Alumna and nationally acclaimed dietician talks about changing relationship with food
Cynthia Sass encouraged students to imagine themselves in a room full of endless food in Heroy Auditorium on Thursday.
Sass, a Syracuse University alumna and nationally acclaimed dietitian, challenged the crowd to place themselves in the room and answer how they would feel and what they would do. Her lecture, ‘Stop Counting, Start Living,’ explored how food relationships have changed as people’s bodies and minds fight for control of their mouths.
Food relationships begin at birth, Sass said, but very few people continue the eating habits of infancy as life experiences take over.
‘Babies recognize the signs of physical discomfort they get when they’re hungry and act accordingly,’ Sass said. ‘They cry when they want food, and refuse food when they don’t — this often goes awry with food when we’re older. We replace different reasons for eating that have nothing to do with physical hunger.’
People eat to reward themselves, comfort themselves, relieve stress and engage in social activities, she said. All the different reasons for eating that are not associated with hunger create a disconnect between bodies and minds, Sass said.
Sass talked about one of her clients, a doctor, who was unhappy with his career. He would go to multiple drive-thrus after work and eat tons of fast food in his car to feel happy, she said. Disconnect like this can lead to harmful eating habits or dieting for a short period of time and then the person quickly falling off the wagon, Sass said.
‘A diet is like a pendulum that swings in opposite directions as you feed the body less than it needs,’ Sass said. ‘The pendulum swings right back to the overeating side when we realize our hunger — where’s the balance?’
Sass’ newest book ‘Cinch! Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches,’ was released in January and offers a plan for balance. ‘Cinch!’ outlines a five-day ‘fast-forward’ plan that helps readers return to a state of body balance achieved through ‘the Goldilocks effect’ of correctly portioned meals.
‘Not too much, not too little, but just right,’ Sass said of the Goldilocks effect.
The plan in the book says people should eat healthy, whole foods and only eat when they’re hungry, while ignoring any other mental signals to eat, according to the book. The plan can help shed pounds, but Sass said she hopes the book influences people’s food relationships on a larger scale, teaching others to listen to their bodies and distinguish between body hunger and mind hunger.
Sass asked her doctor client who ate fast food in his car what he would do if he could do something purely for fun, and he replied he always wanted to take guitar lessons, she said. Soon after, he bought a guitar and started taking lessons, finding a way to satiate his mind hunger without food, she said.
‘He started going straight home after work because he was so excited to practice,’ Sass said. ‘He told me he never felt happier.’
Sass also gave students advice about how to deal with body image and food pressures. When asked how to respond to friends who want to order take-out late at night, Sass said students can avoid unnecessary eating by politely refusing but still contributing socially to the group.
Sass acknowledged dining hall options can seem daunting and repetitive, making it difficult to make well-balanced plates. Variety is key, Sass said, and when she was SU’s registered dietician, she created daily food cards for dining hall menus that outlined healthy meals students could easily make using the different foods available that day, she said.
Sass also emphasized taking the focus off of eating calories. Food is measured by much more than numbers, and people can reinvigorate their bodies and feel good about eating again once they get past totaling up their meals, she said.
Sam Quisgard, a magazine, newspaper and online journalism graduate student at SU, said eating freely and naturally feels much better than worrying about numbers.
‘Calorie counting makes you conscious of what you eat, but not counting feels so good,’ Quisgard said. ‘The feel-good aspect of nutritious meals is much better than worrying about calories.’
Published on March 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm
