This year I resolve to NOT go on a diet. This year I resolve to do exactly what I did last year, accept that I gain a little in the winter and lose it in the spring.

That's it! Well I joined a gym and I'll go and walk on their treadmill because it's not to my benefit to go all winter without physical activity though I prefer to get it out in nature. I've accepted that I just don't like walking in the frigid temperatures of Ontario so I will pay my membership, watch Glee on my iPod and move on.

There is no reason to panic. Sure many of us will have eaten too much in Christmas. Heck the skinny people have and they're not panicking! It'll come off with healthy eating and exercise, a positive attitude and time!

I have now maintained the same size for an entire year! I'm not skinny, I'm perfectly average and perfectly satisfied being perfectly average. I am not satisfied with feeling like crap(hence the gym).

So no New Years Resolutions to speak of here except a renewal of those I made at some point early last year!

I wrote a post on my other blog entitled New Years Revolutions! Pop over and take a peek! It can apply here as well as there!

Happy New Year everybody!



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Some call it binge eating, others call it compulsive eating, some call it emotional eating or food addiction. Whatever it is, I believe it is the single most common barrier to weight loss.

It is common knowledge that in order to lose weight you have to create a deficit of calories burned over calories eaten.

It is also common knowledge(and common sense) that you should create this deficit by eating high quality food and participating in activities that increase your energy output.

THAT is the secret of weight loss..all there is is right there.

So what is the barrier to weight loss? In my personal opinion it has to do with a distortion within our culture that has not created only an epidemic of obesity but even more serious, an epidemic of food disorders, or what I like to call disordered eating.

Much attention has been placed on anorexia and bulimia(as it should be) but the opposite is also disordered eating. I believe that most overweight and obese people have disordered eating as do many of the normal weighted people.

I believe THAT this is the problem.

What do I think caused this? I have come up with a list of contributing factors.

1. We were raised by children of, or children of the children of the depression. There was a shortage of food that scarred the psyche of an entire generation who became afraid of famine. Eat your dinner, clean your plate, starving children in China or Africa, look at how much your cousins eat. All of these message were instilled in us.

2. Our mother's attempts at dieting. We watched their disordered eating and absorbed their misplaced attempts to be slim.

3. The distortion of what is ideal beauty in our society...we all should be five foot ten with two silicone blobs on our chest weighing 102 lbs.

4. The diet industry. It is the single biggest contributor to the disordered eating we experience in our society.

5. The convenience industry. It has packed our food full of chemicals.

6. The junk food industry. It has labelled junk as food.

7. The combination of all of the above that imprinted false messages upon the collective psyche of the culture.

The cure? Reprogramming the messages.

Step one: No more dieting
Step two: No more dieting
Step three: No more dieting

Step four: Decide to do it.
Step five: Do not purchase anything from the diet industry again.
Step six : Throw out the scale..you do not have a weight problem, you have a eating problem.
Step seven: Do it.
Step eight: Do it.
Step nine: Do it.
Step ten: Keep doing it.

Tools: A note book and paper...you will need to get to know yourself, you will need to write some stuff down. This isn't a program, this is your life..you are going to find out what you love so you can keep doing it and do more of it, and what you can easily let go of. This includes food.

Access to the Internet..assuming if you are reading this that you have that.
An account at www.sparkepeople.com..focussing on lifestyle change, not weight loss!

You can purchase some recommended readings..these are books and tools I found informative and helpful in my journey. They are not from the diet industry.

I recommend The Biology of Believe by Dr. Bruce Lipton to understand how the brain works.
I recommend hypnosis.

I recommend an iPod if you can afford it. You can download many things for free, audio books, all sorts of things..as part of the change you will walk. A lot. And why not learn while you do that.

If you can't do not use that as an excuse not to do it. No more excuses

Hypnosis is a fantastic tool for rewiring the subconscious. I recommend Kym and Hypnotransformations. Go here!

I recommend Excuses Begone by Dr. Wayne Dyer.




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Back on track? Is there such a thing? I've been trying to get to this blog but real life has been crazy lately. I'll give you a quick run down. My littlest kids came down with H1N1 about 6 weeks ago. Since that time they have battled illness of one kind or another, ear infections, pneumonia, stomach virus, bladder infections, strep throat. Yeah, it's been crazy!

I have a wonderful friend on Facebook and we share a lot of common beliefs about attitude and life and we got into a conversation about excuses. She posted that there is a correlation between compulsive eating and a cluttery house. I posted that my house was cluttery these days because it wasn't a priority with all the illness in the house. She replied something about "excuses."

This got me thinking. I've generally given up the "excuses" thing. Haven't I? I've stretched and broadened my scope of interest, worked on my overeating, worked on my writing, started news reporting, started a part time job. There is nothing that can stop me right?

Except sick children. When my children are sick all else comes second. The world stops for our home and I stay close. First of all, my husband works away and is home two days of the week, so it's me alone, with them. I am the one who has to go to the doctor(which has been once a week for 5 weeks now) and I'm the one up at night, administering medicine(sometimes forcefully because they both hate it) and I am exhausted and mentally and emotionally unable to keep up on anything else. The house gets messy, I get messy, it's not a fun time.

Excuses? Nope..damned good reasons I say. Who the heck cares about clutter? Who cares about weight? What's a pound or two when your children are miserable and sickly and need you? Whats a little mess and dirt? Why waste my time worrying about such trivial things as those are when I've got children who need me. The rest be damned, I'm cuddling my feverish baby and watching Max and Ruby with them!

And then I tried on my pants. They are loose. I've lost weight in the last 6 weeks. Not a lot but some. I've been crazy busy and while my diet hasn't been ideal I've not had time to snack on junk or think about food or eat for any reason other than hunger pangs. My cluttery house hasn't contributed to my emotional eating at all but some of that might be because I've been working on it for so long that I no longer identify as a compulsive eater. I am gaining a happy and healthy relationship with food that has nothing to do with losing weight.

The other day I picked up copies of my show. I watched myself on television which is not a flattering medium. I immediately thought, Oh my God I'm HUGE. Then I looked at the other reporters who are quite normal weighted in real life, small even, and saw that they looked bigger too. How distorted is that? But it was also enlightening! If they aren't as big as they appear on screen then I'm not either.

And my face, my hair, everything looked pretty good. It looked like me. I like the way I look now. Healthy, happy, eyes full of joy.

I still have no idea what I weigh..but I know I feel happy, I know I'll go to the gym again and work out regularly once the kids are well again and life settles down a bit. Someday I'll sleep. And tomorrow night I'm going to see my favourite band, Blue Rodeo alone. That'll settle things for a good long while.

My affirmation: I no longer make excuses, but I also don't stress over the reasons my life is cluttered and out of control occasionally. I am able to find peace in the clutter and know that this too shall pass.


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Today I am joining the local gym! It's a self-serve type place, just small but perfect for this little town. With the weather being so unpredictable and then when it's been nice, the kids were sick, I decided that I'll pay my $40 and go at my convenience.

I'm feeling decidedly weak and out of shape and a few pounds have crept on making my size ten jeans tight again.

I've decide to use the Body For Life Workout. It's intense, short and easy to follow. For years I followed Body for Life and it worked well and kept me fit for a long time.

I'll also run on the treadmill because I'm simply not getting out there now!

The best thing about this gym is that it's open 24 hours so I can go any time. No excuses now!

Does anyone have any favourite exercises, gym tips etc.? I'll be mostly on my own so any tips for a new weight trainer would be fantastic!

Affirmation: Hard work becomes easy to perform when you stop making excuses for not doing it! I will do the work!





