Think about it
One of the uncomfortable yet useful facets of the weekend was meeting and hearing from people who believe in approaches to overcoming obesity other than the one that works for me.
I heard about one of them from Jean Kristeller, a psychology professor at Indiana State University and president of the Center for Mindful Eating. As you can tell by the name (its, not hers), her efforts are pointed toward getting problem eaters simply to slow down and pay attention to what they’re eating.
My reaction was that I wasn’t going to write about it, because, well, it’s not the solution I use. Yes, that’s childish. So here we are.
Kristeller described the case of one guy in one of her groups, who’s practice was to eat a whole Snickers bar every afternoon. So she had him bring one in and they sliced it up. She said he had one piece, eaten slowly, and his ritual was gone. Once he’d paid attention to what he was eating, he found he didn’t like the chocolate, thought the caramel was too sweet, and found the peanuts stale. She described a similar case in which someone brought a Ho-Ho into the circle, and it was sliced into rounds and eaten slowly, allowing the group to recognize how gross Ho-Hos really are.
Hearing her led me to wonder if, when I was at the same point of weakness that allowed me to get so much out of rehab and support groups, etc., I had come under her guidance, if that could have become the cornerstone of my recovery instead. It’s an interesting thought, but after mulling it for a couple of days, I’ve concluded that for me, it was more than desperation that helped me start to get better. I needed that, but I also needed something more structured.
Nevertheless, I do admire the emphasis on mindfulness. I have learned — oddly, it was only via rehab and support groups, etc. — how important being in the moment is. And I have observed not only how hard it is to practice it consistently, but how few people do. I would say it is not an American value, though my loving father-in-law (currently pasting me in Scrabble) does not agree.
Applied to poor eating habits, I think it could help many, many people, potentially tens of millions of the 145 million Americans who are overweight or obese. I think it could help just as many people, or more, if it could be brought into their consciousnesses (?) on any grounds. But for those of us who are addicts, I think we would still need more.
May 1st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I also was tempted to buy into Jean’s approach until she told me the end of the same story. She said it was considered a success if the candy-bar eater, instead of eating a whole candy bar, might eat three small pieces of a high quality chocolate and be satisfied. I asked if the candy-eater would have to spend the afternoon driving to a high quality candy store, savoring his chocolate mindfully, and then driving home. She pretty much said yes, this would be a successful result. Frankly, I can think of a zillion better ways to spend the afternoon.
I said to myself, thank goodness I got into a program that teaches abstinence. I don’t think about chocolate. I certainly don’t crave it. I haven’t gotten into my car to drive somewhere to buy chocolate in 13 years. I am free from the addiction on day at a time.