Hi there,
I have a cold.
I woke up with a sore throat this morning.
I truly thought i had escaped any negative consequences from my cooked food binge just a few days ago. But, alas, my body has a mind of it's own. Arnold, my boss, says a cold is your body saying it's on overload and that it needs a rest.
A raw day yesterday at work included lots of nuts. I wasn't feeling well yesterday before the nuts AND after.
Huge green smoothie for breakfast this morning. And i cut up oranges and Honeycrisp apples for the outing with my mother. Time to eat lightly and get my body healthy. The lighter i eat, the easier it will be for my body to fight off the cold.
I also did the saline nasal rinse this morning. Do you know about that? Well worth the investment. Keeps the sinuses free flowing. Also gargled with the salty water. Supposed to kill the sore throat. We shall see!
My mom and I are headed to watch the Met simulcast of Turandot at the Regal Warrington movie theater. So awesome, i can't wait, but i'm sneezing alot and not really feeling terrific, but i'll make the best of it.
I've had so much on my mind about the blog and about the nature of food and about my eating issues. So much going around in my head. Everyday, it seems, i'm in another headspace and, uh, it ain't fun. I guess you've figured that out if you read this!!!
Well, my mom seems to be ready. Have a wonderful day. More at another time.
xoxox michelle
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Joy and Sadness and Snoring
Good morning, Ladies,
I'm feeling a bit emotional this morning, a sadness mixed with a very joyful feeling.
The joyful feeling is due to the fact that I just got back from a lovely little walk, my first in 2 weeks. I felt exuberant being out in the cold and i was much more comfortable temperature-wise than i expected. I don't know why I let the fear of the cold stop me. I think that's some of the sadness, too. Why do i let resistance hold me back from things that make me feel so good? This morning felt just wonderful. It could have been a long walk were it for my uncomfortable shoes. I have to ditch those.
The sadness is also chemical, perhaps. For the 2nd episode in 2 months, i had a cooked food episode 2 days ago. And Cliff said he came up to tuck me into bed last night, and found me asleep already 'sawing wood.' After eating real bread and eggs, my snoring returned. "I haven't heard you snore in I don't know how long," he remarked. He knew of the incident. I fessed up right away as i need to do that for my own benefit, to be honest and forthright about my food. "What the hell happened?," Cliff demanded knowing.
I had gone from high high to low low last week. After the extremely successful 'concert' on Halloween, where i felt AWESOME singing, after having not eating too much fat and no salt for the week prior to fit into my dress, I realized the tremendous benefit the low fat had on my singing. I suffer from Reflux Laryngitis, swelling and irritation of the larynx when i overdo fat. After the Halloween gig, i 'treated' myself by high fat raw items, over and over. By the time it came to my singing lesson on Tuesday, I wasn't sounding good, swollen and irritated. The lesson, being corrected constantly and unable to phonate as well as just days ago distressed and discouraged and upset me.
So i ate more fat.
That's such a ME thing to do.
Only this time it was half a loaf of rye bread and a stick of butter and a little pasta and 4 eggs and 4 slices of white bread. Okay, i'm a binge eater and this time I succumbed to bread. It's easier to do after you break that barrier. I had a similar episode in September.
One day at a time i'm back on track.
Sorry, I actually gotta go. More another time. We have company and they want breakfast. Here's something lovely from Angela Stokes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Five Surprising Things I've Learnt Since Releasing 160lbs...
by Angela Stokes-Monarch
My life has changed in many surprising ways since releasing 160lbs with a raw lifestyle...here are a few of the more unexpected things I've come to understand/recognise:
1. The more giving, open-hearted and generous I am, the more the universe seems to deliver yumminess straight back at me, in abundance...
2. The more I listen to and honour the promptings of the 'still, small voice within', the more effortlessly and synchronously my life seems to flow...
3. I cannot make other peoples' choices for them, including what they eat, how they treat me or any of their reactions...
4. Don't take anything personally (kudos to Don Miguel Ruiz especially for this gem ;). If people are behaving towards me in a way that I find confusing or rude, I find it most useful now to recognise that it is their OWN stuff they are acting out towards me and to send them blessings and let go of it... ;)
5. I have a choice in every single moment to spiral my energy upwards or downwards – life is open to interpretation and misery is always a choice ;)
I trust you're enjoying your own inner and outer explorations too...what surprises you?
With effortless, breathtaking beauty abounding,
Ms. Stokes-Monarch. xxx
xoxox michelle joy
I'm feeling a bit emotional this morning, a sadness mixed with a very joyful feeling.
The joyful feeling is due to the fact that I just got back from a lovely little walk, my first in 2 weeks. I felt exuberant being out in the cold and i was much more comfortable temperature-wise than i expected. I don't know why I let the fear of the cold stop me. I think that's some of the sadness, too. Why do i let resistance hold me back from things that make me feel so good? This morning felt just wonderful. It could have been a long walk were it for my uncomfortable shoes. I have to ditch those.
The sadness is also chemical, perhaps. For the 2nd episode in 2 months, i had a cooked food episode 2 days ago. And Cliff said he came up to tuck me into bed last night, and found me asleep already 'sawing wood.' After eating real bread and eggs, my snoring returned. "I haven't heard you snore in I don't know how long," he remarked. He knew of the incident. I fessed up right away as i need to do that for my own benefit, to be honest and forthright about my food. "What the hell happened?," Cliff demanded knowing.
I had gone from high high to low low last week. After the extremely successful 'concert' on Halloween, where i felt AWESOME singing, after having not eating too much fat and no salt for the week prior to fit into my dress, I realized the tremendous benefit the low fat had on my singing. I suffer from Reflux Laryngitis, swelling and irritation of the larynx when i overdo fat. After the Halloween gig, i 'treated' myself by high fat raw items, over and over. By the time it came to my singing lesson on Tuesday, I wasn't sounding good, swollen and irritated. The lesson, being corrected constantly and unable to phonate as well as just days ago distressed and discouraged and upset me.
So i ate more fat.
That's such a ME thing to do.