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Today I welcome Nancy Telfer as a guest blogger. Nancy lives in the same area of Ontario that I live in and I've been following her work for a while. Please feel free to use the comment section to ask any questions and I will make sure Nancy has the opportunity to provide the answers for you. Welcome Nancy. We conducted this as an interview so I'll just post it in that format for clarity.


Breeze: Tell me about yourself and your credentials.

Nancy: I have studied & practiced various health 'diets' throughout the years. Food Combining was the first. It involved not eating starch with protein. With that change in my diet, I lost 15 pounds, but it didn't seem to be the perfect 'diet' and I continued to research. I, then, became a vegetarian and ate no more meat. I lost more weight and yet, didn't feel healthy. Then, I discovered the 'Living Food' lifestyle. I have have been a 'rawfoodist' or 'living' for almost 5 years now. I am a Certified Raw Lifestyle Coach/Nutritionist and coach one on one as well as teach about the benefits of Raw & Living foods in a class. I am the manager at Nutrition House, Festival Marketplace Mall in Stratford, where we carry books on Raw & Living foods.
I have also studied energy work. I have studied Reiki, Reconnective Healing, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and more recently BodyTalk. I am an EFT Practitioner as well as a BodyTalk Practitioner. It is my passion to help people heal their bodies.


Breeze: What is a raw food diet?

Nancy: A raw food diet is only eating what is living, It is a vegan diet that opens up your taste buds when you discover just how delicious your food can be. It includes sprouts, greens, fruits, veggies and fermented foods.

Breeze: Are you vegan or just raw? For example would you drink raw milk?

Nancy: Vegan. I do not drink any milk raw or otherwise. I don't believe that our bodies need milk except from our mothers.

Breeze: What are the advantages of eating raw foods to your body?

Nancy: You have so much energy, need less sleep (so you can get so much more done in a day); your skin will tighten, your hair will change for the better and you will look younger than what you are. You no longer have digestion problems as your food digests on its own from the foods enzymes. You will have the enzymes in your body that will produce oxygen to heal your body and bring it back to its natural state. Pain & dis-ease free.

Breeze: What does cooking do to foods?

Nancy: It destroys the foods enzymes and minerals making it foreign to your body. It will therefore, be harder to digest and need more energy from your other organs to digest the food.

Breeze: Do you miss hot food? How do you avoid feelings of deprivation?

Nancy: I am currently eating a 90-95% living food diet. When I was 100% I did not miss the hot food at all. For every food that you cook there is a raw alternative. There are amazing dips & pates, lasagnas, pastas, soups, and even desserts. I make amazing chocolates - I call them 'Sensational Chocolates'.

Breeze: Does it take a lot of time to eat raw?

Nancy: You have just as much time to create raw as you do a cooked meal. Most of the dishes are created in very little time. You can make what I call 'gourmet' raw dishes that can take lots of time (but worth it) or you can simply whip something up. That is up to you and how much time you have.

Breeze: Is it hard to buy raw foods beyond produce? Where would you buy raw nuts and chocolate for example

Nancy: Raw foods are not hard to come by, but it is just produce that you need. I do focus on organic foods though. We have Gentle Rain & Pfennings which both have a huge variety of organic foods. Zehrs even carries some organic foods. You can buy crackers and cookies online through a few different websites. It is much easier to buy your own dehydrator and make your own. With a dehydrator, you can make crackers, bread, muffins, cookies and so much more. Raw nuts are available at Gentle Rain, although they are not considered 'raw' to most rawfoodists. The nuts are from California and they passed a bylaw where ALL nuts are now heated to kill bacteria in them. This bylaw was fought but still passed. True raw nuts are available online but is quite costly. I continue to use the 'raw' nuts available at Gentle Rain.
Chocolate?? My favorite. In my 'Living the Rawfood Lifestyle' class, I discuss the amazing benefits to eating raw chocolate, otherwise known as cacao. You can purchase raw cacao powder, nibs & beans at Nutrition House (we currently only have the powder in stock) to make your own chocolate treats. There is also a couple of companies that have a chocolate bars that is 70-80% raw - both delicious (and available at Nutrition House). I am currently discussing with the owner of Nutrition House, putting together a 'chocolate' package. This package will include everything that you need to make your own chocolates, including my 'secret' recipe. Stay tuned for more information on my website.

Breeze: Can you provide us with a recipe of something yummy that is easy to make

Nancy: Here you go!
Italian-Style Zucchini Pasta Pesto
For the pesto:
1 large bunch basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp sea salt
Another Variation of Pesto:
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 cups basil
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
Blend all ingredients in a food processor until well blended and smooth

Pasta - peel a zucchini; discard the peel; continue to use the vegetable peeler and make 'noodles' . You can also add chopped mushrooms and chopped soaked sun-dried tomatoes to this dish.

Breeze: Where can we learn more about this lifestyle and if we are considering it where would we start?

Nancy: I have a practice where I help coach people to get started with this amazing lifestyle. I also hold classes that will give lots of information to get you started. Information is handed out at Nutrition House and posters are posted at Gentle Rain. Information on up & coming classes are also on my website www.rawsomenutrition.com

Breeze: Do you have to be 100% raw or is it advantageous to be even 80% or 90% raw?

Nancy: Your body will tell you what is best for it, you just have to learn to listen to it. Right now, I am doing very well at 90-95% raw. There was a time that I needed to be 100%. Either one is about choice. You choose what works best for you. You will even reap the benefits of adding more living foods to your existing diet.


Breeze: Thank you Nancy for your informative post! We look forward to your next installment on EFT!



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The children seem to have kicked the virus! They still have a cough, the little one in particular but we're much better around here and just in time for Halloween!

During the course of being housebound I fell into a conversation with a friend of mine, Darleen Degrieck. Darleen is a yoga instructor and a practitioner of ayurveda. I had posted that I believed the body is a self-healing organism and that it wants to be well and wants to return naturally to a state of wellness and that if allowed to it will do that. I also apply that to weight loss. If we allow it our body will naturally return to its optimal weight. We just need to feed it and nourish it properly both with the foods we give it and the thoughts we think.

She sent me a quote from a draft she is working on with some colleagues about influenze from the Ayurvedic perspective. I could apply this to general wellness as well as weightloss and I thought I would share it here with you.

"For me the gem of Ayurveda is that it is a practice of self-love and self-care. Disease is dis-ease, lack of ease, lack of flow, and it begins in the mind (hence the usefulness of Yoga, which teaches us how to manage and control the modifications of the mind). Nourishing thoughts and beliefs serve to nourish the body. Destructive thoughts and beliefs have the opposite effect. (I can honestly not say if the vaccine is effective or not, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not terribly interested in engaging in the debate, except to reiterate the obvious that worry, anxiety and fear are not nourishing emotions.) If anything, I believe it's a question of choice. And we have the choice to believe and even rejoice in our inherent wellness and the cellular intelligence of the physical body. We can engage our minds in this practice of well-being by steering our focus towards the things that we love, laughing as much as possible, having fun with our children, removing should from our vocabulary, singing, dancing, caring more about what we think about ourselves than what others think about us, being in nature, trusting, releasing judgment, developing deep appreciation for and understanding of what we've already lived. Loving the body that carries our soul on this journey is paramount. To choose our thoughts and intentionally direct our focus is the ultimate practice of self-empowerment. Thus, if you choose to vaccinate, be firm in your belief that it is the best possible choice.

For us in the northern climates going through a period of seasonal transition, with weather conditions that are erratic, cooling and drying, the natural inclination is to nourish the body with foods that are comforting, wholesome and grounding. The season of eating clear, fresh, raw foods for balancing heat is passed, and we are now wanting to cook stews and soups, and eat nourishing grains. This is the best time of year for eating meat, if you choose to partake. Taking time for "cocooning" follows the natural and environmental cycles. Alignment with nature is a very nourishing and grounding practice."

If you are interested in reading more from Darleen's point of view you can see her blog. and she also recommended a book by one of her teachers Dr. John Douillard, The Three Season Diet.(click link to purchase on Amazon)










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When the flu is in the house my eating habits become erratic however that is the time when I'm most likely to focus on eating super healthy foods. I had started to drink a lot of green tea for the metabolic benefits and it did seem to be helping but since my children have been fighting this flu bug I've taken to researching foods that are antiviral and of benefit to fighting off those types of disease.

Who would have guessed that the green tea I've been drinking lately has added benefits of having antiviral properties ! Maybe that explains why I've been able to keep it away so far!

And I've been making a smoothie and sneaking good things into it because, let's face it, vitamin D tablets, vitamin C powder and green tea aren't all that appealing to healthy adults never mind sickly kids.

So being the sneaky mommy that I am, I've been adding good stuff to a very delicious smoothie that the kids love. Here is the recipe...adjust it to your taste and needs.

1 cup orange juice
1 cup frozen fruit(any kind)
vitamin D tablets crushed(amount recommended for whoever is drinking it)
vitamin C powder or tablets crushed(amount recommended for whoever is drinking it)
strong green tea steeped and cooled.
honey or other sweetener to taste.

Blend in blender and enjoy!

and of course..add whatever you want to make it yours...but avoid dairy which increases congestion in many people which isn't a chance to take when avoiding or battling the flu!

Stay Healthy!



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Healing vibes are requested today. My two youngest children, Sophia and Martina have influenza which is likely H1N1! Right now it's uncomplicated and I am trusting their young healthy bodies will fight it off and let's hope we avoid the complications that cause all the problems.

The odds are on our side but I think some added healing vibes from the blogosphere couldn't hurt so please aim them towards my babies.




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Today I found an interesting article on Spark People! I love it!

You can find it HERE!
Please read this. It's fabulous!



My Writing Blog

It has been a busy time! I am about 3 chapters from a completed first draft of my novel! Such an exciting time for me! I have several stories for the television news show to shoot including one today and my days have been full and exciting.

And I've neglected this space and I apologize! I've also neglected myself so you are not alone.

When life is so busy it's hard to find time to cook properly, exercise, meditate, just be and it's easy to fall back into the habits that are easy...quick food, junk food, sugar, too much caffeine. And it's easy to gain weight.

Then along comes pms. Oh yeah, cookies good, vitamins suck..that was me last week. But this week I'm back again.

Yesterday I made a huge crock pot of vegetable soup and today I made a meatless shephards pie and it feels great to eat foods full of the stuff a body needs to be well and fit.

Now if the weather would accommodate comfortable walking I'd be completely back on track.

I always find the seasonal adjustment a challenge so I'm looking for a non weather-dependant activity that is free and doesn't involve a video..I hate working to videos...it's just unnatural!

So that has been my challenge lately and I'm afraid I haven't held up well. I do find that my committment in real life corresponds with my committment to this blog..so I guess I'd better hang around!

I may just walk up and down the stairs ten times a day or something odd like that!

Also, I am toying with the idea of starting a local support group based on my ideas here. It wouldn't be a "weightloss" group but instead focus on the behaviour that leads to weight issues and eating issues. What would you like to see in such a group? Suggestions are appreciated!

If you have any vegetarian recipes that are easy and delicious I would appreciate a link as well. I think I'm in a rut and need something new! I try to eat seasonal so something hot and winter vegetable-ey would be perfect!

Affirmation: I adjust to change well and I am flexible, eating the best foods as they are available.





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A multitude of diet plans promote a "eat a lot of food, lose weight" or something along those themes. Lately I've been wondering if that is one of the problems with the diet industry. We all know that the formula for losing weight MUST have a eat fewer calories/burn more energy aspect. That's simple biology, it's how it works. So most people, in an effort to not be deprived want a program or a diet that allows them to eat more food with fewer calories. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if the lower calorie foods are the highly dense nutrient packed type like spinach and other fruits and vegetables.

The problem with this is that it is catering to our need to be eating large and frequent meals. We want to eat because of the emotional satisfaction we get from eating.

My hypothesis is that we have to reduce our emotional need to eat large amounts of food. We have to eat smaller, delicious, rich, filling meals. We need to work on reducing our need to fill ourselves up with food to tamp down our emotional issues. We have to work on minimizing our compulsion to eat when we are bored, we have to eat smaller meals.

So large huge massive salads may be jam packed with nutrients however realistically they take more time to eat than many people have. If the program doesn't fit in your life you won't do it. Plus we don't want large amounts of salad, we want large amounts of the comfort foods, the junk foods, pasta, icecream and chocolate.

What if instead of finding the diet that allows us to eat the most while still losing weight, we focus on eating until we are satisfied, eating even the nutrient dense foods in moderation and picking up our activity level.

This is where we need to find tools to work on ourselves not on our diets. Let's face it, we all KNOW what we need to do. We need to work on setting ourselves up to do them.

I believe the the key lies in our subconscious and that the only way to have success retraining the subconscious so that it helps us on our path to optimal health and ideal weight.

My suggestions are hypnosis, affirmations(particularly as you fall asleep), energy work, meditation, stress management, adequate sleep, hormonal balance, and regular activity and exercise. A complete lifestyle change is in order that focuses less on food, less on diet, more on self fulfillment and balance.

Affirmation: I will focus on retraining the voices in my subconscious to accept that I am filled up by life and not by overeating.



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Sometimes life gets busy. And during the busy time things that you've learned often gets tossed aside in the doing of life. Often that's when the gains we have made in our lifestyle changes fall back somewhat. This is when there comes a time that either makes or breaks you, whether you forge forward or slip back into old, self damaging habits.

Sleep seems to be a contributor to over eating. In the heat of exhaustion a person will turn to food for fuel and often during that times, an emotional eater will turn to food easily because fatigue weakens the resolve to learn and grow and move away from old patterns and in comes the old self-defeating habits again.

The first step is to not beat yourself up! You are human, you will do things that are not necessarily good. No matter how much you train the conscious mind to know what is better to do, when you are tired, when you are busy, when there isn't as much time to be conscious and mindful of your habit your subconscious mind takes over. Because the subconscious mind has all the old, prerecorded messages that set you up for your eating disorder in the first place, skewed your body image and messed up your sense of normal when it comes to food and weight, when you are busy your subconscious mind takes over and then of course you slip back to the old ways. Until the subconscious can be retrained through energy work or hypnosis, there is always a risk of slipping backwards during stressful and busy times.

One of the biggest failures of the diet industry is their neglect of real life. Most diet programs cannot be fit in to the real lives of real people. It also does not take into account that the subconscious mind is in charge 95-98% of the time. Without retraining the subconscious, 95% of the population cannot lose and maintain a significant weight loss. This is why willpower doesn't work, why diets don't work and why people get fat, stay fat and get fatter once they start dieting. It's a vicious cycle.

Work to maintain equilibrium in your life but when life takes over and you are swept along, back into the old ways, plan new ways to bring yourself back into mindfulness and don't allow a set back to influence you to quit. The journey is long but well worth the effort. Get back to exercise, get back to healthy foods, toss out the junk food that you gathered for that party, those visitors and toss them out! Try a new activity and keep the faith.

Remember to add subconscious change work to your routine and if possible slip this into your daily practice even in the busy times.

