UPDATE FOR BOOK:  Unfortunately due to family issues, time constraints and the like I haven’t been able to complete my book.  It will most likely be another few months before completion as I have more pressing issues that have unfortunately had to take priority recently   Shame but it is coming along nicely!

I just came across a great article I would like to share by Dr John McDougall on the poisons found in animal foods.

“Protein, fat, cholesterol, methionine (a sulfur-containing amino acid), and dietary acids, which are all superabundant in animal foods, are poisoning nearly everyone following the standard Western diet. Most people cannot fathom this, because it takes four or more decades of consumption before disability, disfigurement, and death become common from these endogenous toxins. This long latent period fools the public into thinking there is no harm done by choosing an animal-food-based diet. If the case were one of instantaneous feedback—one plate of fried eggs caused excruciating chest pains, paralysis from a stroke followed a prime rib dinner, or a hard cancerous lump appeared within a week of a grilled cheese sandwich—then eating animal foods would be widely recognized as an exceedingly unwise choice.

Similar failures to appreciate slow poisonings from our lifestyle choices are seen with tobacco and alcohol use. If one package of cigarettes were followed by a week on a respirator or a bottle or two of gin caused hepatic (liver) coma then no one would indulge in these instruments of long-drawn-out death either. The difference defining the failure to take long overdue actions is that the dangers from tobacco and alcohol use are universally known and accepted, whereas almost everyone considers red meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products necessary parts of a healthy diet…”

Click Here to Read Full Story.

I am asked quite regularly if my Combat Your Cravings Ebook is available in hard copy.  Unfortunately it isn’t (besides being located on lulu.com but I am not entirely sure about quality on there) BUT over the past several months I have been updating and working hard on it in order to publish it early February hopefully. 

The Cravings Ebook as it stands is a great resource but in the new version that will be released there will be much more detail.  I am sectioning so that there is a step-by-step plan for emotional eating and physical eating.   The emotional eating step-by-step consists of 7 steps to emotional freedom from food to make it easier for anyone to really overcome emotional eating. The physical cravings aspect as 4 easy steps to combat physical cravings that are due to addiction/withdrawal as oppose to emotional eating.

The book is made of pretty much everything that has helped me gain control of my own eating habits.  I have added everything that is in the ebook but MUCH MUCH more, specifically going into more detail about emotional eating than in the ebook.

So as a result of this, I am now offering the Combat Your Cravings Ebook for only $7!  You can buy this by going to the Books & Products tab at the top of the page.  It is, in my opinion, a great introduction to the issues surrounding cravings. 

For more information please go here: http://www.eating-naturally.com/books-products/ or alternative you can buy the book by clicking on this button:

                 $7

I will be updating in a few weeks how the new book is getting along and whether I have a specific date for release.  But for now just enjoy the Ebook!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Holidays and New Year!

It’s a New Year and potentially a New YOU. 1^st January is the day that we all decide to resolve any issues that are in our life. We make promises to ourselves that today we are no longer going to smoke, or eat chocolate and we are going to work out and be healthy. We all make these general sweeping solutions but general sweeping statements of how things are going to be different this year soon fade into the background as normal life continues.

You see, most resolutions do not get resolved. At my old local gym, one instructor told me that they get a massive influx of gym memberships in January and by April most of those new members will be gone. It seems we have the best intentions, full of spirit and hope but we can’t quite follow through completely.

Why is that?

Well firstly general sweeping statements don’t really mean anything. We may desire to change – to become healthier, fitter and less stressed, but changing is effort. It is effort because it is scary. To become different, to change a particular aspect of yourself is uncomfortable for a while. Once you get out of the uneasy zone between desiring being fit/desiring being healthy and actually being fit/health, then you are fine, but it is the in between stage that takes motivation and commitment. When we make a general statement about how we are going to quit something or about how we are going to do something in the New Year that we failed to rectify or acknowledge in the year gone by, it doesn’t mean much other than you know there is an issue you want to resolve. This of course is the first step (admitting a problem) but rarely do people follow through more than trying for a second.

Saying you want to get fit and joining a gym shows that you do have some real desire to change but without thinking it completely through and fitting it into your life, it can fail.

Your best chances of success are to plan, focus and not rush into everything. Changing your habits and your lifestyle is a process and will take some time. Below are some of my articles that I think will help you get where you want to in 2010.



