Month: August 2018

Eating Styles

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Timberline was focused on treating the whole person, so we had classes that addressed physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational aspects of life.  While we were in residence the dieticians helped us figure out what was a balanced diet we could follow.  Because some were there for eating disorders this was important to their recovery.  When we went to PHP (the step-down program) we were on our own as far as what we ate, but we had nutrition classes to help us learn important concepts, such as portion size, how to listen to your body’s signals, etc.

 

One of the topics we talked through
was Eating Styles. The instructor
wanted us to consider WHY we ate –
what foods we chose, when we ate,
and so on.  This list is adapted from
Intuitive Eating by E. Tribole and
E. Resch, 1995.

A Summary of Eating Styles

  1. Unconscious Eating
    1. Eating while doing something else at the same time.
    2. Often characterized by a view that sitting down and eating is a waste of time; it’s more productive to multi-task, but the person is unaware of what they are eating..
  2. Chaotic Eating
    1. Usually someone with an overscheduled life.
    2. This is the “gulp and go” mentality of eating when food is available; often associated with stress and tension.
  3. Refuse-Not Eating
    1. Eating whenever food is present whether hungry of not.
    2. This style is encouraged by candy jars on desks, buffets at social gatherings, or food left sitting on the kitchen counter.
  4. Waste-Not Eating
    1. Eating is promoted by all you can eat buffets and cheap food.
    2. This style is often influenced by monetary value or cost of food.
  5. Emotional Eating
    1. Eating is in response to emotion instead of hunger.
    2. This style is characterized by eating alone with triggered by stress or uncomfortable emotions.
  6. Careful Eating
    1. Eating seems to be driven by health and fitness concerns.
    2. It may seem perfect to others, but there is anguishing over each food morsel.
  7. Professional Dieting
    1. Eating is characterized by often trying the latest commercial diet or diet book.
    2. It’s most often due to a perpetual feeling of being fat.
  8. Intuitive Eating
    1. This style is based on biological hunger.
    2. It includes making food choices without dilemma or guilt and honoring hunger, respecting fullness, and enjoying the pleasure of eating.

Once a week we went to a supermarket buffet and bought lunch to take back to the PHP building.  Our instructors checked to see that we chose from all food groups in the proper portion sizes.  Otherwise they didn’t restrict what we took.  Another day of the week we went to a restaurant for lunch.  We were not supervised as to what we ate during this outing.  This was more for those that struggled with eating disorders and alcoholism.  It’s part of desensitizing.  Could the participants go and not under- or overeat?  They were able to go with a group, feel safe in the environment, and make the next time easier.  One restaurant we went to had empty alcohol bottles on shelves around the restaurant.  This was to expose those with alcoholism to be in a safe group environment.  The instructors wanted them to feel that they could be outside the program building, taking part in a normal activity and resist their cravings.

I’m going to end here with a paragraph from How to Get Your Kids to Eat…But Not Too Much, by Ellyn Satter.

Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue to eat until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and truly get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to incorporate balance, variety, and moderation, while not being restrictive and missing out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is three meals a day with snacks, most of the time, but it can also be choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times: feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is also under-eating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for the normal variations of eating. Normal eating takes up some of you time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life. In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food.

 

Our watch words became Balance,
Variety, and Moderation.  As long as
those three are followed there should
be no reason to deny any foods.  I’ve
posted a List of 10 Principles of Intuitive
Eating taken from the same resource.

I’m still trying to decide how
I feel about this approach as
it’s not intuitive to me yet!

Recovery Clock Schedule

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⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒Lifestyle Behavior Checklist updated⇐⇐⇐⇐⇐

At Timberline we had the opportunity to take a class called Leisure Education.  The instructor joked at the beginning about people thinking the idea of learning about leisure was a little out there; but as she continued it made sense.  How do we spend our free time?  Is it intentional?  When someone comes to a treatment center like TK, working to manage an addiction, they now find they have time on their hands that they previously spent drinking, eating, taking drugs, exercising – whatever activity they couldn’t stop doing.  Those that came for other reasons, such as anxiety or depression, concentrated on being intentional with their schedule so they didn’t find themselves sitting in a chair doing nothing.  (It’s so easy when you’re depressed to sit and stare out the window for hours at a time; the mind is busy, but the body is forgotten or paralyzed.  Sometimes the mind is disengaged too.)

