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Tera Warner: Overcoming Excessive and Compulsive Eating
If you do it, you know it and it's not fun. The classic polite smile as the plate of hummus comes around. You politely refuse. But as soon as you've got a moment to yourself behind closed doors the compulsion over takes you.It starts with a dip of the fingers and ends with a half-stunned stare at the bottom of an empty bowl. Many of us inspired about health and vibrant living have come from a background of less than ideal eating patterns.
One of the many traps into which a lot of "Raw Foodists" fall, or any dieter or binger for that matter, is the trap of feast, then famine. If you're one of the women who constantly puts her attention on the last 10 pounds to lose, then you know this trap all too well.
The 24 hour fast followed by the 3 hour binge. What does it take to finally achieve balance? How do we finally get into communication with ourselves and apply the tools that help us thrive and feel our best? At times it can seem a constant struggle, especially if you've come from a lifetime of destructive eating patterns.
Well, here are some helpful tips that may just inspire you to change some habits and create a new attitude toward food.
SLOW DOWN!
Modern day life has us on the move, up late and racing to get things done. Before you eat, relax, and take the time to give your body the message that food is on its way. You'll be more able to digest and enjoy your food and so hear your body's messages best when you're relaxed and peaceful.
Other things that help you to slow down around meal time:
Putting your utensils down between bites.
Giving yourself at least 30 minutes to enjoy your meal.
Some deep, slow breaths before eating.
Silence at meal time.
Take smaller bites, chew more slowly.
Take a little break between bites to smile at the person in front of you, etc.
Take a 5 minute breather. No one will likely even notice that you've taken a break, but doing so allows you to be mindful about your real hunger.
Make Food Time Focused Time
There are lots of great habits you can develop around your meal time and eating rituals. Overeating can happen very easily when we're eating as well as doing 10 other things simultaneously. While women are great at multitasking, meal time is one time where you would be best served by putting your attention on mindful eating, allowing you to be in better communication with your body's signals and needs.
When you're done eating, pop up from the table and start cleaning up the space. If you sit with the plate in front of you and you're anything like any relative I ever had at a Christmas dinner, you'll just keep snacking until the plate is empty, whether you're hungry or not.
Compulsion and composure don't go hand in hand. So if you're prone to food habits that seem out of control, developing some restful, thoughtful patterns around mealtime can make a big difference. Try these:
Leave a few bites on your plate and practice the art of a controlled finish. The end of meal time doesn't need to be signaled by an empty plate or bag of cookies! Leave a few bites without eating it all. Remember, it's better to let it rot in the garbage than in your gut!
Remember, often when we're going after foods it's stimulation we're seeking more than anything else. When over eating, it can become somewhat of means of deadening other perceptions, feelings and emotions, too. You've got to be willing to avail yourself to other pleasures, feelings, emotions and sensations that are in store for you!
Choosing from a selection of foods that are fresh and do not cause food addictions also makes a huge difference in one's ability to manage compulsive over-eating.
Remember that it's progress we're after, not perfection. Find your wins in the adventure of continually striving to achieve the level of health and wellness you're after, and let these helpful tips inspire change and motivation to take the next step forward on the journey.
More from Tera Warner >>
Alissa Cohen: How to Stay Raw
There's so much information out there now about going raw and staying raw. So many different ways to do this diet, natural hygiene, mono eating, 80-10-10, no nuts just fruits and vegetables, fasting, juicing, no fruit.If you are new to raw there is no way you are going to be able to go on a strict mono diet (eating only one food at a time until your full) and be able to stay on it.. Ok, some of you may be able to, for a while. But this is the reason I see so many people fail on this diet.
For years I have worked with people who have spent time at some of the top healing centers, worked with the raw ‘gurus' and finally come to me and tell me they are sick of just eating salads, being so rigid or not feeling like they are having any fun with this.
