(Delicious) Three-Ring Circus Last Night

Two blog posts in two days, I can hardly believe it. Last night I had exactly 45 minutes to get to and from the store and buy food for two meals I'll be cooking for company on two different nights this weekend. Amidst my hurrying and scurrying around to find recipes, make a grocery list and get my butt to the store, I decided to try a new recipe for the three of us on a Thursday night. Why? Because we didn't have anything at home to eat, and I a) didn't want to eat out again, b) couldn't take another night of tacos, and c) have been wanting to try this recipe from The Pioneer Woman for quite awhile.

So I did. And it was fantastic! I will say that Emily whined the entire time I cooked and Jeremy and I were laughing (sort of) at the three-ring-circus that was our kitchen during my rushed cooking of this meal. But the only reason it was so rushed was because I had a hungry 16-month old who was clearly still dealing with the frustration that comes with her parents child-proofing the kitchen. The horror!

Otherwise, it's actually quite easy (and fun) to make. My hubby and I have been craving good Italian food, and we both agreed that this pasta was definitely restaurant quality. The only change we made to the recipe was adding pancetta for some protein. It was delicious.

And despite my husband assuring me that the alcohol was cooked off, I still felt uncomfortable serving it to Emily, so I didn't. Any pointers there are completely welcomed.

I'm also trying to improve my food photography skills, which is a bit difficult considering that my primary tool right now is my iphone. We're noodling around with the idea of getting the Nikon D3100, but until that happens, my iphotos will have to do. Not bad, I don't think ??

Curried Couscous Salad -- A Gift In Itself

I made a new recipe last week that I think I've talked about (or ate) every day since I made it. The recipe comes courtesy Giada De Laurentiis and it's a keeper! I actually think it is a wonderful holiday recipe because of the warm roasted cashews and tart dried cranberries. Add to that the curry powder, roasted cauliflower and lemony dressing, and you're transplanted to another planet -- one with the most perfect salad in the world! The curry powder really wakes up your taste buds, which is important because you don't want to miss any of the flavors and textures abundant in this dish. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to share the joy that is this salad with anyone yet because my hubby doesn't care for curry powder or dried cranberries (more for me!). So I'm sharing it with you right here. Please do yourself a favor and make this salad. Let me know what you think!

Recipe is here.

Video is here.

Enjoy!

Favorite Product of the Week: Nespresso Essenza

One of my absolute favorite products that my husband and I use on a daily basis is our Nespresso Essenza machine. We registered for this when we got married and were over the moon when it appeared in our kitchen. Our machine (Essenza C100 model) makes single-serve esspresso that has the aroma, taste and crema that rivals any latte I've ever ordered in a restaurant or coffee shop. In fact, I prefer it to the lattes I used to get at the place around the corner from us, which shall remain nameless. It takes up barely any space on our counter and seriously makes the best esspresso ever. The aroma alone brings a smile to my face.

We have a milk frother (also made by Nespresso) as well because we usually drink our espresso in lattes or an occasional cappucino, though this stuff is so good we have, on occasion, sipped it just as it is (i.e., without milk). This machine feels at the same time like an absolute luxury and a total necessity, if that makes any sense at all. The quality is top-notch, so you think it is indeed a luxury, but when you get used to having it in your house, you cannot live without it. Ever. Again.

During the winter months we make lattes on a daily basis, and on hotter days we make iced lattes that I think we could sell on the street for a hefty price. They're that good. In fact, when I was on maternity leave, I got so used to my daily afternoon iced-latte that I wondered how much of I hard time I'd get if I bought a second Nespresso machine to use at the office. I decided against this, but haven't entirely called it out of question in the future.

Anyway, we looooooooooooooooooooove our Nespresso machine and tell everyone about it. That said, we don't love our regular coffee maker and are ready to replace it. The debate I'm having is whether to go with the pod system for drip coffee (we love it so much for esspresso!!) and if so, which one: Keurig? Tassimo? Others? Any/all suggestions welcomed!

Intuitive Eating: Book Review

I've been putting off writing a review of Inuitive Eating because I'm afraid my words won't do justice to it at all. Because this book made such an impact on me, I want this review to be extra special. I was lucky enough to find this book right after finishing Making Peace with Food, and let me tell you, I couldn't put it down.

The first chapter of Intuitive Eating is called Hitting Diet Bottom, and hit it I did. The second chapter looks at what kind of eater you are: the careful eater, the professional dieter, the unconscious eater, an on and on. There are then sub-categories under each of these. If you've ever struggled with eating and cannot find a description of yourself on these pages, you should probably write your own book because I felt so immensely understood by these authors in their picture-perfect descriptions of me and how I chose my food at the time.

The book then takes you through the 10 principles of intuitive eating, starting with Principle 1: Reject the Diet Mentality. This principle was hugely important to me. It lays out in a very clear and compelling way, all the reasons why diets don't work and, frankly, aren't good for you. Here's just one nugget, from page 49 of the second edition:

"A thirty-two-year study of more than 3,000 men and women in the Framingham Heart Study has shown that regardless of initial weight, people whose weight repeatedly goes up and down--known as weight cycling or yo-yo dieting -- have a higher overall death rate and twice the normal risk of dying from heart disease. These results were independent of cardiovascular risk factors, and held true regardless if a person was thin or obeses. The harm from yo-yo dieting may be equal to the risks of staying obese."

Even after I'd finished the book, I often came back to this chapter after overhearing someone in an elevator at work talking about needing to "go on a diet" or "spend an extra hour at the gym" because she ate a, gasp(!), brownie. It was my salvation to come back to this book for reassurance that the non-dieting path I was on was the right one for me.

Another one of my favorite quotes from the book can be found at the beginning of chapter 12. It says:

"Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect realistically to squeeze into a size six, it is equally futile (and uncomfortable) to have a similar expectation about body size. Respect your body so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical of your body shape."

So rational, and yet so far from the reality of so many people. We're taught that our bodies are a constant project to be poked, prodded, evaluated and dieted down to the "perfect" size and shape, which of course doesn't exist.

Elyse Resch, who I'm lucky enough to know and study under, brings a spiritual approach to the book which I found particularly comforting and inspiring. Evelyn Tribole brings an entirely different energy (and she has lots of it!) that's focused on the facts and motivating her readers to give up dieting and trust their bodies.

The one chapter that was tough for me to swallow while in the midst of healing from my eating disorder, was the one dedicated to Principle 10: Honor Your Health -- Gentle Nutrition. Because I had such a fear of fat during my unhealthiest years, this chapter was difficult for me. I had to put this chapter on the back burner for years because I needed to focus on anything but nutrition. To focus on nutrition at the end of this otherwise life-saving book, felt to me like giving an alcoholic a glass of wine on new year's. So I had to ignore it.

That said, the book is written by two nutritionists, so they had to share their wisdom about nutrition, and their advice is solid. I would just recommend skipping this chapter until you are fully recovered from your issues with food. I also know for myself that when I don't worry about nutrition, I get it. Does that make sense? When I don't worry about nutrition, I'm free to eat a burger and fries, but I'm also free to eat an entire bowl of brocolli. So I'm quite confident that all in all my body is getting a wonderful array of nutritients, vitamins and minerals. I just can't "try to be nutritious" because it screws with my head.

I could go on about this book, but I'll wrap it up here. If you had only one book to read on the subject of recovering from disordered eating, this would be the one book I'd tell you to buy. So, if you haven't already....

Making Peace with Food: Book Review

Here it is. My first book review, and I've not written one before, so this is going to follow no particular format. I'm most excited to tell you about this book because it was the first book I ever read on the topic of non-dieting. I discovered it deep in the stacks of my college library and sat down on the library floor to start reading the book. I couldn't put it down at the time because I was in such desperate need for help. So without further adieu, my first book recommendation:

Making Peace with Food by Susan Kano

This book feels like a textbook and workbook all in one, and from the illustrations sprinkled through every chapter, you'll see right away that it was published in the 80s. But don't let that scare you. This book marked a turning point in my life, and I imagine in the lives of many other women and men struggling with eating disorders.

The cover of the book tells you exactly what you're getting. "OVERCOME YO-YO DIETING, BINGE EATING, FOOD ANXIETY, BODY ANXIETY, AND SELF-DEFEATING GUILT." Does the book accomplish this? Yes. Well, as much as a book can. The rest is up to the reader to dig deep and implement in his/her life.

Each chapter of Making Peace with Food includes a "Personal Questions" section at the end that asks the reader to answer questions that will usually illuminate themes from that chapter as they appear in his/her life. Many sections also include goals for the reader to strive towards on the journey of overcoming food anxiety.

One of the biggest takeaways for me in this entire book -- that I still talk about with clients today -- is the "setpoint theory."

Basically, the notion of setpoint theory is that our bodies each have a weight they are happiest at. This is the weight where we feel most energized, alive and frankly, comfortable. Our bodies want to be at this weight, so if we eat a little less than usual one day because we're in back-to-back meetings, our bodies aren't going to drop weight. They're going to fight to stay at their ideal setpoint weight. Likewise, if we eat a little more than usual one night, we're not going to bust out of our pants immediately. Our bodies will fight to stay at their ideal setpoint weight. Setpoint theory is very complex, and different things affect our bodies' setpoint weights throughout our lives including age, activity and genetics. The whole idea of setpoint theory spoke to me when I was going through my own process of recovery and I think the theory makes a lot of sense.

In general, I think Kano does an excellent job of relating her personal experience to readers and also imparting a hefty amount of information to the reader to convince them (if you've been dieting all your life, you need to be convinced that it doesn't work) that they can achieve freedom from food anxiety.

Great quote from the book, page 18:

"Some of us are meant to be very thin; some of us are meant to be very fat; and most of us are meant to be somewhere in between. We all deserve to be at peace with our bodies instead of in a constant state of tension and dissatisfaction. We all deserve to be proud of ourselves and our bodies no matter how fat or thin we are."

Making Peace with Food will help you understand that belief and so many more. It will also help you, especially if you're just starting out on this journey, to make peace with food and with yourself. Let me know if you've read this one and what you think.

If It's Thursday, It Must Be....

Chicken Noodle Casserole Night!

I like testing new recipes. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not. And sometimes they are tasty enough and easy enough to prepare that they make their way into our repertoire of weeknight family meals.

That's what happened with this Chicken Noodle Casserole, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

How this recipe came to be

I'd always wanted to make a tuna noodle casserole because, well, hasn't everyone eaten one at some point? Not me -- in 30+ years, I'd never eaten a tuna noodle casserole! So I finally looked up a recipe and made it. The dish was pretty good, but by night two (leftovers) I was sick of the fishy taste, so the next time around we used chicken instead and made some other adjustments to the recipe. Our version follows. Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Chicken Noodle Casserole
INGREDIENTS
1 (8-ounce) package wide egg noodles
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 can of chicken (we use the bigger, 12-ounce can), drained
1/2 bag of frozen peas
A few handfuls Planko or breadcrumbs

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat a casserole dish with cooking spray.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine flour, butter and salt. Stir until butter is melted and ingredients are combined evenly. Add milk, and whisk until the sauce thickens (no more than a few minutes). Add cheese to mixture, and whisk until cheese is melted and mixture is well-blended. Stir in tuna, peas and noodles. Spread evenly in prepared dish. Top with Planko or breadcrumbs.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Book Reviews Coming Soon

Nearly every client I've worked with has asked me for book recommendations. Usually they have read Eat When You're Hungry, and many times they've read Intuitive Eating as well. But at a certain point in the coaching process, they want a new perspective on eating and body image. I totally get that.

I remember when I was going through my own process of recovery I felt exactly the same way. I wanted to read as many books as I could that reinforced the same messages: Love your body. You never have to diet ever again. Diets don't work. All bodies are beautiful. Learning how to eat mindfully is a journey and you will figure it out.

I think when we're taking on a new perspective we want to read as many books and articles about it as we can -- just to know that it "works," and to hear it from different people.

In support of you and your journey toward freedom in the food arena I am going to do my best to post book reviews of some of my favorite books on the topic, including the first one I ever read and the one that is sitting on my nightstand right now.

Some of my newest book recommendations didn't make it into the photo you see with this post, because they are loaned out from my personal library, so there will be more reviews than you see books in that pile. And yes, I had to include my own book, though I won't write a review of it. Those are on Amazon, and if I'm feeling it, maybe I'll ask someone to write a guest blog post that reviews it for me right here on my blog.

Have a great week everyone. Time for me to start writing book reviews!

Wholly Guacamole

I made a discovery in the produce aisle at the supermarket two weeks ago and I have to share it with you here.

The product is one you may already know about. It’s called Wholly Guacamole, and I think it’s getting a fair amount of buzz. I first discovered it at my friend Shelly’s house during book club a few months ago. As someone who regularly orders restaurant meals because they come with a dollop of guacamole, I can tell you I love the stuff, but it’s got to be good. I don’t like fancy spices or unexpected flavors in my guac, and as you know by now, I like mine homemade. Just about everything is better when you make it yourself.

However, when I first ate Wholly Guacamole at Shelly’s house, I a) assumed it was homemade, and b) wondered why on earth I’d ever make my own guac again (after discovering it was store-bought and not full of chemicals). This product was so perfect that it almost didn’t seem worth it to make my own anymore. And then I did. During Labor Day weekend, I made a batch for us to have one afternoon. It was pretty good, but honestly, not my best showing in the guac department.

A day later while we were grocery shopping, I had a full-on MOMENT in the middle of the produce section at the grocery store. I spotted what I thought was Wholly Guacamole single-serve packs, and froze immediately, as if zeroing in on a target. I did a double-take from afar and approached my target slowly. I then cautiously picked up what I thought couldn’t possibly be staring at me from the refrigerated supermarket shelf.

But it was!

“Oh my gosh!” I hollered. “Jeremy, come here!! You’ve got to see this,” I exclaimed. “Wholly Guacamole has single serve pouches now,” I told him. “Remember the guacamole I told you about from Shelly’s house!? It comes in single serve pouches,” I gloated. “I can take it to work for lunch and not worry about it getting brown.”

“Cool,” he said, happy to see me so excited about one of my favorite foods on the planet, now in a brilliant new (to me) package.

The next day I brought a sandwich to work for lunch (a rarity, as deli sandwiches don’t usually sound good to me), made on an English muffin. I proudly packed my Wholly Guacamole on the side with some chips in case I had extra guac that didn’t fit in my sandwich (which I did).

I felt like the skies opened up above my desk and gave me a big kiss when I ate that sandwich. All because of the guac.

And let me tell you – this is a bit of a confession, as I haven’t spoken about it on this site before – I don’t like lunch food all that much. My sister and I have a running joke that we hate lunch. For some reason, nothing sounds good to me at lunch, particularly if I’ve brought it from home. This has been going on for years, and of course I’ve found work-arounds so that I can enjoy my lunch.

But, oh my gosh, these single serve pouches of Wholly Guacamole may have just completely transformed my relationship with lunch. I’m excited to see my guac every time I open my lunch, and the options are endless. It will dress up just about any sandwich, and actually make it worth eating. I've even started buying extra vegetables just to dip into the guac that doesn't fit in my sandwich. I’ve always said that avocado is like a little bit of luxury in my mouth. Well, guacamole is a full-on party in my mouth.

Now, I get to enjoy it every day for lunch, thanks to the folks at Wholly Guacamole, who invented the single serve pouch.

Plus, the ingredients are simple: avocados, jalapeño puree, dehydrated onion, salt and granulated garlic.

Never a dull lunch again for this mamma. If you’re a fan of guac, I encourage you to find this stuff. Your lunchbox will thank you – and so will your taste buds!!

This is surely one of my most favorite products that I've reviewed to date. I only hope I’ve done justice to my newest discovery.

Reader Question: What if I Want to Eat When I'm No Longer Hungry?

I have heard from many Eat When You’re Hungry readers, “Maggie, I’ve done such a great job of eating mindfully. I tasted every delicious morsel of food at dinner and I even stopped when I was full. But then I got anxious (or sad, or bored, or tired, or excited...or fill in the emotion that applies to you), and though I wasn’t hungry, all I wanted to do was eat. HELP! What do I do? I only know how to soothe myself with food.”

Excellent question! This is probably one of the most common questions that comes up among people who are on the journey toward a non-dieting way of life. Particularly among those of us who have come to rely on such a wonderful companion -- food -- for so long.

The first step toward learning how to soothe yourself without using food (when you’re not hungry) is to stop, pat yourself on that back and say, “Wow, at least I got to where I am today even if it took a hundred sleeves of Oreos to get here." That’s right, I want you to acknowledge where you are today.

We need to accept and celebrate where we are today and where we’ve come from in order to get to where we want to be -- free from food restrictions and enjoying a non-dieting way of life!

The first thing I suggest to those wishing to release their reliance on food to soothe their emotions is the following: make a list of your top 10 favorite things to do. Some examples are getting a manicure and pedicure, pouring a cup of tea and curling up on the couch with your favorite book, going to the movies, calling your friends, playing with your kids, getting a massage, having a dance party for one in your bedroom, cleaning your closet, going for a walk, playing Tetris or jumping on your trampoline.

Now that you have this list you’re going to use it. I know just as well as you do that at some point soon you will find yourself standing in front of the refrigerator listening to an inner monologue that goes something like this. “I’m not hungry, but I want to eat. I’m bored, and this brownie will perk me up, or maybe I’ll have ice cream, or there’s that leftover pizza. Shoot, but I’m not hungry! What do I do? ” Ah - ha! This is what you do. You close the fridge, get out your list of self-soothing activities and choose one to engage yourself in for the next half-hour. This may feel funny at first, and you may feel sad to give up the ice cream sundae that you weren’t hungry for -- at first. But just remember, that ice cream sundae and that pizza will be waiting for you in the fridge/freezer just as soon as you’re hungry for them. And they’ll be so much more enjoyable when you’re eating them with an appetite in your belly.

Do you want to know a secret? You might always feel a little sad to turn down food that you want when you’re not hungry. Just the other night after finishing a tasty dinner of meatloaf and veggies, I wanted to eat a bowl of ice cream. But I knew I wasn’t hungry for it. The meatloaf I made was quite filling, and I just didn’t have room for ice cream at that particular moment. I was thinking about the ice cream for a good 10 minutes while we started catching up on The Daily Show from the week prior, but by the end of the first show, I’d forgotten entirely about the ice cream. And that’s what you’ll find happens with you. You won’t necessarily not think about eating when you’re not hungry, but you’ll learn how to self-soothe without food. And in the process, you’ll tap into an inner strength you never knew you had.

I hope this has helped shed some light on the common question about eating when you’re not hungry. Write to me and let me know what your experience has been with this. And remember, eat exactly what you want, when you’re hungry, and stop when you’re full.

How I Feel About Exercise

How do I feel about exercise? It’s the title of a chapter in my book and a question I get asked frequently. I will say that I feel very differently about exercise today than I did a year ago, when I was about a month away from giving birth to my daughter.

Before becoming pregnant I was a walker. Ever since college when I began walking with my roommate in the beautiful Gambier, Ohio, walking was my chosen form of exercise. I loved it. I would wake up early in the morning and walk outside before work for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. That was "My Time." My sacred time to myself before the day began. Over the years, I have also enjoyed tennis and dance, swimming, skiing and an occasional jog on days I had a particularly large amount of energy to burn off.

Despite my love for these activities, when I got pregnant I ceased practically all body movement. Why? Because I was TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For 39 weeks, I didn’t exercise at all, with the exception of a few short walks with my husband for fresh air. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend such an abrupt end to exercise, as I think more movement would have actually been good for me while I was pregnant, but my body didn’t want to move much during those 39 weeks and I listened to it.

How things change when you have a baby...after giving birth to Emily, along with practically every single thing in my life turning upside down, so did my exercise. I craved any and all forms of body movement almost as much as I craved all the food I was putting into my body. I think I craved it because my body missed the natural high it gets from exercising. Perhaps exercise also signaled that I was taking back my body after loaning it out -- happily -- to my daughter.

So when I got approval from my doctor, I started moving. Of course I took stroller walks proudly showing off my baby girl to fellow exercises who wanted a peak inside the stroller (I still do!). But because it was so hot and I was fearful of my baby overheating, I quickly took my exercise inside. While she was napping I did workout videos, strength training with free weights....heck, I must admit that I actually hoola hooped in front of the TV while Emily was sleeping one day. During this time I also took a few (very intense) treadmill classes while granny or grandma watched Emily, and it felt AMAZING!

Now that I'm back at work, my time to exercise is limited, but I'm still squeezing it in. My husband and I are actually working out together these days. We're doing a CRAZY set of workout DVDs that I never imaged would be sitting in our bookshelf. They're called Insanity. You may have heard of them. The workouts are literally INSANE. I couldn’t possibly do everything the instructor tells me to do, and I am by no means following the schedule of workouts that the instructor suggests. What I am doing is pushing myself hard, and enjoying a good sweat and stress reliever at the end of the day (at least a few times a week). I'm also feeling stronger than I’ve felt in years.

Before I go further, I must say that I hesitated writing this post because I know that for many people, a workout program such as Insanity is something that plays into the restricting, diet-focused mentality that I try to protect you from here on this site. But I’m writing this post because I am truly enjoying the workouts (and the increased energy they produce), and because I want to relay the message that you can enjoy exercise – even very intense exercise – without buying into the diets and punishment that often go along with it.

Like me, you may have to make a conscious effort to tune out messages about weight loss that are spewed forth in workout classes and on home workout DVDs. You can’t control the entire world’s messages about weight and body image. But if you enjoy moving your body and want to feel stronger, you deserve to do it. I’m engaging in more intense exercise than I’ve ever done because it feels good, and frankly, because I want to build my muscles so that as Emily grows, my body keeps up with her.

AND I DON’T FEEL GUILTY IF I MISS A NIGHT – OR A WEEK – OF EXERCISE.

Believe me, there are many nights when Jeremy wants to exercise and I don’t. Sometimes I push myself to participate, and sometimes I don’t. Because these workout DVDs are a treat for me now, and not punishment, I look forward to them in an entirely different way than I would have when I was struggling with food issues years ago.

So I ask you – are there any activities you’re denying yourself because of the associations they carry?

Happy International No Diet Day!

I almost missed International No Diet Day yet again. How did you mark the occasion? Or did you? Every day is a no diet day for me.

On that note, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with delicious food and mindful eating.

To the right is a close-up of the blueberry muffins I baked this past weekend -- and have been eating every morning for breakfast. Recipe follows:

Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

(Recipe courtesy The Gourmet Cookbook)

For Batter

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 ounces) blueberries (I usually use frozen)

For Topping

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.

Generously butter (I use cooking spray) muffin cups.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat; remove from heat.

Whisk in milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

Add milk mixture and stir until just combined.

Gently but thoroughly fold in blueberries.

Divide batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

Combine all topping ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly.

Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges of muffin tops and carefully remove from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Shout out to ABC's Good Morning America

I have to give a big shout-out to ABC's Good Morning America for producing such an important and thoughtful piece on orthorexia. Claire Shipman reported this story and rather than provide a deep analysis here, I thought I'd just share the link so you can watch it yourself. It seems that orthorexia is gaining more attention from media and I'm "glad" to see that. I put "glad" in quotes because of course I wish media didn't have to report on this disorder because that would mean it didn't exist. But since that is not the case -- orthorexia does exist, and is probably much more common than we all might imagine -- I'm glad ABC shed light on the issue. Apparently the piece grew out of this Time magazine story, so a shout-out to Time reporter Bonnie Rochman as well.

