Why Skinny is NOT a Sign of Perfect Health

At this point, everyone is aware of the photoshopping that occurs with images in magazines and advertisements, engineering models into icons of perfect beauty. They aren’t even real, but it doesn’t matter. These pictures seem real and if you look this way, i.e. skinny and youthful, whoa, get ready because your life is on the verge of perfection. And oh, you will have so much happiness. You won’t even know what to do with yourself.

We are constantly told what attractive people should look like and there is little to no room for variation. Women are young and thin. Attractive men are portrayed as lean, mean, fighting machines and are allowed to be a little older and maintain their attractiveness…not so much with women. Yeah, we still like the women young. Oh, and yes, we like them skinny WITH big breasts (the two don’t typically go together, but whatever, we can get breast enhancements).

I am acutely aware of the impact of these pictures because when I was 13 years old, I had a pharmaceutical drug-induced eating disorder.

I had been a somewhat chubby kid with asthma and a host of environmental allergies. My parents decided to take me to a medical specialist who could test and treat my allergies. I ended up on a ton of medications: weekly allergy shots, antihistamines, bronchodilators, steroids, and then of course, when I got sick, antibiotics. I stopped eating. I passed out at school once because all I had eaten that day was a banana. I ended up losing 35 pounds in one month. I was ill. I had dark circles under my eyes. I cried all the time. Everyone was worried about me. The teachers were talking about holding me back a grade because I had missed so much school. My parents begged them not to. The whole scene was tragic for a young girl.

In the midst of it all, parents started calling my mom. They would say, “Wow! Your daughter looks fantastic! I want to put my kid on that diet. What did you guys do? She should go take some modeling classes.”

WHAT?! My health was rapidly declining and people wanted to know what I was doing to look so great?!

All of a sudden, boys started to pay attention to me. In a month’s time, I became very aware that my body mattered. Before this event, I didn’t give my body a second thought really. I was too busy enjoying myself. Now I was obsessed with staying this way.

And I thought to myself, “Wow. If I can just keep this up, I will have a flat stomach and then my life will be perfect.”

I was now a product of teen magazines and the television. If I just had the “perfect” body, then my life would be perfect.

I remember coming home one afternoon, and my parents wanted to talk with me. My dad had purchased a book about the side effects of medications. All the medications I was on had the same side effects in common: decreased appetite and anxiety. They said that they were really sorry for what I was going through. They understood that what was happening wasn’t my fault. They decided to take me back to my general practitioner and to stop seeing the allergist. Our GP said to stop taking all the meds and to see what would happen.

In a few days, I started to eat again. I returned to some previous version of myself, but not really because now I counted calories. I had to stay thin. People liked me this way. Counting calories wasn’t enough at a certain point, so I escalated to binge eating. I would eat a whole cake or pie or pint of ice cream and go exercise it off.

What a recipe for disaster, and yet, people thought I was healthy.

I am sharing my experience with you because maybe you need to hear this story or maybe you know someone who needs to hear this story. Please pass it on!

In the spirit of this conversation, I am going to ask you a bizarre question:

What if what you eat does NOT always affect the way you look?

We speak like there is a law at work in relationship to food and appearance; eat this food and this will happen. But there is no law. We are complex. I'm not saying if you eat a box of twinkies everyday that it won't change your appearance. However, there may be times when you feel like you are doing everything "right" or you take measures to change your body and nothing dramatic really happens.

I am having an interesting experience with my body as a breastfeeding mommy. My child is 3 years old now. My husband recently wanted to lose weight, so I joined him on nothing but vegetables, meats, and berries with limited nuts and seeds. He lost 16 pounds. I lost 2. My body didn’t want to change. Maybe it’s hormones. Maybe it’s sleep deprivation. Maybe it’s the stress of life. But maybe it’s healthy…maybe there is nothing wrong. Maybe my body is saying this: move into motherhood as a robust looking woman. When I look at my life, this is the healthiest and most vital that I have ever felt!

Is this correlation or causation? I was skinny and sick, now I am voluptuous and well.

Close your eyes, forget about how you look for a few minutes, and ask yourself how you FEEL!

I know a lot of people who eat and live a healthy lifestyle. They are walking their talk, AND they are round and they are strong. You won’t see these people on the billboards; yet, they are shining lights in the world.

Bottom line: I am tired of genetically gifted people who fit into the media’s version of beautiful who then use their beautiful bodies to sell their product. “Here, look at me, I am beautiful and you can be beautiful, too, if you follow my diet and do things my way.”

Don't assume that skinny equals healthy! Obviously, the problems that stem from obesity are many, but the key is to maintain a healthy weight for YOUR body - rather than deprive yourself of nutrients and minerals to fit into an approved stereotype of health and beauty. You are literally killing yourself to be skinny.

Some people are naturally thin.

Some people are naturally fit.

Some people are naturally round.

If you are naturally a larger person and try to make yourself thin, your vitality will suffer.

I am qualified to write about this because I have lived through having an eating disorder and I have witnessed the effects of being too thin in my clientele, particularly, but not limited to, menopausal women and athletes.

For healthy hormone production, women need body fat, both when they are young and older. One medical doctor I heard speak said that a woman should be two dress sizes larger in her menopausal years than she was in high school. This extra weight is also thought to be protective to our bones. Bones need weight-bearing exercise to stay strong and supple.

As far as female athletes go, it is common to see female athletes without a menstrual cycle and if they do have a menstrual cycle, it is highly likely that they will not be ovulating. I swam competitively in college. We trained 3-4 hours per day. I complained every day of how hungry I was. My swim coach pulled me aside one day and said, “Charlotte, you’re not eating enough. You need to be eating a box of cereal per day. You need to eat like you are a football player.” I was very thin and my coach would comment on how healthy I looked. I didn’t have my period for 3 years! I went to a gynecologist who said, “Oh, no big deal. You just need to be on the birth control pill. You will be fine.”

If only I knew then what I know now. I would have been eating steak smothered in butter instead of cereal, which we know leads to raised insulin levels that eventually crash causing a roller coaster of energy levels.

I do not foresee that the media is going to change any time soon, so you know what has to change…YOU! Well, you and your attitude towards yourself and your body. Here is my attempt to change this dynamic – both in myself and in the larger world. Below you will see a letter I wrote to a specific store. Out of respect for the fact that they did try to resolve the situation, I am going to keep the store anonymous. It doesn’t even matter anyway. It could have been anywhere:

Hello,

Today was my first visit to a XXXXXX retail store. My mom had offered to buy me a new workout outfit and a good friend gave me a $25 gift certificate to spend. I had always heard such great things about your store both in terms of the quality of the clothing AND the company’s commitment to their employees’ personal growth.

All the clothing looked so nice and I loved the textures, colors and styles. Thing is, I got concerned when I was shopping because I saw that most items only went up to a size 10. What?! Really?! Haven't seen that before. Then, I noticed a small, handwritten sign hanging on the back of a table, in the back of the store that said something to the effect of: "Size 12's like to look cute, too." And I thought to myself sarcastically, "Haha...NO SHIT!" Now, I was really having my reservations about this store meeting my needs and expectations.

Nevertheless, I went into the dressing room with a number of items - mainly pants and various tops. Not a single thing fit. My breastfeeding tits are too big. My former competitive swimmer/triathlete shoulders are too broad. My new-mommy stomach is too round. And my God-given torso is too damn long. If the store had had more size 12s (gee, I wonder why they were sold out) or even larger sizes available, some things would have fit and I would've walked out with a new outfit and would've been a happy woman.

