Snack Foods - POSTED ON: Aug 26, 2011
Recently I discovered the Paleo writings of J Stantion, and am in the process of reading some of his articles. His position on snack foods is interesting, and very on point. He says:
The Magic Of Snacks: Taste Without Nutrition "Just as a movie set’s only constraint is to look good for a few seconds from a limited set of camera angles, a snack food’s only constraint is to taste good until it slides down your throat. And that’s what technology allows us to do: create products (“snacks”) that tickle our taste receptors far more than real food can ever hope to—but that don’t come with the nutrition that selected us to crave those tastes in the first place. This is the reason that the concept “eat whole foods, minimally processed” is generally sound: if whole foods taste good to us, it’s most likely because they contain nutrients we need, not because they’ve been engineered to tickle our taste buds. (Note that all modern fruits are heavily engineered products of thousands of years of careful breeding: read Dan Koeppel’s fascinating book “Banana” for a look at one typical example.)"
This seems to hit the nail on the head.
Not a Bed of Roses - POSTED ON: Aug 25, 2011
Busy day, not much to say, except sometimes Life is not a Bed of Roses. But ... I'll bet you already knew that.
Binge Eating - POSTED ON: Aug 24, 2011
In my opinion, while the action of binge eating does cause physiological stress (body pain), The psychological stress (mental pain) involved with binge eating comes from the self-berating that many people abuse themselves with.
Some people think that ‘self-sabotage” and self-punishment is the cause of binge eating. Some blame the nagging and berating voice in their head as the “saboteur” that causes them to binge.
However, perhaps it is the food itself; an excess love of food… a personal desire for the taste and for the feeling of full-ness that is sometimes the true culprit.
I've had a lifetime of binge eating. 20 years of professional Therapy didn't resolve the activity, however, it DID get rid of the "nagging and berating voice in the head".
I’ve come to a personal conclusion that it doesn’t much matter what each individual CAUSE of binge eating is because most of the circumstances around me aren’t under my control. Good things happen. Bad things happen. Strong feelings make me want to eat. Period.
I am aware of this, and I work not to follow those desires. Sometimes I still Binge. . in that I engage in emotional eating to excess.. However, it not a form of "self-punishment", and I don't hate myself for it.
My bingeing behavior is always going to part of me, lurking in the background. I have learned to Accept
* that, to date, I have done all I can to fix the problem; * that I'll continue to work to resolve it as much as I can; * that this behavior is sometimes part of who I am; and * that I'm still okay even when I make that behavior choice.
Building a Habit takes Energy. - POSTED ON: Aug 23, 2011
Building a positive Habit takes energy.
In the beginning, habit takes mental energy, to remember to be "good", and follow a new type of eating behavior.
A person has a finite amount of mental energy to spend on being virtuous.
Once we cross over the line from consciously "being good" to just having the Habit, we aren't using as much energy on it day to day, and it becomes easier.
It helps to try and move towards thinking about one's new eating behavior as mostly "allowing" oneself to eat the right amount of food, instead of as denying oneself excess. It helps when we think of ourselves as well-Treated because we are in the process of eating correctly.
Going through most of our week thinking of what we're doing as some sort of self-imposed suffering for the benefit of our future self....becomes wearing. This is especially true if our calorie deficit is high enough to frequently cause gnawing hunger.
Thinking of what one is doing as a positive, can be in and of itself rewarding. It is better not to classify our eating behavior as delayed gratification. Many months can go by without one arriving at one's weight goal, and maintenance of that weight goal seldom allows a drastic eating change. It is best to reject surmising about WHAT extra foods you can eat at goal, or mental bargaining about WHEN you will be able to eat differently.
Making Decisions - POSTED ON: Aug 22, 2011
Every day we are faced with hundreds of decisions, but just because we’ve made some wrong choices in the past doesn’t mean we are destined to make them for the rest of our lives. When making choices:
Think about what’s most important to you.
When faced with any decision, the crucial thing is to consider what matters most to you, regardless of how insignificant that decision might seem.
It is unlikely than any one choice in a given day will alter your life, but all those small choices add up and will eventually impact you for better or worse.
Keep your emotions in check.
In an emotional situation, delay decision making by waiting for a specific time to pass, before making a final decision.
In this way you can calm your emotions to a reasonable level and start thinking clearly about the consequences of your options, as well as which decision will support your life goals.
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