The Miracle of Mindfulness

"Aha!" moments strike me at odd times. Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that I had a big "AHA!" moment about "mindfulness" during a yoga class (my first in far too long!). My teacher spoke to how hard it was to just move. To just go through the vinyasa flow, because our brain always wants to know what's comkng next. It is constantly processing, analyzing and determine your next move. The act of just being in the moment, whether during a yoga class, a conversation with a friend, reading a book-anything, is remarkably hard! 

"Mindfulness is the miracle by which we can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life." Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miricle of Mindfulness 

Want to learn more? Take a glance at these articles:
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Recipe: Spiced Balsamic-Beet Compote

Ingredient List
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 large beets, peeled and finely diced (3 cups)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. garam masala or curry powder
2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
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You are What you Eat...Really?!?

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Product Showcase: Desert Pepper Corn and Black Bean Salsa

On my weekly grocery trip, I decided to try a new-to-me salsa brand and flavor. Salsa is one of my staples because it goes well with so many foods, like eggs, black bean burgers, or just tortilla chips!

I picked up the Desert Pepper corn and black bean salsa, which is also labeled “medium” in spiciness. I tried it out with plain tortilla chips when I got home, and I declared it a winner. It is a nice chunky salsa, which makes scooping easy, and there are plenty of corn and black beans spread throughout the salsa. It fits the medium spice label because there was a kick to it, but it wasn’t overpowering to my taste buds. The flavors of the tomatoes, corn, and black beans were all apparent and stood out.

So far, I’ve tried it with tortilla chips, on eggs, and on tacos. My roommate and I finished it up on taco night, but I’m definitely going to pick up another jar at the store soon. I highly recommend it!
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Recipe: Butternut Squash Stew

This blog post is brought to you buy Lauren Fowler, dietetic student. Enjoy!

Over the past few weeks, I thought spring had come early because of the lack of snow and cold temperatures. I woke up to a surprise snowstorm last week, and this soup was the perfect recipe to warm me up after walking home from campus in the snow. It’s hearty from the squash, chickpeas, and lentils, and the garam masala and jalapeno both add a little kick to it. To spice it up even more, I used fire roasted canned tomatoes rather than plain diced canned tomatoes.

The original recipe is from the blog, Eat Live Run, but I made a few adjustments to make it without the crockpot.

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, minced

2-3 tsp garam masala

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (fire roasted is great!)

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 cup red lentils

2 15 oz cans chickpeas

1 tsp salt

Roast the chopped butternut squash for 35 minutes at 375 F. While the squash is roasting, chop the rest of the ingredients. Heat the oil over medium high heat, then sauté the carrot, onion, and jalapeno for 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and garam masala and sauté for 30 more seconds, making sure to stir the spice continuously. Add the water and vegetable broth and red lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low-medium, and add the chickpeas, squash, and diced tomatoes. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, then enjoy!

I had plenty of leftovers, which were perfect heated up and topped with a dollop of greek yogurt.

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The Weight of Weight Stigma

The following post was written by Elizabeth Jarrard, RD.

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me. Right? Words like “fat” “obese” get tossed around a lot in our society. Unfortunately they are often also associated with words like “gross” or “lazy.” These words do hurt. The stigma of weight hurts not only the person at which they are directed, but our society in general.

What exactly is weight stigma? According to BEDA “Weight stigma is bullying, teasing, negative body language, harsh comments, discrimination, or prejudice based upon a person’s body size.”

Weight stigma and bias can be verbal (insults, teasing, stereotypes, or derogatory names) or physical-bullying.

We now see that discrimination based upon weight is more prevalent than race discrimination-with a 66% increase over the past decade. “There’s an atmosphere now where it’s O.K. to blame everything on weight,” said Dr. Linda Bacon, a nutrition researcher. Research suggests images in news media of obesity extremely negative, biased, & stigmatizing- which creates prejudice. In some cases stigma results in employment discrimination where an obese employee is denied a position because of their appearance regardless of their qualifications. This isn’t just a few people-43% of overweight people report weight stigma by employers or supervisors.