Namaste





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Note the button on my right sidebar! This blog has been entered in the Wellsphere Healthblogger competition!

Also, I have signed up to become a featured blogger. This is from the information about that!

Health2.0 conference starts tomorrow
The Health2.0 conference is set to get underway tomorrow (Tuesday), and promises to be an amazing two days of presentations and discussions of the latest in online health and technology by dozens of prominent and influential industry and blogosphere luminaries, plus discussions and interactions among over 1,000 attendees who are involved in the latest developments in online health.

If you signed up to be a featured blogger for the conference, the articles you post to your blog on Tuesday and Wednesday will be displayed on a special giant monitor during the conference. We'll send you email updates with information about topics discussed and events announced during the conference, so you can write posts on the topics of interest to the conference attendees, and have those posts reach the attendees during the conference!

So it's very exciting! Please click the button and let's see how it goes!

Breeze



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Some of you already know this but I am a writer and my first book of poetry, called Wind Rhymes will be released at the end of October. To celebrate I'm hosting a giveaway of a copy of the book, signed by yours truly to be given to the winner. All you have to do is follow my other blog, BreezeDaze or add a comment after a post on the other blog. You can find my writing at BreezeDaze



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In a previous post I talked about two challenges I had encountered. I had decided to start both challenges because, walking is a good idea and the Core Diet Challenge promised to be about balancing your hormones/adrenals etc. and getting yourself healthy.

Well I finished reading the book and it is a good book. Well written, great science, great ideas but I won't be doing the challenge. It is a diet. There are meal plans which include meat(great, I'm vegetarian), you eat 3 meals, 2 snacks a day, so there is regimen and there is deprivation. Nothing white, no pasta, refined sugar, potatoes? Come on! Potatoes are a nutritional goldmine! Pasta is not bad, it needs to be moderated. Sugar? I want a cookie! Moderation? Absolutely, but deprivation, not even for a second! It's a brain scrambler that messes with natural hunger and should be avoided at all costs!

I did the quiz and I came out as out of balance hormonally. Heck I knew that. I'm 43, my cycles are wonky, pms is horrible, I bloat, I bitch, I write really good chapters of my novel(my husband is thankful for my redirection abilities) and I move on. I also take some supplements for that, which I was surprised to see, were recommended in the book.

My premise has always been that it's diets that makes you fat. In this post I talked about what makes something a "diet" and not a lifestyle change. Well if you are dieting at all, you are not making a lifestyle change.

I have made drastic lifestyle changes and I've lost weight as well. It's a slow process but I've gotten my eating under control to the point that I don't think about it anymore.

I think this is the best post I've written about my theory about the "diet/lifestyle change" industry.

What have I done? I've changed my whole life! And have come to the conclusion that if I have to spend my money on it it's a diet!

My inner thought changes that are reflected in my outer life changes are:

I started writing full time. It's my passion. It fulfills me.
I meditate throughout the day.
I've utilised weight loss hypnosis as part of reprogramming my diet industry brain washed brain.
I joined a Dragon Boat team for exercise and as a social outlet!
I became a reporter at First Local Stratford
I finished my poetry book! It will be published in October!(more about how you can win one in a minute
I started eating mostly whole foods, unprocessed crap, in small amounts.
I don't sweat when I eat cookies or cake, they're yummy, I'm human.
I'm on television and I don't care how I look on there...the television adds way more than 10 pounds by the way, our very tiny producer looks way bigger than she actually is on the small screen)
I've incorporated the Excuses Begone Paradigm in my entire life
I don't diet
I don't weight myself!


I didn't make a lifestyle change, the diet industry has stolen that as their buzz word but if you have to deprive yourself of things you love, if it's unrealistic or restrictive, it's a diet. Over the course of the last year I changed my entire life's attitude and habits. My eating habits are changing right along with it.

It's not about lifestyle change. It's about inner change, comfort in your own skin, finding things you are passionate about, not making excuses, being happy as you are because as you are is how you are and all that matters!




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If the rain would stop I would walk! I've been doing fantastic, walking, eating well, smaller amounts, things are looser clothes wise but most of all things are well health wise.

I'm starting to trust my body to adjust itself and the self hypnosis is a great way to keep a focus on that trust.

My writing is absolutely taking off. I'm over 50,000 words with my novel and it's really coming together. It's hard to say if it's the hypnosis or the satisfaction of doing what I love for a couple of hours a day but I'm very balanced and focused these days and that's a great thing.

I still drink a lot of water each day and tea at night. I've taken to forgiving myself if I eat a cookie or a piece of pie and moving on. I am not bing-y and I am not really thinking about food at all. It's good.

Good healthy food, exercise, work that satisfies the soul and self-awareness and appreciation...all part of the recipe for success!

Namaste





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I have come across two challenges that are starting on September 28 and thought I would share them with you.

The first is this walking challenge from an ivillage link. I'm going to give it a try. I try to walk daily but as the weather changes I find myself less and less inclined to do so. I am hoping to walk all winter this year but I hate being in the cold so it's challenging. Come along and join me on this one!

This second one is of particular interest. I came across this "diet" and entered the contest. This one isn't about weightloss specifically, it's about eating right for whatever ails you. I did the quiz and I won the book(Yay me) so when it comes I'm going to try to follow along with my results which basically said I'm hormonally imbalanced.

The quiz tests you and from that you find out your imbalances. Then you adjust your diet accordingly based on the results to give you the opportunity to eat foods to balance your system. I'm gonna test this one out. I am perimenopausal and it's a roller coaster most days. I am writing this at 6:22am having gotten up at 4:30. I have been awake since 3am. I'm hoping to fix up my sleep patterns and reestablish my energy for the day by doing so. I'm hoping diet will fix this.

And of course I continue on with the hypnosis weekly to keep me motivated. It works, it really works!

Breeze



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I just wanted to post a quick note to direct everybody to the little widget to the immediate right on my blog. This little tool gives you direct access to any health/wellness questions you might have. Just enter your key word and voila, instant wellness information.

Let me know how it works for you!




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Television adds pounds. I know it does because I'm on television now. I recently became a reporter for a new television news magazine and I'm starting to realise how tiny many of the people who are on television must actually be when they appear of normal weight.

We had a launch party for the new program yesterday and we viewed the show. I was surprised that I looked so much bigger than I thought I was but reassured when other, very small people, also looked larger on the screen. It's all an illusion.

But it got me thinking about body image and how that affects us. Much of how we think of our own body is as much an illusion as the size magnification of people on the small screen!

Many of us have a very confused idea of what is a good body weight. The media's skewed images on television and on magazine covers cause us to think we are overweight when we are not. The judgement of society supports that by the constant bombardment of the messages that you aren't good enough if you don't look the way the media has told you you should. It's not wonder we're confused!

I've come a long way. I looked at myself on the television and while I acknowledged that I looked bigger than I would have liked, I really, deep down, don't care. What I had to say, the work I had to do, the way I spoke, the story I presented, was the most important thing.

People get stuck on the journey because while on the journey you are not at the place you think you should be. The key to not getting stuck is to not focus on the weight or the body but on the feelings and the actions you are taking to a healthier body size.

HHypnosis Update

I've been using hypnosis and it really has taken my focus off of eating. I get hungry now before I eat and I am not overeating. I am walking more but that might have more to do with the weather being suitable for my favourite activity. I can feel in my clothes that I have lost some weight and I feel happy about that. I don't use a scale so I can't share the amount but it's definitely working.

I highly suggest using the weight loss mp3 on Hypnotransformations to get started. The owner of that site has agreed to guest blog for me in the future. Watch for her post!




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My first update is a non-update. I've decided to put off my challenge until the kids start school(tomorrow) for the simple reason that I was swamped and didn't make time to listen to the download more than once. I want to follow the procedure exactly to maximize the benefits. So starting tonight I will be back on track.

That said, even listening once seems to set me in a different mood towards food and eating. My problem these days is a lack of motivation to exercise. I've always been super active and I've gone completely backwards this summer, having no inclination to do much more than a 20 minute walk. Aside from my two dragon boat practices a week I've been pretty much sedentary. That has translated into a plateau of sorts but I'm not worried except for the wellness aspect of regular activity.

I've got exciting things happening with this blog. I've invited Kym at Hypnotransformations to guest blog for me and she's kindly accepted. And I've also invited a local nutritionist and raw-food specialist, Nancy Telfer, who also is a EFT practitioner to guest blog on each subject. Check out her website!So interspersed between my updates will be posts from each of these fascinating women on their wellness specialties!

And remember the walking challenge starting on September 28th! I'm going to start that and I'm hoping some of you will join up and follow me on that journey! I really need to move beyond my 20 minute dog walking excursions!

Namaste friends!




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Just a quick post to invite you all to join me for this challenge on September 28th. Of course I always try to walk, my dog insists, but it's fun to have a challenge. This is also a pretty good website on the iVillage network!



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photo credit: Hypnotransformations

It is time to put things to the test. I've written in the past about how it's our subconscious thoughts that keep us from doing the things we have to do, from having a healthy relationship with food, that causes us to have our compulsions to eat more than we actually need.

We were raised by parents who were either raised in or directly influenced by a generation affected by the great depression. Finish your plate meant this might be your last meal. The suffering and deprivation of that time placed a scar on the psyche of that generation that has manifested into this generation of plenty in the form of excess and obesity.

The trick is to reprogram the subconscious and in all my research into this part of the understanding, two things stand out. They are EFT and Hypnosis.

A few months back I purchased a download from Hypnotransformations and started using it. I felt as though I was having some success however a computer crash caused me to lose the download. The computer was restored and a new account created however I couldn't find it in the iTunes library. A few days ago though, while cleaning out some old files...I found it!

So here starts a new chapter in this blog. The journey using hypnosis to fix my relationship with food. I will record all of my observations on here as time goes on excluding my weight. Through a lot of work I've not weighed myself in over a year. But I have a whole closet of too-tight clothes that will be the test.

So last night I listened to the hypnosis download for the first time. Today? I feel good. Let's see how this goes. I will be inviting the creator of the hypnosis Mp3 that I'm using, Kim at Hypnotransformations to guest post here at some time. Please follow along as I work through her program.





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In spending much of my life in a feast or famine cycle of dieting, and in spending the last few months determined not to diet, I've discovered that the biggest detriment to my success at weight loss, at becoming healthy and well and shedding the diet mentality along with excess pounds is my own tendency to slip into inertia.

I continuously find excuses not to walk, not to make a nice salad, reasons to do the things that I've always done. It's a pattern of intertia. A pattern of not doing instead of doing, of allowing procrastination to rule my day. I'll do it when the kids go back to school(I have a super large wagon that fits the kids and the cat) or I'll do it after they are in bed(it's dark, I don't) or "I'll make black bean soup tomorrow" and I don't, because tomorrow is as busy as today.

So my new determination is to become a person who does the work. Now. Because in the doing of it is where the determination to do well comes from.

The Wright brothers didn't invent the airplane by pondering the staying on the ground of things. So instead of thinking about what I'm going to be doing, it's time to actually start doing it.

I invite everybody to join me in the no more excuses, time to do it now, portion of their journey.

Affirmation: Today, in this minute even, I will do what is best for my health and wellness. And tomorrow I will do the same.





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Just a quick post to let everybody know that Dr. Bruce Lipton is on Aware Radio tomorrow at 2:30! These free teleseminars are fantastic, I joined up from the beginning but I believe you can join at any time. I am looking forward to listening to the show as it happens.

Dr. Bruce Lipton wrote the book "The Biology of Belief" and explains how the brain works and how it's our perceptions that control our life not our DNA, something that I found incredibly helpful in changing a lot of things I didn't like about my life!

Check out the teleseminar and learn what it's all about!



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It has been a crazy few weeks. I am likely a few pounds heavier and suddenly I'm feeling it. I feel wonky, caught a cold and I'm tired more. My diet has gotten crazy out of control and I haven't exercised regularly for about a month. So who am I to dole out advice to you, to inspire you, how can I inspire my readers to do what I haven't been doing? I can't inspire you by those actions but I can try to pick myself up and give you an example of getting back on track after a derailment!

I've not posted for a while either and again, the same excuse applies. It's been a crazy few weeks and the rhythm of my life hasn't been conducive to my success. I love the warm, long, sunny days of summer, but the lack of routine plays havoc with my ability to fit things in. Exercise is the first thing to go.

And then the fresh Ontario peaches came. And I made a pie, and a crisp and proceeded to eat them over the past few weeks. Then the heat came, ice cream is good in the heat! Oh, life and food, food and life, they creep in and creep up on you and before you know it, you are unmotivated and sluggish and up a few pounds once more.

It's time to start taking control. Knowing that this is a journey, that we're travelling on foot, not by some Star-Trek magic where we are suddenly beamed into that size seven pair of jeans, is of utmost importance! This is real, this is life. Accepting that these normal fluctuations will occur is imperative to the success and joy of the journey.

I'm a walker and I'm walking today. I haven't been completely sedentary, there are muscles aching right now from my Wednesday night rowing practice(we are learning a new stroke and I have a completely new set of muscles apparantly) but I've been less than motivated to walk, something that has been part of my routine for years! My body is missing the exercise. My mind is missing the meditative aspect of walking and my heart is missing my community, the people I wave to as we go along, wagon load of kids, dog tied to the side, heck even the cat(aptly named Princess) sits in the wagon occasionally and goes along for a ride!

So forward we go. Strapping on the running shoes, heading out the door. It's time to focus and recapture my life as an active, fit, healthy individual again.

Affirmation: Every day is an opportunity to start or restart living as an active and healthy participant in your life! Today I will take that opportunity once again!

Namaste



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Today I was a pleasantly surprised and excited to be invited by Dr.
Geoffrey W. Rutledge MD, PhD to become part of the Wellsphere HealthBlogger Network, the world's premier network of health writers. Being a bit cynical I thought I would do some checking but after some careful investigation I discovered that yes indeed, this is a legitimate offer. There will be few, if any changes here except for the badge on my sidebar.

The invitation said (Edited for space)"Hi Breeze,My name is Dr. Geoff Rutledge, and I am delighted to invite you to join Wellsphere's HealthBlogger Network, the world's premier network of health writers, including over 2,500 of the Web's leading health bloggers! We carefully reviewed your blog, and based on the high quality of your writing, the frequency of your posts, and your passion for helping others, we think you would be a great addition to the Network.

Let me tell you a bit about me and about Wellsphere. I'm a physician who has taught and practiced Internal and Emergency Medicine for over 25 years at Harvard and Stanford medical schools, and am passionate about helping people get the information and support they need to be healthier. I'm now the Chief Medical Information Officer at Wellsphere.com, where I manage the HealthBlogger Network.

I would like to invite you to join the HealthBlogger Network as a featured blogger in the Weight Loss Community. By connecting to the Wellsphere platform, you will greatly expand the audience for your postings, attract additional readers to your blog, and receive much deserved recognition for your efforts to improve peoples' lives.

