Author Archives: Brooke Randolph

About Brooke Randolph

A private practice therapist in Indianapolis, Brooke encourages, equips, and empowers parents and individuals to make changes that strengthen their lives, their careers, and their families. She believes physical health and emotional health are interconnected. Brooke stays in shape by walking, lifting, and biking with her family, and she spends much of her free time cooking for her family.

Moving Beyond Depression Utilizes Physical Health to Improve Mental Health

The book Moving Beyond Depression: A whole-person approach to healing by Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D. with Ann McMurray may be a self-help treatment approach that you find fits well with your desires to improve health and lose weight. Dr. Jantz suggests that our culture is over medicated, especially when treating depression, and many find side effects like weight gain and decreased libido contribute to depression even if overall mood is improved. While the book begins with emotional currents, there is also a nice focus on nutrition, movement, and the whole person.

It is likely that Dr. Jantz chose to begin with the various emotions that can be involved in depression because a major part of experiencing depression is what one feels. Also many therapists are most comfortable discussing emotions. There are several examples and stories throughout the book in which you may be able to recognize aspects of yourself.

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Posted on October 18, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Chipotle Contest Raising Awareness and Funds for Family Farms

Are you ready for the annual Boorito celebration at Chipotle Mexican Grill? This Halloween from 6pm to close come in to your local Chipotle wearing a costume inspired by the family farm and score a $2 burrito, salad, bowl, or order of tacos. All proceeds up to $1 million will benefit Chipotle Cultivate foundation and Farm Aid.

You will also have an opportunity to enter their costume contest in which they are giving away over $7500! There will be one grand prize winner for $2500, five runner up prizes of $1000, and 20 runner-up prizes of a burrito party for 10. To enter the contest, simply take a photo of your family farm-inspired costume inside or in front of a Chipotle restaurant (I suggest you make sure a sign or two are showing) and submit it by uploading or texting it to Chipotle (full contest rules). Contest winners will be displayed in the winner gallery on November 15th.

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Posted on October 14, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

As Thin as You Think Promises a Quick Fix with Hypnotism

The book As Thin as You Think by Kristin Volk Funk is the kind of self-help about which research and my experience make me very skeptical. The intention is for the book to offer “The Keys to Unlocking Your Weight Loss Power,” revealing both the path to success and the reasons that caused your weight gain in the first place. The book is meant to be positive, encouraging, and easy, but I am always skeptical about a “quick fix”.

A “quick fix” is offered within the preface of the book- and it’s trance. I have worked under an experienced therapist who practiced trance, a variation of hypnotism, with clients and observed more than one client undergoing a trance session. I do believe it can be a powerful technique, but it is still not a “quick fix” for any type of struggle.

Kristin offers several mantras that readers can adopt. However, it seems that she is forgetting the research that reminds us that such mantras cannot be given to us but must be something that we already believe and must be used simply as a reminder for the self.

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Posted on October 13, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Sesame Street Takes On Food Insecurity with New Muppet Lily

On Sunday, October 9th, you and your family can watch a Sesame Street one-hour primetime special on PBC titled Growing Hope Against Hunger with country singer Brad Paisley and a brand new Muppet named Lily.

Lily was designed to be as human as possible, in both appearance and mannerisms, to represent the more than 16 million children in the United States that are “food insecure,” a term used to describe those who have limited or uncertain access to affordable and nutritious foods. Lily was designed for this special, and there are not currently any plans for her to become a more permanent member of the Sesame Street cast.

In addition to Paisley and Lily, Growing Hope Against Hunger will include many of your Sesame Street favorites such as Elmo, and documentary-like vignettes starring real children who have experienced hunger. (more…)

Posted on October 5, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

We Love 8 Keys to Recovery From An Eating Disorder

I am generally fairly skeptical about self-help books, but I was very pleasantly surprised to read 8 Keys to Recovery From An Eating Disorder: Effective Strategies from Therapeutic Practice and Personal Experience by Carolyn Costin and Gwen Schubert Grabb. I am guessing they believe that simply using their names makes them more approachable to readers; however, it is clear that these are intelligent, educated, and experienced professionals. Perhaps I would have been less surprised by the expertise of this book if they had included their degrees and licensing (all those fancy letters after their names) on the title page.

By the time I got to the third key, I had stopped writing down highlights for this review because the value of this book is greater than than the sum of the eight individual keys. Not only do I believe this book can be extremely helpful to someone suffering from an eating disorder, but I believe it could be helpful for other practitioners who are not specialized in eating disorders in helping someone experiencing a mild eating disorder. (I still think it is important to refer to specialists for anyone suffering from a moderate to severe eating disorder.)

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Posted on September 29, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Prepare Your Home For Weight Loss Room by Room

I love the heat of summer, so although there is much to love about fall – football, cider, pumpkins, boots, etc. – I cannot say I look forward to fall. I certainly relish it once it arrives though, because fall also brings tailgating, Halloween candy, Thanksgiving feasts, and the promise of Christmas parties. It can be a dangerous season for dieting, especially combined with more inclement weather which tempts us to stay inside and inactive. At the advent of the autumn season, I encourage you to prepare your home to help you meet your weight loss goals throughout the cooler months when you will likely be spending more time inside.

Kitchen: Clean out the pantry and fridge, eliminating temptations. Place the healthiest options within sight and easy reach. Take the fruit out of the crisper and put it on the top shelf or on the counter. Make it easy to grab smaller plates, bowls, and flatware. According to Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink, when we choose a 12-inch plate over a 10-inch plate we are likely to eat up to 22 percent more, we eat up to 14 percent more using a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon, and we will fill a shorter, wider cup 30 percent more than a taller, thinner cup.

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Posted on September 28, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

The Sex Talk is Easier Than the Weight Talk For Parents

Parenting is the most difficult, most important job you are ever going to have. While there are many happy, feel-good moments, there are also painful and uncomfortable moments; it’s all part of being a parent. Traditionally, one of the most uncomfortable moments for a parent was thought to be the discussion of “the birds and the bees”. While talking to your kids about where babies come from may be difficult, a recent study has revealed that there is another conversation that parents dread more.

The idea of talking to your kids about maintaining a healthy weight is so frightening for parents that more than 20 percent admit to never broaching the subject at all, according to research from the Raising Fit Kids study, a partnership between webMD and Stanford University. Compare that to 5 percent who are uncomfortable discussing alcohol, drugs, and smoking; 10 percent of parents who are uncomfortable discussing sex; and nearly 25 percent of parents who are uncomfortable discussing weight and health. It is probably the same 20 percent of parents that seem to believe that the pediatrician should be the one responsible for discussing health and weight with their children.

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Posted on September 21, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Jawbone UP Wristband Has Potential To Ease Healthy Changes

The first step in creating healthier habits is to know your baseline, where you are starting and what areas need the most improvement. “I need to eat healthier” is very vague and does not tell you what to do. When you do know which direction to go, it is important to know the first step and not bite off more than you can chew. Another important step to making a change in your behavior is to track your progress and recognize incremental improvements. If we do not allow ourselves to feel good about the small steps toward improvement that we make, the process can seem overwhelming, and we can be tempted to give up on our goals.

While there are many smartphone apps that can aid in tracking and even some that can make suggestions for improvements, perfect for busy days where taking the time to write down what you are doing and eating is likely to fall to the bottom of your to-do list. While you can start again the next day, many people stop using an app once they have missed a day or two. I am hopeful the new UP bracelet from Jawbone may make the entire process of creating healthier habits easier.

The Jawbone UP is a waterproof wristband, similar in size to a Livestrong band, with embedded sensors that connect to your smartphone to track behaviors such as eating, sleep, and physical activity. It is expected to be released by the end of this year. The free app will track your data and make suggestions for improvement. It sounds like suggestions will be made using the kaizen theory. It sounds really cool that you can input your daily diet by snapping photos of your food, but I wonder how much people will follow through with this. I am also interested to see just how the app works and if it includes push notifications.

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Posted on August 24, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Biking to Work Linked to Increased Happiness and Health

One of the principles I was taught early on as a psychology student is “correlation is not causation”, which means that just because research finds trends does not mean that we can prove that one variable caused another.

A correlation has been reported of a higher percentage of the population that bikes to work in the cities considered the most fit in the US. Since biking to work requires regular physical exercise, it is not surprising that those that commute via bicycle increase the fitness quotient for their cities. Richard Florida also found correlations between those populations with a greater percentage of biking commuters and higher earnings, more creative jobs and fewer working class jobs, more diverse populations, and higher ratings of happiness.

Brian Cantrell, a web developer at Media Refined (parent company of DietsInReview.com), is an avid bicycle commuter who also mentioned happiness as a reason why he enjoys biking to work. “There are a lot of reasons I enjoy riding to work. The first is that I feel better when I get to work because I’ve got my blood pumping a bit so I really feel awake. I also like that you experience your city unmediated. When you are in a car you are traveling at a higher speed and  there’s a wall between you and the neighborhoods you pass through so you don’t see much as you would on a bike. Lastly, I’m just happier when I’m active every day. I barely move while I’m at work and my eyes are always focused about two feet in front of me, definitely a sub-optimal situation, but I think cycling is the perfect antidote to it.”

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Posted on August 23, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Rumors That Kate Middleton Has An Eating Disorder Unhelpful

There have been rumblings and rumors recently that Kate Middleton and her sister Pippa may have eating disorders. Perhaps these rumors have been prompted by the fact that their pictures have been posted to pro-ana and pro-mia websites as thinspiration. So many parallels have been drawn between Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Princess Diana, who struggled with bulimia, that I am not surprised.

It is extremely common for us to be attracted to someone like one of our parents, which includes mental health struggles or irrational thinking patterns. It would not be surprising for Prince William to be attracted to similarities to his mother that he sees in Kate, including those things that might make her susceptible to an eating disorder. However, it could be a very dangerous message for the public to think that in order to be chosen by royalty one must have an eating disorder.

It was well publicized that Kate was working out prior to her wedding, just like most other brides. Her parents own a successful business and her in-laws are royalty, so it is not surprising that she would be able to dedicate a significant amount of time to working out and looking her best for her wedding. Losing weight prior to a wedding is not really enough to accuse anyone of having an eating disorder.

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Posted on August 1, 2025 by Brooke Randolph

Four Lessons We Learned from Dr. Hoebel

Renowned Princeton physiological psychologist and researcher Bart Hoebel has died at the age of 76. He was a leader in research on eating behaviors and the addictive qualities of food. He seems to have been a professor that invested in his students, and we hope that some of them will continue his research in his absence.

Below are just some highlights of what Dr. Hoebel’s research has taught us.

Sugar is addictive and affects brain functions the same way as cocaine and heroin.

High-fructose corn syrup leads to more weight gain than ingesting the same amount of calories via traditional sugar. It also causes abnormal increases in body fat, particularly in the belly, and triglycerides.

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Posted on July 29, 2025 by Brooke Randolph