Portions Schmortions

While you’ll never hear me yell, “Portion control, portion control!” on this blog or anywhere else, I do have something to say about a recent realization I’ve had with the first of those two words: portion. Or, to be grammatically correct: portions. What gives? Nursing. Or actually: no longer nursing.

As I’ve alluded to before, nursing made me hungrier than I think I’ve ever been in my entire life. Including when I had a hyperactive thyroid and ate pretty much all day long every day. It made me hungry in an animalistic way. (And when I was pumping, I actually felt quite like an animal: a cow, to be precise).

I remember one day meeting my mom (a.k.a., granny) at the park with Emily. As any good mommy/granny will do, she brought me a roast beef sub that admittedly was the biggest sub I’ve ever seen (and the best one in the city). It was so big that I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish it. Until I did.

When we were packing up to leave the park, my mom asked if I’d put the second half of my sandwich in my diaper bag because she didn’t want mommy-brain-over-here to forget to put it in the fridge when I got home.

I smiled. And gulped.

“I finished it.”

“You did?!?! Maggie, that was the biggest sandwich I’ve ever seen!”

“I know,” I said proudly. “I was hungry!”

My mom looked impressed. And I’m quite certain that when I got home from the park I ate dessert.

For some reason, when I was nursing Emily – especially during the first few months of her life – I would sit down to meals wondering what I could have for dessert because I was always quite confident that the meal itself would not satisfy my cave-woman appetite. I ordered the heartiest things on menus all over the city, and followed up many meals with dessert. I never. Ever. Felt overly full.

Just so we’re all clear, after 39 weeks of being “nausry,” as my husband and I called it – nauseous but hungry – I enjoyed every single bite of food I consumed while I was nursing my little pumpkin. The fact that I could eat so much food every day was utterly enjoyable. Particularly after wondering for 39 weeks if any food other than ice cream would ever appeal to me again.

I knew at some point this last-supper style of eating would come to an end, and it eventually did. A few weeks ago, when I stopped the very glamorous job of pumping milk for my baby, I realized that I was still sitting down to meals with the anticipation that the food in front of me wouldn’t fill me up. I was finishing every morsel on my plate BECAUSE IT WAS THERE. After all, I was used to eating everything offered to me so it had become habit. The only problem was, my body no longer needed this much food.

After a number of meals that left me feeling uncomfortably full, I realized I was not honoring my fullness. I think I was also eating a lot faster than usual because I was in the “eat-while-you-can” mentality that any new mother understands. The problem was that my fullness just couldn’t keep pace with the rate at which I was shoving food into my mouth in an effort to eat quickly before needing to perform another gravity-defying diaper change.

Queue light bulb flashing above my head. And a thought cloud fading in.

"Slow Down," it read.

After eating dinner one night after work a few weeks ago and feeling way too full, I realized I had to take some time for myself in the food department. I decided that even if my child was demanding my attention three seconds after I finally sat down to eat, I needed to slow down and tune into the food I was putting into my body.

Doing so has been a wonderful experience, albeit challenging at times. I’ve been re-tuning into my body, trying hard to listen to my fullness and honor it. I don’t always get it right, but more often than not, I’m stopping just at that point of satiety when I’m no longer hungry and before I become over-full.

The picture above was taken at one of my favorite burger places: The Stand. I actually stopped a wee bit short on this meal, as I got hungry again earlier than I would have liked. But it’s all been a great reminder to me that my body’s needs change from time to time, and if I’m tuned in she’ll let me know exactly what she needs.

And just so you know: even the most “expert” intuitive eating experts will tell you (if they are honest) – that this is a journey, and every now and then due to circumstances beyond our control, we get out of touch with ourselves. The beauty is that as often as we get out of tune, we can adjust a few chords and get ourselves right back on track. And no, I don’t mean with a diet.

Close Your Eyes

First off, I am so sorry for not blogging for over a month! I can't believe it's been that long, but the time-stamp on my last post says Jan. 25, so I guess somehow February flew by without me blogging. Yikes. Sorry about that.

