faulker053

You are owed an apology and an explanation. After receiving a reader's most thoughtful, concerned email I decided I needed to post. I stopped putting out blog posts and virtually disappeared (pun intended), with no warning or explanation. Admittedly, it happened gradually, from blogging 1-2 times per week to monthly to, well whenever the spirit moved me. Why, you ask? For lots of reasons. Bread You could say I've replaced one passion with another. Or that I've been compensating for the deprivation of the masses who have chosen a low carb or gluten free lifestyle. Defiantly making and eating bread? Maybe. I've been baking (and eating) sourdough breads and I'm thoroughly enjoying the process, the art, the texture and the taste. And no, in spite of all the carbs and gluten I've neither ballooned in size nor suffered inflammatory attacks (other than from my friends when I don't share these highly desired loaves.) The vacuum It's not easy to continue to writ...

You may have no idea how they're suffering. Your wife, or mother, or partner or son. It's about shame. And fear. That's why they can't tell you. That's why it's so hard for her to ask for help. I'm not placing blame, but I'm asking you to start to listen like you never have before. Because it's hard for those living with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder to say what needs to be said. Don't be fooled by his size or his weight. People with eating disorders come in all sizes. And don't be fooled by how well she had been doing. Slips happen. That's normal. But recovery requires acknowledgement that things are amiss, and that support is available. Right there. In person. Not just virtually through this blog, or a virtual support group or a friend across the world. Yes, they need to know that you are there for them, unconditionally. Even if you really don't understand. Even though you wish they'd just 'get over it'. St...

Time for lunch? Thinking about dinner?  I've gathered a bunch more pics to share from my recent meals. But first I need to respond to a couple of comments and questions you've voiced in person and on the last post. Lean steak which I have infrequently with grilled farm-fresh potatoes and watermelon. Do you think about balancing your day's eating depending on what you ate earlier in the day? Not at all.  I don't think  "I shouldn't have bread again since I had some at breakfast"  any more than I think  "Oh, I had three fruits already so I'd better have something else for snack."  I go with what I feel like, when I'm hungry.  So you don't give any thought to your food choices? Homemade pizza topped with artichoke and peaches. That's not the case either. There's a balance between nutrition information and pleasure/preference that informs my decisions about what to eat. I might have lox at a meal but I wouldn't include olives,...

And more importantly, what you can eat for breakfast, too. I started to do a food record of sorts two weeks ago. " Why put yourself through the misery ?" you might wonder? Well I wanted to send some positive messages about food, about eating, about what constitutes a normal, healthy diet, both physically and mentally. And I wanted to do it visually. Instead of fighting the diet myths—the must-eat low sugar, low carb, low fat, high protein—with words, I figured I'd show you snippets of real meals and snacks that I eat, that a nutritionist eats, on a regular basis. I planned to do it like a food log, including everything I ate, and I mean everything. But it got tedious. And then it started to annoy me.  Do I need to include the bites of sourdough bread I grabbed before dinner? Will I be sending the wrong message by showing all that I eat, as if to say "this is fine for you too in these amounts" when really our needs are so variable?   It started to get complicated...

Everyone is so happy. And doing so well, always having a great time. They’re all eating amazing food and managing their weight. They all look so healthy, too. And their kids are always smiling—they have the perfect families. Everyone else is so good at exercising—Map My Ride/Run and other apps prove they’re doing so much better than you running and cycling and walking. Yes, by comparison you hardly rate. Hardly his happiest or his best mug shot. Posted with permission. Or so it seems. It was quite timely that my patient whom I’ll call Beth, described her frustration having spent too many hours on Facebook. (Imagine that. Spending too much time on social media.)  She saw far too many ‘friends’’ photos displaying beach-bound bodies with a confidence she doesn’t possess. Like those ‘before and afters’ from diet ads from Diet Center and Weight Watchers (where the print too small to read confesses that these images are of rarely occurring weight loss that normal people don’t usually exp...

Kristen knew to avoid fats—except for those in nuts (which she included in very limited amounts) and certainly those in dairy and oils. Fats are bad. Period. She loves fat free yogurts, but those she omits because of the sugar. Same with milk, which she truly used to enjoy. Now she uses fortified water aka lite almond milk. Seasonal fruits, even the organic stuff—completely stricken from her diet, you know, because of the sugar.  Whole grains—well those have those god-awful carbs so those are out too. Yup, that leaves… lean poultry and fish and non starchy vegetables. No wonder meal planning is a challenge. No wonder she struggles to not binge following a day of deprivation. No wonder her energy level is low, and her thoughts are preoccupied with food and eating. Why can’t I decide what to eat? If you're like Kristen, you get so over-focused on what you shouldn't eat that you're challenged to figure out what to eat.   Your endless food rules about nutrition, weight and hea...