Only this time it was half a loaf of rye bread and a stick of butter and a little pasta and 4 eggs and 4 slices of white bread. Okay, i'm a binge eater and this time I succumbed to bread. It's easier to do after you break that barrier. I had a similar episode in September.
One day at a time i'm back on track.
Sorry, I actually gotta go. More another time. We have company and they want breakfast. Here's something lovely from Angela Stokes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Five Surprising Things I've Learnt Since Releasing 160lbs...
by Angela Stokes-Monarch
My life has changed in many surprising ways since releasing 160lbs with a raw lifestyle...here are a few of the more unexpected things I've come to understand/recognise:
1. The more giving, open-hearted and generous I am, the more the universe seems to deliver yumminess straight back at me, in abundance...
2. The more I listen to and honour the promptings of the 'still, small voice within', the more effortlessly and synchronously my life seems to flow...
3. I cannot make other peoples' choices for them, including what they eat, how they treat me or any of their reactions...
4. Don't take anything personally (kudos to Don Miguel Ruiz especially for this gem ;). If people are behaving towards me in a way that I find confusing or rude, I find it most useful now to recognise that it is their OWN stuff they are acting out towards me and to send them blessings and let go of it... ;)
5. I have a choice in every single moment to spiral my energy upwards or downwards – life is open to interpretation and misery is always a choice ;)
I trust you're enjoying your own inner and outer explorations too...what surprises you?
With effortless, breathtaking beauty abounding,
Ms. Stokes-Monarch. xxx
xoxox michelle joy
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Two Sides of the Raw Movement
Here's a very thought provoking article by 80-10-10 proponent, Frederic Patenaude. www.fredericpatenaude.com
The newcomer to the world of natural health is often
confused by the myriad of different diet philosophies out
there that all seem to contradict each other. Every year we
hear about a new diet to add to the endless list of those
already in existence; Mediterranean, South Beach, Atkins,
Blood Type, Macrobiotics and all of the others that have
been long since forgotten.
When a person is interested in the raw-food diet, it seems
that the confusion is even bigger! In this tiny niche market
of the natural health world, the promoters of the raw-food
diet haven't even agreed with each other on what really
constitutes the raw food diet.
For example, there's the Hippocrates program, which
proposes a diet consisting mainly of sprouts, vegetables and
very little fruit.
There's the Rainbow Green Diet, which eliminates fruit for
a while and focuses on vegetables, seaweeds, spirulina and
other "green" foods.
Then there are those who promote a diet that includes lots
of "super-foods" such as coconut oil, cacao beans, maca
powder, and other such exotic ingredients.
We also have the instinctive eating movement that recommends
eating raw foods in their natural state (no juicing,
blending, mixing, etc.), but also often include raw meat and
fish in the fare.
Some raw-foodists eat raw dairy, insisting that we need some
animal foods in our diet in order to thrive.
Then there are those who recommend a fruit-based diet, and a
rarer few who recommend an all-fruit diet.
There's natural hygiene, which insists on eating foods in
their natural state and avoiding strong irritants such as
garlic, hot peppers, spices and salt.
Then, of course, there are those who take no position at all
and just recommend that people find out "what works for
them."
So the newcomer, who is faced with all of these different
diet philosophies, has no choice but to wonder who's right
and who's wrong. It seems like choosing the 'right' diet
is such an insurmountable task, that perhaps the best thing
to do is just try a little bit of each of these different
approaches and come up with a workable program.
In my experience, this approach leads to a lot of
frustration, if not sheer failure. That's what I was doing
for many years, trying a little bit of each raw-food or diet
approach in the hope of eventually coming up with my own
program. That's until I realized that there are not
actually that many options. The different philosophies give
themselves different names when in fact they are basically
promoting the same thing.
Before examining diets in the raw world, let's take a look
at the other more popular diets out there. One has to
wonder: with so many possibilities, who's right?
THE MEDICAL MODEL
For almost 150 years, the medical model for dieting has been
recommending a high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate
diet. It started becoming popular in 1860 when Londoner
William Banting lost 50 pounds on a high-protein diet that
consisted of dry roasted lean meat, soft-boiled eggs and
vegetables. He wrote a book in 1864 called "Letters on
Corpulence" that became an instant bestseller.
By 1880, "Banting" is America's foremost weight-loss
program. A little later, another doctor by the name of James
Salisbury started promoting a diet consisting mainly of hot
water and minced meat patties (the famous Salisbury steak)
for health and weight loss.
When Dr. Atkins wrote his "Diet Revolution" in 1972, he
didn't invent anything new. He just kept on promoting the
medical model for weight loss, which has always consisted of
calorie-reduction in the context of a high-fat, high-protein
diet.
Since then, most diets are just a variation on the same
theme, with a different degree of restrictions and a new
gimmick. The Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet, and even the
Blood Type diet are just variations on the medical model for
dieting.
Challengers to the medical model for diet and weight loss
have always recommended a low-fat diet. Generally, their
books are not as in vogue as the other diet fads I
mentioned, but their program is based on more solid
science.
Proponents of the low-fat diet include Dr. Dean Ornish. Dr.
Ornish was the first to prove through extensive research
that coronary heart disease can be reversed, by making
comprehensive changes in diet and lifestyle, including a
low-fat vegetarian diet.
Other proponents of the low-fat diet include Dr. McDougall,
who has recommended a low-fat diet for decades and whose
results are well documented (http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Jlu2S&m=1pkCrpLmFTXYri&b=Lh_4OIZbmCog34Rfv1b_hA).
Also, in the low-fat camp we find T. Colin Campbell who
conducted The China Study : the most comprehensive nutrition
study ever conducted. We also have most of the vegan and
vegetarian doctors who wrote books and did their own
research, such as Dr. Klaper, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel
Fuhrman, and many others.
When we look at it like that, and if we go past the small
differences regarding details, we can roughly see the
following picture:
We have the medical model that's promoted through most
"research" we hear about in newspapers, popular magazines
and fitness centers. This model usually recommends a
high-fat, high-protein diet and calorie reduction, or a
variation on that theme.
Then we have the "alternative" model, which is promoted by
various doctors and serious researchers and is backed up by
an extensive amount of data. This model recommends a
plant-based, low-fat vegetarian diet.
