Weight Loss: A Complex Emotional Issue

There was increased traffic to the this blog yesterday. My post about weight loss being closely tied to making behavioral changes, plus the underlying emotional issues that cause weight gain and then in turn cause some to struggle with losing weight, hit home for many readers.

Sara Sullivan, who has made public her weight loss journey, and who I've been featuring this week, is an AB blood type, and when I researched the personality traits of ABs, I read that they tend to have received mixed messages about emotional health.

Sara shared with me that her emotional life is complex (in the manner of an AB type) and in order to function in her day-to-life, she represses some of that complexity, which she is aware contributes to some of her habits and patterns around emotional eating.

It was this kind of awareness that I was referring to yesterday. However, it is one thing to be aware of emotional issues around food and eating, and another thing altogether to change the behavior. Yet, awareness is a very good place to start.

I had a message from a friend who read yesterday's post. She and her husband are on a weight- loss program which requires that they avoid simple carbs, like pasta, bread, cookies, cakes etc., though their diet includes complex carbs, like whole grains.

The challenge apparently, is that they crave the simple carbs or any other words, they crave the euphoric feeling-response to the sugars in the simple carbs.

I can understand that, that's why I find myself periodically mindlessly shoving handfuls of choccie into my mouth -- I crave the good feelings of a sugar high. But like my friend, the consequence of over-indulging is a blood sugar crash: fatigue, headache, no appetite, nausea --feeling generally yuk.

A sugar high has the same effect on the brain as any mind-altering, addictive substance such as alcohol -- we feel great initially, and then we crash. So there are unpleasant, uncomfortable, sometimes painful consequences to eating foods that are not healthful, yet we eat them regardless because we love the way they initially make us feel.

Here's an idea, which I learned from Dr. Joe Dispenza, when you respect and love yourself wholeheartedly, you refrain from causing yourself pain by making healthy loving choices.

First, though (and this is my addendum) negative emotions (which we attempt to soothe by over-feeding them sugar and other yummy treats) need to be acknowledged and made peace with, otherwise loving oneself is simply a great idea rather than a reality.

You can probably tell at this point that I have a psychology degree :) After culinary school, I worked for 8 years as a chef in Australia, England and France, returning to university in my mid-to late 20's to study psychology. And that's how I found my way to Boulder, to complete graduate work in Jungian Psychology and counseling.

The combination of a food background and psychology degree is an interesting one; I'm very aware of the emotional and behavioral challenges inherent in making healthy food choices at the grocery store, and then once home, the challenges around feeding oneself and one's family healthful meals.

Next week, I'll post on the topic of "loving" food choices, like complex carbs versus simple carbs, and ways to integrate those choices into family-friendly meals, with health, weight, budget, flavor and interest in mind.

And as I sign off for the week, I'd like to thank Sara Sullivan for allowing me to feature her story on this blog. Her weight-loss journey is truly an inspiration.

Emotional Eating

Making a commitment to lose weight is ultimately about changing one's behavior, which is as simple, or as difficult, as making different choices often.

When I first talked to Sara Sullivan about her weight loss goals, she was aware of the emotional comfort and satisfaction she derives from eating certain foods over others. In other words, she's aware that from time-to -time, she feeds her emotions, as we all do.

Understanding our emotional patterns around food and eating is enormously helpful when trying to lose weight. When you can catch yourself stuffing down fear or sadness, grief or anger with comfort food, then it's the first step on the path to awareness around choice.

And that choice might be as simple as putting the comfort food back in the pantry or fridge, and feeling the emotion instead of using food to avoid feeling.

I have a sweet tooth, and usually I keep a chocolate treat on hand; it's my comfort food. But when I eat it mindlessly, stuffing in one choccie after another, without awareness of flavor or texture, I'll catch myself and ask questions such as, "What's going on? Somethings bothering you, what is it?"

It's an incredibly powerful exercise, listening to one's inner voice instead of ignoring it and stuffing it down; that voice has important things to say, insights that will help us on the path to making the changes we need to make around our eating habits and patterns.

That said, try and catch yourself next time you engage in a bout of emotional eating and ask yourself, "What's going on? What am I feeling or not feeling right now."

So yesterday, I proposed a number of sides and a main-meal idea that Sara could make with some of the groceries she purchased. Another side idea, which I previously posted on this blog, and which readers have said they love, is Cripsy Kale. It's a fun way to prepare this leafy, somewhat chewy and bitter leafy green, and because it really does come out crispy, it will add texture and interest to any meal.

Sara also bought a bulb of fennel when we shopped together. With the texture and color of celery and a subtle anise flavor, fennel is as versatile as celery. Eat it raw, in soups, or sauteed with other veggies.

Here are a couple ways to prepare fennel with the items Sara purchased.

Fennel Mirepoix
1) Chop a fennel bulb, a large carrot, and one small onion into pieces.
2) Saute in a little butter and oil and then transfer veggies to a casserole dish or Dutch oven, spreading veggies out.
3) Top veggies with either pieces of fish, chicken or pork.
4) Add a slurp of white wine, if you have a bottle open, if not, add a bit of water.
5) Toss in a sprig of tarragon or thyme or sage.
6) Bake in 350-degree oven until protein item is done.

To Serve: Spoon mirepoix of vegetables onto a plate, top with your choice of protein item, serve with a side of crispy kale.

Fennel Salad
1) Slice fennel bulb into thin strips.
2) Drizzle with rice-wine vinegar.
3) Gently stir in either the green olive, caper and lemon-peel tapenade or the deli mix of olives, feta and red peppercorns. (Sara bought these wet-bulk items at Whole Foods olive bar.)

To Serve: Try adding this salad atop a serving of the olive-oiled spaghetti squash with a piece of broiled fish, chicken or pork. Or for a vegetarian meal, place atop a serving of cooked, red quinoa, stirring in a serving of sauteed kale.

Adding Interest to Weight-Loss Meals

Sara Sullivan is making very public her weight-loss journey on her website SeeSaraShrink.

Having reached the half-way mark, on her way to losing 100 pounds, Sara is determined to lose another 50 pounds!

Several weeks ago, she was frustrated because she'd reached a plateau and wasn't losing weight. Then lo-and-behold, around Thanksgiving, she lost a couple pounds. I didn't ask, but I'm guessing this was a feat of sheer will power and denial.

Losing weight can become an internal battle where the desire to eat the things you love comes up against the desire to refrain from eating the things you love.

In short, dieting can turn into an internal battle of wills that causes one to feel constantly in conflict with parts of the self.

One of the things Sara stressed to me when we grocery-shopped together is the importance of adding interest to her diet. She wanted me to introduce her to foods, and ideas for cooking that food, which would add interest to her meals.

This struck me as a very wise request because in effect, Sara wanted to know how she could eat new and interesting things which would satiate her love of food and eating without causing her to feel conflicted about eating.

With that, and her weight-loss goal in mind, we perused fresh produce where I pointed out the in-season and abundant produce that was priced well, such as several varieties of organic apples, and deliciously juicy d'Anjou pears. (Soft fruits are out of season and thus very spendy.)

Sara picked a tart variety of apple and we talked about the possibility of her juicing the apples with carrot and celery as a breakfast beverage, followed by avocado or egg on sprouted-grain bread. A partially raw breakfast of alkaline-rich foods stimulates the digestion, cleanses the liver and blood and boosts one energy.

Surveying the vegetables, I pointed out kale on sale, a good deal on a large bag of organic carrots, organic eggplant on sale, conventional red peppers on sale (though I recommend organic bell peppers), mushrooms, organic spaghetti squash, and other seasonal veggies.

Spaghetti squash is a really fun veg. I suggested Sara cut the squash (pic above) in half, boil it gently for about 15 mins or until the flesh begins to soften and come away from the skin in spaghetti-like shreds. Drain, and then return squash shreds to the pot with a bit of butter or olive oil, salt and pepper. It's delicious plain, or you can add toppings, as you would to pasta.

Sara decided to try the spaghetti squash, and she picked up an eggplant though felt concerned that by the time she cooked it in lots of oil and topped it with tomato and cheese, a la eggplant parmigiana, it'd be too calorie-laden.

Eggplant doesn't need to be cooked in a lot of oil. I proposed shallow-frying cubes in a little oil on high for a few mins, followed by oven-baking for about 30 mins at 350-degrees.

Other vegetables such as the carrot, bell pepper, even the kale, tossed in a little olive oil and added to baking tray with the eggplant, make for a colorful and tasty baked-vegetable combination.

To add interest, color and convenience, I pointed out Whole Foods 365-brand, Thai frozen vegetables, proposing that a handful tossed in with, say, the spaghetti squash, bell pepper, and seasoned with a dash of Tamari or Soy, topped with sesame seeds or toasted almonds would make for a crunchy, tasty vegetable side.

As I mentioned yesterday, Sara loves fish so she picked up a chunk of Sockeye salmon. I asked how she was going to cook it, and she said she'd probably bake it.

There are many fish recipes on this blog and I reminded Sara of my most recent salmon post: Salmon with Winter Greens, Apple & Leeks. With the produce she'd collected yesterday, this is a dish she could easily make this week.

I proposed that she could also pop a piece of the baked salmon on top of a portion of buttered and seasoned spaghetti squash, then top the lot with Whole Food's green olive, caper and lemon peel tapenade.

Sara was intrigued, so we perused WF's bulk olive bar where you pick and pay for only what you need. She collected two small containers, one of the tapenade, and one of a mix of olives, feta and red peppercorns in oil and herbs. Both these bulk-deli items are great for adding flavor and interest to vegetables, fish, and meat dishes.


I also encouraged Sara to try millet and red quinoa from the bulk dry-goods aisle. She likes quinoa, a high-protein grain, but hadn't tried the red variety.

