Skip to main content

Healthy Living

Body Image and Self-Respect
Learn a fascinating, new way of approaching food and find a healthy balance in mindful eating.

By: Pamela Milam


I recently read a book called Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by nutrition professor and researcher Linda Bacon. Before reading it, I looked at the website and thought I knew what to expect. I assumed the book would remind me to love myself, to put less emphasis on physical beauty and to focus instead on healthy living. I was partly right, but ultimately I was surprised and impressed by how much more the book taught me.
Think about the concept of Alliesthesia. Alliesthesia refers to the idea that a body’s inner state determines whether an external experience is pleasurable. One example is that it feels better to get into a hot tub when your body feels cold. If you’re a menopausal woman in the middle of a hot flash, the last thing you want to do is step into a hot tub.
In regard to food and eating, Health at Every Size taught me about “Negative alliesthesia.” Negative alliesthesia is an unavoidable process in which your taste buds find a flavor less pleasant over time after repeated exposure. It’s “nature’s way of prompting you to eat less once your calorie needs are met.” This explains why the first two potato chips taste better, as does the first bite of an apple. The last forkful of cake is never as divine as the first. Negative alliesthesia is the body’s wisdom at work, telling you, “You’ve had enough.”
If your body’s signals are weak or you’ve lost your ability to tune into those signals, you’ll chase the pleasure of the first bite by eating more and more and more. The more out of touch you are with your body, the more likely you are to eat in a way that feels mechanical, driven, and compulsive.
Jean Fain, a mindfulness expert and licensed psychotherapist, says, “Truth be told, most of us achieve a natural trance state when we eat mindlessly. ‘Trance eating,’ in my view, is the extreme end of the mindless eating spectrum.” She’s right. Trance eaters often push for quantity instead of quality, which results in excessive fullness and discomfort, followed by a feeling of dissatisfaction. The experience is a mindless one. People seek the initial “especially good” flavor of the first few bites by taking endlessly more bites or by pushing for larger quantities.
For healthier eating, the trick is to focus on the first few bites and enjoy the experience of taste and quality. When the body tells you it’s full by sending a “meh” signal to your taste buds, you listen and you stop eating. It sounds simple, but if you’ve lost touch with your body, it requires practice.
Alongside teaching about alliesthesia, Health at Every Size educates readers about creating better ways of enjoying oneself and existing in the world. The book points out how often people tell themselves, “I’ll be happy once I’m thin,” or “I’ll feel confident if I lose that last 10 pounds.” So many people are waiting to be happy, waiting for their lives to start.
Often, people worry that if they accept themselves physically, they’ll never be motivated to be healthy. They believe they’ll be fat and ugly and complacent. They believe that self-hate creates boundaries and keeps them safe. But self-hate just results in misery. Health at Every Size says, “Start living life fully now, in your present body, because waiting until you lose weight is a big old waste of time.” The idea is this: Ask not, How can I get thin? Instead ask, What can I do to be happier?
There are two unhealthy ends of the spectrum here: There are trance eaters, who are tuned out, mindlessly unhappy. There are strivers, who are so tuned in to perfectionistic, rigid ideas about food and goal-weight that they’re too mindful, and mindfully miserable.
The middle ground is to tune into your body while relaxing into it as well, to be aware and to be accepting. We are not powerless. In fact, Linda Bacon says, “The single most powerful act available to you is to own your body—to walk proud and let others see you enjoying your body.” Happiness, health, and self-acceptance are within reach, and Health at Every Size reminds us of that.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If I had five minutes to evacuate--what would I take with me?

If I was told there was a bomb in my building and I had five minutes to evacuate my apartment I’d grab a grocery bag and quickly toss these items into it: 1. A photo of my grandparents, Mom and Pop and me, when I was 15 years old. I learned what love is made of from them. I learned what it is to be kissed on and hugged in arms so tender they felt like God’s arms. I discovered self worth from those two angels in human flesh. Of all the people in my life, they were the ones who made me feel I counted. Honestly, whatever capacity I have to love others came from them. 2. A sentimental, dog-eared, stars in the margin copy of Pat Conroy’s, “The Prince of Tides.” It is a book I have read three times and often return to for its wisdom. It is a harsh, profoundly tragic novel, the story of a family so broken and tortured by such flawed and wounded people that it is sometimes difficult to turn the next page. And yet it is the story of such Herculean courage and endurance that you want...

I Saw the Delicacy of Life

I was flying Across the deep And I saw the delicacy Of life Wrinkles on the faces Of the old So pure they glistened Like awards The joy of children Running with abandon Their laughter ringing Like chimes in the wind I saw the soft moving waves Across the sea And the trees releasing Their rainbow leaves Birds joined me on my flight And I saw the surface of their wings Adorned with patterns Glorious and unfurled I saw the tears of the sad And the smiles of the glad The suffering in mourning And the celebration of birth As I descended toward the ground Slowly, slowly, softly I saw the gentle grass of the field And smelled the fresh earth It was a perfect landing © 2018 Timothy Moody

Actions Make a Difference

“We make progress in society only if we stop cursing and complaining about its shortcomings and have the courage to do something about them.” ~ Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Physician/Author Pictured here is Kikuko Shinjo, 89 years old, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast. As a 17-year old nursing student she helped nurse victims of the carnage back to health. Many of them died in her care. She says she holds no grudge against America and encourages interaction between the Japanese and Americans. She has devoted her life to peace, saying, “I want all the people around the world to be friends, and I want to make my country peaceful without fighting.” Today she makes colorful paper cranes and donates them to the Children’s Peace Monument at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.