Boston Local Food Festival
Save the date! On Saturday, October 2nd Boston will be celebrating local food. Check out the festival's website for details.
"The Boston Local Food Festival, presented by Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston (SBN), is a delicious outdoor celebration of the many benefits of local food. Located on the historic Boston waterfront, along Fort Point Channel, the festival showcases affordable and scrumptious food grown and produced in the Boston area, Massachusetts, and New England. Festival-goers can engage with farmers, chefs and entrepreneurs, learn from exhibits and demonstrations, and enjoy activities and local music. Boston Local Food Festival is an entertaining, fun way to purchase healthy local food and support local businesses and organizations, learn about healthier, more sustainable choices and embrace cultural variety of food, music and art. Join us on October 2, 2010, and enjoy luscious local food and support our farmers and food entrepreneurs. This exciting event is easily accessible via the MBTA Silver Line, Court House Station, and a short walk from South Station off the Red Line."
Hope to see you there!
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Free Renfrew Workshop for Those in Recovery
Are you or is someone you know working on recovery from an eating disorder? The Renfrew Center is offering an excellent (and might I add free!) workshop/webinar. Topics include goal setting, body image concerns during the summer, and coping with the challenges of vacations.
Here's a link for more info.
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Nutritious Eating on a Budget
Today I'm appearing on the Money Matters Network Radio Program at 2:00. You can tune in live here or listen at WBNW AM 1120 Boston.
I will be mentioning a handout: Nutritious Eating on a Budget. Click here to access the handout. And to those of you who tuned in and listened- thank you!
Feel free to call in and ask me an easy question. :) 888-205-2263.
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Marci RD on the Radio
Hey Friends,
I will be making my first radio appearance this Friday at 2:00 on the Money Matters Radio Network. You can tune in live here or listen at WBNW AM 1120 Boston.
I'll be talking about nutrition myths and facts relating to eating healthy on a budget, dieting, and metabolism. So get your questions ready! You can call in to 888-205-2263. I'd love to hear a friend on the other end of the line. :)
Wish me luck!
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Beyond Calorie Counting
Yesterday I gave a nutrition seminar for a group of women at Get in Shape for Women at Central Square in Cambridge. One of the themes that developed during my seminar is that many women simply don't trust themselves with food! They want to be told exactly what and how much to eat, since they obviously "aren't don't it right."
My goal in the work I do with my clients is to teach them they don't have to spend their days counting calories or following rigid rules (we have better things to do!). More important than following some strict plan is beginning to tune in to what your body is telling you. Your body has the wisdom, you just need to listen.
One of the tools I encourage my clients to utilize in on our work is a food journal. And when used properly, it can foster awareness and help you listen to your body in a way you might never have before.
I ask my clients to keep a food journal that is a bit of a pain in the rear end because it's somewhat involved. It includes a place to record time of day, hunger/fullness ratings, what and how much they are eating, feelings/ emotions they are experiencing, what triggered or caused them to eat, where they are eating, and who they are eating with. Phew! That's a lot of information.
While that might seem a little over the top, I find that gathering this sort of data points us in a very useful direction. We start to observe patterns and discover together what specific things trip them up and prevent them from feeding their bodies well. Instead of focusing too narrowly on the "what and how much" category (which is often the case when people are trying to eat healthier), my clients become tuned into the many components which affect food choice. Instead of only working superficially with eating, we begin getting down to the root of the problem.
My hope is that through this food journaling, my clients begin to listen to and trust themselves around food, rather than looking for validation outside of themselves (ie a calorie count, point plan, number on the scale). Is it important to consider food and it's nutritional value? Of course! But it's simply one piece of the puzzle.
I recently received this article from a client and think you may enjoy reading it. Many of the author's points reflect the importance of paying attention to the many factors which affect food choice, not just the calorie count on the back of the nutrition label.
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Check Out My Newsletter
Disclaimer: Self-Promotion
For those of you who haven't subscribed to my newsletter, now would be a good opportunity! I send a bi-monthly newsletter filled with nutrition info, recipes, and upcoming announcements. The May/June issue will be on "Summer Season Nutrition Controversies" like Vitamin D and BPA. Expect to have it in your inbox by the end of the month!
Marci E. Anderson
Registered Dietitian, Licensed Nutritionist
Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA
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Advocacy and Eating Disorders
I spent the weekend attending the 2010 MEDA Conference: Getting Unstuck: Revitalizing the Prevention and Treatment of Eating Disorders. The closing keynote speaker was Kitty Westin, a woman who's daughter commit suicide as a consequence of her eating disorder. Kitty has turned her grief into activism and has committed her life to advocacy for the research, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders.
She informed us that on 4/27/10 a monumental bill called the FREED Act was introduced into legislation. The Federal Response to Eliminate Eating Disorders (FREED) Act is the first comprehensive legislative effort introduced in the Senate to confront the seriousness of these diseases by:
*expanding research
*improving training and education of treatment providers
*improving surveillance and data collection to track prevalence and severity of eating disorders
*facilitating eating disorders prevention through grants
*providing more opportunities for affordable care.
Eating disorders are devastating illness. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric illnesses and the suicide mortality rate of people suffering from anorexia and bulimia is 23 times that of the general population. As a dietitian who works almost exclusively with eating disorders, I urge you to contact your local congressman and advocate for their support of this bill. I did so and it took approximately 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes may result in the passing of a law that radically opens doors for better research and treatment of these debilitating illnesses.
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All Women Worry About Getting Fat
So my Dad sent me this article from Yahoo! News. A recent research study shows that women who have a normal perception of body image based on psychological screening tests still have brain scans that reveal they are concerned about getting fat. In fact their brain scans are similar to women with full blown eating disorders. On the other hand, the brain scans of men showed no indication that they were concerned about body image.
What's the difference between the sexes? Social pressure. Women spend so much time fretting about their physical appearance because we are expected to look a certain way. What a waste of energy and time that could be spent in more productive and worthwhile pursuits!
So ladies, next time you have an obsessive body thought come in to your mind, here are some alternative thinking patterns that may help you get on a healthier track:
1.) I'm not entertaining this thought, I have more important things to think about, like (fill in the blank).
2.) Rather than obsessing about how much I weigh, I'm going to focus on doing positive things for my body like giving it nourishing food when it's hungry, sleep when it's tired, a hot bath when it's sore, and exercise when it's sluggish.
3.) Instead of berating myself, I'm going to list 2 positive things my body has done for me today (then list them).
I know this sounds awfully cheezy, but we have got to stop this body hating obsession. Negative body thoughts do nothing to improve our appearance, physical health, or emotional well-being. But learning to speak to ourselves in a positive, loving, and healthy way can improve all of those things. And it's just one positive thought at a time.
If you feel consumed about body fearing and body hating thoughts, you may want to think about getting some support. I have a list of resources. To get you started, my friend and colleague Deb Schachter has an upcoming workshop to help you improve your body image on May 8th. Contact her for details!
Your dietitian in Cambridge,
Marci
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Food Inc on PBS
Save the date! A fabulous food documentary, Food Inc will air on PBS April 21st.
It changed the way I think, buy, and prepare my food.
Below is a summary from the PBS website, but click here for the full article.
In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli — the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.
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WECAN at Harvard
For any of you ladies out there, you may be interested in attending Harvard's WECAN event on Saturday, March 27th. WECAN stands for Women's Empowerment Convention & Network.
Event details are listed here.
I'll be giving a workshop on "How to Become Your Own Nutrition Expert & Love Food Too!" I'll be raffling off a free nutrition session. There will also be a ton of other great speakers, workshops, and free giveaways. Hope to see you there!
Marci
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