We have been a bit off schedule with the blog… but we’re back on track now!
Wow, there’s been a LOT going on. First of all… WHAT is UP with this RAIN?!?
Last Saturday was the Girls on the Run 5K. PEERS member, Karen Swanger is the program director and with the help of our community she was again able to put together a great event for over 800 people. Several PEERS members played roles in making this event a success through donations, sponsoring teams, planning committees, and volunteering. The very next day Karen’s other program OSU KidSpirit had its opening day. She’s one busy cookie. 🙂
We’ve been missing our resident chef & caterer Kate Lynch { Forks & Corks Catering } the last few week as she’s also been quite busy spreading wonderful vittles all around Corvallis. We were so glad to see her this morning and hear about her ever growing new business.
Chris reminded us that this week is SUN WEEK at Valley Eye Care… so go in and get your sunglasses!
Amanda Long { Amanda Photographic } brought a guest today: Miranda Rommel, who shared a variety of wonderful products and skills. Miranda currently operates 3 small businesses that are closely but not entirely related to each other. She has a line of fragrant natural soaps, creams, and lotions are under the banner of Nude Soap. Ready-to-buy as well as custom made “Fiber Friends” are very cute felted creatures – dogs, alpacas, sheep, mice, etc. These adorable little animals are also available with a moth repelling mini soap bar inside to keep your yarns and fibers safe. Miranda is also an illustrator. She has 4 self-published children’s books and is working on number 5.
Today was our monthly business meeting and we welcomed back a former member, Therese Waterhous, to be our guest speaker.
Therese owns and works at Willamette Nutrition Source. WNS is a private practice in medical nutrition therapy. They specialize in eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorders not otherwise specified). Therese has had training in family based therapy and use elements of it in her practice. She works with client’s medical doctors and therapists to use a team approach. WNS also sees people with metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance and provides nutrition education to a drug/alcohol rehab facility and their clients. Therese wanted to share with us the topic of Mindful Eating; which looks at the differences and sources between emotional hunger and physical (belly) hunger. Symptoms of emotional hunger/emotion based eating include: hunger increasing with rise in emotion – especially stress & sadness, inability to think through food options, open to suggestion – not caring what you eat/you just want something, engaging in automatic/repetitive eating, inability to feel satisfied, and last minute thoughts that eating will result in guilty feelings.
Before we talk about physical hunger, Therese also talked about a new-ish book called The Body Project. Its focus is to help students and young adults develop the critical thinking skills to make positive and healthy decisions about food, nutrition, and exercise. Much of the western media strongly portrays the ideal slim figure for both men and women which we begin to absorb from an early age. Diet programs and fads are pushed on us constantly from all sides. The one thing that all these diets have in common is that they tell us that something must be wrong with our bodies. The Body Project, WNS, and Therese all encourage “health at every size” and work to build positive relationships between people and their food.
On to physical (belly) hunger. This is when you’re actually hungry and in need of nutritional sustenance. Belly hunger will be based on your blood sugar level, what & when you last ate, it will not be compulsive – you can wait if needed, you’ll feel satisfied after eating, and you’ll display physical signs of hunger – grouchy, stomach grumbles, light headed.
Therese also gave us a 5-step method to self-soothe when hungry so that eating does not become impulsive and to see if your hunger is emotionally or physically based.
1. Recognize ONE scent around you.
2. Recognize TWO sounds around you.
3. Recognize THREE sensations around you – temperature, textures, pressure.
4. Recognize FOUR colors around you.
5. Recognize FIVE things in front of you.
The hunger scale is also a good tool to help gauge where you are in your hunger cycle and help maintain eating satisfaction.
10. Stuffed: so full that you fell sick.
9. Very Uncomfortably Full: your clothes are tight.
8. Uncomfortably Full: you feel bloated.
7. Full: you feel a little uncomfortable.
6. Completely Satisfied: you feel satisfied and nourished.
5. Comfortable: satisfied but you could eat a little more.
4. Slightly Uncomfortable: beginning to feel signs of hunger.
3. Uncomfortable: stomach is rumbling.
2. Very Uncomfortable: you feel irritable with “fuzzy” thinking.
1. Weak & Light Headed: your stomach is GROWLING.
The self-soothing and grounding method along with the hunger scale can aid in more mindful eating, more positive relationship with food & your body, and prevent discomfort associated with being very full or hungry. There are a lot of great resources out there for learning better eating habits on Therese’s web page: http://willamettenutritionsource.com/affiliations_links.html
Happy Thursday… Maybe we’ll be able to get some sunshine this weekend. 🙂
PEERS | Corvallis Women in Business 