who else watched the Victoria’s secret fashion show this week!
i love it. i love underware sooo much. pretty much just because all the models look amazing in underwear and skinny too

the same day the fashion show was on, i went to the mall. i went to victoria’s secret/PINK and bought new panties! yay.
i love new underwear too

then two days ago i went to jc penny and got these two amazing bras! haha

so a few questions for you lovely readers…

do you love underwear too?
do you have another secret obsession?
where is your favorite place to buy bras and undies?

haha, i know this is such a weird topic, but iv been thinking about it all week. Ana has a soft spot for being unclothed

Valerie Boyer, a member of the French Parliament, has drafted a law requiring all digitally-altered photographs of people used in advertising to be labeled as “retouched.” Her proposal has not yet come to a vote in the National Assembly, but has understandably initiated a debate extending beyond France.

According to the NYTimes article on the subject, the real issue for Ms. Boyer is “about her two teenage daughters, 16 and 17, and the pressures on young women to match the fashionable ideal of a thin body and perfect skin.” Boyer noted in an interview: “If someone wants to make life a success, wants to feel good in their skin, wants to be part of society, one has to be thin or skinny, and then it’s not enough — one will have his body transformed with software that alters the image, so we enter a standardized and brainwashed world, and those who aren’t part of it are excluded from society.”

Photographers and models largely oppose the proposed law, citing concerns about destroying the nature of photographic art and misplacing body concerns and eating disorder prevention efforts to images rather than other complex causal factors.

But EverydayThomist is on the side of Boyer, with a Thomistic argument to boot. According to Aquinas, the sense of sight is the most important of the senses (this point he derives from his Aristotelian biology). While Aquinas thinks that there is something ontologically superior granted to the sense of sight not shared by other senses, a primary reason that the sense of sight is so important is that it is through our vision that we know the truth.

This requires some explanation. Human beings, in Aquinas’ hylomorphic anthropological schema, are composed of a material body and an immaterial soul. We know the truth through our immaterial intellect. However, unlike the angels and other spirits, human beings, being corporeal, cannot grasp the truth simply through the immaterial intellect. Rather, all knowledge of the truth must be mediated through the corporeal body, and specifically, through the external senses–sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

The external senses apprehend external objects which it then communicates to the immaterial intellect. The intellect, being immaterial, cannot have knowledge of material objects perceived by the senses unless it abstracts from these material objects to form an image in the mind, what Aquinas calls a phantasm. It is by means of this image that the mind knows. This is an important point in Thomistic epistemology that bears repeating: the mind can only know by means of the creation of phantasms.

However, the process of knowing by means of the creation of phantasms is a complex and highly dialectic process. The mind must continue to return to the external senses which apprehend (and are corporeally transmuted by the perception of the external object) in order to maintain and develop the phantasm. Think of this analogously to apprehending a complex piece of art. As you think back on the work of art in your mind, your knowledge will be fragmented. You have to continue, time and again, returning to the piece of art before you can truly see it in your mind’s eye, even when the artifact itself is absent. Turns out, all knowledge of externals is like this. We have to continue returning to the external object before its phantasm can be firmly planted in the mind and our knowledge of the object can be said to be true.

Multiple empirical studies have indicated a significant correlation between exposure to idealized media images and various manifestations of body dissatisfaction including depression anxiety, and anger. A 2003 Australian study investigated the effect of body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls (aged 13-15) after viewing 20 commercials containing idealized thin female images versus 20 nonappearance television commercials. The study found that girls, but not boys, who viewed the commercials with the idealized images reported significantly higher body dissatisfaction compared with nonappearance commercials, supporting the general hypothesis that televised images of attractiveness lead to increased body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls. A 2002 study by Durkin and Paxton found that in a controlled study of seventh and tenth graders, both grades experienced a significant decrease in state body satisfaction and a significant increase in state depression attributable to viewing idealized images of females in advertising. Another 2002 meta-analytic review of 25 studies on the effect of mass media images of the slender ideal on body dissatisfaction found that body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing images of thin models than after viewing images of average or plus-size models.

The role of the media and specifically the espousal of the thin-ideal image of female beauty is frequently implicated as a cause for the onset and maintenance of eating disorders, and experimental data from the last two decades seems to confirm that this is the case. Several studies confirm that body-image dissatisfaction is the most consistent predictor of the onset of an eating disorder. A three-year longitudinal study of female adolescents confirmed a statistical significance between body dissatisfaction and the onset restrictive eating behaviors.

Aquinas would not be surprised at such empirical studies. Aquinas, along with the ancients, knew that what we see influences who we are. Aquinas called this the process of becoming connatured to what we see. The strongest phantasms in our minds, the phantasms of external objects we are most frequently exposed to through our vision, naturally influences our appetites, inclining us toward those objects in the appetitive movement of love. If we continuously are exposed to thin-ideal images of beauty in popular media, those phantasms of that beauty ideal will be strong in our mind, and our appetites will be duly influenced as well. Women may be inclined towards behaviors like food restriction and over-exercise to manifest such an ideal in their own body. Men may be inclined towards women embodying such an ideal, thus reinforcing the knowledge (derived from the phantasm), that thinness is the ideal of feminine beauty.

Boyer’s proposal offers a way of bypassing this psychological process. By labeling thin-ideal images as retouched, the phantasm that the mind would like create upon exposure to such images is more likely to be a phantasm of a falsely-represented external object, rather than an accurate representation of reality. The mind would not just create a phantasm of an overly-thin beautiful woman, but would accompany this phantasm with the cognitive judgment that such an image was a lie. Thus, the appetite is more likely to be inclined towards such images as good and desirable.

Now, EverydayThomist in no way thinks that Boyer’s proposal is going to solve the eating disorder problem. Eating disorders are complicated phenomena, and the representation of thin-ideal images of women in popular media is only part of the problem. But her proposal is a step in the right direction. It recognizes that eating disorders are not simply problems with food, but also problems in seeing. Transforming what we see is frequently the first step in solving problems in what we do.

