Eating Philosophies: Dr. Oz vs. Julia Childs

A few months ago a People magazine landed in my office mail box.  A free issue had been sent in hopes that I would place it in the office suite reception area.  Those of you who know me are aware that I would not purposefully expose my clients to print media that promotes artificial thinness, dieting, etc.  So, my intent was to just take it home to throw in my recycle bin.  Well ... I just had to take a peek.  I justified the action by telling myself that I needed to know what my clients are being exposed to when their issue arrives in their mail box  (I hear you snickering!)  I truly was appalled on SO many levels.  But, the kicker was the article about Dr. Oz.  Much of what he promotes stuns me but his statement that he thinks eating should be "joyless" knocked my socks off.  The author of the article made the comment after observing Oz eat that "It was the most efficient and joyless eating that I have ever seen".  When the media started reminding us that if Julia Childs had lived she would have celebrated her 100th birthday on August 15, 2012, I started thinking how diametrically opposed her philosophy regarding eating was to that of Dr. Oz.  Thus, this blog was birthed!

Dr. Oz was more rational when he first started his T.V. medical career.  However, rational and reasonable will not sell books or give you multiple television shows on major networks every week.  He has progressively started touting ridiculous claims like "french fries are the most fattening food on the face of the earth", and "eating should be automated and joyless".  In the article I cited above he admitted that "when I celebrate I always overeat".  When they showed a picture of the inside of his fridge .. I knew why!  Clearly the guy eats in a very rigid, restrictive manner.  He has not developed any internal regulations with food and when presented with "celebratory foods" vs. his yucky looking green drink and flax seeds he goes ballistic.  Sound familiar?  As we have talked about in many of the blogs, restriction breeds binge eating.  He is looking gaunt and weak.  I am wondering what he is aiming for with his austere approach to food and eating.  Eternal youth?  Reaching the century mark?  Who wants to live to be 100 years old if you can't go to a friend's home to eat or truly enjoy what you eat and drink? 

Ahhh .. let's move on to a happier topic.  Julia Childs LIVED and I mean LIVED to be 92 years old.  She once said "Life itself is the proper binge".  Don't you love it?!  Here are some of her cheery and insightful quotes regarding enjoying food:

• "I think one of the terrible things today is that people have this deathly fear of food"
• "Everything in moderation ... including moderation"  (I love that one!)
• The only time to eat diet food is while you are waiting for the steak to cook"
• "I would rather eat one tablespoon of chocolate russe cake than 3 bowls of Jell-O"
• Small helpings, no snacking, a little bit of everything ... and have a good time!"

What a refreshing way to approach eating.  I think Julia was an "intuitive eater".  I would choose her as a dinner companion over Dr. Oz any day of the week.  We can care for our bodies, have good energy and be fit without eating "joyless and automated".

Here's to finding the middle ground with food, eating, weight and activity!   And, here's to you Julia!  Bon appetit and rest in peace.

Food and Weight Rules for Success

Caught you! If you are like most of my clients, sometimes you want food and weight rules to be in bondage to each day.  That is called dieting.  Some of you might be wondering if I have been lured over to the dark side and am getting ready to lay some guilt and condemnation down in true diet mentality style!  Nope.  Just wanted to get your attention and to get some hits on my blog!  However, now that you are here ... maybe I could give you a few rules to contemplate. (smile!)

Reba's Rules

1. If it is worth eating, it is worth tasting.  Food in the mouth, butt in the seat.  Taste and enjoy.
2. The scale is a hunk of metal.  It is useless in and of itself.  If your body is at a lower weight than it is designed for, then deal with the contributing factors.  If your body is at a weight higher than it is designed for, then deal with the contributing factors.  You do not need a hunk of metal to tell you if you are living a life at peace with food, eating and activity.
3. Treat your body with the love and respect it deserves; that you deserve.  Don't go on an empty tank and make your body try to exist on gas fumes.  Don't top your tank off and make your body deal with the excess.  (Remember, we all hit those extremes on occasions.  I am talking about behaviors that are done on a daily, regular basis.)
4. Consider the quality of the food you ingest.  Is it pleasing to the sight?  Does it taste fresh?  But, don't be obsessive over this issue.
5. Eat what you really enjoy.  Don't just eat something because of some moral judgement you have placed on the food.  Remember, we are going for a good, overall nutritional average score.  Every food we place in our mouth does not have to be a "super" food. 
6. Last, but not least, there really are no rules.  You are a human being.  You are beautifully and wonderfully made.  You are not a science experiment!

You didn't really want rules, did you?  You know they never work for the long haul!

Wishing you happiness and peace living in the middle ground!

Reba



Calorie Counting - the Enemy of Ditching Dieting

Unfortunately, with the use of "apps" on smart phones and IPads to track daily food intake, calorie counting has spiked in popularity.  The use of calorie counting came into vogue around the turn of the 20th century.  Scientist Wilbur Atwater put food in a "bomb calorimeter" and burned it to discover the amount of ash and heat produced.  In doing so he measured the amount of energy that was released by the food.  It was a science experiment. An experiment that was not aimed at giving we humans something to obsess over.  Calorie counting is an activity that can keep you entrenched in the diet mentality and/or disordered eating behaviors.  Calorie counting keeps us from trusting our own body and our own brain in choosing how to fuel our body.  Isn't it interesting that the rate of obesity has increased as our calorie "awareness" has increased?  Our relationship with food, eating and activity is far more complex than any calorie counting app can account for.  For that matter, calorie counting does not ensure that you are consuming a nutritional intake that is balanced in relationship to vitamins, minerals, protein, fats and carbohydrates.  You could be consuming a low fiber diet with very few vegetables (therefore, low in cancer fighting anti-oxidants) and yet be meeting some techno-app's calorie recommendation.

Here is the bottom line;  you will NEVER know exactly how many calories you are consuming or spending!  Labels that list caloric content can be off by up to 20% of the true calorie (i.e. energy) content of the food in question.  Many factors influence how many calories your body needs in any given day.  There is no completely accurate way to know what your basic metabolic rate is, what the thermic effect of the foods you are eating might be, and the amount of calories you are burning through daily movement and exercise actually is on any given day.  Why bother?

Instead of calorie counting, try using an app that is directed towards mindful or gentle eating.  Instead of concentrating on limiting calories, try focusing on increasing your fiber.  Pursue nutrition goals (not rules) aimed at fighting heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.  Make activity a natural part of your day, not a calorie burning mechanism.  By ditching calorie counting, you will move towards ditching dieting!  You will be finding the middle ground.  Such a peaceful ground it is!

May you learn to trust yourself with food, eating and weight matters.

Reba

Ditching Dieting with Resolve for 2012

One of my "New Year" posts from several years ago listed 10 reasons to not go on the diet for the new year.  (That might be a good one to review.)  This year I have a challenge for all of you.  Whether you have an eating disorder, disordered eating or just have a wacky relationship with food, eating, activity and body image issues, truly become a rebel against all things "diet".  One of my colleagues, Deb Burgard, made a brilliant recommendation for the new year.  She suggested that a more accurate term for the diet industry would be "weight cycling" industry.  This $60 billion dollar per year industry (latest estimate from Marketdata Enterprises) depends on people desperate to cure everything from holiday overeating, poor self-esteem, broken hearts to job loss and recession woes by cycling from one failed diet or diet product to another.

Make this year's resolve about compassion towards yourself and others in all areas.  Especially vow to change the way we talk to ourselves in judgemental and negative terms about food, eating and weight issues.  Monitor how you speak to and about others.  Don't be a "weightist".  Continue pursuing health, wellness, and moderation.  Look towards "the middle ground" ... not perfectionism.  I would encourage all of you to check out information regarding the "Health at Every Size" movement and the website http://www.dietsurvivors.com/.


May God grant all of you a healthy, joy filled (we can have joy even when we are not happy!) and balanced new year.  May you make peace with food and find joy in eating and activity.

I will end with an appropriate quote from Mark Twain about changing habits.  I do believe that much of what trips us up as we try to find the middle ground in all of these issues does boil down to our habits.

"Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man (or woman .. my edit), but coaxed downstairs a step at a time."