FOCUS ON RAW
In the raw-food movement, it may seem from the outside that
there are many different options available, and this all
seems very confusing to the newcomer.
A closer look at the different raw-food diets promoted,
however, reveals that there are basically 2 different
options presented, with others that find themselves
in-between.
1- *The high-fat, raw diet*. This approach generally
promotes eating a vegetable based diet. Although the
promoters of this diet do not like to say it, it is also a
very high-fat diet.
2- *The fruit-based, low-fat diet*. This approach recognizes
the problems of eating large quantities of fat, even though
this fat may come from natural sources such as avocados,
nuts, seeds, etc. Instead of making fat the main source of
calories, this approach recommends fruit as being the main
source of calories.
In a raw-food diet the foods that provide calories are
basically limited to two options: fruit or fat.
Why is that?
The fact is, that fruit is the only real source of
carbohydrates in the raw diet. Complex sugars such as bread,
pasta, potatoes, etc., are generally avoided. Although some
vegetables contain carbohydrates, they cannot be considered
to be a significant source of them. They are so low in
calories that it would be impossible to eat enough of them
to meet our caloric needs. To get 2000 calories, you would
need to eat about 50 heads of lettuce, or over 75 raw
carrots. It simply isn't gonna happen.
The alternative is to eat fatty foods such as avocados,
olive oil, nuts and seeds. When a raw-food person says that
he doesn't recommend eating a lot of fruit, then by
default, it means that he recommends a high-fat diet. There
is simply no other way around it!
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Once you understand that all these endless dietary
approaches can really be filtered down into just two, you
have to decide where you stand.
Which raw diet are you going to follow? The high-fat diet,
or the high-fruit diet?
In my experience, trying to find middle-ground has been a
frustrating endeavor. The reasons why are a little
scientific. Let me explain:
On a high-fat diet, insulin sensitivity is greatly reduced,
meaning that simple sugars do not arrive to their
destination (the cells) as rapidly. When a person on a
high-fat diet eats a lot of fruit (sugar), they often get
symptoms of hypoglycemia, candida, concentration problems
and more.
The equation is: high-fat diet + fruit = disaster.
On a low-fat diet, however, we find that all those symptoms
disappear, even though a lot of fruit is consumed. Insulin
works efficiently to transport simple sugars to the cells.
Concentration increases and blood sugar is stable.
Those results are perfectly congruent with all of the
research done by the various doctors mentioned earlier, who
promote a low-fat diet. Trying to mix different approaches
together will end up being disastrous.
Why not choose one and really stick with it?
---------------------------------
Your Time to Decide
---------------------------------
If you want to eat a raw-food diet, you have the choice
between a high-fruit, low-fat diet, or a high-fat diet. The
choice is yours, but don't take your decision lightly.
Personally, the answer is obvious. The low-fat diet makes
the most sense, is the easiest to practice, the most
rewarding in terms of health results and energy levels, and
the one that is most congruent with the most progressive
scientific research.
To me, the high-fat raw diet is just a variation on the
medical model of diet and weight loss. It doesn't make
sense and isn't giving the kind of results we would expect
from a successful program.
So decide, where do you stand?
Frederic
PS: If you'd like to overcome your cravings, get shockingly
fit and finally *thrive* instead of just making a bit of
improvement, aim for Perfect Health, nothing less.
Check this out for more details:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Jlu2S&m=1pkCrpLmFTXYri&b=tZdbByjtJ6cqrJIGx.DjLg
The newcomer to the world of natural health is often
confused by the myriad of different diet philosophies out
there that all seem to contradict each other. Every year we
hear about a new diet to add to the endless list of those
already in existence; Mediterranean, South Beach, Atkins,
Blood Type, Macrobiotics and all of the others that have
been long since forgotten.
When a person is interested in the raw-food diet, it seems
that the confusion is even bigger! In this tiny niche market
of the natural health world, the promoters of the raw-food
diet haven't even agreed with each other on what really
constitutes the raw food diet.
For example, there's the Hippocrates program, which
proposes a diet consisting mainly of sprouts, vegetables and
very little fruit.
There's the Rainbow Green Diet, which eliminates fruit for
a while and focuses on vegetables, seaweeds, spirulina and
other "green" foods.
Then there are those who promote a diet that includes lots
of "super-foods" such as coconut oil, cacao beans, maca
powder, and other such exotic ingredients.
We also have the instinctive eating movement that recommends
eating raw foods in their natural state (no juicing,
blending, mixing, etc.), but also often include raw meat and
fish in the fare.
Some raw-foodists eat raw dairy, insisting that we need some
animal foods in our diet in order to thrive.
Then there are those who recommend a fruit-based diet, and a
rarer few who recommend an all-fruit diet.
There's natural hygiene, which insists on eating foods in
their natural state and avoiding strong irritants such as
garlic, hot peppers, spices and salt.
Then, of course, there are those who take no position at all
and just recommend that people find out "what works for
them."
So the newcomer, who is faced with all of these different
diet philosophies, has no choice but to wonder who's right
and who's wrong. It seems like choosing the 'right' diet
is such an insurmountable task, that perhaps the best thing
to do is just try a little bit of each of these different
approaches and come up with a workable program.
In my experience, this approach leads to a lot of
frustration, if not sheer failure. That's what I was doing
for many years, trying a little bit of each raw-food or diet
approach in the hope of eventually coming up with my own
program. That's until I realized that there are not
actually that many options. The different philosophies give
themselves different names when in fact they are basically
promoting the same thing.
Before examining diets in the raw world, let's take a look
at the other more popular diets out there. One has to
wonder: with so many possibilities, who's right?
THE MEDICAL MODEL
For almost 150 years, the medical model for dieting has been
recommending a high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate
diet. It started becoming popular in 1860 when Londoner
William Banting lost 50 pounds on a high-protein diet that
consisted of dry roasted lean meat, soft-boiled eggs and
vegetables. He wrote a book in 1864 called "Letters on
Corpulence" that became an instant bestseller.
By 1880, "Banting" is America's foremost weight-loss
program. A little later, another doctor by the name of James
Salisbury started promoting a diet consisting mainly of hot
water and minced meat patties (the famous Salisbury steak)
for health and weight loss.
