Love Your Body Month - Free Workshop

Resolve to Love Your Body in 2010:
Gain Strength, Power and Awareness
through Movement and Art!

Join Megan McSwain, MA LAPC, and Caroline Correll, fitness/movement trainer, at lululemon athletica in Buckhead on Thursday, February 18, 2010, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. for a free movement/art workshop.

Let your body and spirit do the talking. Experiment various types of movement, tune into your deep wisdom and voice, then express yourself on paper. Everyone welcome. No art/exercise/dance experience required.

Some supplies will be provided, but please bring
a yoga mat and any special art supplies.
All proceeds will be donated to EDIN.

http://www.myedin.org/

lululemon athletica Buckhead address:

3096 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30305

Questions? Please contact:

Caroline Correll - caroline@mybodyflow.com - 404.210.6752

Megan McSwsain - meganmcswain@gmail.com - 404.368.6174

FYI: EDIN (Eating Disorders Information Network) is a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta dedicated to the prevention of eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating, and other forms of disordered eating through education, outreach and action. EDIN celebrates Love Your Body Month each February as a way to encourage loving your body and to promote a healthy body/self image. Please visit http://www.myedin.org/ for a full calendar of events. Additionally, Megan McSwain, an Atlanta-based art therapist, and Caroline Correll, an Atlanta-based movement/fitness trainer, have led several workshops together with the intentions of helping participants to feel comfortable, listen to their wisdom, honor their creativity and shed light upon an important cause. Megan and Caroline thank you for your support and welcome everyone!

Looking Within v. NAAO

I'm a huge "do-not-diet" advocate. I'm also a huge believer that eating issues (overeating, undereating), food issues (you-name-it), and exercise abuse (or lack of exercise) issues, all settle much, much, much deeper than "laziness", or "she's just a control freak", or "too many vending machines followed by McDonald's". If those three examples truly explained overeating, undereating and everything-in-between, don't you think we could Move On?

When I got home tonight, I flipped on Campbell Brown's show on CNN featuring MeMe Roth, Founder and President of NAAO (National Action Against Obesity). If you watched, or if you're familiar with her antics, you know MeMe's claims of tough love for anyone who's overweight. In a nutshell, "stop eating junk, move, and for goodness sakes, have some self discipline!"

Now, if you visit the following link highlighting her philosophies ( http://www.actionagainstobesity.com/NationalActionAgainstObesity/Founder.html), you might find some decent points like the rising problem of obesity, dangerous food marketing, and eating a balanced diet. Then, she slides in that obesity is basically a self-inflicted illness. I could write a book here, but I won't.

Look, I make a living helping others to "listen to their bodies" by moving (aka exercising). I'm obviously an advocate of a well-balanced diet, consistent doses of various physical activities, and proper rest. But, from personal and professional experience, claiming that some whippersnapper self-discipline and a 4-mile daily run will guarantee you a thin, trim, fit, svelte 20s body-for-life is bologna.

Sure, we could cut back on the regular fast-food meals or the daily vending machine snacks filled with sugar. Sure, we could all step away from our computers and televisions and take the dogs on a walk. Sure, we could try to tax all the "fat" in attempts to solve all our obesity and health insurance problems. But, if it's too good to be true, you know the rest....

If you peel back the initial layers of health education (a balanced diet, listening to your body's signals, regular exercise and sleep, stress reduction), you'll find that a) some people are quite happy and healthy not being a certain size, and/or b) obesity can likely be a sign of emotional eating and sometimes categorized as a clinically diagnosed eating disorder(s).

I have a hard time with MeMe's light-switch notion that people should be more disciplined in controlling their weight and that people CHOOSE unhealthy lifestyles. Lucky for her ego, she oozes with self control and righteousness otherwise she might not be preaching.

Let me reiterate - Let's get healthy. Let's educate ourselves. But, let's also dig deeper to find out why we have food issues. Or, drinking issues, or shopping issues, or gossiping issues, or gambling issues, or relationship issues, etc. Or, how about sense-of-self or spirit issues?

Instead of diets, or drinking, or credit cards, let's get real and fill ourselves with self-care and healthy, supportive relationships. I know it's a lot to ask, but looking within toward the tender places might just be the richest thing you will ever find.



*If you feel you need some guidance in finding a therapist to help you with these issues, please feel free to contact me.

Fudgy Cornbread

I never claim to be a cook. Here I am trying to make cornbread. According to the directions, I was to use a 9x9 baking dish. Well, I have an 8x8 square dish and the heart-shaped dish above which varies in size all around, but I don't have a 9x9. I figured the heart would be a nice compromise. But, after the 27 minutes of required baking, it looked pretty on top, but it looked like pudding in the middle. Yikes.


