What to Eat Before/After Exercise?

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

We are always looking for suggestions for blog entry topics. This morning, a colleague messaged us on our Facebook page and asked us to write a piece on nutrition for student athletes. More specifically, she asked us to write about what a student-athlete should eat before and after a demanding workout.

Like most areas of nutrition, sports nutrition must be individualized. In other words, what works for your friend, teammate, brother, sister, etc. will not necessarily have you performing your best and vice versa, nor will the guidelines I outline below automatically work for you either. For that reason, I always suggest trying out a new eating routine on a practice day. Competition days are not for experimenting, but rather for eating the foods that you know from experience will have you performing up to the best of your capabilities.

In addition to individuality, other factors influence what and when we eat before exercise. Our main source of fuel during exercise is carbohydrates. Because of that, we want them to be the bulk of our intake before our workout. Their form, quantity, and combination with other foods depend on the intensity, duration, and mode of the upcoming workout.

Before a high-intensity bout of exercise, such as a cross-country race, we often need a greater amount of digestion time and a higher ratio of carbohydrates. For example, the student-athlete might have a plate of pasta with a small portion of grilled chicken at lunch in preparation for an afternoon race. If the athlete had the meal closer to race time, he or she may wish to ditch the chicken and have just the pasta, which will be more quickly absorbed in absence of the meat. Yogurt or toast with jam are other examples of small pre-exercise meals that work for some people. Someone who likes to fuel very closely to a high-intensity event might do better with a small amount of fruit or liquid nutrition, like Gatorade. Fruit juice is not ideal during this time; the high fructose content can cause gastrointestinal distress.

Before a low-intensity event, such as a long-distance bike ride or a game of baseball, people can often tolerate more well-rounded meals closer to exercise. Carbohydrate content should still be high, but more protein and fat can often be tolerated. Presence of the latter two macronutrients can also be helpful by slowing digestion and delaying the onset of hunger. Waffles with peanut butter, a burrito, or my previous example of pasta with chicken are examples of meals that can work well before an event of this caliber.

After exercise, our attention shifts from fueling to recovering. We have a short window of time (approximately 30-60 minutes) following exercise in which enzymatic activity is elevated and enables our bodies to be especially good at repairing muscles and replenishing glycogen stores during this time. For that reason, soon after exercise we want to consume both protein and carbohydrates. Examples include a small turkey sandwich, an apple with peanut butter, or yogurt.

Student-athletes often find themselves having to deal with a gap of time between finishing practice and when the family sits down to dinner, so having a post-practice snack that incorporates both protein and carbohydrates is going to be especially important. Taking advantage of this short window of time often necessitates bringing shelf-stable food that can tolerate being unrefrigerated from the time the student leaves home early in the morning to the afternoon after practice. Nuts, in combination with a carbohydrate source, such as fresh or dried fruit, often work well. Shelf-stable boxed milk or a product like Orgain, which is essentially protein-fortified milk, can also do the job.

Heavy sweaters and people who tend to lose a high amount of salt in their sweat (i.e. someone who leaves white streaks of salt deposits in exercise clothing) also need to focus on replenishing sodium. Gatorade Endurance or salted nuts, pretzels, popcorn, or tortilla chips are good options.

If you are a student-athlete and you would like individualized help with fueling yourself to perform your best, come see one of us or another registered dietitian who has expertise in sports nutrition.

Weight Loss Specialist

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

“Luck is the last dying wish of those who want to believe that winning can happen by accident. Sweat is for those who know it’s a choice.”

Suggesting that achieving our goals is up to us if only we work hard enough sounds motivating on the surface, but really it makes no sense. So, what, the 99.2% of players in the U.S. Open main draws who walked away without a title did not realize all they had to do was work hard and choose to win? Outcomes that rely on factors beyond our control breaking our way are not automatically there for the taking if only we put our mind to it.

Where that quote originally comes from is not clear to me, but I know I first heard it from a personal trainer who cites it as one of his favorite quotes. According to said trainer’s Facebook page, he now employs a certified “Weight Loss Specialist.” Awesome.

Here is the problem: If a supposed specialist is giving you the information you supposedly need to lose weight, and achieving your goal is framed as a choice that is entirely in your control and can be attained through hard work, and you do not achieve your weight-loss goal, then who is to blame?

