Is Your Personality Type Making You Fat?

Cavemen Never Went on Diets

2009-04-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's funny to even think of a caveman or cavewoman worrying about his or her figure. Back then it was survival - eat what you can find. Contrast that with today where most of us don't have to struggle to find food. It's as near as your 7-11 or gas station. And that's the rub. Accessibility has taken us far from our roots. Of course, social standards of size hasn't helped us either.

Back then cavemen didn't have to practice the skill of resistance. We do. Studies are showing that practicing a little resistance can end up with big rewards. In one study the authors found that in situations when self-control is repeatedly tested, a defense strategy that works for a first temptation can be used to tackle the next. Let's say that when you go to McDonald's you're tempted to have fries with your hamburger. You decide that you will resist the temptation and just have the hamburger. You finish your lunch and head back to work. You're proud of yourself for having resisted the fries. According to the study results, the next time you head to McDonald's you'll more easily be able to resist the fries because you were successful the last time.

This philosophy holds true, as well, for trying to decrease your intake of fat. Every time you eat something with a little less fat, it becomes that much easier to eat something else that has less fat. In fact, in time your taste buds and tongue won't even enjoy greasy foods. You will have lost some of the "need" for fat. The same holds true for sugar. Put a little less sugar in your coffee each day and you'll see that one day you may even be drinking your coffee without sugar.
Believe it or not, even though the saying goes "you can't teach an old dog new tricks", it isn't so. You can change as long as you want to change.

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on
personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets (all rights reserved)

Eating Home is Becoming Chic

2009-02-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

According to Grocery Shopper Trends 2008, a recent survey by the Food Marketing Institute, 71% of families are cooking at home more and eating out less in order to cut costs. Interestingly, 91% of those surveyed say they eat healthier when dining at home. Families also save money because a restaurant meal costs more than twice per person, a median of $12 compared with $5 in the FMI report.

This means that more people will need to learn how to cook. Cooking can be fun and it doesn't have to be gourmet. The best part of it is that maybe more families will sit down at the dinner table together - a great opportunity to enjoy each other's company.

I can remember when my girls were younger. They'd come home from school - I'd ask them how their day was - and they'd say fine and that was all I heard about what went on. Yet, when we were all sitting down at the table for dinner and we really got to talking, so many stories would flow. So, don't miss that opportunity to connect with your kids and family. Maybe even consider cooking together. And as the survey showed, you could be the healthier for it.

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on
personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets (all rights reserved)

Does My Blog Reveal My Personality?

2008-11-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading an article from the magazine, The Atlantic. The article was by Andrew Sullivan who was commenting on blogging. He said that blogging reveals a lot about a person. Because blogging tends to be written on the fly without much organization to it, people tend to allow more viewers to get to know them. Blogging tends to be more conversational, allbeit, a little lobsided. Like right now I'm hogging the airwaves while you're sitting there reading. So, I do hope you'll leave a comment so this becomes a dialogue rather than a monologue.

For anyone who is familiar with personality typing (if you're not, be sure to visit my website at http://www.advantagediets.com/ and click on the right side "About personality typing"), two of the eight preferences that make up type are Extravert (the spelling is that of Carl Jung, the psychologist who developed psychological type) and Introvert. While personality typing includes more than the dictionary definition of these terms, Extraverts do tend to share more of themselves than Introverts. As you read various people's blogs, think about whether you think the person is an Extravert or an Introvert.

Extroverts are more willing to share facts about themselves. Introverts are often harder to get to know. Yet, it's possible that through a blog you'll get to know an Introvert better than you might if you were to have face-to-face contact. Blogging provides some with a safer environment to express themselves.

I'm an ENFJ. People who know me will say that I allow them to get to know me very well because I tend to share a lot about myself. They say I have integrity, that they can trust me. I'd like to think they feel this way just because that's who I am. They know I would never hurt them. But maybe it's my being an Extravert with a greater willingness to open up. I wonder if Introverts with their difficulty in opening up leave questions in people's minds about who they really are.

