by OneMoreBite | Jan 23, 2004 | Cravings
I quit smoking and substituted M&Ms mixed in with salted mixed nuts. A lethal mix. No kidding, it should be against the law to eat that mix. Why the M&M’s company doesn’t sell their candies mixed with salted nuts, I’ll never know because once you try it, you’re hooked. (Trust me, just do not try it or you’ll be very sorry and hate me forever).
I gained 15 pounds eating a few pounds of this mix a week. It was much more difficult to kick the M&Ms and mixed nuts habit than the smoking. Much harder. I’m dead serious.
I still look adoringly at that alluring deep chocolate brown wrapper – it’s been over 20 years since I gave that mix up and I still want it. Luckily for me they’ve been screwing around with the color of the packaging and I simply do not find those pastel colors appealing in the least. It’s not what’s inside, it’s the color of the package that gets me.
I’m also strangely attracted to fire engine red. Don’t know why, but it’s true. I once couldn’t take my eyes off a passing truck to the point I feared for my own safety – like a young man ogling a tempting lass, I could not pry my eyes from that red truck. Weird.
I’d go get some nuts and mix it some M&M’s except for one thing: fear. I’m terrified I’ll never be able to stop. I advocate eating what you truly love but there are limits and there are some things over which you may have no control. Facing those facts is a good thing. Deciding you have no control over any food though is silly. You can’t love everything like I love fire engine red or deep chocolate plain M&M’s wrappers. It’s true love, not just lust.
by OneMoreBite | Jan 15, 2004 | Fears, Hunger
Yesterday I felt hungry all day. I decided it was because I felt trapped. I didn’t have a choice about what or where to eat – I couldn’t leave my house because there were a few inches of ice literally on everything outside , so I did what any normal, sane person would do. I ate. I might want to work on this issue since if I were ever truly in a situation where the food supply was limited I’d hate to think I’d wipe it out in one frenzied day of panic.
I didn’t eat junky stuff, but I did eat far more than usual. For instance I had a wheat bagel, sliced with raspberry honey. I never slice my bagels, and never put anything on them, so that was odd by itself. I have a very regular schedule of hunger, I eat generally around 7 AM, then again around 10 AM, again around 12 noonish, and maybe 4 or 5 PM is dinner. Thursday I had my usual breakfast, then snacks, then more snacks, then a big lunch, then more snacks, then a big dinner. I popped a few chocolates that day as well.
Basically healthy food but it still adds up. I had a mixture I hadn’t had for a long time where I get out a bowl and toss in granola cereal, raw almonds, raisins and carob chips. That sounds nice and healthy but those calories add up. I mentioned last week it was nearly 4,000 calories that day, of reasonably healthy foods, so I proved you can overeat on good food. I also ate two bananas, one on my cereal in the morning and another in the afternoon as a snack, so I wouldn’t faint from hunger, I guess.
I never used EFT that day. Thinking about it later it seems I had a fear of not having enough, of running out, of thinking I’m being controlled by outside forces, and of not having a choice. One thing I did not do that day was berate myself in any way shape or form. I do not say mean things to myself – I never have, except for the occasional, you idiot type of stuff but never in a serious way. I don’t do that, and if you do, stop now. Just stop. If you hear yourself saying something unkind to yourself just stop.
Since I Didn’t Pay Attention To My Hunger, I Ate Non-stop
Next Daily Bite look for my list of my favorite foods and a bit on tracking your hunger levels. I promise to post my hunger level worksheet so you can see that I’m not perfect either. I maintain a reasonable size and shape by eating like what I call a normal person. I don’t obsess about it, and I do overeat sometimes (witness last Thursday), but one overeating episode does not frame my whole day nor does it color my life. It’s not me, it’s just a behavior.
by OneMoreBite | Jan 6, 2004 | EFT Weight Loss
So, I’m cold – I’m usually cold, so this is nothing new, but it’s especially cold to me. I’ve got on layers, two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, three shirts, and I’m still feeling brrrrr, shivering cold. I’d put the heater higher but my husband likes this arctic chill, so I’m compromising. Being chilled I suddenly thought about getting something to eat. Not because I’m hungry, but simply because I’m cold. Moving around would feel nice, eating would warm me too – that’s the thought that ran through my mind, and it makes sense. Eating stokes the metabolic fire, after all.