You.

If we mislead people into believing that weight loss is entirely up to them and they do not achieve (or more likely maintain) it, they typically turn their frustration and disappointment on themselves with berating thoughts like, “I have no willpower,” “I need to be more disciplined,” “I’m such a loser,” and “I just need to work harder next time.”

Behaviors that in and of themselves were beneficial to health independent of weight loss, such as being physically active or eating fruits and vegetables, are abandoned because they did not lead to weight loss. Restriction gets taken up a notch. They pursue an even more rigid diet and/or intense exercise regimen, not realizing that these behaviors themselves can make weight increase and/or lead to health issues. A colleague of mine calls it “paradigm blindness.” In other words, many people do not realize that their presumed solution to being “overweight” actually exacerbates the condition, so they keep adding more of the supposed solution to the ever-worsening issue.

I used to help (and I use that verb loosely, as I was actually part of the problem even as I thought I was part of the solution) people with weight loss earlier in my career too, but that was before I knew better.

Virtually any diet will create short-term weight loss and subsequent weight regain.
Approximately 95% percent of people who intentionally lose weight will ultimately put the weight back on, even when they maintain the behaviors that created the weight loss, and most of them will end up heavier than they were at baseline.
Weight cycling (i.e. repeatedly losing and regaining weight) is associated with the conditions ranging from depression to diabetes.
Weight and health are not synonymous. Research that has adequately controlled for behaviors (i.e. physical activity, smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, etc.) has found that the behaviors are the best predictors of health risk, regardless of weight.

Well-constructed research, my clinical experience, and the experiences of many of my fellow dietitians teach us that weight loss is typically not in one’s control. Sure, our behaviors do matter, but other factors, such as genetics, environment, medical conditions, and personal history, are either partially or completely out of our hands.

The paradox is that any true “Weight Loss Specialist” would know that nobody by that title actually exists. Healthcare practitioners are supposed to help people with, you know, health, which is why Joanne and I take the focus off of weight and instead focus on behaviors that can actually make a difference.

Obesity Cuts Life Expectancy, Santa Is Responsible for Your Christmas Presents, and Other Misleading Statements

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

My interest in writing a blog right now is pretty much nil, but I cannot let today’s misleading boston.com article entitled “Obesity Cuts Life Expectancy by Up to 14 Years, Study Shows” go by without reacting, for I know the damage that pieces like this do to people, including some of my patients.

Long story short: The researchers who authored the primary source article did not adequately control for behaviors. They screened out potential participants who had ever smoked and/or had a history of certain diseases, but the lifestyle behavior information they collected from participants was limited to alcohol use and physical activity level. Researchers collected no information about other lifestyle factors, like stress management and eating and sleeping habits, all of which can impact health. The behavioral data they did collect was self reported, which introduces all sorts of error. Other research has shown that when behaviors are controlled for, body weight does not seem to matter, but the study design that these authors used prohibited any opportunity from being able to confirm or refute those findings.

The boston.com piece discusses a second article as well that examined the relationship between obesity and exercise. In reference to this latter article, the boston.com piece’s subheading concludes with, “And it’s under-exercise, not overeating, that’s causing America’s [obesity] epidemic.” That eye-catching text will certainly garner many clicks, which is unfortunate because it is not true. The actual research piece reads, “The research highlights the correlation between obesity and sedentary lifestyles, but because it is an observational study, it does not address the possible causal link between inactivity and weight gain.”

I cannot stress it enough: Correlation is not causation. They are entirely different. I know, I know, we each know somebody who has put on weight after they stopped working out. Sure, that does happen sometimes, but on the macroscopic level that is the population, the picture is much more complex than that with many other factors in play.

The boston.com article’s final paragraph begins with, “Losing weight is proven to significantly reverse the health effects of obesity.” Wrong. When we adapt healthier lifestyle behaviors, our body weight might change as well, but if we credit the weight change instead of the behavior change then we have it backwards.

The harm in all of this is that it reinforces a weight-centered model of eating and physical activity that ultimately fails nearly everybody who uses it. If we take a weight-centered approach and do not maintain the weight we want, we risk losing motivation and reverting to old behaviors because the goal was unattainable.

