Tag Archive for Cravings

Weight Loss, Heart Disease, Sugar Addiction, Plus, How I Stopped My Cravings.

I received some good emails this week that I want to address in the blog.  In one, a 43 year old man described himself as diabetic, overweight, hypertensive ( high blood pressure ), and on a blood thinner (from thick, sticky, blood).  He needs help losing weight, and doesn’t understand why I would say he has Heart Disease.  He’s gained 14 pounds in the past month.

Another email was a plea for help with sugar addiction, from a woman who has chronic fatigue and depression to the point of not being able to get out of bed for 7 weeks.  She’s also gained 28 pounds since September.

While these 2 people seem to present different problems, honestly, their issues are the same:  they’re incredibly nutrient deficient; their cells haven’t received the vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins they need to function normally, and now their bodies are breaking down.

How can you be nutrient deficient and overweight?  Easy.  Just because our fat cells are stuffed, doesn’t mean we’re getting the nutrients our body needs to run correctly.

Imagine putting water in your car’s gas tank.  It’s a liquid.  The tank would be full, but it wouldn’t run. That’s not the right fuel for the car.

Sugar, grains, bad fats, and chemicals aren’t the right fuels for us. Food is medicine, or food is poison.  That stuff is poison and it’ll kill us eventually, after making us sick for years.

Resources and suggestions will be at the end of the Post, but first:

Robert wants to know why I said he has Heart Disease when his doctors have given his heart a clean bill of health.  I’m so glad he asked, because this applies to so many people.

The causes of Heart Disease are being re-identified by modern science.  Inflammation ( anywhere in the body ) that’s persistent or chronic ( i.e., not just a response to a cut or injury ) is damaging, and a huge cause of Heart Disease, the number one killer in the US.

Diabetes causes inflammation from high blood sugar and high insulin, that’s because blood sugar(glucose) and insulin do a lot of damage when they zip too long and too often through the blood stream. Diabetes causes heart disease.  Heart disease and stroke are the #1 cause of death among Type 2 Diabetics.  Think you’re okay because you’re on diabetes meds?  You’re not.  In the studies determining who died of what, the diabetics who died from heart disease were on meds.  Besides that, meds all come with a long and dangerous list of side effects.  Medications address symptoms – not causes.  Diabetes drugs cause pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, kidney problems and more.  These diseases take years to manifest, just like diabetes takes years to manifest, and while it’s “manifesting”, damage is happening.

Other clues to Robert having heart disease:  high blood pressure (HBP) and thick blood.  This means the arteries are either narrowed or stiff, which makes the heart pump harder, and thick blood is also harder for the heart to push around.  HBP is the #1 cause for Cardiovascular Disease.  Thick blood is on that list too.  Medications mask the symptoms, but the REASON for the symptom isn’t solved by meds, so the problems persist all the while the side effects of the medications are building.

Natasha, you ate a healthy diet and ran 20 miles a week before you fell ill.  I thought that I ate a healthy diet, but I still got blood clots, asthma, fatigue, and horrible IBS ( inflammatory bowel syndrome ). That’s because I actually just “dieted”:  low calorie, low fat foods, many of them processed.  Luckily for me, I’ve always eaten a lot of vegetables, and I’m going to assume you did too.  Unluckily for me, thanks to keeping my fat grams to 20 or less a DAY (except for the days I’d binge), I absorbed very little of the vitamins or minerals in those vegetables.  I also consumed an enormous amount of trans fats and hydrogenated oils in all my fake cheese and dairy products, protein bars, and frozen diet meals. To add insult to injury, I was a big “healthy whole grain” believer/ addict, and did my best to get the 6 to 12 daily servings our government recommended.

I was at a lecture yesterday by the Weston A Price foundation, and the speaker – Sally Fallon – called this kind of diet a Diabetes Starter Kit.  I love that!!

Anyway, Natasha’s struggle with fatigue and depression are the result of her brain, her heart, and her mitochondria/ fuel burners in her cells, NOT getting the fuel they need to function optimally.

Luckily, our body wants to be normal, and our cells are constantly renewing themselves.  For most of us, we can fix what’s wrong.  Robert and Natasha can. I did, you can too.  All we have to do is eat a diet that supplies the nutrients our body craves:  healthy fats, good proteins, tons of vegetables, some nuts and seeds, and a little fruit.  Whole fat dairy, preferably raw, if you tolerate it.

Try this:  Buy Kerry Gold Butter, a good Olive Oil, and unrefined Coconut Oil.  Start using these in Every Single Meal.  For me, this is the #1 key to stopping cravings, losing weight, and changing our cells for the better.  What do you have to lose???

Eggs/sausage/bacon/veggies for breakfast?  Fry them in 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil.  Or add Coconut oil to your smoothie.

Cover your lunch meats and veggies and cheeses with olive oil – and I mean cover.

Make sure every dinner is cooked or covered in these fats.

No more tiny meals either, on small plates with baby forks, THAT’S JUST DUMB. Small meals of insufficient calories slow down your thyroid, something NOT conducive to losing weight.  Use a grown up plate and eat a serving size that makes your brain relax and not go into starvation mode.

Make your own salad dressings, again, using those good fats.  Go through your pantry and THROW OUT all your crackers, cereal, breads, cookies, and junk food.  Anything “snackie”;  this might include NUTS.

Here’s my opinion on nuts (which I literally get asked at least once a week):  nuts have a TON of nutrients.  Unfortunately, for so many, they’re a trigger food, and most people, and ALL ADDICTS, can’t stop at a handful.  Trigger foods in your house will ALWAYS rule you, ALWAYS.  This is a fact, so get rid of your trigger foods today.

Make a shopping list, then shop, chop, prep, and do power cooking ( cook in big batches ) if you need too.  Take your weekly schedule into consideration when you make your list and then make a food plan of when and where and what you’re going to eat in the coming week.  Got a bunch of kid’s activities in the evening?  Put food in a crock pot that morning.  Need to pack lunches but know your morning is going to be rushed?  Do it the night before.  Bake 10 potatoes at one time and refrigerate them.  Make a batch of broth ( another great source of fats and nutrients ) and use that like water in your food all week.  Make and refrigerate chili’s or stews or soups, their flavors intensify after a few days.

The more attention you give to making Real Whole Food work in your daily life, the easier it gets, and the healthier – and leaner – you get.  You can do this.  I met a woman yesterday who, at age 55, lost 70 pounds by switching to Real Whole Foods, and she’s kept if off for 8 years.  After years of dieting, she now eats a ton of fat and is thin.

You can be too, I promise.  Please investigate the resources below; fill your mind with the why’s and how-to’s of feeding your body the nutrients it needs to remake and repair itself every single day.

http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/want-to-lose-weight-reduce-inflammation-gain-energy-and-look-younger/

http://www.heartmdinstitute.com/health-topics/heart-disease/424-heart-disease-risks-is-your-doctor-covering-your-bases

http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/fat-makes-us-lean-fat-makes-us-smart-fat-gives-us-energy-step-out-of-1980-and-into-2015/

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/?s=heart+disease

http://www.drugwatch.com/2014/05/12/increasing-side-effects-diabetes-drugs/

http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/

Action Plan to End Food Cravings, Forever.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhether you have a weight issue or not, cravings can be a bear.  Cravings are incredibly powerful; and weight loss with cravings is almost impossible.

What to do?  Here’s several ideas, but first, what creates cravings?  Low calorie diets, low fat diets, and low nutrient diets, fatigue, stress, and habits.  Sound daunting?  If I eliminated my cravings, you can too.

Here’s a Big List of How-To’s:

Get rid of your fear of fat, now.  Fat satiates; and not because it fills you up, which it actually does, but Fat triggers satiety hormones – really!  Fat makes our Brain say, “aaahhh”.

L-Glutamine, an amino acid that helps build Dopamine ( an anti-anxiety neurotransmitter ). L- Glutamine also helps balance blood sugar.  Anxiety and low blood sugar ALWAYS causes cravings. ( I use Biotics, and I LOVE this product. I also take it on heavy leg days, and I suggest it to all my leaky gut clients.  L-GLutamine is used by muscle cells and endothelial cells to rebuild themselves.  It’s a different dosing/timing than when using for neurotransmitter building.)

Stop eating sugar and grains, which trigger hunger hormones and addiction centers in your brain. Sugar is more addictive then cocaine in lab studies.  No one in your house needs this stuff. A little here and a little there?  It just keeps you addicted.   SUGARS AND GRAINS ARE 99% OF ALL CRAVINGS, RIGHT?  No one’s craving broccoli.  Stop buying the stuff.  Seriously.

Hot drinks mid morning and mid afternoon:  Bullet Proof Coffee and Bullet Proof Tea:  organic tea/coffee with (Kerry Gold)  grass-fed BUTTER and (Biotics) MCT oil or coconut oil.   This is delicious, and the fat knocks out appetite and cravings while at the same time stimulating your brain.  (Ditch the Mad Scientist concoctions they sell at Starbucks, they’re loaded with sugar, artificial sugar, and chemicals.)

5 HTP, an amino acid that helps build Serotonin.  We need level moods to not have cravings. Again, I use Biotics brand.****Serotonin builds Melatonin, Melatonin helps us sleep well.  Fatigue is a HUGE inducer of cravings.  I know a couple other great supplements for sleep, email me.

L-Tyrosine, I LOVE this and have used it every day for 18 months.  It’s an amino acid that helps build your catacolamines.  That means it helps with energy ( among other things ), and we often drift to snacking/cravings when tired, right?  ( I use Biotics)

( ****   One of my favorite ENERGY/DON’T SNACK tricks:  mid afternoon tea with a little MCT oil, and 2 tyrosines.  It’s magic. ********)

Digestive enzymes and HCl.  (again, I use Biotics products).  You might have the best diet in the world, but if you’re not breaking down your food so that nutrients can be absorbed, you’re Nutrient Deficient.    Nutrient Deficient people are loaded with cravings.

Probiotics, probiotic foods, probiotic drinks. Cultured and fermented vegetables, keifer, kombucha, and real yogurt. There’s millions more bacteria in cultured food than in any probiotic supplement. If you’re trying to improve health, use the pills along with the foods/drinks, at least initially.    If your gut bacteria is out of whack, you’ll have cravings for sugar, because that’s what Bad Bugs eat.  Candida is a prime example of this. 

Exercise APPROPRIATELY.  If your workout leaves you STARVING, which leads to cravings, you worked out too hard. Dial it back.

Clean your liver.  Our liver plays a vital role in getting nutrients into our cells and “trash” out of our body. But did you know our livers are the BIGGEST source of calorie burning in our WHOLE BODY?  Our heart and brain are next, and then comes our muscles.   A slow, clogged, overworked, exhausted liver craves nutrients. Drink alcohol, take a lot of meds, eat sugar and chemical/processed foods, eat late at night, I guarantee it’s over burdened.  I use a Biotics liver detox twice a year, and 2 tinctures by Herb Pharm every couple of months:  Milk Thistle and Liver Health.

Go on a Ketogenic Diet:  High Fat, Moderate Protein, and a TON of greens and cruciferous vegetables.  This literally knocks out cravings of any kind, honestly.  Check this out for meal ideas and guidelines.  

Stop eating Processed Foods.  They’re created in a LABORATORY and specifically designed to trigger desires in your brain for more and more and more.  Really.  McDonald’s milkshakes and Doritios are NOT delicious food creations, they’re chemical cocktails created by PhD’s to get you hooked.

Eat bigger meals, and ONLY eat 3 times a day.  Multiple ” Mini-Meals” are DUMB. They’re guaranteed to make you (1) hungry (2) have cravings and (3) mentally habituated to eating all day.  Besides, “mini-meals” are a joke; studies show American’s are pretty incapable of actually having a mini-meal; in reality, the multiple mini-meals turn into “too much food all day long.”

( Moms, we  have to apply the “Stop Eating Sugar/Grains/Processed Foods” guidelines to our kids; they’re sugar/carb/chemical addicts.  The snacking, the cravings, the “can’t stop eating”….. we have to HELP THEM develop great eating habits. )

Work on your habits and thought patterns.  It’s all so mental, isn’t it.  This is just about my favorite area when it comes to health. Our subconscious rules over the conscious, always.  If your subconscious is constantly sabotaging your health efforts, get in touch with me.  It’s not Rocket Science, but you’ll need a plan.

