Archive for June, 2010

Indulging in what is often thought of as comfort food feels like the antithesis of what I have learned over the past two years on my path recovering from disordered eating.  The thought of comforting myself with food just does not fit anymore, but then it never did fit because I didn’t know that was what I was doing!  If someone had told me, you are eating for emotional reasons, I would have said, no, I’m not.  I eat because I am hungry, I have a big appetite, I love all kinds of food, I love to cook and it tastes good.  I did not know I was eating because something inside of me hurt so bad I grabbed food and it became my band-aid.

So what do I do now?  The band-aid is gone, but sometimes life hurts.  I have learned to comfort myself in many lovely and constructive ways.  Creating something or getting outside to let the world in are my current favorites.

Growing up in a household where eating to live was the motto has many disadvantages.  It also has a big advantage:   I have absolutely no cravings for, desire to recreate or fond memories of the food my mother cooked for us.  I have no desire to broil chicken until it is black and crisp, serve liver and onions ever, pork chops are iffy and I have a love-hate relationship with grapefruit and Lima beans.  There was no mac and cheese, rice pudding, mashed potatoes and gravy, chocolate milk, fluffernutters or chicken soup.  You would think there would be something, but there is not.  I am grateful for this, I do not crave any of the food some define as comfort foods.   My mother set a lovely table every night, we ate together as a family and talked about our day.  What sounds idyllic was not.  For me, mealtime missed the feeling of comfort.  I was uncomfortable eating what my mother prepared because all eyes were on me.  I was the chubby one and it was made clear to me the food on my plate was to nourish my body, not feed my soul.  She never changed her ways, never realized the “weight problem” I developed was in part created at her table.

We all have days when there isn’t enough comfort to be had and on top of everything else, it’s dinner time.  I might choose to go out for dinner.  Out of the house, with lively energy and people around me unwinding from their day, helps.  Other times I wold rather not be around a lot of people, I find comfort in the familiar, the small rituals of setting the table, chopping and sauteing; creating.

My criteria for comfort food is simple:  Fresh, healthy, easily prepared and quick to cook.  Appealing to look at, yummy smelling, baked in the oven, and most of all, leaving me feeling comfortable at the end of the meal.

A Frittata was just the thing last night.  Two small pans went on the burners with a little butter and olive oil in each.  I whisked 4 eggs and 2 egg whites with 1/2 cup of milk and a few snips of chives.  Half of the egg mixture got poured into the pans with the heat on low.  After the egg began to set I added the layers.  This is the fun part because you can really put in anything you want and mine were all leftovers!  I had thin slices of browned red potato, a sprinkling of raw onion, raw grated zucchini, crumbled goat cheese, sauteed mushrooms, a few pieces of crisp crumbled bacon and tomato slices.  After the Frittata had been on the burner for about 6 minutes I poured the remaining egg mixture over the top and popped it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  One Frittata was ample for my husband and I to share, served with rye toast and fresh strawberries.  An added bonus is the one left, lurking in my refrigerator, an instant meal over the weekend.

Is it taboo to call any food comfort food?  Would thinking of food in any way as comforting be the first step on a slippery slope backwards?  What is your solution when out of sorts and done in when dinner time arrives?

The following is a post from  recent high school graduate who had the opportunity to spend some time with the Registered Dietitians at Rebecca Bitzer and Associates. We want to thank Alyssa for writing this review and we are glad she enjoyed her experience. Best of luck at BU!

Hi there—my name is Alyssa Langer and I’m currently a senior at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, MD, and I plan to attend Boston University in the fall. In order to graduate at McDonogh, each senior is required to successfully complete a ‘senior project.’ Seniors finish classes three weeks earlier than the rest of the grades, and for those three weeks we are able to do various approved activities. Many students enjoy volunteering and community service, some shadow working adults in fields in which they may be interested, many people like to try a new, productive hobby, and some people travel to foreign places because they finally have the time to do so.

My senior project fell into two of the aforementioned categories. For week one, my father and I went on a cruise to Alaska, a mysterious, foreign place we had only imagined or seen in movies or on the Discovery Channel. After a mad rush to finish the school year, it was nice to simply turn off the cell phone and computer for a week and be alone, literally, in the middle of nowhere, with just nature.

