Individuals with eating disorders usually have a difficult time absorbing the nutrient any other way. This is because zinc in powder, tablet, or capsule form must first be absorbed by the small intestine before it can do any good. And if the zinc is combined with another element (as it is in zinc sulfate, gluconate, or picolinate, for example), first the complex has to be broken down in the stomach to liberate the zinc, then it must be absorbed by the small intestine. People with eating disorders usually have digestive difficulties; therefore, these products are relatively useless. Liquid zinc, on the other hand, will bypass the stomach and small intestine and directly enter the blood and liver. Once the liver recognizes zinc’s presence, a positive chain of events will be set into motion.It may take some time, anywhere from three days to three weeks, before the effects of liquid zinc are seen. This is because zinc depends on a protein carrier, and it generally takes several days for zinc to facilitate its production. Once the protein carrier is synthesized, zinc is transported to where it needs to go. The nutrient begins to saturate brain tissue and effect a positive shift in perceptions. As zinc is involved in over 200 enzyme reactions in the brain, this influx begins to correct the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the eating disorder.Schauss is not the only researcher to praise the benefits of liquid zinc. Its value has been confirmed worldwide in several studies performed since the 1980s. Placebo-controlled, double-blind experiments do confirm that most eating-disorder patients are zinc-deficient and that administering liquid zinc is highly beneficial. Further, five years after initial treatment with liquid zinc, follow-up studies find that nearly 65 percent of bulimics and 85 percent of anorexics remain fully recovered. Additionally, liquid zinc has been correlated with mood improvement. The latter findings have implications not just for people with eating disorders but for a wider population with mental health concerns.Clearly then, liquid zinc should be a first line of defense in any eating disorders program. Available in the United States since 1984, the product is safe, effective, and easy to use. A problem, however, is that most eating-disorder treatment facilities have been slow to recognize zinc’s importance. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons, including financial ones. Institutional costs of programs that combat eating disorders can add up to nearly $30,000 a month. By contrast, liquid zinc costs $2 to $5 a day and promises good results.It should be remembered that, even if you don’t have an eating disorder, zinc is an important nutrient for appetite regulation as well as for bolstering the immune system and maintaining optimum skin condition. Some good food sources of this mineral include wheat germ, lima beans, lentils, almonds, split peas, tuna, and pumpkin seeds.*63\233\8*

People who suffer from this toxic pattern feel compelled to constantly do good deeds and favors for others. In turn, other people are supposed to appreciate them and respond. Typically, these people “keep records” on who owes them what. The self-poison comes when the other person simply accepts and enjoys what is given him but doesn’t show his appreciation by “paying off.” If the T person then demands payment, he is apt to be angrily rejected.
Betty Jean was a very giving young woman who believed that “You don’t say no to your friends and family.” She was quite open about her attitude and was always available when someoneneeded a favor. What she kept hidden was her expectation that others should have a similar atti¬tude toward her. She was firmly convinced that when she asked for a favor, she had every right to expect her friends to joyfully comply, regard¬less of how inconvenient or difficult it might be for them to give her what she wanted at the moment. Whenever she met with a rejection, she would angrily terminate the relationship. Her final words usually were “I’m glad I found out about you—some friend you turned out to be.”
that if he is good enough, he will gain the approval, nourishment, and gratification he has so long sought. Since at best these rewards are only sporadically conferred by others, the person grows steadily more desperate. At the height of his desperation, the effect of this T pattern may reach the intensity of a homicidal —or suicidal—rage. The toxicity gradually takes its toll, and the victim may even begin to literally look and act as if all the life had gone out of him. He has burned himself out hoping and waiting.
In intimate relating, nobody owes anybody anything. On the basis of our own willingness and desire to give, each of us must decide when, how, and in what ways we are willing to respond to another.
*52\350\8*

Imagine you’re a telephone operator sitting in front of a huge console of blinking lights. Whenever a red light flashes, you’re supposed to plug a cord into a green socket. A blue light means to put the plug into a yellow socket. Orange light – purple socket. But what if you suddenly became color-blind? Imagine the chaos. Nothing gets connected No one can communicate with anyone else. Everything goes haywire.