If you have to 'white knuckle’ this the whole time your doing it, its not going to work.Yes, you may be able to do it for a while but eventually it will just be a matter of will power and that never works. You need to make this fun and easy and joyous! Otherwise why do it?! For health? Forget that. If that’s the only reason it wont work. You wont BE healthy because you’ll be so stressed and uptight and stress and anxiety produce acid in the body which is why you’re eating raw in the first place, to create an alkaline state not acid!
So, you need to make this fun, you need to make this something you can live with, something that resonates with you, something you enjoy and look forward to and not something you dread. So what do you do? Your not having fun, your getting bored, or you want to do it but the smell and look of other peoples food around you looks appealing and you find yourself wavering…
Well, if your dreading this way of eating, not having fun and not thoroughly enjoying yourself, you need to change what your doing, now!
Being new to raw foods, you cannot expect to go from a cooked food diet to a strict one of minimal amounts of food, this does not make sense! Think about this, please! So many times I go to peoples homes after they go raw and they have a small bowl of fruit on the counter. I ask, “where's your food” and they tell me, right there in that bowl. HA! Forget it! When you eat a cooked food diet, even when your are on a diet, there is plenty of food in the house to eat, in the fridge, in the cabinets, on the counters, etc… but for some reason when people switch to raw food they start eating minimally, they hardly have any food in the house or they go shopping and get just enough for what they need for a few days… stock up people! It is only logical that if you get hungry, run out of food and are new to raw food eating you’ll be headed to the nearest fast food place within days! Don’t be so hard on yourself and expect yourself to suffer through this diet with minimal food available.
Now, if your not one to prepare a lot of gourmet meals that’s fine. Many of my recipes only take minutes to prepare, but you have to have something in your house to eat. Stock up on nuts so you whip up a torte within minutes, buy a red pepper, scallion and walnuts to make the mock salmon, have some nori available to roll the mock salmon up with some avocado, so many easy things you can make. But you have to plan and think this out a bit. Its not hard, you would need to do this with any new plan or diet…. Teach yourself how to make a few things, buy the spices, ingredients, etc… and get used to preparing it. It’s so easy with raw food but there is a learning curve just like anything else. Take a couple of weeks to make all these mouthwatering goodies, get your body adjusted to the lighter feeling of raw foods, allow your taste buds to appreciate the pure flavor of fresh natural foods instead of processed cooked foods.
You should not feel deprived or cheated or hungry on this diet, if you are then your not doing this right. What is the ‘right ‘diet for everyone on raw? There is no right one, you need to figure that out for yourself. Ill write more about that in another post. But the only way to find what’s right is to allow your body to adapt and cleanse and shift while eating raw foods. Eventually you will begin to eat lighter and ‘feel’ what your body needs. Eventually after you have been eating delicious raw foods and having fun with it and making this a joyous adventure you will begin to feel better and heal and realize how this diet can be the most wondrous gift you will ever give yourself.
Once you have been raw for a while you know when to eat less nuts, when to eat more greens, when to cut out certain things, add certain things or change your diet and it won’t be big deal. It wont be painful and you will be able to do that with ease, but please don’t expect yourself to do that within the first month or two of changing your whole way of eating which you have known your whole life.
Its amazing to me that after 40 years of eating pizza and chips and cookies and candy, people go raw and after three days are worried they will be deficient in protein or certain vitamins! Come on, think about this, silly isn’t it? First of all you will be eating healthier then ever before, you probably have never eaten as much fruit and veggies before right? And it takes years to become deficient in most things…. After a couple of days of not rotating your food choices or having a green drink you’ll be fine really, trust me on this one. Most people have never had a green drink in their life!
So, closing thoughts – JUST DO IT! Stop talking about it, stop worrying about it, stop obsessing over it. Stop thinking you need to make this even more rigid (mono, natural hygiene, no fruit, no nuts, raw food is strict enough) Do it for a month and see how you feel, make the commitment and you’ll be floored!
Have fun, stock up on tons of food, make fun things to eat, talk to people about what your doing, stay connected (very important!) and discover your true self!
Best wishes on your journey to a new life!