However, one cannot stay on vacation forever (and I did admittedly miss civilization), and I decided that for my remaining two weeks, I wanted to do something a bit more productive. I’ve been interested in nutrition for awhile and hope to pursue a nutrition/dietetics major, as well as a journalism major, at BU. But I had never been to a nutritionist or witnessed one at work, so I thought it would be wise for me to observe a local nutritionist in action, to see what it’s really all about, before spending four years taking difficult college science classes.

I started searching for a willing nutritionist on the Internet, which is harder than I had imagined. But until I actually had to conduct this search, I was not aware of how many places nutritionists are employed. In my mind, every nutritionist worked in private practice—which I quickly discovered is not at all the case. But nutritionists are everywhere—big corporate food companies, government positions, hospitals, test kitchens, sports teams, gyms, publications, spas/resorts, private practice—the list goes on.

I feel so lucky to have found Rebecca Bitzer and Associates and am so appreciative to the entire staff, especially Bobbi Boteler with whom I’ve been communicating with for months, for allowing me to observe their meetings with clients and their functioning as a practice. At both their Greenbelt and Columbia locations, I had the opportunity to witness several members of the group at work in addition to Bobbi—Cameron Currie, Shelley Alspaugh, and Kathy Kendall. I enjoyed watching how the dietitians had to constantly change their approach depending on the patient in front of them. Each nutritionist is unique from the others in her tone and manner of communication, so it was intriguing to observe each of their strategies, routines, and questions. I was able to observe many new patients, as well as many regular patients. I really liked how the dietitians often remembered their returning clients’ situations; the personal aspect seemed quite touching in a world that is becoming increasingly impersonal. And it was impressive how, in just one hour with a new face and story, the dietitian was able to gage the client’s emotional and physical state, get an accurate grasp of his or her background and current lifestyle, and begin to make some healthy changes specifically tailored to his or her lifestyle.

And I had no idea how much dietitians resemble therapists. But it makes sense: A) a lot of clients come to the office with a doctor referral after receiving adverse health news, and the dietitian must be sensitive to his or her confusion, fear, and frustration and 2) if you do not address the underlying emotional issues that originally led to overeating or under-eating, you can lose or gain the appropriate weight—temporarily—but no long-term fix has been made and thus the ‘diet’ was ineffective(though I did learn that ‘diets’ never work—it’s all about changing your lifestyle). These dedicated, passionate nutritionists are here to help their clients realize what they are doing wrong, and why they are doing it, and once that has been discovered, confronted, and acknowledged, the client will be able to positively move on to a healthier lifestyle.

So thank you, dietitians from Rebecca Bitzer and Associates, for being so welcoming and accommodating. My short two weeks of shadowing have inspired me and confirmed my interest and passion to learn about nutrition/dietetics and then put my knowledge to good use by helping those in need of nutrition counseling. Look out for my R.D. job application in 2015!

Come out next Saturday and Sunday, June 12/13 to the 2010 Air Force Cycling Classic, an entire weekend of bike racing and riding for everyone!

Located in Arlington, VA on Crystal Drive, Between 23rd St S and 20th St S.

Amateur and Professional races on Saturday, and a non-competitive ride and more races on Sunday.  Free races for kids both days.  Come out to race, ride or spectate!

We will be at the Take Shape for Life Booth between 8-3pm so stop by and say hi if you’re in the area! Click here for more information.

This clever book puts an amusing twist on your ordinary health books. It focuses on the health consequences and rewards of healthy living. It takes a step back from all the technical information and concentrates on the basics of being healthy. The book asks you to determine the worth of the foods you’re eating and more importantly how the foods make you feel. The book also provides great tools and charts for discovering your ideal body weight, BMI, your daily calorie needs and activity level. Once you have all these values in perspective it is easy to realize what your body needs and where you need to go from here.

Another great part of this book is the section on the overview of all diets. It goes through many popular diets and explains how they can damage your body. This is followed by 100 smart “diet” tips that focus on real food and your body’s needs. Following these healthy ideas as well as the many healthy recipes will really impact your nutrition in a healthy way.

This book is also very motivational, by helping you realize why there are certain foods that shouldn’t be eaten on a regular basis. It does this by saying how much activity you would need to do in order to compensate for the fast food or other junk food you have consumed. It really makes you think twice before mindlessly eating. “Is it really worth it?”