My wrap up?  Eat Real Whole Foods, consume plenty of fat, eliminate addictive grains and sugars, use Smart Supplementation, and train your brain to work for you, not against you. Cravings are a sign that your body, your mind, and your hormones, are “off”; they’re not a sign you’re weak.  You don’t have to be a slave to bad habits.  Let me know if you’re ready for help with a food plan, habit change, or supplements. ( The amino acids need to be dosed and taken on a specific time table.)

Can High Fat-Low Carb Curb Your Appetite and Cravings? Yes! Client Email, and A Recipe.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI had an email yesterday from a lady who said she believed in the benefits of a high fat-low carb diet, but that she really struggles with food cravings;  she hasn’t stuck to her diet plan  for more than a few days.  That’s a familiar problem, and I’ve got an answer:  Up Your Fat.  Way up.  That allows you, mentally and physically, to cut back on the carbs.  Here’s why.

Cravings, hunger, and food addictions are a HUGE issue; if you’re trying to conquer them with your “same old plan”, nothing will change.  The cravings and addictions will keep winning.  You know the scenario:  the morning starts out with the best of intentions only to be derailed by hunger, or a trigger, a few hours later. Anger and disappointment sets in.  It’s a bad way to live, and it can be incredibly consuming.

I have a great email from a client who went from “Diet Obsessed, to Happy and Calm”, from EATING MORE FAT . ( And she looks AMAZING – seriously.)

“I know I have some work to do still but it really is amazing. I can only remember ever worrying about the fat and calories in food and living my life based around that. Just in the last couple years when things were at their worst I was literally writing down every calorie and making sure to keep it under a certain amount and eating no fat at all. I was weighing myself when I got to the gym and before I left (everyday). I literally couldn’t think of anything else besides what I was eating, when I was working out, and what the latest scale number said. It was beyond exhausting….and at the same time trying to be a mom to two little kids one who was pretty sick…….

But in learning all I am about the truly nourishing qualities in food and how it can heal us, I don’t see how I could fall back into such an intense fear of food. I have a real sense of control now and know I am doing something truly healthy for myself.”

See that word “control”,.. that’s what we’re all seeking, right?  The ability to not feel so weak in the face of our triggers or even actual hunger? High Fat-Low Carb is the answer, honest.  Our bodies are made out of water, fat, and protein.  Carbs don’t make any part of us, they’re just a fuel source.  That’s all.  Even if you workout, you don’t need that many carbs to fuel your life.

Remember:  All Excess Carbs Are Converted To Body Fat.  All Of Them.

If we live a life of constant high blood sugar ( oatmeal, cereal, or bread for breakfast, sandwich and chips for lunch, pasta or pizza for dinner, carby snacks in between),  *****WE DON’T BURN MUCH FAT**** we just burn all that excess sugar. If our blood sugar does dip down below normal, chances are our body actually uses MUSCLE TISSUE (converted to glucose) BEFORE FAT TISSUE for energy.  

Famous Line:  Our Body isn’t a Math Equation; It’s a Chemistry Set. 

Fat Satiates the Appetite; a high fat/low carb diet keeps Insulin low; high fat/low carb induces the body to use Fatty Acids for Fuel; fatty acids are also used to build our hormones, organs, cells, glands, bones, and tissues; fatty acids have anti-viral/anti-bacterial properties; our brain is 60% fat.

Sugar and certain proteins in grains actually STIMULATE areas of our brain that control pleasure and desire, or should I say, cravings and addictions.  We’ve all read the news stories about the rats who consistently picked sugar over cocaine, right?  Last night I saw a commercial that depicted a woman starring longingly at a handsome man, but when they went inside her head, all she wanted was the giant burrito he was eating.  These processed carbs are really, truly addictive; and most of the time, trying to “limit” them, has ZERO effect on dampening the urges for them.

