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*** Question From Reader ***
Dear Miss Andrea,
I just wanted to thank you for your help. I am
doing a little bit better and I've been doing
everything you tell me to do, but the thing is is
that im going to school in Michigan and I'm
nervous that I might screw up cuz I get tempted
very easily and I'm also a choco-holic.
So what do I do? Please help me.
Sincerely, Erica
*** MY RESPONSE ***
Dear Erica,
Thanks for writing to me with your question and
your concerns.
Sounds like you're on the right track to health
and weight loss... so keep it up! I promise you,
the longer you do this, the easier it gets.
Looks like you've begun to notice some of your
"weaknesses" - when you're around certain foods
and in certain stressful environments.
This is a good thing! You are building your own
SELF-AWARENESS about what causes you to make
unhealthy eating choices.
Becoming self aware is part of the process
towards getting healthy.
We ALL have different foods that trigger us to
overeat, foods that we have intense cravings for
or maybe even addictions to, and stressful
situations where we long for the comfort of food.
As you continue with this process of becoming
SELF-aware, you will begin to notice patterns
within yourself. Like:
What foods trigger me to overeat (once you
start, you can't stop)?
What food do I crave when I am in
stressful situations?
What food do I crave when I am bored?
What food do I crave regularly or even
daily?
You may notice that different emotions can
trigger cravings for different foods... NOTICE
THIS WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
You may want to consider keeping a food
journal and writing down the foods that you
continuously crave and what you were feeling at
the time when the craving hit.
And also start to pay attention to what
situations trigger you to crave the comfort
of food.
The more you can recognize where your
"weaknesses" are, the more you can PREPARE AHEAD
OF TIME and BE READY for them when they come.
In this newsletter, I'm going to give you
some tips on how you can do this.
>>>> DEALING WITH UNCOMFORTABLE EMOTIONS
WITHOUT TURNING TO FOOD <<<<<
It sounds like you've done a lot of this
SELF-awareness work already and you've already
identified your biggest weaknesses... like I
said, you are already well on your way to a
lifetime of health.
Now let's take it a step further, and get you
thinking about how you can OVERCOME these
weaknesses now that you've identified them.
I have been studying food addictions in women,
and observing the effects of food addictions in
MYSELF for many years... and it is a very complex
subject, but I've definitely noticed some patterns.
Addictions have many layers to them (meaning you
have to tackle them from different angles), and one
of those layers is the EMOTIONAL LAYER.
So, let's talk about the EMOTIONAL stress of
going to a new school in Michigan where you are
afraid you will be tempted easily.
I understand what temptation is all about when
you are in an unfamiliar and stressful environment,
and unless you have a POSITIVE way to deal with
these stressful emotions, you will continue to
turn to your food addictions for relief.
It's a whole lot easier to eat healthy and not
pig out when you are in your own "safe" environment
inside your home because you get to control what
food comes in and out of it...
But when you venture out into the world, you will
get tempted to eat bad foods, especially when
you're in stressful and unfamiliar environments (like
going to a new school).
You're going to have a lot of confusing emotions
running through you, and you will want relief from
this confusion... BUT YOU MUST LEARN TO DEAL WITH
THESE EMOTIONS IN OTHER WAYS BESIDES "NUMBING" THEM
WITH FOOD.
When you have emotions come up, write them in
your journal, write poetry, talk to your friends
or family... find some HEALTHY way to release
your worries and get it out, otherwise you may
turn to food when you are down.
The thing about food is that it is very
comforting, because you know exactly what you're
going to get. It's nothing unfamiliar like a new
school.
You've been eating your entire life and you
know the good dealings that it's going to give you
TEMPORARILY.
But the KEY is to find LASTING relief from this
uncomfortable stress and these confusing emotions,
instead of eating to "numb" the pain and then having to
deal with the guilt, the bloating, the fat storage...
and all the other things you are ready to let leave
behind.
>>>> PLANNING AHEAD AND PREPARING FOR
TEMPTATION WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER <<<<<
The best way to make sure you don't give in to
temptation... IS TO NEVER LET YOURSELF GO HUNGRY.
You should ALWAYS have healthy snacks with you.
This will help you resist the temptation of eating
bad food.
And I mean ALWAYS have healthy snacks with you.
MAKE THIS A HABIT:
Even if you've just eaten...
Even if you are full...
You should never leave your house hungry.
In fact, eat before you leave your house, and
then grab a piece of fruit and a bag of nuts and
put it in your purse.
Keep this fruit and these nuts with you
EVERYWHERE you go, because you never know when
the next opportunity you're going to have to eat
and you don't know what temptation food you are
going to run into when you are out of your "safe
house".
In order to make sure your house is "safe",
there are certain things that you should NEVER
buy at the grocery store and bring home with you.
Life happens. Things get you off track, and
even if you're on your way to eat, or meeting a
friend for lunch... still bring your fruit and nuts
with you!
Sometimes your friend might be like "Oh, let
me just go run some errands over here, and I need
to go make this phone call over here," and before
you know it, four, five, six hours have gone by!
If you go more than two hours, you get into what
I call the "desperation zone" where any food looks
appealing and desirable... especially really
fattening, sweet, salty, fried foods will look very
appealing because your blood sugar has dropped down
so low and you're going to want a really fast fix
of calories.
Your body will start to crave junk food and crap
because your body knows that if you eat that crap,
it will shoot your blood sugar back up really
quickly.
