Archive | November 2010

Can a Food Addict Cheat in Moderation?

Nov19

Everybody knows about eating in moderation, but have you ever heard of cheating in moderation? (I’m talking only about food now.)

I had never even thought about cheating on eating until today. Last night I decided to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I was hungry for something sweet, usually the kiss of death for this food addict.

So I made a batch of Toll House cookies. I wasn’t feeling panicky or anything. I just wanted a couple of cookies. Now, it’s all well and good to say to yourself, “I’ll just eat a couple of cookies”, but someone with an addiction of any kind knows that’s not usually how it goes.

And because that’s not usually how it goes, I had never considered being able to do that, eat just a few cookies and then stop.

I had gotten into the habit of abstaining from occasional sweets in order to avoid the addictive behavior that always seemed to follow.

In the past, the avoidance behavior would work for a while but eventually the cravings would be so bad that the stress alone would cause me to eat everything in sight.

Well, I made the cookies and baked just a few. Then I covered the rest of the batter and put it in the refrigerator. I surprised myself by not getting up in the middle of the night with the desire to stuff down the rest of the batch. I felt content, not stressed.

Today, I baked the rest of the cookies, ate two, then carefully packaged the rest and took them to work with me. I put them in our break room with a little note inviting my coworkers to try them.

My friends at work kept coming over to my counter to tell me how delicious the cookies were and to thank me for bringing them in.

The pleasure I got from that experience far outweighed any satisfaction I would have gotten from stuffing my feelings down with food. I got to enjoy the cookies and the feelings.

I cheated on my food addiction and it felt great!

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry–Regardless

Nov17

Believe it or not, this is actually good advice, especially for food addicts. When someone has a food addiction, they are always on guard.

It’s hard to enjoy yourself when you’re always on the watch for something you don’t want to have happen. That’s a lot to ask of someone who’s just trying to get through the day without feeling powerless around food.

Holiday foods like turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce are all very healthy foods. And then there is Resveratol in red wine, so if you drink wine with your meal, that can be healthy too.

Food needn’t get in the way of fun. It can be part of the fun, and should be. Sondra Ray wrote a book a few years back titled The Only Diet There Is.

That book taught me how to stop feeling guilty about what I ate.  One of my favorite chapters was Pleasure Yourself To Thinness.

Check it out. Let me know what you think.

How Much Food Does a Food Addict Need?

Nov16

Not only is it important to eat on time, but it is also important to consider the amount of each food in your meal. There is more to a meal than a hamburger and fries.

So how do you know how much food should go into a meal? And how is it all supposed to fit together? What do you eat that makes you feel like actually doing something afterward instead of just sitting in front of the TV or computer like a blob?

For instance, how much salad do you eat with how much chicken? And how much rice or potato should you eat with a meal? When do you eat fruit? Do you combine the same foods for a meal as you do for a snack?

There is a way to combine foods so they will work for you in terms of energy and fat-burning potential. When you get it right, you won’t need pills and you won’t have to cut calories or go on diets, or binge and purge, or skip meals. And no more food addiction feelings and cravings.

Finding that formula can be challenging but it is worth it. For me, I think that Michael Thurmond’s program is the best program for real life eating, or should I say, real living.

It is customized for men and women, definitely not a one-size-fits-all-doomed-to-fail diet. In my case, a meal might be 2 ounces of turkey breast, 1-2 cups of a vegetable and half a baked potato. A snack might consist of 2 ounces of  chicken and a piece of fruit.

If I am really hungry at a meal, I might want an extra ounce of protein. In that case,  I have to add enough extra starch and vegetables to keep the formula intact so it will still be effective.

This is where it’s really easy to mess up. If you change the proportions, you won’t get the result you want. Your body will know something is missing and the cravings and anxiety will set in. So, when you eat, remember that foods have to work together to make a meal.

It’s up to you to figure out the rest. If you’re really serious about getting fit, I recommend that you check out Michael Thurmond’s program. It will take you by surprise–in the best way.

Back on Track

Nov15

Sometimes life just throws you a curve and you don’t get out of the way in time. It’s tough standing in the middle of a field not going left or right. Sometimes you just need to stand there until you figure it out.

It’s true that when you are still and in the moment, the right place and time seem to find you. Timing isn’t about being “there”. It’s about being “here”. After all, when you arrive, you are always “here”.

I observe the way things are changing in the food arena, and I don’t like what I see. Tonight, I drove to Sam’s Club to buy a Honeysuckle White boneless turkey breast . Until recently, Sam’s Club was the only place I could find this boneless turkey “roast”.

After a long and challenging few months where stress reigned and food seemed to take the pain away, I am able to make the commitment to get back on track. I didn’t find what I was looking for at Sam’s. No clean meat there anymore. Everything is fried, processed, and highly salted.

I used to be able to get Atlantic cod loins and salmon that didn’t taste like you were chewing on a wet rag. Now, it’s only pizza, greasy rolls stuffed with oily cheese, high fat dairy items, and of course plenty of chips and candy. Who the heck can live like that?

I’ve watched the quality of foods decline as they are shipped half way around the world. I see people who are huge, without energy, and relegated to motorized scooters just to get around their homes. I wonder what will happen when an extra fifty or a hundred pounds  renders  them completely isolated from the rest of the world.

What  will happen to our society when the garbage that  passes as nutrition with a big FDA stamp of approval has redesigned our bodies and stolen our ability to be productive human beings?

Will only the rich be able to dance, play tennis, go walking or hiking, take a swim on a hot day, fly to an exotic destination in a regular aircraft for a week of total relaxation? Will we live to see a time when a movie like Surrogates is a documentary?

He who controls the food supply rules the world. I hope it’s true that food brings us together, because we’re going to have to fight for this one.