Posts Tagged ‘Weight Loss’

EMOTIONAL EATING Part 1: Breaking the Rules

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

We love those weight loss tips and smart food rules.  But what if you can’t stick to them?  That’s the question that brings many to diet coaches, and to this website, too.  So before dwelling more on those rules, I’m going to veer off for a four-part look at emotional eating.

Maybe you  know this scenario by heart:  You’ve been doing great.  You feel good about how you’ve been eating. You’ve lost some weight.   It seems like it’s really happening this time.  Then one day it’s just not anymore.  You don’t feel like it.  The brownies at work pull like a magnet.  The convenience store calls to you all the way home.   You’re back at the counter picking at seconds.  And whatever your particular episode involves, it starts the unravelling.

Or, maybe you’re one whose more likely to start out with good intentions each day, only to find yourself snacking all night long—in your case the good stretch never really got started in the first place. (more…)

Tags: Emotional Eating, Weight Loss
Posted in Assertiveness, Emotional Eating, General, Weight Loss | No Comments »

FOOD RULES

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Food rules usually lead to blown diets and regained weight.  Rigid rule-based diets don’t teach how to eat moderately, and mostly healthfully, so weight doesn’t stay in check.  Think about your own, or your friends’, experiences with carb-free or other strict-rule diets, and you’ll probably agree.

Lately, though, I’ve noticed “food rules” offered in a different spirit.  In other words, not your usual “eat these things, never those things, and you’ll lose weight fast and forever”.  The rules I’m talking about might be called “guidelines” or “guiding frameworks” instead.  Overall, they steer you to “better”, not necessarily “perfect.”   Therefore, they certainly meet the goals of eating sanely, as well as, for most people, managing weight over time.

First, there is food journalist Michael Pollan’s new book Food Rules.  Distilled from his prior book  In Defense of Food, this new little guidebook pulls together the ideas he’s worked hard to promote around what he’s called our “national eating disorder.”  Ideas like “Eat Food” – meaning real, not fake or overly processed items – “Mostly Plants” – “Not Too Much” have appeared in many recent interviews with Pollan.  His Rules book elaborates on and fine-tunes these ideas.  I like how he emphasizes enjoyment and the social aspect of eating.  I also like the idea of spending more money on better food, but buying less overall.  That makes a lot of sense to me, again, for sane eating, weight management, and even political reasons. (more…)

Tags: food rules, Healthy Foods, Weight Loss
Posted in General, Weight Loss | No Comments »

WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

“Lose weight quick!” …..“drop pounds now!”….. “special miracle diet!” You may not expect to find those words here……focus as we do on keeping weight off, avoiding yo-yo diets and fads, nurturing healthy eating habits. Yes, most of us share these important food and diet concerns. And yet…..we still itch to lose those pounds, and preferably to lose them now. We want those pounds off! Often with good reason, too. So, in this season of starting fresh, let’s look at some weight loss tips and how they can help. (more…)

Tags: quick tips, Weight Loss
Posted in General, Weight Loss | No Comments »

ONE SMALL THING

Monday, January 4th, 2010

January: Now for the new gym schedule, the diet that’s going to work, the “whole body action plan”, to name a few ideas from this month’s press. It does feel great to start out fresh in the New Year. If you get discouraged, though, by the fizzling out that tends to happen (within weeks, usually), or if you feel overwhelmed by the size of the task, consider an alternative. A cousin of “just maintaining”–the subject of last week’s blog–the idea is to change “one small thing” in your eating or exercise routine.

Setting out to change one small thing doesn’t rule out making larger changes if you wish. The small change by itself, though, has more power than you might think. Why? Well, first of all, you’re much more likely to succeed in making and sticking with one small change. That builds your confidence and reinforces your belief in yourself, however subtly.

Next, the change itself will have some benefits. Even if these are small, they count. Also, once a change has become a habit, adding another small change, and then maybe another, becomes easier. Before you know it, you might have trouble even remembering your older ways. If you’ve ever switched from whole milk to lowfat, to take one example, you may note how your tastes did indeed change over time. (more…)

Tags: Habit Changes, resolutions, Weight Loss
Posted in Addictions, General, Habit Changes, Weight Loss | No Comments »

THE EAT SANELY COURSE

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

I’m so happy to launch EatSanely, my new website, course, and blog. I’ve been working toward this project in various ways for years–as a psychologist, eating disorders specialist, and person who’s very fired up about the food craziness surrounding us.

To start with, let me restate here my working definition of “sane eating”: In short, this is eating in a way that maintains a healthy-enough weight, for good, without constant worry or guilt. In other words, without short-term or extreme diets cause frustration and regain. This doesn’t mean one way of eating fits all. It also doesn’t mean that this is easy, or that it happens all at once. Given the world we live in, though, it does mean that we each have to find some way of reaching that sane eating path—because our food world isn’t going to change overnight. Finding your own path to sanity can take trial and error, and time and attention, given that we live in a world of fast food, fake food, 300,000 diet books, and 1,400 calorie hamburgers. I believe there’s a way for each of us, though. And that’s what this work, and this forum, is about.

In this weekly blog, I’ll talk about sane eating “building blocks”—change strategies, coping skills, and “food for thought” that might help in paving a sane path. Also, as I comb the media daily for the helpful and the ridiculous, I’ll often comment on what strikes me there.

I hope you’ll join me in this exploration. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts, your ideas, your questions, your successes and frustrations. Let me know what you think!

Tags: self-help, Weight Loss, weight maintenance, Weight Management
Posted in Featured Article, General, Habit Changes, Weight Loss | No Comments »

FOOD AND WEIGHT: Finding the Path to Sanity

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

(a version of this article first appeared in Fuel magazine, winter 2007-08)

We live in a world that’s pretty crazy when it comes to food and weight. We’re bombarded by diet advice and fattening food. We hear staggering obesity statistics and the news that a fashion model has starved to death. Whether you struggle with extra pounds that won’t budge or feel worry and guilt after a pizza party, chances are good that eating is not without conflict.

As an eating disorder specialist and diet coach, I’ve come to see myself as a guide through the maze of food and diet craziness. Many of us need to find a path to sanity and peace with our eating—that is, a way of living with food and weight that works for the long run. Without this, life can be miserable indeed, whether because of health problems, loathsome self-esteem, or constant preoccupation with food and diets.

So how do you find a path to sanity when it comes to eating well and carrying a healthy weight? How can this all get easier? Answers vary for different people and aren’t simple. (more…)

Tags: Healthy Foods, Weight Loss
Posted in General, Habit Changes, Weight Loss | No Comments »

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