What Do You Feel Like Eating Today?

I came across this article today by Donna Fish in The Huffington Post and I think it's worth sharing. She paints a very real picture of what intuitive eating looks like and shows that even when you've made peace with food and learned how to listen to your body, you're going to order wrong in a restaurant now and then. And by wrong, I mean you ordered something that didn't satisfy you.

Guess what? It happens, even to those of us who are in a healthy place with food. Even I -- who generally listen to my body by eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full -- have meals that don't satisfy me and lead me to eat past fullness because I didn't enjoy the food I was eating and thought that by eating more I'd somehow magically feel satisfied. (Note: that never works)

So, do yourself a favor and read this article. Just another perspective that I think you'll enjoy.

What Is Image, Anyway?

People often ask me what they can do to improve their body image. It's a good question and one that is not easily answered in a nice, neat sound bite. My first reaction to that question is generally another question: "What fills you up? What makes your juices flow? What do you care about and what makes you laugh?"

By immersing ourselves in issues, pursuits and interests that will fill our lives with much more meaning than a "pretty" body ever could, we almost circumvent the need for a wonderful "body image." Not that positive body image isn't valuable -- it is. But I find it most helpful to start with a pursuit of a positive self image. If you get that down, the body image will follow.

That being said, take a look at an excerpt from a wonderful book I discovered this week. Boy do I want to get my hands on a full copy of this book! And though I've not met you, Rosanne Olson -- kudos to you for this new release. We need more work like this floating around our bookstores.

What a Feminist Looks Like

I received a link to this video today and what a great way to start my day. Enjoy.

Why Real Food, You Ask?

People often ask me if I have any rules about which foods I eat or don't eat. And the answer is no foods are off limits. What is off limits for me is fake food. This includes sugar substitute, fat substitute, and ingredients I can't pronounce. "But why shouldn't I eat fake food," people will ask me....often followed up with all the fake foods they love. "I can't live without my fat-free, sugar-free, raspberry cheesecake 100-calorie yogurt in the morning."

If you love your fat-free, sugar-free, chemical yogurt product, believe me, I'm not going to stop you from eating it. You have to eat what makes your body feel good. And what feels good to one body doesn't feel good to another one. But what I will say, and what I've always said, is that I can't guarantee that when you eat your fat-free, sugar-free foods that you'll ever be able to get quite as in tune with your fullness signals as you might if you ate real food.

And as today's story in the LA Timesproves my point. "The study in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience found that the calorie-free artificial sweetener appeared to break the physiological connection between sweet tastes and calories, driving the rats to overeat."

If you're someone who needs science to prove it, please take this study as a good excuse to throw out your fake food and replace it with the real stuff! Try eating mindfully and enjoy every nook and cranny, ever luscious bite of everything you eat. And I bet that before you know it (probably before you've even finished your meal), you'll start to notice how much more in tune you've become with your hunger and fullness signals....all from switching to eating real food.

Imagine that...

Oprah Magazine Piece Got It

I am so pleased to report that Naomi Barr is spot on in her column in the February issue of Oprah Magazine. It's called "Maybe You Need To Gain 10 Pounds." Hurray! Finally some press and a reputable study showing that being a bit "overweight" is actually healthy! In all of the research and reading I've done over the years, I've read about this phenomenon many times -- that "overweight" is actually healthier than "under weight" and sometimes even healthier than "normal weight."

This particular government study shows that "carrying a few extra pounds may actually help you live longer." Yes, you read that correctly.

It goes on to say that in the study of 37,000 death records done by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, people who were "overweight" not only didn't have a greater risk of dying from cancer or heart disease than "normal weight" people, but that in fact they were less likely to die from chronic respiratory disease, infections and Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, among others.

The funny thing is that we're still using the terms normal weight, overweight and underweight, as if there is a standard that fits for everyone. Funnier still, because if "overweight" people are actually living longer than "normal weight" people, then shouldn't they also be given the much sought after label of "normal" too so they can stop feeling bad about their weight label?