Now that I'm back at work full time doing the juggle, my blogging has clearly slowed down, but stick with me -- I hope to ramp back up starting now. I have tons of posts in my head, and I am committed to finding the time to get them out on "paper" and up on this site as often as I can. Which brings me to the title of this post.

Have you ever tried closing your eyes when you eat? It sounds a little silly and actually doing this at home -- and certainly in public -- might feel bizarre, but I recommend trying it.

Every time my husband and I eat sushi, Jeremy closes his eyes. No, not throughout the entire meal, but during his savoring of each piece of sushi. I have to admit, this practice has sometimes embarrassed me. Sushi chefs have looked at him wondering if he's okay, and I've wondered where to focus my attention as I'm eating with my eyes wide open while he's having quite an experience in his mouth with his eyes closed.

Because Jeremy always looks euphoric with his eyes closed, sushi dancing around in his mouth, I had tried it many times before, but usually opened my eyes too quickly out of self consciousness from doing this in a public place (with sushi chefs mere feet away). I don't know why it made me feel so funny, but it did.

Well, this past month -- on Valentine's Weekend, I did it. Finally. For real. We were eating dinner at Koi, a hip, happening high-end restaurant in L.A. that has two of my most favorite dishes in the city: creamy rock shrimp tempura and spicy tuna on crispy rice. As we were eating these dishes during an early Valentine's celebration, no one was hovering over us and the tastes in my mouth were so overwhelmingly delicious that I couldn't help it: I had to close my eyes.

The food was just too delicious not to close my eyes. Does that make sense? It's as if taking in any distractions or sensations other than what I was taking in through my mouth would have diminished my experience. And that, I tell you, is true pleasure in eating. Ever since then, I've tried closing my eyes for bites here and there just so I could fully be present to the food in my mouth. It's a wonderful way to connect with yourself while you're eating, and tune into the experience fully.

All I can say is: I highly recommend it. Whenever you're eating a special meal (or any meal, for that matter), try closing your eyes. Don't worry about whether or not someone catches you. I promise, when you experience your food with your eyes closed, eventually you won't care what, if anything, others are thinking about you. In fact, through the experience you may discover an entirely new relationship with your food.

So there you go. I'm back online blogging. Here's a well-deserved shout-out to my hubby for teaching me this wonderful lesson.

**Note: the picture above is not from Koi (we forgot to take photos there). It's a picture of the spicy crunchy shrimp tempura roll at Hirosuke in Encino**

Favorite Product of the Week: Galeo's Salad Dressing

I have been eating a lot of salads and raw vegetables lately, and there is one very specific reason for this -- Galeos Salad Dressing. I was turned onto this after eating lunch at a friend's house a few months ago. She made a big salad for lunch, and to be honest, I was a little worried that just a salad wasn't going to be filling enough for my very large, nursing mother's appetite these days.

Not only was it surprisingly filling, but it was exceptionally delicious -- all because of this salad dressing. It's called Galeos, and the flavor she used was Sesame Seed. I can honestly say this is the best store-bought salad dressing I've ever had. I've since turned many people onto it. I'm telling you -- once you buy a jar, you're going to be hooked. Not only do I eat it on salads almost every day now, but I dip raw bell peppers and cucumbers in it and pinch myself every time -- it's that good. My husband can't get enough of it either. He'd like me to introduce it to his parents the next time we have dinner together.

The Sesame Seed flavor is our current favorite. It tastes like one of those really good salad dressings you'd get in a Japanese restaurant and don't have a clue how to replicate. It's creamy, tangy with a hint of miso, and really just indescribable beyond that. Delicious and yummy are the only words that come to mind.

As an added piece of information, it's somehow extremely low-calorie and made with ingredients you'd find in your own kitchen cabinets. You know how I feel about counting calories (I don't do it), but I thought I should acknowledge the nutrition information in this post, as I learned after some very limited research that this dressing is apparently sought after because of it's low calorie count. So not posting that fact might be akin to ignoring the big white elephant in the room. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, however, you'll believe me when I say that the reason I rushed out to the store to buy this stuff just hours after eating it is because of the taste and the taste alone. It really is that good.

Go see for yourself.