My Free Newsletter

On Thursday, April 21st my newsletter will be arriving in your in-boxes. This month's theme is self-acceptance. If you haven't subscribed yet, it's easy- simply scroll down and look to your right! Enter your name and email address and you're set. Do you have a family member or friend you think might like my newsletter, feel free to forward them this blog post.

My newsletters come out once a month and I will never give your email address out or email  you more than monthly. I write about a variety of topics relating to finding a healthy balance with nutrition, body image, as well as share some of my favorite recipes, books, websites, and resources.

Thanks for sharing the love. "Life is stressful. Your diet shouldn't have to be."

Marci RD

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Client Spotlight: Ups & Downs of Recovery...Totally Worth It!

Every so often I have the pleasure of sharing with you a client's story. (See the tag on the side of my blog: Client Spotlights). Eating disorder recovery is a long and scary road. Seeing the successes (both small and big), is a vital part of holding out hope and belief in a better life. So thank you Jess for sharing what you've learned along your path. Your willingness to share your journey is inspiring. And no one should go it alone. If you are interested in reading Jess' full story, check out her pro-recovery blog.

One year ago I entered recovery for my eating disorder, and it has been quite the year with many ups and downs. At the end of it, however, I am so grateful for every moment. I have learned and grown more than I ever thought possible.

Since a year ago, so much has changed in my life for the better. My eating habits are not the only aspect of my life that has changed- my entire outlook is more positive and I am a happier and healthier person overall. Recovery is about so much more than learning to eat normally- it is about learning to truly live and embrace life. It is about discovering one's personal, healthy identity beyond an illness that takes on a life of its own. It is about learning to believe that "I am enough and I am beautiful just the way I am".

My biggest accomplishment in recovery thus far is not being in denial about my illness and at the same time recognizing that it does not define me. In the past year I have discovered who I am separate from my eating disorder, and I like who I am. As I have learned to stop restricting food, I have learned to stop restricting other aspects of life as well. For example, I no longer restrict friendships, fun, or emotions. I know how to let myself feel my emotions without letting them overwhelm me, I have incredibly rewarding relationships with my friends and family, and I have learned to relax and embrace spontaneity in a way that I never thought possible.

We all know that recovery is not all about the food and the body, but in terms of the food and the body, I have made significant strides. After one year of recovery:

* I have the desire and capability to follow a meal plan.
* I am no longer Anemic or otherwise deficient in vitamins and minerals.
* I do not count calories.
* I do not over-exercise.
* I can find clothes that I feel confident in.
* Many former fear foods are foods that I love and eat guilt-free.
* I have discovered new types of food that I love.
* I am able to recognize hunger and tolerate fullness.
* I don't weigh myself.
* I get my period every month.
* I am able to recognize that fat is not a feeling.
* I know my triggers and how to combat them.
* I love dining out at restaurants.

I did not accomplish all of the above on my own. I have been very fortunate to have the support of an amazing treatment team. It took me awhile to find a team that I am comfortable with, but the trial-and-error with various clinicians was worth it. Also, DBT has helped me a lot. I no longer feel powerless to recover, because now I have the tools necessary to kick some serious ED butt anytime, anywhere!

Although I consider recovery a gift, it has not been sunshine and rainbows the whole time. I had countless days of ambivalence where I questioned, “Is recovery truly worth it? Because this is so much more painful than my eating disorder ever was!” Recovery has not been easy, but I have found that nothing worth fighting for is ever easy. In the beginning it is incredibly painful to give up eating disorder behaviors, but slowly, over time, it gets easier.

Today, I can say today with complete sincerity that the benefits of recovery are worth the struggle. I have my ups and downs, as is a natural part of the recovery process, but I know that someday I will be fully recovered. There is no way I am going to let some life-sucking illness take control of my life ever again, because I deserve to grow, thrive, and enjoy life to its fullest. I can fully recover with hard work and perseverance, and so can you!
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Connecting to Ourselves: Hungers

This past week I had the privilege of attending a conference with the phenomenal speaker Anita Johnston, Ph.D. and author of Eating in the Light of the Moon. Dr. Johnston talked a lot about deciphering our true hunger by using imagery and metaphors.
 
One thing in particular that really stood out to me was when she talked about our two different kinds of hunger.
1) Our physical hunger for food. Our bodies need food to fuel us through the day, and they will tell us through hunger when they are low on fuel (aka energy).
2) Our hunger for our other needs and desires. These can be spiritual, emotional, or relational needs.
When we learn what our hunger cues are, we can decipher whether or not we are physically hungry.

If we are not physically hungry, yet we want to eat—this is the perfect opportunity to get to know ourselves better.

I love this way of looking at eating. Whether we are restricting foods or emotional eating, both are the result of our bodies wanting to tell us something. There is no guilt in this. We just get to be a detective and try to find out more about ourselves.

We can ask ourselves: What feeling or emotion do I not want to feel? Why do I not want to feel it?

Our answer might be “I don’t know”. But overtime, our detective work might show us a pattern of wanting to eat when we are not hungry (or not wanting to eat when we are hungry) when __________________. We are all different and each one of us would fill in the blank differently. People might try to suppress anger after they get off the phone with a certain person, pain when they have an injury, loneliness when they are home alone, or fear when they are in a new situation that they are unsure about. The list could go on and on.

The bottom line: feelings and emotions are uncontrollable and are part of our everyday lives. We cannot control them anymore than we can control an earthquake or a tornado; we can only control our responses to our feelings. Yet, many times we unconsciously suppress them and do not allow ourselves to truly feel them.

Simply taking time to check in with your hunger, both physical or emotional, is a way to get to know yourself better and find out what your needs really are. Food does not meet all of our needs—it only satisfies physical hunger. So, next time you are craving a food but are not hungry, try exploring what feelings, emotional needs, or relational desires you might be suppressing. There is no judgment in eating or not eating whatever you are craving. There is only a great opportunity to explore what other “hungers” you have.

Note: Connecting to Ourselves is a monthly column written by Janet Zimmerman. We are CONSTANTLY surrounded with distractions and negative messages that take us away from what is really best for us (think about all of the icky dieting messages to get you geared up for bikini season, ugh!). Janet will be writing about a wide variety of topics to help you connect with the best ways to take care of YOU!  Janet is a dietetic student, positive body image advocate, and intuitive eating promoter. You can find Janet on twitter @JanetZimmerman where she loves tweeting yummy recipes, positive quotes, and mindful tweets.
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Balanced Living in Today's Culture

On Wednesday, April 13th I'll be speaking at Harvard on the topic of "Balanced Living in Today's Culture" with two esteemed colleagues, Deb Schachter LICSW and Sheila Reindl EdD. The event is open to the public. I hope you can join us! Please see the Harvard Alumni events website for more details!

We'll be discussing how to navigate nutrition, emotional health, and body image issues in a culture that values extremes. Here is an introduction to what we plan to talk about:

Despite our best intentions to live a life that leaves us with a sense of wholeness, agency, and vibrancy, many of us, at one time or another, can find ourselves behaving in ways that leave us bewildered by and frustrated with ourselves. We know that we're out of balance, but knowing that is one thing, and actually living a balanced life is quite another.

William G. Perry, Jr., founding director of the Bureau of Study Counsel of Harvard University, used to say something to the effect that, “When you’ve got smart people who know perfectly well what to do and they aren’t doing it, you know you are in the presence of forces more powerful than intelligence or knowledge. And it’s time to get curious about those.”

This program will engage our curiosity about those powerful forces through presentation and discussion. We will consider what it means to make room for balance in the realms of nutrition, body image, and self acceptance in a world that seems to value
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Product Showcase: Aluminum Foil

Each month I love to highlight a product I think is fabulous. And while I was thinking about the product I wanted to showcase, I realized that aluminum foil is a kitchen staple I just couldn’t live without. Not only is handy for cooking, it SAVES me from messy and very time consuming clean up.

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• I line baking dishes when cooking fish, like my killer salmon
• I line baking sheets when roasting veggies and baking cookies, like when I making my favorite kick-butt veggie lasagna
• I’ve even used it to make foil dinners, like Kraft's Foil Packet Southwestern Chicken Dinner
• And it comes in handy when wrapping up leftovers

Do you have a kitchen tool or product you can’t live without? I’d love to hear about it! Please email me at marci at marcird dot com.

