Q&A with Cheryl Forberg, RD

Q&A W I T H C H E R Y L F O R B E R G , R D

A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE AMERICAN SLEEP & BREATHING ACADEMY [ASBA] TALKED WITH CHERYLFORBERG, RDAT THE SLEEP & WELLNESS 2014 CONFERENCE IN MAY. CHERYL FORBERG, RD IS AN AWARD-WINNING CHEF AND A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR. SINCE 2004, FORBERG HAS BEEN THE NUTRITIONIST FOR THE NBC HIT SHOW, THE BIGGEST LOSER. SHE WAS ALSO NAMED AS ONE OF THE TOP 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN HEALTH AND FITNESS. CHERYL FORBERG WAS PLEASED TO SHARE SOME OF HER EXPERIENCES AND INSIGHTS FOR SLEEP & WELLNESS MAGAZINE.

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“ ...often people skip meals, which promotes weight gain, not weight loss. It’s counterintuitive, but once we skip a meal, particularly breakfast, we lose sight of our hunger cues.

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Q&A WITH CHERYL FORBERG, RD

ASBA: PLEASE GIVE A SHORT SUMMARY OF HOW YOUR CAREER EVOLVED. CHERYL FORBERG: My career originated from my training as a professional chef, which is my first love. I started to cook for private clients who had dietary restrictions. I felt I could go a lot further with my cooking if I understood the physiology of why people needed to eat a certain way, so I went back to school and got my nutrition degree and RD [registered dietician] credential. That training enabled me to go beyond the kitchen and to do more teaching and approach my work from a lifestyle vantage point that includes elements of nutrition, exercise, and general wellness.

ASBA: CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR ROLE AS THE NUTRITIONIST FOR THE BIGGEST LOSER TV PROGRAM? CHERYL FORBERG: Sure. I’ ve been with the show for 10 years, and we’re in the middle of filming our 16th season. (NBC started filming two seasons of The Biggest Loser per year when it became a popular show.) I design the eating plan for the contestants. Over the years, I’ ve worked with hundreds of contestants, introducing them to a new style of eating. I don’t like to use the word ‘diet’ because a diet is temporary. On The Biggest Loser, we address the contestants’ entire lifestyle, not just what they eat. Our integrated approach addresses psychology and emotional eating, exercise and nutrition. The show employs experts in all areas on a medical team, and we’re constantly in communication with each other to make sure that each of our contestants is getting the optimal care in all areas.

“Many people have a long-term habit of emotional eating

that has contributed to weight gain and overall health issues.

Emotional eaters need to address the psychological aspect of eating.

ASBA: ASBA’S MISSION IS TO HELP PEOPLE IMPROVE BOTH SLEEP AND WELLNESS. HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR WORK FITS WITH OUR MISSION? CHERYL FORBERG: I was pleased to participate in the Sleep & Wellness conference because it included health professionals from diferent fields, working together, which is really the optimal approach to preventive health and lifestyle improvements. Nutrition is one important part of a healthy lifestyle, but you can’t ignore other areas like fitness and restful sleep and still maintain optimal health.

ASBA: LET’S TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AND A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP. CHERYL FORBERG: The title of my talk at the Sleep & Wellness conference was “Eat Your Way to Zzzz ’s, ” but I added a little subtitle because I didn’t want people to think there’s a food cure for sleeping disorders because there isn’t. However, the way we eat definitely contributes to our sleep and to our wellness. It’s really important that we eat at diferent times throughout the day because our blood sugar afects sleep. The amount and quality of the calories that we eat contributes as well. Through working with The Biggest Loser, I have found that having a healthy weight is very important to having optimal sleep.

ASBA: PLEASE COMMENT ON HOW THE QUALITY OF FOOD IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE CALORIES IT CONTAINS. THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 500 CALORIES OF JUNK FOOD AND 500 CALORIES OF HEALTHY FOOD. CHERYL FORBERG: Healthy foods have a higher nutrient density than junk food. If you eat 10 calories of a tomato, for example, and 10 calories of a soft drink, you ’re getting a lot more “ nutrient bang” for the tomato calories. My approach is that the quality of the calories we consume should be our principal focus. I truly believe if we focused on high-quality calories—such as lean proteins, whole grains, good fats—and eliminated many of the salty, fatty foods that are contributing to the obesity in this country, the quantity of the calories we consume would really take care of itself. We’d be naturally satisfied with the high amounts

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Q&A WITH CHERYL FORBERG, RD

of fiber, water, and nutrients that are found in those healthy foods.

ASBA: LET’S TALK ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE CONSUME OUR FOOD OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD AND HOW THAT AFFECTS OUR WELLNESS. CHERYL FORBERG: It’s really important for all of us to try to slow down a little bit. We’re all so busy, and often people skip meals, which promotes weight gain, not weight loss. It’s counterintuitive, but once we skip a meal, particularly breakfast, we lose sight of our hunger cues. By the time we eat lunch, we’re so hungry that we usually eat too much, too fast, and we choose the wrong things. It’s really important to take the time and plan ahead. That’s much easier said than done with all the crazy schedules that people have. So often we don’t take the time to shop, and we certainly don’t take the time to plan our menus. That’s what has kind of gotten us into this mess. It’s important to take time and think about what you ’re going to eat, and where you ’re going to eat it. Otherwise you might wind up as so many people do: eating in the car, eating at your desk, eating standing up, choosing to dine at which ever drive-thru has the shortest line. A comprehensive approach to wellness requires that we step back a little bit, slow down, and prioritize things like meals. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we’re not going to be healthy enough to take care of anybody else in our family, so good choices about where and how we eat (as well as what we eat) are key.

ASBA: LET’S TALK ABOUT THE RELA TIONSHIP BETWEEN STRESS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND EATING. CHERYL FORBERG: All of us are emotional eaters, but some of us do a little more emotional eating than others. Sometimes we eat when we’re sad, when we’re tired, when we’re depressed, when we’re anxious—and we might not even be hungry. Emotional eating is when you ’re eating and you ’re not hungry; you know it, and you do it anyway. To compound the problem, emotional eaters generally choose unhealthy foods. When you ’re stressed out or tired and going for a snack, you ’ll rarely choose a salad with dressing on the side. The chocolate and fried comfort foods you choose instead aren’t really comforting to your body or your health. Many people have a long-term habit of emotional eating that has contributed to weight gain and overall health issues. Emotional eaters need to address the psychological aspect of eating.

“ ...so it’s important to do proper exercise in conjunction with changing your eating patterns for weight loss.

ASBA: IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST EFFECTIVE SYSTEM FOR YOU TO HELP PEOPLE CHANGE NOT JUST THEIR DIET BUT THEIR LIFESTYLE? CHERYL FORBERG: I prefer to work as part of a team. On The Biggest Loser, every day I work with the psychologists, the trainers, the medics, and the physician. In my private practice, I always work with a local trainer and also consult with a psychologist for some of my clients. Coordinating with other experts really improves the results of my work. Even though nutrition is really important, if you only change the way and amount of food that you eat, you lose weight by losing fat and muscle. And you don’t want to lose muscle; you want to increase your muscle mass. Muscle helps you to be more flexible and increases your metabolism, so it’s important to do proper exercise in conjunction with changing your eating patterns for weight loss.

ASBA: TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW COOKBOOK, FLAVOR FIRST, WHICH DEBUTED AT THE SLEEP & WELLNESS 2014 CONFERENCE. CHERYL FORBERG: Flavor First is a culmination of all the things I’ ve learned from working with The Biggest Loser show for 10 years. The cast members on the show personify overweight America. We are so in love with our condiments. We love our ranch dressing, we love our ketchup, we love our sauces (especially cheese sauce)—and these things have really gotten us into trouble. Most of us have such good intentions. When we’re trying to stay on a healthy plan, we go out to lunch and order a salad, but then we drown it in dressing. I wanted to help people choose the right ingredients and allow condiments and cheese to be part of the picture. The cookbook includes some sauces, vinaigrettes and marinades that are made with high quality ingredients and do not contain excess amounts of salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats. That’s a big part of the book, but I also kept in mind that most of us are pretty busy. The recipes included in the book are fairly simple, and the ingredients are things you can find without a hassle. Most of the people I work with don’t all have access to high-end health food stores and obscure ingredients. Fortunately, you don’t need those things to prepare healthy, delicious food.

ASBA: WHAT DOES COOKING LOOK LIKE AT YOUR HOUSE? CHERYL FORBERG: We like to cook a lot of international foods. Our dinner parties usually have a global theme. My boyfriend likes to make sushi. I enjoy Italian food, so I might teach my friends how to make pasta. Another time we might have an East Indian menu. We live on a farm. I have a 3,000 square foot garden, and I enjoy picking my dinner. What’s in season in my garden usually dictates what we’re eating. I’m hoping that eventually we’ll be able to get almost all of our food from the back yard. In addition to my garden, I have 12 chickens. I just love having fresh eggs. A vineyard is also in the plans at our house, so soon we’ll even be making our own wine.

