A Centered Approach
Conscious eating and smart
relaxation techniques tamed Maya
Nelson’s out-of-control eating
habits and empowered her to
take a more holistic, sustainable
approach to her health.
By ERIN PETERSON
Maya Nelson knows a thing or two about extreme ating. As a teen, she’d overeat and gain a few pounds, and then lose them by cutting back on calories. In college, she gave up meat for a year and went through phases where she ate just a few things obsessively, like milk and cookies. Most recently, she lived a double-food life. Employed by a direct marketing company in Long
Island, N.Y., Nelson, 35, ate sensibly on the job, snacking
on apples and packing healthy sandwiches for lunch. But
after work, she went home and ordered enormous takeout
portions that she’d gobble in a single sitting. “That was
my treat: rice and meat, two large portions,” she says.
“Sometimes, I ate so much I almost felt like passing out.”
The toll that Nelson’s bingeing took on her body was
exacerbated by her low self-confidence. “I found comfort
in food,” she says. “But when I gained weight, it just made
my self-esteem worse.”
Since 2000, a series of moves and personal challenges
had cranked up Nelson’s stress level — and caused her to
pack on the pounds. “I was miserable,” she admits. “I was
fine during the day, but at night, I would come home and
just go for the food. I felt like an addict.”
By the time the 5-foot-8-inch Nelson reached 211
pounds last fall, she was desperate for change. But she
needed a fresh approach. Her previous weight-loss attempts,
which consisted primarily of limiting her calorie intake, had
always failed when hunger drove her back to the pantry.
Nelson — who grew up in the country eating the
fresh, homegrown foods her family produced — had long
been interested in holistic approaches to healthcare, and
she suspected that her eating, stress and low self-esteem
were somehow intertwined. So when she stumbled across a
catalog for the Omega Institute, which focuses on holistic
health and wellness, she picked it up.
The catalog listed a weekend course that seemed
tailor-made for her: UltraSmart Weight Loss. The three-day
workshop at Omega’s Rhinebeck, N.Y., campus promised to
detoxify her body, rev up her metabolism and reduce her
stress. She promptly registered online.
Clockwise from top left: Nelson, before, at 211 pounds, spring 2008; a slimmer
Nelson, at 160 pounds, in May 2009; Nelson (second from left) listens in during
an early-morning “Be-In-Your-Body” walk at the UltraSmart Weight Loss workshop,
October 2008.
Restart, Recharge, Relax
The UltraSmart Weight Loss seminar — copresented by
Mark Hyman, MD, founder and medical director of the
UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Mass., and Experience Life
editor in chief Pilar Gerasimo — focused on a mind-body
approach to weight loss, with strategies for building healthy
habits for a lifetime.
Before she even completed the first session, Nelson
realized that she needed to make some significant changes
in her weight-loss approach, because much of what she’d
been doing had clearly been working against her.
As the interactive course progressed, she learned how
to adapt her diet to eliminate toxins from her body, how to
eat more consciously and how
to use a heart-rate monitor to
exercise more effectively.
By the end of the weekend,
she had the tools she needed to
avoid emotional eating, manage
her stress effectively and incorporate exercise into her daily
routine. A 12-week online support program also helped her
stay on track.
Learning how to eat mindfully had an immediate impact.
Rather than coming home from
work, flopping down in front
of the TV and shoveling down
her favorite takeout, Nelson ➺
Meditation and yoga help Nelson stay
calm and centered, August 2009.