Congratulations on being selected to participate in the HealthBlogger Network!
Good health,
Geoff

--
Geoffrey W. Rutledge MD, PhD
Chief Medical Information Officer


Thank you Wellsphere and the HealthBlogger Network. And thank you Dr. Rutledge, I gracefully accept your invitation!



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Learning to accept and enjoy where you are at right now is invaluable to your journey towards healthy eating attitudes.

I've been doing really well in this area. It's difficult. You work hard and you've lost 20, 30, 40 pounds and you catch sight of yourself in the mirror and see exactly the same thing you did at the start, maybe a slimmer version but the same flaws, the same stretchmarks, the same belly flab, it's all the same but smaller.

Accepting that in this moment this is the body you have is paramount to moving forward. Many people give up in these moments, telling themselves that it doesn't matter, you'll never be where you want to be or the journey is too long and hard. But it is at this point you need to make peace with your body. It's OK to take a break from whatever you've been doing and coast along, being happy with the way you look and feel, freeing yourself from the desire to be elsewhere. The next moment always follows this moment and moving forward can only be done from this moment.

Spending time in acceptance and peace with your own body will go a long way towards removing the stress of the moment and defeating the eating habits that follow many of us when we are faced with stress. This is the moment we are often led into drastic measures such as crazy diets that harm us and take away from our newly found way towards optimal health.

Journal your feelings, feel them as valid and true for you and then go forward with a knowing that you are perfect for this moment and in this moment. Our bodies will change one way or the other with time and you can make the decision to carry on with the healthy mind and healthy habits that are leading towards your future goal. You and you alone inhabit the body so learn to love it for all its miracles and all its flaws and you'll have success.

Affirmation: My body is exactly as it should be in the moment. Perfect and strong.





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When looking at weight loss often people will pick a goal weight and work towards that goal weight. Often the goal feels distant and unattainable and difficult to get to and this leads to frustration, after all, if you have worked for so long at this and you are still fat, it might be difficult to stay motivated.

To increase the motivation it is better to look at small goals, in fact I believe it's best to focus on losing one pound. One pound may sound small but because it is small it's also more realistic. If you only had one pound to lose wouldn't the goal seem attainable? If you lose that one pound and now you have proven that you can do it, decide to lose one pound again. Once you have done this 30 times you will have lost 30 pounds! Now that's exciting.

In order to lose one pound of fat a person needs to cut their caloric intake by 3500 calories. This shouldn't be done over any period shorter than a week which works out to 500 calories a day. If you have maintained the weight you are at for a while now then you have a starting point. If you have been gaining or losing lately you need the starting point of your basal metabolic rate. This is calculated by taking into your weight/height/age and determining what you need to eat to maintain the weight you are currently at. This is how many calories you would burn if you were laying in bed all day. Complicated sounding? It's not really but I like this tool for figuring it out.

This number will be low! Don't panic! There is another step! Let's say your BMR is 1584. Remember, this is the number of calories you would burn if you were lying in bed all day. Most people are not that sedentary. You can pretty much, depending on your current activity level, add 500 to 1000 calories to this amount. On a regular day, walking, housework, gardening, making dinner, eating dinner, washing the dishes, chasing children, all burn calories. I would suggest that everybody except those confined or are bedridden burn a minimum 500 calories per day.

If you are confused as to where to start, I would start by consuming the number of calories calculated with the BMR calculator for one week. By keeping track of the calories and your additional calories burnt by any activity you add and then measuring your weightloss you should be able to get an accurate idea of how many calories you can calculate an accurate calorie/activity balance for yourself.

Once you have figured out your BMR and added in how many calories you burn in a regular day, the next step is to figure out how you want to created the deficit of 500 calories a day. If you simply eat 500 calories less you will lose one pound per week. If you exercise and burn 500 calories a day you will see the same result. The best way to do this, for balance and health is to do a combination of both.

A great way to keep track of both nutrition and fitness is Spark People, a wellness website that can help you keep track of your calorie consumption and your calorie burning through activities!

Once you have the formula in place you can decide if you want to lose a pound. Then after that pound has gone you can decide if you would like to lose another. Small, attainable goals are key to long term success!

Affirmation: Small steps lead to big accomplishments!



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If you are unfamiliar with Spark People and you are on a weightloss journey I would suggest you check out this helpful website as soon as possible.


The reasons I endorse this website are varied. First of all, and likely the main reason is that it's completely free. This means that anyone who has access to a computer can join this group of millions of people and find inspiration, support, tools for fitness, tools for food tracking, menus, ideas, anything that you need to help you in your journey. If you have your own computer or have to go to a public library you can visit this website and use its tools.

I also like that it's private. As private as the Internet allows. You can use a user name and keep your weight private. That is a bonus for a lot of people who do not want to go to a group meeting in person.

I like that it is incredibly friendly. That it has a blog, that you don't have to use all the features, only the ones that you need, that you don't have to weigh in, just follow along with the program and go from there.

You can set up a page with your information called a Spark page and let people know in as much or as little detail as you like about yourself. This is a great page to do a picture or video journal of your success.

If you need to journal your food intake there is a place to do that, if you wish to journal your fitness progress you can journal that as well. You can log your fitness minutes. There are endless possibilities that would take too long to describe.

I would suggest you visit this amazing place and while you are at it visit the community boards and the success stories section. These are my favourite places.

And if your goal is wellness you can set your account up to help you in that journey instead of weight loss. So it can accommodate you in any way that suits you. I do this as I don't want to focus on weight loss even though I wish to meet that end eventually.




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Training has officially started. When trying to find the motivation to keep active, be fit, move and live a full and healthy life what I've found to be motivational is to have a target, a goal. I'm competitive by spirit though not governed by the urge to win so much as the urge to play.

When I made the decision to work on my physical body without the aid of the diet industry I also made the decision to spend very little money on it. I have purchased a few items, my mP3 download, some good shoes, yoga DVDs. But I have also found some wonderful programs for free on the Internet.

When I started running last year I followed the couch to 5K program. I downloaded some free podcasts to my iPod and off I went. I can't find a link to my original download but if you search with google there are multiple choices for free downloads to get you started. Or you can just run with a stop watch, as many people do.

Then more recently I discovered the one hundred push up program. I was pleasantly surprised that in the initial test I could do 11 push ups. I'm in better shape than I thought particularly since I haven't done a push up in years. I'm adding that as part of my training. I will log in my workouts and watch my strength increase until I'm up to 100 push ups! I'll be sure to share my success with you.

That all leads up to the reason I've suddenly decided to go into training! I've joined a Dragon Boat team. For those who aren't familiar this is a rowing team as in the picture above. The boats are called dragon boats Last night I went for my second practice and it is extremely hard work! Our first event is on July 18, in Waterloo Ontario and I have to be ready! I'm learning but I don't have the physical fitness to keep my proper form and I need to get in some pretty good physical condition for this. The sport itself is rather inexpensive, I may purchase a life jacket and a paddle down the road, meanwhile I'll use the equipment they supply.

So I've found my sport, I'm in training and on to the next phase of my goal of optimum fitness and health! I'm excited and cannot wait for my first race!

Oh, and for the chance to win a free hypnosis download go here. I have the weightloss download and I find it invaluable in my journey! Good luck!

Namaste



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Besides a brief set back with a macaroon I've remained completely on track. Some absolutely beautiful brown sugar strawberries got me over the hump yesterday. I realise that I am likely experiencing a hormonal shift as generally during the last week of my cycle my cravings do increase I've upped my awareness.