So, we baked it a little longer, ate some crust off the top each time we opened the oven, baked it a little longer, kept wondering if we could swallow fudgy cornbread, baked it a little longer, and kept wondering if we should just slice off the top and eat the crust.


The cornbread kept rising. So did my hair. That's why included these pictures - the guys from my step class would have been horrified at the frizz. Oh well. The cornbread finally baked all the way through. Just a little doughy in the middle, but I figured those pieces would be microwaved the next day, and therefore, cooked more.


The Boyfriend and I feasted on spicy venison stew (so I kept pouring milk for my on-fire taste buds) and Bob's Red Mill ever-rising cornbread (geez, soooo good!). We were starving, and I definitely ate past my comfortable point. Whoopsy-Daisy!


Do you ever struggle with recognizing your satiety - finding that comfortable "satisfied - but not stuffed" level? It can be a challenge, especially if you've experienced many diet/binge periods. Many times, it requires balancing listening to your body and practicing some portion control. And, in the area of measurements and portions, I'm an advocate of flexibility. But, what a great idea to be educated and have a general idea of what your body needs and can manage to function properly in regards to nutrients and portions.


Do you ever struggle with becoming over-hungry - then eating too much at dinner because you feel famished? Do you remember to take portable, healthy snacks with you while you're living and being active?


While shopping for my niece and nephew at Borders this afternoon, I was browsing cookbooks since they were on sale, and I came upon Tosca Reno's "The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook". I've read about her books while browsing some fitness magazines - those that I usually walk away from buying as soon as I happen upon a ridiculous Hydroxycut ad. But, I was pleasantly surprised while browsing her books - clean, clear, up front, reasonable, manageable and nonrestrictive.


I believe we'll continue to see a move more and more toward healthy/clean/organic eating. And, while I am not talking about "dieting", I am talking about living. How can you function your best? How can you live through your days with your best energy? What changes do you need to make? And, how can you take care of yourself in healthy, supportive ways to get where you want to go?


Personally, I need to prepare myself better with snacks in the car so I'm not starving by the time I get home because by that time, I could eat a horse, a pig, a chicken and a cow all at once! Good thing, I've never had an appetite for my cat!


Seriously though, I tend to get hungrier sooner than I think, so even though I'm mobile and always pretty close to home, I think it's time for me to invest in new Tupperware, some Sunday chopping of veggies and packing snack bags, and possibly a new little cooler. Just a few more things to add to my 2010 wish-for-myself list.


It's been a long week after a weekend funeral, a computer virus that wiped out my system, and a growing-never-ending-December to-do list. But, I'll write more to encourage setting mindful intentions for the new year...I know it's coming up, but I'm happy to have this month to think about what I want/need for myself for next year. I hope you are too.


Feel free to write with any questions about Tosca Reno's book or any other questions/suggestions you might have. caroline@mybodyflow.com As always, I'm happy to answer questions, keep them confidential, and I'm always happy to refer readers to dieticians and therapists to help who might help you along your journey. ;)

Seek Movement for the Right Reasons

I recently received the following email from a woman I'll call Jane.

Okay, exercise. Here's how I feel:
For every time I overeat or indulge, it feels like I can literally feel the poundage being added to my body! Exercise is an outlet, but it's also a way of feeling good and feeling in shape. But when I don't exercise, the exercise Nazi shows up and berates me for my laziness! My routine is important to me, but when I see myself having this type of reaction when I don't exercise, I realize it's not necessarily healthy. Also, confession. The days when I don't exercise, I try to eat less -- not quite restrict, but I def. make a conscious effort to try and not add excess calories. Lately around Joseph (the boyfriend), I feel very self conscious that I've put on weight. With my family back in town for the holidays, we have a lot more meals, have dessert with every meal, and indulge a lot more. When I was eating on my own schedule, I wouldn't eat if I wasn't hungry. Now, I eat cause it's dinner, and it's not always the food that I would choose for myself, or food that I feel good about eating. Like last Thursday - we had this cream sauce lasagna covered in cheese that my sister made. Then we had ice cream sundaes. I haven't been eating in excess, but having a meal like that makes me feel HEAVY! So there's got to be a balance between the extremes there - between not having any, and being able to enjoy some. And then ofcourse, wishing I could just eat "normally" - go out for chinese food with the rest of my family without becoming anxious about the calories involved.
And getting back to the place where exercise feels good, and not like a punishment. I'm interested in your take given that you work with people on the exercise/body front.
Thanks for your eyes!