The challenge I have with blogging is the willingness to post it without checking it over and over again. As a writer of many books, I know how important it is to organize my thoughts before even starting to put anything down. With a blog, I can experience free thinking, allowing thoughts to come in and get recorded without figuring too deeply on how it fits into the whole scheme of the written piece. Another part of my personality is the _NF_, the idealist. Idealists are perfectionists squared. Not only do we want everything perfect, but will always believe something can be better. With blogging, I'm hoping to experience a sense of free flow without too much rewriting. Although, I have to admit that I did reread this piece before I push the "post" button. Maybe one day I'll trust that it's good enough on the first writing.

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on
personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets (all rights reserved)

Health, Wellness, Fitness, and Nutrition: Bugs in My Breakfast

2008-11-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

Health, Wellness, Fitness, and Nutrition: Bugs in My Breakfast: "allergies, dietary supplements, fiber, immune function, microorganisms, oatmeal, prebiotics, probiotics, stress"

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on
personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets (all rights reserved)

Bugs in My Breakfast

2008-11-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

As I was eating my breakfast this morning, I was thinking how happy my gut would be when my breakfast finally arrived. That may sound like an odd thought, but you should first know what I had for breakfast. I started out with 1/2 of an orange and 1/2 of a banana, which took care of the fruit portion of my breakfast. Then I had 1 cup of cooked steel-cut oatmeal with 1/4 cup of Greek style plain yogurt with active cultures. I added 1/4 cup of 1% milk to moisten the cereal plus about 1 tablespoon of a flavored non-dairy coffee creamer.

Now you may be wondering why my gut would be so happy. The yogurt with its active cultures is considered a probiotic. As per wikipedia.com - "Probiotics are dietary supplements containing potentially beneficial bacteria or yeasts. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: ‘Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host’.[1] Probiotic bacterial cultures are intended to assist the body's naturally occurring gut flora, an ecology of microbes, to re-establish themselves. Claims are made that probiotics strengthen the immune system to combat allergies, excessive alcohol intake, stress, exposure to toxic substances, and other diseases.So now I have these great little microorganisms running around in my gut. But these little critters like to eat the same as you and me.

The oatmeal I had is very high in fiber, especially soluble fiber, something which these microorganisms love to feed on. The more good guys I can have swimming around in my gut the better.

The idea of eating foods high in probiotics and prebiotics is to increase the number of beneficial microorganisms in the gut in an effort to push the harmful ones out. Research is pointing to inflammation as a participant in such diseases as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Eating probiotics and prebiotics can potentially decrease inflammation in the body. It's so simple to do so much for yourself. Give my breakfast a try. If nothing else, you will find it is so satisfying and filling that it keeps you going until lunch.

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets (all rights reserved)

A litle more discussion about keeping a food diary

2008-06-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

We normally think of food diaries as tracking devices of what we eat (and that is what tracking devices are referred to as). Yet, we could think of a food diary as our personal diary - pages of our thoughts and feelings, what happened in our day, what we wish for, etc. For example,

Dear Diary,
Today was actually a great day. I didn't fall prey to all the sweet treats around the office. And you know why? Because as I looked at the M&Ms on Susie's desk and the doughnuts that were left out in the breakout room, I knew that I would have to tell you about them later if I ate them. I couldn't come up with an excuse that I would write here that I wouldn't later read and tell myself, "you've got to be kidding me!". You've become my conscience.
Besides, I knew that when I logged those sweet treats in on my food tracking system, I would pretty much wipe out a lot of my calorie allowance for the day. I had to decide if they were really worth it. I didn't want to lie on the sheet, nor did I want to see that at the end of the day I had overeaten and the only excuse I could use was that "I wanted them." If I can't answer to myself, there is no one who is holding an axe over my head, making me eat one way or the other.
That gave me a great feeling to know I was in control. Let me just hope I'm as good tomorrow.

