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I admit it; I am a cynic by nature. And while I try to see the glass as half-full, I tend to drift to pessimism if I’m not paying attention. So I work pretty hard on staying positive and looking at the world with a positive outlook. But the pessimism jumped up right away when I saw the headline on the latest Oprah magazine, “‘The Battle is Over’ – Oprah, How She Ended Her War with Food”. I seem to remember she had some big revelation last year around this time when she suddenly discovered she had gained weight. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic, that’s part of my nature, too. I’m sure many of you are Oprah fans so I’ll stop :) )

The good news is that Oprah had discovered Geneen Roth, the author of the very first books I read about overcoming emotional eating way back in the early 90’s. Geneen is coming out with her latest book, “Women, Food and God,” and she has accomplished a most remarkable feat, of which all of us who know and love intuitive eating have been hoping for – she turned Oprah onto the concept of mindful eating and that it’s not about the food – food and weight are merely symptoms of whatever is being covered up or avoided by eating. Hooray!

I picked up a copy so I could read the article. Oprah has a brief interview with Geneen and then there is a good-sized excerpt from the book. I can’t wait to read it, the excerpt alone was amazing. Here are two of my favorite quotes:

“All any feeling wants is to be welcomed with tenderness. It wants room to unfold. It wants to relax and tell its story. It wants to dissolve like a thousand writhing snakes that with a flick of kindness become harmless strands of rope.”

“To change your body, you must first understand that which is shaping it. Not fight it. Not force it. Not deprive it. Not shame it.”

Get an Excerpt from Women, Food and God

I talked about the new Geneen Roth book and I found a link to Chapter Four that you can download as a PDF file. This is different from the excerpt in Oprah magazine, so you have two places you can get a taste of the book if you aren’t familiar with Geneen’s work.

Here’s the link: http://www.geneenroth.com/wfggr310/WFG.Chapter4.pdf

What is a “Normal” Eater?

Clients tell me all the time they just want to "eat normally". When I ask them what normal means, they usually laugh and tell me they have no idea. With all the information and misinformation out there about nutrition, health and weight loss, it's nearly impossible to give a definition of normal eating.

Sometimes chronic dieters or other people frustrated with their weight will assume that a thin person is a normal eater. This is not always the case. Just as you can't tell what someone's cholesterol level is by looking at him or her, you can't tell if a thin person is a normal eater. A thin person may have a hidden eating disorder, a medical disorder (such as hyperthyroidism) or may be on a diet and has lost weight (and of course is about to enter diet deprivation backlash and weight gain). Dieting is not normal eating, despite the fact that so many people are constantly on a diet.

From an Intuitive Eating perspective, a normal eater eats when she is physically hungry (as opposed to emotionally or mentally hungry) and stops when she is satisfied. She is so in tune with her body that it tells her when to eat and when to stop. It also tells her what it wants, which may be anything from fresh fruit to even chocolate! A normal eater doesn't always clean her plate, and she doesn't worry about the starving children in whatever country your mom told you about. When she is satisfied, she stops eating. Think about an infant. They eat intuitively, or normally. When a baby is hungry, she screams and cries until she gets the bottle or is fed. When she is satisfied, that's it, no amount of "airplane landing in the hanger" tricks are going to make her eat anymore. Babies are a great example of eating normally and we were all born with this innate ability.

See if you can find a role model for normal eating. Look for someone who maintains her natural body weight consistently, eats what she wants, but most of the time only when she is hungry and stops when she is full. You will also find that this person does not constantly talk about food, diet, exercise, or body weight.

One last important characteristic of normal eaters - they will on occasion eat beyond satisfied, eat when they aren't hungry, or eat for emotional reasons. The difference is that it is not a consistent eating pattern, and most importantly, they do not feel guilt, shame or spend time beating themselves up. An occasional emotional eating episode doesn't turn into days or weeks of more overeating, or a reason to punish yourself with excessive exercise or restrictive eating. Normal eaters just move on with their day and eat again when they are hungry.

Be on the lookout for a Normal Eating role model, you will be amazed at the difference between their habits and those of chronic dieters. As you apply some of these principles into your eating, you will discover the freedom that comes with becoming a normal eater.

Is Your Exercise Routine Boring You to Tears?

Even if you are a person that exercisers on a regular basis, and you like it, chances are you will find yourself getting bored at some point. What to do when your routine gets stale? I was having an email chat with a reader and she told me she had just discovered the wonderful world of fitness DVDs. That really brought me back, I used to do nothing but exercise videos (but they were in VHS format!). There is nothing more convenient than a workout you can do right in your own living room and even take with you when you travel.

Another benefit to fitness DVDs is the selection. If you get tired of one, pull out another and mix it up! When I used my fitness videotapes, you pretty much had a selection of aerobics, step aerobics, strength training and stretching. Things have changed dramatically. I’ve seen it all on DVD – pilates, yoga, walking (yes, right at home), circuit training, kickboxing, fitness for special needs populations, and many, many various specialty workouts. And, if you have equipment at home, you can make good use of your treadmill, bike, slide, and much more.

The person I was discussing DVDs with mentioned she finds her at the library. That’s an awesome place to get them for no charge. If you find one you really love, then you can go purchase it if you want to have it all the time. You can also find fitness DVDs at movie rental stores. Some have better selections than others, but it’s a great way to see if you want to own that workout.

My favorite place to shop for fitness DVDs is Collage Video. I used to buy from them before the internet (can you believe we used to order by telephone? the horror!) through their catalog. Of course now they have a great website. All the videos they carry have been used and rated by their staff. You can call customer service and get real first-hand knowledge about the programs you’re interested in. Each one is rated by level of difficulty and you can even view a clip right on the website. I highly recommend Collage!

One other great option for finding exercise DVDs is Swap-a-DVD. You sign up at no charge and list DVDs you have to swap. Then you get credits for each DVD you send to another member upon their request. With your credits, you can get DVDs listed on the site. From what I can see, it looks like a pretty good selection. I’m not a member since I don’t have a lot of DVDs, but I am a member of its sister sites, SwapaCD.com and PaperbackSwap.com. The only expense you incur is a small postage fee when you ship to someone.