Your eating and nutrition expert in Cambridge
Marci
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Binge Eating Disorder Association Re-Cap

*Disclaimer: this post re-caps my personal highlights and gems learned during the BEDA conference. It's much longer than I normally write for a blog post.

I just returned from a trip to Scottsdale, AZ for the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA). Not only was the 90 degree weather therapeutic, but the speakers and networking was nourishment to my soul! I wanted to share with you the many gems that I took away from the conference.

Theme: Coming in to the Light

Chevese Turner is the founder of BEDA, an organization working towards the recognition, prevention, and treatment of Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Eating disorders have the highest suicide rate of any other mental illness. It’s time to bring these issues to light and that is exactly what this conference did.

B. Tim Walsh- chair of the Eating Disorders Work Group for the American Psychiatric Association (APA)

Binge Eating Disorder is not currently a recognized mental illness by the APA. However, it is being considered for the DSM-V which is slated to be out in 2013. It is not too late to share your voice! Recognizing BED as an eating disorder is vital to giving the disease validity, which facilitates appropriate treatment protocols and future research of the disease.

Ralph E. Carson- PhD, RD Registered Dietitian and Neuroscientist

Dr Carson discussed the neurochemistry of a binge. Delving into the science is beyond the scope of this blog, however my take home from his talk is that a person experiences hunger, fullness, and satiety very differently than a person without it. And now we understand that this is due to critical physiological differences in brain structure. The exciting news is that brains are plastic and able to change! A person with BED can change their brain by practicing mindfulness, which will be discussed later.

Reba Sloan MPH, RD

Reba discussed counseling strategies for Type 2 diabetes. She shared some great thoughts:

1. There are many triggers that encourage us to overeat, including environment and emotions. It is easier to guard against environment than emotions.
2. Rather than forbidding foods, ask yourself “Do I have the skill level to eat this food in moderation?” If the answer is no, think about ways you can allow yourself to eat the foods you are craving without going overboard (ie going out for it rather than keeping it at home, eating with a friend rather than alone)
3. Guilt and shame are like quicksand- they immobilize you.
4. The restricted brain is an obsessed brain
6. Carolyn Coker-Ross MD, MPH

Dr Coker-Ross spoke about the difficulties and strategies of treating BED and obesity.

Fact: 1/3 of people with obesity suffer from BED

Fact: treating BED with dieting is not the solution. Diets have a 97% failure rate and predict future weight gain
Fact: BED is 57% hereditable

Fact: Individuals with BED have an exaggerated stress response, which is a risk factor for binging, insulin resistance, and weight gain. **Practicing mindfulness through yoga, deep breathing, meditation, or spending time in nature increases cortisol ad decreases the stress response.

Fact: Research shows that utilizing a Health At Every Size model WORKS. Health, not weight is the #1 priority.

Susan Albers PsyD

Susan spoke on learning the art of soothing yourself without food. Check out her book here. And there are some wonderful free resources from UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center.

Wendy Oliver-Pyatt MD, FAED

Dr. Oliver-Pyatt spoke on finding common pathways to address obesity concerns while preventing eating disorders and weight bias. Her talk was the absolute highlight of the conference (for me) and I wish I could share it all with you. If you are concerned about obesity, please read the Academy of Eating Disorders position statement on the prevention of obesity in children, co-authored by Dr. Oliver-Pyatt. Because weight is not a behavior, it is not an appropriate target. We need to appropriately target healthy behavior, regardless of weight.

Michelle May MD

Dr May is full of life, energy, and a common sense approach to food and eating. If you want to improve your relationship with food, buy her book “Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat.” She led us through a mindful lunch. Here were some of my favorite one-liners:

Mindful eating is about eating with intention and attention

Having an awareness of why you’re eating gives you valuable information about your food choices. If you’re eating chocolate for pleasure or reward, eating it in a pleasurable or rewarding way! You can't enjoy it if you swallow it without chewing while rushing to a meeting.

Eating the right amount of food isn’t about being good, it’s about feeling good.

Your desire to binge on food will decrease as you stay connected to feelings of hunger and fullness.

Use nutrition as an awareness tool, not a weapon or religion

Being present with your food is about loving your food more. We obsess over food constantly…yet when we eat we are distracted from the experience.