Today I'll have to pay particular attention because I've been awake since 3am. This means I will be very tired after dinner and likely the kids won't be. This is kind of a set up or trigger for eating for me. If I can have an early night, ignore the call of a late day caffiene fix, avoid the sugar trap for the evening and call it a night at a reasonable time I have a good chance of being successful. Meanwhile I tried on a pair of jeans from last year and they fit. They are a bit tight but they look nice. In fact my daughter complimented me on them when she came home from school.

Affirmation: There is no hurry. The journey is more important than the outcome. The outcome will be perfect. This I trust and this will guarantee success.



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Starting over! Hard to do. Craved a bunch of sweets last night but ate none of them. Now I know, three days and it'll pass so I've got day one tucked under my belt. I probably ate too many other things but, one step at a time!

One thing has struck me lately. In all my binging on the cookies I haven't once worried about weight gain. I mean I know that the result will be weight gain and likely I did put on a few ounces over the few days of sugar munching however it hasn't crossed my mind. My thoughts instead were on health and wellness and avoiding diabetes down the road...all positive thoughts, no "I've blown my diet" thoughts and that has to be a good sign.

A friend of mine was lamenting about how she was doing "insert famous diet plan here" that she was stuck, couldn't lose any more, had lost 12 lbs the first 4 weeks and nothing since. My first thought was "there isn't any fat on you so why have you started dieting?" and my second thought was "Oh, I'm so glad I'm not dieting!".

And I'm not. I eat whatever I want whenever I want. My goal is to fix my disordered eating not to lose weight. I'm hoping the weight loss continues however it's not my goal, I have no definite weight goals, I only have behaviour goals and it's making me a much happier person.

And another exciting thing. I think I've decided to take up a sport! Dragon boating which is basically competitive team rowing. They practice on Monday nights and do three competitions a season. The price is completely reasonable and I think I would absolutely love it. I love to row and to be in a boat regularly would be heaven! So next Monday I get to try it out for free so see how I feel. If I like it I will join the team! I've been looking for a sport because I like the idea of the social time of a team rather than the solitary of a gym for exercise. I will still continue to run and work out with weights and do yoga but this will be very exciting if it turns into something I want to do!

Wish me luck.

Affirmation: I am open to trying new things to find out what I actually love to do rather than what others recommend to me as exercise!





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Sugar crept back into my life and it's not a pretty picture. I'm actually quite fascinated by my complete and utter failure to avoid the trap of compulsive binging, wondering after all the self-searching and growth I've accomplished in the past while, how I possibly let myself fall back into those old habits so completely and without hesitation. One cookie, the catalyst for a binge of monumental proportions.

I thought I was ready. I thought I could handle one, just one cookie, but nope, not entirely there yet. In exploration of the past few days I found there were several events that led to my nap in sugar land.

First of all I've had visitors, my sister and her two kids and the house has had more pop, sugar, junk food of all manner occupying spaces in front of me for 10 days. It's very frustrating to see all this, it's particularly difficult to watch young girls drink diet pop regularly(my daughter has occasional pops but it's never in the house) and the donuts, muffins, oatmeal cookies were too much of a temptation for me.

Second of all, there was a neighbourhood picnic where the only thing I could eat was a potato salad and some crackers and cheese I brought myself. And of course desserts that were magnificent and oh, so tempting!

And the third reason and probably the reason I succumbed to the temptation in the first place, was the sudden and tragic death of an old friend in a motor cycle accident. I've been mourning the shock of the loss for three days, living in sort of a fog and consoling myself with all manner of goodies. In fact, the day I sampled the first cookie was the day I learned of his death. Are the two events tied together? For a compulsive and emotional eater such as myself, absolutely! The recognition of this and my mind's ability to excuse me for allowing this as an excuse is key to understanding what I do. What do I replace food with when faced with the next emotional unheaval? I must plan for that.

So now what? Well my company leaves today and whatever sweets are remaining will get dumped in the garbage. I will make myself a batch of the wonderful refined sugar-free banana muffins I love, buy my sugar-free bread again, some fresh fruit and veggies and cook myself my favourite honey-baked lentils for dinner. I will drink my healthy tea and I will listen to my weight loss hypnosis recording as I lay in bed tonight. All is not lost. Today is another day!

And this I will take from my regression. I am human, I make mistakes but I have an incredible capacity to remedy them as well. From this day forward I will again remove refined sugar from my diet. Because this time I know I can.

Affirmation: Forgiveness is key. I easily and without effort forgive myself and move forward. It takes time to re-record the new messages to replace the old in my mind. But I will succeed, I have succeeded. I will move on.



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This weekend we had a family BBQ. This was the first social event I've attended since embarking on my journey to remove refined sugar from my diet. It was a huge success.

Let me preface by saying that my sister and nieces are visiting for 11 days and this makes it difficult as well. But the lack of response to baked goods, I could seriously take them or leave them, gave me the confidence to make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies without eating a single one. I have not even been tempted to taste them.

So I thought this would be a good time to write down the steps I've taken to defeat sugar addiction and cravings.

1. I prepared to quit. I thought about it, journalled about it and then started when I was ready.
2. I only quit refined sugar and ate fruit in any quantity and type until the worst of the cravings passed.
3. I bought and used sugar-free whole grain breads and would have a slice instead of something sweet.
4. I removed all temptation from the house the first week.
5. I used an hypnosis download for weight loss from hypnotransformations.
6. I planned lots of little jobs for me to do while I was fighting the cravings
7. I journalled here.
8. I did not attempt to lose weight and just considered it a lifestyle change. I do not know if I lost weight during that time or not.
9. I decided I could and would do this.
10. I took it moment by moment and promised to forgive myself if I messed up at all.

Every person is unique but if I can do it so can you. Start thinking about it and try one day to give it up. If you can do one day, then you know you can do another and so on until you are free from the cravings. I found the first three days very difficult however the cravings dissipated after the third day and I then cut back on my fruit and bread intake.

On the weekend I sampled a fruit dip I had made for the party. I was really put off by its sweet taste. I would never have thought it possible to dislike the taste of sugar but I really couldn't eat it.

If you want to make lifestyle changes that are permanent and will result in a healthy attitude towards food once and for wall giving up refined sugar is a great place to start. And it's not all or nothing. I decided to leave the occasional glass of wine in my life as deprivation is not my goal at all. So far it is working brilliantly for me. It's over a month and counting now.

Affirmation: Today I decide again that refined sugar is currently not a part of my diet.



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When searching for a particular diet what I'm finding is that almost all of the diets allow you to eat "as much as you want" of a certain food group. The Atkins Diet says as much meat as you can eat is OK, Eat To Live says "eat a BIG salad" but limit other things. It appears that we all want a diet that lets us eat a LOT of some food, big helpings to satisfy our need to over eat.

In spending time thinking about how diets work(or don't work) I've come to the conclusion it's because they do not help us deal with the thoughts that are in our mind that say we need to eat a large quantity of food to be happy and satisfied. There is no way around it. We need to eat less food. If we cannot get our mind around that idea and then do things to reprogram the messages of excess we've been given over the years, we will fail over and over again at having a healthy relationship to our food.

Upon reading the book French Women Don't Get Fat I've discovered that the general culture frowns upon over-eating. Servings are much smaller and often people leave much of it on their plate. I remember years ago going to a very nice "fine-dining" restaurant and having my then husband complain about the size of the servings. However, we both left that restaurant quite satisfied after several courses. A small salad, a small entree meal, cheese and dessert. Very small servings of absolutely delicious food! And of course a glass of wine. We were satisfied and happy. The food, the experience, all were very positive. And no all you can eat buffet! Who would have thought.

When I think back to that meal I understand, what we need to do is find absolutely the highest quality food, eat small amounts of it slowly and enjoy it immensely.

I believe if we go back to the time of the depression we can gain an understanding of what makes us as North Americans want more food than our body needs. We were raised by children of the depression with an understanding that we have to eat all we can now while it's here because the depression left many of our parents and grandparents fearful of starving again. I certainly see that with my mother in law who grew up in depression ravaged Saskatchewan. Encouraging the children to finish all their dinner or they'll get no dessert, to eat as much as possible is certainly how she was raised. She is very moderate in her own eating however and I notice how small her servings are. She often doesn't finish all the food on her plate yet somehow feels the children should. I wonder how much she realises what she's doing.

I've made an effort to make reasonable size portions and to stop when I'm full and satisfied. I've found it's easier for me to put smaller amounts on my plate to start with and go back for a bit more if I'm not quite full than to have the food on my plate. That's when I end up over-stuffed.

I'm also making an effort to moderate the language I use with my children. I talk about being satisfied, rather than full, I do not make dessert contingent upon an empty plate and it's not a reward for a job well done eating, but rather just a part of the meal. My daughter who has the larger appetite does not eat many vegetables but she eats a lot of fruit and I let it go. My daughter who has a small appetite eats vegetables but only picks at her meals. She loves her ice cream for dessert however really doesn't like other sweets such as candy. She will eat a chocolate chip cookie.

What I do notice with both of them is they will leave ice cream in the dish when they are full, the will leave half the cookie behind. They are self-regulating their portions and that makes me happy.

As part of my growth in this journey to understanding my goal is to stop the pattern of disordered eating I'm seeing in myself at me. I will teach my children differently and help them understand, their body knows what it needs, to listen to it and to eat a comfortable amount of food that doesn't stretch and distend but rather fills and satisfies. And that high quality foods make this easier to accomplish.

Affirmation: I now only put superior fresh, seasonal food into my body, in amounts that satisfy me physically.



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My sugar cravings are gone. I won't go as far as to say I'll never eat sugar again however, as of this moment, I could take it or leave it and I'm choosing to leave it. A few weeks ago I wouldn't have even thought it was possible with careful planning and several deliberate steps I've managed to do it! The feeling of being free from cravings is incredible and one moment at a time, with mindful choices I'll remain sugar-free. I have had little to no refined sugar for about a month now and I feel absolutely no desire for any. Yes, that is a short period of time however what is different is how I feel. Physically I feel balanced and healthy. Emotionally and mentally, I've had the best premenstrual and menstrual cycle in a long time, minimal bloating, almost zero mood swings and minimal cramping.

There were several steps I took to get to this point.

1. I used an hypnosis mp3 download for weight loss from hypnotransformations. I use this regularly, it's for weight loss but I believe it still worked on this specific thing. I will continue to use it as I clean up my diet further in my goal to achieve optimal health and weight.

2. I prepared my mind before hand. I knew it would be tough and I knew I would be tempted so I went moment by moment. I didn't plan to do it forever, I still don't say I will never have sugar, I don't want deprivation to enter into my mind, so I can have sugar, but each day I chose not to. This has worked to help me defy myself because many of us crave things we "can't" have so by allowing and choosing instead of denying it helps us with that psychological hurdle.

3. I ate fruit. I gave up refined sugar only. I didn't use artificial sweeteners at all because I feel they are more harmful than sugar and keep you craving. I found a banana muffin recipe that used honey and I've made those twice however I haven't found that I crave for them particularly. I also cut out white flour at the same time, replacing it with whole wheat or other whole grain, this was accidental though because I discovered most(all?) bread without sugar are made with whole grains and are white-flour free.

4. I don't feel as though it's a diet. I feel it is more along the lines of beating an addiction so I look at it as doing something positive for myself similar to quitting smoking. I don't feel deprived at all however the need to stuff myself with a dessert at the end of a very filling meal has vanished.

5. I changed my thoughts from "I deserve a treat" to "I deserve a body that is healthy". This too cut out the idea of deprivation and worked with my psyche to reassure me I was allowed, I was just making a different choice today.

6. I did a fast for one week that didn't allow for any food consumption after sunset until sunrise. This was a great tool for getting rid of the night time baked-goods craving as I had two reasons, not just one, for not giving into the cravings. The fast was a spiritual fast where I spent time doing yoga and meditation and writing. It was very beneficial and very easy to do as I ate well all day but stopped just after 6:30pm every night.

7. I drank tons of fluid, but only herbal tea and water. I got as much sleep as I could.

8. When the cravings got tough I ate two slices of whole grain, sugar free bread with fruit. It got me through but now I don't do this. I still eat it but it's just a meal, not a way to beat sugar cravings.

8. I decided. And I keep deciding every day, that I won't have refined sugar. I remember watching an interview with Robert Downey Junior who battled drug addiction for so long but who seems to be very successful in beating it in the past few years. He was asked what the difference was this time as opposed to all the other times he'd tried and he said that this time he "decided" to do it. Previously he hadn't made the decision. He knew he should, he wanted to, he intended to, but he hadn't decided to. So yes, you have to make a definite, realistic decision to do this in order to have success.

I am very proud to have done this, even for just a month. I am doing it again today and tomorrow I plan on deciding to do it again. I try not to think beyond that because who knows what the future will bring.

I do know that if I can do it anyone can. Decide to do it, pick a date and go forward. It is possible and the health benefits cannot be underestimated. I feel better and things are clearer now.

Affirmation: Anything I choose to do I can do if I decide to do it.



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I am way overdue for an update. As I go along, still sugar-free, I'm noticing some things. First of all, I believe I had, what I would call, a reaction to some sugar. I baked some banana muffins that called for honey. I only gave up refined sugar and so I thought, why not? Well after being out all day and getting home, very hungry, I ate two of them. Later I became very ill. I felt as though I had a fever(I didn't) and I had to go lay down and cover for a while. I also felt cold, shakey and it took me a long while to warm back up. This feeling only happened once and only after I ate the muffins. Maybe I shouldn't have had two(actually, definitely I shouldn't have) however I felt so hungry I just did it. I won't do that again! If I decide to eat sugar of any kind, I will be more moderate, start out slowly.

Beyond that, today was the first day I've felt even remotely any craving for sugar. And it was mild. As a woman I also have to say, premenstrual symptoms were minimal and that is a very pleasant change. I am making another assumption here when I say this craving might be related to hormonal changes. If so, things certainly have changed in that regard!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been reading "French Women Don't Get Fat" and I've taken to adopting some of the methods set out in the book. One things I've started doing is making my eating into more of an event. Today I set out my bread, cheese, sliced orange and some berries on a plate and my fifteen year old daughter said "That looks so professional" and it did! It looked as though it had been prepared at a restaurant. I like the idea of using nice plates and setting the food on the plate in an appetising manner. We are blessed to have good food and enjoying it as an occasion makes it feel like more of a gift.

It feels odd, I hope the feeling lasts but this is the most normal I've ever felt. I don't obsess about what I eat, I know if I want something I can have it and I am just choosing not to.

For anyone out there trying to quit sugar, here is a tip. Eat a bit more bread. I have a slice of a whole grain, sugar-free bread with fruit and it satisfied me until I got past the first few days of cravings. I no longer do that because I am not craving sugar right now. Let me clarify, I still eat it, but not for that reason, I eat it now simply because it's what I like to eat at times.

Affirmation: I eat a limited amount of sugar daily. I no longer crave sugar and I now can do without it except for very special occasions and enjoy unrefined sweets instead of refined white sugar as a treat.





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