The Further Adventures of Deluzy

The Crying of Lot 49

BrontëBlog: A first edition of Jane Eyre auctioned.

Oh. My. God.

Now, see, if I won the lottery, this is the kind of thing I'd buy.  No, this would be what I'd buy.

I'd be the caller who phoned in the £17,000 winning bid -- and the plummeting American dollar be damned!

Morbid obesity, intuitive eating, and related matters

In theory, I agree with the 10 principles in Tribole and Resch's Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works. They're all about healing disordered eating -- which, let's face it, is rampant among Americans, be they fat, thin, formerly fat, or formerly thin:

Intuitive eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body--where you ultimately become the expert of your own body.   You learn how  to distinguish between physical and emotional feelings, and gain a sense of body wisdom.   It's also a process of making peace with food---so that you no longer have constant "food worry" thoughts.  It's knowing that your health and your worth as a person does not change because you ate a so-called "bad" or "fattening" food.

As I say, in principle these concepts (generally and more specifically as they're articulated by Tribole and Resche) are absolutely spot-on, and I actually have very few quarrels with the specifics of the book. It's well-written, insightful, and also suggests a number of practical exercises to help develop a healthier approach to the complex relationship among food, feelings, and our bodies that exists for many of us.

But --

Ultimately the book is written by nutritionists, and that's the source of one of its inherent weaknesses, I think. Yes, Resch is a licensed "nutrition counselor" (in Beverly Hills)-- but what neither of the authors is, as far as I can tell, is a psychologist, degreed in psychology.  That is, despite being all about developing a healthier relationship with oneself and food, I think the book as a whole unintentionally underestimates the  really complicated, deep-rooted, and engrained nature of disordered eating among those who are, specifically, morbidly obese.

I think the book may be most effective among people (women specifically) who may carry a little extra weight or who are compulsive dieters (or both).

But I'm not sure how effective it will be -- at least, as the sole tool -- for those who have been morbidly obese most of their lives, and it has its real limitations for WLS patients, though, to be fair it's not intended for WLS patients; if one can internalize the principles in this book and live them, one will never have to opt for WLS in the first place.

But that's a pretty large if, statistically speaking. The cold, hard fact of the matter is, only 5% of those who are medically morbidly obese will achieve sustained weight loss through conventional means;  the other 95% will gain that weight back or fail to lose enough weight to reach a healthy BMI. The book can be really helpful for folks with a lifelong history of morbid obesity -- but speaking as one who spent the vast majority of her life morbidly obese, I believe such folks are going to have to diet and follow an eating plan in order to lose the weight at all, in order to lose it in a timely fashion, and in order to maintain a goal weight -- in addition to developing a healthier relationship with themselves and food. Similarly, just following a diet will rarely do the trick. And even then, those actions may not be enough to get you to a healthy place. People can develop a more intuitive, mindful approach to food, eating, and nutrition over time, and they can follow diets and exercise plans -- but in isolation those elements may never be enough for folks with morbid obesity to stake their health on, get the weight off, and keep it off.

While I believe folks can heal from really damaged -- and damaging  --thinking and behaviors  (rather as one can mend a piece of broken china and make it whole again), there are generally areas of vulnerability and weakness that remain (like the visble cracks on that mended piece of china) -- and extra steps often have to be taken to shore up those areas. Emotionally, physically -- it's going to depend on the individual, but the battle against morbid obesity and in favor of greater emotional and physical health generally has to be fought on several fronts, in multiple phases.

In my case, I'm an emotional eater who can still convince herself that her emotional desire for food is actually her intuition speaking. What I want to eat and what I need to eat for maximum health and vitality do not always align.  Since having my DS, they match more closely than they ever did before, but they're not in sync a lot of the time.  When I can't sort out the feelings from the food, I absolutely must rely on other cues:

• A daily food journal (I've kept it religiously since my surgery in 2005):"Okay, I may think I'm hungry; I may even feel hungry -- but I can't actually be hungry because I just ate a balanced, sizable meal half an hour ago,  This must be about something else."

