the forgotten goal: HEALTHY EATING

An Encouraging Word, Vol. 2

an occasional note from Jean Fain

 Harvard Medical School psychotherapist & hypnosis instructor

 Published Feb. 18, 2006

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Read on if you’re interested in losing weight without the deprivation associated with dieting. Feel free to forward “An Encouraging Word” to a friend. If you didn’t receive this note directly from Jean Fain and you’d like to subscribe, send an email to the address above with the word “subscribe” in the subject field. If you’d rather not receive future announcements, send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject field.

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So focused on what’s wrong with their eating, most dieters have lost sight of the goal. Nope, I’m not talking about dropping another ten pounds or squeezing into smaller jeans, but achieving a healthier relationship with food. For a recent Glamour Magazine interview on “eating disturbances,” the range of food-related issues that fall short of diagnosable eating disorders, I was inspired to dig out my favorite definition of healthy eating by nutritionist Ellyn Satter from Madison, Wisconsin. It’s definitely worth clipping ‘n’ and saving:

“Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint on your food selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is three meals a day, or it can be choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times; feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is also undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life. In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger and your proximity to food.”

Satter’s ability to restore perspective in a single paragraph is remarkable. But as you probably know too well, perspective can fly out the window faster than Oprah can say: “No more carbs!” So, yes, frame Satter’s quote, but don’t stop there. I encourage you to get curious about what will help you inch toward eating more healthfully. Here are a few new resources:

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Eating Awareness Training Lecture goers who’ve attended my introduction to mindful eating are excited to realize that they can gain control of their eating and lose weight without dieting. That lecture, including a powerful guided meditation, is now available to CD listeners. This recorded presentation offers a strong foundation in Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT), the proven program that embodies principles of mindfulness meditation popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn and research in food intake regulation by psychologist Jean Kristeller. Whatever your eating issue, if you follow the guided meditation, you can try this approach, see if you like it, and begin eating with more control immediately. www.jeanfain.com/cd_purchase.htm

When Food is Food and Love is Love Geneen Roth, mindful eating’s beloved grandmother,  shares her favorite anecdotes, guided meditations and writing exercises for overcoming compulsive overeating on this engaging six-CD set. www.healthyshopping.com/stores/cart.asp?itemnumber=F955D

The Feeding Ourselves Method Alice Rosen’s four-CD set distills the essential lessons and guided meditations of Feeding Ourselves, a proven program for overcoming self-destructive eating. www.theconsciouscafe.org/buy.html

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In addition to seeing clients in private practice, Jean Fain teaches hypnosis at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and she writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, among other women's magazines. More information about Jean Fain’s services and weight-loss CDs is available on her website (www.jeanfain.com).

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