OCTOBER 2017

OKTOBERFESTOriginating as Prince Ludwig’s wedding celebration on October 12, 1810 in Munich, Germany, Oktoberfest has since ballooned into a worldwide celebration of all things Bavarian. This weekend boasts beer-soaked festivals all over the planet. While many will spend Saturday hoisting steins, I will be mixing up my first batch of mustard sauce in anticipation of the beginning of stone crab season on Sunday. Without a doubt, stone crab season is in the top three of my list of things I love about living in Tampa.

My love of stone crabs started as a craving. At the time, I craved cheesecake, salad, NY strip steaks, and stone crab claws. I see a pattern now, but then it was a biological call to arms. I was pregnant with twins and needed some serious building materials! When I am working with clients, I often ask about cravings and aversions. These tell me a story beyond the one the client thinks I want to hear.

According to Marc David, nutritional psychologist, there are three general types of food cravings: supportive, dispersive and associative. A supportive craving fulfills a nutritional need or corrects an imbalance in the body. My craving for stone crab claws would be considered a supporting craving as it provided the protein needed to fuel the growth of two babies. Incidentally, both boys are huge stone crab fans. Another example of a supportive craving is chicken soup when suffering with a cold. It warms the body, soothes irritated nasal passages and provides nourishment without overtaxing the digestive system.

TAMPA • SARASOTA • NAPLES • FT. MYERS • MIAMI • TALLAHASSEE • THE VILLAGES www.bks-partners.com | TOLL-FREE 866.279.0698

THINGS I LOVE ABOUTTampa

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. For further information, please consult a medical professional.

PATRICIA M. FULLER, PhD, Director, Wellness Engineering

TAMPA • SARASOTA • NAPLES • FT. MYERS • MIAMI • TALLAHASSEE • THE VILLAGES www.bks-partners.com | TOLL-FREE 866.279.0698

Patricia M. Fuller has dedicated the last 19 years to designing and delivering wellness programs. Her events earn consistently excellent ratings for her holistic approach and her real world application.

Prior to concentrating in wellness, Pat taught accounting and auditing as an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa. She earned her CPA designation in 1992 as a senior associate for Coopers & Lybrand. She has a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Utah.

Pat has a PhD in holistic nutrition. In 2010, she was board certified by the Holistic Nutrition Credentialing Board. Her areas of research include stress management and eating habits. She is a Certified Wellcoach and a member of the Institute of Coaching. She is an annual attendee to The Harvard Medical School Conference, Coaching In Leadership & Healthcare.

pfuller@bks-partners.com | Have a Question? Email it to Dr. Pat!

A dispersive craving is a yearning for a food that drains health or scatters energy. Examples include sugar, alcohol and caffeine. Whether it is initially consumed to energize or relax, with time and repetition the original reason for ingestion disappears and it becomes an overwhelming physical yearning. In order for the dispersive craving to gain traction it has to come from a food that has a more potent effect relative to other foods. Once the three conditions are met –food potency, frequency of consumption and physiological need, the biochemical alarm is set. Fortunately the alarm can be quieted and eventually silenced by breathing through the urge and getting to the other side. With each successful thwarting, the alarm loses its strength.

An associative craving is a sudden desire for a food that has a deep relationship with an event from the past. I have these cravings when I return to Boston where I grew up. While there, I crave lobster, fried clams, and coffee ice cream. I rarely think of these particularly foods anywhere else. Food aversions, like associative cravings, are often related to prior experiences. If you have ever gotten sick when eating a particular food, it may be a very long time before you will go near it again. I have a terrific aversion to barbecue born of repetitive hungover Friday lunches back in my public accounting days.

While I won’t be diving into any barbecue or hoisting any steins this weekend, I am looking forward to sampling the first of this season’s stone crab claws. As for the rest of you, please enjoy your Oktoberfest celebrations responsibly. I wouldn’t want you to end up with any aversions to Bavarian goodies.

supportive dispersive associativeCRAVING CRAVING CRAVING

“yearning for a food that drains health or scatters energy”

“desire for a food that has a deep relationship with an event from the past”

“fulfills a nutritional need or corrects an imbalance in the body”