There is a better way. In the health-centered model that we advocate, the behaviors in and of themselves matter independent of weight. Whether weight goes up, down, or stays the same is irrelevant because the behaviors themselves are what count. Better-designed research seems to support this model: When we control for behaviors, health and weight look to be independent.

Physical Activity: So Much More Than Burning Calories

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Joanne Soolman

“Just finished a seven-mile run – definitely earned the right to splurge at the party tonight!”

“I play tennis six times per week to keep my weight in check and to be able to eat what I want.”

“Just gorged at my friend’s Fourth of July cookout – looks like I will need to hit the gym extra hard to burn all those calories off!”

The above are just some of the comments I have either seen posted on Facebook or heard in conversation over the past few weeks. While these types of comments are quite common and universally agreed upon, I have a problem with them for a few reasons.

There is an abundance of evidence that exercise improves one’s health. It not only has been proven to improve blood pressure, blood lipid profiles, inflammation, and heart health in general, it has also been found to help the processing of glucose and insulin as well. But despite all of these positive findings, there is very little scientific evidence that exercise is an effective way to control weight and that exercise by itself does not have as much of an impact on our metabolism as most people think it does.

In one study, a group of volunteers from a hunting and gathering tribe in Tanzania were studied to see if there was a link between their activity levels and the number of calories they burned in a day. While it was true that the tribe members were much more active than the average American, walking about 7 miles per day on average, their metabolic rates were about the same as the average metabolic rate for Westerners. That means that despite the fact that the tribe members were doing significantly more physical activity than Westerners, they were burning the same number of calories as Westerners. Their increased activity did not mean they burned more calories.

Aside from the problematic idea about using exercise as a weight control mechanism, the bigger problem I have is the common belief that exercise’s only benefit is to burn calories. I know so many people who run regularly, not because they love to run, but rather because they are repenting for their dietary “sins.” Whatever happened to being physically active because we enjoy the way it makes us feel? Whatever happened to playing a friendly game of pick-up basketball for the sheer fun of it? Or jumping into the pool on a hot summer day to cool off and splash around? So many of us view exercise as a way to punish our bodies into submission rather than as a way to feel more alive and appreciate what our bodies can do.

How about we start using physical activity as a way to connect with our bodies and enjoy what they can do for us? How about engaging in exercise as a way to improve our health and help our bodies to function at their best? Or taking up a sport for the thrill of the game? The benefits of physical activity are so much more than simply burning off last night’s nachos. And no one needs to “earn” the right to eat what he or she wants. That is no way to live life.

Day 91: Progress (or Lack Thereof)

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

Today was supposed to be my day. Circled on my calendar back in March, today was my three-month CT scan and appointment with my surgeon. Although full recovery from a surgery of this magnitude takes right around a year, three months is considered enough time for sufficient healing to take place that allows for a return to normal activities. My expectation was that I would come home from the appointment and go right out for a run, my first in nine months.

As it turns out, I will not be running anytime soon. The surgeon used bone grafts to build two columns in my lower back. The CT scan showed that the column on the right is healing as expected, while the column on the left is far behind schedule. The chunks of bone that he implanted on the left are still sitting there independently with only minimal growth around them.

The surgeon said this is highly unusual. Typically, people either heal well bilaterally, or they heal poorly bilaterally, but two different progressions simultaneously is rare. He has no explanation as to what happened. He tells me that on paper I am the ideal candidate to heal well: young, active, non-smoker, healthy eating habits, etc. “On paper,” therefore, seems to be the key term.

Instead of today being my last appointment with him, now I have plans to see him again in mid-August, at which time I will undergo more tests to check how the bone is healing. Perhaps the fusions will progress between now and then, or perhaps they will not.

In the meantime, I am feeling very discouraged and disappointed. There will be no bike rides this summer. My planned return to competitive running on the one-year anniversary of my last race is out the window. So much for playing ping pong with my nephews when they visit over Independence Day weekend. I will not be able to help pack, unpack, and set up our first house when Joanne and I move later this summer. When I pan across the horizon of my life, tennis is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, I have two months ahead of more of the same. Three months ago, I thought June 18th would never come. In reality, the time passed just as slowly as I anticipated it would. To think I was done and then find out I have to do it almost all over again, but with more uncertainty and less optimism this time, is quite disheartening.

The other day, a new patient came to me frustrated that his efforts to lose weight have gone nowhere. When I suggested that we try a different approach by focusing on making healthy choices, learning to love and accept himself regardless of his size, and letting his weight settle wherever it naturally belongs, well, he did not want to hear that one bit.

He looked down at my lean frame and explained to me that I do not know what it is like to be judged on appearance, that I do not know what it is like to feel uncomfortable in my own body, that I do not know how frustrating it is for my body to not respond the way I would like despite my best efforts, and that I do understand the apparent unfairness of seeing somebody with an attribute or an ability that I covet, but cannot attain, for myself. Yeah, clearly I cannot relate to any of those themes at all.

Everybody is dealing with something, and while the particulars are unique to each person, common ground exists underneath. No matter what our goals are, if we do the best we can to achieve them and we still fall short, then by definition there is nothing more for us to do except adapt and find a new way to thrive. When I wrote, “In this kind of defeat, you learn that there are incidents in life that are not up to us. We are only somewhat in control of our own destiny, and we have to roll with events and outcomes that do not go our way,” I feared that perhaps I was foreshadowing my own outcome.

Maybe that will prove to indeed be the case. However, I am not going to use that as an excuse to keep from doing everything I can, while still maintaining perspective, to meet my goals. Today sucked, but my bitching is over. It’s time to get back to work.

No Such Thing as Perfect

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

The following piece was written by one of our patients, KC, a 32-year-old female from Wellesley.

Growing up as an athlete encouraged me to develop a commitment and eventually a passion for health and fitness. Over a year ago, that commitment turned into an unhealthy obsession. I lost the balance I once had and quite honestly it happened without me even realizing it. It took control of my life and isolated me from my friends and family and ultimately, it led me down a path of sadness and despair. This is my story of how strict discipline, unwavering dedication and the pursuit of perfection turned my otherwise healthy lifestyle into a battle with Orthorexia and exercise obsession.

I always looked to exercise for stress relief and an outlet when life became challenging and quite honestly, I still do. It was the one thing I could rely on. I felt a sense of calm when I planned strict workouts and meal plans. Sticking to them built my confidence, but failing to do so broke me down. I had to be perfect in order to achieve my goals of being fit. This discipline isolated me, but also made me feel better than everyone else. The more perfect I was, the more I separated myself from the average person. I looked down on everyone that didn’t share my passion for health and fitness.

I eventually developed such strict, unattainable rules failure was the only outcome. Each day I had to eat more cleanly and train harder than the day before. Even if I did achieve this for a period of time, I wasn’t capable of maintaining this intensity and in my mind the only solution was to be more strict. I started a food journal, something I have done my entire life off and on. In order to control my “bad” habits and cravings I felt it was necessary, although it only set me up for more potential for failure. The dieting world promotes food journals as a way to control calorie intake and unnecessary binges. I believe it can be a positive tool for those trying to develop better eating behaviors. However, this only contributed to my perfectionism, obsession and unrealistic ideals for myself. The more I recorded, the more I restricted.

At the time, I was experiencing discomfort with my stomach, which I blamed on my eating habits. It caused sleepless nights and uncomfortable days so I developed another rule, no eating past 8pm. This eventually ruined my social life. I had to rush home after work to eat dinner and declined all invitations to go out. For a while, I was convinced that it made me feel better physically, but the guilt I felt from avoiding parties, friends and anything social greatly affected my self-esteem. I justified it by telling myself I had to stick to the rules and staying out too late would no doubt ruin my workout the next day. The irony was despite following my rules and avoiding social settings my workouts weren’t always perfect. This only added to the growing feeling of failure and ultimately I wasn’t happy.

At this point, my dedication should have given me positive self-reinforcement and contentment. I was nowhere near content. I was exhausted all the time, injuries were creeping up, and I wasn’t enjoying myself at the gym like I once was. In addition, as hard as I was working out, I felt like my body looked awful and therefore I needed to push myself harder. This vicious cycle continued for months. I couldn’t look in mirrors because I felt like I wasn’t getting the results I should be. I avoided anything social because I felt like I needed to reach that level of perfection in order to feel good enough in my clothes to go out and be around people. I was stuck in a rut of failure, frustration and disgust. I found myself constantly comparing myself to others. I felt if I could maintain healthier habits than the people around me, I was ultimately more dedicated to fitness than anyone else.

One temptation that I always tried to control was my love for sweets. I figured if I eliminated eating them altogether I could get even better results at the gym. In reality, I didn’t get better results, I just deprived myself of something I enjoyed for the sake of achieving that perfect image. The interesting thing was I never defined what perfect was. I was constantly chasing something that wasn’t realistic. I just figured I would know what perfect felt like when I got there, but of course I only found sadness and disappointment.

My fitness became my identity. I figured it was the only real reason people liked me. They knew me as the fit girl. If I did overeat and not train hard enough, I wouldn’t be living up to that fit girl image. When I did overeat the punishment I put myself through at the gym was extreme in addition to depriving myself further of the nutrients to get rid of the heavy bloated feeling as a result of the overeating. My meal planning became so structured, I completely lost touch with listening to my body and I didn’t trust my body to make the right decisions. I would force myself to eat things I didn’t even want because they were ‘healthy’ and in my mind would get me closer to my goals. I planned my meals a week in advance and I ate based on the clock, not how my body felt. I had to eat 5-6 meals a day to get all the nutrients in I needed whether I was hungry or not. I realize now, I never enjoyed what I ate or really tasted my food. It took all the pleasure out of eating.

Despite the fact that I was so sad, I was still able to fake a smile. Everyone in my life knows me as a happy person so I had to keep that up. I’ve had people say to me, “You are so happy all the time, I don’t know how you do it”. Honestly, at this point in my life, I didn’t either. I was able to be happy on the outside, but miserable on the inside living a life of solitude. I knew after months of feeling this way something had to change. It was wearing me down physically, emotionally and psychologically. Initially, I was fearful if I got help I would be told that my lifestyle was crazy and obsessive and would be encouraged to drastically reduce my exercise intensity. Reluctantly, I went to therapy.

Talking about my fears and habits helped, but I didn’t change. I realized a lot of our conversations focused on my nutrition, especially when I talked about my stomach pains. My therapist encouraged me to see a nutritionist. I willingly agreed to this because it was such a passion of mine and maybe this person would be able to finally help me reach my goals. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it ended up being a life changing decision that opened my eyes to a severe pattern of disordered eating. I had no clue how much food was controlling my life. My rules and relationship with food took priority over everything in my life. Until I started talking about my feelings toward food and the role they played in my life, I had no idea how much I was under its control.

I was encouraged to read a book called ‘Health Food Junkies’, a book that focused on the eating disorder Orthorexia Nervosa. It was absolutely eye opening. I identified with every story and every statement made about what I now realize to be an unhealthy relationship with food. This really started my journey to truly becoming healthy in my mind and body. I had to relearn how to listen to my body. I had no idea what I felt like eating because I lost touch completely with trusting what my body was telling me. I remember being in the grocery store without my list and recipes for the first time in months and I felt completely lost. Despite feeling lost, I did have a sense of excitement going to the grocery store and shopping based on what I wanted to eat not what I should eat. To relinquish my rules was terrifying and I was afraid to fully trust myself. I wanted to get better, but was fearful that it would have a negative impact on my body. If I sounded conflicted, I was.

I will never forget the session when I was encouraged to eat a cupcake for dinner. Restricting myself from all sweets made me crave them more. I was excited to have this freedom. Within that next day, I bought two huge cupcakes and ate them on the way home in the car for dinner. I was finding sprinkles in my seat for days after. It was the first time I listened to my body in months and it felt empowering. I knew this was the turning point in my recovery. Cupcakes for dinner blew my rules out of the water and it felt pretty awesome.

I started to really believe that listening to my body was the way to achieve the results I wanted all along. It was telling me exactly what it needed to keep me healthy. My body told me when to eat and what to eat. I also started listening when it told me to take a day off from the gym. My social life and relationship with family were becoming strong again. I felt truly happy. For the first time in a long time, I realized being real was a much more fulfilling lifestyle than being perfect. To this day, I carry these valuable lessons with me. I am still one hundred percent committed to my health and fitness. It will always be a passion of mine, but I allow myself the freedoms I never did before because to me this is what it truly means to be healthy.

