Differentiating Disordered Eating and Healthy Eating
Presenter: Neal Howard
Guest: Mindy Gorman-Plutzer
Guest Bio: Mindy Gorman-Plutzer CHC, CEPC. AADP/THE FREEDOM PROMISE – Certified Health Coach, Certified Eating Psychology Coach and Nutritional Consultant in private practice. She provides insights and practical tips to transform disordered eating.
Segment Overview
Mindy Gorman-Plutzer discusses ways to gain control over a patient that suffers obsessive eating disorders and negatively affect self-esteem, relationships, and productivity
Transcript
Health Professional Radio – Healthy Eating
Neal: Hello you’re listening to Health Professional Radio. I’m your Host Neal Howard, so glad that you could join us today. There is a lot in the news and in many people’s households or at their healthcare provider about nutrition – about the food that we eat. It’s very important that we take a look and be very mindful about what we’re putting into our body. Our guest in studio today is Mindy Gorman, in addition to being a Board Certified Health Coach and Nutritional Consultant, she’s also a certified Eating Psychology Coach in Manhattan and her specialty is finding the key issues related to her clients’ relationship with food, most especially as it relates to their health and over all wellbeing. How are you doing today Mindy?
Mindy: I’m doing very well Neal. How are you?
N: Thank you so much for joining us. I’m doing fine. You’re also a published author, the author of “The Freedom Promise: 7 Steps to Stop Fearing What Food Will Do to You and Embrace What It Can Do for You.” When deciding to write this book, I mean it’s not like you just woke up one day, you said “You know I’m gonna write a book.” What was that prompted you to write this book and in telling us about how you came to write this Book? Could you give us a little bit of what’s the difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating?
M: Okay, it’s a lot to cover. Eating disorder as most of us know is a clinical diagnosis. You know, it’s a clinical diagnosis of Anorexic Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and now there’s a new diagnosis called Eating Disorder Not Specific (NOS). I refer to disordered eating as behaviors that come from the eater – eating not so much when they’re hungry, not knowing when to stop when they’re full…
N: Okay…
M: … eating while stressed, stressed over what they’re eating, excessive restrictive dieting and emotional overeating.
N: Okay and from what you’re telling me, I’m going to assume that the book is more about mindful eating, not dieting – but as you say, “keeping what you’re eating in mind.” Is that what you’re talking about?
M: Yes, the book is absolutely not a diet book. I do not believe that diets work.
N: Okay so you’re saying that diets don’t work?
M: As a long term solution to weight management. I need to clarify that. You know, any restrictive program we go on is going to take the pounds off. But the reason that ninety nine percent of the people who lose weight gain it back and then some in the one to three years following their weight loss plan is because they’re not addressing what is fueling and feeding their behavior with food. They’re not looking at their relationship with food and that’s why I wrote the book. I wrote the book because I, myself, spent a good thirty years of my life fearing what food would do to me. Confused about the fact that food could nurture me and honor my body. It was all about, “What is going to do to me?” in from a negative stand point. It was all connected fat.
N: Was it mostly about your weight?
M: Yes, it was mostly about my weight. Yeah and…
N: Now, if you’re saying that diets basically don’t work, because you know, in my experience I hear that diets are the best thing out there. There are so many of them and I do hear the people gain the weight back shortly after losing it. But even if that is a fact, why is it that – I guess, is the follow the money right? As far as the diets go?
M: You know we live in a world where a teacher of mine – Marc David, who founded the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, says we suffer from “High Fact Diet.” You know, Nutrition Science is probably the only field of Science where there are opposing viewpoints that are both rooted in Science – where there’s Science to back it up. The problem occurs when we as consumers don’t pay attention to what’s good for us. We don’t tune in to our hunger. We don’t tune in to our satiety. We don’t tune in to which foods make us feel more energetic, more lethargic. We don’t tune in to when we’re eating in terms of our metabolism. So many chronic dieters – people who have been dieting for years and years and years -look at hunger as something to be denied, that they need to apply mammoth willpower over.
N: We’ll is it what you’re talking about, as far as being mindful of what certain foods are doing to you as far as you say of being lethargic or giving you an energy boost, or causing you to gain weight. It seems that those are some of the things that maybe your doctor or your healthcare, like you, your dietary consultant, would do for you and say, “Okay the last time you were here, this happened. Stop eating that…” or are you saying take control and take it out of the hands of healthcare provider?
M: I’m saying take it out of the healthcare provider’s hands and take it out of the hands of the media and take it into your own hands. Become empowered. Become empowered with choice when you can make that connection to what makes you feel best.
N: Now, have you heard of people that actually benefit from what you term “will power” when it comes to dieting or is that something that is just a myth and if you embark on a will power diet, you’re destined to fail?
M: Well people certainly have success and again that something that’s individual because everybody has a different tolerance level, a different pain threshold actually. So I have plenty of clients that have been engaging in restrictive diets for years and in turn what happens is that they become nutritionally deprived. They are challenged with bouts of overeating, sometimes binge eating. They become fatigued, they don’t know why. Their digestion shuts down. They start becoming stressed over what they’re eating and it’s like “the hamster running on the treadmill.” And it’s the vicious cycle begins because you’re restricted for so long that you reach a point where your body can no longer stay in that nutritional deprivation mode and something’s got to give.
N: Okay, I understand. Now Mindy, as we wrap up this segment, I’d like you to talk a little bit as the author of the “Freedom Promise.” How can our listeners get a copy of your book? And when it comes to healthcare providers, have you gotten any feedback from doctors, nurses or anyone in the dietary field about your book – talking about how they can implement some of your techniques and advice into their practices?
M: Absolutely. My book is being, and I’m so grateful, very well received by lay people and healthcare professionals as well. I have doctors referring to me, psychologists, Eating Disorders Recovery Centers and people ordering the book through Amazon or Barnesandnoble.com The book is also available through my website which is thefreedompromise.com
N: Okay.
M: And my book is broken down this way: 7 Steps, Seven Chapters. And each chapter talks about a strategy that I’ve developed based on my experiences, strength and hope with recovering from my own, almost-lifetime of disordered eating. So the First Chapter is a “Feel the Love, Face Your Feelings and Find Your Enough.” The “R” is about rest, relax – talks about stress and how that impact our weight loss efforts.
N: Okay.
M: Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you’ve had enough. Eat mindfully. Do something everyday that makes your body feel alive. Only eat whole foods as often as you can. The last chapter which I think is the most important, make sure you surround yourself with what truly nourishes. And that’s the relationships in our lives – the spirituality you’re comfortable with, physical activity that makes you feel alive.
N: Okay, great. You’ve been listening to Health Professional Radio. I’m you host Neal Howard, it’s been a pleasure having in studio today Mindy Gorman-Plutzer. She is a Board Certified Health Coach and Nutritional Consultant and she’s working currently in Manhattan as a Certified Eating Psychology Coach. She’s also the author of “The Freedom Promise: 7 Steps To Stop Fearing What Food Will Do To You and Embrace What It Can Do For You,” available at Amazon also at her website thefreedompromise.com and Barnes & Noble. And we’ve been here talking today about eating mindfully, not dieting. Making sure that you pay attention to what goes into your body as far as eating and what those food do to you and what they can do for you. It’s been great having you here with us today Mindy.
M: Thanks Neal.
N: Thank you. Audio of this program is available at healthprofessionalradio.com.au and also at hpr.fm and you can subscribe to our Podcast on iTunes.