healthy and beautiful

In the time I’ve been practicing nutrition I’ve become a mother twice (three times if we count Bronco). I’ve seen clients have children and younger children grow up. I’ve had clients refer their parents to me and of course parents “urge” children, of all different ages, to start Foodtraining. The weight dynamic within families is something Carolyn and I spend a lot of time sorting out. Last week, I read a letter a father submitted to Social Q’s in the Times. His letter opened with “my 9-year-old daughter is fat” ouch, no mincing words with that sentence. The father felt his daughter was old enough for a dialog about making good choices and indicated that his wife disagreed. “She worries about the effect on our daughter’s self-esteem.” Philip Galanes blasted the father in his response. He pointed out the father’s bluntness, lack of apparent love and interest in how his daughter’s weight reflected on him. He warned this father that he would increase the chances of developing an eating d...

Not my boys, boys- I promise It's a little tricky when you're a mom and a nutritionist. Sadly, I tend to keep my mouth shut when out of the office (when it comes to food-related matters, mouth rarely shuts in general). I say "sadly" because so much of what kids eat at school and after school is pretty crappy. And if that "kids are kids" argument popped into your head, I will say that this "kids are kids" thinking has resulted in a crap overload. And ironically after parenting for 13 and a half years, I can say no where is this junk-a-thon more prevalent that in children's sports. * 13 year old asked "what am I getting for my half birthday" I said "nothing" and he sulked. I shouldn't single these out but I will So, after years of appalling food and sports incidents: one coach felt a pile of candy bars at halftime was a good idea, cookies when games end at noon (how about lunch or a pizza perhaps) or the millions of munchk...

A few times each week, I meet with a new Foodtrainers’ client. In these meetings we cover many of the things you’d expect. We discuss sleep and hydration, omega 3’s all that nutritiony/wellness stuff. I also like to gather a little history, a weight history, medical history etc. I start with the basics but always ask “when do you recall first thinking about weight” or “what were your parents like, were they big on compliments or critical?” The answers to these questions say a lot.  The truth is you can be overweight or underweight, gorgeous or homely and there are often a few comments (negative or positive) that stick with you. “You have such a pretty face” “I just don’t want you to end up alone” “I don’t want this to cause you the pain it has caused me” I know, from these meetings, that 50 years can go by and these quotes are fresh in my client’s minds. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to utter that one comment that my children will come back to. That one statement that flie...