A Mindful New Year

Photo courtesy of WeddingPartyToasts.com

Have you ever made a New Year's resolution that you haven't kept?  Did your motivation slowly decline as the months went by?  Did you feel discouraged as you realized that yet again you set a goal for yourself that you were not going to meet?  Would you like to stop that cycle?  How many times has your resolution been something about eating better or losing weight?  Would you like to free yourself from that burden of resolutions and instead feel confidently motivated all year? I think I have an answer for you!

If you scour the internet right now, you'll see a whole host of articles and advertisements.  They are giving you ideas, suggestions and tips for breaking bad habits, eating better and offering quick-fix solutions that fit perfectly into our resolution cycle.  These headlines may sell magazines or drive traffic to a website but they won't really fix the problem. To eat healthy and really change our relationship with food, we need to work hard and do some real soul-searching.  This soul-searching can be hard and we need to develop tools to help us in our journey.

There is a growing movement among dietitians, psychologists and therapists that focuses on a "mindful" understanding of ourselves. I'd like to highlight some of the better resources out there to help you become a more mindful/intuitive eater and help you change the resolution mindset.

Intuitive Eating -- Originally a book written by Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA and Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD they now have a website with some great resources.  They have a great page that highlights the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating.  Their principles might seem unorthodox but I can tell you first hand, they work!  I find this method of eating very freeing and has helped me make peace with food.  If you are someone that has struggled with weight and food, this is a must read!!

Health At Every Size® (HAES®) -- This book is written by Linda Bacon, PhD.  She holds a doctorate in physiology and an advanced degree in psychology.  She has worked with eating disorders and with weight regulation and her book details how our war on obesity is failing.  As her site says, "Fat isn't the problem.  Dieting is the problem."  The common misconception for HAES® is that it's throwing in the towel when it comes to losing weight.  That is not the case.  HAES®, like Intuitive Eating is about honoring your health and emotional wellbeing and ignoring the pressure to be thin.

Am I Hungry -- This site is a center for mindful eating.  It is run by Michelle May, MD who is a physician  who has a personal history with yo-yo dieting.  The site has a ton of great resources and Dr. May as well has a variety of trainings for those interested in learning more about mindful eating practices.

This is Not a Diet, It's My Life -- This site/blog is a great resource for anyone insterested in following Kate's journey from being a yo-yo dieter to learning to accept her body and adopt a Health at Every Size approach to living.

I hope this blog inspires you to change.  You don't have to continue to fight with food.  There is peace.  Your weight is just the result of your behaviors and you can't change one without the other.  By treating the real issue (maybe how you cope with loneliness by using food or how you endlessly search for a diet because you have a negative body image) you find a life-long solution to the real problem.   Resolve to treat the real issue that is affecting all other aspects of your life.  Resolve to talk to your self with compassion.  Resolve to break the cycle for your kids.  Resolve to abolish the food police from your life.  Resolve to adopt a life of self care.  It will take hard work and the road will be hard but in the end, there is inner-peace and a new understanding of who we are.

If you find you need help with Intuitive Eating or you'd like to learn more, I'm here for you. To schedule an appointment please call (818) 851-1414 or email me so we can set something up.  I do face to face as well as Skype visits.

Here's to a happy, healthy and mindful New Year.

Fat Talk Free Week

This week is marks the third annual Fat Talk Free Week which was created by the sorority Delta Delta Delta.  The week, "is a public awareness effort born from our award-winning body image education and eating disorders program, Reflections."  The original program, Reflections, was established to help promote a positive body image and prevent eating disorders.

In honor of this week I'm going to share some of my personal history with regards to weight loss because I feel its is important to realize that we all struggle with body issues; even dietitians.

As a preceptor at the VA in Los Angeles, I get the opportunity to work with a lot of interns who are working hard to become dietitians.  They are a motivated group and will be great colleagues one day.  As interns they spend time with me working in our weight management program.  For many it is the first chance that they've had to counsel someone who is struggling with losing weight.  Often after a session they come to me and say, "Wow that wasn't what I expected."  After discussing the session they realize that what I told them at the start of the rotation is really true: losing weight is never just about the food.  It's about almost everything else, but almost never just about the food.

When I weighed over 300 lbs. I don't think I was ever unhappier in my life, but the truth is that even before I started to gain weight during college, I was never really happy with myself.  I had great friends, close relationships with my family, but when I looked in my mirror, I never liked what I saw. 

As I got older, food became my comfort for any and all emotions.  No matter what I was feeling, it could be soothed or celebrated with food.  As the weight came on, my image of myself sagged.  On the outside I was the happy fat guy.  Quick with a joke but inside I was crying; struggling with the reality that I hated the direction my life was going in.  Soon I realized that I had created the perfect downward spiral for myself.  I'd eat, look at myself after and get upset--at my weakness, my lack of control and my ugly body.  To cope with those emotions, I ate and then the emotions came back and so on and so on. 

Eventually I realized that enough was enough and that I had to change.  I knew that if I was ever going to be successful with losing weight I had to tackle the emotions and image of myself to really live a healthier life.  Well as you might suspect, I lost the weight.  That was they easy part.  What has taken much longer to change and what I struggle with every day is the image I have about myself.  I still look at myself in the mirror and I see that fat guy from 10 years ago.  I am still not happy with my body.  I see flaws, imperfections, rolls of fat but what IS different is I am comfortable those flaws.  I like who I am and I know where I've come from and the progress I've made.  Do I still cope with food? Yes but not like before.  But I'm not perfect and at my darkest moments, when I'm at my lowest, food is my friend and punishment.  I won't lie, there are times I eat with anger but I work hard to stop myself 10 steps before I get to this point but to be honest, I'm not perfect.

As a dietitian, I am ashamed to admit that I don't have the perfect relationship with food but I'm also proud to admit that this is who I am.  I am flawed but I have learned to embrace the things that make me me. 

I am thankful for this career.  I am so happy that I get to work with others who are losing weight.  I know that why and what they eat is not always about the food.  It's about the emotions too.  To successfully lose weight, eat and live healthfully, you need to change the way you think about food.  It's why I'm drawn to the notions of mindful eating and intuitive eating.  Along with changing how you eat, you also need to change how you see yourself. 

So in honor of Fat Talk Free week, I'm pledging to change how I talk to myself.  I'm pleding to be kinder to me and kinder to my emotions.  I am a work in progress.  What are you going to do to stop the Fat Talk and change how you see yourself?