Health-Focused Weight Management

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

“So I was just reading the Huffington Post article that you guys posted on Facebook. Serious question, is it possible that the pride in your body movement has gone too far? I understand the evils of anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders, but being fat, especially as fat as the woman in that article, is bad, right? If I eat unhealthily and stop exercising, I gain weight (see, e.g., the 4 months after [my son] was born). So fat [name omitted] is more unhealthy than skinnier [name omitted] (to a degree, of course). And the people who I know that are overweight clearly have the worst eating habits and some of them have ended up with diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular problems.

“So why this big movement of pride in your body no matter how fat you are? I feel like it’s teaching a dangerous message. That lady in the bikini needs to lose weight by changing her diet and exercising more, doesn’t she? Being thinner will inevitably be better for her health and decrease the risk of her getting weight-related health problems. So why are we celebrating her being proud of how fat she is and then broadcasting to the world that she should be proud of her body no matter what?”

One of my best friends sent me the preceding email in response to me posting the Huffington Post article he mentioned on our Facebook page. We have been friends for decades and I know he asks these questions with honest, open-minded curiosity. Here are the points I wrote back to him.

1) Obesity is associated with health problems, but to my knowledge the legitimate research has never established a causal relationship despite attempts to do so. In fact, what the research has shown is that behaviors (smoking, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, proper sleep, limited alcohol consumption, etc.) are the real predictors of morbidity and mortality. When we control for these sorts of lifestyle choices, health outcomes are basically the same regardless of body weight.

2) Even if being obese was in and of itself a legitimate health problem, we really do not know how to help people lose weight and keep it off for the long run. The research shows that about 95% of the attempts people make to intentionally lose weight fail in the long run, and the majority of these people end up heavier in the end than they were at baseline. Weight regain can be due to behavior change, but it can occur even when the behaviors that yielded the weight loss are maintained. From an evolutionary perspective, consider that we are designed to keep on weight, not lose it, for the sake of survival. I have a patient who lost about 40 pounds, her motivation to keep it off is sky high, and she is very strict about maintaining the behaviors that got her weight down. Yet the weight is starting to creep back on slowly but surely. We can only do so much to fight biology.

3) When somebody tries to lose weight and it does not go as planned, the endeavor is not necessarily harmless. In other words, they do not automatically just return to baseline as if nothing happened. Weight cycling can cause everything from depression to metabolic issues like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Given that 19 out of 20 weight-loss attempts fail, we need to really consider these risks.

4) The social stigma about being overweight pushes people into weight loss attempts, which we know are likely to fail them. We have a “war on obesity” in this country, which is ridiculous considering there are people everywhere making all sorts of behavior choices that could legitimately be considered unhealthy, but they do not face the same ridicule. Where is the outrage against people who do not get enough sleep? Why don’t we bitch about inadequate sleepers raising health care costs for the rest of us? Why don’t people who yawn in public seem to face the same bullying and looks of disgust that many obese people deal with on a regular basis? Our culture is so unaccepting of people who we deem overweight that we push them into weight-loss attempts that will likely leave them less healthy in the long run.

5) Because they are trying so hard to lose weight, Americans spend upwards of $60 billion annually on weight-loss programs and products. That’s insane. Imagine if we took those same resources and put them towards things that would actually help with health: cooking lessons, sports equipment, fruits and vegetables, walking shoes, gym memberships, comfortable mattresses, etc.

It is true that when somebody adapts unhealthy lifestyle choices, he or she might gain weight. If we have a baby and no longer have time for physical activity or proper sleep, for example, our weight might increase. The weight gain itself is just a symptom of the problem though, as opposed to actually being the problem. The real issues at hand are the lifestyle changes that happened to result in weight gain.

At the same time, we cannot conclude that somebody who is heavier automatically has an unhealthy lifestyle. Too many factors, including genetics, are in play. If we look at a heavier person and make any assumptions about how he or she leads his or her life, we are showing a prejudice that is as abhorrent and as any other stereotype.

The approach I take with my patients is to focus on behaviors, establish healthy lifestyle choices, and let the weight settle wherever it naturally belongs. Because our weight may or may not end up where we, our moms, our partners, society as a whole, etc. would like it to be, I encourage people to love and accept themselves no matter what they look like or weigh. That is why the Huffington Post piece and similar posts that confront weight stigma and call for size and weight acceptance are so important.