You can’t enjoy the food in your mouth if you are busy loading your fork with the next bite!

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Dining in the Dark & Mindfulness with Meal Makeover Moms

Can you imagine what it would be like to eat a meal blindfolded? Well, call me crazy, but I signed up (along with 34 other dietitians) to dine in the dark. It was a event through the Massachusetts Dietetic Association. The evening began with a mindfulness exercise, which I led. The exercise was followed by a 4 course meal (blind-folded).

But I don’t have to tell you about the event. The Meal Makeover Moms invited me in for an interview to talk about it! Janice (one of the Moms) and I dined together. So enjoy the podcast (episode 139). For about 40 minutes, we have a great time discussing our dining experience, mindfulness and why it’s so important for our health.

Picture Source: Janel Ovrut

Below are some basic principles of mindful eating:
1. Develop an awareness of the positive opportunities of preparing and eating meals guided by your inner wisdom
2. Use all of your senses when eating and exploring your food
3. Acknowledge food preferences (likes and dislikes) without judgement
4. Become aware of physical cues of hunger and fullness to guide when to start and stop eating

If you are interested in learning more about mindful eating, I highly recommend two books. First is "Mindful Eating" by Jan Chozen Bays. The second is "Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat" by Michelle May.
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Exercise: Finding Your Happy Place

Exercise. Just say the word and notice what feelings and thoughts come up for you. If the word exercise is accompanied by a lot of negativity, you aren't alone. In addition to my role as nutrition therapist, I am also a certified personal trainer. And I have learned quite a bit while helping many people re-construct and find their own happy place with both food and exercise.

The reality is that our bodies, minds, and spirits need and crave movement. But many of you are battling busy schedules and damaged relationships with your bodies. How many times has an over-zealous exercise regimen been accompanied by a rigid/restrictive diet?  And you wonder why you hate it?!

If you would like to work on mending your relationship with exercise, the Weightless blog is a wonderful place to start. Margarita offers some pearls of wisdom, along with practical advice. Here are a few of my own suggestions to get you started:

* We take best care of the things we love. Appreciating and showing kindness to your body are the first steps to taking better care of it.

* Choose activities which are fun and make you feel good. Your friend may love the challenge of running a 5K but chasing your kids around the playground may be a much better option for you.

* It's ok to be selfish with your "me time." Making time for a little exercise often means other things (and other people!) may have to wait...and that's ok.

Have you mended your relationship with exercise? If yes, I'd love to hear what you learned. Send your thoughts my way: marci at marci rd dot com.

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Guest Post: A Crazy Loaded Cuban Black Beans Recipe

Hello all, this is Matt from FaveDiets, here to spread some healthy cooking love! By far, one of my favorite ingredients to cook with is black beans. Not only are they delicious and incredibly cheap, but they’re chock full of fiber, protein and other nutrients. I mean, what’s not to love about that! I’m lucky enough to live close to a number of restaurants that serve out-of-this-world Cuban black beans.

As the editor of healthy recipes site FaveDiets.com I wanted to re-create this dish with a twist. Instead of making a side dish, I loaded my recipe with lots of vegetables to make it more of high protein entrée. Not only is cooking black beans easy, but all of the ingredients in this black beans recipe are full of positive nutrients for your system.

Crazy Loaded Cuban-Inspired Black Beans

Serves: 6-8

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• ½ pound dry black beans
• Water (You can use chicken or vegetable stock or broth as well)
• 3 carrots, finely diced
• Light vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray
• 2 green peppers, cubed
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2-4 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro, minced
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar or honey (optional)
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• Black pepper, freshly cracked
• Cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1. *Place the dry beans in a bowl and completely submerge in water. Let soak for at least three hours, but preferably overnight. Drain and thoroughly rinse the beans once soaked.
2. *Once the beans have soaked, add to a large pan over medium-high heat and just cover with water or broth. Let the liquid come to a boil, then turn down the heat and let simmer.
3. *Once the beans have been cooking for about 15-20 minutes, place a large pan over medium heat. Add a little oil or cooking spray to then pan, and then sauté the carrots until they just begin to become tender.
4. *Add the green peppers, onion and garlic into the pan with the carrots. Sauté until the green peppers become tender and the onions become translucent.
5. *Once the beans are almost completely tender, drain off any unwanted excess liquid and add in the sautéed vegetables. Add the cilantro, vinegar, sugar and the rest of the spices to the pot. Stir to combine, and let simmer for about 5 minutes or so.
6. *Once the beans are completely tender, turn off the heat and serve over brown or white rice if desired.

