faulker053

Time for lunch? Thinking about dinner?  I've gathered a bunch more pics to share from my recent meals. But first I need to respond to a couple of comments and questions you've voiced in person and on the last post. Lean steak which I have infrequently with grilled farm-fresh potatoes and watermelon. Do you think about balancing your day's eating depending on what you ate earlier in the day? Not at all.  I don't think  "I shouldn't have bread again since I had some at breakfast"  any more than I think  "Oh, I had three fruits already so I'd better have something else for snack."  I go with what I feel like, when I'm hungry.  So you don't give any thought to your food choices? Homemade pizza topped with artichoke and peaches. That's not the case either. There's a balance between nutrition information and pleasure/preference that informs my decisions about what to eat. I might have lox at a meal but I wouldn't include olives,...

Kristen knew to avoid fats—except for those in nuts (which she included in very limited amounts) and certainly those in dairy and oils. Fats are bad. Period. She loves fat free yogurts, but those she omits because of the sugar. Same with milk, which she truly used to enjoy. Now she uses fortified water aka lite almond milk. Seasonal fruits, even the organic stuff—completely stricken from her diet, you know, because of the sugar.  Whole grains—well those have those god-awful carbs so those are out too. Yup, that leaves… lean poultry and fish and non starchy vegetables. No wonder meal planning is a challenge. No wonder she struggles to not binge following a day of deprivation. No wonder her energy level is low, and her thoughts are preoccupied with food and eating. Why can’t I decide what to eat? If you're like Kristen, you get so over-focused on what you shouldn't eat that you're challenged to figure out what to eat.   Your endless food rules about nutrition, weight and hea...

Seeming quick fixes can be so tempting. This week’s inbox held the following message from an old patient: “I was watching Good Morning America and they had Monica Seles on, admitting she's suffered from binge eating disorder (BED). They announced a medication they are now using to treat BED, Vyvanse, also used for ADHD. I looked it up and side effects include weight loss. Have you ever recommended this drug for BED? Do you feel it is effective for BED? Can people with BED take this med to lose weight? Do they think if you have BED you must be overweight and this medication can cause weight loss? Which would perhaps (in their minds) solve the bingeing? That small ED voice that lurks deep from within is screaming 'get me that drug! Get me that drug!' so I can lose weight. WTH?!" I’m glad she was brave enough to share what she was wondering, as I’m sure she’s not alone in her curiosity. Aren’t you wondering what this means for you? Let's start by clarifying a few t...

Since I’ve last posted, I’ve had a troubling, food related conflict. Can I dump on you, dear readers? Can I model what I suggest you should do—to express yourselves and reach out for support? Colleague conflict I love good chocolate. So it follows that at holiday time I’d want to share the joy as holiday gifts to some providers that refer to my practice. (Remember, this dietitian has a cupcake as the mainpage image on her website. What harm in that, I thought? Yet in sharing my intentions with a nutritionist colleague, I heard a very different perspective. Namely, that many office employees are trying to lose weight—so chocolates are the last thing they need. Those who are obese hardly need the box of chocolate sitting around the office. And since many are so anti-sugar these days, giving chocolates is simply a bad idea. Once I moved from my totally speechless state (a rarity with me), I tried to be open-minded. Is it diet sabotage to give a box of chocolates to be eaten in an office ...

Are you hyper focusing on the nutrients that are 'safe' to eat? Processed foods are bad, toxic even. Breads, even so-called wheat breads, must be avoided. Other starches aren’t great for you either—but those whole grains seem a little better. And forget sugar, because you know all the horror stories about what sugar does.  Best to avoid it all; it’s much safer that way. That’s what Dave thinks, and he’s not alone. He's an underweight young man, unhealthily thin. Yes, most sources of carbs are a problem for him. In fact, most fats are also a problem for him. He selects only foods he perceives as super-foods—super healthy choices chock full of nutrients; he’s not contaminating his body with any of that other junk. He reads a lot, but never the full research paper, because, I mean, who does? Anyway, if it’s in print, then it must be true, right? Start to look at the big picture. No, not correct. Even all the hype about sugar and its negative impact on health pulls from studies...