When Dr. Atkins wrote his "Diet Revolution" in 1972, he
didn't invent anything new. He just kept on promoting the
medical model for weight loss, which has always consisted of
calorie-reduction in the context of a high-fat, high-protein
diet.
Since then, most diets are just a variation on the same
theme, with a different degree of restrictions and a new
gimmick. The Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet, and even the
Blood Type diet are just variations on the medical model for
dieting.
Challengers to the medical model for diet and weight loss
have always recommended a low-fat diet. Generally, their
books are not as in vogue as the other diet fads I
mentioned, but their program is based on more solid
science.
Proponents of the low-fat diet include Dr. Dean Ornish. Dr.
Ornish was the first to prove through extensive research
that coronary heart disease can be reversed, by making
comprehensive changes in diet and lifestyle, including a
low-fat vegetarian diet.
Other proponents of the low-fat diet include Dr. McDougall,
who has recommended a low-fat diet for decades and whose
results are well documented (http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Jlu2S&m=1pkCrpLmFTXYri&b=Lh_4OIZbmCog34Rfv1b_hA).
Also, in the low-fat camp we find T. Colin Campbell who
conducted The China Study : the most comprehensive nutrition
study ever conducted. We also have most of the vegan and
vegetarian doctors who wrote books and did their own
research, such as Dr. Klaper, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel
Fuhrman, and many others.
When we look at it like that, and if we go past the small
differences regarding details, we can roughly see the
following picture:
We have the medical model that's promoted through most
"research" we hear about in newspapers, popular magazines
and fitness centers. This model usually recommends a
high-fat, high-protein diet and calorie reduction, or a
variation on that theme.
Then we have the "alternative" model, which is promoted by
various doctors and serious researchers and is backed up by
an extensive amount of data. This model recommends a
plant-based, low-fat vegetarian diet.
FOCUS ON RAW
In the raw-food movement, it may seem from the outside that
there are many different options available, and this all
seems very confusing to the newcomer.
A closer look at the different raw-food diets promoted,
however, reveals that there are basically 2 different
options presented, with others that find themselves
in-between.
1- *The high-fat, raw diet*. This approach generally
promotes eating a vegetable based diet. Although the
promoters of this diet do not like to say it, it is also a
very high-fat diet.
2- *The fruit-based, low-fat diet*. This approach recognizes
the problems of eating large quantities of fat, even though
this fat may come from natural sources such as avocados,
nuts, seeds, etc. Instead of making fat the main source of
calories, this approach recommends fruit as being the main
source of calories.
In a raw-food diet the foods that provide calories are
basically limited to two options: fruit or fat.
Why is that?
The fact is, that fruit is the only real source of
carbohydrates in the raw diet. Complex sugars such as bread,
pasta, potatoes, etc., are generally avoided. Although some
vegetables contain carbohydrates, they cannot be considered
to be a significant source of them. They are so low in
calories that it would be impossible to eat enough of them
to meet our caloric needs. To get 2000 calories, you would
need to eat about 50 heads of lettuce, or over 75 raw
carrots. It simply isn't gonna happen.
The alternative is to eat fatty foods such as avocados,
olive oil, nuts and seeds. When a raw-food person says that
he doesn't recommend eating a lot of fruit, then by
default, it means that he recommends a high-fat diet. There
is simply no other way around it!
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Once you understand that all these endless dietary
approaches can really be filtered down into just two, you
have to decide where you stand.
Which raw diet are you going to follow? The high-fat diet,
or the high-fruit diet?
In my experience, trying to find middle-ground has been a
frustrating endeavor. The reasons why are a little
scientific. Let me explain:
On a high-fat diet, insulin sensitivity is greatly reduced,
meaning that simple sugars do not arrive to their
destination (the cells) as rapidly. When a person on a
high-fat diet eats a lot of fruit (sugar), they often get
symptoms of hypoglycemia, candida, concentration problems
and more.
The equation is: high-fat diet + fruit = disaster.
On a low-fat diet, however, we find that all those symptoms
disappear, even though a lot of fruit is consumed. Insulin
works efficiently to transport simple sugars to the cells.
Concentration increases and blood sugar is stable.
Those results are perfectly congruent with all of the
research done by the various doctors mentioned earlier, who
promote a low-fat diet. Trying to mix different approaches
together will end up being disastrous.
Why not choose one and really stick with it?
---------------------------------
Your Time to Decide
---------------------------------
If you want to eat a raw-food diet, you have the choice
between a high-fruit, low-fat diet, or a high-fat diet. The
choice is yours, but don't take your decision lightly.
Personally, the answer is obvious. The low-fat diet makes
the most sense, is the easiest to practice, the most
rewarding in terms of health results and energy levels, and
the one that is most congruent with the most progressive
scientific research.
To me, the high-fat raw diet is just a variation on the
medical model of diet and weight loss. It doesn't make
sense and isn't giving the kind of results we would expect
from a successful program.
So decide, where do you stand?
Frederic
PS: If you'd like to overcome your cravings, get shockingly
fit and finally *thrive* instead of just making a bit of
improvement, aim for Perfect Health, nothing less.
Check this out for more details:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Jlu2S&m=1pkCrpLmFTXYri&b=tZdbByjtJ6cqrJIGx.DjLg
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
CLEANING DAY!
Hiya,
It's Wednesday again so it's cleaning day with Megan! You have no idea how her little visits are thrilling Cliff and me. You should see the basement, how clean it is!!!
Lots to do today as we we have company coming to spend a few days here, so Megan will help us get this house in ship shape order today for our company! Cliff is out buying drapes and a new vacume! And I'm organizing my jewelry! Megan will be here soon!
xoxox michelle joy
It's Wednesday again so it's cleaning day with Megan! You have no idea how her little visits are thrilling Cliff and me. You should see the basement, how clean it is!!!
Lots to do today as we we have company coming to spend a few days here, so Megan will help us get this house in ship shape order today for our company! Cliff is out buying drapes and a new vacume! And I'm organizing my jewelry! Megan will be here soon!
xoxox michelle joy
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
CHANGE!
