Archives

It’s a Brand New Day

Oct29

Every day is another opportunity to learn more about yourself. The more we learn about who we are and what makes us tick, the sooner we can escape from the mental anguish that led us into the world of food addiction.

The secret is this: the way in is the way out. Get inside yourself. Notice and take heart with what you learn. Accept and love who you are.

Don’t psychoanalyze yourself. That will only lead to judgments. Judging yourself or trying to justify a problem with emotional or compulsive eating won’t solve it. That only leads to more stress.

Instead, keep a journal. Observe yourself and write it down. Write down your panicky feelings before you eat. It will change the way you respond to the stress that triggers the panic that fuels your food addiction.

Life does not have to be as stressful as most humans tend to make it. We decide how we feel about things. When we feel anger or despair or sadness, we are feeling emotions. Something is making us feel them. What is it? Not why, but what? There is rarely a “why” but always a “what”.

How do you want to respond the next time you feel that way, which you certainly will? If there is a plan in place, you can be prepared the next time you are caught off guard, like a fire drill prepares you for a fire.

Something as simple as writing your feelings down in a journal before acting on them can mean the difference between giving in to your food addiction and walking away. You deserve a chance to choose a brand new day.

What Foods Should I Be Eating?

Oct27

Food addicts often ask this question. In fact, so do most regular folks, especially nowadays.

We are used to being told we have to give up certain foods in order lose weight, reduce size. Give up, lose, reduce. Not words that leave you feeling very upbeat.

Let’s focus instead on gaining good health, increasing our enjoyment of life, welcoming good things into our lives.

Here is a video I found on YouTube that reveals the top three best ways to make food your friend.

Whether you have a food addiction, a problem with emotional eating, or have gotten yourself into a big, fat depression because of careless eating habits, these tips will help you get back on track.

Enjoy.

Say “No” to Food Saboteurs

Oct25

I was reading an article in today’s Parade magazine about how kids can teach us to eat better. It touched on a topic that hits close to home for most food addicts.

Often with someone who has a food addiction or anyone who is working to lose some weight, it is family and friends who present the greatest challenges.

Food saboteurs may come in different shapes and sizes, but most of the ones I’ve met are not overweight.

They seem to have the collective goal of getting us to eat things that will inevitably trigger our food addiction and yank us off plan.

Why bully someone into eating something you know will cause them to fall off the wagon? It doesn’t make sense. Family and friends should support you, not use the relationship to pull rank or shame you into doing something they know you don’t want to do.

It happens all the time. When drinking was expected of any respectful guest back in the 70’s, I was continually barraged with demands that I join the party so I didn’t make the hostess look bad.

Being a non-drinker, this made me feel embarrassed and irritated. It ruined many evenings for me. Later, when I began using food to stuff down my feelings, I considered myself lucky that I was only a food addict and not an alcoholic.

Today’s article made an important point. Kids turn down food if they don’t want it. They don’t worry about offending people.

Joy Bauer’s article rightly points out that adults usually eat what’s put in front of them. Add a little coaxing or subtle bullying and there goes the trigger.

So, don’t be afraid to offend. Be polite, but don’t eat something you don’t really want, whether it’s something that might trigger your food addiction or something you just don’t care for. It’s okay to say no.

No wonder kids feel so empowered. Too bad that many don’t stay that way. All the more reason to listen to your inner child.

Obesity, Food Addiction and Pills

Oct22

I read today where the FDA is close to approving a new obesity medication. Yet another drug to cure all ills. It’s enough to make you sick.

Why not come up with a new way to decrease stress or to have a work schedule that didn’t force you to eat in your car?

Or–here’s one–take a vacation. Is obesity as big a problem in European countries that give their employees six weeks paid vacation a year?

Is food addiction a problem when people get enough sleep, some fun exercise, and enough time to do what they need to do during the day?

Why isn’t there enough time to go to the bathroom more than once or twice in an eight-hour period? Is the work you do at your office so important that you can’t take time out for a 30-minute lunch.

Is food addiction the problem it is because there is simply no way to combat the stress and the health problems, including obesity, that it causes?

Somewhere down the road, food addicts fat and not-so-fat must decide if they want to be healthy or not, happy and energetic or barely able to get through the day without overdoses of caffeine and diet soda.

If drugs really were meant to heal, the body would heal. People would heal. After the healing occurs, why do you still need to take the drugs for the rest of your life.

Experts can call obesity a disease but it is really an out of control lifestyle so filled with stress that no comfort can be found and no boundaries exist. It causes diseases like diabetes which can be “cured” when the pounds drop off and a healthier lifestyle is maintained.

No more pills, please! Let’s let some relaxation back into life, some enjoyment, some connection with the Universe, so we can see our value. We are not what we eat. We are who we are.

Who do you want to be today?