 

 

The instructor had us
fill in a 24 hour clock
with all the activities we
normally did before
coming there. Then we
filled in one that showed
how we wanted to live
with intention. This way
when we slipped in
whatever our struggle
was, we could look at
that schedule and get
back on track.

 

 

Here are examples.
The first is an extreme
example of an addict.
When an addict only
cares about their next fix,
according to those that
spoke at TK, they will
spend the day seeking
that and using.  They
may realize in the evening
that they haven’t eaten
yet or maybe not.
Hygiene is not a high
priority and in extreme
cases, employment
is impossible to maintain.

 

The second example is similar to what we worked on at TK.  We talked about the importance for regular meals, hygiene, exercise, and a sleep schedule that allows one to lead a productive life.
We brainstormed ideas what we could do with free time.  If one is trying to overcome an addiction,
they will need
intentional thought
put into what to do
with their time, or
the cravings will take
over in their anxiety
or boredom.

 

 

 

What would your
schedule look like?

 

Snippets from the Conference

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We’re back home today from the
Brotherhood Conference in Gridley.
We had such a blessed time as elders’
wives together, and the conference on
Fri was both inspiring and convicting. I’d
like to share a few snippets from my notes.

 

2018 General Brotherhood Conference in Gridley, IL.

  • The Gospel is only about GOD – Jesus died, shed his blood, and rose again (I Cor 15:1-4)
      •   The Gospel is not the Ten Commandments.
      •   The Gospel is not “God helps those who help themselves.”
      •   The Gospel is not God wants us to be happy.
      •   The Gospel is not the two greatest commandments.
      •   The Gospel is not “let go and let God.”
      •   The Gospel is not repentance. (that’s our response to the gospel)
  • Faith is a noun, Trust is a verb – Faith we hold and in Trust, we act.
  • We need to remember where we came from…
    • We were born in sin. (Psalm 51:5)
    • Our hearts are desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9)
    • None are righteous, all have sinned. (Romans 3:23)
    • The wages of sin is death. (Romans 8:6)
    • Out of the heart proceeds all manner of evil. (Matthew 15:18-20)
  • Christ died when we were still sinners. (Romans 5:6)
  • We were adopted into the family of God. (Ephesians 1:4-6)
  • Christ is our ONLY HOPE.
  • Justification is an Event, an Acquittal, and happens at the time we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord of our life and repent of the sin we were born into and the sin we committed.
    • Getting justification wrong leads to drifting from the simplicity that’s in Christ into legalism or license.
    • Getting justification right leads to seeing God in the right perspective, and peace, service, and growth flow out of love instead of fear.
    • Justification is not a lullaby to put us to sleep, but a battle cry to lead us forward into a life of faith.
  • Sanctification is a Process, is lifelong, and happens as we cooperate with God in the work he wants to do in us.
    • Sanctification is  the process of making us holy and is only accomplished by the grace of God.
    • It’s purpose is to bring God glory and make us ready to be used by him.
    • Sanctification is prohibited by pride and by not spending time in relationship with God through prayer, reading the word, and seeking to know him.
  • Justification without Sanctification is Fruitless.
  • Sanctification without Justification is Pointless.
  • As a child of God we are not whitewashed, we are washed white.
  • We are saints, a part of the family of God, and should represent the family well wherever we go. (Ephesians)
  • We can do nothing without him (John 15:5) AND we can do all things through him. (Philippians 4:13)
  • “The task ahead of you is not bigger than the power behind you.”
  • Have Faith only in Christ – not in what we do, what we think, what we believe, what we feel.
  • Everything will fail us, except God – God can do anything but fail.
  • As we ground ourselves on the solid rock and then push off to climb up or rappel down to the work God has for us, are we giving God the permission to hold our rope for us?

This is longer than I planned on, but what should I expect out of a full day’s teaching?!!
During the day on Fri, I was so moved by some of the teachings shared that I wrote in my notebook right then.  I’ve posted the song that resulted – My Only Hope.