Slaying The Fat Monster
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Sneak Eating: I'm Guilty
I read this article and it was uncomfortably familiar. Take a look:
Sneak Eating
By Annette Colby
Finally — you are alone. No one else is around. Maybe you’ve waited until they are all soundly asleep. You find yourself in the kitchen sneaking food. Sometimes it’s cake, sometimes it’s ice cream. Other times you’re standing in front of the refrigerator eating leftovers without a plate. Once in a while, you plan ahead, stocking up on your favorite goodies on the drive home.
Almost in a trance-like state, you begin eating the foods you don’t want anyone to know you eat... in volumes you don’t want anyone to know you want. You eat quickly, not wanting to get caught. The irony is that you’re not really enjoying the food, you’re not really hungry, and you don’t know why you are doing it. Initially there is a sense of freedom, exhilaration, and relief. But something odd also occurs. When eating becomes secretive, it becomes both more exciting and more difficult to give up. A devastating cycle begins. The lure of sneak eating progresses, but so does the sense of guilt and failure. Of course, this leads to more sneak eating and on it goes. It becomes a overwhelming cycle that generates a life of it’s own.
EMOTIONAL NEEDS
Sneak eating is a metaphor for real needs. These are needs that are typically not addressed. We think we shouldn’t have them. Or we don’t know how to deal with them. It’s usually a time we can be alone, with all our wants and desires. It is a time we don’t have to pretend to be capable, competent, pleasant, likeable, strong, and without needs. It is a time to be entirely self-centered, where you don’t have to take care of the needs of anyone else and can focus completely on yourself.
Sneak eating is about hunger. Hunger that develops because of the deprivation of strict diets, restrictive food plans, and the list of “bad” foods that you “shouldn’t” be eating. Sneak eating is also a substitute for emotional comfort. A way to nurture the unaddressed feelings of shame, guilt, low self-esteem and loneliness. These feelings may be with you most of the day. It is only when the pace slows down, that the emotions begin to emerge. Not knowing how to handle these powerful emotions, eating follows. Eating in isolation can be a way of stuffing down emotions that seem overwhelming. Eating alone can provide down time without the interruption of family, work, or other responsibilities.
THE 10 MOST POWERFUL FEELINGS YOU EAT TO KILL
1. Hurt
2. Guilt
3. Anger
4. Shame
5. Lonely
6. Anxiety
7. Self-hate
8. Disappointment
9. Emptiness
10. Deprivation
These feelings are normal for every human being. We each need to take the time, and learn the skills, to sit with our emotions. Recognize that it is essential to know what is going on within our bodies. Know that you are important enough to take the time to be still and be with who we really are. Every person has wants, needs, and desires. We need time to focus solely on ourselves and satisfy our needs. Many of us were taught that these things were selfish and unimportant. We learned to disconnect and hide, lie and make excuses about our needs. We pretend we don’t need or want pleasure. We substitute food for what we really needed in life. We end up with a love/hate relationship with food. We try to force ourselves not to eat, especially not to sneak eat. And we punish and criticize ourselves for not being able to stop.
Recognize that sneak eating is not about your having shameful desires that cannot be controlled. Instead, sneak eating indicates that you have healthy, natural, human longings that you were not taught how to address.
QUESTIONS
There are a variety of things you can do to help build-up your willpower and let go of the need to sneak eat. Discover what motivates your behavior by asking yourself a few questions as each incident occurs.
* Where are you when you sneak eat?
* What were you thinking about right before you ate it?
* What were you feeling before you began eating?
* What need is this food filling (or stuffing) in your life?
* What else, other than food, would fill the wants and desires that you have?
* What is it that you really need?
Answering these questions and keeping a journal of your answers for future reference will help you understand what prompts your behavior. Your journal entries will serve as a starting place towards noting ideas. These ideas will help you work towards solutions once you are able to more readily recognize your pattern.