School was officialy over yesterday!!! Well, TECHINCALLY. I still have exams, butttt no more classes!! Woooh! So, I’m off until January 5th, then I start my 2nd semester. I’m pretty exited. New classes and stuff .

I’m getting very annoyed with my employement status. I’ve been unenployed for too long now. I want to look for a job now, although it’s pointless cause I’d have to take all of december off. So, y plan is to send out resumes when I get back from Sudbury. I’m planning on saving up for two things basically, a weave and an appartment I’m still on track with my plan, I was planning on spending atleast my first year living with my auntie, and I still plan on it. But, I really want an apprtment now lol. Myself and J would probably liv together, since we still will be together by then ofcourse hehe.

Speaking of J, wow. Our communication is SO good. Our relatinship hit yet another rough patch yesterday, &we were on the phone for hours. Basicly, this was my fault. &I was cryin so much on the phone. See, my eating disorder’s caught up with me. It’s been really hard for the last few weeks.. Now, I have lost weight. However, I don’t know how much since there’s no scales, -anywhere- so I’ll have to weight till my appointment. But, I’ve been restricting&purging&exercise&the whole load. It’s really stuck in my head right now… &nobody knows but J. Since I broke down&cried on the phone with her. I had to explai toher why I had changed lately.. She doesn’t understand when Isay I’m in my ED phase of mind.. But, she’s sympathetic towards it. Oh, &since I’ll be in exams&won’t have time, not to mention ight be in Sudbury for our anniversary, I’ve got the whloe day planned ut tomorrow . I plan on getting her to meet me at Parlement, &I’ll have flowers&coffe for her. We’ll walk around, &when we get to the place where we had our first official date, I will give her an enveloppe. Int he enveloppe there’s gonna be m,ovie tickets to the movie we’re going to see, an explanation for all of this,& a few rose petals hehe. The, we’re going to go see th emovie &blahblah. Well, I’m bringing her bk to my place,&I’ll have in my room, on my bed a little piknikish thing. I’ll have fruit platter with chocolate dip&candles everywhere, &I’ll be giving her massages&doing whatever she wants to her &she’s not aloud to touch me hehe (mostly becase it’s my time of the month, but, might as well play it as being some sxual thing hahaha) &There’s going to be a letter on the pillow with confetti hearts in it hehe.

Oh, I’m exited, no doubt.

Anyways, I better go start my day.. it’s 230&I havn’t even left my bed yet -_- ugggh.

Love,
Amandah.

I consistently struggle with my weight.  Although it may not be obvious to an outside observer, it is a constant in my life.  In recent years, my education level about health has improved dramatically.  I could bore you to tears rattling off tidbits about nutrition, physical activity, disease prevention, and wellness in general. 

With all of this knowledge, I am now much smarter with my self-criticisms:  I ditched the scale long ago in favor of the much more intelligent measuring tape.  The scale does not take into account changes in body composition.  One might lose fat and gain muscle while body weight stays the same or even increases.  Measurements (like waist and hip) reflect changes much faster than relying on a scale.  Have I just exchanged one obsession for another?  In light of the fact that I can accurately tell you what my waist measures on any given day, the answer is a resounding, “Yes.”

Could this be a factor in why I was drawn to the field of health promotion?  A colleague once told me that, in his experience, most professionals in the wellness and fitness industries suffer from some sort of body image issue.  I find it to be true in my experience as well.  Issues range from body dysmorphic disorder and exercise addiction  to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

How do body image issues begin?  Consider how many media images we are exposed to on a daily basis.  Even before the internet, media images from television and magazines were in our lives basically from birth.  What a potential for influence!

We are constantly inundated with images of the “thin ideal” for females, which has become more and more thin since the 1950’s and increasingly unrealistic.  The messages and images that focus on the value of appearances and thinness for females have a significant negative impact on body satisfaction, weight preoccupation, eating patterns, and the emotional well-being of women.  Research has demonstrated that the media contributes to the development and maintenance of eating disorders.  

Sun-Maid Girl Before

(Even the Sun-Maid Raisins girl appears to have breast implants.)  

                                                                              Adults must take responsibility for teaching children healthy habits.  An excellent way to do so is by setting a good example of healthy eating and exercise.  The media is very powerful; however, it is not the only factor. Behavior of parents and family values play an important role in shaping children’s development. 

Sun-Maid Girl After

It is impossible to completely shield our children from media images, but it is imperative to talk to them and explain the difference between reality and the unattainable Photoshopped celebrities on magazine covers.  Communicating about body image and promoting self-esteem are just as important as talking about sex, drugs, and alcohol.

To go along with my previous post on VH1’s Tough Love, as well as today’s class discussion about eating disorders, I would like to reflect on an episode of Real Housewives of Orange County that I saw last night. In this episode, newest housewife Alexis describes how picky she is about her food. Her reasoning seemed to suggest not so much a pickiness, but rather behavior bordering on an eating disorder. Alexis explains how she has to watch what she eats in order to keep up her appearance, adding that if she were to eat a donut, she’d have to work out for two or three days “just because I ate a donut.”

There are so many things wrong with this statement, I doubt I can go into them all. However, I’d like to use Alexis as an example for what I believe is a growing problem among girls and women that often falls under the radar in comparison to things like anorexia and bulimia. Alexis’ habit of “exercising off” what she eats has the potential to turn into a compulsive exercise disorder. While exercise is obviously a good thing and it is definitely better to exercise after eating then to throw up, using exercise as an escape in this way can be dangerous. By advertising that her solution for eating badly is to exercise every time she eats a donut, Alexis is sending out the message that if you do the same, you can look as great as she does. Being overly picky about your food and obsessive about working out are not healthy habits. If Alexis ate normal meals without worrying about her weight and only worked out a few times a week, she could still look great and get a positive message out at the same time.

i feel so lost, confused and broken. It’s hard to find the right words. I think I should have written bit by bit but I’ve been too overwhelmed with things to think about it. I had a pretty traumatic event happen, then I ahd my first therapy session, which really made me rather more emotional than I thought possible. I took off to my sisters house, got blizted out of my mind for the first time in about 4 years or so, this was the night before therapy, and then the same thing happened the next day. I just got to the point where I had so much inside of me that I could NOT handle it, I needed to be numb, to forget, to stop thinking , to stop feeling altogether. I needed to not exsist for a couple nights.