Hello, Young Lovers, Wherever you are...!I'm feeling fine and dandy this chilly Philly morning! How are you??
The breakawayprogram.com that i've been working on has been down for the past week or so, so i'm glad it's back and running and i'm happy to share with you the next teaching. below in blue. My homework response and comments are in red below.
Just as the leaves are changing....so must we. It's a process that we must go through in order for change to actually take place. Read on!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"CHANGE"...from http://www.breakawayprogram.com/ by Nadine Ann
The word change scares the heck out of people! Have you ever noticed that? Sometimes it is difficult to make changes because we’re not sure of the outcome or not sure of how to go about making the change.
I was discussing with my client Lori making some changes in her life regarding her eating/binging habits because she has struggled for many years with diets and eating disorders. She repeats the same procedure to make changes but as you will read it just doesn’t work.
“… but I have binged, purged and I still over eat. I KNOW how to lose the weight. I lost 50 lbs last year but have put back on 25 of them. I really want to get back to exercising and I know I need to eat healthier again. The thing is, I have to be in the right frame of mind, I need the motivation. Just writing to you is giving me motivation I haven't felt in months but it’s another thing to write about it then to get on that damn bike, throw out the ice cream and enchiladas and get my apples and grapefruits and veggies and other healthy foods back in my body.”
We all make assumptions about how we can make changes. Lori thinks she needs sheer willpower to stop her binging and lose the extra weight she has put back on but time and again it hasn’t worked. I go back to the statement I made earlier that if what you did in the past to try to change or solve a problem hasn’t worked, why wouldn’t you try a different approach? If what you have done in the past has not worked then it is time to try something else!
We need a new strategy to make lasting changes. The ‘model of change’ will greatly help secure your success in the BreakAway Program™ or any other avenue of change you are seeking help with. By following the stages of change outlined below you can finally understand how your brain works when it comes to change.
In 1983 two scientists by the names of Prochaska & DiClemente researched how people change and developed a theoretical model of change. They discovered that when people followed certain stages success was certain.
Basically the model showed that people who want to have lasting change need to follow certain stages for the changes to be effective. Take, for example, a program like Weight Watchers. When you join a diet program you attend weekly meetings so you can be weighed to chart your progress and also to listen to others motivate you to sticking to a meal plan. You go straight to the action of food restriction in one jump without having slowly worked through the first three stages of the model as you’ll see below. Jumping right into the action stage of any plan will not work. This is why clients typically put the weight back on and begin their old food consumption habits and eventually go back to binging, if applicable. They didn’t allow their mind the time needed to make the change.
The original model consisted of 5 stages. There have since been two additional stages added which I include in the model because we use six of the seven stages in The BreakAway Program™. The reason we don’t use the first step is because you have already done that stage. We can begin with stage 2.
These are the Stages of Change:
The word change scares the heck out of people! Have you ever noticed that? Sometimes it is difficult to make changes because we’re not sure of the outcome or not sure of how to go about making the change.
I was discussing with my client Lori making some changes in her life regarding her eating/binging habits because she has struggled for many years with diets and eating disorders. She repeats the same procedure to make changes but as you will read it just doesn’t work.
“… but I have binged, purged and I still over eat. I KNOW how to lose the weight. I lost 50 lbs last year but have put back on 25 of them. I really want to get back to exercising and I know I need to eat healthier again. The thing is, I have to be in the right frame of mind, I need the motivation. Just writing to you is giving me motivation I haven't felt in months but it’s another thing to write about it then to get on that damn bike, throw out the ice cream and enchiladas and get my apples and grapefruits and veggies and other healthy foods back in my body.”
We all make assumptions about how we can make changes. Lori thinks she needs sheer willpower to stop her binging and lose the extra weight she has put back on but time and again it hasn’t worked. I go back to the statement I made earlier that if what you did in the past to try to change or solve a problem hasn’t worked, why wouldn’t you try a different approach? If what you have done in the past has not worked then it is time to try something else!
We need a new strategy to make lasting changes. The ‘model of change’ will greatly help secure your success in the BreakAway Program™ or any other avenue of change you are seeking help with. By following the stages of change outlined below you can finally understand how your brain works when it comes to change.
In 1983 two scientists by the names of Prochaska & DiClemente researched how people change and developed a theoretical model of change. They discovered that when people followed certain stages success was certain.
Basically the model showed that people who want to have lasting change need to follow certain stages for the changes to be effective. Take, for example, a program like Weight Watchers. When you join a diet program you attend weekly meetings so you can be weighed to chart your progress and also to listen to others motivate you to sticking to a meal plan. You go straight to the action of food restriction in one jump without having slowly worked through the first three stages of the model as you’ll see below. Jumping right into the action stage of any plan will not work. This is why clients typically put the weight back on and begin their old food consumption habits and eventually go back to binging, if applicable. They didn’t allow their mind the time needed to make the change.
The original model consisted of 5 stages. There have since been two additional stages added which I include in the model because we use six of the seven stages in The BreakAway Program™. The reason we don’t use the first step is because you have already done that stage. We can begin with stage 2.
These are the Stages of Change:
- Precontemplation is the stage in which people are not intending to take action in the foreseeable future.
- Contemplation is the stage in which people are thinking about making a change.
- Preparation is the stage in which people are getting ready to take action in the immediate future.
- Action is the stage in which people are making a change.
- Maintenance is the stage in which people are working to prevent relapse but they do not apply change processes as frequently as do people in action.
- Relapse is the stage that can happen when people digress or fall off the proverbial wagon.
- Celebration is the stage in which we know we have done a great job in making life-long lasting changes and our work is complete.
We will be using the Stages of Change model in such a way that will come naturally to you. The activities we do together will follow right along with the model of change so that everything you do will create lasting change for you. That’s the beauty of this program, it’s all figured out for you.
Fast Fact:
· 8,000,000 or more people in the United States have an eating disorder
· 90% are women
· Victims may be rich or poor
· Eating disorders usually start in the teens but may begin as early as age 8
Your homework is:
1. Continue to practice observing yourself for 5-10 minutes at a time 3 times per day if possible.
2. Think of what you want; not what you don’t want and make a list of them. Try to word your sentences and your feelings to what you do want. Turn the negative sentence into a positive sentence like this: instead of “I don’t want to fail this test.” change it to “I know I will give my best to this test.” It’s that easy. Do it all day long, everyday. When you catch yourself saying something negative try to turn it around and be proud of yourself for catching it!
