faulker053

What do you think? Does drinking diet soda cause you to gain weight or not? Too much diet soda? This is an old story; the media has summarized some studies done several years back concluding what many of you might fear—something with no calories can make you gain weight. But a look behind the sensationalized headlines showed something else. Yes, there was a link; more people who drank diet sodas were higher weight. But did drinking diet soda cause it? And were you able to take in this correct conclusion and hold on to it, or do you still fear diet soda? Oh, this is dangerous. I am not advocating for diet soda consumption! There’s no nutritional merit—no calories, no vitamins or minerals—and it may even have some negative effects. Namely, it may mask your hunger, making it more difficult to trust your need to eat. And large intakes of colas—regardless of type—may pose other consequences such as impacting your bone density .  But really my intent was not to discuss diet soda. Rath...

“How presumptuous”, you must be thinking, “to group all of your readers into one lump sum, overgeneralizing between us and you.” Well, unless you are a member of my exclusive club, the one-in-750-in-the-US-living-with-Multiple Sclerosis, then I think you'll agree. As I'm sitting here awaiting the chemotherapy treatment to infuse into my veins, I'm painfully aware that I live with a chronic disease, a potentially debilitating one at that. But for now, I'm fortunately unaffected by this progressive neurological condition.  Perhaps, like you, I'm on borrowed time. Borrowed time? Yes, because neither of us can predict just when the impact our conditions will hit us the worst. Or when the damage from our situation will lead to a fatal consequence. A depressing shift in perspective from me? Not really. In fact, my intent is to show you just how fortunate you are. And to demonstrate that change is, in fact, in your hands. I live with a healthy dose of denial. (Ok, so...

That’s what they’re thinking, isn’t it? And likely you believe it too. Whether you’re fat or thin, healthy or unhealthy, fit or not, we need to place blame. It’s too hard for us to accept what’s not in our hands to control. We blame your weight on your eating and your diseases—even when there may be no link; we unfairly blame the parents for their child’s eating disorder; and we yearn to believe that it was your actions that caused your disease. Here are just a few examples of this I’ve recently encountered: "You’re too fat and of course you must eat poorly. And you’re lazy, too. Shouldn’t you be moving that 350 plus pound body around better—faster, longer, more gracefully? Your knee problems, your reflux, your high blood pressure—they’re all caused by you, don’t you think?" It doesn’t matter that you were an overweight baby and a chunky child—cute then, but not for the adult you. No, it bothers us to see people outside the “perfect” range.  The first question they ask is “W...

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...

Couldn't Resist This Photo Op In Switzerland! It’s time for some praise for doctors. Surprised? I know you are used to my airing my complaints here, for inappropriate, unconstructive assumptions some doctors make. And, for their misinformation not infrequently conveyed to patients, when it comes to diet and disease management. Just last week, a patient with type 2 diabetes shared her experience about her follow up MD visit. Jane has been eating well, resulting in a significant and appropriate weight loss. She’s moving more, and watching her carbohydrate intake, improving her post meal blood sugars. But given that her morning numbers remained quite high, in spite of her fabulous lifestyle changes, I encouraged her to address this with her doctor, hoping for a shake up in her diabetes medications. Can you guess what he told her?  You guessed it. Just lose weight. Yes, he wanted her to continue to stay with sugars almost 100 points too high, potentially causing damage to her blood ves...

I’m typing this from my office computer, where I still retain power after Hurricane Irene. But last night I dreamed that I lost the power to speak. I could hear and listen, I could see, ‘though I have no knowledge of taste (as I didn’t eat anything during this brief period). I was in unidentifiable, unfamiliar surroundings, but somehow did not feel uneasy. Even experiencing this loss felt familiar, like when I temporarily lost sensation in my left arm, due to MS, and was unable to dress myself. Powerless. In the morning, the windows were open, and I felt the cool, dry air across my skin. I saw the beam of dust particles shimmering in the morning sunlight. And I heard my voice as I said goodbye to my husband, as he departed for work. Ahhh, all was well—my body was fully functioning. The electric and telephone, however, remained non-functional. But all was not lost. I could drive to work, and get in touch with the world from there. Even in the absence of modern life’s distractions—cut of...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”  Charles Dickens Taken after surviving my 9th annual 150+ mile bike ride for MS I barely understood A Tale of Two Cities when I read it as a young teen. Yet somewhere in my memory the very first sentence has stuck. Ten years ago I experienced 2 years of Hell. The list of craziness included, but I can assure you was not limited to, the following: My father was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was a non-smoker with no environmental or genetic risk factors that we know of. He died 14 months later, at the age of 68. My dog died the day after my dad’s funeral. I experienced double vision leading to a diagnosis of MS 4 months after this symptom. My hu...