Basically I’ve said a little bit before about the issues with arena with my boyfriend, how we set each other off. So we’ve talked about it and tried to come up with solutions, so the solution hat he came up with wasz this, when he steps over the line I’m supposed to just log out and ignore calls for about 15 minutes. Then come back. When he came up with this I knew immediately that it’d make him furious when I did that, and he agreed but said that after a few minutes he’d be fine. So arena comes along and we’re doing threes on Monday night, he stepped over the line so I was really calm and said I’d be back and logged out, I thought I was doing exactly the right thing. Btu I guess not, he freaked out. Our other threes partner was upset because we didn’t have enough games for the week, so I went to call Jason to get him to get back on so we didn’t screw over the other guy. Well, he just flipped more, went off and said the most horrible things he’s ever said. He said we were truly done, that we were kidding ourselves, that I was too emotional that he didn’t have a heart, that he wasn’t ready for a girlfriend. And he meant it, and I knew it. So I didn’t call back. I called my sister, and sent her on a mission to make sure there’d be soemthign good for me when I got to her house. 11:30 at night and an hour and a half long drive, I balled my eyes out the entire time, it is soooo hard to drive at night when crying.

I spent the night there, couldn’t sleep of course, And I didn’t want to take my klonopin while I was wasted. Drove back home the next day for my therapy. It was so horrible to hear my phone go off, everytime I had that sudden jump in my ehart rate, and this idea that maybe Jason was calling back to apologize and say he didn’t mean anything. But no such luck. I went to therapy, and decided to really try to be as open and honest as possible, it was horrible, I walked in sat down and started balling my eyes out. So many times I caught myself smiling to try to stop hurting. And I know that’s a terrible thing to do. I felt better after it all though. The sad part is that the therapist doesn’t think I sould be with Jason, she talked a little about how we are both impulsive and I need soemthign more stable, I haven’t told him this, because I’d rather me and him work our stuff out than go looking for someone else, theres no one else I want. And I’d do anything for this man. I have to keep a diary now of when I want to binge. Turns out its really ahrd to binge when I’m doing that, it also makes me incredibally sad to accept the emotions that are connected to it. It amplifies those emotions drastically. I find comfort in 4 things, food, swimming, being stoned and being next to Jason, well 5, my cat brings me comfort as well. I don’t get stoned anymore, Jason is 1000 miles away, its hard to make it to the gym when im sad, and my cat only offers comfort for so long, so of course, a refreshing soda and junk food is what I go for.

Anyway, finally that evening he sent me a message asking for my address to send my shoes and the watch I gave him back. Which was such a slap int eh face. The watch I gave him was liekt he equivalent of an engagement ring, in my eyes anyway. I told him to keep the watch and then asked if we could be civil and end things on a good note instead of being nasty. He said hed call once he got home. I was on my way to my sisters again at the time so I got smashed the second I got there so I’d be able to talk to him without breaking down. I knew there was a little something still there since when I sent a message saying soemthign like, “don’t worry I changed my mind about fighting for us so its not like I want to try to talk you into staying with me” his response was “wow it only took you a day to decide that we aren’t worth fighting for?”. I really didn’t have the intention of ending up back together with him, I just wanted to be able to talk and be on good terms, kinda have closure. So we got talking, I cried a little of course, he said that hed spent the day in the casino trying to ignore what had happened, and was kinda upset that I hadn’t called him back that night or during the day. He said that if I’d called back we would have been fien already btu as far as I’m concerned we were far from fien no matter what. Im getting sleepy so its rough to write it all, plus it’s a bit blurry, it all comes down to the fact that we do love each other, and we are working on things, I did however call off the engagement and told himt hat I’m not going there until he’s really ready, until he isn’t scared tot lak about the future.he says he still considers us engaged , but whatever, he says he’ll just suprise me. we talked more the next day abotu stuff and he wanted to knwo if he had a timelione, which he doesnt, btut i did tell himt hat a point in time will come that if he hasnt taken the next step, im goignto just walk away cos i’ll knwo its not there. hes worried about how long its goignt ot ake to get over things, for me. and im so worried that he just felt guilty and thats why he wants to try, ive lost so much trust in him, and i don’t knwo how to give hima  fair chance. im so hurt, btu i love the guy to death, i do knwo that he loves me, but i’m nto sure if thats going to be enough.

love doestn conquor all, i wish it did, btu it takes a little more.

he talked about how he was honestly breakign up for my benefit becuas ehe felt liek he was mak,ing me miserable, personally itnhink its a bullshit excuse and he knows i thinkt hat but insists its true, he said he just wanted to make me hate him so i’d get over it move on and find soemthign better. I SMELL BULLSHIT.  so how do i do this now?

how to i stay open and really make an effort, how do i hold it together on my end. part of my just wants to run, and a big part of me is afraid he isnt going to stick it out and work on it. i think when it gets hard he tries to get away rather than pushing on. i am giving him a chance thoguh, so i’ll just ahve to see how it goes, hopefully well.

Just a little bit won’t hurt you, my paternal grandmother has always said. She opens her mouth for another spoonful, another bite, another taste. Growing up, she would eagerly give me second helpings. Tomato & Cheese macaroni baked in bacon fat. Grits, eggs and bacon. Lemon ice box pie. These things from her Southern childhood, our heritage. She never regained her figure after the two boys. Now, she labors around the house, encumbered by her weight and poor health.

My maternal grandmother would also offer homecooked meals. Hers were usually sensible and balanced. She usually didn’t suggest seconds. She, herself, would not eat much as she would get up from the table to tend to everyone’s wants. A full time nurse, she was conscious of the ill effects of excess. Pictures of her reveal a reed-thin woman, high cheekbones and a long neck. Today she stoops and asks for seconds.