Dr. Annette Colby, RD
Nutrition Therapist & Master Energy Healer
For free inspirational newsletter, articles & info visit: http://www.LovingMiracles.com
972.985.8750
"Opening Creative Portals to Success"
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ ¶ 1:40 PM 0 comments
Sneak Eating
By Annette Colby
Finally — you are alone. No one else is around. Maybe you’ve waited until they are all soundly asleep. You find yourself in the kitchen sneaking food. Sometimes it’s cake, sometimes it’s ice cream. Other times you’re standing in front of the refrigerator eating leftovers without a plate. Once in a while, you plan ahead, stocking up on your favorite goodies on the drive home.
Almost in a trance-like state, you begin eating the foods you don’t want anyone to know you eat... in volumes you don’t want anyone to know you want. You eat quickly, not wanting to get caught. The irony is that you’re not really enjoying the food, you’re not really hungry, and you don’t know why you are doing it. Initially there is a sense of freedom, exhilaration, and relief. But something odd also occurs. When eating becomes secretive, it becomes both more exciting and more difficult to give up. A devastating cycle begins. The lure of sneak eating progresses, but so does the sense of guilt and failure. Of course, this leads to more sneak eating and on it goes. It becomes a overwhelming cycle that generates a life of it’s own.
EMOTIONAL NEEDS
Sneak eating is a metaphor for real needs. These are needs that are typically not addressed. We think we shouldn’t have them. Or we don’t know how to deal with them. It’s usually a time we can be alone, with all our wants and desires. It is a time we don’t have to pretend to be capable, competent, pleasant, likeable, strong, and without needs. It is a time to be entirely self-centered, where you don’t have to take care of the needs of anyone else and can focus completely on yourself.
Sneak eating is about hunger. Hunger that develops because of the deprivation of strict diets, restrictive food plans, and the list of “bad” foods that you “shouldn’t” be eating. Sneak eating is also a substitute for emotional comfort. A way to nurture the unaddressed feelings of shame, guilt, low self-esteem and loneliness. These feelings may be with you most of the day. It is only when the pace slows down, that the emotions begin to emerge. Not knowing how to handle these powerful emotions, eating follows. Eating in isolation can be a way of stuffing down emotions that seem overwhelming. Eating alone can provide down time without the interruption of family, work, or other responsibilities.
THE 10 MOST POWERFUL FEELINGS YOU EAT TO KILL
1. Hurt
2. Guilt
3. Anger
4. Shame
5. Lonely
6. Anxiety
7. Self-hate
8. Disappointment
9. Emptiness
10. Deprivation
These feelings are normal for every human being. We each need to take the time, and learn the skills, to sit with our emotions. Recognize that it is essential to know what is going on within our bodies. Know that you are important enough to take the time to be still and be with who we really are. Every person has wants, needs, and desires. We need time to focus solely on ourselves and satisfy our needs. Many of us were taught that these things were selfish and unimportant. We learned to disconnect and hide, lie and make excuses about our needs. We pretend we don’t need or want pleasure. We substitute food for what we really needed in life. We end up with a love/hate relationship with food. We try to force ourselves not to eat, especially not to sneak eat. And we punish and criticize ourselves for not being able to stop.
Recognize that sneak eating is not about your having shameful desires that cannot be controlled. Instead, sneak eating indicates that you have healthy, natural, human longings that you were not taught how to address.
QUESTIONS
There are a variety of things you can do to help build-up your willpower and let go of the need to sneak eat. Discover what motivates your behavior by asking yourself a few questions as each incident occurs.
* Where are you when you sneak eat?
* What were you thinking about right before you ate it?
* What were you feeling before you began eating?
* What need is this food filling (or stuffing) in your life?
* What else, other than food, would fill the wants and desires that you have?
* What is it that you really need?
Answering these questions and keeping a journal of your answers for future reference will help you understand what prompts your behavior. Your journal entries will serve as a starting place towards noting ideas. These ideas will help you work towards solutions once you are able to more readily recognize your pattern.
Dr. Annette Colby, RD
Nutrition Therapist & Master Energy Healer
For free inspirational newsletter, articles & info visit: http://www.LovingMiracles.com
972.985.8750
"Opening Creative Portals to Success"
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ ¶ 1:40 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Why you Should Eat Healthier
Every where you look you see articles or news or stories on how America is overweight. This probably doesn’t surprise anyone, as you only have to take a quick look around to see that our lifestyles don’t promote good health. We drive in cars. We eat fast food. We sit in offices. We simply don’t care enough about our health. Eating healthy is a simple step that you can take to improve your general health.
Why you should eat healthier:
We only get one life. Ask yourself how important your life is to you. Eating healthy is simple choices, that we can make every day to promote good health. Think of how much money is put into health care every year for many things which are preventable. Prevent the preventable, eat well, and live long!
by: Ryan FYfe
Every where you look you see articles or news or stories on how America is overweight. This probably doesn’t surprise anyone, as you only have to take a quick look around to see that our lifestyles don’t promote good health. We drive in cars. We eat fast food. We sit in offices. We simply don’t care enough about our health. Eating healthy is a simple step that you can take to improve your general health.
Why you should eat healthier:
We only get one life. Ask yourself how important your life is to you. Eating healthy is simple choices, that we can make every day to promote good health. Think of how much money is put into health care every year for many things which are preventable. Prevent the preventable, eat well, and live long!
Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Diet Area. Which is a great web directory and information center on Dieting and related issues like Meal Plans and Workouts.
¶ 10:11 AM 1 comments
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Wine and Your Health
By Stuart Glasure
During the 1990s, a physician voiced on a national TV show that drinking red wine reduces heart disease. It made all the headlines. He cited the relatively lower levels of the disease in France despite their ever so famously high fat diets. Since that program, it seems that red wine health effects have been on the forefront of the wine consumer´s mind.
Good for the Heart
Coronary artery disease is caused by a build up of cholesterol in the arteries that supply the blood to the heart. If the arteries get partially blocked the heart cannot get enough oxygen and the result is pain. Does red wine protect against heart disease?
Many studies suggested that moderate amount of red wine (one to two glasses a day) lowers the risk of heart attack for middle aged people by 30 to 50 percent. It was also concluded that red wine may prevent additional heart attacks if you have already suffered from one.
The cholesterol that blocks these arteries is called low density lipo-protein or referred to as the bad cholesterol. This is cleared from the blood by high density lipo-proteins or the good cholesterol. Moderate wine consumption produces a better balance of these two. Additionally, wine has an anti-coagulation effect which makes the blood less likely to clot.
Red Wines
Chemical and food experts have known for years that wine contains rich deposits of vitamins, minerals, and natural sugars that are often beneficial to good health. Wine is also rich in potassium and low in sodium. Red wines have more of these elements due to the juices longer contact with the grape skins. Red wines are also rich in Vitamin B which comes from the grape skins as well.
Wine and Digestion
Wine aids in the production and flow of gastric juices. This facilitates digestion by breaking down the food in the stomach quickly and effectively. For many, after the age of 50 our bodies do not produce enough hydrochloric acid that are needed for digestion. So many doctors, including my own, have suggested a glass or two of wine with a meal. Who am I to complain?
Wine also has a tranquil effect on the body and helps people who have trouble sleeping. And it does not stop there as it may help lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer´s disease.
Wine and Calories
As of now, there is no such thing as a diet wine. Unfortunately, there is no getting away from the fact that wine contains calories and calories make you fat if you do not burn them up. A glass of white or red wine contains around 100 calories. Sweeter wines that contain residual sugar as well as alcohol have more calories.
Final Thoughts
When you put everything together you may decide that a little bit of wine does you some good. Wine certainly has its place in a healthy lifestyle. That is my conclusion, and I am sticking with it!
Contributor: Stuart Glasure [Designer, Fashion Artist and creator of the Zany Wearables Collection: http://www.ZanyGiftware.com. A wine enthusiast and publishing member of the wine source: http://www.WineDefinitions.com.]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ ¶ 1:20 PM 0 comments
During the 1990s, a physician voiced on a national TV show that drinking red wine reduces heart disease. It made all the headlines. He cited the relatively lower levels of the disease in France despite their ever so famously high fat diets. Since that program, it seems that red wine health effects have been on the forefront of the wine consumer´s mind.
Good for the Heart
Coronary artery disease is caused by a build up of cholesterol in the arteries that supply the blood to the heart. If the arteries get partially blocked the heart cannot get enough oxygen and the result is pain. Does red wine protect against heart disease?
Many studies suggested that moderate amount of red wine (one to two glasses a day) lowers the risk of heart attack for middle aged people by 30 to 50 percent. It was also concluded that red wine may prevent additional heart attacks if you have already suffered from one.
The cholesterol that blocks these arteries is called low density lipo-protein or referred to as the bad cholesterol. This is cleared from the blood by high density lipo-proteins or the good cholesterol. Moderate wine consumption produces a better balance of these two. Additionally, wine has an anti-coagulation effect which makes the blood less likely to clot.
Red Wines
Chemical and food experts have known for years that wine contains rich deposits of vitamins, minerals, and natural sugars that are often beneficial to good health. Wine is also rich in potassium and low in sodium. Red wines have more of these elements due to the juices longer contact with the grape skins. Red wines are also rich in Vitamin B which comes from the grape skins as well.
Wine and Digestion
Wine aids in the production and flow of gastric juices. This facilitates digestion by breaking down the food in the stomach quickly and effectively. For many, after the age of 50 our bodies do not produce enough hydrochloric acid that are needed for digestion. So many doctors, including my own, have suggested a glass or two of wine with a meal. Who am I to complain?
Wine also has a tranquil effect on the body and helps people who have trouble sleeping. And it does not stop there as it may help lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer´s disease.
Wine and Calories
As of now, there is no such thing as a diet wine. Unfortunately, there is no getting away from the fact that wine contains calories and calories make you fat if you do not burn them up. A glass of white or red wine contains around 100 calories. Sweeter wines that contain residual sugar as well as alcohol have more calories.
Final Thoughts
When you put everything together you may decide that a little bit of wine does you some good. Wine certainly has its place in a healthy lifestyle. That is my conclusion, and I am sticking with it!
Contributor: Stuart Glasure [Designer, Fashion Artist and creator of the Zany Wearables Collection: http://www.ZanyGiftware.com. A wine enthusiast and publishing member of the wine source: http://www.WineDefinitions.com.]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ ¶ 1:20 PM 0 comments
Monday, May 02, 2005
Skinny Juice Update:
I tried the Skinny juice from 4 pm Friday until 6 pm Saturday. My net weight loss was 3.5 lbs, which I feel great about. I found the juice to be light, refreshing and appetite quenching. Remarkably I didn’t feel weak, light-headed or grumpy from not eating – I even managed a rigorous treadmill workout Saturday morning. In addition, I was not ravenous when it was time to eat dinner Saturday night – this surprised me after a 26-hour juice diet. In addition I feel less bloated or puffy.
Now, I wouldn’t recommend this as a “diet” or something to practice day in and day out. But, for an occasionally cleansing, I’m quite happy with the results.
Let me know if you tried it and how it worked for you! ¶ 3:40 PM 0 comments
Now, I wouldn’t recommend this as a “diet” or something to practice day in and day out. But, for an occasionally cleansing, I’m quite happy with the results.
Let me know if you tried it and how it worked for you! ¶ 3:40 PM 0 comments
Take Your Vitamins!
Slayers: We have spoken before about vitamins and minerals. Presented now is a succinct, accurate and informative article by David Saunders about the need to supplement our nutrition intake with dietary supplements.
By David Saunders
When I began to study nutrition, I too believed that it was possible and even easy to get all the nutrition I needed from diet alone.
What I discovered was shocking to me. Over the past 50 years the quality of nutrition, or the availability of nutrients in our diets, has steadily decreased. This is even true for people who think that they eat a healthy diet today. Why does this happen? The complete answer is complex but in short, nutrient depletion in our soil, combined with green harvesting (which interrupts the natural biology of the plant before it has manufactured most of the nutrients we should be getting), and new toxins found in our environment result in produce that simply has fewer nutrients available to us than previously found in those same foods. Organically grown products offer some greater benefit however most are still green harvested and are therefore picked before most of the nutrients have been manufactured. At least they have lower levels of man-made toxins than some non-organic produce.