Day 67: Marathon

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

Selfie of my feet at the Boston Marathon starting line, Hopkinton

A little over a month ago, my surgeon gave me permission to slowly ride the recumbent exercise bike and perform basic upper-body resistance movements with light hand-held weights. The doctor’s clearance for new exercises is mandatory, but so is my body giving me positive feedback in response to said activities. Unfortunately, I only had one of the two. After a few times of giving these exercises a try, my back pain seemed to worsen, so I put the bike and weights on hold and returned to exclusively walking.

Because several walks in the range of 12 to 16 miles felt fine and left me feeling like I could have done more, I decided to go a bit farther today. Early this morning, my back brace and I took the first commuter rail train of the day out to Ashland, where I met the taxi that then dropped me off in Hopkinton, right at the starting line of the Boston Marathon. 7:28 later, I walked across the finish line in Copley Square.

Boston Marathon finish line, Copley Square (Photo courtesy of a tourist who was nice enough to take my picture after I told her I had just finished walking the entire route)

Looking the Part

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

Wow, I am hard pressed to remember an instance when something I read made me as angry as Juliann Schaeffer’s article in Today’s Dietitian entitled “Dietitians and Their Weight Struggles.”

In summary, the article contains quotes from dietitians who offer their opinions as to whether or not a dietitian’s weight and appearance should matter. Although the piece improves at the end when some sanity and rationality is injected into it, the beginning quotes from one of my fellow dietitians are so shamefully off base that I feel deeply embarrassed to be associated with her.

“If someone has a weight issue, then in my opinion, they should choose a specialty that does not conflict with being overweight.”

“If you can’t make it work for you, how can you make the case for someone else?”

“. . . the reality is that health care is a business, and people do judge you by appearance. Is it right or wrong? That doesn’t make a difference. It’s a business, and it is what it is whether we like it or not.”

“I wouldn’t think much of advice from a cardiologist if I knew he had had a heart attack.”

So wait, are we dietitians supposed to list our BMIs on our resumes and websites now, or how does this work?

It is one thing for some personal trainers, chiropractors, life coaches, “nutritionists,” therapists, doctors, and other dietitian wannabes to go outside the scope of their expertise and give harmful dietary guidance, but when an actual dietitian represents the profession the way she has there is just no excuse for it. This is our wheelhouse. We should be better than that.

When I was an intern, I had a rotation in a bariatric surgery clinic where two dietitians worked. One was heavier, one was leaner. Some patients did not want to work with the heavier one because they questioned, “Look how heavy she is; how can she possibly help me?” Yet other patients did not want to work with the leaner dietitian because they worried, “Look how skinny she is; how can she possibly relate to what it is like to be fat?”

Last year, a new patient told me she almost cancelled her appointment because she was intimidated by what a “great athlete” I was. Just a few months ago, another new patient came to me all impressed that I had “beaten cancer.” Well, no, I did no such thing. She had misunderstood my online autobiography. When I told her that, she deflated like a balloon.

Let’s get real for a moment. The whole notion that a practitioner has to look or behave a certain way in order to help patients is incorrect. Out of all the questions I asked the surgeons I met with before my most recent back surgery, I never thought to ask who among them has back problems. But I should have because if a surgeon has back problems then it is logical to conclude he or she cannot help me with my issues, right? Or wait, I want a surgeon with back problems because he or she can relate to my experience, is that how it goes?

How about just finding the surgeon whose approach, experience, and demeanor made me feel most comfortable and confident? I know, crazy me and my outlandish notions.

During my first year as a personal trainer, few members were interested in my services. Although I had good relationships with many of them and they routinely asked me questions about exercise, few were willing to cross the line of actually hiring me. However, after I took two months off to ride my bike across the country, suddenly members were booking sessions with me left and right and my boss began to refer new clients my way, too. Other trainers treated me and my opinions with more respect. The gym even gave me a raise without me asking for it.

Come on.

Sure, more money and clients were great, but the driving force behind the upturn in business was so ridiculous that I felt insulted. It took riding my bicycle 4,000 miles, up and down mountain ranges, through all sorts of weather, for my expertise to be recognized and taken seriously? The ride did not make me a better trainer. If anything, I was a worse trainer after my trip because I was rusty from not having worked in two months. But hey, perception is all that matters to some people.

Right now, I have a patient who wants to be a CrossFit coach and feels she needs to lose 15-25 pounds in order to be taken seriously by potential clients. Sure, she has room for changes in her lifestyle, just like we all do, but she generally eats well and takes great care of herself. As disappointing as it is for her to hear, it seems her body just naturally belongs 15-25 pounds heavier than she would like it to be. Do I push her further down the path she feels obligated to follow, risking perhaps disordered eating or an eating disorder, as she sacrifices health for a number and a look, or do I guide her towards the reality that she can be a great trainer no matter her weight and appearance?

Due to my surgery, it has been seven weeks since I lifted weights and did any physical activity in earnest. Muscle atrophy is setting in. My shoulders and chest are smaller. My six pack is gone.

Am I a worse dietitian now than I was two months ago?

What if you did not know that major surgery had affected my fitness and you came in here and saw a scrawny dietitian without any context? Would you have less confidence in me than if you knew about my operation?

What if I had not undergone surgery and I just decided to take two months off from working out?

What if I had a healthy relationship with both physical activity and food, but my body just happened to be thinner, less muscular, or heavier than society feels its dietitians should look? Would you go elsewhere?

I have blogged about my athletic accomplishments, such as my mountain running, on a small handful of occasions because it can enhance patient care for them to understand that I am a human being with a life outside of this office and I face challenges just like everybody else. Perhaps patients garner some inspiration from those postings, but if anybody reads one and then comes to see me with the mindset, “Jonah is thin and Jonah is an athlete; therefore, he can help me,” God, that would just make me want to take all of the posts down. I just cannot be part of that act.

The purpose of self-disclosure is to enhance patient care, not to serve as an advertisement, not to capitalize on misconstrued ideas, and certainly not for a practitioner to defend or justify his or her behaviors or body shape.

I disagree with the notion that health care is a business. The first priority should be patient care, not money. If the dietitian I quoted earlier had her priorities in order, she would be helping to reeducate her patients and change a culture of misunderstanding rather than playing into it for profit. Giving people what they want and expect for the sake of financial reward does not justify providing poor care and perpetuating a myth.

Or maybe I should just play along and take up steroids, lest patients go elsewhere because I no longer look the part, right?

Come on.

Day 26: Mindful Movement

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Jonah Soolman

This morning I went for a 14-mile walk, which was miles farther than I had intended when I left home. Carrying my MBTA pass with me, my plan was to walk from station to station in Newton and then take the green line home whenever I got tired. But the fatigue never came, so I ended up walking home instead.

This afternoon, I called my surgeon’s office just to make sure it is okay that I am walking that kind of distance at this point in my recovery. They told me that 14 miles has to be some sort of record for this soon after major back surgery, but as long as I am feeling good (which I am) then they see no problem with it.

Joanne and I talk about mindful eating with our patients, but the concept of mindfulness extends beyond just dietary habits. Adjusting mode, frequency, duration, and intensity of physical activity yields all sorts of permutations of movements, and our bodies are great at giving us feedback regarding which ones work for us. We just need to make sure we listen.

Approaching physical activity with a spirit of mindfulness means paying attention to and honoring the feedback that our bodies give us in response to our movement choices. Today, for example, I was fully prepared to end my walk as soon as my body told me it was time to stop, but instead I felt great so I honored that and kept going. Yesterday, in contrast, I was hoping to go for a long walk, but my left heel felt uncomfortable just a couple of blocks from home, so I turned around and called it a day. Although I was disappointed to go home early, better to nip whatever it was in the bud and let it heal immediately, rather than push it and risk a long-term injury.

Besides injuries, other consequences can arise from not being mindful with our movements. We risk increased stress, overtraining, undertraining, burnout, and simply not enjoying ourselves. Although I was never the type of personal trainer to push my clients past the point where their bodies were telling them to stop, holding myself to the same standard and listening to my own body’s feedback has been a challenge at times, and I have paid the price via overuse injuries and getting sick of activities I once enjoyed. Moving our bodies can, and should, be fun.

Given my personal challenges, I consider yesterday’s aborted walk a greater accomplishment than today’s 14-mile trek. By listening to my body and honoring its signals, even as it was telling me something I did not want to hear, I put myself in a position that made today’s walk possible.