Which One Are You?

Appetizer
Know MORE about your eating personality.

Agnes Kolor is a registered dietitian who has appeared as a diet expert on numerous television shows including the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and the Food Network. She formerly was the spokesperson for the New York State Dietetic Association, and is the author of Quick Tips for Good Health.

Based on her diet counseling experiences, she has developed several personalities that describe how people handle food.

Which one are you?

Main Course

The Emotional Eater. The Emotional Eater looks to food for comfort. When stressful feelings occur she reaches for food to relieve these painful emotions. Food brings back feelings of security or carefree times. The only problem is that the comfort feelings once experienced while eating were only temporary, and have now been replaced with feelings of self-disgust.

The Unrealistic Overachiever. The Unrealistic Overachiever is always unsatisfied with her results. If she loses five pounds, it should have been ten. She also has the "all or nothing syndrome"—if she eats one cookie, then she's a failure. And she wants to lose it all NOW. It didn't matter that it took her six years to gain that extra 20 pounds -- she wants to shed it in one month. She has trouble meeting her goals because her expectations are too high. These thoughts can make her run to the refrigerator because she becomes disappointed with herself.

The Postponer. The Postponer will put her life on hold until she loses weight. “When I lose 30 pounds, then I will (fill in the blank).” However, she isn't able to meet her weight loss goal because she isn't comfortable with the expectations she has placed on herself when she loses the weight. Food has become a crutch; it helps her to keep the weight on so she doesn't have to reach her goal and address other issues in her life.

The Sabotagee. The Sabotagee allows herself to be sabotaged by friends and loved ones who hinder her weight loss efforts. Maybe her husband likes her overweight due to his own insecure feelings of losing her, or maybe her girlfriends have become jealous by her success. Her husband or friend may encourage gatherings around food to make sure the Sabotagee keeps the weight on.

The Defeatist. The Defeatist believes she has no discipline with her eating. She sets herself up for failure by going into a party, saying "There is no way I will be able to avoid overeating." She thinks she doesn't have the willpower to control what and how much she puts in her mouth. By having a defeatist attitude she lives up to her own expectations by gorging herself at the party.


The Avoider. The Avoider declines invitations to go to social gatherings because she doesn't like the way she looks and thinks, "When I lose the weight I'll start going out." However, this mentality can have a rebound effect—while everyone else is having fun, she's home alone and depressed. The Avoider uses food to subdue her feelings of loneliness. This prolongs her agony and continues to foster her social isolation.

The Codependent. The Codependent's life revolves primarily around food. Codependency is usually associated with being dependent on another person, but the codependent eater may consider food her best friend. When problems arise or when she's lonely, she can always turn to food. This can create a vicious cycle because after overeating she becomes depressed and thus returns to overeating.

Source: DietWatch

Dessert
As I'm sure is the case with many of you, I think my eating personality is a blend between several of these, but I most resemble the Emotional Eater and the Unrealistic Overachiever.

I like to eat when I'm sad, happy, tired, wired, etc. - Thus, the emotional part.

I also tend to overreact when I eat an extra brownie or finish off last night's pizza. That's where the unrealistic tendencies come in because I know that 1 extra piece here and there is not going to hurt me.

By identifying our eating personalities, we're able to examine our behaviors and recognize when we need to head in a different (mental) direction.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

The Verdict Is ‘Not Guilty’

Appetizer
Experience LESS guilt when you fall off the wagon. According to the dictionary, guilt is “self-reproach for supposed inadequacy or wrongdoing.” When we eat poorly one day or forego a planned workout for an evening of reality TV on the couch, we often allow guilt and shame to eat away at our confidence.

Main Course
Experts at the Mayo Clinic offer the following tips to keeping diet resolutions on track:
• Forgive yourself, and move on. Accept that you will have setbacks. No one is perfect.

• After a splurge, don't punish yourself by avoiding your favorite food or skipping meals. These perceived "solutions" are more likely to fuel your craving and lead to more overeating.

• Stay focused on the basics: healthy foods and smart portion sizes. If you indulge in a rich dinner one evening, plan on a low-calorie meal for the next day.

• Learn from experience. Reflect on what triggered overeating, and come up with creative ways to circumvent your temptations. If stress is a trigger, call a friend instead of opening a bag of chips. If your downfall is the larger portions often served at restaurants, ask for a box at the beginning of the meal, and save half for tomorrow's lunch.

• If certain foods are simply irresistible, find a sensible way of incorporating them into your healthy-eating plan. Avoiding them completely can increase your craving and trigger a binge-eating episode.

• Think about enjoying your "problem food" in a safe setting -- for example, if sweets are tempting, don't bake cookies when you're home alone. In contrast, if you're going to a birthday party, plan ahead on enjoying a small serving of cake.

• Celebrating your success, no matter how small, can help you avoid setbacks. Reward yourself with something unrelated to food when you've stayed on track from several weeks in a row. Taking time to notice your successes will help you build your confidence to recover from future mistakes.

Dessert
I rarely miss workouts, so most of my guilt is related to overeating. I just got back from a business trip where I ate huge portions of basically everything. I also had dessert after lunch and dinner each day, just because it was available (and delicious).

