faulker053

Patients, Facebook friends, and friends of friends contacted me in horror after reading the NY Times article on the Biggest Loser. Weight re-gain is inevitable. Most if not all of it.  And metabolic rate is screwed too. The control you believed you had? Doomed to dissolve. The hope you were given that you'd finally made it to your goal size or weight—or were getting closer—shattered. Overweight, obese, underweight or average size—the feelings knew no size boundaries. Fear. Anxiety. Hopelessness. Panic. The pain of regain extended well beyond the 14 Biggest Loser contestants studied and their loved ones. It was felt by those of you who shared their struggle and their joy and sought inspiration from this outrageous, extremist show.  The NY Times summarized the research: by 6 years after the show’s end, all but one participant studied had either regained some weight or gained beyond their starting weight; 4 contestants are now heavier than before they tortured themselves w...

Do you really need to give this up? Go ahead and eat how you’d like. Want to only buy organic produce? It’s your call—just don’t ask me to foot the bill. Into whole grains? Vegetarian or Vegan? Serious meat eater? Really it’s not for me to judge. But you know I can’t just leave it at that. My concern is that if you choose to eat in a particular manner that it be without unnecessary rules that negatively impact your wellbeing—either physical or mental. And I’m concerned when you and others get caught up in the supposed health hype of the day, only to learn the hard way that it just wasn’t worth it. Let’s talk gluten free Yes, I even add gluten to my breads! I hate pain and suffering. So if you have celiac disease and are suffering the effects of this autoimmune condition—this reaction to gluten that strangely results in self destruction of part of your small intestine, there is no diet I’d rather see you follow. Please follow it 100%. Period. Avoid cross contamination from wheat, rye,...

"Such crazy thoughts in that Aussie article!" Do you think that if only you do the right thing —eat a healthy diet, exercise, get enough sleep—then you will achieve your dreamed of weight, live free of disease and live happily ever after? This, dear readers, is a fairy tale.  If you believe that eating nutrient packed, low calorie foods is solely responsible for whether or not you get cancer, or arthritis or MS, think again. And don’t be fooled by the preaching of Dr. Fuhrman in his book, Eat for Health , that health equals nutrition divided by calories , period. Health is not such a simple equation. And no, eating whole grain, veggie packed meals won’t protect you from an eating disorder either.  If you think that eating 'right' ensures thinness, as was recently emphatically suggested in a popular newspaper article in Australia, it is yet another fantasy. And if you torture your overweight self with the belief that you must lose weight--at all costs, and that your ...