Discover Your Eating Triggers
So, there I’ve just discovered an eating trigger for me. Being cold makes me want to eat something – not a bowl of cereal, or a sandwich. I was thinking along the lines of chocolates, or nuts – something simple I could just pop in my mouth and commence chewing. Ah, but then I remember, today is the second day of my big plan to eat a “clean diet.” I’ve been talking about it for a month – letting people who know me in on the plan in an effort to help me do it. I eat a pretty healthy diet but I’ve let my weight creep up this winter, so I need to nip it in the bud right now.
Now nuts are okay on a clean diet, but the salted peanuts we have in the house are greasy and very high fat (raw almonds would be a better choice), and I know I’m not really hungry, so no amount of nuts is going to satisfy me. I just want to chew. It’s one of those, “eat until they are gone” type of hungers. So my new goal for this week is to wait for real hunger before eating. That’s all – just wait until I’m hungry first.
So I did a couple quick rounds of EFT: (Remember, if you need EFT instruction, here are no-cost materials to help.
“Even though I’m ultra cold, and I want to eat something, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
I always start on the P.R. point (side of the hand – karate chop point) and say the set-up three times. Then I do a series on the usual tapping points with the shortened words: “too cold.”
“Even though I don’t want to wait until I’m hungry, I deeply and completely accept myself and will wait anyway.”
“Don’t want to wait.”
Notice how you can add any words you like at the end of your statement? Go ahead and embellish the wording, speak to yourself in a kind manner, and the words will come to you.
While tapping I was thinking about my issue – how being cold is making me want to eat. Is that true, or was I just having a knee jerk reaction? I remember being offered hot chocolate as a child, with those little marshmallows on top, “Here, have some nice cocoa, it’ll make you feel better.” Smiling grandma fades out. So many memories intertwined with food.
There’s nothing wrong with having memories around food – food is an important part of our lives, and I’m not advocating stopping that practice – no way. I am interested in discovering my triggers though: those times I absentmindedly put something in my mouth because of a triggering event, such as the cold feeling in my body. Being cold is not the same as being hungry.
How to Wait for Hunger
Waiting for hunger isn’t so difficult but the hunger itself can be elusive and you may wish it would come sooner. The more nutritious food choices you make, the less often you’ll feel true hunger. Waiting for hunger isn’t so difficult, you just need to find something else to do when the urge to eat strikes without hunger. I’m busy working, so that’s no problem.
You’d be shocked if you waited for real hunger – assuming you eat nutritious food when you eat, that is. I ate breakfast at around 7 AM, nice big bowl of oatmeal and raisins with a sprinkling of brown sugar and non-fat milk. Around 10 AM I decided to eat an apple. Nice, sweet, juicy apple. Crunchy, excellent snack, IMO. So, now it’s likely I won’t be hungry again for another couple of hours.
Oops, I wandered off in the middle of writing this and ended up peeling and eating a Clementine while standing in the kitchen admiring the snow (a Clementine is a type of seedless tangerine, I think). Anyway, it was good. So I wasn’t hungry just then, that’s okay. I’m not a robot – it’s a plan, not a life sentence.
The nice thing about waiting for hunger is you can estimate it – so if I want to plan for lunch, I know sometime between noon and 1 PM will probably be when I’ll get hungry. Unless I’m busy doing something, in which case I might decide to wait. My husband just offered to make me some soup and a sandwich and I said, “No, thanks. I just ate an apple.” I could eat a sandwich, but today, I’m going to wait for hunger. Try it yourself, and see what happens. You may be surprised.
From now on I know that if I’m cold I may want to eat something, so I’m going to wait for hunger. Simple. It’s about being aware, that’s all. Notice what’s going on around you, and use EFT for the obstacles.
by OneMoreBite | Jan 5, 2004 | Diet Plans
If only you’d get up a half hour earlier, think of what could be done? A quick early morning workout perhaps, or time for a real breakfast? I eat breakfast every day, and have long credited that habit with being instrumental in getting me off the nighttime snacking habit and into the eating for health habit. If only I was consistent with my exercise – I was once in very fit shape and the secret? Regular, consistent exercise.
I saw a TV program yesterday about a girl who’d lost a lot of weight and she’d done it by playing a video game. Yup, a video game. The game is called DDR, Dance, Dance, Revolution and it involves a vinyl platform on the floor in front of you with squares, X’s and Triangles, and by following the game you move your feet and/or arms in the direction indicated, effectively causing you to dance. She danced away about 90 pounds before she even realized what was happening. Find something you enjoy and do it consistently, and it can work for you too.
