PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Lisa D. Ellis, MS, RDN, CDN, LCSW, CEDS-S (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Eating Disorders Specialist and IAEDP Supervisor. She is a Registered Dietitian and therapist in private practice in the New York City area where she counsels children, adolescents, adults, and their families on the emotional and psychological aspects of eating disorders and related issues. She received a BS in nutrition and psychology from Simmons University, an MS in clinical nutrition from New York Medical College, and an MSW from Fordham University. She spent two years doing fieldwork at the Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders in Greenwich, CT where she counseled and led groups in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and coached patients in developing healthy coping skills. Lisa is listed in the Hearst Publications database of experts and has contributed nutrition information to a variety of publications, including Redbook, Glamour, US News & World Report, Westchester Magazine, Runner’s World, Yahoo, Huffington Post, and Today’s Dietitian. She currently resides in Harrison, NY.
"""Registered dietician Ellis offers a self-help guide for people with unhealthy eating patterns.""Food Cuddler,"" ""Food Whisperer,"" and ""Procrastin-Eater"" are just a few of the author's creatively named categories in this book, which aims to help readers analyze and improve their dysfunctional relationships with food. Eating should be a simple process, she asserts; the main reason to eat is hunger, and fullness is the cue to stop. What Ellis terms ""Emotion-Triggered Eating"" is often subconscious, however. Early humans lived in a time of food scarcity, she notes, and anxiety was once a function of survival, making people hardwired to overeat and self-soothe with food. Ellis mixes biological and psychological concepts with empathy. Using anonymized composites of her own clients, she offers relatable studies that show how past and present family dynamics can play a role in disordered eating: ""Kavitha,"" a ""Less-Structured Eater,"" is a busy mother who never gives herself time to eat, making her a ""professional grazer."" Widowed Annamaria, a ""Food Cuddler,"" uses comfort food to give her ""a big hug from within,"" numbing her grief; as a child, she was encouraged to eat in times of sadness or disappointment. Ellis' writing is brisk and engaging, and the book contains a quiz to gain awareness of one's eating patterns. Advice includes keeping a food diary, using a hunger/fullness meter, engaging in mindful eating practices, and keeping a record of one's moods. Ellis also includes comforting affirmations for each category, always emphasizing that an important part of healing is self-love. After readers narrow down their own eating styles, they would do well to read sections for other categories as well, as there's much wisdom to be found in these pages.A compassionate book that provides intriguing insights and useful strategies."" -KIRKUS REVIEWS"