ASBA: IS PICKING YOUR DINNER EVEN A POSSIBILITY FOR MOST OF US? CHERYL FORBERG: I think a lot of people are trying to go back to living of the land. Even if you live in town, sometimes it’s all right to have a few laying hens. If you live in an apartment or a big city, you can still have a few pots of herbs on the balcony or in your kitchen. I highly recommend growing a little bit of what you eat. You can’t beat it for cost and freshness and excellent taste. It’s so gratifying that I think everyone should give it a try.

S&W

Hungry for more? You can find recipes, wellness and cooking tips, and even photos and other information about contestants on The Biggest Loser at Cheryl Forberg’s web site, www.cherylforberg.com.

FALL 2014 • SLEEP & WELLNESS MAGAZINE

PART 1

’ s identity will be revealed in the final installment of the series.

MOST OF MY LIFE I HAVE BEEN A BIG PERSON. FIRST A BIG KID, THEN A LARGE ADULT. IT WORKED WELL ON THE PLAYGROUND, IN SPORTS, AND THEN IN COLLEGE. I STARTED A PROFESSIONAL LIFE, PAID MY TAXES—FOR THE MOST PART, JUST BECAME A RESPECTABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY.

BY LOUD U. SNORER

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, PEOPLE STARTED COMMENTING ON MY NIGHTTIME

RUCKUS. I wasn’t aware of it at first because, of course, I was asleep. But the complaints became louder and more frequent. They were often directed at my wife, who would hear things such as, “How do you sleep at night with that racket?” My wife was nice at first. She put up with it. I would occasionally get a jab in the ribs that would abruptly bring me out of whatever sleep I was enjoying to hear, “Quit snoring!” Do you think any of us who snore can stop just because someone asks us to?

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Mys t e r y S l e e p e r

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So this has been my life and my marriage for the past 25 years. Yes, I know I snore, but I don’t know what to do about it.

My parents have been using these machines for ten years now. I just kind of looked at them with disdain. “Not me, ” I said. “I will never use a CPAP machine. That’s the silliest thing I have ever seen. It’s just another fad, along with chin supports, aromas, and whatever else they sell at carnivals to stop snoring.

I used to tell people I just do not need much sleep. I had seen a reporter mention that Bill Clinton only slept a couple of hours a night. Thomas Edison only slept a couple of hours a night. I figured I was one of the lucky ones who only required a couple of hours of sleep at night.

While I thought sleeping just a little at night was all right, sleeping during the day was an issue. I would fall asleep as soon as I sat down. Forget watching a movie. I remember often going to a movie with my kids and not getting through the previews. I’d wake up at the end of the movie. “At least it was a dollar movie, ” I would comment.

Later, I went back to school to get my doctorate. School meant long hours of class, study, and writing that dissertation. I did not have time to sleep. However, one day I was driving home from classes and felt my head bob. Where was I? Had I been asleep, and if so, for how long? I could have hit someone or even killed someone. That was unacceptable. I realized I had to deal with my sleep problem—and soon. I would force myself to get more sleep, I promised.

For the next year, I really did try to get more sleep. But though I slept more, I did not feel rested. In fact, I was still nodding of in movies and whenever I had a quiet moment. I realized I was sufering from sleep apnea. By this time, the science was there: apnea is bad. Heart disease, diabetes, and so many of the diseases often attributed to aging also can be associated with sleep apnea.

After accepting that I had sleep apnea, I had to decide what to do about it.

It’s important to note that I make my living flying airplanes. I have been doing it for many years, and I am not about to give it up. Pilots have to pass a medical exam; if they have a medical issue, they must disclose it. Pilots who have medical issues that can afect the safety of passengers are grounded. For me, that was a big reason to avoid being diagnosed with sleep apnea!

I figured the bottom line was, I was not getting enough sleep. I resigned myself to using a CPAP machine. I thought I’d just go buy one. Then I learned that’s not possible. A person needs to have a medical exam, be diagnosed with sleep apnea ofcially, and then get a prescription before he can buy a CPAP machine.

Are you kidding? Clearly everyone, including yours truly, can see or hear that I am sufering from sleep apnea. S&W

PART 1

’ s identity will be revealed in the final installment of the series.

“I realized I had to deal with my sleep problem— and soon. I would

force myself to get more sleep, I promised. ”

YOU CAN READ MORE OF THE

MYSTERY SLEEPER’S

STORY IN THE NEXT EDITION OF SLEEP & WELLNESS MAGAZINE.