I’m always combing the media, looking for both the useful and the absurd on food and diet and eating. There’s certainly never a shortage of either. Much of what populates the print and other media is not particularly helpful. But it is possible to glean some...
From time to time, I’m asked about the weight loss “jump-start”. And what is this? When people use this term, they’re usually thinking something like this: “It’s so had to lose weight….I want to go away to some program (or start a severe liquid diet, or something...
I return now to thinking about “food rules” (see January 31, below). These recent guideline sets, like those offered by Michael Pollan and others, aim to help us eat more healthily. And, I would add, to relate to food and eating in a healthier, happier way than is...
Yes, it’s true that I spend hours each week helping people get their weight and eating in check. However, it’s also true that I find it essential to see such issues as much more than individual problems. The world we live in tends to place all the responsibility,...
If you eat to soothe or stuff your feelings, does that make you a food addict? For years, science said “no”, you can’t really be addicted to food, not as you can with alcohol or cigarettes. Now, though, it’s become clear that the massive amounts of sugar, salt,...
(Watch for Emotional Eating Part 4 next week.) Eating sanely means losing weight and keeping it off. This, of course, requires learning to live in a way that maintains healthy weight. Toward that end, knowing just how hard it is to do, I sometime encourage...
While it may be hard to stop, it’s usually not so hard to see “stress eating” in operation. A lot of emotional eating, though, hides in plain sight. You might not always see the connection between what you’re feeling and how you’re eating. If you’re asking the...
Emotional eating takes many forms, some easier to recognize than others, most pretty common. One form that many admit to is “stress eating”. Maybe you’ve had a bad day and think “I deserve it” as you head for the Haagen Daz. Maybe you think “I just can’t bother...
“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...
As a therapist, you tend to see less joy and fun this time of year than worry and strain. Yes, it’s a biased outlook, but the stresses of the season are certainly real. People trying to keep their health and weight in check, especially, face a daunting array of...
For many of us, going to work means structure and routine and therefore easier sane eating. However, this is often not true in the month of December—when it can seem like everyone feels obliged to bring cookies, candy, their famous holiday torte, their gift tins of...
The number keeps rising! I remember 4-5 a day, then 5-8, and now it’s 11. That’s the currently recommended number of daily fruit and vegetable servings. This new recommendation comes from the most recent OmniHealth study, which follows various diets (higher-protein,...