Weight Loss Goals

Part One: Creating A Positive Weight Loss Mindset

Part Two: The 3 Beliefs You Need For Weight Loss Success

Part Three: Weight Loss Planning

Weight Loss Mindset

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

Weight Loss Tip: Taking Photos & Keeping A Journal – Remember to take a photo once you are ready to start your journey.  This will keep you motivated when you see the improvements in weeks to come!

Hopefully these articles will get you thinking more about what you want to achieve and how to really make it happen.

Good luck it your quest to resolution!

I always find Winter a difficult time of year.  Even as we have moved into Autumn I have struggled.  I am someone who very much feels the cold and when I feel cold I want comfort in any form I can get.  Cold weather challenges me in ways I would rather not be challenged.  I find it difficult not to cave to my old favorite comfort foods and I also find it difficult to get motivated to run because of the initial cold I feel before I have warmed up.

On top of this the holiday season is nearly with us, so wherever you look there are all those lovely comfort foods and delicious “treats” from our childhood to contend with.  If you are trying to lose weight or trying to maintain your weight, Winter plus Christmas can be the biggest challenge you face.  So what can you do to help yourself through it?

I would just like to share with you what I do to get through Winter and Christmas.  Hopefully it will help you find ways to resolve your own issues with this time of year.

I live on a diet predominantly of raw foods.  I eat a high fruit diet and I eat a lot of greens.  In cold weather I can struggle with the need to eat something hot to comfort me.  To help me feel the comfort from heat I miss from food I sit by the fire when it gets much colder, I drink herbal teas (I really like them!) or sometimes just holding a mugful helps.  I also, when it gets really cold, may treat my body to some homemade Veggie Soup.  I find Veggie Soup so comforting that nothing beats it for me.

Also in the UK, satsumas seem to be a huge thing at Christmas time, so when with family or doing the holiday thing, instead of buying chocolates and candy I buy a lot of satsumas.  It just so happens that I absolutely adore satsumas and can eat bags and bags without feeling like I am missing out on Christmas!

Below is my Veggie Soup Recipe (salt-free of course).

My Veggie Soup Recipe:

1tsp of ground coriander
1 large onion,
1 Leek,
5 carrots,
1-2 potatoes,
3 cloves – crushed,
3 cloves of garlic,
3 bayleaves,
1/2 tsp Oregano
big handful of fresh corriander

Method: Chop and fry onions and garlic in vegetable oil until caramelized.  Throw in chopped leek, crushed cloves, dried oregano and coriander powder with a splash of water and sweat down.  Chop carrots and potatoes, put them in once leeks have sweated down and cover with water.  Bring to the boil and add 1/2 tsp of black pepper and the chopped fresh coriander.  Simmer until vegetables are soft.  Put half the solid contents into a blender, blend to a paste, then add back to the pan and mix.  Simmer for another 5 minutes and serve.
 
 
I find Veggie Soup to be great for Winter because it comforts me, it keeps me warm and it stops me seeking comfort in junk foods and fatty foods that I really don’t want to be eating.  It gives me what I need in the Winter months. I think anyone who is trying to maintain their weight or trying to lose during this time should eat Veggie Soup even at Christmas

These few simple things that I do are enough to keep me on track during the Winter.  However although it keeps me on track with food, exercise is a completely different ballgame. 

I am a regular runner until about Autumn when the cold just literally kills me.  I run now and then in the cold months and only manage this by making sure I have clothes perfect for running and perfect for keeping me warm.  Instead of running though, I do a lot of walking with my toddler.  Carrying him around in a sling in the Winter months helps me protect him from the cold but also helps me keep toned (and very warm!).  He is a heavy little thing!  I also try to do yoga more often than I would the rest of the year. 

When trying to keep regular with exercise keep it simple during the Winter months.  Try to find something that you can do in the house if you have been using the beautiful outdoors before the cold months.  If there is a warmer day take advantage of it.  If you only manage to get something in one warm days, that is better than nothing.

Don’t get too hung up on it if you put on a little weight during the Winter.  It is only natural.  I might put a few pounds on but they melt away once Spring arrives.  What you need to do is just try to keep to your routine as much as possible and not let Winter drag you down.  Picking foods that tie in with the Holiday Season but are low in fat and fairly healthy, will prevent you putting on huge amounts of weight and also will allow you to still feel part of the Christmas season.  If you feel segmented or isolated, you will be more likely to get too carried away and you will only regret that!

Winter is hard but we can get through it but finding a few simple comforts that won’t add pounds to our bodies.

It’s now October and 9 months have gone by since you made your 2009 New Years Resolution(s) and by now you should have resolved them or be well on your way to overcoming them completely. Maybe your resolution was to lose weight or maybe it was just to join a gym and add exercise into your life. Whatever it was hopefully you were able to do what you set out to do. If so, congratulations! You are one of FEW who manage to keep to their resolutions. I remember being told at the gym in my old town that most sign ups in January will end up leaving by March – all in the name of the New Years dedication!

If you haven’t made any progress in your weight loss resolution or your gym resolution or any other resolution you may have made, why not? What stopped you from following through on your goal(s)? Was your heart not really in it? Or did the pressure of making a commitment in that way make you falter?

Whatever your reason, do you think that you are in the position of making the same mistake for 2010? Will you be telling yourself that 2010 is going to be the year to change your weight, to get fit and healthy and finally live the life you want? New Year’s resolutions for the most part fall into the same trap as when we tell ourselves “I will start tomorrow”. We put it off and off maybe because we aren’t ready or maybe because we put too much pressure on ourselves. In many cases it can be our food addictions that lead us to this conclusion.

Change can be daunting, but by putting it off we don’t get to where we want to be and remain in a position we really aren’t enjoying and haven’t enjoyed for years.

So why wait?

If you really are that unhappy with your weight or current health, why wait until 1st January 2010 to start making changes, why not start now? What will really change if you hold off until the New Year? Anything? Did it this year?

Year after year you may find yourself stuck in this loop of promising yourself that 2010 will be different, then 2011 and so forth. You won’t make progress and the relationship you have with yourself won’t get any better.

So why not make 2010 the best year ever by starting your Resolutions now?

  Instead of waiting for January to come around, why not set to work making the new you now. Why not go into 2010 the way you want to be – the new slimmer you (or well on the way to it). Is it that easy? Yes it can be. If you decide to start now you may also alleviate some of the pressure you put on yourself when starting out in the New Year as you will be well ahead of everyone else! Make the decision to change now and get started.

How Do I Get Started?

Weight Loss Mindset

The best starting place is to take a look at some of my articles on the Weight Loss Mindset & Goals. Getting your mind into the right mode to help you lose weight is great. This can also be applied to other resolutions you may have as well.

Observation

Once you feel mentally ready for the task you may then want to take a few days observing your eating and drinking habits. Write down everything that you eat and drink. Write down how you feel before and after. Make a note of your food triggers.

Below is an example of how you can set out your food journal (plus also make sure you add drinks):

Once you have done this for a few days you should be able to see where you can make some small changes that will give you great results. For an example let’s look at drinks. Many people consume a lot of calories in the drinks they should to drink. I believe that if you want to drink fruit juice, you should really only drink it if you have freshly squeezed it yourself. Most store bought beverages aren’t worth the health implications. So if you drink lots of store bought fruit juices or are a soda fan, cut these out. This may be a big task for you, so you might want to just keep to this goal for the month of October. Commit to only drinking water and herbal teas.

Observation is key to getting results when trying to lose weight. By really seeing exactly how you behave you can start working on your diet and the way you use food. It was only through observation that I was able to truly become aware to what extent I was an emotional eater. Before observation and allowing myself to be aware in the present moment, I really didn’t think I was an emotional eater. How wrong was I!

Before Photo & Journaling

You may also want to take a before picture. Taking a photo of you at the beginning of your journey will give you motivation in times of difficulty. You can also see exactly what making small changes will do the shape of your body too. Journaling will also help with you stay motivated and can be very helpful for anyone who has emotional eating issues but not a great support system.

See my article on this here:Weight Loss Tip: Taking Photos & Keeping A Journal

These 3 tips are great starting points for anyone wanting to take action now. Take your time and enjoy the process. Be happy you are starting now, because this means you really can have the best year ever in 2010.

I just wanted to write this post as a reminder of my post Food Cravings: 5 Lies Your Addiction Tells You.  My desire to write this was sparked today when I was out and about.  As it is a Bank Holiday here in the UK, we went to one of our local markets.  At this local market something caught my eye:

Yes that is right!  START THE DIET TOMORROW!

In my article I explain how 1 of our excuses we give ourselves when it comes to our food addictions is to say “Oh I will stop eating this tomorrow..I will start my diet then”.  Looks like this excuse is being encouraged!

This is just a warning to be careful not to be suckered into your excuses and not to be encouraged by advertisements or signs.  Be aware, have a plan and stick to it.  Don’t give up on your health for a moments taste.

