The steadfast pursuit of wellness

Had a rough week with chocolate this week, but I figured out what it was about. (Mindless eating is almost always more about what's eating you than what you're eating.) In the past I would have beaten myself up, given up on ever trying to get healthy, and then self-medicated with sweets and carbs to feel better. Lovely viscious cycle, isn't it? And I can't be alone in this...

But even though my progress has been sketchy these past few weeks, that does not predetermine the future. And if I can learn from my struggles and experiences, they almost ensure future success. I'm trying to be more compassionate toward myself. This is not an easy task, since I am a die-hard perfectionist, and I want to continue striving for excellence. But if you're always hyper-critical of yourself, then it's going to impede your progress.

I read a fabulous article in Yoga Journal recently about food and mindful eating, which is a very yogic philosophy. I couldn't find it published online but here were some of the highlights that I found to be fascinating, informative, and helpful:

• "We're a notably unhealthy people obsessed by the idea of eating healthily...Americans take a scientific view of food, not a pleasure view," says Michael Pollan, science writer and author of the forthcoming Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

• New York Univ. nutrition professor Marion Nestle, who wrote Food Politics, believes that food manufacturers - just like companies that sell cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, or any other commodity - routinely place profit over public health. "Food companies...will make and market any product that sells, regardless of its nutritional value or its effect on health." And they want to sell us as much of it as possible, which may be one reason government officials often hesitate to encourage Americans to eat less of any foods - even those like meat and full-fat dairy products, which are clearly harmful when eaten in large quantities.

• "The government will never promote a message of 'Eat Less'", Pollan says. "It's trying to protect the public health while at the same time advance the mission of agriculture - an irreconcilable contradiction."

• Jane Hirschman, the co-author of Overcoming Overeating [I've read this - it's fabulous!]and When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies, says, "The food industry would be half out of business if we ate only what our bodies required."

• The food industry has tailored its products to be an antidote to emotional frustrations. Dietitian and diabetes educator Robin Edelman notes food marketers have capitalized on our innate sweet tooth by adding sugars to nearly ever type of prepared food we buy - from vegetable soups to bottled waters - making it easy to consume up to 20 teaspoons a day. And the more sugar we eat, the more we want. When we eat a piece of cake, for instance, the sweet taste triggers the brain to produce opioids, chemical messengers that identify the taste as desireable. At the same time, according to Elisabetta Politi, nutrition manager at the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center, the sweetness triggers the brain to produce dopamine, another chemical messenger that works with memory to urge us to pursue this rewarding taste in the future.

• The U.S. weight loss market was worth $46.3 billion last year, according to Marketdata, a market research firm that tracks the weight-loss industry. But Americans remain chunkier than ever, with a 75% increase in adult obesity since 1991.

• Michelle Stacey, the author of Consumed: Why Americans Love, Hate, and Fear Food, advises moderating intake and being less judgmental about food, which is key to changing eating habits. Her prescription for healthier eating is something she calls enlightened hedonism: eating satisfying food in smaller portions, without demonizing any food or food group. Her approach dispenses with the calculation of guilt, sacrifice, and indulgence so many of us fall prey to, silencing the voice that says, "I skipped breakfast, so I deserve this ice cream."

• The kinder you are to yourself, the easier it will be, says Lisa Holtby, the author of Healing Yoga for People Living with Cancer. "Yoga calls us to practice compassion toward ourselves and others," she says, "so when I overeat, I've learned to say, 'What's up with the eating?' rather than beat myself up about it."

• If you decide that no food is off limits, you can adopt a more relaxed and social approach toward eating. You're likely to find yourself enjoying the journey instead of focusing on the destination, just as yoga teaches, says Timothy McCall, the author of the forthcoming Yoga as Medicine. "Rather than saying, 'I'm going to lose 20 pounds by spring,' say, 'I'm going to become more mindful of my eating.'"

[That's incisive and wise advice - for instance, when I started www.ediets.com with the intent of losing weight, I didn't put any time or weight amount constraints on myself and lost weight every week. The minute I started saying, "I want to lose a certain amount of weight by x date" I got anxious when it didn't happen as I'd planned, and was tempted to give up trying to eat well because I thought I had failed.]

I thought this article was so brilliant and very empowering. If you're interested, it's in the February 2006 edition of Yoga Journal.

I've been doing yoga most every day this week, really enjoying it and wanting to try new poses. I downloaded some new ones from the pose finder at www.yogajournal.com, such as Camel, Warrior 3, and Half Moon. They are all pretty hard. I'm going to have to figure out props (cushions, blankets, yoga blocks, etc.) so that I can do them.

But I am confident that some day I will - this morning I tried a new pose called Hero Pose, which involves sitting on your haunches with your calves and feet perfectly aligned under your hamstrings. Sound easy? Not if you have tight knees and hamstrings, it isn't! I had to modify the pose by putting a folded blanket under my knees and sitting on both my Zafu cushion and a large yoga brick. But once I was there, it felt luscious - I felt my knees and quads starting to release all kinds of tension and my back felt like it was being drawn up by a string to the ceiling, the alignment was so delicious.

Favorite yoga poses: Spider, Half Lord of the Fishes, Cat/Dog, Downward Dog, Tree, Locust, Cobra, Triangle, Warrior 1 and 2, Table, Chair, Plank, and Mountain.

Oops, gotta run - David's calling me to dinner. Bye!