If you’re like me, you start every January with the same hope and promise. This year it’s going to be different – this is going to be the year I (fill in the blank). This year my goal is to adopt a clean diet habit – the same eating style I used to create a healthy frame with 14% body fat many years ago. It wasn’t difficult but it took effort – effort to give up some of my less than healthy habits like eating junk food for instance.
I’d like to invite you on my journey. I’m starting a blog to keep a journal of my progress which will enable you to see my techniques using NLP and EFT in action. I will write my thoughts, my failures and successes as I go through the next few weeks, so you can see exactly how I overcome issues such as not wanting to get up earlier, not wanting to take the time to cook, not wanting to do what I say I want to do. I face these same issues as you, every day, but I have methods to overcome them, and I put my methods into action.
Do you take action? Do you have methods that would work, if only (fill in the blank).
If only is something to strike from your vocabulary this year. My resolution? To stop saying “if only” and to start saying, “now that I.”
Now that I get up earlier I can get more done.
Now that I eat a clean diet I feel so much better.
Now that I exercise every day…
Get the idea? Join me this year, in finding your way to effectively put into action all your plans. Let’s make 2004 a year to remember!
by OneMoreBite | Jan 2, 2004 | EFT Weight Loss
I notice a distinct difference in my eating patterns during the winter than the summer. I’ve worked with clients who specifically addressed this issue as they wanted to avoid the seasonal weight gain loss cycle from now on. Do you notice this phenomena, and what, if anything, can you do about it?
The first step is noticing what’s happening, and the second is deciding to do something about it. You may walk up your front steps every day, thinking about how you really should get out and clean of the leaves, but yet, you don’t. Why? It’s not that you wouldn’t like the job done but … It’s warmer inside, your routine is to walk straight in and relax and you want to relax, don’t you? You don’t want to go inside only to change your shoes and come right back out, so you don’t. Despite your wish that the job were complete, you don’t take the first step toward getting it done.
Frank Holleman
It’s the same with our eating habits. We just think about making a change. Day after day, there it is, that though. “Oh, I’d like to make a change, I’d really like to, but something just stops me.” That something is inertia, plain and simple. You do the same things in the same way because that’s how it’s always been. That can change, if you want it to. A simple decision is the first step.
Do you keep your word? When you say you are going to do something for someone else, do you follow-through? Can other people trust you to do as you say you will? If you answered yes, then what about yourself? Do you give yourself the same consideration and can you trust yourself to follow-through? That’s a more difficult question to answer because we all have let ourselves down at one point or another. We’re afraid to make a commitment and then not follow through. We’re afraid.
Two Steps to Take Today
1) Think of fear of failure. If it is something that might be a factor for you then do EFT on that today.
“Even though I’m afraid I’ll fail, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“Even though I might not make it, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“Even though I’m not sure I want to do this, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
2) Today choose one habit in which you’d like to make a change. It can be as simple as cutting back on the frequency of certain foods. For instance, a client had a Wednesday morning donut challenge in her office. She said she’d eat donuts whether she wanted them or not, and couldn’t seem to resist. We used EFT on that issue, and today she says, “I might have half a donut, or not, but I don’t grab one every time I pass the try like I used to.” Great success, right? Wrong. She’s not satisfied. She thinks she shouldn’t ever want a donut again, but that’s not necessarily correct. Success is that she no longer feels she MUST have a donut, but now is able to choose if she wants one. She might eat part of a donut – not many can do that.
Give Yourself Credit Every Step of the Way
The simple habit change of eating one donut instead of four, every week, eventually means a few pounds lost over time by that change alone. It’s the total effect of what we eat, not one single meal. Make changes you can live with – drastic dieting plans don’t last, but small changes do.
As time goes by, some people may eventually stop eating many things they used to, but it is generally done in a progressive fashion. Telling yourself you can never have another donut is not likely to help you learn to eat less donuts, but knowing you can have some if you want, and choosing when you want them, does help you to eat far less.
Choose one thing this week that you usually eat or drink to excess and decide now to make a change. Certain days of the week, certain hours of the day, quantity, whatever will work in your situation, but choose now to make a healthier choice and work on it all week.
Do EFT daily, three times a day on the issue. By this time next week, that may have become a non-issue and you might be ready for another small change.