Xo Alissa
More from Alissa >>
How to Stick to the Raw Food Diet: Tips from Angela Stokes
Angela Stokes, who was recently profiled as a successful example of switching to a raw food diet, has given Natural News a few tips about how stay on the diet successfully.Raw foodism involves is a step beyond vegetarianism since it excludes all cooked foods including pasta and beans. Diets consist of unprocessed foods.
On the diet, Stokes, 30, went from 300 pounds to 138 pounds in two years. She has kept off the weight for four years and feels great about it.
"Six years ago I was 300 pounds and had no interest in health whatsoever. And I'm still here," she told Natural News. "I wouldn't be here still, six years later, if there wasn't a good reason for it."
Stokes suggested that one way to stay on a diet which eschews cooked food is going to potlucks.
"I would see people's different creations and just that sense of community and it's not just me," she said. "That really nice feeling of 'there's other people who are on this path'."
She also suggests the site GiveitToMeRaw.com as one online community for raw foodists.
She also suggests that people who want to attempt the diet realize that for her, it "is a lifestyle." She suggests starting off at a 50 percent raw, 50 percent cooked diet and working up to 100 percent if possible.
"It's not about going on some diet you're going to go off again at some point. That's not the mentality around it from my perspective."
More from Angela Stokes >>
Tera Warner: How To Survive On “Raw Food” In A Cooked Food Restaurant
This is one of the most common questions people ask as they encounter the raw food diet. The dinner parties, the corporate events, and the evenings out on the town with someone you love... “What am I going to do??!!”If you’re not fortunate enough to have a vast selection of Raw restaurants to choose from, then you’re going to have to improvise. But don’t be worried about it, it’s actually much, much easier than you think.
Here’s what that’s going to look like:
1. Bend the rules, don’t break them.
Just because you’re in a restaurant, don’t let all those saucy smells seduce you into thinking “one slice of double cheese pizza won’t hurt.” It will hurt. And worse, you’ll ride the guilt train for having done it along with indigestion, constipation, water retention and oh-ho-ho, doesn’t that make for a lovely way to feel on a date?
You can find compromises if you have to. There’s no need to play pious Susie while you crunch on iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato.
The raw food lifestyle is a lifestyle of abundance. Though it may not seem that way at first, once you get in the groove of things you realize how much there is to discover and create from an extraordinary selection of foods that improve your health and well being on so many levels. And they just look better, too!
2. Put some boundaries in place for yourself. Hands off the cheesecake!
Before I give you the tricks for sticking to raw in a cooked restaurant, I just want to qualify it all by saying that it’s okay, sometimes, to make compromises.
I guarantee that some lightly steamed vegetables and brown rice will not back on an extra 10 pounds overnight. But, if a floret of steamed broccoli leads to the justification that a thick slice of double-chocolate cheesecake would top it off well, you know you’ve gone overboard and will likely be feeling the consequences the next day and may have a hard time getting “back on track” easily.
3. Make it an adventure—a challenge!
I’ll be honest. I’ve had some disastrous experiences in this area. In the beginning I would go through the very laborious process of explaining everything I did NOT want to eat.
“Nothing cooked.”
“No noodles.”
“No, no croutons.”
“No toasted nuts, either, please.”
“Nope, I don’t do salad dressing!”
And despite all my qualifiers and explanations, I invariably ended up with a plate loaded with toasted walnuts, goat cheese and croutons.
I felt defeated. An outcast doomed to disappointments in a cooked food world. I’ll admit to having taken it all so seriously that one day, I was drawn to the point of tears at the table.
Then I changed the Game a bit. I heard about one chef who loved a challenge and so decided to play the “I wonder if you’ll be able to save the day...” card.
I admittedly gave them my woeful puppy look when I said,
“You know, I have a little favor to ask of you, and I’m not sure if you can do it, or not, but I thought it can’t hurt to try. Just so you know, every other restaurant that I have asked to get this right, has totally failed. They just didn’t get it. But this looks like a good place, and you look pretty clever, so here’s the thing…”
A-ha! A chance to rise above the competition. A challenge and an opportunity to impress had been placed on the table. At the time I ate very simply and had gone on to request that the only thing I wanted was a billowing plate of spinach and freshly sliced tomatoes on top. But I didn’t want some flimsy side dish show. I wanted a mountain of spinach and lots of tomatoes.
I also made it clear that money wasn’t a concern for me.
It was a total glory moment when my plate arrived. I was thrilled. It was so simple, but they really did try and make it look and feel exactly like what I wanted. And they refilled my plate as often as I asked.
We all had a great time, and it wasn’t weird or strange and awkward to make these requests. It was FUN! I left a generous tip and felt completely satisfied with my meal.
Another glory moment came when I’d offered up the challenge to the chef to impress me with anything Fruit or Vegetable, but nothing in between.
WOW! One of the most gorgeous salads I’ve ever had.
Don’t be intimidated by the idea of going out for a night on the town. Whenever possible, you can call in advance, too, and let the chef have a bit of notice! Often they’ll go to special efforts just to show off their skills a little. Whatever you do, don’t look upon the opportunity in fear. Make it an adventure.
4. Whatever you do, don’t apologize.
Some people have suggested or saying that the “Doctor says I have to eat this way…”
That’s just no fun at all and completely apologetic.
You do not have to make apologies for the fact that YOU are a health seeker. You do not have to make apologies for trying to go against the system and improve your conditions.
Smile with pride. Beam, giggle, flirt with your simple foods and look like the gorgeous diva you are! The world will catch on soon enough when they see your healthy glow! You are a pioneer for health in the world, and you should show it off, not hide in shame or apologize.
Don’t feel cooped up and isolated socially just because you happen to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Snack a bit before if you have to, but get out and show off your healthy ways. If you keep the right attitude about it all, you’ll be sure to convert others who see your healthy habits.
More from Tera Warner >>
Heidi Ohlander: How to Stay Raw For Good
It's funny how some things come in waves. We've been receiving a lot of questions lately about how people can stay raw all week long. They start their week out right, but somewhere along the way they slip up here and there.We both want to say right now that if you "slip up", we don't think it's a big deal at all! You ate something you didn't want, it's not a crime. Remember: it was your choice. Celebrate it! And better than that, take it as an opportunity to learn from it!
Here is our list of 9 solid tips and tricks on how you can stay raw this week:
- Eat your staples. What are your daily staples? Most of us do not deviate very much from what we eat on a day-to-day basis. Do you eat a lot of banana smoothies? Do you juice regularly? Whatever it is, keep a mental or written list of what you eat. Make sure you are regularly making and stocking these things in your kitchen.
- Focus on the benefits. When you start feeling so good, you often forget how bad you felt before. It's easy to stay raw when you are focusing on the benefits. Keep a list of ailments you used to have, or before and after pictures. Read raw food blogs, watch videos...stay motivated.
- Try a new recipe. Even though we often only eat our tried and true recipes, adding at least one new recipe a week keeps things fresh. Try something new. The best thing that could happen is you find something new you love and want to eat often!
- Have a raw stash. Carry raw food bars in your bag or purse. Bring a trail mix with you in a container. Pack fruit that stays good for a few days or weeks and travels well, like apples and oranges. Bring superfoods with you, like goji berries and raw chocolate.
- Avoid coffee. For many of us, coffee can be a major trigger for eating heavy foods or cooked foods and vice-versa. Do what you can to reduce the amount of coffee you drink or eliminate it all together.
- Eat foods that will give you long lasting energy. Fruit is great, but it can burn out quick. Throw a tablespoon of your favorite raw oil in your smoothie. According to David Wolfe in Sunfood Diet Success System, this will help release the fruit sugar more slowly for extended energy. You can also eat a handful of nuts or seeds for longer lasting energy, but don't overdo it or you may get tired.
- Have your favorite raw food or raw food dish. This is so simple but often overlooked. Make your favorite dish or have your favorite fruit. This can really reignite your raw food passion and make you wonder why you ever wanted cooked food!
- Make a raw dessert you can freeze or have in the fridge. Personally, we love coming home to an awesome pie or ice cream waiting for us in the fridge or freezer. These can last up to weeks and be there for you when you are hungry and don't want to make something. (For more information on making raw ice cream, you can sign up for our free raw ice cream ecourse.)
- Eat something that makes you feel good right away. Durian, raw chocolate, and green smoothies are our favorites. They can immediately make you feel ecstatic and joyful!
There you go! Nine easy tips to keep you raw, Right Now!
Remember, being raw isn't like being in the military. You don't have to do something you don't want to do and you have no one to answer to but yourself. Don't make this into a war with you on one side and food on the other.
More from Heidi and JS Ohlander >>
Tera Warner: Raw Food Combination - 8 Rules
Though the subject itself has only really come under investigation in the last 100 years, it has been covered in so many ways by some many different people that there are entire shelves in bookstores devoted to this very subject. Unfortunately, this makes for a whole lot of confusion for the average health-seeker. No other creature on the planet seems to need elaborate charts and pyramids before they dive into their daily feast, so let’s see if we can’t come up with something simple so we can get out of our heads and on with the joys of eating and feeling good!
One of the first things to understand about food combining, is that the need for these principles comes from the fact that we have removed ourselves from our “natural environment”. Meaning that most of us can’t go out and pick our own mangos and then graze on the green leaves we find along our merry way. In modern society we have an infinite selection of food stuffs available to us at any moment. Combine that with our seemingly endless need for stimulation and we find that even though some apples, bananas and celery sticks would be a perfectly acceptable, nutritionally complete meal, we seek complication. The end result has been some marvelously elaborate recipes and a whole lot of indigestion.
The main problem with our combo-abombos and "gourmet" meals, (raw or otherwise), is that different foods digest at different rates. Generally, in order of speed of digestion, it’s sugars, starch, fats and then proteins. If you put something in your stomach that takes a long time to digest, followed by something that would normally digest very quickly, well the latter is forced to sit in the pipes and wait. Given the nature of the environment in the stomach, this leads to fermentation (sugars) and putrefaction (proteins). The byproducts of this gastric volcano is alcohol, indigestion and a whole lot of hot, smelly air. LITERALLY!
So, how can we avoid these physically and socially uncomfortable experiences? If you are going to get adventurous in your raw food play, take the following simple guidelines into consideration:
1. Fat and Sugar do not mix well.
Fat, which takes several hours to digest, and sweet sugars, which digest and are assimilated very quickly, do not make great belly-mates. Unfortunately, when you look around at most raw food recipes, you’ll see there is a discouraging number that contain mixtures like dates with nuts, banana with avocado, or sweet fruits with coconut. These recipes are an open invitation for digestive fermentation (never mind what they do for blood sugar issues)!
2. Bananas and Acid do not mix well.
Mixing bananas with oranges, for example, is less than ideal. Bananas are a starchy sweet fruit and where other fruits are concerned, combine best with other sweet fruits (like mangos) and sub-acid fruits (apples, pears, berries etc.) You should always listen to your body's response to the combinations you try, but we definitely advise you to avoid combining bananas and Durians. Other fruits generally mix fairly well together.
3. Acidic Fruits and Fats are okay for some.
Some people have no problems combining acidic and even sub-acid fruits with fat. The understanding is that these foods can actually help digest fats. The idea makes for some nice salad dressing combinations:
Tomatoes and tahini…
Orange juice and avocado…
4. Avoid Mixing Different Fats in the Same Meal.
Mixing different sources of fat like coconut, nuts, seeds, avocado or durian at the same sitting can make for a heavy-duty digestive workout and is best avoided. It’ just a lot more work than necessary for that beautiful body of yours.
5. Dark, Leafy Greens Go With EVERYTHING!
Mix them in your smoothies, or smother them with your favorite avocado dressing. Either way, leafy greens like spinach, lettuce, celery, etc. combine well with anything! (Green vegetables like broccoli, and cabbage do NOT mix well, and are not considered dark, leafy greens. They can be mixed with fats without any problem, however.)
So What About Cooked Foods and Other Vegetables?
If you want to eat fruit in the same meal as other foods, (salads with fatty dressings or cooked foods) then allow at least 20 Minutes for the fruit to make its way through the system, thus avoiding the uncomfortable side-effects of bloating, gas and digestive fermentation!
The Sweetness of Simplicity
Ultimately, we recommend simplicity because it most closely resembles the way things would be in nature. When you permit yourself the luxury of enjoying foods for the individual wonders and works of biological art that they are, you also allow your body to digest in “layers.”
Eating one food at a time, follow the following guidelines:
1. Eat Your Watery Foods First!
Because of its high water content, melon digests very quickly and within minutes of eating, it has already left the stomach!! While it does mix with other fruits very well, in sequential eating watery foods first, please!
2. Eat Acidic Fruits Before Sweet or Starchy Foods!
Things like citrus, kiwis, pineapples, and tomatoes should be eaten before other fruits. Again, if you think that most oranges tend to be less “concentrated” than a mango or a banana, this makes sense. *Dried fruit can be considered a concentrated food and should be eaten after fresh fruits, if eaten at all. We do not recommend more than occasional consumption of dried fruits.
3. Fat, Protein and Other Vegetables To Follow.
That’s it. Think generally in terms of eating your least concentrated foods first, and you’ll pretty much have it covered.
We hope these tips are comfort to your tummy and help to simplify what can appear to be an awfully complicated subject. The simpler you keep your foods the better you’ll feel!
Here’s to your health!
Raw Food Before and Afters: Angela Stokes
My name is Angela Stokes, I am 30 and I experienced recovery from morbid obesity by adopting a healthy lifestyle of raw food and natural health care.BEFORE - Aug 2001 - 279lbs (approx. 20st/127kg)
AFTER - August 2008 - 138lbs (approx. 9st 9lbs/62kg)
Back in 2002, I was 23 years old, about 19 stone (266lbs/120kg), UK dress size 26-28 and lost in miserable cycles of a non-existent love-life, uncontrollable overeating and complete denial. My pride stopped me discussing my weight with even my closest friends and if anyone tried to broach the subject with me, I strongly resented them for 'interfering'.
My weight had steadily increased since my thyroid gland went under-active aged 11. By 16, I was 16 stone (224lbs/101kg) and my weight increased with my age, a stone a year, until by age 21, at my university graduation in 2000, I was 21 stone (294lbs/133kg). That was the heaviest I reached and when my health began to suffer so much that I thought I had diabetes, I knew this couldn't continue.
Two summers later I was introduced to the idea that revolutionized my life. A friend lent me 'The Raw Family' by the Boutenkos - a testimonial book about eating mainly or only raw foods for optimum health. I was utterly absorbed - I'd never been interested in diets, health fads or slimming aids and suddenly it seemed the right answer was in my hands. I began the very next day and the improvements in my health over the next weeks were astonishing. You could almost see the weight burn off me - I'll never forget seeing my collar bone again for the first time in years; my skin and hair quality improved dramatically, my energy soared and I was filled with vitality and a new hunger - for real life.
Within just a month of going raw, I had my first boyfriend in over 5 years - I was thrilled and increasingly inspired and dedicated to my new lifestyle. I found that as I became less of myself physically, I became more of myself as a whole person. I began to open up in ways that I hadn't found possible before, allowing truth, honesty and trust to develop. I had been locked up in that body for so long and now the real me was appearing and generating much interest, especially from men. ;)
It's been over five years since I started eating raw and I'm happier than I've ever been - I'm now UK dress size 10, can wear whatever clothes I like, eat delicious raw food daily and take great pleasure in treating myself well.
I will always bear the scars of my experiences - physically, my skin is marked and emotionally and spiritually I experienced great depths of loneliness, depression and insecurity that take time to heal. However, the process has been an extraordinary learning experience and I would not wish to change what I've been through to become the woman I am today.
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