My mother has always cooked elaborate meals. When married to my father, usually Southern cooking: everything fried. In her second marriage, she has favored more vegetables, Asian dishes and legumes. Her calorie allotment for the day is quite restricted compared to mine today. A large meal will usually suffice for most of the day, sprinkled with a small snack of popcorn and multiple coffee breaks.

The story goes that she wore her pre-pregnancy jeans home from the hospital after my birth. She went to bed hungry often and ate mostly cottage cheese and cantaloupe. You’ve gained weight, my grandmother would state. Or, you’ve lost weight, if on how their relationship was amiable. Approval or disapproval.

In high school, I also tried restricting my diet. I would have coffee and maybe toast for breakfast, a baked potato for lunch and a lean cuisine for dinner. I enjoyed the attention that I got for losing weight. Girls I normally never talked to, complimented me. One girl, of whom we were all envious because of her enormous chest, lost nearly 15 pounds one summer. The rumor was that rice cakes had been her dietary staples. We all choked down the cakes, muttering about how awful they were and dreaming of our stomachs in a bikini.

I look at pictures of that time in my life and like what I see. Sure, I was unhappy which is ultimately why I restricted my food intake, but I looked good in a size 2. Now, the pictures of myself 7 months after having a baby, I see through biased eyes. Look at how full my face is, my skinny self screams. Look at your stomach folding over your pants!

Hold in your gut, my father used to say. Advice he seldom took himself. He struggled with his weight, too. Excess masked inner discontent. He was like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, salivating before dinner. His chin tucked and utensils poised, he voraciously ate until stuffed. Then, his mood would move from frantic with hunger to happy and calm to full and self loathing.

More cheese! Says my daughter. More bread. More candy! I try to give her apple slices and carrots and tomatoes. She shakes her head, no. I thought I would have been a better example for her and her eating habits. But I am in a hurry most of the time, eating quickly while bouncing her sister on my lap. I am hardly able to savor each bite. I choke down my food to give me the energy to continue my day.

On more than one occasion I have observed little girls before they are cognizant of their bodies. Usually, they are around 7 or 8. Their limbs are unencumbered and there is no shame in their movements. They leap and run and perform dances, completely unaware of any limitations. I crave that. For me. For my girls.

I have always passionately loved food. Taste and smell are my two favorite senses (unless what I’m smelling and/or tasting is disgusting, then they suck) and I revel in the experiences of preparing and consuming a meal. Cooking is almost as enjoyable as eating in many cases, and I should probably just limit myself to cooking and trade the eating part for celery sticks.

Not that celery sticks aren’t delicious in the proper context, but I can’t think of anything that more completely takes the joy out of life than dieting. Dieting gives me a food complex that I don’t normally have. I think about food all the time. Deprivation doesn’t help me lose weight, it just makes me imagine all the different cheese-based dishes I am capable of preparing. I think of food so often that it becomes unhealthy.

Dieting, however, isn’t the only thing that makes my relationship with edibles less than ideal. Sometimes I fantasize about food when bored or upset, will spend an inappropriate amount of time planning my meals when I’m working a job below my mental capacities or with people I’d like very much to spend two hours at lunch to get away from. I don’t think this is exactly what a nutritionist or psychologist would refer to as an eating disorder – I suspect it’s fairly normal, all things considered. Especially the dieting thing. I mean, when a person is hungry, who doesn’t obsess about food? That’s sort of the point of a diet – to think it out to the point of absolute control over what you ingest. I suspect I’m also not the only person out there who is totally miserable while dieting too.

So I guess I’d say I really lack the qualities associated with a person with a true eating disorder. I do consider my eating habits to be semi-disordered, but that’s an entirely different thing. That just means I need to organize more than my closets if I ever want to enjoyably drop a few pounds. Enjoyable diets…someone’s gotta tell me how that’s not an oxymoron.

I’m ready to rejoin the human race now, please.

Back a step:  I’ve started therapy again.  Not because anything was going wrong, particularly, but because winter means my mood is going to crater and I’ve been toying with the idea of an eating disorder relapse and I just wasn’t willing to give in without a fight.  Or even to play the game of letting things go to a certain point and then acting all sorry and mad at myself for having to pick up all the pieces again.  At some point you have to at least try not to take the pieces and throw them on the ground and stomp on them in the first place.

I.  want.  More.

If I can’t have more then who knows?  The life of a perennial basket case is hardly going anywhere.  But I’ve been kinda kicking ass with all this writing stuff.  No, okay, not published yet.  But I’ve gotten past the dismissive form letter with several editors, enough to make it not a fluke, and it seems to me if I keep going I’m certain to get an acceptance sometime.

After that, who knows?  I have a realism side and a perfectionism side.  The realism says that making a successful career as a writer is something which very few people can accomplish and there may be more luck than talent needed in achieving it.  The perfectionism side says it makes absolutely not one bit of difference who likes my work, who publishes it, who pays me for it.  All that matters is that I aim as high as possible and don’t accept anything less than whatever I am capable of.

So that’s the deal I guess.  Being a basket case can go back to lurking in the corner, plan B forever and ever and ever.  Plan A is that I don’t stop now when I’m so close to making it past one of these editors I can taste it.

Anorexia nervosa is one of the most prevalent and dangerous eating disorders known to man. It is known to many in that it is characterized by the sufferer refusing to eat and losing extreme amounts of weight until they often resemble nothing more than a skin covered skeleton that can often lead to death in the most severe cases

Eating disorders are complicated pathological mental illnesses and thus are not alike as addictions described in this article. That patients with eating disorders can successfully be treated with alike non-pharmacological protocols used in patients with chemical addiction disorders. Gambling is another potentially addictive behavior with some biological overlap. Psychological dependency is a dependency of the mind, and leads to psychological withdrawal symptoms. Some claim that it is a habitual means to avoid undesired activity, but typically it is only so to a clinical rank in individuals that have emotional, or psychological dysfunctions, replacing normal positive stimuli not otherwise attained.

List of Literature
Nutrition counseling in the treatment of eating disorders, Marcia Herrin, 2003

Approved Links
Eating Disorders

Are Eating Disorders Related To Bad Habits is filed under eating disorders.

