You At Your Best

sPecIal TO nWa DeMOcraT-GazeTTe T. Brad Coy, DO, is a board certified general surgeon at Freeman Health System. From 2009-2010 he was the President of Medical Staff, and in 2006, 2011 and 2012 he was the Chair of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Coy attended college at Southwest Baptist University and graduated with his medical degree in 1992 from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency in 1997 at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, and has received training in all bariatric surgeries, including LAP-BAND® surgery. Dr. Coy is a member of the American Osteopathic Association, American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, American Society of Breast Surgeons and Ohio Osteopathic Medical Association. T. Brad Coy, DO Freeman HealtH SyStem PhysicianPROFILE: By JaMes carlTOn To eat, or not to eat? That… should never be the question. Eat smaller portions and fuel your body regularly if you want to be healthy. The key is a balanced diet. It's the same old advice you've heard time and time again, but why is it so hard for us to follow these simple guidelines? Well, it seems our idea of eating a balanced diet is akin to walking a rigid tightrope and, when we stumble, we end up on a seesaw of undereating and overeating — and therein lies the problem! Your eating regimen shouldn't be so rigid. Think forgiveness, flexibility, happy medium. Think slackline, not tightrope. Deborah Pitts, a registered dietician makes her living telling folks not just what to eat, but how to think about food. She earned her master's degree in nutrition at Texas A&M University, and now has her own private practice, Deborah Pitts Nutritional Consulting, in addition to teaching nutrition classes at NWACC and the Walton Life Fitness Center. Pitts is in the business of making the complex science of nutrition seem simple and personal. She even lets her clients eat ice-cream and pizza! With over 25 years of experience in the field of nutrition, Deborah has come to know the ups and downs, and the ins and outs of eating. She believes there shouldn't even be such a thing as a "cheat day" for those of us hopelessly clinging to a strict diet. Relax. The way Pitts puts it: "If you're going to eat cake, eat it! Just eat a smaller portion, and don't skip breakfast the next day to make up for it." Skipping a meal sends all the wrong signals to our bodies. Instead of burning fat, we'll end up wasting calorie-burning muscle. Talk about a backfire. The next calories we take in will be stored as body fat instead of building muscle, so we're essentially replacing muscle with fat when fasting. "Dieting can actually make people fatter," says Deborah. "What serves them better is an eating style; paying attention to slowing down their eating pace, stopping before they're full. There's a difference between eating and experiencing food." Depriving yourself, Deborah notes, is what leads to binge-eating and cravings. One of the things Pitts tells her clients is that "you get on a plane, on a train, on a diet. You get off the plane, off the train, off the diet. It's more of an event than a way of life." So, the secret to maintainable health in the long run is to stop focusing solely on what you eat, and concentrate instead on how you eat it. Take your time. Enjoy every bite. Not-so-fasting: slow down, experience food Digesting diet myths ONe BiTe aT a Time SATURdAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2019 | mARch - wEllnESS nwAdg.cOm/YOUATYOURBEST | YOU AT YOUR BEST | 5

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