In a sense, an eating-disordered person can be emotionally “color-blind.” When a bulimic feels angry-when the red light flashes-she plugs into the wrong socket. Instead of dealing directly with her anger, the signal gets diverted and triggers a binge. Similarly, an anorexic may fear intimacy, but her mind reroutes that feeling into a fear of fatness. The feelings are there, but the disorder causes them to short-circuit.

For years these people have denied or suppressed their feelings-”Angry? Me? Impossible.” Why does this happen? There are many reasons. Perhaps these people come from families that forbade emotional expression. They thus have no role models to follow when it comes to showing joy or pain. Or perhaps they were punished in some way for being emotional-”Don’t cry. Only babies cry. Go to your room.” They may think that a feeling such as anger, once it grabs hold, will hurl them out of control, and make them dangerous or bad.

Feelings become strangers, provoking strangely twisted responses. Recently I brought a seventeen-year-old bulimic and her parents into my office. I told them that she had to be hospitalized because, despite intense outpatient treatment, her severe bingeing and purging had put her in medical danger. “No!” she cried, throwing herself down, sobbing and pounding the floor with her fists. “I don’t want to go to the hospital! It’s not fair!” Despite her protests, the parents agreed to the plan and she was admitted. The next day, however, she was much calmer. She said, “To be honest, I’m kind of relieved you put me in here. I felt really terrible at home. Yesterday I thought that coming into the hospital meant leaving my mother to cope at home all by herself. I couldn’t let her know that I actually wanted to come into the hospital. She would think I was deserting her. I realize now that’s why I put on that little show in your office.”

Even a physical sensation such as hunger gets garbled in transmission. An anorexic says to herself, “Hungry? That’s not hunger, that’s, uh, nervous energy. I need to exercise more-exercise, yeah, that’s the ticket.” For a bulimic, the inner monologue might be: “Lonely? Nah. I’m just hungry, that’s what I am.”

*84/35/5*

Sharon Duke leaves nothing to chance.

The San Jose, California, resident meticulously plans out every detail of every day—from when and what she eats to where and how she exercises, from trips to the grocery store to trips out of town.

That may seem like a lot of work. But Sharon, 51, doesn’t want to leave anything to chance, especially in terms of maintaining a healthy weight.

What spurred this painstaking attention to detail? As her fiftieth birthday approached, Sharon noticed that her weight had crept up to 161 pounds—too much for her 5-foot-3 frame. She had been gaining a couple of pounds every year since her mid-forties. Because she ate healthfully and exercised regularly, she didn’t think that her lifestyle was to blame for the 35 extra pounds. Instead, she suspected that the combination of advancing age and menopause were stalling her metabolism.

Sharon decided that she’d have to be even more vigilant about her healthy lifestyle if she wanted to bring back her slim and shapely figure. “At the time, my health club was offering a 6-week nutrition-awareness class, so I signed up,” Sharon recalls. “I discovered that even though I was making good food choices, I was eating far too much. That’s what got me started on planning ahead.”

If she had a business lunch with colleagues, she found out in advance where they intended to eat and chose her meal beforehand. “I’d call the restaurant and ask if they offered a chef’s salad with grilled chicken, or a fruit salad,” she says. “If they didn’t have what I wanted, I’d eat before we went out, then just order a side salad at the restaurant.”

When her job required her to travel out of town, she called restaurants near where she was staying and inquire about their menus. “If I couldn’t find one with suitable menu items, I’d go to a grocery store and pick up some food to take back to my room,” she says.

Sharon applied her plan-ahead strategy to her exercise pro-•£ I gram, too. Before she traveled, she called the hotel to find out whether it had exercise equipment or if there was a gym nearby. If ^ \ not, during her hotel stay she got up early to take a 2-mile walk or she climbed stairs at the hotel.

Once she started mapping out her daily routine, Sharon lost the extra 35 pounds within 6 months. She has maintained her weight at 126 pounds since 1998.

WINNING ACTION

Prepare a daily plan. If you find yourself struggling to stick with your weight-loss program, Sharon’s strategy may work for you, too. You may even want to keep a daily planner, which you can buy in any office-supply store. Then each night, spend 15 minutes or so mapping out the next day. Include as much detail as you can, especially in terms of mealtimes ajid workout time. Of course, you can’t always anticipate what will happen every moment of every day. But a daily plan gives you a better chance of keeping your weight-loss efforts on track.

*138\89\8*