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on
personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets

What do food diaries and personality typing have to do with each other?

2008-06-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

The National Weight Control Registry was put together in an attempt to show that people can successfully lose weight and keep it off. They have been keeping track of successful losers for many years in hopes of finding out what are their secrets.

Anyone who has lost weight will tell you that losing the weight is easy compared to maintaining the loss. Yet, some people have greater success losing weight than others. What is it that they figured out to make it possible to reach their goals? The National Weight Registry asked their members to share what they found to be the greatest help to them in losing weight. It seems that the majority of the losers kept a food diary. They said that by having to write down what they ate, they were kept connected to the process. It acted somewhat like their conscience, always there reminding them of what they should be doing and reflecting what it is they were doing.

From an MBTI or personality typing perspective, people with a strong Judging preference, a preference that wants organization, enjoys keeping lists, being structured, would find keeping a food diary very motivating. (By the way, if you're not familiar with personality typing, visit my website at http://www.advantagediets.com/ and click on the link "About personality typing.") If part of your type name includes the letter "J", then consider keeping a food diary to lose weight.

That's not to say that Perceivers can't keep food diaries. They can and will, but may not keep to it as long as the Judgers will. With their need for spontaneity and flexibility (What if Sally wants to go out for an unplanned afternoon latte?), too much structure scares them off. So food diaries may not be as appropriate a tool for Perceivers as it is for Judgers.

I hope one day that someone will run a study on the members of the National Weight Registry to see what the types are of the people who have relied on food diaries to lose weight. If you are a researcher and decide to do so, please fill me in on the results. I would be delighted to see if my suspicions are correct.

There is a great tool for Perceivers that is a food diary and is fun. Check out "Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat" on my website. Drawing the Line caters to the characteristics of both Judging and Perceiving. There is structure involved in looking foods up and connecting-the-dots in this system, something Judgers would enjoy. But there is also the element of fun, something Perceivers would want. They love to see at the end of the day what type of picture they've drawn of the foods they've eaten.

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more information on
personality typing.

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets

Personality Typing and Cake

2008-06-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

You must be wondering what does personality typing and cake have to do with each other. I'm going to share a scenario with you and would like you to think about how you would handle this situation. We're dealing with the Thinking and Feeling preferences here. If you're new to type, visit my website at www.advantagediets.com and click on the link "About personality typing."

Scenario: A friend of yours has made you a cake for your birthday. You're trying to lose weight and have tried to stay clear of sweets and extra calories. Do you eat the cake?

If your strong preference is Feeling, you probably will eat the cake. You wouldn't want to hurt your friend's feelings, even if it meant sabotaging your diet. This is a subjective call where you bring to bear your opinions about how you should treat your friends. In this case, you're more worried with how your friend will feel if you don't eat her cake than what effect it will have on you. As you can see, someone with a strong Feeling preference really runs the risk of letting others and situations determine their decisions. This is especially true if someone with a strong Feeling preference also has a strong Extraverting preference.

If your strong preference is Thinking, you probably won't eat the cake. If you have decided that this diet you're going on won't allow you the extra calories of a piece of cake, you'll probably tell your friend how nice it was of her to make it for you, but to please understand that it doesn't fit into your weight-loss efforts. You'd be taking an objective point-of-view with the situation, analyzing what effect it would have on your day's caloric intake. Now, had you known your friend was going to make you a cake and you have iNtuition as your strong preference, you could have planned the day so that the other foods you ate were less caloric to allow room for these extra calories.

Visit http://www.advantagediets.com/ for more information on
personality typing, nutrition, health and wellness.

MBTI and cartoon, "Between Friends"

2008-06-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

In my last posting, I shared with you a cartoon from "Between Friends". I asked you if you could figure out what personality type the restaurant customer has and what type the waitress has. Any thoughts? The following is one way to look at the cartoon through type:

The customer is exhibiting the Feeling and Judging preferences. First, the Feeling preference is stating what she'd really like to have - Bacon Cheeseburger and a Chocolate Shake. The Feeling preference reveals a subjective decision-making process (this is what "I" want). Compare that to the Thinking preference that makes decisions more from an objective point-of-view (this is what "society, my boss, the rules, etc." require).

Then there's the Judging preference that is trying to adhere to a set of guidelines that she has either been told to follow or that she believes must be the right approach to eating healthy (even though she isn't behind it willingly).

It's her end comment "Some people just insist on sucking all the joys out of live" that reconfirm her strong preference is Feeling. I also would say that it shows she favors Extraversion since Extraverts look outside of themselves for their energy. That's what she'd like to do - experience the "little joys of life" which come from outside of herself.

If you have a story you'd like to share and have me see if I can figure out what preferences are being used, please do submit them but clicking on "Comments".

Visit http://www.advantagediets.com/ for more information on personality typing, nutrition, health and wellness..

Cute Cartoon - "Between Friends"

2008-06-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Let's see if you can use the information I posted last time (so far, one characteristic of each preference) and apply it to the following cartoon I saw in the Seattle Times last Sunday. The cartoon is "Between Friends" by Sandra Bell Lundy.

As a lady is ordering lunch, she gives her order to the waitress as follows:
"I'll have the bacon cheeseburger without the bacon, the cheese or the bun."
" - and a chocolate shake, skip the ice cream and no chocolate."

The waitress reconfirms with the customer what she's heard as the order:
"Got it - one plain hamburger patty and a glass of milk."

The customer says to her friend:
"Some people just insist on sucking all the little joys out of life."

Okay, now tell me what personality preferences the customer probably has or is using. How about the waitress? You'll have to wait until my next post since I don't want to take the fun out of your guessing by giving you the answer right now.

Visit http://www.advantagediets.com/ for more information on personality typing, nutrition, health and wellness.

MBTI (Personality Typing) Basics

2008-06-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

The usual thought when people hear the words "personality type" is that we're talking about a person with either a Type A or Type B personality type. Type A is more out-there, energetic, vocal (you know the people I'm talking about). Compare that to Type B personalities that are more laid-back, easy-going, and more restrained.

That's not what the MBTI is about. However, that's not to say that those characteristics aren't experienced by people with one of the 16 types set down by the MBTI. According to the creators of the MBTI (Myers and Briggs), as well as Carl Jung, the psychologist that established psychological type in the early6 1920s, we all possess the eight preferences that make up the MBTI. However, we favor four of the eight.

The eight preferences consist of:
Extravert - Introvert
Sensor - iNtuitive
Thinker - Feeler
Judger - Perceiver

I've intentionally listed them this way for you to see that these eight preferences group themselves into 4 categories, each set being the other one's opposite. For example, Extravert - Introvert are both part of the category "Where you get your energy". For the Extravert, he gets it from outside of himself, whereas as the Introvert gets her energy from inside. Since you can't be extraverting and introverting at the same time, one of these preferences you use more often. Because of that, it becomes part of your type name.

I've made bold the letters of each preference that can appear in a type name. For those who are curious, the "N" is bolded in iNtuitive instead of the "I" because Jung had alreaded assigned the "I" to the preference "Introversion". An example of a type name (which, by the way, is my type name) is ENFJ. That means that while I possess all of the preferences, which I'll be telling you more about along the way, my favorite ones are Extraversion, iNtuition, Feeling, and Judging.

Just to set the record straight from the beginning. There are no good or bad types. In fact, we'd have a pretty boring world if everyone had the same type name. It's the fact that with 16 different types, we have much more diversity and interest.