Besides stimulating our appetites, a High Carb – Low Fat diet does NOTHING for our satiety. Carbs are digested so quickly, EVEN OATMEAL, that hunger’s a fact of life.  Trust Me:  Not Feeling Hungry Is WONDERFUL, FREEING, AMAZING.  That’s how you can feel when you ditch the grain and sugar, and add the fat.

Remember that email from Mandy, who said she feels like she’s been Freed From Diet Prison?   You could feel that way too!

Still dubious that eating plenty of fat can squash cravings? Here’s a quote from Dr. Tom Cowan’s book, The Fourfold Path to Healing,  “Our brain is specifically designed to sense the fat content of our food and to tell us to stop eating when the proper amount of fat has been ingested. When the need for fats and the nutrients they contain is satisfied, we stop eating. The body’s requirement for fats is so great, and the appetite that spurs the body to obtain those fats is so strong, that binge eating is likely to occur if fats are omitted from regular meals.”

Re-read that last sentence.  Fats are NUTRIENT bombs. Our brain and body want them.  Stop equating fat from foods with fat on your body.  They’re different!  Human’s make fat from excess carbohydrate.

Tips to get started: (1) clean out your kitchen; no one in your whole family needs crackers, cookies, or pasta. (2) make a grocery list and include coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, kerry gold butter, whole dairy ( if it works for you), nuts, seeds, plenty of vegetables, and good meats and eggs.  You can do this!

Here’s a recipe for Pesto – one of my all time favorite foods; perfect for any High Fat, Low Carb diet.

pesto In your blender, mix 1/4 c walnuts, or pecans, or pumpkin seeds 1/2 c shredded parmesan 2 cups basil 2 crushed garlic cloves juice of 1 lemon S&P ****1/2 c MCT oil ( I use Skinny Fat, by Carlton Nutrition), and 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

We ate this Sunday on fish and vegetables, Monday on meat loaf, and Tuesday on chicken.  So Good!

Diets Cause Rebound Binges and Slow Metabolisms, and We’re In The Huff Post!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAExciting! Mark and I have been published in the Huff Post! Check out our article and click us a “like” and a “share”:) We’ve been invited to be Regular Bloggers, and asked to write from the perspective of normal working parents who’ve stayed fit and healthy at 49 and 50. We can do that!

Moving on, I’ve got a series of emails, from one reader, who actually answers her own question about Dieting. When I say Dieting, I mean: counting calories, caloric restriction, and using computer programs to determine protein/carb/fat ratios. Even writing that sentence causes me Stress, as it did during all my years of Restricting/Binge Eating.

That’s because Diets Do Cause Stress, in many different ways. One, it’s such an unnatural way to eat, that our body and mind rebels; which is stressful. Two, hunger and deprivation always cause stress. ( Have you heard the saying, “sorry for what I said when I was hungry.”?) Three, plugging numbers into a program to figure out the ratios/percentages/amounts of our protein, carbs, fats, and/or total calories, is a pain in the butt, that’s stressful. Four, caloric restriction slows down our thyroid, which means our cell turnover, cell “house-keeping”, and cell communication is IMPEDED; our metabolism slows down, that’s stressful.  That also guarantees future weight gain.

Diets don’t work long term. Well, maybe for about 1 – 4% of everyone who loses weight. That’s a horrible “success” rate.

Ask yourself, with such an abysmal track record, why is it so easy to be lured back, time after time, for another Diet attempt?

Here’s the email chain I received, I love her reasoning development!  (When she refers to IIFYM, that’s a Diet Program that induces Caloric Deficits by counting your grams and percentages of Fat, Protein, and Carbs and Total Calories.  You can eat ANYTHING YOU WANT, as long as you stay within your numbers.)

Hi Debbie!

I was just wondering what your thoughts are on the IIFYM ( if it fits your macro diet). I was wondering if I could count macros while also eliminating grains/processed food? I just like the structure of IIFYM. Does that make sense?

I only had time for a quick response, here it is:  “Short answer: diets that let you eat crap ( which the IIFYM diet does as long as you stay “in the macro ratios”) keep you craving junk. Period. Always. It’s enough right now to start weaning yourself off grains and processed foods. Just focus on eating Real Whole Foods!!”

