Every year the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics determines a theme to represent their basic message of healthy nutrition for everyone. This year’s theme is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day”. The theme is meant to encourage the idea that there is not just one “right” way for everyone to eat to meet healthy nutrition standards. On the contrary, eating “right” is very individualized for each person.
Lost and Found
The button was held on by a frayed piece of thread, and I kept fiddling with that one button over and over again, reminding myself to sew it on again so it wouldn’t get lost. It was a day or so later when I realized it wasn’t there.
Is my teen just being a teen…or is it something more?
The teen years are difficult because the young, innocent child you once knew is now on a mission to separate from the family and become their own person. Sometimes this shows up by the teen staying in their room most of the time, not wanting to spend as much time with the family, or being moody. These are all normal teen things, but how do you know when there is more going on?
Does my teen daughter still need her mother?
There is no relationship as close and as strained as the mother-daughter relationship, especially during the teen years. The difficulty in this relationship is highlighted with drama and humor in a show called Gilmore Girls. If you have watched this show you know the difficulty Lorelai Gilmore (mother) had with letting Rory (daughter) make mistakes while still being a loving mother who was there to offer guidance.
Binge Eating Disorder in Men
Whenever you hear the topic of Eating Disorders or Binge Eating, you automatically think of women. Women have traditionally been the main sufferers of various types of disordered eating and most treatment programs are oriented toward women. However, disordered eating does not discriminate between gender (nor age, race, ethnicity, or religion).
Anger – The Least Understood Emotion
In fact, anger is one of the many emotions that naturally occur within us. Anger in and of itself is not a bad emotion; however, the way we express it may not be healthy or productive. Another fact about anger is that it is trying to tell us something. So, we would do ourselves a favor to pay attention to our anger and learn from it.
Holding a Grudge – Should You Give It Up?
It makes sense that the tendency to hold a grudge developed and was useful in past societies when our ancestors lived in caves, tribes, villages, farms, or small towns. The ability to hold a grudge may have developed as a protective mechanism to prevent one from being fooled again or taken advantage of. It helped one identify a slacker who could be very detrimental in those small communities. Looking at it this way, one can see it as possibly necessary for survival. Thus, holding a grudge can be seen as a defense mechanism; one that some people are very adept in using.
The Power of Gratitude: Are You Happy?
Gratitude and appreciation can be healing and increase your overall happiness. Research by psychologists recently has found that intentionally incorporating thankfulness into your life causes an improvement in mood and well-being. It’s a shift in the way you see things, and changes you from a glass half empty to a glass half full person. It sounds overly simplistic, but it really works.
Father Wounds
Father wounds come in many shapes and sizes. One of the most destructive wounds come from fathers who have walked out of their children’s lives. Often it is at an early age, but even into high school and college, when a father walks away, it creates an abyss that leaves a child grasping for the why. The love and trust of a healthy adult male is a void that continues to be the cause of much pain well into adulthood.
Mother Wounds
Each stage of development has its own struggles and concerns for a mother; somewhere along this journey into adulthood mothers have had a lot of potential to emotionally wound their children. They have spoken harsh words when a gentle answer was needed or been remiss in caring either physically or emotionally, sometimes exhausted by the tasks of mothering and their own unmet needs.