Maybe the quality of the older food was sub-par, or perhaps it was the allure of something new. But for some reason, he wa...

Don’t be thrown by the title—there’s no need for concern. I’m not at any risk (that is if you exclude the Swiss Alps hike to the Hornli Hut at the base of the Matterhorn that I’ll be leaving for shortly). And let me confess—I’m afraid of heights and precipitous drops.  Curious? Check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcoU0dlep6s from ~2mins. But really. I’ve often thought about what I’d want my eulogy to read, when my time has come. I see it as a kind of blueprint, a how I want to live my life and be remembered . What will my legacy be? What messages will I have conveyed to the people I care about? And yes, that includes you, readers. I can’t help but think of this as I’m sitting with patients who are struggling with their eating disorder or an unhealthy relationship with food. I think, Is this the focus that you want to define you? Accomplished? Beth was an accomplished dieter. She was proud of her ability to keep her weight to XYZ pounds. (I’m trying not to make this ...