Note 1: If I have a preference, I’d rather be cooking dried black beans over canned black beans. Canned beans, while convenient, usually have loads of sodium and sometimes BPA. To make sure I know exactly what I’m eating, I choose dried beans. If you don’t have the time for soaking and then cooking dried black beans, choose reduced sodium canned beans in BPA-free cans. If you make this black beans recipe with canned beans, omit steps 1 and 2 and add the canned beans and the water with the vegetables in step 5.

Note 2: The amount and variety of spices included in this black beans recipe were based on my personal taste. Feel free to tinker with amounts and varieties based on your personal tastes. Not everyone likes cilantro, but I love the stuff. I didn’t have any oregano on hand, but that would have been a great addition here. Play around and make this black beans recipe completely original to you.

Matthew Kaplan is the Editor for FaveDiets.com, a free online resource featuring hundreds of free healthy recipes, healthy cooking tips and loads more. Be sure to check out FaveDiets on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FaveDiets) and on Twitter (@FaveDiets).


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#endED Twitter Chat with Evelyn Tribole Re-Cap

In 2004 I was living in Southern California and completing my dietetic internship. I was one of the very few assigned to spend a couple of months working at a residential treatment facility for eating disorders. Not only did I learn that I was passionate about treating eating disorders, but I discovered the book “Intuitive Eating” for the first time. At this treatment facility, eating intuitively was used as the ultimate goal for balanced/healthy eating. I was sold and intuitive eating has informed both my work and my own relationship with food and my body ever since.

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When Evelyn accepted the invitation to serve as our guest expert for the #endED twitter chat, I was thrilled! I know that Evelyn and Elyse’s book and cd have served as beacons of light and hope for thousands of people, including those in recovery from an eating disorder.

Intuitive Eating (IE) is based on 10 principles. You can read them here. It is also rooted in three core concepts:
1. Unconditional permission to eat
2. Learn to cope with emotions without food
3. Rely on internal hunger & satiety cues

While we discussed quite a bit last night, here are a few token gems that I’ll keep with me (IE = Intuitive Eating and ED = Eating Disorder):

• Public health needs to emphasize healthy behaviors--not a weight, not a size...
• Decisions based on fear do not usually result in positive outcomes. It just reinforces more fear. 
• Reject the diet mentality. We are trained by our culture to believe that dieting is not only acceptable, but expected.
• Health includes, emotional health--flexibility, not perfection.
• When you really listen and have full permission, your body craves all sorts of food. It craves balance.
• Kids who diet are 13 times more likely to binge eat... 
• Important to recognize there is no single time-table for recovery. 
• Parenting--just eating dinner w/no electronics, gadgets, or tv--promotes attunement and family health
• If we could promote more HAES & health campaigns we would be healthier & happier vs fear, body hating
• Fat talk interferes w/ authentic truth. Negative feelings often dumped onto body--ie. Easier to be angrier at body than a friend.
• People need positive eating experiences to help w/fear. But dieting escalates fear, because the desire to eat intensifies...
• IE = honoring health, curiosity, & internal wisdom. ED = rigid, judgmental, external or from head. 
• I think it's important that people learn that dieting predicts MORE weight gain. Several studies show this--in kids, teens & adults.

To learn more about intuitive eating, visit the website at www.intuitiveating.com. It’s an amazing site filled with free articles, research, and tips. Also, an updated version of Intuitive Eating will be coming out this year. And I highly recommend Evelyn and Elyse’s Intuitive Eating CD (which is different from but every bit as amazing as the book!).

If you attended the chat last night, what did you learn? What were your favorite gems?

The goal of #endED is to bring anyone and everyone together who cares about ending eating disorders. My hope is to end the silence and myths about eating disorders, create a place for honest and informed discussion, while offering hope and encouragement.
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