Here is an actual quote from someone posting a recipe review on allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe websites - it's a review for a dish called Cod with Italian Bread Crumb Topping:
"I'm cooking low carb, so I substituted crushed pork rinds for the breadcrumbs"
Ick.
It's wrong on so many levels......
Only eat what you like.
I know, you're thinking I'm crazy telling you to eat only what you like. You think that if you follow this advice, you won't even need a refrigerator because the only food you really like is ice cream. Well, that may be true for a little while - as your body (and mind) detoxes off of the diet mentality, your little rebel inside is going to demand ice cream and brownies and (insert your fave food here). But, trust me - after the novelty wears off and you've given in to your little inner sweets demon, you will start to crave.... something healthier. And now, we are getting back to normal.
Think about those truly intuitive eaters you have encountered in your life. It may be the annoying skinny person in your family that eats anything and everything. Or, you may need to think of a small child you have spent time with. The intuitive eater eats what they like - but is usually satisfied with a small amount of it. Once the initial "YUM" wears off from the first two bites, the intuitive eater is completely satisfied to sit back with a big sigh and say "I'm full". On the contrary, the person with the diet mentality will inhale the chocolate mousse, because why stop now when we've already broken the diet.
Give it a try - see how liberating it is to not pay attention to any of the diet advice out there and just get in tune with what we actually like to eat; just as importantly, if you don't like it - you guessed it - don't eat it. Ahhhh, freedom.
One of the big drags about the way we eat in the US are all of the shoulds on our shoulders; you really should eat breakfast; you really should eat x number of servings of green and yellow vegetables; you really shouldn't have that piece of pie.
True, it may all be valid advice. But it's still annoying, especially when we really don't wanna.
I believe one of the reasons we tend to eat junkier food is because we are rebelling against the shoulds. I also believe that when we truly like ourself and get rid of the shoulds, we end up taking pretty good care of ourself because that's what we want to do.
In my life, I try to eat healthy because I want to and because it feels nourishing to me, which feels good. I don't eat perfectly because sometimes a Little Debbie feels nourishing to me (hey, it brings me back to my youth!) I NEVER feel guilty about what I choose to eat. That's because I don't allow those pesky shoulds or shouldn'ts into my head. Some days I eat better than others, and I am completely OK with that - and so should you - oops, there I go shoulding on you (sorry).
Part of honoring your hunger cues has to do with something called Mindful Eating. More and more in our society, food is added on to other activities - we eat while driving, while at the computer (I'm guilty!), in front of the TV, etc. We don't actually pay attention to what we are eating, whether it tastes good, or how we feel. I love this quote on the website for The Center for Mindful Eating (yes, there actually is such a place):
Awareness of the moment is when change can begin
You simply cannot achieve a good relationship with food (and a healthy weight) if you don't pay attention. This is one of the reasons why some of the European cultures aren't fat (yet!) - food is part of the culture, and they take the time to sit and eat and enjoy.
Just for today, try eating your food at the table, with no other activities involved - just eat and pay attention to the food. Do you like what you are eating? If not, why are you eating it? How does your body feel? Are you getting comfortably full or still wanting more? Just release any judgement about what you are eating and simply pay attention.
Remember that movie Monster's Ball? In it, there was a single mom and her overweight boy - in one scene, the mom discovered that the boy was hiding candy and she got angry at him; this is called hoarding, and it is caused by someone forcing that boy to break his own hunger scale.
When we withhold food from kids, or make comments that they have had enough or remind them that they are eating too much, we take away their power and incentive to listen to their own internal hunger cues. In some cases, children feel so guilty about wanting food and so conflicted about what they "should" be doing and what they want to do, that they start developing some dysfunctional behaviors, such as hoarding food. They are not being bad kids, it's a matter of survival.
Another way we teach kids to break their hunger scale is by encouraging them to graze all the time; I see this at the playground a lot - a child will be running around, having fun, and the mom will be holding out crackers that the child zooms by and takes, never really slowing down. In this situation, the child never gets to the lower parts of the hunger scale, and never really feels hunger pangs. It's no wonder when the child becomes a picky eater!