For now, to get you started, I'm going to give you just one characteristic for each of the preferences so you start to get an idea of what personality typing is all about. For each pair, think about which one applies most closely to you. But don't forget what I told you about last time. You really need an in-depth questionnaire such as the MBTI to be sure of your type description. But let's have some fun with this and get you started.

Category: What energizes you?
Are you an Extravert or an Introvert?
As I shared above, an Extravert is energized by a group of people. So, if you have an Extravert and an Introvert going to a party, the Extravert will probably be there until the party is over, receiving a lot of energy from the others. On the other hand, the Introvert goes to the same party and then leaves early because she needs to go home and recharge her batteries. She found the big group situation an energy drainer. See the difference? Which one do you think you are so far?

Category: What type of information do you need?
Are you a Sensor or an iNtuitive?
The Sensor is a person who lives in the here-and-now. Compare that to the iNtuitive who lives in the what-might-be. We're talking here of someone living in the present moment while the other is living in the future.
Which one do you think you are?

Category: How do you make your decisions?
Are you a Thinker or a Feeler?
If you're a thinker, you make your decisions in a logical and analytical way. If you're a Feeler, you tend to use your emotions, your gut.
Which do you think you are?

Category: How do you deal with life?
Are you a Judger or a Perceiver?
If you're a Judger, you're organized and scheduled. Whereas, it you're a Perceiver, you're spontaneous and flexible.
Which do you think you are?

For this first look at type, put your type name together with the letters from the 4 pairs that you think sounds like you. We'll be adding more characteristics in the days to come. So stay tuned.

For those of you who want to share your type name now, leave a comment. It'll be interesting to see just what types tend to join in the conversation online.

Visit http://www.advantagediets.com/ for more information on personality typing, nutrition, health and wellness.

Getting to Know You

2008-06-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Let me introduce myself. My name is Roberta Schwartz Wennik and I'm a registered dietitian. I've been a consulting nutritionist for almost 17 years. During these past 17 years, I've counseled people like yourself, have written numerous books, have been a newspaper columnist, appeared on television, been a speaker, a brand spokesperson and a specialist in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

The MBTI is an approach to personality typing that a mother-daughter team (Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs) created based on the work of the psychologist, Carl Jung. I was reading a book about the MBTI and personality typing just for the fun of it. I think it was one of Otto Kroeger's books. He was sharing in his book that the MBTI is most often used in industry for career development, team building and improving communications. As I continued to read the book, a lightbulb went off in my head. I could see a perfect marriage between the MBTI and nutrition counseling. What better way to help people than to understand why they do what they do based on their personality type? And, in turn, what better way to instruct them on making changes than in ways comfortable to their type.

Too often nutritionists use a cookie-cutter approach to helping people make changes. That means everyone is dealt with in the same way. Yet, how can that work when we're all not the same? The MBTI encompasses 16 different personality types. If I were to ask you to make changes that weren't comfortable with your type, you'd have to use willpower to succeed. And while willpower will work for awhile, it doesn't work indefinitely. And guess what? Whatever changes you might have made using willpower will probably be quickly erased when your old, established habits come roaring back.

Yet, when I use the MBTI and truly understand the people I'm working with, as they learn to truly understand themselves, success is actually inevitable. Finding the right approach is basically finding what works for you. Of course, you do need to find out what your personality type is, learn its strengths and weaknesses, and then go after making changes based on what is comfortable for you to do.

In the coming weeks, I'll be sharing different aspects of the MBTI to help you identify your type. After that, it's time to make some healthy changes and we'll be getting into that, as well. If you're really curious about the MBTI and want to learn more about it right now, visit my website at http://www.advantagediets.com/ and click on the link (on the right handside of the page) "About Personality Typing." That link will lead you to a slideshow that does a good job of introducing you to the MBTI and getting you to think what type you might be. Please just appreciate that it takes a more in-depth questionnaire to feel secure in your identification of your type. But, the slideshow will certainly get you started.

Visit http://www.advantagediets.com/ for more information on personality typing, nutrition, health and wellness.