faulker053

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...

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...

These past weeks  more people appear to be struggling with their eating. I don't know if statistics support it, and I haven't done a study. It's simply what I'm noticing. So I thought it might be valuable to share what I'm hearing. Because if they're feeling and thinking these thoughts, you just might be, too.  And I'm hoping that regardless of your type of eating struggle that you'll feel a bit more supported after reading this post. These are not simply holiday eating concerns. Rather, it appears that preexisting concerns get heightened during this time of year. Setting the record straight The holiday season may not be the happiest time of the year as the Christmas songs may suggest . There are the common stresses--there's much to get done in limited time, like shopping, meal planning and cooking, perhaps accompanied by a bit of financial concern. Most often these fall on the woman of the house, adding to her usual responsibilities, it seems. You m...

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...