faulker053

Pizza was the focus of several conversations this morning. And we weren’t discussing ordering lunch. The subject was challenging foods, and pizza was mentioned during more than one patient session. And I didn’t bring up this potentially triggering topic. One of my favorite pizza places in Bar Harbor, ME “It’s junk food”, one young woman stated firmly.  “Why’s that?” I probed. Silence, she responded, uncertain. “The grease”, was another’s response, in a different session. Seeing all that grease was problematic. For others, pizza equals fast food, convenient take-out—all of which has to be “bad”. For others, it’s about portioning. I mean, how much is okay to eat for lunch? Or, for dinner? “And how do you stop”, others have asked. For some, pizza is fine if you’ve made it yourself—at least you know just what went into it. For others, it’s okay if it’s organic or whole wheat. For most everyone it’s fine if it can be eaten in control. So what is it about pizza? As I sit down to write...

It Doesn't Have to be All or Nothing I heard on the radio that the odds of winning this lottery, this multi, multi million dollar lottery, are less than the odds of getting struck by lightening. Imagine if... Yet in my office Patty talked about how winning this bundle of money would change her life, how she wouldn't be able to stay in the same place she's at. People would expect things from her, and in many ways it would add some stress.  She spoke as if this change could happen, as if it were real enough to taste. What would happen if you had a life-changing relationship with food? If you had fully recovered from your anorexia, your bulimia, your binge eating disorder? If you had healthily lost weight to a normal range?  In some ways, this is so thrilling, so liberating, so refreshing.  Like winning millions, it may certainly change things for better. You're likely to feel better, physically and psychologically. It may resolve some stress, allowing you to feel lighte...

Preventing the Damage After the Wedding It's hard to know what disturbs me most about the NY Times article Bridal Hunger Games printed yesterday. Was it the hopelessness of women who don't fit into their ideal image of what a bride should look like—willing to take dietary change to extreme measures to achieve short term “success”? Or my fright at the willingness of MDs and nurses,  helping health professionals, whose “first do no harm” mantra has clearly been dismissed?  Or maybe it's the NY Times itself for creating a piece that seems more like an advertisement for unhealthy weight loss schemes, rather than a balanced report on the pitiful state of our culture and the consequences of being lured into quick weight loss schemes? Pressure on women for their “big day” abounds, and it's been addressed before on this blog  http://dropitandeat.blogspot.com/2011/09/wedding-diet-guaranteed-to-change-your.html . But let's take another look, from the perspective of the newl...

Ouch, that’s harsh! Let me explain… Honey and milk-filled chai and a snack--just what I needed! You tell me that you skipped your breakfast—because you just couldn’t eat in the morning, or there was simply no time—but you would never allow your kids do this. You acknowledge that a salad—just a salad—for lunch—is not much of a meal. Yet you believe that’s all you really need. Besides, it fills you up. Doesn’t that mean it’s enough for lunch? You attribute your low energy, your fatigue, to everything from your fibromyalgia to your poor sleep, your MS to your high stress, yet you’ve only eaten a fraction of what you need to, in a 10-hour period. You believe that once you start eating you won’t be able to take control—that restricting is the only way to manage your weight—yet you struggle with rebound binge eating and resulting weight gain. And you think it’s just you. You mindlessly eat, and then over exercise, then get frustrated. “Why am I the only one who has no willpower?” you wo...

There’s one more piece of birthday cake left, still frozen, awaiting my next move. I enjoyed each and every slice I had last week—the moist chocolate cake and icing—microwave-defrosted to just the right temperature.  And the festive cupcakes I bought toward the end of the week? I think they ranked even higher. Cupcakes, you ask? More dessert? Yes , they were necessary. I had to buy some. I needed to photograph them, to possibly use on my soon-to-be-updated website. And, because I love these celebratory buttercream-frosted delights! But I must be honest. I felt compelled to indulge in more baked goods this past week, as I knew what my fate would be by week’s end.  No, I wasn’t going to be dieting anytime soon. But the annual Passover holiday arrives Friday, the holiday where Jews recall their slavery in Egypt and are commanded to deny themselves a whole list of foods. That means a week without bread, flour, rice, corn, peas, legumes, pasta, cookies, and most baked goods, which ...