•  A food plan (there's no single food plan that's right for everyone -- but there is a plan out there for each person): Even if I'm not hungry, I may still want to eat -- even after I've felt my feelings, processed them, and taken care of myself in other, non-food-related ways. (I view myself as a food addict who will always be in recovery; my DS helps make me the equivalent of a dry drunk, but the addiction itself isn't gone.)

That's where a food plan is helpful, regardless of my feelings. As a DS patient, my plan has few hard and fast rules, but they include the following:

1. A minimum of 80-120 grams of protein a day. That's the bottom line. It doesn't matter if I want to eat it or not -- I must or I risk serious deficiencies that can lead to death. 
2. Ditto for certain vitamins and other supplements. Without them I'm sure to run into nutritional trouble leading to serious illness or death; with them, I have a chance of minimizing those risks, but some deficiencies are usually inevitable with most forms of WLS -- people need to realize prior to surgery  that they're exchanging one set of health issues for another).
3. And, to maintain my weight loss (and guard the precious gift of remission of Type II diabetes), I must minimize simple carbs as much as possible (I was pretty compliant during my initial weight-loss window with that third requirement; I'm not so consistently successful with this right now, though I still eat far fewer carbs these days than I did prior to surgery).

For other WLS patients or for non-WLS people, other food plans will be appropriate.  But the key word here for me is plan. I believe plans are necessary for effective, timely, sustainable weight loss -- with or without WLS. Okay, don't call it a diet -- but don't expect to be able to develop intuitive eating without one, either -- not if you're morbidly obese and have been that way for a lifetime.

And on that note, I think I'd better adhere to my own plan and start swallowing my daily dose of supplements.

Breakfast today was a bowl of strawberries and a bamana, which was a really dumb, unhealthy way to start the day for a DS patient --> fructos = Sugar Central. Lunch was half a high-protein bagel with cheese and meat (much better choice), and this afternoon will include a protein shake and then a latte (options I feel comfortable with and good about). Dinner? I don't know yet because I'm spending the night in San Francisco at an old friend's house (a girls' sleepover to catch up on our lives -- yay!). But it will include protein and lots of it, that much I know -- and I'm packing a ready-to-drink protein shake for the morning to get tomorrow started off on the right foot.

As I didn't do today!

My alternate life

Thanks to Sparkly Jules, who turned me on to the Outlander novels (which I'm reading rather voraciously at the moment), I want to be Diane Gabaldon.

She's proof that you can be a university professor and then move on to something else.  Dare I say something more fun? Creative? Imaginative? Something that still makes use of one's intellectual interests?

Only thing is, I don't think I'm remotely as eclectic or well-rounded as she.  Let's face it, few people are.

But I'm certainly enjoying the fact that she is and the fruits of her labors.  Fun books!

Person Diane Gabaldon

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My Raspberry

That's my husband's sobriquet for my Blackberry today.

Today and yesterday I did no work -- I simply tried to enjoy my down time so that I can return to research and writing tomorrow (henceforth to be known as R&W) with renewed vigor  -- although tomorrow promises to be a little scattered, as I have to go to campus to do a little advising and to meet with my research assistant.

On more enjoyable fronts, I'm getting into some light summer reading.  During the semester about the only reading for relaxation my brain can take on is series romances , but when my mind is freed up a bit during semester breaks I can take on less formulaic fiction. Yes, this is where my B.A. and M.A. in literature have gotten me. Either way, I'm thoroughly enjoying the reading.

Phyllis A. Whitney, Author, Dies at 104

Link: Phyllis A. Whitney, Author, Dies at 104 - New York Times.

Wow.  I read her books when I was a teenager and hooked on nouveau Gothic novels and Victoria Holt.

I didn't know she'd also written novels for young adults.  I might have to give a few of the titles from that category that are listed in her obituary a try.

Mills & Boon: 30,000 kisses and steamier than ever

Link: Mills & Boon: 30,000 kisses and steamier than ever

Who knew this publisher had been around for a century? I didn't --  I figured perhaps since World War II.  I began reading their books just around the time that M&B merged with Harlequin in North America.

