Annie’s Healthy Weight & Eating Blog

I admit it - I watch Law & Order. Actually, what I watch is the last half-hour when, like clockwork, it transitions from the street to the courtroom. I love rightous Jack - he reminds me of the passionate do-gooders from my public health days. And I do love knowing that no matter what, by the top of the hour, they’ll have a verdict and a moral. BUM-BUM.
I recently joined a writing bank called suite 101, and came across this article written by one of the other writers on the site. Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen writes about psychology and health, and her report on a recent study suggesting that watching television shows that show or discuss murder make us dwell somewhere in our psyche on our own demise. That makes us nervous and that makes us eat.

I can’t say that how it happens in my own life, but take a read of her interesting piece here.

Here’s some stuff from last week -

It seems that after a decade of escalating childhood obesity rates we’ve leveled off. I think that schools and parents now understand the food environment kids are in, and education is shifting so that kids learn to be better consumers - something they really never had to do before this epidemic with relation to food.

Recent Data Gives Hope in Childhood Obesity - New York Times

Nothing like a scoop on a warm day…

The Scoop on Fattening Ice Cream Flavors - New York Times/Newsweek

Marian Nestle comments on new study from the International Food Information Council

NYTimes: World’s Poor Pay as Food Research is Cut

The Veggie Queen Vegetarian Recipes

I think a lot about change and how to flow with it. From my own tendencies to nest and check out, to coaching people to change their diet or cope with the economics of escalating food prices, there can be so much discomfort in changing. At times it seems impossible.

That’s why I like this NYT article on some of the research around change. The author suggests that there are different intensities of change, and if we stretch with small improvements fairly consistently, we tend to be more resilient and more successful. That feels true to me, though having the energy to continue to stretch can be challenging - I think our human nature is more equipped to do big rapid changes, then backslide, then change again. In interviewing some of the MDs with big diet books, they tend to be into the big rapid change, and say that if people see the difference they’ll be motivate to sustain. The little change strategy is perhaps a good yogic daily approach, with an occasional transformation to inspire. Happy reading, and happy Mother’s Day.

Here is the article:  NYT Change Article

Every Bite Is Divine has been selected as a finalist for the Ben Franklin Award in the category of health & wellness. That’s the third time it’s been short-listed for a national book award, the others being:

2007 Nautilus Awards - honoring books on conscious living and positive social change.

2007 Best Books Awards - in the health and diet category.

The winners of the Ben Franklin will be announced in late May. We’ll keep you posted.

For decades, Jane Brody of the New York Times has been a bit of an idle of mine (and of most of my nutrition-communications colleagues). Here’s a great update she did today on moderate exercise - the closest thing we have to a magic bullet for chronic disease.

Jane Brody Moderate Physical Activity Update - NY Times Article

The first weekend in May I’ll be at All that Matters in Wakefield, RI. I look forward to that visit, as it will be a time to delve into the ways that we care for ourselves (or not) within the context of yoga philosophy. It will be a great weekend of yoga practice, discussion, meditation, and applying to the lives we live. Join us!

Register through All That Matters.

Every Bite Is Divine: An alchemy of science and spirit for whole body health

Spring is a perfect time to reconnect with our bodies and revitalize our self-care. Every Bite Is Divine can help with a retreat for the compassionate nourishment of the body, mind, soul and spirit. Through a process of science-based assessment, experiential yoga practice, yoga philosophy exploration (ex: applying yogic yamas (restraints) and niyamas (observances) as guides to a moderate lifestyle) and tools designed to uncover our best diets, participants will begin a journey to whole-body health. Addressing nourishment and self-care within the compassionate context of yoga is a powerfully effective way to break free of the soul-damaging cycle of dieting and stress.

This program is for individuals with or without weight, allergy, chronic disease or other food-related issues interested in exploring their relationships with food and self-care, and professionals in the yoga, nutrition and healing communities. Participants will leave with tools and a framework for mind-body wellness.

Friday evening: Welcome, Setting Intention and Overview of the Journey

7-9 pm Friday

Saturday morning: Self Discovery: Nutritional Status, and Body-Centered Explorations

10am – 12:30 pm

Saturday afternoon: Deepening Awareness: The witness, stepping off the stress cycle, emotional eating exploration, yamas & niyamas

1:30- 4:00pm

Saturday afternoon: Connection and Vibrance: developing connection and support, building community, ideas & brainstorming on increasing life’s zest. Participants honored for their work, sharing and questions.

4:20-6 pm

Did you know that there is a measure of the antioxidant activity of food? That’s the effect that all the phytochemicals - antioxidants and other micro-nutrients that we’ve learned so much about in just the last few years have in our bodies. The USDA has just expanded its database of foods and their ORAC (oxygen radical absorbancy capacity) scores. You can see the scores and learn more about what it means here.

What I love about this new information is that foods that I knew in my gut were healthy, but was told in my early nutrition classes were not rich in vitamins or minerals - things like beets and apples - are. The gut is right again - only now I know why. Foods with great ORAC scores are brightly colored fruits and veggies, herbs, and yes, chocolate.

Antioxidant activity in the body is thought to prevent nearly every chronic condition that so many Americans struggle with. So again, focusing on a plant based diet, along with the magic of movement, is what the medicine doctor ordered for 2008.

Be well.

Get ready for lots of new signage in your local grocery store - as reported in a NYTimes Article earlier this week, there are at least three rating systems under development to help consumers sift the wheat from the chaff as far as healthy choices go. The problem being that from what I can see, they only include packaged food. So, the healthiest foods in the grocery store - fresh fruits and vegetables - won’t be included. Why can I see how these undertakings will add to the confusion, while the smarties leading these efforts don’t?