But alas...I am very disappointed. I don't obsess about what size clothes I'm wearing. I am a holistic health professional and have a good strong body that I am very proud of. And here's the deal: when I stop breastfeeding and if I drop the rest of my pregnancy weight and return to what is probably a size 10-12, I still don't know that your clothes will fit and I probably won't go back to your store anyway because that sign pissed me off: "Size 12's like to look cute, too." Damn straight...please call the manager of that store and have them take that stupid sign down before it offends someone else. And if that is an approved sign, then shame on you guys, not everybody who works out is a size 8 and there are lots of voluptuous women who want to look nice.

My contact information is below if this warrants more of a conversation.

You guys are missing a BIG segment of the population - pun intended.

Thanks for listening,

Charlotte

Mmmmm…that felt good.

I want to invite each person reading this into my world; a world in which you are not your body. You are a spiritual being walking around in human form. In this world, we take care of our bodies. We respect them. We feed them real food that exists in Nature. We exercise enough to move our breath and muscles but not to exhaustion. We sleep. We love ourselves and we love each other.

I’ve been overweight, and I’ve been underweight, and I know this for sure: wherever you go, there you are.

Even if you look in the mirror or get dressed and think, “Ugh. I look like shit.” It’s ok. Fake it til you make it - just gently pat whatever part of your body is offending you the most, and say, “I’m learning to love you.” One day, you will. I hope this story, more than ever, encourages you to Eat in Peace!

Love,

Charlotte

Why Turning 40 Rules!

"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." -Leonard Cohen

Today, I celebrate 40 years of life! Supposedly you can do whatever you want on your birthday, so I’m going to tell you how I feel about something. There's something I don't get - our culture’s obsession with anti-aging, particularly in the holistic health movement.

Anti-aging supplements.

Anti-aging diets.

Anti-aging herbs.

Anti-aging workouts.

What ever happened to growing old gracefully?

On the one end of the spectrum, you have people who are turning themselves into plastic with surgery and botox. And on the other end, you’ve got the holistic health movement with an unconscious belief that by doing all the “right” things, they are going to prevent pain, suffering, disease and death. Sure, you can improve your quality of life with these tools. I know I have, but you can’t control LIFE with these tools.

My aunt, who suddenly passed away a few years ago, had a saying... “Life is a puckered asshole.” Yes, it is! Sometimes, life is a puckered asshole. Isn’t that the perfect description? Saying it makes you feel good because it’s true.

Sometimes.

Other times, life is the opposite of a puckered asshole (whatever that is). Sometimes life is a wonderful experience full of joy.

And that’s why I love birthdays. I am still here. I am alive. I am a creative being. I enjoy bad days and good days knowing that it could be otherwise. From my perspective, lamenting another birthday is like hating your body. It doesn’t make any sense and is certainly not living in a model of wellness.

Each birthday also brings a welcome maturity that only time on this planet can give you. For me that has meant an increased acceptance of life and myself.

I was 36 years old when I gave birth to my son. A few months into motherhood, I didn’t know if it was day or night, or even what day it was. I realized that THIS IS IT. Deep in the trenches of motherhood, in the space of feeling like I had nothing to look forward to, but another diaper change or another fifteen minutes of breastfeeding, I found acceptance.

Some people get stuck in the past, and some people are always looking out to some point in the future when things will be ok or happy. Aging has taught me that wherever you go, there you are, and that is a very good thing.

This acceptance of life is the very reason that I am able to write my book. There is no point in the future when I will have time to write. When you’re young, single and childless, it’s easy to think that you will have time to do what you want in the future. But that is an illusion. Aging consciously allows you to tune in and see what is real – this is it.

I have also taken on a new way of being in the world this year. My new motto is done is better than perfect. I am healing from my father’s constant advice that “practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.” No room for error with that is there?

One of my friends used to say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Perfect is one of those good intentions. With another birthday, I have been able to let go of perfection. Yippee! Everytime we let go of something that doesn't serve us, we get to enjoy another level of freedom.

Isn’t being alive great? That is what another birthday means. It’s not something to be angry about or cover up with make up. It’s something to celebrate.

So next time you see a grey hair or a roll of fat that wasn’t there before, or your breasts are sagging or you detest your wrinkles, think to yourself, “Wow, I’m alive and get to experience this aging body of mine,” because it sure beats the hell out of the alternative….

So Happy Birthday to me. I bet you can guess what I’m going to go do….It’s time to enjoy a wonderful meal with my friends and family. May you find a reason to celebrate something as well!

Eat in peace, my friends!

Love,

Charlotte

Charlotte's Digest: A Book Review on "Strong Medicine"

“We humans have always been and always will be interested in two vital things: food and reproduction. In this country food and reproduction seem to be quite similar in two respects – the quantity is too high and the quality too low.” –Dr Blake Donaldson from Strong Medicine, 1962, p201

Last year, I was privileged to attend the PaleoFX conference here in Austin. I had never heard Dr. Michael Eades speak before, who is a well-known medical doctor and author of Protein Power, so my husband and I went to one of his lectures. In his talk, he mentioned a book titled Strong Medicine by Blake F. Donaldson. He identified it as a very influential book in his life. I was intrigued and of course, added it to my Amazon cart. Now I know why Dr Eades recommended it.

Strong Medicine was published in 1962 at the latter end of the author’s life. He wrote of how interns would encourage him to write down his experiences, realizing that:

“When opportunities have been great in medicine some sort of accounting of stewardship is in order. It isn’t right to have so much of what you think you have learned die with you (p10).”

I agree, which I why I feel compelled to draw attention to his work.

Dr. Donaldson was a medical doctor in New York in the early 1900s. His calling was to find a solution to obesity, which he felt was the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease. He accomplished this through a controversial dietary intervention of a half a pound of fatty meat per meal with a half a cup of black coffee, only drinking water between meals, and a 30-minute walk upon waking.

Intriguing, yes?

Well, I think so because I happen to love eating fatty meat, and a good cup of coffee isn’t far behind. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading his clinical adventures with this diet. He started out using the diet for obesity, but then shortly thereafter, others found him: cases of allergies, osteoarthritis, gall bladder disease, and my personal favorite, a desperate mother whose son had severe eczema. He was about to refer her to a “specialist” when she said something to the effect of, “I’ve already been to see everyone else in town. I want to work with you.” And yes, he gave it a try, which proved to be successful.

Wouldn’t it be revolutionary to our medical system if research actually started with clinical experience versus what is happening now where biased research ends up dictating the clinical practice?

Dr. Donaldson admits that he is not a writer (and that is obvious), but it doesn't matter. His observations are clear, astute, and very useful. Once you get past his racial slurs and misogynistic comments, which are both simply signs of times past, this book is filled with pearls of wisdom. In fact, his honesty and frankness are extremely entertaining. There was plenty of nights reading when my husband would ask me: what are you giggling about? Well, I think you will see. At any rate, here are more than a few of the pearls of wisdom that stand out to me from this book:

#1 “I had learned that many of the troubles in life can be walked off (p24).”

Being a doctor in wartime shaped Dr. Donaldson’s view. At one point he had to manage traumatized soldiers. Most of them fully recovered with a walking routine. Since summers in Texas are HOT, I was inspired to take on Dr. Donaldson’s recommended morning walk. Not only is it good for our marriage and our son, our sleep quality has noticeably improved. We are both going to sleep easier and waking up earlier, fully rested and more alert than we had been historically. After just a few days, I found myself looking forward to our walk when I was getting ready for bed. Be honest with yourself: do you go to bed looking forward to tomorrow morning? I do and here’s what I had highlighted in the book and forgotten about:

“There is nothing that is much good for sleeplessness but a thirty-minute walk before breakfast. Usually you’ll find that after you have done that morning walk five times, you will sleep deeply on the fifth night (p123).”

It is a simple intervention, but definitely not easy. It requires self-discipline.

There is more. He also relates the positive effects of a morning walk on the person with allergic physiology:

“Of all the things you are told to do the management of allergy, this thirty-minute walk is the most important (p150).

Well, I also happen to have a history and current tendency toward allergies, and as I reflect on the past months of taking this early morning walk, I have to say that I am feeling really well. Less sneezing fits, less intermittent achiness and fatigue that can accompany my allergies, and definitely a happier, more content woman, wife, mother, and daughter. All from a 30-minute morning walk!? I dunno. Maybe.

#2 “Bread isn’t the staff of life in these times. Rather it is the staff of death” (p123).

I do not feel the need to elaborate on this point. It says it all.

On second thought, I do have one comment to make. The quality of our entire food supply has declined dramatically since Dr. Donaldson was in medical practice, but particularly when it comes to bread. The gluten content has increased making wheat even harder to digest. Genetic modification of grains is common practice now. If this doesn't concern you, it should: genetically modified foods destroy our environment, food supply, and health. Last but not least, the presence of chemicals like glyphosate, which is an herbicide thought to play a role in Autism and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), dramatically increase the toxicity of most flours. So my question is: what would Dr. Donaldson say now about bread? Is there another way to refer to bread that is more dramatic than “the staff of death?” My guess is that he would have found a way.

#3 “Much of the concern shown over nutrition has been with vitamin deficiency. In this country the real deficiency state is not due to lack of vitamins but to a lack of amino acids. We must get enough of these essential amino acids to keep our body cells in a state of good repair….From what I have observed, a half pound of meat per meal is the minimum quantity needed to maintain the work of repair of body cells." (p35).

Another dramatic statement, but what if, it’s true? I know in my clinical work, I rarely see people consuming adequate protein. Sometimes my only recommendation to a client is to add a serving of animal protein at each meal. They report back to me that they feel better and have more energy. In my own personal experience I certainly feel increased vitality eating a large portion of meat three times per day and a predictable decline in my well being when I do not abide by this. I am sure many of you are thinking that his assertions are absurd. Just remember that he is not dealing with healthy patients, right? In their states of obesity and chronic inflammation, their metabolism is deranged and requires a drastic intervention, hence the title of the book Strong Medicine. Here is what he says about the 25% of patients who fail his program:

“They give up because the prescription of simple living is medicine too strong for them to take. What they really want is to buy some miracle drug that will enable them to live in carefree fashion. But nature does not stoop to miracles.”

For many people, it is good to remember that abstinence is best, in terms of diet and beyond. Abstinence is the only effective path of many alcoholics and drug addicts. Did you know that your brain gets more of a dopamine hit from sugar than cocaine? I can see how Dr Donaldson’s approach would be extraordinary for those struggling with carbohydrate dependency and food allergies, which both contribute to binging and weight gain.

#4 My personal favorite:

“If [my dietary] theory is sound, the emphasis in medical teaching should be changed, along with the eating and shopping habits of the nation. Any book that is written about the simple aspects of medicine should concern itself with the mental processes of the little woman pushing a cart through the country’s shopping centers. What she buys, or doesn’t buy, can make manufacturers tremble and governments totter. In her hands lies the health of the nation. When she uses bad judgment in the kitchen the results are manifest in the office (p6).”

I could certainly criticize his delivery, but come on, admit it…he’s RIGHT! We vote with our dollars every day. When you buy any food, you are saying that it is ok. Fast food and sodas, for example, exist because we want them to! We would have a completely different food supply if consumers were educated and took Dr. Donaldson’s words seriously. As a mother who controls the food in our household, I walk the aisles of grocery stores and farmer’s market with my head high. I know my power as a purchaser.

Again, he states: “I just want to emphasize that the housewife, with her power of the purse and her way of preparing her purchases, controls our destiny” (p235).

#5 “Lettuce is one of the hardest foods to digest that is known” (p231).

When I ask many of my clients what a healthy meal looks like, they will often say, “You know, salad with some veggies and maybe some chicken or fish with a light dressing.” I feel a combination of excitement and dismay when I hear this. Excitement because this person’s world of food is going to open up in a magical way and dismay because people still believe this.

Lettuce is a very cold food, which for some people may not be a desirable meal. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine both speak to the fact that a healthy digestive tract is hot. We want to stoke our digestive fire, not put it out with ice water and cold foods. Some people may thrive on salads, but for those of us who do not, feel the freedom of listening to your body – what may be good for one person, may not be good for another. Salads included.

Many people see lettuce leaves in their stool and it’s not just about inadequately chewing; it is difficult for the body to digest! I am thrilled that Dr Donaldson acknowledges the shadow side of salad in his work. It has not gotten enough attention in the field of nutrition. Stewed leafy greens, like collard greens, kale, and dandelion leaves with bacon and chicken broth, are much more nutritious and easier to digest than a salad.

These are just a few of the valuable insights that I gained from reading this book. I do hope they are somehow useful to you.

And for your amusement:

I failed to mention that he calls his secretary in his office to write a letter of instruction to his patients. He freely shares those letters in his book – talk about a straight shooter! The wisdom and humor in these letters are nothing short of splendid. I cannot help but share one portion of a conversation he was having with a difficult patient. Her husband was sick, and she was resistant to change:

“There is an old military axiom that when you are in trouble it is better to attack. So I fired both barrels… ‘Irritating ‘new’ food and drink [defined as anything that has come up in the past eight thousand years (p175)] are cramping the blood vessels in your husband’s brain. Some American men are being slowly slaughtered by lazy and ignorant housewives…In the first place keep this in mind. If your husband has more than one inch of loose fat on his lower abdomen, measured between fingers, expect him to die fifteen years before his appointed time. You won’t enjoy life as a widow. For that reason I want you to keep flour off the table” (p190-1).

Who needs to be tactful when you are a beacon of truth and light?

I feel the need to clarify two additional pieces:

First, I do think that a HUGE part of the success of Dr Donaldson’s dietary intervention has to do with what his patients did NOT eat on this diet. Food allergies, the most common being dairy, wheat, corn and soy, play a significant role in chronic inflammatory diseases. However you go about avoiding these foods will likely increase your vitality in an amazing way. For example, the other day I was talking to my friend who just happened to have recently adopted a vegan-ketogenic diet. She is feeling great and so is her boyfriend. I am happy for her, but I do not think the diet is the cause of her well-being. It is what she is not eating that is having a positive impact. I do believe that a diet based on animal proteins, along with organs and glands, vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds, and good quality fats is a sustainable way to eat that promotes vitality long term.

Second, there is some concern over how this approach would affect our microbiota. Microbiota is the latest technical word to describe the bacteria living in our gut. With the removal of plant foods from the diet, the bacteria no longer have fiber to eat (often called prebiotics in the supplement industry), and there is a noted decline in diversity, which has been shown to be a very important factor in the health of our microbiome (as a side note, antibiotics have played a more detrimental role here than any dietary intervention ever would). The microbiome is a VERY lively field of study right now. But when I stop and think about it, there were periods of time when our ancestors didn’t have any plant foods to consume. Dr. Weston A Price documents in his book Nutrition & Physical Degeneration that some Native Americans in Canada ate nothing but deer for six months out of the year, and they thrived on their traditional diet. As is usually the case with diet, it is complex, and there is a lot we don’t know.

Dr. Donaldson also addresses the dangers vaccinations and lowering cholesterol, which apparently were also a concern fifty-three years ago. Fancy that, Dr. Donaldson was ahead of his time. He faced opposition in his field, stuck to his guns, and wrote about his life’s work in this book. He is indeed one of my nutritional heroes, and I am grateful his book crossed my Eating in Peace path.

Thanks for coming along this book review journey with me.

Eat in Peace!

Love,

Charlotte