MY HOMEWORK RESPONSE
1. Continue to practice observing yourself for 5-10 minutes at a time 3 times per day if possible.
2. Think of what you want; not what you don’t want and make a list of them. Try to word your sentences and your feelings to what you do want. Turn the negative sentence into a positive sentence like this: instead of “I don’t want to fail this test.” change it to “I know I will give my best to this test.” It’s that easy. Do it all day long, everyday. When you catch yourself saying something negative try to turn it around and be proud of yourself for catching it!
MY HOMEWORK RESPONSE
1. I will continue to observe myself today.
In fact, during yesterday's lunch, i was observing myself the entire time and what i saw was interesting! I'd like to talk about it.
I was hungry and desiring something tasty, I had only eaten 5 tiny sickle pears for breakfast and it was nearly 1p.m. I headed over to Whole Foods as i was in a celebratory mood and was hungry. I had just had a very successful raw cooking class with a client and honestly wanted something tasty. If i could make HER up all of these wonderful raw foods, why could I not indulge? The salad bar at Whole Foods is divine. I made up a wonderful salad of seaweed salad covered with fresh tomatoes, sliced onion, carrot, crisp cucumber, celery. Man, it looked good. I felt happy. I headed to the raw food 'Awesome Foods' brand section and chose 2 bags of their flax crackers which i love, 2 bags of their dill daikon chips which are killer and remind me of eating ranch potato chips, 1 fudge and 1 meatball sandwhich.
I felt happy and determined to only eat enough for a meal and that this little shopping spree was not a binge at all, but would offer selections for lunch as well as leftovers. I was feeling good, positive, and only wanted a yummy happy joyfilled meal. I headed over to the raw cheese and selected an 8oz pack. My instinct first said not to get it, then i decided that since i enjoy it with flax crackers and i'm sick of denying myself all of the time, i wanted it because i just want to learn to enjoy food and stop feeling so guilty all of the time. I grabbed a pack and was determined not to eat the entire thing as i have so many times in the past.
In the car, i dug into my salad...DELISH!! and opened the raw cheese, slicing off about 3/4 of an ounce and set it atop two flax crackers. This is what i initially intended to eat as a meal, along with 2 bites of fudge, and that would have been that. My 'mind' told me that would be enough.
The only problem was - i was still hungry and still desiring food. This is the clincher. And this is where things got hairy. Do i learn to trust my body and my desire? Or my intellectual mind?
Am i fearful of my body and my desires and frightened by food?
I continued to eat, but felt scared. Was i binging? Or was i just filling my hunger and appeasing my appetite?
Later i recognized what the issue may have been. VOLUME. When i drink green smoothies, i typically have at least 2-3 glasses, sometimes more, quite a volume of food. But since it is fat free, i figure i should fill myself til my belly is good 'n full and not interested in food anymore.
And when i make myself a salad, it's usually huge. I eat guiltlessly until i'm well satisfied, never questioning it, never feeling guilty or like i overate.
So, in eating yesterday, why was filling myself such a scary proposition? Why do flax crackers or 'Awesome Foods' score differently on the guilt meter? Why are they any different than smoothies or salads? Why wasn't eating until i was satisfied an easy thing to do?
Gourmet foods still register to me in the FEAR zone. They're 'fattening, beware!'
But, when i DENY myself them, i binge on them, so what's the use of denying myself any longer???? Why can't i just ENJOY decadent pleasurable food like NIGELLA LAWSON does. She's not afraid of food. She embraces indulgence.
So, i continued to eat lunch. But more frantically. It wasn't so much that i lost 'control,' it was that i was still HUNGRY!!! Looking back now, i can see that. I just wasn't allowing that to be OKAY.
As it turned out, I ate more than i intended, but WAY WAY less than a binge. And that meal lasted me until 9 p.m. at night, when i was hungry again and drank green smoothie.
Why did i select green smoothie and not something ultra fattening? I really WANTED it. I WANTED and DESIRED green smoothie.
I'm coming to terms with the fact that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.
I am determined to make peace with food and learn to trust my body.
I have leftover 'Awesome Foods' in the fridge and my plan is to happily eat them when i am hungry and enjoy them to my hearts content and not stop until i've had my fill and no longer want any.
If i have a big appetite, so be it for today. I accept myself, look and feel good, and I'd rather enjoy eating these days than do it anyway feeling remorseful and guiltridden about it.
When i started my meal yesterday, i was blissed out, so happy and so hopeful, but it ended in a fearful frantic emotional space, and i'm determined to ALLOW myself to enjoy food from now on. Why not? I'm going to eat it, anyway!
I think it's a proven fact that people actually eat LESS when they allow themselves to savor and enjoy it! Like Nigella says on the interview, "it's people who deny themselves that are the ones who end up eating tubs and tubs of icecream."
2. Write down what i WANT, not what i don't want:
- i want to enjoy food.
- i want to eat until i'm full and have that be okay.
- i see anything i eat, heavy or light, as all the 'same'.
- i allow myself to feel pleasure and satisfaction the entire time of eating regardless of what i select.
- i listen to my body.
- i view food as friendly, happy, and acceptable no matter how heavy or light.
- i accept my weight as good enough for today.
- i see myself as beautiful and successful. i love me. i love my figure.
- i feel positively about how food affects me.
- i love my appetite totally and completely. i'm a sensual woman who loves food. i make peace with this part of myself. i 'wallow in the pleasure' as Nigella says!
- i eat when i'm hungry and eat what i want, heavy or light.
- i am becoming an intuitive eater. I listen to myself and my desires. I view all of my food selections as equal.
- i trust my body to release weight when it is ready.
- i live in the moment. i watch myself. i'm aware.
“The winds of change have picked me up, lifting me to new experiences and challenges.”