I'll talk more about feeding kids in this blog, but for now, I need to mention that everything you need to know about feeding kids can be found in books by Ellyn Satter - visit her website http://www.ellynsatter.com/ for loads of information and books.
There are a few ways that dieting makes us break the hunger scale (see yesterday's post); one way is that sometimes dieting forces us to deny our own hunger cues, making us go down to a 2 or a 1 on the scale before it's time to eat; then, we eat everything in sight and feel like a failure. Repeat after me - WILLPOWER IS A JOKE! - we are programmed to overeat when our body feels like it's heading into hard times (like a famine, yikes!). It is simply nature's way.
Another way dieting forces us to break the hunger scale is by instilling a fear of the feeling of hunger in us. When you are uncomfortably hungry for a prolonged period of time, your body learns to fear hunger. When we fear hunger, we tend to eat before we feel hunger. This means that we always start "munching" or "grazing" as soon as we are at a 5 or so on the hunger scale - just to keep from slipping into the hunger pangs at a 3 or 4. This adds up to extra calories and pounds on the butt (or wherever you tend to store it).
By the way, people who actually experience real hunger (as in no money or no other resources to obtain food), will react the same way once they have access to food - they will overeat when given the chance, and avoid getting hungry because of the awful memories of feeling hungry.
If you've gotten out of touch with your own hunger cues, a great tool to use is a Hunger Scale. There are lots out there - just google it and find one you like. Here's one I found at a blog called Intuitive Eating:
HUNGER - SATISFACTION SCALE (HSS)
10: Stuffed to the point of feeling sick (Thanksgiving full!)
9: Very uncomfortable, tired
8: Uncomfortably full
7: Feel you have eaten just a little bit too much
6: Comfortable, satisfied [stop eating]
5: Just noticing the first signs of hunger [slow down, if eating]
4: Hungry, ready to eat [Eat at this point]
3: Very hungry
2: Extremely hungry, irritable
1: Starving, can't concentrate, dizzy
Try using this scale for a meal or two and see how you like it. Once you get used to eating this way, you will automatically be eating in tune with your own body's hunger and will be getting the right amount of food for you.
Always honor your hunger!
You know, the vast majority of us were given a key at birth to achieve life-long weight control. It's your hunger cues.
Imagine a small baby. He's hungry - and he's going to let you know about it. Ignore him, and he gets louder and more frantic. Feed him, and he happily eats until... he's not hungry anymore. Then, when you try to feed him, he turns his head or spits out the nipple. Having trouble imagining a baby? Here - use mine:
Now, imagine that baby growing up and always eating this way - when he's hungry, he eats; when he's full, he stops; when he's not hungry, he simply does not eat. Do you think he would develop a weight problem?
We are taught in so many ways not to honor our hunger - we're taught to clean our plates, taught to eat because the clock says it's time, taught to deprive our hunger when we go on a diet, and on and on. Just for today, pay close attention to your hunger. How well are you honoring it?
Well, as a new blog, I am happy to say "Welcome to my new blog!"
I am Melinda Johnson, a Registered Dietitian in her 30-somethings, and my business is Nutrition for Slackers.
I became a dietitian just because I wanted to know how bad I could eat and still be skinny. Really, it was all about the weight. I was a chubby teenager and went on my first diet when I was about 12 years old. Food and I fought the good fight for at least a decade after that. I entered college, took a nutrition class, loved the class, and decided to make a career of it. But, I was still very conflicted about what I wanted to eat and what I was learning I should be eating. Food occupied way to much of my brain space.
Luckily, I was instructed to read a book during my internship to become a dietitian. I was spending time with a bit of a rebel RD who specialized in eating disorders. Her name is Monika Woolsey, and I plan on writing more about her views later in the blog - but for now, to learn more about her and visit her website, you can go to http://www.afterthediet.com/. Monika wanted me to read the book Intuitive Eating; for me, it was one of those books that change the way you see the world. Since then, I have become very good at practicing the non-diet approach to eating, and I love to share this approach with others.
So, on the outside, I look like a slacker when it comes to nutrition. But, it's all part of the master plan! Wanna learn more? Stay tuned!