Anyway, if you get Oprah magazine, check out this piece on the bottom of page 108. And paste it wherever you need the reminder to stop dieting and start living.

And by the way, happy new year!

Eat When You're Hungry E-Newsletter Coming Soon!

Are you committed to the non-dieting way of life? Do you want support in your choice to never diet again? Do you simply want a resource for healthy, supportive, non-dieting messages to balance out all of the self-defeating, diet-filled messages you're bombarded with daily? If you answered yes to any of these questions I have good news for you! I am getting ready to launch the Eat When You're Hungry E-Newsletter!

It's still in the works, but will be coming soon. If you want to sign up for this free non-dieting resource, simply go to my web site and subscribe in the pink box on the right-hand side of the screen. You'll receive an acknowledgement email after submitting your name and email address, and you can of course unsubscribe at any time.

As I'm putting this e-newsletter together, please feel free to send along any suggestions or questions you have as you release dieting from your life forever and embrace a natural, healthy relationship with food. I just may address your question or comment in the next newsletter (with your name left out for confidentiality)! To send suggestions and comments, contact me through my web site. I appreciate your feedback.

Happy Monday...

Kugel, Latkes, Brisket and Pie -- Oh My!

If you read my book you know that my mother-in-law knows how to cook.  Her meals are truly exquisite down to the china they're served on.  And last night was no exception.  We had an early Hannukah dinner which meant we had a feast of delicious food spread before us on beautiful platters and serving pieces that my mother-in-law has collected from around the world.  On the menu last night was brisket stewed in an apple cider, wild mushroom kugel, potato latkes, spinach and pomegranate salad, asparagus, challah and an English apple-blackberry pie.  Everything of course, was handmade.  And everything of course (since it was cooked my my mother-in-law), was delicious.
 
When it came time to fill our plates with food and dig in, I knew to take a smaller than usual portion of everything because there were so many different foods to taste.  There was also a hot apple-blackberry pie and freshly whipped cream waiting for us after dinner, and I wasn't about to miss out on that due to getting full too quickly.
 
When I took only one potatoe latke, my mother-in-law said, "Oh, come on, you can have more than that -- we have so much food!"  I cringed at the thought of appearing ungrateful for such a beautiful meal by only taking one latke, but the truth was that EVERYTHING looked so magnificent that I wanted to have all of it.....which meant one latke would be enough if I was also going to have a piece of challah, some of the kugel, brisket, salad, asparagus and .... the apple-blackberry pie with whipped cream.  "I need to save room for everything," I said.  "I can only eat so much."
 
After lighting the Hannukah candles and saying a prayer (we did it early this year because some of the family would be out of town on Hannukah), we lifted our forks and knives to begin experiencing the wonderful journey of flavors set before us.  Needless to say, absolutely everything was, as my grandmother would say, "Divine!"  "Maaaarvelous!"  I told my mother-in-law that of all the delicious meals she's made this one ranked as one of my favorites.  My husband's cousin agreed. 
 
When we got in the car, Jeremy said to me, "I don't feel stuffed at all."  "Neither do I," I said, "Tell me more."  So he continued, "Normally I would go back for seconds and I almost went back for another few latkes because they were so good, but I decided to wait and save room for dessert.  And by the time we were done with dinner and dessert I realized that my fullness caught up with me, so now I'm full but not stuffed.  I'm so glad I didn't go back for seconds because I am completely satisfied right now.  That really was a good meal!"
 
Today as I was walking from the kitchen to my office with leftovers from last night's dinner, two colleagues stopped and stared in awe at my food.  "This is one of the many gifts my mother-in-law has," I said proudly.  "She is an amazing cook."
 
And the best part about eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full is.....you get to have the meal all over again the next day when you're hungry at lunch time -- and you don't even have to cook!