Odd things happen for the Best of Reasons

I received a late night email from a client asking me, "Is full recovery possible? What is your definition of full recovery if such exists?" The following morning I pondered how to respond as I got in my car to drive to the office. I had no intentions of stopping at our local coffee shop on the way, yet the next thing I knew I was parking the car.

As I locked my car and stepped forward towards the cafe, I noticed an older woman walking past me. She was about my height (a little over 5 ft), short dark hair, and in brightly colored rain boots. Two simultaneous thoughts came to me just then. 1. Why am I here? I feel like I'm moving but by no action of my own accord. This is a little weird and surreal. 2. That lady is probably going to get coffee and she will be in front of me in line.

I was right, she was in front of me in a long line. By this point, I surrendered to the fact that "I'm here, might as well get my decaf rice milk latte." We smiled at one another and within moments of saying hello we were deep in an intimate conversation. She asked my profession. When I told her I'm a dietitian and work with eating disorders she gushed words of encouragement to me.

"What you do is SO SO important. You will never know how valuable you are to your clients." Not expecting such a gloating compliment at 7:30am I smiled sheepishly and gave her my thanks, with a hint of question in my tone. She explained to me that she has been fully recovered from a severe eating disorder for over 20 years. She also shared with  me that she moved to Seattle about 15 years ago from New Orleans.

I felt immediately connected to this woman. A new neighbor friend from my home town (I am from Louisiana as well) & someone with her own history of eating problems. What a God moment this was for me. Now I understood why I felt compelled to turn into the coffee shop and strike up a conversation with this woman.

Hearing her story inspired the email response to my client.

The question "is recovery possible" is one almost every person asks themselves at some point in their recovery from an eating disorder. Here are few responses the to help shape your own definition:

"I believe in the possibility of complete recovery though it may take a long time and require lots of resources and effort, but it is worth it. To protect recovery, one must not jeopardize it by dieting, over exercising, and criticizing one's body, but instead focus on developing and supporting a clear, unapologetic sense of self. I wouldn't be in this work if I didn't believe in complete recovery. My own recovery, solid now for 40 years, still inspires me." Marcia Herrin, Ed.D., M.P.H., R.D

"The recovery process takes time and can often feel like it is not working. It took time to become so disordered around food, and so the recovery and healing will also take time. But it IS possible with enough determination, support and patience with yourself." Nina V. (recovered for 3 years)

"The eating disorder, although powerful in this moment, does not have to stay powerful forever. The essence of treatment is to find a path where change will occur because it is not preordained that you wont get better. Getting better is one possible outcome and moving into full recovery is the outcome that we seek. For most people motivation, commitment, effective treatment, a solid support system, and extended support throughout your community can lead to changes much greater than you may imagine possible." Sarah Emerman Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders

Getting Your Gut in Shape

Our GI systems are quite remarkable organs. Technically your GI system begins in the mouth and ends in the rectum/anus area. My favorite part is the small intestine. It is like it's own little ecosystem. Each section processes a specific set of nutrients from the foods we eat. And in those areas are a delicate balance of microflora (healthy gut bacteria) and yeast that helps promote the breakdown and utilization of the foods we eat.

If you can, imagine a long tube. Inside this tube are millions of little hairs. The tube is the lumen of the small intestine and those little hairs are actually called microvilli. See below:










(Image from the Encyclopedia of Science)
After years of improper nutrition, taking antibiotics and other medications, and not trusting our bodies to tell us when we are hungry and satisfied, the little ecosystem that sustains us gets out of balance and loses its focus.

Many of you have health goals of gaining more energy, feeling less fatigued, and realizing what peace with food looks like. Part of your journey to achieving these goals is to get your gut into shape.

Here are a few tips to start the balancing act:
1. Balance the Yeast: When it comes to sugar, go o'natural by choosing succanat, maple syrup, honey, molasses, or brown rice sugar in place of refined or brown sugars-even in baking.
2. Improve the function of those microvilli by choosing whole grains, following the plate model at each meal, and reducing the amount of wheat you eat. Try different grains like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat (kasha).
3. Balance the Bacteria by taking 1-2 probiotics each day (separately) for at least 3 months or longer. Don't settle on any probiotic at the store. Look for one that has 4+ different TYPES of bacteria, not just a large number of one or 2 types.

Farmer Market Blooms

We are nearing summer (even though the weather may not always feel like it) and that means that most farmers markets are up and running! This is a great time of year to get outside, enjoy time communing with others, try new foods, and even buy plants for starting a garden.