I prefer to preface by saying I am not a therapist - I am a certified personal trainer who has battled her own exercise/body/food wars and who intends to find peace everyday through a therapeutic journey consisting of various personal routes of self care. If you've visited my blog before, you know my theme has become "self care"! If you've visited my blog before, you also know that I like to recommend therapists and nutritionists, etc. etc. etc. Please email me for referrals - carolineflow@gmail.com - If you want my personal response/feedback as a fitness/movement trainer who has found peace through movement, keep on reading!

I pasted this message from Jane because I think it's a common challenge. I also know Jane personally, so I know where she is on her journey. Please keep that in mind as I share my perspective, especially with the food advice. I only had a few minutes to write back, and it's about my bedtime tonight, but here's my take:

Jane,
While it's so hard, and it will take time to realize, your body truly takes care of itself more than you can imagine. I would be more concerned with eating emotionally regardless if it's, say, carrots v. cream-covered lasagna. I know carrots are less "body fat" threatening, but your body doesn't know that. It'll eat either one, then be full longer with the lasagna. So, there's the wisdom of the body.

A) Try not to label foods as good or bad. Chocolate, lasagna, brussel sprouts and pinto beans are all just food. I would say give yourself permission to all of it - but for a healthy, well-rounded diet that your body can perform on best, I'd say aim to eat the basics to nourish/sustain/fuel your body (veggies, dairy, whole grains, lean meats, healthy fats like nuts and olive oil) about 80-85% of your day/week, then the leftover 15-20% can be for the more processed/rich/tasty-treats that are more like to tingle your tastebuds than anything else!

B) About movement/exercise: Kudos to you, Jane, for recognizing that you might be using or viewing exercise in an unhealthy way. Sounds like you know the difference and need to work on being mindful about exercise and being kinder to yourself. Seek movement for the right reasons. Do it because it makes you feel good, strong, fit, revived, refreshed, light, energetic. If you do it to "burn calories", well, it'll take a hell of a lot of exercise to burn off a binge, so it's not even worth going down that thinking or doing path. You're better off putting that energy into thinking about what set you off to eat too much and/or taking care of yourself in the most loving way possible....And, as always, if you eat more than normal, just let your body catch up. Eat the next time you are hungry. And, if your family is having another LARGE meal, you never have to eat as much as they're serving you.

Post this note on your desk space "Seek movement for the right reasons" - Then, we can talk about some actual movement that can fit into your busy days better - so you can feel energetic, you can rest well at night, and you can still be as fit as you can be. ;)

C) Boundaries. Holidays are so heavy with family/friend obligations. Give yourself the gift of being mindful in how much you'll give and with whom you're sharing your energy and time.

Stay tuned as I write more to Jane about different ways to move to suit her moods, energy and time - as well as various routes of self care. Thanks for reading and staying in touch!

Your Story?

Hi all ~

I'm interested in gaining feedback from you. Along with my friend at www.phonomenalvideo.com, I am working on producing a piece of work highlighting the emotional eating recovery process. We would love to hear your unique feedback. Please email me at carolineflow@gmail.com !

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Thank you in advance for helping with this research. We are producing a video highlighting the recovery process for those affected by disordered eating. This includes those who personally struggle with disordered eating as well as those who have been closely involved (family, friends, mentors, coaches, therapists).

While there are many videos defining different types of disordered eating, we feel it’s important to show that recovery and “the other side” is possible. Because no recovery path is identical to another, we want to show an array of stories. Additionally, we feel the truth works, therefore, we understand the need to show realistic angles – the ups, the downs, the middle-of-the-road days, etc. Most importantly, we want to hear your unique truth, your insight, your hopes. Thank you.

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Optional info:
Name:

Required info:
Age:
Gender:
Cultural background:

Regarding the body wars or emotional eating, please answer the following questions. Feel free to write as much or as little as you want:

What did you overcome? Or, what are you overcoming? (the problem/dysfunction)

How did you overcome it (therapy, reading, group support, relationships, etc.)?

What was your turning point in wanting to stick to recovery?

How do you define recovery?

What has been the greatest challenge(s) in this process?

How are you today? What is your reality?

Do you consider yourself a “success story” (beating the odds, beating your own beliefs, etc.)?

What would you like others to know?

During your recovery journey, did/do you think a self-help, educational video on recovery, would help? If so, what messages would you like to have seen? And/or, what do you think should not be shown in a recovery video?

If you are able and willing and to share your story on camera in the Atlanta area, please provide your contact information below. Thank you.

Name:
Phone:
Email: