Archive for Psychology of Eating

Overweight Kids, Food Addiction, and Stupid Diet Tricks

January 26, 2014 / / Comments Off on Overweight Kids, Food Addiction, and Stupid Diet Tricks

thanksgiving groupCan you handle yet another post on Food Addiction?  Because I have one in my head, and it needs to get out.

One of my favorite radio programs is a syndicated talk show called New Life Live. it’s four psychiatrists on Christian radio, they get all kinds of questions and give great advice.  Until the other day.

A mother called in, concerned about her young, very overweight daughter.  Her description of the problem goes like this:  she’s athletic, involved in sports, is very, very heavy, eats fast, eats often, and eats more than her parents or her brothers, now she’s being teased at school and is feeling very sad about it.

Their advice:  get her to eat more slowly, it’s all about portion control, put down her fork between mouthfuls, chew more, and convince her to verbally express her feelings over the teasing and the weight.

O.M.Gosh.  Portion control?  Chew more?  Fork placement??  Oh, and how does she feel?  That’s easy: embarrassed, heavy, humiliated, starving, can’t control herself around food, wishes she looked like the skinny girls in class;  doesn’t take a mind reader.

Their advice was very well-meaning, they wanted to help; but it was horrible advice that doesn’t work, ever, for food addicts.  Food addicts are compulsively driven to eat food:  when they’re full; when they don’t need it; when they’re so stuffed they feel sick.  Telling a food addict to use portion control to lose weight and feel better about themselves is a joke.  Even the catchy buzz word “Mindfullness”, which is a practice I totally agree with and am trying to work on, is meaningless to an addict.  Mindfullness is impossible when the mind is full of buzzing neurons and hormones driving you to eat – fast,.. now,.. as much as possible.  The addicts brain isn’t “right”, and trite advice that really doesn’t work for anyone, makes them feel even worse about themselves when they can’t do it.

The Counselors didn’t spend one second examining the food situation in the house.  Not a second.  Like food doesn’t matter!

Here’s the facts:  if you’re eating processed foods, foods full of refined sugars and grains, hydrogenated oils, and chemicals, you’re eating foods that’s been chemically created in a laboratory to STIMULATE your BRAIN and MAKE YOU WANT MORE.  Honest!  Read Sugar, Fat and Salt, by Michael Moss, read The End of Overeating, by Dr. David Kessler.  These are just two books about the science and marketing behind the Food Industry.   It’s shocking and amazing, and it’s the truth:  processed food ( that includes fast food and chain restaurant food) is DESIGNED to make you want it BAD.  If they’re a regular part of your food habits, there will be no “managing” your intake.

There is no “portion control” with Doritos, Lays potato chips, commercial ice cream, fast food french fries, Keelbler cookies or CapN Crunch cereal.  If there was, they’d remake the formula. Big Food is big, serious business;  mistakes and failures are quickly corrected.  If processed food is part of your diet, even a little tiny part like just a little cereal, a few cheese crackers, or a bagel every day, then you’re stimulating your brain with substances that keep you enslaved and coming back.  Ending food addiction means 2 things: (1) giving up processed foods, it just has too.  ( Yes, breads, pastas and grain flours are “processed foods”, 100%), and (2) eating a diet of nutrient dense foods.  In other words, you have to quit eating foods that stimulate addictive neural behaviors and have bad hormonal affects, and load up on foods that don’t stimulate your brain, cause the right hormones (satiety hormones) to be released, and satisfy your bodies demand for necessary nutrients.

Are you thinking that you’ve lost weight before on Processed Foods, like frozen diet meals, diet drinks, diet candy bars, and diet ice cream?  Did you keep it off forever, or did you gain it back?  There’s almost a 100% chance you’ve gained it back.  You didn’t CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, you just white-knuckled/will powered through a period of dieting.  When your will power was gone, it ended.  Studies show that your period of dieting probably created even worse neural patterns than you had before, something called “famine brain”:  neural and hormonal patterns that make you compulsively seek out and eat food.

I’m telling you that if you change your diet to one of Real Whole Foods, and figure out how to make that work for you all the time (through work, weekends, nights out, vacations, and STRESS), your compulsive eating will end.  If you need help with this, work with me.  It’s only effort til it’s habit!

There’s so many great books out there on this, but two I recommend time after time are the Diet Cure and the Mood Cure by Julia Ross.  They’re fantastic.  Trust me, if you’re anywhere on the spectrum from full-blown addict to annoying food habits you can’t break, you’re going to need help.  These books and my blog are a great place to start:)

What should these counselors have said to this mom?  Time to change your kitchen and your pantry.  You’re going to have to use Real Whole Foods to make your breakfast, lunches, and dinners.  Everyone’ll have to get on board.  Processed bags of cereal, chips, and cookies will have to go.   You can’t control your kid’s whole world, but you can control your house.

(umm, actually, the other day I went upstairs and Shelby – who’s 17 – had bought crackers and candy, and had hidden it behind a chair!  I tossed it;  it happens in my house too!! )

If your child was addicted to cigarettes, would you smoke around them? If your child had a drinking problem, would you keep alcohol in the house?  It’s the same with food.  We all have to eat – food makes our body.  But we DON’T have to have foods in the house that cause addiction, stomach issues, bad skin, headaches, attention disorders, heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and cancer.  We don’t.  Seriously.  Fill your kitchen with meats, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, good full fat dairy;  foods that have to be cooked and prepared, not just munched right out of the box.  Real Whole Foods.  Will your kids complain, whine, cry, and rebel?  Yes……Learn to tune it out.  They’ll live; and you’ll live through those first weeks of negativity flying off them and onto you.  Persevere.  Nothing is easy in the beginning, but everything gets better when it becomes the norm.  If they don’t eat, they don’t eat.  Again, they’ll live.  Take control of your own and your children’s health.  Be a leader, a role model and an example.  Don’t let your kids go down the path of obesity and poor health that’s plaguing our country and shows no signs of slowing down. Processed foods are killing people.  Don’t let this happen to your family.  Be a Real Whole Foodie.

Category: Cooking, Food Additives, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, RWF / Tags: , , , , , ,

Diet Products, Cleanses and Poop, and A Recipe

January 18, 2014 / / Comments Off on Diet Products, Cleanses and Poop, and A Recipe

debbie (22)This past week I’ve had emails on Diet Soda, Weight Watchers points and meals, oatmeal, and a question about an Acai Berry Cleanse.

Here’s some facts to ponder:

(1) Most of the calories we burn in a 24 hour day have NOTHING to do with exercise.  Our liver uses the most energy (calories), with our heart and brain following up.  Our muscles use far less calories than these organs.  If your blood stream is loaded with sugar (blood sugar readings above 100 on a glucometer), your muscle cells MUST use that excess sugar BEFORE any fat cells get tapped for energy. That’s our Biology.  Oatmeal has about 27 grams of carbs/sugar per cup, that’s almost 7 teaspoons of glucose in your blood.  “Normal/Optimal” blood sugar is about 2 teaspoons in the blood. Start your day with a big bowl of carbs, and even during a workout, your muscle cells use up that glucose before they burn fat for fuel.

(2)  If your liver is clogged by years of chemicals, like the ones found in diet sodas and diet frozen meals or any processed food on a shelf, it’s not running well; your shot at your liver using a whole bunch of calories and functioning like it’s supposed to is impeded. Want a clean, high functioning liver?  Quit flooding it with toxins and chemicals that weaken it and slow it down.  Did you know there are over 10,000 chemicals in our food supply and most of them AREN’T tested?  And several that are have only been given a GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, this means that even though there were several Red Flags in the testing, the FDA approved it anyway.

(3) Diet foods, diet drinks, and processed foods are created in labs; the Food Scientists make them delicious and stimulating.  Ever notice how hard it is to quit eating processed foods?  They’ve been designed to stimulate areas of your brain that make you want more.  Honestly.  That’s diet and non-diet processed foods.  When your pleasure centers in your brain are constantly being triggered by sugars and chemicals, those neural nets get used to that pleasure, they demand it.  That’s why so often powerful, overwhelming desires for food practically assault you:  certain times, certain places, certain people, print ads, television ads, they can all flip a switch that makes you have to have it now.

Here’s a link to one of my favorite sites, Fooducate.  They’ve done an excellent piece on Weight Watchers and the ingredients in their Chicken Ranchero Mini Wraps.  After reading it, you’ll see why I call this kind of crap “Poison”.

Remember, the Diet Industry is a BUSINESS out to MAKE MONEY.

(4) If you really can stick to your low calorie regimen, your Thyroid, which is in charge of the Cell Turnover of EVERY SINGLE CELL IN YOUR BODY, will determine that there’s some type of food shortage or famine, and will SLOW DOWN TURNOVER/METABOLISM IMMEDIATELY.   Here’s the really bad part:  for some people, it’ll only take doing “low-cal” once, for others, it’ll take more, but eventually, that Thyroid stays “down-regulated”.  This is why the same diet that worked before doesn’t work anymore, and it’s why the majority of dieters gain MORE WEIGHT THAN THEY LOST.

(5) I love the Cleanse questions, I’ve had them for years.  Here’s the fact:  there is no Cleanse on earth that will pull fatty acids out of your fat cells. Period.  The subtle message in Cleanse advertising, showing a beautiful flat stomach, is trying to convince you that if you buy this product, you’ll poop out pounds of fat and then you’ll look like the picture.  Don’t be tricked by this!  Your poop is mostly water, bacteria from your large intestine, discarded cells and waste products, and indigestible fibers.  If your gut is working correctly, the fats/ proteins/sugars/calories and nutrients were extracted in the small intestine, BEFORE they get to the large intestine.  Cleanses that promise diarrhea in exchange for weight loss are stupid, so don’t be fooled.  Want to “Cleanse”?  Quit putting toxins in your liver, kidney, brain, and bowels, honestly.

Let me leave you with a recipe I’ve found that’s fast, easy, and delicious; it’s for  Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Meringue Cookies.  (click on for link)

Ingredients

For the meringue:
    • 4 large pastured egg whites
    • 1/4 tsp cream of tarter
    • 1/2 cup powdered sweetener (or 5 Tbsp honey for Paleo)
    • 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate coating:

Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
    2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tarter on medium speed.
    3. Add the sweetener and cocoa powder. Increase the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Add the vanilla and mix to incorporate.
    4. With a large star shaped pastry tip, pipe a 2″ disc on to the parchment paper and pipe another layer on top to form a small peak. Repeat with the remaining meringue batter. (Makes about 26 cookies)
    5. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes and turn off the oven and let sit for 3 hours or until the meringues have dried out.
                      For the chocolate coating:
  1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
  2. Dip the meringue cookie into the chocolate (either just the bottom or half of the cookie) and set on parchment paper. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set.
Category: Carbs, Food Additives, Psychology of Eating, Sugar / Tags: , , , ,

Counting Calories? Raw Eggs? Milk for Everyone? Reader Questions-

January 11, 2014 / / Comments Off on Counting Calories? Raw Eggs? Milk for Everyone? Reader Questions-

me cookingMorning! I’ve received several good questions this week, which I’m going to answer here (questions are “condensed” for brevity).

(1) WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ME EATING SO MANY RAW EGGS; AREN’T RAW EGGS DANGEROUS?

I eat raw eggs 4 or 5 times a week, usually 2 at a time.  All my eggs are from farmers, not commercial egg producers/grocery stores (except my local, small grocery store, the IGA, which sells Farmer Eggs).  I’d NEVER eat a raw egg from a commercial grocery store.  At this point, I don’t even want a cooked egg from a grocery store.  The egg’s nutrient profiles are a reflection of what they’re fed (grains for commercial chickens; plants and bugs for farm raised).  Also, I’d like to NOT support commercial chicken farming.  Have you seen how they’re raised?  There’s plenty of sneaky youtube videos, and here’s a synopsis to read.

There’s so many food myths that have been busted for me in the past few years, and this Raw Egg thing is one of them.  I use Raw Eggs for my self and my family several times a week for 4 or 5 years now, and no one’s become sick.  Our Real Whole Food diet’s made us all healthier.   Again though, I’d NEVER eat a raw commercial eggs.  Interested in learning more?  Read Dr. Mercola’s post on Raw Eggs, he includes plenty of sciency facts.  BTW: I pay $3.50/doz.

Ohh, I got a few emails in response to my milk post, suggesting I’m recommending milk for everyone.  Not at all!  I’ve said several times that Raw Dairy is a good food – if you can tolerate it.  A lot of people can’t.  My youngest daughter Shelby tested positive for Lactose Intolerance, although she can tolerate raw much better than pasteurized because Raw Milk has Lactase.    Here’s something interesting: there’s two reasons people are “sensitive” to milk.  (IMPORTANT:  Lactose Intolerance DOES NOT equal an Allergy; allergies can be life threatening.  Intolerance/sensitivities gives you bad stomach aches.)  Interesting research on milk intolerance is suggesting that it maybe a secondary reaction to Gluten Intolerance, via Molecular Mimicry.  Here’s the thinking:  No one has the enzymes to digest Glutens (grain proteins).  They go thru the small intestine wall, into the blood stream, NOT COMPLETELY broken down, causing “Leaky Gut”.  These big proteins aren’t supposed to be in the blood stream, so our immune system mounts an attack.  Casein proteins from dairy look VERY MUCH LIKE GLUTEN PROTEINS.  Eventually, our immune system MISTAKENLY attacks the casein proteins also.  What to do? Heal and seal your gut, quit eating glutens, and often the dairy sensitivities go away. Think that sounds crazy? No crazier than when our immune system attack our joints, our thyroid, our liver, our pancreas, or any other part it wants to in Auto Immune Disease.  Those are mistakes also; our immune system shouldn’t attack us, but it happens.  Want to learn more, read this piece by PhD scientist Sarah Ballentyne, aka The Paleo Mom.  She’s all about whacked out immune systems as she deals with it herself.
Last Question, how many calories do I eat a day?  Oh My Gosh I haven’t counted calories in a few years and WHAT A RELIEF!!!  I’m guessing, due to huge amounts of fat, that I eat close to 2500/3000 a day.  Way up from my compulsive decades of consuming Low Fat /No Fat foods, (until my inevitable binges), where I stressed, starved, and worried every single day about my weight.  I eat Real Whole Foods 3X a day, and I rarely EVER snack ( I eat too much fat and protein to get hungry ).  If I have dessert ( Paleo!) I have it WITH a meal.  My weight?  Unbelievably steady.  Stomach issues?  Zero.  Let me say it like this:  As I’ve COMPLETELY eliminated dieting/diet foods/diet thoughts, I’ve consistently had the best weight and the best health of my life.

I’m feeding my body the nutrients it wants, and I’ve deleted the negative cascade of hormonal results that happen with dieting (high cortisol, high insulin, low thyroid).

What’d I eat yesterday?

Paul Newman Organic Vanilla Coffee with 1/3 cup Raw Cream

B – raw whole fat keifer (1 cup) 2 raw eggs, frozen spinach and cherries, coconut flakes, cinnamon, ginger, Manuka honey (google it)

L – several slices of DELICIOUS deer sausage with jalapenos and cheddar, an orange, and a macaroon, handful of mixed nuts

D – baked fish, roasted white potatoes in butter and herbs, a mix of broth/tomatoes/cabbage/cauliflower/onion/garlic soup.

And last question: can I be more specific with my recipes, i.e amounts of ingredients:  Sorry, I don’t cook that way.  I only use recipe books for their pictures and ideas.  That mix I made for dinner last night or any night?  I had those things in the fridge, so I threw them together.  Three nights in a row earlier this week, I made brussels and coconutbrussel sprouts with various ingredients: broth/butter/bacon/sausage/onions/carrots/sweet potato/cheese.  I load on herbs and spices and heat depending on who’s home and what I’m feeling.  Cooking’s Not Brain Surgery. ( Baking however is, you MUST follow recipes when baking.)   Just put together foods and flavors you like.  Real Whole Foods ALWAYS taste good, so it’s hard to go wrong.

Keep sending your questions – I love them!  Make time to read the links:  when you make your health a priority by learning how your body works, it’s easier to make effortless changes to your eating.  It’s not a struggle to say NO to cake, cookies, crackers, or fast food when you think they’re poison.

Category: Carbs, Cooking, Fats, No Recipe Paleo Meals, Paleo Diet, Psychology of Eating, Question of the Week, RWF / Tags: , , , , ,

How to Get Slim and Fit in 2014

January 1, 2014 / / Comments Off on How to Get Slim and Fit in 2014

5 of us snorkelingWe’re back from Culebra – Happy New Year!  On the one hand, it’s so exciting, and on the other, it’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed, …again.  Did you come out different or better or changed, or are you the same as when 2013 started?  I know from emails that many of you want to change, but are struggling with the “how”.  Here’s an email that sums it up:

“Hi Debbie, i was hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction…. i need some help. my weight is getting out of control again, and i know it’s because i’m not eating right and i don’t exercise enough. bottom line. and no magic pill is going to help me. i need to make a lifestyle change. i just need to. my problem is that i need to find something that is 1. easy to follow 2. won’t break the bank 3. i can still go out to eat on occasion and still enjoy myself when it comes to social functions 4. something i’ll WANT to do for the rest of my life 5. isn’t too drastic to the point where i’ll have to cook for myself and then make something different for my boyfriend – essentially, i want something that i can use for the whole family. and of course fancy dancy 30 item recipes that take hours to make aren’t on the single mother wish list either. i was looking at your website and see you follow paleo, maybe? ”

YES I can point you in the right direction:  make all your foods quality meats, fats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.  Shun grains and sugars, the body turns them into fats/triglycerides very easily, and you’ll get all the carbohydrates you need in the foods listed above. Don’t eat chemicals.  MOVE every day.  If you can join a gym, join a gym.  If you can’t, walk, do push-ups, follow YouTube workouts – there’s about a billion free ones.  Don’t make 30 ingredient meals:  meat, vegetables, butter/olive oil, salt and pepper.  Simple.

I LOVE that she says “no magic pill is going to help me”;  if there was a magic pill, we wouldn’t have 70% of our population overweight.  The same goes for gadgets and diet programs:  waste of money.  If you want to get healthy and lose weight, it’s ALL ABOUT YOUR MIND.  Easy to follow? Going out to restaurants? Cooking for a crowd? Paleo is the answer for me, because I believe to my depths that eating crackers, pasta, bread, soda, and convenience foods are poison to my body. When I travel or cook for a crowd or pack my lunch every day, there’s no struggle.  That’s the point you want to get to:  No Struggle.  Then it’s easy to pass up all the foods that make you sick and overweight.

How do you get to that point?  It’s what you fill your mind with.  Read books like Wheat Belly or Grain Brain (no time to read? get Audible or buy the books on CD);  read my blog, or Chris Kressers or Mark’s Daily Apple; listen to podcasts that are on LivinlaVidaLowCarb (kitchen, car, workouts, etc) from doctors and experts with the latest science. Order the Paleo magazine.  And here’s my biggie drum beat:  Plan Shop Chop Prep Pack.  You’re not going to “luck” into a healthy lifestyle and a healthy body, it’s only going to come with effort.  Pretty soon though, the amount of effort required becomes less and less as your brain changes from the “calories in calories out” model to ” food is medicine or food is poison” model.

You can’t change your body (permanently) unless you change your brain. Willpower is Very Limited; every diet ends with a binge.  Educate yourself about how your body works, and the effects different foods have on you. Make this a priority instead of “weight loss”.  Weight loss and Health are the SIDE EFFECTS of changing how you think/act/feel.  Want to work with me?  I can change how you think about food and eating; not in one magical conversation, but over several.

You can leave 2014 very very differently than you entered it if you realistically tell yourself that you’re going to take a whole year to re-educate your mindset. Be determined, be confident, be bold; 12 months sounds long, but it’s not.  Time flies and before you know it, a whole new you will be here.

Category: Carbs, Cooking, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, Question of the Week / Tags: , ,

I Want To Feel Energetic, Vibrant, and Alive! (and a DIY lotion recipe)

December 18, 2013 / / Comments Off on I Want To Feel Energetic, Vibrant, and Alive! (and a DIY lotion recipe)

me cookingOh my gosh, one more week til Christmas! It’s a busy time, but we can still be healthy, right?  What we do when life is hard/busy/stressful, that’s who we really are.

I’ve heard from more than a few people expressing sadness about weight gain, specifically, weight gain since Thanksgiving;  the dreaded Holiday 5 Pounds.  You’ve got a choice here, you either go with the line, ” I’ve already blown it, New Years Day is right around the corner, I’ll start new then.”  or this line,  “More vegetables, more fruit, more healthy fats and proteins; I’m going to plan the next few days well and get back on track because I don’t like feeling this way.”

Pick a line and go with it.  If it’s the second line, MEDITATE ON IT.  Choose your thoughts; quit letting a momentary whim lead to actions that make you feel horrible later.   Do this for me:  next time you want some food that’s not healthy, set a timer on your phone and see how long the desire lasts.  Unless you’re genuinely starving, Hunger Is Temporary.  Seriously.  If you turn out to still be starving in 15 minutes, evaluate what you ate at your last meal.  Was there enough fat, enough protein, enough vegetables, enough Real Whole Foods,  or did you do the “diet” thing and now you’re hungry?  Give your body the nutrients it needs, and that compulsive desire to eat will start to fade away.  Weight loss (if you need it) is a side-effect of eating healthy.

On a different note, I’m obsessed with DIY lotions – they’re so fun!  But that’s not why I’m making them;  I’m making them because the ingredient list for store bought lotions is gross, honestly.   Look at Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer, it’s a Best Seller:  16,300 bottles are sold A DAY; that’s about $700,000 A DAY for just this product.

Here’s the ingredient list:

Water, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, TEA Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33.   For the $38 – $46 you’ll shell out, here’s what you get:  dyes that the FDA say cause cancer (this would be the “transdermal” way to get cancer), Glyceryl Stearate, which is a petrochemical; the mineral oil and Petrolatum are inexpensive by-products of petroleum, and the two parabens?  They’re estrogenic (that means it mimics estrogen), carcinogenic, and allergenic.  Think I’m exaggerating because dangerous products aren’t allowed to be sold to the public?  Think again.

Fact check your products with EWG’s site, skin deep to see what they contain; or look here.

bowl in panHere’s a lotion I’ve been making from the wellness mama site, talk about luxurious!

1/2 c olive or almond oil            ingredients

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c beeswax (beeswax is cool!)

1 tbsp vitamin E oil

2 tbsp cocoa butter  and/or

2 tbsp shea butter

essential oils.   I’ve used Peppermint, Vanilla, Sweet Orange, Frankensense, and Neem, so far.

Directions:  put a pot on the stove that has 2-3″ of water in it and turn the heat to med-high.  Place all the ingredients in a mason jar, and then place the jar in the hot water. Stir til everything’s melted, then add your essential oils.   After that, you can redistribute to smaller jars, like I did, or keep it in the one jar.

Some of you might be thinking I’ve crossed a line. First, I’ve been asking you to plan, shop, cook and pack;  now I’m saying personal care products need to be made in the kitchen.  I SWEAR I’M NOT SAYING THAT!!  I’m just planting a seed.  I know better than anyone that sometimes, changes need to be made slowly.  But true Growth, becoming a better person, that’s always a goal, right?  I want to feel good, energetic, vibrant, alive – you do too, I know it!  What we put on our body is just as important as what we put in our body. Those chemicals from the personal care products,  they’re through the skin and in our blood stream in seconds.   Just a little seed.  ( a mustard seed.)

Let me finish with the three quotes for the week:

* “Most of us have practiced doing things the wrong way for years, we can’t expect everything to turn around in a few weeks.”  Joyce Meyers

* “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale

* “Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.”  Golda Meir

 

Category: Looks Healthy But Isn't, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, RWF / Tags: , , , ,

For Every Diet, There’s an Equal and Opposing Binge

December 12, 2013 / / Comments Off on For Every Diet, There’s an Equal and Opposing Binge

christmas goodiesI hope I’m not beginning too many posts with “I got an email”, but honestly, I got an email that probably applies to so many of us, that I have to answer it here.

Hi Debbie,

I’ve been reading your blog for a while now. I meant to make this the one December in my life that I didn’t gain so much weight that I hated myself in January.  I was determined to “stay on the wagon” as you put it the other day.  But I’ve fallen off.  I feel hopeless. Between the parties and goodies that people are bringing into the office, I don’t see how I can possibly lose weight in December.

There’s more, but you get the gist.  Here’s my answer:  please don’t give up – and don’t plan on trying to lose weight in December either.  How bout for now, you practice different thoughts ?  That’s the point of the Mantras (this week’s Mantra is “I think long term.”):  to change your actions, and your body,  by changing what goes on in your head.  This takes time, attention, and effort.

Bad habits are so easy to develop; they give this short, momentary pleasure ( hormones and endorphins) that create neural circuits (think: road maps) in your brain.  Deviate from your normal patterns, and those neurons send STRONG signals that COMPEL you to do what you’ve always done in the past (keeping you right where you are).  Breaking habits means muscling through a few of those compelling messages, so that you can create NEW neural circuits.  Here’s the tricky part, I’m using the term ” muscle through “, which implies Will Power. Unfortunately, WillPower is in very limited supply.  Will Powering through situations is going to be a temporary ability.  That’s why, “For Every Diet, There’s An Equal and Opposing Binge That Happens.”  Ever heard that one before?  Ever experienced that?

The trick is to change how you feel about food and eating at the neural/brain level.  Work on that for now: ”  I think long term, I think long term. ”  Keep reading, keep learning, keep thinking about your habits now, and what you want your habits to be a year from now.  Real change is peaceful, not stressful;  you can have real change, but not from a specific diet plan, pill, cleanse, superfood, super drink, etc etc,  Real Change comes from changing your brain.  The time to start practicing is now.

Waiting for the holidays to be over, a new month to begin, soccer season to end, a project at work completed, Monday,  yada yada yada, is a Diet Mentality that keeps you on the Diet Roller coaster.  Get off the roller coaster.  This is your life.  There’s always stress, there’s always complications, and there’s always co-workers, loved ones, and friends, who push food on you.  It’s normal.

***** The Food Isn’t Your Problem.  Your Mind is The Problem. *****  Work on changing your mind and in a year you can be a whole new person.  Keep putting it off, and stay exactly the same.