Reminder
This is all about you. Don’t worry about anyone else in your circle right now. We are focusing on healing you from the inside out and it will take time. You must be patient and give yourself the time and space to recover from a destructive disease. Please don’t try to ‘fix’ anything just yet; instead go with the flow and really read the words on these pages. They are for you and only you.
Next Steps
Change is amazing if you know how to go about it correctly to get the results you want. Today you can go about your day knowing you are thinking about what you want. All you need to do today is just think about it.
WHERE ARE YOU WITH CHANGE TODAY?
I speak to many fine ladies at Arnolds Way who tell me they read the blog and that it helps them. They still struggle, yet they are gratified to realize they are NOT the only ones who still struggle. It can help so much to know that we are ALL in this together.
It is good to know that mentally we have to be ready first for change. If our change hasn't stuck, it's probably because we are "white knuckling" it or trying to change with "will power" instead of ALLOWING the change to just develop within us.
Since i've joined 'breakawayprogram' i feel very much as if there is a change happening TO ME, instead of something that i am forcing. I feel very much as if i'm going through a process, instead of making something happen. This is exciting and every day seems different, with new awarenesses.
Where are you today?
xoxoxo michelle joy
Monday, November 2, 2009
Nigella Lawson on NPR!!! "Indulge Yourself, Darling!"
Hiya Ladies,This morning, while driving, i was blessed to catch a wonderful interview with Nigella Lawson on the radio!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nigella Lawson. Her cooking shows are rightly referred to as "food porn" as they highlight Nigella's utterly sensual connection to food, and her flirtatious descriptions of it.
Nigella, to me, is just the ultimate WOMAN! Curvy, rubenesque, sexy, absolutely gorgeous, sensual, intensely passionate, funny, talented, and completely and unequivocally unapologetic for her eathy, abundant appetite, appreciation of food, and the intense pleasure she reeps from it.
Nigella lives in her own skin. She's so comfortable with herself, she makes me want to embrace myself and my desires as readily as she does....and just be ME. If i LOVE food, why deny it????
Nigella's gorgeous (FAR from skinny), but eats anything she wants! She savors food completely and wholeheartedly, enjoying every bite. She has a "why eat it if you're not going to enjoy it?" kind of attitude. I have the feeling if she's not happy with a choice, she searches for JUST the thing that she wants. Her cooking broadcasts show her digging around in the cubbard or fridge for JUST the thing to satisfy her craving.
But what she often wants is a break from heavier foods. Chapters in Nigella's books are dedicated to eating lean when one wants to take a break from indulgence, or lose a few pounds. That's just the kind of thing I've been dealing with as a raw foodist. Sometimes wanting to eat heavy, sometimes lean. I'm right there with you, Nigella, you go, girl!
I just LOVE this sensually attuned lady, who knows how to listen to her body. She says, 'The body is self regulating." It will CRAVE a light salad or a light soup when it desires to restore a lighter balance.
Nigella is NOT a raw foodist, but, i have a feeling she would enjoy raw gourmet food...as much as I do! What we can learn from the "domestic goddess" is her HEALTHY SENSUAL APPROACH to food. Food is nothing to be afraid of. Food is passion! Embrace it!
As winter creeps in, we look for ways to be warm and comfortable. One of the best ways to do that, says food writer Nigella Lawson, is to indulge in rich, tasty foods, even ones that some might call guilty pleasures. For instance: Why not take a doughnut, and make French toast with it?
Lawson is the author of several cookbooks, including most recently Nigella Christmas.
And as she tells NPR's Steve Inskeep, "I'm very, very pro self-indulgence."
For anyone who thinks that kind of indulgence is a bad thing, Lawson agrees — up to a point.
"It is considered bad," she says, "and in a way, you could say that only heightens the pleasure. So, your negativity is not entirely negative."
There are two common causes for that feeling, according to Lawson: First is the fact that rich food may be the opposite of what many diets prescribe; and second, the puritanical urge to view sensual pleasure as a sign of what she terms "moral slackness."
Anyone willing to fly in the face of those concerns might try Lawson's recipe for doughnut French toast. It's rich, golden and crispy — and sprinkled with sugar.
"The egginess and the vanilla come through, and then you put sugar on top, like a doughnut," Lawson says.
If that sounds a bit rich, Lawson says people denying themselves — anything fried, or anything containing butter, for instance — is one of the biggest food problems. Indulging in those things once in a while, she says, makes it easier to balance them with lighter fare, like soups and steamed vegetables.
"I actually feel that I eat very healthily," she says. "My only problem is that I eat enough for five healthy people."
Anyone interested in a more savory treat might try Lawson's cheddar cheese risotto. It's a bit like "a slightly grown-up grilled cheese sandwich."
"There's something about carbohydrate," she says. "You cannot beat carbohydrate for comfort."
Lawson is the author of several cookbooks, including most recently Nigella Christmas.
And as she tells NPR's Steve Inskeep, "I'm very, very pro self-indulgence."
For anyone who thinks that kind of indulgence is a bad thing, Lawson agrees — up to a point.
"It is considered bad," she says, "and in a way, you could say that only heightens the pleasure. So, your negativity is not entirely negative."
There are two common causes for that feeling, according to Lawson: First is the fact that rich food may be the opposite of what many diets prescribe; and second, the puritanical urge to view sensual pleasure as a sign of what she terms "moral slackness."
Anyone willing to fly in the face of those concerns might try Lawson's recipe for doughnut French toast. It's rich, golden and crispy — and sprinkled with sugar.
"The egginess and the vanilla come through, and then you put sugar on top, like a doughnut," Lawson says.
If that sounds a bit rich, Lawson says people denying themselves — anything fried, or anything containing butter, for instance — is one of the biggest food problems. Indulging in those things once in a while, she says, makes it easier to balance them with lighter fare, like soups and steamed vegetables.
"I actually feel that I eat very healthily," she says. "My only problem is that I eat enough for five healthy people."
Anyone interested in a more savory treat might try Lawson's cheddar cheese risotto. It's a bit like "a slightly grown-up grilled cheese sandwich."
"There's something about carbohydrate," she says. "You cannot beat carbohydrate for comfort."
The risotto has another of Lawson's preferred qualities of comfort foods: "Anything that can be eaten out of a bowl, with a spoon, is a fantastic self-indulgence. No cutting, no chewing."
Lawson has one caveat about comfort foods.
"There is no point in indulging yourself," she says, "if you are going to persecute yourself at the same time."
It makes no sense to eat foods that will only bring feelings of guilt, not satisfaction, she says. It's much healthier to enjoy food absolutely.
"It doesn't make any difference nutritionally," she says, "but I think the mind is important, as well as the body."
Nigella Talks
"My weaknesses are mainly savory — think salt and potato chips or cheese and crackers — but there are times when only a doughnut will do. This can get desperate late at night when the shops are shut, and even if they weren't, none of them sell the kind of doughnuts I dream of. This is my way of assuaging my appetite, appeasing my need, or, perhaps more accurately, feeding my addiction. Hot chocolate on the side is always worth considering, but just — just! — by itself, this is sublime succor."
"This is the first of my holy trinity of cheese-rich comfort foods. There is just something about melted cheese, that perfect goo, that seems to soothe the soul and bolster the body."
"This might seem odd to Italians (one of the reasons it is not in the Hey Presto chapter) but it works beautifully: The starchy rice and the sharp cheddar are the perfect counterpoint for each other."
"I make this, too, on days when I need to escape to the kitchen and have a good, quiet, relaxing and mindless 20 minutes staring into the middle distance and stirring. I heartily recommend it."
Listen to Nigella's interview on NPR from November 2nd:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114320079&ps=cprs
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MY COMMENTS
If you're a foodie like i am and ADORE the cooking shows, then you must already know and love Nigella Lawson. I really hope you'll listen to her interview by clicking above. She's such a charmer. Just the way Nigella describes food makes my knees go weak!!! I didn't know anyone else out there took such pleasure from food as i do! I agree with her about eating out of a bowl, it is SOOO comforting! I often make smoothies and instead of drinking them slurp them from a spoon and bowl. I LOVE it. It feels like a comforting cozy meal then.
Today I expected to eat lightly, but was blissed by heavier fare for lunch: sickle pears for breakfast, for lunch: seaweed salad and veggies with a side of flax crackers, raw cheese, 1/2 of an 'Awesome Foods' meatball sandwhich, 1 bag of their dill daikon chips, and a few bites of their raw fudge.
I was passionate about my lunch and tuned in, and enjoyed it completely, but feared that i had lost control near the end. I would have liked to have eaten 1/2 as much as i did.
Then i realized that I really did NOT eat a HUGE AMOUNT OF FOOD. What i did have were heavier, richer foods. When i eat a salad or a green smoothie, i probably eat the exact same VOLUME of food i ate for lunch, so my body is used to eating heartily.
My appetite finally turned off toward the end and food stopped tasting good. I really didn't stop until that happened and felt like i overate as intellectually i knew i was eating more than i intellectually wanted to.
But, then, i remembered what Nigella said about her appetite. So, i'm embracing mine and making peace with it!
I looked fabulous today in my new size 20 jeans and i felt wonderful. I'm plump and round and I enjoyed my lunch and i just love food. So sue me!
xoxo michelle joy
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Cycle
Expansion. Contraction.
Lean. Heavy.
Work. Relax.
Lean. Heavy.
Work. Relax.
Day in and day out, our days are all different and i'm starting to become OKAY with that and not so rigidly attached to one way or the other, but flexible to flow in and out of differing cycles and differing daily needs.
Last week, I needed to fit into a dress. I ate lighter. I had two wonderfully completely controlled days at work. Then I had the most wonderfully successful singing engagement and the time following has been filled with joy, singing happily, indulging in heavier foods, smiling the whole time, feeling absolutely blissed out and absolutely radiant!
I had such a good day! I practiced singing often, planned several concerts with my accompanist, made a decadent chocolate pie, humming and smiling the whole time.
I was so high last night i only slept 3 hours, which left me enjoying cacao a weeeeee leeeettle teeeensy weeeensy bit too much today.
I ate almost half of the chocolate pie....!!!!, but i tried not to be depressed about it and just accept it. The overdose in fat, however, has affected my voice, which was so radiantly healthy with the reduction in fat for the last few days!!! I'm not even upset or depressed about it, it's just one of those, "OH WELL" observations. I know my body and especially my voice doesn't like a lot of fat, but my mouth does. That's just part of me being ME.
So, i had my fun. And now i'm going to go light for the next day or two. To restore balance. It's all part of the ever changing cycle.
The http://www.breakawayprogram.com/ , the online stop-binge eating program i've been working has been out of order for the last week or so. No worries.
Last week, I needed to fit into a dress. I ate lighter. I had two wonderfully completely controlled days at work. Then I had the most wonderfully successful singing engagement and the time following has been filled with joy, singing happily, indulging in heavier foods, smiling the whole time, feeling absolutely blissed out and absolutely radiant!
I had such a good day! I practiced singing often, planned several concerts with my accompanist, made a decadent chocolate pie, humming and smiling the whole time.
I was so high last night i only slept 3 hours, which left me enjoying cacao a weeeeee leeeettle teeeensy weeeensy bit too much today.
I ate almost half of the chocolate pie....!!!!, but i tried not to be depressed about it and just accept it. The overdose in fat, however, has affected my voice, which was so radiantly healthy with the reduction in fat for the last few days!!! I'm not even upset or depressed about it, it's just one of those, "OH WELL" observations. I know my body and especially my voice doesn't like a lot of fat, but my mouth does. That's just part of me being ME.
So, i had my fun. And now i'm going to go light for the next day or two. To restore balance. It's all part of the ever changing cycle.
The http://www.breakawayprogram.com/ , the online stop-binge eating program i've been working has been out of order for the last week or so. No worries.
Propel Forward. Wait.
Lean. Fatty.
Control. Indulgence. Over-Indulgence.
Health and sublime singing. Swelling and blockage.
So, now i'll be on a new cycle.... I'll put the chocolate pie in the back of the fridge...and am happy to know it will last at least a week or two...so i can indulge in it again sometime soon! Indulgence is yummy. But, overindulgence is a little bit too much of a good thing.
xoxox michelle joy
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