friday takeout

A Healthy Anecdote from Flannery

I recently went to a lecture Obesity, Diet and Behavior by Michelle Albers, Ph.D., R.D. I’d really like to share about 1,001 take-a-ways with my NICC friends. The lecture was so good… like SO good. In fact, I sat for 6 hours and listen to Dr. Albers lecture using a PowerPoint without thinking about my stomach, bladder, or body temperature.

While some of what Dr. Albers addressed was a refresher of previous nutrition coursework and readings, she was well versed in current obesity research and organized her thoughts in the MOST engaging way. Her lecture was a reminder of the physiological, psychological and sociological complexities of why and how 69 percent of American adults are overweight or obese.

Dr. Albers inspired me to provide an actual definition. Here is goes, healthy foods are whole foods. Yes, that means foods with one ingredient. She used the phrase, “food as they fall off the earth.” Does that mean you fail if you eat Cheetos? No! But, keep in mind there’s a spectrum, with whole foods being the gold standard for health.

I also heard echoes of your questions about how to lose weight and, as you might know, I dodge questions about weight loss. Why? Because answers are complicated, too complicated for a simple response, let alone a magic bullet. Dr. Albers reminded me of this. For those of you who’ve asked and felt unsatisfied with my response or for those who’ve Googled, “how do I lose weight?”, I repeat Dr. Albers vertaibum, “weight gain and weight loss are both highly complex and individual - depending on genetics, hormones, weight history, dieting history, eating habits, behavior patterns, exercise level and environmental influences.”

Dr. Albers gifted all participants a 47-page single-spaced copy of her notes, which I’ve been carrying around with me everywhere I go. I am happy to sit down over a cup of coffee sometime to talk more about the lecture or anything else you might want to share...yes, your heard correctly, coffee, because I think that’s relatively healthy ;-)

Be well,

Flannery