faulker053

Should they start weighing and measuring everything they eat? This scares me . Really it does. The US government, the FDA more specifically, has decided to encourage kids and their educators and families—i.e. everyone—to start tracking their calories, because, you know, doesn’t that solve the ‘obesity epidemic’? Well, no, it doesn’t—and it may cause more harm than good. Their stated goal is to get kids and families to start reading labels and think more about what and how much they eat. Innocent enough, right? Well I don’t think so. Maybe I’m biased because I see far too many kids and adults, stuck in their heads with too much information; they spend time calorie counting, and limit their choices to single portions of foods because that’s what the label says is the ‘right’ amount. They allow the label to define their personal need, as if serving size was one-size-fits-all, when really it’s designed to provide information about nutritional value per serving, based on “usual” por...

Debra came to me frustrated about her climbing weight, now about 20 pounds out of her normal range. This is nothing unusual for me—plenty of women and many men reach this point, desperate for answers and guidance to help them take charge of their weight. Others present for help managing symptoms or medical outcomes—like high blood pressure or cholesterol or GERD that have more to do with the quality of their diet than with their weight. Debra was an active woman in her 50s, a non-emotional eater—yes, they do exist—who felt like she was doing most things right. She ate regular meals and snacks; she had to, as she started to feel really low energy, and fuzzy headed if she didn’t. And she’d start to get the sweats, too. She had a history of very high cholesterol, and a family history of Type 2 diabetes as well. And the weight she had previously maintained, her normal weight, was nothing crazy, nor did it require heroic measures to achieve it. Her goals were quite realistic. After reviewin...

I don't know Jean Forney, a Phd student and AED (Academy for Eating Disorders) member studying eating disorders, but she has some very interesting ideas. She recently contacted me requesting I do a blog post on her research. Better yet, I thought-- you can do it! I wasn't just passing the buck, but preferred to give her the opportunity to describe her proposal.  One step in the right direction. Measuring hormone levels to help predict eating disorder recovery (keep reading for the full description) is not simply about determining how long your eating disorder will last. It may offer insights about biological causes of eating disorders and ultimately to treatments for bulimia, binge eating disorder and purging disorder.  I post this to offer hope--to show what young researchers are exploring to better understand eating disorders and help the path to recovery. And to offer you an opportunity to personally support the research (see her link at the end).  The Importance of P...