Recent research has highlighted just how deeply weight stigma runs-and it’s not just in job interviews or promotions. According to Huizinga et al The higher a patient’s body mass, the less respect doctors express for that patient. Weight stigma is a significant risk factor for depression, low self esteem and body dissatisfaction. Victims of weight stigma have increased levels of stress (seen explicitly in cortisol levels and increased blood pressure), decreased desire to exercise.  This creates a negative life environment that may perpetuate cycles of overeating and underexercising-creating an unhealthy lifestyle.

So what can we do?

No matter what size he or she might be it’s important that you talk to your child about weight stigma and foster within them a positive self esteem. 

• Help us all to create school environments that are conducive to learning-by reducing weight stigma.
• Are you a health provider? Talk to your patients without weight stigma. Yale Rudd Center is a fantastic resource for all providers.
• As an employer-make sure you are not perpetuating weight stigma.
• Just because someone is overweight doesn’t mean they don’t exercise, they don’t eat healthfully or they are lazy. Stop those you see using weight stigma and bias. Change the stereotypes within your own mind. 

We must learn to take a Health at Every Size approach and treat all individuals the same-whether they are our clients, our friends or just people we meet on the street. Weight is a number, and you can not tell someone’s entire life or health history from judging their outward appearance. 

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National Eating Disorders Awareness Week: Client Spotlight

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to share on my blog for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. And I didn't think there could be anything more powerful than sharing a story of recovery from one of my clients. Enjoy.

Committing to recovery was a difficult decision to make. Not because I didn’t want recovery, but because it required of me a gigantic leap of faith that if I pushed myself through all the physical and emotional discomfort, the rewards would be worth the pain. I am not a risk-taker, and I have never felt comfortable staring down “the unknown.” In my ambivalence, I came face to face with the recovery paradox: I didn’t want to commit to recovery unless I had some reassurance that I would actually be happier. But, the only way to have access to the feelings of happiness was to honestly try out recovery…and to eat.

Food and hunger had been my enemies for close to a decade. How, I wondered, could they ever help me? The answer lay rooted in biology: if I ate enough, I gained weight. If I gained weight, I thought more clearly. If I thought more clearly, I could examine the real issues (because we know that eating disorders are never just about food!). And, dealing with the real issues often led to genuine feelings of confidence and competence as I realized I could actually handle life. Food was no longer what led me to my eating disorder—it was my ticket out of it.

As I ate and became physically healthy, I did some digging around what I felt were my key issues. Chief among them was my social anxiety: I had always felt out of step with my peers, somehow just a little bit different in a way I couldn’t name. I had been completely overwhelmed by the sexually charged social atmosphere in college, and my solution was to retreat—straight into the arms of anorexia. This was an amazingly effective short-term solution, as it took me right out of the social and sexual games. After all, nothing screams, “Hands off!” more than a starving female body. The downside was that when I was sick, I had no brainpower left to examine the roots of my social discomfort. This was work that could only be done at a healthy weight in recovery. Eating allowed me to reach a point at which I could think complex thoughts and truly unpack this issue, and what I found was that I didn’t have a “problem,” after all…I just hadn’t allowed myself to realize the truth: that I was a lesbian. This realization was a major turning point for me. Although it was challenging to process, having this understanding about myself opened the doors for me to begin living a more self-accepting, authentic life.

Today, recovery means being honest about my appetites—my hungers for intimacy, spirituality, professional fulfillment, and—yes—for food. I’ve discovered that although I am the quintessential introvert, I also have a deep desire to feel positively connected to other people. As I’m growing more comfortable with my sexuality, I’ve been experiencing for the first time what it feels like to be attracted to other people in a way that is exciting and energizing. Sometimes, all this intimacy business can get overwhelming, and I remember why I retreated from this aspect of life so long ago. But even when I feel that old fear tugging at me, I have never once regretted my decision to trade in my eating disorder in favor of fully engaging in the business of living.

I will not sit here and tell you that recovery is easy. But, I will tell you with conviction that recovery is worth it. In retrospect, I know I have gone through a lot of struggle to get where I am today. I also know that I would never want to give back what I have gained through this process. I used to go to sleep every night feeling as though it would have been a blessing not to wake up in the morning. Now, when I wake up each day, I know that the true blessing is to have another chance to participate in the human experience—the joyous parts for sure, but also the tough parts…because even having negative feelings is better than having no feelings at all.

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