Let's start stepping!  Please feel free to share how you plan on ditching dieting in 2012!
Reba

The Fallacy of Relying on BMI Measurements for Health and Weight Management

The topic of "normal weight obesity" has been discussed a lot in the news lately. The results from several studies have given us one more reason not to diet; one more reason to throw away the bathroom scales. These results also reiterate that inaccuracy of counting on BMI measurements as an indicator of health and fitness.  A child with a "high" BMI might have a report sent to the parents with a "warning".  On the other hand, a child with a "normal" BMI may be given the impression that all is well despite getting no exercise and eating foods very low on the nutrition totum pole. The bottom line is that you can be at a body weight that has been deemed appropriate for your height via BMI and be obese. Without pursuing a healthy relationship with food and exercise aimed at being lean and fit, you can be at a level of "fatness" that is unhealthy; no matter what you weight or BMI registers!

There are several factors that can contribute to a high percentage of body fat. Dieting is not the solution to this dilemma. In fact, dieting can actually set your body in motion to become especially effective at storing body fat. When you consume too few calories your body actually produces extra enzymes that enhance fat production and storage. This is a biological compensation mechanism that allowed your ancestors to survive cycles of famines-feasting- and more famines. Keep working on following the basics of eating more fiber, fewer processed foods (not zero), increase intake of veggies and foods and be active.  Learn to hear and honor both your hunger and satisfied signals that might be in a bit of a state of confusion if you have engaged in dieting or disordered eating.  It takes practice and patience and you will never be perfect!!

And, remember ... always eat clean.  (Meaning .... always wash your hands and food!)

Food Cravings: Friend or Foe?

Should cravings be "controlled"? If we acknowledge and honor food cravings, does that mean that we will get out of control with our eating? Will our weight balloon up to an astonomical size? Dieting and disordered eating can lead us to the conclusion that any food that we find pleasurable must be excluded. Many of my clients have become so fearful of enjoying food that they are unable to discern between a food preference and a food fear. Recently one of my clients was talking about a delectable gourmet pastry that she used to enjoy eating. Then she quickly blurted "But, I don't like it anymore!" This same person binge eats tasteless store bought sheet cake while sitting alone at home in front of the T.V. I suggested that maybe she really does still enjoy the tasty sweet and perhaps if she had the gourmet dessert once in awhile she might be able to reduce her binge eating behavior. She looked frightened by that proposition, but acknowledged that she might be up for testing that theory in the future.

One of my clients who struggles with more of a restrictive eating disorder continues to assert that she never enjoys food of any form or fashion. She consumes the same bland, repetitive food choices day in and day out. One day I asked her why she thought God had given us taste buds. She looked at me like I was out of my ever-loving mind and said "So we won't eat poison!" I know she wanted to add "you idiot" ... but she restrained herself. Later she admitted that she is terrified that if she eats anything flavorful or gives any credence to having food cravings or preferences that she go completely ballistic with her eating.

Two sides of the same coin. These are cases of people who have bought into the diet mentality that we must deny ourselves and any food craving to stay in control of body weight, eating behavior, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. Food cravings can be our friend. Once we don't view food as the enemy, we can learn to manage cravings in a way that we don't get out of control. As mentioned in earlier blogs, consider finding the middle ground in relationship to your food, eating and weight as a skill development; a process. Enjoy what you do eat, what you crave. We don't have to "overdo" to have a pleasureful eating experience. Learn to trust yourself with food again. Embrace the concept that no food is illegal and go from there!

The Spring Break Diet

The chatter in my office of late has been about needing to lose weight for Spring Break! Dieting to "look good" in a swimsuit is a yearly ritual that many embark on each spring. Even my clients who are aware that dieting would just magnify their struggle to escape eating disorders and disordered eating are tempted to participate in this cultural phenomenon. If you ever wanted to feel like a social outcast, try taking a stand against dieting when you are in a room of sorority sisters, a ladies Bible study or a hair salon! You have this sense that you suddenly grew an extra head on your shoulders. It takes a brave woman to "just say no!"

What are you going to do to ditch dieting for Spring Break?