faulker053

Alan came in yesterday and he put it right out there. “I was really disappointed with our visit last month.”, he shared. “I expected to lose more that the 6 pounds given all the work I had done”. More than a pound per week achieved through his modest dietary changes and his move from a sedentary activity level wasn’t enough. Sure he was feeling better—sleeping better, less heartburn, more energy—but still the weight loss wasn’t enough. Thinking this portion should satisfy? Maybe not! I wish I could say this was an atypical occurrence. Rather, many a patient, and a parent, present painfully honest about their dissatisfaction. Not with me, I’ll add, but with themselves, their child, their spouse. Really, they struggle to make sense of the reality of changing behaviors with their vision of what should be. And if you’re like them, it’s not your fault for struggling with this. Ever watch The Biggest Loser ? Those who get thrown off the show for not losing fast enough lost 7 or so poun...

Remember Maggie who lost over 150 lbs.? She’s experienced them all—she’s been labeled with anorexia, bulimia and BED (binge eating disorder)—now an official diagnosis in the new DSM-5, the manual of mental health diagnoses. And she’s been categorized as obese. She did not seek treatment for her disorders early in her history, when recovery is known to be more likely. Yet she’s done it, she recovered. And she didn’t truly start the process until she was in her 60’s. Hooray for Maggie! Recovery is possible! I'm writing about Maggie, once again, to offer hope that recovery is possible. Because it is. And because you may believe that even if you did recover, that you would never maintain it. And that it’s not even worth starting on the path, because you just might fail. There. I’ve said it. Now let’s move on. About Maggie, present day. This lovely, now 74-year old woman with a long history of eating disorders, has maintained her consistent recovery—and then some. If you ha...

Lessons from co-writing Food to Eat: guided, hopeful & trusted recipes for eating disorder recovery. Last week I saw a new patient, a 50 something year-old overweight woman who presented with the stated goal of improving her health—and taking control of her escalating weight. Her body language and her attitude shouted ambivalence—or more accurately, defensiveness—and within the first quarter hour she had me on the defensive, too. Not too much rocks my boat, given 26 years seeing patients, including those who'd rather not be there. But the accusatory tone in which she asked about my weight history startled me. While not speechless (imagine what it would take for that to happen!) I was certainly at a loss to articulate my credentials to help her in a way I thought she could hear. Perhaps even expecting that she would hear was setting an unrealistic goal. Can I ever REALLY know how difficult his life is? Or what he's thinking? What could I possibly know about her weight ...

What I Learned at the AED Meeting I’ve exceeded my 1 week limit between posts, but I’ve got a really good excuse—I’ve spent the past 4 days at the Academy of Eating Disorders (AED) Annual Conference. So I thought I’d share some personal and hopefully meaningful observations about eating, recovery, and miscellaneous thoughts: Day one, 4 hours of workshop, and what did they serve at the refreshment break? Coffee, tea and water. Period. And I wanted calories. Food. I was hungry . Half a day learning about a treatment for anorexia and I couldn’t find anything to eat! But it only got better from there—really. One of several courses eaten at Barley Swine I spent a large percentage of my 24 hours each day doing 2 things—learning about eating disorders and planning and arranging to eat—where to go, whom to go with, and what to order, to name a few. And I must say, Austin Texas has some fabulous food! My top picks?  Barley Swine and La Condesa—simply divine! Another evening we were 8—two ...

20 years to construct Chateau de Chambord, Loire Valley, France I know you’re impatient. Everyone’s impatient—you are not alone. We want change to have already happened. And we want to be done with the struggle of eating—eating enough, not eating too much, eating just right. We want to be free of the rules and the thoughts, but are reluctant to invest the effort and time to enable it to happen. We make change, but it never seems good enough, and when it seems to be going along just fine, we fear we’ll slip up—and maybe we do. Quick fixes allure us, offering such promise. But this is not about quick fixes. I’d like to wave my magic wand and make it all better. I do have a magic wand, but I’m saving it for when all hope is lost. And really we haven’t reached that place. I’ve never built a house, but this analogy has crossed my mind many times. And you know once something is in my thoughts it’s challenging for me not to share! Railroad house, Swiss Alps Consider building your house It sta...