Body In Mind Nutrition

Many of my clients have concerns about changes in their weight if they begin to take birth control pills.  I wanted to pass along a well done article discussing this issue.

Bottom Line: " The story that taking birth control pills makes you gain weight is based on more fiction than fact."  The recommendation is to take the lowest dose that is effective for you.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-birth-control-pills-20110316,0,3564299.story?page=2

You know that I don't believe in "Diets", because:

1-they don't work
2-they set you up for reactive overeating
3-they disconnect you from your Body's own ability to control your eating (if you commit to mindful eating)
4-they many times create harm (disordered eating)

Actually, the list goes on, but I will hush.

I just want to give you a head's up on the latest Fad Diet that everyone is talking about.  I am attaching WebMD's evaluation, which includes statements from well-respected experts in the field.

Don't fall for the Dukan promise of magic!!!

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/dukan-diet-review

Yep, there has been a theme around here this week-the healing power of loving your body!  I continue to unearth more and more  places to stand as we join in the effort to feel good about our bodies-exactly as they are!!  Feeling comfortable in your skin is the ultimate place of power.  I wish you confidence as you take the next step...

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2011/03/body-image-booster-building-confidence-being-bold/

Yesterday, I blogged about creating a world of Body Love through connecting with bloggers writing about this topic.  Today, I am taking it up a notch and recommending Activism.  Instead on being unhappy with yourself, direct your anger/unhappiness outward and become an Activist for Body Love.  Here is a post which directs you to a couple of exciting projects to get your blood flowing, pumping, cursing through your veins!

The Illusionists is a documentary about the body as the “finest consumer object,” focusing on how mass media, advertising, and several industries manipulate and exploit people’s insecurities about their bodies for profit.

This week in London an international summit “Endangered Species: Preserving the Female Body.” Eminent experts, activists, and politicians are holding presentations and workshops under a common goal: to “challenge the toxic culture that teaches women and girls to hate their bodies.” 

POWERFUL STUFF-DON'T MISS IT!!

http://ht.ly/4eO7d

Funny how making a commitment to your Self, in whatever form, is a much harder endeavor than committing to caring for others-even if the other is a dog!  I had a very wise client say to me many years ago, "If I could just move mySelf up on the priority list before my dog, I will be doing so much better".  So take a look at this well done article on how having a dog affects your health....

“If we’re committed to a dog, it enables us to commit to physical activity ourselves.”

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/forget-the-treadmill-get-a-dog/?nl=health&emc=healthupdateema2

The work (and at first, it is real work!) of body acceptance requires great intention and commitment.  It helps to create support for this effort as you walk around in a world obsessed with unhealthy, twisted images and messages about our bodies.  I am finding a wealth of blogs which are committed to Body Love.

Take a look at the blog below.  This particular entry invites you to join this community of "happy bodies" by submitting your own thoughts, story, poetry, video, photograph, you name it.  Please take some time to review the submissions of others.

 This is a powerful way of creating and cultivating supportive connections as you tip toe, leap, grab or brush up against loving your own precious body!!!

http://happybodies.wordpress.com/join-us/

Before you go into the kitchen and start to rummage through your pantry and refrigerator, try this simple yoga exercise.  If your body still tells you "I am hungry for nourishment", please eat....

http://www.yogajournal.com/dailyinsight/yjnl_20110311.html?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=dailyinsight

"Participants who followed the Mediterranean diet had better outcomes for waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and glucose, as well as reduced risk of metabolic syndrome, compared with those on control diets or those who had low adherence to the Mediterranean diet...The meta-analysis also found that active lifestyle coupled with the diet had additional preventive effects on metabolic syndrome components."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/25287?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&em=debra@bimnutrition.com

Mindfulness is about being fully aware of whatever is happening in the present moment, without filters or the lens of judgment. It can be brought to any situation. Put simply, mindfulness consists of cultivating awareness of the mind and body and living in the here and now.

This story is making it's way across major media outlets.  Please make sure that you take a look, pass it along, and talk to your kids about it.  We need to keep talking about this part of the story instead of just Pediatric Obesity.  Do you think there is a relationship between the two?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134341051

The fact that women (mostly) are willing to pay $1000/month to be injected by a hormone and starve themselves on 500 calories a day to see TEMPORARY weight loss is the sign of pure desperation.  The resurgence of the very old diet craze utilizing hCG shots (a hormone derived from the urine of pregnant women) is "as popular as ever, even though there is scant evidence that it makes any difference."

Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard medical school who researches weight-loss supplements, said that aside from the issue of side effects, the use of hCG as a diet tool was “manipulating people to give them the sense that they’re receiving something that’s powerful and potent and effective, and in fact they’re receiving something that’s nothing better than a placebo"

The following article from this morning's NY TImes describes the side effects and other costs in more detail.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/nyregion/08hcg.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

When it comes to making changes in our habits, there are several steps that we go through without realizing it.  At first we imagine ourselves doing things differently.  New research supports the fact that picturing yourself actually engaged in the behavior you want to work on increases your chance of success!  Intentionally picture yourself breaking the habits that concern you and actually doing what you know would improve your health.....

"...research has shown that if people make a concrete plan about what they are going to do, they are better at acting on their intentions. What we've done that's new is to add visualization techniques to the action plan"

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=650501

This wonderful interview with Seane Corne from Krista Tippett's radio show "Being" gets inside the" practicalities and power of yoga".  I encourage my clients to integrate yoga into their program of changing their eating habits for all of the reasons that she so beautifully describes.  


http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/yoga/

I know that the week dedicated to End Fat Talk is in October, but I hear so much "worry" about bodies during the Spring, that I wanted to dust this off and post it now.  Well done piece by Tri Delta, check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPaxD61lwo&feature=player_embedded

This is so exciting-Jamie Oliver hits the road with a Food Revolution Food Truck!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12629525?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13511981&utm_campaign=Food%20News%20Friday%2C%20March%204

I have been working with clients to help them manage weight for almost 25 years and "fat prejudice" has always been a part of the conversation.  Some people avoid exercising outside of their homes because of the concern that people will make jokes about them (and who likes to use exercise equipment at home really?).  Some people avoid seeking regular medical care because they do not like to be weighed and lectured to about the obvious need to lose weight.  For those who struggle with overeating, stress and isolation contribute to the struggle.  It is no surprise to me that we now have research that makes this association perfectly clear.

"Obesity is a physiological issue, but when people have negative interactions in their social world -- including a sense of being discriminated against -- it can make matters worse and contribute to a person's declining physical health," Schafer said."

We need to be careful as we develop programs to address obesity, especially programs for kids, that we do not contribute to this stigmatization.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/03/03/stigma-often-adds-to-burden-of-obesity

This is amazing technology which could help increase awareness of your eating.  But would you start to obsess?  How do you think this would go for you?

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-food-app-110303,0,5695750.story

Encouraging your kids to eat "from the rainbow" with more fruits and vegetables just got a little easier.  (I am not talking about added coloring agents, but colors in foods coming from the ground!)  Try this Nutrition Sudoko to engage them in a conversation about trying more fruits and vegetables every day.  This would be a great game just before your next trip to the market-invite them to join you in the produce isle!

http://www.eatright.org/nnm/games/sudoku/kids/index.html

Can you be trusted with food?  Most of us think not and look to rules and diets to keep us in check.  If we don't know what we "should" eat, then our fear is that we will be "out of control".  I believe not trusting ourselves is at the root of the need to impose strict guidelines for our own eating.  So when we break these imposed rules, the judgement rages in our own heads!

Being compassionate with yourself will allow you to break free from this rigidity and the negative self-talk that follows close behind.  Not beating yourself up and finding compassion does allow you to be more in control with your eating AND invites a more positive attitude.

Now we actually have research that supports incorporating self-compassion as an integral component of a successful weight management program!!  Here you go:


"Preliminary data suggest that self-compassion can even influence how much we eat and may help some people lose weight."



http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/go-easy-on-yourself-a-new-wave-of-research-urges/?ref=science