faulker053

I was talking to a guy from San Francisco this week, and the subject turned to earthquakes. This long-time SF resident and survivor of the big quake of 1989 offered some very practical advice for me to share with my son, a San Francisco newbie, fortunately naïve about the seriousness of going through an earthquake. His focus was not on what to do during the crisis—although that advice is critical as well—but rather what to do before hand. How to be prepared for this challenging situation, because being prepared, as he put it, is the surest way to increase survival. Imagine that while sitting and discussing such matters my mind moved to you, my dear readers. No, there’s no need to worry about earthquakes for most of you. Rather, the subject of preparedness as a means to ensure survival and minimize damage struck me as most fitting—whether you struggle with an eating disorder or living free of diet rules. Have a plan , he said. In San Francisco that might mean knowing which are the secu...

A winter storm has its risks. The biggest? It keeps me home with time on my hands trolling the Twitter feeds and Facebook messages. I read, filter my thoughts, read, filter, read—and then I can’t take it any more and feel the need to speak out. Earlier, I tweeted: ‘ The only # cleanse you should be doing is a facial one. You know, soap & water or alternative. GI cleanses are disordered’ , after reading an MD’s unintelligent praise of ‘cleanses’ (in quotations, because there’s nothing cleansing except your perception that you are removing those treacherous toxins.) Then I came upon my professional organization’s tweet, “ If you're hoping to lose weight before winter's end, these tips can help! ” with this link. http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6847 It’s hard for me to say just why it annoyed me, but I’ll try my best to explain. Is this the best message we as RDs can offer? It’s a message of calories in/ calories out. Pick from all food groups! Exercise! Eat ...

But only if you do your part! It was the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, and it was a dark and rainy day here in the Boston area. And I was home sick with a bad head cold. It was enough to put me in a rather gloomy mood, if it weren’t for some bright spots from this past week that lightened my mood. Perhaps they’ll brighten yours, too. Hannah had not had the easiest time these past several months. Besides her eating disorder, which ranges from anorexia to binge eating, she’s been struggling with depression. Yet after many months of working with her team her progress shined through.  No, I’m not talking about measuring her progress in pounds—her weight fails to reflect the recent progress that’s just starting to emerge.  Ahh, the feeling of eating and trusting it's going to be okay... Rather, I heard her describe for one of the first times, her interest in food—in its taste, and in its texture. I heard her say that she realized that she actually didn’t lik...

It may make you happy for now but... Dana used to tell me she'd allow herself to eat "whatever", just until the holiday season was over, and then she'd buckle down and resume her restrictive approach to food management again.  Rob cancelled his November appointments, preferring to wait until after January 1 st to begin to improve his eating and his cholesterol level. And Stacy continued to restrict—in part because she knew that after her next doctor visit in a few weeks, she was going to be held accountable for her actions. Yes, she was going to need to turn her eating around or she'd be finding herself in a rather unhealthy predicament. If you're like my patients and thinking you'll get by just for now , whether you'll continue to drop a few more pounds before you start normalizing your eating or you continue on your path of overeating, it's time to face the facts—you're not really planning to change. At least, not for long term. I know...

It Doesn't Have to be All or Nothing I heard on the radio that the odds of winning this lottery, this multi, multi million dollar lottery, are less than the odds of getting struck by lightening. Imagine if... Yet in my office Patty talked about how winning this bundle of money would change her life, how she wouldn't be able to stay in the same place she's at. People would expect things from her, and in many ways it would add some stress.  She spoke as if this change could happen, as if it were real enough to taste. What would happen if you had a life-changing relationship with food? If you had fully recovered from your anorexia, your bulimia, your binge eating disorder? If you had healthily lost weight to a normal range?  In some ways, this is so thrilling, so liberating, so refreshing.  Like winning millions, it may certainly change things for better. You're likely to feel better, physically and psychologically. It may resolve some stress, allowing you to feel lighte...