Personal Perspectives
What you need to know about Noom, according to a nutritionist
Update!! Back in January 2020, I published a post on why Noom is not for me. This fall (2020), I decided to check out the weight loss app again to see if anything had changed. Noom is still not for me for a long list of reasons. And, as a nutritionist, there are six things I think you need to know about Noom before you try or buy. Praise for Noom: Noom works like a Christmas miracle for some people! That’s awesome, and I’m glad that an app like Noom can really make a difference in so many lives. Noom even has a CDC-endorsed Diabetes Prevention plan, which is a…
A Quarantine Report: Week 4
It’s a model of our house, made out of Jenga blocks! Oh the creativity that stems from being at home all the time … March 13, 2020: Quarantine Start Date That’s the first day that we – myself, husband Chris, son Phillip, and daughter Heidi – began self-quarantining due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a Friday. I remember because the day before, on a Thursday, the kids and I went to Hobby Lobby and a few other stores. It’s burned into my memory as the last day of “normal” life!! That evening, our governor announced school closures starting on Monday March 16th, due to the novel coronavirus. I learned…
You May Also Like
Back to School Snack Traps: Top 4 Healthy Not Healthy
4 Reasons to Break Up With Your Fitness Tracker
Or “take a break” … or “just be friends” Here’s recent imaginary conversation between me and my fitness watch: Me: “It’s not me, it’s you. You only love me when I walk 10,000 steps per day, you take a lot of my work and exercise for granted, and I’m afraid you’ll share my personal information without my permission. In short, I invest a lot of time and effort in you, yet end up feeling inadequate and betrayed. I think we should just be friends.” Fitness watch: [silent] Fitness trackers are great for a lot of things – like setting a morning alarm that won’t wake your spouse. That is the…
Health At Every Size – What It Is, Why It’s Important, and Where It Goes Too Far
In my recovery from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA), I’ve been listening to some podcasts that discuss the topic. Because the majority of HAers are restricting food and exercising excessively, a lot of these podcasts delve into eating disorders, diet culture, and a principle called Health At Every Size®, or HAES. What is HAES? In short, the HAES approach to both policy and individual decision-making that rejects the following: The use of weight, size, or BMI as proxies for health, and The myth that weight is a choice. The Health At Every Size® Principles are: Weight Inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealizing…
Healthy Not Healthy 4 – How Society Promotes Disordered Eating
How We – Women, Culture – Justify and Promote Disordered Eating If you’re new to the “Healthy Not Healthy” series, here’s a two-sentence summary: I just finished two of years of extremes: stress, exercising, and undereating; which resulted in hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) (among other things). The “Healthy Not Healthy” (HNH) series discusses the how and why of HA, as well as my mental and physical recovery. If you want to read the previous three posts, they are: HNH1 – An Introduction HNH2 – What Happened? HNH3 – Diagnosis Quick Diagnosis Update: I got my bloodwork back from the OBGYN, which confirmed that I do not have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).…
Healthy Not Healthy 3 – Diagnosis
Part 3: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) or Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA)? I had my first amenorrhea-related OBGYN appointment this week. In hindsight, I’m wondering why I wasn’t referred sooner. Twenty-two months without a period, one Pap smear, two physical exams, two pelvic ultrasounds, and an MRI later – I’m referred to an obstetrician-gynecologist for a disorder of my reproductive system. My primary care provider is awesome, so I feel like I should have advocated for myself and asked for a referral sooner. Even more ironic is that I started my first period in nearly two years on the exact day of the OBGYN appointment – what?! Since I was beginning to…
Healthy Not Healthy 2 – What Happened?
Part 2: Stress + Intense Exercise + Not Enough Food = Slow Decline Have you ever woke up one morning and wonder “how did I get here?”. That happened to me more than once recently – I was frequently exhausted and in pain, my relationships with my spouse and kids were degrading, and I had a million “super important” things to do. Denial or ignoring what our bodies are telling us usually doesn’t make problems go away, although that’s what I did for a while. My body kept reminding me that it needed attention and then started to shut down. In this post, I’m outlining the sequence of health and…
Healthy Not Healthy 1 – An Introduction
Introduction How trying to be perfect made me sick See that picture of a strong, lean, smiling person? She’s (I’ve) got issues. To most people, my body appears to be in top physical condition. What the picture doesn’t show is the detrimental, beneath-the-skin effects of chronic over-stressing, over-exercising and under-eating. To give some context, here are a few health issues I’ve experienced since early 2018: I got shingles at age 39, lost about 10 lb (down to 110 lb on my 5’6” frame), and had exactly zero menstrual cycles. On the bright side: during this time, I managed to have a wonderfully challenging professional life, run a 10k personal record…
Sports Injuries: 3 Steps to Complete Recovery
So you’re injured. You were humming along, being your active self – running, playing tennis, crossfitting, etc. – and you feel a knee pop or wake up the next day with searing pain in your shoulder. Whether you suffer an acute injury, like breaking a bone, or an overuse ailment, such as plantar fasciitis; it’s common to feel angry, sad, or even depressed about it. For me, coping with the psychological impact of an injury is harder than the physical recovery! No matter how you feel, one thing is for certain – we all want to recover well, and recover as fast as possible. In this post, I share a…
4 Ways to Slower, More Mindful Eating
What I’ve learned from having braces (again). I’ve been studying food and nutrition for over 20 years, but the last six months of wearing braces on my teeth has taught me some new things. Braces have also reminded me of some key mindsets for successful and joyful eating. Having adult braces comes with a unique set of challenges (mostly of the self-conscious, embarrassing sort) compared to having braces as a kid or teenager: fear of judgement from others, eating in professional settings, none of your friends are “doing it”, etc. I’ve experienced all of these and more. However, I am surprised at how wearing braces has changed my relationship with…