Why do I say it’s enough to just wean off the grains and processed foods for now?  Because for most people in 2014, eating Real Whole Foods is so far removed from their Norm, that it’s almost incomprehensible.  I get asked, ALL THE TIME, what I eat if I don’t eat grains.  Pasta, frozen foods, fast foods, and restaurant foods have become so ingrained into the American Culture as NORMAL, that eating Real Whole Foods, feeding the family Real Whole Foods, and sticking to that belief system when traveling and eating out, seems incredibly hard.

Eating Real Whole Foods isn’t a Diet Program (although you will lose weight when you quit eating Sugar, Grains, and processed chemical foods, and quit the snacking); it’s eating 3 decent sized meals a day full of the nutrients our body needs to build, repair, and run (metabolize) well.  When we run well, we get lean and healthy, when we diet, we don’t – again, statistics. Unfortunately, the Diet Industry is a Billion Dollar industry with an amazing Marketing Machine that successfully convinces us, over and over, to give it another try.

Switching from a Diet Mentality after a lifetime of eating Sugar, Grains, and Processed/Chemical Foods, to eating Real Whole Foods every day, takes effort, and a plan.  There’s 2 addictions that have to be overcome to be successful.

One, the addiction to sugar, grains, and chemicals – it’s powerful.  You know what I’m talking about.  It’s well researched.

Two, the addiction to the ease of eating sugar, grains, and chemicals – there’s no effort involved with stopping at McDonalds; picking up a pizza; or boiling water for pasta.  However, this ease of eating pure crap HAS LED TO 70% OVERWEIGHT AND SICK, WITH NUMBERS EXPECTED TO CLIMB.  There’s a common sense element I’m talking about here, right?

Here’s the next email this reader sent me:  “ I have done IIFYM with good weight loss results while eating junk! What I am wondering is if it would be good to do the same macros but not eat the junk and grains.”

No!  That’s just counting calories and percentages, hoping for the magic weight loss formula.  I’m telling you, ditching grains, sugars, and chemical processed foods will take off your weight without the stress of dieting.  As a matter of fact, you can ADD MORE FAT, feel genuinely full, become healthier, and LOOSE WEIGHT.

Here’s her last email ****** LOVE IT!! ******: “Also, just wanted to mention that the reason I stopped doing iifym despite some weight loss was because it was taking up too much space in my head to count macros. I guess I don’t really want to do it again when I think about why I stopped!” 

Exactly!  Diets Make You Crazy and Obsessed and Compulsive about food, eating, restricting, and compensating; and it’s disturbingly Self Perpetuating.  The Diet Craziness just begets more Diet Craziness. Eating Real Whole Food ELIMINATES THAT.

I’m living proof, my husband is living proof, my kids are living proof, there’s so many examples in the Real Whole Food/Paleo/Primal Community who are living proof that this way of life makes you lean and healthy, without the Diet Craziness.

The best part?  You can start today, because this starts with your Mind.  Honest.  The Food isn’t nearly as big a problem as your Mind is.  Remember that the Brain wants to avoid stress, it wants what’s comfortable and familiar.  The Brain doesn’t guide us according to what’s best for us long term.

Thank Goodness the Brain can be Changed.  Your thought patterns, your habits, your “familiars”, they can be changed.  I thought I was so addicted to pizza, ice cream, and protein bars that I would NEVER be able to live without them.  Now, I don’t even eat the “paleo versions” anymore.  I’m OVER IT.  You Can Be Too.

Focus on becoming a Normal, Healthy, Real Whole Food Eater.  Not a Dieter.  Not someone hoping for a gimmick that takes off 10 pounds in 10 days.  Use your common sense; or use Google!  Google: Diets Don’t Work, or Weight Regain After A Diet.  You’ll get MILLIONS and MILLIONS of studies, articles, and posts substantiating those facts.

If you struggle with how to begin, how to change, how to have a life that involves cooking and packing w/o stress, get in touch with me.  It’s all about planning, and sticking to the plan.  Pretty soon, there’s no effort, instead, it’s a habit.  When our life is about habits, stress is gone.  Eating Real Whole Foods means hunger is gone too.

No Stress, No Hunger, a body you’ve always wanted, being a Normal Eater, doesn’t this sound good?