This problem is further compounded by our fast food diets. All too often we eat food that provides calories but does not provide adequate nutrients. So we are feeding our bodies but we're not nourishing our bodies. Nutrients provide the basic building blocks for all of the functions of our cells. If we are only providing our bodies with calories we are depriving our bodies of the other essential components to good health.
Many of us take better care of our cars than of our bodies.
So while it is important that we all learn how to make better dietary choices, it is also essential that we take supplementation, to make up for the nutrients that are missing from our food and that our bodies need so much. There is no single nutrient that will make up for a deficiency of another nutrient. We need to be taking balanced supplements which provide us with quality sources of all of the nutrients, provided in the correct ratios to each other.
To be clear, supplementation means supplementation. It is not substitution for a healthy diet. We should all be eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods.
Mega dosages of individual vitamins are not necessarily beneficial to us. In fact, some studies have shown that certain fat soluble vitamins should not be taken in extremely high quantities. This makes complete sense to me. Think of supplementation as simply providing the nutrients that should be in your well balanced diet. Vitamins and minerals and other nutritional components often works synergistically with each other so it is vital that you get all of the nutrients that are necessary for support of natural biological function.
If you would like to learn more about how to choose high quality supplementation, please request my free report on the 10 deadly health myths of the 21 st Century. It is available at my web site.
Dave Saunders is a certified nutritional educator, wellness coach, member of the American International Association of Nutritional Education (AIANE) and author. He is also the host of a weekly, nation-wide telephone lecture on health and nutrition.
For additional information, please visit his site on nutrition and glyconutrients at http://www.glycoboy.com or http://www.glycowellness.com or email Dave at dave@glycoboy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ ¶ 1:10 PM 1 comments
The Need For Supplementation
By David Saunders
When I began to study nutrition, I too believed that it was possible and even easy to get all the nutrition I needed from diet alone.
What I discovered was shocking to me. Over the past 50 years the quality of nutrition, or the availability of nutrients in our diets, has steadily decreased. This is even true for people who think that they eat a healthy diet today. Why does this happen? The complete answer is complex but in short, nutrient depletion in our soil, combined with green harvesting (which interrupts the natural biology of the plant before it has manufactured most of the nutrients we should be getting), and new toxins found in our environment result in produce that simply has fewer nutrients available to us than previously found in those same foods. Organically grown products offer some greater benefit however most are still green harvested and are therefore picked before most of the nutrients have been manufactured. At least they have lower levels of man-made toxins than some non-organic produce.
This problem is further compounded by our fast food diets. All too often we eat food that provides calories but does not provide adequate nutrients. So we are feeding our bodies but we're not nourishing our bodies. Nutrients provide the basic building blocks for all of the functions of our cells. If we are only providing our bodies with calories we are depriving our bodies of the other essential components to good health.
Many of us take better care of our cars than of our bodies.
So while it is important that we all learn how to make better dietary choices, it is also essential that we take supplementation, to make up for the nutrients that are missing from our food and that our bodies need so much. There is no single nutrient that will make up for a deficiency of another nutrient. We need to be taking balanced supplements which provide us with quality sources of all of the nutrients, provided in the correct ratios to each other.
To be clear, supplementation means supplementation. It is not substitution for a healthy diet. We should all be eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods.
Mega dosages of individual vitamins are not necessarily beneficial to us. In fact, some studies have shown that certain fat soluble vitamins should not be taken in extremely high quantities. This makes complete sense to me. Think of supplementation as simply providing the nutrients that should be in your well balanced diet. Vitamins and minerals and other nutritional components often works synergistically with each other so it is vital that you get all of the nutrients that are necessary for support of natural biological function.
If you would like to learn more about how to choose high quality supplementation, please request my free report on the 10 deadly health myths of the 21 st Century. It is available at my web site.
Dave Saunders is a certified nutritional educator, wellness coach, member of the American International Association of Nutritional Education (AIANE) and author. He is also the host of a weekly, nation-wide telephone lecture on health and nutrition.
For additional information, please visit his site on nutrition and glyconutrients at http://www.glycoboy.com or http://www.glycowellness.com or email Dave at dave@glycoboy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ ¶ 1:10 PM 1 comments
