Laura J. Knoff, NC, discussed her book, Whole-Food Guide to Overcoming Irritable Bowel Syndrome, tips on eating healthy, and loving it on Bay Sunday.

excerpt from The Eating Wisely for Hormonal Balance Journal

Alternatives to Supermarkets

You needn’t always shop at supermarkets, where a diverse selection of produce, spices, and herbs can be hard to come by. Here are some other places to get your favorite new foods.

Community supported farms: Why not have organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your home or office? Ask at your local farmer’s market or health food co-op, look in the phone book, or check online at www.csacenter.org for local farms that will deliver. These farms often send recipes along with their produce. Some even let you choose the specific fruits and vegetables that you want, and may even let you order nonproduce items like soy milk, organic chocolate and coffee, fruit juices, tea, pasta, bread, and sometimes even meat and fish. Many of these farms welcome visitors, which can make for a great day trip.

Farmer’s markets: These have become weekly events in many parts of the country, and they’re a great source of locally grown produce, as well as breads, honey, flowers, and other items. By buying at a local farmer’s market, you support local growers and you know that your food hasn’t traveled across the country to get to you.

Multicultural markets: If your community has neighborhoods where people from different cultures live, visit their markets. It can be like traveling to another country, without the expense of the plane fare. You can often find food items in these markets that you can’t find at your local markets. Experiment by buying one or two unfamiliar items and challenge yourself to find ways to use them. Or ask a local shopper how to use the item, and become part of a mini multicultural exchange program.

excerpt from Eating Mindfully

skill builder: create new eating habits

1. Make two lists, one of the foods you eat “mindfully,” and the other of the foods you eat “mindlessly.” Foods eaten “mindlessly” are those you avoid, restrict, define as “bad,” those that produce strong emotions of guilt, and/or induce over- or out-of-control eating. Mindful foods may produce emotions, but they are mostly positive or neutral emotions. Mindful foods are eaten willingly, without reservation or fear. If youdon’t divide foods into these categories consciously, you may have an internal sense of your emotionalreactions (carefree eating versus eating that results in guilt, stress, or fear). Getting in touch with the wayyou react to each of these categories of foods is important. The first step to changing any behavior is to become more aware of it. Bring these categories into your conscious, deliberate thoughts.
2. Next, think about how to take food out of the two categories. Remove the “bad” label from a cookie by giving it a purpose. Is your intention to have a snack? If so, eat the cookie in mindful bites, or use it to satisfy a raving for sweets. Or, give yourself a prescription for a once-a-day dose of a cookie. Start with the foods you eat mindlessly. As you begin to be more comfortable, start to experiment by sampling foods you’ve completely cut out of your diet, or foods that you are intensely afraid of or are reluctant to eat. Conquer your fears.
3. Break out of your standard routine. Whether you go to the grocery store and buy the same items week after week, or zoom down the aisles looking for the Specials, do something different. Examine and buy an exotic fruit like a mango, papaya, or an Asian pear. Or, try a loaf of gourmet whole wheat bread. Add a touch of spice and variety to your meals. Walk through the store mindfully examining each item. Be aware of products you’ve never noticed before. Touch and turn over packages, smell the fruits, examine everything, and buy a new food.

by guest blogger Laura J. Knoff, NC, author of The Whole-Food Guide to Overcoming Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Many people are discovering that they are sensitive to wheat, dairy and sugar. Is this a new phenomenon or just a key to the mystery of mood disorders in some people? In 1980, Dr William Philpott outlined the connection of food allergies and food addictions to many psychological conditions from autism to schizophrenia in his book Brain Allergies. The connection of food to mood is often not investigated, but just as the psyche can affect the body, the body has an affect on the psyche. In Psychology Today, October 30, 2009, depression is just one symptom of celiac disease, (an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that is triggered by eating gluten containing foods). Celiac is not diagnosed nearly as often as it occurs and is frequently misdiagnosed as IBS or as many other conditions. Anyone with a family history of diabetes, heart disease, allergies, ADHD, autism, digestive conditions or celiac disease may find that by completely avoiding foods containing gluten, casein, and sugar they feel much better.

by guest blogger Doreen A. Samelson Ed.D., MSCP, author of Feeding the Starving Mind.

Your body image is how your think and feel about your body. Poor body image is common in Western cultures that emphasize perfect young bodies. To improve your body image try the 6 steps of ACCEPT. Use 3 by 5 cards to make ACCEPTance cards for each step of ACCEPT.

Excerpt from What's Eating You?

focus

This exercise will help you become more aware of your individuality and understand that who you are inside is the real you.

Every day, we are bombarded with television, radio, and magazine ads that focus on plastic surgery, dieting, clothes, and make-up. The media focus on appearance is so strong that many of us fall into the trap of identifying our outside appearances as the “real” us and forgetting who we really are on the inside.

So how do you focus more on who you are inside? How are you different from everyone else? How do you find the real you? One way is to remember that you are more than your appearance.

by guest blogger Susan Albers, Psy.D., author of 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food , Eat, Drink, and be Mindful and Eating Mindfully

If you are a mindless eater who is in need of motivation to change your ways, a little movie therapy might just be what you are looking for.

Movies aren't just entertaining. Every now and then a good flick can teach you something important and transform your feelings and actions. This is good news for people who want to eat healthier but need some help getting into the right frame of mind.

How does it work? Consider other movies and documentaries that have made you rethink important social issue. Thank You for Smoking is a parody that makes you ponder the manipulative ways companies market potentially harmful protects to the public. Traffic gives you a peak into the underworld of drugs. Movies like these delve into the impact of harmful substances on the individual. They also illuminates what goes on behind the scene politically. The movies listed below will take you from your kitchen cupboard to farms across the globe.

Excerpt from The Good Eater

As the basket ball team made the four-hour drive to the San Luis Obispo basketball tournament (the biggest tournament of eighth grade), Coach Whitmore entertained us by predicting who we would all be when we grew up: