Happy New Year! I hope you have found 2009 to be a better year than 2008 so far. If you have made any new year's resolutions this year, I hope they haven't revolved around weight and fitness. Research shows that these resolutions don't work. Most people start out all excited, jump out of bed and go gung-ho for about a couple weeks. Then the muscle soreness sets in, boredom grows, and generally the lack of motivation takes over. Sound familiar? This is why I don't make resolutions - about anything. I actually get a lot more done by setting small baby step goals. Everytime you complete one of these goals, your confidence is boosted and you're ready to tackle to the next baby step.
This month I'm really excited to announce a few things:
- I am a guest speaker for an incredible program called Outrageously Healthy. This is an exciting program put together by my friend Lenore Miller. Lenore is offering a completely complementary program of amazing speakers featuring all kinds of health, wellness and fitness experts starting this week (tomorrow - Tuesday in fact!). I highly recommend you sign up for the program and while you are there, check out her membership program as well: http://www.outrageouslyhealthy.com/rep/
gillianhoodgabrielson.html
- I am slowly but surely getting some of my products up on my website and I invite you to check them out: http://www.healthieroutcomes.com/products.html. The Stay in the Moment bracelets will also be up there shortly. If you want one before I get them on the site, don't hesitate to contact me, they are sitting here in my office ready for you!
- I would like to start offering book reviews related to intuitive eating and/or mindfulness and/or self-care. If you would like to write one, please email me the name of the book and I will get back to you soon.
- I felt compelled to respond to Oprah's article about her weight gain and her subsequent disappointment. I have part one in this edition and will have part two next month.
Here's to a new year!
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I was really excited to receive this email from a client recently:
"Did you know...
Going to a buffet is NOT a reason to pig out? Also I stood at the book store today and spent some time at the Fitness/Diet section and thought 'I already know How to Eat ---I don't need anyone else telling me that'. I also didn't get a fitness book (I got a jewelry book). I figured the fitness will come with time, baby steps. I feel so at peace today."
I remember the first time I went to a buffet and didn't leave rolling
out of there or lapsing into a food coma. Thank you Intuitive Eating!
Like my client, I also now find other interesting books to read at the
bookstore, no more diet or exercise sections. They are so boring!
Are you ready to feel at peace with food and your body? Give me a call at 1-866-650-8484.
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It's January, well, when you are reading this January will be over, thank goodness! Of course this is the time that all the diet programs come out with their latest and greatest miracles or new and improved programs. I'm sure you've seen the commercials. It's been interesting to see the Nutri-System ads directed at men. I'm sure they will end soon with the Super Bowl being over. It always amuses me when they tell you how they are NEVER hungry. What's interesting about this is how on earth can you tell when to eat if you aren't hungry? I guess you could follow the clock or whenever dinner is served. But the fact is food tastes better when you are hungry and that food will be used for fuel as opposed to being stored as fat for possible use later. The other thing is, if you aren't hungry, how do you know when to stop eating? Just some observations.
You may remember I had a slight rant about Weight Watchers last year when they decided they weren't a diet program. They are still pushing that but now they have this cute little character that represents hunger and they are using it to demonstrate how they can help you avoid hunger with their new program. It's no wonder to me that so many of my clients are afraid to get hungry when we start intuitive eating coaching.
Don't be fooled. Hunger is a biological driver. It's necessary. If you didn't get hungry, you wouldn't eat (except for non-hunger reasons like emotions) and your body would suffer due to a lack of energy.
Anyway, the little hunger guy may be cute and all that, but instead of pushing him away, why not embrace him?
For those of you who are interested, here is my rant about last year's Weight Watcher's "we aren't a diet" promotion last year. http://www.healthieroutcomes.com/blog/?p=44
I had a couple people upset with me after reading my rant, which I consider a good thing because I touched a nerve, but if you continue to read the comments you'll see that those who understand intuitive eating realize that the non-diet, hunger-based approach is the only way to lead a sane life free from food obsession and body image craziness.
Weight Watcher's "Hunger Monster". Isn't he cute? How can hunger be that scary or bad?
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Did you know this is the correct way to weigh yourself? :)
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January 2009
INGREDIENTS:
Here is my recipe for an Outrageously Healthy Life. It's guaranteed to turn out perfectly every time.
INGREDIENTS:
One fabulous Human being (you)
The most Outrageously Healthy Experts on the Planet
BLEND WITH:
Live tele-seminars
Honest sharing of knowledge
Generosity and humor
SIMMER GENTLY WITH:
A community of like-minded individuals
TO SERVE:
Always keep on a gently rolling boil and this recipe will create an Outrageously Healthy you, for life!
Outrageously Healthy is serving up the freshest ingredients now and it's all for free. Get over to Outrageously Healthy and I'll see you there.
P.S. I will be speaking on the "Five Steps to Breaking Out of Diet Prison" on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 3pm Pacific Time (6pm Eastern, 10am Australian East Coast Time, Wednesday, February 11th).
http://www.outrageouslyhealthy.com/rep/
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By now I assume you have heard about Oprah and how once again she is struggling with her weight. I don't watch Oprah very often because she has too many guests talking about diet, health, weight loss, exercise, etc., and most of it I do not agree with. In fact, one day a couple years ago I watched a show with Bob Greene who was taking on a group of people for some kind of challenge and I was disturbed by the way he was talking to them. Bottom line, our philosophies are quite different.
But I noticed on Twitter and some groups I belong to that people were talking about Oprah so I decided to investigate and saw that she had admitted that she had once again gained weight. Not to be sarcastic, but it was pretty clear quite some time ago.
I decided to pick up her magazine for the very first time to read her story hoping that maybe she had some new insight and maybe would be turning towards the non-diet approach. For a woman who spends so much of her show and I assume life being mindful and conscious, she sure isn't ready to do that with food. I think she's discussed mindful eating before, but she doesn't seem to understand what it means or how to really implement it. To say the least, I was disappointed. I don't blame Oprah, she's doing what she thinks is right and what all the "experts" that surround her tell her to do.
Instead of analyze the article and pick it apart or write an open letter to Oprah, both which have been done quite a bit since this story broke, I thought I would pick out a few things that jumped out at me and share my observations and see what we can learn from Oprah's experience.
- Oprah said that when she hit the 160 lb mark, she thought she was done with dealing with weight issues. She says, "I was so sure, I was even cocky." She even found herself lecturing her friends on how easy it was and then would give them all the "rules". Have you ever felt this way? I know I did everytime I lost weight. Even with intuitive eating! I knew this was it, I was done trying to lose weight, no more gaining ever again. Well, as evidenced by Oprah and myself, cockiness is a sure sign that you're about to step into the world of diet deprivation backlash and weight gain all over again. Making peace with food and your body means understanding that this is a continuous process with no end point and no having to start over. It just gets easier over time and that brings the freedom and peace we all want.
- One of Oprah's biggest questions is, "How did I let this happen again?" I'm sure most of us have considered this at least once if not many times after another failed diet attempt and weight gain. The thing that bothers me is that while Oprah says she is not going on another program, she is going to go back to "commonsense basics" like fish, fruit, etc. and less sugar and refined carbs. OK, that's pretty much what she and many of us have done before, right? Ate the "good" foods and limited the "bad". This is my definition of a diet. Sorry, Oprah.
- I'm happy to see that she will be working on being more mindful while eating and staying in the present, I'm all for that. It enhances satisfaction and prevents non-hunger eating.
- Oprah contributed her weight gain to a few different things. First she found out she had hyperthyroidism, which usually leads to weight loss, but not in her case. It gradually turned into hypothyroidism which does contribute to weight gain. Her doctor, much to my happy surprise, encouraged her to embrace hunger and eat when she was hungry. But it appears due to some level of depression (a common occurrence with hypothyroidism) she wasn't too interested in working on identifying hunger and responding to it. She says she felt defeated and was ready to give up. She blamed herself, mainly due to a lack of willpower. In intuitive eating, there is no place for willpower. In their book, "Intuitive Eating", Tribole & Resch, R.D.s, say willpower is an attempt to counter natural desires and replace them with outside rules. Humans are hard wired to fight rules, so willpower is a waste of time.
- One other item I had to take note of - here Oprah is talking about making these changes, yet some of the other articles are the same old thing: "You Don't Have to Gain it All Back!" by Bob Greene (isn't he Oprah's trainer? Hmmmm......); "The Great Pantry Makeover", by Salma Abdelnour; and "The Way to Eat", by David L. Katz, MD. I will admit I didn't read this, but it found it ironic. Sounds like more rules and less mindfullness and connection with the body.
Look for part two in next month's newsletter! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know!
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