Category: Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, Question of the Week / Tags: , , ,

Bad Eating on a Snow Day; and Insulin Resistance

December 9, 2013 / / Comments Off on Bad Eating on a Snow Day; and Insulin Resistance

snow hereOh man I love snow days!! The house is decorated, we watched a movie with Shelby, the horses got their blankets on, and Mark put together his annual yearly picture collage with a couple hundred photos.  It feels good to get things done:)  You know what didn’t happen?  Bad eating, and that feels great!  When we ate munchie foods and snacks, we always kept them in the house;  now that we don’t snack between meals, there’s nothing calling us from the Pantry or Fridge!  No markcrackers, no chips, no cookies, nothing.  Between not having the junk in the house, and eating our high fat meals, Cravings Are Gone.   I know from my emails, and I remember myself, how loudly food can call to you;  change your thoughts, change your kitchen, change the way you cook, and those food voices get softer and softer until they disappear.  Honest.  You don’t have to Change Everything All At Once; just have a plan.  Make one small change every week.  Write it out.  Stick to it, be determined even in the face of set backs.  It’ll happen, I promise.

 

shelby mad

The picture on the right is Mark making the collage.  The picture on the left is Shelby pouting because we have no junk food; she had to cook up a snack of chicken sausage and was wishing she’d spent the snow day at a friends house.  Kids….

That leads to the Change your Mind / Change your Body plan.  The mantra for this week is “I think Long Term.”    So often we just think with a little spot in the brain that’s full of  “addicted neurons”; think Long Term and you’re using consequences to guide your behavior instead of momentary desires.  Your body and  your health will permanently change when your thinking does, so solidify in your mind why food matters.  Here’s some fodder:

I got another good question this weekend,  “what exactly is Insulin Resistance?”.  One of my nutrition clients is trying to figure this out, but we all need to know the answer because according to pubmed, at least 25% of the US population is Insulin Resistant.  Tests are showing that some babies are actually born insulin resistant (moms- cigarettes and alcohol aren’t the only thing you should avoid when pregnant, grains and sugar do damage too.).

Insulin Resistance is the condition before full blown Diabetes Type 2; here’s what happens (the short answer):  When  you eat carbohydrates (any and all) they break down to Glucose.  The Pancreas releases Insulin to shuttle the Glucose out of the blood.  It takes it to the muscle cells for fuel, the liver for storage, and then takes it to a different part of the liver where all the leftover glucose gets converted to triglycerides/fat, and stores it.

Go back to the muscle cells:  Insulin is a Caustic, Irritating, Damaging hormone.  (It wrecks havoc on our arteries as it courses through our veins).  When there’s not too much of it, the muscle cell doors “open” to let the insulin carry the glucose, and other nutrients, in.  When there’s too much insulin, from eating carbs all day and keeping blood sugars high, the cell doors “close”.  They say “NO” to the insulin.  Glucose and nutrients can’t get in.  That’s Insulin Resistance.

When the Glucose can’t get in the cells, the Pancreas gets a signal that blood sugar is high, and makes more Insulin.  More Insulin courses through our body, causing more damage.  More Glucose is converted to Fat, since the muscle cells can’t use it.  The excess glucose and insulin stay in the blood stream too long, causing free radicals, and damaging the cells on the back of the eyes, the kidney, and the extremities – these cells can’t resist.  ( a condition Diabetics are all too familiar with).

What else happens during Insulin Resistance?   It’s not a good list:  nerve damage, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high LDL, coronary artery disease, fatty liver, wrinkles and age spots, impotence, polycystic ovary disease, and I could go on and on and on.  Insulin Resistance can last for years before full Type 2 develops.

High blood sugar and high circulating Insulin are really really bad for you. What we eat matters!  What we eat determines our weight, our moods, our skin, our energy levels, our health.  Insulin Resistance is reversible, and preventable.  Choose wisely, choose Real Whole Food.  Check my What I Eat Page for Ideas, and if you’re in the area, drop in this Friday, December 13, between 12 and 2, for my Paleo Christmas Party!  Taste delicious Paleo foods without causing the blood sugar and insulin spikes:)

Category: Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, Question of the Week /

Holiday Baking Supplies and Links – For Good Paleo Food:)

November 27, 2013 / / Comments Off on Holiday Baking Supplies and Links – For Good Paleo Food:)

paleo free thanksgivingHoliday Baking has begun, and I’ve had a bunch of questions on where to find the ingredients used in Paleo recipes, and also where to source local meat, eggs, and dairy.  It’s a lot easier than you might imagine if you haven’t done this yet.

(Speaking of Paleo baking, remember:  PALEO COOKIE EXCHANGE at my house, Friday, December 13, noon to 2.  More details after Thanksgiving, but EVERYONE is invited!)

I’m just going to make lists, ready?

For any local meats, dairy, or eggs, go to local harvest.org., or eat wild.org; and this one, which is cool because it even has restaurants, eatwellguide.org.  If you haven’t checked out these sites, I bet you’ll be shocked to see what’s available: dozens of small farms in your vicinity, that either have co-ops, deliveries, stores, or SHIP DIRECTLY.  Check them out.

What’s the point of the extra effort, when you could just go to Wegman’s, Whole Foods, or any other grocery store?  Small local farmers are following a trending movement of feeding their livestock traditional foods (grasses/hay) instead of just grains.  If you’re avoiding grains because of digestive and immune issues, you’ll want to avoid eating animals that eat them also.  Whether the gluten proteins that cause so many problems passes on to humans via turkeymeats/animal products is an issue that’s HOTLY debated; but here’s a certainty:  grain fed meats, eggs, and dairy contain high amounts of Omega 6s fats (inflammatory), and not much if any Omega 3s fats (anti-inflammatory).  Omega 3s come from grasses, and Omega 6s come from grains.  One of the biggest reasons red meats cause inflammation is because MOST PEOPLE EAT MEAT FROM ANIMALS FED INFLAMMATORY GRAINS.  We are what we eat.

Next, paleo/low carb flours that don’t contain gluten and don’t spike blood sugar.  The most common ones you’ll see in recipes are almond flour and coconut flour.  There’s also plantain and sweet potato flour for those with auto-immune issues who are trying to avoid nuts.  Most grocery stores are carrying almond flour and coconut flour, but there’s a bunch of sites selling them online: here’s a link to VitaCost options,  and here’s a page from Google.

One of my favorite sites?? Tropical Traditions!! What don’t they carry:  every and any coconut product you can imagine, plus hundreds of other different and fun baking, beauty, and home products that are natural and non toxic.  They even sell, and ship, eggs that are special because they feed the chickens coconut, which leaves the yolks rich in Medium Chain Triglycerides and Lauric Acid (trust me, you want those things).

Next up, sweeteners.  I use a lot of Stevia in the Raw.  I’ve just bought my first bag of Swerve and can’t wait to try that.  I also use liquid Stevia.  I’ve tried Truvia, and while it bakes well, I’m a little leary of it.  We do use honey and maple syrup in some of our baked goods.  Monk Fruit sugar is in a lot of recipes I see, and they just started selling that at our local grocery store.

Lastly some Recipe Sites, these are fun!  The Paleo Mom,  All Day I Dream About Food, Elanaspie Pantry, and Civilized Caveman.  Paleo, Low Carb, Gluten Free sites are so popular on the web that I haven’t bought a cookbook in years, I just use the computer.  I’ve also joined Pintrest and I think that’s a great way to keep a “recipe file”.

That’s it for on the cooking end. I have to finish this post with a reminder of this weeks mantra, “Attitudes don’t just happen, they’re the product of our choosing.”  We can choose to make this holiday about family and friends and community, or we can choose to make it about gorging ourselves into a coma.  Whichever of those we focus on is going to happen.  Choose your thoughts wisely, and let me know what you’re making for Thanksgiving!

Category: Cooking, Psychology of Eating / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Addictive Behavior, Diet Strategies over the Holidays, and a Paleo Cookie Exchange

November 25, 2013 / / Comments Off on Addictive Behavior, Diet Strategies over the Holidays, and a Paleo Cookie Exchange

motivation and habitI got a great email yesterday from someone who says she loves my “Change Plan“, and she’s going to start it as soon as the holidays are over…………………..  Ummm.

If you want to change your weight, your life, your outlook, your health, or the health of your family, you’ll want to start right now.

(Don’t worry, I’ve already emailed her and given her a heads-up about this.)

Waiting for all the Stars to Align is a “diet strategy”.  Diet Strategies NEVER work (statistically, more than 95% of everyone who loses weight on a diet gains it back.).  The Change Plan is about stopping that Diet Mentality, and getting off flours, sugars, and chemicals forever because they’re really, really bad for you.

Here’s a couple of thoughts for the week:  one, flours and sugars trigger “opioid centers” in the brain.  That means they literally stimulate neurons that make us feel pleasure, and then later those same neurons send out signals telling us to go find more flour and sugar so they can feel that way again.  This is real.  This is a scientific fact.  Even those “healthy whole grains” with the AHA seal of approval do this.  It’s easy to see that smokers and drug users have addictions, but honestly, flour and sugar create the same addictive brain patterns.

Another thought (this is the mantra for the week), “Attitudes don’t just happen, they’re the products of our choosing.”  This is a Joyce Meyers quote from her book, Power Thoughts.  She goes on to say that we establish thought patterns in our minds so easily that much of our life runs on “autopilot”, and we respond to certain situations out of habit, as opposed to what would be best.  We need to PRACTICE interrupting those autopilot situations and replacing them with thoughts, attitudes, and actions that lead to a better long term outcome.

Which brings me back to this ladies statement about waiting til after the holidays.  The assumption is that she’s going to be so surrounded by irresistible food that she either can’t or doesn’t want to say no.  Did you know that if you count holidays, weekends, birthdays, etc, it adds up to over a third of the year?    This is just plain, normal life.   The stars are aligned and we all need to start eating healthier and thinking healthier today.

Take it from a former food addict/diet addict/binger/every Monday it’s time to buckle down:  It’s totally doable, I swear.  Start with baby steps, practice your mantras, learn about the effects foods have on your moods, your hormones, your health and your biology, and it gets easier and more natural every day.   Our body and our mind thrives on Real Whole Foods.

Speaking of Real Whole Foods, I’m hosting a Paleo Cookie Exchange on Friday, December 13th, from noon to 2.  If you’re in the area, please, please plan on attending.  If you want to bake and bring something, that’s great.  If you don’t – come anyway! I’ll make sure there’s plenty to share.   This way you can see how sweets made with coconut and almond flour taste.  More on this later, but save the date now.

 

Category: Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating / Tags: , , , , ,

You Can Be Better By January, 2014, Or Not…. & More Gluten E Summit Facts

November 18, 2013 / / Comments Off on You Can Be Better By January, 2014, Or Not…. & More Gluten E Summit Facts

debbie (27)It’s been over a week now that I’ve challenged you to Change your Thinking if you want to Change Your Body; and I’m specifically talking about those negative thought patterns that I’ve heard so many people express:  I hate my thighs, if only they were thinner;  I hate my stomach; I hate my butt; I want to lose weight; If only I could lose 10 pounds…. etc etc etc.  Ask yourself how long you’ve been spinning on these exact same thoughts and how well they’ve allowed you to change.  How long?

Change doesn’t happen when you keep doing the “same old same old”;  negative thought patterns NEVER produce positive results.  Never.  Get your mind off of what you don’t like, and start focusing on improving yourself in your soul.  Seriously.  Focus on being kinder, gentler, more patient, more loving, more thoughtful.  Get your focus off your body (and calorie counts).  Use Mantras, Meditation, and Prayer;  write a quote on 10 or 20 sticky’s and post them all over: your mirrors, wallet, fridge, doors, car.  PRACTICE changing your mind.  Work on it.  It doesn’t just happen, trust me.

We had a speaker at church yesterday who’s a life long missionary, and a Mother Teresa fan.  He quoted her and I’m going to make it my quote for the week:  ” Find someone that no one else loves, and love them.”  This goes right along with “loving-kindness” meditation, where you don’t just pray for yourself and your loved ones, but for someone “neutral” and someone else you’re currently having difficulty with.  We’re not supposed to focus on ourselves so much, despite decades of advertising hypnotizing us otherwise.  Nothing good comes of that.

Here’s something I’m really into:  the way Science is Solidifying the Mind/Body connection:  eat flour/sugars, and you create a brain that ONLY thinks about flours and sugars.  As your body becomes unhealthier, and you become unhappier yet continue to eat flours and sugars, NOTHING CHANGES; the negative thought patterns continue, the addictive eating continues, the thoughts, the addiction and so on and so on.  Too addicted to think about quitting?  Fill your head with facts about what Flours and Sugars actually do beyond making you gain weight, because it’s pretty profound.  I hope I’ve persuaded you all to tune into the Gluten E Summit – what a wake up call!  It’s not too late to register and catch the final day presentations and listen to them in kitchen, your car, or during a workout.  Here’s some recent snippets:

From Dr. Amen, MD Psychiatrist

* Neuroplasticity, or the ability to Change Your Brain, has been a scientific fact for 10 – 15 years, but many doctors are still unaware and don’t practice/prescribe according to this.   We can make our brain Better or Worse through our Life Style Choices:  Food, Exercise, and Thoughts.

* Low Fat Diets and Bad Fats have horrible consequences for the brain ( because our brain is about 60% fat).  This applies whether you’re 2, 12, 22, or 82.

* There are MORE than 100 studies which show that Big Belly’s correlate with Smaller Brains.

* Genes are NOT as important as Behavior and Choices (Epigenetics).

* “Food is Medicine, or Food is Poison.”  You know I love that one!

* Gluten is Poison for most of the population. ( No human has the enzymes to break down the gluten proteins)

* ADD studies show 100% of people affected with this disorder show some level of improvement when Gluten and Casein (milk protein) are removed from their diet.  (Diet or drugs, diet or drugs???)

* “Why do we celebrate with Toxins?”

* The less insulin we need over the course of our life, the longer we live.  Insulin triggers many inflammatory pathways.  ( what triggers insulin?  Carbohydrates.  Not Fat. )

* Cancer uses Glucose (the breakdown product of carbohydrates) as it’s main fuel.

* Anyone with Thyroid issues MUST go Gluten Free.  Gluten affects the Thyroid in a myriad of ways, including inhibiting the conversion of the Thyroid hormone T4 to it’s active and usable form T3.

* 2002 Study from Journal Of Neurology:  Severe migraine sufferers (the study group were actually unable to work and on Workman’s Comp because of the severity of the migraines) were put on a Gluten Free Diet,   70% NEVER had another headache.

From Dr. Davis, MD Cardiologist (the Wheat Belly doctor)

* Heart Scans that measure Coronary Calcium Plaque show that once Plaque gets started, it grows at the rate of about 30% a year.

* STATINS DO NOTHING TO INHIBIT PLAQUE GROWTH.  NOTHING.  (don’t even get me started)

* What’s the biggest factor in Coronary Plaque?  HIGH BLOOD SUGAR.   He says if you have Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes, or Insulin Resistance, no drug in the world will stop the Heart Disease you’re nurturing with your high blood sugar.

* Main Driver of High Blood Sugar?  Wheat, Grains, and Sugar.

*Wheat, Grains, and Sugar also are the only foods that cause the body to create Small, Dense, LDL (the bad stuff).  The ONLY foods.  Small, dense LDL is sticky, and lasts up to a week in the blood.  This is totally different from big, fluffy LDL, which has beneficial side effects, like carrying essential fatty acids to our brain and glands.

* The Gluten Proteins in wheat are highly “opioid”, which makes them appetite stimulating and addicting.   Who’s addicted to meat?  No one.  Who’s addicted to foods full of flours and sugars?

*  If we continue on the path we’re on now, by 2044 the amount of money the US will need to treat JUST diabetes ALONE, will be MORE THAN all the tax revenue the Federal Govt collects.

* Yet, Main Stream Medical Advice/  Governments Health Advice is to eat a diet of 60% carbohydrates, many of them from “healthy whole grains”.

Quit thinking of food in terms of Calories In Calories Out, that’ll just lead to weight gain and horrible health.  It’s a wrong paradigm that’s made a lot of people a lot of money.  The Scientific Evidence against Grains and Sugars is overwhelming, and concrete.  Take your health into your own hands.  Ditch the grains and sugars, and eat Real Whole Foods.  Practice your Mantra.  You can be a whole different person by January 2014, or you can be the exact same.  It’s up to you.

Category: Carbs, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, RWF, Sugar / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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