When I got back home, I was beating myself up for my behavior because I felt like I had just undone so much of my hard work from the previous weeks. But once I put everything in perspective, I realized that I just needed to get back on track rather than waste energy feeling bad about something that I can’t change.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Image is Everything

Appetizer

Develop a MORE positive body image. Living a healthy lifestyle, is not only about what you do but also about what you think.


Body image is:
(1) How you perceive your physical appearance
(2) How you feel about your appearance
(3) How you feel about your body
(4) How you think others see you

We all have days that we feel generally “blah,” not put together, or just downright fat, and this is completely normal. However, we have to recognize these self-defeating thoughts and counteract them with positive, uplifting ones. Easier said than done? I understand. Trust me, I really do. But this is something that we have to commit to and work towards as we strive to live healthier.

Why?



People who have a negative body image are at greater risk for developing eating disorders (see today’s Main Course) and are more likely to suffer from depression. It can also lead to feelings of isolation and low self-esteem.

Main Course

Eating disorders are characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior. The practice of an eating disorder can be viewed as a survival mechanism. Just as an alcoholic uses alcohol to cope, a person with an eating disorder can use eating, purging or restricting to deal with their problems.

Some of the underlying issues that are associated with an eating disorder include low self-esteem, depression, feelings of loss of control, feelings of worthlessness, identity concerns, family communication problems and an inability to cope with emotions. The practice of an eating disorder may be an expression of something that the eating disordered individual has found no other way of expressing.

According to Rader Programs, eating disorders are usually divided into three categories: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Compulsive Overeating.

Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia is a disorder where the main characteristic is the restriction of food and the refusal to maintain a minimal normal body weight. Any actual gain or even perceived gain of weight is met with intense fear by the Anorexic. Not only is there a true feeling of fear, but also once in the grasp of the disorder, Anorexics experience body image distortions. Those areas of the body usually representing maturity or sexuality including the buttocks, hips, thighs and breast are visualized by the Anorexic as being fat. For some Anorexics, weight loss is so severe there is a loss of menses. In the obsessive pursuit of thinness, Anorexics participate in restrictive dieting, compulsive exercise, and laxative and diuretic abuse. If Anorexia Nervosa is left untreated, it can be fatal.


Look Familiar?

Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimics are caught in the devastating and addictive binge-purge cycle. The Bulimic eats compulsively and then purges through self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, ipecac, strict diets, fasts, chew-spitting, vigorous exercise, or other compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain. Binges usually consist of the consumption of large amounts of food in a short period of time. Binge eating usually occurs in secret. Bulimics, like Anorexics, are also obsessively involved with their body shape and weight. The medical complications of the binge-purge cycle can be severe and like Anorexia can be fatal.

Compulsive Overeating
Compulsive Overeaters are often caught in the vicious cycle of binge eating and depression. They often use food as a coping mechanism to deal with their feelings. Binge eating temporarily relieves the stress of these feelings, but is unfortunately followed by feelings of guilt, shame, disgust, and depression. Binge eating, like Bulimia, often occurs in secret. It is not uncommon for Compulsive Overeaters to eat normally or restrictively in front of others and then make up for eating less by bingeing in secret. For other Compulsive Overeaters, binges consist of “grazing” on foods all day long. Similar to Anorexics and Bulimics, Compulsive Overeaters are constantly struggling and unhappy with their weight. The number on the scale often determines how they feel about themselves. Medical complications can also be severe and even life threatening for Compulsive Overeaters.

If you, or someone you know, is exhibiting signs of any of these eating disorders there are lots of people who want to help (myself included).

Read More About Living With Eating Disorders:
Bulimia Blog
Transcend Bulimia



Dessert

All of this talk about body image, leads me to this question…Why am I obsessed with Angelina Jolie? I just don’t understand it. I’m intelligent enough to realize that the media is just trying to manipulate me into caring about her, but I’m obsessed nonetheless.



For me, she not only represents all of the things I fantasize about being - thin, fashionable, talented, philanthropic, devoted mother – never mind the fact that my ankle is bigger than her thigh, shopping at Banana Republic (off the subject - read this hilarious post) is a splurge for me, I haven’t acted since lying to my dad about why I missed curfew, I barely have enough money to pay the mortgage, and I don’t have any kids…And oh yeah, I’m black…just a minor detail though.

Unfortunately, Angelina also stands for many of the things that I don’t want in my life (adultery, family drama, scandal). So, what’s a girl to do?

By the way, Angie & Brad threw me off with the whole Shiloh Nouvel thing, but I guess it’ll grow on me.

Check out All Jolie - A cool Angelina blog.

Speaking of Hollywood stars & being thin (That is what we were speaking about, right?). A fellow blogger writes, “…rumour has it, those mega watt sunglasses the superstars are wearing are a sign they are anorexic in order to get more work.” Click HERE to read the whole post – it’s very entertaining.

Paris Hilton (skinny), Lindsay Lohan (skinny), Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen (skinny & skinny), Nicole Richie (extraordinarily skinny)…It's really sad, but I totally see where she’s going with that.

Big glasses = Too Thin?

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.