faulker053

Today's breakfast-crepes with sauteed fruit, melted chocolate drizzle and vanilla yogurt. When I was little, I mean, when I was young, (I was never particularly little compared to my peers), I recall a recurrent argument with my mother. “ She can have it/eat it/do it—so why can’t I ?”, I’d beg to know, to which she’d respond something like “If she jumps off the Empire State building does that make it okay for you too?” (Yes, I’m from NY and that was the tallest building back then.) Her point, of course, was that what’s good for one isn’t necessarily good for another. And if you’re going to compare, be careful. Which gets me to you and your need to compare yourself to others; and more specifically, to compare your eating and your weight.   So what do you think—helpful to compare or harmful? Is it okay sometimes, or must you be consistent and never compare? Does it matter if you’re under eating, or if you’re overweight or is it simply dangerous? Does it really matter what I eat (or ...

Are you exercising enough or too much? Do you feel you need to be doing more? It’s often hard to judge for yourself. So take a look at these cases, modified from patients I encountered this past month, and see what you think: Regardless of the activity, do be sure to listen to your body's needs! A competitive skier, who spends 5 hours/day skiing and 90 minutes/day hiking; A college student who runs 30 minutes, 4-5 times/week; A biker who biked 55 miles one day, 107 miles over 3 days; A coach who worked out at the gym 6 days/week, and spends 12 hour days physically active coaching. A woman with anorexia who runs 3-4 days/week for 40 minutes. If you’re thinking: “It depends”, you’re right. So here are some more details: The skier came to see me wanting to gain weight to improve her strength and performance. She was fully on board with gaining weight and with eating more. The college runner? He pushes the intensity and distance when he’s overeaten or binged and then also overcompensat...

I'd much rather be hiking ... It's hard enough starting at a new gym. Generally, I dislike going to gyms, preferring instead to enjoy a long bike ride, a hike or a cross-country ski or snow shoe when weather permits. But living in New England, there are times, like now, when conditions are simply not favorable for either of those activities. So off to the gym I went, attending my first spin class of the season, at a new gym with a new instructor. And I could barely get through it. No, I am not that out of spin shape—although those cycling muscles certainly needed a workout. Rather, I was feeling my blood pressure rise as I sat through the marketing pitch and endless misinformation by this supposed promoter of health—the spin instructor. I'm still headachy from it, so in truth, I am blogging to air my annoyance and frustration. You know me be now—I am not shy to share my opinions, particularly those I feel strongly about. But this was a challenging setting. Jane, I...

Reactions to the NY Times article and the Pediatrics study on teens and muscle-enhancing behaviors. I'm bothered by something I read. "Compared with a sedentary lifestyle of video games and TV, an obsession with working out may not quite qualify as a health hazard", as stated in last week's NY Times article . While the article brought to light the silent struggle many boys deal with—or rather, don't deal with—their obsession with weight training, dietary modification and steroid use to achieve the 'perfect' body—it failed big time in educating readers about when to be concerned, and what we can do to prevent this unhealthy trend. But this is not just about boys—the Pediatrics article identified that girls, too , are taking steroids and more frequently protein shakes to increase muscle mass while pushing activity. Yes, teens, both boys and girls, have become more focused on increasing their muscle mass. "Strong is the new skinny" is a curren...

Tell me this isn't great? Let me preface this post by saying that I’m no exercise fanatic. I like to work out—it makes me feel good—but if I don’t get the chance to, I’m not bent out of shape.   I’ve never been much of an athlete. No need for tears, but in elementary school I recall being one of the last ones chosen for teams. I’m over it now, though, really. It was not until my diagnosis of MS, Multiple Sclerosis that I began to regularly bike ride although I’d done my share of hiking. This past weekend marks my 10-year anniversary riding this 2-day fundraising ride, a total of 156 miles from Boston, Massachusetts to the tip of Cape Cod—Provincetown. During the ride thoughts of blogging never entered my mind. But afterwards, I was struck by several observations that I just had to share. Intuitive eating? Not quite As you’re well aware, I’m a big advocate of intuitive eating. But the truth is, intuitive doesn’t always work . Case in point: I’d ridden 15 miles to the first rest stop...