Good Weekend
Sometimes I wonder how such big things can sometimes sneak into a weekend that feels like it was over in the blink of an eye! But as short as the weekend felt, I am so grateful for the things that transpired because I am hopeful that they will lead to growth and success.
Last Thursday night, with a little free time to myself (what's that, right?) I spent some time on YouTube searching for how to stop compulsive eating. I found surprisingly few videos. I get it, everyone wants to make a buck so why would they give the information away for free? Anyway I saw a video of a young, athletic looking man and he was talking about his own struggles with food and how he never had issues with food or weight until he began training for a fitness competition by using restrictive dieting. That triggered him to crave carbs and once he gave into it he had a really hard time staying away from them. That sounded familiar so I kept watching. He said that one of the biggest helps for him conquering his food issues was the book "Brain over Binge" by Kathryn Hansen. I was skeptical. Lets face it, I have tried to give up my unhealthy habits with food for so many years and nothing has worked. Yet. I got the Amazon Kindle version of the newer book which includes a workbook,and started into the intro etc. Unfortunately, my weekend was so jam packed that I didn't get very much read, I am still in the intro, but I am already learning some things.
The premise of the book is that binging is not caused by willpower or emotions, but by the urges that we have, many of them born out of primal urges for survival, and others out of good old fashioned habit. When you restrict calories (ie, dieting) your body's natural instinct kicks in and makes you want higher calorie, sugars and fats because the body's job is to have enough fat for survival, and the brain's job is to trigger the desire for those things in order to keep us alive. This explains why it is common to turn to larger amounts of these things after dieting. When you go off the rails it's not with salad, the body wouldn't likely crave that in calorie deficit. It makes sense. So the goal then is to learn how we are wired to have habituated our responses to the urge stimulus. The author suggests that our brains are running ideas and thoughts all day long and not all of them are productive, so some of them we dismiss. If we dismiss the urge to eat uncontrolled enough times, we break the habit. Again, I haven't read much, but it really had me thinking about all the struggle to figure out emotional cues...it kind of leaves me feeling very frustrated because I never know if I can figure it out and even if I figure out what is triggering something, then what? How to go further? So maybe this biological and neurological approach could be something. I'm excited to read more and I will share what I learn.
Another thing that happened over the weekend, was a got a big answer from the universe if you will. I was meditating and instructed to ask my spirit guides a very specific question for them to help me out with. I asked what I should do about weight loss and being healthier in every manner. The answer I was shown was a suit of armor. I took it to mean I am supposed to GO TO BATTLE, stop being wishy-washy. Also in battle you need a plan in order to succeed. I think this new book will be part of the plan, at least me giving it a try because a lot of people with eating disorders chimed in that the book really helped them when nothing else would. I also plan to get active because you can't go to battle from an armchair. I have decided that nothing will happen until July 1 because my family is going on a weekend vacation this weekend, and there will be pizza and burgers involved. Whatever my food plan is going to be, it is going to be sane. I may not make any big decisions on the food until I am further into the book, but with being more active, I will likely feel like eating cleaner, those things typically go together for me.
I had a really great talk with the "reverend" of my spiritualist church on Sunday too. I have been so relaxed and comfortable lately and she has been stressed out. Even though I look up to her so much, I also feel like I have a lot I can teach her too as she tends to take on a lot of other peoples' stress. That is the tough part of being a channel and an empath, she never seems to get a break where she's not helping someone, doing healing prayers for them, sending light to them, etc. At any rate, there is a very strong, positive energy we share and I am very fortunate to be able to have that.
At the close of the weekend, I snuggled into bed with a giant smile on my face. I really think that things are expanding in a good way, but even if they don't, I'm happy to be on this journey.
Last Thursday night, with a little free time to myself (what's that, right?) I spent some time on YouTube searching for how to stop compulsive eating. I found surprisingly few videos. I get it, everyone wants to make a buck so why would they give the information away for free? Anyway I saw a video of a young, athletic looking man and he was talking about his own struggles with food and how he never had issues with food or weight until he began training for a fitness competition by using restrictive dieting. That triggered him to crave carbs and once he gave into it he had a really hard time staying away from them. That sounded familiar so I kept watching. He said that one of the biggest helps for him conquering his food issues was the book "Brain over Binge" by Kathryn Hansen. I was skeptical. Lets face it, I have tried to give up my unhealthy habits with food for so many years and nothing has worked. Yet. I got the Amazon Kindle version of the newer book which includes a workbook,and started into the intro etc. Unfortunately, my weekend was so jam packed that I didn't get very much read, I am still in the intro, but I am already learning some things.
The premise of the book is that binging is not caused by willpower or emotions, but by the urges that we have, many of them born out of primal urges for survival, and others out of good old fashioned habit. When you restrict calories (ie, dieting) your body's natural instinct kicks in and makes you want higher calorie, sugars and fats because the body's job is to have enough fat for survival, and the brain's job is to trigger the desire for those things in order to keep us alive. This explains why it is common to turn to larger amounts of these things after dieting. When you go off the rails it's not with salad, the body wouldn't likely crave that in calorie deficit. It makes sense. So the goal then is to learn how we are wired to have habituated our responses to the urge stimulus. The author suggests that our brains are running ideas and thoughts all day long and not all of them are productive, so some of them we dismiss. If we dismiss the urge to eat uncontrolled enough times, we break the habit. Again, I haven't read much, but it really had me thinking about all the struggle to figure out emotional cues...it kind of leaves me feeling very frustrated because I never know if I can figure it out and even if I figure out what is triggering something, then what? How to go further? So maybe this biological and neurological approach could be something. I'm excited to read more and I will share what I learn.
Another thing that happened over the weekend, was a got a big answer from the universe if you will. I was meditating and instructed to ask my spirit guides a very specific question for them to help me out with. I asked what I should do about weight loss and being healthier in every manner. The answer I was shown was a suit of armor. I took it to mean I am supposed to GO TO BATTLE, stop being wishy-washy. Also in battle you need a plan in order to succeed. I think this new book will be part of the plan, at least me giving it a try because a lot of people with eating disorders chimed in that the book really helped them when nothing else would. I also plan to get active because you can't go to battle from an armchair. I have decided that nothing will happen until July 1 because my family is going on a weekend vacation this weekend, and there will be pizza and burgers involved. Whatever my food plan is going to be, it is going to be sane. I may not make any big decisions on the food until I am further into the book, but with being more active, I will likely feel like eating cleaner, those things typically go together for me.
I had a really great talk with the "reverend" of my spiritualist church on Sunday too. I have been so relaxed and comfortable lately and she has been stressed out. Even though I look up to her so much, I also feel like I have a lot I can teach her too as she tends to take on a lot of other peoples' stress. That is the tough part of being a channel and an empath, she never seems to get a break where she's not helping someone, doing healing prayers for them, sending light to them, etc. At any rate, there is a very strong, positive energy we share and I am very fortunate to be able to have that.
At the close of the weekend, I snuggled into bed with a giant smile on my face. I really think that things are expanding in a good way, but even if they don't, I'm happy to be on this journey.
I know for me, if I cut my calories too low it backfires and I end up overeating. I have to find that "happy place" where I am mentally and physically satisfied with my food but in a calorie deficit.
ReplyDeleteAnd I certainly think habit has a lot to do with when we eat. In my weight loss class at the VA, one of the hospital psychologists came to talk to us. One thing he talked about really resonated with me. He used a technique called "extinction" to change his evening habit of eating while watching TV. He had become conditioned that when he sat on the sofa, he automatically began snacking.
In the end, I think there are LOTS of reasons for our choices and so it takes a lot of different techniques. Sometimes it feels like trying to cut the head off a hydra. ;-)
Take care!
You aren't kidding! Sometimes it feels like all the intricacies of figuring out what I need and dont need is a full time job!
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