Still do, as a matter of fact. ;)

What can I say?  I'm an avowed feminist, I have an M.A. in literature, and a Ph.D. in another discipline, and I read all manner of fiction -- including Mills & Boon when the mood strikes.

So sue me.

Book-scavenging and homeless folks

Link: Their House to Yours, via the Trash - New York Times.

The men are regulars at the Strand, book-scavenging semipros who help the city’s best-known used-book store keep its shelves stocked. They have no overhead, no employees and no boss. They also have no home. What they have is experience, and a fitful sense of industry.

Pretty interesting brief profile.

Ex libris

Link: Readership Statistics | Romance Writers of America.

The information is a little out of date (2006) but not by much.  (You can tell I'm looking forward to my week of recreational romance reading once I finish this semester's work -- please god, in only a few hours from now. After a week I'll want something a little more complex in the way of reading matter -- but until then? Formulaic series romance, please.)

On a related note, a different page on the RWA site states that, on average, women read nine books a year [presumably of any kind, not just romances], while men read five.  That's one hell of a depressing statistic, regardless of gender or genre. I'm genuinely surprised that the numbers are that low.

(No wonder so many of my students find it pretty difficult to process assigned course readings, even when they're not particularly difficult. They just don't read, period!)

Which is so sad when you think about it.  I realize how very lucky I was to grow up with both parents reading to me from my earliest childhood -- even my father, even when he was sodden with drink. My parents got a lot of other things wrong, but they both got that part right! And even later, when we had absolutely no money whatsoever, my mother would always let me order as many books from Scholastic Book Services as I wanted -- and the thrill of the teacher distributing them on the day that the books arrived in the classroom was considerable.

(I still remember the titles of some of the books I got that way:  Fog Magic and The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House and The Wednesday Witch ... whatever happened to my copies of them, I wonder? Perhaps they got packed up and moved to my sister's house after my mother died because my sister had a 4-year old daughter at the time who could have enjoyed them as she grew up.)

Now, my parents' emphasis on reading was as much a function of class and education as it was of generation; that is, they don't really deserve credit for doing what they themselves were educated and programmed to do. However, I still don't take it for granted.  My husband (who reads much more voraciously than I) grew up in an immigrant, working-class household in which English was not his parents' first language, and he discovered and took up books far more passionately than I precisely because they were not a presence in his childhood.

To this day I'd still far rather read a book than watch television or a movie to relax, and I think that's probably always been true.

100 Notable Books of the Year

Link: 100 Notable Books of the Year - 2007 - New York Times.

And I've read precious few of them. How sad is that?! However, now I have a list of sorts to refer to when I'm picking my next book to curl up with.

I've just read the kind comments that some folks left on yesterday's entry and was so touched. Happily, today is a much brighter day.  As *S* observed, some days are just ... grey ... now and then.  It happens.

But today's not grey. Today is actually a beautifully clear, crisp autumn day, inside my head and out. I'm getting some work done at home this morning, and then heading out for some shopping this afternoon.  I see a delicious sugar-free gingerbread latte in my future today.

The Arrival

I heard a really interesting interview with Shaun Tan, the author of this book, pictured left, on NPRs "The World" last week -- so yesterday when I was out running errands, I stopped in at an independent bookstore to inquire about it.

I came into the interview when it was more than half over and thus missed the book's title -- but Tan's words, the interviewer's references to the book and its artwork (it's a sepia-toned graphic novel about the experience of immigration [in any era], done in a style that's reminiscent of both silent film montage and old family photo albums [including cover and binding]) made me think that any independent bookseller would know the book if I described it.

Sure enough, a woman at the register of a store devoted entirely to children's books knew of it and pointed it out to me, and I was able to walk out with my own copy.  I've only been able to glance through it so far, but it's stunning.

(It's published in the U.S. by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic -- but it's obviously a book for adults and children alike.)