I wanted to share a resource with you this week: The Seattle Farmer’s Market Website. Specifically, I have linked you to a portion of the website that introduces new food and products each week. Scrolling through the page can be slightly daunting, especially if you are new to it, so I wanted to explain a few things:

1)      At the top of the page you will see “New This Week”

This section introduces food and products new to the markets this week.

2)      The next section is the “The full list”

This part of the site offers an extensive list of what is available at the market besides the new items above. The subsections are divided by food types: vegetables, fruits, fresh eggs, cheese/dairy,  meats and poultry, grains and flours, wines, seafood, dried items, breads, pastries etc. The headings at the bottom of the page start to blend together because there is just a smorgasbord of great items available. Categorizing them looks like a task of its own!

3)      Under the section above you will see: “available at UD” or “at WS” or “UD, WS, BW”. These abbreviations stand for the various farmers’ markets available in the Seattle Area. The abbreviations stand for the following markets:

BW	Broadway (Sundays, 11am - 3pm, May 8 through Dec 18, 2011) Broadway & Pine at Seattle Central Comm. College on Capitol Hill, 98102
CC	Columbia City (Wednesdays, 3pm - 7pm, April 27 through Oct 19, 2011) 37th Ave S & S Edmunds St, South Seattle, 98118
LC	Lake City (Thursdays, 3pm - 7pm, June 2 through Oct 6, 2011) NE 125th & 28th NE, next to the Library off Lake City Way, 98125
M	Magnolia (Saturdays, 10am - 2pm, June 18 through Oct 8, 2011) 33rd Ave W & W Smith Str in the Magnolia Village
Not open yet	Phinney (Fridays, 3pm - 7pm, June 3 through October 7, 2011) 67th & Phinney Ave N, in lower lot of the Phinney Neighborhood Ctr, 98103
UD	University District (Saturdays, 9am - 2pm, Year-round) Corner of 50th and University Way NE, in the University Heights lot, 98105
WS	West Seattle (Sundays, 10am - 2pm, Year-round) California Ave SW & SW Alaska, in the heart of the West Seattle Junction, 98116

I hope you are able to visit and enjoy a farmers’ market sometime in the next few weekends! Whether you try something new, find something interesting, buy plant starts, or just do some “window shopping”, we would love to hear about your experience. Please share your comments with us.

From Kimberly...

Hi Everyone,

For my first blog post with Creating Peace With Food, I would like start by thanking you for how welcoming you have been to me. It has been a joy getting to know so many new and wonderful people.  If you are visiting our site for the first time and you are seeking to develop peace with food, please know there is hope! I am fortunate to witness behavior change at its best in this work-the battles and the beauty of developing lasting change. You can do it too!

Today, I would like to highlight a useful tactic in the beginning stages of behavior change. This can apply to any behavior whether it is jumping from feeling angry to yelling at someone or automatically tearing through a bag of chips just because they are available.

Step 1: Awareness

When is the behavior happening? Is there a pattern? What tends to trigger the behavior?

Step 2: Observe without judgment (to make a change we may first have to find out the progression of our behavior).

What happens from start to finish: from the initiating event/thought, to the habitual chain of the behavior(s), through the aftermath (how you think, feel, and act after).

Both of these steps can be EXTREMELY challenging and may take time. We are so used to just shutting off our brains and going through the motions; the last thing we feel like doing sometimes is facing the fact that we continue to behave in a way we don’t actually want to.

From the above steps, do you see an area of your behavior chain that you can challenge or change? Maybe you can steer clear of your trigger, or challenge thoughts that arise that you previously gave no thought to.

In future blogs we will revisit these ways to initiate change and build upon them!

Peace,

Kimberly

Busy Busy Busy

Has it really been so long since my last post!  Wow, time does go by faster when your head is down. At least I have lots of great news to report as a result of my absence.

January to April time is a busy season for us dietitians. In addition to taking on many wonderful new clients, I've expanded by business. My official business name is now...Creating Peace with Food. And I've hired a fabulous dietitian to help me handle the extra clients. 

Meet Kimberly Yamanaka RD, CD

I'd like to introduce you to Kimberly. Her passion is to help others live a more abundant life by developing nourishing and fulfilling relationships with food. She holds a double Bachelors of Science from Central Washington University in Dietetics and Japanese. Her previous experience blends right in with the specialties at CPF. Since graduating from her internship at Oregon Health and Science University, she has worked to educate and nourish local teens and families through Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. She has worked with individuals struggling with eating disorders as well as helping families find balance through lifestyle modification.

And there's more! (I feel like I'm on an infomercial!)

Creating Peace with Food (CPF) has recently teamed up with The Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Center of Seattle (located in Bellevue, WA) to help their patients gain more awareness about the link between nutrition and their personal illness. Kimberly and I are very excited to begin this new partnership.