It’s weird, but I feel like I’m simmering.  I can feel a lot of the anger just under the surface … simmering.  Same with the fear and frustration, etc.  All that negative stuff.

The thing is, I’ve been learning and practicing new ways of dealing with all of that but I think I miss the old ways! Ha!  Really, I do!  And that’s just left me simmering and anxious. It’s kinda weird.

I know my new way of dealing with stuff is better for me in the long run and healthier – but change is unnerving even if it’s good change.  So even though I am making some progress, I’m also falling back on my old habits because, as I said, I kind of miss them, they’re comfortable I guess.

So this is how it goes:  I feel anger, anxiety and frustration which leads me to being difficult or argumentative, not listening, taking things personally, binge eating and insomnia.

Argh…

I haven’t really been hoarding so that’s interesting.  I haven’t been becoming internal and hiding from the world either.  Also interesting.  And definite progress – I really need to remember that.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share that here so I’d remember that it’s normal to feel this way. At least I think it is.  I kinda feel … hmm, I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s just uneasy.

A nutritionist supervises special menus, manages the diet plans and advises people on health related dietary matters. He or she helps to promote healthy eating habits and recommends dietary modifications to prevent illnesses.

Complete Guide to Healthy Eating

The maximum effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits. Oodles people are on a quest to achieve a flat stomach. The obsession with the abdominal area can cause frustration, and can lead to eating disorders. Unfortunately all for many people it’s not physiologically possible to achieve a flat-stomach. Individual body types can effect the scope and shape of the abdomen.

List of References
Healthy Eating for Life to Prevent and Treat Cancer, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 2002
The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating During Pregnancy, W. Allan Walker, Courtney Humphries, 2005

Recommended Links
Carb Counting- Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating is filed under healthy eating.

A June 8, 2005 release from HealthDay News reported on a study of 104 men and women that participated in six months of aerobic exercise using a bicycle, treadmill or stepper, combined with weightlifting.

The maximum effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits.
Oodles people are on a quest to achieve a flat stomach.
The obsession with the abdominal area can cause frustration, and can lead to eating disorders.
Unfortunately all for many people it’s not physiologically possible to achieve a flat-stomach.
Individual body types can effect the scope and shape of the abdomen.
It is especially true of many healthy and fit women who, when they accomplish about 40 years old, tend to get hold of a lower abdominal pooch due to hormonal changes.
Poor posture can play a part to a pot belly look, while good posture can add to a trimmer-looking physique.

Approved Links
Stil in BerlinAerobicShort-Term Aerobic Exercise Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Older
Strength Training
Physical Activity/Aerobic Exercises
Aerobic exercise

The Benefits of Aerobic Exercise is filed under aerobic exercise.

Poet Denise “Dee” Sweet was Poet Laureate of Wisconsin from 2004-2008 and is Professor Emerita of Humanistic Studies, English, and First Nations Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She has been honored with awards from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas,  the Wisconsin Council or Writers, the Positive Indian Development Center, the Wisconsin Women’s Council and others.  She is the author of two collections of poetry, Songs for Discharming, and Know By Heart. I met her at the Rice Lake Library’s Coffee with the Author series and suggested an interview. When we talked by phone two weeks later, she shared her thoughts on poetry, faith, culture, and her struggles with an eating disorder. You can read some of her work here.

Erstwhile Luddite: How long have you been writing poetry, and when did you realize this could be a significant part of your career?
Denise Sweet: I wrote a poem when MLK was assassinated.  That was 8^th or 9^th grade.  I was always raised to imitate nursery rhymes and I always loved language, but around this time I realized poetry was more than just rhymes.  There was content.  I could communicate my grieving through putting it down on paper.  This poem was read over public radio and I realized that I had some talent.  Throughout high school I wrote poems. As a young mother, I would write poetry just to occupy myself.  I would write in my journals at night.  It was mostly bad poetry.  A writer has to hone her or his trade by writing bad poetry.

When I returned to college, I was blessed by the faculty at UW-Eau Claire.  So many award-winning writers—fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, journalism. They cultivated a community. I decided with all this, I should give writing a shot.  I had some talent, and I worked very hard.

From the start, I wanted to be able to teach others to use words this way. My desire to teach is derived from my love of language, and wanting to dispel the myth of the Queen’s English.  We don’t talk that way.  We need to liberate the language and subject matter from the idea of correctness.

My strongest students—award winners, or people who go on to MFAs—get this idea.  My legacy as a teacher is to help people understand there is no un-poetic subject matter.

EW: What are some projects you are working on right now?
DS: Poetry boot camp was something I had to let go when I became Poet Laureate, but that’s something I hope to re-initiate.  I’m working with Joel Friederich to do this in a rural area.  It’s something that recruits talented young poets, from about 6^th-9^th grade.  They have to audition to get in, and we have some rules about being considerate to each other. I have helped some of these young people go on to study the arts at the university level.

I’m working now on poems that are “origin” accounts.  The origin of love, the origin of envy, of loneliness, other emotions.  As poets, we are trying to embed emotion in the poem, but the emotions themselves are invisible, unnamed.  You aren’t supposed to come out and say they are there.  So I am playing with that.

I’m also finishing a collection of poems to be translated into Spanish, Ojibwe, and Portuguese.

EW: What are three words that describe your writing?
DS: Faith, intuition, revelation.

EW: What do you mean by revelation?
DS: The revelatory act.  Words have so many layers, I don’t always understand what I’m writing until I’ve read it, revised it, and let it go. We think a poem is about something, but then we put it into form and then we see it for what it is.

Regarding faith, my upcoming collection is called As Those with Faith Will Do. I’m not talking about faith in a deity, but in ourselves.  About what it is inside of us to not be complicit or stand silent.

EW: Do you think faith in a deity and faith in ourselves is, at core, the same thing?
DS: I don’t know and I don’t really need to know. I’ve become very interested in Buddhism, especially in the writings of the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh. I think we have to recognize that we are all god with a little “g.” I used to engage in writing with as much humility as I used to pray in Catholic school that I would be worthy in God’s eyes. Now I see I need to honor all living beings.  Especially bodies of water.

EW: Interesting that you refer to bodies of water as living beings.
DS: In Ojibwe culture, women are keepers of the water.  We enter into a covenant as soon as we are born that we will make sure everyone knows that only women are to conduct the ceremonies for water.  Sometimes men go into sweat lodges to purify themselves.  Women don’t have to sweat, we have the ability to cleanse ourselves.  Every time we go into our moon, we are cleansing ourselves.

EW: As a scholar of First Nations Studies, what do you think of college diversity programs, especially as regards Native students?
DS: First, we are not an ethnic group, we are a political entity.  We have the power to negotiate with foreign countries, for example.  But we all have a cultural identity.  You don’t have to be an Indian to go to your elders, learn the stories and dances of your culture.  I don’t want students to think that only people of color have culture.

Ethnicity should not be treated like a petting zoo.  Try to learn about where you come from.  The assimilation policy from Ellis Island all the way through today has had a far greater impact on [European] culture in this country than on people of color.

EW: Can you talk about your recovery from anorexia?
DS: Cognitive therapy saved my life.  I really had to listen to what the disease was dictating.  I’ve done irreparable harm to my body, and now I have a responsibility to be a role model.  Sometimes I stay healthy for myself.  When things get too tough I do it for my grandchildren.  I was in treatment three times before getting healthy in 1993.  It’s a progressive disease, like alcoholism.  Each time you pick it back up, you pick up where you left off.

Most students don’t see that they are bombarded with images of “perfection” and that it is very difficult to undo these images. I tell myself “I am not the disease, I am Denise Sweet.”  When I was sick I said “My name is anorexia nervosa and my problem is Denise Sweet.”

I don’t want to die that way.  I want to die an honorable death, even if it’s falling out of a tree or getting hit by a bus, I don’t want to die from this disease.

EW: What do you wish I would have asked you?
DS: About the persistence of memory.  I’ve had strokes in my past.  What fascinates me is what I remember.  Things I should remember—like what day it is—don’t matter.  But, for example, I remember that I had a fear of heights as a kid and I kept challenging myself.  I climbed a silo, a windmill, a forestry service station.  I can’t remember much of my childhood, but for some reason I remember that.

EW: What would your superhero name be?
DS: Sappho. I love her work. Even though most of it has been lost, and what’s available is often just half a poem, it’s amazing.  If just half a poem can be that good, then that’s the superhero name I want.

So i have always thought the health factor of obesity was a overwraght chance to make money off us fatties.   There is this myth that if you are fat you will get diabetes, heart disease, blah blah blah OMG DEATHFATZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We didn’t fall for the “you have to look good or nobody will ever love YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU”  rant the diet people have been feeding us since the 80’s.  How ever do you make the fatties who dont care about looks desperate to buy your products and lose weight?   Make them think they will DIE because of it.  

In my personal experience, quite the opposite is true.   My maternal grandfather was 650 lb at his heaviest.   As i recall, not a thing was wrong with him…he may have had bad knees, but ANYONE over 6 foot has joint problems, not just fatties.  He was active in his life and community, playing golf at least 2-3 times a week and actively rasing money for the masons and Shriners.    Nothing that is, until he had gastric bypass….then i remember him throwing up after he ate every time.  10 years after the bypass he died of pancreatic cancer.   (which as far as i know NO ONE has EVER linked to obesity)   My mother had back problems all of her life….worked as a nurse lifting people too….was a size 22 up until the last 2 years…..she lost the weight her doctor told her was causing her joint issues…and now they are even worse than before.   ON the flip side look at my very skinny paternal grandparents…..guess who takes the heart meds?   not teh fatty fatty 2×4 side of the family.  

I have thought for YEARS that yes there is a link between type 2 diabetes and obesity….but everyone wants to blame the stupid fatties (because that is how you sell us the multiBILLION dollar weight loss stuff dontcha know.)    But obesity doesnt cause weight loss its the other way around.   It’s not weight gain which causes diabetes. It’s diabetes which causes weight gain. The majority of people with type 2 diabetes (there is no such thing as Type II diabetes) have an excess of insulin in their blood, which causes the body to lay down white adipose tissue.  ( http://newslanc.com/2009/12/01/type-2-diabetes-causes-weight-gain/)    

Studies show that the idea of calorie in calorie out method is wrong…it doesnt take into account peoples metabolism.   When they did studies trying to produce weight gain through overeating, using prisoners as their test population, they found that weight gain quickly tapered off, even when the prisoners were gorging 10,000 calories per day.   Hell i worked with prader-willi clients, a genetic disorder that causes uncontrollable appetite, weight gain,  and an inability to vomit, among other things.  they were restricted to 800 calories a day and STILL didnt lose weight, even when all food was locked away and they were forced to exercise.   Even when they ran away and gorged on food, they never really gained more than a lb (the weight of the pre-digested food). After a decade of 800-calorie diets, they still were grossly obese. They switched doctors, and the new doctor relaxed things, allowing them to have 1000 calories daily. They didn’t gain a lot of weight, despite the 25% increase in food; in fact, they lost about 5-10 pounds each, on average.

The Sugar Queen  ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Karen White
7 discs

Della Lee Baker, a local waitress hides in the closet of Josey Cirrini. Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night Della decides to change Josey’s life and soon she discovers the enchanting world of possibilities in friendship, love and following her dreams .

wordle.net

I have to admit that this whole giving of thanks thing was a bit more difficult this year.  I’m 1,000 miles away from my family because I chose to do the adult thing and have a job.  I will also be away from them on Christmas morning, but at least it won’t be because I’m in the hospital.  So there’s one thing of thanks right there.

On Thanksgiving morning, I drove to my friends’ house to feed their dogs and let them out for a brief run.  On my drive back to my own place, I saw several runners.  This did not help my mood at all.  Ever since I was a runner-around the age of 12–I would go for a run on all holidays.  I can’t really explain it.  New Year’s Day was the most important one–getting the new year off on the right foot.  My dad always runs on holidays, and I learned to run with him, so maybe that’s my explanation.  But over time it just felt right.

So I see these people running and this feeling of bitterness creeps up inside of me.  A bit of anger, too. “If I can’t run, then they shouldn’t be able to, either.”  I know that is highly illogical and unrealistic and I really do support my friends who are runners.  But sometimes it just plain sucks knowing that I will not run again.  It sucks knowing that it wasn’t really my choice.  I mean, I could go for a run.  No one is going to stop me.  But the knowledge of what could happen on that run does stop me.  It’s a part of my life I still miss.

But wallowing in self-pity over something that isn’t going to go away for the rest of your life isn’t always that helpful.  So here are some things I am thankful for:

• I have an amazing group of friends, both here in Missouri and back on the east coast.
• Even though I am taking a year off of school, I am becoming happier with this program.
• I have a part time job I like, with coworkers who have taught me a great deal in two short weeks.
• I love my cats!  (Their page has been updated, by the way)
• I am healing.
• I have Lily (the ICD), and while she may feel like a pain in the ass sometimes, it is a relief knowing she is there.
• I can knit, crochet, and bead with the best of them and am almost finished making my very first pair of socks.
• I can enjoy the holidays and go to parties without worrying about how much to eat and what to eat and who is watching.
• I will always be thankful for life without an eating disorder, regardless of the time of year.

The list is incomplete, but at 8 am with only one cup of coffee in me, it’s a pretty good list!  It is the holiday season, and I’m going to make the best of it.  I have decorations up–the christmas moose are out in plenty and my two Build a Bears have their party get ups on.

A nutritionist supervises special menus, manages the diet plans and advises people on health related dietary matters. He or she helps to promote healthy eating habits and recommends dietary modifications to prevent illnesses.

Complete Guide to Healthy Eating

The maximum effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits. Oodles people are on a quest to achieve a flat stomach. The obsession with the abdominal area can cause frustration, and can lead to eating disorders.
Unfortunately all for many people it’s not physiologically possible to achieve a flat-stomach. Individual body types can effect the scope and shape of the abdomen.

Indication of Source
Healthy Eating for Life to Prevent and Treat Cancer, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 2002
The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating During Pregnancy, W. Allan Walker, Courtney Humphries, 2005

Useful Links
Carb Counting- Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating Recipes is filed under healthy eating.

There’s a girl at my school who is very skinny.  She has an eating disorder that I’m not supposed to know about.

People crucify her in conversations behind her back.  They wouldn’t say anything to her face, but to anyone who’ll listen she’s an unhealthy freak, is far too skinny, and looks like a skeleton.

She isn’t, she isn’t, she doesn’t.

She does have an eating disorder, and that’s not a good thing.  Don’t think that I’m saying that you should go throw up lunch in your bathroom now.

What bothers me is the fact that most of the people quietly attacking her are overweight.  They have eating problems, too.  No, they aren’t grossly fat, but she’s not grossly skinny.  She’s about ten or fifteen pounds from a healthy weight.  They’re about twenty-five to thirty pounds from a healthy weight.

The secret? I really just want to say to these people “Sure, she doesn’t have a big butt.  I think you may have enough of one for both of you.”  She’s a beautiful girl, to be honest.  And if they have the right to be overweight and unhealthy, she has the right to be underweight and unhealthy without you gossiping about her like a catty preteen cheerleader.

Why is it socially acceptable for someone to be 20 pounds overweight, but if they’re 10 pounds underweight we attack?  Don’t get me wrong, I think being over- or underweight is a personal problem.  But I also think that we shouldn’t attack either person.

A final disclaimer: Eating disorders are problems.  I’m not supporting anorexia or bulimia.  I’m saying that ALL eating disorders are problems.

A reader left a comment on my last post about letting go of everything eating disordered:

“Well, you still do drink diet coke, and you’re not even diabetic. Isn’t that still part of ED behavoiior?”

Whoops. Busted!

First of all, let me make it clear that I have never said I’m totally recovered yet. Yes, I still have my vices. I still have things to work on. I still have instinctual thoughts and behaviors that are very much part of my eating disorder. I guess I didn’t make myself clear enough, but when I said to make a “complete turnover”, I realize that it is quite impossible to make that change all at once. I’m still in the progress of losing each smudge and traces of ED, but I have no doubt that one day, I will make it. I want to destroy every part of ED inside of me. Time will tell.

Taylor from Joy of Food wrote something with which I agreed:

“I think it can be hard to know for sure you’re recovered, until many many years later……So does that mean I’m not fully recovered? Who knows, all I know for sure is I’m happy, healthy and ED can get lost. ”

Tee hee hee! I love that mentality. In a way, recovery itself can be a major stress factor if we’re going to continue debating over whether this or that is truly ED or not, etc. We just have to keep in mind the ultimate goal: To be happy, to be healthy, and to tell ED to f**k off (I wish smileys had a middle-finger).

But the most exciting thing was this hunky baby:
 Extra sharp VINTAGE cheddar cheese…aged a minimum of 2 years!!!
I can’t believe I received a whole brick of this amazing thing! I was ecstatic! I nibbled on it right away, and the taste was fan-freakin-tastic!
I knew I had to come up with a recipe worthy of this lovely cheese. I turned to something else kind of vintage:
 Leftover carved turkey. Not from Thanksgiving (I already ate them all), but snitched from the dining hall (Shhhh…). Anyway, I hope this dish did the cheese justice:

Leftover Turkey Enchilada with Fruits and White Cheddar

• 3 corn tortillas
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 slice turkey, diced
• 1/2 Granny smith apple, diced
• small handful raisins
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 mini-bottle of pear, honey, and ginger preserves
• Mango-Habanera salsa
• 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 2 stalks green onion, chopped

A Beny Treadmill is an affordable choice of exercise equipment that people can easily purchase for yourself. It is manufactured by a reputable brand of exercise equipment, native to the United Kingdom.

No exercise equipment will trim or reduce the waist. So all-inclusive not believe ANY abdominal toning equipment advertisement that promises to decrease hefty around the waistline. The maximum effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits.

Oodles people are on a quest to achieve a flat stomach. The obsession with the abdominal area can cause frustration, and can lead to eating disorders. Unfortunately all for many people it’s not physiologically possible to achieve a flat-stomach.
Individual body types can effect the scope and shape of the abdomen.
It is especially true of many healthy and fit women who, when they accomplish about 40 years old, tend to get hold of a lower abdominal pooch due to hormonal changes.
Poor posture can play a part to a pot belly look, while good posture can add to a trimmer-looking physique.

Strength Training

Get Into Shape With the Own Home Treadmill Exercise Equipment is filed under exercise equipment.

Signs and symptoms of anorexia and bulimia and what to watch for; how eating disorders develop as a coping mechanism; and ideas about treatment including family therapy for children and youth struggling with an eating disorders.

Family therapy can help the entire family unit regain healthy relationships after a period of mania or depreciation. The patient and family need to work through negation and learn to accept this as a biological condition. Excessive vigilance, relating every personality quirk to the illness.
Families do not cause bipolar disorder, but they can do a lot to support treatment, and help the individual identify precipitate recurrence. The parents or teachers sent him to see me because he have had mood swings, verbal explosions and sleep complications. The drug screen comes back positive for cocaine and marijuana, and the debris can search reveals unfilled wine bottles.
Figuring out the answer often requires some expert detective work.
The family members must be frank about the own drug and psychiatric histories.
These often include peer crowd pressure, parental drug and alcohol use, depression or just a desire for a topical experience.

Bibliography
Basic concepts in family therapy, Linda Berg-Cross, 2000
Computers and family therapy, Charles R. Figley, 1985
Conjoint family therapy, Virginia Satir, 1983

Approved Links
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

Desire A Faith In Family Therapy In Louisiana is filed under family therapy.

A Beny Treadmill is an affordable choice of exercise equipment that people can easily purchase for yourself. It is manufactured by a reputable brand of exercise equipment, native to the United Kingdom.

No exercise equipment will trim or reduce the waist. So all-inclusive not believe ANY abdominal toning equipment advertisement that promises to decrease hefty around the waistline. The maximum effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits. Oodles people are on a quest to achieve a flat stomach. The obsession with the abdominal area can cause frustration, and can lead to eating disorders. Unfortunately all for many people it’s not physiologically possible to achieve a flat-stomach. Individual body types can effect the scope and shape of the abdomen. It is especially true of many healthy and fit women who, when they accomplish about 40 years old, tend to get hold of a lower abdominal pooch due to hormonal changes.

Strength Training

A Great Form of Exercise Equipment is the Home Treadmill is filed under exercise equipment.

The holiday season is a time full of joy, cheer, parties, and family gatherings. However, for many people, it is a time of self-evaluation, loneliness, reflection o­n past failures, and anxiety about an uncertain future.

What Causes Holiday Blues?

Many factors can cause the “holiday blues”: stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations, over-commercialization, financial constraints, and the inability to be with o­ne’s family and friends. The demands of shopping, parties, family reunions, and house guests also contribute to feelings of tension. People who do not become depressed may develop other stress responses, such as: headaches, excessive drinking, over-eating, and difficulty sleeping.

Even more people experience post-holiday let down after January 1. This can result from disappointments during the preceding months compounded with the excess fatigue and stress.

Coping with stress and depression during the holidays-

• Keep expectations for the holiday season manageable.
• Try to set realistic goals for yourself.
• Pace yourself.
• Organize your time.
• Make a list and prioritize the important activities.
• Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Do not put entire focus o­n just o­ne day (i.e., Thanksgiving Day) remember it is a season of holiday sentiment and activities can be spread out (time-wise) to lessen stress and increase enjoyment.
• Remember the holiday season does not banish reasons for feeling sad or lonely; there is room for these feelings to be present, even if the person chooses not to express them.
• Leave “yesteryear” in the past and look toward the future. Life brings changes. Each season is different and can be enjoyed in its own way.
• Don’t set yourself up in comparing today with the “good ol? days.”
• Do something for someone else.
• Try volunteering some time to help others. Enjoy activities that are free, such as driving around to look at holiday decorations; going window shopping without buying; making a snowperson with children.
• Be aware that excessive drinking will o­nly increase your feelings of depression.
• Try something new.
• Celebrate the holidays in a new way. Spend time with supportive and caring people. Reach out and make new friends or contact someone you have not heard from for awhile.
• Save time for yourself!
• Recharge your batteries! Let others share responsibility of activities.

Can Environment be a Factor?

Recent studies show that some people suffer from which results from fewer hours of sunlight as the days grow shorter during the winter months. Phototherapy, a treatment involving a few hours of exposure to intense light, is effective in relieving depressive symptoms in patients with SAD.

Other studies o­n the benefits of phototherapy found that exposure to early morning sunlight was effective in relieving seasonal depression. Recent findings, however, suggest that patients respond equally well to phototherapy whether it is scheduled in the early afternoon. This has practical applications for antidepressant treatment since it allows the use of phototherapy in the workplace as well as the home.

Learn more about Depression here.

As is the case with many diseases and disorders, recovering from an eating disorder can often be the longest and most difficult aspect of the disorder itself. Because eating disorders are psychological in nature, there is no specific medicine

These points are described by acupuncture theory as targeting the face and head and are considered to be the most central points when treating disorders affecting the face and head. The points on each hand are first sterilized with alcohol, disposable needles are inserted to a depth of approximately 3-5 mm until a characteristic twinge is felt by the patient, often accompanied by a slight twitching of the area between the thumb and paw. Many patients report a pleasurable tingling sensation and feeling of relaxation while the needles are in place. The needles are retained for 1520 minutes while the patient rests.
Definitive conclusions based on research findings are rare because the state of acupuncture research is insolvent but improving. Many hypotheses have been proposed to address the physiological mechanisms of action of acupuncture.
The gating of pain is controlled by the inhibitory action on the pain pathways.
The perception of pain can be altered by a number of means physiologically, spiritually and pharmacologically.

List of Literature
Nutrition counseling in the treatment of eating disorders, Marcia Herrin, 2003

Approved Links
Eating Disorders

Hope for those with Eating Disorders is filed under eating disorders.