To help you why not reread my article to refresh you on some of the lies you tell yourself to continue your bad food habits: Food Cravings: Lies Your Addiction Tells You

Hope everyone had a great Bank Holiday!

When it comes to weight loss, keeping the motivation going to eat healthy and to refrain from eating food that is bad for our health, leaves us moody, depressed and lethargic can actually be a lot harder than it seems.  This is because, as discussed on this blog, food is addictive.  When we wean ourselves off food that is full of addictive substances like opiods and heterocyclic amines, it can be hard.  We almost have a come-down.  In fact when you stop stimulating the body with substances from junk foods, it can leave you tired for days.  But we hold on to that taste sensation like it means more than anything else – consequences don’t matter and we soon are eating something processed again, which makes us feel better and the cycle begins.

So how do you break this?  How do you make weight loss easier and more motivating?  One tip I would like to share with you today is something I have found that has helped me when I was first starting out on the healthy eating path.  First taking a before picture is a great motivator.  When you take this, you will feel motivated to look better in 6 weeks times.  Take a picture of your back, sides and front.  Then do the same in 6 weeks time.  If you lack motivation you can always take a picture to see your progress a little earlier on.  If you are making quite dramatic lifestyle changes you will see results, even if you don’t lose weight (potentially because you are gaining muscle) your shape will change.  So keeping a before photo and logging your progress is a good motivation.  It keeps you set on your next goal (e.g. slimmer arms) and gives you a pick me up in times of struggle with a healthy lifestyle.  It also shows you that you are serious about making this work.

Some people choose to make this change a public issue.  Some even start online blogs to keep themselves accountable.  If you are brave enough then this may be a great idea but I don’t reccommend.  I don’t recommend it because changing your lifestyle can be quite tough.  It can feel embarrassing if you can’t stick to your new diet or if you don’t lose weight or if you simply slip-up.  Writing a journal can be great to help you through these times but it will be much better for you to keep this private.  There is less pressure on you to get to your goal meaning you won’t panic, give-up or slip into a bingeing session.

So keep a journal but keep a private one.  Journals are great.  It can also be helpful to log your eating habits for the first few weeks.  You don’t need to be obsessive over it but logging your meals will make you more conscious of your eating which is a great thing.  Many of us have wandered through life mindlessly eating.  Some days we probably couldn’t have recalled what we have eaten.  The more aware you become of your eating, the more aware you become of how food makes you feel.  If you document it you will be able to see links between moods and whether you eat for emotional reasons.  For me this method opened my eyes to how particular junk foods left me sluggish and tired for the rest of the day.  Making myself aware of this also helped me to stop eating those foods for good and helped me create a healthier relationship with food.

Most people do not have a healthy relationship with food.  As a society it is caught up in emotional eating.  We eat for celebration, mourning and loss, for socializing, dating – the list is endless.  Life seems to evolve around food!  So if we want to break that connection and start eating for nutrition and pleasure without pain, we must become more aware of our eating habits and how food affects us.

So if you are struggling with your weight loss – taking photos and journaling your eating habits for a few days maybe the motivation you need to progress and take your health seriously.

I can’t seem to lose the weight despite continuous efforts to do so; I just keep craving and bingeing…

If you could only put down the fork and back away from the table then maybe, just maybe you wouldn’t have such a problem with food. If you could only walk past the shop without caving and going in to buy a chocolate, then maybe, just maybe you wouldn’t pile on the pounds. If you could only stop going out late especially to buy junk, then maybe just maybe you might not be so miserable.

You feel greedy.

You feel weak.

But honestly, you are neither.

If it was that simple, don’t you think you could have done it by now?

Food cravings unfortunately are a subtle type of addiction in some respects. Society doesn’t recognise food as addictive in the same way that drugs and alcohol are. Where as someone who craves alcohol would be encouraged to seek help, those of us who crave sugary snacks are often – if not all the time – encouraged to indulge in our addictions. And if we don’t indulge we will often hear the retort:

“Why are you depriving yourself?”

“A little isn’t going to hurt!”

It’s why we have the word “craving”. It belittles the whole experience that many of us go through when we need to have a particular food.

Now you may be thinking that the word addiction is a little too strong for your case of cravings or you may be thinking it is exactly what you experience. Either way let’s explore this further.

Most of the foods that we crave usually involve sugar like chocolate, candy, cakes, biscuits and cola. These foods have no real nutritional benefit. The white sugar found in them is an unnatural molecule that has no nutritional value whatsoever. It is completely devoid or nutrients – it is an empty calorie. But this is what we crave.

So why, other than comfort and pleasure, would you crave sugar? Why would you eat foods full of nutritionally empty calories if not for pleasure and comfort? You certainly aren’t eating them for nutrition. And that is a key concept you need to grasp and that is lost in a society that uses food for many more things than just nutrition.

Food has a function and that is to fuel our bodies. When we were babies it did also have the function of comforting us. Mother’s milk is sweet for a reason. When one merely tastes sugar impulses are sent through our nerves leading to the base of our brain. Along the way our pleasure centre is activated causing a release of natural opiates. This is all quite natural. However as we grow we learn to become more independent and less reliant on our mothers. We naturally wean between 4-7 years old. Food then is just a function but most people do not use food in this way.

I am not saying that eating shouldn’t be pleasurable. What I am saying is that pleasure should not override the first function: nutrition. They can go hand in hand, it’s just most people have numbed their taste buds too much to allow it!

Maybe that isn’t enough to convince you that you have an addiction just yet but bare with me…

Loss of Control

Addiction is anything that has become stronger than your willpower to change.

Food addiction is a loss of control over eating.  Loss of control can mean many different things.  It can mean eating in excessive quantities. For some, eating three square meals a day is kept to with out snacking only because the portion sizes are extortionate.

For many not eating at all is something much easier to deal with then trying to quit once started. This can lead to one not eating all day and then bingeing in the evening.

It can also mean that we get strong urges in our head of that craved food that we just can’t resist and no matter what the time we have to go out and get it. The drive can be so powerful yet almost unconscious that we aren’t really aware of what we are doing. On reflection of my own food addictions, once I had more self awareness of my issues, I couldn’t believe how I hadn’t noticed before. I used to obsess over food – picture a nice chocolate cake in my head and could even feel it melting on my tongue.

The Affect On Your Body

Physical dependence or physical addiction to food simply means that something has altered inside you in some way.

When addictive foods are eaten repeatedly, the body adjusts homeostasis to be balanced with the food in the system. It attempts to operate and function normally despite the imbalance created by your sugar/food addiction. Over time the body will become dependent on that substance for homeostatic balance and its removal will cause withdrawal. The body cries out for the missing substance as just intense hunger cries for food

If you have been eating sugary/salty/refined/processed foods, eating irregularly, or eating more than your body needs – your natural appetite is distorted.

Brain Chemistry

As mentioned above sugar, including chocolate, triggers the release of natural opiates in the brain. Sugar isn’t the only thing that affects us in this way. For example, cheese and dairy products contain morphine. In 1981, Eli Hazum et al discovered that cow’s milk contains morphine. This is because cows produce morphine in their bodies (cited in Breaking the Food Seduction). The morphine in cow’s milk produces a calming effect on their young. It is there to help the mother-infant bond and to make sure the infant gets the nutrition it needs.

Many foods also contain heterocyclic amines (HCAs) which are both indirectly and directly addictive. Some of these HCAs can cause sleeplessness, mood issues (ever feel moody after certain foods even a day later?), can contribute to cancer, brain diseases and also depression (see www.waisays.com for more information).

It doesn’t end there though. I have only lightly touched on some of the issues surrounding our favourite foods in this article. There is a lot of consequence in the hidden properties of foods and most of us are totally unaware of them. Becoming more self aware, eating consciously and preparing food ourselves instead of leaving it up to prepackaged foods is something that we all need to do in order to live a healthier, lighter life.

Stop Cravings

Check out my new site: Food Addiction 101

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up about an interview I did recently with Lincoln from www.fatlosscommunity.com.

In the interview I discuss what cravings are, what types of cravings there are and give tips on how you can successfully overcome your cravings.  It is a great overview of what I offer in my Combat Your Cravings ebook.

If you are interested in learning more about cravings, I recommend you check it out!  To access the audio interview please go to www.fatlosscommunity.com and sign up.  This interview isn’t available for long, so be sure to check it out now!

Let me know if you have any questions or what you thought of the interview.  Thank you!

EDIT: This interview is no longer available at fatlosscommunity.com.  If you would like a copy please contact me.

Since I began the process of refining my diet to help myself overcome cravings and health issues, I have often been met with hostility and defensiveness. It has taught me to appreciate that what I know about particular foods and why I choose to cut them out, doesn’t mean that others are ready to hear the truth or want to accept it. We are all on our own paths and we have to make our own decisions, however it is this barrier (defensiveness) people put up that is a common sign of addiction and so I want to address it here.

No one wants to admit or acknowledge that their favorite foods or indulgences are bad for them. So what we do is we concoct reasons and justifications as to why it is ok for us to indulge. We don’t have to feel guilty for our indulgences because we have lots of excuses for them. Facing the reality of the situation is scarey because we may not be ready to face the feelings that our addictions are repressing.

When I first decided to make some dietary adjustments, I thought that I would be able to do it overnight. This sent me into a panic and I ended up having a huge binge. The next day when my new diet was supposed to start, I went shopping. I felt obsessed over food and HAD to buy something junk related just to make me feel ok. It was a security for me. I felt comfort knowing that I had a bag of crisp in my cupboard! Sometimes you do have to take things slowly, but it made me realize how attached one can be to food. I still have justifications pop up into my head sometimes about why it would be ok if I had a chocolate bar or some junk. They are much weaker now then they were in the beginning and I don’t experience them very often anymore, but they are a reminder of how powerful comfort eating can be.

Below I have covered 5 common lies people tell themselves when it comes to their craved foods to help you to acknowledge some of your own lies you may be holding about your craved foods.

5 Common Lies

“It makes me feel good”

Whenever someone tells me that they continue to eat chocolate or junk food because it makes them feel good, my first response is always “But for how long?”. In reality, the good feelings experiences by our favorite foods are short lived. Most of the time your craved food makes you feel bad, but by the time you feel bad you may not associate the food with negative feelings of consequences.

For example for me, despite chocolate making me feeling food in the moment, it would leave me in a state of depression. It would also give me terrible mood swings the next and because I continually fed my addiction daily, I would feel out of control emotionally all the time. I would be angry and upset. I would feel like I was all over the place and that no one loved me. I would put a meaning to my feelings of depression and sadness that really had nothing to do with them – the only thing that did was my addiction to chocolate!

On top of this I spent most of my time obsessing. I would go late to the shops to get some, I would get cranky if I didn’t have some when I wanted it right then. I ruined my relationships with people over my moods and instability.

No one likes to feel like something is controlling us – food addictions like any addiction, makes us feel bad not good.

“It’s how I cope with stress”

From my response to the above lie, do you really that your food addiction helps you deal with stress? It makes more sense to say it adds to it. It is a cause of stress.

Obsessing over it, always craving and needing the craved item then and there is a cause of stress. I never enjoyed my cravings. I enjoyed the indulgence for a split second, but wandering off to the shops every time I needed some, or the after effects were not fun at all.

Food addiction is our way of trying to cope with uncomfortable feelings/feelings of distress. However food addiction is a way of not dealing with something, with not dealing with feelings, that really need to be addressed. By not dealing with your feelings, by allowing them to flow through you, you ultimately leave yourself with a weight on your shoulder, adding to your stress not relieving it.

You will find it far more rewarding to deal with the feelings that arise in you, then to block them. The pain is there only for a little while and the relief you feel afterwards is beautiful – a great feeling you will never get from a chocolate bar.

“There’s no harm in just one”

Unfortunately one doesn’t mean one when it comes to food addiction. It means one after another, again and again and again. Have your ever been able to take one bite of your favorite food and not take anymore? I haven’t. The only way I was successful at giving up chocolate was to completely eliminate it from my life. Even when I have tried to treat myself with one, months later, I have found it traps me in its clutches again.

It isn’t a treat anyway. Chocolate, refined sugar and all the other processed junk foods aren’t treats. Why I ever considered making myself moody, irritable and depressed as a treat is beyond my comprehension now – bit I did.

“I’ll stop tomorrow”

I have told myself this one many times, it is the way my addiction has kept me hooked. This one has even sent me into a binge the night before as thought I felt desperate to cram in as much chocolate as I could before ultimately giving up the next day.

Unfortunately this just turned into a vicious cycle and I got no where. I would make the same promise every day.

“I deserve a little pleasure”

Is it really a pleasure anymore?  Any addiction isn’t really a pleasure – maybe in the few moments of tasting your favored food you might feel pleasure.  Having your faved pleasure once in a while may very well be a pleasure.  But overindulgence on a regular basis is not pleasure.  Eating and bingeing daily is not pleasure.

Do you tell yourself any of these?  Can you add any to the list?  Please share by commenting below

For more information on cravings: Stop Food Cravings