Not only is quinoa a terrific savory grain, it makes for a delicious breakfast too. I love it hot with grated apple and a little marmalade stirred through, topped with toasted seeds, walnuts or almonds.

Sara is eating lots of salads and getting quite bored with them. I don't blame her; when it's freezing cold outside, as it is right now in Colorado, salads are not exactly enticing.

One of the things I do at this time of the year with salad greens or any leafy green and salad item is wilt them in a pan or skillet, thereby creating a warm salad.

I pointed out that Sara could easily do this with her kale, topping the wilted leaves with sauteed apple, grated raw carrot, perhaps a spoonful of cooked red quinoa and drizzling the lot with some light Caesar dressing, since she's also very bored with her home-made olive oil dressing.

A slurp of the Caesar dressing, mixed in a blender with the flesh of the baked eggplant, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice would make for a fun variation on the middle eastern dip babaghanoush.

After an hour at Whole Foods, Sara checked out with a cart of mostly fresh produce, two packs of frozen veggies, the salmon, bulk grains, the olive bar bulk items, bottled dressing, and two cartons of GoodBelly, a probiotic juice drink.

She spent $67 dollars and bought enough items to create main-meal sides and or lunches this week for herself and the family. Her intention was to source out quality fresh produce, fish, and some different foods to add interest to her weight-loss meals.

Over the next couple of days, I'll expand on the meal ideas above and offer method recipes for Sara, and any other readers interested in creating nutritious and colorful meals on a budget for health and weight loss.

See Sara Shrink

This week I'm blogging about Sara Sullivan who is on a mission to reduce her body weight from 275 pounds to 175 pounds -- that's a weight-loss goal of 100 pounds!

Sara has made public her weight-loss journey on her website SeeSaraShrink. There, her November 28, 2009 home-page update celebrates Sara having reached the half-way mark: she's lost 50 pounds over the past 6 months!

I'd read about Sara in the Boulder Women's Magazine, where Market to Mouth is featured as a regular column, and where a monthly column on Sara's weight loss progress is also featured.

I contacted Sara to see if she would be interested in one of my grocery shopping-cum cooking-on-a-budget consultations. She agreed to meet me.

About a month ago, we spent an hour or so at Sara's home chatting about her weight loss program, the various support people she's engaged to help her, such as a fitness coach and a nutritionist, and the emotional hurdles inherent in changing one's eating habits and patterns.

Sara grew up in the south where fried food is the norm, as is eating lots of seafood and bitter leafy greens. She was very aware of the importance of eliminating fried food from her diet (which she has done), whereas fish, seafood and greens are foods she can continue to enjoy.

We also spent a bit of time in Sara's kitchen, going through her fridge and pantry. It was immediately obvious that Sara keeps plenty of whole, unprocessed foods on hand for preparing simple, nutritious, home-cooked meals for her two, fit and healthy nine-year old twin girls, whom she home-schools, and her husband, who is not a big eater apparently, though when he does eat, he makes healthy choices like extra salad instead of a dessert.

It appeared to me that Sara is in an enviably position for someone wanting to lose weight: she's eliminated the high-fat, southern cooking she grew up on from her diet, and with the help of her support team, she's making healthier food choices for herself and her family, plus she's more physically active as a result of working with a fitness coach.

While we stood in front her open fridge, she prefaced the opening of her bottom crisper, with "okay, you're gonna die when you see this." She opened the draw and it was filled with lots of delicious and expensive cheese. "So this is my weakness," she said. "Cheese! Oh, and we love a glass of wine occasionally."

I don't see anything wrong with enjoying cheese and wine -- I mean the French live on it! Though of course it's the amount one consumes that is important to consider when on a weight- loss program.

Once Sara had divulged her food preferences, it was obvious that she is drawn to particular foods. We all gravitate toward some foods and not others, and I tend to think there's wisdom in this. Noting that Sara's preference is for dairy and fish, I asked if she knew her blood type. She said it's AB.

I did some online research and found my way to Eat Right For Your Type which is not a weight- loss diet per se, but information about lifestyle choices, including food and exercise programs, specifically for health and wellness for the 4 different blood types.

Apparently the bio-chemistry of blood type AB is best suited to dairy, seafood and green vegetables, with an emphasis on these foods if one is trying to lose weight. I recommended Sara peruse the information about her blood type since it appears her preferences are appropriate for her, bar a few adjustments.

Before we met at the grocery store, I also recommended Sara consider my pre- and in-store tips for shopping and cooking for health and wellness on a budget. Sara said her budget for a shop around Whole Foods for a week's worth of fruit, vegetables, some meat and or fish and any dollar-wise items which would add interest to her meals, was about $120.

With this in mind, one of the tips I emphasized was the value of shopping the periphery of the store for whole, unprocessed foods, such as fresh produce, fish, some dairy, and bulk grains, nuts and pulses.

As you can see in the picture above, Sara met me in fresh produce and that's where we began our shopping excursion around Whole Foods today. This week, I'll post about the items Sara bought, how much she spent, and some simple, delicious meals I proposed she make with the food she bought.