Manchester Public Library to host program on non-diet approach to food

Jan. 19—MANCHESTER — The Whiton branch of the Manchester Public Library will host an Intuitive Eating Program, which aims to provide attendees with information on better daily eating habits and on how to stay off fad diets on Jan. 27.

"It's basically a lecture style program," Valerie Kerr, a library technician with the Manchester Public Library, said. "It's a non-diet approach to a healthier relationship with food."

Kerr said the library is "always trying to get information out to people" regardless of whether it's in a book or not.

"We see ourselves as an informational resource," she said.

Intuitive Eating

What: A non-diet approach to a healthier relationship with food, presented as a lecture.

When: Thursday, Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m.

Presenter: Lauren Rosenfeld, a registered dietician with ECHN.

Where: Whiton Branch Library, 100 North Main St., Manchester.

Cost: Free program for adults but registration is required. Call 860-645-0821 or visit: library.townofmanchester.org

"At this time of year, with people looking at New Year's resolutions, this seemed like a good time to do a program like this," Kerr said.

The presenter will be Lauren Rosenfeld, a registered dietician with ECHN who works at Manchester Hospital.

"I do clinical and outpatient dietician counseling," she said. Her duties include assessing patients for malnutrition, and counseling on nutrition plans, diabetes, heart issues, renal issues, and obesity.

Rosenfeld, who has been a dietician for two years, had been doing advertised quarterly presentations for the hospital when Kerr reached out to her to bring the presentation to the library.

Rosenfeld said she has done one other presentation so far outside the hospital, on fad diets and how to recognize them.

"This is the first time someone has reached out to me," she said.

The Intuitive Eating program was partly inspired by the fad diet presentation she gave.

"When I did my other presentation, people asked, 'What kind of diet should I should follow?'" she said.

She said Intuitive Eating is about losing the mentality of diet and that most dieting programs don't work, causing people to "yo-yo," gain back more weight than previously lost.

"It's about intuitive eating, it's about honoring your body, paying attention to your hunger cues, not having guilt or shame when eating, and rejecting diet mentality," she said.

With the program, she said, she hopes to help people dismiss the diet culture that is filled with messages of an ideal thinness and break down the idea that people are healthy only at a certain weight.

She said she also address feelings of shame about eating bad foods and again addresses fad diets.

"Anything quick and fast, it's not realistic," she said and urges people to be at peace with food, and not group foods as either good or bad.

"There's definitely better choices," she said, adding there's nothing wrong with eating a piece of cake, but that foods should be eaten in moderation.

"You don't want to restrict too much," she said, "or you're going to binge later. Better to satisfy your craving and disassociate the guilt."

She said she will also discuss how everyone's diet will differ, especially for people with diabetes and heart disease.

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