And it's this sugar "rush" that makes you
temporarily forget about any emotional pain you
are feeling at that moment.
(Do you see the pattern here? It always comes
back to the emotions.)
So you can't let your blood sugar drop down.
You have to consistently throughout the day, never
go two or three hours without eating.
You have to always have snacks with you,
especially if you're at a party.
I know this isn't, like, really cool to have a
handful of almonds and a piece of fruit with you.
So just go off in the corner and eat your snack
and then you'll be able to socialize around all
that food WITHOUT pigging out.
So don't set yourself up for failure. Never
leave the house hungry and always bring a piece
of fruit and a bag of nuts (make sure the nuts
are plain and unsalted) with you everywhere you
go.
>>>> REPLACE YOUR NEGATIVE ADDICTIONS
WITH POSITIVE ONES <<<<<
We all have foods that we have a hard time
resisting. We all have our weaknesses.
Mine is chocolate chip cookies.
When I show up at an event or a party, and I see
that there are chocolate chip cookies, I STAY AS
FAR AWAY FROM THAT TABLE AS POSSIBLE.
Because I know that if I allow myself to just
eat one... I won't stop until I've eaten at least 6
or 7 cookies.
Like an addict, I've learned that it's easier to
say "no" to eating them than to try to stop after just
one. It's just too hard to stop myself once I've tasted
it.
Instead, I munch on fruit and vegetables and nuts.
And if I want a "pick-me-up" (like you get from eating
sugar and chocolate), I drink a glass of green tea
instead.
This usually gets me through the temptation
without giving in.
Now, as for your chocolate addiction.
I talk a lot about breaking bad habits in my
ebook. I've broken a lot of bad habits in my life
and I discovered that there is a winning formula to
help you overcome any addiction.
The thing about chocolate and why a lot of women
are addicted to chocolate is that it stimulates
dopamine receptors in your brain, and this is the
same feeling that you get when you're in love or
when you're euphorically happy.
So you can overcome your addiction to chocolate
by REPLACING it with other ways of getting this
feeling of love and these dopamine rushes.
A lot of people think that, "Oh, okay, well I'm
not in love, so therefore I need to eat chocolate."
But you don't have to wait for another person to
give you love... in fact, you shouldn't wait.
You can give YOURSELF love.
There's ways of giving yourself these dopamine
"highs", and feeling this self-love can REPLACE
your need for chocolate.
Some examples, some things you just might want
to try are journal writing, singing, dancing, yoga,
meditation, long walks...
Ultimately YOU get decide what things you can do
for YOURSELF that make you feel the most self-love.
Every woman is unique and every woman has an idea
of what's best for them.
So, Erica if you really want to quit your
chocolate addiction, if you are ready to make your
own natural dopamine highs...
Then find out what REALLY makes YOU happy.
What can you do for YOURSELF that makes you feel
loved?
Only you can answer that question for yourself.
And once you find out what that is...
KEEP DOING IT!
You will find that your addiction to chocolate
for that dopamine rush and euphoric stimulation isn't
as strong because you are ALREADY getting it, the
NATURAL WAY.
>>>> THIS IS A PROCESS, AND YOU'RE ALREADY ON YOUR WAY <<<<<
The main point is to realize that this is
not something that's just going to vanish over
night. This is a process.
You'll learn more about what foods and what
situations make you say, "Oh forget it. It's just
too hard" and indulge.
The deeper you go into this process of getting
healthy... the more prepared you will be when it
happens so you can AVOID the situation or the food
all together, or know how to handle it when it
does happen.
This is a process. It's not just snap your fingers
and make all your bad habits and insecurities and
bad feelings go away.
But everytime you do indulge, and everytime you
do say, "Oh forget it, I don't care, I just want to
eat this cookie or cake, or fast food..." or whatever
NOTICE WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
Notice what your feelings are AROUND the
situation.
If you notice the feeling and your emotion
around WHY you indulge, you'll start to realize
that it's really not about the food at all.
It's more about what's happening with you in
that situation, and why you're turning to food to
make you feel better in that moment.
So, if you do indulge, don't beat yourself up too
much. Just reflect on it. It's an OPPORTUNITY for
learning more about yourself.
Think, "What was I feeling that caused me to
want to eat crap?" Or even better yet,
try to think about it BEFORE you decide to indulge.
Write it down in your journal.
Really get it out and bring all this awareness
to the fore-front of your mind, and to your
consciousness, because the more you think about
"Why am I choosing to eat this?" you become more
aware of your emotions around the eating.
And you'll have a better understanding that it
wasn't really about the food after all.
I talk more about ways to overcome your food
addictions and give you tips on how to eat for
life energy (so you don't rely on sugar and fat to
make you feel good) in my ebook "Andrea's Answer:
How To Lose Weight By Feeding and Nourishing Your
Spirit".
I know that you'll find lots of useful information
for getting healthy and staying fit for life.
I wish that I had a complete resource for food,
nutrition, exercise, and weight loss when I was going
off to school. It would have saved me from a lot of
frustration and a lot of weight gain.
So, thanks again for writing in with your great
question.
You are on an amazing path of growth, and I
know you will be a great inspiration to all of
your new friends in Michigan.
Keep shining your light and making the world
a brighter and happier place.
Your Friend,
With Light, Love and Laughter,
Andrea
P.S. You can find more articles like this one by
signing up for my free newsletter here .
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